Taroni and Abraxas Rex's Line of Scarves Gives Documentary Film a Stylish New Medium

It isn’t easy to inherit a centuries-old family business, even when that business is creating some of the most beautiful silk known to man. Max Canepa is the twelfth generation of his family to take the reins at Taroni, one of the oldest silk-weaving mills in Como, Italy (and one of the famed suppliers for Dior, Giambattista Valli, Saint Laurent, Valentino, and Schiaparelli—ever the luxury disciple, even Kanye West picked up some threads there while working on his own collection a few seasons back), and is determined to bring the 1880-founded factory firmly into the here and now. Enter artist and renaissance man Paris Kain, whose company, Abraxas Rex, has collaborated with Alexander Wang and Calvin Klein, and is known for its one-off productions of painstakingly painted kimonos; chunky, covetable jewelry; and innovative fashion films. The two came together to film Opus Industrionica, a kaleidoscopic acid-trip of a take on the mechanical production that goes into creating a ream of silk, replete with mesmerizing close-ups on the fifties German shuttle looms humming away, set to a score composed by Kain. Stills taken from the short movie were printed onto light silk and cashmere blend Taroni scarves (a blend that Canepa spent six months developing at his factory).

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The final result? When worn, the scarves’ very literal illustrations become anything but. Marigold-color metal railings and slate blue machinery artfully twist and mimic dreamlike abstractions: the patterns found on the wings of a monarch butterfly, lights reflected on a wet city street, streaks of fresh paint. “There’s so many possibilities with this company, I think we’re just starting to scratch the surface,” says Canepa. With the Victoria and Albert Museum including Taroni in its current celebration of Italian fashion (on until July 27), we can’t wait to see what’s next.

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Becoming a hair powder junkie

Like almost everyone, my hair started getting oily when I was in my early teens.

But unlike all the other bad stuff that often comes with puberty, it hasn't gone away.

Back then, the only sure-fire way of "degreasing" was lacing my hairbrush with Johnson's Baby Powder and brushing it through. It worked, but it also left white powder all over my hair and scalp that was impossible to disguise.

Fast forward 20-plus years and every major hair company has at least one dry shampoo in its line-up.

Most are designed to not only remove the oil but also leave hair shiny and smelling like it's been freshly washed.

But while we may be spoilt for choice in terms of options, what I've discovered is that they don't all do a great job.

Some still leave a thick, white powder on your hair (especially noticeable on brunettes) and some just don't get rid of the oil.

Batiste, one of the original dry shampoos on the market, overcame the white powder problem by adding a hint of colour into some of its products. This is the reason the Batiste Dry Shampoo, $17, is still one of my favourites.

The basic principle of these products hasn't changed much since those early baby-powder days, but the application

method has.

Most dry shampoos are now in aerosol form, which means you can spray them directly onto the roots and quickly brush or massage them through to remove the oil.

The often-overlooked added advantage of a good dry shampoo is that it not only refreshes dayold hair, it will also add extra volume and texture. In fact, I'm so accustomed to the extra boost these products give my fine hair that I use them every day - even on freshly washed hair.

A new-found favourite is Davines Hair Refresher, $30. It includes "odour neutralising molecules", and is great if you don't want a fragranced product.

Pureology Fresh Approach Dry Shampoo, $37.50, is another goodie and is specifically designed to prevent

colour-treated hair from fading.

I've had some great results with Schwarzkopf Professional OSIS+ Refresh Dust, $29.40, and also rate Fudge Dry Shampoo, $22.50, but it does require a little more brushing after applying the product to remove any visible powder.

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“RuPaul Is Kind of the Ultimate Supermodel,” and More Musings From Parsons Honoree Jason Wu

With his Hugo Boss debut and thriving eponymous line, Jason Wu is having a banner year. So it comes as little surprise that the 31-year-old Taiwanese-Canadian designer is picking up the top honor at Parsons’ 2014 Fashion Benefit, which is set for tomorrow evening. Ahead of the festivities, Wu, who’s both a Parsons alum and—fun fact—a former toy designer, took time away from wrapping his forthcoming Resort collection to speak with Style about his secrets to success, New York fashion’s changing landscape, and his obsession with RuPaul.

—Katharine K. Zarrella

Congratulations on the Parsons honor. Considering you studied at the school, do you feel you’ve come full circle?

I’ve kind of come full circle because I moved here in 2001 for my first year at Parsons. So it’s nice to go back and be a part of this new generation of the school, which has taught me a lot and done so much for me. It’s a very nice honor and I’m very proud. But I don’t think I’ve made it—at all. I think I’ve hit a nice moment in my career and it feels great to have your peers and people in your industry acknowledge your work. But that’s not to say that there’s not much more work to do.

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Between your debut at Hugo Boss, the success of your own line, and now this award, it seems that you’ve really hit your stride this year.

I don’t know. I always think there’s more to do, so I never think I’ve hit my stride. I always want more and want to do more, but certainly I think it’s been a great year so far, having done two shows in New York for the first time, and then getting this award. I guess that comes with age and experience and just doing it for a while. And I guess I’m getting a little better at it.

Do people look at you differently now that you’ve become the big man at Boss?

I don’t know if I’ve knocked it out of the park yet, but I think we had a really successful first show and I guess people look at me a little more like a grown-up, a big person.

Do you feel like a grown-up?

Yeah, I feel a little older. I guess that means grown-up. Definitely achier.

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Your Boss show was quite the star-studded event, and Jennifer Lawrence just wore a gown from your Fall collection to the world premiere of X-Men: Days of Future Past. What role does celebrity dressing play in a designer’s success?

Having people you admire wear your clothes in a very public way is inspiring, and it’s also a great way to get your work out there. It’s a great form of advertising. But for me it’s always about quality, not quantity, and it’s about dressing the few girls that I love. I’ve always been very loyal to Diane Kruger, Reese Witherspoon, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Kerry Washington—those are girls I dress over and over and over again. And you really develop a rapport and a friendship and a relationship. It goes back to the days when Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn, and Catherine Deneuve and Yves Saint Laurent, had those relationships that went [beyond commerciality]. Those were true relationships. It’s great to continue that tradition.

Can a young designer make it these days without a celebrity bump?

Everyone does it differently. There are some people who make clothes that are more appropriate for a red carpet and there are some people who don’t. I’m not sure if it’s a do-or-die situation, but you do have to seek exposure in your own way, in a way that’s right for your brand.

How did you come to dress Jennifer Lawrence for her X-Men premiere? Was that a big moment for you?

Yeah. Actually, we just found out [the day before]. I had no idea. I think there’s something so incredibly human about her. That’s why people love her so much—she’s so relatable. She shows a little imperfection—which we all have—and still looks stunning.

You mentioned that people like seeing imperfection in public figures. With that in mind, people seem to like you a lot. What’s your imperfection?

My imperfection is that I’m not as perfect as people seem to think I am. There’s a sense of controlled, sophisticated ideas in my clothes that are quite neat, and I think people sometimes think I’m that, but I’m not.

Are you messy?

I’m actually not messy. I’m terrible at waking up early. I’m terrible at a lot of things. I’m terrible at technology—anything computer-oriented. And I’m terrible at making anything on time, which I’m really working on. Actually, at Parsons, I was always really late, and you can’t be late at Parsons. You really get into trouble.

You, along with Alexander Wang, Prabal Gurung, Joseph Altuzarra, etc., are part of New York’s new guard. How do you think the creative climate here is changing?

Right now, New York fashion week is at its best. We have the most young talent [succeeding] at the same time for the first time in a long, long while, and this is the first time that we’ve really been acknowledged on an international level in a long time. That has to do with the fact that our generation’s outlook is global, rather than local. If you look at Style, you can read that anywhere in the world. That certainly helps. Having that kind of recognition all over the world is something that is quite rare. We’re experiencing something of a moment, a movement.

Why is that, do you think?

It is, in so many ways, New York’s time. All [of the young designers] in New York come from different international backgrounds. I think that’s a very nice representation of what New York fashion is about—it’s about diversity; it’s about fresh ideas; it’s about making its own statement, because we don’t have the hundreds of years of history. We’re really still, as a whole, quite new at it.

Do you remember how you felt when you were designing your Parsons graduate collection?

It’s so funny because I went to Parsons and my major was menswear, yet I make the most fit-and-flare dresses you could possibly imagine. I guess after going to the very masculine side, I felt like I was much more comfortable in the very feminine side, and eventually the combination of the two became my work as we know it today.

Why were you initially drawn to menswear?

I always liked the idea of tailoring. I always felt making a jacket was the most difficult thing, and it is still the most difficult. Sometimes the cleanest things with the least amount of details are the most intricate.

What do fashion students need to know that isn’t necessarily taught in school?

It’s that the fashion industry isn’t by-the-books. It’s not about following one specific route, it’s about paving your own way and making it your own. That’s what makes fashion interesting—individual visions—and not one person breaks through in the same way. We all get into it slightly differently—I worked in toys first.

Speaking of toys, I read that back in the day, you did a RuPaul doll?

I worked with RuPaul once! It was a long time ago. We made a RuPaul doll and it was wildly successful and that’s how I met him. Of course, RuPaul’s Drag Race is my favorite show ever. It’s like the best show on television. RuPaul is kind of the ultimate supermodel, and I have an obsession with supermodels.

Does your former life as a toy designer ever inform your fashion designs?

Attention to detail is what links my work as a toy designer and a fashion designer. Most people say I went from dressing toy dolls to real dolls. That’s kind of the press-y version of it. But in actuality, I did everything from designing the sculptural form of the dolls to the industrialization of the molds to the manufacturing. I always knew how to create a really good product, and I think that experience primed me for this industry.

How important has business savvy been to your success?

The balance between creativity and business-savvy is something that every young designer needs to be aware of, because it’s the reality of our industry. Having that balance is something that my generation of New York designers really thinks about.

What is your advice to fashion students who want to be the next Jason Wu?

I don’t know if they do want to be the next Jason Wu! But my advice is seize every opportunity and work hard. It sounds so obvious to say that, but the glamour of the industry can get distracting sometimes, and at the end of the day it’s about the work. I work weekends all the time—there’s no such thing as overtime for me because my own time is overtime. And I don’t have any vacations, so cancel those family plans.

Area Pops Up on Kenmare

Emerging label Area is moving full steam ahead. Since we last checked in with designers Piotrek Panszczyk and Beckett Fogg this past March, the pair’s embossed velvet, mohair, and Lurex debut Fall ’14 collection has been requested by mega-stylists (like Marie-Amélie Sauvé), shot by some major magazines, and is slowly but surely attracting retailers’ attention. But the duo wants to bring their vision to the public here and now, so they’ve created an accessible capsule collection, which will be sold in a pop-up shop in Nolita. Bowing this Saturday at 52 Kenmare Street (“we specifically timed it for the weekend before Memorial Day,” explained Fogg), the store will house shorts, tote bags, T-shirts, and tanks, all of which will feature the house’s signature braille-like texture. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that these are no ordinary basics—the pieces, offered in white, light gray, and charcoal, have a unique grain thanks to the embossing and perforation method, which the designers stumbled upon almost by accident. “We use the same process in our mainline, and one of the ‘flaws’ that comes along with it is that if you really jack up the heat and the pressure, the plate will punch through the garment. The people we work with are always horrified when it happens, and we constantly have to tell them, ‘No, we want it that way!’” laughed Fogg.

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The technique also causes the wares to morph and evolve as you wear them. For instance, if you send the styles to the dry cleaner, the material will turn into an irregular jersey mesh. If you get the fabric wet, the texture will soften. The designers note that you can even iron out the indentations to make irregular patterns. “This isn’t meant to be a very precious garment that makes you freak out when something happens to it,” stressed Fogg. “We actually have a timeline on our website, where you can see the textures up close, and how they will change. Basically, with these designs, we’ve sped up the process of wearing out your tee for you.”

Considering the designers’ mainline is priced between $600 and $1,600, the capsule is a steal, with each piece coming in at less than $100. That being said, if you’re in the mood to invest in these young talents’ work, you can see their Fall ’14 collection and place a private order. Have a browse—you won’t regret it.

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Pitti Reveals Big Plans, Makes Peace

This afternoon, the fashion set chowed down on bacon, rigatoni, and cream sauce, which can mean only one thing: the biannual Pitti Immagine Uomo/W luncheon. Held at downtown Italian eatery Da Silvano, the afternoon gathering gave Pitti CEO Raffaello Napoleone the opportunity to speak with press, buyers, and more about the plans for the Spring ’15 Florence fashion fair—and boy, are there a lot of them. 2014 marks the 60th anniversary of the Centro di Firenze per la Moda Italiana (essentially the organizing body for all things fashion in Firenze), so in addition to exhibitions and presentations from emerging and established designers, fairgoers will be treated to a three-museum exhibition by Francesco Vezzoli, who will insert his own work among classical paintings, sculptures, etc.; an opening opera starring Andrea Bocelli; an exhibition of Roman costume atelier Sartoria Tirelli’s confections; a bevy of film screenings; the debut of Nick Wooster’s capsule collection; and more. Also on the docket? Florence-born brands Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Emilio Pucci, and Ermanno Scervino will each host special events.

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As reported last month, Z Zegna will be the featured guest menswear designer, but there will be no guest womenswear designer this season due to the many other events on the itinerary. We suppose the abovementioned powerhouses’ Florence-centric projects will suffice. “We don’t want it to be just another fair,” Napoleone told while sipping a glass of vino rosso. “We want to create a cultural experience.” Provided the itinerary lives up to expectations, it seems he’s done just that.

The overcrowded menswear schedule also came up in discussion this afternoon. If you’ll remember, there was a bit of a tiff between Pitti Uomo and the London Collections: Men last season, as the recently founded London shows conflicted with the Florence fair. “There will be no more troubles in 2015,” announced Napoleone. While the showcases will once again overlap this time around, next season the calendar for all four cities will shift, allowing London, Florence, Milan, and Paris each to have its fair share of time in the spotlight. (This helps explore the new dates for Paris Couture, too.) “This is better for everyone,” asserted Napoleone, telling us that it took one year to reach the final agreement. “Having four menswear events in Europe is a good opportunity because the manufacturers will remain strong and [we] can drive the [menswear] sensibility,” he added. It’s nice to see all the fashion cities (finally) playing nice.

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Celebrities Reveal What Their Mothers Taught Them About Beauty

Whether we like it or not, our mothers are the voice in our heads—murmuring that a skirt is just a little too short, that no matter how tired we are, we really should wash our face before bed, that we must embrace—not pick apart—what we see in the mirror. They were, after all, the first ones who told us we were beautiful (and made us wear sunscreen long before we knew what was good for us). In honor of mother’s day, we asked celebrities and beauty experts to share the most important lessons their mothers taught them about beauty.

“Everything was about blush all the time. Before I’d leave the house, my mom would always say, ‘You need more blush.’ Now I have this thing about blush—I always feel like I don’t have enough color on my cheeks.” —Jillian Dempsey, makeup artist

“My mom was a hairdresser when I was growing up, and she loved experimenting. She taught me that trying new things could be fun, whether it was dyeing my hair or chopping bangs. When you change your look, sometimes you stand a little taller. She also taught me to hold my head up high and make eye contact with everyone I meet. People will feel that energy and be drawn to you.” —Heidi Klum, model and host of Project Runway

“I love my mother, but it was the ’70s, and she sat outside with a sun reflector. So I sort of learned what not to do by watching her. But she is lovely, and she did tell me not to dress like a whore.” —Julie Bowen, actress

“My mother and I were very close. She died when I was 17. She was diagnosed with cancer when I was two, and they gave her six months to live. But she lived for 15 years, so we had 15 years of pure, seize-the-day, don't-let-any-moment-pass time together, and she taught me a hell of a lot. She taught me how to walk in Chanel pumps in fourth grade. She didn't know how long she would live, and she wanted to make sure I knew all the important things. She said to me, ‘OK, I’m going to break the news to you. You’re never going to grow over five feet tall, so you better learn how to walk in heels now, because you’re going to be living in them your whole life.’ So while everybody else was outside playing tag and hide-and-seek, I was doing drills in five-inch pumps, up and down my stairs. To this day, I can outrun any drag queen in platforms on a cobblestone street, no problem.” —Mally Roncal, makeup artist and founder of Mally Beauty

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“Being who you truly want to be—who you truly are—is one of the most important things my mother taught me. I wanted to be a skateboarder when I was 13. Didn’t know how to skateboard, but my mom let me wear a wallet chain and hold a skateboard under my arm and walk around like an idiot because that’s what I wanted to do.” —Kelly Osbourne, TV host

“The most important thing she taught me was to never want to look like someone else or be someone else. She was a ballerina, and she made me dance, and if I danced in a certain style or copied a specific person, she would tell me to dance like myself. She felt that if you knew how to own and respect what you’re given naturally, there’s nothing more beautiful.” —Tracy Anderson, founder of Tracy Anderson Method studios

“I learned that you should just be natural. We’re a very soap-and-water sort of family all the way. My mom is gorgeous, but it was always about how you carried yourself, how you felt about yourself.” —Rosario Dawson, actress

“I had bad acne as a teen, and my mother took it seriously. She brought me to a dermatologist, just like her mother had done for her. A lot of my friends didn’t go because their parents thought, Oh, it’s just pimples; suck it up. But it can really affect your self-esteem.” —Amy Wechsler, dermatologist

“My mother was a feminist. She would have slapped you if you said she was pretty. And she was pretty, but she wasn’t very much into looks or anything like that. She taught me about the mind and the meaning of life. I learned about being a strong woman, and I think that’s more beautiful to me.” —Julie Delpy, writer and actress

“My mother’s biggest thing was ‘Keep it simple.’ She had beautiful, dewy skin, and she would accent it with just black eyeliner and mascara. Even now, she’s 60 and I’m 40, and she gets all the compliments.” —Jeannia Robinette, makeup artist

“My mother taught me that neutrals work best. She loved a no-makeup look but was flawless. She taught me how to do my eyes with brown eyeliner and black mascara. Her tips are so timeless that I still follow them today.” —Aerin Lauder, founder of Aerin

“In the ’90s, I copied Kate Moss’s pencil-line eyebrows. When my mom saw them, she said, ‘If you never listen to anything I tell you again, grow your eyebrows back in.’ And I listened. Now that I’m in my 40s, I know there’s nothing worse than an overplucked eyebrow as you get older. When I meet a model with great brows, I tell her, ‘Hold on to every single one of those precious little hairs.’” —Kate Lee, makeup artist

“She used to say to me, ‘Don’t touch your skin around your face too much,’ ‘Eat the crusts of your bread or your hair will grow curly,’ and ‘Get to bed early so you don’t have bags under your eyes.’ But my mom was a psychologist, so it wasn’t so much beauty tips as, ‘Simone, where is this anger coming from? Let’s get in touch with this anger.'" —Simone de la Rue, founder of Body by Simone

“Two things she told me that I still abide by: Always wash your face at night and use cider vinegar. At the time I thought she was a little nutty about vinegar, because she used it for everything. She would drink it—a teaspoon in water every day—and use it to clean the kitchen. It’s a wonderful antimicrobial, but it also normalizes the pH of the skin. For years I got eczema, and I always used antibiotic creams, but one day she said, ‘Why don’t you put vinegar on that?’ And I did, and it went away, and that’s what I do now. It’s a wonderful trick.” —Jane Iredale, founder of Iredale Mineral Cosmetics

“My mom’s job took her to a lot of college campuses, and she had the opportunity to see all the college girls. At the time I was addicted to the Aussie-Sprunch-spray, two-sets-of-hot-rollers-and-a-perm look, and the best piece of advice she ever gave me was when she said, ‘I’m telling you, all the college girls are wearing their hair straight.’ And she helped me get a straightening iron and do it. I was like five years ahead of the curve.” —Molly Sims, actress

“We’re from Jamaica, and my mother taught me a few local tricks. She taught me that salt water keeps your skin acne-free. We soak a cotton ball in ocean water and wipe it all over our faces. At the end of the summer, we fill up bottles in the ocean to last us the winter. I have one in my refrigerator now, because every once in a while I do get a little acne, and it just sucks it out.” —Sheril Bailey, manicurist

“We lived on a farm, so we always had goat’s milk around. She would put it in my baths to help me with my eczema. I actually created a goats milk cream inspired by that.” —Kate Somerville, aesthetician and founder of Kate Somerville Skin Care

“A smoky eye or a red lip, but never both at the same time!” —Catherine Malandrino, designer

“She always told me to smile with my eyes. I learned that by watching her. And what that meant to her, and now to me, is: To be beautiful is to feel beautiful. If you felt good, and you felt confident, you could put that through your eyes in a picture. And that would be beautiful.” —Josie Maran, model and founder of Josie Maran Cosmetics

Michelle Obama Cuts the Ribbon at the Met Costume Institute's New Anna Wintour Costume Center

"Those of us blessed with the opportunity to succeed have an obligation to reach back and take others along with us,” said First Lady Michelle Obama this morning before cutting the ribbon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s new Anna Wintour Costume Center, calling the Vogue Editor in Chief an “inspiration multiplier.” Aerin Lauder, chair and sponsor of tonight’s gala to celebrate the opening of the Center’s inaugural show, "Charles James: Beyond Fashion," remarked, “There is no one more deserving of this honor.”

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It was a sentiment that echoed around the Temple of Dendur, where fashion’s top designers, both established and new-generation—from Oscar de la Renta (one of the event’s cochairs), to Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, to Alexander Wang—gathered for the ceremony. Really it was difficult to think of a designer who wasn’t there.

“It’s just beyond to beyond what she brings to the world and to New York,” said Donna Karan of Wintour. “She’s such a dedicated and devoted woman,” Marc Jacobs agreed. J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons spoke of the work Wintour does to “preserve and protect” the fashion industry, much of which is behind the scenes. “Anna is so private about it. She deserves to be recognized.”

While honoring Wintour, Mrs. Obama also highlighted the importance of the Costume Institute, and its new Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery and Carl and Iris Barrel Apfel Gallery, in the realm of education and the inspiration it provides young people; joking, those carefully constructed James dresses might make them “pay closer attention in geometry this semester.”

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Join Jacquie Aiche’s Girl Gang With a Custom Leather Jacket

It isn’t every day a jewelry designer steps up to the sewing machine, but Jacquie Aiche isn’t your typical jeweler. Aiche started making her career-defining “finger bracelets” (delicate gold chains connected to a matching ring) for friends out of her Los Angeles garage, and as requests poured in from Hollywood and beyond, she found herself in the center of a cult phenomenon. The hand chain became a sort of symbol for the Jacquie Aiche “tribe”—with no retailers, you had to be part of the in-crowd to snag one of the pieces.

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Now Aiche stocks her distinctive jewelry at Saks Fifth Avenue, Catbird, Shopbop, Curve, My Theresa, and more. Her posse is expanding, too. “We travel as a tribe when we go to all the shows,” Aiche told Style. “We laugh about how we’re going to form a girl gang.” Aiche’s crew piles on the jewelry, but now they have another (super-special) way to pledge their allegiance: Aiche’s new leather jackets. Debuting exclusively here on Style, the bomber styles are decidedly unique. Constructed from exotic skins like snake, deer, ostrich, and crocodile, the jackets are completely customizable and handmade to order. A range of cool decorative patches is available, like the eye of Horus or a marijuana leaf (both recurring motifs in her jewelry line).

“It’s been a very organic process,” Aiche said of her foray into outerwear. “We were on our way to Paris fashion week and it was really cold, so I asked the guy who makes our leather jewelry pouches to take the leftover material and make jackets for us. They were magnetic from the first moment we wore them.”

At last night’s piercing party hosted by Love Adorned, model Phoenix Cotner sported her jacket topless with a tangle of necklaces, and several others were on hand to show off their toppers. “Each jacket is for a different woman,” Aiche said. “Maybe she wants protection, so she chooses the eye.” She recently sent jackets to Rihanna and Miley Cyrus—the latter has her name stitched across the back (we’re guessing the marijuana leaf made it on there, too). Shoppers looking for something extra luxurious can add black rabbit fur lining. We’ll be keeping that in mind for the next Polar Vortex.

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