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• 2009 fashion news - Antonio Berardi: 'I'm just a dressmaker'

  
  07 May 2009
  
  

  Left to right: Victoria Beckham steps out in a dress by Berardi; the kagoule from his collaboration with Peroni; a model in a design from spring/summer 2009 Photo: FilmMagic

  One harbours certain preconceptions about a designer who has occupied the plusher end of the fashion spectrum for two decades to find fame of late as the darling of Victoria Beckham and a sexed-up Gywneth Paltrow. An element of diva-ishness, perhaps, a certain handbags-at-dawn melodrama.

  But no, the behaviour of 40-year-old Antonio Berardi is shocking only by way of its consummate niceness. Berardi skips lunch to talk to us, is happy to balance a spoon on his nose for the photographer, and at one point even asks permission to go to the lavatory.

  His looks may combine the intensity of Rupert Everett with the twinkle in the eye of Robbie Williams, but for A-list antics one must look elsewhere. “My being a celebrity is not what it’s about,” he insists. “That whole Svengali relationship with the wearer feels like an old way of looking at things. That dictatorial attitude is the preserve of an old brigade, set in its ways. It doesn’t feel very contemporary. Ultimately, we’re nothing more than dressmakers.”

  His fashion inamorata, muse-turned-fellow-designer Victoria Beckham, would appear to be similarly exemplary. “She’s an incredibly kind lady. She’s very aware of herself, of her looks, of the image she wants to portray. She is never bullied. She does what she wants, while managing to be a lovely, regular person.”

  Berardi grew up, in Grantham, of Sicilian parentage and the Italian sense of style was inculcated at a young age. “I’m extremely pleased to be British. But my Italian background gave me a taste for the finer things in life. We had separate wardrobes for here and Sicily, a cruise-wear collection, if you like.

  “Then there were certain clothes for church, school, dressing up. As children, we would be taken by my father to be fitted for Savile Row suits.” These fittings would come with treats and, lo, a Pavlovian slavering for fashion was born.

  It took three attempts for Berardi to be accepted by Central St Martins College of Art and Design despite the fact that he was already assisting in John Galliano’s studio, then the very crucible of fashion.

  His face or, more specifically, his body failed to fit. “I was 18 stone and people didn’t really see me, even in class. And, then, all of a sudden it changed and that was equally weird.”

  He had the panache to commission a perfume for his graduation show in 1993, a collection snapped up by Liberty. He set up his own label the following year, with Kylie Minogue as a model, and Philip Treacy and Manolo Blahnik providing accessories.

  The fashion flourish that followed the last recession was an exciting time to be entering the industry, and Berardi was part of a generation of young talent that included Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan.

  He has a fascination with the technicalities of dress, is a staunch upholder of the hourglass figure, and says he has a pronounced Madonna/whore fixation that makes him entirely at ease with feminine provocation.

  As one might expect, Madonna herself is an enthusiast, and vice versa: “She’s so clever. She doesn’t ever go to the catwalk extreme. Whatever she’s wearing, it’s still Madonna.” But, then, he feels this about every Berardi buyer. “If she’s working, she’s working hard, but she’ll be having fun somehow, too. She’s interested in what’s going on around her. There’s something exhilarating about her even when she’s merely adorning a red carpet.”

  In Berardi’s hands, there is nothing “merely” about such appearances, as Gwyneth Paltrow’s Berardification in a risqué, transparent, lace-panelled frock last year testified. “Gwyneth took that dress and made it her own. She’s always been a confident dresser, but she used it to become more sassy. I loved that moment: it was like taking her glasses off and revealing the sexy side beneath.”

  His latest fetish is his new Peroni Nastro Azzurro-inspired unisex kagoule. If anyone were going to make this school playground perennial desirable, it is Berardi, who says he can even envisage its fetching aluminium weave on Victoria Beckham.

  His fondness for his protégée is palpable. “She’s incredibly loyal and, my God, she sells clothes. And she buys clothes,” he adds with emphasis, actual purchasing being rare in the world of celebrity. “I think she is misunderstood, but going to America has made British people appreciate her more. She’s down to earth, works incredibly hard and nothing has been handed to her on a plate. She’s a trouper.” One could say the same of him.

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - Victoria Beckham in latest Emporio Armani autumn/winter 2009/2010 underwear campaign

  
  06 May 2009
  
  

  Victoria Beckham in the Emporio Armani autumn/winter 2009/2010 advertising campaign

  Victoria Beckham today unveiled the latest advertising campaign images for Emporio Armani women's autumn/winter 09/10 underwear collection.

  Fresh from an appearance on the red carpet at the at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala on Monday, the former Spice Girl, who is forging a career as a fashion designer in her own right, was at Macy's in New York City to reveal the 20-foot campaign banner alongside Macy's chairman Terry Lundgren.

  Looking svelte and toned as ever in a matching lace bra and knickers, the mother-of-three stars as the '”face” of the brand for the second consecutive season.

  Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani's diffusion line, also counts Victoria's husband David as the star of the menswear range, and for the spring/summer 09 campaign the couple were pictured together in seductive bedroom scenes.

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild - Police say designer claims actor head-butted him

  
  06 May 2009
  

  

  Fashion news -  In this Jan. 25, 2009 file photo, Kiefer Sutherland arrives at the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild

  NEW YORK – New York City police on Wednesday were investigating a fashion designer's claim that actor Kiefer Sutherland head-butted him at a Manhattan nightclub.

  Jack McCollough, of the Proenza Schouler fashion house, said the incident happened around 2 a.m. local time Tuesday, reportedly at the club SubMercer in SoHo, and claimed he was cut on his face.

  McCollough claimed Sutherland, star of Fox television's "24," attacked him after an argument, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

  The official said detectives plan to question Sutherland before the end of this week and might question actress Brooke Shields as a witness.

  Nobody has been arrested.

  Calls to representatives for Sutherland, McCollough and Shields weren't immediately returned.

  Sutherland was released from a Glendale, California, jail last year after serving 48 days on a drunken driving charge. He had pleaded no contest to driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He was sentenced to 30 days, as well as 18 days for violating probation in a 2004 drunken driving arrest.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• Isaac Mizrahi attends the Food Bank for New York City's sixth - Bravo replacing 'Runway' with 'The Fashion Show'

  
  06 May 2009
  

  

  This April 21, 2009 file photo shows Isaac Mizrahi attends the Food Bank for New York City's sixth

  NEW YORK – Generally speaking, a fashion show and a runway go hand in hand. But for TV audiences, they'll now be rivals. Bravo is debuting "The Fashion Show" on Thursday (10 p.m. EDT) to fill the void left by "Project Runway," which bolted to rival Lifetime. Bravo recruited designer Isaac Mizrahi, singer Kelly Rowland and IMG Fashion Vice President Fern Mallis, the force behind much of New York Fashion Week, for its new reality show.

  There are a few tweaks to "The Fashion Show": Each week a winning garment is to be manufactured and sold to the public via an online store; all the designers are professionals; and the winner at the end of the season will have his or her own line available at retail.

  However, the similarities to the Heidi Klum-helmed show are striking, too. There are few fashion personalities who could rival the wit and openness of Michael Kors, but Mizrahi probably can. Rowland brings the celebrity element to the show, and Mallis probably has had her share of front-row catwalk seats next to Nina Garcia.

  And there is, of course, the weekly challenge.

  There's room for multiple fashion-themed reality shows because it's an industry that average Joes and Janes are mesmerized by and understand, says Mizrahi, who didn't name his obvious competitor. The sixth season of "Project Runway" — which has already been taped — will air this summer on Lifetime.

  "As a judge, I am looking first for integrity. I can't tell yet about niches that people will fit into, but we have to train them to think properly and then think about the marketplace aspect. The difference with our show from other shows is that we have an audience that votes every week and they say some brutal things," Mizrahi says.

  Rowland is looking for a spark — and an outfit she'd wear — among the 15 participants, while Mallis says she is eyeing both creativity and practicality. "You have to be able to walk in it, step up a step in it," Mallis says.

  Rowland thinks it's the judges' collective perspective that will benefit the wannabe style stars the most.

  "We're all very honest," she says. "Firm Fern and Honest Isaac, that's what I call them."

  And her nickname? "Classy Kelly," says Mallis.

  "We taught a lot of tough love," Mizrahi says. "It was hard for me. As a judge I couldn't tell them the polka dots were god awful."

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - Pierre Cardin hospitalised but due to return home

  
  06 May 2009
  
  

  Fashion news– Star French couturier Pierre Cardin, seen here in April 2009, aged 86, is to be released from a hospital …

  MARSEILLE (AFP) – Star French couturier Pierre Cardin, aged 86, is to be released from a hospital in this Mediterranean city after a 48-hour stay caused by high blood pressure, a source close to the designer said Wednesday.

  Cardin, who fell and broke a shoulder-blade last week, was flown by helicopter to Marseille on Tuesday from the southern village of Lacoste, where he each year organises a music and theatre festival in a castle he is restoring that was once owned by the Marquis de Sade.

  "He has had a thorough check-up and is being kept for observation until he leaves tomorrow," the source who declined to be named told AFP.

  Emergency services said he had suffered a malaise but the source said "his blood pressure rose ... he was totally lucid."

  Cardin last week was also briefly hospitalised for a fracture of his shoulder-blade after falling on stairs.

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - French fashion designer Pierre Cardin hospitalized

  
  06 May 2009
  
  

  Fashion news - In this Oct.6, 2008 file photo, French fashion designer Pierre Cardin stands with models wearing …

  PARIS – Fashion designer Pierre Cardin has been hospitalized after fainting and falling earlier this week.

  A spokesman for the Cardin fashion house says the designer was taken Tuesday by helicopter to a hospital in Marseille, on the southern coast of France.

  Spokesman Jean-Pascal Hesse says Cardin is expected to leave the hospital Thursday.

  The designer underwent medical tests after falling last week as well.

  Cardin lives in the southern French village of Lacoste, where he has produced a theater festival for the past nine years. He is currently restoring the chateau of the infamous Marquis de Sade.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - So long, sandals in winter and woolies in summer

  
  05 May 2009
  
  

   In this April 16, 2009 photo, the Liz Caliborne Fall 2009 Collection, recently on display at the company's …

  NEW YORK – When times were good, retailers sold sundresses in February and heavy wool sweaters in August.

  Now, Americans worried about the recession are buying only what they need today. This new frugality has merchants and suppliers overhauling every aspect of their businesses, from window displays to the fabrics they choose.

  It's changing some of the rules of retail.

  Joan Danehy, a 63-year-old retired teacher from Cazenovia, N.Y., would always get a head start on spring, buying summer clothes for her grandchildren when it was still chilly in March. She would put her purchases aside and give out the items a few months later when the weather turned warm. This year, she passed by the colorful assortment at Lord & Taylor without buying.

  "A year ago, I knew I was going to have money, but now there is this feeling that you are going to need it for something else, paying a bill or buying tires," said Danehy, whose retirement funds have lost half their value. "Not that we were rich, but I didn't worry about tomorrow. Now, the stock market affects every decision I make. I am really sticking to essentials."

  Consumers have long griped about merchandise being out of sync with the weather — lots of corduroy in the summer, for example. And while the industry had made some inroads in offering more timely fashions in recent years, it didn't have much incentive to make big changes because shoppers kept buying. Retailers also liked getting items into stores early because the preseason sales helped them gauge how much to reorder.

  The recession is forcing retailers to rewrite the rules. For one thing, the pullback by consumers has forced retailers to slash prices at an unprecedented rate to move merchandise.

  That has destroyed profits. For the fourth quarter of 2008, retailers' profits dropped 26.6 percent compared with a year earlier, according to Ken Perkins, president of research company RetailMetrics LLC. First-quarter profits are forecast to be down almost 22 percent.

  Major retailers including mall-based apparel chains and department stores, are scheduled to report their earnings results over the next three weeks. The new consumer mind-set is expected to dampen sales again — and expedite the shift in what stores put on their shelves.

  "This was a big problem for a long time, and it took a disaster for people to reassess what was wrong," said David Wolfe, creative director of The Doneger Group, which advises stores on apparel buying.

  ABS by Allen Schwartz, a trendy clothing supplier to department stores, said 65 percent of the tops in its March deliveries had sleeves. A year ago, only about one-third did.

  A new Saks Fifth Avenue section on its selling floor called WEAR focuses on what the industry refers to as "wear-now" clothing under brands such as DKNY and Elie Tahari. August deliveries will offer lightweight chiffon and charmeuse fabrics — but in fall colors.

  The biggest push is in Saks' trendiest fashions and for the labels that fall right below designer level. But the company is also working with top designers such as Oscar de La Renta to offer lighter-weight fabrics for clothes arriving in stores from June to August.

  Department stores, which have been the worst offenders of jumping ahead of the season, are now taking some cues from so-called fast-fashion rivals, said Michael Londrigan, chairman of the fashion merchandising department at the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising in Manhattan. Stores such as H&M and Zara are known for constant deliveries of styles that can be worn right away.

  The strategy does require a big balancing act for stores: keeping the selling floor feeling new and fresh while keeping fashions in sync with the weather.

  A recent window display at Bloomingdale's flagship store in Manhattan featured clothing that can be worn immediately but that also reflected the trends seen in the fashion shows for the fall collections: 1980s dance club looks such as short, beaded dresses and short skirts. These items were paired with cardigans or motorcycle jackets to jibe with the cool spring weather.

  K&G Fashion Superstore, a 100-plus-store division of Men's Wearhouse Inc., plans to stock short-sleeve cotton pique shirts in sage green and other earth tones in August before shifting to a deeper hues like hunter green in September. In August last year, its stores were filled with long-sleeve rugby shirts in dark colors.

  The "wear now" strategy also involves focusing even more on fabric innovations. Liz Claiborne Inc. plans to ship a shirtwaist dress under its namesake label this August in cotton fabric that looks like tweed, so it's more suited to last through at least two seasons.

  "There were lots of baby steps, but now people are jumping" into offering in-season clothing, said Dave McTague, executive vice president of the company's "partnered brands" division, which includes its namesake label and other brands sold mainly to department stores. "Shoppers are very smart about how they spend, and this is making us more attentive."

  But will that be enough to bring shoppers back?

  Aylan Dawkins, a 49-year-old executive assistant from Brooklyn, N.Y., used to scour the clothing racks at designer discounter Daffy's every week for bargains on fashionable preseason merchandise. In the past she found deals such as preseason suits discounted for as low as $10 at New York & Co. and gowns for $40, reduced from $400, at a small boutique in Harlem. But now she has stopped buying clothing.

  "I am not sure if I am going to have a job," she said.

  Even loyal designer customers who bought ahead of time to stay in sync with the couture shows are buying later. Store owners say that given massive layoffs on Wall Street, their best clients are now buying spur-of-the-moment — even for glitzy events.

  Usually the mother of a bride buys her dress months before a wedding. But Sara Albrecht, the owner of the Ultimo boutique in Chicago, said one mother bought a dress at the end of last month for her daughter's May 31 wedding. Another shopper who usually buys her entire spring wardrobe in January put it off until just recently.

  "I just think it's a permanent lifestyle shift," Albrecht said.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute - Costume Institute Explores Fashion Models as Muses

  
  05 May 2009
  
  

  Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel arrive at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute …

  New York – While seeing the face of a celebrity on the cover of a fashion magazine or starring in an advertising campaign for Louis Vuitton is the rule, rather than the exception these days, once upon a time it was the professional model who brought the collections of designers like Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Halston and Calvin Klein to the public, and to life.

  These women, who functioned as the standards of ideal beauty during any given era and in turn, had a hand in shifting that ideal - from the poise and polish of someone like Dovima in the '50s, to the waifish Twiggy to the rise of black models like Iman and Beverly Johnson in the '70s - are the focus of a new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute this spring, "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion," which celebrated its opening at the museum in New York Monday night, May 4, with the annual star-studded gala that is one of fashion's biggest nights.

  Co-chaired by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Kate Moss and Justin Timberlake, the Costume Institute benefit drew the creme de la creme of past and present models, including Iman, Brooke Shields, Cindy Crawford, Karolina Kurkova and Gisele Bundchen, as well as celebrities who have become some of the new faces of fashion, like Madonna, who has been the face of Louis Vuitton, along with Victoria Beckham and Winona Ryder, both of whom have appeared in Marc Jacobs ad campaigns.

  The exhibit traces 50 years of the women who defined their generations, from 1947 to 1997. Starting with the "Golden Age of Haute Couture," archival issues of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar with photo spreads of '50s models such as Carmen Dell'Orefice, Sunny Harnett and Suzy Parker are juxtaposed with tableaux of couture gowns by Balenciaga, Dior and Charles James that reproduce scenes from certain iconic photographs from the time period.

  The "youthquake" moment of the 1960's follows, with a soundtrack of "My Generation" by The Kinks and a projection of "Qui etes-vous Polly Magoo," the 1960 satire by William Klein against the backdrop of models like Peggy Moffitt wearing the famous topless swimsuit she modeled for Rudi Gernreich and Twiggy's impossibly tiny silver micromini dress.

  "Doesn't it make you want to wear short skirts?" said Harold Koda, curator in charge of the Costume Institute who co-curated the exhibit with Kohle Yohannan.

  One of the major themes of the show, as the title suggests, is the way that certain iconic models not only embodied the spirit of a particular moment or season in fashion, but that they also shaped and influenced those fashion.

  "To be one of the women that gets pulled out, you not only have to have conformed (to the ideal of beauty), but I think it's also a happy accident of intersecting with period fashion," said Koda. "I think in the 1960's, once you got somebody who was not considered at the beginning a successful model, like Veruschka, who is all legs, it changes the eye and designers want to extend that virtue. So skirts get shorter and shorter, for instance, so I think there's a subtle, subliminal push forward with the models. But I don't think there's a chicken or egg thing. I think it's simultaneous."

  Yet despite representing an ideal of beauty, Koda pointed out that the most recognizable models - and the ones that designers used time and time again - were the ones who didn't necessarily have the most perfect faces. Rather, it's the ones who had the most individualized look.

  "There's this one spread that I remember as a teenager seeing, of Lauren Hutton where she analyzes her face and all of its imperfection," he said. "But that's what makes her so beautiful."

  While the '80s were all about the supermodel, the early '90s saw a new anti-model trend emerge with people like Kate Moss, who became the poster child for a new grungier mood in fashion. Then, as certain designers began to prize an intellectualized aesthetic of minimalism, the model-as-star fell out of favor - their personalities competed too much with the clothing. This led to the rise of anonymous beauties, a trend that continues into the present.

  "In the late '90s and the early part of the new millennium, all of us have seen shows where there's one beautiful blonde teenager after another. It used to be, 'Cindy wore that,' but you couldn't do that anymore because it was all about the dress. This is not a bad thing, but it's a different thing. It's not using the vivid identity of a woman to carry the dress."

  The exhibit culminates with 1997, a moment that Koda said "was a good tearing off moment because you start to see that fashion goes into this thing where there's the cult of celebrity, with pop stars and actresses. Rather than have this critical mass of supermodels, you have Gisele."

  "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" will be on view from May 5 through August 9, 2009.

  "Starts" at  The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute

   

  

  Jessica Alba & Jason Wu fashion

  
  
  Supermodel Cindy Crawford

  
  

  Ashley Olsen

  
  

  Mary-Kate Olsen & Christian Lacroix fashion

  
  

  Rihanna & Dolce & Gabbana fashion

  
  

  Tom Brady -Gisele Bundchen (Dior fashion)

  
  

  Eva Mendes & Calvin Klein fashion

  
  

  Rachel Weisz & Vera Wang fashion

  
  

  Blake Lively & Versace fashion

  
  

  Anne Hathaway & Marc Jacobs fashion

  
  

  Rachel Bilson & Bally fashion

  
  

  Kate Bosworth & Stella McCartney fashion

  
  

  Madonna & Louis Vuitton fashion

  
  
  Heidi Klum

  
  

  Supermodel Kate Moss & NTK Marc Jacobs

  
  

  Justin Timberlake - Jessica Biel (Atelier Versace fashion)

  
  

  Victoria Beckham & Marc Jacobs fashion

  
  

  Kate Hudson, Stella McCartney, Liv Tyler & Kate Bosworth

  
  

  Renee Zellweger actress

  
  

   Hilary Swank actress

  
  

  Tony Parker - Eva Longoria Parker

  
  

  Supermodel Chanel Iman

  
  

  Supermodel Amber Valletta

  
  

  Supermodel Jessica Stam

  
  

  Supermodel Isabeli Fontana

  
  

  Tyra Banks & Badgley Mischka fashion

  
  

   Kate Beckinsale actress

  
  

   Katy Perry singer

  
  

   Kirsten Dunst actress

  
  

  Supermodel Hana Soukupova

  
  

  Supermodel Magdalena Frackowiak & NTK Thakoon Panichgul

  
  

  NTK Richard Chai & supermodel Karolina Kurkova

  
  

   Arun Naya & Elizabeth Hurley

  
  

  Supermodel Sasha Pivovarova & NTK Giambattista Valli

  
  

  Supermodel Bar Refaeli & Marchesa fashion

  
  

  Supermodel Brooklyn Decker

  
  

  Supermodel Anne V

  
  

  NTK Marc Jacobs, Lorenzo Martone & Victoria Beckham

   

  

   MAC John Demsey & supermodel Hilary Rhoda

  
  

   Brooke Shields actress

  
  

   Claire Danes actress

  
  

   Ciara singer

  
  

   Selma Blair actress

  
  

   Emma Roberts actress

  
  

  NTK Tommy Hilfiger & Dee Ocleppo

  
  

  Donald Trump & Melania Trump

  
  

  Supermodel Miranda Kerr

  
  

   Emmy Rossum actress

  
  

   Winona Ryder actress

  
  

  Supermodel Helena Christensen

  
  

  Supermodel Claudia Schiffer

  
  

  Supermodel Agyness Deyn

  
  

  Bruce Willis & Emma Hemming.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

   

• 2009 fashion news - "Models as Muse" looks at beauty ideals

  
  05 May 2009
  

  NEW YORK (Reuters) – The new "Models as Muse" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrates some of the world's most beautiful women yet it shows how ideals of beauty have evolved to include the rest of women as well, its curator said on Monday.

  Opening this week at the museum's Costume Institute, the exhibit traces high fashion and its models from post-World War Two haute couture to grunge and minimalism of the 1990s, with iconic photographs, magazine covers, advertisements, clothes, music and film clips to illustrate each distinctive era.

  The show explores the power of clothing, fashion photography and models to project images of beauty over the years, its curators said at a preview for the media.

  Its timeline begins in the golden age of sophisticated haute couture, which gave way to the youth-oriented 1960s, followed by the glamorous supermodel era that ended in grunge, the antithesis of glamour.

  That last shift shattered earlier conceptions of beauty, leaving today's ideals more diverse and inclusive than ever before, said Kohle Yohannan, guest co-curator.

  "In the end we're reassembling the pieces, like a post-modern jigsaw puzzle," he said, adding: "Women are more included in the visual culture today, all races, all ages.

  "I think this show will encourage women to take a bow, each and every type that they are, each and every race, each and every size," he said.

  Yohannan, an author and cultural historian, curated the show with Harold Koda, curator in charge of The Costume Institute.

  While fashionistas will likely savor every nuance, the fashion illiterate will recognize the aristocratic Dorian Leigh, Twiggy, Peggy Moffitt in a topless bathing suit by Rudi Gernreich, the athletic Cheryl Tiegs and Christie Brinkley, supermodels Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer, waifish Kate Moss and lithe Gisele Bundchen.

  Each era of fashion illustrates the social changes that were occurring at the time and helped to shape the idealized types of feminine beauty, Yohannan said.

  "It shows every bit of a map of social history as much as a style history," he said.

  The exhibit, "Models as Muse: Embodying Fashion," is on view from May 6 through August 9, 2009.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 Beachwear fashion trends - Aspiga's beach wardrobe

  
  04 May 2009
  

  Every beach wardrobe needs a pair of Aspiga sandals – now it could be time to add some Aspiga beachwear.

  Pina Colada bikini, £49

  Coco Cabana swimsuit, £46

  Mojito sheer dress, £54

  Beaded bracelets, £9 each

  White overlap basket, £28

  Tanzi leather flip-flops, £35

  Mahati leather flip-flops £40

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - NY exhibit "Models as Muse" looks at beauty ideals

  
  04 May 2009
  

  NEW YORK (Reuters) – The new "Models as Muse" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrates some of the world's most beautiful women yet it shows how ideals of beauty have evolved to include the rest of women as well, its curator said on Monday.

  Opening this week at the museum's Costume Institute, the exhibit traces high fashion and its models from post-World War Two haute couture to grunge and minimalism of the 1990s, with iconic photographs, magazine covers, advertisements, clothes, music and film clips to illustrate each distinctive era.

  The show explores the power of clothing, fashion photography and models to project images of beauty over the years, its curators said at a preview for the media.

  Its timeline begins in the golden age of sophisticated haute couture, which gave way to the youth-oriented 1960s, followed by the glamorous supermodel era that ended in grunge, the antithesis of glamour.

  That last shift shattered earlier conceptions of beauty, leaving today's ideals more diverse and inclusive than ever before, said Kohle Yohannan, guest co-curator.

  "In the end we're reassembling the pieces, like a post-modern jigsaw puzzle," he said, adding: "Women are more included in the visual culture today, all races, all ages.

  "I think this show will encourage women to take a bow, each and every type that they are, each and every race, each and every size," he said.

  Yohannan, an author and cultural historian, curated the show with Harold Koda, curator in charge of The Costume Institute.

  While fashionistas will likely savor every nuance, the fashion illiterate will recognize the aristocratic Dorian Leigh, Twiggy, Peggy Moffitt in a topless bathing suit by Rudi Gernreich, the athletic Cheryl Tiegs and Christie Brinkley, supermodels Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer, waifish Kate Moss and lithe Gisele Bundchen.

  Each era of fashion illustrates the social changes that were occurring at the time and helped to shape the idealized types of feminine beauty, Yohannan said.

  "It shows every bit of a map of social history as much as a style history," he said.

  The exhibit, "Models as Muse: Embodying Fashion," is on view from May 6 through August 9, 2009.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - Lindsay Lohan's new fake tan: sunshine in a bottle

  
  04 May 2009
  

  Actress Lindsay Lohan claims to have created the ultimate fake tan. Here, we give it a try.

  

  Melissa Whitworth gives Lindsay Lohan's new fake tan a go
  

  Lindsay Lohan surfing in Hawaii Photo: SPLASH

  According to Lindsay Lohan, "a gorgeous golden glow is the ultimate beauty accessory". But with red hair and pale, freckled skin, the Hollywood actress and tabloid doyenne knows how hard such a thing can be to come by.

  

  Lindsay Lohan surfing in Hawaii Photo: SPLASH

  As famous for her fake tans as her starring roles in films such as Mean Girls, Lohan has "tried every tanning product on the market". It was her quest for the perfect fake bake that led her to collaborate with an airbrush tanning specialist to create a new line of bronzers with natural extracts that she refers to as her "sun-less secret". The first product, a spray-on tanning mist containing goji berry and chardonnay called Sevin Nyne, a play on her two favourite numbers, was launched in the US last month. It is expected to arrive in Selfridges in Britain later this year.

  Like Lohan, I'm pale at the best of times. I wear SPF 30 on my face every day, even when it's raining. So the idea of spraying on a natural-looking tan in a matter of seconds sounds to me like a good way of avoiding skin cancer and premature wrinkles associated with overexposure to the sun.

  With summer on the way, it's time for even the palest of us to start thinking about building up a base tan so that we're less likely to burn when the sun finally breaks through. But with skin the colour of alabaster, I shan't be removing any layers of clothing until I've acquired a touch of fake colour.

  Which is where my £23 can of Sevin Nyne comes in. Buying it online from American beauty store Sephora, which has an exclusive deal to sell it, turns out to be the easiest part.

  My first attempt with the tanning mist goes horribly awry. Trying it out on my arm, droplets of watery brown liquid appear and run in beads down my arms. When I try to rub them in, I end up with brown palms. Realising I've totally ignored the instructions to spray the stuff very lightly at a distance of 12 inches away from my body, I decide to waft it over my chest like a deodorant, which turns it a deep shade of ochre.

  So far, the only good news is the spray smells delicious, like coconut and the sun-cream my mother used to slather us in on holidays. I wash off what I can and start again.

  My sister, a professional makeup artist, agrees to help me apply it, barking orders when I get too trigger-happy. "You need to apply it very sparingly, in smooth strokes," she says. "Do not touch your skin afterwards! Oh, here, let me do it."

  Herein lies the rub: how on earth are you meant to reach your lower back and the backs of your thighs? My advice would be to enlist the help of a (close) friend and/or makeup artist sister. So much for it being a self-tanning product…

  The instructions say not to bathe or shower for at least five hours after application. Then, during the next four to 24 hours, a "tan" will develop and you can wash off the original dye. Like almost all other self-tanning products, Sevin Nyne contains dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, a simple carbohydrate that reacts with cells in the epidermis causing a change in colour.

  The next morning, I was pleasantly surprised. I woke up with a tan that was as close to the colour my skin goes in the sun as I've ever seen. There were no streaks or patches, just a warm glow that looked completely natural and lasted all weekend.

  What's more, my skin felt soft and moisturised, as the notes on the bottle said it would. If I'd just been a little less gung-ho when first applying the stuff, the whole adventure would have been an unqualified success.

  Spraying a tan on in the bathroom is, of course, what dermatologists and skin cancer specialists would prefer we all did instead of baking in the sunshine. According to the British Association of Dermatologists, there are roughly 9,000 cases of potentially fatal melanoma reported each year. Skin cancer rates are rising faster than breast and prostate cancers – up 43 per cent in the last decade.

  The use of sunbeds, particularly by young adults and children, is booming despite these ominous figures and will increase the chances of skin cancer by up to 75 per cent. It's estimated that 170,000 children in Britain have used a sunbed.

  "We wanted to create something without harsh chemicals or dyes that nourished the skin and inspired people to cherish their skin and stay out of the sun," says Lorit Simon, Lohan's co-creator of Sevin Nyne. "I have pale skin so sitting in the sun was never an option. I was frustrated with the tanning formulas on the market so I decided to create my own. We wanted everyone to enjoy a professional spray tan in the privacy of their own home, and I think we succeeded."

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 fashion style for travels : Clothes - Shoes - Handbag - Watch

  
  01 May 2009
  

  

  20s

  Keep the look simple with jeans, a mac and a great shopper, adding interest with a bit of bold jewellery.

  Leather 'totally damier azur’ bag, £570, by Louis Vuitton (020 7399 4050)

  

  Metallic satin plimsolls, £39, by Jigsaw (020 8392 5600)

  

  Metal bangles, £12 for three, by Topshop Unique (0845 121 4519)

  

  Jeans, £70, by Levi’s (01604 599735). Cotton t-shirt, £12, by Dorothy Perkins (0845 121 4515). Cotton mac, £485, by Marc by Marc Jacobs, from the shop at Bluebird (020 7351 3873). Silk scarf, £195, by Alexander McQueen (020 7355 0088)

  

  30s

  For relaxed chic wear a neutral cotton knit over straight-leg jeans, then add an on-trend animal-print scarf and gladiator sandals.

  Jeans, £160, by J Brand, from Donna Ida. Cotton t-shirt, £26, by Petit Bateau (020 7462 5770). Leopard-print silk scarf, £9, by Accessorize (0844 811 0068). cotton cardigan, £35, by Miss Selfridge (0845 121 4517)

  

  Leather gladiator sandals, £12, by Matalan (0845 330 3330)

  

  Leather bag, £345, by Russell & Bromley (020 7629 6903)

  

  Plastic and metal bangle, £8, by Daisy and Eve, from Evans (01277 844143)

  

  40s

  Jeans are great, being slow to crease as well as comfortable, and the wide leg is sophisticated. Team with a blazer and a pair of court shoes.

  Cotton blazer, £39.99, by Uniqlo (020 8247 9200). Cotton t-shirt, £45, by Splendid, from Trilogy (020 7730 6515). Wide-leg jeans, £45, by Oasis (01865 881986). Leather belt, £7.50, by Marks & Spencer (0845 302 1234). Silk scarf, £142, by Missoni

  

  Metallic leather shopper, £179, by Hobbs (020 7586 5550)

  

  Leather and gilt cuff, £17.50, by John Lewis (0845 604 9049)

  

  Leather courts, £139, by L K Bennett (0844 581 5881)

  

  50+

  Chinos are the 50-plus woman’s friend and a great alternative to denim. Pair with chic but practical loafers.

  Leather shopper, £929, by Taddei Harmarnee, from Harrods (020 7730 1234)

  

  Leather loafers, £235, by Tod’s (020 7493 2237)

  

  Gold-plated watch with leather strap, £105, by Rotary (020 7434 7546)

  

  Cotton chinos, £89.90, by G-Star (020 7939 0930). Cotton t-shirt, £25, by Truly Madly Deeply, from Urban Outfitters (020 3219 1944). Cotton-knit cardigan, £100, by Line, from oxygen (020 7636 6001)

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 fashion for teen - The closet thinker: three of the best cowgirl pieces

  
  01 May 2009
  
  

  Denim shirt, £85, by Wrangler (0845 600 8383)
  

  Suede shorts, £79, by Massimo Dutti (020 7851 1280)
  

  Fringed suede bag, £1,995, by Jimmy Choo (020 7493 5858)

  It’s not unusual for fashion to exhibit a contrary streak, but its latest manifestation is downright perverse: pushing a retro-Western style, when the rest of the world has already waved goodbye to George Bush and welcomed a 21st-century president who doesn’t campaign in a cowboy hat.

  

  Even more peculiar is the fact that a look as old as John Wayne is being touted as inventively new – hence the stampede towards fringing, buckskin, Stetsons; the rejoicing in Hermès ponchos and Dior cowboy boots as the way forward; a fresh outbreak of the frontier spirit, or Western urbain, if one is to believe French Vogue. And if I sound like a grumpy old woman – well, perhaps the young should be grumpy about this, too; or at least question fashion’s clumsy game of cowboys and Indians, whereby Pocahontas sandals and so-called 'tribal necklaces’ are lazy clichés of ethnicity (African, Asian, Latin American; they’re all reduced to a mélange of fringing, feathers and beads).

  

  At which point – mid-rant – I should probably pause for breath. I’ve never been convinced by the Pocahontas look, but I confess I wore a second-hand fringed suede cowboy jacket when I was a teenager, and loved it without ever questioning whether it was kitsch, in much the same way that I’d adored a winged fairy dress when I was five years old. Because dressing up in fancy dress is magical when you don’t see it as dressing up; when you are young enough or sufficiently hopeful to believe in the miraculous transformative powers of clothes.

  So if there are customers with the cash – or credit – for the fringed Hermès Birkin bag (and the waiting-list would appear to suggest their existence, floating in a bubble not yet burst by the credit crunch), then perhaps their imaginations are as wide and deep as their pockets. Less affluent consumers with a hankering for the Wild West – that mythic place, where brave men triumphed over blackhearts – will have to fight their way to Topshop instead, which has a fringed suede jacket for £90.

  Alternatively, there’s a different story to tell: that fringing is in fact a revisiting of the 1920s, which might explain why the backdrop for the Jil Sander spring collection used a projection of Man Ray’s Noire et Blanche, a 1926 portrait of the artist’s Parisian muse, Kiki de Montparnasse, eyes closed and pale head resting next to a dark African mask. Flappers, Hottentots, cowboys, squaws: it’s all coming out of the dressing-up box, as if fashion still has everything to play for…

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 Fashion news - The Romance Was Born Spring Summer 2009/2010 show during Rosemount Australian

  
  01 May 2009
  

  

  Fashion news - Model walks the runway at the Romance Was Born Spring Summer 2009/2010 show during Rosemount Australian

  Sydney – Often the best tests of a fashion house's influence and possible longevity is the strength of its underlying concept, and using this yardstick one can only predict the rosiest of future's for Romance Was Born, which staged a simply sensational show in Sydney Thursday, April 30.

  Staged in the light-bathed end of a great old wharf, the show was practically a hit before the first look appeared, thanks to the great stage set a potpourri of cane trunks, garden statues bedecked with chains of pearls, fine bone china tea sets, budgies, ships steering wheels, gardener's paraphernalia and a substantial wacky garden of potted flowers.

  The opening was also perfectly judged, a sixties-like mini skirted white suit. The opener captured many of the breath-taking details of this impressive aesthetic statement - eyebrows remade with mini fans of pearls, platform shoes constructed with doilies and seashells. If this sounds absurdist, that's because it was, yet the sheer audacity of the images also made every look a wonderful one.

  Curvy, sexy shantung suits in cobalt blues, saucy society hostess cocktail dresses - subverted by the body hugging shape - and bird of paradise slatternly countesses in fiery red frocks all looked great.

  This was the closest collection outside of Western Europe to reach the technical heights of a Paris haute couture show. But what made it even more special was the way Romance Was Born's designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales made this Australia couture, by using lots of references to their own country and culture, whether it be colonial doilies, wrought iron filigrees, crochet squares or grandmother's pearls. That was clear from the show title: "Doilies and Pearls, Oysters and Shells."

  Plunkett and Sales teamed up with local artists Patrick Doherty and Esme Timbery to produce colorfully naïve cartoonist prints on a great silk material composed of oysters and pearls.

  "Our next plan? Opening boutiques in Melbourne, Sydney and Tokyo," said Sales, in between interviews with local TV crews.

  Created in pastel hues of pale pink or faded blue, mint and lavender the collection deservedly won the duo prolonged applause as they took their bow after a memorable display of adventurous style and chic. It was a rare and unique moment when the meeting of imagery, aesthetics, eccentricity and beauty was so special that one felt privileged to be right at the center of the creative universe. Romance Was Born elicited one of those charming epiphanies.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

   

• Chris Pine arrives at the Film premiere of "Star Trek" in Hollywood

  
  01 May 2009
  
  

  Fashion - Chris Pine arrives at the Film premiere of "Star Trek" in Hollywood, Calif., on Thursday

  Los Angeles – The summer blockbuster season has officially arrived in Hollywood. If you don't believe it, just ask the celebrity hordes that descended on the Grauman's Chinese Theater on Thursday, April 29, for the jam-packed premiere of "Star Trek," and you'll know for sure.

  For unlike most Tinseltown fetes for films where only the actual stars show up, this one brought out not only the stars of the new sci-fi film, the one that boldly goes to the origins of the original '60s television "Star Trek," but also countless other fans and former Enterprise crew members.

  Making the scene from the new movie were Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Rachel Nichols, Winona Ryder, John Cho, director J. J. Abrams, and Leonard Nimoy, who spans the "Trek" generations. From past iterations of the ever-popular series were George Takei, Walter Koenig and Marina Sirtis, Jonathan Frakes.

  Also making the scene were Heidi Klum, Leighton Meester, Hayden Panettiere, Amanda Bynes, Emma Roberts, Nicollette Sheridan, Kristin Cavallari, Natalie Maines, Sophia Bush, Tori Spelling, and Michelle Monaghan. Filling out the rest of the audience were secret sci-fi geeks like Matthew Fox, Christian Slater, Neil Patrick Harris, Trent Reznor, Adrian Pasdar, Clifton Collins, Jr., Hank Azaria, Frankie Muniz, Damon Wayans, and Jon Heder.

  So what's the draw? As Chris Pine, the new Captain Kirk, posited earlier at a press conference, it's the dream that "Star Trek" represents to the world.

  "As trite or cheesy as it might sound, it's the idea that many people can work together as one and achieve great things," he said. "I think it's a wonderful vision of humanity. To have the deck of the Enterprise as a veritable United Nations of faces and sexes and races and people from disparate backgrounds, I think that hopefully the resonance it had in the late '60s will have a similar affect on a world similarly torn by an economic crisis and wars. It seems like we spend more of our time trying to kill one another than anything else. So to present a vision of people working together I think is a quite wonderful thing."

  The vision hits movie theaters on May 8.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Vera Wang

  
  01 May 2009
  

  2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Vera Wang

  Vera Wang: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion Collection of Vera Wang

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Reem Acra

  
  01 May 2009
  

  2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Reem Acra

  Reem Acra: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion Collection of Reem Acra

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Oscar de la Renta

  
  01 May 2009
  

  2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Oscar de la Renta

  Oscar de la Renta: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion Collection of Oscar de la Renta

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Monique Lhuillier

  
  01 May 2009
  

  2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Monique Lhuillier

  Monique Lhuillier: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion Collection of Monique Lhuillier

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Kenneth Pool

  
  01 May 2009
  

  2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Kenneth Pool

  Kenneth Pool: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion Collection of Kenneth Pool

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Junko Yoshioka

  
  01 May 2009
  

  2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion of Junko Yoshioka

  Junko Yoshioka: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009/2010 Wedding Bridal Dresses Fashion Collection of Junko Yoshioka