Fashion Funhouse Emporium

Mik Cire bills its self as "alternative men's designer clothing"  Now a days, not much is alternative since there are so many choices and styles in which anything goes. Though, Mik Cire does have a certain look that repeats season after season. Perhaps they should adopt the tag line "Bad ass men's designer clothing."

Colors: Black, gray, one lone red leather jacket

Materials: leather, cotton, shearling, knit

Loved Looks

© Fashion Wire Press, Ed Kavishe

The clothes from this Fall's looked very much like last Fall's Dirty Harry collection. That's my name for it, by the way, not his. But it works. Its sexy. This straight girl thinks so and so did the two gay gentlemen sitting next to me who were cat calling every time a new guy walked out. Kim's clothes are the perfect balance between the guy who still sports a Nirvana tee under a flannel and the guy who piles on Brooks Brothers three-piece suit. Mik Cire is not too stuffy and not too dirty. This guy could kick your ass...only if he wanted to.

© Fashion Wire Press, Ed Kavishe

I loved that he brought back the spats, suspenders and that even though the majority of the pieces were black, subtle details like square buttons made taliored jackets more interesting than simply just a blazer. Because of lack of the use of color, and sticking more to assorted shades of gray, this line could suit rockers well. Whenever we have a photo-shoot dude musicians for magazines or what not, they always bring a bunch of thier own clothes to show us--and guess what? All black. Perhaps Mik Cire would fair well with his own stand alone boutique in the LES or stores that carry lines like John Varvatos.

Unloved Looks

I was hoping to see less repetition of last falls looks. For no other reason except that I really loved the line the first time I saw it. I was really expecting Kim to bring it way over the top of Fall 2010's collection.

People, Scene, Music

It was an interesting assorted crowd for 4pm on a cold Saturday afternoon. Lauren Ezersky looked rocking in her black skull cap and leather jacket. Miss Jay Alexander sassin' it up, Micheal Musto, Eric West (is he related to Kanye? I'm so out of the loop) and Shannon Elizabeth sat front row. Music was a remix by John Brown of Starfield by The New Division.

Video

Karl-head Rating

What the hell is this? View Fashion Funhouse Emporiums Karl-head rating system!

MIMI PLANGE

Born in Ghanaian, Mimi Plange started her line in 2007 with a design mission to make clothes that marry sportswear with haute culture.  For the Fall 2011 season, "The Scarred Perfection" collection was inspired by the ancient practice of African Tribal Scarification.

Colors: Bright Orange, neutral tones, black

Materials: Satin, Leather, Mohair, Wool, Cotton and Silk

Looks Loved:

With linear patterns, pleating and embellishments, she translated body scarring tribal identification-which seems taboo to some into beautiful clothing that is not at all alienating.

The mohair-wool blend cape with leather embellishments was beyond chic, and I wanted to grab it and run, especially since it was only 18 degrees out. The model was adorable too, posing for me and my tiny point and shoot camera amongst gargantuan pro photo gear.

Looks Unloved:

Nothing in this presentation stood out to me giving me that "Gah!" reaction. The only comment I could make is that I spent time studying the dresses and separates that I did love. If nothing out of place jumped out, then the pieces were cohesive. One dress may have been less interesting than the other intricately, well tailored looks that I did love. It's hard to tell that Mimi Plange has been working on her line for only four years.

People, Scene and Music:

Relatively quiet and like the clothing, the mood was elegant. People consisted of mostly professional photographers dressed in black. In the back of the venue, a few clusters of people took advantage of some complimentary drinks. Though, no one seemed to be at the point of uncontrollable voice projection.

There were strange bubbling bowls of water, which I assume may have been dry ice for that beauties in the mist feel. If it was in fact for a steamy ambiance, I missed that part by the time I reached the venue. Models were stationary, I kind of wished they would have rotated at least once while I was there, but again, they may have. No one was waiting for this bloggers grand appearance.

Music was provided by DJ Puppa Sacha, with nothing Shazam identifiable.

Read Essense Magazine's Q & A with Mimi Plange

Read More about Mimi Plange's Fall 2011 inspiration at DirtyDurty