Latest news with #Halston
Vogue
5 days ago
- Business
- Vogue
Brandon Maxwell Resort 2026 Collection
When milestones like 10 years in business come around, it prompts some reflection. Brandon Maxwell has reached such a juncture, and the always thoughtful designer was in an even more contemplative mood than usual during a showroom visit. 'It's taken me 10 years to even know what the hell I'm doing,' he laughed a bit ruefully. Looking back over Maxwell's archive, it looks like he figured out what he was doing about two-and-a-half years ago. Pre-fall 2023 marks a sharp break from—let's call them—youthful enthusiasms like color, print, and Texas-sized drama. Since that 2023 collection, he's embraced a sexy, yet almost austere kind of minimalism, It's rooted in black, white, and neutral-toned sportswear separates, urban but with athletic undertones. Resort continues in this vein. 'I've been revisiting, recultivating a nonchalance,' he said. 'Everything is always in the spirit of my heroes: Ralph [Lauren], Halston, these sort of American classics.' It starts with tailoring, which he's loosened up, cutting roomy trenches with oversize sleeves and floppy epaulettes that dip below the shoulders, and bombers with drawstring waistbands to adjust their proportions. Maxwell modeled a blouson jacket with an adjustable cowled neckline during a walkthrough, pointing out that it can also be worn over the head like a hood or with one sleeve off the shoulder. He also called attention to a checked mac with only one seam, at the collar; all the others are heat sealed— the coat's interior looks just as sharp as its exterior. On the casual end, he deconstructed denim for a fit and flare skirt and cut a traditional jean jacket in cowhide—'each one will be one-of-a-kind,' he said. For dressy occasions, he cut a streamlined dress with delicate straps extending from a double-triangle neckline. It's a long way from his ball gown days.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Trump's sudden tariff policy changes are affecting one small clothing manufacturer in New York City: ‘Everyone's terrified'
It's a Thursday afternoon in New York and Pauline Lock has a problem. At the apparel factory she runs on West 36th Street, she's storing hundreds of crisp cotton button-down blouses—a seasonal must-have—that are almost finished except for some critical details: The shirts' buttons are stuck somewhere on their journey from China, and Lock is unsure of when they will arrive. Lock manages InStyle USA, a 35-year-old company that has made clothes for iconic U.S. brands, including Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Halston, and Eileen Fisher. Over the past few decades, she has survived tectonic shifts in the domestic garment-making industry as globalization led fashion retailers to offshore production to cheaper countries. But she's never faced a crisis like the one she's in now, as she tries to navigate Trump's tariffs. Lock says that she applauds the spirit of President Trump's recent trade policies intended to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., even if it means Americans will pay more for their clothes. But the 'reciprocal' tariffs that President Donald Trump introduced on imports earlier this month are creating headaches that are worse than what InStyle endured after the pandemic lockdowns, the blackout from Hurricane Sandy, or the shock of 9/11. People think domestic factories must be bustling, she tells Fortune. But instead of responding to a rush of orders from clothing labels desperate to find homegrown manufacturers, the latest trade policy changes have forced her to cut her staff in half, and created a 'tornado' of repercussions. 'In the 35 years that we've been in business, we've never had to scale down like this,' she says. 'On a personal level, everyone's terrified.' Lock runs precisely the kind of domestic manufacturing business the tariffs are meant to bolster. The company collaborates with domestic designers to make a prototype and pattern for their work, sources fabrics and finishings from around the world, and crafts final products. It also makes private-label clothes for retailers like Macy's. Today, only 2% to 3% of the clothes Americans wear are made in the U.S., with much of that made for the military; InStyle is part of the tiny remnants of a once-thriving industry. For InStyle, the crisis began almost immediately after Trump's so-called 'Liberation Day' on April 2, when the president announced tariffs on imports from dozens of countries and a baseline tariff on all incoming products, claiming his strategy would rebuild American manufacturing and force his counterparts to improve trading terms for U.S. exports. China was first hit with a 34% tariff. Vietnam, India, and Cambodia were threatened with tariffs of 46%, 26%, and 49%, respectively. Days later, after a spike in Treasury yields and a stock market plunge, Trump put a 90-day pause on tariffs for almost all countries with the exception of China, for which a tit-for-tat trade war has pushed tariff levels up to as high as 145%. (China has imposed fees as high as 125% on U.S. imports.) But the three-month pause, subsequent negotiations between nations, and the carve-outs for exceptions like computers and electronics have done little to help smaller American firms already operating on thin margins, heavily exposed to China, and relying on a healthy consumer economy to survive. 'A lot of things came to a screeching halt,' Lock says. 'The problem is the uncertainty. It's like walking on ice, not sure if you're going to fall through.' Designers don't know how to plan for future projects, because the costs are so unclear. Retailers have stopped placing orders because they're not confident that consumers will keep shopping. (In today's environment, Lock says, people aren't likely to choose new shirts and pants over food or rent payments. 'Suddenly those clothes in the closet,' she says, 'they don't look too shabby.') Retail shops have also become more prone to play hardball with wholesalers—i.e., her clients—over existing agreements. For example, Lock explains, stores typically ask for a discount when a delivery is late. Now they might say: ''Well, we're not sure if this is even going to sell, so since you're going to be late, we're going to cancel all orders.'' The new tariffs have also led to bottlenecks at U.S. customs offices. She has found that customs staff are overwhelmed, tracking constantly changing rules, and holding the products she needs—raw materials like denim or silk or trimmings and embellishments—for longer, unsure whether the importer has paid enough duties. For clothing makers, shopping around to source materials in countries with lower tariffs may not pay off: France and Italy aren't facing the same steep levies as China, but European high-grade fabrics are priced higher before any tariffs are applied. Meanwhile, it's difficult, if not impossible, to substitute such supplies with domestically sourced goods because so few are produced in the U.S. It took years for fashion brands to move their entire supply chains and manufacturing plants, destroying the broad base of companies that once comprised a thriving U.S. apparel industry, Lock says, but the transformation has been complete. InStyle now operates in a niche market and is reliant on overseas suppliers for materials. To boost U.S. garment manufacturing, Lock says, 'We have to make sure that we have a solid foundation before we cut off the rest of the world.' Similar crises are playing out at small and medium-sized businesses across the U.S. Unlike multinationals, these businesses don't have the cash reserves to absorb the costs of new tariffs. And even if they did, constant shifts in tariff policies and all the unknowns around what might happen next have discouraged companies from settling on one strategy or big investment that might carry them through this period. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that tariffs have already cost small businesses an extra $24 billion over the past month. Lock says that if circumstances don't change, InStyle and other apparel-making businesses of its size could go out of business within six months. Lock can't choose just one metaphor to describe the past few weeks. She says fallout from tariffs has been like a blizzard, or like riding a rollercoaster. She's had to cut the number of hourly workers in her factory from 20 to 10. (InStyle employed more than 75 people before the pandemic.) The people who are left have also had their hours reduced, agreeing to share shifts to protect jobs and ride out the storm. 'We have so much invested, we're like a family here, and we don't want to see our family collapse,' she said. She's exploring other options to bring work to the factory and is considering a temporary pivot to making uniforms. Her competitors are having the same conversations, she says, asking themselves how they can survive. Lock says she's trying to stay positive and even gets some good news on Friday afternoon. Delayed for weeks at customs, the buttons she needs to finish the shirts languishing in nearly complete state have arrived, and will soon be sewn on. The order should be wrapped up and on a truck by Monday—and, at least this time, InStyle isn't taking a hit for the snafu. "People are being understanding,' says Lock, 'and we're grateful for that." This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
Time Out
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Krysta Rodriguez talks ‘Smash' on Broadway, finding her New York groove and dirty martinis
Krysta Rodriguez has been a New Yorker for more than two decades but this summer marks a full-circle moment: bringing Smash home to Broadway. Rodriguez, a longtime favorite on stage (Spring Awakening, Into the Woods) and screen (Smash, Halston), stars in the highly anticipated musical adaptation of the beloved New York-based TV series, now playing at the Imperial Theater. We caught up with the 40-year-old actress to talk about her experience stepping back into the Smash universe, her favorite New York rituals and where you might spot her with a dirty martini in hand. On bringing Smash home to Broadway 'It's really special,' Rodriguez tells Time Out. 'We filmed the series in New York, we were in real theaters and there with a lot of theater people. Now, we're really there with theater people. There's something special about being able to bring it home to where it was with all the people who do actually make that art form.' As someone who grew up in the industry, Rodriguez says there's a deep personal resonance with this production and being surrounded by like-minded people. 'Brooks Ashmanskas [her co-star] is doing his 16th Broadway show,' she says. 'It's part of the fabric of who we are, and we're happy that we get to share that.' There was one moment when it all really clicked. 'When the marquee went up, it was like, Wow, it's actually happening," she remembers. 'And at our first preview, we're literally talking about a dress rehearsal during a dress rehearsal. It's very meta—and crazy.' On being surrounded by Smash in the city After opening night, Rodriguez says the Smash takeover of Times Square felt almost surreal. 'We walked to the party at the Hard Rock Cafe, and my friend was like, 'I feel like I should be eating a salad and talking about the next auditions,'' she laughs, referencing Smash scenes filmed at the tables right in the heart of Times Square. And now? Smash is everywhere. 'Every taxi has the digital ads now, so now every taxi can have Smash on it at any given moment'' she says. 'We had a commercial that aired during the Oscars and I didn't even know about it until I walked into a bar and my friends were like 'What's happening?!' It's been fun to be surrounded by it.' On 23 years (and counting) in New York Rodriguez moved to New York for college and never looked back. 'In a very Sex and the City way, New York has been the biggest relationship of my life,' she says. 'I've lived here longer than where I grew up.' She has resided in many neighborhoods—from the Financial District to the Upper West Side—but downtown feels most like home. 'It's where I was first introduced to the city,' she says. 'I still go to the same nail salon I went to in college.' These days, you'll often find her at Rosemary's in the West Village. 'Perfect brunch, perfect lunch special, perfect dinner,' she says. For a quieter moment, she loves Rosecrans, a cozy cafe-slash-florist: 'You can grab a coffee, sit among the plants and walk to the park.' On pre- and post-show rituals Despite a packed Broadway schedule, Rodriguez tries to stay flexible. 'When you're doing a show so consistently, that is the ritual,' she says. 'If your cat's sick and you miss your normal warm-up, you still have to be able to do the show!' But there is one New York tradition she loves: Sardi's. 'It's the perfect post-show spot down the alley from the theater,' she says. 'They know me there. If you go around 9:30, you'll get to see Tom Francis walk by in Sunset Boulevard, so get a window seat, get your martini, get your tuna tartare and watch Broadway unfolding right in front of you. It's a very New York moment.' (For the record, her martini order: vodka, dirty and absolutely not Tito's.) On her dream New York role Rodriguez has a long list of dream parts, but there's one classic she keeps coming back to: Chicago. 'I'd love to be in Chicago someday,' she says. 'It's an institution. I saw it when I was a kid visiting New York, and we did it in my arts high school with members of the original cast directing us.' As for her first Broadway experience? It was Fiddler on the Roof when she was just six years old. 'I don't remember a lot about it, because I was quite young, but I remember the feeling —the ritual around it, the energy in the theater, and the community,' she says. 'It just really hit me very at a very young age how special the theater is.'
CairoScene
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Monochrome Monday: The Cream Tan Edition
Cream Tan is the understated neutral that's anything but boring. Cream Tan sits somewhere between nostalgia and nonchalance—a hue that feels instinctive, like sun-warmed skin, aged leather, or the quiet wear of time-loved fabric. In the 1970s, Halston and Yves Saint Laurent leaned into muted earth tones, letting fabric and form do the talking. The '90s took it further, with Calvin Klein and Donna Karan proving that pared-back palettes hit harder than any neon flash. Cream Tan is that perfect in-between—neither too light nor too deep, effortlessly slotting into any wardrobe while still demanding attention. It tempers sharp tailoring, deepens cool shades, and carries the weight of vintage nostalgia without trying too hard. In recent months, MENA and global brands have taken the shade into stride, putting out some of their most innovative pieces to date… Khawla Alaiban | Gilded Embroidered Dress This creamy, draped gown flows like liquid gold, topped with a sheer embroidered veil that catches the light just right. The structured draping and subtle shimmer make this a no-brainer for effortlessly-elegant styling. By Sana Osmani | Wella Dress This soft champagne-gold dress is draped to perfection. The delicate pleating, halter neck and subtle shimmer make it the ultimate special-occasion dress— just add a glossy lip and let the magic happen. Jimmy Choo | The Saeda These creamy pointed-toe pumps with a crystal-embellished strap feel like jewellery for your feet. The perfect mix of sophistication and sparkle, they're the kind of heels that make you want to dance all night— because why not? Salam | Amira Dress in Vanilla This sand-colored wrap dress with fluid movement is cinched at the waist for that perfect, flattering shape. The soft sheen gives it an ethereal glow, making it ideal for sunset strolls and rooftop iftars. Style with strappy sandals and let the dress do all the talking. Noble & Fresh | Look Five in 'Stereotype' Collection This boxy, raw-edge blazer from the Saudi brand in the softest shade of beige is paired with wide-legged trousers that scream 'effortlessly put together'. The exposed seams and slightly undone feel make it an anti-suit suit. Vaga the Label & By Farha Farouk | Dragon Pin This pair of intricately designed dragon pins in gold bring drama and mythology into the mix. Pin one on a sharp blazer or both on a structured dress for a tiny detail that makes a big impact. Knitss | Cashmere Cardigan The cozy, oversized camel-toned cardigan feels like a wearable hug. The mix of textures makes it both luxurious and laid-back, perfect for sipping coffee in an art-filled café or catching a flight in first-class style. Ropea Bags | Mini Bucket Sand This structured yet soft tan bucket bag features intricate basket weaving and a chunky rope handle. The neutral shade makes it a year-round staple, with the texture adding a handcrafted touch. Wear it with breezy linen in the summer or an oversized coat in the winter. Faok | Bucket Hat Vanille Faok's bucket hat adds a relaxed streetwear edge to any look, perfect for those 'cool without trying' moments. With its effortless shape and neutral tone, it's the kind of piece you throw on without thinking—and somehow, it pulls everything together. Mehtap Elaidi | Artvi̇n Shirt & Ultra Wide Leg Pants With Pleats A playful twist on a classic, this top brings together crisp white poplin in a structured button-up silhouette with a beige parachute overlay for a deconstructed, layered effect. Featuring a sharp shirt collar, short wide sleeves with turn-up hems, and a contrast fastening line, it's a piece designed for effortless styling.
