Traveling to the East Coast has been froth with cancelled and delays flights while all it takes for a trip from home to Las Vegas is jumping into your car and driving for 2-hours through the desert. Since New York Fashion Week didn’t happen for me this season, I decided to attend Capsule, Project and Magic tradeshows in Vegas.

I’m staying at The Vdara Hotel, one of the newest hotels on the Strip that’s part of the buzzed about new City Center (more on the retail offerings later). Thankfully, this is a gamble and smoke free hotel, so no gross sunlight-less lobby. The hotel is still in beta but the relatively hip people I saw while checking in and the tasty food at Silkroad, the hotel restaurant, encouraged me. I’m in town for a couple days, not so much to review the shows but taking the market temperature and Flipping and interviewing the tastemakers.

I hit the pavement running after I arrived midday yesterday by spending the day at Capsule. I went from booth to booth, carefully looking at how designers are progressing the massive heritage and Americana trend movement that’s been largely defined at this tradeshow. The forecast is for the trend to continue for the next several seasons. Look out for our Flip series this week on the trends played out in Vegas.

Speaking of trends, Paris Fashion Week is ground zero for research and forecast on my fashion calendar. I don’t remember missing a Paris season in over a decade, this time however is shaping up to be a scheduling challenge due to the Oscars. This isn’t the first Paris Fashion Week that has conflicted with the Oscars but it’s the first time I’m in the thick of it on both fronts. Paris will happen but it may be a fly-by this season.

With the exception of a couple appearances, since I returned from Brazil to Los Angeles a couple weeks days ago, I’ve operated off-the-radar, primarily turning up at boutiques and private atelier appointments to seek out Oscars dresses.  This kind of existence is one of my favorite features about LA.  I love the anonyminity of traveling by car to your destination and then making a hasty retreat back to the home front without anyone knowing you’re in town.

Shopping for the Oscars always bring on case of agita because there never seems to be enough options.  Hollywood is wising up to the rich looking pretty dresses and stylists are mining the better boutiques across the country. And with so many starlets and reality show stars, many of the stores are tapped of any real gems.  To avoid setting up my clients, I shy away from the usual red carpet designers: Dolce and Gabbana, Valentino, Armani Prive and Oscar de la Renta. The dreaded faux pas of sharing a dress at a major event or suggesting a look already preview at a prior event, I think is more likely if you go the marquee designer route. Vintage is far less dangerous and infinitely more interesting.  This year I’m dressing four clients so i’ve been calling in dresses from my favorite New York vintage stores (NY Vintage, Frock) and from a couple LA outposts.  I haven’t firmed up on who wears what yet but I have come across an exquisite Azzarro, a stealthy Thierry Mugler and strangely enough a stunning graphic black and white Oscars de la Renta couture dress from the 80s.

I was suppose in New York today to attend Fashion Week but with the weather wreaking havoc across the country, I cancelled my trip and will stay in Los Angeles.  This is the season that I’ll check out some of these live streaming show via the Internet. See you at Alexander Wang and Rodarte.

Sao Paolo is a vast, impressive metropolis on a scale that’s incomparable to most of the cities I travel to.  Last week, while I traveled to and from fashion shows, business meetings or social excursions–which took me to several parts of the city–I remained in awe of the stunning skyscrapers, and the many thickets of neighborhoods a town that I’ve only made a dent in exploring.  Several years ago, Sao Paolo Fashion Week was on my regular rotation but for about two years, in the interest of lessening my time away from the office, I’ve opted only cover Fashion Rio.  It was time to return.

I forgot how many friends I have in Sao Paolo.  At every turn, it was a reunion. At the shows, at a hotel visit, in restaurants shrieks of Jaaaason came from everywhere. I wasn’t always good with remembering the names, but the faces were immediately registered.  I was left humbled by the genuineness the smiles, and the curiosity of the people.  There’s a lot other cultures could learn from the power of positive energy exhibited by Brazilians.  I’m gushing, I know, but I was really taken by outpouring of love and good cheers during my entire 3-week stay in the country from Rio to Paraty to Sao Paolo.

The overall energy was buoyed by the stellar season at SPFW. Several designers showed standout collections (read my top ten rundown next week), confirming that SPFW stands first in line among the secondary fashion markets.

Outside of the shows, I indulged in scouting out great dining spots, a relatively easy fishing expedition in a city teeming with really good food.  Ritz restaurant (Alameda Franca, 1088) the Jardims hotspot since 1981 is like a cafeteria, always packed with the hipster set and hot gay boys.  You can’t make a reservation and there’s always a wait that creates a fantastic peacock-y street scene. The food is tasty and a trip to SP wouldn’t be complete without a few Ritz meals.  Flavia Mendonca, our Brazilian correspondent suggested that I check out Dalva e Dito (Rua Joao Manuel 1115).  It’s Flavia’s favorite SP restaurant, which was all the endorsement I needed before bee lining to this favored haunt of the business set. Needing to power down by myself, one night I sat on the terrace where potted plants cascading from the rooftop, and noshed on a delicious filet of sea bass and kale. Dalva immediately found itself on my world’s best list of restaurants.  Needing another fix, Flavia and I went again for lunch the day before I left SP. At the Tivoli Mofarrej where I stayed, Arola Vintretres(Alameda Santos, 1437) there rooftop restaurant specializing in tapas wasn’t exactly a homerun but the stunning 360 degrees view and the obvious convenience to my room made it acceptable choice for a couple meals.  One of my favorite new discoveries was Z Deli (Alameda Lorena, 1214), a deli style Yiddish restaurant run by Rosa Raw in Jardims. Rosa operates the restaurant with her sister-in-law and they’re both an absolute hoot.  The deli is in the middle of the retail hub where all the designers have stores: Alexandre Herchovitch, Maria Bonita, Oscar Metsavaht of Osklen, Reinaldo Lourenco, among others and are all regular patrons. The ladies have a wealth of information on these designers so you can expect a healthy serving of gossip with your blinis and breaded chicken breasts.  I talked divorces, financial ruin and rebuild, and depression brought on bad reviews with the ladies in the two hours I sad there for lunch while the famous contemporary artist Nelson Leirner dined nearby. An absolute treat and highlight from my trip.

Dining was enough entertainment for the week but on Thursday, I decided that I couldn’t leave SP without hitting up some of fashion events. Most of them kicked off at about 2am which is way past my bedtime.  I did however make it to Alexandre Herchovitch post show party at Bar Secreto(Rua Álvaro Anes, 97) where he also dejayed and a bunch of teenagers and early somethings came out to support.  I felt my age and fled at about 3am.  On Friday, at Gloria Club (Rua Treze de Maio, 830) it was a sort of the unofficial closing party for SPFW. All the models turned out, many of the editors were spotted in the audience and the unlikely scene of uber journalist Lillian Pace was spinning the turntables.  The crowd skewed young there too and after of couple hours of semi-dancing and listening to the crowd go wild for Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas; it was time to go.

Oskar Metsavaht of Osklen has the inside track in Brazilian cool. He’s one of the best designers in the country but also a consummate tastemaker, always interested in pulling together the most forward looking shows and hip parties. To celebrate the launch of New Order, a diffusion line that he doesn’t design but endorses, his team scouted out a kiosk on Copacabana beach to hold the launch party. Part of the event was at beach level, the other downstairs in the basement. The guest list was tight including Brazilian hipsters and a shortlist of international journalists. Oskar insisted that I come, as it would be very special and intimate. Including the locals, no one had ever seen a nightclub-like setting beneath a beach kiosk. The novel concept had everyone abuzz and we danced the night away, feeling smug that we experienced this first in Rio. That was on the last night of Fashion Rio.

Recognizing that I had a couple days before the shows ended, I thought it would be a great to plan a getaway to recharge and to see a different region o the country that I fall more in love with on every visit. I first thought to go to Trancuso in the north or Buzios, a couple hours outside of Rio was also tossed around, but I had already been there a couple years ago. Paraty was recommended, as it is halfway between Rio and Sao Paolo and relatively facile to get to. I was first going to take the bus, an easy ride, everyone says, in the end though I hired a car to make the trip as comfortable as possible. I had visions of arriving in the town square with my huge bags rolling around in search of a pousada. Not a good look.

I booked myself in at Pousada Imperial, right in the middle of town behind the famous church. I was warned that Paraty is a lover’s paradise, super romantic, quaint and so forth. I wasn’t worried that I didn’t have a lover in tow, I’m usually good in any environment. On arrival I immediately began to walk around town checking out the charming old buildings and the colorful boats beckoning tourists to take a ride. The next day, I heeded the calls of one of these boats and hired Fabiano to take me for 4 hour ride around different islands and coves on is boat called Amor Eterno or Eternal Love (I saw the name only when I returned). No wonder the other captains were snickering when we sailed off into the day together. The trip was sublime until I started to torrential downpour—a scene I had not imagined. I made the best of the situation and asked Fabiano to take me to Kontiki Restaurant, the only structure on a small island for lunch to wait out the rain. I capped the day with dinner at Banana de Terra, one of the best fish restaurants in town and it was delicious.
On the second day, I prayed for sunshine and my prayers were answered by a picture perfect day. Aimlessly, I hopped on one of the schooners that take a mix of passengers to a couple islands and beaches for a 4-hour sail. It was one of the better-uninformed decisions ive made. The schooner was alive with music from a resident musician playing everything from samba sounds to American pop music. It was filled with families, lovers, and me. Within half hour, curious, everyone started talking to me inquiring where I was from, what I do, etc and by the end of the trip, I had several new friends.

I literally dashed from the boat to make my bus to Sao Paolo. Yes, I decided to take the bus this time and didn’t regret it. The Green Coast (the region between Sao Paolo and Rio) is some of the lushest landscape ive ever seen and I sat mesmerized by the dense foliage, gorgeous waterfalls cascading from high up in the mountains and the few little homes tucked in at the base of the gorgeous awe inspiring hillside. There were still signs of the recent flooding in the region that had huge boulders and mud tumbling into the road, destroying some areas of it, a hazard of living in this mountainous rainforest like setting. Nonetheless, it’s a place I hope to return to in the not so distant future. I’m now in Sao Paolo and the shows are off to a promising start here. More on that later.

Late starting shows at Fashionrio are off the charts this season. Shows have been starting an hour or more late that has put a wrench in my party going schedule. There have been events from a Gilberto Gil concert on opening night, Victor Dzenk, Juliana Jabour and Cantao after show parties and a Vogue party at a Lapa dive bar, all of which I had to skip because the shows ended so late. Shows have typically ended at 11pm and by then it’s time for a wind down dinner and email catching up. That’s not to say I didn’t make it out. I went to Zero Zero for their long running Sunday night gay party that I’ve been to a few times on other trips Rio. Zero Zero consistently serves up an incredible edit of some of Rio’s most attractive men. There’s of course no shortage of handsome carioca men but at Zero Zero—without a selective door policy—attendees seem to know the rules. Be hot or don’t turn up!

Yesterday during a gap in the shows, I went to MAM (Museum of Modern Art) to see the Coopa-Roca exhibit. Coopa-Roca is a cooperative that empowers women living in the Rocinha favela to craft items from home and contribute to their household income. The cooperative linked up with Christain Lacroix to produce a stunning exhibition of mirrors, chairs and classical figures of women covered in shatung crochet to show that “Brazilian artisanal work and haute couture both have a place in MAM-Rio.” The resulting work is stunning.

If you’ve been following my tweets then you know that I’m in Rio. I touched down on Thurs and was met a thick wall of sun and humidity which was just the welcome I had anticipated. The thing about Rio is that it’s so easy to feel at home. After I check in to Ipanema Plaza, take a stroll to the beach and a make a quick stop in to New Natural for lunch and I’m oriented. A trip to H. Stern is a familiar ritual on the list of early stops since I undoubtedly need something repaired there every season. This time it was for the broken chain on my tourmaline pendant necklace.

Everyone is taking about the heat. The temperature has ranged from 35-50C (95-112F) since I’ve been here and while I love the thick humid air, many have been complaining about how oppressive it is. Of course these conditions impact the experience of attending the shows. I’ve been wearing the skimpiest and most casual looks and by the end of the day (11pm on average) energy is at a troubling low. To restore myself, every night calls for a fabulous dinner. Paula Mateus, editor in chief of Vogue Portugal, Godfrey Deeney of Fashion Wire Daily and myself have been hitting up the late night dining spots. Café Lamas one night, Zaza the next, Bar Brasil last night. Another night I went out with my French crew (Cathy Marchioni and Alexandre Frederic) to Aprazivel that everyone refers to as the tree house restaurant high atop the hills in Santa Teresa.

A trip to Rio isn’t complete without spending some quality time at the Fasano rooftop. Paula Mello graciously invites me whenever I wish to hang out there so Paula Mateus and I went to spend a leisure Sunday before the shows. Fasano is arguably one of the most glamorous rooftop scenes in the world—a sentiment I heard echoed a few times by grateful guests chilling in the pool. I ran into several different friends from all over the world staying there. Gianpaolo Sgura, the Milan based photographer was still there from the holidays and informed me that Neil Barrett and Dan Caten(D Squared) just left. Alice Dellal was prancing around topless with Dan Mcmillan, the Magnificant Zoltar. Designer Victor Dzenk was curled up with friend and entertaining his parents. And the list goes on. Looking below at Ipanema beach that day with wall-to-wall parasols, there was no place else to be that day besides Fasano rooftop.

I’ve been moving to LA since spring of last year. I didn’t take the big plunge by uprooting my life in New York and moving lock, stock and barrel, instead my LA-based friends and clients insisted that I first test the waters in the city by staying in their guesthouse or guest room. It hasn’t been bad. First I lived in the guesthouse of a friend on a charming block just a stone throw away from my cherished Runyon Canyon hike in the middle of West Hollywood. When she moved out at the end of the summer, I decamped to the spectacular home of one of my client, high in the Hollywood Hills around Benedict Canyon that’s counted as one of the most celebrated properties in the city. I’m still there but I have no plans of earning the dubious title like Kato Kaelin did as the famous freeloader who had permanent residence in O.J. and Nicole Simpson’s guesthouse. I’ve made up my mind that I’d like to live in LA (at least most of the time) and come spring, after the European shows, I will finally settle in my own flat.

Mention living in LA to anyone and the first thing they say is ‘do you have a car?’ I haven’t had a car this whole time but Midway Car Rental has been getting an unsettling amount of my money for frequent extended rentals. I guess-timate that I’ve rented a car from the company for five out of the last seven months and while they’re reasonably priced; it’s not a plan for the long term. I started the car search in early fall by combing the car dealers on Ventura on Sunset blvd. The aggressive dealers were swift to throw offers at me, entreating me to sign up right away, giving the impression the deal was only good for that day. I wasn’t mentally ready so I didn’t take plunge. Luckily, a-not-to-turn-down opportunity to buy a car posed itself last month. A friend had a Chrysler 300 on hand that was gifted by the company for her arriving at the Oscars a couple years ago in a Chrysler vehicle (the perks of Hollywood). It was a white elephant in her stable of automobiles. No one used or cherished it, yet there was nothing wrong with the car. Anyway, I now own it. I wasn’t exactly looking to buy a Chrysler but this one is surprisingly luxurious. Some call it the poor man’s Bentley for its copycat shape and luxuries. It feels like I’m sailing on clouds when driving and from the other drivers I see in the car on the road, it also has butch appeal.

The best gift that I received this holiday season was the gift of some time off. I was keen to stay put in California, eat well, sleep a lot, reflect on the past year and plan ahead for 2010.

2009 will go down as one of the most profound years of my life. It was my most traveled year to date. A quick scan had me turn up in Brazil a couple times, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, St Barth and across Europe including London, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm and Zurich on separate trips. My trip to Johannesburg in June to work at a girls’ school will go down on record as one of the most intense and rewarding trips. It was also a passionate year financially, on the family front and surrounding other personal matters–a powerful year that I’m happy to see behind me.

2010 starts with business on the mind. JC Report will relaunch this week. We’ve worked tirelessly to design a user-friendlier site. In addition to the meaty reporting we’re known for, we’re thrilled about our new online boutique in conjunction with some of the best fashion e-tailers as well as Trend Confirmation, our quarterly trend report. I’d love your feedback on the new site when we’re up and running.
I’ve spent the last seven Januarys in Brazil attending Fashion Rio and sometimes Sao Paolo Fashion Week. It’s a great trip to start off the year. It’s summertime and I have so many friends there now, every trip is like a homecoming. I leave to Rio tomorrow and will continue on to Sao Paolo for SPFW in addition to conducting a lecture on the denim market. Follow my dispatches from Brazil for the next 3 weeks.

I was told that Monkey Bar is a ghost town during lunchtime. ‘It’s nothing like the Four Seasons or Le Cirque 2000’ my lunch date promised, ‘it’s perfect for a lunch where you can talk,’ she said confidently. But when I turned up for lunch there last Thursday, the restaurant was overflowing with lunchtime diners and it was noisy. Uber publicist Peggy Seigal was the first one I saw at the entrance and I later found out that her efforts have much to do with the new pumping environment. The food was unremarkable and the crowd was mainly stodgily dressed, middle aged white men and women but I can see the appeal of the semi-circular room that’s ideal for people watching. I spotted a couple Vanity Fair writers and Graydon Carter came over to our table to greet one of my tablemates and apologized for the noise level.

Segueing into my viewing of Tom Ford’s A Single Man seems appropriate, as it’s the quintessential Vanity Fair type movie. As you’d expect, it’s heavily stylized. Tom Ford’s eye for every detail was on full display but luckily, the styling faded to the background soon into to the film to reveal a touching love story with Colin Firth’s character at the center of it. He looked dapper throughout the film and touchingly played a suicidal “widower” who recently lost his lover in a car accident. I guess Tom Ford has silenced his critics who pooh pooh his foray into filmmaking, especially since Firth scored a best actor Golden Globes nomination.

I’m trying to see all the key films before Oscars time. Im not a huge fan of the Sci-fi genre but Avatar is said to be a game-changing movie viewing experience. I was invited to a screening before I left New York but declined instead to return to Los Angeles before the huge snowstorm pummeled the East Coast this weekend. I will see Avatar over the holidays but my big wish for is to stay put, volunteer on Christmas day and rest up for my heavy travel that begins early January with an extended trip to Brazil.

I got back to New York on Sunday and braved the torrential downpour to satisfy my craving for Momofuku’s chicken ramen. It’s the best in town and the perfect Sunday afternoon comfort food. Sunday is also a good day to catch up on the TV shows you missed during the week. And while I don’t own a TV, I can always rely on my friend Chuck Amos to have reality shows and interesting documentaries cued up.

Launch My Line is the latest reality fashion show on Bravo. A few episodes had aired but I hadn’t had a chance to peep it. The cast is filled with familiar faces. Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared are the hosts, Patrick McDonald and Roberto are contestants and Stefani Greenfield is one of the judges. The show is entertaining enough and doesn’t far from the Project Runway formula of creating clothes under pressure cooker conditions. So why watch this and not Project Runway? This is question Bravo is surely trying to answer.
I hit the ground running on Monday.

With only a short time in town before returning to LA on Thursday, it was all about face time meetings. I met up with Roger Joseph and Nancy McDonnell, two former colleagues at Style.com and old friends for some catching up and trading industry news over lunch at Delicatessen on Lafayette Street. Fittingly we ran into Anne Watson, formerly of Henri Bendel’s. I then met up with Andy Salzer, formerly (yes there’s a lot of formerly these days) of Yoko Devereaux at Emilio Ballatto for a long overdue catch up. I’ve known Andy for over a decade but with living out of the country for the most of those years we haven’t been so current with each other. Lunch was a raucous chitchat filled with loads of laughs.

The word is out that Number (N)ine will be closing its doors in January so I’ve been plotting how to get my hands on as many multi-pocketed sweatshirts and pants as possible. I scooped up a few before my trip to St. Barth but still not satisfied, I met up with a couple of my clients later on that day to buy some more pieces. They also wanted to get in on the act and score some goodies for their own wardrobe. We purchased ten articles of clothing between us and then it was time to less materialistic pursuits.

Donna Karan, Hugh Jackson and his wife Deborah Furness invited us to attend a talk on Global Poverty Project at Urban Zen. We said hello to Calvin Klein on the way in where other bold-faced names such as actor Joel Grey and photographer Russell James were in attendance. After a serious digest of facts on global proverty(1.4 billion people living in extreme proverty on less than $1.25 a day), we capped off the night with a quick dash over to Momofuku for another fix of chicken ramen.