FASHION WEEK VIDEO BREAK: Drop Everything And Watch Rick Owens' Spectacular Spring 2014 Show

The Shophound is not in Paris, but if we had been last Friday, the only place we would have wanted to be would have been at the Rick Owens Spring 2014 show.
Owens has always been a designer to go his own way, and has been given to unconventional presentations in the past, but this show was something else entirely. Instead of using the expected cast of seasoned runway models, the collection entitled"Vicious" like his Spring Men's collection, was shown on members of four different college step teams, the Zetas, Washington Divas, Soul Steppers and Momentums, who started learning their routines six months ago. In what is essentially the antithesis of the current fashion show paradigm, Owens' steppers stomped, clapped, jumped, scowled and gyrated through the show, making timely yet subversive statements about race, body image and fashion in general, all the while being wildly energetic and entertaining. It was basically all any fashion writer wanted to talk about on Friday, and, thankfully, Owens wasted no time in getting an official video up on YouTube that you can see after the jump. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Robin Givhan has a particularly pointed take on the show over at The Cut, but the best thing to do is drop whatever you are doing and take 12 minutes to click through and watch it for yourself.
It's awesome.

THIS WEEK ONLINE: Gucci, BCBG, Donna Karan, Gareth Pugh, Valentino, Moschino, Salvatore Ferragamo, Brunello Cucinelli, Fendi, Bottega Veneta, Billy Reid

Here is your weekly sampling of some of the brands you can expect to find on the bigger online Flash Sale Sites this week. You should click over to the sites themselves for a full schedule of events, and be sure to check for the correct start time for each sale. Happy clicking!

GILT GROUPE

Les Copains, A.L.C., MIR Scarves, Mimi Intimates, Autumn Cashmere, BCBGMaxAzria, The Letter, AHAVA, Gucci, Schleich Collectibles, Diesel Underwear, Fred Perry, Versace Footwear, Citizen Watches, Kaminski XY Accessories, Kitchen Aid, Joyfolie Girls' Shoes, Pyrenex Outerwear, Rachel Pally Maternity, Taj Hotel, Donna Karan Home, Design Craft Lighting —join HERE

RUE LA LA

TOD's, James Jeans, Lagos, Alberto Fermani, Vince, Paperwhite, Arche, ToyWatch, Dale Tiffany, Bellino Fine Linens, Valentino, Kay Unger, Fratelli Rossetti, Lori Bonn, O'Neill, Hickey, Cuddledown, Sorel, Peacock Alley, W118 by Walter Baker —join HERE

BELLE & CLIVE

Hermès Bangles, Bottega Veneta, Sunglasses by Chloé & Fendi, Cole Haan, Greylin, Armadini Fine Jewelry, Fendi, Gemma, Brunello Cucinelli, Mili Designs, Core Bamboo, TOD's, Hadley & James Cashmere, Ben Minkoff Accessories, Brioni, Carrera, Salvatore Ferragamo, Oliberté, Prada —join HERE

HAUTE LOOK

Michele Watches, Stila, John Varvatos ★ USA, Rachel Roy, Kensie Outerwear, Nine West, Laila Jayde, Joseph Abboud, C-IN2, Ivory & Mason Eyewear, Erica Anenberg, New Balance, Mario Badescu, Fendi, LOVE Moschino, Gryphon, Billy Reid, Sorel, Alice & Trixie, Chantelle, Hawke & Co., Adidas SLVR, Cuisinart —join HERE

MY HABIT

GF Ferré, Gordon Rush Collection, Calvin Klein Accessories, Sebago, Gareth Pugh, Dr. Martens, Charles Jourdan, Hale Bob, Fraydee Collection Jewelry, Charles David, Eddera Jewelry, Emilio Cavallini Hosiery, Portolano, Rainforest Outerwear, Florsheim Socks, Nicole Miller, Domenico Vacca, Antonio Maurizi —join HERE

VENTE PRIVEE

Waterford, Damiani, Dana Davis, Charles Jourdan, Effy Jewelry, Lladró, Salvetti Fine Jewelry, DeLaCour Watches, Orrefors/Kosta Boda —join HERE

AT THE MUSEUM: FIT Takes On Gay Fashion And Plans A Dance Show For Next Fall

After seeing A Queer History of Fashion: From The Closet To The Catwalk currently on at The Museum at FIT through January 4th, we have to give the museum credit for tackling a huge and ambitious topic.
We can tell you that the exhibition is probably not exactly what you think it is.
It's not necessarily a survey of clothes made by gay designers, although a lot of it is.
It's not a specifically compendium of clothes worn by LGBTQ people, although a lot of those are included.
It's not a display of outfits worn by drag queens, although there are a few of those.
It's not a presentation of ensembles fit for a leather bar, although there's a little of that too.
It's not even a study of how gay styles affect mainstream fashion, although it touches upon that topic.

The 100-piece show winds up raising a more questions than it answers, possibly intentionally, about how gay people throughout the past few centuries created fashion for themselves, and sometimes others, that reflected how they fit into society at the time —or in many cases, didn't fit in. So, the show becomes a glamorous soup of clothes that goes back to styles from times when the closet was more like a bank vault, and people transmitted their sexual preferences though coded dress, and moves on to gender bending media figures like Marlene Dietrich and Noel Coward before turning to designers like Gianni Versace and Jean-Paul Gaultier whose designs became ever more exuberant as gays openly entered mainstream culture. Each outfit seems to represent a different facet of the exhibition's topic, as well highlighting prominent gay people in Fashion including designer and Shophound friend John Bartlett and Barneys "Ambassador" Simon Doonan. Doonan is represented by an late '70s outfit featuring a pair of Vivienne Westwood tartan bondage pants on loan from the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that, we can't help noting, were coincidentally cataloged by a young Shophound as an intern there. Doonan, Bartlett and others are also featured in video interviews discussing what fashion means to them as gay people which further illuminates the show. After an entertaining but fairly straightforward exhibition of elaborate shoe design, A Queer History of Fashion raises interesting questions about exactly what anyone's clothes say about themselves consciously or not, and there may not be simple answers.

Next Fall, FIT will tackle Dance and Fashion, which given the breadth of the current show, could range from ballroom apparel to stage costumes to movie musicals to disco-wear and probably lots of things we wouldn't even think of.

A Queer History of Fashion: From The Closet To The Catwalk at The Museum at FIT through January 4th, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, Chelsea
FIT Plots Dance Exhibition (WWD)

TODAY'S H&M NEWS: Opening Ceremony To Sell H&M's Design Awards Winner + COS Coming To SoHo + All Of Isabel Marant's Men's Looks

There's a truckload of news coming out of H&M today.
First on deck is the unusual occasion of H&M selling its wares in another store, and the impressive surprise of that store being New York's epicenter of directional design, Opening Ceremony. The Swedish chain's 2013 Design Award winner, Minju Kim will debut her collection (pictured at right) at select H&M stores on October 17th as well as at Opening Ceremony's New York, Los Angeles and London stores. It's the first time that H&M has partnered with another retailer, and Opening Ceremony's participation suggests that this new designer will be someone to watch. Born in Korea and schooled at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, Minju's manga-inspired collection was selected by a jury of fashion experts, and in about three weeks, you'll get a chance to see it for yourself.

The next bit of news concerns H&M's more sophisticated and expensive brand COS —which stands for Collection Of Style. Heretofore unavailable in the United States the brand will make its stateside debut sometime next year at an as yet undisclosed location somewhere 129 Spring Street between Greene and Wooster Streets in SoHo. No word yet on how big or extensive the store will be, but it's website —which does not ship to the U.S.— shows collections for Women, Men and Children. Hopefully, more details will emerge soon.

And lastly, this week has seen excitement for the upcoming Isabel Marant pour H&M collaboration collection increase exponentially as images of the offerings mede their way onto the internet via a variety of blogs and websites. Today, GQ was the first to present a detailed imagery from the men's section of the capsule collection including prices. They are Marant's first men's designs, and probably the only ones you will see from her in a while. The good news is, they translate the designer's eclectic boho vibe quite well for men including great outerwear pieces, jeans that are embellished just enough, and some easy tees and sweatshirts. The bad news is they won't be cheap. The jeans are $99, the terrific brass buttoned peacoat is $299, and the suede ankle boots are $199. The prices are in line with last year's ill-fated Maison Martin Margiela project. While we hope Marant's collection does better with shoppers than that one did (and it looks like it probably will) H&M wasted no time in marking down excess Margiela merch within a few weeks of the launch. In the event that guys are not quite ready for Marant's chunky sweaters and skinny, decorated jeans, more adventurous shoppers with paitence may find some bargains.
Have a look at more of Minju Kim's collection and some of Isabel Marant's key men's items in the gallery below. 

Bombshell: H&M's COS Is Coming to NYC! Specifically, Soho! (Racked)
Every Isabel Marant x H&M Menswear Piece (With Prices) (The GQ Eye)

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COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: The Isabel Marant Pour H&M Lookbook Is Leaking All Over The Place

As soon as one big designer collaboration leaves the stage this time of year, it seems like there's another on deck to jump into the spotlight before you can take a breath. This week, the first real images from H&M's upcoming Isabel Marant collaboration hit the web. For whatever reason, H&M decided not to do media blitz with the entire lookbook, so it has been showing up on forums and blogs piecemeal over the past few days. So far, the only official outlet seems to be Vogue Paris online which has 58 well-sized images of the women's line including individual item shots and head to toe looks featuring iconic models like Alek Wek, Milla Jovovich and Malgosia Bela to name a few. While the collection features men's and children's pieces as well, those are harder to come by, although our friends at Racked got ahold of a few of the men's looks (pictured at left). Marant's first designs for the opposite sex, they look... kind of like her women's looks. By that we mean bohemian, eclectic and slightly eccentric. We have reproduced some of the full looks below, but click over to Vogue.fr for a detailed look at the women's collection which looks very much in keeping with Marant's sporty aesthetic including 80's inspired boots and shiny chain belts.

Isabel Marant for H&M: See the full collection (Vogue Paris)
Update: More of the Isabel Marant for H&M Lookbook Leaked! (Racked)
Previously: 
Collaboration Anticipation: H&M Returns To Designer Collaborations With Isabel Marant

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HOLIDAY CELEBRETAIL: Barneys Announces A New York Holiday With Jay Z

After weeks of rumors, Barneys New York confirmed that this year's Holiday season promotion will be based around Hip Hop star Jay Z. This is in keeping with the store's new tradition of allying itself with celebrities (Lady Gaga) and other media figures (Minnie Mouse) for its Holiday programs. "A New York Holiday" teams the rapper with a host of designers including Balenciaga, Alexander Wang and Balmain to create exclusive pieces that will be sold in a special boutique in the Madison Avenue flagship. The "BNY SCC Gallery" (for Barneys New York and Shawn Corey Carter, Jay Z's given name) will launch on the third floor of the men's store on November 20th, and will include items like Proenza Schouler's first bag for men and a $33,900 gold watch from Hublot. That same evening, the store will sponsor a fundraising event for the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation, which focuses on young students who have been overlooked by other, more traditional scholarship programs such as those with a G.E.D. or who have been incarcerated. The foundation will also receive 25% of the proceeds from the collaboration.

Carter tells WWD, “With this project, Barneys New York and I were able to take the slickness, energy and innovation of New York City and translate that into quality, timeless pieces. Everything that encompasses ‘A New York Holiday’ — the items chosen, the amazing designers that participated, the windows, the design of the BNY SCC Gallery — represents a perfect example of a unique and groundbreaking collaboration that I hope demonstrates how inspiring New York has been to me.”

By collaborating with some of Barneys' key brands, this promotion promises to feel more fully integrated with the store than the Disney and Gaga programs from previous Holiday seasons, which were criticized for feeling off-brand and shoehorned into a retailer with a more sophisticated and exclusive image. A This year, a special shopping bag has been created, and the Jay Z project will be incorporated into the Holiday windows, doubtlessly creating a flurry of major media attention.  The holiday program fits in with the store's current marketing concept of allying with other figures in media or the fashion world to create excitement, even as some would still be happy just to see another round of Simon Doonan's famous, comical Holiday Windows. The new Barneys has left that life behind.

Get Carter: Barneys New York Teams With Jay Z for Holiday (WWD)

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: What To Buy From GQ's Best New Menswear Designers In America X Gap

This morning, four new capsule collections arrived in selected Gap stores and at Gap.com from the most important up-and-coming menswear designers as chosen by the wise folks at GQ. This year's roster is a little bit smaller than last year's, but also a bit more varied featuring updated Savile Row inspiration from Liam and Sammy Fayed of Bespoken, a purist's take on denim from Matt Baldwin of Baldwin, West Coast surf & skate style from Paige Mycoskie of Aviator Nation and accessory artisanry from New York's Ernest Alexander Sabine of Ernest Alexander. There has been very little in the way of previews, but the collections are now fully available —mostly only in New York City and Los Angeles. Only 30 stores in the entire chain are selling the project, and we are lucky to have the widest availability with 10 of them here in New York —plus Garden State Plaza in Paramus (see below for the full listing). The Los Angeles area has only five, and most other major cities have only a single location that will offer the collections. Everything will be available online for as long as they last.

This morning, we got our first look at the items online. There are lots of great pieces, but here are our must-haves from each designer:

Aviator Nation's Reversible Vest - $88
This collection is super beachy and skateboard-y with a heavy 1970s vibe which is a fun but very specific look. This vest reverses to the opposite color combination (blue body & brown corduroy yoke), and is the one piece that won't make you look like you got lost looking for a half-pipe.

Baldwin's Twill Cargo Pant - $78
We promised ourselves we wouldn't buy one more thing in camouflage print, but then we broke that promise so all bets are off. Camo is here to stay and theses are the pants to have, especially with those handy but streamlined cargo pockets, and a muted, alternative color combination. These won't last too long in stores. If you really have dosed on camo, they also come in blue slate —or just get them both. Pants from Baldwin's regular line retail for around $200.

Bespoken Suede Baseball Jacket - $348
It's the most expensive piece in the whole collection (and probably at the Gap in general), but gray suede is the thing right now and baseball jackets are coming back strong, so this thing is genetically engineered to be the best jacket ever. It's also the only piece of apparel in the Bespoken capsule that isn't described as having a "slim fit", but knowing this label, it is still probably cut very narrowly, so be warned. We are estimating that a similar type of jacket in Bespoken's main collection would retail for around $800 to $1000 at minimum.

Ernest Alexander Waxed Cotton Duffel and Tote - $118 and $88
Okay, we couldn't choose between these two pieces, so just get them both. We can't imagine them not being endlessly useful. Both are in a sturdy waxed cotton with a touch of nylon for extra durability with real leather trim and a signature orange lining. Similar styles in the main Ernest Alexander collection are $395 and $225

GAP x GQ's Best New Men's Designers in America available at Gap.com and Gap stores at:
Astor Place & Broadway, NoHo
23rd Street & Eighth Avenue, Chelsea
34th Street & Broadway, Herald Square
42nd Street & Broadway, Times Square
48th Street & Sixth Avenue, Midtown
54th Street & Fifth Avenue, Midtown
59th Street & Lexington Avenue, Upper East Side
67th Street & Broadway, Upper West Side
Queens Center, Elmhurst
Roosevelt Field Center, Garden City Long Island
Garden State Plaza, Paramus New Jersey 

SEE IT NOW: Visit Kate Spade's New West Side Store Without Leaving Home

Are you anxious to know how the folks at Kate Spade transformed an Irish pub on Columbus Avenue into a new boutique? Loyal patrons of the Emerald Inn will be relieved to know it has relocated, but if you have been meaning to check out the new store but haven't been able to get away, our friends at Racked have kindly taken a plethora of photographs to let you know what's inside. It won't be Kate Spade's biggest store, but it will be the one that shows you the brand's new emphasis on apparel, which should delight anyone with a hankering for that Technicolor-pseudo-60s-vintage look. Click through to Racked and have a look.

26 Photos of Kate Spade's Cheeky New Upper West Side Store (Racked)

THIS WEEK ONLINE: Rick Owens, Dolce & Gabbana, Marchesa, Balenciaga, Giorgio Armani, Theory, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Paul Smith, Moschino, Prada, Lacoste

Here is your weekly sampling of some of the brands you can expect to find on the bigger online Flash Sale Sites this week. You should click over to the sites themselves for a full schedule of events, and be sure to check for the correct start time for each sale. Happy clicking!

GILT GROUPE

Elizabeth and James, Dolce & Gabbana, Deborah Lippman, Free People, House of Harlow, Chan Luu, Cinzia Rocca, Marchesa Evening Bags, Rick Owens, French Connection, 2XU, Wingtip Clothiers, Yves Saint Laurent, Union, Tea Collection, Kapital K for Boys, Muk Luks, Archipelago, Belle Epoque Bedding, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Burn Candles, Rosanna Tabletop —join HERE

RUE LA LA

Cullen, Konstantino, Commando Intimates, Gilchrist & Soames, 88 Rue du Rhone Watches, Balenciaga, Tahari ASL, Taryn Rose, Jura-Capresso, Dena Home, The World of Armani, Janice Girardi, Ash Rain + Oak, Portolano, Via Spiga, Peter Millar, Scott Kay, Theory, Wacoal/B. Tempt'd, Safavieh, Buona Notte Linens, Tutu Couture —join HERE

BELLE & CLIVE

Salvatore Ferragamo, Reece Hudson, Daw Levy, Taylor, Vanhi Jewelry, Prada, Kelsi Dagger, Saint Laurent, Sogoli, Oliberte, Red Line Watches, Paul Smith, Bogosse, Gucci, Kenneth Cole —join HERE

HAUTE LOOK

Tahari, Dolce Vita, Genetic Denim, OPI, Alternative Apparel,Charles Jourdan, Prps, Tommy Hilfiger, Wolverine 1883, Closed, Gola, iLux, Elle Macpherson, Giorgio Armani, John Varvatos, Minnetonka, What Goes Around Comes Around, Kelsi Dagger, Vince Camuto, Calvin Klein, Willow & Clay, Dittos —join HERE

MY HABIT

Calvin Klein Collection, Moschino, Valentino, D&G, John Varvatos Shoes, Lacoste Watches, JB by Julie Brown, Shae Knitwear, 360 Skin Care, Stella & Jamie, Florsheim Shoes for Boys, $15 & Up: Melissa & Doug Favorites, AdNArt, Glamorous Grey, Edun, !iTEM Denim, Desigual, Religion, Geox, Cut25, Yves Saint Laurent Scarves, A.B.S. by Allen Schwartz —join HERE

VENTE PRIVEE

A.Link Jewelry, Nautica, Valentino Timepieces, Tom Ford Sunglasses —join HERE

DON'T BE CAUGHT DEAD: iPhone Lines Are So 2007

In case you have been spending the last few weeks of Summer under a rock, you probably know that two new iPhones are being launched to day at Apple stores and authorized dealers today. When we passed by yesterday afternoon, the people in the picture above had been waiting in line outside the Fifth Avenue Apple store for a couple of days so they can be among the first to get one of them. They can politely be referred to as a bunch of dum-dums, because there were literally tens of people in line behind them. And not that many tens.

Don't be caught in an iPhone line. This time last year, Apple devised a reserve-online-pick-up-in-store system that essentially abolished all iPhone lines, and it worked well enough that we managed to get ahold of one within the first week of the launch without the slightest bit of trouble or waiting.
So don't fell the need to wait in line for an iPhone, and if you see anyone else doing it, throw a pie at them.