europe shopping march 08

I realized that I didn't come home with any pictures of myself with the beautiful surroundings in London or Stockholm-actually i didn't take many pics of the scenery at all which is kinda lame, but then again i guess it wasn't a vacation. I was on a mission for fashion!.. What I did take, however secretly, are a million plus pictures of myself and garments that either we couldn't afford to buy, or that had a small detail that we wanted to remember but wasn't worth buying, in the confines of many a fitting room.. Taking secret pictures is a technique that professional shoppers must master. It was a little hard getting good shots without flash (my flash went off a few times nearly blowing my cover). Here are some examples-i know it looks like I'm posing super hard, but I'm just trying to capture the details of the sleeves promise! haha..

The point of these trips is "market research", which basically means shopping like mad in stores from high-end to low-end to vintage and in between, walk circles around the city seeing what people are wearing/buying/doing, buy tons of samples to bring back to the office to share the new concepts in the world of fabrics, silhouettes, techniques, prints, and trims, and get inspired for the coming season. Taking pictures of garments is to remember the key ideas and to be able to refer to it later- NOT to copy it! We also shop locally in NYC to see what people are buying different times of year. Here is a scan of my sketch book from the trip.. it's full of quick messy sketches and ideas. (and a lot of sketches of things i want to make for myself or save up to buy!)
This is a picture of my fun shopping partners Melody and Kevin, director of design and president of the company respectively, standing in front of the soon to be DKNY jeans store in London. I am too embarrassed to put up the pics i have of the pretty city cuz they're all taken from inside a cab! No time for legitimate sight seeing :(

But I did manage to steal a few good shots of scenery in Stockholm. I really love that city. I'm so glad I convinced my bosses to go there this trip because although Kevin referred to our hotel as a "hostile" on numerous occasions, he fell in love with the stores and street style and announced to the whole company that designers will be traveling there regularly from now on! yay!! I j'adore Scandinavian designers! Next trip, I really want to conquer Helsinki and Copenhagen! We'll see how that idea plays out with the bosses..

a lighter note..

Here is a pic of a cute railroad striped wide leg jean that I did for dkny jeans.. Summer 08 was the first collection I worked on, so it's starting to show up in mags (does that mean Summer is almost here??? hope so...) It will be in stores/online in May.. I like how the stylist mixed the mini stripes in the pant & wide stripes in the top, and the red toe on the shoes the cuteness.. I extra love it that the mag has Claire in the title :) love ma baba girl claire xoxox

*Update. This next one showed up in today's issue of WWD. Jacket that I designed for Fall! Fake leather ya'll.. sorry so small, i'll get a bigger pics asap..

We will miss you Buzz Dog

I'm so sad today after hearing last night that our family dog of 10 years, Buzzy, died on Monday night. I have so many great memories of him like Claire wrote on her page. He was her dog and she got him with a big bow on his neck for her 8th bday. I remember that day so well! Even to the end he was the epitimal puppy, always with so much energy and playfulness, I guess that's why it came as such a shock to me that he is gone.
My favorite memory of Buzz is how he loved playing soccer so much that whenever possible, he would escape from our house and run immediately down the street to the elementary school and steal the ball from the kids in their soccer games and run around the feild with all the parents chasing him. He was the best dog! He was so cute with one big black patch over his right eye. My Mom told me that when they moved to the farm, he decided it was his job to take care of the horses and would sit with them all day, monitoring them and nipping at their heels. I will miss seeing his friendly face when I go home to Wyoming. He was a great dog and a great friend to all of us. RIP Buzzy. I hope to see you again.

Hello from Stockholm!

I just got into Stockholm and I can't go to sleep because I'm so excited. I love it here! I was here a couple years ago and was always dying to come back. It's a beautiful city with beautiful people and great shopping and street fashion. There are tons of great young designers coming out of Scandinavia and they have started leading fashion. The people here just have an effortlessly cool vibe to them and wear their clothes really well, so for me it's really inspiring. I've been in London since Monday shopping for work with my boss Melody and our president Kevin. It's been a fun trip so far! In London, we did LOTS of shopping, walking around the city til our feet were aching, and LOTS of EATING! More about the yummy details later, but I was glad that I got to know London a lot better on this trip. I'm going to post some pics when I get home and tell u some secret shady shopping techniques for collecting ideas and inspirations and bringing them back to the team in NY. 

Ps. Hmmm.. I know it sounds like it's all fun, and maybe even a bit pretentious traveling around Europe shopping.. (Ok, it's pretty fun) But, believe me when I say that it is really hard work and super exhausting. And not to mention that spending 24/7 with work peeps isn't always hunky dorey.. thank heavens we have a super fun group on this trip, but we HAVE run out of stuff to talk about after so many meals together! hahaa.. Anyways I better go to sleep.. It's now 2:26am Swedish time. Goodnight!! xoxo

Eric Gingerich, 36, a junior high social studies teacher, normally votes Republican, but voted Tuesday for Obama at an elementary school in Hilliard, Ohio, near Columbus. "I like how he can bring the two parties together and the country together," he said.

I read this today on MSNBC and have heard similar stories of crossover voting from friends. The range of support that Obama is pulling in, from new young voters to old folks, to republicans crossing the line, to people who never cared about politics before, shows that his message has hit deep with many Americans. He has given people the awareness that we can make a difference in our country and live in a place that is inspiring and full of promise. Everyone has been throwing around the word "hope" like it is a false pledge or perhaps something only for the naive or to be ashamed of. To me, it's not just a word. It's an emotion. Obama has provided me with overwhelming HOPE, excitement and emotion for what's to come in my country. I know I'm young, and this is the first presidential race that I have followed really closely, but I feel like there hasn't been a candidate like Obama, maybe ever.

To be quite honest (and emotional), I have such a great hope in Obama, that I, among others, have an inward fear for his safety. Losing him would be devestating to me. It reminds me of the kind of leader that JFK was and why it was such a dark day when he was lost. He conjured up hope in regular people. I feel inspired to work hard when I listen to Obama because he is a regular man who struggled all his life to make it just like everyone else.

NAIVE OR NOT, I like to be hopeful and inspired to do more in my life for my country and community. And that is what Obama has triggered in me. Go Obama!!