“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Let me be the first, well, perhaps the second person to congratulate Macy’s for doing a fashion-focused series of collaborations to generate heat and foot traffic. The newest collab is with Giambattista Valli for Impulse. All I can say is that creating fashion designer collaborations sure beats the celebrity-turned-designer nonsense from seasons past. Sure, Jessica Simpson is a billion dollar brand, but there will always be exceptions to every rule. With the demise of the Sarah Jessica Parker for Halston hullabaloo, maybe the fashion industry can rejoice and enjoy fashion designers again. And while I am at it, perhaps with… Read More »

With the new, improved I Mean…What?!? look, we are expanding our content to feature emerging designers and charities, which in some cases is the same thing. In the coming weeks we will also start a section called I Mean What’s Cooking?!? featuring recipes from all sorts of groovy people. Surely you will continue to receive your daily dose of what’s not quite right in the world of fashion, celebrity and politics, but I wanted to let you know what is in store for the coming season as I Mean What begins its next phase. For now, I’d like to draw your… Read More »

Gee, tell me something that I couldn’t have told you over a year ago when the Halston land grab was originally getting under way. Women’s Wear Daily reports that Sarah Jessica Parker and Harvey Weinstein are out at Halston. Why isn’t anyone saying, “Why were they in, in the first place?” The celebrity fashion designer phenomenon was in full boom right after the economy tanked and by 2010, there were more celebrities hawking schmattas then members of the CFDA. My guess is that all it takes are two lame seasons and the proof is in the pudding. Sure, there will… Read More »

Having worked in fundraising for wonderful charities, it is with a heavy heart  to learn about the horrendous scam circling Madonna‘s now ill-conceived school for girls in Malawi. I say ill-conceived because if this project was properly structured, with vigorous oversight, then 3.8 million dollars would not have vanished. Who is to blame? Surely the Executive Director, Philippe van den Bossche, who became involved with Madonna’s trainer, Tracy Anderson, in the middle of the project. Now it makes sense why Madonna fired her “celebrity trainer ass“. Now, someone tell me how a 15 million dollar project allows for a 3.8… Read More »

The fashion industry is like network television. You can keep changing the channels, only to find utter nonsense filling the airwaves. In that same vain, you can go from fashion show to fashion show only to find utter nonsense filling the runways. The job of an editor these days, besides batting off the fashion bloggers for your prime seat, is to live through endless presentations that are simply a waste of time fotz. Anyone who wants to jump on board for the schmatta business these days, like Madonna and every other celebrity it seems, has to be completely nuts. When… Read More »

Help…I am drowning in a pool schmattas designed by celebrities. Someone throw me a line…and not a line designed by a celebrity. Unless you have been living under a rock, you would have noticed that a slew of celebrities have taken to multitasking, branding, adding layers to their illustrious careers by cultivating their secret childhood fantasies of becoming fashion designers. Literally every week I report on another astonishing member of this new clan of celebrities, who we can lovingly call brand whores. Every entertainment management firm is out there selling their talent to anyone that will pay anything, in an… Read More »

In today’s Women’s Wear Daily, the discussion is whether New York deserves a Men’s Fashion Week, similar to those in Milan and Paris. Listening to the argument, one has to side with the reality that New York needs one in order for these designers to compete with the international business cycle. Naturally I MEAN WHAT?!? has a different agenda, and are voting in favor of New York Manzie Week. Imagine how much fun we will have, especially with the next series of shows being Spring 11, when light frothy outfits come tra-la-la-ing down the runway on gossamer wings. (Note: Whoever… Read More »

There are some things we should not stand for, and horrible fashion is one of them. Celebrity designers is another thing, but let’s stick with today’s program, which is horrible fashion shown in irrelevant cities that host Fashion Weeks. Let me start with Williamsburg Fashion Weekend. At least Brooklyn knows they could never sustain a week (or a day) but that does not excuse their vain, sad, little attempt to make their fashion mark. Yeah, yeah, Williamsburg is amazing…if you live there. Say what you want, but Williamsburg is better in theory. But this ongoing desperate attempt to prove that… Read More »

Twice this week, Cathy Horyn from The New York Times Style Section has mentioned Zoe Saldana in relation to attending New York Fashion Week events and in both cases…she got it wrong. How does that happen? Cathy Horyn is like the goddess of The New York Times Style. Her sensual, melodic voice recapping each the season’s collections lulls me into a trance that makes me remember why I love fashion. But girl…stop referring to celebrities. It is beneath you. And (B) at least get your facts straight. EXHIBIT A: Tommy Hilfiger had the last word at Fashion Week, closing the… Read More »

Madonna is finally jumping into the fashion business?!? I knew that she was hankering to become a schmatta peddler for years but was waiting for the right time and the right deal. And I guess this is it. There is no time like the present and there’s no place like Macy’s…though I wish she would just stay home. Anyone who is anyone that reads I MEAN…WHAT?!? knows how obsessed I am with this whole celebrity-turned-designer quagmire that we find ourselves in. And not obsessed like “I am obsessed with my Sarah Jessica Parker for Halston number” but more like, “Can… Read More »