The Future of Women's Fashion

We attended the panel discussion of the Future of Women's Fashion with the Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion writer Robin Givhan, designers Isaac Mizrahi and Ashley Olsen, with Glamour's EIC Cindi Leive as moderator.

As I was waiting for Christine to arrive I spotted Ashley's BF Justin Bartha strolling casually in with everyone else to take his seat in the audience. Turns out he was sitting just across the isle from us. And so was Mary-Kate who joined him (from backstage) with a hug shortly before the lecture started. I thought it was beyond sweet they came to support Ashley and that they both just sat in the middle of the audience.

It was quite an interesting discussion; I was delighted by Issac Mizrahi's humour and Ashley's modesty. Robin Givhan and Cindi Leive both impressed me with their insight and wit. They covered all topics from Ashley's opinion that "value is skewed" and Issac's profound "Fashion happens but design is eternal." Robin commented on Michelle Obama as unlocking a place in fashion for women over 40 who may have felt left out and Issac felt her style was more a reflection of women today rather than trend setting.
I was really impressed by Robin's answer to the question about why people are so offended by a $25,000 dress. Saying that it doesn't negate the fact that there are also great $25 dresses out there, she also commented that it's easy to hate the fashion industry. And because it's a female dominated industry it becomes an easy target. She made the perfect correlation to a man buying $25,000 football season tickets; society's reaction is very different.
Ashley discussed her lines The Row and Elizabeth and James which I both adore. When asked whether her time was split equally between designing on her own or working with her teams she responded that it was, but she was always with her sister; she was her #1 partner.

(I was mesmerized by MK's gorgeous jacket & Ashley's dress/jacket/ shoes combo was feminine and perfect)

The discussion ended with the topic of style. Issac put it best when he said that the people who truly have style love each garment, have a history with it. They will wake up and want to try it with something new, reworking it every time. That's style; to be able to create with and think about the clothes that you love. I couldn't agree more.

PC - Christine, Just Jared, Olsens Anonymous