RACHEL ROY GETS DOWN WITH THE MAN REPELLER: In the most unlikely pairing since Opening Ceremony design collaborator/sometimes polygamist wife/chronic man repeller Chloe Sevigny and Jersey Shore’s Pauly D, Rachel Roy tapped Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller to star in a series of short films that launch Tuesday on rachelroy.com.
The blogger will dispense fashion advice on the topic she knows best, helping fans who need to impress a male suitor’s parents or deflect unwanted male attention on the street. Clad in a trench coat and floral-printed trousers from Roy’s lower priced Rachel Rachel Roy spring collection, Medine is portrayed as a man repelling superhero in this hilarious series of films, sweeping in to save unfortunate young women who’ve fallen victim to “man getting,” the blogger’s sworn fashion antithesis (also known as “sex-crazed Bebe wearers,” Medine told WWD).
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“Leandra has such a distinctive style, and I love that she’s taken a stand and is not afraid to state her point of view. I admire people who go against the grain, and I love the idea of true individuality,” Roy said of the blogger who often uses terms such as “lady bow-ner” (with respect to bow-ties) and likens handbags and footwear to a female’s nether regions, “It also helps that my point of view on dressing is exactly the same as hers.”
The designer counts excessive layering and mixing prints, colors and textures among her repelling habits, but she insists it’s not about a specific designer, but how you style your look. Roy cites feathers and fur as must-wears for all aspiring repellers, as well as plenty of separates to allow for easy layering. “Oh and I love a turban,” Roy quipped, “I tell young girls all the time that the men that have fallen in love with me have all fallen during a man repeller stage. Funny how life works out like that.”
Roy added, “It’s mostly just loving and wearing fashion for the sake of fashion and not whether or not a man will like what you are wearing. Confidence is what attracts.”
Medine’s shared love of turbans and flagrant florals — along with the recent addition of the bow-tie (she exhumed a vintage Lanvin one from the trenches of her father’s closet) — has also been well documented in her blog at manrepeller.com, which receives nearly 20,000 hits a day. “You don’t need to wear Marni to be a repeller,” Medine said, caressing a vintage Chanel purple tweed and denim jacket at a shopping event she co-hosted Wednesday at New York City’s What Goes Around Comes Around. “That’s what’s so great about the Rachel Rachel Roy line.” Offerings include an olive green trench dress for $109 and tanks that range from $29 to $79, as well as our favorites, a fitted peplum blazer for $139 and floral-printed shorts for $79 (we suggest you pair the two together for the perfect man repelling spring look – with pony hair leopard-print platform sandals of course, socks optional.)
At the end of the evening, the blogger — who wore a satin Elise Overland dress with an asymmetrical zipper, a Charlotte Ronson utility jacket and Proenza Schouler wedges — leaned over and unzipped the dress to her navel, giving Social Studies a peak at a newly acquired American Apparel mesh cross-hatched bralette. “I loved learning that my dress could be a man repeller and a man getter,” she said.
The latest social media updates from the fashion world:
@DKNY reached 250,000 followers
Michael Kors announced a Fashion Week contest, and the winner will receive two tickets to fly to New York, meet the designer backstage and gain access to the brand’s fall 2011 30th anniversary show.
Tracy Reese has similar plans, as the designer is asking fans to style a black strapless dress from the spring collection and transform it into a look more appropriate for the fall for the chance to win two tickets to her Feb. 14 runway show. Fans can submit styled looks by uploading images to the Fashion Week Contest wall under the events tab on the brand’s Facebook page. The contest will run until Feb. 4.
BLOGS, WEB SITES, ETC.
DKNY’s official Twitter personality DKNY PR Girl will host a live fashioncast on BigLive.com tonight at 10 p.m. Perfectly timed with the first delivery of the brand’s spring collection, fans can tune in and log on through their Twitter or Facebook accounts to watch the spring 2011 runway show and engage with DKNY PR Girl in a chat room to hear what she has to say about the season’s trends in real time. Additionally, she’ll give a VIP code to viewers for a discount on their first spring purchase on dkny.com
Ferragamo posted a behind-the-scenes video of its spring 2011 ad campaign on the brand’s official YouTube page, starring models Daria Werbowy and Clement Chabernaud.
Polyvore launched a new initiative with Rebecca Minkoff that will put a winner inside the tents with the designer at her first runway show during New York Fashion Week on Feb 11. Polyvore users created looks using Minkoff’s spring collection, and the designer herself will select the winning set this week.