This, friends, is intel that comes from a trusted Racked source, who attends FIDM—the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Downtown LA—where Hills stars Stephanie Pratt and (supposedly) Lauren Conrad go to school. If you caught our earlier post, Pratt is jumping into the fourth season with an eye on Lauren's new dude. Our source confirms Pratt's penchant for drama, and guesses that Lauren Conrad's school enrollment is pure fantasy.
1) Stephanie Pratt: "I go to FIDM and had a class with Stephanie Pratt almost a year ago, months prior to her Hills debut. It was a weekly six-hour sewing and pattern-making class, so there was a lot of opportunity to chit-chat. Day one, Stephanie went to work letting the entire class 'overhear' her talk about her big bro, Spencer and his gf Heidi. I was on the complete other side of the room and didn't have any trouble hearing her. She made sure EVERYONE was aware of what crew she rolled with. When she wasn't name dropping, she was talking about where the best AA Meeting locations were and what prescription drugs she was taking."
The Hikari Apartments in Little Tokyo Downtown is developing its retail with the debut of Kimski Makes. Store manager Raymond Cho told Angelenic: “We offer our on unique designs, but Kimski Makes is also a portal for up-and-coming local artisans to bring their merchandise to market.” Per the apparel and designer firm's site: "Kimski feeds off the raw, spontaneous energy of the city, while bringing years of experience with international business, travel and designer practice to their work...Kimski designs intelligent, refined and highly unique fashion, products, furniture, and spaces that surprise, enrich, and enliven everyday life." The retail shop also has a focus on vintage clothing.
We got tipped off via Racked NYC that CNN Money had created these maps by state charting all the Starbucks closures. It looks even worse on the map than the 17-page PDF doc. Go to the CNN map and you can put your cursor over each marker and get the actual locations, including store number and address.
· Starbucks closures [CNN Money]
Project Runway, Season 5 is here—tonight at 9pm on Bravo! Let the mad into-the-night sewing begin! Just to a give you taste of local talent represented this season, a gallery from Emily Brandle's label (which she designs with Michelle Chaplin) Smoke & Mirrors, the fall/winter '08 collection. If the label is an indication of what's to come, then we can look forward to feminine dresses with ample sex appeal, a bit of vintage inspiration, and an edge which allows for a specific point of view. Per Bravo, Brandle has worked with XoXo, La Blanca, DKNY, Rozae Nichols, and Jeremy Scott, as well as the sales and press manager for Hysteric Glamour.
· Smoke & Mirrors [smokeandmirrorsclothing.com]
· Project Runway, Season 5 [bravotv.com]
LA-based jewelry designer AZATURE offers up black diamonds and platinum for men and women with a unisex collection of wedding rings, NOIR, which ranges from $2,700-$20,400 and is now available via the label's online shop. We queried AZATURE about his modern approach to design and marriage, and how black is the new white for adventurous brides and grooms.
What is your approach in terms of creating unisex jewelry, and in particular the wedding rings?
AZATURE is engaging with the future, for the progression toward a unisex freedom of expression and embracing a welcoming concept of personhood. When I created AZATURE, my self-titled line of fine jewelry, I wanted to create something for every man, every woman, every age, every religion, every occupation, love for all. I design every collection by remembering this and looking into the future. I also ask my mother, "will you wear this, then it's in." I have a very cool mother... Many designers reference history as their source of inspiration, I like to say my biggest inspiration is the future because you can design the unimaginable. AZATURE is really about escaping judgment and having faith in the essential beauty of every person.
Travant Mann, who was #1 in line at The Grove Apple Store and waited since noon yesterday, finally came out a bit after 10am with an iPhone! Travant told Racked "It took an hour just to get the phone to him. Then, AT&T issues delayed the whole deal." He looked a bit worse for wear, but had enough energy to smile and talk to the press.
The good news is that #1 in line at the Beverly Center Apple StoreAngel Cornejo ended up getting his 16GB white iPhone at 10:04am, though turned away at first. He was able to get proper information and return and triumph, after waiting in line since 1am! We really felt bad for the guy.
Meanwhile #2 in line Andrew Ryan Warmuth, who arrived at 2:30am, was in-store until 11:04am, with his girlfriend Nalita Murray keeping him company. "It's still not activated," he told Racked. "I'm really kind of regretting this whole thing." He looked very exhausted, but Nalita piped in: "I'll be here tomorrow getting mine."
And the lines continue inside and out. There's a queue by Quiznos at La Cienega and Beverly Boulevard 40 strong, while inside the 200-plus person line holds tight. People are still being quite patient, with a few weary faces. And people are still coming.
· Live Blogging at Beverly Center Apple Store! [Racked]
LA-ers will have another Target to try and nab all those gazillions of designer collab collections. A Curbed reader spotted "the filing of a case with City Planning" and writes in all caps, "CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW TARGET RETAIL SHOPPING CENTER, APPROXIMATELY 220,315 SQUARE FEET WITH APPROXIMATELY 458 PARKING STALLS." The site is at Sunset and Western, where there's a CVS and Ranch 99 market. Curbed hopes for "some pedestrian friendly elements, like putting the parking lot at the back of the building or in a garage." We're hoping for a less nightmarish parking garage situation than the Santa Monica and La Brea locale.
· Development du Jour: Hollywood Target is Coming [Curbed]
Boutique Kao Pao Shu has opened on the north side of Beverly Boulevard, a bit west of La Brea. Named after a female director/producer/actress of Kung Fu cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, the shop and collection are the creation of Bosnian designer Naida Begeta, who has studied and lived everywhere from Sarajevo to Washington State, Milan to, now, LA.
The 1,100-square-foot flagship store—a high-ceilinged, lofty space with exposed brick—houses the designers Stripe Up Yourself and Dress Up Yourself collections. Per the release, the former is "made from ribbon and stripes includes dresses, jackets, pants, handbags, belts and more," while the latter consists of "shirts, dresses, tee shirts and pants are created from the highest quality jersey...printed with Naida's original black and white drawings." The designer's use of ribbon is abundant and unusual: "Naida redefines the use of ribbon by sewing together yards of ribbon, which ultimately become the fabric for her handmade creations." Prices range from $20-$1,200.
Kao Pao Shu 7227 Beverly Boulevard (323) 937-0081 Mon-Sat 11am-7pm Website
Warhol Factory X Levi's X Damien Hirst designer Adrian Nyman has another pop-up project going on at Fred Segal Man. He's collabed with Hong Kong denim label Indigo Farm to bring a 20-piece collection to the retailer through August 14. Per the release, the collection, which is limited to 50-60 units per style, "applies artisanal techniques to the manufacturing of utilitarian garments, resulting in workwear that feels of another era yet totally modern at the same time." In addition to the apparel, "there are also three 3-piece sets of handmade denim luggage, each one including a steamer trunk lined in 100-year-old Asian woodblock printed poplin." The lookbook above, shot and styled by Nyman and Beau Roulette, conveys a rugged, beachy, into-the-wild vibe, and is worth checking out, if nothing else to transport you from your computer for a few minutes. If you can get in, there's a launch party Thursday, July 10 from 6pm-9pm. [RackedWire]
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