The big question at Cynthia Rowley’s show at the Stage at Lincoln Center yesterday — other than whether Julia Stiles’s new bangs were working for her (they were) — was, “What was up with the models in their underwear?” As the show began, a model in a fifties-style peach bra and high-waisted satin panties entered stage left, walked quickly across the top of the runway, and exited stage right. Then a fully clothed model entered where the half-naked model had exited and did a normal walk down the length of the runway. Two girls later, another underwear-clad model entered stage right, walked across the back part of the runway, and disappeared stage left. This continued without explanation throughout the show.

Alan Cumming, whose fab eyeliner was exactly the same as his seatmate Glenda Bailey’s, liked the effect. “It was like the set was turned around and you saw backstage with the girls with no clothes rushing around.” Artist Tom Sachs felt it gave the show a wonderful transparency. “It was gratifying to see the process,” he said. “I think it’s indicative of the artisanal movement of our time, where people are showing how they make stuff and they’re not hiding their techniques.”

Artist Ryan McNamara, who’d collaborated with Rowley on the show concept and walked the finale with her, agreed with both interpretations, but added that they’d also been trying to evoke the sense of a doll factory; the runway had been made of worn wood, and it was meant to look as if we were watching interchangeable girls going from unclothed to clothed in five seconds and then being spit out upon the runway.

Finally, in further artist collaboration, Rowley closed with a demo track from the new musical duo Kalup and Franco, made of performance artist Kalup Linzy and James Franco. Linzy, who was at P.S. 1’s MOVE! this fall collaborating with Diane Von Furstenberg at the same time Rowley was there collaborating with Olaf Breuning, hadn’t even heard Rowley’s version of the song: “The Mishaps mixed it,” he said, then a friend corrected him. “Sorry! The Misshapes! Ha!”

Linzy tends to attend “normal” shows like Rowley and Proenza Schouler, but see them all as a form of performance art. “Just like artists make paintings to go on a wall or perform in a way to fit a space, they’re designing clothes to fit people’s bodies. It’s like watching a moving sculpture,” he said. He encourages touching the art; at Tim Hamilton’s presentation on Thursday night, he got so into some of the shoes that he started lifting up the legs of the models to examine them more closely. “I literally got a pair of shoes off the runway,” he said, proudly showing off the pair, with gold and black lifts, that he’d taken off the model (with Hamilton’s permission) and worn home that night. And his favorite part is watching the models walk; he thought McNamara and Rowley’s concept of fashion as factory was particularly apt. “I’ve noticed how the walk has changed,” said Linzy, who is a longtime Fashion Week veteran. “They don’t walk the same anymore. They walk a straight line almost. They used to cross their legs and models, they, like, had their own personalities. But now all the girls have the same personality. Which is exciting in its own way.”

See Cynthia Rowley’s Complete Fall 2011 Collection >

Related: Made for Each Other [NYM]

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Filed Under: new york fashion week fall 2011, alan cumming, cynthia rowley, julia stiles, party lines, ryan mcnamara

If you like to consume dinner in the presence of women strutting around wearing couture pasties and thongs, then Cipriani 42nd Street was the place to be on Thursday night. Lingerie super-designer Carine Gilson held her first runway show in twenty years, along with “bedroom” latex designer Atsuko Kudo, at Lingerie NY, a benefit for Seven Bar Foundation, which provides microfinancing to women. (Basically, they offer financial services to women in third-world countries who don’t have bank accounts or other means of financial empowerment.) Michelle Rodriguez D.J.-ed and Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara was there to lend support to ladies of Colombia who would receive the foundation’s aid. “Sometimes not everyone is lucky to find a wealthy husband,” she said, before cooing that she wanted every piece of lingerie in the show. “Maybe if they sew them all together, then they’ll fit me.” Liya Kebede walked in a tasteful robe amid a lot of bare butts and barely covered breasts, along with a very sassy Crystal Renn, who wore a black latex dominatrix outfit and walked a poodle down the runway with her. We spoke to Renn after the show about being naked in front of strangers, her famous weight loss, and more.

Is this outfit all latex?
It is incredible. Because you know when you walk in shows, anything can be picked for you, and you may not have the same taste as the person putting you in and it’s not your job to say anything. But today is a different day. I have to say I really love this outfit and I definitely have a dark side and would absolutely wear this out. This is very me.

You’ve just got pasties on underneath that jacket?
Yes. I find the whole thing very sexy. When people wear short skirts and all that, that’s not my type of sexy. This is my type of sexy, which is why I think they picked me for it. And a lot of people, I find, want to put latex on me for shows. I must give off some dominatrix-type energy. I’m like, “What is the message people are trying to say by hiring me all the time as the dominatrix?” But the great thing about this is it could be worn feminine. I could really girl this up. But I wouldn’t. I would keep it just as is.

Would you walk out on the street wearing just pasties as a shirt?
Here’s the thing: If you asked the average person how they feel nude in front of a lot of people, I think they’d feel uncomfortable. Me at this point, I mean you just push through. I mean there are images of me, because as a model, I mean, you’re showing your body. My entire career has been speaking about the body and being proud of my body. And I’m all for showing it. To wear as much clothes as I’m wearing now, it feels very natural to go either way.

How do you feel about people saying you may have lost too much weight?
But then if I gained weight for them, that would be called a binge-eating disorder. And, you know, a lot happened to me in the last year. About a year and a half ago, I had a lot of personal things going on. And I went hiking and I wanted to get my shit together. I wanted to take care of myself. It had been eight years since I’d worked out. I’d suffered an eating disorder and I used to exercise eight hours a day. But I’d recovered. It’s time to change things, to give it a chance again. I guess you could say that through my life changes and what was going on, I wanted to make some changes in my life and taking care of my health was one of them.

What are you doing differently now than in the past?
Well, I’m so active. In the past, I avoided exercise because it brought back terrible feelings. I wasn’t ready. And I was scared that maybe I was going to be addicted again. That’s a fear that goes through your mind, whenever you’re getting over an addiction or a disease like anorexia, yeah, I absolutely was worried. But then I guess you could say my life changed in a really drastic way. For one, there was a split-up that I went through that was very difficult, and I thought, “You know what? I need to be in a good place. I need to find me again.” So I went with my grandmother to Patagonia. One of the things on my list was to go to this place, after seeing it in a Vogue issue with Caroline Trentini. I said, “I’m going to go there.” And I went backpacking for three weeks and I came back and I had lost some weight. And basically I’ve been traveling ever since. This is just how my body is now. It’s great. I have to be honest, when I was a size 12, I was just like, “This is how it is. Just accept it, like, love it. And I did.” And then to have it change all over again, it’s kind of been an adjustment for me. It’s been strange, actually, because it’s not something I’ve been trying to do.

What size are you now?
I would say an 8-to-10.

What’s your workout routine like?
I think I probably have a good relationship with the exercise that I do do. I’m taking care. I’m just in a really good place. I do hiking. I do yoga, but nothing crazy, just in my house. It brings me peace. And a lot of meditation. All of that stuff. Because I tend to be a stressed-out person. I’m a perfectionist, I cannot lie. And I found out that I cannot change that about myself, but what I can do is learn to manage it and channel it in a better way. If this had happened eight years ago, I would have freaked out and I would not have known what to do, and I would have failed miserably. Somehow timing is everything, and luckily it’s happening now, where I am, I think, capable to take on the work that I do.

How was walking in Paris? You were in Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Zac Posen.
Here’s the thing: I really don’t think that it has to do with my weight. I know that people looking from the outside, of course they’re going to think that. They want to think that. They want to say, “I told you so.” But in the past year, I’ve made a lot of big changes in my life and I’m happier than ever. And I think I’m probably in the best place I’ve ever been.

What was it like getting cast by Karl?
Inside, you die. No, I’m kidding. But what a great honor. I mean, when I was a child, 14 years old, looking at fashion, what do you know? You know Chanel. That is the first one. And I remember being a young model, 16 years old, going into my agency the first day, “When am I going to see Chanel? They’re in Paris? Why am I not in Paris?” Every day, I was asking about this. And it took me getting healthy and getting comfortable in myself seven years later and I get Chanel. Irony? I think so.

What does Karl say to you?
At this point, he says hello. We did a show together, we did a campaign together, we partied together, we did another show together. Now it’s becoming like a relationship, and it’s wonderful to see. He is a talent. And to hear the man talk about all his, like, adventures and his life, it’s incredible. I guess you could say that one of the reasons I do my job is to meet people just like him.

And tonight you walked the runway with a poodle.
I have to tell you, at first I was nervous. I’m no dog whisperer. I’m not Cesar [Millan]. But I knew right before the show that I was going to be fine, that even if the dog was going to be hysterical, I’m not going to be hysterical. I’m going to own this. And I think it was the outfit, to be honest with you. I was nervous inside, and then I put on the outfit and nothing mattered.

You said that at home in Williamsburg, you mostly wear flannel. Are you changing into that now?
No, I’m going to save that for when I’m actually at home. No one should see that except the people who work at Variety. No, I’m wearing Rick Owens. It’s a clothes version of this.

Do you have any tips for wearing lingerie?
I could tell the truth and say that often I’m not wearing bras or underwear. Being someone who doesn’t tend to wear undergarments — and I’m so sorry for anyone who might be offended by my eccentric ways — but when I do wear it, I make sure it’s a special occasion, and I wear it as a special thing, feeling special, so therefore the effect is stronger than ever. As opposed to every day, feeling the effect. Special times, special measures.

Some women feel uncomfortable walking around in lingerie.
They do? Obviously I don’t. But I will say this, when I was really, really thin and starving myself and I thought, basically, stick-thin was absolutely the only way to be beautiful, yeah, I hated wearing lingerie. Didn’t want to be naked on sets. God, a runway? Absolutely not. I would have called my agent and run home. I think it’s about setting your standards to something that’s attainable. You know, don’t set a size zero as someone you look up to in lingerie. Look for someone who kind of looks like you. You can be beautiful at any size, and that matters. And then the lingerie, that’s just the accent. It’s really about the person inside who should feel beautiful and confident. The lingerie is just an extra touch.

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Filed Under: q&a, crystal renn, model tracker, models

Laura and Kate Mulleavy.

Last night, amid congratulations from Alec Baldwin and Angela Lansbury at Cipriani 42nd Street, Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte became the first fashion designers to be honored with a National Art Award from Americans for the Arts. Kate, who always gives their speeches, said she was reeling, given they only started making clothes after having graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in art history and English, respectively, and moving home to live with their parents. “Laura and I moved, didn’t work, and watched horror films for a year and our parents didn’t say anything to us. I wonder if they had any thoughts of, ‘God, the kids I have are just going nowhere,’” said Kate. Now they’re not only winning awards and putting on some of the most highly anticipated shows at New York Fashion Week, but they also just designed costumes for loyal Rodarte customer Natalie Portman’s new ballet movie, Black Swan.

Portman had introduced the Rodarte sisters to Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, and from there, Laura said, it was “a meeting of the minds.” Rodarte did all of the costumes for the performance of Swan Lake in the movie, as well as “different things throughout,” Laura told us. “It’s actually a very amazing, kind of big moment for us. I think our aesthetic naturally fits into the film and I think it was an interesting thing to have someone say, ‘Help us say this thing.’ It didn’t feel difficult at all. It was very natural. It was one of the most exciting things for us to do because the end project was breathtaking.”

Neither Kate nor Laura has ever danced ballet. And only Laura had ever seen a ballet costume up close. “I did go to one ballet at the Kennedy Center, the Bolshoi Ballet. My friends and I took the train out,” said Laura. “The hardest part about doing a project like that is really conceptualizing it,” Kate added. “Laura and I really wanted to work within a vernacular that was really rooted within a classic aesthetic of what people think Swan Lake is, and at the same time do something that was specific and unique to the world of that film, something that seemed like it was the Swan Lake of Black Swan.”

If Kate thought the most difficult thing about the project was the concept, Laura said it was the mere act of building a tutu, something the Rodarte girls and most designers have never done. “Building a tutu is one of the lost couture arts,” said Laura. “Everyone will know it’s like getting your hand on the prize, like a coveted piece of couture that no one ever gets to see. It’s very interesting, the dance world. You can’t go rent a tutu. You have to own it. And every ballet theater has an archive and everything is stored and kept perfect. They’re worn over time and they’re ruined and they have slits and eyes in different spots, so they’re never actually perfect, but from afar, when you’re in the audience, it looks like one of the most beautiful things in the world. So our job then was to create tutus that were beautiful, but then they had to function completely.” How they did that, she couldn’t say. “That’s a trade secret!” said Laura. “A tutu is thirteen layers of tulle sticking straight out and then it’s over the body, so you can imagine. It’s crazy!”

And they’re not done designing ballet outfits: The sisters just designed costumes for a world premiere of a new work by Black Swan choreographer (and Portman’s boyfriend) Benjamin Millepied at the Dutch National Ballet. Then they’ve got the Black Swan premiere, the holidays, and their next collection, which Laura said they’re not thinking about yet, but “It’s getting to the point where it’s in the back of mind that I have to.” Are they thinking about a potential Oscar for costume design? Will they be eligible? “I have no idea,” said Laura, smiling at the thought. “That would be pretty cool.”

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Filed Under: party lines, black swan, designers, kate mulleavy, laura mulleavy, movies, rodarte

When we ran into Russell Simmons mingling with all the kids at Alexander Wang’s carnival-themed after-party, he could barely contain himself from raving about Charlotte Ronson’s collection, which he’d seen the night before. “It’s her and it’s honest and it’s commercial. Charlotte Ronson is her girl,” he said. (Loose translation: Charlotte Ronson makes clothes she’d want to wear, and indeed did wear when she took her bow at the end of the show.) “Charlotte Ronson is in style. It’s like the collection walks and the buyer sees it and goes, ‘Oh my God, that’s exactly what I want. It’s going to sell.’ I mean, I know that from all the things that are selling. It smells like it’s going to sell. She’s got to be one of the top three shows this year. She’s a little cooler than the rest of the country, but they’re all buying.”

Meanwhile, he also had raves for Wang’s party. He’s a big fan of amusement parks, having gone twice to DisneyWorld this year with his kids, and when we found him in the crowd, he was clutching a teddy bear, recently won by a friend of his who’d managed to “knock down three heads in a row” in one of those games you instantly recognize, but could never name. Simmons was thinking of trying his hand at a game himself. “What’s it called, the one with the balls? Skoozball? I’m very good at it. I win quite a bit. No money, but I do win toys.” Alexander Wang, the man of the hour, pranced by and seconded Simmon’s thumbs-up of the party, though he did have one complaint. “The bumper cars could have been about ten times faster. I’m very disappointed,” he said. “I didn’t get whiplash!”

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Filed Under: party lines, alexander wang, charlotte ronson, designers, fashion week, new york fashion week, russell simmons, spring 2011

The always lively Richie Rich managed to score the plum nine o’clock time slot on opening night of New York Fashion Week, and he told us his show will be the usual “razzle-dazzle,” with the theme “Popluxe.” Explain? “It’s about pop culture in general, and my life in New York so far, and my friends. I like a resurgence of naughtiness; S&M mixed with a sort of debutante ball, but pretty, pretty, pretty,” he said at last night’s party for Marc Ecko Cut & Sew’s trippy new Lindsay Lohan–as-hologram ad campaign. Since this year’s NYFW will take place at Lincoln Center while the center’s cultural calendar continues as normal, the designer has decided to ambush unsuspecting Lincoln-goers and incorporate them into his show: “I think it’ll be fun because we can just find some cool opera fans and drag them into fashion and show them something different!” We’re sure they’ll love that.

Rich, a friend of Lohan’s, didn’t play with her hologram likeness, surrounding us at the party, but what if he could do anything to the starlet? “I’d make glitter come out of her pores, because I know it’s there. No matter what that girl does, she looks amazing.” He hasn’t talked to Lohan since before she went to the slammer, but said he doubted the incident would hurt her career: “I mean, it’s all celebrity. I heard she’s going to write a book.” He added: “I just hope she stays in rehab and puts her mind around the fact that she has an amazing opportunity that a million girls would kill for. She has the life that girls dream about. When you’re living it, sometimes it doesn’t really feel that way because of your personality or your past, but sometimes you just need a slap in the face to realize it really is amazing.”

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Filed Under: party lines, cut & sew, cut and sew, lindsay lohan, marc ecko, new york fashion week, nyfw, richie rich