The Fashion Fund - General Discussion

[xingcat]

I love what David came up with for his challenge. He really is charming to me, and I adore his clothes. They're way out of my price range, but I've been collecting pieces here and there when I can save up enough for custom clothing, so that may be my next big splurge (that'll happen after my next bonus or tax refund, so not for a long time).

 

I still think Jonathan Simkai is going to win it. I love his mother! She was so thrilled for him! He's exactly what Vogue likes...a youngish white dude who looks good next to supermodels.

 

Cadet did screw the pooch on this one, but could they get tickets to Hamilton? I know at the time it was next to impossible. I guess Vogue could have smoothed things over for them, but that was sad. I mean, everybody knows what Hamilton is about now, it's so in the zeitgeist, but before the November issue? Hmm.

 

I 100% agree with the woman from Chromat about her picture. She has a real statement she makes about women and being powerful, and that was totally not at all what her brand is about in that picture. I think she got sidelined because she's not model-perfect like the folks they like to see in photos, so they pushed her out of the frame, and that sucks.

 

Thaddeus went to Burning Man, because of course he did. He's so....sigh. Just a middle aged guy who grew up rich (I'm assuming) or got money somehow and now he's pretending he's counter-culture. Look to Gypsy Sport for counter-culture, dude.

 

The Rag & Bone guys still bug the hell out of me. How inspirational or mentor-ish can you be when you come to a designer's place and stare dead-eyed at him while he tries to explain his line? "Have an elevator pitch" is not real help. "Here's what I see in your clothes. Let's go through your design process and figure out your story" is helpful. Those two have bodies in their freezer, I suspect.

[7-Zark-7]

Cadet's response to "Hamilton" was odd. At first I assumed they had a hard time scoring tickets, but then I looked at it again and realized that their invitation was to the Broadway Opening, which means they must have been given tickets. How did they screw that up?

 

 

I think she got sidelined because she's not model-perfect like the folks they like to see in photos, so they pushed her out of the frame, and that sucks.

 

I noticed this in a previous Fashion Fund series (found them on Vogue's website). There was one larger woman designer that was completely hidden. I think you just see her head in a window as she's sitting in a cafe or something.  I'm not into Chromat. I just see wires (plus I feel Madonna went there 25 years ago). So, if it were up to me, her looks wouldn't have made it to the final 10, but she makes a point about the "male gaze" of the shot and how it doesn't show her brand's point of view. I doubt the photographer was told what her point of view is, but I also doubt that he thought to ask, which perhaps he should have. How often do photographers have the designers there at their disposal? I noticed the Gypsy Sport designer was talking to the photographer during the shoot.

 

 

I don’t know why I didn’t think of Jaden Smith as soon as I saw the Gypsy Sport line

 

Probably because no one can make sense of him either.

 

 

I still think Jonathan Simkai is going to win it. I love his mother! She was so thrilled for him! 

 

My response to the mother was "Well, that scenery isn't going to chew itself". I believe she was genuinely happy for her son's success but I think she was equally happy to be in front of a camera.

 

Aurora's "All of that, cumulatively, lead me to... a boot" is my new saying.

Edited April 9, 2016 by 7-Zark-7

[xingcat]

 

My response to the mother was "Well, that scenery isn't going to chew itself". I believe she was genuinely happy for her son's success but I think she was equally happy to be in front of a camera.

 

You know, his shy, reserved demeanor makes a ton more sense now. Mom always has the spotlight, so he's relegated to the background.

 

My name is xingcat, and I am an armchair psychologist.

[7-Zark-7]

You know, his shy, reserved demeanor makes a ton more sense now. Mom always has the spotlight, so he's relegated to the background.

 

My name is xingcat, and I am an armchair psychologist.

 

You're going to have to make room, because I thought the same thing.  I remember an episode of House Hunters International where the home seeker was young, pretty, could pronounce the French "r" and was shopping for a cute place in Paris. All of this would normally lead me to think "brat, brat, brat", but she was so inexplicably humble. Then her diva mother came to visit and I understood. 

[JoannKB]

I thought, silly me, that all the designers would be going to the same runway to display their goods (a la Project Runway) so I was a little surprised when it became a traveling audience road show.  Having them create last minute women's clothes when so many of the designers are focused on men seems a little unfair, but I don't quite understand how furry and feathered shoes can be compared to whatever Chromat is doing. and how does Gypsy Sport get judged against just about anyone else?

 

This isn't a made-for-TV competition, this is an existing competition that's been around for a while that is being documented for TV. So the runway shows aren't staged or arranged for this show, they are real-world shows that the brands created for New York Fashion Week. Except for the couple of menswear designers that weren't planning on showing at Fashion Week, all of the other shows had been planned and in the works for months prior to the designers even knowing they were going to be on this show. The shows are funded and organized by the designers themselves, not the TV show. So the location and type of runway show will vary from contestant to contestant. The designers who did not have a runway show for Fashion Week already in the works were not required to create one just for the Fashion Fund, but as the judges said, they have a lot of potential PR eyes on them this year because they are Fashion Fund finalists so they would be throwing that opportunity away if they didn't attempt to at least throw a little something together during Fashion Week when all of the press is in town and paying attention.

 

The purpose of the Fashion Fund is to give a boost to an existing viable, if perhaps struggling, brand. So they aren't comparing design skills - not judging whether Chromat's swimsuits are better than Brother Vielles shoes, etc. - but they are judging the ability of the designer to take the Fashion Fund money and mentorship and do something with it that will turn them into a successful brand in the long term. 

 

The winners are already posted on CFDA's site at http://cfda.com/programs/the-cfdavogue-fashion-fund

[leighdear]

Poor J. Simkai, he just cannot possibly be more awkward at presentation.  I know he said he had some sort of speech impediment when he was younger, but he needs somebody else to do all the talking for him.  But unfortunately, this presentation was lackluster, so it probably didn't matter.  That dress with the shreddy edges has been done to death.  Even Project Runway contestants have stopped using it as a design feature.  BORING!

 

Could Thad have possibly looked LESS like a Burning Man participant?  He's just brain dead to me.  I didn't even like the coat, though I did like the fabric.  That vertical stripe in shades of watercolor blue was pretty. 

 

And I also have to agree with the comments that Chromat's dress was barely 1 step away from a Comic Con costume.  I could absolutely see YaYa Han in that.  

[GaT]

I like Jonathan Simkai's clothes, but there's no way he's going to win. I don't understand why he can't talk about his own designs with intelligence, he just freezes like he never saw them before. Such a shame. I liked David Hart, I actually liked Gypsy Sport (so of course, the judges didn't), didn't like Thaddeus, Baja East, or really anybody's entire outfit, maybe a piece here & there.. I also wonder whose dress Brother Vellies' model was wearing, & how much does it count? They judge on the styling, so does that dress count the same as a pair of earrings someone else used? 

 

And I also have to agree with the comments that Chromat's dress was barely 1 step away from a Comic Con costume.  I could absolutely see YaYa Han in that.  

OMG, you're right. especially with the light up crap. Diane must have really pushed for Chromat to be a contestant, because Vogue & Becca do not see eye to eye on anything. She didn't like the photograph they picked for the magazine, she didn't like any of the styling they tried to do, they just don't understand each other. 

 

Does anyone know why Aurora is in the Sonicare commercials? Or why they have such strange commercials? If she ends up winning, I'm going to feel like they've been waving the winner in our faces all this time & laughing at us. I find it strange because none of the other designers are in commercials.

[xingcat]

 

Does anyone know why Aurora is in the Sonicare commercials? Or why they have such strange commercials? If she ends up winning, I'm going to feel like they've been waving the winner in our faces all this time & laughing at us. I find it strange because none of the other designers are in commercials.

 

The guys from Baja East are in the Norelco commercials. Their facial hair is different, and they have dyed hair, but I kept checking and it's them. So maybe those are are top 2? I doubt it, but it's interesting to see.

 

I have to love Diane Von Furstenburg for sticking with Chromat. I think Chromat is the only one even attempting to do something different, and I find it really interesting that the only 2 women in competition are the only two whom I find have a real message to their clothes. Both are about empowering women in some way (Brother Vellies through manufacturing in Africa, Chromat through technology and a strong women's presence) and both are pretty unflappable when it comes to what they say. Gypsy Sport and Baja East and Thaddeus O'Neil are all interesting, design-wise, but they're kind of just man-boys to me who are doing the same sort of "wear a fuzzy carpet and call it street/beach fashion" to me. Cadet, Simkhai, those other two white bread guys I can't remember the names of and the dude who made the kids' clothes are all really decent designers, but what's really their point of view? Fashion based on uniforms? Pretty dresses? Denim? Yawn.

 

I also found it interesting that the show stopped itself to watch the two women designers cry. It was jarring in a sea of guys just being slightly nervous. I just get a strange vibe from this show, and not in a good way.

[leighdear]

Maybe that's why I'm having a difficult time seeing the empowerment part of those fashions.

I agree with this.  Clothing that is "engineered" to do specific things and that needs to be managed and handled very deliberately seems the least empowering thing for me.  It means my clothes are wearing ME.  And I have to go out of my way to wear them "correctly" to portray something that people should get from my actions & attitudes. 

 

Clothing that requires more than just putting it on my body and going about my business feels like complicated trappings that make my life more difficult, not simple & stylish coverings that I just put on & then don't have to think about.  

Edited April 16, 2016 by leighdear

[Refresh]

 

The Rag & Bone guys still bug the hell out of me. How inspirational or mentor-ish can you be when you come to a designer's place and stare dead-eyed at him while he tries to explain his line? "Have an elevator pitch" is not real help. "Here's what I see in your clothes. Let's go through your design process and figure out your story" is helpful. Those two have bodies in their freezer, I suspect.

 

I agree with your entire post xingcat but specifically this. Those two guys give me the creeps and Mr. Rag's condescension is so stereotypical of mean fashion people.  There's direct and what we saw to me was on the rude side of direct.

 

Watching Episode 8. Anna briskly walking away from the Chromat piece that gave the coordinator, Selby, a small electric shock was hysterical. "Don't electrocute yourself Selby it's not worth it." So comforting that Anna, not are you ok? But moreso, I'm outta here.

[GaT]

The whole Instagram thing annoyed me, models get bookings by how many followers they have, now designers are judged by a 15 second Instagram video? When did fashion stop being about fashion & start being about followers?

 

I can't even imagine the thinking process that went on in Thaddeus' head that made him think completely covering himself in a party condom for his video would be a good idea.

 

Aurora was really pissed that Jonathan was sitting next to Anna & across from Kanye, but even though I like his clothes the best, I think he's just so bad at representing his line verbally, I can't see him winning. 

 

If Kim and Kenye hadn't been there, I would have enjoyed the fashion runway more (yes, I know they hosted it; I don't care).  

Yep.

[xingcat]

The Instagram challenge is entirely cringeworthy. "Viral" is a meaningless term at this point, and the idea that an overproduced brand video is going to go "viral" is something that marketers who are really behind the times cling to. The fact that all the examples of social media presented before the Instagram challenge were tweets was just hilarious. All the videos were so try-hard, and Instagram isn't about that..it's about connecting with people 1-on-1, so just actually maybe talking to the designers about The Fashion Fund or something would have worked much better than this. Also, the fact that the judges were all aflutter about someone giving the finger to the camera...please stop. Just go back to having a ton of money, and being Ubered around NYC, guys.

 

As someone who's been involved in theater for about 25 years, I'm always amazed at how chaotic it is behind the scenes of fashion shows. I guess they have very little time, but it always seems like it's barely going to come together. The fact that we got to see about 3 seconds of the fashion show in this episode says a lot about this show, I think. Is this fund about the fashion, or is it more a way to push the influence of Vogue and the people behind it? I'm still not sure.

 

I think Aurora had something on-point when she noticed Jonathan Simkhai sitting next to Anna Wintour. (The fact that Kim Kardashian said she'd been supporting him for a while now was telling, too.) Maybe he's not going to win, but it seems like last year's winner, that everybody else were supporting players in his journey. We'll see. It may be Aurora, since they edited in that bit, and she has been really on the forefront. I'm guessing she's runner-up at this point, with Jonathan breezing into the 400K.

[leighdear]

I just can't stand watching or listening to Aurora.  Everything sounds like a whine, though I'm sure she's a nice lady, the sound of her voice is just fingernails on a chalkboard to me. And did the audience at the fashion show understand that her line was actually shoes & not clothes?  Because the only thing I could see of her collection were the boots SHE was wearing. 

 

I also loved David Hart's retro movie, it was very thematic & appropriate.  I thought I saw young "Mad Men" actress Kiernan Shipka in the crowd, so If it was her, I wonder if they got to meet. 

 

Thad

Deus

O

Neil

Again astounds me with how clueless he acts and how homeless he looks.  As in dirty and smelly.  And I just can't help posting his name in that pretentious and asshat-ish style he uses.  

 

And I agree the whole "going viral" concept is completely meaningless.  Do these media folks just not understand that you can't produce something to do that, it has to happen on it's own?  Are they seriously that stupid?

 

I'm loving the things Cadet does and hope this competition is a major push for their label and brings them notoriety.  I'd definitely buy their stuff if I could afford it.  

[Guest]

I haven't watched this ep yet but I was flipping through some magazine in a waiting room a couple weeks ago (US Weekly, maybe?) and there was a 2-page spread of Jonathan Simkhai dresses on A-list stars.  Not a few, more like 10-12 fashionistas. 

[eurekagirl mOo]

Well it took all this time to even find the Fashion Fund Forum! I've enjoyed this BUT the commercials! Dear God the commercial! I'm glad it's only 30 minutes or I'd have to shove a chopstick in my ear if I had to hear "Tarzan no go" (or whatever he says) ONE MORE TIME....Geez Amazon why???????? Lot of good Prime does if you still get the dam commercials.

I live on the East Coast.....3 blocks from the Atlantic. I know a lot of surfers and NONE of them are remotely like Thaddeus.Thank Heaven.

Don't get Ovation so I've never seen this show before. I like it but after all that the clothes walked in a very fast circle. Once. I didn't see what any of them even looked like! I wanted a regular runway show.....Come on guys....

[leighdear]

Ok, I'm not unhappy with them selecting 3 winners.  And overall I think they will all succeed, at least moderately.  I would rather have had Cadet in the Brother Vellies space, but I'm happy for David S. and Rio of Gypsy.  I was just relieved that Thad basically got laughed out of contention and they didn't get sucked into Diana's obsession with those Chromat contraptions/accessories.  I love DVF, but she was just blinded by all that body scaffolding.  Not realistic for mass market and so incredibly uncomfortable looking. 

I also agree with the suggestion that David Hart could either do upscale kids clothes, or those adorable sweaters.  But his menswear line is just too much "Mad Men" and not enough "Average Men".  

[GaT]

That was interesting, I wonder what made them decide to pick 3 winners? Anybody know if they've ever had multiple winners before? That must really suck for the people who didn't win, it's bad enough to lose when there's only 1 winner, but if you get 3 chances & still don't win, it must be depressing. I wonder where the extra $600,000 came from.

I'm very glad that Simhkai is a winner, I've liked his stuff best from the beginning, I just didn't think he would win because he was so damn awkward in person. I don't like Brother Vellies shoes, I don't care where they're made, I think they're ugly, & I hope Jaden Smith has lots & lots of friends because I don't know who else is going to wear Gypsy Sport clothes. I am so glad Chromat wasn't a winner, her clothing is ridiculous & I don't see anything "empowering" about them, they look more confining to me.

I hope next year has more women's wear & at least 1 jewelry designer.

[xingcat]

I'm not upset that there are 3 winners, though that takes it from $400K to $1.2MIL, which is a pretty big investment! I think that Simkhai just is too awkward to be that engaging as a winner, so Aurora is the spokesperson, but her shoes aren't that interesting (and a shoe designer won last year), so they have the Gypsy Sport dude, as well. Or something. It's all very strange, because I don't know where Gypsy Sport could go, really. If they mature, they lose their edge, and if they don't, they'll be behind-the-times in about a year.

[GaT]

It looks like season 4 is being shown on Vogue.com. It was apparently released back in November, but I hadn't heard anything about it, & judging by the fact that nobody else has posted, I'm guessing no one else has either.

[ethalfrida]

Thanks. So, no Amazon this time?

[GaT]

9 hours ago, ethalfrida said:

Thanks. So, no Amazon this time?

I guess not. I checked my watch list, & there was nothing there for season 4. It's a shame they didn't figure out a way to publicize this, it's apparently been available for 2 months & the only reason I found out about it was because I just happened to see the name of the show here & I wondered where season 4 was. 

[LoveIsJoy]

Thanks for letting us know GaT.  I'm surprised that it seems to fall deeper into the weeds each season.  It's actually a truly interesting reality show without a lot of manufactured drama, so I wonder why it doesn't have more viewers or publicity.  I would have never, in a million years, thought to look for it online.  It's a shame, really.

[GaT]

Well. I just watched the entire thing. There are only 6 episodes, & they are all under 9 minutes long. I'm really disappointed, you can only get a quick idea of what the collections are like, but we never get the in depth idea we got before. I couldn't even say whether I thought the winner was the right designer or not, I just didn't see enough of everything to judge.

[Megan]

The commercials on an Amazon Prime show is really odd. I did enjoy this, it fills the project runway hole created once it went to Lifetime.

Because I am from the Central Coast of California and surfed in my younger years I am VERY aware of O'Neill. So this Thaddeus guy was really stupid. Surf fasion already exists under that very name (plus a L) since the 50's. Such an odd point of view. Why was this guy given an opportunity at all? I think O'Neill would probably be able to sue to stop this guy's line.

Anna Wintour: three strand necklace, sleeveless sheath or a line.

Jenna Lyons: Ruiner of J. Crew, not the Tilly sweater.

Edited March 19, 2017 by Megan

[ethalfrida]

11 hours ago, Megan said:

The commercials on an Amazon Prime show is really odd. I did enjoy this, it fills the project runway hole created once it went to Lifetime.

Because I am from the Central Coast of California and surfed in my younger years I am VERY aware of O'Neill. So this Thaddeus guy was really stupid. Surf fasion already exists under that very name (plus a L) since the 50's. Such an odd point of view. Why was this guy given an opportunity at all? I think O'Neill would probably be able to sue to stop this guy's line.

Anna Wintour: three strand necklace, sleeveless sheath or a line.

Jenna Lyons: Ruiner of J. Crew, not the Tilly sweater.

I thought of the older ONeill li also. 

Edited March 19, 2017 by ethalfrida