Featured Designers: Charleston Fashion Week 2016

Charleston Fashion Week got a heavy dose of New York runway chic through designers Cadet, Creatures of the Wind, and Tracy Reese. The three "featured designers" rocked the fashion week tents with modern, elegant and sophisticated collections.

Tracy Reese brought "A Detroit Love Song" to Charleston. This collection was an homage to her hometown of Detroit. Lively colors and prints provided a fluidity that was balanced off with structured coats and the casual chic of slacks and dresses. There was a slight nostalgic quality to the collection which was no accident. 

Creatures of the Wind blew the crowd away, no pun intended! A series of jaw-dropping A-line top coats came down the runway leaving everyone mesmerized. Creatures of the Wind are all about textiles and it was evident. Furs, wools, silks, chiffons - all so rich and beautiful. The collection left me wanting more. Everything moved so well. It was feminine and powerful at the same time.

Cadet presented an impressive collection of menswear and womenswear looks. Cadet epitomizes what I consider to be a modern-chic approach to fashion and style. This is how I want to dress. Crisp. Sharp. And even though Cadet looks to the past, they offer a fresh perspective and sensibility to design. They have achieved a near seamless aesthetic (and balance) to menswear and womenswear.

Cadet designers, Raul Arevalo and Brad Schmidt, who I met a couple of times while at Charleston Fashion Week - they travelled with their precious doggie, so you know they're good guys - are currently on a TV show. Cadet is a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist and right now, you can catch them on The Fashion Fund airing on Amazon.

Charleston Fashion Week celebrated their 10th anniversary. It was my first but certainly not my last. It was a truly spectacular week. I looked over from my runway seat and sitting across from me every night were Ayoka Lucas- CFW founder, Fern Mallis!!, Tracy Reese and Cadet... not too shabby - at all. Rock on Charleston Fashion Week!

fashionado

CFDA: The Fashion Fund RETURNS

I got hooked, and by hooked I mean, obsessed with

The Fashion Fund

and now its back for a second season! The docu-series gives us an inside look at the challenging and inspiring journey that the ten candidates up for the esteemed CFDA's Fashion Fund Designer of the Year award face in this incredible competition. But let's get real for a minute, can we? This is all great and engaging, but we know that the real reason we watch The Fashion Fund is to see

Anna Wintour. The Queen of Vogue smiles and removes her sunglasses from time to time. I can't get enough of her! The Fashion Fund reveals a side you don't usually see from Anna Wintour. She even takes you into her home. On a more personal note, I love that Jeffrey Fashion Cares' Jeffrey Kalinsky is on the show. He spoke about it with me last August.

*The Fashion Fund returns to the Ovation Network on 11/5.

fashionado

CFDA: The Fashion Fund - Vogue on Ovation

anna-wintour-vogue-fashion-fund-ovation-fashionado
anna-wintour-vogue-fashion-fund-ovation-fashionado

My latest tv obsession...

I can't get enough of The Fashion Fund, an original series on Ovation. They are four episodes in, so catch up quickly!! [I did.]

Many of us know of the Council of Fashion Designers of America,

CFDA

and

everyone

knows

VOGUE

Magazine... In this series, we are educated and entertained at that same fabulous time about The Fashion Fund which was created by

Anna Wintour

and Vogue to help young designers move forward. The series lets us see this process from the inside out. It's pretty incredible.

The Fashion Fund on Ovation is better than any fashion reality show on TV. Trust me! AND for those of you as obsessed and intrigued about all things Anna Wintour, as am I, this series is a MUST. The Goddess is all over it and she smiles. A lot!

For the Fashion Cares fans and supporters out there, Jeffrey Fashion Cares' own Jeffrey Kalinsky is a judge on the CFDA panel. We get to see a lot of him too. He's kind of adorable.

Tune in!

fashionado