Fashion Funhouse Emporium

Charlotte Ronson

Jamar, Fashion Funhouse Emporium's fashion week correspondent is often snagged and photographed by street photographers for his unique and edgy style. He headed to the Charlotte Ronson show for me. He gives us his rundown after the Introduction below.

Charlotte Ronson has a loyal following. As mentioned every season, her price points never teeter from where she started combining quality with her signature bohemian style.  Recently its not just America that's been showing her love. In the Fall of 2010, Ronson signed a deal to open stores throughout China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Macau. She even staged her first runway show in China.

Colors: blue, black, taupe, grey, red, ivory, silver, orange rust, fuchsia, mint.

Materials: denim, cotton, linen, jersey, lace, chiffon

Loved Looks:

View Full Collection on Style.com

Ronson paired soft cotton linens and knits cotton jersey, lace and soft silk chiffon along side denim to ultimately tie the collection together.  There was a distinct prairie feel to it. Like other designers who just don't want to be too sweet, she had to add "edge" with the belts used as choker collars. The crochet details also seemed to raise a few eyebrows, in a good way though. Midi length skirts were ramped as well as cute little lace dresses with cropped knit sweaters over them.

Unloved Looks:

Some of the elements of the collection can come off as done before (cough*overalls*cough) especially in Ronson's past seasons. Though, that doesn't mean they wont sell come spring. Stick with what works.

People, Music and Scene:

Lincoln Center shows are always a frenzy of press, random celebrities, and fashion laggards, and that's no exception for the Charlotte Ronson show. Every season its a madhouse with as many celebs they can manage to pack in. Kelly Osborn and Angela Simmons looking all BFF (Dad Russell was there too.) Joy Bryant, Audrina Partridge, Elie Goulding and Nickly Hilton sat front row. Some chicks from SNL were there: Nasid  Pedrad and Abby Elliot (daughter of  Woogie from Something about Mary- Chris Elliot). Socialite Peaches Geldof sitting next to a bored looking man friend. Also, whats A Charlotte Ronson show without a family aspect? Mom Ann Dexter Jones was there looking lovely as was half-sister Annabelle. Samantha also took part, although safely tucked behind the decks.

Rating:

Two out of four Karl Lagerfelds

Vivienne Tam is one of the more established shows you'll see here. Her runway show was one of the first I ever attended. As an intern back in 2006, when swag bags made it past the first three rows, I was so excited to walk out of her show blown away by the beautifully feminine garments how (and with a red floral embroidered make-up bag that I still use 5 years later).

Tam's Eastern inspired clothing hasn't changed much since 1994, proving that she knows what works and sells for the woman she designs for. She started an Asian inspired craze in which other designers tried to imitate. Some of the pieces from her early collection were given a home in my hometown of Pittsburgh at the Andy Warhol museum, among others like FIT. What has changed is that she is now a lifestyle brand.

Tam has always been on the cutting edge of technology.  Long before she collaborated with HP on the clutch book, she designed phone cases for Motorola she's partnered with Stardolls in a virtual online clothing boutique for teens and has participated in designing the costumes for an animated film.

She's also established herself as a personality having been a judge on The Fashion Show and Project runway and is an author of the book "China Chic."

Colors: navy, black, shades of blue and a dash of red

Materials: wool, tweed, chiffon, silk, knits

Loved Looks

View the full collection on Style.com

Where some critics may feel she pulls out too many of the stops, I didn't mind so much. Its her thing. If you can do multiple back flips without falling, then why not? Though I suppose showing off can tire some. Her knits and simple crop pants were main stream ready, but have details that make them a bit more interesting than your average department store sweater. But then again, if you own your own stores around the world, then why not get crazy with the embellishments?

Unloved Looks

Some pieces went a bit too crazy to the point of confusion. Sometimes one less element is a good thing.

People, Scene, Music

The show was at one of the larger venues in the Lincoln Center tents. I wondered why it was so large, but then again, Vivienne Tam embraced bloggers long before designers thought it was cute to have Tavi and Bryanboy attend their shows. Yes, Bryanboy was there, along with a contestant from The Fashion Show, who was telling his story with teary eyes to the girl in the seat next to him. Model Petra Nemcova was there, surrounded by photographers. An older lady in a crocheted vest next to me asked if I knew who she was as if hosting some fashion show celeb spotting tour. I pretended I didn't speak English. Kidding. I told her. Angela Simmons daughter of Rev Run of Run DMC, Reshma Shetty, Eric West, Nigel Barker, Sisalee Lopez  and one of the chicks from one of the seasons from The Bachelor weren't the only unrecognizable yet recognizable people there. What was cool about this show was the big screen, which I've never seen in operation at these rock-arena style shows. It gave ample viewing to those of us in the back rows. My Shazam app picked up the groove on the song Ay Ay Ay by Duke Reid and Nora Dean.

Video

Karl-head Rating

What the hell does this mean? View Fashion Funhouse Emporium's Karl-head rating system!

I'll be cramming some new blogs here very soon. There are good things to come. September Issues, Weird Fashion Stories of August, and yes, I know Lanvin is collaborating with H&M. You can read my commentary on that soon, but that's not what I meant when I asked if there would be a Lanvin diffusion line. No. Certainly not.

Of course there will be New York Fashion Week coverage from Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Lincoln Center, Milk Studios shows, and off site as well.

For Twitter updates, you can follow the blog at Amber_Stolec. I will be adding the hash tag #ffemporium and #nyfw in case you miss anything!

For Facebook updates, Fan the Fashion Funhouse Emporium page.

Last, become Fashion Funhouse Emporium's Follower here OnSugar! Its on the right side of the page. You don't even have to leave the page, you lazy asses.

There are plenty of new faces, or at least collections I should be familiar with. I'm both scared for my feet and body with 10 hour days in heels, but I'm also excited and hope to see some spectacular designs. Lets just hope I don't hit a wall (literally) like last season.

Read Coverage from Past Seasons