Barry Kieselstein-Cord .. fashion legend

For me, Barry Kieselstein, as he was known when he started, was the man who elevated the belt to new heights of status without using a logo. His logo or logos were his signature pieces/styles which became status symbols for both men and women starting in the late 70s. His sterling designs not only elevated the belt to a new apex of fashion but he became the “it” designer as well as the designer of the “it” belt that went on for decades.

As time passed, Mr. Kieselstein-Cord as he was later known went on to develop classifications that went far beyond a mere belt! There were free standing stores that housed everything from bridge jewelry to croco handbags to sunglasses to an incredible collection of signature 18k jewelry. As the classifications grew so did the BKC vocabulary. He maintained his shop within Bergdorf Goodman for decades.

 

At present, Mr. Kieselstein-Cord has been slowly reemerging as a fine art photographer as well as re positioning his brand for those who are woefully uninformed of what a long term seismic effect this man had within the fashion compendium. In other words he is someone you should know about...past, present and future!

 

Take a peek inside the head of BKC as well as the visuals that only represent a bird’s eye view of his body of work ….

1-What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

My leather jacket collection

2-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships?

Loyalty

3-What is your bliss?

The beauty of all living things

4-What is your guilty secret?

none

5-Where is your ideal home?

Where ever I am really comfortable

6-If you could not be a designer/retailer/etc.: what would you be

Philanthropist

 7-What is on your bedside table right now?

books

8-What do you wear to bed?

Dependent on company

9-What if any, book are you reading now or last read?

Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Tatiana by Martin C. Smith, The Plantagenets by Dan Jones and assorted R.L.Stevenson’s books

10-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”

What’s a new comer?

11-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?

myself

12-What is the best advice you ever received?

Be true to your heart, but take in a business partner to run your operation

13-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

Mis-dir-ected fun.

14-If you were a retailer; would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store? Or where would you shop?

own

15-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?

Give away 25%

16-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

The Pope, The President, Putin, head of the largest anti West leadership

17-What is your favorite movie /or movie star?

Angelina Jolie

18-What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

Not be so loyal

19-Whose opinion do you value most and why?

My daughter’s, smartest person I know

20-What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear?

none

21-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

All are equally important and have their place

22-Do you have a dream collaborator?

none
23-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?

Never at a loss for creating original new concepts and executing original new ideas

24-What’s your music library like?
Eclectic

25-What and where is your favorite meal?

Japanese in New York City

Robert Lee Morris .. a living legend of fashion

ac·ces·so·ry  …….noun \ik-ˈse-sə-rē, ak-, ek-, -ˈses-rē, also ə-ˈse-\

: something added to something else to make it more useful, attractive, or effective

art by Mahyar Kalantari

Apparently Robert Lee Morris has defied the dictionary definition of what constitutes an accessory. Mr. Morris is perhaps a pioneer or maybe the founding father of what has become an enormous and integral part of the fashion business on an international stage…. 

Once considered “bridge jewelry” or semi-precious, he single handedly elevated its status by showing the world that sterling silver jewelry could stand on its own as a category and not just as a means of enhancing apparel or as a sub category to fashion jewelry. His enduring career was solidified in 1978 when he opened Artwear in Soho and has remained a timeless presence in the world of jewelry and accessories ever since.

During his illustrious career he has contributed to the collections of Kansai Yamamoto, Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, Michael Kors, the Olsens and Donna Karan. Most notably is his long lasting collaboration with Ms. Karan.

In my opinion Robert Lee Morris is a living legend of the fashion business and it is my pleasure to have had the opportunity to “get inside” his head. One more in my series of meet and greet sessions with great personalities who dwell in the world of fashion.

1-What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

Most treasured possession in my wardrobe: my oversized down coat from Donna Karan’s men’s line from years ago. It is the best winter coat ever.

2-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships?

My most sterling trait from myself and in my friendships is the ability to become a light of inspiration and love to whoever is around me.

3-What is your bliss?

My bliss is my work, my “job” of designing and making with my own hands, jewelry that comes to me in clear visions out of the blue.

4-What is your guilty secret?

My guilty secret is a passion for Cronuts.

5-Where is your ideal home?

My ideal home would be on the edge of the cliffs overlooking Chama River and facing Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu New Mexico.

6-If you could not be a designer/retailer/etc.: what would you be

If I could not be a designer, I would be a writer.

7-What is on your bedside table right now?

On my bedside table right now is a cluster of crystals. The Convoluted Universe by Dolores Cannon

8-What do you wear to bed?

I wear nothing to bed. I strangle myself in p.js undies or t-shirts.

9-What if any, book are you reading now or last read?

I am reading, feverishly, the amazing The Convoluted Universe by Dolores Cannon

10-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”

My advice to any “newcomer” is to research deeply the field of fashion you are interested to grow into. Know what has been done before to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

11-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?

My style Icon, source of masculine inspiration is Paul Bettany.

12-What is the best advice you ever received?

The best advice I ever received was from my original art dealer who told me to use my whole name (including the Lee) as my brand name. There already existed a famous Robert Morris artist when I entered my career in NY.

13-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

The current state of fashion is MULTIDIMENSIONAL

14-If you were a retailer; would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store? Or where would you shop?

If I were a retailer and I am, I would and do wear my own men’s jewelry.

15-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?

With a $200,000 lottery prize I would buy gold coins and put them in a small treasure box so I could run my fingers thru the coins every day. Like Uncle Scrooge.

16-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

I would invite the following people to dinner Oscar Wilde, Picasso, Jennifer Lawrence and Ru Paul.

 17-What is your favorite movie /or movie star?

My favorite movie star is Cate Blanchett, and my favorite movie is Lord of the Rings.

 18-What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

The one thing I would change about myself is my attitude about exercise…I would begin to do it.

19-Whose opinion do you value most and why?

I value my wife’s opinion above everyone else’s. She has an uncanny knowing…

20-What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear?

My favorite store to shop is Uni-Qlo

21-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

I read nearly all my books digitally on my iPad or laptop, but not magazines. I enjoy the physical appeal of them.

22-Do you have a dream collaborator?

My dream collaborator is Donna Karan…dreams come true.

23-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?

My crowning glory achievement thus far in my career was the being awarded The Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement award in 2007, my third CFDA award...

24-What’s your music library like?

My music library is heavily new age, meditation, exotic world music. I don't listen to much POP but certain massively  successful pop bands like Imagine Dragons, Dark heavy masculine sounds, emotional sounds like Staind, Depeche Mode, , joyful new age mixes like Alcyon Massive, Balligomingo, Lourde, or mournful soul of Band of Horses, but little of Beyoncé, Dr. Dre, JayZ, Rhianna, anything having to do with Kim Kardashian's world..., 

25-What and where is your favorite meal?

My favorite meal is Feijoada Completa, black rice and beans, with smoked and exotic Brazilian meats, with the odd white toasted flour called Farofa that you sprinkle on like sawdust...its hauntingly delicious and the mainstay of Brazil

 I went to high school in Rio and was served the best Feijoada, always accompanied with a cold Guarana' over ice.

The Filet Mignon was always called an "alto" because of the extreme highest of the filet as it stood on your plate, medium rare from Argentina....only in Brazil can you find these magical carnivorous restaurants called Brazilian steakhouses, Churascurias...a most distinctive flavor only found in Rio.

Alexandre Vauthier .. Fall 2014 .. Paris Collections

There is something to be said when a designer does not feel compelled to show a collection of some 30 or 40 pieces. The question now arises “WHY?” If you ask me, the reason is that Alexandre Vauthier wants to make a point and he doesn’t need a lot of extraneous looks to me bring home the point.

 

Monsieur Vauthier, if he were a fashion critic, would be considered a man of few words. If he was an author he would not be writing War and Peace. My point is that very designers have the confidence or the ability to say what they need to say without producing collection of which a good part of it is nothing more than window dressing. The Bible says “Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in few words” and so it is chez Vauthier. In addition to the facts that there is no venue to discuss, no music to refer to and no arcane hallucinatory inspirations to regurgitate, the reviewer is forced to focus on the designer and his message, meaning CLOTHES!!! . It is with pleasure than I can and will do so!

 

This designer is not looking to reinvent the world order of fashion nor is he looking to dress every woman who inhabits this world but instead he wants a very specific lady who is self-assured, with a good to great body that she is not shy about and most definitely she wants to be perceived as hot! And that is meant in the most flattering of ways.

 

My take is that he all about tough chic, timeless clothes and if you will … modern classics. He wants his women to be a little bit rock n roll but understand the glories of exquisite workmanship, razor sharp tailoring, a bit of sex but never over the top. He is of a rare breed of young designers who dips into the pools of both ready and haute couture. Here, the collection echoes some of the incredible workmanship of couture but adds his wardrobe basics. Do not think there is anything basic about his wardrobe building blocks because there is nothing simple or pedestrian about them. For me I see a hint of vintage YSL who knew all about synthesizing moods through his clothes. The Vauthier DNA is all here; all you have to do is look!

 

As an extra added attraction this season, Alexandre Vauthier, the brand, has introduced a capsule of collection of handbags that speaks to the same mentality as the ready to wear. Say it boldly, say it briefly and drive that point home! Yes, with just a few shapes  and offered in just a few materials, you see the essence of the brand and of the designer, I am lucky enough to have been afforded the photos of these pieces for this review and well … you are lucky enough to share them as well.

In the end the point is this “parlez vous Vauthier?” or more simply stated do you want to wear these clothes and tell the world that you speak the language of Vauthier?

Model: Hana Jirikova …. Photos by Mathieu Cesar

Louis Vuitton Fall 2104 .. Paris Collections

And so the moment has come and gone. Nicolas Ghesquiere has premiered is first collection for the mega brand Louis Vuitton for Fall 2014. The anticipation is over and the assessments, pandering and blind idolatry can begin in earnest. To me, one’s frame of reference is essential here as if you are a 30 something and have no knowledge of the history of fashion then I am guessing you will miss some vital comparisons. If you take this at face value, then you best very observant and should be flummoxed by what you saw. If you are of the fashion flock that drooled ion anticipation and thought that Ghesquiere is a god, well then, you have a new altar at which to worship. 

For me, this was just another show of hubris and non-fashion. Not being interested in backstory and inspirations there is very little here that I find impressive. All the hoopla that has surrounded this collection has never been about the clothes but about who designed the clothes as these are not clothes that are openly distributed. Another reason for the media attention is that the mother ship is a mega power house when it comes to holding the purse strings for advertising dollars. Lastly it is all this hype that really sells handbags, key fobs, another pair of shoes and another bottle of perfume.

Ghesquiere has always been a modernist with too much to say about what he designs as his clothes rarely are able to stand on their own without the blah blah blah. One can be absolutely positive that this outing will be no different than any of the others and as far as I can ascertain he just does what he wants with no concern about anything other than his ego and his whim. You must keep in mind here that the only DNA of this brand is a logo; there is no vocabulary unless it concerns leather goods and so the stage is ready to be set. Today was about patent leather that reminded me of the bonded variety of the 70s that peeled, and then there were all the zip front maillots in everything from croco to that pleathery looking stuff to leather. I am not quite sure about the blazers with the rifle patches as they looked far too normal so you can be sure there is a diatribe that accompanies those. As for his take on dresses, I can only say oopsie!!

Moving right along, what I can say on a positive note is that Mr. Ghesquiere is an adventurer when it comes to materials, combinations of materials, techniques and fabrication. I have never understood his esthetic but in the general scheme of things it doesn’t matter as Louis Vuitton will never be a brand that is reliant on clothes for major revenue; it is about all the trimmings. The clothes are just window dressing and a source of hype that cannot be gained by the main sources of income. Did I mention that the clothes look very 2 dimensional ... almost flat and here’s a bit of advice about single handled bags... They don’t work!

Bottom line is this…. If you are a fan, you will love it, if you are a realist in every sense, you will shake your head and if you are a panderer you have had a fashion orgasm by now ………… take your pick! I remain unimpressed and unsurprised.

Alexander McQueen .. Fall 2014 .. Paris Collections

In a season of faux spectacular and so many "me too"  collections, there emerges a clear and stand-alone collection that deserves to be lauded on levels unknown to many designers. Sarah Burton has indeed mastered the vocabulary of the short lived Alexander McQueen and in doing so she has  perpetuated his life span and his legacy. She has not only mastered it but she has broadened it and added to it without skipping a beat.

 

Understand that what makes this such an incredible collection is that if one is judged by the company you keep then Ms. Burton is certainly the only guest at this party. Yes, she continues to follow in the path of the uber talented late McQueen in a way that seems otherworldly  to the viewer, it is as if he inhabits her or speaks to her and she is the conduit with which he continues to thrive.

 

Okay enough  of the superlatives here; regardless of all my inclinations, first and foremost being wearable and salable .. well that flies right out the window here. Even I can see that these clothes are appealing to only the most discerning of collectors and fashion hoarders. I am not sure if any of it is really wearable but I am sure it is all mighty fabulous. Again, my “designers who design” seems most appropriate here but I would be a huge fool not to ask myself what would happen if there was no legacy to continue.. or does that really matter?

 

I can only say that when reviewers seem to devote as much verbiage about venue and make-up and hair as they do about the clothes, here is a show that warrants it all. No matter what the exact “inspirations” may be, the outcome is clear, these clothes speak for themselves and for  the brand. Maybe they even scream!