Favorite of the Day: Antonio Marras

Antonio Marras has been doing the best print work in Milan for years now.

Pre-Fall 2012

Pre-Fall 2013

Fall/Winter 2013

Resort 2014

Fall/Winter 2014

Resort 2015

So it was no surprise to see him continue that streak in his most recent collection.

Always a little off and a little odd in the styling. But in the end, pretty above all else.


Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Preen

I was feeling a bit of exhaustion after the end of the New York season. It's a fairly normal occurrence for me. After sifting through so many looks in that many shows, I can't help but feel a bit muddled. But this time the fatigue was laced with weariness brought on by a season that inspired only sporadic excitement. Perhaps unfairly some of that feeling bled into my thoughts as the proceedings moved to London. It wasn't until the third day, and the Preen collection, that I was finally shaken free of it.

Preen did what it, and London, do best. Prints. Patterns. Combinations of the two. Here and there you could see the athletic thread that remains a force in the industry. Details that called to mind the collars and cuffs of letterman jackets. A callback to a classic tennis dress.

But it was never too much.


Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Michael Kors

The fact that I often love Michael Kors and his take on preppy, American sportswear shouldn't surprise you, but the fact that I have chosen it as one of my favorites might. The collections are consistently pretty and wearable but I often get distracted by something that lives closer to the extremes.

But this season I've been longing for a breath of fresh air. For a collection that didn't revel in carefully constructed nothingness.

And this preppy, American sportswear provided just that.


Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Carolina Herrera

Child Samantha was always drawn to the "pretty pretty". The big skirts. The sweeping trains. Adult Samantha isn't as easily impressed by such things. But there are some designers who do that work so well, who can still draw out my slumbering love for drama.

Carolina Herrera produces those types of ensembles every season, but in the midst of a season of black and white and utility they stood out even more than usual. Not just for their beauty, because so many of the clothes presented during this week are beautiful, but for the way that they spoke to one another.

Everything felt connected. Each piece told one part of the same story.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Alexander Wang

New York Fashion Week is at the halfway mark, and I find myself bored. Everything started to bleed together almost from the beginning, and it's been hard to become excited by collection after collection of the same old thing. But the Alexander Wang show provided me with a jolt.

I watched the livestream in my room and found myself standing up. Bouncing around. Dancing to the music. The clothes were thrilling. The girls sped down the runway. He was playing with the prevalent sporting motif but that has always been his wheelhouse, and unlike most others he continues to provide fresh takes on it. These were not off-duty yoga looks, devoid of shape or life. 

They were sharp and tailored and hard and sexy. 

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Tomas Maier

New York Fashion Week started fully yesterday and as editors and buyers and bloggers wandered the city covered in the latest trends, I observed all of the goings on from afar. When it comes to my personal style, I've settled into a life that has become less and less concerned with those ups and downs.

Marveling at things I only see working on others is second nature at this point, but I still love a collection that I can imagine living my life in. And on day two, Tomas Maier presented exactly that.

It was a perfect slice of Samantha through and through.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Whit

Even on the day of its soft opening, it was already obvious in what direction the Spring/Summer 2015 season in New York would be moving. But because it was so early, I decided to ignore all of that. The prevailing winds and the dominating trends. Instead I relished the simple joy found in the best types of summer clothing, which were all on display at Whit. Vibrant and light and playful. Maybe moving west has made me a breezier person.

Or maybe it's just made me more accepting of breezier sensibilities.


Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Kenzo

One element is often missing from the fashion month proceedings. "Innovation" and "inspiration" and various other buzzwords float here and there meaning little or nothing at all. Everyone is guilty of playing that game, even me. But there's rarely ever any talk of fun. Clothes can be serious and somber and minimal and clinical but they can also be something much more than that, something more playful.

Kenzo has been fooling around with that concept not only on the runway but also in their advertisements. That play continued in their Spring/Summer 2014 collection.

But just because the seriousness was dialed down doesn't make the clothes any less artful than those of the fashion month collections that preceded them or those that are still to come.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Cacharel

Fall has started to settle into itself and everyone is taking full advantage. Yet as fashion month nears its end, I've started to yearn for things that are typically spring and summer. For clothes that are fun and light and pretty. It's something that's been missing for most of the season, but some of it could be found in the clothing at Cacharel.

So much of it was easy and uncomplicated. 

One could not help thinking of long days and warm nights.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Gareth Pugh

There was a softer story being told at the Gareth Pugh show on September 25th. The stark blacks and crisps whites that have featured heavily in his collections over the years were joined by colors that seemed to spring from the bleeding together of the two. The silhouettes, usually so strong and, at times, oppressive, had a touch of the languid to them.

They were markers of a slow evolution and a reluctance to stand still.


Photos via