Bobbin Talk

Ben Van Leeuwen and His Artisan Ice Cream

I know BobbinTalk is meant to be more of a fashion, emerging designer blog, but I will admit this immediately: I am a sucker for ice cream, gelato and frozen yogurt! So on a sunny summer day like today I'll share a bit of my love for ice cream.
I like simple ingredients and strong flavors, and for most New Yorkers like me who love ice cream the Artisan Ice Cream Van Leeuwen truck is already a familiar and desired sighting. They are usually parked on a few key corners like 15th St and Fifth Ave, and Greene Street below Prince St., but you can find their exact location every day on Twitter at: @VLAIC

via: bitchcakesny

Van Leeuwen's ingredients are collected from small organic farmers and their flavors are simply irresistible because they have significantly less sugar than your usual frozen treats. Amongst their most popular flavors are: French chocolate (from Michel Cluizel), Sicilian pistachios, vanilla from Papua New Guinea and my favorite right now - the Earl Grey!

A couple of days ago at a part at Debut New York boutique I felt really lucky to not only sample a few different flavors but to also talk to the owner and founder of the artisan ice cream business: Ben Van Leeuwen.

See what he had to say about his passion for finding the best ingredients.

Debra Rapoport - The Artist - Part I

Debra has been featured numerous times in various publications including New York magazine as a really stylish woman with a unique style, so I was really excited to meet her. What I discovered was that she doesn't just have a love for fashion and accessories, she is a genuine artist who creates incredible wearable art pieces. She has been creating for years with a consistent concept of utilizing found or used objects and her ability to create interesting objects but stay true to her vision is fascinating! It is impossible to show you in one post all the wonderful things that I photographed so it is my pleasure to bring it to you in a few different posts!

The first one is about this neck-piece created out of shredded newspaper wrapped in vintage silver thread, vintage metallic copper ribbon, dried baby eggplant

Tziporah Salamon - Sneak Peek

I had the pleasure of taking some photos and videos of two extremely stylish ladies Debra Rapoport and Tziporah Salamon. They both opened their incredible homes and closets to me and my camera! I feel so lucky! I am still working on editing a lot of the footage, but wanted to give you a taste of what's coming! Here is a look into Tziporah's apartment! I would call it a museum with rare period clothing and accessories. She has created a fascinating one woman show, revealing her own life journey through changes of costume from her own collection. The best part is that this is not an "act". It is her and her clothes the way she dresses every day! See her website for more info: TziporahSalamon.com

The mysterious feel in her apartment is heightened by  dark red walls and artfully displayed accessories and clothing from around the world.

Her favorite pieces are traditional Chinese garments with incredible embroideries. She layers them with beads and always adds a hat.

All photos by Aneta Genova! {with a Hipstamatic camera app}

Tziporah Salamon - Timeless Style

If you live in New York City you probably have seen the stylish Tziporah turn heads wherever she goes. If you see her once you never forget her. With a collection of over 200 hats she crafts timeless outfits starting with the head-wear. I was one of the lucky people invited to see her performance, called: "Fabric of my Life". In this one woman show she changes from one incredible outfit to another as she reveals the stages of her life. I wont spoil anything if I say I was touched so much by her life story that I laughed and I cried...
And just like things always happen for me I didn't bring a camera and was able to only take some photos with my iPhone. {It does wonderful photos outside, but not so much inside with low lighting, apologies!}

If you'd like to see highlights of the same performance at different venue take a look at this video!

Tziporah is available for bookings with her show at various events. For more info see her website: TziporahSalamon.com and you can reach her at TziporahSalamon {at} gmail.com

Signature Style - Lynn Yaeger

Some people have a signature style that they naturally follow and no matter when and where you see them you can instantly recognize them from afar before you can even see their face! Lynn Yaeger {the famed fashion writer for the Village Voice, The New York Times, Vogue.com and Full Frontal Fashion at the SundanceChannel.com} is one of those people. She has a strong personal identity and can be instantly recognized by her bright red hair, doll-like face and lips {see it in a previous post here} and a layered A-line silhouette. She is a constant fixture at fashion events and an obvious lover of vintage finds. I keep seeing her at numerous flea markets and vintage fairs and I've seen countless variations of this look, often paired with a Comme des Garçons piece.

Do you have a signature style or do you follow the latest trends?

Photos by Aneta Genova

Here is a fun video with Lynn Yaeger where you can see more of her face, {rather than the back I'm showing you}
Video by TimeOut NY

Fashionable in the Heat!

Here is one way to beat the summer heat! Tank top and maybe a hat, but for a fashionable look make sure you are well accessorized! I bumped into Houman Farahmand and Eri Wakiyama, in SOHO a couple of days ago. Do you remember Eri? I covered her fashion design graduating collection last year {HERE}. And she has an inspiring blog EriTheMermaid

LOVE the chunky ring in a bold bright color!

The glasses are priceless!

These boots might not keep you cooler, but they are fashionable!

Stay cool this weekend!

All photos by Aneta Genova

Strawberry Bag

Designed by Martha Napier 

Photos by Aneta Genova

Alexa Winner for Hugo Boss

Recent Parsons design graduate Alexa Winner has been styling photo-shoots and celebrities for the past year. As a culmination to her graduation she just had an amazing event at the Hugo Boss store, where she styled and merchandised the women's collection.

This unique concept store is created specifically for this NYC location in conjunction with star Italian architect Matteo Thun. The spacious store features gray stone floor and exposed brickwork, both of which have been preserved in their original state. Diamond shaped
structures in wood extend throughout the full interior. The dressing rooms in the back are adorned with leather and velvet and create a VIP backroom atmosphere. The elaborate illumination system is designed in cooperation with the renowned light artist AJ Weissbard. Overall a spectacular and airy atmosphere!

Two women's looks, styled by Alexa Winner.

Above: Alexa Winner and me

For Amanda Lyons' outfit, Alexa used a men's tie as a belt and created a one of a kind signature look for her!

Here is what the front of Amanda's dress looks like. 

Liam McMullan, his fiance actress Aesha Waks and Alexa Winner.

These guys looked so adorable and completely unphased by their fame I couldn't resist posting two photos of them. In addition to everything else they do Liam is creating a line of men's clothes, based on Steve McQueens signature style and Aesha and Alexa are coming out with their own women's clothing line! I cannot wait to see it all!

All photos by Aneta Genova

Jatalika

Some design graduates have already lined up all their ducks in a row and are headed to bigger, better things. In this economy the best way to survive is to create your own path and make your own future! Aimee Kestenberg is certainly one of those rare creative people who engage both sides of their brain. She dreams, she designs and she makes it happen! The result of her efforts is the launch of her brand of high end accessories Jatalika.
The name and logo has several meanings. It is a combination of the names of all the girls in her family. Ja- “Jade”, Ta- “Tammi”, Li- “Linda”, Ka- “Katie”. The trademark and signature hardware of her custom designed lions head symbolizes her personality, star sign and inspiration all in one. Aimee is a Leo and feels that her personality encompasses all that a Leo is said to be. Aimee uses the head of a lion for the intricate hardware adorning her new collection of exotic skin cuffs, handbags and necklaces.

Above Aimee Kestenberg {left} with a friend. Below Aimee with stylist Alexa Winner. Alexa styled the Hugo Boss store on 14th St NYC and her party is coming up tomorrow. I cannot wait to see what she did!
 

Another running theme in her collection was boxing gloves. Aimee is a lover of this sport and she used the boxing glove as zipper pulls and in necklaces.

You never know who you going to meet at a fashion party and I was delighted to meet up with Sarah Pizon from Goom Radio and Luca Stevenson from Marc Jacobs. If you followed the official Marc Jacobs Twitter feed this past fashion week, you would have seen {or rather read} Luca's tweets along with Robert Duffy's. Thanks to their free expression of what really goes on behind the scenes and because it took way too much of Robert Duffy's time {he's gotta run a business you know!} the twitter page was shut down, but there still is a topless photo or two of Luca somewhere around the web. He is the sweetest thin thing person and I hope he didn't get in too much trouble!

All photos by Aneta Genova

Asa Benally's New York Socialites

Inspired by the New York City socialites through the ages Asa Benally, a fashion design Parsons graduate created a romantic and flirtatious collection. He meant it as a nod to his love for historic American female figures. He imagined what it must have been like for an 18th century socialite entertaining George Washington and thought to himself: "What would she wear in the 21st century?"  I'd say: "She looks quite lovely!"

 

Photos by Cathrine Chiappardi