Jason Wu draws a stylish crowd at Neiman Marcus

Jason Wu, the 27-year-old designer whose star has risen considerably since Michelle Obama wore one of his frothy creations during the inaugural ball, drew a very stylish crowd while showing his spring 2010 collection at Neiman Marcus last night.  

His friend and perennial fashion plate Diane Kruger hosted the event dressed in a one-shoulder-black-with-teal-polka-dots cocktail frock, accented with Roger Vivier heels and Eddie Borgo bracelets. "We met at Cannes, and we've been friends ever since," said Kruger, who certainly has carte blanche to her share of designer duds, having been the face of Chanel and Louis Vuitton but has recently favored Wu's creations. A few other starlets donned his designs, looking more grown-up and put together than their late teen years would suggest. Katie Cassidy, Jessica Stroup and Amber Heard all wore short dresses by Wu.  Heard's high blond ponytail, porcelain skin and bright red pout made her look like a dead ringer for Scarlett Johansson.

Star wattage aside, the crowd of fashion industry insiders, stylists and socialites took in the collection worn by models posing around the department store floor. Everything from a simple, solid colored emerald green dress to a pale pink and white feathered cocktail number came out during the event, perpetuating Wu's reputation for making refined and feminine clothes. But unlike his past collections, several pieces in his spring line had a few raw and rough edges -- a touch purposely put there by the designer who played around with the juxtaposition of hard and soft. "I was really inspired by [sculptor] Tara Donovan and Tim Burton," says Wu.  "It's sculptural versus stitches. I like the contrast between romantic and rough around the edges." Judging by the turnout for the Beverly Hills event and his rapidly growing celebrity following, it seems his fans will too.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Photo (top left): Cameron Silver, left, and Jason Wu. Credit: Melissa Magsaysay

Photo (top right): Diane Kruger and Micah Shifman. Credit: Melissa Magsaysay

Photo (above): A look from Wu's spring collection. Credit: Melissa Magsaysay

New York Fashion Week review: Jason Wu's Spring/Summer 2010 show

Happy days are here again. That was the message at Jason Wu's spring show. And why not? There are few American designers who have skyrocketed to fame as quickly as Wu, a relative unknown until First Lady Michelle Obama chose his one shouldered, frothy, feathery white gown to wear to the inaugural balls this year.

Presented in an elegant ballroom at the St. Regis Hotel today, the collection had the same lightness as that famous gown, starting with a onesie in silk tweed as soft as mohair, in a shade that brought to mind a fuzzy peach.

Fashion Diary: L.A. wins at the CFDA

Gossip, first impressions, trends in the making, celebrities and style setters. A regular feature by fashion critic Booth Moore.

 

NEW YORK -- It was a big night for Los Angeles at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards, the apparel industry equivalent to the Oscars held at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on Monday. Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who started making dresses in their parents' guest house in Pasadena just four years ago, took the womenswear designer of the year award.

 

Not since James Galanos won the lifetime achievement award in 1984 has a Left Coast label made such an impact on the Seventh Avenue-centric CFDA, a non-profit trade organization that supports American designers. Unlike Galanos, whose beaded confections were all Nancy Reagan perfection, the Mulleavys' horror-film-meets-haute-couture aesthetic reflects the dichotomy of the California dream with blood red-streaked and graffitied chiffon gowns, shredded leather leggings and bike jackets and spike-covered stilettos.

 

The self-taught sisters have earned a loyal following in Hollywood with celebs such as Kirsten Dunst, who led the designers' cheering section Monday night. Also in the visiting-from-California contingent: Decades' Cameron Silver, Toms Shoes' Blake Mycoskie and Trovata's John Whitledge.

 

Michelle Obama gets all dolled up in newest 'flatwear' collection

The folks who gave us the presidential candidate paper dolls last year released a new book last month titled "President Barack Obama and His Family Paper Dolls: The Inaugural Edition." And while he may be the commander in chief on paper, the star of these pages is Michelle Obama (and to a lesser extent Sasha and Malia, who were given scant attention in the earlier book).

Among the six outfits included (the girls share four looks, the president himself has six, most of which are variations on his Hart Schaffner Marx suits) are the J. Crew cardigan, Italian Deco tank top and sheath skirt outfit Mrs. O was wearing on her Oct. 27, 2008, appearance on "The Tonight Show," the black-on-red Thakoon number she wore to the Democratic National Convention acceptance speech, her Jason Wu-designed silk chiffon inaugural ball gown, and the sunshine-yellow, custom-made Isabel Toledo dress and Jimmy Choo shoes she wore to the inauguration.

But our favorite is "Plate 8": the red-and-black satin Narciso Rodriguez dress and Loree Rodkin diamond bangle bracelets and earrings she was wearing on election night in Chicago. 

And maybe it's  just us, but Mrs. Obama looks pretty good on paper.

-- Adam Tschorn

"President Barack Obama and His Family Paper Dolls: The Inaugural Edition," by Tom Tierney (Dover Publications April, 2009).

Photos: The Obama family in Chicago's Grant Park on November 4, 2008. Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images. At right, the paper doll version of Michelle Obama's outfit from the same night as depicted in "President Barack Obama Paper Dolls."

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Michelle Obama's edgiest fashion statement yet

The blue patterned cardigan that First Lady Michelle Obama wore to the Royal Opera House today was avant garde fashion with a capital "A." The sweater, with its one-sided check pattern and asymmetrical button placket, is by Japanese designer Junya Watanabe (is this the first time she's worn a non-American designer?), who started working under Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garcons before launching his own label in 1993.

Watanabe's runway shows are always among the most artistic of Paris Fashion Week. He's showed sculptural takes on the tailcoat, the military jacket, even the jean skirt. For fall, he focused on the puffer coat, sculpting and molding it into elongated, Victorian-looking dresses and cropped shrugs.

With their odd folds and uneven hems, his clothes are not for the timid. They require work and imagination to wear. Obama paired the sweater with a traditional-looking teal dress by Jason Wu. It was a contrasting color but I think it worked. What do you think?

-- Booth Moore

Photo: Sarah Brown, right, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meets with First Lady Michelle Obama at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden.

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Michelle Obama sparkles in J. Crew

Against a backdrop of protests and economic angst, the fashion parade continues in London at the G-20  summit. Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama took off for London wearing an ivory Thakoon coat, then changed clothes on the plane before arriving in a chartreuse Jason Wu dress (love that, someone who travels in style).

By this morning, for a breakfast with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife, Sarah, and a visit to a cancer center, Obama had jettisoned the high-priced designer labels in favor of more fiscally conscious J. Crew -- a cheery, crystal-studded ivory cardigan and mint green jacquard pencil skirt.

The cardigan, by the way, is already sold out. (You can find similar beaded styles from the 1950s at almost any vintage store.) Next up, tea and cucumber sandwiches with the queen. Don't bet on seeing a hat, but maybe a sleeveless dress.

--Booth Moore

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Photo: Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and First Lady Michelle Obama visit Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in western London. Credit: Leon Neal / EPA

L.A. designers among fashion award nominees

L.A.’s own Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte have been nominated for the Council of Fashion Designers of America Women's Wear Designer of the Year Award. The Pasadena sisters, whose collage dresses were a highlight of New York Fashion Week last month, are up against Marc Jacobs and Narciso Rodriguez. Another local designer, Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders, was nominated for the Best Men's Wear Designer of the Year Award alongside Italo Zucchelli for Calvin Klein and Michael Bastian. Thakoon Panichgul, Jason Wu and Alexander Wang are contenders for the Swarovski Award for up-and-coming women's wear designers. The board of directors Special Tribute Award will be given to First Lady Michelle Obama, who has boosted the American fashion industry by choosing clothes by emerging designers, including Rodriguez, Panichgul and Wu.

The awards, which are the fashion industry's Oscars, are scheduled for June 15 at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts in New York.

--Booth Moore

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Photo: Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times.

New York Fashion Week Review: Michelle Obama designer Jason Wu's fall collection

NEW YORK -- The spotlight is shining on Jason Wu like never before. The 26-year-old designer created the ivory confection embroidered with organza flowers that First Lady Michelle Obama chose as her inaugural ball gown. And she is wearing a dress of his on the cover of the March issue of Vogue magazine. So of course there was much interest in his fall runway show today in New York, which offered lots of romantic -- but not girlie -- dresses with couture-like details, a Wu specialty.

Whether he was inspired by the first lady or not, there were plenty of things in this solidly elegant collection that I could see her wearing. The shapes were simple, figure-flattering (shifts, sheaths and tank dresses), and seemed appropriate for all ages.

And the workmanship was evident, which is wise in this economy. You can see what you're paying for --- lacy black embroidered epaulets on the cap sleeves of a gray cashmere shift, and scattered knotted embroideries that elevated a simple teal wool twist front sheath to something really special.

There was a dreamy quality to much of the show. You wanted to reach out and touch a navy and fuchsia plaid shift with a laser dot overlay, to feel how it was done. A navy wool forest print sheath with a vanishing organza hem seemed to disappear into the ether. And a nude chiffon tank and matching skirt with all-over iridescent rubber sequins conjured images of a futuristic flapper. There was a 1920s feel to a sweet petal pink tiered ruffle cocktail dress, too, and a violet chiffon tank gown, with antiqued diamond embroidery. But Wu's attempts at pants -- a draped wool cashmere cigarette style -- were less successful.

-- Booth Moore

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Photo: Jonas Gustavsson/ For the Times

First Look: Michelle Obama Vogue cover

On Tuesday, we passed along that Michelle Obama would be appearing on the March Vogue cover -- only the second first lady to do so (Hillary Clinton was the first, in December 1998). Still, although we could tell you she'd be wearing a Jason Wu dress, we couldn't exactly show you the cover -- because of a little technicality called an embargo (which has nothing to do with the airlifting of canned hams or warships in our harbor and everything to do with playing by the rules).

Until about an hour and a half ago. Now we can and there she is. Enjoy!

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: Annie Leibovitz/Vogue

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Tell me you didn't take a few minutes to take in this entire picture. I don't believe you. This is Josephine Baker, after all. The stunning entertainer passed away in 1975, but her style will never be forgotten. She's on our list of 10 influential African American style icons for Black History Month. Who is your favorite black fashion or beauty trend-setter? Share in our comments section.

-- Whitney Friedlander

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Photo: Staley-Wise Gallery / New York