Last weekend Samantha invited me to her new showroom to see her collection. I had been following her on Twitter for awhile and admire the Samantha Sleeper collection so I was pleasantly surprised when she reached out to me. Let me tell you, the clothing didn’t disappoint. I’m not a hat person, but when she put on the little military hat (a collaboration with Kitty Andrews) above I fell in love.

We chatted about her vision for the line, her inspiration, and the production process. She let me pull my favorite pieces for photos, after walking me through the collection and giving me background on each item (Hi, I secretly loved that, because I am all about background stories!) and I ended up taking pictures of practically everything. I’m gushing, so I’ll let the clothes speak for themselves.

The Samantha Sleeper collection had me at hello. I love my basics and I love a neutral color palette and it had ALL of the above. Pretty grays, creams, denim, navy, sheers, and my personal fave- black. After taking a closer look, I fell in love with the beautiful detailing on each piece.

The leather pocket is essential for the girl on the go; cell phone and metrocard, can all be stowed away conveniently.

We couldn’t get a full length of the gown against the window, but it’s a floor sweeping maxi, transitional enough to dress up or down.

The couture dresses are made completely by hand! The lace details are so intricate.

Samantha shares showroom space with Laura of the Laura Siegel Collection and Samantha was kind enough to walk me through her favorite pieces. I was intrigued by Laura’s story, especially with her travels throughout Asia and her work with artisans to develop her collection. Of course, I felt like I really connected with her travel tales.

The leather was so soft and buttery.

My favorite was this floor length maxi dress with the tasseled bib collar. I’m dying to go back to their showroom and try on some of the clothes. I smell a photo shoot…

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• nyc

One word describes my experience at the Rafael Cennamo presentation: SPEECHLESS. Practically every gown took my breath away. The room had dark romantic lighting, the atmosphere was alive (maybe because of the delicious champagne cocktails), and other show goers were just as impressed as I with his collection. While the lighting wasn’t too conducive to Flip video filming, I was still able to capture all the lovely silhouettes of the cocktail dresses and gowns and the fabrics used. I’m dying over the feathers, of course sheer fabrics (that was quite the recurring theme this season), and that amazing shade of lilac he used on two of the dresses in the collection.

My favorites from the SS 2012 presentation:

Images courtesy of Vogue.it

How do you feel about the Rafael Cennamo collection?

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• MBFW

Chris Habana presented his Chris Habana + My Enemy Spring 2012 collection during New York Fashion Week. I knew I’d be in for something unique when I received the super cool invite. The vibe was definitely edgy, with two opposing sides against white and black backdrops. My favorite pieces were on the white side, it was rich with silver metals, cage earrings and necklaces, and cuffs. There were also cases with jewelry on display, the cat eyes creeped me out but they’re definitely attention grabbers! Watch my video footage of the presentation and let me know what you think!

Which side are you loving? Chris Habana or the My Enemy side? Let me know in the comments!

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• jewelry

Kimono from boutique | sheer button up from American Apparel | DIY denim cut offs | Zara shoes | Issey Salomon necklace | boatloads of other accessories

Shot by Dario for Essence

Close up

Shot by K John for Fader Magazine

A post dedicated to the outfits you saw snippets of in yesterday’s post. Looking back at these photos makes me super excited for next season!

Zara leather jacket | black sports bra | belt from Market Publique | vintage skirt from Market Publique | Ash Shoes

And since I’m not this serious schmerious I pose for outfit photos 24/7 girl, here’s the blogger fun stuff!

Off to the Rebecca Minkoff End of Fashion Week Party!

Met up with Sahra, I want that animal print skirt, rawr!

I totally missed the let’s be playful memo! Le sigh. 

Yanique, her friend, me, and Monroe.

Trying to be stealthy and Christine caught me!

Everyone meet my new blogger BFF Yanique lol. We had photo shoots all over the lounge and it was like we had known each other forever! 

Fun times.

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• MBFW

Now this is what you call exciting! There are two types of shows and presentations I like: ones rich with artistic value and those full of swoon worthy yet practical pieces. I appreciated the Stevie Boi show for his expertise in the art of crafting CRAZY sunglasses. There were spikes and crazy shapes and I couldn’t help but think Lady Gaga (The Fame Monster version) would totally wear these as I snapped away! And of course…she did. Here’s my photos from the show. Enjoy!

Stevie Boi, the designer, was rocking a huge crazy cross shaped hair piece. He had to keep his speech brief because it was so heavy! All in all, great show, very entertaining. For more photos, check out my Flickr album from the show.

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• bryant park hotel

When the going gets tough, the tough starts sharing! That was the theme of my Fashion Week, when my crazy packed schedule became too much bear. Thank goodness for AMAZING blogger friends like Candy who are willing to lend a helping hand. Eva Minge was one of the shows I was really looking forward to and was ecstatic when Candy was willing to cover it for me. I’m loving her trend report and photos. Enjoy!

Eva Minge Show Recap by Candy Fraser

Polish designer, Eva Minge, had her second Spring-Summer showing at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York.  Deemed “the Next Couture”, she is very well known internationally and is destined to become bigger with this collection.  Held underground at Good Units, Eva Minge presented a collection to music of a very heavy beat and one that demanded the silent attention of her guests.  Attention was needed in order to witness how her simple designs could be so full of excitement at the same time.  Some may call her color palette and lack of current trendy patterns “limited”, but I call it “bringing it back to the basics”. Her mostly black and white collection was crisp, clean, and fun.  She designed many separates that were classic yet extremely eye catching because of the playful details.  Filled with hidden zippers, flowing ruffles, and simple yet bold stripes, Eva Minge managed to make everything look simple yet have a rock n’ roll edge. Any woman could easily fit one of her understated yet edgy pieces into their wardrobe.  

All images courtesy of taylor & DEMOLISH

Personally I’m loving the plunging neckline on the black jumpsuit and the sheer black gown. Swoon, guess it’s completely safe to say that sheer isn’t going anywhere! If you were too shy to try it this spring/summer, don’t worry! Give a try in 2012 :-D

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• taylor and demolish