A fashionable trip to Manhattan

WAG treks into the city for a most fashionable twin bill.

On a recent rainy afternoon, WAG headed into Manhattan with a pair of fashion-themed destinations in mind.

First up was Bloomingdale’s 59th Street to check out the flagship’s new department – nearly 27,000 square feet filling an entire floor – devoted to shoes. The newly renovated space called The (Heart) of Shoe York combines the original contemporary and designer shoe floors into a massive fifth-floor wonderland.

Tipping us off to the news was Allison Eden, the glass mosaic artist profiled for her collaboration with Hudson Valley textile maven Stacy Garcia and LebaTex in our December 2017 issue

Eden had invited us down to the official shoe launch at Bloomingdale’s. Though we had gone down in November to see her work unveiled in the store’s holiday windows, this time we could not make the party – but no matter.

Even without any fanfare, her stunning oversize shoe design captivates every customer coming off the escalator, as it serves as the unofficial welcome to the new department.

Eden was one of nine local artists tapped to create the larger-than-life shoe sculptures that are found throughout the floor and other parts of the store – and hers is, no surprise, a vivid creation.

What a fun addition to the Bloomingdale’s mix.

Next, we headed to the Fashion Institute of Technology for one of its spring programs.

Author and journalist Christopher Petkanas was to be in conversation with Patricia Mears, deputy director of the Museum at FIT. The subject was his new book, “Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de la Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent,” released just days earlier by St. Martin’s Press.

The oral biography traces the life of the longtime Saint Laurent muse and collaborator (and later fashion designer herself), with memories shared by some 200 of those who knew them, especially during the heady fashion days of the late 1960s through the 1980s.

Also participating in the free-wheeling talk – that touched on everything from scarves to dinner parties, fashion shows to bankruptcy – were model Alva Chinn and David Croland, model, author, photographer and illustrator, both of whom had longtime connections to both de la Falaise and Saint

Laurent.

Chinn, at one point, offered thoughts on the pair that seemed to sum up what drew them together and kept them together for decades.

As she said, “They had the same eye… not looking for something that had been.”

For more, visit allisoneden.com, Bloomingdales.com, fitnyc.edu/museum or us.macmillan.com/smp.

– Mary Shustack

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