This spring season we see interest shifting from couture to the culture of art and design.  There has been a revival of the avant garde in textiles. Designers are rethinking their components of design and fashion is taking its cue from animation, illustration, paintings and craft. The result is an exciting eclectic mix of watercolor brights - and it's fun and easy to integrate this into any wardrobe.

Whatever your favorite color is, this season’s explosive new shades pack a powerful punch and there is a lot to choose from. Tangerines, citrines and dynamic neons make for a tangy combination and these bold strokes of color light up fashion that can easily translate from day outfits into night.  Spring’s kaleidoscope of colors and artistic patterns range from florals to geometrics to fearless graffiti scribbling – the effect is exhilarating, unexpected and inspiring. Breezy layers of sheer cotton, chiffons, or organzas – modernly overlay atop colorful wovens or color block knits. Florals get a bold makeover in disorienting proportions and in abstracting crude painted techniques. It’s a joyful manic artistic movement where flowers, stripes, dots and abstract geometrics float on washed, breezy and crinkled surfaces. Electrifying color, freedom of imagination and limitless artistic inspiration…the outlook is optimistically bright for Spring.

The best thing about spring's bright colors is that it's easy to be on trend with your existing wardrobe.  By simply adding a splash of color to a neutral outfit like khakis, camouflage green, greys and denim blues you can update your wardrobe and create a fresh new look.  Happy Spring!

Chances are you've been watching this year's winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Occasionally NBC's coverage will include some footage of the city and the culture that make Vancouver the beautiful city it is, but most of the time, a closeup of a skier or an ice skate could be anywhere in the world.   I wanted to share with you a beautiful video of Vancouver at night - from above the city and from the waterfront. In the winter months, Vancouver has only 8 hours of daylight so this time lapse video shows the city's skyline at night as clouds flow past buildings and bridges like liquid.   The cars and the people fly by in bright streams of color and you can even see the lights of the ski events on the mountains up above the city. Time is sped up so each scene spans 12+ hours and while watching it I can't help but wonder what actually occured during that time - someone completed a triple toe loop and someone else fell on the last turn of the relay. Dreams were born and dreams were broken. It's life condensed. They've trained their whole lives for that one moment, hoping their personal best becomes the best in the world.   If you sped up 12 hours of your life, what color would it be?  Would there be wild movement and bright lights? Or would it be a steady stillness of light and quiet?    Hopefully your days include a little bit of both.  You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to aspire to reach your personal best, sometimes just realizing what that is, can be your own gold metal.   Enjoy!

Love letters of paper and candy

Valentine's Day cards have come a long way since the first one was sent in 1806. Of course the message has stayed relatively the same, but the words and the format we choose to relay this message has changed.  This goes along with the normal course of time and how the everyday vernacular and technology of any society becomes a very interesting snapshot of the times. For example, in the video below, Nancy Roisen, president of the National Valentines Collectors' Associaton says that the first postmarked valentine in 1806 was a message from a sailor to his wife in which he says he looks forward to returning from service and to living with her in peace.   An even earlier precursor to our modern day Valentine was a devotional, dated 1700 and made in a french convent, which is a small card decorated with flowers and hearts and lace customarily given as a gift at communion or marriage as a token of love.  Valentines at war time were unquestionably important: Civil War soldiers were given pre-made valentines within their military issue stationery packets.

Today we say I love you on candy, with balloons, skywriting and email.   Has the message changed? Not really but the words we use have.  Take a look at some Necco's famous candy heart sayings from just 7 years ago:
WRITE ME
CLASS ACT 
WISE UP
TEACH ME
LOVE LETTER
PEN PAL
SCHOOL MATE
LET'S READ

Pen pal? Now it's called Facebook friend.  Write me?  Try: text me.  Let's Read? In 2010 that's either Let's Kindle or Let's Nook.  Both of which could either be a great marketing strategy for the namesakes or a lawsuit.  It's a toin coss.

When Necco first invented conversation hearts in the 1860s these first hearts had printed paper notes tucked inside. This allowed ample room for lengthy, old-fashioned sayings such as “Please send a lock of your hair by return mail,” or “How long shall I have to wait? Pray be considerate.”   2010 translation: lose his digits. 

However, we are relieved to report that there are a few timeless treasures that Necco candy continues to use throughout time: “Be Mine,” “Be Good,” “Be True,” “My Man,” “Kiss Me” and “Sweet Talk.”

Stay tuned for our Valentine's Day blog post Part 2:  One of the most romantic and real stories is Beethoven's letter to his Immortal Beloved. Do you think he typed it in Times New Roman 12?  Doubt it!  Hear from renowed Calligrapher and stationer, Bernard Maisner, on his thoughts on writing messages of love. Has qwerty replaced penmanship? Will future generations communicate solely with their thumbs?  What are we in for?! 

It's that time of year where everyone makes a list of resolutions. I'd like to break with tradition and go for the halfway point and make a resolution in JULY.  Think of the benefits: less people at the gym.   But if you were to make a resolution today or at least this month, what would it be? Will you remember it in February? Oh well, it was a nice thought there for a moment, wasn't it?  Maybe we tend to waffle on the follow-through because of that word. Resolution. Sounds so clinical. How about something lyrical like 'promise'? Or poetic like 'devotion'?   Whatever you'd like to call it, I believe in order to get a resolution to really stick, it should be all encompassing and not too specific.  Think about it.  'Work out 5 days a week' is pretty daunting.  But 'be healthier' sounds much more do-able.  This way you can stick to your resolution several different ways - by cooking a few nights instead of ordering in, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, adding some broccoli to that slice, ordering the low fat double caff soy latte. Another great resolution to consider is to let yourself be inspired. You're on that hamster wheel every day, chugging along and missing the scenery. Take a moment to appreciate a store window display, the discipline of origami, the intricacies of lace or the sheer wonder of a star fruit.  Or have you looked up lately? We are so busy checking email and focusing on our destination, that we forget to look at the world above our heads. If you're in a city this is particularly true. In NYC we've got gargoyles, art deco detailing, even gardens on the tops of the buildings.  Suburbs not so much. But you've got rooftops, trees, birds, planes, sunsets, and let's face it, the sky. So take off the sunglasses, get out of the car, take a moment to check the planetary alignment, take a deep breath.  Give yourself a chance to see what inspires you. Just think how different 2010 will be if you follow your inspiration. 

Irving Penn died on October 7, 2009.  For anyone who loves photography and art, Irving Penn’s work which is so clear, honest and elegant awakens all the senses.  Penn worked in fashion photography, most notably for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, but his portraits of famous people are what stand out.  His images are striking -  striking for their black and white composition and for their intensity.  It is as if the camera has become a mirror of the subject’s soul.  Somehow Irving Penn, through all his talents, had a way of connecting with his subjects and revealing what is so special not just about the subject but about life.  It is the power of connecting with others, of understanding each other, of taking the time to really hear each other and share in a way that gets to the essence of things: our joys, our concerns, our troubles and our passions.
A year or so ago there was a great exhibit at the JP Morgan Library called: Close Encounters.  Irving Penn Portraits of Artists and Writers.  As described the photographs were unbelievably magnetic.  What I found as engaging was the clothing worn by Penn’s subjects, such as Truman Capote, Pablo Picasso, Yves Saint Laurent and others.  Was it the times?  Was it the artist being photographed?  Was it somehow Penn’s sensitivity to fashion and design?  Everyone was so smartly dressed.  The silhouettes seemed so modern.  You could almost touch each thread of fabric and see each shade of color, all in that rich black and white image.
Today, with everyone linked to screens and devices, seeing Penn’s images is not about looking at the past.  It is much more about seeing how life can be seen.  As seen through an artist’s eyes Penn’s subjects are revealed with a sense of beauty and refinement.  What a gift he created and left to us.  - Steven

Top left: Truman Capote; Top Right: Yves Saint Laurent; Middle left: Jasper Johns; Middle Right: Georgia O'Keefe

Bottom left: Jean Costeau; Bottom Right: Truman Capote.  All photos by Irving Penn

If you've been to Soho - in New York city or in London - you know that half the fun of shopping is in the people-watching. Thanks to Elizabeth M. for pointing out this great picture from BeautifulStranger.tv of Katie K. who was spotted wearing an Echo caravan patchwork scarf today in SoHo - NYC. 

I always find it interesting how celebrities and fashion transcend culture, continents and history. I recently took a trip to Italy and found that no matter where I was, a touch of fashion or a celebrity picture was directly positioned next to a historical landmark or cultural event.

In Milan, it was seeing Scarlett Johansson in an ad for Dolce & Gabbana across from the Duomo.

In Venice, it was watching Margherita Missoni as she “flew” down from the top of San Marco Square during the legendary flight of the angel that happens once a year during Carnivale.

 (Yes, that tiny tiny dot on the right hand side was Margherita in all her glory)… here’s a quick video of the whole affair.

I always walk away from a traveling experience with a different perspective on life; I guess one of the takeaways this time around was how fashion and celebrities are often seen as superficial but they do have their own place in history and can, in their own right, be as influential as a historical event.

- Alyssa

Check out Echo's ruched rain coat in the April issue of Lucky Magazine!  Thanks Lucky!

As the popular “Princess Diaries” author Meg Cabot bids adieu to her series of novels, she also raises money for an incredibly worthy cause. On January 9th at 7:00 pm, the New York Public Library hosted Ms. Cabot as she dished about her 10th and final novel, FOREVER PRINCESS. During the event, she signed copies of her latest book as well as unveiled 29 one-of-a-kind collectors’ tiaras designed by various celebrities, authors and designers including one from our very own Leslie Dessner of the Echo Design Group (see below).

The tiaras, hand decorated by Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, Austin Scarlett from Project Runway, Bobbi Brown, Nicole Miller and others are currently being auctioned off at http://tiaras.cmarket.com through the end of the month with proceeds benefiting essential teen programs at The New York Public Library’s 87 branches.  Be sure to check these beauties out before bidding ends on the 31st!

Photo taken from "Forever Princess" by Meg Cabot of a tiara designed by Leslie Dessner, Fashion Director of The Echo Design Group