“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

The Spring 11 shows came to a close in Milan, and overall there were great, sexy, safe collections sprinkled in with those few designers that love…and are committed to…Manzies. There were noticeably less mandals than last year, more blue than black and less quirky man-hats, which makes me very happy. Yes, there were Mad Men, but more along the likes of Coo-Coo, rather than Jon Hamm lookalikes. The Milan Maznie Report ends by featuring these few designers who we can live happily ever after…without.… Read More »

OK kids, are you ready? Disclaimer: This entry is not a joke. Unless we have all been duped or punked and this is the first episode of Fashion Candid Camera. Presenting a new menswear collection by Umit Benan. It is literally, the most hysterical thing, unless they are really serious, and then in that case, I want to do an interview with Mr. Benan…stat. Because really…it doesn’t get better than this. Without further ado…check out the looks of this Turkish designer’s what-cha-ma-call-it, because frankly, I cannot refer to this as a “collection”. Or maybe we can just call it “The… Read More »

Dame Vivienne Westwood is a force of nature. She presents her avant garde collections in virtually every market on Earth. Mens’ in Milan, women’s in Paris, combo platter in London, Hong Kong Fashion Week and, if I’m not mistaken, she has featured the Anglomania collection in the United States. Last season her theme was “The Homeless” and judging by some of the looks from Spring 11, that message carries through. Homeless or perhaps even a bit crazy? You tell me. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BBbVdiqK20… Read More »

Thom Browne took to the bike lanes with a breezy, cool collection for spring. As a long time bike rider, his homage to cyclists everywhere was refreshing and welcome. Usually I find more things wrong with Thom’s runway collections than right, but I am happy to report that this time around there were more wearable looks than not. Naturally, what’s a Manzie Report without a few good manzies, and with Browne’s theatrical penchant for showing more looks than necessary, there has to be a few bombs in the line-up and here they are. Calvin Klein had a few doozies, too.… Read More »

Jil Sander was always the epitome of cool, chic, sophisticated, clean lines, muted palette. Perhaps that was when Jil Sander was actually Jil Sander. That story has turned upside down. The German-born designer, Sander, is now designing for Japan-based Uniqlo and Belgian-born Raf Simmons is at the helm of the Milan-based headquarters of Jil Sander, who sold out to Muccia Prada, which ultimately pissed off Jil Sander, causing her to split, hence her current deal with Uniqlo. The saving grace for Jil Sander in this scenario, as opposed to what happened to Halston when he sold the rights to his… Read More »

The Milan Men’s Shows are under way and we are off to a “two snaps up” start. The few looks by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen are very promising indeed. There is one trench coat (above) that is really great, but coupled with my father’s Long Johns, well, it’s her first outing so I will be kind. Today let’s just trash look at the new collection by Haider Ackermann, whose collection was inspired by the film Lost In Translation…only in that the models are lost in gobs of fabric. Lost being the operative word here. And we’re off. Stay tuned… Read More »

The highlight of the Tony Awards show last night was not the musical numbers, but just how great so many of the women looked as they sashayed onto the wet red carpet. It is odd that the women of the the-A-ter outshone the women in fashion, when you look at the recent CFDA Not Best Dressed Awards. Here are the best and worst of the last night’s lot, in no particular order.… Read More »

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ko2_iWUwMI… Read More »

Merle Ginsberg (Editor-in-Cheif, fashionrules.com) and I continue our cross continental SKYPE dialogue and compare notes on the CFDA Awards. MERLE: Shall we start with worst dressed? ABE: Is there a better place to start? How about the Olsen Twins? MERLE: Dumpster chic. ABE: I saw this fantastic video look book that The Row did on style.com, it featured nothing like those schmattas. They are such fashion icons….why I don’t know…but they are and they never get the red carpet down. MERLE: They are too young and too thin, to hide under all this fabric at a black tie. I also… Read More »

Last year at this time, I MEAN…WHAT?!? launched the Not Best Dressed Awards. It was fitting that the kick-off center around the CFDA Awards, where everyone in the room should just know better. After my initial shock at some the choices, I decided that the ones who were worst dressed had the least friends. OR, they were so feared, that no one dare contradict their choices. This year again, we see shocking taste in a room filled with taste-makers. These people are oxy-morons. Sure, I have been guilty of “Do as I say, not as I do”, but on a… Read More »