08 November 2010

Vintage: Value, Values, and Enduring Design


The 12th Annual New York Fashion Conference is being held December 2nd through the 4th, and it's not to be missed. I have attended this intimate educational gathering of who's who in the arts, crafts and fashion world previously and share with you that you will certainly bump elbows with memorable names and be given the opportunity to ask questions from the audience. Founder Lisa Koenigsberg dares to ask, "What do we value in fashion and design? The rare? The classic? Or, the new? Do we value that which is eco-sensitive or the beautiful-but-scarce? Do we value a maker’s history of integrity, a corporate commitment to quality, a dedication to a tradition of craft? Or do we prize an object or garment irrespective of who made it or what went into creating it?"

Anna Sui Gowns and Storto Gloves


This years theme is Vintage, and the deliberate deconstruction seen in recent styling raveled edges and raw seams and the use of uncut stones, new new questions arise: How do we now define superior craftsmanship, fine materials, and creative design? Is the challenge of the 21st century reconciling the whimsical and the aesthetic with the sustainable, the fashionable with the serviceable? What does luxury mean in the 21st century? How do we define value today? These topics will be covered and more.

The event takes place once again at CUNY Graduate Center, Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street.

Presenters and panelists:

* Larry Pettinelli, president, Patek Philippe USA
* Hal Rubenstein, fashion director, InStyle Magazine
* Catherine Moellering, EVP, Tobe, a division of the Doneger Group and publisher of the iconic Tobe Report
* Designers Anna Sui, Koos Van Den Akker, and Fr. Andrew More O'Connor, founder, Goods of Conscience
* Hamish Bowles, European Editor at Large, Vogue and curator, “Balenciaga: Spanish Master”
* Jewelers Todd Reed, Prince Dimitri, Gregory Kwiat, CEO, Fred Leighton and Partner, Kwiat, and Adam Heyman, principal, Oscar Heyman Bros.
* Daniel Storto, avant-garde couture glove designer
* Women of style Patsy Tarr and Tziporah Salamon
* Amy Leonard, senior vice president, product development & sourcing, Levi Strauss
* Jess Lee, vice president, Polyvore, interactive fashion Web site
* David Wolfe, chief forecaster, Doneger Group
* Lincoln Schatz, photographer commissioned by Esquire to capture the 100 most influential people for its 75th anniversary
* Edward Maeder, former curator of costumes Los Angeles County Museum of Art and founding director BATA Shoe museum
* Juliana Cairone, owner, Rare Vintage
* Jan Glier Reeder, consulting curator, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
* Karen Augusta, founder, Augusta Auctions, America’s top auction house specializing in couture and vintage clothing
* Phyllis Magidson, curator of Costume and Textiles, Museum of the City of New York
* Laura Crow, award-winning designer for Broadway and off-Broadway
* John Davey, collector, vintage Hollywood costumes and couture
* Authors Joan DeJean, The Essence of Style and The Age of Comfort, Sandy Black, Eco-Chic: The Fashion Paradox; Pamela Keogh, Are You a Jackie or a Grace?; and Mitchell Owens author of a forthcoming book on Pauline de Rothschild
* Sara Reiter, chief textile conservator, Philadelphia Museum of Art
* David Ornstein, promoter, Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show; founder, Daybreak Vintage Clothing in Albany, NY. a costume house for movies and theater
* Patti Geolat, founder and CEO Geolat, Dallas TX, a widely-known authority on the appraisal and sale of fine jewelry
* Ann Lange, vice president, jewelry department, Doyle New York
* Angelina Chen, director, CIRCA New York buying office
* Edward Lewand, jewelry appraiser and expert
* Jonathan Scheer, president, J. Scheer & Co., a firm specializing in conservation, cleaning and preservation of wedding gowns, exhibition couture, and historic textiles

For tickets and further information, please contact: Lisa Koenigsberg at lisa.koenigsberg@artinitiatives.com; telephone: (646) 485-1952 or fax: (212) 935-6911.

See you there!