I'm goin in

Last night, the house of Margiela went ham with H&M and threw quite the little bash for their collaboration. Lots of pretty people came. But what we all care about is getting our little hands on the collection. All over the world wide webs today, fashion site after fashion site posted the rundown of every piece and its price. This will come in handy for people like myself, who actually plan on being insane and showing up before doors open Nov 15. I'm mostly after the accessories/shoes- beyond thrilled they decided to redo some stuff from the faceless watch series and the bags inspired by leather gloves from forever ago. I'm also super intrigued by the oversized jeans. I might have to try for those too...there's always returning/ebay. Speaking of which, there's somehow already stuff for sale up there.. MADNESS. I suspect PR chicks who could really use some money.

Waves are free

Alexandra Cassaniti grew up a beach bum, a surfer chick who never planned to be a fashion designer, but with a natural love of creating things and the ocean, what else are you gonna do with a smile on your face? I obviously love her and after iconic surf brand Billabong discovered Alexandra, they had to show her some love too. The two collaborated this summer to make a line of cotton tees and tanks inspired by that sandy happy place I've been running off to every weekend. Look for the tops in Billabong stores now, and check out all the styles/colors here.

California Love

Summer seems to be the time when irony goes hand-in-hand with dripping sweat and cutoffs. So it's perfect timing that America's favorite hipster photog, Mark Hunter aka The Cobrasnake, has teamed up with my fave kitschy shoe brand Irregular Choice for the release of a limited edition shoe. "The Chica" American flag platform wedge is available for preorder starting today and ships out June 15 (so you should have them in time for your independence day parties woooo!). Don't sleep on these- my girl at IC informed me there are only 72 pairs available! Get them in the Cobra Shop or irregularchoice.com.

Peekaboo

I guess Jeremy Scott has a lot going on these days! He just wrapped up a crazy, ravetastic fashion show in New York for Fall 11, launched a collaboration with Swatch (with his face in Times Square above the store), and I just clicked over to Colette to see these INSANE shades he just put out with Linda Farrow. Club kids everywhere rejoice!

Jurassic

We all have our "style icons" out there, some of whom we may stalk on the daily...don't lie, you read Fuck Yeah Mary-Kate Ashley too. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a familiar face on the Tokyo scene, Mademoiselle Yulia, who I have been following for the past few years because, well, she rules at life. The girl is a DJ, singer, and designs an accessory label called GIZA that blows me away. Yulia OWNS her style...it's hard to sum it up, but she's big into Jeremy Scott, short shorts and blue hair. If you look at any recent pictures of her, she can probably be seen sporting the collection she recently collaborated with LA-based Joyrich on, which is due out real soon. Joyrich x Giza is the perfect marriage: it's got classic pieces like tanks, shorts, and motorcycle jackets, all decked out in prints like dinosaurs and wrenches. I mean!!??











In November, a club in Taiwan played host to a party celebrating the collaboration. Of course Yulia was behind the decks! She even arrived in a Lambo.. now that's the life.

images via Cadmus Family here and here

BedHead

Recently, one of the coolest haircare lines on planet earth, BedHead, contacted Is Mental to be a part of a really unique project. I geek out about getting my hair cut each and every time- I love the whole salon experience (ahem, shout out to Laicale), and I love experimenting with hair products, especially ones that smell yummy, so this was a no-brainer! The project was the big relaunch of their site (designed by the amazing Taxi Europe) and it's set up like an interactive magazine where fashion, nightlife, music, style, and art come together in a really fresh way. Is Mental was selected as one of the blogs that would be featured in the fashion category. How sweet is that?? Anyway, enough bragging- go check it out for yourself and buy some BedHead dudes!!

Holy shit batman!

This is one of the most insane collabs I've seen guys!! Last week, Style.com got a sneak preview of The Keith Haring by Nicholas Kirkwood collection, which will be comprised of 12 total styles and is set be released in February. Can you even wait to see the whole shebang after this tease? I know I can't.

In the night time we are found

A little bit of last minute news I learned over the weekend, but pleased to hear nonetheless: Meadham Kirchhoff, the London-based duo behind one of my fave overall ranges for spring has collaborated with Topshop for an 18-piece collection that debuts this Thursday in store and online. While I was disappointed there are no cheap versions of that stiff glitter t-shirt, the designers did give us glitter polka dots that cover sheer and jersey pieces, some overlapped with gauze, lace and little lakes of paillettes. I love the deconstructed beauty of the dresses and I'm impressed at how well the whole collab stays true to their aesthetic and their darkly romantic spring '10 offerings. Job well done Kirchhoff + Topshop!

Sans surf

I went into the Quicksilver store yesterday on my way home from work to see if they had the Cynthia Rowley for Roxy collection in yet as I'd remember hearing it was due out in March. Turns out, I was (almost) right on time, as it officially dropped today. From the looks of it, the Roxy store didn't get much of the collection as Barneys has dibs on it for the US (and of course Colette gets it too). I hate to sound like a collabo whore, but this one really is good! I was so into the idea of neoprene for the streets that I couldn't resist snatching up both the neoprene dress and skirt. Both fit really well and the colors are stunning. Real outfit posts to come in this gear, but for now, me iphone-ing it in the fitting room!

Dot your i's

We were blessed with a just-kidding-it's-not-really-spring-yet day Saturday, so I put on my '04 Junya Watanabe dress right after retrieving it from the post office and ran outside. So stoked on it! I'm not one to obsess over mimicking the runway, but the way this was shown that season is pretty convincing...in regards to wearing it with pants at least. It's almost necessary as this thing is tricky to wear alone otherwise (hello transparency!). I'm wearing the dress with my newly acquired Jil Sander for Uniqlo khaki jacket I got last week from the just-launched spring collabo. The collection was definitely jacket-heavy, but I went straight for this particular one because it's trademark Jil "no frills", and not quite a trench, but trench-like, not to mention I LIVE for snap buttons...so much fun. I'm looking forward to the other two mini-installments due in stores over the next month or two- a sales girl said it would be mainly "basics" so we'll see.

dress, Junya Watanabe; pants, BDG; jacket, Jil Sander for Uniqlo; shoes, Robert Clergerie Espace; bag, Zucca; necklace, made from an earring found on Canal St.

Partyparty by Confettisystem

I just found this in my inbox and I wanted to share for all our NYC readers. I have been a big fan of Confettisystem for a few years now and have been anticipating their collection for Urban Outfitters since hearing about it. Tomorrow night, UO will be hosting a party to celebrate the launch of the collaboration. RSVP and stop by the 6th Ave/14th St UO outpost tomorrow night to get 20% off purchases. I'll definitely be in attendance scoping out one of their metallic piñatas for my apartment!

Warrior woman

Louise Goldin's all-black warrior woman fall collection kicked major butt, and some of the most memorable looks for me (pictured above) are about to get a simpler-yet-still-awesome second life. Fresh on the heels of Christopher Kane gator mania, Louise has joined forces with Topshop once again for their third collection together since '07. She was inspired by her collection of vintage and modern Transformers and robot memorabilia, and I definitely see a resemblance to her Fall 09 range where emphasis is placed on a geometric 't' or cross design. Ancient armor or future armor- whichever way you look at it, Goldin has won me over once again.






(Big) little robots! The collection will be available online on the 14th of November and in the NYC store by the end of the month. How hot is that sliced inner side-boob jumper!?


pc: style.com + topshop

18 hours of dancing

Daul Kim doing what she does best in this awesomely-produced video (better quality here) promoting Christopher Kane for Topshop. I wasn't sure how I felt about her dyeing her hair blond, but seeing this made up my mind. It. looks. hot. But now it's dark again of course. Topshop just put up a mini site showing all the looks for the collection due out Sept 18. Now should I get the gator top or dress?

Carry it all

If you like your bags HUGE, you might be into this Alice + Olivia for Payless slouchy suede number that reminds me of similar bags Margiela did. It's got room for anything you might want to haul around, and will only cost you about $30. Screw you "IT" bags!!!

Human hooves

The day has come. In case you haven't obsessively been checking topshop.com, the Ashsish for Topshop wedges are now available! Inspired by depression era carnivals, the collection marks Ashish Gupta's footwear debut at Topshop. I'd suggest making your decision quickly if you are contemplating these, as they are already almost sold out. 

Within my reach

Earlier this year, you folks got a peek at some of the designer collaborations for Payless that went down the runway for Fall 09. The general consensus was along the lines of "These are PAYless? SHUT UP!!" These Alice + Olivia boots were used in her fall presentation but this is the first I'm seeing of them so I'm pretty damn stoked. The "Madison" is a black leather biker-inspired wedge boot with strappy details and silver metallic buckles (the top image I scanned from Nylon Aug '09 shows two buckles, but the bottom images are from the A+O presentation/lookbook and show four). They will retail for $45-50 and can't drop soon enough. Maybe once I have these on my feet, I'll forget all about Chlöe Sevigny's expensive buckled boots.

In the night sky

I actually haven't stepped foot in a Walmart in years I think due to my geographic location and being partial to Target. That probably explains my "oh yeaaaaaaah" moment when I realized Normal Kamali's collab with the big box is still quietly churning out wares. I just grabbed this rad jersey batwing cardigan in navy. At only $18 and 97¢ for shipping, I almost threw a gray one in my cart too but I'll give it a test run before I go nuts.

Orange Sherbet

Part dos of M Willy & H&M drops May 14 and the only item in the collection I might consider picking up is these cuffed orange shorts. They would look stellar with a sheer white tee.

When it rains it pours

Slow and Steady Wins the Race and Portland's Stand Up Comedy have teamed up for a line of rainwear staples so you don't have to feel style-challenged when the skies open up (the collaboration was inspired by the sh*tty weather in the pacific northwest). Pieces are offered in black, red, and khaki and include waterproof pumps, ponchos, and a waterproof dress with drawstrings (with more additions soon like a potential backpack). My fave item is the Latourell poncho below that would be perfect for what seems like the rainiest April ever here. Come to think of it, my wardrobe lacks any real "fashionable" raingear, unless my spacy silver Tretorn rainboots count. SSWTR/SUC will also be carried at Opening Ceremony (both locations)- YAY!

Lend me your ears

The Disneyland Resort in Paris is throwing a year-long bash and to kick it all off, they asked a handful of celebs and designers to customize a pair of ears. I wouldn't call myself a huge mickey mouse fan or anything, but man would I love to own one of these. They'll be auctioned off beginning May 5 and all proceeds go to a great cause you can read about here.

Billa shot a few of the raddest ones for SuperSuper 16. Leave it to Giles to turn Mickey into a badass mofo!