Traveling is one of my passions, but with a full time job and a family school schedule to manage, opportunities for going far and exotic places don't come around enough. I like to do small, quick getaways for a change of scene, a break from everyday routine. It's like clicking the "refresh" button for the creative mind. A weekend at Parker in Palm Springs recharged us.We frolicked and romped. Here follows a travel-fashion log of our stay.
Relaxing and swimming in the surf at Descanso Beach Club, the best place for R&R in Avalon. The beach grille served our lunch by the loungers. The food was especially yummi with the sound of the ocean at our feet. From here we could make out a hazy outline of San Pedro.
Sophia in Stella Ellen dress
Hiking the Trans Catalina Trail. It was challenging, but seeing gorgeous wild flowers in bloom was worth every step in the heat. We packed a lot of water and covered ourselves in sunscreen.
Sage in bloom, one of my favorite plants
Matilija Poppy, a California native
Sophia wearing Tatiana dress with her Stella 24/7 denim leggings getting ready to watch another beautiful sunset in paradise We visited the Catalina Island Museum.
Patty Boyd photography exhibition was on view. We enjoyed learning about her life and marriage to the Beatle, George Harrison and later,Eric Clapton. She had a book signing of her autobiography
We were pleasantly surprised and flattered Stella has been nominated for an Earnie Award 2011 for Best Girl's Collection. This means a lot considering the votes are coming from the retail buyers. We will keep working hard to be the best! Promise!
Please go to earnie awards to Vote for Stella industries as Best Girl's Collection.
This is a great alternative to staying in a hotel. In fact, we will be making this our NYC family vacation destination every year.
Williamsburg rocks! We love the water side parks, wider streets and views of the sky.
Kent Avenue, Willaimsburg bridge in the back ground
Sophia is wearing a Stella classic, Bobbie dress.
local art on Kent ave
Great views of Manhattan from around the corner from our apartment.
Sophia in her Stella 24/7 denim FLC legging and Tshirt from a Los Angeles donation shop.
Williamsburg street scene is vibrant and independent.
Sophia on Wall street wearing Stella Kay top and her 24/7 Stella denim leggings.
We had a great designer kitchen in our apartment. We shopped as locals do, at Union Square Farmers Market in the city for fruits and vegetables. August is a delicious month for locally grown heirloom tomatoes, apricots, blueberries, peaches and melons. We ate very well.
Bouchon Bakery in Columbus Circle
Bouchon Bakery in Time Warner at Columbus Circle is a budget way to enjoy famed chef, Thomas Keller's creations. Sophia gives their quiche a big thumbs up.
One of my favorite places to shop for women's fashion in NYC is Opening Ceremony. The owners have a keen eye for offering a specific mix of designers and collaborations with labels that have been around for a while. This shop is a really fun experience.
We will be back in NYC for October market!
Please go to earnie awards to Vote for Stella industries as Best Girl's Collection.
"Art in the Streetsis the first major U.S. museum survey of graffiti and street art. Curated by MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch and Associate Curators Roger Gastman and Aaron Rose, the exhibition will trace the development of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to the global movement it has become today, concentrating on key cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Sao Paulo, where a unique visual language or attitude has evolved." moca.org
There was great fun at the opening night of Art In The Streets at The Geffen Contemporary at Moca in Los Angeles.
Wild Style mural by Zephyr, Revolt, Sharp
front row: Doze, Frosty Freeze, Ken Swift; middle row: Patti Astor, Fred Brathwaite, Lady Pink; back row: Lil Crazy Legs, Revolt and Sharp; directed by Charlie Ahearn, photo by Martha Cooper.
1983
I grew up in and near 70'sNew York city. I loved watching dilapidated subway trains covered in graffiti rolling by. They capture the mood of those times just right, chaos, urban decay due to crumbling city finances. The screeching graffiti trains were like screaming visual poems.
In the 80's, It was hard to miss Keith Haring emerging as a prolific street artist. His very graphic, slyly humorous, simple white chalk drawings on blank black poster boards in subway stations seemed to pop up every where almost over night especially in my old East Village NYC neighborhood.
The best part of checking out the opening night at MOCA was meeting the artists themselves and asking them to tag my Clegeries!
If you are in town it's definitely worth a visit to MOCA. Or just look around you, there is probably some graffiti. Here is one of many around Stella Los Angeles downtown design studio.
Banksy, Brodway near 9th street, parking lot wall, Los Angeles
I am partial to this Banksy for obvious reasons. This spells my name and I am a moody looking girl on a swing, sometimes.
School is over soon and we are dreaming and preparing for our little summer vacation. I call it little because we are not traveling a long distance from our home base. We love living in Los Angeles for the sunshine and precious natural resources nearby. Our exotic destination is Catalina Island.It is a world away from Stella Design studio in Downtown Los Angles. The best thing about this island? There are no cars! Get a peek at their webcam here.
photo:www.catalinachamber.org
photo:www.tourwestamerica.com
We are planning for biking, hiking, swimming and relaxing. There is so much relaxing to do and so little time. Here is a selection of items we are packing.
We'll be packing plenty of sun screen, our needlepoint projects, note books, sketch books, books , camera, and music. Oh, we are going to where the buffaloes roam.
Is it fashion or art? or both? I first learned about Victor & Rolf's amazing collection called Russian Doll at an exhibition curated at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles in 2007 called Skin + Bones. This is a description of the collection from V&R's blog page:
"Russian Doll
In the winter of 1999 we appeared on the cat walk ourselves to dress a single model, Maggie Rizer, in nine layers of jewel encrusted dresses. After each layer, the small pedestal on which Maggie stood would rotate, giving the audience an opportunity to see a particular set on her before the next layer was laid on. When the final veil had been draped around her, Maggie was carrying approximately 70 kilos of richly decorated textures on her shoulders.
We intended this presentation as an ode to exclusivity and unavailability, the things that give fashion its aura. Once occluded by the next layer, the previous layer remained present on stage, but impossible for the audience to see."
Watch these videos in two parts and you will see this fashion as art. This is one fashion show I wish I was invited to attend front row center.
