28 October 2008
Priyanka Chopra walked the ramp for a fashion event in Mumbai recently. That, combined with her role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion sure must have made her
very fashion conscious, hai na?
Ask her what her dress sense is like, and she says, “Fashion to me is being comfortable. Even if the sharara and ghaghra were in, I would still prefer to
wear a saree.” So, who does she think are the most fashionable people in the film industry? “Among the males, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan any day, any
time. Among the women, Preity Zinta has a great dressing sense and Kangna Ranaut looks fabulous in the most outrageous clothes,” she says. Cool hai,
Priyanka. Hey, Harman, you aren’t in the list, dude!
Fashion Week heats up Toronto
28 October 2008
The tents at Nathan Phillips Square were overflowing for day two of L'Oreal Fashion Week. Moving through the crowd proved almost chaotic as press, industry
and public tried to get a glimpse of the Spring 2009 collections from both upcoming and well-established designers.
Youngsters trotted down the runway in distressed denim, industrial style hoodies and bright colours for Diesel Kids. Many were barefoot and donning leis.
The playful clothing was a stark contrast to the shades of black, grey, nude and white for Joeffer Caoc. A member of Canada's Group of Seven -- not of
landscape painting fame, but Fashion Design Council of Canada appointee -- Caoc is known for the artistic and architectural elements of his designs. A
beautifully draped asymmetrical nude dress featured a gold silk panel while several dresses made of sheer muted fabrics were matched with horizontal black
and white stripes of sequins. Abstract pen and ink drawings added to the tri-colour black, grey and white dresses.
Bustle by Shawn Hewson and Ruth Promislow -- Bay street lawyers with a passion for fashion -- offered menswear for the jet set. The runway had a photograph
of an airport hanger displayed above the models who sported tailored jackets and shorts, trench coats, fitted pants and of course Ray-Ban aviators.
Another member of the FDCC's group of seven, David Dixon, was last night's closing show. The coordinates for Umtata, the birthplace of Nelson Mandela, were
projected on the far wall which then faded into an African landscape complete with deep shades of orange and the silhouettes of Marula trees. 'Walk to
Freedom' featured rich textiles such as floral chiffon, hibiscus silk print, glass alligator organza and bold accessories like black chunky beads and thick
porcupine leather belts.
While Dixon shut down the tents in Nathan Phillips Square, the well-heeled crowd made their way to the Brant House. The House was packed for an after party
that doubled as a celebration of Betsey Johnson's 30th anniversary. International models Taryn Davidson, Kori Richardson and Amanda Laine fashioned
Johnson's signature flamboyant party dresses and channeled the designer's spirit giving rock hands, sticking out their tongues and blowing kisses as they
walked down the runway.
The excitement continues today in the tents with Andy the Ahn and Thien Le and off-site at Spice Route for Shinan Govani's "Shinanigans" and Atelier for the
Dior Fragrance Lounge.
Stress of war may help cause schizophrenia: study
22 August 2008
Pregnant women who live through wars are more likely to give birth to a child who develops schizophrenia, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday in a study
linking prenatal stress with the mental illness.
Babies born to women who were in their second month of pregnancy during the height of the 1967 Arab-Israeli "Six-Day" War were significantly more likely to
be diagnosed with schizophrenia as adults, they found.
Similar patterns are likely among many stressed women, said Dr. Dolores Malaspina of the New York University School of Medicine, who led the study.
"The stresses in question are those that would be experienced in a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane, a terrorist attack, or a sudden
bereavement," Malaspina said in a statement.
Writing in the BioMed Central journal BMC Psychiatry, the researchers said they studied data from 88,829 people born in Jerusalem from 1964 to 1976.
"The raw data suggest a two- to three-fold excess of schizophrenia in the cohort born in January 1968, whose mothers would have been in the second month of
pregnancy in June 1967," they wrote.
"The population of Jerusalem would have been most stressed during the three days of bombardment on June 5-7."
Because the war was so short, they consider the situation a natural experiment.
Now the team is looking to see if perhaps people with a genetic predisposition were more or less likely to be affected. It may not necessarily be the case,
said Karine Kleinhaus, also of NYU, who worked on the study.
"The hypothesis is that it may induce epigenetic changes, but we didn't look at blood here," Kleinhaus said in a telephone interview.
Epigenetic changes affect how a gene works, but not the DNA sequence itself. Schizophrenia, which affects about 1.1 percent of the population globally, is
know to have some genetic causes but many cases have no known family links.
"It could affect people without a family history," Kleinhaus said.
Several studies show that stress in pregnancy can lead to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and other types of heart disease in the offspring.
In this study, the effects were seen more in women than in men, with females who had been in their second month of gestation during the conflict 4.3 times
more likely to develop schizophrenia than females born at other times. Males were 1.2 times more likely to develop schizophrenia if their mothers were
pregnant during the war.
"The placenta is very sensitive to stress hormones in the mother. These hormones were probably amplified during the time of the war," Malaspina said.
Some evidence suggests that male fetuses are more likely to be miscarried if the mother is stressed, so it may be that female fetuses survive with the damage
that eventually leads to schizophrenia, the researchers said.
Shamita's Passion for Fashion
22 August 2008
Not many know but Shamita Shetty has acquired a degree in fashion designing. The actress, before embarking on films full time, had planned to pursue a career
as a fashion designer. She had even completed a degree course in fashion designing at Mumbai's SNDT College and was student the college faculty was proud of.
A class mate revealed, "Shamita used to give her 100% to the projects she undertook as a fashion designer. She was brilliant at mixing and matching fabrics
and would have definitely been an asset to the fashion world."
Fabrics of varied hues, printed designs and playing with ideas and giving it a creative expression was something Shamita always felt passionately about. But
guess fate had something else in store for her. A film offer from the industry's best, Yashraj Films, was too tempting to turn down. Guess the rest is
history.
Nike brand head very pleased with Beijing effort
21 August 2008
SAN FRANCISCO: More than just benefiting from a short-term sales spike from the Olympic Games, Nike is grabbing the attention and trust of Chinese consumers
that will help secure its position as the No. 1 athletic brand in China, the company's Nike brand president said on Tuesday.
China, currently the company's second-largest market behind the United States, represents the largest sourcing country and the fastest-growing market
anywhere on the globe for Nike Inc, the largest athletic shoe and apparel maker in the world.
Charlie Denson, Nike brand president, told Reuters in an interview from Beijing that Nike is 33 percent bigger than its next competitor in China -- German
brand Adidas AG -- and is committed to cementing its position as it grows on a long-term basis within that country of 1.3 billion consumers.
"It's not just about the financial success we're having today but the long-term sustainability of that and our connectivity with the Chinese consumer,"
Denson said. "From a growth standpoint, China is and will continue to be one of our biggest growth engines over the next several years."
The company has been opening stores on a daily basis, Denson said, and is now in some 300 Chinese cities. Sales in China rose 50 percent in the first half of
the year on a constant currency basis, the company said in June. Earlier in the year, Nike announced that it reached its original goal of $1 billion in sales
in China a year ahead of original projections.
"We are very pleased with our efforts here in Beijing and our efforts here overall, and I would say globally," Denson said.
The company sponsors individual athletes performing in the Olympics, such as track idol Liu Xiang, and dresses 22 of the Chinese sport Federations.
Earlier this week, the company ran full-page ads in Chinese newspapers in support of Xiang, who could not compete in the hurdles due to a foot injury,
disappointing millions of fans. "Love sport even when it breaks your heart" said the ads.
For its part, Adidas said earlier this month that China would become its second-largest market by the end of the year, with sales having jumped 60 percent in
the first six months of the year.
BOTH SIDES OF THE CLOSET
Whereas in the United States, Nike sells 2.5 times more shoes than apparel, in China the mix is more balanced, Denson said, due to Nike's opportunity to
display more apparel merchandise in single-branded, franchised retail stores in China.
"We can do some of the most impressive retail presentations of anywhere in the world," Denson said, noting that recent campaigns at retail had been
"fantastically successful."
Apparel will play a very significant role in China's growth, Denson said, both in athletic gear and what Nike calls "sport culture" clothing, designed to
emulate the look and feel of sporting attire for non-athletes. That allows Nike to operate in China at "both sides of the closet," he said.
Although footwear and clothing for men has so far dominated
Nike's China business, Denson said the fully televised Olympic games on national Chinese television has been crucial in introducing women to new sports and
giving exposure to Chinese athletes, including women's teams.
New-look Woolmark aims for higher fashion and stre
13 August 2008
Australian rugby union Test stars stood alongside fashion designers to launch Woolmark's new logo in Sydney yesterday.
The 44-year-old logo is displayed on all Australian merino wool products. The wool is indisputably the world's highest quality, and is used by designers Karl
Lagerfeld, the late Yves Saint Lauren, Hermes and a wide range of fashion retailers.
The organisation announced two new labels Australian Merino for high-end couture fashion and Superior Merino for street wear and a $120 million three-year
campaign to promote Australian merino wool to high-end fashion producers.
Australian Wool Innovation chief executive Craig Welsh said the new logo was designed to appeal to a younger consumer. ''To the older generations, the
Woolmark logo is associated with the finest quality, reliable wool. But the younger generations don't know what that quality means. They don't know merino
wool can be light, soft and extremely comfortable. It can be used as a luxurious evening wear material or in sporting clothes.''
Designers Michelle Jank, Ben Pollitt and Jason Brunsdone displayed models wearing luxurious haute couture Australian Merino evening wear, while Wallabies
Rocky Elsom and Stephen Hoiles displayed their team's merino suits.
Elsom said the material looked good to him.
''I'm no suit expert but I put it on and it feels good,'' he said, raising a chuckle out of the national fashion media.
Pollitt, who designs label Fredrich Gray, said merino wool was no longer a classic material.
''It's a very versatile, modern material,'' he said. ''I use it as a superfine summer material and I was the first in Australia to digitally print on wool.
There are new innovations happening with merino wool every day.''
The new-look Australian Wool Innovation logo features a curved swirl representing a ram's head.
Mr Welsh said the organisation didn't make the decision to change the logo lightly. ''We've avoided the temptation to fiddle with something that is already
pretty good, but all industries and brands need a reimaging from time to time and not because the logo was not performing, but because merino wool is the
right product for the right time right now.''
Condobolin singer Shannon Noll said he was glad the fashion industry was paying attention to merino wool.
''I normally know wool from the other side of the scene, in the shed with the sheep and the dust, but it's great to see there's as much enthusiasm on the
other side,'' he said.
Australian Woolgrowers Association chairman Martin Oppenheimer agreed, saying farmers were crying out for a new media campaign. ''Numbers of merino
woolgrowers have been declining in the past five years and what we needed was a launch like this to excite woolgrowers so they know more about the product
and have more confidence that there's a strong demand for it,'' he said. Mr Oppenheimer runs a flock of 12,000 sheep in New England, NSW, and said he planned
to expand the flock to keep up with demand.
''This initiative will drive merino wool sales and interest up,'' he said.
Hot trends for sunglasses
12 August 2008
Conspicuous logos and white frames a-la Victoria Beckham are on the way out but oversized sunnies, aviators and mirror glasses are hot, hot, hot.
Any self-respecting fashionista can tell you sunglasses are about more than protecting your eyes against the sun.
Your sunnies can hide tired or red eyes while adding glamour, mystery, elegance and impact to any outfit.
And as Bono has shown, nothing screams "rock-star" more than a cool pair of sunglasses worn indoors, at night or when there isn't a ray of sun around.
Here are a few upcoming trends in these perennial fashion faves.
Big and round: Oversized sunglasses are still very in, according to Dawn Klimaszewski, marketing director for Maui Jim sunglasses. "In fashion, the big thing
is the big frames. But it's evolving. More rounded, smaller."
Logos on the outer: Longtime luxury brand lovers are looking for a way to differentiate themselves from their flashier counterparts with understated
elegance.
Old-school classics: Vintage-inspired remains hot, says Melanie Martin, spokeswoman for the New York-based Sunglass Association of America. "Some of those
vintage glasses used to have a flat lens. But new lenses can have a full wrap with details inspired by Jackie O, but wrapped a little more around your face,
which gives you more protection."
Aviators still flying high: Aviators are still big for men and women," Martin says. Klimaszewski adds, "Oversized is fashion but aviators are hot everywhere
else."
Haute hues: Shiny black is No 1. From the vintage trend, tortoise shell remains popular and champagne shades are gaining fast. White sunglasses are fading,
while navy continues to be strong. Fluorescents are said to be on the ascent including those from names like Dior.
A little bit of sparkle: Jewellery lines like Tiffany and Bulgari are huge right now, says Barry Kay of Hollywood Eyes. "They copy their jewellery designs on
the sides of the frames. They sell well because of the uniqueness." These glasses can get pricey, though. A limited edition design from Fendi, loaded with
hand-placed Swarovski crystals, goes for around $US1,000.
Mirror, mirror: What goes best with your metallic dress or your foil-effect T-shirt? Mirror-like materials are beginning to shine again, especially with
high-tech metals and colourful plastics from the likes of Jimmy Choo and Dior.
Jewelry trunk show starts Aug. 18
11 August 2008
Green River Silver Co. is hosting a trunk show featuring the handcrafted jewelry of local designer Amber Bettez. Taking inspiration from nature and using
stones and beach glass, Bettez fashions pendants, bracelets, earrings, rings and necklaces, each piece wrapped in sterling wire.
The show will be at the Green River Silver at 24 Brown St., Wickford, through Friday and at the stores at 735 Hope St. in Providence and 297 Hope St. in
Bristol from Aug. 18 to Sept. 1. See www.greenriversilver.com or call (401) 621-9092.
It’s time for back-to-school shopping. Can you do it without breaking the bank? No sweat, says ShopSmart magazine, from the publisher of Consumer Reports.
Here are tips from the September issue:
Stall with summer sale items. Hold off on buying fall trends until the Labor Day and Columbus Day sales. Kids often don’t know what they want, anyway, until
they see what other kids are wearing after school starts.
Don’t stock up. Inventory what your child already has. Not only do kids go through growth spurts, they get overwhelmed by too many choices.
Use coupons. Before hitting the stores, check for coupons and online coupon codes on Web sites like www.couponscabin.com. (You can Google the store name and
“coupon code” to find sites.) You could save 10 to 50 percent, the magazine says.
Try things on. No matter how much your kid whines about it. If it doesn’t fit right, they won’t wear it.
Stick with cotton. Its kid-friendly fibers are comfortable, breathable and durable. Keep in mind that it can shrink as much as 10 percent.
Pay full price, sometimes. You don’t have to buy everything at bargain prices for a good deal. If a child loves and wears a piece of clothing over and over,
it’s worth the extra money.
Meanwhile, in the latest expansion of her culinary empire, celebrity chef Rachael Ray now has a charity-driven line of dog foods based on recipes she has
created for her pit bull, Isaboo.
Ray, who came to fame with her 30 Minute Meals Food Network show, said all of her proceeds from sales of Rachael Ray Nutrish pet foods will go to Rachael’s
Rescue, which she founded for at-risk animals. The outspoken dog lover regularly has recipes for pet food in her magazine, Every Day With Rachael Ray.
“It seemed like not a lot of extra time to donate to something that could potentially raise millions of dollars for championing these little creatures that
can’t speak for themselves,” Ray said. A line for cats also is planned.
A suitable outfit for the office
6 August 2008
My ethical lifestyle aspirations are not hugely compatible with my career as I try to climb the corporate ladder in the City. But I try to make small
differences where I can ... every little helps. In the meantime, where can I find a classic, well-fitted ethical/organic (pencil skirt) suit for work? Is my
best bet to go to a tailor? What about shoes? I am 30 and a size 8. I wouldn't really want to spend more than £250 on the suit and £100 on the shoes.
Elizabeth Bedford
The ethical fashion industry is still, despite huge growth in recent years, such a small part of the gigantic fashion behemoth that more specialised
requirements can sometimes be tricky – and in ethical clothing, smart workwear definitely counts as specialised. A good suit requires sharp tailoring.
Companies working in a genuinely fair trade way will not simply outsource to skilled workers but work to support local weavers and tailors and develop their
skills over a long period of time. This is one of the many reasons why setting up an ethical fashion company is a long-term investment and not a route to a
quick buck. And it means that while it is perfectly possible to find sharply cut ethical clothes, it does sometimes require a little patience and a lot of
hunting.
Fortunately there are many young designers and labels with a less casual look who are putting their own fashion savvy and skills into organic or fair trade
production. Amana are one such company who might provide a first stop on your search. They source fabrics with minimal environmental impact, using organic
cottons and even peace silk (as mentioned in last week's column). Their garments are all made on a fair trade basis by women artisans in a village in the
Middle Atlas mountains. More to the point for your search, they also produce suits. Next season's design is available for pre-order already at the ethical
fashion site Fashion-conscience.com. Alas, it's a trouser suit rather than the pencil skirt you were after, but it is very nicely cut and a classic design,
and as the jacket and trousers are sold as separates, you could certainly match the former with anything else in your wardrobe - helpfully, it's black. The
jacket will retail for £125 and the trousers £110, so within your budget.
In fact Fashion-conscience is also a great place to look for other separates that are – as the name suggests – fashion savvy without compromising on ethics.
Liane Ludlow, who runs the site, recommends this pencil skirt by Sweden-based designer Camilla Norrback, made from organic cotton. It's not available until
later in the month but you can pre-order it now for £127.50. Camilla Norrback is worth keeping an eye on for other separates in the future, too. The Stewart
& Brown white shirt pictured on the site would also be a great staple for the working wardrobe.
Another brand who might provide you with some workwear solutions are Fin. The Devidoll website has a grey suit (again, trousers I'm afraid) though it's
possible you might feel the sleeves of the blazer are a bit too fashion-forward for your office?
Arguable the most ethical option, however, is not to go shopping at all but to recycle - you don't have to buy something new to get a new outfit. Junky
Styling, based in London's Brick Lane, perform minor miracles with cast-off clothing. They completely recut charity shop rejects into edgy new outfits – and
helpfully for you, they also run a "wardrobe surgery". You just take one of your old suits (or any other item of clothing) and they submit it to a uniquely
ethical form of cosmetic surgery, creating something new from your old threads. It's very hard for them to give an accurate quote without seeing that they
will be working with and what you want done, but a rough figure for recutting an old suit jacket and skirt would be something in the region of £200. The
whole process is collaborative so you can be very clear about how fashionable or conservative you want the final unique outcome to be.
Finally, you mention going to a tailor - which is certainly a good option. However, if you go to a specialist ethical one it could get too expensive for your
budget. For example, Lucy Tamman has her own label which includes a bespoke service but you would be looking at more in the region of £800 for a made-to-
measure suit.
Help is at hand from Jen Marsden, editor of the forthcoming Green Guide to Fashion and Beauty. "You can buy eco fabrics yourself like organic cotton from
Green Fibres, Fairtrade-certified cotton from Bishopston Trading Company, and even hemp from Hemp Fabric UK. You can buy natural dyes from companies such as
Fibrecrafts, who offer detailed instructions on how to use pure colours such as turmeric and indigo." Armed with your own fabric, you can visit any local
tailor (one would hope they pay themselves fair trade wages ...) If you take along an existing suit that you particularly like the cut of, they could copy
that. Or you could even have a go yourself!
Finally we must tackle shoes. Ethical shoes are always tricky – is leather always the least ethical option when plastic is often the alternative? It's a
question I'd like to come back to in the future but suffice to say that the jury is still out. At any rate, most ethical shoes tend towards the casual –
trainers, flip-flops and the like. For the office, Terra Plana would be a good place to start, particularly their simple black models. Or what about these
wonderful organic cotton and patent buckle shoes from Bourgeois Boheme, which have jumped to the top of my wish-list. The same company also have a nice
simple pair of flats which would work well with one of those trouser suits, and many other simple designs suitable for the more formal office. If you're
worried about buying shoes online without a chance to try them on, and if you are in or can get to London, then Terra Plana have two shops and Bourgeois
Boheme have a showroom in Richmond where you could go and try them on.
Developing a fashion game plan
5 August 2008
When did getting dressed become such a chore? Pants don't fit, skirts are out of date and more workout clothes than office wear spill over closet dividers.
Personal stylists – also called wardrobe specialists, personal shoppers and image consultants – also are bursting out all over Seattle. A sampling of both
independent stylists and those at department stores showed how the right knowledge and attitude can fix malfunctioning wardrobes.
"One of the things I see Seattle getting better at is that people are becoming more aware and nonapologetic in their choices in clothing and how they adorn
themselves," said stylist Alvin Stillwell.
It's all about the right fit. And not just between the garments and the person. If you're going to spend several hundred dollars to do this, it's important
to find a stylist who fits you perfectly.
"I want to develop a person's personal style, not a cookie-cutter image, so they always feel authentic," said Darcey Howard, the light-hearted but seriously
fashion-savvy founder of LifeStyled. "Dressing with intent – that's the energy, that's what's going to be noticed. How you want to feel – how you carry
yourself – makes a difference."
These are problem solvers who use their fashion, marketing and retail backgrounds to break clients out of their preconceived images. "The one thing I usually
hear is, 'I never would've tried this on,' " said Kimberly Markle, manager of Personal Styling at the downtown Nordstrom. "Even if it's a disaster, you have
to put it on your body. Breaking out of that mold is an exciting thing to watch."
These are fashion bloggers whose tastes are beacons of guidance for clients.
"I assume style is within everyone's grasp," said Angie Cox, the pixie prodigy behind YouLookFab.com. "It's something that can be learned. It's not a dress
size and it's not a budget. ... I don't like the word image consultant, or personal shopper. It's not what I do. My aim is to teach you how to do it without
me. I focus on the journey."
These are lifestyle coaches who preach aesthetically pleasing and holistic approaches.
"We are the complete opposite aesthetic of what you'd see on 'The Real Housewives of Orange County,' " said Sarah Caples, owner and chief stylist for
Impeccable, which distinguishes itself by looking at fashion as an art form. "We are for the intellectual and avant-garde, for those who are capable of
achieving greatness and want that to reflect in their style opposed to those who want to 'keep up.' "
Most of the stylists the P-I talked with had the same basic process. First, a phone conversation and/or a questionnaire is used to get a feel for if the fit
is right between them. Then they'll make a date for the stylist to visist the client's house and do some version of a wardrobe purge – making him/her try on
everything, toss out/donate what doesn't work, updating other outfits and making combinations the client hasn't thought of. This can take all day. Then
there's a shopping day(s). The stylists will pull a selection for the client at home or at the store(s). You buy the clothes, of course. Finally, stylists
leave their clients with different ways of reinforcing what they've learned – photo books and CDs, tip guides, etc.
"I was fairly clueless. I would pick a lot of wrong things before getting to the right thing," said Eva Gutierrez, 43, an insurance broker who lives in Green
Lake and is one of Cox's clients. "She helps you identify your style. She really helps you pick things. She knows what's in all of the stores. In one day you
get shopping done you can't do in days and days with friends, and she knows the fit. She can pick up those little details. She finds things that push the
envelope for me."
These stylists debunk the myths you have to be a woman, celebrity or subject to "What Not To Wear" ridicule to engage their services.
"My clients are hard-working, goal-oriented people," Howard said. "They're in the land of perfectionists, except in this one area."
While these independent stylists have freedom to choose clothes from any store, they also charge upwards of $100 an hour for those services. Personal Touch
consultations at Nordstrom are free, but the selection is limited to what is in the store. And, yes, they get sales commissions. But you can always say no to
their suggestions.
"As the business became more competitive with the rise of the mall and specialty stores in the 1970s and 1980s, it became uneconomical for all but the high-
end stores to retain personal shoppers," said Jan Kniffen, chief executive officer of J Rogers Kniffen Worldwide Enterprises, LLC, a New York-based retail
consulting company. "There is a huge change back the other way now. While Nordstrom has always made its bones with service, most of the others had let
service 'go to hell,' as all of us who shop know. ... Now we see all of the department stores re-emphasizing service."Markle and her team of stylists at
Nordstrom use their knowledge of the entire store to give customers an outfit – or a wardrobe. Walk-ins are welcome, although appointments are booked
daily.Two stylists from the store also will go on home visits after an initial in-store consult, for an hourly fee of $100 an hour with a two-hour minimum.
The safety and security of home is why stylists want access to it. This is where you're most comfortable, and it helps put clients in context.
"When you walk out of your house, what makes you feel the way the house makes you feel – grounded and supported? The clothes on your back," Howard said. "If
you don't, there's a disconnect."
And that's where she and others in her field come in.
"The closet is very personal. It's hard to let people in," said Closet Fly's Mayna Sgaramella. "Some people are really fine and open. They let me roam.
Others have a hard time letting go of things and have body image issues. Most people will say, 'Look at these thighs.' I just tell them, 'If you identify
your body type and know it's based on your frame – which you're born with – and you have the same frame at 65 as you do at 18,' it helps them to relax and
accept themselves so they can look at themselves in the mirror."
The issue of establishing trust came up with every stylist the P-I talked with.
"When a person comes to me, they're really vulnerable. They're asking for help," Howard said. "We have to look at where you've been, your influences and then
move forward together to find what's important. Feeling good where you are right now can be a huge motivation to where you want to be."
Each stylist has his or her own approach to the wardrobe purge.
"It's so liberating to get rid of all that crap," said Susie Prets, a dynamo of a woman raised in Seattle who worked 18 years for Nordstrom. "People just
want to hear the truth. They really trust me. I am really honest. If it's a memory, even if it's the most hideous thing, keep it. It's your call. At the end,
when all is said and done, they're laughing at themselves, laughing at me. It's amazing what people will tell you when they're standing there in their
underwear."
One of her clients, Kris Jarvis, a Sammamish mom of three teens who admits she hates shopping, said: "She starts dumping your clothes. I was surprised how
much. I'm a little bit of a pack rat. Old pieces she brought back to life and came up with combinations I never would have thought of. In the end I didn't
need that much. I needed to be shown what to do with what I had. I ended up calling her Santa. I have her on retainer now."
Howard's style is probably very similar – she takes a portable garment rack with her and plays clothing psychologist, as she did recently with Michele Bayle
-Zeman, owner of Wink Mobile Eyewear. Howard went to the Seward Park home and made an afternoon event of going through Bayle-Zeman's memories, including
resurrecting a velour jumpsuit and Bayle-Zeman's "Pretty Woman" phase.
Howard's comments make it fun. On the jumpsuit: "This is screaming, smokin' '80s material." On a blue-and-white vintage suit: "This is a showstopper." On
cutting the collar off a denim jacket to update it: "I want to see more of you creating that pause moment."
Clients sometimes come with specific needs in mind – transitioning from home life to back to work (after a maternity leave, for instance), retirement,
traveling.
"Sweats can't cover it for every occasion," Prets said. "This really makes them step it up."
Gal-pal tales don't go lightly on fashion
1 August 2008
Truman Capote said of Breakfast at Tiffany's, his classic novella of a New York glamour girl, that he was trying to prune his writing style, achieve a more
subdued prose.
Of course, Holly Golightly became the lodestar to designers as well as to millions of young women who have been enthralled by her single-minded spirit and by
the image evoked by Audrey Hepburn in the opening shot of the film, as the cab races up 5th Avenue and deposits her in front of Tiffany's.
Holly is now 50 -- as hard as that is to believe. This realization lends a certain poignancy to the many new books in the past year, most of them chick-lit,
that have attempted to graft her legend.
There are: Lauren Weisberger's Chasing Harry Winston, Kristen Kemp's Breakfast at Bloomingdale's, Michael Tonello's Bringing Home the Birkin and James
Patterson's Sundays at Tiffany's.
Romantic summer novels are silly, to be sure. What is fascinating about the current batch, which includes The Beach House by Jane Green, is how faithfully
they are informed by the values and brands of the fashion world and its parallel universes of entertainment, media and publishing.
Jonathan Burnham, the publisher of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, notes that the audience for novels with a heavy quotient of clothes and Page Six
dander isn't made up of East Coast sophisticates: "The audience is middle American women looking to buy a taste of the glittering East Coast experience, with
all the silliness."
Weisberger's 2003 novel The Devil Wears Prada was, after all, about a powerful, latte-demanding fashion editor. Because most people knew that her roman-a-
clef was based on her former boss, Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, that added to the intrigue.
Despite the exposure the fashion world got from shows such as Sex and the City, the inner sanctums of the business were still largely unknown to
people.
There is no question that certain brands have a talismanic effect. And if you can weave a romantic comedy around the Chanels and Sub-Zeroes, as Green has
done you might have a best-seller.
If Capote mentioned a label at all, it was to merely establish that his glamour girl had good taste. But fashion wasn't important to Holly. Despite the Paris
wardrobe in the movie version, she made it clear she thought the whole thing was a joke.
Plum Sykes brought a knowledge of fashion, as well as a sense of humor, to Bergdorf Blondes (2004) .
To her, the most successful of these types of books are those that "acknowledge that they are in on the joke" presented by fashion's spectacle.
We've given a certain undergarment the slip
31 July 2008
Bridget Brennan has a drawer full of slips that "are celebrating at least a decade of being stuffed in the back of the same drawer." Brennan, the 42-year-old
founder of Female Factor Corp., a Chicago consulting firm, says the slip has become irrelevant to her life.
When did we give the slip the slip? Once de rigueur, slips have disappeared from our culture to such an extent that when I put in a call to designer Nanette
Lepore about them, she told an assistant, "I have never worn a slip in my life."
The slip — once an all-purpose weapon against visible panty lines and sheer, clingy dresses — has lost its usefulness for several reasons. One is
technological. Thong panties and shape-squeezing Spanx undergarments dispense with unsightly panty lines. But the real truth, I believe, is that the end of
slips coincides with a diminished sense of modesty. Our social mores no longer conform to a world where nice girls wear skirts that don't cling.
Instead of hiding what's underneath, young women today play with making the underlayers visible — camisoles under sheer silk blouses, leggings under see-
through skirts, layered, feather-thin T-shirts. A lot of sheer and even transparent looks will show up on the fashion runways this fall.
It can take effort to buy a slip these days. Most department stores still carry a selection of slips and half-slips, but a recent search around Los Angeles
revealed meager choices of slips at Neiman Marcus and Saks. Bloomingdale's at the Beverly Center had none. Spanx makes a belly-hugging slip — most easily
found online.
Slips were still expected in 1980, when the silhouette of a lady's legs, backlit by the sun, was a gasp-worthy offense, like the now-famous photo of 19-year
-old Diana Spencer. (In a way, the look was an early hint of the future fashion-forward Princess Di.)
At a time when undergarments weren't meant to show, a slip could be sultry. Back in 1958, when Elizabeth Taylor lolled about in a full-coverage slip in "Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof," the look was simultaneously sexy and degenerate. Of course, some women didn't leave the house without gloves at the time. A decade later,
Mrs. Robinson's slip and garters in the key seduction scene in "The Graduate" suggested the conflict between her proper image and her adulterous
nature.
Then came the bra-burning '70s, Princess Di's 1980 snapshot and John Galliano's early '90s fashion show in Paris, when he sent a series of black slips down
the runway as dresses. People became more accustomed to peek-a-boo clothes. It came as a relief to many young women that they needn't fret if their bra
straps showed.
Today, the slip has morphed into a symbol of purity. Angelina Jolie wore a sturdy bra and half-slip in the 2005 film "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" — in a scene
depicting the fastidiously uncarnal nature of her life with Mr. Smith.
David Wolfe, creative director for Donegar Group fashion consultants in New York, says this isn't the first time in history that women have forsaken
underwear. He points to the French Empire period, when some upper-class women doffed their voluminous hoop skirts and flounced about in sheer linen shifts.
At the time, their culture was blossoming anew after the French Revolution.
We are still living through the revolution that altered social norms. Judging by the number of women on Seventh Avenue in New York's garment district
"walking around in diaphanous dresses with only a thong underneath," Wolfe laments, "propriety is a word that just has no meaning today."
Nevertheless, occasions do arise that seem to demand a more modest look. Janelle McMurdie, a 29-year-old financial-services employee in San Diego, sought out
her first slip this summer after feeling exposed in a see-through skirt at a bridal shower. Slips "reek of a bygone era of extreme modesty, almost
Victorian," she says, but she went looking for one nevertheless. "I finally had to ask my mom where I could buy one, and what type I should get."
McMurdie recently polled the five women in her office: The one woman over 40 owns two slips. There is only one slip among the four under-30 women —
McMurdie's. Not yet worn, she notes, "as I have yet to wear that skirt again."
Dangerous curves ahead
31 July 2008
ON Miami Beach there are two kinds of coveted oceanfront real estate. The first involves luxury hotels with spectacular views, while the second can be
acquired via a day with a plastic surgeon: think C or D cup.
Hollywood might have pioneered the surgically enhanced starlet but Miami stands out as the land of implants. (And it feels like no one is exempt: even the
surf and the palm trees seem bigger on top.)
So seeing them on many models during Fashion Week's 2009 swim fair, held last week at South Beach's Raleigh Hotel, shouldn't have been a surprise. But for an
industry that favours ironing board-shaped runway models, it was.
It was also a slight dilemma for designer Nicky Zimmermann, who with sister Simone was in Miami to show their Cruise 2009 collection, the only Australian
label on the 15-designer schedule.
"We look for more editorial girls (and found them), somebody who can walk and wear fashion and not look catalogue," Nicky says of casting the show, later
seen by buyers from Barneys, Saks and Shopbop, and editors from Vogue, Elle and InStyle.
"It's important to us that we don't cater to that. We don't want to show ourselves as a commercial brand, but as a fashion swim brand. It's more fashion than
swim, and that gives us a really good point of difference here." It was Zimmermann's second appearance on the Miami runway. "Last year ... it cemented our
credibility both editorially and with buyers," says Simone.
Styled by Tamila Purvis, the collection showcased vivid prints (diamond, feather, florals, Russian scarf), sharply cut swimwear and contrasting silhouettes:
a babushka print triangle bikini paired with an oversized babushka shirt dress; a black bandeau spider bikini under a periwinkle maxi dress. While bikinis
boasted frill or stud detail, resort wear included a drawstring playsuit, jumpsuits and harem pants.
"It was very cohesive, the colours worked very well together," says Andrea Tocco, an associate buyer for Barneys Co-op. "It's what a lot of girls want:
feminine, colour, design. What worked was there were pieces you could wear out and to the beach."
Judging by the size of the trade fair taking place simultaneously with Fashion Week -- 350 exhibitors, 2000 lines and buyers from 39 countries -- swimwear
and resort wear is booming. Buyers cite an increasingly fashion-conscious consumer, even possibly global warming, for this.
"A lot of people have started doing swim brands," says Nicky Zimmermann. "But (the demands are) extremely specific. It has to be cut well, it has to have
beautiful colours, function and aesthetic have to be equal."
For Zimmermann, sales in the US have doubled in the past 12 months, while stockists Barneys, Bloomingdales and Saks are about to roll them out into more
stores. "Australia is still our biggest market, but in the next two years we are thinking America and Australia will be even," Nicky says.
Miami is the perfect place for a fashion week dedicated to swimwear. Despite the small celebrity quotient at the shows -- Anna Kournikova, Dennis Rodman,
Carson Kressley, Billy Zane -- it's a city that crackles with sexual energy, people who love to show skin (typically tanned, plumped, nipped and tucked),
love to party, and has weather so hot you can't think of anything but the beach. (You could spot the out-of-town, maxi dress and gladiator sandal-clad
editors by their sunburn. They misjudged the severity of the heat.)
Directions from the runway for 2009 revealed that while floral prints were present they were not ubiquitous; geometric, striped and tribal prints were
popular, and in terms of colour a ripple of Pucci pink and purple was in the air.
"There was a trend towards Ikat prints and less of the typical Hawaiian florals and obvious aqua blue," says WGSN's senior editor Catherine Bell. "The
silhouette was more Brazilian (small) and with a low-back one-piece. With cover-ups there was a lot of volume, whether shorter to the hips or long."
Bell cites Tibi's collection of floral and tribal print swimwear for "great cutting and placement of prints on the suits" and Zimmermann because "the styling
was great, it was definitely a show that stood out", while also giving high marks to the Brazilians.
"In Brazil, swimwear for us is fashion," says Benny Rosset, designer of Cia.Maritima, who showed bikinis, one-pieces and cover-ups in art deco, tie-dye or
animal prints in bronze, magenta, orange and lime.
"In the US, if a woman has a black bikini this year she might have it for the next five years," he explains. "In Brazil, the women have to have a different
bikini every season, like clothes and shoes. This is what I am trying to change."
While fellow Brazilians Poko Pano showed polka dots and stripes, and ANK favoured animal prints and stripes, Spain's Custo Barcelona did bikinis in ethnic
motifs, metallics and devore velvet, while Christian Audigier for Ed Hardy added embellishment to their signature tattoo print.
Asked why he thinks beachgoers might want some bling on their four triangles, Audigier says simply, "they want to be seen".
For theatrics on the runway there was Red Carter with a tuxedo vest one-piece and British label Pistol Panties with a Swarovski crystal-encrusted monokini.
Leave it to Diesel to ditch the (blissfully airconditioned) tents and show their collegiate-inspired collection on a runway built over the hotel pool.
With the heat and humidity testing every hair-smoothing product known to woman (and failing, frankly) the after parties proved the best place in town for
some cooling cocktails.
Just a few blocks away from the tents at the swim show, Australia was also waving the flag, with Anna & Boy, Zimmermann, Jets, Seventh Wonderland, Rochford
Australia, Seafolly, Moontide, Bond-Eye and Billabong Girls all present.
"Every hour is booked," says Simone Zimmermann of their appointment schedule. "We made a decision about two years ago we wanted to be strategic about where
we were selling," she says.
"We didn't have control for a while and we took it back. In making that change, we selected buyers who understand our brand and therefore customers who
understood our brand." (There is also talk of a Zimmermann store in the US, probably New York first.) For Anna & Boy it was their first time at the
tradeshow.
"We felt we should commit," says co-designer Anna Hewett. "We have had some pretty positive feedback from Barneys and a few biggies. The fact we design all
our own prints has had a great response from buyers."
Six-month-old Sydney brand Seventh Wonderland decided to make the swim show its launching pad for its deco-inspired swimwear. "We needed people to understand
the direction. Zimmermann and Anna & Boy do directional swimwear; we want to have our thing," says co-owner Carlos Aviles.
One notable sighting in Miami was Simon Lock, IMG Fashion Asia-Pacific managing director, there to see how the event might be replicated in the Asia-Pacific.
"There's been a huge growth of the resort business in Asia-Pacific," he says. "Not a lot of buyers from Asia-Pacific come to Miami, so there is an
opportunity to establish an event to service and support designers in the region.
"The key to its success in Asia-Pacific would be basing it in a resort environment," he explains. "Combining the glamour and sexiness of the shows in a
resort location."
And where might that be? "You have to look at where people will travel to. We do have a Miami in Australia: it's the Gold Coast. Certainly Phuket, Thailand
and China have amazing resort properties. Australian swimwear has a real point of difference, it's really fashionable, and this could be an opportunity for
Australian designers."
Burberry defies credit crunch with 25% profit leap
29 May 2008
Burberry, the British fashion house with an American chief executive, unveiled a credit crunch-defying jump in sales and profits today as wealthy women across the globe
continued to shop with abandon.
The luxury handbags, belts and clothing group enjoyed a 25 per cent jump in profits to £196million on the back of a 17 per cent rise in revenue to £995million for the year
ending in March.
Angela Ahrendts, approaching the end of her second year at the helm, insists Burberry has much further to grow, especially in markets such as Russia where rivals LVMH and others
have more exposure.
'Compared to our luxury peers, we are significantly under-penetrated,' she said. 'It will be quite a few years before those markets are tapped out.'
Burberry has been around since 1856, and continues to promote itself as a luxury brand with a particularly British sensibility. But it is a global concern now, and its iconic
West End store is merely the UK flagship.
Although much of the retail sector is struggling of late, the luxury end has so far not suffered from the downturn.
Finance director Stacey Cartwright said: 'Our luxury positioning gives us some insulation, but we are not saying we are completely immune.'
The problem for all luxury businesses is how to grow while retaining an exclusive feel. Until Ahrendts arrived, Burberry was opening five new stores a year at best. Now it is
more like 15.
Although the statement warned about "an external environment that became increasingly challenging during the second half", Ahrendts sees no reason to slow down.
The debt on the balance sheet fell by £25million to £64million, although this figure is expected to rise next year.
Burberry tended in the past to be run as a series of fiefdoms, with businesses in different countries pursuing their own designs and developing their own supply chains.
Ahrendts has been working on turning Burberry into a single company with common advertising.
This is probably an attempt to take greater control of the brand and avoid past mistakes that for a while saw Burberry associated with Essex girls - a temporary boon to sales
that was a potential long-term disaster.
The most recent marketing gambit has focused on the film of Sex and the City - Burberry is one of the brands favoured by the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker.
New product lines in the works include luggage, while shoes and childrenswear are just starting out.
The dividend is up 14 per cent to 12p. The shares have fallen sharply from a year high of 707p, but today put on 11/2p to 5081/2p. That values the company at about £2 billion.
Armani, Kenzo opening standalone stores for men
29 April 2008
Women, it appears, are not the only ones who splurge on clothes. In fact, the new darlings of global luxury fashion brands in India are men. Interestingly,
industry findings reveal that of the total luxury apparel market, men’s luxury apparel accounts for the larger share of the total pie as compared to women’s!
And no wonder then that over half a dozen top-of-the-line brands, including Giorgio Armani, Canali, Corneliani, Kenzo, Brioni, Pal Zileri and Zegna, are
opening standalone stores for men in the country. And some have aggressive expansion plans on the masculine front.
The stats say it all — that Indian men love to dress up and are willing to spend big time on that. In fact, an Ernst & Young report puts the men’s luxury
apparel segment — comprising brands priced above Rs 2,500 — at 11% of the total branded men’s apparel segment. Luxury apparel market in case of women
accounts for 9% of the total women’s branded apparel market. In the last three years, the luxury apparel market for men has been growing at 25-28% as
compared to 32-35% for women.
Says Ashok Rajgopal, partner, retail & consumer products practice, E&Y, “The men’s apparel segment represents an attractive target base for retailers. With
changing lifestyles and growing popularity of the metrosexual man, there is an increasing demand and spending by men on products and services that meet their
aesthetic needs. Further, men are highly brand conscious with majority of their purchases being branded apparel, especially in the luxury segment.”
The net worth of the Indian male couldn’t have got higher than this. Iconic Italian fashion brand Giorgio Armani is all set to open its first store in the
soon-to-be-opened DLF luxury mall Emporio in the Capital. Similarly, Brioni, a men’s luxury bespoke formal wear brand, recently opened its store in Delhi,
after getting good footfalls at its first store in Mumbai.
In fact, the brand is also contemplating a foray into other cities soon. Conrad Curry, country manager, Brioni, feels the willingness to spend more to look
good makes men in India an ideal target group.
Worn Crocs worn again
25 April 2008
Stevens Creek Elementary School pupils are putting their best foot forward to help out a worldwide recycling project.
They are collecting worn-out Crocs footwear and donating the shoes to SolesUnited, a recycled-footwear-donation program launched by Crocs Inc. The program is
designed to provide new quality footwear to people in need around the globe.
David Stuart, the Stevens Creek art teacher who is coordinating the effort, said the pupils are enthusiastic about the project.
"We do emphasize recycling a lot, and I think that the idea that their own shoes could help people someplace else was really enticing," he said.
Mr. Stuart also liked the idea of participating in a community project that was not a competition for the children.
"I think that they should understand that they can help other people and the things that they sometimes think of as trash have real value," he said.
The school will ship the Crocs to a collection center. The donated shoes then will be sorted, cleaned, ground into new material and made into new
shoes.
Fifth-grader Ansley Lowe lost one of her Crocs, so she donated the one she had left.
"I think Crocs are comfortable, and it's cool for people to recycle them for people that don't have shoes," she said.
Another fifth-grader, Megan Epperson, is going to try to donate a pair of her brother's Crocs.
"I think it's a pretty good idea to help kids out who don't have anything to protect their feet. They might not be the best shoes out there, but I think
they're the best shoes to recycle," she said.
Ansley Gomez, a first-grader, donated three pairs of Crocs that she collected from neighbors.
"Some of my friends are home-schooled," she said, explaining why she went door-to-door to gather shoes.
The company hopes to distribute 2 million pairs of recycled shoes this year, said Shelley Forslund, a Crocs spokeswoman.
The company already has donated more than 1 million shoes worldwide.
This year the recycled shoes will be sent to Armenia, Cambodia, Chad, Darfur, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, the
Philippines, Romania, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
Stevens Creek is collecting Crocs until Tuesday.
Mr. Stuart said anyone in the community may donate shoes for the project.
Primark moves closer to stealing Marks & Spencer m
23 April 2008
The Primark revolution is gathering momentum after the budget fashion chain said yesterday that it was moving ever closer to stealing Marks & Spencer's crown
as the biggest clothing retailer in Britain.
Operating profits at the business, founded as Penneys in 1969 by Arthur Ryan, rose 22 per cent to £111million in the year to March 1.
Sales increased by 25 per cent to £899million, with like-for-like sales up by 4 per cent - in stark contrast to like-for-like declines across most of the
retail sector.
Associated British Foods (ABF), its parent company, admitted that the chain was picking up business as customers cut back on spending, but it said that most
of the success was down to increasing scale and continuing focus on value-for-money fashion.
Last month industry figures showed that Primark's share of the clothing market had risen 2 per cent to 10.1 per cent in the past year, placing the chain just
below M&S, which has an 11.4 per cent share, in volume terms.
George Weston, ABF's chief executive, said: “We're not targeting anyone. We're just trying to do our job as best we can. It's a great offering to the public
and we'll pick up market share if we deserve it.
“If the weather is kinder to us than it was in the summer last year, we'd have every confidence in the second half, but the summer has yet to be fought
out.”
Primark has 173 stores and plans another eight over the next six months, with four to come in Spain.
Primark opened its first store in Spain last year and is widely thought to be scouring other European markets for potential sites.
John Bason, ABF's finance director, said: “We are looking at a range of options.”
Spanish clothing chain Mango brings fast-fashion b
22 April 2008
The Spanish fast-fashion retailer has opened an 1,100-square-foot MNG by Mango boutique at SFO, its first foray into airport retail in the United States.
Through its partnership with HMSHOST, Mango plans to open several more airport boutiques around the country.
As the hassles of air travel and security compel travelers to arrive at the airport ever earlier, SFO is responding by offering them more than a book and a
barstool on the far side of the metal detector. SFO is finalizing a new retail master plan that calls for adding new, high street retail as leases become
available. The Mango site, for example, was once a far larger newsstand that was divided into three distinct shops to make room for Mango, a Sunglass Hut and
a smaller gift store. A Pacific Outfitters recently opened nearby.
"A few years ago, we completely revamped our food and beverage program, and now we would like to do the same with retail," said Cheryl Nashir, associate
deputy airport director for revenue development and management. "We want as much as possible to get national and international brands that customers know and
love out here, along with quite a bit of local flavor."
Fashion industry should focuss on new tech: Vaghel
21 April 2008
KANNUR: With India fast making its presence felt in the global fashion market, the future of the country's fashion industry would depend on wide-based
designs, flourishing retail market and state-of-the-art technologies, Union Textiles Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela said on Saturday.
"The indian textiles and apparel industry is poised to grow significantly and contribute substantially in employment generation and the country is fast
emerging as an intellectual and strong manufacturing base," he said inaugurating the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the ninth centre in the
country, at Mangattuparamba near here.
In order to attain global dominance, fashion industry needed to adopt the best practices and encourage focused research and development. The NIFT as an
academic institution could play a vital role to support the industry and have experts capable enough to respond effectively to the new challenges in the
industry, he said.
The Minister, who also laid the foundation stone for the NIFT building complex at the venue, said "The opening of NIFT centre in Kannur will help in the
development of competencies and the skills of the weavers in critical areas essential for the traditional industry to compete with modern high class sesign
centres and business entrepreneurs."
Kerala Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem said the Rs 58.64 crore NIFT centre, funded by union textiles ministry, would start two four-year courses in
textile designing and apparel designing in August this year at a makeshift building at Thottada here and the fullfledged operation of the new centre would
begin in two years.
NIFT Director General Rajiv Takru delivered the keynote address at the function. Local MP, A P Abdulla Kutty and MLAs among others offered feliciations.
Fashion and music combine for Hilfiger's TommyTV
17 April 2008
April 16, 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. fashion company Tommy Hilfiger and music group Sony BMG teamed up on Wednesday to launch a fashion and music online TV website, a
latest sign of ever closer union of the world's of style and song.
TommyTV, at https://www.tommytv.com, will show live performance by established and new artists sponsored by Tommy Hilfiger alongside exclusive interviews and
backstage footage.
Designer Tommy Hilfiger, dapper in a pin stripe suit and orange tie, said the site would also host the Hilfiger Auditions, an online competition where young
artists can showcase their talent.
These musicians otherwise would not have that opportunity in many cases," Hilfiger said at the launch in London which kicked off with a live act by Parisian
pop duo "One-Two."
"This is a platform for new young musicians to show their talents on a global stage and have a connection with our partner Sony BMG."
Tommy Hilfiger has built a worldwide fashion brand spanning women's, men's and children's wear to accessories and watches on marketing campaigns presenting
hip, image savvy U.S. teenagers.
It has already moved to develop the brand in the music arena by hosting live gigs with only a few hundreds guests known as the Hilfiger Sessions.
Tommy Hilfiger Chief Executive Fred Gehring said the launch of TommyTV in collaboration with Sony BMG, home of artists Justin Timberlake and Leona Lewis, was
a unique and momentous new stage in the fusion of the fashion and music worlds.
Music-makers such as Madonna and David Bowie have long been seen as style icons, sartorial chameleons defining both themselves and their music through
different looks.
"I literally became a fashion designer because of music," Hilfiger told Reuters at the launch. "Music was my first love, in the 60s - I wanted to dress like
Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page."
MUSIC MARKETING
Gehring said the site was intended as a marketing initiative to build its brand and would not be selling anything directly, although the two sides were
discussing the possibility of charging for downloads in the future.
There are also links from the site through to Tommy Hilfiger's e-commerce store.
"People who go to TommyTV and spontaneously want to get a pair of Tommy jeans will be able to do it," said Gehring.
For Sony BMG, the launch marks an experiment in the art of online music marketing. Global music sales fell around 10 percent in 2007 and the industry
estimates that only one in 20 of the tracks downloaded was licensed, costing the industry potentially billions of dollars.
Online music purchasing marked a symbolic milestone when Apple Inc announced last week that its iTunes music store had surpassed Wal-Mart Stores Inc to
become the largest U.S. music retailer.
"We are in a moment of transition moving away from the record model to music and entertainment," Sony BMG Chief Executive Maarten Steinkam said, adding that
he hoped to discover bright young things through TommyTV.
"I hope we can find a new artist out of it. If we don't find a new artist in the next five to six months, then it's not a failure," he said.
Let's make Size 0 less fashionable
16 April 2008
Montreal Fashion Week 2007 made headlines around the globe last week. It wasn't trendsetting creations generating the fashion frenzy. The buzz was all about Montreal's leadership as the first fashion week in North America to impose a minimum weight and age limit on models.
Designers were warned that any models under 16 years old and with an unhealthy body mass index would be removed from the runways and redirected to medical professionals.
Montreal's move follows similar efforts in Madrid, Milan, and London this past year, instigated by public outcry after four models died from malnutrition.
Progressive, you might think. But I have to ask: Does regulating models actually create a healthier fashion industry?
Not if you ask me, and I'm a renegade modelling agent: I represent models of all ages, sizes, colours and abilities. Sure, imposing new size limits will keep models from dying on the catwalk. But it also blames the models for being too thin when, in fact, it is not their fault; it is the designers who invented size zero.
So, I say, hold designers responsible.
Fashion shows are all about the sample size. The runways we see on Fashion Television are only the end result of long process. Size zero took root the moment the budding designer entered fashion school.
Last year, I attended the graduation show of a Toronto-based fashion college. During the reception afterwards, one new graduate told me, "I wanted to design a collection that my friends could wear after the show, and me, too. But everyone said that I'd never pass if I did."
Fashion students are taught to create clothes for a standard sample size and are required to submit assignments in that size, and that size is ultra-thin. Anything larger gets squelched with a failing grade.
These are our future Stellas and Karls. Teaching them to design for one tiny size limits their skill, creativity and vision. Ambitious new talents head out into the fashion world not to challenge the status quo but to uphold it -- petite gets cut in stone.
When I began my agency, I was told that my models were "too big" to fit into samples. So I'd go to the stores in question, flip through the racks and find everything I needed in a zero to 18-plus. I'd go back to pitch meetings holding up hangers full of normal apparel. More "no, no, no." Those clothes were strictly for retail, not the runway. Making samples in any other size than zero was "impossible."
Why impossible? Sample sizes don't appear out of thin air; they are designed, cut and stitched. Can't they be designed, cut and stitched in something other than a teeny?
I don't want to do away with glamour. I love glamour. I don't want to see dowdy mug shots. Keep the fantastic clothes and the fabulous styling; just make looks attainable for a range of women.
The businessman in me understands that it would be highly inefficient -- and costly -- to create samples in every size. Instead, I propose that samples be standardized in three sizes: zero, six, and 14. If consumers can see themselves in the clothes, they will be better able to determine what the clothes will look like on them. The result, trust me: increased sales.
Canadian fashion educators should encourage students to submit assignments in a variety of sizes. Government funding for design schools should depend on size diversity in curriculums.
However, the industry can step up to the runway first. This week is Toronto's L'Oreal Fashion Week, organized by the Fashion Design Council of Canada. Why can't the FDCC publicly encourage designers to showcase a variety of sizes and offer subsidies to designers who do?
Fashion labels are only in business because of your dollars at work. Consider buying your fashions from designers who showcase diversity on the catwalk. Write to firms who stick to skinny.
I'm going to keep trying to take size diversity all the way from the rolling racks to the runways. In 10 years I know that's going to be what's truly fashionable.
s
Ottawa native Ben Barry is CEO of the Ben Barry Agency, and author of Fashioning Reality. He is conducting doctoral research on beauty at Cambridge University.
Giorgio Armani 2007 operating profit rose 17%
11 April 2008
Giorgio Armani's operating profit rose 17 percent last year, pulled by a surging China market, and it expects growth in 2008 despite a credit crunch, the
Italian luxury goods and fashion designer said on Thursday.
Armani, known for his classically elegant lines and muted colours in clothes, had earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 289 million euros ($457.9
million).
Consolidated sales rose 8 percent to 1.6 billion euros, with the rise 12 percent at constant exchange rates. Investors are closely watching fashion and
luxury goods companies for any slowdown in spending on premium items as a credit crisis and falling financial markets rattle consumers.
"Although in 2008 there is a more uncertain economic climate, I anticipate another year of growth supported by the 7 percent increase in our wholesale orders
... for our autumn/winter 2008 season," the 73-year-old designer said in a statement.
Armani said it planned to open 50 more outlets this year to add to its 471 outlets comprising franchises and directly-owned stores. Chinese sales grew 24
percent last year, leading regions around the world, while European sales outside Italy rose 19 percent.
North American sales were up 7 percent, with the rise 17 percent at constant exchange rates. Known for his softer, flowing version of the business suit,
Armani has pushed the marketing power of a famous name to the limit by expanding into hotels and interior design as well as sunglasses, ceramics and
perfumes.
Armani rival Versace said last month its high-end position meant it was not feeling the impact of the global economic slowdown. Gucci Group, which is owned
by PPR, turned in a jump of 29 percent in operating profit in 2007 to 731 million euros and said it expected this year should show further growth.
And Bernard Arnault, chairman of the world's largest luxury goods group LVMH, said in February he had not yet seen any impact on high-end spending although
he acknowledged it should come some time.
Fashion designer snubs Paris
10 April 2008
Paris Hilton has been told to keep away from the opening of a new fashion store.
British designer Alexander McQueen doesn't want The Simple Life star as a customer when he opens his stylish Los Angeles boutique next month.
McQueen said: "If she comes past the shop, hopefully she will just keep walking. I don't really covet that sort of thing. I'm not too fond of these openings,
I find them quite superficial.
"The people who wear McQueen wear it because they want to wear it, not because it's the new thing in town."
The designer - whose red carpet creations are favoured by Victoria Beckham, Sienna Miller, Katie Holmes and Lucy Liu - also says he wanted his close friend
Amy Winehouse to perform at the star-studded opening, but fears she will unable to travel to America.
Visa problems
McQueen is quoted by Los Angeles Times newspaper as saying: "I wanted Amy to come over and perform but she is having visa problems. I have asked another huge
star to sing, but I can't say who!"
Earlier this year, Amy was unable to attend the Grammys because of visa problems.
Instead the singer - who scooped five awards at the prestigious ceremony - performed in London via a live satellite link.
South's new fashion capital
08 April 2008
More haute couture is calling Atlanta home.
Italian jeweler Bulgari and hip fashion designer Michael Kors plan to open boutique stores in Lenox Square, while exclusive, high-end designer Valentino plans to open at Phipps Plaza.
The moves put a ritzy step into Buckhead's stalk toward an increasingly Beverly Hills-style feel, with glamorous retailers opening doors from Phipps to Ben Carter Properties LLC's Streets of Buckhead project, which is transforming the eclectic Buckhead Village.
These retailers entering the Atlanta market "is a tribute to the Atlanta area more than anything," said Deborah Lester, professor of marketing at Kennesaw State University's Michael J. Coles College of Business. "There is a segment of society in Atlanta that has no problem paying the prices these retailers are asking."
Heidi Klum amazed by sexiest model title
04 April 2008
Model Heidi Klum is surprised to have won the prestigious title of the world's hottest model - because she is a mother to three children.
The supermodel said that she was amazed because she managed to beat many young models, despite having three kids.
The 35-year-old has left behind the likes of Brazilian babes Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima, and has landed at the top position on the Models.com list last
month.
The German catwalk queen has a three-year-old daughter, Helene, with ex-boyfriend and Formula 1 ace Flavio Briatore, and two sons, Henry and Johan, with her
husband Seal.
And now Klum says that the title is certainly a major step forward.
"It felt great, especially after having three children. It's brilliant for all mums because women sometimes worry whether they can still be sexy after having
kids or how they're going to be perceived by people for being a mum," Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.
"I had employers who thought if I had a child I wouldn't fit in the sexiest women category any more. But I think it's different these days," she added.
First wedding dress shop catering ONLY for pregnan
03 April 2008
There was a time when a bride would do her best to hide the fact of being pregnant when she married.
But couture will always keep pace with social change.
And with more conceptions now taking place outside marriage than within, it was only a matter of time before someone filled this particular gap in the
market.
Expectant Bride is a new service offering personal consultations to pregnant women planning to marry before the arrival.
Its designers are trained to estimate how big a bride's bump will be by the big day, and design a dress accordingly.
Gowns are made longer at the front so they do not rise up over an increasingly rounded stomach, and pulled in at the back to give a flattering shape.
The sides are hemmed to allow for last-minute alterations should growth exceed forecasts.
The shop, in Chiswick, West London, was set up by Tracey Wilkinson, 31, after she experienced difficulty herself finding a maternity dress for her wedding.
She has already helped more than 150 brides, most career women in their late 20s and early 30s, and some from as far away as Scotland and Wales.
Some have become pregnant after setting a wedding date, while others have decided to get married quickly after discovering they are having a baby.
The dresses are created by four designers and range in price from £175 to £1,200.
Mrs Wilkinson, a mother of two, said: "I got married when I was seven months pregnant and found it very difficult getting a maternity bridal dress to fit.
"You can't just wear a largesized normal dress as you look like you're wearing a tent.
"The dresses I sell look like a normal bridal gown but they are discreetly made to fit a bump.
"The brides tend to come in about three months before the wedding.
"You can never predict how much a woman will grow, but a general view is that their
"Times have definitely changed and it is no longer frowned upon to get married while pregnant. The business is doing really well."
Not everyone was as upbeat as Mrs Wilkinson, however.
Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe said: "I think this shop is an extremely sad sign of the times."
Hugh McKinney, of the National Family Campaign, said: "It demonstrates an increasing number of women are gettting pregnant outside of marriage.
"But on the positive side, it also demonstrates that they still want to bring children up within the commitment of marriage."
Fashion is about being noticed
31 March 2008
From fashion shows which were dance choreographed events, to serious fashion on the ramp, in less than 15 years, from 20 shows a year for fashion week to an
astounding 200... we’ve come a long way baby!
I vividly remember the fashion week held in August 2000 in Delhi. Ravi Krishnan from IMG, who took the proposal to Anil Chopra of Lakme, are the two men who
made it happen. At that time, they had difficulty getting enough designers to do shows. The media, too, focussed more off the ramp than on the ramp! I
remember, some of us got a lot of flak as we indulged our fashion forward side and saw one too many shows. We slowly graduated from the front row wars to the
endless stories of wardrobe malfunction. These stories, no doubt, added spice to fashion week, but took too much space in the fashion columns.
Then I witnessed the time of major political drama when, sadly, Mumbai and Delhi started hosting their own fashion weeks. I strongly do believe there should
be only one Indian fashion week, but alas! There was a divide between the designers and futile politics pursued.
Another grave problem was that there were no fashion journalists, or maybe a mere handful. Kudos to these two men who have pulled a coup and are hosting
Suzie Menkes, (a celebrated important journalist, who now serves as a fashion editor for The International Herald Tribune) this season. Another wonderful
person I have met along the way is Fern Mallis. She is the primary person who started fashion week in New York 15 years ago. I first met her in Mumbai in
2001, when our city hosted its first Lakme India Fashion Week. We had hosted a party and Ravi had brought her to our home. She has tremendous faith in this
country, and strongly believes we are at a critical juncture of an evolution of fashion in our country. I have found her to be proud of our commitment to
fashion, and has taken it under her wing. I saw Ashish Soni and Sabyasachi at the New York Fashion Week on her invitation. Today, Lakme Fashion Week has
created a platform for new designers to explore the possibility of becoming rich and famous and created enough business opportunities for existing ones
So here we are, way ahead from where we started. Today, fashion is fabulous. From flirtatious ruffles and swirling skirts to straight sheath dresses and
gladiator boots. What with Gucci, Louis Vitton, Dior, Fendi in our city today, breathing down our necks, let’s see what our designers churn out.
Remember dears, fashion is about being noticed. So if you are going to be out there, let nothing intimidate you, be noticed, look fabulous and enjoy it!
Pick of the week: Spring jackets
March 28 2008
Given the current weather situation, you might be forgiven for thinking that spring jackets are not a sensible purchase. The trick is to buy one that is
light enough to wear under a coat - see Kate Bosworth's slimline choice - and can adopt the function of a cardigan until these Arctic conditions
pass.
The appropriately named Day Celine jacket from Day, Birger and Mikkelsen and the thrifty H&M number both work well for this purpose. And while you might
question the idea of wearing leather when sitting at your desk, the softness and shorter sleeve of the COS jacket make it perfect indoor apparel.
The exception to the one-coat-under-another rule is the cherry red Urban Outfitters mac, which should be worn on its own. But buy it now. Even if it won't
offer much protection against April showers, it will be a bright companion during cool summer evenings. Sadly, there are bound to be many.
Supermodel Claudia Schiffer falls for fashion maes
March 27 2008
She may be a 37-year-old mother of two but supermodel Claudia Schiffer yesterday showed why she still cuts it in the fashion world.
She looked stunning in elaborate spats and a beret during a photoshoot in New York's Central Park with Chanel maestro Karl Lagerfeld.
But it all seemed to go horribly wrong when the German stumbled to the ground
But with stylists and assistants rushing to help her, perhaps it was all just an elaborate part of the shoot.
It appears to be the latest trend in fashion photography - or maybe just a big in-joke.
Earlier this month Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker looked as though she had slipped at the top of a flight of stairs during a glamorous shoot
for Vogue with famed snapper Annie Leibovitz.
But if Claudia did slip, she kept her composure and was soon lying seductively along a curb near Central Park's lake wearing spat-style boots, leggings,
skirt and a beret atop her famous blonde locks.
The German-born star was also photographed by Lagerfeld in a skirt suit and matching hat.
Lagerfeld is most famous for designing for labels such as Chloé, Fendi and Chanel and launching his own clothing brand.
But in recent years he has branched out into photography, producing Visionaire 23: The Emperor's New Clothes, a series of nude pictures of South African
model David Miller and he also personally photographed Mariah Carey for the cover of V magazine in 2005.
He personally chose Claudia to be the face of Chanel and launched her career as one of the world's first supermodels.
And the project to reunite the duo has created a buzz for the label's new campaign.
Earlier this week, the supermodel dressed in a Twenties-themed outfit complete with a bobbed brunette wig for a shoot with Lagerfeld in New York's
rejuvenated district, Harlem.
Supermodel Claudia Schiffer falls for fashion maes
March 27 2008
She may be a 37-year-old mother of two but supermodel Claudia Schiffer yesterday showed why she still cuts it in the fashion world.
She looked stunning in elaborate spats and a beret during a photoshoot in New York's Central Park with Chanel maestro Karl Lagerfeld.
But it all seemed to go horribly wrong when the German stumbled to the ground
But with stylists and assistants rushing to help her, perhaps it was all just an elaborate part of the shoot.
It appears to be the latest trend in fashion photography - or maybe just a big in-joke.
Earlier this month Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker looked as though she had slipped at the top of a flight of stairs during a glamorous shoot
for Vogue with famed snapper Annie Leibovitz.
But if Claudia did slip, she kept her composure and was soon lying seductively along a curb near Central Park's lake wearing spat-style boots, leggings,
skirt and a beret atop her famous blonde locks.
The German-born star was also photographed by Lagerfeld in a skirt suit and matching hat.
Lagerfeld is most famous for designing for labels such as Chloé, Fendi and Chanel and launching his own clothing brand.
But in recent years he has branched out into photography, producing Visionaire 23: The Emperor's New Clothes, a series of nude pictures of South African
model David Miller and he also personally photographed Mariah Carey for the cover of V magazine in 2005.
He personally chose Claudia to be the face of Chanel and launched her career as one of the world's first supermodels.
And the project to reunite the duo has created a buzz for the label's new campaign.
Earlier this week, the supermodel dressed in a Twenties-themed outfit complete with a bobbed brunette wig for a shoot with Lagerfeld in New York's
rejuvenated district, Harlem.
Fashion slaves risking back trouble with oversize
March 26 2008
you're saving up to buy an oversize designer handbag, don't forget to put a little extra aside.
You'll need it to pay the osteopath and chiropractor's bills when your back goes.
Lugging around the giant bags that are in fashion at the moment can damage your spine, health experts say.
Women risk causing permanent damage by carrying overstuffed bags on one shoulder or in the crook of their arm.
Even carrying a bag in your hand, like actress Katie Holmes, with her ￡4,000 Hermes HAC tote, risks putting too much strain on one side of the body.
It is thought the average woman carries around 5.2lb in her handbag - twice as much as her mother used to.
Osteopath and acupuncturist Garry Trainer said he has noticed more women coming to his clinic with back strain.
"If a heavy bag is carried constantly on the same shoulder then it can compress the muscles on one side while stretching the muscles on the other," he
said.
"Ideally weight should be carried across both shoulders close to the body.
"People do carry the kitchen sink in their bags and they should try and cut down what they carry around."
The trend for big bags is said to have taken off with U.S. stylist Rachel Zoe who thought they had the effect of making the carrier look petite in
comparison.
Although the bags themselves are hardly lightweight, it is what is inside that really weighs women down.
Laptops and mobile phone chargers are among the modern-day gadgets which now commonly accompany the hair brush and lip gloss.
Tim Hutchful, of the British Chiropractic Association, said: "Women are bound to overfill these huge bags.
"Carrying a heavy bag has a cumulative effect, and we will see more back pain as a result."
Angela Ahrendts checks Burberry in as a global bra
March 25 2008
IT was a sunny autumn day in 2005 and Angela Ahrendts, the newly appointed chief executive of Burberry, was on a trip to New York where she had arranged
lunch with Christopher Bailey, the group’s brand director.
The location was the Asiate restaurant perched above the Manhattan skyline on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel.
The scheduled one-hour meeting stretched well into the afternoon and Ahrendts and Bailey spent more time talking than eating as they planned the biggest
rejuvenation of the British luxury fashion brand since it clothed soldiers during the first world war.
Over the past three years, the blueprint drawn up that autumn day has taken Burberry on the most ambitious global expansion drive in the company’s 152-year
history. Burberry is now about much more than trench coats. Welcome to the world of £1,500 handbags and luxury shoes.
On the face of it, Bailey and Ahrendts should have little in common. Bailey is a 36-year-old Yorkshireman who still has a house in Halifax. Ahrendts is
American-born and 11 years his senior. But the working relationship between the two is so strong that when Burberry moves into its new headquarters on
Horseferry Road in London’s Victoria later this year, they will have interlinking offices.
“I still feel like his mother,” Ahrendts giggled in her first newspaper interview since taking the helm. “But he’s a great talent. He’s from Yorkshire and
I’m from a small town in Indiana, but we have a lot of values in common and, in an industry where you have to divide and conquer, it goes a long way.”
Bailey, who first met Ahrendts when they worked together at Donna Karan, is equally complimentary. “She’s my partner in crime and she’s a pleasure to work
with. She has an unbelievable energy and passion and drive and she is a great strategic thinker. Neither of us grew up in mansions or flying on fancy
aeroplanes - but I don’t think luxury has to be about money. We are both very grounded and we want the brand to speak to lots of people,” said Bailey.
Watching Ahrendts bounding around her bright, white office in London’s Regent Street, Bailey’s reading of her proves apposite.
She is is still statuesque at 47 – and she effuses a bubbling energy that is instantly disarming. She described herself as a “merchant” as she pointed to
products in marketing brochures that cascaded over her white-and-grey marble desk.
So what is her favourite item from the Burberry collection?
“One favourite thing?” she shrieked in mock horror like a child who had just been told he can have only one toy at Christmas. “Oh I know, the Warrior mega-
check bag. We’ve sold out . . . but it’s absolutely gorgeous – that is going to be my summer bag.”
When Ahrendts joined Burberry, the company had already made strides under previous boss Rose Marie Bravo, but it was clear that if the upmarket British
fashion house was to succeed in its aspiration to become a global luxury brand it needed to be more innovative, increase its quotient of top-end merchandise
and develop slicker marketing and product delivery. Crucially, Ahrendts has ensured that new merchandise flows into stores more evenly throughout the year.
One of her first actions as chief executive was to put Bailey in charge of all things that customers saw – from store design to product – across the Burberry
global empire, to ensure it had a consistency of approach around the world.
“Our vision was to leverage the franchise – we wanted to purify the brand range and cut through the clutter. Luxury customers travel a lot and they want the
same experience wherever they go, whether that is the same cup of coffee from Starbucks or the same phone from Apple.”
Ahrendts has expanded the brand into luxury handbags, shoes, small leather goods and soft accessories while staying true to the brand’s heritage as an
outerwear brand, best known for its signature check.
Today the shelves of the group’s stores contain an array of products from quilted gold ballet pumps and the Knight bag – photographed on the arms of
celebrities Cameron Diaz and Sienna Miller – to its centrepiece, the alligator-skin Warrior handbag that sells for £13,000.
Is the goal to be a Louis Vuitton? “No, the goal is not to be on a par with them – our peers do an absolutely brilliant job – but this is not about us trying
to be someone else.
“In the world of luxury it’s really about looking less at what they do and more about doing what we do better. Our position is so modern, it’s not really
edgy or trendy.”
It is clear she is excited by the potential to grow the Burberry brand in emerging and underrepresented markets.
“Everyone talks about China, but look at markets like Vietnam, Malaysia, Macau. We have signed eight new flagships in Asia in the past month. Look at that
whole eastern Europe and Russia area, or go over to Dubai and then think Kuwait, Egypt. India is opening up . . . that is another whole region.”
Ahrendts has also shown herself to be capable of taking tough, politically unpopular decisions such as the closure last year of the company’s shirt factory
in South Wales – in the face of criticism from Prince Charles, MPs and singers Tom Jones and Charlotte Church. Production was shifted to China.
On the face of it, her strategy is beginning to pay off financially – with revenues up 23.3% to £254m in the third quarter, boosted by growth across all
product channels and geographic regions. But fears that Burberry will suffer more than some of its peers if there is a sharp downturn in consumer spending
and a warning note from the company that it will be a “stretch” to meet its full-year pretax profit target of £210m have punished the share price. Since last
May it has plunged more than 40%.
Ahrendts is sanguine. “It’s simply timing . . . as long as we put up consistent numbers quarter after quarter. It’s like your weight: you don’t get on the
scales every day, you should just watch your diet. It’s a waste of time for executives to worry about the share price – I believe we are the greatest growth
story in the sector. That’s not being overly confident.
Talking about how trading is going is always sensitive for a listed company, but Ahrendts insisted: “On aggregate we are holding our own. I do feel we have
some wonderful momentum right now. We’ve just got to stay focused on the things you can control and keep getting a very clear and focused message across to
customers.”
The daughter of a model, Ahrendts grew up as one of six children in a humble family home surrounded by wheat fields and farms in New Palestine, Indiana. As a
teenager she dreamt of a big-time fashion career and carried around the latest edition of Vogue for a month at a time. She was so determined to cut it in the
fashion business that she moved to New York the day after she graduated from Indiana’s Ball State University in 1981.
She began her career at Donna Karan and worked her way up the ranks, eventually serving as president of the upmarket Donna Karan Collection. After a brief
stint at the retailer Henri Bendel, Ahrendts joined Liz Claiborne in 1998, rising to become vice-president.
Despite her high-powered job, Ahrendts, a mother of three, remains remarkably grounded. She said this was because she prized family above all else.
“I’m a mom first – I have to be a wife and mother – it’s so important that I have balance.”
She talks affectionately about family evenings spent eating a takeaway pizza, watching her three children, aged 13, 12 and 7, play car games on their Xbox
games console, larking around playing basketball with them or hosting sleepovers for their friends.
“Nobody will ever remember that I worked for Burberry. But raising my kids to be confident and intelligent will stay with them for as long as they live.”
Fashion council plans fund to bankroll designers
March 25 2008
In a bid to provide financial muscle to the fashion industry, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) is mulling a unique funding organisation in which
half-a-dozen leading designers will hold stake.
Powered by a major financial investor acting as the anchor, the fund will bankroll the zooming ambitions of the fashion segment. The council is in talks with
top financial sector companies to identify an anchor investor.
“We are in talks with big Indian and foreign corporates some of which are interested in tapping the emerging market for Indian fashion. We expect to firm up
the talks in the next couple of months,” FDCI executive director Sumeet Nair told ET.
The proposed organisation will cater only to the financial and marketing related needs of the designers. Partner designers will be free to keep their brand
identity intact. Initially the council plans to promote mid-level designers to become a part of the holding company as these designers feel the fund crunch
despite making their mark in the industry.
Designers would also be allowed to go for overseas expansion with assistance from the holding company. Recently, many reputed international design stores
like MC2 of France and Anastasia of US have shown interest in partnering Indian designers for showcasing their products at the international stores.
Presently only one Indian designer, Manish Arora, is associated with these stores. Representatives of the international stores have initiated talks with
other fashion designers for possible tie-ups. Industry sources said that about half a dozen tie-ups are on cards during the on-going fashion week in the
Capital.
The fashion market is feeling the impact of the booming retail market. Companies like Reliance Retail are in talks with major Indian designers for possible
tie-ups. “We are in talks with the Reliance (Retail) people for possible association,” said Tina Tahiliani, sister of designer Tarun Tahiliani.
Fashion consultants visiting the country have also shown interest in providing the Indian designers platforms for International expansion. “Indian designers
are attracting global attention and we want them to spread their wings,” international fashion consultant Benedicte Bro said.
Tommy Hilfiger eyes 51% stake in Indian biz
March 18 2008
Global premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger, controlled by buyout private equity Apax Partners, is looking at direct ownership of its India operations by
bringing in the maximum permissible 51% foreign direct investment (FDI) allowed in single brand retail.
Sources said the Amsterdam-based Tommy Hilfiger Europe BV, which has effectively become the global headquarters for the original American designer brand
following the Apax takeover, was considering buyout of the perpetual India rights, currently with the Murjani Group.
The Murjanis were the investors behind a young Tommy Hilfiger when the American designer introduced his first signature collection back in 1985, just like
Gloria Vanderbilt, another global brand the Murjanis helped build around the same time.
The Mohan Murjani-led group, after exiting their investments in Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, sewed up a deal to keep the perpetual brand rights for India as
well as control over sourcing operations from here. The Murjanis ceded sourcing operations back to Tommy Hilfiger sometime back, but scripted the brand’s
retail foray into the country in 2004.
With this, Tommy would be joining the growing club of global br-ands that are opting for a direct role in developing India’s buoyant ma-rket. Such a
development would also add weight to Apax Partners’ plans to take Tommy Hilfiger public again, once the markets recover, through an offering at Frankfurt.
Tommy Hilfiger Europe did not respond to an ET questionnaire, mailed on Thursday, at the time of going to the press. When contacted, Vijay Murjani completely
denied any plans to exit Tommy Hilfiger and added there was /nothing on the negotiating table right now.
The Murjanis operate Tommy Hilfiger’s core fashion apparel business through an equal joint venture with Arvind Mills, which has 23 doors across the country
at present. The Murjanis have also inked licensing deals with other Indian corporates like Titan Industries for watches and Welspun for home furnishings.
It is believed that Tommy Hilfiger sees the potential of doubling its revenue annually for the next 3-4 years, with the brand retail value including
accessories estimated at around $30 million currently.
The new Tommy Hilfiger business development team for Asia-Pacific is keen push ahead in the region, especially in a market like India where the brand has a
first mover advantage and is performing well. However, there is no clarity yet on what structure Tommy Hilfiger Europe may adopt for taking charge of
domestic operations, and if it would keep Murjanis and Arvind as future partners.
The Murjanis, meanwhile, through their Brand Marketing India Pvt Ltd, are also pumping investments to develop other international fashion brands like Gucci,
Jimmy Choo and French Connection in the domestic market, where developing a fashion business is a sure cash burner given the steep real estate costs. BMI
recently raised $10 million through a private placement with VC fund Matrix Partners.
Armani swims against the upmarket tide
March 18 2008
Fancy shopping for your next holiday in Spain? Try some red swimming trunks from the 'Ibiza Style' section of Armani Exchange's website, part of the 'sexy looks' on offer that are 'perfect' for a Spanish island often associated with the young British booze-and-clubbing brigade. It is a world away from the "formal elegance" and 'aristocratic mindset' of the clothes on offer from website of the upscale, chic Giorgio Armani brand.
Italian fashion companies, facing the threat of cheaper production in emerging markets such as China, have been moving ever upmarket for some time. In recent years Versace has closed down seven of its lower-end lines and diversified into new luxury markets such as hotels. Renzo Rosso of Diesel has added to his famous jeans by signing up designers and pushing into other lines of luxury clothing.
The purpose has been to preserve margins and the cachet of 'Made in Italy', but Armani stands apart from this trend.
Giorgio Armani, the 73-year-old founder of the fashion empire that bears his name, is scrapping for business at all levels -from the top to the bottom of the fashion world.
Armani pursues a distinctive strategy by targeting the entire spectrum of consumers and incomes through five distinct brands. Giorgio Armani, the top-end luxury brand, sees itself as competing against Chanel or Hermès (to avoid confusion, company insiders refer to this brand by its full name and the company owner only as "Mr Armani"). Emporio Armani is the top offering of more fashionable items, competing with Dolce & Gabbana. Armani Collezioni sits below Giorgio Armani, representing a more affordable and accessible elegance, portraying itself in the same league as Hugo Boss or Burberry. Armani Jeans' casual wear competes with Diesel or Tommy Hilfiger. And Armani Exchange is the group's "fast fashion" chain, vying with names such as French Connection and Banana Republic.
The group aims for a sharp delineation of its business segments, developing each into a complete offering of clothing and accessories. John Hooks, deputy managing director, views that as the route to growth. "We have a very respectable presence in each segment of the market and that's what we can build on."
But such a strategy requires great care: how does a company sell Armani Exchange underwear to American or Japanese teenagers without detracting from the prestige of the Giorgio Armani brand and deterring richer customers from visiting its exclusive stores?
Hooks, in a rare interview covering Armani's management strategy, says it demands great discipline. Developing five lines of business requires five approaches to everything the group does, from property location, design of stores and staff training to ambience, logistics, financing and packaging.
Giorgio Armani, for example, is generally available only in stand-alone stores in select locations. It is about the "the purity of the experience", says Hooks.
In the UK, customers can shop for Armani Collezioni in department stores and outside London but Giorgio Armani is available only in the country's sole store on Sloane Street in the capital. In New York, Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani sit alongside other smart boutiques on Madison Avenue, staffed by finely tailored and attentive employees, trained to explain the cut of the clothing. By contrast, the staff at 5th Avenue's Armani Exchange, which reverberates with pop music, tend to be younger and trendier.
Subtle classification
In earlier fashion eras, he says, the difference could be more easily discerned in the products on offer. The top luxury brands might only produce evening wear or work clothes. But now you can buy jeans - in Japanese denim at $500 - in Giorgio Armani as well as lower-quality jeans made in China for $90 at Armani Exchange.
"There is a very subtle classification going on that is much less apparent than before," Hook says. "It complicates things enormously but it also makes things much more exciting."
Apart from the quality of the denim, those Giorgio Armani jeans will be presented differently, perhaps in very small piles, laid out in intimate shopping areas designed with luxuriant glossy materials such as limestone, marble or pleated satin.
Advertising campaigns also diverge. Giorgio Armani is placed in lifestyle magazines and never on the internet or on billboards or outdoors. By contrast, almost all of Milan's billboards appear to be adorned with semi-dressed famous footballers and models wearing products from Armani Jeans. And in Armani Exchange's advertising, "people are not that dressed actually", Hooks quips.
Logistics and distribution are another area where different rules apply for different brands. A dress in a Giorgio Armani store that costs $7,670, might be moved from a store in Antwerp to Brussels. "You don't do that for jeans," says Hooks.
But for all the group's commitment to the cheaper ranges, Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani still have the lion's share of communication and marketing effort. One of the group's golden rules is that broadening out at the bottom of the market can only be done by reinforcing and promoting the top to protect the brand.
So although Armani Exchange accounts for 2,000 people of the 7,000 who work on Armani brands,
Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani have 70 per cent of the advertising and promotional budget. (Exchange is only 25 per cent owned by Armani so technically its people are not employed by the group.)
This mirrors wholesale revenues. Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani accounted for 63 per cent of the 1.6 billion euros consolidated revenues in 2006.
Hooks says Armani wants "brand extension not brand stretching" and acknowledges that "there is always a danger of being ripped apart" by dilution. Today's rules could be forgotten tomorrow, Hooks says. "Fashion by its very nature is precarious, the ground is always crumbling below our feet. You have to constantly reinvent yourself."
Hilton's new fashion line
March 14 2008
The Hilton clan - along with Paris' current squeeze Benji Madden - were front and centre at the LA Fashion Week show for Nicky Hilton's high-end Nicholai
line.
The latest designs from the younger Hilton sister included trench coats, knit tops, houndstooth accents and lots of leather trim.
Nicky debuted the Nicholai line at New York Fashion Week last year.
She launched her first clothing line - the casual Chick by Nicky Hilton - in 2004.
Emporio Armani to open cafe-cum bar in UB mall
March 13 2008
This silicon-wrapped city boasts spawning India’s pub movement and cafe culture. But, the benchmark of Bangalore’s well chronicled, and at times threatened,
upscale casual feel is set to soar with fashion giant Armani likely making it the first outpost for cafe business in India.
Armani’s elite cafe-cum-bar is expected accompany its 10,000 sq ft Emporio Armani store at the Vijay Mallya-promoted UB City luxury mall, sources said.
“Talks are on for setting up Emporio Armani Cafe that will be part of the store. Globally, Armani cafes come up as part of the fashion retail stores,” a
source who requested anonymity citing the confidentiality clause said.
It is believed that a decision regarding cafe business will be taken only after Armani global team’s visit to Bangalore later this month. The cafe operations
is one of the most successful and visible business extensions by Armani, a privately held fashion enterprise worth over $2 billion.
From San Francisco to London to Munich, the Armani cafe is the hottest address for a hobnobbing luncheon or a revved up talk over generous martinis. The cafe
with Italian fare is often integrated into the large format store with a counter, which could be even at the center, and sidewalk seats. But, the cafe
structuring varies with the location.
Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani’s namesake corporation has entered into a joint venture with DLF to tap India’s expanding luxury consumer market. Giorgio
Armani SpA is set to open its first retail stores — in fact, two standalone stores for Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani — at DLF’s Emporio Mall in New
Delhi. However, sources added there were no plans for a cafe launch in Delhi.
An ET questionnaire to DLF remained unanswered at the time of going to press. Armani’s next retail stop in India is likely to be Bangalore with talks already
underway to locate the store in UB City, a mixed use development that also houses a 1.25 lakh sq ft luxury mall. Sources said the location could be ideal for
the Armani Cafe with UB City being home to several top deck corporates, besides being nestled in the central business district.
In fact, UB City, apart from other luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton, has also attracted upscale lounge bars like Shiro, offering a pan-Asian bar
experience and promoted by RSM Corp, which holds the master franchisee rights for the Hard Rock Cafe.
Many would argue that India’s newage cafe movement got kicked off in the mid-90s when Coffee Day opened doors on Brigade Road, but the city with a vibrant
student, corporate and expat population has rapidly scaled up to accommodate the likes of Hard Rock, and possibly Armani now.
Fashion footnote
March 12 2008
Ever since our tragic middle-school science teacher wore Birkenstocks with sport socks, we've considered the sandals-and-socks combination to be one of
fashion's biggest sins. But after watching Anna Sui, John Galliano and Rei Kawakubo send models down their spring catwalks wearing anklets with open heels,
our position began to wobble.
Then Hermes and Givenchy picked up on Balenciaga's fall tights-and- sandals concept. And a bevy of stylish celebrities - including Julianne Moore and Jessica
Alba - started turning up on red carpets in open heels with opaque tights and, then, well, we had to admit it looked pretty good.
And that's where things got sticky.
Just try pairing tights and sandals on your own. Patterned or solid? Black or colored? Chunky shoes or stilettos?
It was worse than an organic chemistry equation. We might as well have put on our Wigwams and Tevas and headed out the door.
So we raised a hand and asked Eric Daman, the costume designer on Gossip Girl, how to do it right. The show is the small screen's latest answer to a fashion
glossy, and all season he has outfitted young stars Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen and Leighton Meester in a refined designer wardrobe that embodies the show's
Upper East Side socialite set. The teen melodrama's salacious plot line is no match for its clothes, with entire websites (gossipgirlfashion.com) devoted to
who wore what.
When it comes to tricky trends, Daman knows what he's doing. After three seasons of assisting Patricia Field on Sex and the City, he learned to shop with
future style in mind. Though he frequently matches open-toe footwear with tights and socks on Gossip Girl, Daman also knows the look can be a disaster in
real life.
Novices should start with a simple peep-toe pump and solid opaque tight. After that, a high-heel T-strap or platform sandals work best.
For formal fetes, delicate stilettos look sleek with opaque tights. But avoid this season's popular gladiator sandal and anything with a lot of straps.
Monochromatic shoes are much easier than shoes with wooden heels. Playful knee socks are another popular Gossip Girl look but are a no-no with thin
stilettos. "It's a little too kittenish."
Decide if you're going for a sophisticated or good-humored look. For exceptionally grown-up protagonist Serena (Lively) and her best friend, Blair Waldorf
(Meester), Daman uses dark colors and polished footwear to convey their 17-going-on-38 mentality.
For a more amusing look, try lighter colored heels matched with textured tights. Speaking of amusing, it's best to remember Carrie Bradshaw's dreaded hot
pants before copping a look straight from the screen; Jenny Humphrey's (Momsen) knee socks and lace-up sandals don't work quite as well on the set of real
life.
Except for trusty black on black, the sandal-and-tights trend is one that should rarely be matching. Silver Miu Miu platform sandals provided a stunning
contrast to the Wolford black tights that Lively donned during a December promotional appearance, a play that works with complementary colors such as magenta
and turquoise too.
Stay away from white on white and opt for a white heel with a primary color tight.
Personally, we pair socks only with a trusty pair of running shoes. But, like it or not, sandals and anklets are on spring's style radar.
Daman frequently outfits the Jenny Humphrey character in small socks and flirty open footwear. To make the lighthearted style work, ditch the sexpot heels in
favor of chunkier sandals, wedges or kitten heel peep-toe pumps "so it doesn't come off too trashy."
Can anyone rock this trend? "Not necessarily," Daman warns. Done correctly, the tights-and-sandals thing works at any age - though brighter color
combinations are best left to those born post Reagan-era.
However, anklet socks have no place on the ankles of those legally able to buy a keg. With either trend, confidence is the clear key to success.
"For any look, it's all about owning it and being happy with it."
So the Pucci tights you put on Jenny Humphrey - are they for the rest of us?
"As long as you own it." LOS ANGELES TIMES
Fashion show to mark PWA anniversary
March 10 2008
MEMBERS of the Pakistani Women's Association (PWA) are celebrating its 10th anniversary with a dinner and fashion show this week.
Renowned Pakistani fashion designers Nickie and Nina are being flown in especially for the event at Miami Park, Saar, on Thursday.
It kicks off at 8.30pm and more than 200 people are expected to attend the event, which will also bid farewell to members of the existing PWA
committee.
Elections for a new committee are scheduled for next month.
The organisation was formed in 1998 by five women spearheaded by Ghazala Hussain to support charitable causes in Bahrain.
"For the last 10 years, the PWA has supported over 20 Bahraini charities like the Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation, Mother and Child Welfare Society, Al
Manar Home for the Elderly, Saudi Bahrain Blind Institute, Bahrain Psychiatric Hospital to name a few," said PWA public relations officer Maria Khan.
"The association has also been involved in rehabilitation of some Asian labourers.
"Over the last few years, the PWA's focus has been on education and it currently supports around 40 students through its Educational Scholarship Fund (ESF).
"These include about 33 students from the Pakistan School, five from the Pakistan Urdu School and one each from Ibn Al Haytham Islamic School and Regional
Institute for Active Learning (RIA) Centre.
"The aim of this fund is to make it possible for children who may not have the financial resources to continue their education."
The organisation has also donated to victims of the Pakistan earthquake in 2005, victims of conflict in Lebanon and victims of the devastating tsunami that
struck Asia in December 2004.
It received an award for outstanding voluntary work from the Social Development Ministry in 2004 and was recognised by the Pakistan government, which gave
the Tamgha-e-Eisaar (Medal of Altruism) to then-president Moina Saeed in June 2006.
A recent donation saw PWA president Shazeen Asaf hand over a Braille machine to the Saudi-Bahraini Institute for the Blind, Isa Town.
Fashionistas turn from catwalk to silver screen
March 10 2008
Fashion shows are so last month, dahhhling! Film is the new catwalk, don't you know? Erin Featherston, the upcoming New York designer, does. Her clothes are
the star of a black-and-white short starring Kirsten Dunst. With a video camera, the director Ellen von Unwerth can capture the subtleties of fashion that a
conventional camera would miss: the ruffles of a dress, the sway of its pleats, the way it hangs and moves on the actress.
The film is just one example of how scores of designers are ripping up the rulebook and changing the way they showcase their talent. Many young designers,
unable to afford the hefty costs of staging a catwalk show, are instead turning to small, independent film-makers to help bring their clothes to life. On top
of saving money, designers believe these collaborations can liberate fashion from the static confines of the traditional photograph.
The Dunst clip is one of 11 films being shown today at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts that celebrate this new genre. Other alliances include those
between London-based designer Emma Cook and director Shona Heath, as well as fashion photographer Toyin and menswear designer Kim Jones.
Penny Martin, chief editor of Showstudio.com, an online fashion broadcasting company, said: "Lots of London-based fashion designers, such as Jens Laugesen,
Richard Nickel and Peter Jensen, started to make fashion films in the early 2000s. Now with outlets such as YouTube, you have that perfect tool for providing
a global platform that anyone, anywhere can watch."
But at first the then pioneering medium struggled. "In hindsight, our ambition to create genuinely progressive fashion media was far too far ahead at that
stage. Even the most experimental and visionary stylists and photographers would tell us, 'Oh, I don't really use computers,' and some didn't even have
email. We were banging our heads against a brick wall in many cases," said Ms Martin, who will host a discussion after the screenings.
Bella Freud, whose film Strap Hanging was directed by John Malkovich, said capturing fashion on the silver screen allowed designers to be much more creative
than they could be on catwalks and in magazine spreads. "It enables me to show my work in different ways. The conventional catwalk way of showing doesn't
work for everyone – it works if you're very theatrical, but I'm not," she said. "[With film] I can draw the viewer in and show them what I want them to
notice."
Many mainstream designers are jumping on the fashion-film bandwagon, too. Alexander McQueen and John Galliano have both collaborated with the photographer
Nick Knight to produce short films. And luxury brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Prada, which recently shot a film starring computer-generated models
wearing its clothing, are also getting in on the act.
WIFW designers look forward to tie-ups with Relian
March 07 2008
Bullish on the growing organised retailing in India, designers showcasing their creations in the upcoming Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) are targeting
majors like Reliance Retail, Tata's Trent and RPG for tie-ups to market their range of apparel.
"Retailers are keen to tie-up with designers," Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Executive Director Sumeet Nair said adding that the fashion week, to be
held between March 12 and 16, would provide a platform to facilitate trade.
Global luxury giant like Louis Vuitton has plans to tie up with Indian designers. Indian retailers would also follow the suit, he said.
Designer Reena Dhaka said Indian fashion designers require organised retailing to sell higher volumes, improve profits and create more visibility for their
brands.
Nair said the 11th edition of the fashion week would see an almost 80 per cent increase in international buyers, besides a large number of sales agents and
public relation agents from London, Tokyo, Europe, Middle East and Milan.
"We are bringing in agents mainly to create brand India outside and increase trade," Nair added.
About 150 domestic buyers including Ensemble, Aza, Kimaya would participate in the event. "We are providing the platform. We bring the designers and the
buyers together and it depends on them to strike the deal."
Currently, some of the designer labels are available in leading retail chains like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons and others.
Reliance Retail, Trent, RPG Group's Spencer, Ebony Retail Holdings and Lifestyle are participating in the WIFW. About 80 designers are participating in the
Autumn-Winter (AW) edition of WIFW.
STUDY OF BRANDS / Haute couture Christian Dior's h
March 07 2008
The world's major brands have established themselves as global leaders in fashion and luxury goods. The Yomiuri Shimbun has asked chief executive officers of
outstanding brands the secrets behind winning the hearts of upscale customers worldwide and maintaining their historical customer base.
In the first installment in a series of articles about leading brands, the Yomiuri Shimbun's Fuyuki Hiraishi speaks with Sidney Toledano, president and CEO
of the Christian Dior Group, in Paris. Following are excerpts of the interview.
The Yomiuri Shimbun: In the Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2008 Collection Paris held in January, there was an impressive Christian Dior creation that seemed to
evoke a kimono. To what extent are you interested in Japanese culture?
Sidney Toledano: Christian Dior designer John Galliano is always inspired a great deal by things in Japan--embroidery, sash knots and textiles in particular.
He really likes to call at dye works and similar workshops there.
For my part, I have visited Japan more than four times a year over the past 25 years. We in the Christian Dior management always listen to Japanese
customers, through our sales staff at Christian Dior stores. Indeed, I continue to be fascinated by the elegant and exquisite cultures of Japan, a country
with a tradition of respecting high quality and dignity.
What was Christian Dior's total revenue in 2007?
Last year, our sales amounted to 787 million euro (about 125.9 billion yen), up 12 percent from the previous year. We witnessed growth in Europe and Asia. In
China, our sales rose sharply, thanks to brisk performances in Hong Kong. In Russia, we opened a store of our own in St. Petersburg.
However, in Japan last year, there was no big increase as in the case of the preceding years due to the weakness of the Japanese yen against the euro.
In the fashion industry of late, companies like yours have tended to produce goods by reflecting the findings of client trend surveys rather than designers'
ideas. What role do designers now play at Christian Dior in such circumstances?
Galliano is a person of foresight--he is a genius who can come up with creations by looking far ahead. He likes to entertain us with surprises and dreams.
Artists have talents unique to them and different from ours. For his part, Galliano is not only an artist but a communicator--he listens to us as to demands
and requests on the business side.
Haute couture is France's top-of-the-range clothing. But some high-end brands reportedly have been pulling out of the prestigious segment due to a decline in
demand. The production of haute couture is said to require too much time and work. What's your take on that?
We have a world-class atelier to create clothes that have real value for their unparalleled quality. It's important to note that we have a team of about 100
craftsmen and craftswomen dedicated, as the core group of Christian Dior, to the creation of clothes that cannot be viable without their original skills. You
can buy a piece of pret-a-porter for 4,000 euro, but the prices of haute couture creations range from a minimum of 25,000 euro to a maximum of 200,000 euro.
They are totally different in terms of quality.
What about the group's business trends?
In the past three years, we have been doing well and having little trouble expanding our customer base. Haute couture creations are selling well in Russia
and China, while young people are becoming new customers of ours in Australia, Brazil and Mexico, among other countries.
It seems to be vital for brands to make themselves attractive to young generations for sustainable growth.
Customers in the young generation purchase sunglasses, bags and shoes, which are goods they can afford to buy. Therefore, we have introduced a line of
jewelry tailored to young customers who are 30 years old or younger.
Having said that, we do not want to damage the longstanding reputation of our products as top-quality, creative luxury goods.
A majority of customers expect us to keep providing goods with mature quality.
Many brands are trying to seek market proliferation by handling a great variety of goods supplied by various companies under licensing agreements. Christian
Dior has been one of the pioneers in entering into licensing agreements with other firms. Does the group plan to explore a new field?
Over the last decade, we have terminated most of the licensing agreements. In that sense, we also are a pioneer in discontinuing licensing pacts.
Perhaps, a few areas, such as sunglasses, are an exception. The Christian Dior Group today produces perfumes, tableware and cosmetics on its own. I think our
product lines are sufficient and competitive.
It's immature to think of exploring a new segment.
What is your evaluation of the Japanese market?
We want to give more emphasis on pret-a-porter items. Also we expect to look at the jewelry and menswear segments as a way of enhancing sales in Japan.
We have just recently renovated our store in the Ginza Matsuya Department Store in Tokyo. In April, we plan to launch an online boutique, a move with which
we will position ourselves to extend Christian Dior's business horizons.
Pioneer of the New Look
Born in Normandy, France, in 1905, Christian Dior, the founder of the Christian Dior brand, opened a haute couture house in Paris in 1946 after working as
designer for other fashion houses, such as Robert Piguet.
In February 1947, Dior presented his inaugural collection, including a dress with an astonishingly accentuated silhouette and small waist that was dubbed the
New Look. His creations cheered women who had been deprived of access to high fashion due to rationing in World War II.
Dior continued to delight women in the 1950s with one sensational look after another--including his feted Tulip and H-line collections.
France's multifaceted poet Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) once extolled Dior as a "genius with a magical name combining 'dieu' (French for God) and 'or' (gold)."
In 1957, Dior died at the untimely age of 52. However, thanks to renowned designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan and Gianfranco Ferre, the
Christian Dior house rapidly established itself as one of the world's leading brands.
Dior's elegant creations have captured the hearts of royals and top actresses around the world. In 1959, when Crown Prince Akihito--now the Emperor--married
Michiko Shoda, Christian Dior designed a dress for the future empress.
In 1996, John Galliano was appointed artistic director of Christian Dior's womenswear division. Drawing on influences from as far afield as China and the
Masai tribes of Africa, Galliano has given the established brand a contemporary twist, a development that has brought the fashion house a new band of loyal
customers.
Christian Dior has been expanding its global network of flagship stores, and now operates more than 200 stores, compared with just six in 1994. In 2003,
Christian Dior opened a store in Omotesando, Tokyo, followed by impressive stores in Ginza and Kobe in 2004.
WIFW designers look forward to tie-ups with Relian
March 07 2008
Bullish on the growing organised retailing in India, designers showcasing their creations in the upcoming Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) are targeting
majors like Reliance Retail, Tata's Trent and RPG for tie-ups to market their range of apparel.
"Retailers are keen to tie-up with designers," Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Executive Director Sumeet Nair said adding that the fashion week, to be
held between March 12 and 16, would provide a platform to facilitate trade.
Global luxury giant like Louis Vuitton has plans to tie up with Indian designers. Indian retailers would also follow the suit, he said.
Designer Reena Dhaka said Indian fashion designers require organised retailing to sell higher volumes, improve profits and create more visibility for their
brands.
Nair said the 11th edition of the fashion week would see an almost 80 per cent increase in international buyers, besides a large number of sales agents and
public relation agents from London, Tokyo, Europe, Middle East and Milan.
"We are bringing in agents mainly to create brand India outside and increase trade," Nair added.
About 150 domestic buyers including Ensemble, Aza, Kimaya would participate in the event. "We are providing the platform. We bring the designers and the
buyers together and it depends on them to strike the deal."
Currently, some of the designer labels are available in leading retail chains like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons and others.
Reliance Retail, Trent, RPG Group's Spencer, Ebony Retail Holdings and Lifestyle are participating in the WIFW. About 80 designers are participating in the
Autumn-Winter (AW) edition of WIFW.
Keith Richards the new face of Louis Vuitton lugga
March 06 2008
Keith Richards is the new face of Louis Vuitton, the French maker of luxury handbags and luggage.
The 64-year-old Rolling Stone appeared on a London billboard today and advertising placed in British newspapers. The campaign will feature in magazines
throughout March, Antoine Arnault, Vuitton's head of communications and the 30-year-old son of Bernard Arnault, founder of brand owner LVMH Moët Hennessy
Louis Vuitton, said in a Feb. 28 interview.
The younger Arnault said the ads are designed to promote Vuitton's heritage in luggage and win back older customers that lost interest as the label became
more fashion-oriented. Earlier ads in the campaign featured the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the actress Catherine Deneuve. Richards appears
with a deeply wrinkled face holding a guitar in a hotel room with a custom-made Vuitton guitar case behind him on the bed.
"Keith Richards is timeless and ageless," said Rita Clifton, who heads the British division of the brand consultant Interbrand. "He's lived his life on the
edge but he's not a sleaze bag. He's lean and mean and he's still current."
Arnault, speaking in his Paris office, said Louis Vuitton is picking "achievers who changed things" to star in the ads. The first series included Deneuve
sitting on her Vuitton trunk in a film-set train station, and the former tennis champions Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf cuddling on a couch near their
luggage.
Richards was photographed by the Vanity Fair contributor Annie Leibovitz and the image features lamps hung with black scarves printed with skulls. A caption
reads: "Some journeys cannot be put into words."
The younger Arnault said Louis Vuitton wants to reach business customers and frequent flyers who thought the label had shifted from being a travel brand.
Since 1997, Marc Jacobs, the brand's creative director, has driven Vuitton's expansion into clothing.
Arnault declined to release figures on ad spending or say which celebrities will feature next. Two more famous people will appear this year, he said.
According to estimates by Alessandra Rossi, marketing manager for Nielsen Global AdView, Louis Vuitton spent about $80 million last year between January and
November advertising in the Asia-Pacific region, Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States.
Louis Vuitton, whose advertising expenses rose 28 percent last year, was the fourth-largest spender after Gucci, Armani and Ralph Lauren and spent more than
Prada, according to Rossi's estimates, which are based on standard market rates.
The label, whose Neverfull handbags can cost more than $600, is also advertising on television, with a global campaign making its way to France March 10
after breaking in U.S. cinemas and cable channels last month. The 90-second spot, developed with the agency Ogilvy & Mather and the director Bruno Aveillan,
doesn't feature celebrities, shows few LV logos and offers captions about personal journeys while music plays.
No supermodel tantrums on catwalk
March 06 2008
IT was family day at the Melbourne Fashion Festival yesterday when Cashmere Mafia star Miranda Otto brought along the clan for a children's clothing show at
the Prahran Town Hall.
Otto sat in the front row with daughter Darcy O'Brien, sister Gracie Otto and her father, Barry Otto, as tots toddled down the runway in the latest autumn
winter ranges for kids.
The mini models proved wrong the adage never to work with children or animals, with the youngsters better behaved than Naomi Campbell on a good day.
"The kids all pulled through in the end. We didn't have their parents backstage which probably helped," said show producer Renee Brown.
"A lot of them had very quick changes, so we really didn't know how five-year-olds were going to handle that but they changed like professional models."
Designs by Collette Dinnigan enfant, Country Road, Esprit and Diesel were among those on display in the colourful parade, which delighted the packed audience
of 480.
Racing cars, skateboards, balloons, guitars and umbrellas were among the props used to accentuate the theme of each collection by labels such as Bonds and
Small Paul by Paul Frank.
In a nod to Hollywood starlets, models for the Baby Bardot range carried Starbucks coffee cups and golden Oscars and wore oversized Olsen-twins-style
sunglasses.
Others in the front row included MFF international guest Dana Thomas, the author of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Lustre, and her seven-year-old daughter,
Lucie.
MFF director Karen Webster also attended with her children Lily, Bella and Oscar.
"It was the most feel-good show of the festival," Ms Webster said later. "The fashion was terrific but when you are looking at kids' stuff, people love a
high level of entertainment. The audience left on a real high."
Kate Moss loses Best-Dressed crown to Agyness Deyn
March 05 2008
British supermodel Kate Moss has been dethroned as the world's best-dressed person by another model Agyness Deyn.
Moss, who topped Tatler magazine's annual list two years running, lost her place this year to the younger 25-year-old model.
"Whether she's sipping chai at the Russian Tea Rooms in Primrose Hill or kicking back at Henry Holland's studio, She's fash-fabulous... Rockin," the Daily
Snack quoted Tatler, as saying of Deyn.
Also on the list was Samantha Cameron, the wife of Tory leader David Cameron, who was there for being "consistently chic and never flash".
Fourth place on the list went to actress Keira Knightley for being a "red carpet style icon" who works the "grungy but clean" look during the day.
Others on the list include Belgian model Anouck Lepere and Alexa Chung, the girlfriend of Actic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and presenter of T4.
Smart clothes shopping for spring and summer
March 05 2008
Guys, it's time to lighten up.
Calgary's corporate-driven sense of style may pressure you to fit the conservative mould, but you've bottled up those good looks and fun personality in
sombre dark clothes long enough this winter. And while it may still be chilly, spring menswear is flooding into stores.
Now's the time to get your pick of the latest lively colours, patterns and styles of spring clothing. I'm talking life- affirmingly bright sport and golf
shirts, light suits and breezy shorts that will soon show off those hairy pasty-whites you call legs.
Yes, yes, I know: Calgary barely has a spring. While most of North America watches the snowdrifts melt away, Calgary gets a season that bounces between patio
time and snowstorms. So while spring menswear this year is inspired by the bright colours of blooming flowers and budding trees, it might seem out of place
in Calgary.
But it's really not like that. Even if it's still cold and bleak outside, a dash of colour in your outfit will earn you some long looks from the ladies.
(Just remember to shoot for a high colour contrast between your skin and your clothes.)
If you're still cringing at the thought of having to shop, think about it this way: Since there's little difference between spring and summer clothes -- in
Calgary anyway -- hitting the malls in March lets you get six months' of shopping done on a wintry weekend instead of wasting a hot summer weekend
inside.
All right, it's settled: you're going shopping. All you need to know now are this year's trends for spring and summer. So I've read all the men's style
magazines I could get my hands on, kept up with the latest fashion news, and spoken with style gurus to get the best fashion advice for looking hot as the
weather heats up in 2008. Here's what I found:
Get ready to put the dull greys, browns and black back in the closet this spring. Models in men's magazines are already wearing shirts, pants, and shorts
that yell "Look at me!" (think fire-engine red, Atlanta Thrashers blue, preppy pink and leafy green ) or "I'd rather be on a beach" (lightweight shirts and
shorts that are either white with patterns or plaid).
And yes, that colourful trend holds true for Calgarians as much as it does for Californians, say industry insiders such as Chris Isaac, a sales manager at
Henry Singer menswear.
"There's definitely a lot more colour," Isaac says. "Even more so than some other springs."
Brad Bach, a manager at the Grafton & Co., expects the big sellers at Calgary menswear stores this March will be light fabrics, golf shirts and shirts and
shorts you can comfortably wear to the cabin or a barbecue. Cabana-inspired shirts in earth tones are good for such laid-back occasions, but make sure the
shirt has a sleek cut. (Hawaiian shirts are my personal weakness, but if you want to pull one off, it has to fit just right.)
Alon Freeman, the Toronto-based menswear trend forecaster for Holt Renfrew, is keen on this spring's functional garments with prints and patterns inspired by
nature and African tribal influences. He likes organic-inspired clothes with natural colours (softened, washed-out look and vegetable dyes), and minimalist
clothes that re-work traditional styles by adding bold colours and geometric shapes.
"Clean lines and a focus on the architecture of the clothing is something that's been building over the past few years," Freeman says.
Military-inspired touches -- epaulettes, khakis and a palette of tans, greens and sands -- will also be big this spring, he adds.
For a preppier look, Freeman suggests trying a pastel-coloured linen or cotton shirt worn under a buttoned cardigan.
If you're looking for a warm-weather suit, runway models in spring fashion shows are wearing pinstriped patterns, naval-inspired jackets and bright skinny
ties. A safari jacket made of linen or cotton will add some rugged panache to your casual outfits on Calgary's usually crisp nights. Whatever jacket you
choose, make sure it's slim in the waist, short in the body and skinny in the lapels. And if you go the navy blazer route, opt for silver buttons instead of
gold, unless you're an admiral.
As for shoes, Converse's latest Chuck Taylor All Stars (remember those old-school basketball shoes with the white rubber toe caps and canvas upper?) come in
a wide range of colours and make just about any outfit you wear more fun. You'd be pushing Calgary's conservative fashion envelope though if you wear Chucks
with a suit.
Freeman says nubuck leather shoes in any colour, but especially white, are a nice touch this spring. Or, if you have a classic pair of Oxford or Italian
leather shoes, just wear them without socks when it gets hot.
If all this sounds a little much for a country boy in Cowtown, don't fret. Just pick a few versatile favourites that will enhance your wardrobe come spring.
And when patio time is here to stay, you'll be the guy who knows exactly what to wear.
Spanish fashion stores told to shape up after wome
February 11 2008
Scientists have confirmed what millions of women know already: the fashion industry does not make clothes to fit them. In the largest study of its kind Spain
has taken full-body laser scans of more than 10,000 women and compared the resulting three-dimensional measurements with clothes on the high street
The conclusion was that four in ten women were unable to find clothes to fit them properly. “We are going to abolish the current system of sizes and move to
another that satisfies the needs of women,” said Bernat Soria, the Spanish Health Minister.
The study found that women had three body types: a “cylinder”, in which the top, middle and bottom were broadly aligned, “hourglass” and “pear-shaped”. About
a third of women fell into each category, though they tended to move from being cylinders to pears as they got older.
Women between the ages of 19 and 30 had the hardest time finding clothes that fit - mainly because they were too small or tight.
Spanish fashion retailers, who have taken over high streets in Britain in recent years, have vowed to do better. The owners of shops such as Zara and Mango
have agreed to sit down with the Government to devise a new set of measurements to help women to find their exact size.
Instead of European dress sizes such as 38, 49 or 46, Spanish women will have new sizes, including measurements for height, hips, waist and breast. Efforts
will also be made to standardise those sizes across the industry to put an end to the “size lottery” that many women complained about in the study. “You
never know what size you are,” said Sonia, as she entered a Zara shop in Madrid. “Here I'm one size and next door I'm completely another. It makes shopping a
pain.”
The Government hopes that if its new measurement system is successful it will be adopted as standard by all the countries in the European Union. Once it has
dealt with women's problems finding well-fitting clothes, it will turn its attention to the other half of the population. Next into the scanning booth:
10,000 Spanish men.
The women's study also threw up some worrying findings. The overwhelming majority of women classified as being excessively thin said that they were satisfied
with their bodies, including 70 per cent who were“severely underweight”. “These women need medical help to deal with their situation,” Mr Soria said. Women
aged 16 to 19 were the least happy with their bodies despite having generally low obesity levels.
The Socialist Government and its regional authorities, alarmed by the rising incidence of eating disorders, have placed the issue at the top of the
agenda.
It has asked high street fashion chains to stop using unrealistically thin shop dummies, which it says contribute to an unhealthy body
ideal.
The Health Ministry has also closed down “pro-ana” websites, accused of promoting self-starvation among teenage girls. One of them ran a competition in which
girls gained more points the fewer calories they ate, with maximum points awarded for fasting.
The Cibeles fashion show banned unhealthily thin models from its catwalks in Madrid in 2006, prompting other shows to follow suit. Yesterday, doctors barred
three British models from this year's show because their body mass index was below 18. They were the only ones to fail the test.
Valentino waves goodbye to fashion world
January 24 2008
Fighting back tears, Valentino waved goodbye to the fashion world on Wednesday with a haute couture show brimming with the glamour that made him a favorite
with Hollywood stars, socialites and royalty for half a century.
Lipstick red, the color that defined Valentino's career, engulfed his final turn as the designer streamed models down the runway in his signature shade,
creating a flame-hued tunnel.
"He is parting in happiness but the fashion world is in mourning," said front row guest David Furnish who, together with his partner singer Elton John, is
one of Valentino's friends.
In the grounds of the Rodin Museum, Valentino, considered one of the most influential designers of the late 20th century, was joined by actress Uma Thurman,
European royalty and the New York socialites who have worn his floor-sweeping gowns since his breakthrough show in 1962.
Day suits in soft cashmere worn with long white gloves recalled the fashions Valentino created for his earliest fans Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Audrey
Hepburn.
Dresses in shimmering sorbet pinks and oranges heavy with his signature bows, lace and ruffles were fit for the Hollywood stars he dresses today.
"I am so sad, we're witnessing the end of an era of great Italian fashion couturiers. When he is gone there is no one to replace him," said Italian
television celebrity Simona Ventura, blinking away tears.
Valentino, whose couture house was bought by private equity firm Permira last year, is ranked alongside Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld as the last of the
great designers from an era before fashion became a global, highly commercial industry.
END OF AN ERA
His retirement is being seen as the ending of that earlier fashion world with the modern industry's focus on profits providing little room to foster such a
larger-than-life personality.
Valentino's rise to fame coincided with the start of Italy's film heyday, immortalized by Federico Fellini's 1960 film "La Dolce Vita", and his extravagant
parties and jet set lifestyle meant his life as well as his designs made the headlines.
His houses alone span some of the world's most sought-after locations from a villa on Rome's Appia Antica, to a chalet in Gstaad, a castle outside Paris and
an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York.
But fashion's growth into a $127 billion (65 billion pound) industry is slowly making the old guard extinct and ushering in a new breed of relatively
anonymous designers who often have more in common with brand managers than couturiers.
Valentino Garavani, always known by only his first name, is replaced at his couture house by Alessandra Facchinetti, a former Gucci designer who is
considered better suited to lead the group's expansion into new markets and product lines.
Just days before his final show, the group Valentino founded announced it was already making those inroads opening its first boutique in a hotel in Beijing
to tap the fast-growing demand among Chinese shoppers for luxury goods.
Valentino has made clear how he feels about the fading of a world he helped to create.
"The world of fashion has now been ruined," he told Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper this week. "I became rather bored of continuing in a world which doesn't
say anything to me. There is little creativity and too much business."
Stick models go out of fashion
January 10 2008
The super-skinny look has dominated catwalks around the world, championed by slender sylphs such as Irina Lazareanu, Gemma Ward and Lily Cole.
But after the recent controversy over skinny figures, sparked in 2006 when Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos and Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston succumbed to the effects of
anorexia, a healthier look is back on the runway.
"With all the controversy surrounding body image and models below the body mass index, fortunately we are starting to see people appreciate a more athletic, stronger look," Chic
Model Management general manager Kathy Ward said yesterday.
"The new girls have more of a confidence and are a bit more voluptuous."
Australian models Catherine McNeil, Miranda Kerr and Alyssa Sutherland are at the forefront of this trend, which replaces the Alien look (big eyes, high forehead, ethereal
presence) also spearheaded by Ward.
"Over the years, we've seen some very unusual looks, but those girls can have a limited career," Ms Ward said.
"The ones with a friendly, open-faced and more girl-next-door look are the ones the public can relate to."
This was the theme at the David Jones casting in Sydney yesterday, when more than 150 hopefuls vied to strut for the department store at its winter collections launch next
month. Renee Mansbridge, Katya Hudson and Letisha Vergone were among the young women hoping to kick-start their modelling careers with a berth at the David Jones show on
February 12.
The new, more seductive shape harks back to the era of the "supers" in the 1980s when Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell offered Amazonian
appeal.
But Kelvin Harries, fashion director of the David Jones collection launch, said his focus yesterday was on broad appeal rather than an athletic aesthetic.
"We are casting for a specific purpose," Mr Harries said.
"They are definitely healthy but we are looking for girls who are good hangers and who have a grace and a presence on the runway."
10 August 2010 Government Commissioner to the military court Magistrate Saqr Saqr on Tuesday pressed charges of spying for Israel against Fayez Karam and referred him to Military Magistrate Riad Abu Ghida for questioning and the issuance of an arrest warrant against him.
Fayez Karam, 62, a retired Lebanese army officer and a senior official with Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of spying for Israel.
10 August 2010 Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel said Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's evidence was not convincing and that the international tribunal would only take the new revelations into consideration if it didn't have enough proof.If the international tribunal had evidence on ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's killers, then it could continue its operations without taking into consideration.
10 August 2010 Israel has dismissed Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's accusations of the Jewish state's involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.
"The international community, the Arab world, and most importantly, the people of Lebanon all know that these accusations are simply ridiculous," a senior Israeli official told The Associated Press.
10 August 2010 Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday unveiled footage allegedly intercepted from Israeli surveillance planes of the site of the 2005 murder of former premier Rafik Hariri prior to his assassination.
10 August 2010 A senior government official said Tuesday that Lebanon is contacting the U.S. government to provide assurances that American weapons supplied to the Lebanese army are not falling into the "wrong hands."
The chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee said Monday he placed a hold on $100 million in assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces over concerns that Hizbullah may have influence over the army.
9 August 2010
Lebanon said on Saturday it was committed to building up its armed forces after complaints by Israel about Western assistance to the military following a deadly border clash between the two countries.
