First Glimpse of Fall '07 at Stacia

I know it's still blazing hot out there and the worst is yet to come, but yes, it's time to unveil Fall '07. Designers and retailers traditionally drop the first delivery of Fall in August to get a jump start on sales and hoping that their audience will buy their Fall wardrobe in advance (not necessarily a 'wear now' market.) I feel like Summer's just getting started, but I'm reluctantly shipping my Fall line to stores and putting it up on my web site. Fortunately, I've consistently tried to design a 'transitional' knitwear line with my rayon collection of sweaters that can work for all seasons and temperatures. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to pay $300 for a cashmere sweater in August that I can't wear until October! My sweaters are lighter in weight, almost like a tee, and are made in rayon, which breathes better than cashmere in the heat and warms you like silk in the cooler temps. My favorites this Fall at Stacia are the Honeycomb Trellis cowl neck (love it in Montauk!) and the effortless La Femme trapeze dress in Buttercup. They're easy, wear-now pieces that help you look the part for Fall, yet you won't be sweating it when the thermometer reads 89 degrees during Indian Summer (or during the Santa Ana winds). Check out the complete Stacia collection of knits at shopstacia.com!

First Glimpse of Fall '07 at Stacia

I know it's still blazing hot out there and the worst is yet to come, but yes, it's time to unveil Fall '07. Designers and retailers traditionally drop the first delivery of Fall in August to get a jump start on sales and hoping that their audience will buy their Fall wardrobe in advance (not necessarily a 'wear now' market.) I feel like Summer's just getting started, but I'm reluctantly shipping my Fall line to stores and putting it up on my web site. Fortunately, I've consistently tried to design a 'transitional' knitwear line with my rayon collection of sweaters that can work for all seasons and temperatures. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to pay $300 for a cashmere sweater in August that I can't wear until October! My sweaters are lighter in weight, almost like a tee, and are made in rayon, which breathes better than cashmere in the heat and warms you like silk in the cooler temps. My favorites this Fall at Stacia are the Honeycomb Trellis cowl neck (love it in Montauk!) and the effortless La Femme trapeze dress in Buttercup. They're easy, wear-now pieces that help you look the part for Fall, yet you won't be sweating it when the thermometer reads 89 degrees during Indian Summer (or during the Santa Ana winds). Check out the complete Stacia collection of knits at shopstacia.com!

Day Trip - US Open of Surfing, Huntington Beach

I took a quick little day trip down to Huntington Beach to watch the US Open of Surfing and to hook up with a life-long friend from Hawaii who's sister, Megan Abubo, is 10th in the world in womens' surfing. By the time we got down there the women had finished surfing for the day, but I was fortunate enough to have a private viewing of four top female surfers catch some waves 'off duty'. We spent the day at River Jetty, the first beach in Newport just beyond Huntington. There's nothing cooler than watching world class surfer girls ripping it up right in front of you on a pretty much deserted beach. These girls were carving out some nice waves while I rode their "back-wash" on my body board (I'm traditionally a fan of long boarding and wouldn't know the first thing to do on a gun!) I've always been fascinated with the surf lifestyle and culture ever since I was 10 and flipped through surfer mags. I was an avid body boarder growing up in Hawaii, but never learned to surf until I was an adult. It's great that surfing and its lifestyle are so mainstream now and have really influenced fashion (remember when Chanel did surfboards on the runway?), whether it's authentic or not is another question. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about surfing coming to the masses, but I must say Huntington Beach was a little overrun on junior surf apparel and reeked of Roxy everywhere. If I see another Roxy logo I'm going to hurl. I know these professional surfers depend on Roxy, Billabong, and Rip Curl endorsements, but I felt overwhelmed by all the cropped tees and low slung 'rippah' shorts. I actually think these surfer girls (not all of them are teenagers!) could use a little injection of real grownup fashion and less trendy 'junior' apparel. I would love to see some of these female surfers sport some Stacia 'après surf' hoodies rather than another logo infused hoodie with graffiti graphics. These surfer girls, I mean, women, are real powerhouses and fashion icons in the making. I would love to see some be endorsed by real fashion brands (couldn't you see Chanel sponsoring Sofia Mulanovich?) Maybe I should send Megan Abubo a Stacia freebie and start the trend?

Day Trip - US Open of Surfing, Huntington Beach

I took a quick little day trip down to Huntington Beach to watch the US Open of Surfing and to hook up with a life-long friend from Hawaii who's sister, Megan Abubo, is 10th in the world in womens' surfing. By the time we got down there the women had finished surfing for the day, but I was fortunate enough to have a private viewing of four top female surfers catch some waves 'off duty'. We spent the day at River Jetty, the first beach in Newport just beyond Huntington. There's nothing cooler than watching world class surfer girls ripping it up right in front of you on a pretty much deserted beach. These girls were carving out some nice waves while I rode their "back-wash" on my body board (I'm traditionally a fan of long boarding and wouldn't know the first thing to do on a gun!) I've always been fascinated with the surf lifestyle and culture ever since I was 10 and flipped through surfer mags. I was an avid body boarder growing up in Hawaii, but never learned to surf until I was an adult. It's great that surfing and its lifestyle are so mainstream now and have really influenced fashion (remember when Chanel did surfboards on the runway?), whether it's authentic or not is another question. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about surfing coming to the masses, but I must say Huntington Beach was a little overrun on junior surf apparel and reeked of Roxy everywhere. If I see another Roxy logo I'm going to hurl. I know these professional surfers depend on Roxy, Billabong, and Rip Curl endorsements, but I felt overwhelmed by all the cropped tees and low slung 'rippah' shorts. I actually think these surfer girls (not all of them are teenagers!) could use a little injection of real grownup fashion and less trendy 'junior' apparel. I would love to see some of these female surfers sport some Stacia 'après surf' hoodies rather than another logo infused hoodie with graffiti graphics. These surfer girls, I mean, women, are real powerhouses and fashion icons in the making. I would love to see some be endorsed by real fashion brands (couldn't you see Chanel sponsoring Sofia Mulanovich?) Maybe I should send Megan Abubo a Stacia freebie and start the trend?

Style Icon of the Week - Katie Holmes

I must say, Ms. Holmes has had a major transformation lately. I love her new do - I've always been a fan of the bob and it is especially fitting for her new grown-up style. I won't hold it against her for marrying a psycho movie star, but who can say no to Mr. Risky Business! But I think her transformation as a style icon has more to do with her new role as a mother. All of a sudden she has this natural ease about her and a more classic style. I used to take yoga with her at Yoga Works on Montana back when she was engaged to Chris Klein and she definitely was sporting the post-college look and certainly not Seventh Avenue worthy. So maybe Cruise did have a hand in it or at least we can give him some credit for her new role as a Mom. I'm loving her more sophisticated looks with the big dark sunglasses (so very Audrey), the white trench coats (for us folks without Tom's allowance money, you can snag a similar find à la vintage London Fog - I actually collect them!), long wide leg trousers with cuffs, leather waistcoats (very Kate Moss in fact!), and Chanel stripey beach tunics. I actually think Ms. Holmes would look fabulous in one of my spacedye tunics on her next beach outing in the South of France! And maybe paired with her new signature high-waisted, wide leg cuffed pants, she should try my honeycomb jacquard retro-cardigan and ditch Chanel. But the most adorable accessory of them all is little Ms. Suri, who I think would look fantastic in a Stacia Baby spacedye dress and crochet panty next Spring. So here's to Katie (and Suri!), who's transformation is a design inspiration in itself!

Style Icon of the Week - Katie Holmes

I must say, Ms. Holmes has had a major transformation lately. I love her new do - I've always been a fan of the bob and it is especially fitting for her new grown-up style. I won't hold it against her for marrying a psycho movie star, but who can say no to Mr. Risky Business! But I think her transformation as a style icon has more to do with her new role as a mother. All of a sudden she has this natural ease about her and a more classic style. I used to take yoga with her at Yoga Works on Montana back when she was engaged to Chris Klein and she definitely was sporting the post-college look and certainly not Seventh Avenue worthy. So maybe Cruise did have a hand in it or at least we can give him some credit for her new role as a Mom. I'm loving her more sophisticated looks with the big dark sunglasses (so very Audrey), the white trench coats (for us folks without Tom's allowance money, you can snag a similar find à la vintage London Fog - I actually collect them!), long wide leg trousers with cuffs, leather waistcoats (very Kate Moss in fact!), and Chanel stripey beach tunics. I actually think Ms. Holmes would look fabulous in one of my spacedye tunics on her next beach outing in the South of France! And maybe paired with her new signature high-waisted, wide leg cuffed pants, she should try my honeycomb jacquard retro-cardigan and ditch Chanel. But the most adorable accessory of them all is little Ms. Suri, who I think would look fantastic in a Stacia Baby spacedye dress and crochet panty next Spring. So here's to Katie (and Suri!), who's transformation is a design inspiration in itself!

Stacia Baby Debuts at Children's Club Trade Show in NYC

The Stacia Baby collection for Spring '08 is finally completed and being mailed off to my NY showroom to make its debut at the upcoming Children's Club trade show in New York. This is the first attempt to expand my baby collection beyond the basic spacedye hoodie. Now, I've embarked upon a full- fledged collection of dresses (with panties), leggings, bloomers, hoodies, and sweaters. And my inspiration, of course, was Kaiulani Rose, who at 8 months has been the perfect fit model for my sample size 6-12 months (available sizes will be 3-6 mth thru 4T.) Get a sneak peak of the collection at the Children's Club trade show at the Javits Center from July 29th thru July 31st (booth #2718). My favorites (as modeled by Kai) are the crocheted tank dress with matching crochet panties (of course!), the color-blocked spacedye hoodie dress (a must!), and the eco-friendly bamboo beach tunic with matching crochet bloomers (cuter than cute!) I sure hope the line does well at the show so I can get these puppies put into production so all the little girls out there can don some cute Stacia next Spring. And let's not forget about the boys. I do have a 3 year-old boy and certainly wouldn't leave out the original Stacia baby muse, Campbell Duke. I have great washable cotton unisex pieces - the quintessential beach hoodie and matching leggings with quirky elbow/knee patches, both available in solid and spacedye for Spring. Hopefully if all goes well, they'll be available at a baby boutique near you next February!