January 2012
101 posts
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Filtered: Couch Potatoes
Claire Mazur is not one to let an Instagram opportunity slip by. Waiting for a meeting on a bright orange lobby couch the other day, she snapped this sucker, and it’s crazy how well the colors work together. There’s the blue of the lining of Claire’s bag by Of a Kind designer Rachel Nasvik and of her skirt (she shame spirals about the fact that it’s Zara on the reg)....
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Emerging Thing of the Week: Shannon South
You know that leather jacket shoved up in the back of your closet next to the bridesmaid dresses? The rust-colored trench that you thrifted or the bomber that your dad wore back when he was the sort of guy who had impossibly cool clothes? Well, get it out of there and send it to Shannon South. She’ll tear it apart—in a good way!—and make it into a leather bag that you’ll actually...
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5 Things on Ellen Van Dusen’s Home-Design Wish...
In case you need some extra coolness to go with our pillows.
Which came first: the Dusen Dusen mastermind’s desire to spiff up her Brooklyn pad, or the idea to make pillows with some of her rad textiles? What really matters is that we benefit on both sides. In addition to making two crazy-good white-on-denim pillows for us, Ellen Van Dusen also opened up to us about some of her hopes and...
STYLITICS: Stylepreneur Corner hosts Erica Cerulo... →
Have you checked out Stylitics? Check out Stylitics.
stylitics:
We are hosting our first Stylepreneur Corner with the fabulous Of a Kind founders, Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur. These girls are taking the NYC fashion tech scene by storm with their innovative e-commerce platform, which offers fashion exclusives only available on ofakind.com. The ladies…
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The Insider: Sam Teller
Sam Teller is a busy man: He’s the co-founder of a super-hands-on media company Charlie that works with brands like The Zoe Report and StyleMint, and he was recently named managing director of Launchpad LA, a mentorship program that has helped get start-ups like Pose off the ground. Here, the proud L.A. resident tells to us about all his (figurative) hats and shares some no-nonsense wisdom...
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Weather Vain: Austin, Texas - 62 and Clear
In a month and a half, we’re headed to Austin for SXSWi (we’re speaking on a panel, you guys!), and it’s never too early to start workshopping a look. Here’s an ensemble that fits today’s bill. —erica
Clockwise from top left:
+ How sunny are these Illesteva sunnies? Very, if you ask me.
+ These B Store boots have just a touch of Annie Oakley in ‘em.
+ This...
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Somebunny's Missing Out...
Listen, we’ve been telling you that you need a Mandy Coon bunny bag for some time now. And it’s exhausting, frankly, so we’re going to let these two little ladies (one just slightly teenier than the other) do the hard sell today. Get your Ernie while you can! Just a few left! So, like, HOP TO IT. —erica
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Ellen Van Dusen Gets ‘Zine-Happy
These are the four that are getting her going right now.
If you visit Ellen Van Dusen’s Brooklyn apartment-slash-studio, you encounter a lot of (really brightly colored) source material. And ‘zines, specifically, are such a go-to for her that she and the BF recently had to invest in a rack to hold just them. “I just love that they are so tangible. I love that they are handmade, and I...
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Meet Dusen Dusen
For this Brooklyn whiz, it begins with a dynamite print.
For Ellen Van Dusen, the Brooklyn-based designer behind Dusen Dusen, it’s always been about the textiles. “I loved to search for them. I could never make them small-scale because it’s just way too expensive,” she explains, “but it was always something I wanted to do.” It took Ellen a while to wrap her head around the idea of...
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Alumni News: Symmetry Goods and Kneeland Co. Band...
The Symmetry Goods spring/summer 2012 lookbook is out—and, well, it’s chock-full of the neckwear amazingness that we’ve have come to expect from the rockin’ husband-and-wife team. This time ‘round, they’ve also teamed up with Kneeland Co., an L.A.-based art-and-fashion studio that stocks an jaw-dropping range of all things vintage, to create three very special...
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The 25 Of a Kind Designers You Should be Following...
Here’s your chance to get in on a road trip with the Upstate ladiez, peep a Society for Rational Dress photo shoot, and scope out Brook&Lyn’s newest materials. It’s this thing called Instagram. Heard of it? DUH. Of the 15 million users, these are the vets who get our seal of approval. —kate barrett
Ace & Jig - @jennnnnnnnna
Alex & Eli - @anna_zeman
ALL...
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Next Level: Blue Leather Accessories
Over here at Of a Kind HQ, we think blue is a neutral. Come on: Jeans are, so why shouldn’t everything else that hue be?! To make our case, I’ve rounded up some of the best, coolest men’s accessories in blue leather—there should be something here for you no matter your style. —erica
LEVEL I: Navy boots! Why didn’t we think of this? Thankfully, Oak Street Bookmakers did.
...
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Asia Ragland Gives her Spanish a Workout
She travels to dig up inspiration and really fly local jewelry.
Asia at the Tikal Mayan ruins in Guatemala—a little excursion during a trip to Belize. After a college study-abroad stint in Spain, Asia Ragland, the lady behind the super-slick metal-and-enamel jewelry line Feliks + Adrik, got the itch to explore Latin America. Here are the places she’s visited (slash fallen in love with)...
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Asia Ragland Does Good
She’s doing her part to help victims of sex trafficking.
Asia (left) and Elena. Last fall, the Feliks + Adrik designer Asia Ragland donated a few pieces from her delicate-but-slick first collection to a charity event in San Diego where she met Elena Bondar. Just as soon as her new pal moved up to L.A., they started meeting weekly to discuss the future of Two Wings, a foundation Elena...
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Meet Feliks + Adrik
The designer’s about strong women—but not girlie jewelry.
Working from the design principles she learned from her time at 3.1 Phillip Lim and pulling inspiration from National Geographic and her own extensive travels, Asia Ragland conceived of Feliks + Adrik two years ago in NYC, juxtaposing delicate jewelry silhouettes with a tough, masculine vibe. “The name of the company comes from an ...
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In Character: Murphy Brown
She was a lady ahead of her time, that Murphy Brown—so much so, in fact, that Dan Quayle decided to debate her on family values. And her wardrobe reflected her I-am-who-I-am attitude—boyfriend blazers, wide-leg trousers, lace-ups—for a look that was (dare I say) very Ellen DeGeneres before Ellen owned that aesthetic. —erica
A boxy Acne jacket that plays off her hair and proves Murph can hang...
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Designer Fridays: Erin Considine
We love us some Erin Considine.
gretchenjonesnyc:
Erin Considine, a Brooklyn-based artist, launched her sustainably-minded jewelry line in 2009. Her collections merge metal-forms with techniques including weaving, crocheting and kumihimo, a style of Japanese braiding. Each piece is a stunning blend of hard and soft - organic and recycled. The textural quality of the jewelry lends itself to...
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Emerging Thing of the Week: Stylitics
You know what was wrong with Cher Horowitz’s computerized closet? Two things: She didn’t have the internet, for one, and her data-gathering was limited. Seventeen years later—yah, can’t believe it either—meet Stylitics, an amazing new site that lets you log what you own and, more significantly, what you actually wear so when it’s time to clean out your closet (or buy some...
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Get Inside the Baggu Design Process
They think through things…and fly by the seat of their pants.
A peek inside the Williamsburg office..
Ever since its inception, Baggu has been a bi-coastal effort: Joan Sugihara lives in San Diego while her daughter, Emily, is a New York transplant. Today, Baggu—which makes bags that suit left coasters, right coasters, and everyone in between—houses its ten-person team in a...
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Weather Vain: Baltimore, Maryland - 32 and Partly...
Ok, everybody, looks like there actually is going to be a winter this year. And though things are still mild, it is legitimately parka-weather. But that doesn’t mean you need to go all sullen and drab. Could this outfit Bmore upbeat? —erica
Clockwise from top left:
+ A Rag & Bone parka that will get you through this winter on the waterfront…and the next one, and the next.
+...
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A Very Baggu Friendship
These two have been a team since the toddler days.
It started with two: Emily Sugihara and her mom, Joan, hatched the idea behind Baggu in 2007, made a prototype, and put off worrying about the overall look and feel of their line-to-be. When it came to doing all that branding stuff, they enlisted the help of Emily’s childhood friend, Ellen van der Laan, who, armed with a graphic-design...
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Meet Baggu
When you can’t find it, make it.
The story of Baggu began with a simple need: Emily Sugihara (right) and her mom, Joan Sugihara, started a line of aesthetically appealing, functional, and reusable bags—the sort you turn to for hauling groceries or lugging beach gear—when neither could find versions that cut it. And so, armed with impressive design backgrounds—Emily from Parsons, and...
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Alumni News: Naomi Clark of Fort Makers Teaches...
As our (now sold-out) Cashmere Snowtime scarves demonstrated (with the help of some way-cool GIF action), Nana Spears and Naomi Clark—the ladies behind Brooklyn line Fort Makers—are pretty impressive. And now, Naomi, who hand-paints all the Fort Makers creations before they are transformed into scarves and dresses, is sharing her knowledge of the trade at the Manhattan branch of the Textile Arts...
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Next Level: Rose Gold
The metal of moment is no doubt rose gold, and it turns out that it’s pretty rockin’ as a color (think warm, dusty pink), too. Here’s how to wear it, whether you’re looking for something quiet or loud, soft or hard. —erica
LEVEL I: Each of these Maniamania rings—sold by the half dozen—is a tiny bit different, and they play so well together.
LEVEL II: These J Brand pants...
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The Making of A Peace Treaty Jewelry
There’s nothing easy about creating this line, and that’s how the designers like it.
When Farah Malik and Dana Arib decided to grow A Peace Treaty beyond the stunning, ornate scarves they had become known for and add jewelry to the mix, they didn’t look for a local producer to realize their vision—that’s not how they roll. Instead, they hunted down artisans abroad who could lend a unique...
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In Character: George Michael Bluth
George Michael isn’t what you’d call cool. Or confident. Or assertive, even. But somehow, between daydreaming about Maeby and doing everything anyone asks of him, he managed to find time to carve out a look—and one that’s a lot louder than he is. Here, the key components. —erica
A nineties-esque Hawaiian-print Warriors of Radness shirt that exudes more tenacity than his...