My MANy Bags Trendspotting #165

Below: I am getting more and more inspired by Fox Tail bag accessories... How fabulous they look, especially on a PS1 bag (This one below should be from Louis Vuitton)! Need:-P

Below: Besides Céline, Isabel Marant is also offering Fox Tail key rings next Fall Winter 2011:-P

Below: Meanwhile, give me a Proenza Schouler PS1 bag anyday:-P

Fox Tail On Proenza Schouler PS1 Bag

Talk about furry tails... look how fabulous a fox tail bag accessory looks on the navy PS1 bag... I need a fox tail, I need a fox tail, I need a Proenza Schouler PS1, I need a Proenza Schouler PS1...

Besides Céline who will be offering fox tail bag charms, Isabel Marant with her fur craze Navajo collection has her own version as well. Looking fab and this gives us more options! But I am sticking with Céline's (Priced at an attainable SGD420):-P Need those fox tails! (And I will not be stoned by PETA for wanting these... since they are faux rather than the real thing:-P)

Source: Style, Céline, Mr Street Peeper

My Shopping Conquest #118

Below: When sales go up to 70% off, it's a crime not to flash out your credit cards again... I did just that at Net-a-porter's further sale!

Below: I picked up 2 super good deals at 70% off! Sweet! Especially when one of them is from Marni...

Below: Marni Horn and Brass brooches, comes in set of 2... reduced to £29 from £97!

Below: Love the antique finish... lends a glamourous gold accent to any blazers or sweaters...

Below: I love the way the round and rectangle brooches look on my blazer. Nice!

Below: I have been wanting Isabel Marant's John Chain Mail Scarf/Necklace in black since the day I saw it online. But at £178 then, it was too expensive... but now reduced to £53, I can't miss it!

Below: Shimmering in fabulous black... 'Disco' accent anyone? Great for parties!

Below: Unique scarf and necklace design... if you love a bit of subtle bling, this is something you cannot miss!

Net-A-Porter Sale Shopping!

When prices are further marked down to 70% at Net-a-porter... it's a crime not to flash out that credit card again and milk it for that last 'drop' of shopping money:-P

So that's exactly what I did. I bought 2 super great items at a hefty 70% off!

Marni Brass And Horn Brooches reduced to £29 from £97 (sold out after 2 days!), Isabel Marant John Chain Mail Scarf/Necklace in black now at £53 instead of £178!

A bit of gold accent for my blazers and some disco fever with that fabulous and yet understated Isabel Marant glittering chain mail scarf. All achieved with less than SGD$200! That's a sweet deal that cannot be beaten. I love further sales.

Who else shopped and picked up amazing sale deals at Net-a-porter?

Source: myMANybags, Net-a-porter

My MANy Bags Trendspotting #133

Below: Tom boys invade Spring Summer 2011 Womens' collections.
As seen at Balenciaga, street inspired versions...

Below: Tom boys as seen on DSquared2...power looks as straight out of the boardroom.

Below: Tom boys in a sporty way as seen on Isabel Marant... Girls want to play on 'boy's league':-P

Below: Since girls are 'stealing' men's style...boys have to 'fight' back:-P... How about some 'skirt-like' parka at Raf Simons... (This model seriously have me guessing his gender at first glance.)

Below: More skirts, anyone?

Below: White lace shirts at Givenchy...fit for a 'bride'...

Below: Skirts again...

Below: Sexy sheer underwear at Jean Paul Gaultier... male lingerie?

Below: Male or female?!?!? (Jean Paul Gaultier)

Spring Summer 2011: Gender Confused?

The 'Tomboys' are marching in full force! Girls ransacked the boy's closet while guys start looking like a 'girl'. Some are wearing lace shirts, some braved skirts and others get on some sheer underwear...

What on earth has happened in Fashion come Spring Summer 2011? Gender confused it may be but this is what makes fashion so fascinating:-P

Source: Style

Ad Campaigns And Catalogues #152

Below: Kate Moss may be older, but she is still the face highly sought after by many fashion brands. This Fall Winter 2010, she fronts Balmain and Isabel Marant! Love Kate in the gold blazer and glitter t-shirt...

Below: 2 of my favourite pieces as featured in the Balmain Fall Winter 2010 ad...

Below: From rock and roll Balmain women to fifties retro chic girl, Kate looked equally stunning in Isabel Marant's Fall Winter 2010 Ad Campaign...

Below: Of course, smoking not encouraged...:-P

Below: Cropped printed jeans and stripe sweater from the Fall Winter 2010 collection...

Kate Moss For Balmain And Isabel Marant Fall Winter 2010

Kate Moss may not be as young as the present IT models we see on the current runways. But Kate is 'midas touch' in fashion. What she breathes, touch and wears always grab the attention of fashion fans worldwide. For this Fall Winter 2010 season, I am so thrilled to find out Kate Moss fronts 2 of my favourite womens brand, namely Balmain and Isabel Marant. These 2 labels are somewhat distant cousins in aesthetics, perhaps partly due to the fact Emmanuelle Alt (from French Vogue) consults on the styling. And the French Vogue team wears these brands often as well.

Nonetheless, I love Balmain and Isabel Marant, despite many not agreeing to the overtly brash or street aesthetics of both labels. Each is entitled to his/her opinion, but what I gathered from these shots is...Kate simply looked fab in both designer's creations!

Love the shimmery Balmain tee and leather pants... or the cropped printed jeans and wide stripe sweater.

Which Kate Moss do you like better? Balmain or Isabel Marant?

Source: Balmain, Isabel Marant

My Shopping Conquest #108

Below: Net-a-porter has the best packaging for online shopping! Almost like receiving a gift for oneself:-P

Below: 'Mr Hatman' has arrived! Fly to the moon!:-P

Below: My new metal disc belt from Isabel Marant! Have been trying to locate a metal belt fit for jeans ever since I miss out on Balmain's Fall Winter 2009 version...

Below: Works great with dark denim... and very lightweight to wear or bring along while travelling:-P

Below: The galvanised silver brass lends a more casual glamour style rather than polished metal versions:-P

Below: Managed to shorten the belt myself! Now it fits perfect!

Below: This belt is widely featured in Isabel Marant's Fall Winter 2010 runway looks...

Below: A great alternative to Balmain Homme's Fall Winter 2009 metal chain version...

Isabel Marant Fall Winter 2010 Silver Tone Disc Belt

I had been searching for a silver metal belt, like that from Balmain Homme Fall Winter 2009 (see pic above), that worked as well with jeans as does pants. Alas, I was cheapskate and did not want to pay the full retail at Club 21 Mens, Four Seasons Hotel then. The belt was sold out before the end of seasons sale and I lost my chance to own that. So this Fall Winter 2010 season, when I saw Isabel Marant's version of the silver metal belt on www.net-a-porter.com (unfortunately Blackjack in Singapore do not stock this belt), part leather and part galvanised brass, I knew it will make a great alternative to the Balmain version (my Gucci version somehow seems too formal so that do not count).

I placed my order and the belt arrived hassle free with Net-a-porter's speedy delivery a couple of weeks back. I had originally wanted to return the belt as it was still too long for me despite being the smallest size available. Fortunately, I found a way to dislodge the connecting metal discs and successfully DIY and shorten the belt to my size! Kudos to a bit of 'desperation induced' thinking. Love the glamour and bling when worn with dark denim, and it's light to bring abroad too!

Retail price: £286.86 (approx. SGD 602). Where to buy: www.net-a-porter.com

Ad Campaigns And Catalogues #150

Below: Isabel Marant Fall Winter 2010 collection... it's back to the 50's! Key looks from the collection: That red cropped biker leather pants, silver metallic leggings, silver/gold bomber jackets and bubble skirt are stand out pieces!

Below: Love the silver metal belt which adds just the right amount of glamour to the looks!

Below: Isabel Marant at her Fall Winter 2010 runway show...

Isabel Marant Fall Winter 2010

Think the Fifties... glamourous biker girls, sweet bow detail pumps, skinny capri pants, flashy reds, glitter tights, bling bling silver tone jewellery... Isabel Marant's Fall Winter 2010 Collection references back to those 'Elvis' rock and roll days where fun girls dress their Sunday best!

Highly wearable pieces that fans can expect no less from the designer who just has a knack for creating what women want. Here's an interview from Elle where the designer shares her insights on herself and her designs. She also talks about inspirations for the new Fall Winter 2010 collection.

The French designer is fashion’s latest insider favorite. With her knack for laid-back, mismatched chic and her first boutique in New York City, she’s ready, set, go for a U.S. style invasion

On Isabel: Viscose and wool jersey top, US$160, cotton velvet pants, US$380, both, Isabel Marant Etoile, at Isabel Marant, NYC. Leather belt, Isabel Marant, US$95. Her own jewelry. On Kazu: Multicolor silk top, US$470, green cotton button-down shirt, US$310, silver cotton and Lycra leggings, $2,185, leather belt, US$515, all, Isabel Marant.

"I don’t like things that are too perfect,” says designer Isabel Marant. On this sunny weekday morning, the high priestess of French indie fashion is inspecting the window displays of her first U.S. boutique, a 2,500-square-foot showplace on the corner of Broome and Greene streets in New York City’s SoHo. Standing with her arms crossed and her head cocked to one side, her hair mussed up into this season’s topknot, Marant is sporting a studded denim shirt under a nubby tweed jacket; a flippant, pleated miniskirt made from what looks like it could be a very expensive dish towel; and a pair of shit-kicker work boots. A variation on the laid-back glamour she perfected years ago, it’s a look that fashion insiders can’t get enough of for fall. Nor can older gentlemen, evidently. When one passes by and openly admires the coltish legs displayed beneath her barely there hemline, Marant shrugs, unfazed. “I’m lucky,” she says. “I have great legs.”

But her sulky French pout dissolves into a disarming grin when conversation turns to her recent leap in popularity. “I’ve been doing what I do for 20 years,” she says, with another of those shrugs. “When Tom Ford was doing very sexy, I was doing the opposite. I never follow trends.” Marant’s genius lies in the artful mismatch of her ethnic-inspired wovens and oft-borrowed utilitarian items—mechanics’ suits, sweatshirts—to achieve a look that’s more playful than pulled together: python-print pants, say, with an oversize herringbone jacket, a slightly garish print blouse, and a pair of studded ankle boots. “I always liked classic,” the 40-year-old says. “But when you are too dressed, it’s too conservative.” It’s a uniform that is just polished enough for the office but never looks contrived. Perfect for the sort of girl who works a high-power job but spends her weekends in a cabin in the woods without electricity or water, as Marant does in Fountainebleau, France, with her husband, accessories designer Jerome Dreyfuss, and their seven-year-old son, Tal.

The daughter of a German model and a French businessman, Marant grew up in Paris and by her teens was making clothes for herself and her friends on a sewing machine that was a gift from her father. After graduating from Paris’ Studio Berçot in 1987, she collaborated with Michel Klein, worked with Yohji Yamamoto and Chloé, and launched a jewelry line in 1989; by 20, she had also started a knitwear company with her mother. Three years later, in 1994, that line evolved into the Isabel Marant label, an expression of both her eclectic nature and eternal wanderlust. “At 16, my dream was to travel the world,” she says. “My first trip, I went to Ghana for three months, but I told my dad I went to England.”

She tries on everything herself before deciding whether or not to send it down the runway. “My customer is looking for something that is comfortable, easy to wear, but slightly different. It’s myself, really,” says the designer, who has the real-world beauty of Jane Birkin or Isabelle Huppert and the sprightliness of a prepubescent minx (hence the miniskirt). Marant shares her appeal with the ultracool beauties who wear her clothes—women who prefer a not-so-obvious glamour, such as Miranda Kerr and early adopter Kirsten Dunst. Marant’s fans range in age from 16 to 70 and include the former first lady of France Bernadette Chirac, who adores her blouses. “Older customers wear the same jacket, but with a more refined skirt,” the designer says. “I put it together, but I like that women take it apart.”

For fall, Marant, too, is striving for something a little more grown up. “At 20, style comes first,” she says. “At 40, you are much more interested in good fabric and precise tailoring.” This season, her clothes are simpler and cleaner, a little less boho, but with that slightly haughty flirtatiousness still intact. They’re inspired by “the way intellectuals dressed in St. Germain in Paris from the end of the ’50s until 1968,” she says. “Beauvoir, Sagan. They all wore the same thing every day. Supersimple but always precise—the right trouser, the right shoe, the well-cut coat.” Fall’s easy high-waisted pleated pants and prep-school blazers also prove to be perfect transition foils for her spring/summer collection of Gustav Klimt–inspired prints. “Everything goes with everything,” says Marant, who has always valued that carefree continuity; if you’ve collected her clothes for years, you should find yourself with a wardrobe full of seasonless interchangeable pieces.

Marant mostly uses fabrics woven exclusively for her label, which lends her clothes their one-of-a-kind appeal and makes them worth the sometimes hefty price tag (US$200 to $6,500). And her 10-year-old lower-priced line, Etoile (US$150 to $600), has allowed a younger audience to buy into her gestalt. Until now, the missing piece in the puzzle has been a dreamed-of New York City boutique. Last year, with rents low and the euro strong, she decided to take the plunge—not with a tiny boutique, but with a proper U.S. flagship. “I’m not a small designer anymore,” she says.

That is clear from the moment you enter her store, which opened in April. (Dreyfuss, whose cultish handbags were best-sellers at Barneys, opened his own store in the same building in March.) The building’s original features—Corinthian columns, decorative cornices and balustrades, high ceilings, and lots of windows—stand unadulterated, with clothes hanging from industrial racks and, in the center, a Donald Judd–like wooden box with a hidden door leading to jewelry and evening bags. The luxury is in its spaciousness; everything else here seems wittily humble, including one of Marant’s favorite items, a fur-lined vest covered in fabric woven in Delhi. “The treat of fur is to have it on your skin,” she says. “So I turned it inside out.”

Great insight on the designer. The collection may seem to tread on Balmain territory, there is just something about her pieces that seem so much less brash and more addictive. I love the silver disc metallic belt which can even worked for a guy! I got that at Net-a-porter already. Woohoo!
Isabel Marant is stocked in Blackjack Singapore.

Source: Club 21 Global, Elle UK, Isabel Marant

My MANy Bags News #229

Behind The Scenes At Isabel Marant's Spring Summer 2010 Show...

Found this video in french about 'boho chic perpetrator supreme', Isabel Marant and behind then scenes of her ultra cool Spring Summer 2010 show... many models to see, french language to enjoy...

I love the french language, somehow everything feels so chic and fashionable when narrated in French. I remember I once visited a friend in Aug 2007 and he took me to the beautiful french country side and we stayed in a mill turned guest house where Barbara Streisand stayed before... and when he speaks french all the time, I melt even though I cannot understand a word. Fond memories.

So naturally, I find this video very interesting. Call me bias. But I do like Isabel Marant's designs, it's young and full of energy.

Unfortunately I am not the female gender, if not I would buy lots of her stuff. But I did pick up a little something from net-a-porter that I feel could work for a guy on certain party occassions:-P What did I picked up? 'Mr Hatman' says... 'Stay yuned...' Enjoy the video.

Source: Isabel Marant

My MANy Bags News #216

Below: The label to watch out for... Isabel Marant...

Below: The must have shoes of the season... Dana Fringe Pirate Boots

Isabel Marant Speaks About Her New York Store Opening

If you are into boho chic, or want to find out what hip girls all over the fashion front are wearing next season, then Isabel Marant is the name to remember. Once a fashion secret for a few in the know, the label has now grown significantly with a new store opening in New York and more retailers carrying the label (Net-a-porter and Singapore's Club 21 @ Blackjack carries the SS2010 collection). Isabel Marant proudly counts the most fashionable women in the fashion industry (such as French Vogue's Emmanulle Alt) as fans. For Spring Summer 2010, Isabel Marant's fringe pirate boots are a hit among fashionistas and a must have for the season. This is the brand to watch out for:-P Those lucky New York girls can now indulge their shopping cravings at a new free standing store in New York, which is a first in USA. Does that give you a reason to hit NYC? If not, Asian fans can shop at the Hong Kong boutiques:-P Here's an interview with the designer on her new store opening:

Below: French Vogue's Emmanuelle Alt spotted with the Fringe Pirate Boots...

Isabel Marant told us she was planning her first New York store way back in March of last year at her Fall 2009 show, and local fans of the French designer’s casual-cool sensibility have been waiting with credit cards at the ready ever since. We couldn’t get an official count on just how many pairs of her fringed and cuffed pirate boots will be waiting when the charming Mr. Hatman window signs (see below) disguising the construction site within come down and the doors finally open at 469 Broome Street this weekend. But on a transatlantic phone call, Marant did tell us that she’s planning to stock the label’s strongest pieces. No doubt her followers will like the sound of that.

Who did you work with on the project?
A French architect named Nicolas Andre. He did my three shops in Paris; it’s been quite a long time that we’ve been working together.

Will the new shop feel like the stores in Paris?
No, not at all. I quite hate doing the same store over and over again. I like to work around the space I’ve found, and generally I choose a space because it has a soul that I like. In Soho, I fell in love with this building on the corner of Broome and Greene; it represents what I had in my head about New York, the huge spaces. We have columns and a really great ceiling with embossed metal panels. As the space was really big, we constructed a kind of wooden cabin. It’s quite hard to explain, but it’s between a sculpture and a tree house. It’s a space within a space.

That sounds similar to what your husband, Jérôme [Dreyfuss, the bag designer], did in his store next door.
No, it’s very different. Of course, we love the same things and we have the same inspirations, living together for 15 years now. Of course there are similarities between us. But we never speak together about what we’re doing [at work] because we have really separate [design] universes. Neither of us was quite used to having such huge spaces, because in Paris it’s very rare to have this kind of space. We both had the same idea of reducing the space, having a smaller space within a big space. Yes, we share the same architect, but we really worked separately with Nicolas.

Will you stock the same merchandise here as in your Paris shops?
Seeing so many American girls in my Paris shops, I can more or less figure out that what they buy is almost the same as what we sell in Paris, so I think it will be the same merchandise. Until now, my collection in New York City was bought [by department stores and boutiques] in a quite conservative way. I think American women are looking for the strongest pieces, so I will put more strong pieces in the store. It will really represent the essence of the Isabel Marant collection.

Do you anticipate New York influencing the way you design at all?
I don’t think so; I always work very spontaneously. I hate working with records because I always say if the record was good, they already have it and they don’t need it another time. You don’t need to redo something that’s already a success.

What has Jérôme told you about the first few weeks his store has been open for business?
He was quite surprised that he sold a lot of python bags, which are the most expensive bags he does, so he was super-happy.

Below: I love those feather ear rings and the chain mail scarf/necklace!
(Both sold at www.net-a-porter.com)

Below: Chain mail scarf/necklace (£149)... glamourous and perfect to throw around anytime of the day...

Below: Feather Ear rings (£79.08)... boho chic need quirky accessories...

Have you spent a lot of time in New York? Any favorite places?
I was there the first time 20 years ago, but only for two days. After that, I went back 10 years ago, and hadn’t been there again until I started looking for a space for my store. But I did spend five days there last month for Jérôme’s opening. It was the end of the shows, and I wanted to check and see how my shop was doing. I came incognito; I had no schedule at all. I could take some time for me and visit all the museums, and most of all, the art galleries in Chelsea. I love this area, all the modern art you have in the galleries. It’s really amazing.

Below: The cute 'mascot' of Isabel Marant: Mr Hatman! You find him on packaging of the products:-P

Source: Nicole Phelps @ Style.com