My Funny Valentine

Traditional meaning of Valentine: lover/crush/obsession who is the sole object of your affection on February 14th.

New meaning of Valentine: the oh-so-girly NYC label by Valentine Leung, a former Northern Californian-gone-East Coaster. After designing clothing for her performance art videos at UC Berkeley, Leung decided to pack up for the big city shores of the Big Apple, where she attended design classes at FIT while fashion styling on the side for the likes of Italian Vogue, W and I-D. You can just tell the girl has a well-developed editorial eye, judging by the look of her lookbooks. Who knew that customizing a pair of slip-on Vans for fun would bring Leung to design a full collection? The owners of Satine actually hunted the designer down after seeing a pair on a model perusing their store.

Leung's Sping/Summer 2008 collection is breezy -- the silhouettes are loose and the fabrics are light, making her dresses, blouses and shorts perfect for taking the beach cruiser out for a spin on a bright, sunny day in Brooklyn, the Hamptons, Venice Beach or South Bay (big shout out to Hermosa and Manhattan beaches). There are stripes, prints, color blocks, long, short and flattering cuts that'll work on both women who like their carbs and women who like their macrobiotics. And now Leung is a hot commodity, thanks to some impressive coverage from Teen Vogue.

Will you be my Valentine?









I'm Lovin' it: Five more business days till I'm just like Carrie Bradshaw! Next Thursday I'm celebrating for sure. Sans cigarette, but with Cosmo -- perhaps.

I'm Over it: See above. At least the first part, anyhoo.

Designer of the Day: John Varvatos. My buddy Hanna and I went shopping this weekend to find him a coat -- one good for going out, without looking like he was trying too hard. On a whim, we decided to suss out the men's section of Holts with the help of my girl A-Lice, who sure knows her fashion (she can put me to major shame when it comes to cuts and details). There, on the bottom floor of the behemoth that is Holt Renfrew, we found the Holy Grail of all jackets: a $1400 number from Varvatos, calling out Hanna's name. Unfortunately, the rather hefty price tag left this jacket more of a pipe dream than a fashion reality. The good news is Hanna found a dope sports coats at Zara. Too bad I don't live in L.A. anymore, because just today I got an invite for the John Varvatos/Converse event in West Hollywood.

Maybe the $1400 jacket would've came in the gift bag.

Riiiiiiight.









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