from catwalk to sidewalk

“maybe it’s maybelline”, 6 years ago i was at the lipstick jungle premiere party and a friend told me that their friend was the girl who wrote that jingle.  she hasn’t worked a day since and is cha-chinging.  well apparently maybelline is cha-chinging more than any other cosmetic brand in the whole world at any price point.  this is amazing.  david greenberg, the prez has honed in what makes maybelline the “it” brand, “it’s the spirit of new york. when i walk the streets, i feel everything is possible.  women in new york feel confident.  they can achieve anything they want.  they have the power to be successful and it’s this emotion, this vibration, this dream of new york.”  and this is why i love new york and why the world reacts to new york in the way it does.  so there might be reccessions, globalization that scares us americans, but we have to remember, we are the “it” country, we set the trends, and this global power is no way near it’s end.  xo lili quotes from beautyinc mag

its on at corton

if you have any taste in your soul, you must go to corton.  like a child, i tippy toed to see through the glass kitchen window, star strucked by paul liebrandt’s gorgeous hair as he carefully swept back his stress.  the two men next to me asked me who the chef was.  “who do you think?”  it was obvious, but of course i knew who the chef was,  i had watched his hbo documentary ‘matter of taste’ 3 times, and i am not a person who likes to waste time.  the men stared hard in paul’s direction, and i said, “yes, it’s him, the only person without a chef’s hat.  look at his passionate face- he is serious about food”.  if i had to use one word to describe corton it is “now”.  the decor, tasting menu, cocktails, paul’s youth and humilty is what the world needs now.  every dish was a version of perfection, and i left dinner so delighted that i have already booked two more reservations this month.  i could go on an on, but i highly suggest you do your self a favor and truly learn what flavor is through the artful mastery at corton.  xo lili love crushin on corton and chef liebrandt

benneton world leader make out campaign

pure genious.  love the love. un hate the hate.  drink a drink.  top the top.  for my koreans, we need to reunite our land and undo the spilt and it all begins with the first kiss. chk out the full campaign.  thx to carney for showing me this xoooolili http://www.refinery29.com/benetton-controversial-ad-campaign-world-leaders-kissing/slideshow#slide-6

taking flight

everything happens for a reason.  i came to ny to be a fashion writer, but being born from immigrant parents they wanted me to have the expected life.  so i was en route to taking my lsats when i rec’d a call from jcrew to join their design team for fabric r&d.  i worked for one of the most infamous fabric gurus in the biz.  within a month i was jetted off to paris, dodged pens being thrown at me like a born ninja, constantly ran to the break room to refresh my boss’s cup with ice to cool her menopause, took shots of green vibrance with her every morning, forfeited eating carbs bc she told me it made me work slow, all while miraculously absorbing all the knowledge i could, between her yelling “jackass” at a dancing donkey that i really regretted buying her from milan.  shortly after a year, i left.

next i am selling korean fabrics at hope inc and experiencing the intense demands of not 1 design team, but several all wanting everything at once and all sincerely believing they are the most important customer in the world.  i schelpped a suitcase full of fabrics from ny to seattle to la and learnt what it felt like to be on the other side.  after 3 months, i left.

then i find myself an intern at band of outsiders.  i rejected a job offer to be a fabric assistant at bcbg generation- i could not summon myself to buy bright plaids and be bossed by miley cyrus.  so i am folding boo’s coveted button ups, re-organizing their closets (fyi i am a professional organizer) and quickly get noticed and invited to go to leslie mann’s beautiful brentwood mansion for a fitting for the collection’s photo shoot.   i lay out options for leslie and kindly ask her if i can peep her closet, which she happily says yes to.  my life instantly changed after seeing her all white section–you know i am obsessed with this color and this is why.  i offered to go to ny, on my own way and pay, to help with boo’s fashion presentation, and i am lucky to be in charge of all the models.  so i yell, “next boy please!” and have them strip down to their undies and dress them all up like my little ken dolls.  of course i line up 1 interview, and i land the job.  i tell boo i am staying back and won’t be an intern anymore.  they are shocked and try to counter offer.  unfortunately they are too late, so i left.

again i’m thrown into another whirl wind position.  this time at kaufmanfranco.  on my first day, my boss shows me a harley davidson jacket with an epoynomous engraved rubber placard on the back.  he tells me he wants this and to go get it.  i had just returned back to ny after a 2 yr hiatus, so i instantly hit the web for help.  1 week later i give him the protos of our label engraved in rubber and he looks at me with a sigh and says, “what’s this?”  i remind him of the task, and he said, “i asked you for this last week, what am i to do with it now?” and tosses it back to me.  i stick it on my computer to remind me, “get things done day of, and if u can’t, find a way to”.  i become a sponge and absorb as much as i can bc this job was at ligthening speed.  we would jam out couture colllections in 2 weeks.  yes i lived in my white lab coat (but i secretly crystal heat transferred the inside of my coat to remind me, one day i will shine), worked everyday from 9am to midnight, snook naps in the fire exit on a cardboard box with bubble wrap for a pillow and would turn the lights down low when everyone left to watch the embroidered dresses sparkle.  after just shy of 1 yr, i left.

next i am selling italian fabrics for my dear friend at volo usa. he just started the company, so biz is quiet and he is just so damn hot that i can’t stop checking him out.  we lunched with his cute friends, drank espresso in the office, danced to his amazing sound system, and critqued the placement of his clock far too much.  after 2 weeks, i left.

then i am asked to join theory, theyskens, and helmut lang to be their yarn purchaser.  i am working for the best knitwear productionist in the biz.  she speaks stitch, teaches me how real women work and how to keep your cool even when sod’s law slaps us in the face every single day.  i am amazed by her even temper, her knowledge of everything knit and i am truly blessed to have her as a boss, mentor and friend.  she knows i am itching to be back in design, and so when the opportunity opens, she gives me the motherly nod and says, “i know you are an outgoing person and this position suits you better, go for it”.  with her blessing i join the theory and theysken’s sweater design team and become their new product developer, happily ever after, i have found my fit.

often in interviews people have been hesitant of my “flightiness”, but sometimes you need a little kick in your step to take flight. xo lili

mini bf

i remember in the 9th grade, guava and i were double dating best friends and always gabbed about our relationships.  as many of you know, its not easy dating someone or trying to find all you dream of in one person.  that was when i thought of the concept of the “mini bf”.  i said, “i really like the mini lemon chicken plate from l&l’s, why can’t i have that in my relationship?”  i knew from early on that i was never really a mixed plate girl, or even a large plate, but always preferred the mini.  just enough to keep me satisfied, but not too much to bring me down.  sometimes thinking mini might actually be thinking big…xo lili likes mini skirts

Be a leader, not a follower

Leaders are not what many people think–people with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see whether anyone is following them. “Leadership qualities” are not the qualities that enable people to attract followers, but those that enable them to do without them. They include, at the very least, courage, endurance, patience, humor, flexibility, resourcefulness, determination, a keen sense of reality, and the ability to keep a cool and clear head even when things are going badly. This is the opposite of the “charisma” that we hear so much about. – John Holt