A FOR COMPANIES

The Stylish City: What’s the inspiration for your line?
Selen: I’m inspired by abstract forms and shapes in nature and under the sea. Things like architectural salvages and ancient forgery.

The Stylish City: We heard that you sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to sketch out a design you dreamed of. Is that true? What else can you tell us about your creative process?
Selen: Yes, once I am in the creative phase, I start being aware of synchronicities. I visualize and slowly shapes and textures appear in front of my eyes. This is a very spiritual moment. It’s like the universe approves of my path and whether it’s day or night, anytime this happens, I am back to my creative spell. I start sketching – trying to rewind what I thought of. The next day, I make little models, still visualizing what I dreamt of during the day and than I turn them into metal.

The Stylish City: How did growing up in Turkey influence your work?
Selen: Istanbul is a magical city for an artist/ Seeing beautiful remains from the Byzantine, the magnificence of the architecture of the Ottoman Palaces, mosques and the whimsical sincerity of Mediterranean and Aegean seas is all very inspiring!

The Stylish City: What are your ultimate plans for the line?
Selen: I would love to have some permanent location and customize work for my customers. I have designed for brides and bridesmaids. I would love to be able to do more commissioned work for non-profit groups.

The Stylish City: Who would be your dream fashion collaborator?
Selen: Donna Karan

The Stylish City: Is there a celebrity you’d like to see wearing your designs?
Selen: I’ve never really thought about it!

The Stylish City: Who’s the ideal Selen Design customer?
Selen: Women of all ages who appreciate art and contemporary jewelry, handmade textures, and the life and thought behind each piece.

The Stylish City: It seems like so much of the fashion industry these days is about PR and marketing, yet you draw in repeat customers by word of mouth without any gimmicks. Is that a conscious decision?
Selen: So far in New York, my sales team and I have developed great relationships with my customers and I appreciate how loyal and excited they are. They are the reason I push myself to make new items so often. That said, I do eventually want to get some marketing help.

The Stylish City: What’s your single favorite piece for Studio Gluck customers? Why?
Selen: I love the Abundant Bamboo necklace and it’s flow and earthy texture.

Leila Cohan-Miccio

Bridal line Michelle Rahn offers simple, yet fashion-forward gowns for the bride with a modern edge. As the brand prepares to open a new flagship in Los Angeles, we spoke to designer Michelle Gertzman about her inspiration and the plans for the line.

The Stylish City: How did you get started?
Michelle: I studied couture at the Fashion Institute of Technology thirteen years ago, where, my senior project was to make a couture wedding gown. After I graduated, I worked as a buyer at Macy’s for a few years before moving to Chicago. When my sister got engaged. I did my sister’s dress, along with the dresses for my mother and all the bridesmaids.

The Stylish City: What was your sister’s dress like?
Michelle: It was soft and romantic, but with archictectural details: fit and flare, crystal belt, soft chiffon, huge pleated silk chiffon tulle. This was seven years ago, so it’s very on trend for today. I guess my sister was ahead of the curve. (Michelle laughs)

The Stylish City: What’s your inspiration for the line?
Michelle: It changes season by season, but there’s always an Art Deco element, whether it’s the accessories or a pleating detail. I’ll combine that vintage vibe with innovative uses of fabric. I work with a lot of European companies that do unusual netting or tulles. I shop a lot of estate jewelers to find looks that inspire me. Then I modernize that vintage inspiration. For me, everything goes back to silhouette and fit.

The Stylish City: What’s the price point?
Michelle: The average is $3500, but we do custom designs, so it goes all the way up!

The Stylish City: Who’s the Michelle Rahn bride?
Michelle: She’s confident and modern, yet a little bit traditional. Sexy but cool. She doesn’t want to look like everyone else and she wants to push the envelope, but she doesn’t want to be too trendy. She wants people to see her and ask “Where did you get that dress?”

The Stylish City: What are your future plans for the line?
Michelle: Our LA flagship opens at the Bridal Bar next week! We’re excited to offer Los Angeles women the same customizable experience we offer to brides in Chicago. For right now, we’re focusing on our semi-custom business, but eventually, I want to change the way women buy wedding dresses. I’m one of the few wedding dress designers to offer online purchasing. Right now, it’s very basic, but in the next few years we hope to really boost our online presence.

The Stylish City: What’s your biggest wedding trend prediction for the next few years?
Michelle: I’ve seen a lot of women lately who don’t want strapless, which I love because I make a lot of dresses with straps and sleeves. Women want organic, rough-cut fabrics without much beading. I’m going to start playing more with hemlines: tea length, shorter in the front. Brides are getting more adventurous. Their dresses can express who they are – they don’t have to wear the same kinds of dresses as twenty years ago.

Leila Cohan-Miccio

The title of this post may shock you. The Vogue City is, after all, a site about bargains. We fill you in on every sample sale and we were here before the Groupons of the world. And yet I am here today to tell you to think twice before you buy your next bargain. Why? Because after a year of buying hundreds of things on Gilt, RueLaLa ideeli, Groupon, DealOn, LivingSocial, and the rest of their ilk, I can tell you one thing: bargains are bargains only if you end up using them.

Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all bad. I made some really good purchases and some unexpected ones (foie gras and the best duck breast ever). I also made some stupid purchases (ballet classes for me. And my husband. Before the Black Swan madness.) and some that just made me really sad: a non-returnable stained dress I bought from Gilt. Yes, it was a Marc Jacobs, but the dry cleaning along was $45, with no guaranteed results. Then there were the six coupons I bought at LivingSocial for tan spraying sessions, although only one could be redeemed. I lost over $100 dollars in unused coupons. Last, but definitely not least, I paid $140 on DealsOn for a meal at a Faustian restaurant that closed before the coupons expired. Sure, DealOn called me and eventually refunded my money, but only after I posted an angry message on their Facebook page.

What is the moral of this story? Think twice about whether you’re going to use what you buy. Don’t get coupons to a gym downtown if you know you never used your old membership to a gym across the street. Items aren’t supposed to be damaged, so don’t accept them. Even better, make sure your purchase is returnable. When all else fails, call the company to refund you the money. Don’t buy bargains that make you feel cheap or not worth it. Buy the things that make you feel fabulous and smart.

Mirela Gluck

Do you die for Rebecca Minkoff? So do we. Her hot Spring 2011 collection was previewed during Fashion Week, which sadly ends today **sigh**, but lucky for The Stylish City fashionistas, you can order two of the most lusted after pieces from her Spring 2011 collection! The pieces include the black Quilted Affair bag with a cross body gold chain as well as the beautifully colored Rumi Dress, modeled by, and named after, Rumi Nelly, fashiontoast blogger.

The Stylish City was lucky enough to talk to the wonderful Rebecca Minkoff amidst the hectic throws fashion week has to offer. She tells us what inspires her to design the bags and apparel we all love as well as what’s new for her ever evolving brand.

TSC: You are a California girl but your first success is attributed to an “I Love NY” t-shirt. Why New York?

RM: I’ve always had an admiration for New York, even when I was very young- it was the place you went to “make it”. In high school I was a dancer and my dance teachers would tell me that I was too tall, too long, and I threw off the symmetry of the group. Because of my height and my long arms, they put me in the costume department. It was a performing arts high school and had an intense costume department- so I started learning in depth how to make patterns, construct and drape garments. By the time I was 17, I wasn’t interested in college. My brother knew Craig Taylor (a fashion designer) and contacted him to get me an internship for the summer. At 18, I moved to NYC to begin the internship and I worked with Craig Taylor for two years- they allowed me to work on my own clothing line when I had free time during the day and then the rest is history…

TSC: You became successful very young and without following the usual FIT path. Do you think successful designers are born or made?

RM: I think everyone is different in terms of what suits them, whether it’s being self taught or receiving a college degree. At the end of the day it’s about passion and being driven. If you are passionate and driven, I think it leads to success.

TSC: Aside from being completely obsessed with your designs I also love the names you give your bags, do you come up with them?

RM: I like to have a playful take on my bags. My bags may be named after a girl or a story- each season has a theme, and bags named after that theme. I think a girl can buy into an experience. Inside each bag, there is a card with a picture of a boy with a phone number, so that every girl has a number of a guy to call. It works too! You can call and leave messages to Vincent, who has a sexy French accent.

TSC: Do you find yourself having a different inspirational theme each season?  If so, where did you find inspiration this past season?

RM: My inspiration comes from travel. I’m constantly taking pictures and absorbing cultures. I recently came back from a vacation in Turkey and being exposed to the different cultures, I think is pretty inspiring.

The Spring 2011 collection is an homage to the ultimate femme vagabond—a woman yearning for glamour and transfixed by reconstructed vintage and 70s-inspired frocks that include traces of seductress Bianca Jagger and the late, soulful Janis Joplin.  

TSC: You have a large celebrity following, which is sought after in fashion PR. Do you accredit a lot of your success to the recognizable names who are faithful to your brand?

RM: I am very fortunate to have such an incredible fan base and we have an amazing celebrity following. I’m always flattered when they wear the collections.

TSC: After four years of accessories you returned to your original passion for apparel design in 2009 with a ready-wear collection. What is next for Rebecca?

RM: For the spring 2011 season, the Rebecca Minkoff brand has launched two additional collections: women’s shoes and men’s accessories! The women’s shoe collection will consists of booties, platform pumps, flats and sandals- totaling 25 various styles and color ways. The men’s accessories collection, under the Ben Minkoff label was inspired by my grandfather Ben Minkoff and his career as a combat fighter pilot in WWII. The pieces were created around the early map, messenger and motorcycle bags used in the air force during the 1940s. Overall, the possibilities are endless for the brand and I’m so excited to see what happens next…!

By Caitlin Colford