Alexis Bittar, fashion jewelry's renaissance man, set for expansion

 

I can think of no better time than Mother's Day weekend to discuss jewelry. Fashion jewelry design is in the midst of a renaissance the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1980s. And Alexis Bittar blazed the trail.

In the past two decades, the New York-based jewelry designer has gone from selling his signature colorful, hand-carved Lucite pieces on the streets of SoHo to bejeweling leading ladies in Hollywood and beyond, including First Lady Michelle Obama (pictured below wearing one of his pins to the State of the Union address in January), Lady Gaga, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Meryl Streep and Rihanna. At the same time, he's managed to keep the core of his collection in an accessible $225 to $645 price range.

Bittar has also challenged the definition of fashion muse by eschewing prepubescent models in his ad campaigns in favor of real women, such as eccentric octogenarian Iris Apfel, "Dynasty" diva Joan Collins and, most recently, "Ab Fab" couple Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley.

In a story for Sunday's Image section, I caught up with Bittar to talk about how the jewelry business has changed over the years and what he's planning for his own brand, now that he has a new business partner in private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners.

-- Booth Moore

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Photos, from top: Alexis Bittar and pieces from his spring 2012 collection from the designer.

First Lady Michelle Obama at the State of the Union address on Jan. 24. Credit:  Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

Hanks' lapel pin explained: Hollywood unveils 'Got Your Six' campaign

The full story behind Tom Hanks' quixotic Oscar night accessory -- a simple numeral 6 pin on his left lapel -- was finally revealed today to be an ambitious entertainment industry program aimed at helping U.S. military veterans.

The "Got Your Six" initiative, which takes its name from military jargon meaning "I've got your back, and you've got mine" (the six o'clock position designates the back of a military formation), launched at this morning at a star-studded news conference at the Wilshire Boulevard SAG-AFTRA offices in Los Angeles with the stated goal of creating "a wide array of opportunities for veterans to successfully convert their leadership and operational training into positive civilian roles in communities nationwide."

Organizers of the "Got Your Six" (abbreviated to the social media friendly "GY6") campaign have laid out six "pillars of reintegration" (jobs, education, health, housing, family and leadership), each paired with an existing nonprofit organization and a measurable goal (the jobs pillar, for example, involves the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes program embarking on a campaign to get businesses to hire 500,000 veterans and military spouses by December 2014).

The impressive list of industry partners includes the major Hollywood unions (SAG-AFTRA, Writers Guild of America West, Directors Guild of America), talent agencies (CAA, WME, ICM), networks (ABC,

Specs appeal: the eyes have it

Remember when everyone who needed prescription eyewear seemed to be sporting a pair of barely there rimless spectacles with low-profile lenses barely bigger than a pair of postage stamps?  

While that look (circa 2002 to 2005) hasn't gone away completely, over the past half decade there's been a decided shift in the opposite direction and today ophthalmic glasses are treated as much like a fashion accessory as are their in-your-face, dark-lensed sibling sunglasses.

Why and how that happened is the focus of my story in Sunday's Image section, which has eyewear industry experts near (L.A. Eyeworks' Gai Gherardi, Oliver Peoples' Larry Leight and David Rose from Costa Mesa based Salt Optics) and far (Milena Cavicchioli, from Milan, Italy-based eyewear behemoth Luxottica Group) framing up the factors that helped eyewear, in Cavicchioli's words "step out of its traditional cage and expand into different areas of the fashion world."

In fact, eyewear frames have become such a popular accessory that even people who don't need to correct their vision are wearing glasses anyway. And we're not the only ones that have noticed -- even as Sunday's Image section was going to press, I received an email pitch on just that topic from the LasikPlus folks who noted: "Even celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Kim Kardashian who underwent LASIK have been photographed wearing frames again."

For the record, we have no idea if or when either of the two aformentioned celebrities underwent said laser vision correction procedure. But we do know that Brad Pitt turned up at the Oakland premiere of "Moneyball" in October sporting a pair of eyeglass frames with lightly tinted lenses -- which just so happens to be another topic I tackle in Sunday's Image section.   

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-- Adam Tschorn

Photos: The current crop of eye-catching eyewear includes, from left, L.A. Eyeworks' Dip (in Two Mints, $230), Salt Optics' Annabel (in Toffee Tortoise Pink, $315) and Oliver Peoples' Reeves (in Pewter/Matte Black, $440) Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Coachella 2012: A|X Armani Exchange, T-Mobile host neon carnival

A|X Armani Exchange and T-Mobile kicked off the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival with the third annual neon carnival party. The desert carnival, whose attendees included Usher, Gerard Butler and "The Hunger Games' " Josh Hutcherson, celebrated the launch of the A|X new color pop watches and T-Mobile's new HTC One S phone.

"Music is a big part of the brand's DNA," said Patrick Doddy, senior vice president of Armani Exchange, about  the brand's decision to host an event at Coachella. "Music crosses all borders and reaches a young generation that embraces the urban lifestyle and nightlife, while expressing themselves through music plus personal style."

Celebrity attendees Kellan Lutz, Emma Roberts and Camilla Belle were all seen sporting the color pop watch in very berry red. Jessica Szohr, who wore a gold jumpsuit and contrast stitch pink sweater, both by A|X, chose the watch in bumble-gum pink.

Guests clad in colored denim and tank tops bobbed their heads to the music, played carnival games and hopped on the rides, including a giant Ferris wheel.

Roberts, who wore denim cutoff shorts and a straw hat, was spotted with Chord Overstreet as they playfully nudged each other on the bumper cars. Paris Hilton was also in attendance, sporting a giant pair of shades, a bikini top and multicolored long maxi rocking out on the black and white checkered dance floor.

The A|X Armani Exchange color pop watch is available for $100 at select Armani Exchange stores and at www.armaniexchange.com in May.

-- Jenn Harris

twitter.com/jenn_harris

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Photos at top:  Emma Roberts, left, Camilla Belle and Jessica Szohr at the A|X Armani Exchange- and T-Mobile-hosted neon carnival during the first weekend of Coachella 2012. Credit: Seth Browarnik/ WorldRedEye.com.

Lower photo, from left: Emma Roberts and "Glee's" Chord Overstreet play bumper cars at the carnival. Credit: Seth Browarnik / WorldRedEye.com.

Alpha: Gear for Gents to pop up in Palm Springs

Even though West Hollywood men's boutique Alpha: Gear for Gents  hasn't officially closed its doors yet (the bricks-and-mortar side of the business was set to shutter April 1, a date that was later pushed until this weekend), owner Darren Gold has already found a new -- albeit temporary -- place to showcase his wares: Palm Springs.

Alpha will be among a handful of pop-up stores that will be part of new retail incubator space Raymond Lawrence opening at 830 North Palm Canyon Drive on April 19 -- just in time to catch the crowds headed to the area for the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

"Think Fred Segal Center in the desert with Alpha as one of the store-in-stores," said Gold, who announced last month that he was closing his standalone store but at the same time vowed the Alpha brand would continue in some form.

Gold said his Palm Springs outpost would be just under 300 square feet (by comparison, his current Melrose Avenue space is roughly 1,000 square feet) and have a tight focus on men's shoes, clothes, grooming products and accessories like sunglasses and jewelry.

"I’m committed there for six months," Gold said. "But if it works, it could end up being more of a store-in-store  -- on an ongoing basis -- instead of a temporary pop-up."

Other businesses and brands in the retail mix, which will be clustered in a former Design Within Reach store in Palm Springs' Uptown Design District, include apparel labels Crate of California, LASC and Made 2 Measure Fashion, home furnishing outfitters Art Style Innovation, Soup Home and Slip, and a grab bag that includes everything from a newsstand (Fit to Print) to a real estate broker (the Paul Kaplan Modern Real Estate Group). (Raymond Lawrence is the brainchild of co-founders Larry Abel and Raymond McCallister.)

Raymond Lawrence will host a grand opening event, benefiting the AIDS Assistance Program, on April 19 from 6 to 9 p.m., just as the Trina Turk boutique across the street is throwing a bash to celebrate that brand's 10th anniversary -- and the crowds roll through town en route to Coachella's second weekend. 

"Coachella definitely put the whole desert more on the map with fashion people," says Gold. "It's like Sundance -- the word 'Sundance' now means so much more than just those few days. Everyone from L.A. and everywhere else will be out there to see what's happening."

"I talked to someone yesterday who said she's going out there and not even going to the festival at all. There are so many things going on around it now -– the houses and the parties -– that you can go there and do all that other branded stuff without even setting foot in the actual festival. ...The whole Coachella thing is insane." 

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-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs in 2003. A retail incubator called Raymond Lawrence is set to open at 830 N. Palm Canyon Drive on April 19. Credit: Kevin P. Casey / Los Angeles Times.

Brian Atwood's new handbags and the future of Gilt Groupe

Shoe designer extraordinaire Brian Atwood launched his first collection of handbags exclusively on Gilt.com on Thursday. They're terrific looking, very 1970s Hollywood glam. The collection includes four styles -- the Carla, the Theodora, the Kate and the Iside -- priced from $1,050 to $1,850, and will be sold on the site through the summer.

Although Gilt.com still hosts daily, 36-hour flash sales with merchandise up to 60% off, exclusive launches like this one are a way that Gilt.com is distinguishing itself from the now-crowded field of bargain-hunting sites.

I had lunch with some folks from Gilt a couple of weeks ago when they were in Los Angeles to fete the Decades for Modern Vintage shoe collection, another exclusive for the site, which was designed by vintage guru Cameron Silver.

Gilt Groupe was born of the recession. When the members-only, flash sale site was founded in November 2007, it was a haute clearinghouse for excess designer goods during the height of the economic downturn.

Other sites, including HauteLook and Ideeli, quickly followed, as the flash sale site category exploded.  And Gilt reinvented itself and expanded, launching sister sites such as Gilt City, Gilt Taste and Jetsetter, selling everything from discounted location-specific yoga classes to exotic tropical vacations to stone crab claws from the Florida coast. 

At our lunch, I learned that the Gilt record for fastest sale is 0.2 seconds, and that was for a VW Jetta car that sold for $5,995. (Original price: $15,995.) A vintage crocodile Hermes Birkin bag was among the most expensive items ever sold, for $28,000. 

Now, most of what's being sold isn't overstock at all. And some of it isn't even discounted. Take Atwood's handbag line for example.

Gilt has partnered with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York to award a scholarship to graduating senior Kieran Dallison. Gilt and other industry mentors helped Dallison develop his first collection of jersey pieces, which will launch during a Gilt sale the first week of June. 

Also coming up this summer? A capsule collection with Donna Karan of travel-inspired clothing and accessories.    

If you want to read all about how Gilt founders (and friends first) Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson started their site, which revolutionized the way we shop and recently earned a valuation of $1 billion, you can pick up a copy of their new book, "By Invitation Only" (Portfolio), which comes out April 12. 

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-- Booth Moore

Photos: Brian Atwood handbag collection. Credit: Courtesy of Gilt.com.

Decades designs shoes for Modern Vintage

Decades, the popular Los Angeles vintage boutique owned by Cameron Silver and Christos Garkinos, is taking a step into the shoe design arena. The duo created four styles of footwear each fittingly inspired by a different decade for Canadian footwear company Modern Vintage.

There is a '50s shoe with a dainty pointed toe and curved heel, a '60s shoe that is based on a color-blocked mod flat (but modified with a T-bar and stiletto heel), a '70s shoe with a cork platform sole and woven leather straps and a chunky '80s-inspired pair with a thick wedge heel, sling back strap and lighting-bolt-looking leather inserts that feel reminiscent of the glam rock of the era.

“The challenge was to distill the essence of each decade,” says Silver, adding that they were conscious of making each style indicative of the era being represented, while also keeping them modern and relevant to today’s fashion. “This was a lesson in accessibility and still being stylish.”

Guests and shoppers who attended the collection’s launch party Tuesday night at Decades seemed to like what they saw. Many of them purchasing a couple pairs (the shoes range from $250 to $300) on their way out of the store. Models showed off the footwear while also wearing vintage clothing by Biba. And celebs like Lisa Rinna and Ashley Madekwe showed up wearing styles from the collaboration. Rinna made the '80s wedges work rather well, pairing them with a very '40s-inspired brown and white printed dress, proving that everything old really is new again.

The Decades for Modern Vintage shoe collection is available exclusively on Gilt.com and Decades L.A boutique.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

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Photos: Decades for Modern Vintage 1950s shoe, top left, 1960s, top right, 1970s, bottom left, and 1980s, bottom right. Credit: Courtesy of Decades

Your Stylist: Revving up your spring wardrobe with '50s inspiration

Prada's Spring 2012 collection was not only eye-catching, with its 1950s automobile-inspired prints and flames shooting out from the back of shoes to look like a mint-condition car on the go, the line echoed a retro aesthetic common in Southern California. As fashion critic Booth Moore says in her review of the line, there's a distinct feeling of the SoCal Kustom Kulture, which draws hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts to car shows and car clubs from L.A to San Diego.

The collection put a fresh spin on a retro theme. Incorporating the look into your spring wardrobe doesn't have to mean buying the Prada fire flame car shoes (though if those fall into your budget, then by all means wear them and bask in all the envious glances they'll get). I love the all-American look of this Joie Eloisa car sweater.

It can go preppy if worn with a crisp white collared shirt underneath or fun and '50s if worn with a fitted pencil skirt and kitten heels or the polka dot denim that's so hot this season -- Current/Elliott makes a cute green and white pair of polka dot skinny jeans and G Star does the abbreviated version, seen in their polka dot short shorts.

Cat eye sunglasses always bring that '50s vibe to any outfit. I love the rich red shade of this Givenchy pair. The cat eye shape in unexpected hues feels right this season and punctuates easy spring basics with a pop of color.

This Pinky Lee "Deluxe" clutch is done in a sparkly red vinyl to echo the interior and seat of a '50s style car. It adds that quirky touch to a streamlined look of cropped capris, ballet flats and a tailored button down shirt -- ponytail optional.

--Melissa Magsaysay

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Photos:

Top - A model in Prada Spring/Summer 2012 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week Sept. 22, 2011. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Left - Joie Eloisa car sweater, $298, at www.joie.com

Right - Prada car shoe/Prada

Below - G Star polka dot denim shorts at G Star store Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills

Left - Givenchy sunglasses, $350, at www.barneys.com

Bottom right - Pinky Lee Deluxe Red Sparkle Handbag, $140, at www.uniquevintage.com

 

 

 

 

Kate Spade traveling bus tour rolls into Los Angeles this weekend

What better way to spend a day than soaking up the sun and doing a little shopping? Kate Spade's traveling bus tour rolls into Los Angeles this weekend, March 2-4, with a Friday night concert by Brooklyn-based indie band the Vivian Girls and a pop-up shop that will be open in three locations.

It's all tied to the brand's spring marketing campaign, styled by Brad Goreski, whom Adam Tschorn wrote about in a story in Sunday's Image section.

The campaign features a fictitious girl band in a tour bus kitted out in a black-and-white "Japanese floral" print by the late Australian designer Florence Broadhurst. (As an aside, Broadhurst was a fascinating, flamboyant figure -- a musician, journalist, painter and wallpaper designer whose 1977 killing is still a mystery.)

Her print carries over into Kate Spade's flowery spring clothing, shoes and accessories, including scarves, totes, compacts and fedoras, and to special "tour merchandise" created for the Vivian Girls, who have already brought the campaign to life with live concerts in New York and Seattle, and will wrap up their fashionable road trip Friday night at the Grove in Los Angeles.

On Friday, the tour bus pop-up shop will be on the lawn at the Grove, 189 The Grove Drive, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a live concert by the Vivian Girls at 7 p.m. 

Saturday, the bus stops in Venice at The Brig parking lot, 1515 Abbot Kinney Blvd., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

And on Sunday, the Kate Spade traveling bus tour comes to an end in Santa Monica at 2740 Main St., between Hill Street and Ashland Avenue. For more info, go to www.katespade.com.

-- Booth Moore

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Photo: Spring marketing campaign. Credit: Kate Spade

 

Tiffany & Co. launches a new rose-colored metal collection

Does a rose by any other name really smell just as sweet? Judging by Tiffany & Co.’s new rose tinged metal collection, Rubedo, it seems so.

Rubedo, which is made from a mix of metals with copper being the predominant alloy, has a look similar to rose gold, but is lighter in weight as well as on the wallet. The collection debuts in March to mark the jewelry company’s 175 anniversary and is priced from $200 to $8,000 and is part of the brand’s Tiffany 1837 collection, meaning signature styles such as the interlocking circles pendant and wide statement cuff are done in the Rubedo material. A limited number of Rubedo pieces will be inscribed with company founder Charles Lewis Tiffany’s signature and available only during 2012.

According to the company, the wearability of the metal is similar to sterling silver in strength, but there’s no mistaking the warm color, which is similar to rose gold -- a popular trend in fashion and jewelry, yet astronomically priced (currently around $1,700 an ounce) high even for avid gold consumers.

There are around 20 styles to choose from in the Rubedo collection and the blush tone and sleek design make the pieces easy to layer and pair with gold or silver. While Tiffany & Co. insists the metal is not a substitute for rose gold, the color, look and well, price makes us feel like Rubedo rather than rose gold isn’t such a bad thing.

Tiffany & Co. Rubedo Collection is in Tiffany & Co. stores and online at Tiffany.com now.

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-- Melissa Magsaysay

Photos: Pieces from the Tiffany & Co. Rubedo collection. Credit: Tiffany & Co.