Introducing another brand new style, meet Piper! We made our prints even more fun with details like signature Craig Taylor gold buttons, shoulder epaulettes, and pockets. Koralle, orange & white floral print, in the new Piper body will add the right amount of color to your closet this spring. We recommend wearing it with white jeans and a Yul Taylor Monaco clutch.
Enjoy
- Craig
Article from Fasion and Arts Week at Posterous.com: Posted on January 18, 2011
Craig Taylor, fashion designer and Downtown Clearwater resident, will spearhead Fashion and Arts Week held in Downtown Clearwater February 3rd – 6th. The purpose of Fashion and Arts Week is to boost the Downtown Clearwater economy, and will be aided by Taylor’s past history of successfully helping revitalize distressed communities. The arts are critical to the success of a community, as evidenced by a recent USF study which found the City of St. Petersburg gains $25,527,058 in revenue each year from sponsoring art, and attracts just over 1 million visitors.
Taylor has had success in uplifting the following neighborhoods, having seen the best and worst of each:
- South Beach, Miami – Taylor was involved with the Miami Beach Development Corporation in 1987 when South Beach was comprised of real estate with potential and senior citizens. Taylor, then an architect, helped renovate old hotels.
- SoHo, New York City – In 1992, Taylor lived in and started his clothing company in the lower end of SoHo. Along with other likeminded artists, Taylor helped transform the industrial neighborhood into the trendy fashion and shopping area it is today.
- Downtown Los Angeles – When Taylor first moved into his east of Broadway loft with wife Yul, they had to shoo homeless people away from their front door. Through the creative energy they put into their new home, and a fashionable coffee shop opening up directly downstairs, the neighborhood turned around. Now, five years later, Taylor's old block is dotted with restaurants, wine-bars and galleries.
- Downtown Clearwater – Today Taylor is participating in the Downtown Clearwater Renaissance by helping organize Fashion and Arts Week, showcasing the Cleveland Street District. Taylor also spearheaded the inaugural Fashion Week, which drew people from Sarasota, Orlando and Miami.
According to Taylor, the formula to revitalizing an area is to take young, creative people, for example artists, and put them in places that have potential. Give them some cheap rent and a bucket of paint, and their creative energy will do the rest. All it takes is vision, and people who are willing.
While the landlord might not be collecting as much rent at first, in the long run it will help out the landlord, since the area will be worth more because they are renting to someone who will improve the area and make the building worth more.
Downtown Clearwater has all of the ingredients for success: wealthy and international communities, nice weather, a beautiful beach nearby with none of the hassle of the beach, and citizens such as Taylor dedicated to improvements. The City of Clearwater is following this formula by giving incentives to businesses who want to come to Downtown Clearwater. Already the incentives have shown to make a positive change. La Cachette, Green Organic Café and Wine Bar, Tony’s Pizza and Cassanova have all benefitted from the incentives and are revitalizing the district.
During Fashion and Arts Week, Taylor will be holding an informal Q&A on how to break into the fashion industry with refreshments served in addition to a sample sale in his Downtown Clearwater design studio. Showroom samples of his shirts, which normally sell up to $250 at stores like Neimen Marcus, will be on sale for $35 to $45.
Fashion and Arts week will include a by-invitation preview event at Water’s Edge, sample sales, a Thursday evening multi-media fashion experience at System Productions, a full-service production studio headed by internationally recognized fashion photographer Troy Plota, street performers, musicians, an open air art show and more. A film screening presented by the Sunscreen Film Festival on Friday, February 4th and a ballet presented by the Guilfoil Ballet Theatre on Saturday, February 5th will both be held at the Capitol Theatre. All activities will be free, excluding the ballet and the film screening.
Fashion and Arts Week is an extension of Clearwater Fashion Week, which was put on by the Clearwater Designer Co-Op with the idea of stimulating the Downtown Clearwater economy by offering a week long designer sample-sale, and fashion shows. Fashion and Arts Week will take place on Cleveland Street in Downtown Clearwater February 3rd – 6th.
Craig Taylor captures the essence of casual luxury with his all-new Spring 2011 collection of shirts, dresses and tunics.
Inspired by the glamorous looks of his Danish fashion model mother in the 1960’s, Craig has worked each new style to embody a certain European chic.
On the style-level, silhouettes are powerful and details abound, from safari pockets and epaulettes to gold signature buttons and roll-up sleeves.
On the quality-level, Craig’s European background is obvious in his use of luxurious Swiss fabrics, Italian scarf-prints, Austrian embroideries, and meticulous tailoring methods.
The line aims to spark your enthusiasm with many new spirited looks including the “Tinsley” shirtdress, “Harper” safari tunic, “Piper” fitted top, and the “Blaine” boyfriend shirt.
Spring ‘11 has been designed to flatter and excite as the collection moves into its new, modern and elegant direction of classic European style.
This is the perfect transition piece to introduce our spring collection. This is our new fit “Tinsley” a safari shirt dress. Introducing great design details including side-pockets, gold buttons, and epaulettes. Available in “Double-Shot” (espresso) or “Jet-Set” (black). Wear it with leggings & boots or if you’re headed to a warmer climate a pair of sandals... here’s looking to the warmer weather ahead!
- Craig
Article from Fasion and Arts Week at Posterous.com: Posted on December 15, 2010. Image by Photo by Brad Kugler
In 2009, a group of volunteers, including celebrity Clearwater resident Craig Taylor, banded together to stimulate the economy of Downtown Clearwater in a grass roots movement called Clearwater Fashion Week. A year-and-a-half later, the event will be repeated and expanded on, but how effective were the group’s efforts?
On February 3rd – 6th, the Clearwater Designer Co-Op, a group of dedicated volunteers committed to improving the economy of Downtown Clearwater through artistic events, will expand upon Clearwater Fashion Week, their inaugural event, in a four-day celebration of culture known as Fashion and Arts Week.
Clearwater Fashion Week began as an attempt to revitalize the Cleveland Street District by showing retailers that having a store in Downtown Clearwater could be both possible and profitable by holding a designer sample sale in an empty store front of Station Square.
Clearwater Fashion Week was spearheaded by fashion designer and Clearwater resident Craig Taylor, who had the desire to see Clearwater grow into the next Naples or Sarasota. Taylor has been involved in the renaissance of other communities which have now gone on to become quite fashionable, including SoHo in New York City, Downtown Los Angeles, and South Beach in Miami.
1,000 people attended last year’s event, including fashionistas from Miami and Orlando trekking out to take advantage of the deeply discounted prices on Rebecca Minkoff handbags, Whitley Kros dresses and Craig Taylor blouses. A total of $41,000 was spent. A portion of proceeds benefitted Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Junior League. Since the event, Fashion Week volunteer Paula Cadman opened up the Blue Dahlia on Cleveland Street – which was named “Best Hidden Treasure Boutique” in Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay.
The City of Clearwater recently requested the Clearwater Designer Co-Op repeat the event in 2011. The dedication of the Clearwater Designer Co-Op indicates that the residents of the community care about the condition of their community.
“Because there are so many talented people in this area, we didn’t want to limit it to just fashion,” said Laura Clouden of the Clearwater Designer Co-Op. This year’s event will include dance, contortionists, musicians, plain air art, and film. Taylor will be hosting another sample sale this year. This year’s beneficiaries will be Bless the Child and 10,000 Villages.
‘Tis the season to go to lots of parties and LULA puts you in a festive mood! This romantic silk can dress up any outfit. Happy Holidays!
- Craig
WAVE is part of our resort collection and is one of our exclusive prints. If this doesn’t put you in the mood for the beach, I don’t know what will…. Remember to pack your white pants for the perfect look!
- Craig
Take a stroll thru BOTANICA gardens. This gorgeous floral is great with jeans or under a winter white suit. You can’t go wrong with this print.
- Craig
WOW! This print makes me want to take a vacation and send you a POSTCARD FROM RIO! Turquoise is the color of the year, and this one is a perfect hue!
- Craig
Ipanema…When I saw this fabric in Paris it was immediately in the line. Even though it’s in fall you still have time to pair it with a white pant, and it looks amazing! We have girls wearing it in the office, and it’s a home run! - Craig
