All the action wasn’t on the catwalk in Bryant Park during Fashion Week. Here’s some other news.
Runway regulars: It wasn’t just media and retailers taking in the shows. Denver philanthropists and fashion fans Christie Isenberg, Joy Johnson and Kelly Kennedy were taking in a number of events with Andrisen Morton Women’s super saleswoman MJ Powers. Their favorite stops included a showroom visit to handbag designer Carlos Falchi, the show by Michael Kors and Pamella Roland’s show and after-party on her yacht.
Model life: Among the new faces on the catwalk was Jordyn Barnewall of Denver. The 15-year-old modeled in nine shows, including Betsy Johnson show and Baby Phat. Barnewall, who goes to Chaparral High School in Parker, got her start with Donna Baldwin three years ago and just signed with Fusion Management in New York. Her modeling card says she’s 5-feet-9-inches tall, is a size 1 and wears a 10 1/2 shoe.
Blow out: Matthew Morris, who has had his own salon on South Broadway for two years, was working the Aveda shows at Fashion Week, styling hair at Rodarte, Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang and Preen. Aveda continued its backstage “greening” efforts, replace bottled water with New York City tap water in reusable liter-sized non-toxic aluminum bottles. The company served organic, locally-sourced food to models, stylists, makeup artists and production staff backstage.
Target practice: Pop-up stores are nothing new in New York, but judging from the response of the fashion community to Target’s “Bullseye Bodegas,” they should find a permanent location in Manhattan ASAP. The retailer opened four mini-stores featuring designs by 22 of its designers. The fashion crowd was invited to a shopping party the night before the store opened to the public and people were grabbing $20-$40 purses from Anya Hindmarch and $17 Jonathan Saunders T-shirts.
Pop culture: The next fashion designer to be on Bravo TV won’t be appearing on “Project Runway,” but on his own special. Tommy Hilfiger on Oct. 4 will host “Ironic Iconic America,” a special based on his coffee table book, “Iconic America: A Roller Coaster Ride Through the Eye-Popping Panorama of American Pop Culture,” co-authored with George Lois.
Hilfiger will appear in the special, but model Bar Refaeli and storyteller/poet Rives host the show, taking viewers to see the quirky, colorful side of pop culture in America.
The book celebrates all great things American, Hilfiger said. “It’s funky and hokey, like Las Vegas, it shows the strength of Mount Rushmore, and has a touch of Juicy Fruit.”
Sharing secrets: Sharen Turney, CEO of Victoria’s Secret, had a breakfast meeting with editors to talk about what’s new with the company. VS is expanding its Pink collection to feature merchandise with logos of 33 colleges and universities. The University of Colorado items include such pieces as T-shirts, sweats and zip hoodies, $24.50 to $52.50. See all the styles at . Other news: Dutch model Doutzen Kroes is the newest Angel and the annual VS fashion show will air in early December from the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. The company is also expanding its beauty business, adding a home fragrance line for holiday, and bringing back the Heidi Klum collection, which sold out in three weeks when it was first launched.
Luxe life: We popped into Robert Verdi’s Luxe Lab one afternoon to see what the television personality-stylist-decorator-fashion raconteur was up to. He had a “Great American Style” theme to his product showcase this time around, highlighting everything from Jell-O’s 70 calorie treats (“a fashion editor’s diet delight — dessert and a dollop of Cool Whip!”) to Rock & Republic jeans, Sperry Topsiders (in patent leather), Max Factor cosmetics, Kiehl’s skin and haircare and Essie nail polish. Verdi, who has advised such celebrities as Eva Longoria Parker on both her fashion and decorating choices, said he’ll soon be selling his new jewelry collection on QVC. He’s also staying active in television. The second season of “She’s Got the Look,” a show for aspiring models age 35 and up, starts airing Sept. 29 and he’s just starting to shoot a series for Logo TV based on his life.
And speaking of TV, his predictions on Sunday’s Emmy awards is that more actresses will wear short dresses. “When Reese Witherspoon wore that Lanvin dress to the Oscars, it was a point of change,” Verdi said. He also expects to see more black dresses. Tune into ABC to see if he’s right.
Suzanne S. Brown: 303-954-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com
