“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 »

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 »

Oy, poor Lindsay Lohan. I was pleased that they were giving her a second chance at Emanuel Ungaro. That was reported a while back anyway. I just read in Women’s Wear Daily that Lindsay was nowhere to be found this morning at the fashion show. The dish I got from my sources was that Mounir Moufarrige, a known sycophant, wanted to be near Lindsay, and soak up some of that paparazzi glow, so he signed her as the Creative Director at Ungaro last year. Apparently, people who were intimately involved in some of those meetings and dinners were breching (vomiting… Read More »

As we close another season of New York Fashion Week, I thought it most fitting to drag my poem “Fashion Is” out of the mothballs, which was written in 1986 and feels as current as a review from one of the many fashion blogs out there. My point is that nothing really changes. Good taste is always in style and what looks good now will look good in another 20 years. FASHION IS Fashion is—what fashion was, It’s just that it’s “in fashion”. And passion is—what passion was, And that too is “in fashion”. Designers choose the state of art,… Read More »

Somebody stick a fork in me to see if I am totally cooked. The Story of the Week in Women’s Wear Daily is Fashion Video Games Target Female Customers. How depressing is that? The big news, in addition to the fact that it’s bad news from my vantage point, is that Project Runway is doing a video game. Yes, now you too can have hours of fun booting people out of the house, designing nonsense, and hearing Hedi Klum say “auf wiedersehen” from the comfort of your couch…all day long. Don’t get me wrong, I love Heidi and the TV… Read More »

The Story of the Week in Women’s Wear Daily is about the beauty brand MARK selling their wares via Facebook. Do you really want to add another layer to your already meaningless visit to Facebook? Precious time that does not include reconnecting with your 8th grade friends…those who have gained all sorts of weight and are stuck in Podunk, reaching out to you for those last vestiges of a life? I didn’t think so. Look, I could be proven totally wrong here, but I am not convinced that Facebook is the place to shop. Not for me anyway. Facebook is… Read More »

You gotta love Clint Eastwood for calling it as he sees it in the December issue of  GQ, “We’re becoming more juvenile as a nation…now, we have a bunch of teenage twits.” Oh no you didn’t, Dirty Harry. To Clint’s point: You don’t have to be 79 years old to see that our childish fascination with pedestrian nobodies is why perhaps his new movie Invictus, Nelson Mandela‘s true story with the South African rugby team that helped usher the country out of apartheid, might have a challenge finding an audience. So, what better tactic than to call us all a… Read More »

Michelle Obama is fierce…but…not everything she wears works. Today’s New York Daily News did a pictorial on “Michelle’s Smashing Summer Style”. Now, I will be the first to say that Michelle is fierce…she has had quite a few sensational looks since entering the Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List. But like every other human, one can not be flawless 365 days out of the year. Unless you are Blaine Trump or Carolina Herrera. That said, since Michelle–prior to White House duties–was a working attorney mom, she definitely proved a great sense of style, considering lawyers are known for their fashion… Read More »

Ahhhh, what a feeling. Women’s Wear Daily proclaimed that orange is the new black for Spring ’10 from the mens’ runways, days and days after I MEAN…WHAT?!? spotted it and even labeled the trend Gina Lollobrigida Orange. Click here to see all the I MEAN…WHAT?!? reportage from Milan and Paris mens’ shows. The other trend WWD spotted was also, right up there in each and every I MEAN…WHAT?!? fashion entry known as Manzie, but they call it something else, “Boys of Summer”. Now, scroll down and tell me that: A) If boys wore these outfits, they would not be shit… Read More »

Uch, such pressure. I was reading an artcle in Women’s Wear Daily about the top U.S. designers response to being snubbed by Michelle Obama. Now, granted, I think her Jason Wu and Thakoon obsession is not that warranted, but it’s really cool of her on some level. What level, I’m not sure, but a level. And I see the point that Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang and Carolina Herrera make. Oscar was even bold enough to say, “You don’t go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater.” Oh, no, you didn’t. Good for him, though. What does he… Read More »