Fashion Week Blog: Jan Arnold 9-12-09
....there's HEAT IN THE SUITE! The team was up all night last night working on the most intricate works of art for Diego Binetti. I hope they're eating well and drinking water. The good news is we have a little break after the Herve Lerger show tomorrow!
Everyone is excited today because we LOVE the two designers we're working with: Karen Walker and Diego Binetti.
Karen is first up! We admire Karen Walker because she is truly talented AND truly nice! She loves our team and places a high priority on nails. We arrive in the Altman building which provides plenty of space for our team to do their work in a comfortable space.
...side note...have I shared lately how cute the CND team is? We have 3 recent graduates from this years Boot Camp (Dana, Chris and Candace) working with our 3 vets (Rox, Kris and Angi)...the synergy is great....
so for Karen, we do pale heathered warm grey nails...but listen to how we did it! 'Silver Chrome', 'Studio White' and 'Putty', polished off with 'Air Dry' top coat! It's a brilliant combination. You must try it.
The Karen Walker collection was fun, funny, playful, wearable and quirky...true to her incredible style. The inspiration was a British TV show called 'the Prisoner'...about a seaside holiday resort for retired spies. Playful short poof skirts, striped shorts, colorful tops and jackets with suede flat desert and boat shoes and undercover hats and big glasses. ....note to self: FIND THE UBER COOL TORTOISE ROUND SUNGLASSES!!!!...I love the fact the collection was rather nautical and playful, but the nails were spy-cool, calm and collected. Such a powerful way to communicate the story. It's a success all the way and we are proud and happy.
....there's a 2 second happy dance and the team is off to one of the most important collections of the week: Diego Binetti.
....OK, I must digress for one moment to say we saw a girl on the streets with the COOLEST, BADDEST boots and she said she bought them at PAYLESS! Are you kidding me? ....detour to Payless...$50.00 bucks! Done. Love them.
We arrive at the downtown location of the Diego Binetti show and the spirit backstage is magical! Diego just returned from a spiritual holiday in Thailand and his Zen is evident. No drama, no pretense, no tension...just calm convenience and excitement. We have our entire team ready to apply a specially made set of nails on every model. Yes, it's true, every girl wears a specific hand crafted work of art. The nails are seriously SICK. They are insanely intricate...example: one set has a base of 'Oil Slick' and a coat of 'Ice Blue Shimmer' for an illuminating effect and then tiny gold chains are carefully placed diagonally across the each nail and then little gems and beads and set for the finishing touch. Other nails look like a knights armor shields with studs and bolts rimming the perimeter. I can't even find the words to tell you the story. Pictures will tell it best!
So our nail stories included:
Thai sunrise/sunset series: the nails started short and clean white with orange suns peeking into the moon of the nail. As the sun begins to rise and get larger on the nails, the background color of the nail warms, the length evolves longer and the shapes become sleek and almond.
Each model had the time written in the inside of their wrist, based on the level of sun on the nail.
Thai Nights: lavish, decorated, severe...like the exotic decadence of a Thai dancer. As the evening looks unfolded, the Thai Night Nails got longer and more severely pointed and decorated. The models were actually fighting over the most extreme nails...and surprise, at the end of the show...they disappeared!!! Flattery!
Other highlights backstage....MICHELLE FROM ALL LACQUERED-UP IS HERE! We think the world of Michele. She started the most successful beauty blog...and she tells me she's now doing it full time, after years of being an accountant for her family business.
We love Michele because:
a. She loves nails
b. She lives for nail polish
c. She is smart and an excellent writer
d. She's sweet and fun
So how lucky were we to see her! She can't believe the nails we've done. (...I still can't either!)
We see another good friend Kerri Frost from Launch Pad...Kerri does a great job and has such a passion for fashion.
Isabel Dupre was also there styling the show. Isabel was the former fashion director for Elle magazine. She is a genius.
...so now in the front row waiting for it all to come together. The collection was brilliant, smart, sophisticated and powerful! His best yet. I have chills.
Diego surrounds himself with talented people and inspires creative expression. Everyone wants to exceed his expectations and indeed they did!
It will hard to come down from all the excitement tonight...but tomorrow's another day.
ZZZZZzzzzzzzz.
Jan