Fashion bloggers are the new black for season openers
WHEN Westfield commissioned five bloggers to document its new spring-summer collections, the shopping centre giant was hoping to gain a share of the excitement around fashion on the internet.
"We've seen our fashion lovers getting information from a whole range of new sources that didn't exist in the past, so we see this as a crucial part of the future," Westfield's director of marketing, John Batistich, said.
But even he had no idea of the future online traffic that would result.
Blogger Alexandra Spencer received 2411 likes when she posted a sneak peak of her shoot for Westfield on her 4th and Bleeker blog, then 220 likes within 11 minutes when she posted a link to her blog on Instagram on Monday.
"It's about recognising the power of the blogger and creating more ways for our shoppers to get inspiration and information about shopping," Batistich said.
Five years ago, a corporate such as Westfield might have baulked at relinquishing part of its image to an unknown online army, but working with internet contributors is now an integral part of its fashion retail strategy.
Claire Fabb of Style By Yellow Button, Front Row Suit's Liam McKessar and Spencer are among the bloggers who have been recruited by the shopping centre to showcase its new fashions in videos and stills photography online.
McKessar photographed blokes at Bondi Beach wearing wetsuits with suit jackets, Spencer was shot by her father in a forest outside Boston in the US and Fabb also went to Bondi Beach to capture people on the promenade there.
Visits to Fabb's blog have increased 20 per cent since Friday, thanks to viewers of Westfield's website clicking through to Fabb's own.
"It's marrying the communities together," Fabb said. "There's definitely been an increase in traffic [to Style By Yellow Button] and there have actually been people who've stopped me on the street and said 'I've seen your campaign' and that hasn't really happened before."
The results have been posted on each blog and on Westfield's website, and are also being exhibited in installations called The Electric Lounge at Westfield Bondi Junction and Doncaster. When it comes to shopping centres and department stores, bloggers are the new black.
Earlier this month, Myer hosted in-store appearances by internet beauty blogger Michelle Phan, with cosmetics company Lancome releasing a three-piece make-up collection available at the department store to coincide with Phan's visit.
David Jones has launched its own blog, called Black & White, on which it live-streamed its collections launch earlier this month and features new products.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Best of Summer: Big Fashion Trends!
Best of Summer: Big Fashion Trends!
Thought summertime fashion was all about a banging bikini bod? Well, think again.
Because this summer's hottest styles are not only bright, fun and totally fabulous, but clothing is almost optional as we dare to beat the heat in the sexiest of styles.
From crop tops to short shorts to neon galore, there's still time to rock summer fashion like a star (and maybe snag something on sale!).
So, pull out that credit card, renew that gym membership, and get ready to channel your inner Miley Cyrus. Here are the top fashion trends of this summer season!
1. Crop Tops: Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, there's no denying this summer was the season of the crop top. The belly-baring style first crept onto our trending radar last summer, but it wasn't until Miley Cyrus' daily Pilates classes—and midriff to match—that the abtastic approach to summer fashion really took off.
Paired with a high-waisted skirt or supershort shorts, this trend looks fab on all our fave twentysomething stars with some of the most banging bodies in the biz.
And despite the fact the look can go from glam to trash (we love you, Kristen Stewart, but you've perfectly illustrated this point), we're still fans of the daring fashion.
2. Neon: Here at E!, we're all about a pop of color, but this summer's neon trend took color to a UV-level tone. From nails to hair to jeans to dresses to shoes to handbags and accessories, this ode to the '80s was everywhere this summer.
Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé and Katy Perry are just a few of the many celebs who love to rock this standout style. And whether it's bright yellow nails paired with an electric-blue top, a hot-pink dress with purple-colored tips or a bold red handbag with bright shoes to match, there are a million ways to test this trend.
Care to turn a few heads like Hollywood's hottest celebs? Then dare to add a pop of insanely bright color to your summer wardrobe. (Pair it with a crop top if you're really looking for attention.)
3. Dip-Dyed Hair: Extensions? Pshh. So last season. Now, it's all about adding some bright color to your tresses!
From Lauren Conrad to Nicole Richie to Ashley Tisdale to Christina Aguilera, countless celebs have jumped on the colored-tip trending train. This edgy 'do is a perfect way to change up your look without chopping off your locks.
If you're feeling extra bold, go for an all-over color à la Katy Perry, which looks totally fierce with all the neon shirts in stores this season.
Forget California blond! Celebs all over Tinseltown are proving blues, greens and even pinks are the ones who really have more fun.
4. Sheer: If you're not bold enough to bare your belly, then never fear—there's another summer trend for showing off your banging bod: sheer!
Celebs like Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively and Rihanna have all sported this sheerly fabulous trend, which can easily be tailored to show lots of skin (Ri-Ri's a pro).
The sheer style is one of the easiest to rock, since it can go from cazh to glam and works well on every body type. Whether it's a see-through shirt with a neon bandeau or a long skirt with peek-a-boo detailing, we're fully obsessed with this subtle (or not) sexy trend.
5. Maxi/Mullet Dresses: Talk about a '70s comeback! This summer marked the return of the maxi/mullet dress. Whether you prefer the full floor-length style (maxi) or the short-in-front-long-in-back (mullet) look, this style was everywhere this summer.
From moms-on-the-go like Jessica Alba and Jessica Simpson to young stars like Emma Roberts and Demi Lovato, this trend can go from Saturday night out to Sunday brunch. If you're feeling really bold, add some sheer to your skirt for an all-over leggy look, or pair platforms with a mullet dress for a seriously sexy ode to the disco era.
Thought summertime fashion was all about a banging bikini bod? Well, think again.
Because this summer's hottest styles are not only bright, fun and totally fabulous, but clothing is almost optional as we dare to beat the heat in the sexiest of styles.
From crop tops to short shorts to neon galore, there's still time to rock summer fashion like a star (and maybe snag something on sale!).
So, pull out that credit card, renew that gym membership, and get ready to channel your inner Miley Cyrus. Here are the top fashion trends of this summer season!
1. Crop Tops: Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, there's no denying this summer was the season of the crop top. The belly-baring style first crept onto our trending radar last summer, but it wasn't until Miley Cyrus' daily Pilates classes—and midriff to match—that the abtastic approach to summer fashion really took off.
Paired with a high-waisted skirt or supershort shorts, this trend looks fab on all our fave twentysomething stars with some of the most banging bodies in the biz.
And despite the fact the look can go from glam to trash (we love you, Kristen Stewart, but you've perfectly illustrated this point), we're still fans of the daring fashion.
2. Neon: Here at E!, we're all about a pop of color, but this summer's neon trend took color to a UV-level tone. From nails to hair to jeans to dresses to shoes to handbags and accessories, this ode to the '80s was everywhere this summer.
Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé and Katy Perry are just a few of the many celebs who love to rock this standout style. And whether it's bright yellow nails paired with an electric-blue top, a hot-pink dress with purple-colored tips or a bold red handbag with bright shoes to match, there are a million ways to test this trend.
Care to turn a few heads like Hollywood's hottest celebs? Then dare to add a pop of insanely bright color to your summer wardrobe. (Pair it with a crop top if you're really looking for attention.)
3. Dip-Dyed Hair: Extensions? Pshh. So last season. Now, it's all about adding some bright color to your tresses!
From Lauren Conrad to Nicole Richie to Ashley Tisdale to Christina Aguilera, countless celebs have jumped on the colored-tip trending train. This edgy 'do is a perfect way to change up your look without chopping off your locks.
If you're feeling extra bold, go for an all-over color à la Katy Perry, which looks totally fierce with all the neon shirts in stores this season.
Forget California blond! Celebs all over Tinseltown are proving blues, greens and even pinks are the ones who really have more fun.
4. Sheer: If you're not bold enough to bare your belly, then never fear—there's another summer trend for showing off your banging bod: sheer!
Celebs like Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively and Rihanna have all sported this sheerly fabulous trend, which can easily be tailored to show lots of skin (Ri-Ri's a pro).
The sheer style is one of the easiest to rock, since it can go from cazh to glam and works well on every body type. Whether it's a see-through shirt with a neon bandeau or a long skirt with peek-a-boo detailing, we're fully obsessed with this subtle (or not) sexy trend.
5. Maxi/Mullet Dresses: Talk about a '70s comeback! This summer marked the return of the maxi/mullet dress. Whether you prefer the full floor-length style (maxi) or the short-in-front-long-in-back (mullet) look, this style was everywhere this summer.
From moms-on-the-go like Jessica Alba and Jessica Simpson to young stars like Emma Roberts and Demi Lovato, this trend can go from Saturday night out to Sunday brunch. If you're feeling really bold, add some sheer to your skirt for an all-over leggy look, or pair platforms with a mullet dress for a seriously sexy ode to the disco era.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Ditch the baggy suit, fashion experts advise Ryan
Ditch the baggy suit, fashion experts advise Ryan
Style experts hope he'll find some time to do some clothes shopping as well.
Ryan's budget-cutting plan has made him one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. politics, but many of those who know fashion agree on one thing: The man needs serious help with his wardrobe.
When Mitt Romney added Ryan to the Republican ticket this month, fashion experts panned the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman's duck-billed loafers, floppy shirt collars and baggy suits.
GQ, the men's magazine, called Ryan's boxy black suit a "suburban dad special," while Esquire compared it to a trash bag. Women's Wear Daily called his choice of square-toed shoes "one of the most grievous mistakes a man can make."
Ryan looks "like a boy wearing his father's suit," said Jesse Thorn, editor of the menswear blog Put This On.
Ryan probably won't need the support of fashionistas to win the vice presidency on November 6, but some clothing experts wonder whether voters might conclude that a man who wears suits that seem to be a couple of sizes too large isn't ready to be one heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
"If the suit's too big for him, it seems like the job is too big for him," said Laurie Graham, a Los Angeles image consultant who works with business clients.
Ryan also gets low marks for wearing his suit without a tie, an increasingly popular look among political candidates striving for the approachable look.
"To me it looks like they had to run out of the house because it was on fire," said David Hodgkins, owner of David Wood Clothiers in Portland, Maine. "It's incomplete, it's like a shoe without shoelaces."
HOTTEST VEEP CANDIDATE EVER?
Ryan's appearance could be a reflection of his monk-like focus on fiscal policy. A wonk's wonk, Ryan is known for sleeping in his Capitol Hill office and staying up late studying budget tables, rather than hitting Washington's party scene.
"I wonder if there was some point in his life when he was 15 or 20 pounds heavier, and went into a Men's Wearhouse, had himself measured and wrote it down for posterity," Thorn said.
Ryan's poorly fitting suits threaten to obscure looks that routinely are described as boyishly handsome and a body that has been toned by the vigorous P90X fitness regimen.
TMZ, a gossip website, wrote that Ryan might be "the hottest vice presidential candidate ever." The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, named him one of the 50 most attractive people in politics in 2008.
"Forget the budget: Paul Ryan is hot!" wrote Politico, another publication for Washington insiders.
WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS
Unlike female politicians whose clothing and hairstyle choices are dissected endlessly, male politicians typically enjoy less scrutiny and face fewer fashion risks.
For decades, the choice of lawmakers and officials has been a dark suit with a white shirt and red or blue solid tie to convey an aura of power and authority. President Ronald Reagan's brown suits were a rare exception, but they helped to bolster his image as a western outsider with few ties to Washington.
Clothing, however, occasionally can trip up male politicians.
Vice President Al Gore was mocked during the 2000 presidential campaign for heeding the advice of a consultant who told him to wear earth tones. And President Barack Obama drew snickers when he was photographed in high-waisted "dad jeans" a few years ago.
President George H.W. Bush only deepened his blue-blooded reputation when he argued that he wasn't a "Brooks Brothers Republican" because he wore J. Press suits - another brand favored by old-money New Englanders.
For political candidates, a sudden fashion transformation doesn't always work out.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin traded in her turtlenecks and fleece vests for designer outfits after she was chosen as Republican John McCain's vice presidential running mate in 2008. But the $150,000 cost of the makeover led to uncomfortable questions for the campaign, particularly when it became clear that the Republican Party had paid for the clothes.
For Ryan, it won't be too difficult to up his sartorial game when he takes the podium at the Republican convention in Tampa on Wednesday night, fashion experts say.
Black cap-toe shoes, a dark, slim-fitting suit from a maker such as Brooks Brothers or Southwick, a white shirt and a solid or striped tie would convey confidence and authority, menswear experts said. Most importantly, it would not distract from the message Ryan hopes to convey to voters.
"It's his job to look responsible," Thorn said. "His priority should be to look like he has his act together."
Style experts hope he'll find some time to do some clothes shopping as well.
Ryan's budget-cutting plan has made him one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. politics, but many of those who know fashion agree on one thing: The man needs serious help with his wardrobe.
When Mitt Romney added Ryan to the Republican ticket this month, fashion experts panned the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman's duck-billed loafers, floppy shirt collars and baggy suits.
GQ, the men's magazine, called Ryan's boxy black suit a "suburban dad special," while Esquire compared it to a trash bag. Women's Wear Daily called his choice of square-toed shoes "one of the most grievous mistakes a man can make."
Ryan looks "like a boy wearing his father's suit," said Jesse Thorn, editor of the menswear blog Put This On.
Ryan probably won't need the support of fashionistas to win the vice presidency on November 6, but some clothing experts wonder whether voters might conclude that a man who wears suits that seem to be a couple of sizes too large isn't ready to be one heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
"If the suit's too big for him, it seems like the job is too big for him," said Laurie Graham, a Los Angeles image consultant who works with business clients.
Ryan also gets low marks for wearing his suit without a tie, an increasingly popular look among political candidates striving for the approachable look.
"To me it looks like they had to run out of the house because it was on fire," said David Hodgkins, owner of David Wood Clothiers in Portland, Maine. "It's incomplete, it's like a shoe without shoelaces."
HOTTEST VEEP CANDIDATE EVER?
Ryan's appearance could be a reflection of his monk-like focus on fiscal policy. A wonk's wonk, Ryan is known for sleeping in his Capitol Hill office and staying up late studying budget tables, rather than hitting Washington's party scene.
"I wonder if there was some point in his life when he was 15 or 20 pounds heavier, and went into a Men's Wearhouse, had himself measured and wrote it down for posterity," Thorn said.
Ryan's poorly fitting suits threaten to obscure looks that routinely are described as boyishly handsome and a body that has been toned by the vigorous P90X fitness regimen.
TMZ, a gossip website, wrote that Ryan might be "the hottest vice presidential candidate ever." The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, named him one of the 50 most attractive people in politics in 2008.
"Forget the budget: Paul Ryan is hot!" wrote Politico, another publication for Washington insiders.
WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS
Unlike female politicians whose clothing and hairstyle choices are dissected endlessly, male politicians typically enjoy less scrutiny and face fewer fashion risks.
For decades, the choice of lawmakers and officials has been a dark suit with a white shirt and red or blue solid tie to convey an aura of power and authority. President Ronald Reagan's brown suits were a rare exception, but they helped to bolster his image as a western outsider with few ties to Washington.
Clothing, however, occasionally can trip up male politicians.
Vice President Al Gore was mocked during the 2000 presidential campaign for heeding the advice of a consultant who told him to wear earth tones. And President Barack Obama drew snickers when he was photographed in high-waisted "dad jeans" a few years ago.
President George H.W. Bush only deepened his blue-blooded reputation when he argued that he wasn't a "Brooks Brothers Republican" because he wore J. Press suits - another brand favored by old-money New Englanders.
For political candidates, a sudden fashion transformation doesn't always work out.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin traded in her turtlenecks and fleece vests for designer outfits after she was chosen as Republican John McCain's vice presidential running mate in 2008. But the $150,000 cost of the makeover led to uncomfortable questions for the campaign, particularly when it became clear that the Republican Party had paid for the clothes.
For Ryan, it won't be too difficult to up his sartorial game when he takes the podium at the Republican convention in Tampa on Wednesday night, fashion experts say.
Black cap-toe shoes, a dark, slim-fitting suit from a maker such as Brooks Brothers or Southwick, a white shirt and a solid or striped tie would convey confidence and authority, menswear experts said. Most importantly, it would not distract from the message Ryan hopes to convey to voters.
"It's his job to look responsible," Thorn said. "His priority should be to look like he has his act together."
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Fashion Forward
Fashion Forward
In a reality show show famed for catty contestants, Buffi Jashanmal became a popular fixture on this year’s Project Runway for her unique style and positive personality.
The Dubai designer was one of 16 hopefuls competing in the long-running series, hosted by German supermodel Heidi Klum, to make their name in the world of fashion.
Buffi was eliminated a little more than a fortnight ago during the ‘Women on the Go’ week – where her typically colourful and offbeat outfit (which included combinations of pink and zebra print) failed to wow a judging panel that included veteran designer Michael Kors and Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere.
With the dust settling after her time on the show, Buffi tells us what she’s up to next.
What prompted you to join the tenth season of Project Runway?
It’s something I always wanted to do. I applied in the past but never got through the whole application paperwork, it’s like 40 pages! This year seemed like the right time to finally commit to do it. I had other small projects going on, my book and teaching, and it seemed like the right window at the right time.
Was your time on the show easier or harder than you expected?
It was the hardest and the most exciting thing I have ever done. I learnt so much, met some amazing talented people and pushed myself harder than ever before. Ultimately, it taught me to remain true to myself.
Can you describe your personal sense of style?
It’s primarily fun, quirky and playful! I love colour, print and like to use both unexpectedly in my outfits.
Does the Middle East influence your designs at all?
Yes, of course. The colours and variety from the Middle East and my Indian background do influence me. I think having such a mixed background (half Indian and half Australian, growing up in the UAE and UK) has had a huge impact on my style.
Where do your ambitions lie within the fashion industry?
I think I should probably focus on a younger market, the downtown hip kids of New York who are up for playing dress up with their clothes. The younger generation gets me!
Has appearing on a reality show lived up to what you expected of the TV genre?
It has been the best time of my life, and something so unique and special. I made friends for life. Even though we were against each other in challenges, I learnt so much from everyone that participated in the show.
Can you tell us about the book you’re working on?
I’m writing a book on dressmaking. Storey Publishing contacted me a couple of years ago and asked me to write the book. It is a different approach to dressmaking, with technical skills and craft skills combined. As I have a background in fashion, it is a little more in depth than most dressmaking books. It aims to inspire those who are beginners and also advanced. The book is organised in three levels, so you can really grow as a dressmaker, designer and crafter with the book. It launches in February 2014.
Has hailing from the Jashanmal family (renowned for their assorted retail chains in the Gulf) taught you a solid business sense?
My dad has always given me great business advice, so I always turn to him for anything related to business.
Who do you want to win this year’s Project Runway, and who do you think will win?
When I first met Chris I thought he was amazing, so I hope he goes through. Melissa is super-talented and her style is so…her! It’s incredible what a great designer she is. Ven is also super-talented, although I don’t know if he fits the Project Runway designer mould.
How much private time do contestants get while filming is taking place?
Not much. We shot like 16 to 20 hours a day.
Do you have any regrets about your choice of outfit for the ‘Woman on the Go’ week, in which you were eliminated?
I wouldn’t change a thing. The (lack of) time was a challenge, but I did the best I could. I’m really happy with how I went out – I think I was true to myself and that’s the most important thing.
What have you been up to in the fortnight since you left the show?
Apart from my book, I’m making one-off performance pieces for New York artist Cherie Lily and burlesque dancer Angie Pontani, and model Plastic Martyr. I’ve also found a great client base directly from the show, which has already opened a lot of doors. I’ve got a blog (http://buffijashanmalsotacky.blogspot.com), which covers things like style, and tips on sewing and dressmaking.
Did you accept the judges’ criticisms in your final week, or do you feel they were at all unfair?
Sure. They have their opinions and everyone is different. You have to be able to take criticism as a designer. I know that they aren’t part of my client base, so it didn’t offend me. I was heartbroken, but mainly because I had to say goodbye to everyone. I know that I don’t fit the conventional mould of the judges, so I was there to show the audience (my potential clients) my style more than anything. I think I achieved that.
After getting to know the show’s style mentor Tim Gunn during filming, what do you think of him?
He is the most amazing, incredible, sweet and kind man I have ever met, and a great teacher. If Tim doesn’t get it, then you’re in trouble. Luckily, he always got me.
In a reality show show famed for catty contestants, Buffi Jashanmal became a popular fixture on this year’s Project Runway for her unique style and positive personality.
The Dubai designer was one of 16 hopefuls competing in the long-running series, hosted by German supermodel Heidi Klum, to make their name in the world of fashion.
Buffi was eliminated a little more than a fortnight ago during the ‘Women on the Go’ week – where her typically colourful and offbeat outfit (which included combinations of pink and zebra print) failed to wow a judging panel that included veteran designer Michael Kors and Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere.
With the dust settling after her time on the show, Buffi tells us what she’s up to next.
What prompted you to join the tenth season of Project Runway?
It’s something I always wanted to do. I applied in the past but never got through the whole application paperwork, it’s like 40 pages! This year seemed like the right time to finally commit to do it. I had other small projects going on, my book and teaching, and it seemed like the right window at the right time.
Was your time on the show easier or harder than you expected?
It was the hardest and the most exciting thing I have ever done. I learnt so much, met some amazing talented people and pushed myself harder than ever before. Ultimately, it taught me to remain true to myself.
Can you describe your personal sense of style?
It’s primarily fun, quirky and playful! I love colour, print and like to use both unexpectedly in my outfits.
Does the Middle East influence your designs at all?
Yes, of course. The colours and variety from the Middle East and my Indian background do influence me. I think having such a mixed background (half Indian and half Australian, growing up in the UAE and UK) has had a huge impact on my style.
Where do your ambitions lie within the fashion industry?
I think I should probably focus on a younger market, the downtown hip kids of New York who are up for playing dress up with their clothes. The younger generation gets me!
Has appearing on a reality show lived up to what you expected of the TV genre?
It has been the best time of my life, and something so unique and special. I made friends for life. Even though we were against each other in challenges, I learnt so much from everyone that participated in the show.
Can you tell us about the book you’re working on?
I’m writing a book on dressmaking. Storey Publishing contacted me a couple of years ago and asked me to write the book. It is a different approach to dressmaking, with technical skills and craft skills combined. As I have a background in fashion, it is a little more in depth than most dressmaking books. It aims to inspire those who are beginners and also advanced. The book is organised in three levels, so you can really grow as a dressmaker, designer and crafter with the book. It launches in February 2014.
Has hailing from the Jashanmal family (renowned for their assorted retail chains in the Gulf) taught you a solid business sense?
My dad has always given me great business advice, so I always turn to him for anything related to business.
Who do you want to win this year’s Project Runway, and who do you think will win?
When I first met Chris I thought he was amazing, so I hope he goes through. Melissa is super-talented and her style is so…her! It’s incredible what a great designer she is. Ven is also super-talented, although I don’t know if he fits the Project Runway designer mould.
How much private time do contestants get while filming is taking place?
Not much. We shot like 16 to 20 hours a day.
Do you have any regrets about your choice of outfit for the ‘Woman on the Go’ week, in which you were eliminated?
I wouldn’t change a thing. The (lack of) time was a challenge, but I did the best I could. I’m really happy with how I went out – I think I was true to myself and that’s the most important thing.
What have you been up to in the fortnight since you left the show?
Apart from my book, I’m making one-off performance pieces for New York artist Cherie Lily and burlesque dancer Angie Pontani, and model Plastic Martyr. I’ve also found a great client base directly from the show, which has already opened a lot of doors. I’ve got a blog (http://buffijashanmalsotacky.blogspot.com), which covers things like style, and tips on sewing and dressmaking.
Did you accept the judges’ criticisms in your final week, or do you feel they were at all unfair?
Sure. They have their opinions and everyone is different. You have to be able to take criticism as a designer. I know that they aren’t part of my client base, so it didn’t offend me. I was heartbroken, but mainly because I had to say goodbye to everyone. I know that I don’t fit the conventional mould of the judges, so I was there to show the audience (my potential clients) my style more than anything. I think I achieved that.
After getting to know the show’s style mentor Tim Gunn during filming, what do you think of him?
He is the most amazing, incredible, sweet and kind man I have ever met, and a great teacher. If Tim doesn’t get it, then you’re in trouble. Luckily, he always got me.
Monday, August 27, 2012
This Autumn the fashion pack's going dotty...
This Autumn the fashion pack's going dotty...
When Planet Fashion falls in love, it falls hard. A tiny detail, a certain shade or cut of fabric goes — almost overnight — from being something innocuous and unnoticed to being absolutely everywhere.
We’ve seen it with stripes, of course. For the past four years at least, there is not a woman in the land — from 16 to 66 — who has not fallen under the Breton spell.
Walk out your door and you won’t take more than a dozen steps before you come across someone sporting a stripy top. Usually with the equally ubiquitous skinny jeans and ballet pumps.
But there is a new crush on the horizon — and it’s so huge that for the first time in its history, Selfridges has devoted every one of its 24 windows to it. Yes, the fashion world has gone quite dotty.
Last week the London department store unveiled its pop-up shop, celebrating the collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
The 83-year-old artist, whose work was celebrated in a recent Tate Modern exhibition, is famous for her use of spots. She has covered whole rooms in dots and once described herself as ‘a dot lost among a million other dots’.
Marc Jacobs, the head of Louis Vuitton, has incorporated Kusama’s bold, messy spots in a capsule collection for the French fashion house. Expect big spots, small spots, monochrome spots, multicoloured spots. Even the famous Louis Vuitton monogram has been replaced with spots.
The collection marks the beginning of dot-mania. Celebs are already in on the trend. Rihanna, Gwen Stefani, Kate Bosworth and Alexa Chung have all been photographed in spots this summer — be it dotty blouses, dresses or jeans.
And Lady Gaga, refusing to be outdone by anyone, modelled a more eccentric take on the trend by matching a yellow spotty collar with an exact replica on her pet pooch.
Even Victoria Beckham, a woman who can barely break a smile, looks as though she’s had fun sprinkling herself in eye-popping black dots.
So what’s new about this latest peppering of spots? Well, first, the name. To be precise — and on trend — you need to call them spots, not polka dots.
The humble polka dot, with its conservative regularity and tiny repetitions, are a tired cousin to the latest wave of designer — and High Street — spots.
And the notoriously conservative Giorgio Armani even went for candy spots at his more affordable Emporio line. One of the best in his show was a dark blue overcoat punctuated with candy- coloured cartoon circles.
This trend is about having fun — and nothing says unbridled joy like a cacophony of multicoloured Smarties all down your front. So how can you make these spots work in real life?
The point (no pun intended) is to incorporate spots into your usual wardrobe. If you like to have fun with your accessories, pick spotty shoes or a bag (zatchels.com have fun back-to-school spotty satchels, £91). If you want to make your workwear on trend, then how about a Betty Draper-inspired dotty frock? Affordable High Street newcomer, A-wear, has some lovely ones (from £25.99).
If you’re ready for some real Kusama spirit, but can’t afford Louis Vuitton prices, then try playing with scale and colour. An oversized spotty print on a dress can look fabulous with tiny freckled shoes or a bag.
Or experiment with wearing one spotty colourway — monochrome, or red and white, for example — from head to toe.
It isn’t often that the fashion world drops its poker face and has a good time. So join the potty, dotty, spotty bandwagon and learn to inject a bit of fun into your late-summer wardrobe.
When Planet Fashion falls in love, it falls hard. A tiny detail, a certain shade or cut of fabric goes — almost overnight — from being something innocuous and unnoticed to being absolutely everywhere.
We’ve seen it with stripes, of course. For the past four years at least, there is not a woman in the land — from 16 to 66 — who has not fallen under the Breton spell.
Walk out your door and you won’t take more than a dozen steps before you come across someone sporting a stripy top. Usually with the equally ubiquitous skinny jeans and ballet pumps.
But there is a new crush on the horizon — and it’s so huge that for the first time in its history, Selfridges has devoted every one of its 24 windows to it. Yes, the fashion world has gone quite dotty.
Last week the London department store unveiled its pop-up shop, celebrating the collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
The 83-year-old artist, whose work was celebrated in a recent Tate Modern exhibition, is famous for her use of spots. She has covered whole rooms in dots and once described herself as ‘a dot lost among a million other dots’.
Marc Jacobs, the head of Louis Vuitton, has incorporated Kusama’s bold, messy spots in a capsule collection for the French fashion house. Expect big spots, small spots, monochrome spots, multicoloured spots. Even the famous Louis Vuitton monogram has been replaced with spots.
The collection marks the beginning of dot-mania. Celebs are already in on the trend. Rihanna, Gwen Stefani, Kate Bosworth and Alexa Chung have all been photographed in spots this summer — be it dotty blouses, dresses or jeans.
And Lady Gaga, refusing to be outdone by anyone, modelled a more eccentric take on the trend by matching a yellow spotty collar with an exact replica on her pet pooch.
Even Victoria Beckham, a woman who can barely break a smile, looks as though she’s had fun sprinkling herself in eye-popping black dots.
So what’s new about this latest peppering of spots? Well, first, the name. To be precise — and on trend — you need to call them spots, not polka dots.
The humble polka dot, with its conservative regularity and tiny repetitions, are a tired cousin to the latest wave of designer — and High Street — spots.
And the notoriously conservative Giorgio Armani even went for candy spots at his more affordable Emporio line. One of the best in his show was a dark blue overcoat punctuated with candy- coloured cartoon circles.
This trend is about having fun — and nothing says unbridled joy like a cacophony of multicoloured Smarties all down your front. So how can you make these spots work in real life?
The point (no pun intended) is to incorporate spots into your usual wardrobe. If you like to have fun with your accessories, pick spotty shoes or a bag (zatchels.com have fun back-to-school spotty satchels, £91). If you want to make your workwear on trend, then how about a Betty Draper-inspired dotty frock? Affordable High Street newcomer, A-wear, has some lovely ones (from £25.99).
If you’re ready for some real Kusama spirit, but can’t afford Louis Vuitton prices, then try playing with scale and colour. An oversized spotty print on a dress can look fabulous with tiny freckled shoes or a bag.
Or experiment with wearing one spotty colourway — monochrome, or red and white, for example — from head to toe.
It isn’t often that the fashion world drops its poker face and has a good time. So join the potty, dotty, spotty bandwagon and learn to inject a bit of fun into your late-summer wardrobe.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Fashion & Style
Fashion & Style
KATE LANPHEAR, the platinum-thatched, leather-sheathed style director of Elle, is commonly peppered at dinner parties with questions about fashion’s next wave.
“The thing I get asked most,” she said, “is, ‘What’s the “in” color next season?’ ”
The query rankles. “If I hear it one more time ...” She trailed off, exhaling gustily.
Identifying directions in color, shape and mood and interpreting them for the camera are, of course, Ms. Lanphear’s métier, a means of placing the season’s most covetable looks in some kind of edifying context.
“As a reporter,” she said, “you always keep your eye on trends.”
But as a shopper? Not so much.
Ms. Lanphear is one in an influential coterie of tastemakers — merchants, stylists, photographers and bloggers — who can tick off new fashion directions like items on a high-end grocer’s list. Neon, they will chorus, is having a moment; patterns pop; the trouser suit reigns; leather leggings are the season’s instant update. Oh, and speaking of leather, black is (what else) the new black.
All well and good, as far as such observations go. But often as not, as insiders will tell you, that may not be far at all.
“Trends, they are not what they used to be,” said Garance Doré, the blogger and street-style photographer. Until some time in the 1970s, Ms. Doré pointed out, fashion tended to follow a single, clear direction, handed down to the faithful with the ringing authority of Moses on the mount.
Robert Burke, a consultant for luxury brands and once the fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman, amplified the point.
“As little as a decade ago,” he said, “we would gather at the Ritz in Paris to come up with trend stories, which would then be translated into shop windows and advertising. Forty or 50 of us held the keys to that secret information.”
Now that anyone with a passion for style and access to a television or computer screen can draw her own conclusions, “the trend story is passé,” Mr. Burke said.
Trends persist, of course, still scrutinized by mass merchants, manufacturers and many consumers, who use them as a compass, a means of navigating a sea of often-conflicting messages. But as an impetus to buy, trend reports rank fairly low on consumer checklists. Shoppers instead glean their fashion intelligence from a welter of sources, among them the runways, the Internet and the seemingly anarchic streets.
How, then, to sort it all out? It’s a matter of instinct, front-row stalwarts will tell you, and of personal taste. As Ms. Doré put it, “We wear what we like.”
That said, she and her nuance-sensitive peers turn to a handful of designers whose idiosyncratic but reliably identifiable output sets fashion’s course.
“Designers, along with a cluster of innovative brands, realize the value of consistency and continuity,” Mr. Burke said. “And of having their own voice.”
Which of those voices speaks persuasively to women today? Mavericks like Phoebe Philo of Céline, Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein and Nicolas Ghesquière of Balenciaga, whose ample, gently rounded coats are breaking new ground; David Neville and Marcus Wainwright of Rag & Bone and Alexander Wang, who have elevated urban-tough styling and free-spirited layering to a disciplined art. Also drawing high praise this year is Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy, whose goth-tinctured regalia has taken fashion in a darkly romantic direction.
And that’s just for starters.
“We buy what we love and what we’re going to be able to sell,” said Roma Cohen, an owner of Alchemist in Miami Beach.
Mr. Cohen has placed his bets for fall on designer looks identifiable to the affluent Miamians who are his clients, and to the urbane visitors (New Yorkers, Italians, Brazilians) who descend on his two shops in high season.
Fall’s most covetable pieces, he predicted, will include Joseph Altuzarra’s nomadically inspired dresses and separates in a Moroccan-carpet print, their exoticism contrasting with his military-style jackets and coats; Rick Owens’s bias-cut jerseys and tweeds, elaborations on his signature suedes; and the designs of Mr. Tisci, whose style is so much his own, Mr. Cohen said, “that people can look at a piece of his and right away read it as Givenchy.”
A signature look from a favorite designer is a magnet to his clients.
“They are not looking for trends,” he said. “That’s not what they care for. If they see something that everybody is doing, they’ll go for something else.”
He looks to Erika Cohen, his wife and partner, as a bellwether, noting that her personal fall wish list includes Mr. Tisci’s black leather boots with a shark-tooth closure, as well as a crocodile-stamped variation with a tassel on the back. To those, Ms. Cohen added a fur-peplum coat from Gareth Pugh, a blouse from Céline and Givenchy red leather leggings.
“I keep checking with our staff every day to see if our shipment has arrived,” she said. “They will be my No. 1 go-to for fall, and they’ll stick around in my wardrobe for years.”
Longevity counts for Marie Chaix, a young editor who has made her imprint on French Vogue and, more recently, as a stylist for Proenza Schouler. She leans toward pieces “that express a style rather than being in fashion,” she said. “Which is what I think every brand is looking for but which is the hardest thing to achieve.”
For fall, she has her eye on a demi-sheer white organza blouse and black leather skirt from Valentino, and at least one from a lineup of the designers’ confectionary frocks.
“Along with a Céline coat,” Ms. Chaix said, “this season you want a Valentino dress.”
She is partial as well to a black leather jacket and iridescent trousers from Balenciaga, a look, she said, that pushes fashion’s boundaries without sacrificing quality or craft. And she has already ordered a boxy jacket from Proenza Schouler in black leather with glints of gold.
Ms. Lanphear is similarly drawn to skins, her raffish longtime signature.
“I have a very visceral response to certain things,” she said, one that this year extends to Mr. Tisci’s brown and oxblood leathers in a collection that, she said, “carries a real sense of romanticism in a brooding, fairy tale way.” The deep red of a lace-embroidered camisole puts her in mind of Snow White. “It makes a really strong silhouette with leather jodhpurs,” she said.
She added that as a tomboy, “trouser suits were something I really responded to.”
Ditto Ms. Doré, whose enthusiasm for matching jackets and pants in collections like Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu and Stella McCartney is matched only by her fondness for peplums, especially those at Lanvin.
“I already have maybe two peplum styles in my wardrobe,” she said. “They are one thing I think will not go out of fashion.”
In most such conversations, overarching themes emerge. On the runways, Britannia rules, at least to some degree.
“London is having a moment,” said Ken Downing, the fashion director of Neiman Marcus, noting in particular fashion’s infatuation with the Edwardian style of “Downton Abbey.” With the Jubilee fresh in their minds, he added, designers are no less inspired by the trappings of nobility: fur panels, lavish brocades, evening slippers and royalty’s reigning emblem, the crown jewels. “Maybe that’s why we are seeing so many brooches,” he suggested.
To say nothing of equestrian looks, which score high with Holli Rogers, the coltishly lean fashion director of the shopping site Net-a-Porter. A personal favorite, she said, is a countrified tailored jacket from Stella McCartney, with a flared hip and sporty collar. Oh, and an amply cut Kenzo tweed coat with yellow waffle-knit sleeves.
Well-bred, pared-down shapes persist, filtering into the most rarefied collections, as well as a number of forward looking, accessibly priced lines. As relatively easy on the budget as they are on the eye are an Elie Tahari robin’s-egg-blue peplum blouse; a jewel neck, fit-and-flare dress from Milly; and a racily streamlined leather-sleeved shift from DKNY.
Their rigor is countered by a kind of giddy opulence, as evident in the floral brocades at Nanette Lepore or a baroque-patterned sheath at Just Cavalli as it is in a succession of jewel-encrusted looks at Lanvin.
In a moment defined by such alternating currents, “the real struggle,” Ms. Lanphear said, “has to do with which side is going to win.”
KATE LANPHEAR, the platinum-thatched, leather-sheathed style director of Elle, is commonly peppered at dinner parties with questions about fashion’s next wave.
“The thing I get asked most,” she said, “is, ‘What’s the “in” color next season?’ ”
The query rankles. “If I hear it one more time ...” She trailed off, exhaling gustily.
Identifying directions in color, shape and mood and interpreting them for the camera are, of course, Ms. Lanphear’s métier, a means of placing the season’s most covetable looks in some kind of edifying context.
“As a reporter,” she said, “you always keep your eye on trends.”
But as a shopper? Not so much.
Ms. Lanphear is one in an influential coterie of tastemakers — merchants, stylists, photographers and bloggers — who can tick off new fashion directions like items on a high-end grocer’s list. Neon, they will chorus, is having a moment; patterns pop; the trouser suit reigns; leather leggings are the season’s instant update. Oh, and speaking of leather, black is (what else) the new black.
All well and good, as far as such observations go. But often as not, as insiders will tell you, that may not be far at all.
“Trends, they are not what they used to be,” said Garance Doré, the blogger and street-style photographer. Until some time in the 1970s, Ms. Doré pointed out, fashion tended to follow a single, clear direction, handed down to the faithful with the ringing authority of Moses on the mount.
Robert Burke, a consultant for luxury brands and once the fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman, amplified the point.
“As little as a decade ago,” he said, “we would gather at the Ritz in Paris to come up with trend stories, which would then be translated into shop windows and advertising. Forty or 50 of us held the keys to that secret information.”
Now that anyone with a passion for style and access to a television or computer screen can draw her own conclusions, “the trend story is passé,” Mr. Burke said.
Trends persist, of course, still scrutinized by mass merchants, manufacturers and many consumers, who use them as a compass, a means of navigating a sea of often-conflicting messages. But as an impetus to buy, trend reports rank fairly low on consumer checklists. Shoppers instead glean their fashion intelligence from a welter of sources, among them the runways, the Internet and the seemingly anarchic streets.
How, then, to sort it all out? It’s a matter of instinct, front-row stalwarts will tell you, and of personal taste. As Ms. Doré put it, “We wear what we like.”
That said, she and her nuance-sensitive peers turn to a handful of designers whose idiosyncratic but reliably identifiable output sets fashion’s course.
“Designers, along with a cluster of innovative brands, realize the value of consistency and continuity,” Mr. Burke said. “And of having their own voice.”
Which of those voices speaks persuasively to women today? Mavericks like Phoebe Philo of Céline, Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein and Nicolas Ghesquière of Balenciaga, whose ample, gently rounded coats are breaking new ground; David Neville and Marcus Wainwright of Rag & Bone and Alexander Wang, who have elevated urban-tough styling and free-spirited layering to a disciplined art. Also drawing high praise this year is Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy, whose goth-tinctured regalia has taken fashion in a darkly romantic direction.
And that’s just for starters.
“We buy what we love and what we’re going to be able to sell,” said Roma Cohen, an owner of Alchemist in Miami Beach.
Mr. Cohen has placed his bets for fall on designer looks identifiable to the affluent Miamians who are his clients, and to the urbane visitors (New Yorkers, Italians, Brazilians) who descend on his two shops in high season.
Fall’s most covetable pieces, he predicted, will include Joseph Altuzarra’s nomadically inspired dresses and separates in a Moroccan-carpet print, their exoticism contrasting with his military-style jackets and coats; Rick Owens’s bias-cut jerseys and tweeds, elaborations on his signature suedes; and the designs of Mr. Tisci, whose style is so much his own, Mr. Cohen said, “that people can look at a piece of his and right away read it as Givenchy.”
A signature look from a favorite designer is a magnet to his clients.
“They are not looking for trends,” he said. “That’s not what they care for. If they see something that everybody is doing, they’ll go for something else.”
He looks to Erika Cohen, his wife and partner, as a bellwether, noting that her personal fall wish list includes Mr. Tisci’s black leather boots with a shark-tooth closure, as well as a crocodile-stamped variation with a tassel on the back. To those, Ms. Cohen added a fur-peplum coat from Gareth Pugh, a blouse from Céline and Givenchy red leather leggings.
“I keep checking with our staff every day to see if our shipment has arrived,” she said. “They will be my No. 1 go-to for fall, and they’ll stick around in my wardrobe for years.”
Longevity counts for Marie Chaix, a young editor who has made her imprint on French Vogue and, more recently, as a stylist for Proenza Schouler. She leans toward pieces “that express a style rather than being in fashion,” she said. “Which is what I think every brand is looking for but which is the hardest thing to achieve.”
For fall, she has her eye on a demi-sheer white organza blouse and black leather skirt from Valentino, and at least one from a lineup of the designers’ confectionary frocks.
“Along with a Céline coat,” Ms. Chaix said, “this season you want a Valentino dress.”
She is partial as well to a black leather jacket and iridescent trousers from Balenciaga, a look, she said, that pushes fashion’s boundaries without sacrificing quality or craft. And she has already ordered a boxy jacket from Proenza Schouler in black leather with glints of gold.
Ms. Lanphear is similarly drawn to skins, her raffish longtime signature.
“I have a very visceral response to certain things,” she said, one that this year extends to Mr. Tisci’s brown and oxblood leathers in a collection that, she said, “carries a real sense of romanticism in a brooding, fairy tale way.” The deep red of a lace-embroidered camisole puts her in mind of Snow White. “It makes a really strong silhouette with leather jodhpurs,” she said.
She added that as a tomboy, “trouser suits were something I really responded to.”
Ditto Ms. Doré, whose enthusiasm for matching jackets and pants in collections like Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu and Stella McCartney is matched only by her fondness for peplums, especially those at Lanvin.
“I already have maybe two peplum styles in my wardrobe,” she said. “They are one thing I think will not go out of fashion.”
In most such conversations, overarching themes emerge. On the runways, Britannia rules, at least to some degree.
“London is having a moment,” said Ken Downing, the fashion director of Neiman Marcus, noting in particular fashion’s infatuation with the Edwardian style of “Downton Abbey.” With the Jubilee fresh in their minds, he added, designers are no less inspired by the trappings of nobility: fur panels, lavish brocades, evening slippers and royalty’s reigning emblem, the crown jewels. “Maybe that’s why we are seeing so many brooches,” he suggested.
To say nothing of equestrian looks, which score high with Holli Rogers, the coltishly lean fashion director of the shopping site Net-a-Porter. A personal favorite, she said, is a countrified tailored jacket from Stella McCartney, with a flared hip and sporty collar. Oh, and an amply cut Kenzo tweed coat with yellow waffle-knit sleeves.
Well-bred, pared-down shapes persist, filtering into the most rarefied collections, as well as a number of forward looking, accessibly priced lines. As relatively easy on the budget as they are on the eye are an Elie Tahari robin’s-egg-blue peplum blouse; a jewel neck, fit-and-flare dress from Milly; and a racily streamlined leather-sleeved shift from DKNY.
Their rigor is countered by a kind of giddy opulence, as evident in the floral brocades at Nanette Lepore or a baroque-patterned sheath at Just Cavalli as it is in a succession of jewel-encrusted looks at Lanvin.
In a moment defined by such alternating currents, “the real struggle,” Ms. Lanphear said, “has to do with which side is going to win.”
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Fashion expert Stacy London to host Fashion's Night Out
Fashion expert Stacy London to host Fashion's Night Out
New York & Company Inc. announces its annual participation in Fashion's Night Out on September 6, 2012 with special host, fashion expert Stacy London--renowned media personality and stylist of TLC's(TM) "What Not To Wear," founder and creator of Style for Hire, and author of The Truth About Style.
At the NY&C 58th & Lexington store, from 6pm to 9pm, DJ Scratch Academy will spin as customers shop and get unique, one-on-one expert style tips and fashion advice: Stacy and her team of experts from Style for Hire will individually style our customers, offer personal styling tips, and help create the perfect look from our Fall 2012 collection.
In addition, the first 100 customers who make a purchase during the event will receive a complimentary copy of Stacy's new book, The Truth About Style, ahead of the fashion pack--as the book will not officially be released until October.
Says Eran Cohen, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer of New York & Company: "We're thrilled to give our customers at FNO the chance to be styled by Stacy, who will help them find the perfect look to fit and flatter each customer individually."
Stacy's favorite, personally-selected NY&C apparel and accessories--"Stacy's Picks"--will be featured in a designated area in the store for one night only, so customers at FNO will be able to see what Stacy recommends for the office to evening. "Stacy's Picks" of favorite NY&C styles will also be featured on www.nyandcompany.com for two weeks after the event.
To add to the festivities, champagne will be served, as well as macarons from fashion industry dessert darling, Dana's Bakery--not only delectable, but custom-styled to complement the NY&C Fall Collection!
New York & Company, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of women's fashion apparel and accessories, and the modern wear-to-work destination for women, providing perfectly fitting pants and NY Style that is feminine, polished, on-trend and versatile--all at an amazing value.
New York & Company Inc. announces its annual participation in Fashion's Night Out on September 6, 2012 with special host, fashion expert Stacy London--renowned media personality and stylist of TLC's(TM) "What Not To Wear," founder and creator of Style for Hire, and author of The Truth About Style.
At the NY&C 58th & Lexington store, from 6pm to 9pm, DJ Scratch Academy will spin as customers shop and get unique, one-on-one expert style tips and fashion advice: Stacy and her team of experts from Style for Hire will individually style our customers, offer personal styling tips, and help create the perfect look from our Fall 2012 collection.
In addition, the first 100 customers who make a purchase during the event will receive a complimentary copy of Stacy's new book, The Truth About Style, ahead of the fashion pack--as the book will not officially be released until October.
Says Eran Cohen, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer of New York & Company: "We're thrilled to give our customers at FNO the chance to be styled by Stacy, who will help them find the perfect look to fit and flatter each customer individually."
Stacy's favorite, personally-selected NY&C apparel and accessories--"Stacy's Picks"--will be featured in a designated area in the store for one night only, so customers at FNO will be able to see what Stacy recommends for the office to evening. "Stacy's Picks" of favorite NY&C styles will also be featured on www.nyandcompany.com for two weeks after the event.
To add to the festivities, champagne will be served, as well as macarons from fashion industry dessert darling, Dana's Bakery--not only delectable, but custom-styled to complement the NY&C Fall Collection!
New York & Company, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of women's fashion apparel and accessories, and the modern wear-to-work destination for women, providing perfectly fitting pants and NY Style that is feminine, polished, on-trend and versatile--all at an amazing value.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Id fashion: Tiger scarves huge hit
Id fashion: Tiger scarves huge hit
Id, this year, was taken over by “Tiger”. During the Eid prayers, hundreds of young Muslim boys and men were seen wearing the black and white check keffiyah (scarf) that has now become a rage after actor Salman Khan wore it in his latest blockbuster Ek Tha Tiger. At the idgah on Monday morning, thousands offered namaaz wearing the traditional skull caps but more than half of the Muslim population there had the keffiyah slung around their necks.
“This year we have sold out the keffiyahs even before Id and we had to order more over the weekend. There is a sudden craze for the scarf which is usually used as a headgear in the Arab nations. But people here are wearing it around their necks or using it as a stole,” said Fareed Ahmad, a shop keeper at Akbari Gate.
Interestingly, it is not the Muslims alone who are reaching out for the keffiyah, Hindu are also buying it in dozens.
“I have purchased about a dozen pieces, priced around `100, and I will gift them to my friends on Id,” said Samir Shrinetra, a young MBA student.
According to him, the keffiyah in black and white checks — a variation of the home grown gamcha that is an essential part of accessory in northern India — is now a style statement after Salman Khan wore it in Ek Tha Tiger. While the men and boys are making a bid for keffiyahs, the girls are also aping the dresses worn by Katrina Kaif in the film.
“Shararas are out and in the past three days, I have been working overtime stitching ankle-length kurtas that are worn over leggings. This outfit is worn by Katrina in the film and I had to go and watch the film in order to be able to replicate the design. I am getting orders for the post-Id deliveries too,” said Deepika Kohli, a boutique owner.
Meanwhile, if Ek Tha Tiger has changed fashions this Id, the film is also reaping the harvest of the festive seasons. All 105 shows a day in the four multiplexes and three single screen theatres in Lucknow are fully booked till Wednesday.
“I am spending the money I got as Idi in taking my friends to Ek Tha Tiger,” said 12-year-old Faisal Khan.
Id, this year, was taken over by “Tiger”. During the Eid prayers, hundreds of young Muslim boys and men were seen wearing the black and white check keffiyah (scarf) that has now become a rage after actor Salman Khan wore it in his latest blockbuster Ek Tha Tiger. At the idgah on Monday morning, thousands offered namaaz wearing the traditional skull caps but more than half of the Muslim population there had the keffiyah slung around their necks.
“This year we have sold out the keffiyahs even before Id and we had to order more over the weekend. There is a sudden craze for the scarf which is usually used as a headgear in the Arab nations. But people here are wearing it around their necks or using it as a stole,” said Fareed Ahmad, a shop keeper at Akbari Gate.
Interestingly, it is not the Muslims alone who are reaching out for the keffiyah, Hindu are also buying it in dozens.
“I have purchased about a dozen pieces, priced around `100, and I will gift them to my friends on Id,” said Samir Shrinetra, a young MBA student.
According to him, the keffiyah in black and white checks — a variation of the home grown gamcha that is an essential part of accessory in northern India — is now a style statement after Salman Khan wore it in Ek Tha Tiger. While the men and boys are making a bid for keffiyahs, the girls are also aping the dresses worn by Katrina Kaif in the film.
“Shararas are out and in the past three days, I have been working overtime stitching ankle-length kurtas that are worn over leggings. This outfit is worn by Katrina in the film and I had to go and watch the film in order to be able to replicate the design. I am getting orders for the post-Id deliveries too,” said Deepika Kohli, a boutique owner.
Meanwhile, if Ek Tha Tiger has changed fashions this Id, the film is also reaping the harvest of the festive seasons. All 105 shows a day in the four multiplexes and three single screen theatres in Lucknow are fully booked till Wednesday.
“I am spending the money I got as Idi in taking my friends to Ek Tha Tiger,” said 12-year-old Faisal Khan.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sustainable Innovation: Reducing Fashion’s Carbon Footprint
Sustainable Innovation: Reducing Fashion’s Carbon Footprint
The colorful world of fashion has its dark sides, not least of which is its potential impact on the environment.
First, there are the negative effects cause in the making, dying and distributing of most clothes, coverings and other fabrics. Then, there is what happens to all these textiles after consumers are done with them.
Cheap clothing has become a disposable product in our society and most people in Europe recycle or donate less than half the clothing they discard — and they discard a lot — with the rest going into landfills.
And despite the global economic downturn, more clothes, home furnishings and other textiles are being bought than ever. Great Britain alone has seen a 60-percent increase in textile purchases over the last decade. Experts estimate that British consumers throw out more than a million tonnes (1.1 million U.S. tons) of textiles in the form of clothes and other products every year. A European Union environmental report calls fabric Britain’s “fastest growing waste stream.”
Meanwhile, the Bureau of International Recycling, an industry advocacy group, claims that a single kilogram of collected used clothing can help reduce up to 3.6 kilograms, or almost 8 pounds, of CO2 emissions. Recycling textiles — rather than producing new ones from raw materials — can also eliminate the use of 6000 liters of water (1600 gallons), 300 grams of fertilizer (10 1/2 ounces) and 200 grams, or 7 ounces, of pesticide.
A consortium in Northern Europe is working toward getting better value out of discarded clothes, and, in the process, resizing fashion’s carbon footprint.
Key to its plan is building a machine that can automatically, quickly and very accurately sort clothes into specific fabrics to be recycled.
With a grant from the EU sustainability initiative, Eco-Innovation, eight consortium partners launched the textile4textile project in 2009. The venture, which includes machine builders, commercial sorters and charities, is adapting and testing the automatic fabric-sorting machine.
Although the sorter is in its early days, it could make it common place for people to recycle their clothes knowing that the fabric shows up — shredded and rewoven — in next year’s fashions.
Given the cost of having materials sorted by hand, this widespread shift toward fabric recycling is unlikely to happen without machines.
The machine, described in a promotional video below, was assembled in a warehouse north of Amsterdam in the spring and will be officially inaugurated in November.
It uses near infrared light to detect specific fabric types and to sort heaps of old clothes into six separate bins, one each for pure wool, cotton, polyester, acrylic and several bins for specific but common cotton mixtures.
“The trick is to develop better techniques to get quality fiber, but the beginning of that good quality is sorting,” said Sander Jongerius, the project manager at KICI, the Dutch charity helping to develop the sorting machine.
Once fabrics are separated into like tissue, they are much more valuable, especially natural fibers like wool and cotton. Recycled fabric can be spun from the shreds of the used clothing.
The charity KICI collects used garments in about 1100 bins throughout the Netherlands, where 30 percent of the 240,000 tonnes of discarded clothes end up. Most of the other discards end up in landfills.
Initially contractors sort the clothes by hand according to whether they can still be worn. The 45 percent of the bins’ contents that can no longer be worn is currently recycled into low-grade stuffing or moldable plastic-like material.
“If it is not pure, it is very difficult to become a high-value recyclable,” said Ellen van den Adel, whose company Work on Progress is part of the consortium.
With the help of the sorter, however, the recycled fabric will be pure enough to be shredded and woven into real, wearable fabric. This recycling will cut down on the production cost of fabrics and take some pressure off landfills. In an example KICI likes to use, your favorite worn-out t-shirt can become next year’s most fashionable pair of jeans.
In an article Ms. van den Adel wrote about textile recycling last month:
For the production of a pair of jeans for example in which 50% recycled fibres are used, 25% less energy is required in the production process. Almost 50% less water is used, because there is no need to grow virgin cotton. Moreover around 40% fewer chemicals are needed, predominantly pesticides that are used in growing cotton.
“We do this as business, but also from a sustainable point of view, we see a lot of material is wasted in Holland,” said Mr. Jongerius.
The sorting machine, which, once in production, will cost between €200,000 and 500,000 will pay for itself quickly, said Ms. van den Adel.
The colorful world of fashion has its dark sides, not least of which is its potential impact on the environment.
First, there are the negative effects cause in the making, dying and distributing of most clothes, coverings and other fabrics. Then, there is what happens to all these textiles after consumers are done with them.
Cheap clothing has become a disposable product in our society and most people in Europe recycle or donate less than half the clothing they discard — and they discard a lot — with the rest going into landfills.
And despite the global economic downturn, more clothes, home furnishings and other textiles are being bought than ever. Great Britain alone has seen a 60-percent increase in textile purchases over the last decade. Experts estimate that British consumers throw out more than a million tonnes (1.1 million U.S. tons) of textiles in the form of clothes and other products every year. A European Union environmental report calls fabric Britain’s “fastest growing waste stream.”
Meanwhile, the Bureau of International Recycling, an industry advocacy group, claims that a single kilogram of collected used clothing can help reduce up to 3.6 kilograms, or almost 8 pounds, of CO2 emissions. Recycling textiles — rather than producing new ones from raw materials — can also eliminate the use of 6000 liters of water (1600 gallons), 300 grams of fertilizer (10 1/2 ounces) and 200 grams, or 7 ounces, of pesticide.
A consortium in Northern Europe is working toward getting better value out of discarded clothes, and, in the process, resizing fashion’s carbon footprint.
Key to its plan is building a machine that can automatically, quickly and very accurately sort clothes into specific fabrics to be recycled.
With a grant from the EU sustainability initiative, Eco-Innovation, eight consortium partners launched the textile4textile project in 2009. The venture, which includes machine builders, commercial sorters and charities, is adapting and testing the automatic fabric-sorting machine.
Although the sorter is in its early days, it could make it common place for people to recycle their clothes knowing that the fabric shows up — shredded and rewoven — in next year’s fashions.
Given the cost of having materials sorted by hand, this widespread shift toward fabric recycling is unlikely to happen without machines.
The machine, described in a promotional video below, was assembled in a warehouse north of Amsterdam in the spring and will be officially inaugurated in November.
It uses near infrared light to detect specific fabric types and to sort heaps of old clothes into six separate bins, one each for pure wool, cotton, polyester, acrylic and several bins for specific but common cotton mixtures.
“The trick is to develop better techniques to get quality fiber, but the beginning of that good quality is sorting,” said Sander Jongerius, the project manager at KICI, the Dutch charity helping to develop the sorting machine.
Once fabrics are separated into like tissue, they are much more valuable, especially natural fibers like wool and cotton. Recycled fabric can be spun from the shreds of the used clothing.
The charity KICI collects used garments in about 1100 bins throughout the Netherlands, where 30 percent of the 240,000 tonnes of discarded clothes end up. Most of the other discards end up in landfills.
Initially contractors sort the clothes by hand according to whether they can still be worn. The 45 percent of the bins’ contents that can no longer be worn is currently recycled into low-grade stuffing or moldable plastic-like material.
“If it is not pure, it is very difficult to become a high-value recyclable,” said Ellen van den Adel, whose company Work on Progress is part of the consortium.
With the help of the sorter, however, the recycled fabric will be pure enough to be shredded and woven into real, wearable fabric. This recycling will cut down on the production cost of fabrics and take some pressure off landfills. In an example KICI likes to use, your favorite worn-out t-shirt can become next year’s most fashionable pair of jeans.
In an article Ms. van den Adel wrote about textile recycling last month:
For the production of a pair of jeans for example in which 50% recycled fibres are used, 25% less energy is required in the production process. Almost 50% less water is used, because there is no need to grow virgin cotton. Moreover around 40% fewer chemicals are needed, predominantly pesticides that are used in growing cotton.
“We do this as business, but also from a sustainable point of view, we see a lot of material is wasted in Holland,” said Mr. Jongerius.
The sorting machine, which, once in production, will cost between €200,000 and 500,000 will pay for itself quickly, said Ms. van den Adel.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Big hopes for small fashion
Big hopes for small fashion
At 27 inches tall, Bridgette Jordan, 23, is shorter than most table lamps and weighs just 18 pounds. For obvious reasons, her stature tacitly commands your attention.
And though she may no longer be the Guinness Book of World Records holder for shortest adult female, she holds the record as the world's shortest cheerleader (though she's no longer on the squad) and, along with her brother, Brad, is half of the world's shortest siblings.
Bridgette Jordan soon may define a new category - world's smallest fashion designer - with some help from St. Louis designer Amy Johnson.
Christy Jordan says her daughter has lived an extraordinarily ordinary life in Sandoval, Ill., 63 miles east of St. Louis.
It's no surprise that she and her brother, 21, will be the stars of a reality television series this season. Both have the same rare form of dwarfism. Their parents and older sister, Brandi, 24, are "regular-sized."
The show, "Big Tiny," premieres on TLC at 9 tonight and chronicles the Jordans as "they make something big out of being tiny," according to the docu-series description.
Filmed from February to May of this year, there are eight half-hour episodes in the series. The episodes are airing two at a time, back to back, for the show's four-week run.
In one episode, the Jordans navigate a supermarket. At one point, Bridgette Jordan attempts to lift a bag of sugar from a bottom shelf that she proclaims "probably weighs more than I do." She ends up selecting a smaller bag.
To find out that a woman who literally looks up to toddlers is attending college, learning to drive and loves to bake is a difficult concept to wrap one's head around.
"Even I have to stop myself sometimes from wanting to help too much," said Christy Jordan. "I have to tell myself she's an adult, she can do it ... she can figure out how to do it."
Bridgette was diagnosed with Majewski Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Type II when she was 18 months old and Brad was on the way. She was born weighing a scant 1 pound 12 ounces and was hospitalized for three months before it was clear she wasn't going to grow to a normal weight.
At the time, the World Wide Web was in its infancy as well, so Christy Jordan, who is a registered nurse, and her doctors had to learn things the hard way.
Now, the Jordans have 40 families in their circle of little people friends, and Christy Jordan is going to be the next president of Potentials Foundation, a group that helps with education, moral support, medical advice and travel fees for families with dwarfs.
Jordan said she wants to take some of the fear out of dwarfism.
Brad Jordan has the same syndrome but stands about 38 inches tall. He and his sister are the only known dwarfs on both sides of the family.
One of the more striking things about the Jordan home is the lack of tiny furniture. Bridgette and Brad Jordan sleep on twin beds but not the toddler beds that people their size often use. The kitchen has not been adapted (except for step stools), but there are smaller amenities in the bathroom.
"There's a lot of climbing in this house," Christy Jordan explains. "I don't want them to rely on small furniture because the world's not going to adapt to them; they are going to have to adapt to it."
She said that she wants them to be prepared and undaunted. It seems to be working. Both attend Kaskaskia College in nearby Centralia, Ill. One day at school, Brad Jordan wanted to avoid walking into the wrong lecture room, but he couldn't peer into the window above the door knob. He stopped someone in the hall and had them look inside for him.
"When he told me that story, I knew that he'd be OK," his mom said. "He doesn't need someone with him all the time."
It helps that Brad Jordan is outspoken, athletic and competitive.
He plays basketball at a hoop outside the family home but uses an NBA-size basketball and the hoop is regulation height. He brags that he's pretty good.
Brad Jordan was a powerhouse gymnast. He tumbled and flipped with astounding athleticism (search YouTube for Brad Jordan gymnast for proof). Now, he's over gymnastics as he moves up the belted ranks in karate.
Bridgette Jordan was applying makeup before an interview with the Post-Dispatch, so she sauntered in fashionably late wearing a grayish leopard-print skirt and a peach-colored "love" T-shirt. Her below shoulder-length auburn hair has blond streaks.
In other words, she dresses like a typical college student who dreams of becoming a fashion designer, except for the shoes.
"She'd kill for a pair of heels," her mother explained. "Wouldn't you, Bri?"
Jordan sighed and nodded with her whole body.
She wears infant shoes - her sister and nieces usually help glam them up with paint and sparkles, but finding heels is impossible. There are some cheeky novelty infant heels on the market, but they aren't designed to be functional because the typical wearer isn't actually able to walk.
Jordan shops for clothing in the children's department, but most infant garments are designed to maximize cuteness, not follow current trends. She adapts or alters what she can, but she longed for a custom gown.
The show made that dream come true with a call to Amy Johnson of KayOss Designs in St. Louis.
When Johnson first got the email from the television production crew based in Wales, England, referring to dwarf siblings and the need for a custom gown, she deleted it as quickly as she dispenses with mail from a "Nigerian prince" needing help acquiring his millions.
"I thought, this can't be real," Johnson said.
Then a few days later, a producer called to speak to her. After hearing Jordan's story, she wanted to help her no matter what. Johnson, an environmental engineer-turned-fashion-designer, knew a thing or two about changing expectations.
She created a one-shouldered, belted shift dress with vertical stripes from a sketch Jordan drew. Then as a surprise, Johnson crafted a second dress - a hot pink miniature version of a popular floor-length dress from her KayOss Designs clothing line.
"When we were fitting her for the dress, I was like, 'She's really got a womanly shape,'" Johnson said.
Her womanly proportions mean that shopping in the infant clothes department must be even more of a struggle, Johnson said.
Johnson's dress for Jordan was so flattering that her sister decided to use it as the design for her bridesmaid dresses. Bridgette Jordan was maid of honor.
"That's just one of those God things. We were lucky," Christy Jordan said.
The wedding was less than a few months away, and they hadn't decided on bridesmaid dresses because they assumed that fitting Bridgette would be difficult.
Bridgette Jordan said she wants to design for small women who have the same fashion challenges that she does. She said she feels more confident dressed up, and she wants other women her size to get the same boost.
"We do the same things, just differently," she said.
At 27 inches tall, Bridgette Jordan, 23, is shorter than most table lamps and weighs just 18 pounds. For obvious reasons, her stature tacitly commands your attention.
And though she may no longer be the Guinness Book of World Records holder for shortest adult female, she holds the record as the world's shortest cheerleader (though she's no longer on the squad) and, along with her brother, Brad, is half of the world's shortest siblings.
Bridgette Jordan soon may define a new category - world's smallest fashion designer - with some help from St. Louis designer Amy Johnson.
Christy Jordan says her daughter has lived an extraordinarily ordinary life in Sandoval, Ill., 63 miles east of St. Louis.
It's no surprise that she and her brother, 21, will be the stars of a reality television series this season. Both have the same rare form of dwarfism. Their parents and older sister, Brandi, 24, are "regular-sized."
The show, "Big Tiny," premieres on TLC at 9 tonight and chronicles the Jordans as "they make something big out of being tiny," according to the docu-series description.
Filmed from February to May of this year, there are eight half-hour episodes in the series. The episodes are airing two at a time, back to back, for the show's four-week run.
In one episode, the Jordans navigate a supermarket. At one point, Bridgette Jordan attempts to lift a bag of sugar from a bottom shelf that she proclaims "probably weighs more than I do." She ends up selecting a smaller bag.
To find out that a woman who literally looks up to toddlers is attending college, learning to drive and loves to bake is a difficult concept to wrap one's head around.
"Even I have to stop myself sometimes from wanting to help too much," said Christy Jordan. "I have to tell myself she's an adult, she can do it ... she can figure out how to do it."
Bridgette was diagnosed with Majewski Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Type II when she was 18 months old and Brad was on the way. She was born weighing a scant 1 pound 12 ounces and was hospitalized for three months before it was clear she wasn't going to grow to a normal weight.
At the time, the World Wide Web was in its infancy as well, so Christy Jordan, who is a registered nurse, and her doctors had to learn things the hard way.
Now, the Jordans have 40 families in their circle of little people friends, and Christy Jordan is going to be the next president of Potentials Foundation, a group that helps with education, moral support, medical advice and travel fees for families with dwarfs.
Jordan said she wants to take some of the fear out of dwarfism.
Brad Jordan has the same syndrome but stands about 38 inches tall. He and his sister are the only known dwarfs on both sides of the family.
One of the more striking things about the Jordan home is the lack of tiny furniture. Bridgette and Brad Jordan sleep on twin beds but not the toddler beds that people their size often use. The kitchen has not been adapted (except for step stools), but there are smaller amenities in the bathroom.
"There's a lot of climbing in this house," Christy Jordan explains. "I don't want them to rely on small furniture because the world's not going to adapt to them; they are going to have to adapt to it."
She said that she wants them to be prepared and undaunted. It seems to be working. Both attend Kaskaskia College in nearby Centralia, Ill. One day at school, Brad Jordan wanted to avoid walking into the wrong lecture room, but he couldn't peer into the window above the door knob. He stopped someone in the hall and had them look inside for him.
"When he told me that story, I knew that he'd be OK," his mom said. "He doesn't need someone with him all the time."
It helps that Brad Jordan is outspoken, athletic and competitive.
He plays basketball at a hoop outside the family home but uses an NBA-size basketball and the hoop is regulation height. He brags that he's pretty good.
Brad Jordan was a powerhouse gymnast. He tumbled and flipped with astounding athleticism (search YouTube for Brad Jordan gymnast for proof). Now, he's over gymnastics as he moves up the belted ranks in karate.
Bridgette Jordan was applying makeup before an interview with the Post-Dispatch, so she sauntered in fashionably late wearing a grayish leopard-print skirt and a peach-colored "love" T-shirt. Her below shoulder-length auburn hair has blond streaks.
In other words, she dresses like a typical college student who dreams of becoming a fashion designer, except for the shoes.
"She'd kill for a pair of heels," her mother explained. "Wouldn't you, Bri?"
Jordan sighed and nodded with her whole body.
She wears infant shoes - her sister and nieces usually help glam them up with paint and sparkles, but finding heels is impossible. There are some cheeky novelty infant heels on the market, but they aren't designed to be functional because the typical wearer isn't actually able to walk.
Jordan shops for clothing in the children's department, but most infant garments are designed to maximize cuteness, not follow current trends. She adapts or alters what she can, but she longed for a custom gown.
The show made that dream come true with a call to Amy Johnson of KayOss Designs in St. Louis.
When Johnson first got the email from the television production crew based in Wales, England, referring to dwarf siblings and the need for a custom gown, she deleted it as quickly as she dispenses with mail from a "Nigerian prince" needing help acquiring his millions.
"I thought, this can't be real," Johnson said.
Then a few days later, a producer called to speak to her. After hearing Jordan's story, she wanted to help her no matter what. Johnson, an environmental engineer-turned-fashion-designer, knew a thing or two about changing expectations.
She created a one-shouldered, belted shift dress with vertical stripes from a sketch Jordan drew. Then as a surprise, Johnson crafted a second dress - a hot pink miniature version of a popular floor-length dress from her KayOss Designs clothing line.
"When we were fitting her for the dress, I was like, 'She's really got a womanly shape,'" Johnson said.
Her womanly proportions mean that shopping in the infant clothes department must be even more of a struggle, Johnson said.
Johnson's dress for Jordan was so flattering that her sister decided to use it as the design for her bridesmaid dresses. Bridgette Jordan was maid of honor.
"That's just one of those God things. We were lucky," Christy Jordan said.
The wedding was less than a few months away, and they hadn't decided on bridesmaid dresses because they assumed that fitting Bridgette would be difficult.
Bridgette Jordan said she wants to design for small women who have the same fashion challenges that she does. She said she feels more confident dressed up, and she wants other women her size to get the same boost.
"We do the same things, just differently," she said.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Montreal Expos' fashion revival
Montreal Expos' fashion revival
The Montreal Expos may be long gone, but the team's old logo is enjoying a noticeable revival — and not just with baseball fans.
The team's vintage red, white and blue cap, with the tricolour "M" on the front, has become an improbably popular fashion accessory for a younger, urban crowd.
Expos caps are in fact seen far more frequently on the streets of Montreal these days than when the star-crossed franchise actually existed, with its last painful years spent playing to minuscule crowds at Olympic Stadium.
This week the sight of those caps brings bittersweet memories for the team's long-suffering fans. It was on Aug. 12, 1994, that the Expos' best season ever was ended by a labour dispute. The franchise is now enjoying its best season since then, only the team is in Washington and it's now called the Nationals.
Eight years after the team left town, the colourful headwear is not only a daily sight in Montreal's subway cars and downtown streets. Tourists have also noted spotting it in far-flung locations such as Chicago and Los Angeles.
It might not actually be baseball nostalgia leading the trend.
As has been the case for other sportswear, the Expos cap has been described over the years as a gang symbol in a number of North American cities — including Los Angeles, Seattle, Wichita and, naturally, Montreal.
According to Ken Haqq, sales manager for New Era Canada, the popularity of the logo actually spiked three or four years ago when several hip hop artists, including the members of the popular American duo Outkast, started sporting the old cap.
"Our (Expos hats) were going from coast to coast," he said.
Expos caps are now the third-biggest sellers in Canada, behind only the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees, according to New Era, the official ball cap manufacturer of Major League Baseball.
In the past year, though, Expos gear has become even more popular in Quebec, while tapering off somewhat in the rest of Canada, Haqq said.
In Montreal, the vintage caps have become a key accessory for stylish teenagers likely too young to remember the team. The logo's popularity has been spurred by the province's own hip hop stars, many of whom wear it during performances.
"We were selling a lot of Yankees stuff, but now the Expos are a big seller too," said Robert Araujo, whose shop, Logo Sports, is brimming with Expos hats in a multitude of colours.
Different versions of the cap have become popular. There's the familiar tricolour one the team wore before 1992, and newer creations in black, red and even teal. The post-1992 blue cap, which the Expos wore for the latter part of their existence, is a less common sight.
Araujo, a longtime fan and a bat boy for the team in the early 1980s, said it's hard to know exactly what has prompted the revival. At least for some, "it's a fashion thing, no doubt," he said.
But there's also a resurgence amongst some of the old diehard baseball fans.
After mourning the franchise's painful final years and its 2004 departure, some fans are more willing these days to look farther back and reminisce about the glory days.
This summer, hundreds of fans attended meet-and-greets with members of the old club at a weekend reunion in honour Gary Carter, the Hall of Fame catcher who died of brain cancer in February. And increasingly, there are rumblings about bringing a minor-league team to the city.
"It's like stages of grief," said Annakin Slayd, a Montreal hip hop artist who made a tribute song about Carter that went viral.
"I remember being at the last games and not feeling anything — it was just more shock. And then after that it was anger, and then (sadness). I think over time the anger turned into reflection, and a little bit of celebration. And that's where we are now."
At one point, Slayd said so many Quebec rappers were wearing the cap that he found it upsetting, since it made wearing one seem more a fashion statement than anything else.
"We're also a very nostalgic generation," said Slayd, 34.
"Everything is vintage."
Remembering the good times, though, always gets a little harder for Expos fans around this time of year.
Eighteen years ago this week, the Expos had the best record in Major League Baseball — 74 wins and 40 losses — and seemed poised for a trip to the post-season.
But any hope of the team's first World Series came crashing down when a work stoppage forced an abrupt end to the season.
The team was broken up in a fire sale during the offseason, its best players went on to star elsewhere, and the Expos began their decade-long death spiral.
Ever since then, fans have been left wondering whether an extended playoff run that season might have saved the franchise.
"I think about it on occasion, but I try not to think about it too much," said Paul Berry, a 31-year-old Montrealer and lifelong Expos fan.
The memory has been made a little more bitter this year by the success enjoyed by the relocated franchise, the Washington Nationals.
The team is in first place with seven weeks left. It's the best season the franchise has ever had — unless you count 1994.
Berry, a high school teacher, has noticed more of his students donning Expos gear to school. He suspects it may be more a question of style than an homage to the old club.
His teenage students were just kids when the team left town, and many never got a chance to see them play.
"I think the sports logos that kids wear today have a lot to do with fashion," Berry said. "I think it also has a lot to do with city pride."
For Berry, though, there's more to putting on the Expos colours.
"I have so many memories of going to games — a lot of it is associated with my family, and a lot of them are good ones," said Berry, who has an Expos tricolour hat, a bullpen jacket and t-shirt in his wardrobe.
"I do want to keep the team alive and I don't think they should be forgotten about. And there's this kernel of hope in me that one day there will be a Major League team back in the city."
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/Montreal+Expos+fashion+revival/7095536/story.html#ixzz23h6u5tEa
The Montreal Expos may be long gone, but the team's old logo is enjoying a noticeable revival — and not just with baseball fans.
The team's vintage red, white and blue cap, with the tricolour "M" on the front, has become an improbably popular fashion accessory for a younger, urban crowd.
Expos caps are in fact seen far more frequently on the streets of Montreal these days than when the star-crossed franchise actually existed, with its last painful years spent playing to minuscule crowds at Olympic Stadium.
This week the sight of those caps brings bittersweet memories for the team's long-suffering fans. It was on Aug. 12, 1994, that the Expos' best season ever was ended by a labour dispute. The franchise is now enjoying its best season since then, only the team is in Washington and it's now called the Nationals.
Eight years after the team left town, the colourful headwear is not only a daily sight in Montreal's subway cars and downtown streets. Tourists have also noted spotting it in far-flung locations such as Chicago and Los Angeles.
It might not actually be baseball nostalgia leading the trend.
As has been the case for other sportswear, the Expos cap has been described over the years as a gang symbol in a number of North American cities — including Los Angeles, Seattle, Wichita and, naturally, Montreal.
According to Ken Haqq, sales manager for New Era Canada, the popularity of the logo actually spiked three or four years ago when several hip hop artists, including the members of the popular American duo Outkast, started sporting the old cap.
"Our (Expos hats) were going from coast to coast," he said.
Expos caps are now the third-biggest sellers in Canada, behind only the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees, according to New Era, the official ball cap manufacturer of Major League Baseball.
In the past year, though, Expos gear has become even more popular in Quebec, while tapering off somewhat in the rest of Canada, Haqq said.
In Montreal, the vintage caps have become a key accessory for stylish teenagers likely too young to remember the team. The logo's popularity has been spurred by the province's own hip hop stars, many of whom wear it during performances.
"We were selling a lot of Yankees stuff, but now the Expos are a big seller too," said Robert Araujo, whose shop, Logo Sports, is brimming with Expos hats in a multitude of colours.
Different versions of the cap have become popular. There's the familiar tricolour one the team wore before 1992, and newer creations in black, red and even teal. The post-1992 blue cap, which the Expos wore for the latter part of their existence, is a less common sight.
Araujo, a longtime fan and a bat boy for the team in the early 1980s, said it's hard to know exactly what has prompted the revival. At least for some, "it's a fashion thing, no doubt," he said.
But there's also a resurgence amongst some of the old diehard baseball fans.
After mourning the franchise's painful final years and its 2004 departure, some fans are more willing these days to look farther back and reminisce about the glory days.
This summer, hundreds of fans attended meet-and-greets with members of the old club at a weekend reunion in honour Gary Carter, the Hall of Fame catcher who died of brain cancer in February. And increasingly, there are rumblings about bringing a minor-league team to the city.
"It's like stages of grief," said Annakin Slayd, a Montreal hip hop artist who made a tribute song about Carter that went viral.
"I remember being at the last games and not feeling anything — it was just more shock. And then after that it was anger, and then (sadness). I think over time the anger turned into reflection, and a little bit of celebration. And that's where we are now."
At one point, Slayd said so many Quebec rappers were wearing the cap that he found it upsetting, since it made wearing one seem more a fashion statement than anything else.
"We're also a very nostalgic generation," said Slayd, 34.
"Everything is vintage."
Remembering the good times, though, always gets a little harder for Expos fans around this time of year.
Eighteen years ago this week, the Expos had the best record in Major League Baseball — 74 wins and 40 losses — and seemed poised for a trip to the post-season.
But any hope of the team's first World Series came crashing down when a work stoppage forced an abrupt end to the season.
The team was broken up in a fire sale during the offseason, its best players went on to star elsewhere, and the Expos began their decade-long death spiral.
Ever since then, fans have been left wondering whether an extended playoff run that season might have saved the franchise.
"I think about it on occasion, but I try not to think about it too much," said Paul Berry, a 31-year-old Montrealer and lifelong Expos fan.
The memory has been made a little more bitter this year by the success enjoyed by the relocated franchise, the Washington Nationals.
The team is in first place with seven weeks left. It's the best season the franchise has ever had — unless you count 1994.
Berry, a high school teacher, has noticed more of his students donning Expos gear to school. He suspects it may be more a question of style than an homage to the old club.
His teenage students were just kids when the team left town, and many never got a chance to see them play.
"I think the sports logos that kids wear today have a lot to do with fashion," Berry said. "I think it also has a lot to do with city pride."
For Berry, though, there's more to putting on the Expos colours.
"I have so many memories of going to games — a lot of it is associated with my family, and a lot of them are good ones," said Berry, who has an Expos tricolour hat, a bullpen jacket and t-shirt in his wardrobe.
"I do want to keep the team alive and I don't think they should be forgotten about. And there's this kernel of hope in me that one day there will be a Major League team back in the city."
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/Montreal+Expos+fashion+revival/7095536/story.html#ixzz23h6u5tEa
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Kim Kardashian Fashion to Invade Britain; Phase 1 of Global Domination
Kim Kardashian Fashion to Invade Britain; Phase 1 of Global Domination
Reality TV stars/fashion designing sisters Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian are taking their wildly successful Sears clothing line -- aptly called the Kardashian Kollection -- to the next global domination level by invading England.
PHOTOS: THR's Portraits of TV's Top Reality Talent
Look out, Kate Moss. The K-girls' dresses, jeans, shoes, etc., will be sold in the supertrendy High Street boutique named Dorothy Perkins. Actually, the line will be carried in 250 Dorothy Perkins shops all over the U.K. as well as eight location-to-be-determined BHS pop-up shops.
Now, let's give this some thought. We don't need to remind you that Kate Middleton, aka the Duchess of Cambridge, is known to shop for royal fashion bargains on High Street. And sooner or later, she probably will get curious and check out the Dash girls' designs.
STORY: Kanye West Dubs Kim Kardashian 'Perfect Bitch' in New Song
As a rule, classy Kate prefers British designers, her being a British fashion ambassador and all that royal protocol nonsense.
But wouldn't it be incredible if Kate Middleton actually bought and wore a frock from the Kardashian Kollection? Can you imagine? The Queen might have her head. Or send her to the Tower.
Great Britain is just the beginning. We hear there are also plans for their clothing line to invade -- sorry, be available in -- 13 other countries, including Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. May we suggest North Korea and Afghanistan? Both countries could use a dose of Kardashian fashion.
STORY: Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian Launch Nerdy Eyewear for Sears
Kim is already hinting at plans to visit England. On Sunday, she slyly tweeted her sisters Khloe and Kourtney: "Can you think of a reason to visit the UK :)"
Reality TV stars/fashion designing sisters Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian are taking their wildly successful Sears clothing line -- aptly called the Kardashian Kollection -- to the next global domination level by invading England.
PHOTOS: THR's Portraits of TV's Top Reality Talent
Look out, Kate Moss. The K-girls' dresses, jeans, shoes, etc., will be sold in the supertrendy High Street boutique named Dorothy Perkins. Actually, the line will be carried in 250 Dorothy Perkins shops all over the U.K. as well as eight location-to-be-determined BHS pop-up shops.
Now, let's give this some thought. We don't need to remind you that Kate Middleton, aka the Duchess of Cambridge, is known to shop for royal fashion bargains on High Street. And sooner or later, she probably will get curious and check out the Dash girls' designs.
STORY: Kanye West Dubs Kim Kardashian 'Perfect Bitch' in New Song
As a rule, classy Kate prefers British designers, her being a British fashion ambassador and all that royal protocol nonsense.
But wouldn't it be incredible if Kate Middleton actually bought and wore a frock from the Kardashian Kollection? Can you imagine? The Queen might have her head. Or send her to the Tower.
Great Britain is just the beginning. We hear there are also plans for their clothing line to invade -- sorry, be available in -- 13 other countries, including Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. May we suggest North Korea and Afghanistan? Both countries could use a dose of Kardashian fashion.
STORY: Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian Launch Nerdy Eyewear for Sears
Kim is already hinting at plans to visit England. On Sunday, she slyly tweeted her sisters Khloe and Kourtney: "Can you think of a reason to visit the UK :)"
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Fashion's Night Out makeup events
Fashion's Night Out makeup events
Get ready, get set, go. It's almost that time of year again. In 24 days it will be Fashion's Night Out. The city will once again be crazy with models, fashion designers, makeup artists, celebrites, and of course excited shoppers. The schedule was posted today on FNO's website, but here is a few fun and worth wild cosmetic events.
* Bare Escentuals (6:00PM-11:00PM) 44 West 34th Street, New York, NY 1 Get a limited-edition complimentary tote with ANY $50 BareMinerals purchase. Plus, preview their new BareMinerals ready eyeshadow ($8.00) - The Star Treatment - with bonus mini Prime Time Eyelid Primer ($40)
* CHANEL (6:00PM-10:00PM) 15 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022 Creative Director of Chanel Makeup, Peter Philips celebrates fashion in colors with a new Fashion’s Night Out collection of matching lip and nail duos. Three harmonies to be worn like a twin-set, stylish and feminine.The collection presented at Fashion’s Night Out will be sold at Chanel boutiques as of September 6, 2012.
* Estée Lauder at Saks Fifth Avenue (6:00PM-8:00PM) 611 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Makeup and manicures with Tom Pecheux. Tom will give tips on how to translate the fall runway trends from around the world for your beauty routine. Beauty advisers and makeup artists will be on site giving makeovers inspired by the fall trends, and manicurists will be on site giving polish changes with the new Pure Color Nail Lacquers inspired by Paris at night. Exclusive Estee Lauder manicures will be available to those who purchase a "perfect pair" of the Estee Lauder Nail Lacquers.
* Estée Lauder at Bergdorf Goodman (5:30PM-6:30PM) 754 West 58th Street, New York, NY 1001 Aerin Lauder will make a personal appearance at Bergdorf Goodman to promote her new AERIN beauty line.
* Frederic Fekkai (6:00PM-8:00PM) 712 Fifth Avenue Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10019 In celebration of Fashion's Night Out, Frederic Fekkai presents Fekkai Mademoiselle, a must stop beauty soiree. Two exclusive packages: 1. Fekkai Mademoiselle - Choose between signature NY blow-out, St. Barths's sexy beach waves or the perfectly undone chignon, a makeup application and Ciate's Caviar, Velvet or Sequin manicure. 2. A customized Nail Rock Designer Nail Wrap application complimentary candy bar and gift bags!
* GrandCentralBeauty at Henri Bendel (6:00PM-11:00PM) 712 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019 Meet GrandCentralBeauty founder, Jackie Lee. Receive a free mini facial of the S.M.A.R.T. Skin Perfecting™ Mask on-site. Create a beautiful fresh-skin canvas for your evening. Perfect before any scheduled makeover/ makeup application! Also: Purchase 1 ($75) and receive a $25 deluxe gift. Purchase 2 ($150) and receive a $25 deluxe gift + $25 cosmetic tote.
* Guerlain at Sephora 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 (6:00PM-11:00PM) Purchase any size La Petite Robe Noire fragrance, found exclusively at Sephora, then take a picture of yourself holding your fragrance and Sephora shopping bag, outside the Sephora location where you purchased it. Tweet the picture to @GuerlainUS and use the hashtags #FNO and #LPRN. One entry will be chosen at random to receive a gift certificate to our Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf Astoria NYC. The gift certificate includes a 90-minute Abeille Royale Facial & 50-minute massage. Total value= $490
* Inglot Cosmetics (6:00PM-9:00PM) 1592 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 Inglot Cosmetics moves into a new era with revolutionary formulations and high fashion, highly pigmented colors. Experience all Inglot has to offer at your nearest boutique and party with complimentary refreshments, specials and savings galore.
* LeMetric Beauty Studio (6:00PM-11:00PM) 124 East 40th Street Room 601, New York, NY 10016 Meet makeup artist Jovan Vitagliano for makeup consultations and mini makeovers by our makeup artists. Get a personalized hair consultation with extensions and any additional hair products by Hair Guru, Elline Surianello. The Mobile Hair Studio will also be parked on 40th st. and Lexington Ave. for fun hair try-ons.
* MAC Cosmetics (7:00PM-10:00PM) 506 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 Check out an exclusive performance by Azealia Banks at M∙A∙C Soho store. DJ Cosmo will be playing all night.
* Maybelline New York (6:00PM-11:00PM) 14th Street & 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10013 For Fashion’s Night Out the Meatpacking District is the place to be as Maybelline New York hosts their official Color Studio Lounge. Enjoy makeovers by Maybelline’s top makeup artists, walk the catwalk like a pro and step into their custom photo studio to show off your new looks and much more! Look for Maybelline New York’s Mobile Color Studio throughout New York City offering beauty on-the-go. Enjoy daytime touch-ups and mini-manicures featuring the season’s hottest new colors – Maybelline Color Show. What better way to pamper yourself in preparation for your big night?
*Mobile Color Studio – Times Square (Broadway at 41st/42nd) 3:00 PM – 6:00PM *Mobile Color Studio – Union Square (Union Square West at 14th/15th) 11:00am-2:00PM
* NARS Cosmetics (6:00PM-9:00PM) 413 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014 Join NARS and meet Lena Koro, NARS International Lead Stylist and check out their exclusive FNO collection - available for one night only.
* Revlon (6:00PM-9:00PM) 40 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014 Gucci Westman hosts the ultimate beauty party at Industria Studios. Ticketholders receive a personal consultation with Gucci Westman and make-up application from a member of her New York Fashion Week team; a manicure from celebrity manicurist Jin Soon and her team, photos at the Revlon photo booth, music, champagne, small bites and much more! Go to www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org/revlonfno to purchase tickets. Ticket Prices are $50. All ticket proceeds go to benefit “Look Good… Feel Better.”
* Shops at Columbus Circle Time Warner Center 10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 (6:00PM to 11:00PM) Enjoy hair care style consultations at the Blowout Bar, make-up touch-ups, and mini-facials with prior appointment. Receive a VIP fashion makeover and enter to win a free haircut at the Academy Salon and a $200 shopping experience. Go to www.theshopsatcolumbuscircle.com for a full list of shop and restaurant offerings on Fashion’s Night Out at Time Warner Center.
* TOM FORD 845 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021 (6:00PM to 10:00PM) Preview the new Tom Ford Fall Color and Beauty collections. Tom Ford Beauty specialists will be in store to help.
* Victoria's Secret 591-593 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 (6:00PM-11:00PM) Join Victoria's Secret Angel, Alessandra Ambrosio, in store. Get your photo taken with Alessandra from 7pm - 10pm and if you make a $65 purchase you get VIP access to the front of the line and you will receive a limited edition Victoria's Secret t-shirt while supplies last. VS makeup artists will also be doing eye or lip makeovers all night.
Get ready, get set, go. It's almost that time of year again. In 24 days it will be Fashion's Night Out. The city will once again be crazy with models, fashion designers, makeup artists, celebrites, and of course excited shoppers. The schedule was posted today on FNO's website, but here is a few fun and worth wild cosmetic events.
* Bare Escentuals (6:00PM-11:00PM) 44 West 34th Street, New York, NY 1 Get a limited-edition complimentary tote with ANY $50 BareMinerals purchase. Plus, preview their new BareMinerals ready eyeshadow ($8.00) - The Star Treatment - with bonus mini Prime Time Eyelid Primer ($40)
* CHANEL (6:00PM-10:00PM) 15 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022 Creative Director of Chanel Makeup, Peter Philips celebrates fashion in colors with a new Fashion’s Night Out collection of matching lip and nail duos. Three harmonies to be worn like a twin-set, stylish and feminine.The collection presented at Fashion’s Night Out will be sold at Chanel boutiques as of September 6, 2012.
* Estée Lauder at Saks Fifth Avenue (6:00PM-8:00PM) 611 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Makeup and manicures with Tom Pecheux. Tom will give tips on how to translate the fall runway trends from around the world for your beauty routine. Beauty advisers and makeup artists will be on site giving makeovers inspired by the fall trends, and manicurists will be on site giving polish changes with the new Pure Color Nail Lacquers inspired by Paris at night. Exclusive Estee Lauder manicures will be available to those who purchase a "perfect pair" of the Estee Lauder Nail Lacquers.
* Estée Lauder at Bergdorf Goodman (5:30PM-6:30PM) 754 West 58th Street, New York, NY 1001 Aerin Lauder will make a personal appearance at Bergdorf Goodman to promote her new AERIN beauty line.
* Frederic Fekkai (6:00PM-8:00PM) 712 Fifth Avenue Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10019 In celebration of Fashion's Night Out, Frederic Fekkai presents Fekkai Mademoiselle, a must stop beauty soiree. Two exclusive packages: 1. Fekkai Mademoiselle - Choose between signature NY blow-out, St. Barths's sexy beach waves or the perfectly undone chignon, a makeup application and Ciate's Caviar, Velvet or Sequin manicure. 2. A customized Nail Rock Designer Nail Wrap application complimentary candy bar and gift bags!
* GrandCentralBeauty at Henri Bendel (6:00PM-11:00PM) 712 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019 Meet GrandCentralBeauty founder, Jackie Lee. Receive a free mini facial of the S.M.A.R.T. Skin Perfecting™ Mask on-site. Create a beautiful fresh-skin canvas for your evening. Perfect before any scheduled makeover/ makeup application! Also: Purchase 1 ($75) and receive a $25 deluxe gift. Purchase 2 ($150) and receive a $25 deluxe gift + $25 cosmetic tote.
* Guerlain at Sephora 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 (6:00PM-11:00PM) Purchase any size La Petite Robe Noire fragrance, found exclusively at Sephora, then take a picture of yourself holding your fragrance and Sephora shopping bag, outside the Sephora location where you purchased it. Tweet the picture to @GuerlainUS and use the hashtags #FNO and #LPRN. One entry will be chosen at random to receive a gift certificate to our Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf Astoria NYC. The gift certificate includes a 90-minute Abeille Royale Facial & 50-minute massage. Total value= $490
* Inglot Cosmetics (6:00PM-9:00PM) 1592 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 Inglot Cosmetics moves into a new era with revolutionary formulations and high fashion, highly pigmented colors. Experience all Inglot has to offer at your nearest boutique and party with complimentary refreshments, specials and savings galore.
* LeMetric Beauty Studio (6:00PM-11:00PM) 124 East 40th Street Room 601, New York, NY 10016 Meet makeup artist Jovan Vitagliano for makeup consultations and mini makeovers by our makeup artists. Get a personalized hair consultation with extensions and any additional hair products by Hair Guru, Elline Surianello. The Mobile Hair Studio will also be parked on 40th st. and Lexington Ave. for fun hair try-ons.
* MAC Cosmetics (7:00PM-10:00PM) 506 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 Check out an exclusive performance by Azealia Banks at M∙A∙C Soho store. DJ Cosmo will be playing all night.
* Maybelline New York (6:00PM-11:00PM) 14th Street & 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10013 For Fashion’s Night Out the Meatpacking District is the place to be as Maybelline New York hosts their official Color Studio Lounge. Enjoy makeovers by Maybelline’s top makeup artists, walk the catwalk like a pro and step into their custom photo studio to show off your new looks and much more! Look for Maybelline New York’s Mobile Color Studio throughout New York City offering beauty on-the-go. Enjoy daytime touch-ups and mini-manicures featuring the season’s hottest new colors – Maybelline Color Show. What better way to pamper yourself in preparation for your big night?
*Mobile Color Studio – Times Square (Broadway at 41st/42nd) 3:00 PM – 6:00PM *Mobile Color Studio – Union Square (Union Square West at 14th/15th) 11:00am-2:00PM
* NARS Cosmetics (6:00PM-9:00PM) 413 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014 Join NARS and meet Lena Koro, NARS International Lead Stylist and check out their exclusive FNO collection - available for one night only.
* Revlon (6:00PM-9:00PM) 40 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014 Gucci Westman hosts the ultimate beauty party at Industria Studios. Ticketholders receive a personal consultation with Gucci Westman and make-up application from a member of her New York Fashion Week team; a manicure from celebrity manicurist Jin Soon and her team, photos at the Revlon photo booth, music, champagne, small bites and much more! Go to www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org/revlonfno to purchase tickets. Ticket Prices are $50. All ticket proceeds go to benefit “Look Good… Feel Better.”
* Shops at Columbus Circle Time Warner Center 10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 (6:00PM to 11:00PM) Enjoy hair care style consultations at the Blowout Bar, make-up touch-ups, and mini-facials with prior appointment. Receive a VIP fashion makeover and enter to win a free haircut at the Academy Salon and a $200 shopping experience. Go to www.theshopsatcolumbuscircle.com for a full list of shop and restaurant offerings on Fashion’s Night Out at Time Warner Center.
* TOM FORD 845 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021 (6:00PM to 10:00PM) Preview the new Tom Ford Fall Color and Beauty collections. Tom Ford Beauty specialists will be in store to help.
* Victoria's Secret 591-593 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 (6:00PM-11:00PM) Join Victoria's Secret Angel, Alessandra Ambrosio, in store. Get your photo taken with Alessandra from 7pm - 10pm and if you make a $65 purchase you get VIP access to the front of the line and you will receive a limited edition Victoria's Secret t-shirt while supplies last. VS makeup artists will also be doing eye or lip makeovers all night.
Monday, August 13, 2012
In rollicking fashion, Olympics end
In rollicking fashion, Olympics end
With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday in a spectacular technicolor pageant of landmarks, lightshows and lots of fun.
The closing ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock 'n' roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red tunics and bearskin hats.
The Spice Girls staged a show-stopping reunion, and Monty Python's Eric Idle sauntered through "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" -- accompanied by Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.
It all made for a psychedelic mashup that had 80,000 fans at Olympic Stadium stomping, cheering and singing along. Organizers estimated 300 million or more were watching around the world.
What a way to end a games far more successful than many Londoners expected. Security woes were overcome, and traffic nightmares never materialized. The weather held up, more or less, and British athletes overachieved.
It all came with a price tag of $14 billion -- three times the original estimate. But nobody wanted to spoil the fun with such mundane concerns, at least not on this night.
"We lit the flame, and we lit up the world," said London organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe. "When our time came, Britain, we did it right."
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared the Olympics over with praise for the athletes.
"Through your commitment to fair play, your respect for opponents, and your grace in defeat as well as in victory, you have earned the right to be called Olympians," he said, adding: "These were happy and glorious games."
But the night was about splash more than speeches.
Festive and fast-moving, the ceremony opened with pop bands Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction, a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a tribute to the Union Jack -- the floor of Olympic Stadium floor arranged to resemble the British flag.
Monochrome recreations of London landmarks were covered in newsprint, from Big Ben's clock tower and Tower Bridge to the London Eye ferris wheel and the chubby highrise known as the Gherkin.
Street percussion group Stomp built the noise into a frenzy, and dancers brandished brooms, in a nod to the spontaneous popular movement to clean up London after riots shook neighborhoods not far from Olympic Stadium just a year ago.
Liam Gallagher performed "Wonderwall," a 1990s hit by his former band, Oasis, Muse rocked the house with the hard-edged Olympic anthem "Survival," and Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by singer Jessie J for a crowd-pleasing "We Will Rock You."
The headline performers were each paid a pound, a little more than $1.50.
The night ended with the extinguishing of the multi-petaled Olympic cauldron and a supercharged rendition of "My Generation" and other classics by The Who that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Confetti rained down, and fireworks lit up the sky.
Prince William's wife, Kate, and Prince Harry took seats next to Rogge. They sang along to "God Save the Queen." There was no sign of the queen herself, who made a memorable mock parachute entrance at the July 27 opening ceremony.
Following Olympic tradition, the 10,800 athletes of the London Games marched in as one rather than with their nations, symbolizing the harmony and friendship inspired by the games.
As the crowd cheered their heroes and flashbulbs rippled through the stadium, the Olympians cheered back, some carrying national flags, others snapping photographs with smartphones and cameras.
They held hands, embraced and carried each other on their shoulders, finally forming a human mosh pit on the field.
The ceremony had something for everyone, from tween girls to 1960s hippies. The face of John Lennon appeared on the stadium floor, assembled by 101 fragments of sculpture, and just as quickly gave way to George Michael, Fatboy Slim and Annie Lennox.
Eight minutes were turned over to Brazil, host of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, which delivered an explosion of samba, sequins and Latin cool. Following tradition, the mayor of London handed the Olympic flag off to his Rio counterpart.
Britons, who had fretted for weeks that the games would become a fiasco, were buoyed by their biggest medal haul since 1908 -- 29 golds and 65 medals in all.
The United States edged China in both the gold medal and total medal standings, eclipsing its best performance at an Olympics on foreign soil after the Dream Team narrowly held off Spain in basketball for the country's 46th gold.
While the games may have lacked some of the grandeur of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, there were more than a few unforgettable moments.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became an Olympic legend by repeating as champion in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. Michael Phelps ended his long career as the most decorated Olympian in history.
British distance runner Mo Farah became a national treasure by sweeping the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races, and favorite daughter Jessica Ennis became a global phenomenon with her victory in the heptathlon.
Female athletes took center stage in a way they never had before. American gymnast Gabby Douglas soared to gold, the U.S. soccer team made a dramatic march to the championship. Packed houses turned out to watch the new event of women's boxing. And women competed for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei for the first time.
And then there was Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee from South Africa running on carbon-fiber blades, who didn't win a medal but nonetheless left a champion. And sprinter Manteo Mitchell, who completed his leg of the 4x400 relay semifinal on a broken leg, allowing his team to qualify and win silver.
Britons seemed exhausted and exhilarated after two glorious weeks in the world's spotlight, and just months after the country celebrated the queen's 60th year on the throne with a magnificent pageant and street parties.
Some at Olympic Park acknowledged happy surprise that not much had gone wrong, and so much had gone right.
"I was a bit worried we wouldn't be able to live up to it," said Phil Akrill of Chichester. "But walking around here it's just unbelievable."
Even non-Brits were proud of their adopted homeland.
"It's just been a really nice thing to see," said Anja Ekelof, a Swede who now lives in Scotland. "The whole country has come together."
With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday in a spectacular technicolor pageant of landmarks, lightshows and lots of fun.
The closing ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock 'n' roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red tunics and bearskin hats.
The Spice Girls staged a show-stopping reunion, and Monty Python's Eric Idle sauntered through "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" -- accompanied by Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.
It all made for a psychedelic mashup that had 80,000 fans at Olympic Stadium stomping, cheering and singing along. Organizers estimated 300 million or more were watching around the world.
What a way to end a games far more successful than many Londoners expected. Security woes were overcome, and traffic nightmares never materialized. The weather held up, more or less, and British athletes overachieved.
It all came with a price tag of $14 billion -- three times the original estimate. But nobody wanted to spoil the fun with such mundane concerns, at least not on this night.
"We lit the flame, and we lit up the world," said London organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe. "When our time came, Britain, we did it right."
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared the Olympics over with praise for the athletes.
"Through your commitment to fair play, your respect for opponents, and your grace in defeat as well as in victory, you have earned the right to be called Olympians," he said, adding: "These were happy and glorious games."
But the night was about splash more than speeches.
Festive and fast-moving, the ceremony opened with pop bands Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction, a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a tribute to the Union Jack -- the floor of Olympic Stadium floor arranged to resemble the British flag.
Monochrome recreations of London landmarks were covered in newsprint, from Big Ben's clock tower and Tower Bridge to the London Eye ferris wheel and the chubby highrise known as the Gherkin.
Street percussion group Stomp built the noise into a frenzy, and dancers brandished brooms, in a nod to the spontaneous popular movement to clean up London after riots shook neighborhoods not far from Olympic Stadium just a year ago.
Liam Gallagher performed "Wonderwall," a 1990s hit by his former band, Oasis, Muse rocked the house with the hard-edged Olympic anthem "Survival," and Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by singer Jessie J for a crowd-pleasing "We Will Rock You."
The headline performers were each paid a pound, a little more than $1.50.
The night ended with the extinguishing of the multi-petaled Olympic cauldron and a supercharged rendition of "My Generation" and other classics by The Who that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Confetti rained down, and fireworks lit up the sky.
Prince William's wife, Kate, and Prince Harry took seats next to Rogge. They sang along to "God Save the Queen." There was no sign of the queen herself, who made a memorable mock parachute entrance at the July 27 opening ceremony.
Following Olympic tradition, the 10,800 athletes of the London Games marched in as one rather than with their nations, symbolizing the harmony and friendship inspired by the games.
As the crowd cheered their heroes and flashbulbs rippled through the stadium, the Olympians cheered back, some carrying national flags, others snapping photographs with smartphones and cameras.
They held hands, embraced and carried each other on their shoulders, finally forming a human mosh pit on the field.
The ceremony had something for everyone, from tween girls to 1960s hippies. The face of John Lennon appeared on the stadium floor, assembled by 101 fragments of sculpture, and just as quickly gave way to George Michael, Fatboy Slim and Annie Lennox.
Eight minutes were turned over to Brazil, host of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, which delivered an explosion of samba, sequins and Latin cool. Following tradition, the mayor of London handed the Olympic flag off to his Rio counterpart.
Britons, who had fretted for weeks that the games would become a fiasco, were buoyed by their biggest medal haul since 1908 -- 29 golds and 65 medals in all.
The United States edged China in both the gold medal and total medal standings, eclipsing its best performance at an Olympics on foreign soil after the Dream Team narrowly held off Spain in basketball for the country's 46th gold.
While the games may have lacked some of the grandeur of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, there were more than a few unforgettable moments.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became an Olympic legend by repeating as champion in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. Michael Phelps ended his long career as the most decorated Olympian in history.
British distance runner Mo Farah became a national treasure by sweeping the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races, and favorite daughter Jessica Ennis became a global phenomenon with her victory in the heptathlon.
Female athletes took center stage in a way they never had before. American gymnast Gabby Douglas soared to gold, the U.S. soccer team made a dramatic march to the championship. Packed houses turned out to watch the new event of women's boxing. And women competed for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei for the first time.
And then there was Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee from South Africa running on carbon-fiber blades, who didn't win a medal but nonetheless left a champion. And sprinter Manteo Mitchell, who completed his leg of the 4x400 relay semifinal on a broken leg, allowing his team to qualify and win silver.
Britons seemed exhausted and exhilarated after two glorious weeks in the world's spotlight, and just months after the country celebrated the queen's 60th year on the throne with a magnificent pageant and street parties.
Some at Olympic Park acknowledged happy surprise that not much had gone wrong, and so much had gone right.
"I was a bit worried we wouldn't be able to live up to it," said Phil Akrill of Chichester. "But walking around here it's just unbelievable."
Even non-Brits were proud of their adopted homeland.
"It's just been a really nice thing to see," said Anja Ekelof, a Swede who now lives in Scotland. "The whole country has come together."
Friday, August 10, 2012
Toronto Fashion Week sold to IMG, Robin Kay steps down
Toronto Fashion Week sold to IMG, Robin Kay steps down
Toronto Fashion Week has been sold to a global event management firm and founder Robin Kay is stepping down as executive director after 13 years at the helm.
“Fashion week is much bigger than me as an individual person,” Kay said in an exclusive meeting with the Star and Peter Levy, a representative for new owner IMG Canada.
“I really believe that this is the best next step on the runway for the event, for the City of Toronto and for our market as Canadians on the global runway,” said Kay.
IMG Canada bought the event for an undisclosed sum.
Toronto Fashion Week is a biannual event that showcases Canadian designers and is meant to boost the local fashion industry. It has grown from an audience of 200 in 2000 to an event that attracts 40,000 guests over five days.
IMG Worldwide operates and manages sports, entertainment and fashion events in 30-plus countries. Its portfolio includes fashion weeks in Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Mumbai, Moscow and Miami.
Kay will remain president of the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC). She would not reveal how much IMG Canada paid the FDCC for Toronto Fashion Week, or how much she will receive as a result of the deal.
World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto will proceed as planned Oct. 22 to 26, at David Pecaut Square, formerly Metro Square. Future events will be run by teams at IMG Canada and IMG Fashion.
Kay will continue to play an advisory role, said Levy, managing director and senior vice-president, IMG Fashion Events and Properties. He waffled when asked what her title will be.
“Queen, queen,” Kay whispered loudly in his direction, laughing.
“We’re not big on titles,” said Levy.
Kay made a name for herself designing and selling cotton knitwear through a chain of eponymous stores founded in the 1970s. She lost control of the chain to overseas partners in the late ‘90s. She is known for being tough, savvy — at times unpredictable — and for being a comeback kid.
She created fashion week in Toronto to stimulate a demand for Canadian designers nationally and globally. The first fashion week had a budget of $25,000 and a single sponsor, Holt Renfrew.
In 2011, 16 corporate sponsors, including electronics giant LG, L’Oréal, Kellogg’s and MasterCard, paid between $60,000 and $1-million to participate.
Fashion Week has been held in tents at Nathan Phillips Square, a vacant car lot in Liberty Village and at Exhibition Place.
The event is staffed by an army of volunteers, mostly students hoping to crack the fashion market with their own ideas. In 2010 several Toronto modelling agencies eliminated the practice of having their models work free during fashion week.
Toronto Fashion Week has had its share of defectors and designers who put on their own shows to pre-empt the event and avoid participation fees. It has been criticized for failing to attract enough A-game players.
Kay said she first approached IMG for advice in 1999, when she was launching the event. Over the years IMG helped secure funding for the event. In 2010, the FDCC commissioned IMG to consult on production, designer outreach, marketing and sponsorship sales.
“It was a long time coming. It didn’t just happen overnight or in days. We were very careful on both sides and we know each other. I think it’s fantastic,” said Kay.
She said designers will be able to access the international assets of IMG to visit or be a part of fashion weeks around the world.
Levy said the time is right for IMG to buy Toronto Fashion Week.
“It reminds me of Berlin in that it’s a community of creativity and it isn’t only fashion. There’s a magic there and in this city,” said Levy.
When asked what she’s planning next, Kay said: “I’m expecting a lot of fulfilling thinking time.”
She followed up later with something closer to her ballsy reputation.
“I am not going away, fashion is in my DNA,” Kay wrote in an email. “Timing is everything and I have a third act — stay tuned.”
Toronto Fashion Week has been sold to a global event management firm and founder Robin Kay is stepping down as executive director after 13 years at the helm.
“Fashion week is much bigger than me as an individual person,” Kay said in an exclusive meeting with the Star and Peter Levy, a representative for new owner IMG Canada.
“I really believe that this is the best next step on the runway for the event, for the City of Toronto and for our market as Canadians on the global runway,” said Kay.
IMG Canada bought the event for an undisclosed sum.
Toronto Fashion Week is a biannual event that showcases Canadian designers and is meant to boost the local fashion industry. It has grown from an audience of 200 in 2000 to an event that attracts 40,000 guests over five days.
IMG Worldwide operates and manages sports, entertainment and fashion events in 30-plus countries. Its portfolio includes fashion weeks in Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Mumbai, Moscow and Miami.
Kay will remain president of the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC). She would not reveal how much IMG Canada paid the FDCC for Toronto Fashion Week, or how much she will receive as a result of the deal.
World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto will proceed as planned Oct. 22 to 26, at David Pecaut Square, formerly Metro Square. Future events will be run by teams at IMG Canada and IMG Fashion.
Kay will continue to play an advisory role, said Levy, managing director and senior vice-president, IMG Fashion Events and Properties. He waffled when asked what her title will be.
“Queen, queen,” Kay whispered loudly in his direction, laughing.
“We’re not big on titles,” said Levy.
Kay made a name for herself designing and selling cotton knitwear through a chain of eponymous stores founded in the 1970s. She lost control of the chain to overseas partners in the late ‘90s. She is known for being tough, savvy — at times unpredictable — and for being a comeback kid.
She created fashion week in Toronto to stimulate a demand for Canadian designers nationally and globally. The first fashion week had a budget of $25,000 and a single sponsor, Holt Renfrew.
In 2011, 16 corporate sponsors, including electronics giant LG, L’Oréal, Kellogg’s and MasterCard, paid between $60,000 and $1-million to participate.
Fashion Week has been held in tents at Nathan Phillips Square, a vacant car lot in Liberty Village and at Exhibition Place.
The event is staffed by an army of volunteers, mostly students hoping to crack the fashion market with their own ideas. In 2010 several Toronto modelling agencies eliminated the practice of having their models work free during fashion week.
Toronto Fashion Week has had its share of defectors and designers who put on their own shows to pre-empt the event and avoid participation fees. It has been criticized for failing to attract enough A-game players.
Kay said she first approached IMG for advice in 1999, when she was launching the event. Over the years IMG helped secure funding for the event. In 2010, the FDCC commissioned IMG to consult on production, designer outreach, marketing and sponsorship sales.
“It was a long time coming. It didn’t just happen overnight or in days. We were very careful on both sides and we know each other. I think it’s fantastic,” said Kay.
She said designers will be able to access the international assets of IMG to visit or be a part of fashion weeks around the world.
Levy said the time is right for IMG to buy Toronto Fashion Week.
“It reminds me of Berlin in that it’s a community of creativity and it isn’t only fashion. There’s a magic there and in this city,” said Levy.
When asked what she’s planning next, Kay said: “I’m expecting a lot of fulfilling thinking time.”
She followed up later with something closer to her ballsy reputation.
“I am not going away, fashion is in my DNA,” Kay wrote in an email. “Timing is everything and I have a third act — stay tuned.”
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Fashionably Florence: Fashion and music combine flawlessly for Montreal radio host
Fashionably Florence: Fashion and music combine flawlessly for Montreal radio host
Maybe it’s the mellifluous voice as she hosts her weekly radio show, Planète K, on Radio-Canada. Maybe it’s her deep, dark eyes with a trace of mystery and sadness. Maybe it’s her music — she spins, storifies, and plays piano and sings, with her preferred repertoire a sultry blend of bossa nova, blues, pop and Cuban rhythms.
Florence was one of the Montreal personalities who walked the catwalk at the Festival Mode & Design last week. She also did a DJ set.
“Music and fashion are linked — it’s creativity,’’ she said.
As a performer, she feels obliged to dress up for the audience: “I’m going to give them the best of me.”
The musician and fashion aficionada grew up surrounded by music: her mother is opera singer Natalie Choquette, her father, Hany Khoriaty, was a pop star in Lebanon, and composed and performed in France, then here in Montreal. Florence, now 29, trained as classical pianist, and travelled the world with her mother, but got her musical versatility playing piano at Stash Café in Old Montreal. For four years, five hours a night, while in CEGEP, she expanded her repertoire. By the end of her gig there, she could do three nights without repeating a single piece of music, encompassing every genre from jazz to classical.
“My personal vision of music, I built it at Stash Café,’’ she said, adding that while she did a year of university in Ottawa, she would drive to Montreal on weekends because she loved the gig so much .
Since she made her name and first album, Live at the Lion d’Or, in 2005, she has released four other albums, the latest being Trilogia this year. She is currently working on a new album, writing madly and collaborating with producer Larry Klein and songwriter David Batteau
“I wrote 40 songs — maybe only two of them will make it to the record.
“It’s going to be beautiful.”
On the fashion front, Florence is dressed by Chanel, a pairing that came about on an Elle Québec shoot a few years ago.
“I love Chanel because it’s classic. I’m not like a crazy fashionista. I don’t go shop at the friperies and try to put on my own style. I like basic stuff that’s very good quality and will last long, and that I can accessorize,’’ she said.
In Quebec, she admires Denis Gagnon. “He’s got a style of his own. He’s very polyvalent.’’ There are wild fashions for those who want it, but he also offers simpler items, she added.
The green satin caftan she wears on these pages is by Gagnon. At first, she was skeptical about the piece. “I tried it on and it happened,’’ she said.
“Montreal is very upfront, artistically speaking. People come to Montreal for its arts, its music, the shows. Fashion goes with that, because it’s art as well, with the body as medium.’’
The fashion festival is another beautiful happening in Montreal, she added.
“We need that,’’ she said. “There are so many talented hairstylists, makeup artists, designers and stylists here. We need the scene to be happening, to be blooming, to be known internationally, to be photographed.’’
The regeneration of neighbourhoods like Mile End and Old Montreal is another plus, and in her neighbourhood of N.D.G., she often finds young new designers at Buzz Jeans.
“I like to know what I’m wearing. I like to know it’s not made by underpaid teenagers in Asia. I like to know that the fabric is not toxic for the environment,’’ she said.
“I like to know that it’s made with love, with passion.”
Maybe it’s the mellifluous voice as she hosts her weekly radio show, Planète K, on Radio-Canada. Maybe it’s her deep, dark eyes with a trace of mystery and sadness. Maybe it’s her music — she spins, storifies, and plays piano and sings, with her preferred repertoire a sultry blend of bossa nova, blues, pop and Cuban rhythms.
Florence was one of the Montreal personalities who walked the catwalk at the Festival Mode & Design last week. She also did a DJ set.
“Music and fashion are linked — it’s creativity,’’ she said.
As a performer, she feels obliged to dress up for the audience: “I’m going to give them the best of me.”
The musician and fashion aficionada grew up surrounded by music: her mother is opera singer Natalie Choquette, her father, Hany Khoriaty, was a pop star in Lebanon, and composed and performed in France, then here in Montreal. Florence, now 29, trained as classical pianist, and travelled the world with her mother, but got her musical versatility playing piano at Stash Café in Old Montreal. For four years, five hours a night, while in CEGEP, she expanded her repertoire. By the end of her gig there, she could do three nights without repeating a single piece of music, encompassing every genre from jazz to classical.
“My personal vision of music, I built it at Stash Café,’’ she said, adding that while she did a year of university in Ottawa, she would drive to Montreal on weekends because she loved the gig so much .
Since she made her name and first album, Live at the Lion d’Or, in 2005, she has released four other albums, the latest being Trilogia this year. She is currently working on a new album, writing madly and collaborating with producer Larry Klein and songwriter David Batteau
“I wrote 40 songs — maybe only two of them will make it to the record.
“It’s going to be beautiful.”
On the fashion front, Florence is dressed by Chanel, a pairing that came about on an Elle Québec shoot a few years ago.
“I love Chanel because it’s classic. I’m not like a crazy fashionista. I don’t go shop at the friperies and try to put on my own style. I like basic stuff that’s very good quality and will last long, and that I can accessorize,’’ she said.
In Quebec, she admires Denis Gagnon. “He’s got a style of his own. He’s very polyvalent.’’ There are wild fashions for those who want it, but he also offers simpler items, she added.
The green satin caftan she wears on these pages is by Gagnon. At first, she was skeptical about the piece. “I tried it on and it happened,’’ she said.
“Montreal is very upfront, artistically speaking. People come to Montreal for its arts, its music, the shows. Fashion goes with that, because it’s art as well, with the body as medium.’’
The fashion festival is another beautiful happening in Montreal, she added.
“We need that,’’ she said. “There are so many talented hairstylists, makeup artists, designers and stylists here. We need the scene to be happening, to be blooming, to be known internationally, to be photographed.’’
The regeneration of neighbourhoods like Mile End and Old Montreal is another plus, and in her neighbourhood of N.D.G., she often finds young new designers at Buzz Jeans.
“I like to know what I’m wearing. I like to know it’s not made by underpaid teenagers in Asia. I like to know that the fabric is not toxic for the environment,’’ she said.
“I like to know that it’s made with love, with passion.”
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Turning the Flag Into a Fashion Statement
Turning the Flag Into a Fashion Statement
There was no mystery as to which team Varun Pemmaraju was supporting: His American flag was tied around his neck, the Stars and Stripes floating like a cape behind him.
“I was going for the Superman, Captain America-look,” said the beaming 19-year-old computer science and chemical engineering student from San Jose, California, as he stood a stone’s throw from Olympic Stadium. “I thought America was a little under-represented.”
Patriotism and the Olympic games have long gone together, but gone are the days when one just waved a flag. Now flags are worn.
The fashion flags can be found at Olympic Park and around London as shift dresses and smocks, pants and shorts, hats and shoes, even dangly earrings and bracelets. There’s apparently no garment — or nail polish — that can’t be fashioned into something akin to a national banner.
Although the International Olympic Committee’s sponsorship police can stop merchants from using the Olympic rings, there’s no trademark police on flags.
Besides, capitalizing on a fashion idea is not new. In recent years, “fast fashion” has transformed the retail industry, as mainstream companies seize the hottest ideas from the catwalk, copy them as quickly as possible and move them onto the shop floors.
Some manufacturers have gotten so fast at turning out their products, they can produce wearable creations from factory to store in the same season in which they were created by top designers at Chanel, Ralph Lauren or Dior.
None of these flag fashions are going to give Burberry a run for their money — they are not made to last.
Jayne Ody got her raincoat, which was covered in Union Jacks, from Primark, a British store that specializes in cheap, cheerful fashion. And it was a bargain, at 8 pounds ($13).
Her friend Ann Wanklyn was wearing two Welsh flags — emblazoned with a dragon — that had been sewn together into a simple shift dress. But Wanklyn is not about to claim she’s a fashion princess — Olympic Park is a sporty crowd.
“You won’t see anyone here walking around in heels,” Wanklyn said.
Turns out those flags can be handy in this unpredictable British weather. Someone seems to have a concession of selling a plastic variety that doubles as a raincoat. The British flag, as one might expect, seems to be very popular, but so is the tricolor of France and the triangle-cornered ones of the Czech Republic.
And then there are the Dutch. Who needs a flag when your nation is basically a color — blinding orange? There are orange jackets, overalls, shoes but you almost never see the Dutch flag itself.
The orange also comes in the form of tiny hats, a bargain at 1 pound. Sabine Wagenaar, 24, simply laughed when asked about her fashion choice.
“It’s a nice little hat,” she said giggling. “It’s girlie.”
Then there are those just trying to buck their athletes up. Hugh Barton, 11, from Brisbane, Australia, was sad that the Aussie swimmers weren’t at their best this year. He wore a flag around his neck and held one in his hand for maximum patriotism.
“Australia needs our moral support,” he said.
Before the games, American athletes were briefed on how to hold the flag should they be lucky enough to win.
The US Olympic Committee pointed out a picture of swimmer Missy Franklin displaying the flag properly after winning gold — right hand on stars, left hand on stripes.
Americans have rules outlining the proper way to show respect to the flag and athletes, as ambassadors and representatives of their country, are expected to respect that and do it right. Under federal law, the flag is not dipped to any person or thing, for example.
“The [USOC] takes the ambassador program very seriously,” said Bill Mallon, a historian. “It tries to avoid the ugly-American image by doing proper things at the games and teaching [athletes] the right things to do.”
But fans at Olympic Park were wearing the Stars and Stripes were doing so in joy and exuberance — though disrespectful to some — honoring the flag in their own little way.
“It’s a way of celebrating all the things that your country is about,” said Pemmaraju, the University of California student. “I know America is not a perfect country ... but it’s got me where I am. I’m proud to be an American.”
There was no mystery as to which team Varun Pemmaraju was supporting: His American flag was tied around his neck, the Stars and Stripes floating like a cape behind him.
“I was going for the Superman, Captain America-look,” said the beaming 19-year-old computer science and chemical engineering student from San Jose, California, as he stood a stone’s throw from Olympic Stadium. “I thought America was a little under-represented.”
Patriotism and the Olympic games have long gone together, but gone are the days when one just waved a flag. Now flags are worn.
The fashion flags can be found at Olympic Park and around London as shift dresses and smocks, pants and shorts, hats and shoes, even dangly earrings and bracelets. There’s apparently no garment — or nail polish — that can’t be fashioned into something akin to a national banner.
Although the International Olympic Committee’s sponsorship police can stop merchants from using the Olympic rings, there’s no trademark police on flags.
Besides, capitalizing on a fashion idea is not new. In recent years, “fast fashion” has transformed the retail industry, as mainstream companies seize the hottest ideas from the catwalk, copy them as quickly as possible and move them onto the shop floors.
Some manufacturers have gotten so fast at turning out their products, they can produce wearable creations from factory to store in the same season in which they were created by top designers at Chanel, Ralph Lauren or Dior.
None of these flag fashions are going to give Burberry a run for their money — they are not made to last.
Jayne Ody got her raincoat, which was covered in Union Jacks, from Primark, a British store that specializes in cheap, cheerful fashion. And it was a bargain, at 8 pounds ($13).
Her friend Ann Wanklyn was wearing two Welsh flags — emblazoned with a dragon — that had been sewn together into a simple shift dress. But Wanklyn is not about to claim she’s a fashion princess — Olympic Park is a sporty crowd.
“You won’t see anyone here walking around in heels,” Wanklyn said.
Turns out those flags can be handy in this unpredictable British weather. Someone seems to have a concession of selling a plastic variety that doubles as a raincoat. The British flag, as one might expect, seems to be very popular, but so is the tricolor of France and the triangle-cornered ones of the Czech Republic.
And then there are the Dutch. Who needs a flag when your nation is basically a color — blinding orange? There are orange jackets, overalls, shoes but you almost never see the Dutch flag itself.
The orange also comes in the form of tiny hats, a bargain at 1 pound. Sabine Wagenaar, 24, simply laughed when asked about her fashion choice.
“It’s a nice little hat,” she said giggling. “It’s girlie.”
Then there are those just trying to buck their athletes up. Hugh Barton, 11, from Brisbane, Australia, was sad that the Aussie swimmers weren’t at their best this year. He wore a flag around his neck and held one in his hand for maximum patriotism.
“Australia needs our moral support,” he said.
Before the games, American athletes were briefed on how to hold the flag should they be lucky enough to win.
The US Olympic Committee pointed out a picture of swimmer Missy Franklin displaying the flag properly after winning gold — right hand on stars, left hand on stripes.
Americans have rules outlining the proper way to show respect to the flag and athletes, as ambassadors and representatives of their country, are expected to respect that and do it right. Under federal law, the flag is not dipped to any person or thing, for example.
“The [USOC] takes the ambassador program very seriously,” said Bill Mallon, a historian. “It tries to avoid the ugly-American image by doing proper things at the games and teaching [athletes] the right things to do.”
But fans at Olympic Park were wearing the Stars and Stripes were doing so in joy and exuberance — though disrespectful to some — honoring the flag in their own little way.
“It’s a way of celebrating all the things that your country is about,” said Pemmaraju, the University of California student. “I know America is not a perfect country ... but it’s got me where I am. I’m proud to be an American.”
Monday, August 6, 2012
Blogger rises to fashion stardom
Blogger rises to fashion stardom
Until recently Han Huohuo was just a twentysomething Chinese fashion blogger. Today he enjoys front-row seats at European catwalk shows and rubs shoulders with the editor of Chinese Vogue. More than a million people now follow the wildly famous fashion blogger on weibo, China's answer to Twitter, and a leading website recently listed him among the country's top 20 movers and shakers in the industry.
The 28-year-old's flamboyant style — he favors women's clutches, skintight black pants and the occasional high heel — and passion for the industry have won him fame in a country where fashion icons are just starting to emerge.
Experts say his rapid rise to fame over the past four years was propelled by international brands eager to latch onto anyone who holds sway in China — set to become the world's largest luxury market by 2015, according to a Boston Consulting Group forecast.
“You've got so many luxury brands throwing money at China and they are grabbing people who have some sort of influence,” said Chloe Reuter, who runs a luxury communications agency in Shanghai, Reuter PR.
“It's extraordinary what kind of stuff they get given. They fly first class and have chauffeurs.
“Because everything is very new, people are basically being catapulted into A-list segments — something that might take a lot longer anywhere else.”
Han's unconventional style would stand out anywhere, but in China, it is particularly unusual.
His microblog — set against a leopard-print background — features a stream of portraits of himself stalking city streets in leather pants, designer purses, fur-lined coats and gold bracelets.
Part of his head is shaved, while what hair he has is long and swept back like a mane.
Not everyone likes his look, with some scorning his feminine style as “abnormal” and “evil.”
“It's just like Lady Gaga,” Han said in an interview with AFP, referring to the pop star known for extravagant outfits. “A lot of people criticize her but many are also praising her because she did what others didn't dare to do.
“The reason I got attention is that I did what others didn't dare to do,” he added. “I think I encouraged a lot of people.”
Han launched his blog in 2008 but since then his microblog, which he began in 2009, has become his main outlet for expression.
Until recently Han Huohuo was just a twentysomething Chinese fashion blogger. Today he enjoys front-row seats at European catwalk shows and rubs shoulders with the editor of Chinese Vogue. More than a million people now follow the wildly famous fashion blogger on weibo, China's answer to Twitter, and a leading website recently listed him among the country's top 20 movers and shakers in the industry.
The 28-year-old's flamboyant style — he favors women's clutches, skintight black pants and the occasional high heel — and passion for the industry have won him fame in a country where fashion icons are just starting to emerge.
Experts say his rapid rise to fame over the past four years was propelled by international brands eager to latch onto anyone who holds sway in China — set to become the world's largest luxury market by 2015, according to a Boston Consulting Group forecast.
“You've got so many luxury brands throwing money at China and they are grabbing people who have some sort of influence,” said Chloe Reuter, who runs a luxury communications agency in Shanghai, Reuter PR.
“It's extraordinary what kind of stuff they get given. They fly first class and have chauffeurs.
“Because everything is very new, people are basically being catapulted into A-list segments — something that might take a lot longer anywhere else.”
Han's unconventional style would stand out anywhere, but in China, it is particularly unusual.
His microblog — set against a leopard-print background — features a stream of portraits of himself stalking city streets in leather pants, designer purses, fur-lined coats and gold bracelets.
Part of his head is shaved, while what hair he has is long and swept back like a mane.
Not everyone likes his look, with some scorning his feminine style as “abnormal” and “evil.”
“It's just like Lady Gaga,” Han said in an interview with AFP, referring to the pop star known for extravagant outfits. “A lot of people criticize her but many are also praising her because she did what others didn't dare to do.
“The reason I got attention is that I did what others didn't dare to do,” he added. “I think I encouraged a lot of people.”
Han launched his blog in 2008 but since then his microblog, which he began in 2009, has become his main outlet for expression.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Jessica Chastain shows just why she was named best-dressed... but even she walks to work in jeans
Jessica Chastain shows just why she was named best-dressed... but even she walks to work in jeans
Having just landed the cover of Vanity Fair - in which she was named one of the best-dressed stars of the year - Jessica Chastain knows how to wear a designer dress with confidence.
And the flame-haired beauty did just that today as she emerged on the set of her latest movie in New York.
The 35-year-old actress stepped onto the set of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby in a tailored midnight blue dress pleated at the front.
The Help star paired her dress with black ballet flats, wore dark sunglasses and carried a large black leather tote.
Jessica came second on Vanity Fair's annual list, pipped to first place by the Duchess of Cambridge.
Despite her new status as a darling of the fashion scene, the in-demand actress was earlier spotted walking to work in her 'normal' clothes: ripped jeans, a crumpled black shirt and purple suede ankle boots.
The actress looked to be in deep concentration as she walked, more than likely going over script lines in her head.
The redhead shot to fame last year as the result of a handful of high-profile movies including The Help and Tree of Life, for which she garnered much critical praise.
She won over 35 critics' awards and was widely hailed as Hollywood's next big thing.
In the Vanity Fair article, on news stands this week, Jessica confesses to feelings of self-doubt and embarrassment.
'I've spent my life being embarrassed, the star told Vanity Fair. 'I don't want people to look at me.'
'I haven't been this unsure in a long time,' she confesses.
'I feel really, really terrified.'
Despite her recent success, mixed with the knowledge a career fall can be just around the corner at any time, the actress is not ready to cash in on big paydays just yet.
The magazine interview reveals that Jessica turned down a role in Iron Man 3 to shoot a project she's passionate about - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.
Her new movie, in which she stars opposite Scottish actor James McAvoy, does not yet have a release date but is already attracting a lot of buzz because of its unusual format.
The story is about how a married couple in New York City deals with an emotional, life-altering experience, from two different perspectives.
It will be split into two feature films: 'His', giving the perspective of McAvoy's character, and 'Hers', offering the perspective of Chastain's character.
Jessica is also preparing for her Broadway debut in the title role of The Heiress, a 1947 play based on the Henry James novel Washington Square.
Paula Wagner, who is producing the play, says of Chastain: 'What's really rare here is to have an actress at the peak of her career say, "Stop, I'm going to do Broadway".
Having just landed the cover of Vanity Fair - in which she was named one of the best-dressed stars of the year - Jessica Chastain knows how to wear a designer dress with confidence.
And the flame-haired beauty did just that today as she emerged on the set of her latest movie in New York.
The 35-year-old actress stepped onto the set of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby in a tailored midnight blue dress pleated at the front.
The Help star paired her dress with black ballet flats, wore dark sunglasses and carried a large black leather tote.
Jessica came second on Vanity Fair's annual list, pipped to first place by the Duchess of Cambridge.
Despite her new status as a darling of the fashion scene, the in-demand actress was earlier spotted walking to work in her 'normal' clothes: ripped jeans, a crumpled black shirt and purple suede ankle boots.
The actress looked to be in deep concentration as she walked, more than likely going over script lines in her head.
The redhead shot to fame last year as the result of a handful of high-profile movies including The Help and Tree of Life, for which she garnered much critical praise.
She won over 35 critics' awards and was widely hailed as Hollywood's next big thing.
In the Vanity Fair article, on news stands this week, Jessica confesses to feelings of self-doubt and embarrassment.
'I've spent my life being embarrassed, the star told Vanity Fair. 'I don't want people to look at me.'
'I haven't been this unsure in a long time,' she confesses.
'I feel really, really terrified.'
Despite her recent success, mixed with the knowledge a career fall can be just around the corner at any time, the actress is not ready to cash in on big paydays just yet.
The magazine interview reveals that Jessica turned down a role in Iron Man 3 to shoot a project she's passionate about - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.
Her new movie, in which she stars opposite Scottish actor James McAvoy, does not yet have a release date but is already attracting a lot of buzz because of its unusual format.
The story is about how a married couple in New York City deals with an emotional, life-altering experience, from two different perspectives.
It will be split into two feature films: 'His', giving the perspective of McAvoy's character, and 'Hers', offering the perspective of Chastain's character.
Jessica is also preparing for her Broadway debut in the title role of The Heiress, a 1947 play based on the Henry James novel Washington Square.
Paula Wagner, who is producing the play, says of Chastain: 'What's really rare here is to have an actress at the peak of her career say, "Stop, I'm going to do Broadway".
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Kate's wardrobe Olympics fail
Kate's wardrobe Olympics fail
Besides the diving boards, run-ups, starting blocks and serving lines, London 2012 is one long catwalk for Kate Middleton and her dignified cohorts and we can't help rewarding fashion points where points are due.
Despite once again claiming a coveted place on Vanity Fair's Best Dressed list, for Kate the Games are so far, so safe. The Duchess' wardrobe has been an exercise in blue and grey - from royal to navy, to dove and pale lavender.
Wearing a Roksanda Ilincic gown to the UK's Creative Industries Reception at the Royal Academy of Arts on Monday, the 30-year-old proved her prowess at recycling as well as transformation - earlier in the day she wore an entirely sober navy blazer and white shirt combination to Zara Phillips' equestrian cross country race in Greenwich before changing into the gown that we last saw at her 2011 North American tour.
The same blazer (official kit, we see), jeans and wedges combination was wheeled out to watch Zara take silver in dressage, this time swapping a white shirt for a navy-and-white striped number.
A reception for Heads of State and Government attending the Olympics Opening Ceremony saw a shiny take on the blue hue, with the Duchess sporting a Christopher Kane coat dress and grey McQueen clutch bag, demure as ever, and, forgive us, exhibiting nothing too out-of-the-blue.
Then there were the too-tight blue trousers combined with a too-small white T-shirt at the arrival of the Olympic Torch at Buckingham Palace. The trousers with an oversized shirt could work, or the shirt with less figure-hugging trousers could work, but ne'er the two will meet with princessly success. And what's wrong with a splash of military red every now and again?
It's a $52 Hobbs frock that pleases us the most - although, strictly speaking, Kate wore the cut-price grey checked design to a pre-Olympics event.
Her sober choices are a far cry from team GB opening ceremony outfits, the improbable lovechild of a moonwalker and Austin Powers' Goldmember. We applaud the spirit of fun they embody - as if team GB is imploring the world to "laugh with us, not at us". But they were designed by Stella McCartney, a fashion heavyweight that forces us, we suppose, to give the designs the benefit of the doubt.
The Duchess' unimaginative get-ups are more in-line with team USA's Ralph Lauren threads. But she has heavy competition from other pockets of the US, not least from FLOTUS, who looks just as at home hugging sweaty basketball players as she is pulling off $6,800 capped-sleeve jackets.
Michelle Obama has drawn both praise and criticism for her choice of the silver-and-white jacket, an embellished, structured, gutsy and elegant number by J Mendel. That her wardrobe is rather more contentious than Kate's, is, in an election year, a given, yet still she takes risks - and lands slam dunks. It makes us yearn for an injection of Mobama-style energy into the Duchess' wardrobe.
Medals tables will tally up the hardware, but there's all to play for in the next two weeks of the sartorial stakes.
Besides the diving boards, run-ups, starting blocks and serving lines, London 2012 is one long catwalk for Kate Middleton and her dignified cohorts and we can't help rewarding fashion points where points are due.
Despite once again claiming a coveted place on Vanity Fair's Best Dressed list, for Kate the Games are so far, so safe. The Duchess' wardrobe has been an exercise in blue and grey - from royal to navy, to dove and pale lavender.
Wearing a Roksanda Ilincic gown to the UK's Creative Industries Reception at the Royal Academy of Arts on Monday, the 30-year-old proved her prowess at recycling as well as transformation - earlier in the day she wore an entirely sober navy blazer and white shirt combination to Zara Phillips' equestrian cross country race in Greenwich before changing into the gown that we last saw at her 2011 North American tour.
The same blazer (official kit, we see), jeans and wedges combination was wheeled out to watch Zara take silver in dressage, this time swapping a white shirt for a navy-and-white striped number.
A reception for Heads of State and Government attending the Olympics Opening Ceremony saw a shiny take on the blue hue, with the Duchess sporting a Christopher Kane coat dress and grey McQueen clutch bag, demure as ever, and, forgive us, exhibiting nothing too out-of-the-blue.
Then there were the too-tight blue trousers combined with a too-small white T-shirt at the arrival of the Olympic Torch at Buckingham Palace. The trousers with an oversized shirt could work, or the shirt with less figure-hugging trousers could work, but ne'er the two will meet with princessly success. And what's wrong with a splash of military red every now and again?
It's a $52 Hobbs frock that pleases us the most - although, strictly speaking, Kate wore the cut-price grey checked design to a pre-Olympics event.
Her sober choices are a far cry from team GB opening ceremony outfits, the improbable lovechild of a moonwalker and Austin Powers' Goldmember. We applaud the spirit of fun they embody - as if team GB is imploring the world to "laugh with us, not at us". But they were designed by Stella McCartney, a fashion heavyweight that forces us, we suppose, to give the designs the benefit of the doubt.
The Duchess' unimaginative get-ups are more in-line with team USA's Ralph Lauren threads. But she has heavy competition from other pockets of the US, not least from FLOTUS, who looks just as at home hugging sweaty basketball players as she is pulling off $6,800 capped-sleeve jackets.
Michelle Obama has drawn both praise and criticism for her choice of the silver-and-white jacket, an embellished, structured, gutsy and elegant number by J Mendel. That her wardrobe is rather more contentious than Kate's, is, in an election year, a given, yet still she takes risks - and lands slam dunks. It makes us yearn for an injection of Mobama-style energy into the Duchess' wardrobe.
Medals tables will tally up the hardware, but there's all to play for in the next two weeks of the sartorial stakes.
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