Fashion

Bridesmaid Dress Manufacturer Jon Levkoff Dies at 81

Published

3 weeks ago

March 9, 2023

A private graveside service was held Friday for bridal industry veteran Jon Levkoff.

The longtime Bill Levkoff Inc. executive died on March 1 at his Manhattan apartment from what was a heart-related condition, according to his son Brett, who serves as the company’s president.

Born in New York City and raised in Scarsdale, New York, Jon Levkoff grew up in the garment industry. His father Harold, who was known as “Bill,” first served as treasurer and a stockholder of Coquette Formals, a bridesmaid and party dress manufacturer in 1940. Decades before designer bridesmaid dresses would become the norm, Coquette Formals’ frocks retailed for $6.95 each. The Levkoff family patriarch sold his stake in Coquette Formals and resigned from the corporation in 1945. With his wife Janet, he established Bill Levkoff & Co. to focus on bridesmaid dresses. The New York City-based company was run from a showroom at 1415 Broadway.

Jon Levkoff didn’t start his career at Bill Levkoff. He first worked in the menswear buying department at Saks Fifth Avenue before joining the bridesmaid dress business in the ’40s or ’50s.

His father died in 1973, but over time, the stylish Jon Levkoff transformed the operation from a small business to a burgeoning one in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, according to Brett Levkoff. At its height, the company employed about 110 people and worked with 15 factories in the New York City. During those high-flying days, Bill Levkoff sold to 2,500 retailers, predominantly bridal stores, and the company generated $50 million in annual sales at its peak.

In the ’90s, Jon Levkoff retired to spend more time with his grandchildren and turned over the reins of the company to other relatives. In 2000, Brett Levkoff and his brother-in-law Andrew Buchbinder joined the company to lead it. While the bridesmaid dress market had shifted considerably with increased offshore production and an influx of name-brand, off-price and online competitors, the duo built a small business that has been profitable for the past 20 years.

In addition to his son, his daughter Jodie Buchbinder and his wife Arlene (whose career including working as a bridal buyer), Jon Levkoff is survived by two of his brothers, William and James. His brother Robert predeceased him.

Brett Levkoff said that his father “was very low-key. He would just want everyone to go and to remember the good times.”

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Fashion

Claire McCardell’s American Style to Be Spotlighted at Museum at FIT

Published

3 hours ago

March 29, 2023

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The renewed interest in the work of Claire McCardell is still going strong, with the Museum at FIT gearing up for Wednesday’s opening of “Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation.”

Decades have passed since the designer pioneered the American look, but her influence on American sportswear prevails. Zippers, pockets, ballet flats and wrap dresses were all part of the designer’s arsenals of firsts. Tory Burch, whose spring-summer 2022 collection was inspired by McCardell, is a champion of her work. Somehow, 65 years after her death in 1958 at the age of 52, the designer’s work is gaining more interest with new generations of creatives.

Strong-willed and pragmatic, McCardell’s indelible mark — the understated (but not undone) casual American look — was forward-thinking in the previously cookie-cutter dressing of the mid-’50s. Well-proportioned and affordable, her clothes, which spanned from bathing suits to ready-to-wear, were designed with a wide range of body types in mind. Understanding that “clothes may make the woman, but the woman can also make the clothes,” McCardell once said, “When the dress runs away with the woman, it’s a horror.”

Nine McCardell-crafted garments drawn from the Study Collection at the Museum at FIT will be on display through April 16 on the FIT campus. Seniors in the school’s art history and museum professions undergraduate program Nico Frederick, Christina Pene, and Emma Sosebee have curated the show, which also includes reproductions of advertising,

In addition to the student-curated show at the Museum at FIT, the “Claire McCardell” exhibition is on view at the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s Museum in Baltimore through November. McCardell’s designs are featured with family letters, interviews and archival documents. The show was curated by the Tory Burch Claire McCardell fashion fellow Robyn Levy, whose fellowship was made possible by the Tory Burch Foundation. Last year Burch penned the foreword for the reissue of McCardell’s 1956 book “What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When and How Much of Fashion.”

On another front, the Museum at FIT will unveil “¡Moda Hoy! Latin American and Latinx Fashion Design Today” on May 31. The exhibition will celebrate the work of designers of Latin American descent including stalwarts like Aldolfo Sardiña, Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Edmundo Castillo, Victor Alfaro, and Haider Ackermann, as well as Willy Chavarria, Maria Cornejo, Isabel Toledo, Gabriela Hearst, Jonathan Cohen, Nous Etudions’ Romina Cardillo, Luar’s Raul Lopez and Kika Vargas. With text in English and Spanish, the show will feature 60 objects from the museum’s permanent collection, including multiple new acquisitions. The show will run through Nov. 12.

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Fashion

Diane von Furstenberg Exhibition Slated for Brussels Fashion & Lace Museum

Published

3 hours ago

March 29, 2023

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Diane von Furstenberg will be the subject of an upcoming exhibition at The Fashion and Lace Museum in Brussels, where the designer was born.

“Woman Before Fashion,” which will be on view from April 21 to Jan. 7, 2024, will explore von Furstenberg’s career in fashion with a focus on the iconic wrap dress, as the silhouette prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.

The museum’s curator, Nicolas Lor, has divided the exhibition into four chapters, recognizing von Furstenberg as both a person and a designer. The pieces presented in the exhibition came from the archives of the House of Diane von Furstenberg.

“It is both exciting and emotional to be honored with the first European exhibition of my work in my native city, Brussels,” said von Furstenberg.

The Fashion & Lace Museum, founded in 1977, is housed in a group of historic houses in the heart of Brussels close to the Grand-Place. It holds some 20,000 items. Lace, clothing and accessories are on display dating from the 16th century. Its collections are the most important in the world for Brussels’ creation and clothing.

As reported, Lor has also written a book called “Woman Before Fashion,” which will be published by Rizzoli in late September and ties in with the exhibition. The book features nostalgic and contemporary photographs of DVF’s journey as a designer, featuring original essays discussing the intersection of DVF and her designs with feminism, gender politics and entrepreneurship. It also shows the wrap dress worn by DVF, and models such as Jerry Hall, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.

In addition, von Furstenberg is the subject of a documentary being directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and activist, which will be out in January on Hulu.

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Fashion

G-Star Raw Releases AI-designed Denim Collection

Published

8 hours ago

March 28, 2023

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G-Star Raw is going deeper into the technology space with its latest denim launch.

The fashion brand on Tuesday released an AI-designed denim collection that was created with AI app Midjourney. With the app, G-Star Raw created 12 cape-like denim designs and ultimately manufactured one style, which will be displayed at the brand’s Antwerp store.

“Innovation is ingrained in the G-Star DNA,” said Gwenda van Vliet, chief merchandising officer at G-Star Raw. “We believe in giving our fashion designers the freedom to bring their dreams through AI. While anyone could make a design using AI, at G-Star Raw we have the craftsmanship to make those designs into real garments. We should see AI as enhancing the creative process, rather than taking it over.”

G-Star Raw’s AI-designed denim collection falls in line with the recent wave of AI technology infiltrating the fashion industry. There have been apps such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, which are art and image generators, and ChatGPT, which generates elaborate written responses based on a user’s prompt.

While these AI platforms are still new to the fashion world, some companies have already started embracing them. For example, Pantone looked to Midjourney last December to create an immersive visual experience for its 2023 Pantone color of the year, Viva Magenta.

The AI-designed collection is also G-Star Raw’s first major initiative of the year. Last year the brand introduced a “Haute Denim” hat collection created by designer Stephen Jones. The brand also released a campaign last fall featuring model Cara Delevingne for its fall denim campaign.

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