Stylust – The Official bebe Blog

The day of show madness begins! We’re in the middle of Manhattan on 5th Avenue, sitting with Arianne Phillips—stylist, fashion editor and Oscar nominated costume designer who has worked with Madonna for 14 years and all of our favorite magazines (from Italian Vogue to Harper’s Bazaar). Now, she’s the styling force behind the bebeBLACK runway collection we’re premiering at New York Fashion Week this afternoon! Before we head over to the show, she gives us an inside look at what to expect for Fall 2011.

Stylust: Describe the collection in three words.

Arianne: Fun. Flirty. Street-chic. This is the bebe girl. Her love letter to New York.

Stylust: Tell us about how the concept for the collection first came about.

Arianne: The concept started with the idea of bebe coming to New York and doing a show here. Manny had the idea of West Side Story, which there’s a revival going on right now, and we thought that was the perfect marriage. We started talking about all things American, like the Statue of Liberty. The fun thing about bebe is it’s a mix of playful and sexy, girly and fun, and there’s an energy. We infused that into an urban street look that’s playful yet tough, so you have the edge and you have the play of hard and soft. It’s a love letter to New York.

Stylust: Where do you see the bebe girl wearing these looks?

Arianne: The collection is full of day to night looks—everything can be worn during the day and dressed up at night. We do have a couple straight party dresses, but the beauty of this collection is that there are a lot of mixtures of textures and fabrics, and that translates perfectly from day to night.

Stylust: And the color—it’s so fresh and vibrant for fall!

Arianne: Yes. We were inspired by a hot and exciting color palette. The colors have energy, and there’s more black in them than a summer color. They mix really well together. It’s all about color accents against black—a strong silhouette with color accents.

Stylust: What inspired all the great prints?

Arianne: We were inspired by the idea of street art and urban icons—the Statue of Liberty, a chain link fence, barbed wire—we were thinking of hard urban icons that we could feminize, make them pretty, but still have that urban edge. The red and yellow barbed wire prints have a Xerox feel—they’re creative, edgy, and have that old-fashioned kind of 80′s/Xerox vibe. Then we have this Statue of Liberty icon we turned into a polka dot which you can see on the dresses, but also in the linings and hand bags.

Stylust: What’s the process like for creating original prints?

Arianne: We start by pulling images and inspiration, making collages, then our print designers mock up designs, and we make revisions there. We then have to make sure the print looks good on the yardage, or the fabric. We went through so much yardage, several different fabrics per print before we decided on the final—from the cotton satine to the silk—they’re very different. Once the correct fabric and the correct print were married, then it goes to the garment.

Stylust: What key accessories and details should we look forward to from this collection?

Arianne: Half leather gloves, chunky chains, pom poms, the brightly colored tights—you can interchange everything. Then there are a lot of separates you can use to dress up a t-shirt, like the waist cinching cummerbunds. We also have these little tops that can be worn over t-shirts and tanks. They’re almost like accessories. The really slippery, wet look is a texture we played with too. It’s easy to wear. We went for luxurious fabrics that are easy to wear and care for. There’s a real feminine quality, but everything has a durability and a strength to it that, living in New York, you have to have.

WATCH THE SHOW LIVE ON BEBE.COM — TODAY @ 5PM EST / 2PM PST!!

~ by bebe on February 16, 2011.

Posted in Behind-the-Scenes, Exclusive, Fashion, Making of the Collection
Tags: arianne phillips, bebeBLACK, collection, fall 2011, interview, new york fashion week, runway, Stylist