Fashion Funhouse Emporium

What I admire most about Charlotte Ronson is that despite her name and social connections, she designs quality, funky cool clothes at a great price point. She even has her I Heart Ronson line at JC Penney.

After all, before the days of designer collaborations and contemporary focused designs, there wasn't much quality fashion when it came to department stores from Penneys to the Bloomingdales. You'd have to go to some strange Big Lots style closeout store and buy your Pepe jeans from the "irregular" rack. One leg was longer than the other which is probably why pegging your denim came into play. Am I showing my age with this comment?

Coming up on her 5th year at new York Fashion week,  she's not losing momentum. Like past seasons her runway shows are always much anticipated among the fashion crowds.

Colors: black, army green, tones of brown, yellow

Materials: wool, silk, faux shearling, jersey, cotton, corduroy, lurex, leather, lace.

Loved Looks

View full collection on style.com

Its not unusual for a Charlotte Rosnon show to be all over the place. Though, when she gets it right, you can picture young ladies looking funky and unique who know Bieber is crap. They're jamming to their parents records. Wait, I think I'm old enough to be a parent so does that mean the oldies are Nirvana and Alice in Chains? Anyway, the shorts suits and the little skirts and jackets were great as separates. The thigh high boots - amazing, especially the way they were styled with more casual ready to wear, taking away any strip club vibe they could've had.

Unloved Looks

A below the hip fair isle sweater paired with palazzo pants belongs on a 60 year old suburban woman who's tolerating her husband and hiding the years that haven't necessarily been good to her ass. Let alone the style, the color of the sweater was just i-give-up-brown-mustard. In general, the long shirt over wide pants is just not a flattering proportion.

People, Scene, Music

Like all bigger shows, a never ending parade of socialites and Kim Kardashian rolled up. Girl crush actresses Mena Suvari and Oliva Munn were there. Mr. Micky of Paper was there --who's Tweets are a constant source of entertainment for me, and who I've crossed paths with at least 60 times, literally walked in front of him and he in front of me and I've never met him. The music was Adele and Arcade Fire courtesy of sister Samantha.  It was the Lincoln Center fashion-rock arena venue.

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Thanks to Erin McSherry for coverage and photos!!

General Idea

Last season, in conjunction with the Korean Ministry of Culture, Concept Korea showed at Lincoln Center. While not a part of the Concept Korea show, Korean designer Bumsuk Choi (unfortunate English translation on the first name. Don't judge me, like you didn't notice.) has been showing his luxury label since 2004 and was the youngest designer at age 26 to join Seoul Fashion Week, helping put South Korea on the map when it comes to top designers.

Colors: bright primary colors, orange, black, navy

Materials: knit, denim, nylon, cotton

Loved Looks

View full collection on GQ.com

I would say its more difficult to create men's clothes that stand out than it is for women. General Idea gave it the best shot with the sporty-dandy collection. Its as if Apollo Ono, Justin Timberlake and Hamish Bowles took their entire wardrobe to an amusement park and dumped it onto The Rotor. Whatever stuck to the wall won.  For the majority of this General Idea collection, this worked. It managed to combine just enough styles to make it interesting but not too outlandish. I loved the colored oxford shoes.

Unloved Looks

I don't think any man should ever wear fair isle knit sweaters. Its like said person just stepped out of some bizarre Christmas photo in which the way too close family all posed in the same sweater.  Also, I'm not sure how the half oxford shoe, half snow boot would play out in the everyday on the street but I do admire the attempt at something new.

People, Scene, Music

Nine AM on a Saturday is a hard spot at Lincoln Center. A socialite or two, combined with bloggers, crashers and haute hounds showed up bright and early though.  I appreciated the black arch runway entrance. It seems like most designers don't bother with the set at the tents.

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Irina Shabayeva

The Project Runway winner is still labeled as such. Though, shes working her way to an established designer in her own right. This is her third runway show at Mercedes Benz Fashion week, not counting the reality show one, of course.

When hitting the show venue for her fall 2011 runway, a magazine called "Edge" was on each seat, with a vamped out Irina on the cover. I thought it was one of the most unique run of show programs I'd ever seen, then I realized that it was not a spoof, but a real publication.

Her Fall 2010 show was backed by Tupperware. She created couture creations that really showcased that this reality show designer is not just a flash in the pan. That said, why she would model her own clothes for an unknown magazine (in which the editor of the interview portion actually left his name in as in "well you know, Dan...". We don't care that you are there Dan) doesn't make sense to me. Not only were the pictures odd, but I didn't want to hear about Irina's days on the show. What would've been much more interesting to those who want to take her seriously was reading about the inspiration behind her Fall 2011 collection.

In between all the stuff we already know about what happens behind the scenes on these competitor shows, Dan did manage to let us know that Irina has a bridal line in New York's luxury bridal boutique Kleinfeld.

Colors: red, black, cobalt blue and white

Materials: knits, sequins, satins, cottons

Loved Looks

Irina Shabayeva Fall/ Winter 2011 Photos by © Dan Lecca

While Irina is now selling evening and bridal, it seems to me that her strengths lie in tailored ready to wear.  Her flair skirts were cute, high fashion and yet flattered the figure. Her style is cool down town city chick, but the formal dresses didn't seem to fit that persona. Instead, what did were her hooded knits, tailored jackets and leggings

Unloved Looks

Perhaps its that I didn't get a date to my high school prom until last minute. Maybe its that I've never worked on jobs that require me to dress a celeb for black tie or award events. Is it that I don't understand evening wear?  In an attempt to revive the elements of the Tupperware collections that worked so well-- it seemed to me, Irina presented several laser cut gowns, which somehow just didn't work for me. They looked too crafty as if she was trying too hard. Too many jewels, too many experimental techniques. Based on what Ive seen from Irina she's a more edgy (even her current dresses on have more of her personal style) and these evening designs weren't what I expected to see.

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View Irina Shabayeva Fall 2010

Georges Chakra

Georges Chakra debuted his first ready to wear line, Edition Georges Chakra, in New York in 2009. Chakra initially started in haute couture shows in France in 2002.

I must admit, I haven't paid much attention to this designer, until this season. I was late for his show at the Tents in Lincoln Center. When I walked in, it was playing on the large screen. I was mesmerized. Not one to be into gala gowns (seriously, when will a blogger from Fashion Funhouse Emporium need one?) I still couldn't walk away. I'm actually glad I caught the show outside, in the lobby on a jumbo-tron screen. It gave a much better view of the perfectly tailored and uniquely detailed gowns than I would've got from my seat.

If he's not one of the hottest designers dressing celebrities this spring, then he should be. I must mention as well, the white and lighters gowns would make great wedding dresses for out of the box thinking brides.

Check it out for yourself in this Mercedes Benz Fashion Week video.

TIBI

Tibi, a contemporary collection designed by Georgia born Amy Smilovic was launched in 1997 when she moved to Asia with her husband. There she met American Octavia Hyland who's grandmother was named Tibi. The two worked closely together on textiles and managed to sell a small capsule collection. Shortly after, stores in the US asked how they could get their hands on their vividly colored, patterned styles.

Colors: nude, white, black, bright orange, camel, brown, purple, tobacco.

Materials: cashmere, poplin, leather, ponte, linen, suede, crochet, silk, chiffon

Loved Looks

Photos: WWD/Giovanni Giannoni

Photos: WWD/Giovanni Giannoni

Photos: WWD/Giovanni Giannoni

"Spring is about beauty and classics with a thoroughly modern twist and styles that are simple with ease"  says Tibi designer Amy Smilovic. The jumpsuits in this collection were among looks I loved in this collection, especially the tobacco colored one with the brown leather detailed trim.  The cow printed flat oxfords will shine in department and online store, as well as the sexy applique cut out dress.

Unloved Looks

Photos: WWD/Giovanni Giannoni

Jamar says: I literally gasped when I seen the large paisley print dresses and separates, not so cool.

Amber says: Ha, I can totally picture you in mid-dramatic gasp.

Music

Javier Peral

People and Scene

Tibi was a show that we all kind of know what to expect from; feminine, wearable, and of course stylish.  This reflected in its attendees, you could tell they were faithful to the Tibi aesthetic, yet one attendee you wouldn't think would live up to or in Tibi at all was Olivia Paleremo from MTV's The City. She graced their front row causing a stir of emotions for the shows devoted fans, giving the show some youthful cred.

By Jamar Graham for Fashion Funhouse Emporium. Jamar attended New York's Parsons School of Design. He's worked for leader in trend and industry analysis, WGSN and as a stylist assistant. Currently runs his own blog called Treated Material. He is also launching his own clothing line to be announced soon.