
Designer Wes Gordon and actress Ashley Greene wearing his design

J. Crew’s creative director, Jenna Lyons, is making her dreams of expanding the retailer across the pond come true. Look out Londoners, J. Crew be comin’ at you! There has been no word yet on actual stores opening up, but Jenna will kick off this transition first by launching an e-commerce site for the British customers.
“We’ve been focusing on our growth in the US: we’ve launched childrenswear; we have an amazing wedding business; shoes and accessories are growing rapidly; and there has been a huge uptake in menswear, so we’re looking to launch men’s-only stores,” she explained. “We wanted to make sure we had all our ducks in a row in the US – but things are solid so now is the right time to look at the UK.”

François-Henri Pinault with Salma Hayek both in Alexander McQueen
There was an unbelievable amount of love for Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney at this year’s 2011 Met Ball. I think out of all the Met Ball’s I have seen, this one has provided the most looks that I have fallen in love with. Well done everyone.
This year’s theme was in tribute to the late designer Alexander McQueen as the museum debuted a new exhibition in his name. Since there were so many attendees this year, I decided to post only my favorite looks (and a few others) – don’t worry, it’s still pretty image heavy!
Where was Camilla Belle this year?
“Do you know where the clothes you are wearing came from?” Last week, my professor had asked our class that question and without even skipping a beat I answered, “China.” Technically, it came from J. Crew’s University Village location though.
I must have looked pretty foolish because he then proceeded to ask me if I knew where the factory was located, how many people had worked on the shirt, and what the conditions were of the workers. I shut up. I didn’t know any of those answers. How many of us actually do? None of us stop to think about how our clothes were created because we take these pieces for granted once we have them in our hands or on our bodies. They are just everyday staples to us.
I guess this is why I can appreciate J. Crew’s new mini-documentary series that informs their wearers where and how their clothing and accessories came to be. In “About a Shoe,” creative director and president Jenna Lyons along with VP of women’s design Marissa Webb venture to Italy to witness their sketch transform into a physical shoe. The video does a great job at showing the immense amount of work that goes into producing just one piece of their collection as well as how many hands are involved in the project. For anyone interested in learning about fashion design without an ounce of knowledge in the subject, this might be a great place to start.