Top Three Parties: New Yorkers for Valentino, Performance Anxiety, and Girl Power by Vanity Fair; March 6, 2009

New Yorkers for Valentino
What: A Valentino party for New Yorkers for Children.
Where: The Valentino store, New York City.
Who: Bebe Neuwirth, Fern Mallis, Selita Ebanks, Geraldo and Erica Rivera, Maggie Rizer, Erin Fetherston, Tinsley Mortimer (who cut a rug last week with husband Topper at the Frick Ball), Real Housewife Alex McCord and her husband, Simon van Kempen, CNN’s Alina Cho, and Maggie Betts.
Why: Because Valentino is hot right now.
Talking Point: The Valentino movie screening at Aspen Fashion Week, and Beatrice Inn’s Paul Sevigny (victorious at Tuesday night’s Art War Party), who was manning the turntables.

Best in Snow Style: Isaora

One of my favorite parts of attending Aspen Fashion Week was getting introduced to a new snowboard-inspired line called Isaora that takes the typical look of snow gear and cleans it up, making it much more streamlined and sophisticated than anything else I've seen on the market.

I love snowboarding, but the clothes that go with it? Not so much. I'm not exactly one for donning snowflake-patterned baggy pants and brightly striped oversized jackets. When I met Marc Daniels, the co-founder and CEO of the Isaora, he told me that "snowboarding used to be known as an alternative sport and the attire really matched that mentality. Now, it's much more mainstream, but the clothes just haven't caught up. We wanted to make gear with a grown-up aesthetic without sacrificing technical performance."

Well, it looks like that mission was well-accomplished. The models making their rounds through the presentation space looked like they would fit right in hanging out on the streets of Williamsburg or the LES--in some cases, one woudn't even be able to tell that the clothes were designed specifically for snow, unless you looked closely at, say, a thinly padded insular lining on a plaid men's jacket.

Eiher way, one thing's for sure: this is one line that's getting me excited to get suited up for some winter sport.

FASHION WEEK HEATS UP ASPEN by Peter Kray

Aspen, Colo. (Ski Press)-The first-ever Aspen Fashion Week put a spotlight on the booming skiwear industry with four days of special events, including parties, in-store presentations, a film screening, and an exclusive runway event on the final evening.

Highlights of the four-day event included a kick-off party hosted by W magazine, Burberry, and Jaegar Le-Coultre, daily presentations by designers at luxury stores throughout downtown Aspen, and an exclusive screening of the acclaimed documentary, VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR.

The inaugural event concluded with a runway event at The Belly Up Aspen featuring 2009/2010 winter, ski and snowboard collections from Moncler, Fendi, Rossignol, Ed Hardy SNOW, Under Armour, Obermeyer, Isaora, Gabriel Conroy, Kaestle, Osklen, and Circe Snow.

7th Avenue Freeze-Out

New York? Paris? Milan? They all have their fashion weeks, true that. What they don't have is the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, sweeeeeet powder snow, 3,267 verts and Aspen, Colorado's singular style.

Aspen Fashion Week (AFW) kicked off its inaugural season with a HUGE bang this week. The whole town was glam-o-rama --- to the max.

Fashionistas abounded and models were everywhere, and we loved it. The AFW style squad: Lisa Johnson, Oliver Sharpe and Frances Gregos created a new and exciting series of fashion events, right here in Aspen. Resources such as Fendi, Obermeyer, Gabriel, Ed Hardy Snow, Rossignol, Isaora and more showed off their "stylie" lines for next season. The schedule was filled with parties, fashion shows, events, open bars etc, etc. Did we mention the models---it was awesome, we liiikeeeeee. Don't miss the pix of our new pal, haute couture fashion icon, Valentino (scroll down). He was in Aspen in conjunction with AFW to host a "sneak peak" of the new documentary film Valentino: The Last Emperor. It doesn't get more fabulous than that.

We need to thank AspenSpin.com's own fashion sponsors KJUS, CLOUDVEIL and IBEX. These outdoor oriented fashion brands will surely make a splash at next Winter's Aspen Fashion Week. Mark it on the calendar boyz, bring the heat to Aspen, ....and bring the models too.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MORE BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOS

Wmagazine.com: Editors’ Blog Interview with Valentino On The Recession, Buying Ski Jackets On Sale and Being Called Emperor

W Magazine.com

This whole retirement thing appears to be working out quite well for Valentino. Right now, while Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli are undoubtedly scrambling with last-minute details for the house’s show on Tuesday in Paris, the legendary designer has been wining, dining, skiing and apres-skiing in Aspen. Still, it’s not all snowflakes and hot toddies for the man. He’s in town to show his support for the documentary, Valentino: The Last Emperor; which screened at the first annual Aspen Fashion Week. Before he hit the slopes for a few morning runs — in one of the five ski outfits he packed for the trip — the designer took a few minutes to chat with W.

How’s Aspen?
It’s very well. Well, not very well because I have a cold, but it’s beautiful here. It was really terribly windy and cold while skiing yesterday but the snow is amazing.

You attended the screening there of Valentino: The Last Emperor. How many times have you seen the film by now?
Almost 10 times now. Sometimes they tell me, “Oh just go to the beginning and the end like an actor does.” But I find that so rude. It’s not my style.

Have people taken to calling you “Emperor” yet?
No, I hope not. That doesn’t sound very young or fresh.

Given the global recession, do you feel like you retired just in time?
I am very happy at this moment. I was lucky, probably, to decide to stop before this storm or whatever we want to call it. For me, the reviews or the runway was not the most important thing. My most important judgment of success was about how many pieces I sold. And today I know that I would be very unhappy.

Has the current economy made you think or act differently?
Of course. I wouldn’t be a human being if not. But it’s not a question of being able to do things or not. It’s a question of if you want to still do the same things. It’s more about how you really feel. People aren’t feeling anymore, and that’s what really worries me — people don’t feel like buying clothes.

The Valentino show is next week in Paris. Will you go?
No. I don’t do the shows anymore. On Saturday, we go to New York for the film’s opening at MoMA.

The sun in Aspen is very strong. Are you wearing sunscreen?
Yes, because we were burned on the first day. And Giancarlo [Giammetti] had a minor problem with his eyes because he was not wearing goggles. As you well know, I love to be tan but I didn’t expect this kind of strong sun.

Tell me about your ski outfit.
It’s not one outfit; I think I have five here. And I bought a couple of jackets because everything is on sale now. The prices are quite amazing compared to where I buy in Gstaad, Switzerland. But I wear different things, a lot of Bogner and Moncler and Ralph Lauren, who is one of my favorite designers for myself. I like to wear different colors, but nothing too fancy. My fanciest outfit is red.

Valentino: The Last Emperor opens on March 17 at MoMA and starts a two-week run at Film Forum the next day.

VALENTINO SHOWS UP AT ASPEN FASHION WEEK!!!

FASHIONRULES.COM

It’s a bit strange that the city of Aspen, Colorado initiated a fashion week for the first week of March - exactly when Milan fall fashion week was going on! However, Aspen’s fashion week was an initiative to promote outerwear and ski wear by luxury groups like Fendi, Dior, Moncler, LV and Burberry - so it wasn’t so much about new fashion looks as it was an industry event. BUT - there was an Italian present: retired designer Valentino, who attended a screening of the documentary about his last collection, “Valentino: The Last Emperor” at Aspen Fashion Week (along with its producer, Vanity Fair editor Matt Tyrnauer. Valentino was a big smash amongst the Aspen ladies, and was feted like - well, am emperor. (The doc will open nationally in a month.) And somehow, his perennial tan was still intact, even in the most famous winter town in the world. Former Gucci Group CEO Domenico del Sole was also on hand, to spend time with his old friend (del Sole is credited with reinventing the Gucci brand with Tom Ford, and they both departed at the same time), and some excellent Italiano was spoken on the slopes this week - as far from Milan as you can imagine.

Forget Milan, the Action Is in Aspen, by Jessica Flint

Pull out your Prada snow gear and throw on your Tom Ford trapper: Aspen is hosting its first-ever Fashion Week, which starts on Sunday.  Besides apres-ski cocktail parties, there will also be in-store presentations throughout the village highlighting winter 2009 and 2010 collections from various lifestyle brands.  So if you are headed to the chicest ski town in the West, what should you make sure not to miss?  According to professional snowboarder and Olymic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler, an Aspen native who also designs a super-fab Oakley outerwear line, "Go to Topper's restaurant and order the chicken cacciatore."  That's easy enough.  Now all you have to do is pull out your Louis Vuitton wallet and book your plane ticket.  (Here's a reccessionista tip: Southwest Airlines doesn't charge extra for ski baggage.)