Cooking for the Fashionista

Still haven't finished Christmas shopping? Still searching for the perfect gift for that Fashionista on your list? Well look no further because I found the gift that will be great for any fashion obsessed person on your list.

Isaac Mizrahi’s Mushroom Truffle Spaghetti, Carolina Herrera’s Pommes Toupinel, Mark Ecko’s “Adults Only” Chocolate Chip Cookies, Derek Lam’s Yellowtail Crudo, John Varvatos’s Calaloo Soup, sound good? But how can that be possible? Fashion and cooking can go hand in hand with this years must have cookbook.

The American Fashion Cookbook published with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and with a foreword by Martha Stewart, American Fashion Cookbook is a chic objet containing recipes and original illustrations by more than 100 American designers. Brimming with color, flavor, and personality, here are the fashion community’s favorite dishes and preparation tips.

The book is a great gift for the fashionista who wants to learn to cook. It incorporates everything they love about fashion into cooking. It provides you with receipes from some of your favorite designers. This is definitely on the top of my Christmas Wish List.

- Erin Jones

A Nest For Emerging Designers

Ever look back on the days when you first started designing? or maybe you have been designing for a year and are ready to take your business to the next level? Wouldn't it be great to have your own design space? A place where you could receive educational and industry support? Well all that is possible if you live in the New York area.

On Monday, the Bloomberg administration announced a new 10,000 square-foot fashion incubator in the garment district.

"Emerging designers will be able to compete for a dozen spaces on the now vacant fourth floor of 209 West 38th Street, where the rent will only be $1,500 a month - about half the $2,900 market rate for a comparible space," said David Lombino, a spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corporation, which is leading the project.

Now this building won't be easy to get into, the tenants will be selected through a competition, winners will be announced in mid-December with a move in date of February. Applicants must have been in business for a year and half and employ a staff. In addition they must have received some sort of media attention.

The incubator will be a home to established local designers who are looking to take their business to the next step. With seminars held by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, this space will be sure to kick start your career and have you showing at all the major fashion weeks in no time.

Personally, I believe every city should have an incubator for designers!

-Erin Jones