Your Art In H&M: The Search For T-Shirt Talent Is On

YM Ousley — Sun, 01 May 2011 12:24:09 +0000

On a worldwide level, we can’t think of any retailer who can compete with H&M’s collaborations, and now they’re opening that up to aspiring artists and designers through their Your Art Here contest.

In addition to joining the ranks of the celebrities who contribute designs each year for the H&M collaboration with Designers Against AIDS, and people like Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz (you may have heard of a little collection between the two), five pieces will be chosen to grace the front of t-shirts sold in H&M’s US stores. Winning artists will also receive a $500 gift card, a $2000 stipend and a window display at H&M’s 42nd Street New York store.

“The 25 pieces with the most votes will be showcased to our esteemed panel of judges who will use their expertise to choose the top 5.”

And who are these esteemed judges? The jury includes Bryan Boy (side note: what fashion jury isn’t he on these days? At this rate, we expect to see a BryanBoy episode of Project Runway, America’s Next Top Model and possibly RuPaul’s Drag Race soon), Fashion Bomb editor Claire Sulmers, Allison McNamara of FabSugar TV, Mark Schoneveld of YVYNYL and Alexander Gilkes of the forthcoming online art startup Paddle8.

So if your t-shirt art needs a bigger stage than Threadless, or you just prefer the idea of starting a conversation out with “when I collaborated with H&M…” click on over and make your mark. Good luck!

Hot Tranny Best: Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington and Tavi Done In Drag

YM Ousley — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:27:02 +0000

Racked spotted this editorial titled The Devil Wears AnnaÂ on Frockwriter and we had to share. Originally appearing in one of the first issues ofÂ transversal magazine Candy, this is the type of wig and makeup show that demonstrates a bit of originality. Ahem,Â Kanye West Monster maker, take note.

We think they’re dolls (or good candidates, at least), but drag versions of Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani sitting next to Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington and Tavi Gevinson are pretty fun too. Have to say that there’s one glittery blog star missing from the lineup though: how do you do a tranny tribute and not include one paying homage to Bryan Boy? That aside, there’s something about seeing a version of Anna Wintour with hairy arms that’s endearing.

View more photos from the editorial at Frockwriter.

Fashion’s Night Out: The Top 10 Events for Celeb Seekers

YM Ousley — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:43:16 +0000

Last year we covered Fashion’s Night Out from Paris, where we caught up with Carine Roitfeld, to London and New York. Each city was an overall success in terms of bringing out the shoppers, but the feel of each event was distinctly different. The Paris Fashion Celebration Night focused exclusively on the high end merchants along the Triangle D’Or (Golden Triangle – the area along Avenue Montaigne, George V and Champs-ElysÃ©es). Roitfeld made it clear that small and luxe was more in keeping with Paris Vogue’s reader, and this year has the same list of merchants. Aside from Vogue editors, who are fashion stars in their own right, there weren’t many big names tied to the events.

Allowing the clothes to be the stars of the evening certainly has its merits, but we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that we’re pretty excited about the madness that will surely accompany the more inclusive New York event. In Paris, there was champagne, cotton candy and chocolate fondue depending on which store you stopped at, but New York promises to pull out all the stops: celebrities, designers and shopping specials to go along with your champagne.

Still, everyone has a different shopping personality. An Olsen twin and throngs of fans waiting for an opportunity to meet their favorite designer might be a dream shopping trip for some, and an absolute nightmare for others. With that in mind, we’ve gone through the hundreds of events on the Fashion’s Night Out website so far and narrowed them down to the top 10 events by shopping personality. Today, we take a look at the must-attend events for those who like a bit of celebrity with their shopping. In the coming days, we’ll cover events for those who prefer something more low key, downtown style, fashion, fashion and more fashion and the girl who just wants to have fun.

The Starlet

Big and flashy is how you roll. If anyone asks “who are you wearing?” you’ve got a list of famous names on the tip of your tongue. Celebrities, designers and hundreds of adoring fans? You couldn’t come up with a better shopping scenario.

ASOS.com

Who: Singer VV Brown and 90210 actress Shenae Grimes

What: A pop-up store and block party for Teen Vogue

Where: West Village, 10014 (right around the corner from Anna)

Barney’s

Who: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Daphne Guiness, Alexander Wang, the Mulleavy sisters (Rodarte), Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough (Proenza Schouler), Island Records founder Chris Blackwell

What: More meet and greets than you can shake a stick at, ping-pong, musical chairs and karaoke among other activities.

Where: 660 Madison Ave

Bergdorf Goodman

Who: Mary J. Blige, Nicole Richie, designer turned Hollywood producer Tom Ford, Victoria Beckham, Tinsley Mortimer, Olympic fencer Tim Morehouse, Georgina Bloomberg, First Lady favorite Jason Wu, Bryan Boy, Hamish Bowles, Robert Verdi, Thom Browne, Mark Badgley and James Mischka (Badgley Mischka) and Trish Mc Evoy among others.

What: A makeup artist competition, catwalk show and karaoke. And Tom Ford. Honestly, we’d have this on our “must attend list” if it were watching Tom Ford fill out spreadsheets.

Where: 754 5th Ave. (at 58th Street)

Billionaire Boys Club / Ice Cream

Who: Reclusive producer/entertainer Pharell Williams, who isn’t one to make lots of public appearances.

What: A meet and greet, plus special items from the collection available only on September 10th.

Where: 456 West Broadway

Bloomingdale’s

Who: Michael Kors, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Lancome spokesmodels Elettra Wiedemann and Arlenis Sosa

What: Karaoke, tango lessons, cooking demos and a casino night

Where: 1000 3rd Ave.

Destination Maternity

Who: Model and Project Runway host Heidi Klum

What: A retrospective of maternity wear from the 1950s through today. If there’s anyone who knows about looking good when pregnant, it’s definitely the model mother of 4. Retro snacks and mocktails will also be available.

Where: 28 East 57th St.

Henri Bendel

Who: The City star Olivia Palermo, model Erin Wasson, the Fabulous Beekman Boys and possibly Kaiser Karl (though it’s not entirely clear from the description if Lagerfeld will be in attendance, or merely the designer behind a special collection for Swarovski)

What: Astrology readings (at a fee, which will go to charity), a demo of the Lustr iPhone shopping app and jewelry launches.

Where: 712 5th Ave.

Jeffrey New York

Who: Christina Ricci, L’Wren Scott (designer and girlfriend of Mick Jagger), Jason Wu, Nicholas Kirkwood

What: A denim event and menswear trunk show, limited edition Proenza Schouler messenger bags.

Where: 449 West 14th St.

Lord & Taylor

Who: Noted fashion photographer, and America’s Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker, New York Jets cheerleaders for the guys, Shoshanna Gruss, Lloyd Boston

What: A “Wheel of Fashion” and prize draws on each floor, meet and greets, salsa dancing and even dating advice if your retail therapy is inspired by romance.

Where: 424 5th Ave.

Macy’s Herald Square

Who: Joss Stone, Kimora Lee Simmons, TRAIN, Rachel Roy, Jessica Stam, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson

What: a Gucci fragrance launch, meet and greets, a lookbook shoot, Tommy Hilfiger tailgate party and live music performances

Where: 151 West 34th St.

Bryan Boy – Signature9