Michael Tonello's Blog, page 29
March 15, 2014
Celine, Phoebe Philo, Nicholas Kirkwood, and More (OnStyle Notebook)
By Christina Binkley
A model presents a creation for Celine.
PARIS — Phoebe Philo‘s handbags have spawned nearly as many knock-offs as the Hermes Kelly. Fashionable people are cozying up in Birkenstocks and chunky sweaters because of the Celine designer. So pay attention, class, to what the teacher cooked up for Fall 2014: Knit pants that puddle around the foot (Marc Jacobs did them, too.), a longer narrow — yet still unbinding — silhouette, and comfy flatworm shoes. My particular favorite looks: jackets with the corners of fabric folded back and buttoned … as an embellishment.
Film director David Lynch created a creepy film backdrop of a clay monster head for the Kenzo show bright and early on Sunday morning. Next time designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon decide to collaborate with a famous noir surrealist on their set design, they might want to consider moving their show to the last-in-day 8 p.m. slot.
But it goes to show that when you’re relevant, you’re relevant. These two besties from Berkeley have put Kenzo back on the map with their nerdy pop-culture fascinations, earnest do-good vibe (they protested global overfishing for their spring 2014 collection), and zany take on fashion trends. For fall 2014: maze-like jacquard suits, puffers (naturally), and for the truly trendcrazed, fur trimmed puffer clutches.
I stopped by Nicholas Kirkwood’s showroom in the Marais to find out what an infusion of cash and knowledge from LVMH has done for the shoe designer. He’s acquired a new CFO, representatives in the Middle East, and is re-working his supply chain. So in addition to those wink-wink velvet tuxedo slippers with the eyes on them, for fall, expect to see many many more of Mr. Kirkwood’s creations come 2015.
When Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhoff spied a photo of two protestors — one in a corduroy skirt citing homosexuality as sin, the other protesting corduroy skirts as sin, their fall fashion collection was born. Talbot Runhoff is the only label where you’re likely to find designer corduroy, because this Berlin-based duo did not go with the puffer theme like everyone else.
Hot designer alert: To take a rectangular band of cloth — roughly 4 inches by 16 — and turn it into the basis of a collection requires perfect balance. For Givenchy, Ricardo Tisci had me twisting in my seat to see where he’d place the next strip of cloth — on the front of a gown, as pockets, stripped across the top of a sweater, plain cloth on a fur jacket? Blown up prints based on butterfly wings — not the shape, but the colors and patterns — were equally memorable.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/0...
A model presents a creation for Celine.PARIS — Phoebe Philo‘s handbags have spawned nearly as many knock-offs as the Hermes Kelly. Fashionable people are cozying up in Birkenstocks and chunky sweaters because of the Celine designer. So pay attention, class, to what the teacher cooked up for Fall 2014: Knit pants that puddle around the foot (Marc Jacobs did them, too.), a longer narrow — yet still unbinding — silhouette, and comfy flatworm shoes. My particular favorite looks: jackets with the corners of fabric folded back and buttoned … as an embellishment.
Film director David Lynch created a creepy film backdrop of a clay monster head for the Kenzo show bright and early on Sunday morning. Next time designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon decide to collaborate with a famous noir surrealist on their set design, they might want to consider moving their show to the last-in-day 8 p.m. slot.
But it goes to show that when you’re relevant, you’re relevant. These two besties from Berkeley have put Kenzo back on the map with their nerdy pop-culture fascinations, earnest do-good vibe (they protested global overfishing for their spring 2014 collection), and zany take on fashion trends. For fall 2014: maze-like jacquard suits, puffers (naturally), and for the truly trendcrazed, fur trimmed puffer clutches.
I stopped by Nicholas Kirkwood’s showroom in the Marais to find out what an infusion of cash and knowledge from LVMH has done for the shoe designer. He’s acquired a new CFO, representatives in the Middle East, and is re-working his supply chain. So in addition to those wink-wink velvet tuxedo slippers with the eyes on them, for fall, expect to see many many more of Mr. Kirkwood’s creations come 2015.
When Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhoff spied a photo of two protestors — one in a corduroy skirt citing homosexuality as sin, the other protesting corduroy skirts as sin, their fall fashion collection was born. Talbot Runhoff is the only label where you’re likely to find designer corduroy, because this Berlin-based duo did not go with the puffer theme like everyone else.
Hot designer alert: To take a rectangular band of cloth — roughly 4 inches by 16 — and turn it into the basis of a collection requires perfect balance. For Givenchy, Ricardo Tisci had me twisting in my seat to see where he’d place the next strip of cloth — on the front of a gown, as pockets, stripped across the top of a sweater, plain cloth on a fur jacket? Blown up prints based on butterfly wings — not the shape, but the colors and patterns — were equally memorable.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/0...
March 14, 2014
Hermes Getting All Horsey
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 14: Julien Epaillard of France on Cristallo A Lm in action to win the Prix Hermes Sellier during the first day of the Grand Prix Hermes of Paris at Grand Palais on March 14, 2014 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)The Psychology of Hermes Handbags - Show-Off vs Self-Confident
Ever notice the way in which a person carries an Hermès handbag? It says a lot about the personality of that person. I'm sure a psychologist could have a field day with all of this but for now let's just look at two types of personalities.
The self-confident type:
This personality type carries the bag with the logo and identifying details of the bag facing toward their own body, so that other people don't see the Hermès logo (above).
Then there's the show-off. This is by far the vast majority of Birkin and Kelly owners. They carry the bag with the logo and identifying features (lock, clochette, straps) facing outward, for the world to see (below).
The self-confident type:
This personality type carries the bag with the logo and identifying details of the bag facing toward their own body, so that other people don't see the Hermès logo (above).Then there's the show-off. This is by far the vast majority of Birkin and Kelly owners. They carry the bag with the logo and identifying features (lock, clochette, straps) facing outward, for the world to see (below).
March 13, 2014
Hermes Silk Sleeping Bag
Little known fact: During WW2 Hermès made silk sleeping bags. They had them in the basement of the Hotel Ritz in Paris.
March 11, 2014
How to Score an Authentic Hermes Birkin Bag Today (or Tomorrow)
People are always asking me how they can get a Birkin bag at Hermès TODAY (or tomorrow). Well here's the bottom line on that:
1) Read my book. I can assure you that after reading my book you'll know how to get a Birkin today.
or
2) Buy from a reputable re-seller. You'll pay a premium but you don't even have to get dressed or leave the comfort of your home. A couple of clicks, or a phone call, a bank wire, and voila...the bag will be at your home in about 24 to 48 hours.
or
3) Pay an Hermès sales associate a few thousand dollars (obviously not inside the store...this tactic has to be done surreptitiously) or buy them a very pricey (as in a few thousand dollars) gift. It's that old saying: Money talks, bullshit walks. This tactic works quite well and can be used repeatedly. (This is one of the favored methods of the gals at the Purse Forum.)
1) Read my book. I can assure you that after reading my book you'll know how to get a Birkin today.
or
2) Buy from a reputable re-seller. You'll pay a premium but you don't even have to get dressed or leave the comfort of your home. A couple of clicks, or a phone call, a bank wire, and voila...the bag will be at your home in about 24 to 48 hours.
or
3) Pay an Hermès sales associate a few thousand dollars (obviously not inside the store...this tactic has to be done surreptitiously) or buy them a very pricey (as in a few thousand dollars) gift. It's that old saying: Money talks, bullshit walks. This tactic works quite well and can be used repeatedly. (This is one of the favored methods of the gals at the Purse Forum.)
Hermes Naples Florida (at Waterside Shops) to Close March 28
Pictured above, the Hermès (franchise) store at Waterside Shops (Naples, FL) will close on March 28th. It seems as if Hermès is systematically doing away with their franchise stores. This is at least the third franchise store that I'm aware of to close in the past few years. I sure wouldn't want to be the owner of the Manhasset, New York store. Tick tock....
Hermes Naples Florida (at Waterside Shops) to Close March 31
Pictured above, the Hermès (franchise) store at Waterside Shops (Naples, FL) will close on March 31st. It seems as if Hermès is systematically doing away with their franchise stores. This is at least the third franchise store that I'm aware of to close in the past few years. I sure wouldn't want to be the owner of the Manhasset, New York store. Tick tock....
March 10, 2014
The Hotel on Place Vendome - When's the Movie ?
I mentioned this book a week or so ago here on the blog. Yesterday I finally cracked the spine and I'm totally sucked in. I'm already certain this book will be optioned for film. I'm envisioning the scenes...
http://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Place-Vendome-Death-Betrayal/dp/0061791083
http://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Place-Vendome-Death-Betrayal/dp/0061791083A Birkin Lay-a-Way Plan? Indeed...Now One Can Buy a Birkin in Installments
US-based Pinay makes designer bags affordable via huluganBy CRISTINA DC PASTOR, The FilAmMarch 10, 2014 3:07pm How can she not? She wears them fashionably, sells them reasonably and urges women they’re a must-have in a wardrobe where style and deals can co-exist nicely.
Designer handbags may seem overpriced at thousands of dollars a pop, but Jessy Daing Musbeh knows how to make them “within reach” of the average American woman: Her price is less expensive than retail, and she offers layaway.
Annie Batungbakal, meet Jessy, the peripatetic Pinay saleswoman. She travels from one customer to another, office to office, party to party. She has neither storefront nor website. Her business model runs on word-of-mouth fueled by social media. Sometimes, she invites a group of working ladies to her showroom in her Jersey City home for drinks at a “Prada Party.” To those who cannot come, there’s the constantly updating Facebook page, Jessy Couture, which lists her merchandise with snappy visuals.
In the layaway jargon, her merchandise is available on ‘hulugan,’ ‘terms,’ or ‘gives.’ Not all but most. Imagine owning the ultimate prestige brand, a Birkin, in six monthly installments. No need to go to an Hermes’ shop in Manhattan, where the sales staff is likely to serve you more attitude than attention. Of course, one-time payment is always the best option, but some women cannot just drop a grand on a Dior lambskin clutch. Consignments? She would gladly do them.
“I make sure that authentic designer handbags are within reach,” Jessy said in an interview with The FilAm.
But what hooks in potential buyers and return customers are the captions on her Facebook page:
Louis Vuitton St Jacques Red Epi
In 6 installments
Chanel Medium Flap Reissue Quilted Red Patent Leather with Silver Hardware
In 10 installments
Many of her customers are Asian women, mostly Filipinos and Vietnamese, who know how to make the dollar go a long way. They also know that authentic designer handbags are no longer just fashion accessories to match the shoes. These lavish leather can be a hedge in an unstable economy. They are now accepted at many pawnshops for those looking for quick, short-term funds.
“I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a kid,” said Jessy who has the charm, the classy looks, and the silver tongue of one born to move merchandise. It’s not just handbags. There’s also makeup, shoes, Rolex watches and diamond jewelry, which she sells with a personal touch.
As a kid, her first ‘sale’ was a name tag her school required each student to wear. Hers was no ordinary white cardboard with a name slapped on it; it had borders and flowers and butterflies. Soon her classmates were asking her to make them pretty name tags too and offering to pay for them.
‘Trust.’ Jessy is oozing with it and stores much of it in the Louis Vuitton suitcase she carries with her when she makes a sales call. “It’s all about trust,” she said. “Many of my customers are referrals, friends of friends.”
In the Vietnamese community, the name “Jessy” is synonymous with affordable designer labels.
“My Vietnamese friends are saying, ‘you want to buy a Gucci, call Jessy,’” she laughed as she was sharing this bit of anecdote, more so at the thought that she may have a following within the Vietnamese American community. “Wagas!” That’s her favorite expression which means “so true.”
Jessy has not always been the ‘social butterfly’ that she has become since she got into the high-end accessories business. Six years ago, she was in a relationship with a Filipino man who was controlling and ill-tempered. After three years – the final straw was another beating incident after they attended a party – she finally got the courage to end it, remembering the exhilaration she felt hearing his thuggish, expletive-spewing voice fade in the background as she left and walked away.
“I was a battered girlfriend,” she said with a glint of sadness to her smile. “But I was able to break free and start all over.”
She met her husband, Alli Musbeh, an American-born of Palestinian descent, at a club where her friends would take her as she was recovering from the split. They have a 2-year-old son Kaeden.
Alli, a Jersey City native, runs a grocery store in nearby Union City. Theirs is a marriage of two business-savvy entrepreneurs. While Jessy is more impromptu with some of her business decisions, it is Alli who is the voice of caution and due diligence. Through it all, selling is just a side business. Jessy works in the construction industry where she is an administrator who oversees projects from bidding, pricing to planning all the way to finish.
It could also be a gift. This unique ability to get people to make a purchase, or as the cliché calls it, “sell ice to an Eskimo.” Jessy’s parents are both doctors, but her father is more, in her words, the “jeprox type,” who is sort of unconventional, wore his hair long uncharacteristic of one who works in a hospital. She is sure she got her brazenness from her dad.
Four years into the business, Jessy has mastered a lot of things about her trade. Authentication is one of them. She can tell an imitation Gucci from a real one and extends that knowledge to all of her brands. The smell and feel of genuine leather is something she knows all too well, the stitchery style, the metallic accents. There’s more to designer names than just the price tags.
Designer handbags may seem overpriced at thousands of dollars a pop, but Jessy Daing Musbeh knows how to make them “within reach” of the average American woman: Her price is less expensive than retail, and she offers layaway.
Annie Batungbakal, meet Jessy, the peripatetic Pinay saleswoman. She travels from one customer to another, office to office, party to party. She has neither storefront nor website. Her business model runs on word-of-mouth fueled by social media. Sometimes, she invites a group of working ladies to her showroom in her Jersey City home for drinks at a “Prada Party.” To those who cannot come, there’s the constantly updating Facebook page, Jessy Couture, which lists her merchandise with snappy visuals.
In the layaway jargon, her merchandise is available on ‘hulugan,’ ‘terms,’ or ‘gives.’ Not all but most. Imagine owning the ultimate prestige brand, a Birkin, in six monthly installments. No need to go to an Hermes’ shop in Manhattan, where the sales staff is likely to serve you more attitude than attention. Of course, one-time payment is always the best option, but some women cannot just drop a grand on a Dior lambskin clutch. Consignments? She would gladly do them.
“I make sure that authentic designer handbags are within reach,” Jessy said in an interview with The FilAm.
But what hooks in potential buyers and return customers are the captions on her Facebook page:
Louis Vuitton St Jacques Red Epi
In 6 installments
Chanel Medium Flap Reissue Quilted Red Patent Leather with Silver Hardware
In 10 installments
Many of her customers are Asian women, mostly Filipinos and Vietnamese, who know how to make the dollar go a long way. They also know that authentic designer handbags are no longer just fashion accessories to match the shoes. These lavish leather can be a hedge in an unstable economy. They are now accepted at many pawnshops for those looking for quick, short-term funds.
“I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a kid,” said Jessy who has the charm, the classy looks, and the silver tongue of one born to move merchandise. It’s not just handbags. There’s also makeup, shoes, Rolex watches and diamond jewelry, which she sells with a personal touch.
As a kid, her first ‘sale’ was a name tag her school required each student to wear. Hers was no ordinary white cardboard with a name slapped on it; it had borders and flowers and butterflies. Soon her classmates were asking her to make them pretty name tags too and offering to pay for them.
‘Trust.’ Jessy is oozing with it and stores much of it in the Louis Vuitton suitcase she carries with her when she makes a sales call. “It’s all about trust,” she said. “Many of my customers are referrals, friends of friends.”
In the Vietnamese community, the name “Jessy” is synonymous with affordable designer labels.
“My Vietnamese friends are saying, ‘you want to buy a Gucci, call Jessy,’” she laughed as she was sharing this bit of anecdote, more so at the thought that she may have a following within the Vietnamese American community. “Wagas!” That’s her favorite expression which means “so true.”
Jessy has not always been the ‘social butterfly’ that she has become since she got into the high-end accessories business. Six years ago, she was in a relationship with a Filipino man who was controlling and ill-tempered. After three years – the final straw was another beating incident after they attended a party – she finally got the courage to end it, remembering the exhilaration she felt hearing his thuggish, expletive-spewing voice fade in the background as she left and walked away.
“I was a battered girlfriend,” she said with a glint of sadness to her smile. “But I was able to break free and start all over.”
She met her husband, Alli Musbeh, an American-born of Palestinian descent, at a club where her friends would take her as she was recovering from the split. They have a 2-year-old son Kaeden.
Alli, a Jersey City native, runs a grocery store in nearby Union City. Theirs is a marriage of two business-savvy entrepreneurs. While Jessy is more impromptu with some of her business decisions, it is Alli who is the voice of caution and due diligence. Through it all, selling is just a side business. Jessy works in the construction industry where she is an administrator who oversees projects from bidding, pricing to planning all the way to finish.
It could also be a gift. This unique ability to get people to make a purchase, or as the cliché calls it, “sell ice to an Eskimo.” Jessy’s parents are both doctors, but her father is more, in her words, the “jeprox type,” who is sort of unconventional, wore his hair long uncharacteristic of one who works in a hospital. She is sure she got her brazenness from her dad.
Four years into the business, Jessy has mastered a lot of things about her trade. Authentication is one of them. She can tell an imitation Gucci from a real one and extends that knowledge to all of her brands. The smell and feel of genuine leather is something she knows all too well, the stitchery style, the metallic accents. There’s more to designer names than just the price tags.
