Converse 100 year anniversary party--Buenos Aires

Converse had a bitchin' party to celebrate their 100 year anniversary in Buenos Aires. A big warehouse was filled with with the young fashion set and free-flowing champagne until the wee hours.

Designer from Ay not Dead (right) with her DJ friend (in her design).

In front of the ladies' room.

Fashionable gents.

Last Day in Sao Paolo

The last show of SPFW. I was one of the few who liked the creepy music and futuristic, doll-like collection; though everyone agreed that this designer should pair with Tim Burton on his next project!

SPFW after party. We were verrry tiiiiired.

Hugging the Zaha Hasid shoe sculpture in front of the Melissa boutique. Unfortunately, the shoes are not available yet.

But some other ones were!!!!!

We happened to run into Alexandre Herchcovitch (and a TV crew) in his boutique, which was great since I hadn't been able to ask him all the questions I wanted to backstage after his men's show. For what we talked about, you'll have to read my story!

SPFW Photo Essay

 Andre Lima doing some backstage pinning before his show.

Red Bull was the drink of choice at the Kenzo (yes, THAT Kenzo) party.

Beautiful Gisele Buendchen on the runway for Colcci.

Another taxi...

Me and Paolo, fashion director for Portuguese Vogue.

NEON afterparty.

The Poko Pano bikini that will be mine...

That's right. I tewtally hung with Gisele.

Ronaldo Fraga

I want to keep you gorgeous readers updated on what's going on at SPFW as quickly as possible, so I'm transcribing my thoughts from the runway directly from my notebook. Coming to you (almost) live from the second row at Ronaldo Fraga:

Definitely the biggest commotion so far, this beloved designer has created the biggest production yet. The invitation arrived as a big fish wrapped in newspaper, and the runway, bathed in blue light, has giant metal bowls piled with at least 10lbs of rock salt into a pyramid. There are thick boat ropes dangling at the head of the stage and I already feel like I'm under water.

Truly theatrical. All the models lined up horizontally behind the rope and walk out one at a time, their colorful fringed visors hiding their face (except for a sparkle of pink lip gloss on all models, male and female) and making the group of semi-hidden models into a bed of coral. Beautiful, intricately embroidered shifts and fishscale-styled shoes in metallic leather. Flats and 40s style square t-strap heels, they're over the top and I love them. Hair is twisted up into false dreads and knotted on the head like rope.

Relaxed, breezy beach wear in muted colors with really creative cuts. Mix-match prints done well, like madras plad shorts with an ethnic, batic, geometric top. HUGE oversized clutch like a quilted fish. Sometime the nautical theme goes too far (like with burlap sack purses and burlap sack printed silk dresses) and I am not crazy about the fish-printed denim:

stuff but I looooove the print separates and the innovative, yet flattering, cuts on everything:

There are only a couple embroidered pieces but they are by far the best, showcasing Brazil's long (and wealthy) history as one of the world's biggest textile producers:

At the end of the show, the models come out slowly, hand-in-hand, snaking through the big salt bowls like a multi-celled, sinewy creature, stopping and sitting delicately amongst the bowls as Fraga comes sprinting out to take his bow amongst his well-deserved standing ovation.

Alexandre Herchcovitch, Summer '09 Menswear

Besides the semi-creepy brownface that Alexandre Herchcovitch sent his models down the runway at Sao Paolo Fashion Week in, the Middle-Eastern influence in his menswear collection gave the clothes a beautifully ethnic edge, like the super-intricate beading on these pants:

Talk about mixing and matching prints; Herchcovitch does it with such mastery that his clothes are just on the edge of fashion-victim territory without crossing over. "I design for someone [who's] like a more-open minded person, [open] for trying new colors, shapes, and prints," Herchcovitch told me backstage.

If this collection says "politically problematic territories" to you, you're spot on: war zones, countries that suffer totalitarian government, and the traditional garb from places like Eastern Europe, Turkey, Pakistan and India were Herchcovitch's inspiration for the show.

Can't wait to see what he comes up with for the women's clothes tomorrow!

Sao Paolo Fashion Week, Day 1

So much of any fashion week involves lines: standing in line, wondering if you're in the right line, craning your neck to see who else is in line, and then rushing to the door.

I arrived in Sao Paolo after 24 hours travel from San Francisco. The theme for Fashion Week this year is "Japan," in homage to Sao Paolo's huge population of Japanese people. There's three floors in the Bienal center, all connected by a huge central tower/console covered with video screens and filled with computers.

There's some beautiful exhibits here in addition to the shows (which I'll get to later),

like some current looks by Kenzo (who is also here at SPFW) and some older couture from Comme des Garcons.

Mariano Toledo

The architecture in Buenos Aires mixes the old with the new, soaring glass office buildings alongside Baroque cupolas. The city’s foremost fashion architect (and founder of La Escuela de Diseñadores Mariano Toledo), does the same with his clothing designs. Patent leather and jet-bead details add a tough edge of urban shine to his flowing, feminine designs in muted colors for day; his evening collection fuses sleek, shiny fabrics with a soft structure and geometric construction. “It's very intersting to be able to talk about, 'soft structures,' a construction that's geometric and 'volumetric,'" he says from his exclusive boutique in Palermo SoHo.The designer (who studied architecture in his university days) known in the local press as the “architect fashionista” always knew he would have a life in fashion, beginning with his obsession for drawing typical costumes from different cultures, especially the Spanish and Dutch with their layers and lace.
Toledo, who counts tough female musicians like La Mala Rodriguez among his favorites, drew inspiration for his current collection from the protagonist of Zhang Yimou’s House of Flying Daggers. Toledo’s elegant warriors marched the runway at Buenos Aires Fashion Week in kimono-style jersey dresses with exaggerated shoulders, waists cinched with patent leather or beads. On almost every piece was a mandala, centered in the back of a top or the hip of a jacket, or stamped onto the arch of a stiletto bootie.