Who, who is it?

Who has clothes made? It's a question I get asked a lot-who is my customer? Is she a shop-a-holic? A fashionista? Uh, no-that's a bad movie plot. Brace yourself... She's...she's..a librarian. She's a mother of four. She's the mother of the mother of four, making her a grandmother of 7, and her youngest son is getting married. She's a doctor. She's a lawyer. She's every woman, except Chauka Chan. But that's only because she hasn't met me yet. More and more I ask myself, in tough times, who is my client-and I answer it on the runway. As I come back to the workroom at 10:30 on a Friday night, I'm hoping she has more of a life than me, but I know she doesn't. She's juggling, she/he's balancing, but hopefully excited about what they do. I wrote orders this week because I've been thinking. A lot. This season, I'm thinking you're sick of the cold, and the gray and the dreary, and when I saw the fashion week pages and pages and pages of gray clothes for fall 09, I'm think "I do NOT want that" and I LOVE gray. Love it. But it all looks like a pile of sadness. And we so, so don't need that now. We need useful joy. A glass of wine, a fabulous song, a great read, some kind words, a beautiful..raincoat..? YES, because it's raining cats and dogs in the world. And a knockout evening dress. And a killer suit. I hear you, but maybe I filter is through my slightly askew brain, and I come up with something you didn't know you wanted, but there it is, and it speaks to you, and it fits you PERFECTLY. It's so you...because I've been thinking about you.

When Things Go Right

A beautiful woman left with a beautiful coat today, for $200, which I think was in the end less than it cost to make it, even though I made it, and am writing off the labor. But I am not hung up on this as "ART", I only know it's better not sitting on the rack, but on some one's back. She had red hair, a Copper Topper coat, a cold day, and she loved it. A perfect moment. And she, like a lot of women who come in, have a "You're my favorite pusher" tude, but since every one's veins not only remain clean, but minimized by the right red tones, it's a win/win deal. I sent a lot of things out the door today to make room for the new spring pieces, but I also was wearing a 2 year old sweater of mine and 19 month old pants. I know these things will be in people's lives along time, loved worn, and making new friends when the pieces from next season move into the closet with them. But come on down soon, because I'm running out of stuff....

Today In Silkland...

Or at least that is what it feels like.
cut..baste..admire..cut...baste...admire...Reality check-where's the party? Aren't we all down in the dumps? Isn't the sky falling? Well, yes. It's actually below the ocean floor at this point, I think. Yet, there's a wedding coming up in your future. A batmitzvah. An engagement party. You're turning 40, and you'd like to present yourself like you're turning 30. So, you need a dress. And I'm your girl. And I'm workin' hard. Clean, shape, fluid, but LESS. Less stuff, less pouf, less flouf. But by no means simple, and by no means dull. I counted yesterday, and I think I'm at 30 cocktail dresses, so perhaps it's time for a intervention. Or, an invitation....

Clean Slate

It's that time again-time to clear the decks and get ready for the new season. EVERYTHING is 50% off or more. I love what I make, but I love it more when someone is walking around in it, so come on down, and land some great deals.

Knee Deep and Lovin' It

There was a moment this week when my cutting floor was piled with things, and seven different ideas where floating in air and there was a hem to be done and 2 shirts for pick up, and I had to stop, inhale/exhale, and collect myself. Where is all this going? What am I trying to say with the clothes this season? Well, first off, it's not "Your strap is trying to escape from you giant puffy cake dress" and secondly, "Mamie Eisenhower called from the great beyond, and she wants her coat back". If I took a gorgeous, trim, strong woman and did those things to her, I'd have to shutter the store in 2 weeks. I think that's the difference in working with actual people, in the marriage of design and reality. I looked at all the fuller, beautiful organza skirts today and I had to check myself-Is Grace Kelly going to the Ting Tings? I think not. How many women will actually WANT that, AND be able to carry it? So maybe temper that with something that makes it work for more people. I've made some stunning raincoats this season. They look like cocktail dresses. They weigh 10 ounces. You could stand under a sprinkler in them, and look fine. I've been asked will I play it safe in this economy. Big fat NO. My motto-Give the People What They Didn't Know They Wanted". You get one chance, one glance, to hit people's soul. "Where did you get that?" "I love that!" I have the Branch Effect coat from this season, and it is no exaggeration that if I am in earshot of someone, they say "That coat looks great on you" Not just "That's a great coat" You're most likely not going to hear that about a black coat, in as much as you're not going to hear that about a coat that looks like a couch from a 1960's tea room. But it's my job to make you see that maybe that "perfect black raincoat" is really shot with pewter threads, or maybe it's not black at all-it's copper. Or gold. Or both. And no matter what, you will not leave me looking like we ate a few pizzas during the fitting. I can't tell you how many times a day I'll drape something on myself, then remove it and ask myself, "do I look thinner in that, or out of it?" And I'm thinking, I'm not a big girl, so let's ere on the side of caution. But maybe I'll make the middle with sheen, and the edges flat, so the hip dissipates into nothing..." But you don't see any of that. You see "Great skirt-and I look so thin!" That's my job when I do it well. And yours is just to sit back and enjoy yourself in all your fabulous glory.

Holy Bejesus Batman! I haven't blogged in months!

So, uh...Happy New Year! Well, it's 2009, and around here, the physical start of making a new season. I am at once sad and happy to say we have been too busy to chat up the Internet, but we are now making Spring, and that is when the wheels really turn. But not without the catalyst of the work that brought us through the season. Things are completely bananas, no one knows which end is up...want to buy a raincoat? Why, yes, YOU DO! apparently, you cannot call in "depleted"to work. You still have to get up, get dressed, and work your bum off. Or perhaps, despite the 50/50 chance of success, your daughter's getting hitched! And not only do you have to pay for it, you have to look like Carla Bruni. We are about to shoot the photos for spring 2009, and my brain is SPINNING. Luckily, so are the wheels on my machines. Raincoats that bowl you over, and weigh a feather...eye popper evening looks....super suits...People of America! I will NOT fail you! I am doing a dress for one fave model Tim's wife-they are going to the inagural Tech Ball. She said Black. I said NO! Red, sister, RED!!!!It is the dawning...of a new era!!!!!

Who's Clueless?

There's a story today on the front page of the New York Times Style section today. It's about "interview suits". But it really is about what any woman in the work force should wear. And in fragile economic times, I find it bananas that Nicole Miller would think a woman she spotted on Wall Street in a pants suit "looked dated". Granted, Ms. Miller's bread and butter is cocktail dresses and 24 hour party girl looks, but a pants suit, dated? Hell-O!? This is what's wrong with the fashion industry. If they make a suit,it's either for an androgynous heroin addict or her mother who's uptown having lunch, wondering "What happened to my daughter? She used to look so nice." Women work. They need clothes to wear to work, where they are surrounded by men, competing with men, men in suits. If you're wearing a sweater set and the guy across from you is wearing a suit, you are automatically demoting yourself-"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just here to fetch coffee. If a guy showed up to work in a cardigan, the reaction would be "Mr. Rogers, the train to the Land of Make-believe just left". I know dress codes are not super strict anymore, but suits are power. They say "I'm here to work!" They don't need to be dull, navy deals with no style. They can have great, great flare. More than anything I do here, I make suits for women. They are repeat customers, they wear my clothes all the time, and I make their lives easier, so they can do their job. That's the nice thing about being so close to the customer base-you actually know what they want and need, and you can use your design skills to take it to the next level. I think 7th avenue needs to think a little bit more, so there's not piles of product in discount stores and women walking around wondering if they're wearing the "right thing" to work.