He Will Bring It in His Own Good Time

Emilio Sosa's winning design from the pattern/fabric challenge on "Project Runway." Below, the designer is creating the magic before the show on a state-of-the-art HP computer. Top photo from www.pdxneatsheet.com. Bottom photo from www.mylifetime.com.

“OVER the top,” Emilio Sosa exclaims when Yours Truly asks his opinion of the fashions in “Sex and the City 2” after an advanced screening Tuesday night at the Paris Theater. "Who dresses like that.”

True that. As someone who has spent time in both Egypt and Senegal, I found it strangely curious that the women were turned out the way they were, especially gadabouting in 6- and 7-inch heels in the streets, crowded outdoor markets and desert of Abu Dhabi (actually Morocco) - even with a retinue of fetchers and carriers. “It was clearly aspirational,” ES observes.

ES is better known as a star contestant and runner-up on this year’s season of “Project Runway, which wrapped last month. He also won the first challenge of the season. Indeed, ES won a total of five challenges – the most of the season and likely the most by a single designer in the life of the series. In the pattern/fabric challenge, ES decided on a graffiti dress. Show housefather Tim Gunn didn’t get it and tried to dissuade the pride of the Dominican Republic from presenting it. ES would not be moved. I was both afraid for him and both happy that he stuck to his vision. “I had to remain true to myself,” declares the winner of that challenge.

By the by, BRAVO was representin’ at the Bergdorf Goodman party following the HP screening. (Of course, "PR" aired on BRAVO until this last season, which debuted on the Lifetime network). Fellow “PR” alum and Season 4 winner Christian Siriano was outside the theater after the screening. At the party, “Top Chef Masters hostess Kelly Choi breezed by me wearing an expression that matched the intensity of her fire-engine red dress. And I walked into the Paris behind “The Real Housewives of New York City” member Kelly Bensimon&Co. It was strange seeing her a few days after watching her come undone in last week’s episode. Of course, that happened months ago, giving her plenty of time to pull herself back together for last night’s screening amongst myriad other appearances.

Anywho, where has ES been keeping himself? What has he been doing, my inquiring mind wants to know, alluding to both Malan Breton and CS who are exploiting their “PR” fame to launch petit empires. There was even ES’s “PR” costar/pal, the larger-than-life Anthony Williams, in March commenting on Oscar red-carpet fashions. “Well, that’s Anthony," he says, his amusement apparent.

“I don’t want to be a television personality; that’s not why I did ‘Project Runway’. I am being very cautious,” ES says, explaining that doing the show was solely a strategic move to advance his designer aspirations. “I’m going to be coming out with something in the fall,” he promises.

Stay tuned.

Emilio Sosa’s Web site, www.esosadesign.com should be live on 1 June. Those who can’t wait a few days can send e-mail to info@esosadesign.com.

Who Does Kimberly Taylor Think She Is?
A model (left) from Models International in a Kimberly Taylor tee right outside the shop window. Middle, Rosemary Ponzo drops by the T-shirt launch party to see what all the fuss is about. Models International mannequins, below, dress up their bottoms with Kimberly Taylor tops. Top photo by Amanda Schulze. Middle photo by Fernando Colon. Bottom photo by Anna Kuchma.

CAN Kimberly Taylor do for the T-shirt what Anne Fontaine has done for the white shirt – that is take an unsung wardrobe stable and transform it into a sartorial superstar?

The designer, whose reputation for her “minimal chic” aesthetic has grown beyond her loyal base of friends and family to the ears of tastemakers such as Rosemary Ponzo, launched a line of tees last month with a party at her 9-month-old flagship boutique in the Meatpacking District, right across the street from the Apple store.

What would inspire someone to create a T-shirt line? T-shirts are not like shoes. One can never have too many shoes. But one has far too many T-shirts taking up precious space in already overburdened closets and chests. If anyone's to do it, KT may be the one. Here is a young woman who got a portion of the seed money to launch her growing business from a sample sale where she "invited everybody I knew." She only just introduced the line of contemporary wear that bears her name in Spring 2009. A few months later she opened the Meatpacking District store, followed three months later by the opening of the one in Brooklyn – in a fragile economic environment. According to her own p.r., the KT collection is carried by more than 100 retail shops in the US and the world.

KT's inspiration? A city. “I’m inspired by New York City and the style,” the designer gives me to know. "The line is really simple. It’s easy pieces that you can wear over and over. Pieces that every girl will want to have. It’s really urban inspired.”

Urban, explains the native New Yorker, defines the color palette. “In this collection, the colors are black, white and gray. That’s something that every New Yorker needs to live, so they are the ones who can understand it the best.”

The nine-piece collection of T-shirt dresses, tanks and maxi tees have little extra flourishes such as draping, plunging backs, double-layered chiffon pockets, trims, as well as horizontal and vertical sheer inserts. Pieces have names such as Jenna Dress and Low Back Tee.

These are not the tees of our youth. For one, they are silk/silk chiffon, which is the brand’s preferred root fabric. At $85-$145, they are much pricier than a traditional cotton affair. They are fresh, chic and edgy and six weeks out New York, at least, has a love jones for them. “The T-shirts are selling amazing,” according to Kimberly Taylor spokesperson Marina Khoroch. “We’re almost entirely sold out at the New York store!”

The early favorites are Cape Dress, Kristen Tank and Vanessa Tee, MK says.

Can Kimberly Taylor do for the T-shirt what Anne Fontaine has done for the white shirt?

As she says in her promotional materials, “I wanted to give every girl a t-shirt to wear every day, a t-shirt to live her life in.”

Learn more about the Kimberly Taylor collection at www.kimberlytaylor.com.

Scrumptious Little Treats for the Sweet Tooth
The artisan handbag with fringe from Linea Pelle could be a sweet, little deal. Photo from DailyCandy.com.

YOURS Truly has been doing reconnaissance on DailyCandy.com for the last few months, following up on its leads; verifying their veracity, asking around. After all, when an outfit is new and decides on such a moniker one can’t be too careful. It’s not as if its second name is Apple or Vitamin.

In its own words, “DailyCandy is a lifestyle resource dedicated to helping you live the sweet life.” Geneaologists should note that the former newsletter service Web site was brought into this new world by Comcast Interactive Media.

DC fulfills its mission by sharing with millions of subscribers online and on paper the good things it uncovers about restaurants, designers, gadgets and so forth. To that end, I’m satisfied that DC is good for me – and by extension my audience. Still, we shall take things slowly, limiting our attentions to tidbits for the Fashion Scrapbook.

Let's commence with DC’s sample sale Web site, Swirl.com. On Swirl is product from up-and-coming and established designers/labels such as Linea Pelle. From Wednesday (2 June) until otherwise informed, for instance, Swirl shoppers can reap as much as 60 percent off the Italian company’s world famous belts. Part of the sell-off, too, are the less famous handbags and small goods made from the washed leathers that produce buttery softness and an allegiance from legions as diverse as Robert Downey, Jr., Michael Irvin and Oprah Winfrey.

Learn more about DailyCandy and the Swirl sample sales at www.dailycandy.com; Linea Pelle at lpcollection.com.