Lie Sang Bong Rises to the New York Challenge

Lie Sang Bong, often referred to as “the Korean McQueen,” is one of Korea’s most revered designers. He was even bestowed the title of Asian Couturier Extraordinaire by the Asian Couture Federation last fall. But while Seoul is home (he launched his namesake line there in 1993) and Paris fashion week his usual stage, the designer took to the pavilion at Lincoln Center this season to take on a new challenge: courting the American market.

Instead of his fanciful gowns and demi-couture designs, Lie sent out a coterie of sensibly dressed girls for Fall ’14. Textured overcoats in techno fabrics and woolen cashmeres, leather paneled sheaths, silk-satin dresses, tailored crepe blouses, and trousers came in a color palette of cobalt blue, molten red, black, and white. Seemingly disparate details like Bauhaus swirls, flesh-colored lace, and graphic printed houndstooth were inspired by natural landscapes, be it an active volcano or Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring.

Lynn Yaeger’s Odds, Ends, and Little Friends

Last night, journalist Lynn Yaeger celebrated the launch of A Life Adorned: Lavish Accessories, an antique accessories exhibition at New York’s Doyle & Doyle shop. A curious collector of Bécassine dolls, Georgian rings (her stockpiled jewelry remains secret, mostly for fear of burglars), and reindeer sweaters, Yaeger seemed the perfect cocurator for the show, which is part of the store’s ongoing Vault series. But she was hard-pressed to pick her favorite vintage treasures. “I love all our little friends,” said Yaeger rather diplomatically at yesterday’s press preview. Although, she later conceded, “The magnifying glass with the little diamond handle is very fetching.”

Together with the shop’s owners Elizabeth and Irene Pamela Doyle, Yaeger amassed quite a selection of ornate perfume bottles, jewel-encrusted pillboxes, sterling-silver telephone dialers, and other luxurious finds dating from the Victorian era to the seventies. While a few items are up for sale, the purpose of the largely privately owned selection is to engage and inspire. And for Yaeger, the joy was in playing detective. For instance, she was trying to determine the reason for a hidden mirror inside a Victorian parasol handle. Why is it there if women didn’t use makeup? “Not sure!” Yaeger admitted. Sometimes, the mystery’s half the fun.

A Life Adorned: Lavish Accessories opens today and runs until February 14 at the Doyle & Doyle shop, located at 412 West 13th Street in New York.

Marc Jacobs’ Name Changer

This morning, Marc Jacobs announced that he is changing the name of his popular diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs. “I’ve always hated that name,” Jacobs told British Vogue. Of course, the new name has yet to be unveiled; Jacobs is “superstitious” and apparently wants to wait for the right time. Might that be on February 11 at Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley’s first Marc by Marc Jacobs show? We wouldn’t be surprised. The news coincides with Jacobs’ recent departure from Louis Vuitton to focus on his main line as well as the company’s forthcoming IPO.