Dear Edgy, Glamorous, Yet Refined Woman, Meet Your New Favorite Designer for Fall

“She is social, she is charismatic, and as smart as she is, she doesn't take herself too seriously-she is playful when the lights are low… Above all she is diverse and compassionate,” Christina D. Monley explaining who wears her ready-to-wear clothing label, Christina Karin, in a Racked Chicago interview. 

Monley, the principal designer and creative director of Christina Karin, didn’t start her business as some would imagine. She actually received a degree in business and art history from Boston University. Then, she worked in finance on Wall Street. After an uninspiring depth of time spent in finance, she decided to go back to school at the Art Institute of Chicago to study fashion and design. 

In 2012, Monley was chosen to participate as a Designer in Residence for the Macy’s Chicago Fashion Incubator. Since then, she has been designing clothes and remodeling her Bucktown space, which serves as her workspace and showroom for buyers and customers. 

“The goal is for the space to exude everything about my brand: In a nutshell, old Hollywood meets modern-day muse,” Monley said in a Chicago Racked article.  

Monley wanted her fall collection to portray the intimate side of glamour by juxtaposing soft and sparkly with strong and mysterious. Her fall ’14 collection features a cropped blouse and matching high-waisted geometric skirt with black stretch knit and vegan leather detail in bronze. She favored navy blue silk with hints of silk brocade in gold for her blouses, dresses, and skirts. There are smoking jackets in gold lame and navy blue sequins. One of the popular pieces from the Christine Karin collection are the long sleeved draped tunic dresses that are available in sand, cobalt blue, and red.

“I designed this collection with the vision of a woman sitting in a man’s smoking room, surrounded by art, dark mahogany, and swirls of smoke-a feminine allure in a masculine environment,” Monley said. 

Photo credit: Christina Karin website 

A military flight suit, with a feminine edge

A pastel pink jumpsuit with exaggerated shoulders and cuffed sleeves stood out from Boohoo’s mediocre “Imperial” line, which suffered from being too casual. The jumpsuit took after the line’s military style by resembling a chic flight suit.

A leather jacket was tied around the waist, seeming displaced. The thickness of the jacket seemed clunky around the feminine suit and took away from the overall swanky and polished look of the ensemble. Without the leather jacket, the garment is simply brought in at the waist with a belt of the same fabric tied into a bow. 

Strappy heels elongated the outfits shape creating a dainty look, which accompanied some of the masculine accents that take after a military flight suit.

A plunging neckline created by a wrapped front is cinched at the waist creating pleated details making the one piece intriguing yet simple. The garment creates an hourglass shape with a broad top and loose fitting bottom. However, the ankles are fitted keeping the legs from being too baggy and unflattering. The straight leg also contributes to the femininity of the garment by playing with the silhouette of the typical military flight suit.

Although trendy jumpsuits are usually made to look sleek and polished with chiffon like materials, this suit went against the grain with a cotton polyester blend and a heavy knit, resembling the texture of sweatpants. The breathable fabric does not take away from the garment’s polished factor. However, it contributes to the softness and dainty look of the suit.

The standout piece

ART INSTITVTE CHICAGO stands out by the amazing designs among the whole show. Although it is a street style show, I feel it was like high fashion show.

A modern and mysterious mask got my attention. “Maybe I am in the Alexander McQueen’s show,” `I thought. The mask used messy lines. The strong ultramodern shocked me. Though the mask, the model’s vision is sharp and blurred. The top is super simple; it is just a black and sleeveless camisole. The camisole is made of skill and chiffon. It looks light and free because of the material. The model put hands in the pocket of the black pant, which has a high waist and skinny legs. High heels matched the official feel into the lazy sense.

Street style is not only about unruly but unique. In normal street style is full of random mosaic pattern, holes and complicated layers. The designer used the opposite way to explain this style. Usually, people chose the street style to show their desire of difference. That is why designer likes to use the creep cutting and bright colors. But the designer gives us another choice.

In this show, the designer, a student from STEAM STUDIO, only showed four pieces. The designer is one of the three designers of ART INSTITVTE CHICAGO. The most obvious hallmark is the special head accessories. Exceeding exaggerated head keeps the light on the dark clothes. Sometimes high fashion is not only meaning expensive fabrics or special cutting. You even cannot feel the high quality by the masks and clothes. But the confident models and the designer’s idea told you “That is high fashion!”

Standout Review: "Revolution" Fashion Show

Like a worn down Halloween costume that barely resembles the look you carefully pieced together before leaving your apartment, this red leather duo looks like a discount Bond girl after she’s blacked out at 2 a.m. Luckily, the offender responsible for this travesty will remain anonymous because of the show’s glitchy video screen that never once projected designer names in-sync with what walked down the runway.

Leather is an incredibly difficult fabric to work with, especially when attempting to properly tailor it into a structured jacket and slim, cigarette trousers. If executed well, leather can look like a smooth, second skin, but here, the result is shapeless and boxy, giving the model unwarranted creases. Red and black alone are two powerful colors, but together, they’re costumey and cliché, like an angry teenager filling her closet with mall Goth clothing from the local Hot Topic. Lace and leather could be sexy if used sparingly, but here it’s overwhelming on the model, screaming at the audience like a wasted, uninvited party guest.

The styling doesn’t help the designer’s case. Every model throughout the show sported bright, bobbed wigs to loosely coordinate with the evening’s weak, ’60s pop art theme. As the production progressed, however, these wigs became more disheveled. The model’s real hair is peeking from beneath and the purple, artificial locks look terribly unkempt, like the Party City wig you shoved into the corner of your closet, untouched from last Halloween.

Like a shameless serial killer, the outdated black heels show no mercy. The height seems a touch outdated, while the rounded toe is unfortunately reminiscent of a lawyer's go-to shoes in the early ’90s. These must have been a donation from a student designer’s mother, who probably wore better heels to the event than anything that was sported on the runway. When the audience members look better than the models, there’s clearly a problem.

by Justin Moran

Designer Profile: Dana Reed

            Chicago native Dana Reed is just one of many jewelry designers who will be featured throughout Chicago Fashion Week.

            If you have never seen a piece of Reed’s jewelry you might describe it as “Hand-forged jewelry is an effortless marriage of sophisticated minimalism with a hint of urban edge,” well that’s at least how Reed describes it on her website.

            In her early years Reed studied graphic design in school with pursing jewelry making as only a hobby. Reed eventually found her way in Rome where she found her artistic motivation to start her business.

Reed’s style has evolved throughout the years from beaded work to metalsmithed jewelry. Reed would describe her style as, “Combining the exotic elements of many cultures with art deco influenced geometrics and ultrachic textures.”

            All of Reed’s jewelry is handmade and comes at all different price points. A small silver square with a lone diamond hangs from a medium sized silver chain with various beads throughout the chain links goes for $138, the same necklace in gold goes for $198. The price is a bit steep for such simple designs. But the craftsmanship of every one of Reed’s pieces is exquisite.

            Reed’s work can be found all throughout the United States, including our very own Macy’s on State Street. She also claims to get great inspiration for her work from the Chicago Skyline.

            According to Reed’s website, “Her jewelry is for the woman who wants to set herself apart from others.”

Source List:

http://danareeddesigns.myshopify.com/

https://www.facebook.com/danareeddesigns/info

Designer Profile: Eva Pazola

Photo from: stylechicago.com

Walking down Michigan Ave., the wind is catching the fabric on the dress just right, making it flow almost perfectly behind you. Eva Pazola, a Chicago fashion designer, creates clothing for any woman who is a Chicago native.

            According to Pazola’s biography on evapazola.com, she has more than 20 years experience and understands cut, shape and construction of garments that allow women to feel comfortable. She also finds her inspiration by the women she meets every day and also from European destinations and visits to Bali and Brazil.

            According to her website her aesthetic is inspired by texture, color and movement, which you can see in her Spring and Fall collections.

            A dress in Pazola’s spring collection has a halter top made of a gray silk fabric. There is a defined waistline and the hem on the dress reaches below the knees. The focal point of the dress, is the sheer fabric over the skirt that is graphically pleasing to the eye.

            Pazola creates clothing that flatters a woman’s body and has unexpected colors and textiles that become and staple to who her and her designs are. According to her website the colors and textiles are a distinguishing characteristic of her designs.

            Pazola is known for always evolving her designs. Her website states that she keeps elements from the past while moving forward the fresh, innovative and the creative.

            In her testimonials an image consultant said, “Eva's designs are gorgeous and unusual, and her expertise in fabrics, color and fit is unparalleled.”

Execution is key: A Christina Karin collection review

“Christina Karin is provocative edgy and fresh. It’s all about making women feel sexy but not in an obvious way,” said Christina D. Monley, principal designer and creative director of Christina Karin.

Christina Karin’s fall and winter collection looked for a more intimate take on glamour and uses the juxtaposition of luxe silk and vegan leather to showcase the dynamics of soft and sparkling combined with strong a mysterious, according the Christina Karin website.

On Christina Karin’s site you can view the entire collection for fall and winter.  Although the pieces fit with the design goal Monley has in mind, the items do not seem to flow with each other. Some looks are cheapen by peep toe, patent leather platform pumps which could have been solved with a simple single-sole heel.

A lot of the fits on the model don't seem quite right, making slim models look bulky or uncomfortable. Christina Karin’s saving grace is navy sequin smoking jacket. It is cut correctly and is longer in length and it it’s definitely a statement piece that looks worth the price. Another piece that stands out is a vintage gold lame gown. It’s comfortable but classic. The material looks rich and it fits the model very well.

But look right next to that dress and there is an indigo drape front cocktail dress that is basically a little black dress with blue silk fabric thrown on the front.

Monley hits the head on trends and what a woman wants when looking for classy sex appeal, but completely loses the edge with tailoring mistakes. Better fitting on the model and a quick steam to the fabrics before putting them her and Christina Karin can live up to what it stands for.  

Source: christinakarin.com (Including photos)