William Rast Fall 2008

Long time song and dance man Justin Timberlake might be the musical wonder for the 21st century but what some might not know is that he has a full clothing line entitled William Rast which has been in production for a few years. Starting this year Justin along with long time friend and business partner Trace Ayala have incorporated the design services of Johan and Marcella Lindeberg to oversee the William Rast line.

The jeans marketplace has been it’s mainstay since it’s start with price points hovering around $140.00 for a pair; but now the line has expanded into a full rage of different looks. There is a heavy concentration on jackets and coats. The jackets have a mild military theme with military looking logo’s, and as for the coats they range from down to pea coats. The t-shirts have hand sketches of various poses of Justin Timberlake on stage.

If your looking for the line it’s available in better department stores including Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and high end boutiques. For more information on William Rast here's the link

Ports 1961 Fall 2008

Fashion shows are great and we live for them but what's even better is when you can get into the showroom, meet the designer and touch the clothing. As well see the full offering for the season. If your looking for variety Ports 1961 has a 300 piece collection to choose from. Inspiration for the collection comes by way of Scotland, with a beautiful selection of tweed numbers as well as straight forward staples for a woman's wardrobe.

The collection goes from mild to wild with some pieces adorned with surgical tubing or polished smooth wood. Head designer Tia Cabani pulls together an industrial and nature theme into the collection. Tia has applied the surgical rubber as a finish treatment for her small shoe division along with making a few jewelry creations.

For evening her gowns have a beautiful understated elegance stressing the neck line a signature detail of Cibani. We loved the column dress with neck bead work detail.

It's been a beautiful journey following this design house and seeing the progression of the Ports 1961 woman. According to Tai "she's a woman who is adventurous, loves to travel and very independent". For a relatively new house they have defined their customer, something some designers never achieve.

Stubbs & Wootton

Percy Steinhart's company Stubbs & Wootton has been the industry and society leader in casual stylish velvet house slippers. The whimsical designs he incorporates range from mild to wild and some are guaranteed to turn heads. The majority of his customer base is the golden triangle of Palm Beach, New York and The Hampton's.

Some of his original designs which have become standards with Stubbs & Wootton are Devils, Martini glasses, Palm Trees and custom family crests. According to Percy "Dressed up and dressed down can exist without having to choose one". Both young and old can enjoy these excellent slippers, for summer the fabrics switches to straw and raffia which works well for daywear.

Starting in his Worth Avenue boutique in Palm beach in 1993, the brand has expanded to Manhattan's Upper east Side and Jobs Lane in Southhampton. The company offers customized styles and colors of everything from initials, family crests and personal images.

Rena Lange Fall 08/09

Unlike the majority of collection we have seen from the fall season Rena Lange is a lesson in taking risks in a volatile market place. Shown in a beautiful showroom in midtown Rena Lange's use of color is a breath of fresh air for fall.

Drawing inspiration from the 1920's a trend which was used by various design houses some sucuessful some not, Rena Lange hits the mark by not using the inspiration literally. The incorporation of soft winter neutrals of taupe, oyster and walnut with combinations of Bright saffrons and violet set this collection apart from others. This can be seen throughout the collection even with the accessories of bags and clutches. Speaking of clutches, the python skin pieces make for excellent accent statements and set's themselves apart from what was a season lacking in accessories. All women need purses, bags and stylish clutches and lange has come through in this area. Price points for the python range around $1,495.00, the dark brown calf leather bag $1,650.00.

Other pieces that we loved were the hi collar tweed coat $2,695.00 along with the black wool viscose evening dress $3,995.00.

American designers should be using Rena Lange and others from Europe as a learning tool in how to execute a well rounded collection which covers all the bases modern ladies need in today's society. The proof of this is evident, all one need to do is see the major luxury retailers free standing shops worldwide and most are European!

The Finishing Touches For Men

With men's fashion coming into it's own the need for luxury goods to finish the look is more important than ever. Three companies have come to the rescue to answer this demand.

From Colibri the world famous lighter company has for the past few years have devoted a division of affordable jewelry and accessories. Their new Inferno line of accessories takes it cue from the famous Gibson Les Paul guitar company. The wood color gradation goes back to the tobacco sunburst guitars. Along with the pens there are money clips, cuff links and pendants, all done in the sunburst style.

If your style aspires to a higher level Dolan Bullock has what you might be looking for with exquisite cuff links done in solid gold and emeralds. Traditionally a small goods house, Dolan focuses on small finishing details. Their solid 18K collection is engrave able which makes for easy gift giving. The mother of pearl (shown above) shows the attention to detail which we have come to love from the company.

S.T. Dupont Paris requires deep pockets but will deliver ten-fold with the quality they produce. The Chinese lacquer and Palladium line is strong and stylish. The Chinese lacquer process makes their pens practically indestructible. When we where shows the line the rep literally burned the pen in front of our eyes and did not harm the finish of the product one bit! Needless to say we were amazed. Although out of our price range S.T. Dupont leads the pack with stylish lighters and writing instruments.