Michelle Ochs

"The Cushnie et Ochs woman is no wallflower! She is someone with a strong presence, someone definitive who wants to put herself out there."

Michelle Ochs should know. One half of striking design duo Cushnie et Ochs, she embodies the sexy and strong woman she designs for. Razor-edge bob and a megawatt smile, the German-Filipino is confident yet bubbly and warm. With her partner Carly Cushnie, right after winning Parsons' Designer of the Year Award in 2007 (Cushnie placed right behind), went straight to work launching their own line. No business experience, first job straight out of school.

"We’re young, and becoming CEOs basically of our own company, so we kind of liked that aspect of it."

Cushnie et Ochs was immediately crowned the "next Proenza Schouler" by the New York fashion industry, and an Ecco Domani award followed in 2009.

"Few things are more electrifying than bearing witness to the nerves and excitement of a young designer’s first break-out show. It was highly anticipated by myself and the Bergdorf team ... the last girl walks, the curtain closes, they take a nervous bow. Cushnie et Ochs delivered and the label was born!" declared Bergdorf Goodman Fashion Director Linda Fargo. She ordered six pieces from their first collection to hang alongside major designers Marc Jacobs and Prada. Today Bergdorfs and Browns in London carry the collection.

For fall 2010, similar rave reviews were published.

"Watching their tough urban glamazons stalk down the catwalk in their Alejandro Ingelmo wedge-heeled booties and Albertus Swanepoel cloche hats emboldened by a strong-shouldered coat atop skinny leather pants, black leather body-con dresses, perforated leather pencil skirts and a savagely sexy fox-trimmed sweater, our overwhelming reaction was, simply, I want to look like that." - Lauren David Peden, vogue.com

They are supermodel clothes: lean, body-conscious silhouettes. I like a girl who can pull it off: fearless attitude, incredible talent yet feminine. Michelle is a girl who can make it in a man's world.

Cushnie et Ochs

Natasha Khan

Compared to Björk and Kate Bush, Bat for Lashes singer Natasha Khan is an indie rock darling. She's been nominated for the Mercury and Brit awards multiple times. Kanye West is a fan. So is Rolling Stone Magazine and style.com. Radiohead and Coldplay both handpicked her to open on their tours. Part hippie spirit, part storyteller, she weaves fantastical, dream-like tales while costumed in Indian headdresses, braids, face paint and caftans.

My favorite song by Natasha: "What's a Girl to Do," an epic, sweeping ballad about heartbreak. A bit short, but its haunting sound resonates.

Bat for Lashes official site

Erin Fetherston 2

It was a Happy Valentine's Day from designer Erin Fetherston. Perfect lilac roses, Jacques Torres chocolate, champagne ... Erin knows what a girl wants. But even better was her fall 2010 collection titled "Chelsea Girl": knee length dresses with high boots, flowy silk tops, the most glam white suit -- it was a 70s affair. The collection was no gimmick, just wearable, grown-up feminine clothes. The fact that the models were adorable with Erin Fetherston-signature long hair and bangs only added to the charm.

(AND, further proof Erin is my kindred spirit: Zoë Kravitz sat in the front row with a wreath of flowers on her head. She is even more beautiful in person, delicate features, high cheekbones and a vibrant personality.)



More about Erin Fetherston



The fall 2010 collection

Fiona Bollag

"Das Mädchen, das aus der Stille kam"

"The Girl who came from a world of silence"

Fiona Bollag is one of those girls, vibrant and pretty, with a wide smile and bubbly personality. Even if she wasn't a bestselling author, she would be famous. She has about a million friends, all over the world - friends who champion for her success. Her charisma captivates, her youthful optimism brightens your day. It is hard to imagine that she spent the first sixteen years of her life in silence, never hearing her twinkle of laughter that has charmed so many.

"100 most important Swiss people" - Schweizer Illustrierte

Deafness could not contain Fiona's desire to be heard. At 23, Fiona Bollag became an author. Within two months, her first hardcover run became a bestseller in Germany. Dutch, Polish and Estonian editions followed. Europe had fallen in love with Fiona and her inspirational story.

"At 16 I got Cochlear Implants on right side. Since then my life has completely changed. I could hear much better than before, which I did not expect. For example, I had never heard bird singing in my life! One spring day on our balcony, I asked my mom if those were bird songs. She started to cry..... I just learned to not give up, what I wanted, I got it. I wanted to hear better, that's why I chose the surgery. Five years later, I got my second surgery on my right ear. You need both ears to hear! I may struggle more than other people who are healthy, but I never give up. There are always up and downs, my handicap bothers me at times. Sometimes I wish I could contact people more easily--thank goodness for Blackberry!"

Fiona's love for fashion has solidly - and surprisingly - granted her the opportunities to express herself. She never planned to be an author. She is proof that if you are passionate enough about something, your dreams will come true. Fashion - in the form of a Hermes Birkin - changed her life.

"Les magazines de mode s’entassaient dans l’appartement. Un jour, mon oeil exercé détecta une erreur dans l’édition allemande de Glamour: on avait confondu le sac Birkin d’Hermès avec un sac Kelly! «Je n’en crois pas mes yeux», me disais-je à moi-même, «un magazine de mode qui commet une méprise aussi grossière!» J’envoyai ma critique par courrier électronique à Peter Hummel, reporter en chef de Glamour à Munich. Je terminai par ces mots: «Prière de ne pas téléphoner, je n’entends pas bien.»"

"The fashion magazines were piled in the apartment. One day, my trained eye detected an error in the German edition of Glamour: they had confused the Hermes Birkin bag with a Kelly bag! 'I cannot believe my eyes, I thought to myself , 'a fashion magazine who makes such a large mistake!' I sent my complaint via email to Peter Hummel, chief reporter of Glamour in Munich. I concluded with: 'Please do not call, I cannot hear well.'"

Peter Hummel contacted Fiona, curious of her statement. After hearing her story, he featured her in the magazine. The fervor the article created came to the attention of a German publisher, Ehrenwirth, who suggested Fiona draft her story.

"Le livre est sorti début octobre 2006 pour la Foire du Livre de Francfort. Sur la page de garde, on pouvait lire: copyright by Fiona Bollag. Mon rêve s’était réalisé et si mon nom ne figurait pas comme label sur une robe de soirée, il ornait tout de même un livre que j’avais écrit."

"The book was released in early October 2006 at the Book Fair in Frankfurt. On the cover page, it read: copyright by Fiona Bollag. My dream had come true. Even if my name does not appear on a label of an evening gown, it adorns a book I wrote."

Her book, Das Mädchen, das aus der Stille kam, is only Fiona's first step in self-expression. Although she is looking for an American publisher, fashion remains her passion.

"My paternal grandparents had a boutique in Lugano over 40 years. French celebrities would shop there. My grandmother would go to Paris and Milan fashion weeks as a buyer.

I am inspired by classic style like Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Jackie O. My mother told me who those people were instead of bedtime stories of fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm. I also grew up with French and Italian Vogue. My aunt sold one of the oldest French Vogues to Dior designer John Galliano! Her wedding gown was by Karl Lagerfeld from the 60s, before he became famous. I am also inspired by my mother, she has good taste. She knows what will be in style before it becomes popular! I learn a lot from her."

Fiona is currently a fashion marketing student at Parsons. Her goal is to become a stylist. Fiona is often praised as a fashionista. Reporters often assume she is wearing designer clothes, but she dresses on a budget. She wants to help people learn how to mix and match their clothes and stay away from trendiness so they can be stylish without sacrifice. "Classic chic" is her mantra. Fashion has a transformative power: it helped Fiona change her life. She wants to use it to help people change their lives, either by helping them have a more positive self image, or by giving them the flight of fantasy to make their lives more colorful.

Fiona will graduate in December 2010. She is a firm believer in positive thinking. Her advice is: "Don't give up, be an optimist, you always can get something what you want, either with handicap or without. Being friendly, charming and helpful!"

"My favorite quotation is from Walt Disney: "If you can dream it, you can do it". And I will not give up. My book, published three years ago, is about my life, the perseverance to not give up."

From the girl who came from a world of silence to authoring the book Das Mädchen, das aus der Stille kam to being on the cover of Reader's Digest in Europe, Fiona's journey is an inspiration, full of promises and surprise. Fiona is embarking on a new phase in her life, trying to make it big in the fashion industry - Birkin in hand - and you cannot help but to be drawn into to her new venture, cheering her on.

Aimee Mullins

"Hottest Muse" - Rolling Stone Hot List "10 Gutsiest Women" - Jane Magazine "Women We Love" - Esquire "Coolest Girls in Sport" - Sports Illustrated "50 Most Beautiful People" - People Magazine

What does it take for an amputee to become a world record breaking track star and an Alexander McQueen runway model?

Confidence.

Aimee Mullins has it in spades. She needs to. At age one, both of her legs were amputated below the knee due to missing fibula bones. But that did not stop her. At first she impressed through academics. She was chosen by the Department of Defense for a full academic scholarship to Georgetown. At 17, she was the youngest person to hold top-secret security clearance at the Pentagon.

"Confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can have. It's much sexier than any body part."

Then in August 1995, Aimee, a natural athlete despite being paralytic, decided to become a runner. Georgetown track and field coach Frank Gagliano, who had trained five Olympians, saw Aimee's determination and skill, and agreed to coach her. One year later at the 1996 Paralympics, she set world records in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and long jump.

In 1998, TED, a nonprofit that brings inspirational and innovative people together in its yearly conferences, invited Aimee Mullins to speak. The audience was captivated by her youth and go-getter attitude. She even charmed the fashion crowd, who saw her prosthetic legs as art, displaying her on the front covers of Dazed and Confused and i-D magazines. Avant garde London designer Alexander McQueen was touched by her story, and made a pair of carved wooden legs for her debut at his show as a runway model. Currently, she balances her speaking engagements with acting roles in films ("Quid Pro Quo," "Marvelous, " "September").

"Poetry matters. Poetry is what elevates a banal and neglected object to a form of art. It can transform the thing that may make some people fearful to something they can look and look a little longer and maybe understand."

Aimee's lesson is positive body image. She could have been a shrinking violet hiding behind prosthetic legs, but she stands tall, adjusting her height from 5'8" to 6'1" at whim to commend attention. She is not afraid of her disability. She embraces it, and uses it to the best of her advantage.

"I want to do projects that challenge people's ideas of beauty and the myth that disabled people are less capable, less interesting. I want to expose people to disability as something that they can't pity or fear or closet, but something that they accept and maybe want to emulate. To me, beauty is when people radiate that they like themselves."

Words to live by, by an inspiration.

Credits: CaptainU, Curtis Eberhardt, David Skankbone, i-D, Dazed and Confused

New York Fashion Week Contest

Contest deadline has been extended until Feb 17, noon EST!

There will be MULTIPLE winners

I have been getting items for the bag and will continue to throughout the week.

Good luck!

Did you ever want to have an insider's view on Fashion Week?


Tell me who your girlcrush is at the moment with a short explanation why (be creative!)-- entries from all over the world welcome (but, please, in English) -- and you can even nominate yourself. I am always looking for suggestions of cool girls to profile, they do not have to be famous, just interesting.

The best entry will win items straight from New York Fashion Week: invitations, press kits, magazines, beauty and haircare products, etc. Most of these items are only available to show attendees, so you will be one of the few.

Be sure to check out my fashion week-inspired girlcrushes Feb 11-18. www.girlcrushoftheday.blogspot.com


GOOD LUCK!

RULES: Please send your entry via email to girlcrushoftheday@gmail.com with the subject "Contest" (so it won't get lost). Please include your email. Or you can also twitter me via private message your entry. You may enter more than once. I will consider each suggestion a separate entry, as long as there is a short explanation attached to each. Entries due 12:01 am February 15. The winner/s will be at my discretion. Any entries received will be a property of girlcrushoftheday, and may be published. This contest is open to anyone in the world. Please be 13 or older, or have permission from your parents. I will announce the winner by February 19.

Zoë Kravitz

"Born to Rule," the slogan for Vera Wang Princess perfume, fits its spokesmodel Zoë Kravitz perfectly. She is one of those girls so beautiful that not even pixie boy hair and funny glasses will detract from her beauty. She has the sultriness and delicate features of her parents, 80s/90s Cosby star Lisa Bonet and rocker Lenny Kravitz. But looks were not their only gift: with acting chops director Joel Schumacher praises, and a voice that silences her critics, Zoë is poised to hit it big on her own.

Zoë's charm, however, lies in her down-to-earth, nice girl attitude. For the first eleven years of her childhood, she lived with her mother, out of the glare of the spotlight. It was only when "Fly Away" became a big hit that she realized her father was a star.

"My parents did a great job at keeping me down-to-earth and that's what I cherish about my childhood. They taught me to not judge, but love."

She is a hippie at heart, mixing rocker influences with boho headbands and maxidresses. Sometimes she is a bit more elegant, with fitted cocktail dresses, but she wears everything with the same laid back ease. Editors love her ireverent style. PR girls seat her in the front row of fashion shows. She is not afraid to experiment, styling her hair in ringlets one day, chopping it off another day.

"I’m kind of a vintage-y girl. I kind of just like what I like. I shop at flea markets."


"I don't like spending thousands on a T-shirt and I'm not really good with designer names."

While her style is relaxed, her work ethic is not. Not content with riding the waves of genetic blessings, Zoë aspires to be successful on her own merit.

"I think I should try harder.... I have a lot of connections. I want to deliver and have the respect as any other actress in the world."

With a new Vanity Fair article touting her as a star on the rise, and four films (Yelling to the Sky, Twelve, Beware the Gonzo, It's Kind of a Funny Story) coming out in 2010, Zoë is one to watch.

Interview on Nylon TV

Hannah Holman

Alexander Wang has an eye for models. The CDFA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award winning wunderkind is always surrounded by the hottest, edgiest girls. (Trust me, I've seen him.) You'd expect nothing less than the freshest girl in his first ad campaign.

Welcome 18 year old Hannah Holman. Plucked from Utah obscurity (town of 155) from the local shopping mall, the pouty blonde was signed to Elite in 2008. She was the go-to girl for all American style, starring in American Eagle and Urban Outfitters campaigns.

A year passes, and right when it seemed like her career had stalled, Miuccia Prada points her fairy godmother wand--and despite being quite diminutive (rumor is, under 5'8")--and re-debuts Hannah in high fashion, having her close the Prada resort show. For fall 2009, Hannah opened the Miu Miu show and starred in the ad campaign.


"Hannah Holman is a model reminiscent of a young Emma Balfour—ultimately charming, feverishly cool, and wise beyond her years."
- Anita Bitton, casting and creative director of Establishment


Now every fashion house wants Hannah. She's graced the runways for Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Fendi. For spring 2010, she is starring in Burberry Blue, Jill Stuart, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Alexander Wang ad campaigns.

When asked, this “unflappable, kind-hearted blonde" who plays the violin and loves to bake offers this advice for success. She quotes Bertrand Russell: “The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and land, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real estate, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love, and faith.”

Credits (both photos): Amy Troost, Marc Pilaro, Elite Model Management, Alexander Wang, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Imaxtree, Miu Miu, Oyster, Vogue Russia, Jill Stuart, Burberry, Urban Outfitters, Tush

Erin Fetherston

Fashion Informer: "Do you believe in love at first sight?"
Erin Fetherston: "Yes; I'm living proof."



Her best friends are director Ellen von Unwerth and indie actress Zooey Deschanel. After three years of studying fashion at Parsons in Paris, she debuted at Paris Haute Couture in July 2005 with a fashion adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Through The Looking Glass. So statuesque and beautiful, it was reported when she appeared to take a bow, editors assumed she was a model. After charming French critics, within one year of moving to New York, she won the prestigious Ecco Domani award, was nominated for a CFDA and had a collaboration with Target. Fashion designer Erin Fetherson lives a fantasy life.

"I love little girly baby-doll dresses. They're so feminine and romantic."


"I was a total drama child. I just loved creating the scene. Pieces that you make get entwined in their own plots."


Erin Fetherston embodies the free-spirited innocence of her clothes. She looks like an angel, with her white-blonde hair and wide-eyed smiles. Her influences are grounded in childhood and fantasy, reminiscing a trip through Japan's cherry orchards (spring 2010), Christmas Nutcrackers (fall 2009), or woodland nymphs (spring 2007). Through recently she has evolved from girly doll to a more sophisticated femininity, her clothes remain whimsical and romantic.

Erin Fetherston proves that fairy tales can come true.

Birds of a Fether collection video




Erin Fetherston's Designs

Emilie Simon

My love affair began with a song, "Desert." A hypnotic, eerie voice to match the large, innocent melancholy eyes. How can you not adore the girl who provided the lovelorn sound track to March of the Penguins (though unreleased in the US)? And recently released an English album that sounds like a younger Kate Bush, but still retains her Alice in Wonderland experimental style? Completely wise-beyond-her-years, and absolutely adorable.