Photo Courtesy of Philip Treacy/Kevin Davies.

Philip Treacy was born in County Galway in the West of Ireland, and grew up with his parents and seven brothers and sisters across the street from a small church. As a young child, he was inspired by churchgoers in their Sunday best, and began making clothes and hats for his sisters’ dolls.

As a teenager he moved to Dublin to study fashion at the National College of Art & Design, where he made hats to compliment the clothes he designed in his classes. When he had to arrange for an apprenticeship, he chose to spend six weeks with the London hat designer Stephen Jones. He then went on to the Royal College of Art in London, where he pioneered their millinery program. During his time in London, he met Isabella Blow, who took an immediate liking to Treacy and his hats. They shared an affinity for the eccentric, and she asked him to design a hat for her wedding, in keeping with the medieval theme of her dress.

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There are two reasons we tune into The Oscars every year: 1. To see who takes home the gold and 2. To see what everyone is wearing. Film’s biggest night is also a major event in the world of fashion, as starlets step out in dresses fresh from the Spring runways or pulled from the vintage archives. We’ve rounded up some of the most talked about looks from last night. Our favorites were Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford (that cape!) and Jessica Chastain in Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

Who did you think was best dressed? Tell us in the comments below!

Shades of Gold. Cameron Diaz in Gucci, Meryl Streep in Lanvin, Kristen Wiig in J. Mendel, Stacy Kiebler in Marchesa.

All White. Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford, Milla Jovovich in Elie Saab, Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji, Rooney Mara in Givenchy Couture.

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The 85th Annual Academy Awards are coming up this Sunday, so we thought we’d take a look back at some of the most memorable dresses from past years. Yards of lace and tulle, intricate beading and pleating, and enough jewels to buy a small island – glamour becomes an understatement. These are just a few of our favorites, but the list goes on and on. What is your favorite look from the Oscars? And what do you hope to see this year? Tell us in the comments below!

Reese Witherspoon in Valentino, 2002. And in Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci, 2007.

Plunging in the front – Lauren Hutton, 1975. And in the back – Hilary Swank in Guy Laroche, 2005.

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“Come on, Vogue” All Hail the Queen of POP

When we think of the halftime show, we expect to be entertained, but the legendary Madonna, not only entertained millions of fans – she did it the only way she knows how to – in style.

Madonna began her 12-minute performance singing her world-renowned hit song “Vogue.” She appeared on stage in a Givenchy gold-sequined cape that was floor-length and seemed to pay homage to Cleopatra. She soon took the cape off, revealing the next Givenchy piece: a black knee-length dress with an added cape, and studded leather plackets attached to a belt. And we can’t forget that headpiece, fit for the one and only Queen of Pop. What initially seemed like an ensemble inspired by gladiators and warriors was essentially Madonna’s theatricality at its best.

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Name: Kay-Jean Wagner

Where do you live? Brookfield, CT USA

Area of study: BFA Fashion Design

Day job / occupation: Domestic Engineer

What qualities do you most value in others? Honesty, Ethics, Optimism

Name three of your favorite designers:

Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, House of Lanvin

List a guilty pleasure:

Yarn – I love shopping for yarn and fabric.

What is your present state of mind?

Do I have to confess to insanity? What is normal? I am always thinking of the myriad of things I should be doing and more on the things I want to do.

What is your dream job?

Working for myself in fashion design.

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Finding myself with an unexpected layover for an entire day in the German city of Munich, I took advantage of this otherwise dreadful event. Immediately after stepping off the metro at Marienplatz, the city square, I was greeted by below freezing temperatures. Yet all around me, the residents looked undeniably chic in their long parkas. Cinched at the waist and puffy in just the right places, these Germans knew how to keep warm while staying stylish. I on the other hand, stood out like a sore thumb with my bright pink pea coat, much more suitable for the milder San Francisco weather.

Stemming from the square, the Maximilianstrasse royal Avenue is known for luxury boutiques, small designer shops, fine jewelry stores and decadent cafes. One in particular immediately caught my eye, Marion Heinrich. With its big white letters against a solid black background, I knew I had found a designer treasure chest. The window display was in cohesion with the sign; with black and white separates contrastingly arranged to bring attention. This once small boutique opened by Marion Heinrich herself in the 1970’s has grown extensively. At the beginning, she housed designers like Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, and Brigitte Bardot’s first and only fashion collection, ‘La Madrague’.  Currently, Ms. Heinrich has dedicated separate rooms within the two-story boutique to her favorite designers, Azzedine Alaïa and Manolo Blahnik, which she exclusively stocks herself. In addition, she houses other sought after designers like Lanvin, Givenchy, Balmain, and Tom Ford to name a few.

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In today’s edition of Monday Morning Photos, we bring you some of our favorite looks from the Pre-Fall 2012 Collections! It is amazing that designers even have the time for Pre-Fall – but these looks certainly do not disappoint. Lots of color, cropped pants, swing coats and more! What were your favorite looks from the Pre-Fall collections? Tell us in the comments below!

3.1 Phillip Lim

Zac Posen

Alexander Wang

Burberry Prorsum

Chanel

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We took a moment to catch up with Minkyoung Kim, who graduated from the School of Fashion with an M.F.A. in Fashion Design in the Fall of 2006. Since then, she has worked with Lily Samii, a local designer who creates custom pieces for San Francisco’s fashionable elite.

How did your time at the Academy of Art University prepare you for working in the real world?

I had a pretty tough time during the MFA program as an international Korean student who didn’t have English as a first language. However, honest and direct feedback from faculty made me mature and improve my creativity and skill-set more rapidly. Also, my design professor inspired me to focus and put much more work into my portfolio which made the move in to the ‘real world’ easier.

What have you learned since working for Lily Samii?

Being at Lily Samii Collection has shown me the process by which an idea becomes a final product, especially in the construction phase. When we present the new items at the salon, I can see what is sellable right away. This has given me a better understanding of the hi-end market, the lifestyle, tastes, how to design based on body-type, etc.

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Can you believe that Fashion Month is almost over? Seems like it just flew by! Luckily, we are ending things on a high note with amazing collections coming from Paris.

Isabel Marant’s Spring 2012 collection took all those things you used to wear in highschool but won’t admit to now – jerseys, track pants, tie-dye – and made them oh-so-cool. She mixed prints like nobody’s business: florals, patchwork, snakeskin, you name it. She also created chunky knits that looked majorly comfortable, the perfect transition pieces for spring when there is just a slight chill lingering from winter. Lovely lace also popped up – reminiscent of vintage pieces you might have picked up on holiday to Mexico. The collection hit so many different notes, yet worked in that Parisian way of throwing a million things on that shouldn’t go together – but somehow do.

The Spring 2012 collection from Roland Mouret was ladylike as always, but he sexed things up a bit this season with cut-outs of all shapes and sizes, some even in the form of an eye. Shades of blue stood out in the collection amidst nudes, black, white, and dotted prints. Suits of all sorts could be seen throughout the collection – structured jackets paired with shorts, skirts, and pants. And of course, lots of what Mr. RM does best – beautiful, curve-hugging dresses for the sexy siren in all of us.

Oh how we love Maison Martin Margiela. This Swedish designer created a collection that felt deconstructed – in the best possible way. Seemingly unstructured pieces with exposed zippers and seams came down the runway, but we’re sure that countless hours were spent achieving that just-undone-enough look characteristic of this maison. Margiela was clearly inspired by the column this season, creating dresses, skirts, and pants all with a vertical silhouette. Leather was everywhere as well, adding that hard edge we have come to love from the designer. Another highlight – the oversized outwear that was larger than life!

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I knew that Ming Xi (a.k.a. the “Givenchy girl”) was going to walk our show at New York Fashion Week but what I didn’t know was that she was opening the show! It’s unusual and unexpected for models of color to open a major fashion show, but looking at Ming Xi’s reputation, she’s perfect for opening the show.

Now that Ming Xi is Simon’s newest BFF, let’s study her in depth.

Is she wearing a friendship bracelet from Simon?

Ming Xi was born MengYao Xi in Shanghai, China March 8. I believe she is 22-23 years old. Most models start when they’re 15-16—but that’s okay because Ming is Asian and Asians do not age till we’re 50. Ming joined a modeling competition called the Elite Model Look. Isabeli Fontana, Sigrid Agren and Charlotte Di Calypso all got their start participating in the same competition as well. Ming made it into the Elite Model Look finals in Sanya, China. They tried to make her name easier for the International public by calling her “Barbie” at first. But Elite Paris decided to call her Ming Xi—which was the most brilliant thing because Barbie has a bad reputation.

In January, Ming walked for Givenchy Spring 2010 Couture. Ricardo Tisci and his team are known for using models exclusively for Givenchy – and Givenchy girls are girls with strong bone structures and a certain dark and mysterious appeal. Ming Xi was the first Asian girl that was a Givenchy Couture exclusive. She not only walked the Givenchy shows, but was also cast to play a sensual girl-on-girl love story with Mariacarla Boscono on the Fall 2010 campaign.

This campaign was particularly controversial for the appearance of Tisci’s fit model, Lea T., who was not born a woman. This ad was one of my favorites of the season because they cast two Asian models: Ming Xi and Paolo Roldan (a male model who is of Filipino descent who has also walked a couple of Givenchy shows before)

Givenchy gave Ming Xi her first big break. She is definitely one of the new models to watch. Ming Xi did not get a chance to do Fall 2010 prêt-à-porter in New York due to her visa problem (don’t we all hate this?) Technically speaking, this season was Ming’s American debut – and what better way to strut her stuff than to open our show?

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