Watch those hands!

(Photos from Style.com)

Disturbing, yet awesome.

By one of my constant favorites, Hussein Chalayan Spring 2010.

Fashion's Night Out, NYFW, IFB Dress Up Soiree

Hello hello! So it's sort of been forever, I know. Last week was NYFW and I was busy trying to balance school work and fashion week volunteering! I also was able to attend the amazing IFB Dress Up Soiree, but more about that later...

My week began with Fashion's Night out. Unfortunately things did not go as planned. I had class until 9 and by then most of the activities I wanted to go to had died down. I even waited at Barney's with some friends next to The Row hoping MK&A would go up there, but alas they did not. Then we tried finding the Opening Ceremony & Teen Vogue block parties but failed miserably. We did get to see Isabel Toledo though!

Sunday night I volunteered at the Malene Grotrian show at the Metropolitan Pavilion. It was a great opportunity for a fashion week newbie like myself since it was a small show. We even got to sit down and watch, and take home a goodie bag filled with this new self-tanning mitt, lip balm, and Luna bars!

Monday morning came the Carolina Herrera show at the Tent at Bryant Park. All the volunteers, including myself, began at 7 AM by putting together the programs and straightening out the chairs. Before the show began, I was positioned as an usher a row away from Katie Grand and across from Anna Wintour and the Vogue crew. Rachel Zoe was also there...needless to say, I was a little star-struck even though I only saw them from afar. During clean-up, I swiped my first ever Daily, WWD, and a found Prabal Gurung Sharpie. No longer was I a newbie!

That night, I headed over to the Dress Up Soiree with Lizz. I cannot even begin to describe what an experience that was...getting to see and meet some of the bloggers that inspired me to start blogging in the first place! It was especially great hearing the panel; as each blogger went on, I finally decided what I wanted My Polychrome Life to be about. Stay tuned for some changes :)

Wednesday evening I headed back to Bryant Park to help out backstage at Doo.Ri. Let me just say that was one of the best experiences I have had thus far in this industry. Everyone was so patient and friendly, the models were the cutest ever!, and the clothes were just incredible. I have never once wanted to own everything in a single collection; I need everything from Doo.Ri Spring 2010.

My week of craziness ended with a short trip to CT and then coming back and being a goof with Lizz. Now it's off to the Teen Vogue/Clinique Fresh Faces event...

BFF

While checking out The Uniform Project {a daily obsession}, I saw that Tara St.James had donated a piece for the project. I had to check out her Etsy -The Square Project by Daily Jumpsuit- and found this perfect "friendship" bracelet that is now on my wishlist...

In other news--I really miss Italy and I don't understand why Anna won The Fashion Show.

Patafisic

One of my favorite parts of college {I have learned} are the guest lectures and field trips. Yesterday, Brenda Cecchi came to lecture in my Fashion Marketing class about her knitwear label "Patafisic."

Brenda and her business partner started Patafisic in 1995 in Florence, Italy as an interior design/fashion/architecture company. As many know, Italy has an incredible history with knitwear; some of the best textile fairs in the world stem from Prato and Florence, and most production remains inside Italy from start to finish.
{Up until the early 1990s, 90% of knitwear around the world was produced in Italy}

In 1994, before they named and really began their company, the Patafisic team developed a DIY sweater kit comprised of tubular knits, a pattern, pins, a crochet hook, and yarn. It won a huge prize in Italy which led to Isetan buying the kit to sell in their stores around Japan.

The basis behind using tubular {and rectangular} knitwear to create clothing is to create as little waste as possible. Every pattern for the DIY kits, as well as the clothing they eventually manufactured used solely regtangular knitted tubes, sewn and folded together like origami. Think about how progressive such a concept was in the mid-90s! Patafisic was way ahead of their time.

In 2000, Patafisic began to show in Paris where the niche market for the avant-garde was at the time {and still pretty much is!}. While mass produced, each piece is unique: it is hand cut, hand sewn, and hand dyed, and the design team oversees every single part of production.
{After experimenting with the overseas market in the early 2000s, they decided to keep their production in Italy so that it could be more closely monitered and ensure much better quality}

Patafisic embraces a "slowly wear" concept -- they believe in clothing that will last a lifetime, not RTW, not "wear and throw away", and not "wear, throw away, buy again."

Brenda compared Patafisic's conceptual designs to MMM, but I also immediately thought of Harputs OWN because many of Patafisic's collections can be worn in a variety of ways.

Unfortunately, only two collections are shown on their site {you need a password to see the rest} and the mid-2000s were my favorites. Here are a few photos from their recent collections:

Fall/Winter 2008-2009

Spring/Summer 2009

Brenda told us that in a month, Patafisic will have an online store! Their pieces begin at 250 Euros but remember, they are meant to last a lifetime and can be worn in different ways.

Dark Lips

Hussein Chalayan Fall/Winter 2009

I really fell in love with this shade of lip color while watching Hussein Chalayan's latest runway show. I know, I know--it's not anything new. But it looked so fresh with the models' sleek hair and primarily black, fitted wardrobe.

I also feel like I've mentioned my secret affinity for dark lips before. So if I have, I'm just reminding you.

Photos from Style.com

Sexyback

Alexander Wang - Pre Fall '09 Favorites

Unzip my Heart

While I was eating lunch yesterday, our apartment lost internet which is sad, but happens at least once a day. Not knowing what else to occupy my meal time with, I decided to watch Style.com fashion shows on my iTunes. Ironic, yes (models...mashed potatoes...)

Any how, one collection that really caught my eye was Versace Spring 2009. The clothes were structural, yet feminine. But what really made me gawk were the hearts formed out of zippers sewn onto the dresses. I always love hearing the concepts behind a collection, but that one is great.

Detail Shots

All photos from Style.com

How much longer until spring? I want to make a heart zipper dress!