CITYist

Tara Subkoff doesn’t like trends. Who could blame her? She’s a fashion designer/actress/filmmaker. She lives in New York/Los Angeles. She hangs out with Chlöe Sevingny/Scarlett Johansson/Wes Anderson. By the time trends become trendy to the masses, she and her clique have already found new fashion to, well, make trendy.

Now Subkoff’s mainstream fans can get ahead of all those other sheepish trendsters, because this Fall she is releasing some unique, glamorous styles at the nationwide apparel and accessory company bebe.

“Bebe and I are mutual admirers, so I was flattered when they approached me to create this collection,” Subkoff said. “Bebe was fantastic in giving me completely free creative reign — we work really well together in that we both ignore what is meant to be on ‘trend,’ and go with what we think is cool right now.”

Subkoff said having the confidence to wear strong and sexy designs beyond what everyone else wears is “cool right now.” And she’s been on the pulse of what’s cool since dropping out of Parsons the New School for Design and moving to L.A. to pursue her acting career. She was actress Reese Witherspoon’s roommate, and appeared in over a dozen films, most notably The Cell with Jennifer Lopez.

She then co-founded the fashion label “Imitation of Christ,” where she and creative director Sevingny remade vintage clothes into modern pieces that drew a cult following from celebrities including Johansson, Witherspoon, and Kate Hudson. Johansson and Carmen Electra even modeled in one of her runway shows.

But the 10 exclusive pieces for bebe gave Subkoff the opportunity to offer her fashion aesthetic to a larger market because it is sold at a more accessible cost. Prices range from $89 for a top to $249 for a sequence dress.

“It was a great experience creating truly democratic fashion,” she said. “It was as liberating as it was constrictive in the sense that it is available to a much wider portion of the market.”

“Tara Subkoff for bebe,” the Fall/Holiday 2008 line available at select bebe stores across the country, was inspired by Subkoff’s love of retro Hollywood’s glamorous women.

“I love celebrating women being smart and sexy. The combination of the two is strong,” she said. “The screen sirens like Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, and Barbara Stanwyck were portrayed as bold, sexualized femme fatale temptresses. They were always put in challenging situations and hard times, and they always came out on top.”

And to promote the new line, Subkoff designed directed a dark film to appear on the bebe Web site. This is the third movie she has directed for fashion projects.

“I love film,” she said. “I’m very inspired by film noir; it seems that every filmmaker I admire starts there.” Subkoff’s take on the movie style, a five-minute short aptly titled “Film Noir,” stars socialite Lydia Hearst as an actress being hounded by the paparazzi through 1940s Los Angeles.

“Lydia is a great friend of mine, and I wanted someone who really lives the life of a Hollywood starlet and understands the pressures,” Subkoff said. “It was great fun working with her — and she’s so damn beautiful!”

The film was shot in black and white at Bette Davis’ legendary L.A. mansion and features a car chase down Mulholland Drive in a 1948 Buick, biting commentary on society’s obsession with celebrities (trends), placement of key pieces from the bebe collection, and, like all great films about empowered women, a lesbian love scene. Subkoff recruited Danity Kane singer Aubrey O’Day for the titillating part.

“We wanted to do something a little salacious, but this spread like wildfire across the blogs in minutes!” Subkoff said. “That was crazy.  Lydia was bombarded by the press asking if she was a lesbian! But Aubrey is another good friend of mine and we all had a good giggle about it afterwards.”  

By defying pop culture’s ideas about female power and sexuality, Subkoff is hoping her new clothing line and modern vixens, like the dark femme fatales who inspired her, cause men to crumble and women to realize they can be sinister and dress commandingly without being — say it with me — trendy.