By Ellen Gilbert
Photos Courtesy of The Toledo Archives
"I have never seen two other people with so close a symbiotic relationship." - Valerie Steele
They’ve been described as “fashion’s two-for-one couple;” “creative alter-egos” who enjoy a “poetic partnership.” What’s love got to do with it? Everything. Now in their early 50s, Isabel and Ruben Toledo have been in the fashion/art/design business for nearly 30 years, and their work just gets more intriguing: beautifully executed, completely original, and, as a rule, quite unexpected. Their lives—how they look and dress, and the atelier where they live above their studio—seem to intersect seamlessly with their work. more
By Ellen Gilbert
A new show at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is reintroducing a master of 20th-century fashion whose name (until now, at any rate) may be unfamiliar to many: Charles James. Cristóbal Balenciaga, the Basque designer and founder of the eponymous couture house in Paris, is reported to have observed, “James is not America’s greatest couturier. He is simply the world’s best.” Christian Dior credited James’s work as the inspiration for his romantic “New Look” designs after World War II. more
By Taylor Smith
Hawaii-born, Brooklyn-based swimsuit designer Malia Mills has a message for all women this summer – stop worrying! With a fit that has been likened to the best lingerie brands, Malia’s separate swimwear tops and bottoms will flatter every woman’s unique body shape and size. In fact, her swimwear is so well-fitting, that you may be tempted to use the beach as your own personal runway. more
By Ilene Dube
Remember Lasik eye surgery that could correct less than perfect vision? That was in the day before Warby Parker made wearing spectacles cool. Girls don’t make passes at boys who wear glasses unless they’re wearing Warby Parkers.
The company is named for two of Jack Kerouac’s earliest and unpublished characters, Zagg Parker and Warby Pepper. Warby Parker’s founders came across the characters in an exhibit of Kerouac’s private diaries at the New York Public Library. Google the characters’ names, and all you get are references to the eyeglass company. In fact, Google the names, and ads for Warby Parker will follow you everywhere. more