One to Watch: Jacqueline Rousseau

At age 9, Jacqueline Rousseau announced to her parents that she was going to become a fashion designer.

Photo Credit: Jacqueline Rousseau

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Watch: Diana Vreeland's big screen debut

The life and career of legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland is celebrated in the new documentary film 'The Eye Has To Travel'.

BY Bibby Sowray | 14 August 2012

Before Wintour there was Vreeland, the enigmatic fashion editor best know for her 25-year tenure at US Harper's Bazaar and later for her work at Vogue was the original iconic editor, turning unknowns into stars and making herself a celebrity in the process. She was the first editor to interweave fashion with music, art, society and culture and now her career has been celebrated in a feature-length documentary, The Eye Has To Travel.

READ: Diana Vreeland to be honoured on the Walk of Style

"I wasn't a fashion editor, I was the one and only fashion editor" Vreeland's voice is heard saying in the trailer for the documentary, which has been created by her granddaughter-in-law Lisa Immordino Vreeland.

The likes of Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik and David Bailey contribute to the film which aims to explore Vreeland's "challenging childhood, fraught with parental strain, insecurities and academic failures, her self-preservation and her break through - reinventing herself as the dazzling, adventurous woman who would win the heart of ravishing bachelor Reed Vreeland."

READ: Long-time Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown dies aged 90

"She would say: You're not supposed to give people what they want, you're supposed to give them what they don't know they want yet," writer Bob Colacello reminisces. We can't think of a better way to describe fashion than that.

The Eye Has To Travel is released in UK cinemas on September 21.

One to Watch: Drifting Arrows

It's no surprise designer Leah Lawrence has a knack for swim design. After spending the first five years of her life in the small, landlocked country of Swaziland in southern Africa, Lawrence's family relocated to Seattle and, later, Maui.

"I love what swimwear represents...being in or near the water, being in the sun, and being relaxed," she says of her collection, Drifting Arrows, which officially launched this summer. "I also felt like there was still a need for fresh and interesting swim lines."

Composed of four classic but undeniably fresh swim styles, Lawrence prioritized quality and precise tailoring over an expansive debut.

"I decided to import my own fabric because the best I could find was in Italy, which I buy directly from the mill," she explains. After exhaustive fittings and adjustments, each piece—a retro, high-waisted bikini, a sporty cross-back bikini, a feminine one piece with a bow in the back, and a cross-back one piece—is manufactured in the U.S.

"In the design phase I really focus on what I believe women are looking for and only go forward with styles that have a timeless quality and ease," says Lawrence. With the collection en route to Maryam Nassir Zadeh on the Lower East Side, Drifting Arrows' easy, elegant swimwear will soon be within reach for New Yorkers.

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One to Watch: Ora
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One to Watch: Skinny Vinny

It was during a job search in 2008 that Vincent Lai began making his first bag prototypes.

"I made some samples just to get it out of my head," explains the Brooklyn native."If I didn't get them out just to see if they worked, I'd keeping thinking and obsessing over them."

Orders began trickling in as the images were passed around the Internet. "I thought, 'Hmm...maybe, I can do this for a living?'” Suffice to say, it wasn't long before Lai's Recession-era job search had concluded with the launch of his own collection, Skinny Vinny.

"I always find myself thinking about new bags, new shapes and new ways of carrying things," explains Lai, who studied industrial design at Carnegie Mellon before moving back to Brooklyn. "I can be out with friends and I find myself drifting off thinking about it...how the bag falls or hugs the body, or what problems they seem to have with their bags is very helpful to my process."

As such, Lai prioritizes function as well as design, striving to bring a sense of "urban sophistication" as well as utility to every collection (which is entirely handmade in his Brooklyn studio).The bags range in price from $58-$250.

His practical Cattley backpack, for example, is executed in a tough linen material finished with a sporty stripe motif. Hidden pockets on either side make the bag particularly functional for schlepping around the city.

For fall, Lai plans to make his luggage pieces even more durable. "I have a few tech bags in the works," he explains. "They are going to be a bit more heavy-duty and weather-proof. I'm excited to work with some tech fibers and new materials."

From $50 to $250 at www.skinny-vinny.com.

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One to Watch: Ora

Remember the girls at school who were always better at making friendship bracelets than you? Cue Pittsburgh-native Lanya Snyder, whose collection of delicate, hand-woven bracelets are like the haute couture answer to your stringy summer camp baubles.

"My friends and I made tons of bracelets when I was young for fun, as a hobby," says Lanya, who trained as a photographer at Bard before returning to bracelet making. "This past year I was in between projects and picked up the thread again."

Her collection—Ora, named after the Hebrew word for light—takes inspiration from "nature, the color in plants and in the landscape" as well as travel excursions. 

To put her own super-luxe spin on traditional woven bracelets, Lanya works primarily with silk thread (which won't fray as much as cotton) dappled with precious metals and luxe gemstone beading fashioned from black diamonds, coral, lapis and turquoise.  

"It may sound nerdy, but I listen to NPR or the news a lot while stringing every morning," Lanya says of her design process. "And of course music, lots of music in the afternoons and evenings. I love the new Cat Power song."

Asked what's next for the friendship-bracelet fiend, Lanya eagerly reveals that hand-woven necklaces—"with black diamond beads and diamond chips"—are in the works.

At Bird, 204 Grand St, Brooklyn. 718-797-3776

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Watch: Betty Boop makes a star out of Daria Werbowy for Lancome

See top model Daria Werbowy get career advice from our favourite cartoon character, Betty Boop, in 'Star Eyes', a short film for Lancôme's new Hypnôse Star Mascara.

BY Bibby Sowray | 05 July 2012

Everyone wishes they could get career advice from the figure who best represents their vocation, and when it comes to becoming a screen icon, who could be better than Betty Boop?

To promote Lancôme's new Hypnôse Star mascara model Daria Werbowry takes on the role of a beautiful silver-screen ingénue eager to be known not just for her beauty, but her acting ability, too, in the Joann Sfar-directed 'Star Eyes'.

Luckily, cartoon character and the original sex symbol, Betty Boop is on hand to offer invaluable advice. As Werbowy recites her line - which happens to be Boop's infamous catchphrase, "Boop-boop-de-doop" - Betty appears, bedecked in her trademark sparkly black dress and garter, and Werbowy asks her how she can be seen as more than just "an image".

READ: Emma Watson gets lippy for Lancôme

"I've been in the business since black and white. All stars have a secret. Just say it with the eyes," says Boop before presenting her with Lancôme's latest mascara.

Lancôme aren't the first cosmetics giant to turn to animated doodles to help them promote products. MAC used Wonder Woman on a line of products for spring 2011, while OPI recently created a range of nail polishes inspired by Minnie Mouse.

If only a mascara really could turn us into a star, or Betty Boop/Daria Werbowy for that matter.

One to Watch: Althea Harper

From a young age, Ohio native Althea Harper demonstrated unusual illustration talent. Her flare for fashion design grew out of a necessity that the people she illustrated be clothed.

"I was initially drawn to ice skating outfits and glamourous gowns, which is so funny because it is so different from what I do now," says the designer, who honed her skills at University of Cincinnati and Central Saint Martins before interning for Zac Posen and Alexander McQueen.

After a whirlwind stint as a contestant on the sixth season of "Project Runway" (she finished as runner up), Harper successfully launched her eponymous collection of flirty, feminine silhouettes with a luxurious appeal in 2009.

"I always focus on the fit and making a piece flatter a woman's form," says Harper. "You will never find basic darts in my clothes, but seaming that contours the figure."

Harper also favors high-end fabrics, rendering her signature prints onto organic materials like supple chiffon or silk.

"The easiest [part of my job] is waking up everyday and doing something that you love, inspires you and changes everyday," explains Harper. "The hardest thing as a creative is that putting your work out to the public is like putting [out] a piece of your soul, so when it gets rejected you feel very vulnerable."

Fortunately for Harper, we think her tremendous design talent will keep the soul of her brand safe and sound.

One to Watch: Metalepsis Projects

It all started with Victorian lace.

Former architects Victoria Cho and Astrid Chastka (who'd worked together at the same firm) were discussing a shared desire to branch out and "start some smaller side projects" when an idea struck them. Using their considerable design savvy, the ladies decided to try "laser-cutting stainless steel into delicate Victorian lace patterns," says Cho.

If it sounds like a tricky proposition, well, it was. But the duo knew they'd found formidable partners for their shared label, Metalepsis Projects, in one another. "Victoria and I share a similar aesthetic for both architecture and jewelry," says Chastka. "We knew we could work well together."

Which they do, even from 2,500 miles away. Cho relocated to Los Angeles while Chastka works out of a Brooklyn studio.

Unsurprisingly, the ladies continue to find inspiration in built environments, "from colonial houses around Condesa in Mexico City to vast earthworks, mines and quarries like the ones that are exquisitely documented by Edward Burtynsky," Cho explains.

For now, they've channeled their shared inspirations into one-of-a-kind bronze jewelry baubles, each different due to the unique patina that develops as the metal oxidizes. For their 2012 collection, the strong, geometric shapes—which have a rigid, almost futuristic appeal—were inspired, in part, by the work of conceptual artist Sol Lewitt.

But with their considerable skill sets, the girls aren't interested in limiting themselves to jewelry. The next ediiton comes out in September. Fashioned primarily from leather, it promises to be a different undertaking altogether. "It's not jewelry, but it's still in the accessory family," says Cho.

The ladies recently returned from an inspiration trip to Mexico City to check out Mayan ruins and mid-century architecture. "Expect some geometry, architectural references," Chastka says, "and a bit of surprise."

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One to Watch: Bande des Quatres

One to Watch: Bande des Quatres

Growing up with a famous jeweler for a mother and a financial wiz for a father, it's no wonder Montreal native Erin Wahed has a knack for both skills.

"As a child watching my mother work, I knew I would never have the patience to handmake jewelry, but it always fascinated me," says Erin, who relocated to New York to pursue photography at NYU.

But what Erin lacks in patience she makes up for in design instincts. She and her mother, Janis Kerman, conceived of their shared jewelry collection Bande des Qautres while working on a few baubles to accessorize an outfit for Erin's senior thesis exhibit.

"The outfit was Michael Jackson inspired, specifically the black and gold sequin pants," says Erin. "I knew the jewelry needed to make just as much of a statement as the pants."

Two rings that would become collection signatures—the "Moholy-Nagy" and "Van der Rohe"—were created to meet that very purpose.

The mother-and-daughter duo's shared fascination with Bauhaus art and architecture translates easily to their sleek, structural jewelry. Their complimentary skills often yield spectacular, abstract results.

"I’ve never had a knack for drawing," says Erin. "It’s always ideas for me, so she can read my mind in the sense that I’ll point to something and she’ll know exactly what I’m thinking and how to translate it."

In their current collection, each piece is a kind of homage to a particular architect's aesthetic.

"To me, Zaha Hadid's buildings are large-scale sculptures," says Erin. "I can imagine that her biggest challenge is in making her buildings work the way she sees them. The 'Hadid' ring was inspired by her way of seeing." The unusual finished product—an oxidized silver loop and curving gold band inlaid with black diamonds—calls to mind Hadid's gravity-defying designs.

Whether or not the ladies continue to explore architectural references in their forthcoming collection, it's certain to bend the boundaries between art and fashion even further. "For me, both realms are not mutually exclusive," says Erin.

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