The Smashing Pumpkins - Siva

Adele - Someone Like You

The Black Keys - Lonely Boy (First Listen)

In my opinion, Tomas Maier is a genius. Born the son of an architect, in a small German town on the edge of the Black Forest, Tomas desired to move to Paris to study fashion at the same school where Yves Saint Laurent studied. In his illustrious career, he has worked for Guy Laroche, Sonia Rykiel, and was Creative Director of womenswear for Hermes. In 1997, he launched his namesake label and designed amazing swimwear which, I was fortunate enough to sell. In 1999, he quit his contracts and moved to Miami. He was hand-picked by Tom Ford to become head of Creative Design at Bettega Veneta in June of 2001 when the Gucci Group took over the label. Since taking over, he has quietly and diligently reestablished the label-less luxury brand with brilliant design, increasing sales by a whopping eight hundred percent! He has been known to try an entire collection on a model to find the perfect fit. Instead of taking all of the credit, he relies on his design team to make sure that every detail is attended to right down to show time! It's hard to not sit up and take notice, as I flip through my glossy magazines, when photographers such as Alex Prager and Robert Polidori are commissioned to shoot brilliant ad campaigns to accompany beautiful collections!

"WORKIN' LIKE THE RENT IS DUE"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FREJA! MY FAVE MODEL BREATHING NEW LIFE...

The Real Beauty Behind the Birkin

With all of the hype surrounding the elusive Hermes Birkin bag, especially lately, I decided to delve into the bio of Jane Birkin, for whom the famed bag was named. Born December 14, 1946, the English born actress and singer emerged during the swinging '60's. Although at the time she did not speak French, Jane won a role in "Slogan" opposite Serge Gainsbourg with whom she would collaborate professionally and personally for many years. Their relationship lasted thirteen years and in 1971, produced a daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg. In 1982, she gave birth to a third daughter, Lou Doillon, with director Jacques Doillon. They separated after Gainsbourg died in 1991. Jane is also well known for her humanitarian work with Amnesty International, AIDS relief, and has visited war-torn Bosnia. As if that weren't enough, she has also collaborated with many well established recording artists. The Birkin bag itself came about in 1984, when Hermes CEO Jean Louis Dumas created a supple black bag for Jane fashioned after an 1892 design. It was a bag she could literally live out of since she traveled so frequently. The bag has since become iconic and sought after by women (and men) the world over. The bag was featured in a famed episode of "Sex and the City" and more recently in an episode of "Fashion Hunters" on Bravo.

This particular blog post is long overdue. Miuccia Prada has long been my favorite designer, my Goddess if you will. Maybe I never wrote about her previously because everyone who knows me, knows this to be true. In doing research about her, and having worked for Prada U.S.A. Corp., I was surprised to learn that she earned a Ph.D. in Political Science and after that, went on to mime school for five years. She was a strong voice in the women's rights movement in the '70's. Her Grandfather started Prada, a luggage company, in 1913. In 1978, Miuccia and her husband Patrizio Bertelli, took over the house. Her first womenswear collection, which earned critical acclaim came in 1989, menswear followed in 1995. Miu Miu was introduced in 1992 and was inspired by her style and nickname. In 1993, she received the prestigious CFDA International award. For me, it's all in the details and concepts behind her collections. Her shows are always highly anticipated. Additionally, she collects contemporary art, is involved in World Cup Sailing, has collaborated with the architect Rem Koolhaas, among other artists... what's next for this fashion giant? T.B.C.

Unbelievably Gorgeous and Dark

Oh the Hotness...

Dreamy Dries