shelly steffee

Monique Pean

CFDA Inducts 26 New Members for 2010, Including L'Wren Scott and Sophie Theallet

>> Wednesday evening, Vera Wang moved almost all of the furniture out of her vast Park Avenue apartment to toast this year's 26 new CFDA inductees.

>> Wednesday evening, Vera Wang moved almost all of the furniture out of her vast Park Avenue apartment to toast this year's 26 new CFDA inductees. “It may not be as big as Donna Karan’s loft, but I can fit you all in,” Wang said of her duplex, which she estimated was hosting 300 guests. Tommy Hilfiger and wife Dee Ocleppo were impressed, however — The Cut caught them exclaiming: “It's amazing. The kitchen is sick. Our kitchen is like, a tenth of that size. That's like a restaurant kitchen.”

The new members include: Waris Ahluwalia — who said of the honor, “I feel like I almost should put this on my passport as my fashion visa. It's nice to make this baby official!", Steven Alan, Lisa Axelson of Ann Taylor, Lubov Azria, Shane Baum of Baumvision, Vicki Beamon and Karen Erickson of Erickson Beamon, George Esquivel, Robert Geller, Gary Graham, Ulrich Grimm of Calvin Klein, Sang A Im-Propp, Anthony Keegan of Commonwealth Utilities, Adam Kimmel, Nikki Kule of Kule, Kimberly McDonald, Rebecca Minkoff, Bibhu Mohapatra, Juan Carlos Obando, Monique Péan, Monica Rich Kosann, Pamella Roland, Robert Rodriguez, L'Wren Scott, Shelly Steffee, and Sophie Theallet, who just moved into a new office space.

shelly steffee

Shelly Steffee Perfects the Art of Multifunctional Fashion for Spring 2010

We've long been obsessed with Shelly Steffee's sharply cut, inventive brand of fashion and often pass through her Meatpacking District boutique/showroom/salon to shop, peruse her vintage jewelry collection, and check out the new design talent she's currently supporting.

We've long been obsessed with Shelly Steffee's sharply cut, inventive brand of fashion and often pass through her Meatpacking District boutique/showroom/salon to shop, peruse her vintage jewelry collection, and check out the new design talent she's currently supporting. (Right now Steffee is selling Patrik Muff of Nymphenburg's porcelain pendants—of which we purchased the black wing charm on rose gold.)

Since forgoing her usual in-store presentation for spring 2010, Steffee took us through the collection personally. "I knew I wanted to do prints and address something primal by getting back to the basics," she said, "to return to tailoring but mix that structure with draping techniques."

For Steffee back to the basics meant more of what her loyal following love to wear—reversible jackets, tailored riding coats, mesh tanks, and shirt dresses and tops that can be worn multiple ways. The aforementioned spring prints were inspired by a book of fish x-rays, which Steffee digitally collaged to create geometric textures on chiffon and jersey in shades of blue, gray, and white.

In addition to Steffee's always covetable array of blazers, lingerie-style bra tops and perfect tees, two dresses caught our eye during the visit—a black asymmetrical sheath with subtle cut outs at the shoulder and a red, draped-yet-tailored cocktail number with a back slit.

Although Steffee has been doing the thoughtful, multifunctional fashion thing for a long time, it's never seemed quite so relevant and felt quite as urgent. Call us fans.

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Shelly Steffee's Luxe Shapes

We've long been fans of Shelly Steffee's amazing aesthetic where interesting fashion-forward tailoring meets feminine details.

We've long been fans of Shelly Steffee's amazing aesthetic where interesting fashion-forward tailoring meets feminine details. It's not often one can be fashion-forward and ultra-feminine at the same time. For our Seasoned Street photo shoot Steffee's frocks gave our models a burst of color without straying from the hip, slightly off-kilter silhouette we were looking for. Our photographer on the shoot, Shannon Sinclair, also shot Steffee's Fall 08 look book, pictured above. To see the full look book, click here, and, for e-commerce indulgence, check out Steffee's offerings on Refinery 29.

Designer Spotlight

Designer Spotlight: Shelly Steffee

Shelly Steffee is a designer of the future.

Shelly Steffee is a designer of the future. Based in NYC, this designer's philosophy in creating clothing is to "evoke an emotional response and enhance the individual." A serious philosophy for some serious clothes!

Steffee's clothes include sophisticated separates with sharp lines and muted colors; simple and chic outerwear, modernist gowns, and utilitarian tops. If you consider yourself a minimalist, here is an innovative designer for you. You can shop her creations via Refinery 29 and I think this Shelly Steffee Wrap Zip Top, $550, makes such a statement - it's like a modern Vivienne Westwood piece.


To see more from Shelly's Fall/Winter 07 collection, read more