Fashion, Diplomacy, and Dancing Come Together for Charity at the 67th Viennese Opera Ball

On Friday night the annual 67th Viennese Opera Ball returned to NYC where socialites and tastemakers from the NYC fashion scene as well as the Austrian community in NYC and some special musical guests came together to celebrate the 67th year of this special tradition as well as raise money for Gabriel's Angels Foundation a cancer charity founded by Denise Rich. The Austrian Ambassador to the US Dr. Scheenbauer also attended as well as several other members from the Austrian delegation including Peter Hanke the Executive City Councillor for Vienna. Other notable guests included Nicole Miller NYC fashion designer, Sasha Prendas pop singer, and Jean Shafiroff who co-chaired the gala with Denise Rich.

 The night also featured a special treat for guests with performances from Met Opera stars Stephen Costello, Joyce El-Khoury, and Nathalie Pena Comas. Stephen Costello performed his solo from La Boheme which he stars in at the Met Opera and then the trio performed an amazing song together.

 Afterwards guests enjoyed a live auction to raise money for Gabriel's Angels and and then ballroom dancing started.

A beautiful choreography to the Carmen Quadrille by Eduard Strauss was designed for the opening performance of the debutantes and escorts by Vienna Dance School Svabek, headed by Sandra Stockmayer and Roman Svabek. Later guests participated in a group lesson of the midnight Quadrille and then the live orchestra played waltz music “A Night inspired by ‘Carmen’”, from the opera Carmen by Bizet led under the artistic direction of Daniel Serafin with Austrian conductor, Maestro Vinicius Kattah until the afterparty where guests enjoyed traditional Austrian treats and more dancing! 

The event brought together fashion and diplomacy to highlight the strong ties between the two cities of NYC and Vienna and guests got to experience much cultural exchange during the galmourous affair. Everyone came dressed in their most fashionable formal eveningwear as the dress code was white tie. Many guests opted for fun accessories such as elbow length gloves, capes, and even tiaras. Sequins, and princess dress cuts were definitely trending. Both Austrian and New York design influences and tastemakers came together on the red carpet Friday night when designer Nicole Miller wore a dress she designed herself and Austrian fashion designer Carolin Sinemus also attended in a fabulous outfit inspired by Austrian design influences. 

The night ended with a great DJ and afterparty as well as a champagne toast to another successful Viennese Opera Ball. 

Bicoastal Brands: The Art of Rodarte Comes to NYFW

This year NYFW opening day kicked off with a very special panel featuring Kate and Laura Mulleavy the sisters and founders of Rodarte and moderated by Euphoria star Maude Apatow. The pair came out from California to celebrate the opening of the special exhibit The Art of Rodarte celebrating 10 years of the brand and featuring some of the most artistic creations from their work over the years. The exhibit was open to the public all week with reservations and at the exclusive panel, the sisters shared their excitement of seeing the exhibit come to life for the first time on opening day. I was so excited to be covering this LA brand and to see them headlining at NYFW. They described the process of curating the exhibit saying, "This exhibition is interesting because we go to curate is ourselves. NYC is a second home for us and this time the exhibition was more about what we wanted to choose." 

The sisters shared the story of their first-ever NYFW where they were discovered by Bridget Foley of WWD.  While visiting a friend in New York City they sent designs to several major publications but never heard anything back. Then Bridget Foley took notice of the collection and ended up putting it on the cover of WWD the day before NYFW! After returning to LA they later got a call from Anna Wintour in the most LA place ever--while sitting in traffic on the 405! 

They also shared some of the inspirations for their design aesthetic and what goes into creating a Rodarte piece. They talked about their design process and how they like to stay very connected to the process by sketching everything on paper. They joked saying, "We are very old-fashioned there's not a lot of technology involved." As for inspiration, they told the audience, "We are very inspired by nature and art history." They shared that over the years they have learned it is important to listen to your gut as a designer. The sisters are very traditional when it comes to their fashion shows as well. They described the importance of having a fashion show for their collections saying, "In a runway show we can tell a story. Being at a sow especially if it's a theatrical performance, it can really take you somewhere. We have a desire to tell stories and create narratives." 

The sisters talked about some of the career-changing moments they had while building their brand including designing costumes for Black Swan. 

They described the experience saying, "Black Swan happened so early in our career. In film you're supporting a performance and it is a special powerful experience. Costume designers need to get credit and pay equity because it is a very important part of the story." Working in film was a special experience for the duo. They explained how it had influenced their careers growing up saying, "We didn't grow up seeing fashion. Film and costume design shaped how we saw fashion." 

They also told stories from one of their more recent projects where they were asked to create designs for the animated film...The white dress they designed for the main character took 1.5 years for the animators to finish! But they shared that it had been an incredible fun project and different from what they had done before. "We're dreamers." They concluded. 

The sisters ended the panel with inspiring remarks for aspiring fashion designers saying, "Fashion is so artistic. We encourage anyone that has love for it to pursue it. Spend the time and dedicate energy to the tings that inspire you." 

Check Out my Article for Hollywood Glam Magazine: Audrina Patridge Talks About Creating Prey Swim and Summer Trends at Simply LA

"You always have to be ahead of the trends or create the trends.” - Audrina Patridge

Image via Instagram @audrinapatridge

On Saturday July 15, the Simply LA fashion and beauty conference kicked off on the rooftop of The Grove shopping center in Beverly Hills. The fun filled day included celebrity guest appearances, panels, and free hair and make-up samples from the up and coming brands exhibiting at the event. For many guests seeing some of their favorite brands and discovering new products was the highlight of the event. One of the brands exhibiting was Prey Swim, created by reality star and model Audrina Patridge, who attended the event as a panelist and exhibitor for her new line. The actress was so excited to share in an interview about her experience designing the line.

According to Audrina the process has given her a new respect for the fashion industry and her line focuses on customizable pieces for her customers. She takes some of her inspiration from the type of swimwear that she would’ve liked as a teen and has created swim sets that girls can mix and match in different sizes according to their body type. She also had some reversible pieces in her collection as well to give customers even more options for colors and patterns.

This season’s collection was all about high waisted pieces and fun prints for customers to create their own look.

Audrina talked about her favorite trends of the summer saying, “I love all the high waisted, I love that all the 90s grunge with the 70s are in and that people are mixing the two eras and creating their own style.”

And for the SoCal native, the trends from the beaches of LA were another big hit for her summer style inspiration.

She said, “One-piece bikinis are trending, they’re huge! One piece and high waisted, especially with Baywatch, like I’ve been seeing a lot of red bikinis and yellow. And all the 80s high cut bikinis are back in…you know, it’s a circle.”

The actress was getting in on the revival and, wearing a red patterned jumper, told me about her own style saying, “My mom sees how I dress and says you look like I did when I was in my 20s!”

She also talked about beauty saying, “I love that all the natural make-up is coming back and all the natural hair because it’s just natural beauty and, it’s so much easier to get ready!”

And saving time and energy is always on her mind since she’s been working on her line and keeping up with the fast pace of the fashion industry. 

She told me, “I feel like in the fashion industry you never really get a chance to have a break it’s like non- stop. You always have to be ahead of the trends or create the trends.”

But the hard work has paid off for Audrina, who talked about her upcoming plans saying, “It’s fun. We’re showing at Miami Swim Week next Friday so we’ve been working on showing our two collections, casting models and just preparing for it. And then, after that we’re working on spring and summer.”

Check Out My Article on Wiz Khalifa's New Clothing Line for Hollywood Glam Magazine

Check out my article at the link below!

So #cool seeing @wizkhalifa #debut his #new #clothing line @jfclothingco in #venicebeach #today #fashion #wizkhalifa #bashbyjunkfood #fashionblogger #fblogger #losangeles #abbotkinney #blackandyellow #rapper #music #california #cerisesdumatin #fashiondesign

A post shared by SierraClair (@cerisesdumatin) on Oct 15, 2016 at 5:46pm PDT

http://www.hollywoodglammagazine.com/2016/10/17/wiz-khalifa-launches-new-clothing-line-bash-by-junkfood-in-venice-beach/