February 2012
24 posts
1 tag
Pure Gold: Our Proofreader Goes to Hollywood
Monica, our superstar wordsmith, got to spend time with the real stars this weekend at the Academy Awards. read about her Oscars adventures below—including a very avatar-esque dessert experience.
How did you score a ticket to the Oscars?
My husband, Dave Jesteadt, is the distributor of two of the best animated feature nominees, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita. Because it was the first...
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This Week’s Discovery:
Lee for J.Crew
Denim diehards, this one’s for you. The Lee 101—first created in the 1920s as a cowboy jean when Lee was a work-wear manufacturer— deserves place in the jean hall of fame. Ours comes from the Lee archives. And is crafted from Japanese selvedge denim (side note: Selvedge is special because it’s woven the way fabric used to be, in smaller batches and on hand-operated single looms...
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This Week’s Discovery:
the Malta sandal
After a south-of-the-border sojourn for some style inspiration (what happens in Tulum, stays in Tulum) our accessories design team couldn’t resist imagining their own handwoven leather huarache. The traditional Mexican sandal made its way stateside in the ’60s as a boho-cool summertime staple (we’re conjuring up visions of Ali MacGraw rocking a pair with a suntan). Our...
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Behind the Seams: Swatch This
we talked to our in-house color connoisseur, Cherie, about the covetable hues behind our new fall collection.
below is just a small smattering of some of the eye-popping shades they used (sunglasses optional).
“This year, we stayed within a theme of warm autumnal colors.
After looking through hundreds of swatches, spools and yarns, our
head designer, Tom, narrows down his top...
5 tags
Fashion Week: Background Noise
our fall 2012 collection sound track
We just got our hands on the playlist that our men’s stylist, Jack, and our resident music buff, Nichole, assembled to set the tone for our fall presentation. (These cool collaborators also happen to select the tunes you find yourself humming along to in all our retail stores.) From artists like Carla Bruni to bands like Vacationer, there’s a toe-tapping...
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This Week's Discovery:
the Abingdon duffle
Ah, the thrill of the hunt. Our men’s accessories designer, Addi, searched for years to find the perfect travel duffle for weekend trips until finally doing what any industrious designer would do: He created it himself. Inspired by vintage safari gear—we like to conjure up images of Hemingway in Green Hills of Africa or Peter Beard in an open-top Land Rover—our Abingdon...
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This Week's Discovery:
the Nili Lotan stripe sweater
“I grew up in Israel in the ’70s reading French Elle, worshiping YSL but also being a bit of a tomboy,” says NYC-based designer Nili Lotan. She brings her global point of view (including time spent in the Israeli Air Force) to her line of sophisticated, utility-chic creations, all made in her atelier in Tribeca. Not surprisingly, the inspiration for this striped...
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Fashion Week: Model Behavior
with a 5:30am call time, our models had plenty of downtime to amuse themselves backstage at our presentation. here’s what they got up to…
(clockwise from top left)
Strike a pose: Even off duty, our models know how to give good face.
Coral cuties: The girls pass the time chatting (in Russian!) and tweeting their friends.
Music man: This dapper Danish model chilled out to the Drive...
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Fashion Week: Backstage
behind-the-scenes pics taken moments before presenting our women’s fall collection
(photo credit: left image in fifth row, KSW)
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Fashion Week: Backstage
behind-the-scenes pics taken moments before presenting our men’s fall collection
(photo credit: top right & fourth row, KSW)
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Fashion Week: Line Up, Lovelies
our behind-the-scenes coverage is just getting started. in the meantime, check out what our friends over at Style.com and T Magazine have to say…
(photo credit: KSW)
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Fashion Week: Beauty Notes
we spoke to our superstylist, Gayle (who got up at 3am to prep for the show!), about her beautiful beauty inspiration for fall 2012…
“This season we wanted to let the models be the canvas for our colorful fall collection, so we kept their faces clean and polished. We started with dewy skin and bare eyes and finished with a lip color by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics that’s almost like...
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Fashion Week: “What Are You Crushing On?”
in honor of Valentine’s Day, we asked some familiar faces at our presentation to tell us what they’re crushing on this week. check out their adorable answers (and the old-school Polaroids we snapped of them) below…
Glenda Bailey, Editor in Chief, Harper’s Bazaar:
“William Boyd’s latest novel, Waiting for Sunrise, pinstripes and oversize clutches, as they always make you look like you mean...
2 tags
Our Design Dream Team
just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’re introducing you to three very cool, very stylish members of our design team and what they’ve been known to sport around the office (and beyond). feel free to swoon…
Frank, head of men’s design: I’m wearing…a real McCoy Western shirt, a Margiela sweater, the Ludlow sportcoat, J.Crew urban slim-fit pants, vintage Red Wing® boots and a Mougin &...
Fashion Week: Countdown to Show Time
We’re currently backstage at Lincoln center for today’s fall 2012 presentation, and we can’t wait for our to-die-for designs to take center stage—here’s a sneak peek at all the excitement.
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This Week’s Discovery:
Alden® for J.Crew chukka boots
Our men’s shoe designer, Addi, spotted his first pair of Aldens years ago in the bustling streets of style mecca Tokyo and instantly recognized an American classic. He sought out their factory in Massachusetts, where these New England cobblers have been handcrafting leather footwear since 1884, and we’ve been collaborating with them ever since. Because of the...
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This Week’s Discovery:
the jardin skirt in heart throb
Regardless of what the calendar says, we’re always in the mood for love. Cue the jardin skirt, featuring a unique interpretation of our favorite symbol, the heart, given such pop culture play over the years by NYC tourism campaigns, Keith Haring and chocolate-box-giving boyfriends. How was this print developed? Our designer was shopping the stalls at Les Puces...
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Eye-openers (Valentine’s Edition)
a roundup of the swoon-worthy sightings that are melting our hearts this week…
Virtual candy hearts:
“Download the free app or make them on your computer and start bombarding your friends with heartfelt messages.”
Inspiration found here and here.
Geronimo balloons:
“Strewn with ribbons, tinsel and paper cutouts, these oversize balloons are candy for the eyes. If you’re in L.A., we...
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Behind the Seams: Belt It Out
a firsthand look at how our beloved belts are made, courtesy of our accessories guru, Liv
Buckle up: Circa is the name of the factory where most of our belts are made—it’s located in San Francisco and has been around since 1967. It operates like a family-owned business, and most of the workers have been there for years. They’re all very hands-on, which is quite lovely to see—I was lucky...
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This Week’s Discovery:
Selima Sun® for J.Crew sunglasses
What’s the next best thing to a vacation in the French Riviera? Our new spring collaboration with Selima Salaun, the French sunglasses designer-opticienne. We love her worldly sense of style—she was raised in Tunisia and honed her craft in Paris—and have been shopping the eclectic offerings at her local NYC Bond Street boutique for years. Our exclusive...
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This Week’s Discovery:
the Homespun Knitwear henley
The unsung hero of the style world—the henley—is finally having its moment. Our designers hunted high and low to find the perfect four-season layer and knew they’d struck gold with Vancouver-based Homespun Knitwear’s 1930s-inspired workwear. Each shirt is left unbleached and unrefined for an authentic look and maximum softness—so while their origins may be rough...
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Current Obsession: A Magazine Curated by Rodarte
we’re so enamored with this issue of A Magazine, curated by the always artful and imaginative sisters behind Rodarte, that we’re selling it in our stores. pick up a copy signed by the dynamic duo themselves at our Fifth Avenue, Prince Street and 769 Madison locations.
To find out more about the creative vision behind A Magazine, visit amagazinecuratedby.com.
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From the Catalog: Cashmere Cravings
straight from the pages of our February catalog, here’s the inside scoop on our delectable Italian cashmere (every stitch has a story)
Hue knew: It just gets better. Our much-loved Italian cashmere, now in 18 customized shades—painstakingly narrowed down from 40—for the perfect palette of can’t-look-away colors.
(Not) run of the mill: We go to great lengths—4,028 miles (from New York...
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Behind the Scenes: J.Crew Collection
one of our superchic stylists showed us some of the insider photos she took while on set at our spring Collection shoot. here’s a peek at how it all went down.
We played with a rainbow of bright colors,
then mixed in some top-to-toe neutral looks to
create the perfect landscape for spring.
Check out the entire Collection lookbook here.
(post by Emily Estadella)