BrandHabit

Ungaro at Neiman Marcus and WHO's WHO

So last night I went to the Neiman Marcus runway show for Emanuel Ungaro. I was invited to go with Claudia Ross as she was somehow involved with the PR around Peter Dundas, Ungaro's creative director who was visiting in S.F.

First let me just say it here: I am not a fashion critic. I am much more interested in writing about the slew of characters I meet on my journey through life and making observations from a high level view on my experiences. Also, you need to realize that while I was in the fashion business for 10 years, I was in the accessory business as a designer.. and while I am very comfortable doing the runway/model show thing….I haven’t spent a lot of my time going to such events. I have always been a business woman, working my butt off and running a small business, whether it was in jewelry or executive search. For the last 10 years I have been holed up in Marin County (across the SF bay) working in high tech, raising my daughter… so here again, I haven’t been doing the social fashion runway scene in San Francisco.

So, last night: Let me first say that I did not know ANYONE at the event. (Okay, I recognized a few from peripheral crowds I hang out in) But there was NO ONE I could walk up to and shoot the shit with, even on a superficial level. While uncomfortable, this experience alone makes writing about it much more fun because I have a more objective point of view on my observations. So first of all, I could tell that the crowd was filled with the WHO's WHO in the SF social scene.

First observation: What I love about San Francisco is that people come in all ages, shapes, sizes styles etc etc. The people in San Francisco are MUCH more varied in their look than in Los Angeles. In LA, everyone is teeny-tiny with big boobs and everyone is model gorgeous. All the men in LA wear their hair the same way… really, it’s just so much more homogonous down there. I really love the variety in SF. Everything goes and it’s easy to feel comfortable because of this.

Okay, second observation: it was quite obvious to me who the WHO were… because their faces were held in a perpetual state of: “Someone is ABOUT to take my picture… Keep a permanent smile on at all times, look around the room at everyone as if they are about to take my picture and don’t really talk to anyone unless I can talk between my teeth with my smile pasted on my face”…. That was interesting.

The other observation with the WHO’s WHO was that many women were clearly in various stages of: bright eyes, very bright wide eyes, very very wide bright eyes with a big full smile, full lips and a permanent look of SOMEONE is about to take my picture.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle about all of this.

Here is the other thing I will admit here. I REALLY wish I brought someone with me to this event, because being in a room of WHO's WHO who I don’t know is incredibly awkward. In the Silicon Valley Venture Capital community (of which I have been socializing in for the last year) it is cultural standard to run around a room, introduce yourself, state what you do for a living and quickly assess whether there is a worthwhile networking opportunity between individuals. This practice wasn’t necessarily easy to get used to either but it’s what is done. In the SF social scene, this is definitely not the case… you are supposed to KNOW who everyone is. Remember? They are a WHO's WHO! And you aren’t supposed to ASK what anyone does because you are supposed to KNOW that they are a SOMEONE. Anyway, I did manage to meet 2 women who I found very nice and interesting. We quickly found common ground by talking about raising daughters. Being a parent is the great equalizer isn’t it? Next time I go to one of these events.. I will know two people.

Before bowing out I thanked Claudia Ross (who is such a cutie, I love her!) and admitted that my quick exit was due to the awkwardness of not knowing anyone. She reminded me that I need to get out to these things more often and that I need to know these people… “I do, I do”, I responded… “But I need to do it incrementally” (and next time I definitely need to bring one of my “peeps” to make the getting to know people process more comfortable.)

Oh, on a side note: The designs for Ungaro were GORGEOUS! I especially loved his Chiffon dresses which had the perfect balance of flow in the skirt and fitted, sexy exposed wrapping in the bodice. There was a lime green number that was just to die for.

FashionWeek Live Report

Oh Gosh, I have blog backlog... I am so behind on my FashionWeekLive Report!

Okay, so basically FashionWeekLive, the Mercedes-Benz tour of New York Fashion week, came to San Francisco last Thursday, March 15. Five of us from BrandHabit were in attendance: Peggy, Tori, Kelly, Joanna, and me.

It was truly a world class event. While it took place at the Fort Mason Center in SF, it could have been anywhere in the world (New York, Paris...). The promoters IGM and Claudia Ross did a fantastic job! The venue was gorgeous and chic, Moet Champagne was flowing, beautiful h'ordeurves were passed around at the pre-party event, and the crowd was packed with the "Who's Who" of San Francisco society (just don’t ask me who the “Who” were as I don’t really follow that stuff).

We had 3rd row center seats just off the runway. The entire event was just fantastic! I have to say however, that it was hard to get a sense of each designer’s vision for the season. In this venue, most of the designers were mixed in by "trend," and while each model on the runway was also shown on a big screen with the designer name posted, I didn’t pay much attention to the screen. I spent most of my time just taking in the spectacle: the music, the famous models, and the looks on the faces of the attendees sitting in the front row.

A few things stood out for me: I couldn’t help but notice Claudia Ross (BrandHabit’s Local Icon) who looked DIVINE in Vintage Tuleh polka dots, and Vanessa Getty, who looked just …what can I say, she is luminous. The highlight of the evening was when model Tyson Beckford got to strut his stuff on the catwalk. The crowd’s reaction was something akin to Brad Pitt entering a room: primal unrestrained lustful adoration. Tyson couldn’t help but smile at the sound that went through the crowd: a wave of “ahhhhhh” with a bit of squeal in it. It was beyond unsubtle and it sent me into a fit of laughter at how women can respond to a man’s beauty with such reverence. The poor guy…really it HAS to be embarrassing. Let’s face it; with Tyson’s deeply slanted bedroom eyes he has a permanent look of “I’ve got a sexy little secret just for you…” And you know every woman in that audience fantasized about that look being for her and her alone.

Okay, so back to the event. After the runway show the party continued with a slew of some of SF’s more colorful characters. I met an ambassador and his wife from Columbia, a young man who I swore was putting me on when he said he worked for the CIA in Chemical Engineering, (I love a brainy guy who doesn’t tell me he is an investment banker. I would have taken him for a trust fund kid, he was just too cute and well kept). I also met Merkley, the out-of-this-world talented photographer and artist. I had seen his work online before and it turns out he’s pretty hard to miss with his crazy mess of hair, beard, and mirrored silver glasses…I just had to say “hello.” I also ran into Emily from the radio show, "Sex with Emily" whom I had met at a party earlier this month. (I love her already... anyone who likes to talk about sex is my type of gal).

What else can I say? It was a great event. And yet for those of you that didn’t get to go, don’t worry… these things always sound better than they are… it may seem glamorous but glamour can be overrated and sometimes boring.

Our next big event is coming up this Friday, March 30th: The BrandHabit Launch Party and Sample Sale will be an event not to be missed! It’s at 111 Minna in San Francisco from 6-9PM. Come on down!

BrandHabit partners with MORE Magazine

Have you had a chance to see MORE Magazine this month? BrandHabit launched our partnership with MORE for the March issue, on newsstands now.

What this means is: If a reader of MORE magazine sees an item that she wants, she can now find more than one store that carries the item by coming to www.brandhabit.com/more.

Our partnership with MORE is a manifestation of the vision I had for BrandHabit when I started the company and I am overjoyed!

How often do you find yourself reading a magazine, finding something you love, only to go to the shopping guide in the back to find ONE store that carries the item, and that store is not near you?

Then, you spend time trying to track down a phone number for the company, getting on the phone with a salesrep and begging them to find out where the item was shipped... Honestly, I hate to say this: They don't care to help one customer at a time... their job is to sell to stores. The salesreps for these designers are THRILLED about BrandHabit because we make their job easier!

For MORE magazine, BrandHabit is an added benefit that they can offer their readers!

Now, let me take a moment to talk about MORE Magazine. MORE Magazine is the magazine for women that are 40 and over. It's the "40 is the new 30" magazine. Although sometimes I personally think 40 is the new
20-something... don't you? (you probably do if you are 40 something)

MORE magazine won Advertising Age's "Magazine of the Year" award and they were voted in the Top 5 of AdWeeks Hot List of Magazines. It's a fantastic magazine.. I love their articles that illustrate the strength women possess at this age and I also love that they only use models that are 40 and over. The magazine addresses real life issues that women face at this age and in general makes us all proud to be a part of this generation!

We will be continuing our service with MORE in the months to come... pick up an issue and check it out! Or, feel free to peruse the fashion pages of MORE on our site and find items you love in a store near you!

Marcia Moran Jewelry

As we all know, big gold jewelry has been hot for some time now. When combing through the monotonous and somewhat repetitive rows of jewelry designers at a recent fashion trade show, I discovered Marcia Moran. Honestly, her designs stand bright among the masses.

I can’t get enough of my Marcia Moran necklace. I wear it with everything from a basic sweater for day or a plunging neck-lined dress for evening This necklace has 4 chains of different lengths that resemble spun gold. Each chain has flat brushed little “O”s haphazardly attached and the result is nothing less than spectacular! Marcia also does fabulous cocktail rings that are a must have item for spring. I have noticed her things in darling boutiques around San Francisco and I imagine she has quite a following across the U.S. Check out her feature page to find her designs near you!

FashionWeek Live Comes to San Francisco!

Hey BrandHabit-ers,

I apologize that I haven't been blogging lately. To be honest, I have been so immersed in this start-up that I have not had time to comment on the recent Oscars, or think about what fashion items I am lusting after for spring. If you think being the CEO of a fashion company is glamorous, think again! I have been sitting at a computer for weeks, in baggy clothes, working my little tail off! Actually, my tail isn't so little these days since I have been sitting so much!
(let's not go there).

The good news is that I do have something glamorous to look forward to soon! On March 15th, the producers of Mercedes-Benz Fashion week are coming to San Francisco with FashionWeekLive, and BrandHabit will be there!

This event is a full fledged fashion runway show featuring designers like:
Oscar de la Renta, Zac Posen, Chaiken, Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein, Badgley Mischka, Nicole Miller, Nanette Lepore and Michael Kors to name just a few. Naomi Campbell and Gemma Ward will be strutting on the cat-walk.

Apparently, the plan is to hold FashionWeekLive every year in several cities. This is a fantastic idea for those of us who don't want to fight the crowds in New York or Paris; or get on a plane in the winter!

If you want to go to this event, click the FashionWeekLive banner on our home page. You can purchase tickets by calling the number listed.

I'd love to see you there. I'll blog about the event, you can be sure!

All my Best,
Carla