Sunday, October 31, 2010

A Brilliant Theory

Holiday orders are piling up! We've been busy. I haven't been blogging. The only thing I have been capable of doing lately besides this day-to-day running my just-beyond-fledgling business, and being a mediocre wife and mama, was first to lose myself in Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. Then, when I plowed through the 600 pages like it was a chapter book, le mari and I launched into a k-hole-like obsession with season 1 of the tv show Friday Night Lights (weird, I know, but it was highly recommended from people I respect and I'm not ashamed to admit to a school-girl-like crush on Matt Seracen.) It's been an odd coupla weeks. But back to the orders at hand: THEORY.
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Mr. Olivier Theyskens' Theory. That one. While in France this summer, I received an email from them. Email said they were interested in talking to me about carrying my bags. With stunned disbelief, I set up a call with them a week later to discuss further...So in three timezones - at 10 a.m. Jocelyn in Los Angeles (après breakfast), at 1 p.m. in NYC (at lunchtime) a couple of Theory merch people and buyers and me at 7 p.m. (pre-aperitif, pre-dinner) had a conference call. And I'm not gonna lie, it was kinda cool to say I'm calling in from Paris. (Sometimes it's in the details.)
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Two months, and one in-person meeting later, and we're shipping a holiday order to stellar-reputation-holding-prime-real-estate-occupying-Theyskens-designing-THEORY. Here're Joce and Mat mega stamping and packing.
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We've shipped the first portion, second portion goes out next week.
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So, hey, especially with Theyskens over there, maybe we'll consider Theory this holiday season for gift giving and holiday outfits, just an idea. ;) xoxo

Friday, October 22, 2010

Clutching Autumn

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We are not privy to much weather here in LA, so we've been enjoying this rain and gloom here at CViv. Sweaters and socks, oooh, wait, wait, I've got those somewhere in the back of my closet, let me go get them. Cozy. Here are some autumnal clutches which dropped by the studio today to say a brief hello and get blessed by our gold stamp machine on their way out to happy homes like yours.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

These are a few of my favorite things right now...

This fluffy, French vintage jacket from Luxe De Ville (so cozy I want to wear it all the time) creamy, westerny boots and the mini sac in SILVER!!
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In the immortal words of a famous stylist, I DIE.
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Jocelyn took this picture of me taking the picture above. Pretty funny, no? Wait, is that a ninja in my dining room? No, it's just me. :)

Friday, October 15, 2010

Style Cults

I meet a lot of wonderful, stylish and inspiring women in Los Angeles but when I met interior designer Andrea Gibbin at a PS ARTS meeting a few years ago she struck me as having a special kind of allure. Before I was actually introduced to her, she reminded me of my Parisian sister-in-law with her effortlessly chic way. She always had a little twist that made her classic outfit something special - like wearing a string of bright blue beads with an otherwise plain white shirt, or carrying a beautiful, simple leather tote by Anya Hindmarch, before anyone really knew who the designer was (pre the "I am not a plastic bag" freakshow.) She now carries a Trop. Here she is at my Soho House trunk show, with fabulous hair, a cute army green shirt dress, a woven belt and a whole lot of great jewelry.
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At one meeting, she had on a navy blazer with a little brooch pinned to the cuff. It was such an unusual place to pin a brooch but so cool, I knew I would be appropriating that small gesture myself.
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A few nights later I wore my black blazer to have dinner with friends at the Chateau Marmont and donned the brooch-on-sleeve look. During a trip to the restroom, I crossed Cameron Diaz, who was wearing an almost identical blazer, we looked at each other with the same twinsies realization and she said, "nice blazer." And then without missing a thing she added "I like your pin." Pointing to my cuff. I said, "thanks, it's cute right? You should do it too." Unbeknownst to Andrea, I'd joined her style cult (and was recruiting celebrities.) To this day, the same pin hangs on the same black velvet jacket - without it, it's just a plain old blazer...
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So when Andrea and her friend and colleague (and equally lovely) Wendy Riva decided to open a temporary interiors shop called R&G Collective in Brentwood and asked if I would sell my bags there, I was thrilled! I knew it would be a gorgeous place. A few days ago, it was featured on the very popular blog A Bloomsbury Life.
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Bloomsbury Life is artist Lisa Borgnes' blog and R&G also sells a few of her cheeky embroidered tapestries like the one below.
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I've never met Lisa, but I like her blog and I especially like the way she ended the entry on R & G Collective: "Andrea and Wendy are planning upcoming trunk sales from Minnie Mortimer, Soledad Twombly (whose striped caftan can be seen on the right) and cult handbag designer Clare Vivier (that's her leather tote hanging off the bench)." Cult?! Cool! Wanna join? No black sweatshirts and sneakers required. But there may be a pin on your sleeve in the future.
Photos of R&G Collective from A Bloomsbury Life

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Beautiful Object: Chloé Sunnies

I've had two whirlwind trips to New York recently, as I've been talking about...and I've barely had a chance to SHOP while there! Not even while I was at the trunk show at Steven Alan. I was surrounded by beautiful clothes and shoes and hats and I didn't even have a minute to try anything on! But I did make one purchase while walking back from a meeting in Soho. I popped into one of the numerous high-end sunglasses stores looking for a new pair inspired by Heather's recent purchase of vintage Persol driving shades kinda like these.
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No vintage Persols but I fell in LOVE with these Chloés. OF COURSE they were not the least expensive of the store and I kept putting them down then picking them up again. Then eventually, sighed, handed over the credit card and left with them shading my eyes from NY's bright cloudy day.
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They FOLD for heaven's sake! How can you say no to that?
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AND they travel in an egg, for crying out loud! Which conveniently fits in CLUTCHES of which I have many.
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I'm very happy with my ONE New York purchase.
(p.s. Matilde, my genius Belgian intern, figured out how to make these images bigger!! Merci Mat!)

Friday, October 8, 2010

48 hours

Last Thursday, I had a super fun and wildly successful (by my account) evening trunk show in Los Angeles, left immediately afterwards on a red-eye flight to Connecticut for a birthday party on Friday night for two of my closest girlfriends, then drove to New York for a trunk show at Steven Alan Tribeca at noon on Saturday. That was 3 major events (in 3 different states) in less than 48 hours. Sunday was calm and then the subsequent 48 hours were spent trouncing (with the collection in a black roller suitcase - in the rain, again!) around mid-town Manhattan - luckily much of it at 4 Times Square - the Condé Nast HQ, riding the elevator from floor to floor. There's roughly a magazine on each floor, so you can pass a long while there if you schedule your "deskside" appointments wisely. (Thanks KK ;) )
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Here are a few bag pics from the trunk show, hosted by Heather Taylor, Deb Kaplan, Marlien Rentmeester, and Dany Levy which was held at the exclusive and most gorgeous space in Los Angeles called the
S o h o H o u s e - West Hollywood.
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The invite list was packed with incredible women and to my utter surprise, so many of them came(!) to look at and buy my bags.
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This is Matilde (our new intern from Belgium) holding the CV canvas shopping bags for a shopper.
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I like this close up of the medallion. Which reminds me, Matilde started a new blog for the CV studio over on Tumblr, check out the polishing of the brass.
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Here's the new small weekender - I'm calling it the Sac Escale, because I think "escale" means "a little stop over" which seems appropriate for an overnight bag, but I'm not positive it makes any sense. Le sac Escale will be on website tres bientot - or really soon, I promise. (Mental note: must ask Le Mari if Sac Escale makes any sense before we commit to that name to stone...)
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The pebble leather clutches (with dreamy tactility) flew out of the SH on the arms of happy women. I got one for myself which I'm pretty addicted to. These will be on website soon, too.
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My mama and Matilde spent a few days making pompoms which decorated the bags for the night.
All photos Amy Theilig