Fashion wise, Nike unveiled the Super Bowl uniforms last week but the details of Beyoncé’s performance outfit were much more secretive. It was rumoured that Givenchy’s creative director Riccardo Tisci would design for Beyoncé (he created Madonna’s costumes for Super Bowl 46) but the honor went instead to Rubin Singer. Singer, a little known designer based in New York has worked with both Beyoncé and her sister, Solange Knowles, a few times over the past few years. According to the New York Times, apparently Beyoncé and her team saw Singer’s Fall 2013 sketches and pitched for him to work on the Super Bowl.

The final design for Beyonce was a black leather bodysuit with black Chantilly lace, black python and black iguana skin details. The low-cut of the bodice was lined with flesh-toned netting to make sure there were no wardrobe malfunctions ala Janet Jackson for this performance. She also wore flesh tone fishnet stockings and black leather glovettes that went just south of her elbows. Beyonce finished off the look with Proenza Schouler booties and black thigh high socks layered over the fishnets. Singer also had the opportunity to design Michelle’s one-shoulder ensemble with black leather pleated mini-skirt along with black mesh and leather arm warmers. Singer also created all the garments for the 120 back-up dancers and singers.

Kelly Rowland was the only one to opt for a different designer for her black leather outfit. Rowland wore a custom Emilio Pucci black bodysuit with zipper pockets and very deep V and short, black leather glovettes for her performance along with the Proenza Schouler bootie and black socks. The fit was quite sublime on all the ladies, proving they’re all bootylicious and still in great shape.

Source: Cathy Horyn NYT / StylerWriter NYC

Photo courtesy: @Jose3030

This sweatshirt is from the AW2012 Neil Barrett collection that featured plenty of metallic accents. The sweater usually retails for 400 Euros, but since it’s from last season you can now get one of your very own for only 200 Euros (about $270 US Dollars) in Barrett’s E-Store. It’s available in both grey (which looked more purple on television) and in black in both the crewneck style that Westbrook so proudly wore, as well as a hoodie. Maison Martin Margiela also has a similar silver t-shirt in grey for $250, if you’re not partial to sleeves and to dress like Westbrook.

The metallic trend is carrying over from winter to spring in many menswear collections. The Spring 2013  3.1 Philip Lim menswear collection features silver metallic thread floral appliques on shorts and sweaters and flashes of silver in their “Trickers” campaign video. The Spring 2013 menswear collection by Maison Martin Margiela revisited the fashion house’s oft obsession with silver by creating a very cool, crisp offering thanks to liquid-like vests, jackets and even pants in the metallic hue. Christopher Bailey at Burberry Prorsum went technicolor for this spring by creating metallic neon fabrics in that shone in varsity jackets, tees and of course, the classic Burberry trench coat.

Should Westbrook chose to continue to experiment with the trend, he has plenty of options. His outfit last night may not have worked from an aesthetics standpoint (I wish he went with grey accessories instead of brown, and got rid of those awful Apple headphones) but he made an impression on his fellow players, broadcasters and fans. Russell Westbrook is going to wear whatever the hell he (and his stylist) wants and you’re going to talk about it – after all, all press is good press, right?

The NFL Pro Bowl was this past Sunday, January 25th, in Honolulu, Hawaii and the NFC destroyed the AFC. The 2013 Pro Bowl marked the first time that Nike had designed the uniforms for the game since taking over the licensing deal from Reebok earlier this season. While Nike tends to over complicate their football uniforms (here’s looking at you, Oregon and Seattle), for the Pro Bowl they went back to the basics, streamling the uniforms while paying tribute to the Pro Bowl’s patriotic heritage.

Since the late 70′s, when the NFC and AFC merged, the Pro Bowl uniforms have always tried their darnedest to be American as possible. The NFL ran with the idea of using red, white and blue and while it began with simple uniforms, they quickly became over designed, especially when it came to using stars. Stars have been featured as necklines that resembled necklaces, on pants and even completely taking over jersey - more was more. Once the idea of using helmets that featured the “N” and “AFC” of both conferences was changed to feature team helmets in 1979, the Pro Bowl became even harder to watch – not for the game, but aesthetically. The mix of colors and logos all on the field at once is ridiculous and distracting, along with the busy uniforms.

From a design standpoint, especially compared to the terrible, cheap looking 2012 Pro Bowl uniforms by Reebok, the 2013 Nike Football Pro Bowl uniforms are slick and minimal. Both the NFL and AFC feature the NATIONAL or AMERICAN league in block, bold lettering on the front of the jersey accompanied by a small patch with the player’s team logo and a Pro Bowl logo on either side and the NFL crest in the middle, just below the v-neck collar. The player’s number are on the front, back and shoulders of the uniform as usual in the classic font with Nike swooshes on the shoulders. The pants are made in the secondary color for each team, with the primary color being in a stripe down the front with the Nike swoosh down the hip. Socks are the primary color for each team, keeping the pants and socks cohesive with the jersey.

The Pro Bowl on-field gear uses the Nike Elite 51 uniforms that works more like a system then separate pieces so the base layer, padding, jersey and pant all work as one. For instance, Nike puts lightweight padding in the most common “hit zones” in the base layer of the uniform. while four-way stretch fabric fits the players like a glove but still offer maximum flexibility.

These are my favorite Pro Bowl uniforms in recent years because they are clean and they celebrate those classic 1970′s uniforms but update them for today using fit and functionality. However, I think they could use a some different styling to pump them up and make them special. My suggestion would be to stop having players wearing their own teams on their helmets and have metallic colors for both teams and painting the player’s team logo on the metallic helmets with black chrome or tonal metallic paint. Nike’s chrome helmets for Oregon were wildly popular and discussed, and gold and silver were helmet choices in the 70′s going with gold and silver helmets for NFC and AFC players so it would be another way of reinforcing the history of the Pro Bowl but in a very modern way. Adding new helmets, long with metallic details to accessories like gloves and cleats would make them shine during the broadcast and in photos. It would also be another way the NFL and Nike could monetize the gear by adding special edition gold and silver helmets, cleats and gloves for sale. Nike is on the right track in revamping the NFL’s uniforms, hopefully with more overall styling, next year’s Pro Bowl will be worth watching for the gear alone.

Source: NIKE, INC.

Photo credit: Beto Duran – @duransports

The NBA Christmas Day games always attract an interesting mix of fans ranging from diehard supporters to celebrities looking for perfect  courtside photo-op. But one fan that’s always courtside is Jimmy Goldstein. Mr. Goldstein is a regular at Staples Center, holding season tickets to the Los Angeles Clippers. He’s always easy to spot in his unique, high fashion outfits that exude his personal style. Goldstein hung out courtside pre-game and chatted with members of both the Knicks and Lakers like Rasheed Wallace, Ron Artest and fellow fashion fan Tyson Chandler. He was also pictured with one of his model companions.

Onward to the fashion, for the Christmas Day game Jimmy Goldstein wore a custom Balmain red leather biker jacket covered in zippers, pins and spikes. The jacket is actually from the Balmain womenswear collection that was made for Mr. Goldstein. The leather jacket was featured in British Vogue (modelled by Arizona Muse) and in a variety of women’s fashion magazines but Jimmy makes the look work for him by pairing with his custom leather hat, textured leather pants (likely from Versace), a low-cut black shirt, a black scarf (likely custom-made in France) and a pair of classic black motorcycle boots. Jimmy Goldstein also wore the same look to the Lakers home game on the December 28th and on a few other occasions and I don’t blame him – the women’s Balmain red leather jacket retailed at $25,000. What do you think of Jimmy Goldstein’s outfit for the Knicks and Lakers Christmas Day game? For more of Jimmy Goldstein’s style, take on fashion as well as the NBA – be sure to check out my interview with him here.

All Staples Center images courtesy of ESPNLA’s Beto Duran and his Instagram.

Recently I collaborated with my frequent partner, photographer Jennifer Toole on styling a creative editorial entitled “The Crown and the Glory”. We both love the idea of using a crown as a way of complimenting and enhancing the beauty of a young model. We wanted to create images that were both sensual and soft but also powerful. Instead of using religious iconography for the specific styling and art direction of the shoot, I took a more natural and elemental route while still paying tribute to historical references. There are six different crowns and masks and I designed and created three myself, while the other three I pulled from both Northbound Leather and funnily enough – a local dollar store.

My favorite piece that I constructed is the crown that pays tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the immaculate heart. To create it, I bought an autumn wreath from the dollar store and cleaned it up and used it as my base. Next, I rummaged through my old prop box and found a beating heart that I had used for a short film. I attached it to the wreath and then went into my toolbox and found old nails, screws and wire. I pushed the nails and screws through the wreath and finished it off by wrapping the wire to secure the heart and add more dimension to the brown wreath. The result looked stunning on our model Meghan’s alabaster skin and chestnut-brown hair.

The wardrobe came mostly from Northbound Leather, La Perla and my own styling kit. Jennifer and I decided early on that our model  would be implied to be nude in this shoot to really emphasize the crowns and masks as the statement pieces and to make sure that there wasn’t too much wardrobe to compete with it. I wanted to use leather designed with bondage undertones to play on hard and soft. Our model was young and soft so the wardrobe was like a bit of armour for her while also being a natural material. I used sheer and lace details for the lingerie and leg wear to wink at the sexuality and allude to nudity. The crowns and masks using chain mail and latex continue to show the hard and soft styling story while still allowing Meghan to express herself with her eyes, mouth and body.

Below you’ll find the six images from the shoot that did not make the final cut for the editorial. The high resolution images used for the editorial are found in the portfolio section of my website here and on Jennifer Toole’s blog.

Shot on location at Visual Bass Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Story Credits:

Photographer: Jennifer Toole
Stylist + Custom Crown Design: Megan Ann Wilson
Make-up + Hair Artist: Bronwen Weiderick
Model: Meghan from Spot 6 Management 

Wardrobe provided by: Northbound Leather