Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Fashion Week with Brizo

Last week I had the supreme pleasure of joining an elite group of design bloggers as part of Brizo's fashion week. This fashion-forward faucet company invited us to an all expenses paid whirlwind tour of New York City, with our home base being the chic Eventi Hotel. In return we gave the Brizo designers and marketing team our feedback on never before seen prototypes. It was an amazing experience that I will not soon forget. Here's a look back at the magical few days...

On our first full day with Brizo we learned about the brand and their partnership with the designer Jason Wu from the head designer and "rock star" of the company, Judd Lord. His charisma and enthusiasm made looking at faucets actually fascinating!


Above, Judd talks about Brizo's partnership with Jason Wu and below we see the sketches for the collection.


It was interesting to see how Jason Wu kept a modern design but added unique flourishes that we learned were inspired by photos of Versailles that were part of the "Parcours Museologique Revisite" collection.

That afternoon we headed to the Hearst building to hear a funny and informative talk from Ann Preiser of Elle Decor, followed by a very cool tour of the Hearst building. We got to see all the fabulous office spaces, killer views of Manhattan, and an epic art collection, not to mention the "alpha barbies" (the term our tour guide jokingly used to describe many of the Hearst employees). 

Here I am checking out the panoramic view of the city (photo courtesy of Brizo, by Jayme Thornton Photography).

My favorite part was the Good Housekeeping floor which had lots of "testing areas" - everything from kitchens, to temperature controlled chambers.

Above, the Good Housekeeping test kitchen.

We ended the day with a fun cooking lesson from the culinary masters at Sur La Table. (This event definitely made us appreciate the smart touch technology of Brizo faucets.)


We even got our own fancy chef's jackets! Above, is the whole crew of design bloggers with our Brizo friends.

Not being much of a cook myself I made sure I had some good chefs on my team and they did not disappoint.


Adele Young and our Sur la Table teacher make pasta.

On Friday the event we had all been waiting for was here: Jason Wu's fashion show! Of course, mother nature made things a little interesting as NYC was about to get slammed with the infamous Nemo blizzard.


















 Above, the view of the Empire State Building from my hotel window the morning that Nemo hit.

We hardly noticed the snow though as Brizo made sure that men with umbrellas were there to help us in to the SUVs that shuttled us everywhere.

Here I am (Elizabeth Ethridge McGann) on the right, with Katrina Stumbos and Shelly Rosenberg - we were absolutely giddy!

The invite alone was enough to get the heart rate going. Hello, leather! (Photo courtesy of Brizo.)

It was a blast to people watch as we waited for the show to begin. I spotted a gorgeous Allison Williams (from the HBO show "Girls"), Stephanie Seymour and her fashionable sons, Harry and Peter, and lots of very chic fashion editors and bloggers. The most captivating person in the audience was Anna Wintour who donned her sunglasses as soon as the show started.



It was also amazing to see the photographers piled seemingly on top of each other as they waiting for the models to come down the runway.


 The collection was magnificent and proved that Jason Wu is not just the designer of Michelle Obama's inauguration gowns, but a major force in fashion.


















After the show we gathered at the grand chandelier on the runway for a photo op.

We ended this epic day with a private cocktail party with Jason Wu, Cannon (the stylist extraordinaire, seen below with microphone) and the Brizo team and lucky bloggers.














A huge thank you to Brizo for this incredible experience! Thank you also to the rest of the design bloggers who made this so much fun. Check out their blogs on Brizo Fashion Week below:

http://ethridgemcgann.blogspot.com/2013/02/our-very-first-blog-post-and-its-about.html
http://blog.elzabdesign.com/2013/02/24/bare-toes-to-gourmet-cooking-a-brizo-adventure/
http://designvignettes.blogspot.com/2013/02/brizo-wu-departure-from-ordinary.html
http://www.liluinteriors.com/blog/a-common-language/
http://bridgetbearidesigns.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-adventure-begins.html
http://designerbath.blogspot.com/2013/02/getting-glamorous-with-jason-wu.html
http://design-magnifique.com/2013/02/19/fashion-week-with-brizo-jason-wu/
http://www.thebuildingblox.com/photos-from-brizo-fashion-week/
http://www.thebuildingblox.com/faucet-trends-from-brizo/
http://blog.elzabdesign.com/2013/02/13/brizo-smart-hot-and-technologically-trendy/
http://networkedblogs.com/IeTzm
http://www.kellymarket.com/2013/02/jason-wu-brizo.html