Market Week: A Super-Brief Curve NY Recap

So, this recent market week, I didn't do my usual whirlwind schedule of visiting everyone. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. Invitations sent out late (like, a week before the event) and my schedule had been set for about three weeks.
2. It's a weekend in August. People travel on the weekends. And sometimes travel in buses that get stuck in traffic on the way back to the city during a torrential downpour. It's exhausting.
3. Brands are spread out. Like, way out. I applaud those who are trying to break free of the Javits Jailhouse—I mean, Convention Center—but when the main event is at the Javits, trekking out there in 90-degree weather is exhausting enough.
4. The realization that brands are paying lots of moola for a tiny booth space for 2.5 days and they need to talk to the buyers and big press, not necessarily me. I like to think that I did a good job of scooting away when real visitors came by, but now I still feel bad. Sorry guys.

So in conclusion, anyone I missed at the other hotels and other market week events, I'm sorry. But the combination of traveling that weekend and possibly being still slightly hungover from a major wedding that Saturday wasn't going to let it happen.

In addition to the few photos below, I stopped/passed by Kriss Soonik (amazing new swimwear collection), Lascivious (pops of colour!), La Fee Verte (sick prints and shorts & PJ pants), Mimi Holliday (amazing neons & color combos), Love & Dream (lovely soft basics), and Zinke (new colors for their basics and an amazing new super-versatile maxi dress). 

A little slice of awesome at ARI DEIN's booth. I want everything. There are prints. And PJ pants. And some chemises I'm dying to wear out one night. Come to me sweeties.

A gorgeous flamingo print from Beautiful Bottoms! So in love with how adorable yet chic this romper is.

BOOM. A gold bra at—who else—Marlies Dekkers. Of course the Lingerie Queen (the nickname I'm bestowing upon Marlies Dekkers) would create something as fabulous as this. It's like, Game of Thrones-body armour-esque.

And finally, yeah-yuhhhh.

CURVE NY Recap: Kriss Soonik, Catwoman

Kriss Soonik, Catwoman

I had the pleasure of meeting Kriss Soonik in person at CURVE NY last month, and I loved hearing about how she got started. Her edited collection is created with some of the best materials—stretch jerseys so soft to the touch and non-itchy lace—pretty crucial considering most of her pieces have absolute innerwear as outerwear power. She thinks about how anyone would wear her Kristel turtleneck suspender top in daily life, and she thought about how the fabric may change or shift as you sit down, stand up, walk around, fight crime, what have you. Her thought process behind her collections' function and design was fascinating to learn about, and as a non-cat person, I'll admit her kittycat logo is pretty darn cute too.

"The label has been running for three years now, but I’ve been designing lingerie for eight years now. I tested it for my 20th birthday for the first time and before that I did womenswear, and ‘cause I’m from Estonia, no one was doing lingerie, so I thought, ‘Hm, there’s a niche there’. I tried it and never looked back. 

So six years ago, I moved to London. I did my M.A. at London College of Fashion. I worked at Agent Provocateur just to get experience, to see the lingerie world inside out. And then 2009 January I jumped in. So… here I am three years later.

My favorite piece… it’s hard to say really. They’re all my babies. But I think definitely the Susan Motion Lace Body and the Suspender Top with the turtleneck because I was practically living in it all of winter this year. So those two."

Kristel Turtleneck Suspender Top

Susan Motion Lace Body

Images courtesy of Kriss Soonik

CURVE NY Recap: ARI DEIN's Got an Art Deco-Inspired Fall/Winter

Going East with ARI DEIN's Shanghai Waldorf Collection

A favorite of PLU (meaning it's one of my favorites), ARI DEIN's Fall/Winter 2012 collection is imaginative but still so true to the core of what makes ARI DEIN a standout line. Art Deco-inspired and already a wardrobe classic that doesn't rely on trends to make it desirable. I love the shimmers paired with matte silk, and the handmade knot details that add a special touch to the Shanghai Waldorf pieces. Here's a closer look at some of the pieces we saw from NYFW and Creatrice Arielle Shapiro's take on her F/W '12 efforts.

"So I was very inspired this season by the city of Shanghai, which has the largest concentration of Art Deco architecture in the world. So when I was designing this season, I wanted to think very much about the colors and the color meaning in Chinese culture. And also hand details like good luck knots and signature borders in jacquard this time instead of a plain charmeuse, so I tried to play with texture and incorporated prints for the first time in the Boutique Hotel sort of style but we updated it this season to call it the Shanghai Waldorf Collection. So it has that authentic ARI DEIN art deco and retro vibe we always go for.

One of the pieces that really helped launch ARI DEIN and brand the collection was the Boutique Hotel Collection—specifically the chemise—and every season I listen to our customer feedback and make little updates so over the past I guess now 5 seasons we’ve added darts for breast contour, sometimes we do elastic in the back of the ribcage so that we can expand the chest circumference for fit, adjustable straps, we added a second button on the side opening so that we could limit the gaping of the … I guess just the opening of the side. I’m trying to use all these fancy words! [laughs]. 

But what I really like this season is that we’ve done it in a chiffon with prints so it’s a little bit sexier. The trim is a jacquard so it has that beautiful floral texture. The strap is a double strap—it has a little skinny adjustable area in the back but then the front part is jacquard to match the rest of the piece, and we have a beautiful little cutout in the bust area. So it’s a much sexier kind of take on this really classic, sophisticated cut that we do."

CURVE NY Recap: Rad Colors & Perfect Fit at Claudette

Rad Colors and Perfect Fit at Claudette

I stopped by Claudette's booth yesterday at Curve NY and talked to Bok Goodall, Claudette's designer, to learn more about the line and why Claudette stands out. With bright hues like these, how could they not?

"So Claudette is a fashion line that goes from an A cup to a G cup we are working on up to a K cup at the moment, and the idea behind it was to make something that was really fun, fashionable but fit and gave support all the way up to a G cup but didn’t look like a traditional large cup product, so color is very, very important to us and you can see the neons, and we always contrast everything, so you never get a purely nude bra, it would always have a contrast trim. Fit is the most important thing to us—we always start at a G and then we work down if it’s going to work at a G, then we know it’s going to work at a B. so we go that way instead of trying to go the other way.

And the company is based in Los Angeles. Robin Levitt, who is the president of the company, I was introduced to her a couple years ago through a friend and I worked in the UK in lingerie the last 10 years and I sort of specialized in large cup. And we just got talking and decided ‘let’s do it’. There is definitely a niche in the market in the States for large cup product that’s fashion. We just launched in the UK where we thought it would be much more difficult since the market is so saturated—everyone loved it. And so we’ve had a great season so far.

I think the neon pieces are amazing I just think the colors are fabulous, but this is a new style, that we’re just doing for fall, which is fantastic. So it’s satin with mesh. Everything is very supportive, even these which look like there’s nothing to support you, but they do really work—we work more on fit more than anything, really."

A Lil' Story About Control Briefs

No, seriously. Control briefs. More specifically, these puppies by BodyWrap:

image via me

I saw that pair (along with a really pretty rose print pair) at CURVE last February. I loved the retro, high-waist style and the pretty prints that made them look less like the shapewear we've all come to imagine in our heads (Bridget Jones, anyone?). I'm not particularly a shapewear advocate—mostly because I feel like a lot of brands market their products as an alternative to exercising and eating healthy (hint: FALSE)—but I understand a gal's need for a smooth profile. Heck, I have a pair of these Wolfords that I wear under a maxi dress from T by Alexander Wang sometimes because the dress' cotton jersey is so thin that you can see EVERYTHING. Anyway, I loved the BodyWrap stuff and raved about how pretty it was to everyone who would listen (sorry friends).

After CURVE, the lovely PR gals for BodyWrap sent over two pairs of The Must Brief-It control briefs from their Sheer Iridesscent collection, in Organza Red and Diva Dot. After happily parading around in my apartment a few times trying them on, I knew I needed to wear them out for a night on the town. So I did. And I learned a VERY, VERY IMPORTANT lesson: DO NOT WEAR THEM WITH JEGGINGS.

Sidebar: okay, I need to explain why I was even wearing jeggings in the first place. I had started going to yoga and started losing weight to the point where all of my skinny jeans (har har) were too big. I happened to find a pair of jeggings on sale for $9.99 at Urban Outfitters and they ended up being a staple until I finally had time to hunt for new jeans.

As soon as I left my apartment I knew I was in for an interesting night, considering that every time I took a step, my jeggings started to sliiiide down my butt, since the BodyWrap briefs were so slick. I pretty much spent the rest of the night hiking up my faux-jeans every other minute, and stayed aperch a bar stool so I wouldn't have to stand around in fear that my stupid pants were slipping off millimeter by millimeter even when I was standing still.

So yeah. Get these briefs if you're a fan of high-waisted styles and general prettiness, but just don't wear them with jeggings.

The Must Brief-It, $34. Available at BodyWrap Shapewear.

A Few Snapsies from Lingerie Market Weekend NYC

Yours truly wasn't feeling too well this Sunday & Monday so I spent a couple of hours at CURVE NY on Sunday and visited Lingerie Journal's Designer Showcase on Monday rather than schlepping to the Javits Center both days. SOWWY. Anyway, here's a few photos of things I did see (and loved—but I forgot to take pictures at Clare Bare because I was so excited to see her line in person for the first time! Stay tuned for more on that). You can peep more over on Facebook!

BTS Lingerie's Airplay Babydoll

Some beautiful swimwear from SeaLion by ARI DEIN

Beautiful swim prints coming at ya from Zinke S/S 2012!

Swiss dot from Zinke S/S 2012

A striped waistband in Ombrato's flannel shorts

What is that? Teehee. From FunFactory

Super-Sweet Spring Lingerie From Zinke Intimates!

If you follow me on Twitter, you know by now that I'm SO excited for Zinke's spring collection to arrive in stores. Their lovely sales contact, Jen, sent me a lookbook a few months ago and I carried it around in my bag for at least three weeks showing it to everyone who'd let me talk about it. Finally seeing the whole collection in person at CURVE NY was the perfect way to end my Tuesday.

Inspired by Miami art deco, the gorgeous silk pieces come in bright colors that just pop! There's also their first foray into prints, an original designed by Jessie Zinke, and a cotton pointelle set to round out their spring collection. Gorgeous silk robes with a texture that looks like hammered metal, babydoll chemises that come with matching bottoms, and tees/shorts sets are all so lustworthy. I love how everything has great mix-n-match potential, as well as for layering!

See? Such pretty colors!

Arin Robinson & Jessie Zinke, sisters and creators of Zinke Intimates

Shelley bralet & panty in chartreuse! Also comes in flamingo (pink) and pool (blue).

The Leslie bralet & panty in flamingo. I want this in chartreuse! Okay, also in flamingo, let's be serious. This bra would be great under a Seneca print babydoll to wear out during the summer!

The Catalina bralet and panty in pool, but in cotton pointelle. I asked Arin if more cotton pieces were in the works, but it's doubtful due to rising cotton prices.

The Seneca print romper! HOW CUTE IS THIS? Sorry about the caps lock, I really love this. Can't wait for the bralet & panty to arrive in stores. I told Arin & Jessie that I'd love to have sheets with this print. I'm hoping it'll happen someday.

 And a special lacy peek at what's in store for Fall...

See more photos on the Pretty Little Underthings' Facebook page!

Previously: Intimate Interview with Arin Robinson & Jessie Zinke of Zinke Intimates

CURVE NY: Day 1 Highlights

Thanks to the encouragement of Brulee Lingerie's Kristian Giambi, I registered as press for CURVE NY  to preview the A/W 2011 collections. Yesterday was day one, and as a first-timer, it was definitely interesting. I didn't have cards on me (slap on the hand for that one), so thank goodness that people recognized the name of my blog, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to take as many photos as I did, especially at Eberjey.

These are just a couple of pieces that really caught my eye yesterday, and stay tuned tomorrow for today's recap (hint: PLU favorites ARI DEIN, Zinke & BTS Lingerie!).

La Fee Verte

There were so many gorgeous pieces for A/W 2011 from La Fee Verte! I wanted to take pictures of all of them, but you'll just have to wait. Lots of lacy pieces, but also some gorgeous colorblocked silk pieces that come in different color combos.

This French lace bodysuit is so dreamy. It comes in different colors too, but I adored the soft pink/nude combo.

It's like a sheer, intricate, gorgeous spiderweb all over your bitties. Yes, I said bitties, what?

Affinitas Intima

I was walking by the Affinitas booth and was drawn in by this bright rose-print bra. Definitely my favorite from the spring collection!

BodyWrap Sheer Iridesscent

So you guys know that I don't really write about shapewear, but holy moly these are adorbs! I saw these prints in a catalog a few months ago, but today was the first time I got to see them in person. I'm not gonna lie, I would totally wear these—the yellow pair is just so cheery and I love the print, and the rose print is a bit more dramatic but not musty feeling. 

Eberjey

So right before I saw this swimwear at Eberjey, I saw some at Huit that I thought was cute. Then I saw this swimwear rack and made a beeline for it before I realized it was Eberjey (I guess I just naturally have good taste, haha... just kidding, kind of). I asked a rep if I could take photos and she said, "Only if you give me a card." ...aaand I kind of froze (and berated myself in my head for not getting my cards settled sooner), until she saw my badge and read the name of my blog and said, "Oh! I love your blog! Go ahead," which was pretty nice to hear.

I. Want.

I want this too. Who's gonna stock it?!

I've learned my lesson with white swimsuits - good for laying out but not great for the sand and beaches, but I thought this was just so simple and pretty that I may just break my "no more white swimwear" rule and go with it.

All in all, it was a really interesting day and I got to see the full ranges of a lot of brands that I normally only see select pieces from, like Arlotta Cashmere and Huit. Stella McCartney, Marlies Dekkers, Mimi Holliday/Damaris, Only Hearts and Simone Perele were perpetually busy, and none of them had a free minute whenever I passed by. Tuesday should be interesting, so stay tuned for today's recap!