Invariably, every time we think we've seen every fashion related site worth seeing, a new one pops up on our screens. That's basically how we stumbled upon Milkshake Chocolate. The site is a seasonal zine in the tradition of zines that were popular on the web way back in the 1990s. Deliciously handmade and devoid of any kind blogging or content management system, each issue covers the more creative side of fashion by way of fun pictorials and interviews with a bevy of talented fashion and accessories designers.
A good place to start: their interview with Ines Kaag and Desiree Heiss of Bless, or their interview with up and coming British design duo Poltock & Walsh.
We all know Karl Lagerfeld the spectacle, jetting around the fashion world in fingerless gloves and stiff-collared shirts. But we have now seen 3 distinctively different perspectives of Lagerfeld and thought you might be interested them as well.
Well over a year ago, Charlie Rose did an hour long interview with Lagerfeld. Quote of the hour, when asked about "bridge" lines many designers are doing. "Bridges are for dentists."
A few months ago we were lead to a 5 episode documentary that was done on the design and creation of one Chanel haute couture collection. Fun fact: when Lagerfeld enters the Chanel headquarters the receptionists promptly call and announce his arrival to just about everyone else in the building. (Click here for a listing of all the videos.)
And finally, we have the just released documentary Lagerfeld Confidential, the first authorized biography on Lagerfeld, directed by young director Rodolphe Marconi. The film is currently playing at Film Forum in New York through November 6 and will likely be making its way through the art house theater circuit later on. This is the most candid of Kaiser Karl's appearances, where he talks everything including from his mother to his ability to cut people out of his life after knowing them for decades. One of several choice quotes from the film: "I don't want to be a reality in people's life. I want to be like an apparition." On that count at least, we'd say mission accomplished.
Better 3 years late than never? The New York Times last week did a piece on high-end Japanese denim. Naturally, San Francisco's Self Edge and New York's Blue in Green were both mentioned in the piece.
Just last week we profiled Peter Jensen and now via Tres Bien we find this Current TV look at his Fall 2007 show. Definitely worth a few minutes of your time. Take a look.
When a Paris native first introduced us to Colette in 2001 we were amazed that such a shop could exist. It was one of the original inspirations for creating this here website. IHT has an article on Colette's 10 year birthday.
A few more interesting articles.
Not much to talk about today (not even sales!), so we'll point you to an interview with Vivienne Westwood by the London Times. She always has something interesting to say.
A few links of note from around the web:
Men.Style.com added a few LA store tours, including American Rag and Douglas Fir (among our favorite men's shops in LA). Click here to see them.
In a few short years we watched as jeans as jeans eclipsed $100, then $150 and now most premium denim lines have comfortably cleared $200. Then there was the backlash, as new brands like Cheap Monday became all the rage with their $65 jeans. But premium jeans are not done, oh no, and two recent articles bear witness to that.
First there's the Forbes article that notes "in 2005 the number of premium pairs sold doubled over the previous year, and in the first eight months of this year, they've risen 33%." Then there's the JC Report piece introducing yet another slew of high-end denim labels.
Our view on premium denim has always been that among the dozens of labels out there you have to be able to separate the companies that sell jeans for $200 because they can to the few that seem to actually care about the materials and construction.
Rag & Bone makes its jeans in North Carolina using premium Japanese denim.
PRPS makes its own selvege denim from African cotton on looms in Japan. You only need look at one of their jeans up close to see their uncompromising attention to detail.
Among the more widely distributed lines Earnest Sewn does a pretty good job as does Habitual (if you don't mind the giant cross on your ass). If you'd like to go more obscure you can go for the Japanese denim lines at Blue in Green.
But for each one of these companies there are 5 that take denim of equal quality to those in cheaper jeans, manufacture jeans in some random factory, spend a ton on making sure they end up in the right magazines and on the right celebrities, all to convince the public into shelling out $200 for their average product. Buyer beware.
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