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• 2009 fashion news - National passion seeps into crisis fashion

  
  23 March 2009
  

  PARIS (Reuters) – You could call it fashionalism. At a Vivienne Westwood show, buyer Amanda Ware lists new trends she has spotted in London: quirky hats, trendy scarves -- and British-made designer accessories featuring the Union Jack.

  Several fashion buyers visiting this month's Paris shows reported a jump in nationalist purchases, especially in London, which before the economic crisis prided itself on being the capital of multicultural style.

  "I think it's this whole Britishness thing," said Ware, who buys accessories for luxury store Fortnum & Mason in London. In the boom years, the French and Italian brands she stocks were more popular than British ones, she said. That has changed.

  Ware has adjusted her purchases accordingly, buying visibly British accessories such as a Paul Smith scarf with a London city print, which she expects to do well despite the general retail slump.

  "There's been a lot of support for both Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith, it's been the strongest this season," she said.

  "Vivienne Westwood is more tartan, Paul Smith is strong with the Union Jack. It's really flown over the past 8-12 weeks."

  From workers protesting against foreigners taking jobs to governments bailing out failing local industries, fashion executives point to a global wave of nationalist protests and policies since the world economy turned sharply down.

  The World Bank said in a report this month that since last November, 17 of the G20 nations had implemented measures whose effect is to restrict trade at the expense of other countries.

  "The trend in protection is up and the full effects (of) recession have not yet been felt," said the report by Elisa Gamberoni and Richard Newfarmer.

  The patriotic shopping spree suggests such nationalism is seeping into the middle classes, steering those who can afford designer accessories costing several hundred pounds.

  BUYING YOUR OWN

  "I think there is a general trend of people buying from their own country. Globally, protectionism is growing, and you see that in fashion," Geoffrey de La Bourdonnaye, chief executive of Liberty of London, told Reuters at the Christian Lacroix show in Paris.

  In a curious backlash, the trend appears to be strongest in Britain, whose former Prime Minister Tony Blair was one of the most vocal defenders of globalization.

  The French have supported protectionist policies such as aid for the car sector but designers and retailers say they are not particularly looking to buy French fashion brands.

  In the United States, which came under fire last month for a "Buy American" campaign, clothes and accessories featuring President Barack Obama are popular. But fashionable New Yorkers see wearing national symbols such as the flag as an expression of right-wing politics.

  Nostalgia could be a factor for older Britons remembering campaigns since the 1960s that encouraged citizens to support the British economy with T-shirts, Union Jack badges, songs and ubiquitous slogans like "Backing Britain."

  "There has always been in Britain a tendency to buy local, for a couple of reasons. There's the green reason, and also national pride -- the British are very proud of their craft -- and now it's also cheaper to buy British," said de La Bourdonnaye, referring to the weak pound.

  A few weeks ago, the left-wing Guardian newspaper ran a fashion spread in its weekend magazine under the tongue-in-cheek headline: "Women of Britain - your designers need you!"

  Featuring pictures of World War Two propaganda posters and a model in typically British labels such as Burberry and Stella McCartney, it urged shoppers to "buy British this season."

  CUSTOMISED NATIONALISM

  Historically, the use of fashion for nationalist purposes stretches across the political spectrum. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini created a government institution to promote fascist fashion, while Mahatma Gandhi called upon fellow Indians to wear homespun cotton in the struggle against British colonial rule.

  Proponents of free markets argue that in economic terms, campaigns to buy local are ultimately detrimental.

  While such campaigns may shore up companies and jobs in the short run, they argue, they have the opposite effect in the long term by stifling international trade and stunting growth.

  If protectionist sentiment in fashion spread, it could close off lucrative foreign markets for Italian, French and British designers, whose businesses have been buoyed by demand from the new middle classes in fast-growing emerging economies.

  Retail and wholesale revenues at Burberry, for example, were up 53 percent in Asia in the last three months of 2008 compared with the previous year -- making the region the luxury brand's strongest performer, along with the Middle East.

  But in times of turmoil such arguments risk losing out. Jason Broderick, head of menswear purchases at Harrod's, has also seen a greater focus on British-made products.

  "I think people are concerned with keeping the fellow countryman in work and supporting British-made will ensure this to a level," he wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.

  Of course, just how British such products are is questionable: top fashion houses use Chinese-made soles for their shoes, Indian-embroidered silk for evening gowns and designers from, well, anywhere for their creative direction.

  For a sector that thrives on meshing different cultures, a trend toward buying one's own seems a mismatch.

  And the Stella McCartney brand featured in the Guardian's "Buy British" spread is, of course, owned by the Italian-rooted Gucci group, which in turn is part of French retail giant PPR.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 London Fashion of Eley Kishimoto fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Eley Kishimoto

  Eley Kishimoto: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Eley Kishimoto

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Danielle Scutt fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Danielle Scutt

  Danielle Scutt: Fashion Designer

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Danielle Scutt

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Christopher Kane fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Christopher Kane

  Christopher Kane: Fashion Designer

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Christopher Kane

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Betty Jackson fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Betty Jackson

  Betty Jackson: Fashion Designer

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Betty Jackson

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Basso Brooke fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Basso Brooke

  Basso Brooke: Fashion Designer

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Basso Brooke

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Armand Basi fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Armand Basi

  Armand Basi: Fashion Designer

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Armand Basi

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Aquascutum fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Aquascutum

  Aquascutum: Fashion Designer

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Aquascutum

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Antoni Alison fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Antoni Alison

  Antoni Alison: Fashion Designer

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Antoni Alison

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 London Fashion of Ann Sofie fashion designer

  
  23 March 2009
  

  2009 New Fashion - 2009 London Fashion of Ann Sofie

   

  Ann Sofie: Fashion Designer

   

  These images in 2009 London Fashion Collection of Ann Sofie

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• 2009 fashion news - Michelle Obama says her husband Barack knows nothing about fashion

  
  23 March 2009
  

  President Barack Obama is obsessed with his wife's clothes but knows nothing about fashion, the First Lady, Michelle Obama has revealed.

  

  Michelle Obama told the New York Times that her husband does not understand her interest in fashion Photo: EPA
  

  She reportedly ordered the president to stop nosing around her wardrobe Photo: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES

  Mrs Obama, who has swiftly become an American style icon with a Vogue cover to her name, says that she orders the president to stop nosing around her wardrobe, puts up with him mocking her collection of shoes and has to wear one trendy belt when he is not around because he has no sense of style.

  The revelations came in an interview with the New York Times, the latest of a succession of media appearances that have been used to recraft Mrs Obama in the popular consciousness as a mother, wife, and clothes horse after she was attacked for being too overtly political during the election campaign.

  Describing a scene which will sound familiar to many less illustrious couples, Mrs Obama said her husband remains bemused by her interest in clothes. "He's always asking: 'Is that new? I haven't seen that before,'" she said, revealing that she replies: "Why don't you mind your own business? Solve world hunger. Get out of my closet."

  She went on to mock Mr Obama's tone when dealing with that age old thorny issue: the number of shoes a woman needs. Imitating her husband, Mrs Obama said: "You didn't need any more shoes. The shoes you had on yesterday were fine. Why can't you just wear that for the rest of the presidency?"

  And she confessed that she has decided not to wear a grey metallic belt when she is around the president, because he is not a fan. "Barack calls it my Star Trek belt," she explained. "He doesn't understand fashion."

  Mrs Obama has won plaudits for her selection of clothes, which blend high end fashions from previously obscure American designers with high street chic. She has also used her position as a striking, tall and curvy icon to give African American women a more positive body image.

  Talking as she helped plant a vegetable garden in the White House grounds, the first lady admitted French fries are her "favourite food in the whole wide world" and has to do calisthenics, interval running and lift weights to stay in shape.

  "I have hips, and I have them covered up with these pleats," she said, pointing to her skirt.

  Mrs Obama admitted that her daughters, Sasha and Malia, have so thoroughly absorbed her healthy eating message that the girls themselves refuse to eat at some fast food chains. But she conceded that her mother, Marian Robinson, who lives in the White House, indulges her grandchildren.

  "She thinks Malia and Sasha should have dessert every day, three times a day," the first lady said. "When I remind her that the girls had ice cream after school, she says, 'Why can't they have pie now?' I'm like, 'Who are you? What did you do with my mother?'"

  Mrs Obama's interview was a rather more successful foray into populist image management than her husband managed on Thursday night, when the president used a jokey appearance on comedian Jay Leno's talk show to try to sell his increasingly unpopular economic plans.

  Mr Obama was forced to make a public apology to disabled athletes after comparing his inept 10-pin bowling abilities to the "special Olympics", a slip that attracted criticism from campaign groups, Alaska's governor Sarah Palin and California's first lady Maria Shriver.

  It was just the latest piece of evidence that the sure-footed communications skills Mr Obama displayed during his election campaign have deserted him.

  Michael Wolff, America's leading commentator on the media, dismissed Mr Obama as a Jimmy Carter retread for his far from sure footed response to public outrage over executive bonuses at the insurance giant AIG.

  He wrote: "The guy just doesn't know what to say. He can't connect. Emotions are here, he's over there. He can't get the words to match the situation. This guy is leaden and this show is in trouble."

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 new fashion - Kate Moss’s spring collection for Topshop

  
  23 March 2009
  

  Kate Moss’s collections for Topshop have been a roaring success. With her spring collection about to hit the shops, she gave a rare interview to Cat Callender, showed her around her office and let her in on a few style tips.

  

  Kate Moss tries on a sample top in her office Photo: Pietro Birindelli
  

  Kate Moss with members of her design team Photo: Pietro Birindelli

  Kate Moss can’t make her mind up. She is in her office at Topshop HQ inspecting samples of her high summer collection and is just not sure whether a white, drapey, jersey vest – with an unfortunately placed knot of fabric above each breast – is 'working’ for her. Suddenly she ducks into a changing-room cubicle in one corner of her office, appearing moments later with it on. Instinctively she throws a pose: her right shoulder raised, her chin dipped, her left hip jutting out and her waist swaying in a perfect figure of eight. She is wearing the vest back to front, she has undone the knots and the excess fabric now forms two angelic fluttering wings at the back. It is an entirely different top – it is now most definitely 'working’ – and not just because she is wearing it.

  'For the first time I am having to wear a bra,’ Moss crows, appraising her reflection in the mirror. 'They just grew overnight. It’s great. I put on a few pounds and it went on all the right places – my boobs!’ But there is a downside. She now has to contend with visible bra straps. 'Oh no! Look,’ she says, glancing at the rear view of the vest. 'F***. Bollocks. My straps are showing.’

  Most models, when you meet them, look like gangly, exotic creatures whose angular features come to life on camera but look alien in real life. Not Moss. What you seein pictures is what you get in the flesh – only less make-up. There are those deliciously bowed legs that taper into impossibly spindly ankles. The delightfully wonky teeth. And the hooded eyes that can fix you with a sultry stare one moment and crease into a mischievous twinkle the next.

  Her office is housed in possibly the most grey, municipal-style 1960s office block in London, off Oxford Street. Not that the dour environment is preventing her from having fun. 'What do you want? Place your orders!’ Moss chirps as she flicks through a rail of clothes and apes a cockney barrow boy’s sales pitch. There is an ebullient mood in the room – more hen night than formal design meeting – as Moss and her all-female team sit around a large table tweaking designs and discussing fabric choices over a glass of wine.

  When she is not sitting at the table, Moss is shimmying sinuously around the room, pouring herself in and out of clothes, test-driving each piece. This, she says, is a crucial part of the design process. 'I’m no good at looking at style.com and saying, “Oh, I love that dress.” I can’t tell from looking at something online or in a photograph how it will sit on the body. I have to try it on to see and feel what it is like.’ While she may not be able to sketch or make clothes, it is clear from the way she appraises each garment that she is not only very hands on, but also knows her stuff.

  An exquisitely beaded 1920s-style flapper dress that is draped over a chair catches her eye. 'Ooh that would be great for the wedding.’ She pauses, suddenly realising the headline-worthy nature of what she has just said. 'Not my wedding. A friend’s. No. I’m not getting married and my boobs haven’t grown because I’m lactating or pregnant,’ she continues, setting the record straight on the tabloid headlines that continue to claim Moss is expecting her second child with her musician boyfriend, the Kills’ Jamie Hince.

  From the reams of tabloid stories dedicated to Moss, you could be forgiven for thinking she spent all her time indulging in hedonistic pursuits. You rarely read about the Kate who tucks into bio yogurt, flaxseed and manuka honey for breakfast; Kate who puts her six-year-old daughter, Lila, to bed most nights; or Kate and her strong work ethic. According to Moss, she 'had to work hard to get out of Croydon’, and spent the first four years of her career going on eight castings a day while her friends bunked off school. That is not to say she is perfect. Moss would be the first to admit as much. But even though her success is such that she need never work again, her reputation for punctuality, professionalism and non-diva-like behaviour remains intact.

  Moss rarely gives interviews. Even when her life has been dragged through the distorting tabloids, she has never dignified a single word. No excuses. No tears. Not even when this silence has resulted in her being misrepresented. When I ask why she usually refuses to talk to the press, she appears wistful. 'It doesn’t matter what you say, or how you are, they [journalists] can make you out to be whatever they want,’ she says. 'But what’s the point in complaining?’

  For someone known for not talking, Moss is actually very chatty. She is also bright, excitable and witty – her quick-fire sentences often finishing in a no-holds-barred laugh that is shamelessly raucous and dirty. She is sexy without appearing self-obsessed, cool without being intimidating and, despite her fame, incredibly down-to-earth. She regales us (in her gravelly, south London twang) with self-deprecating anecdotes about the style wilderness years of her early teens, of Lila’s burgeoning fashion nous, and her love of second-hand shopping. But bubbling underneath the banter is an undercurrent of vulnerability that makes you want to scoop her up and give her a big hug.

  Today she has agreed to talk with me to promote her latest Topshop collection. It includes a capsule line of camisoles, baby-doll dresses and bustier sheaths decorated with Liberty prints. 'When I was growing up everything was about Liberty prints for me. I had Liberty-print dresses when I was a child,’ Moss says. 'They remind me of my mum. Like all those gorgeous 1970s shirts with little flower Liberty prints that are so delicate and really English, and so cute.’

  It is Moss’s ninth collection for Topshop, a deal struck in 2007 that is rumoured to have netted her more than £1 million per year and the store in excess of £40 million in sales. As you would expect, the collection has evolved. 'The first season was pieces that I loved which had been hanging in my wardrobe that I then tweaked and improved. It was great, but now I can’t wear any of it because, oh my God, all my favourite dresses have a Topshop label in them, ha ha.’ Although she says the line still revolves around special pieces rather than wardrobe staples, she maintains there has been a shift in her approach. 'Now when I come into the office I’ll talk about things that I really want. It’s about what I think I am going to wear next season.’

  Her designs are the upshot not just of how Kate Moss thinks something should look, but also how it should feel on the body. 'That’s what it’s all about for me – fit,’ Moss trills. 'From being a model and doing fittings with really great designers, you do learn what feels right and looks right. It’s like, most people know when a pair of jeans fits them really well. It’s the same thing.’

  Moss says she had always been a fan of the store, supplementing her designer wardrobe with staples picked up at Topshop. Of course she had been asked to get involved with several designer brands over the years, but she says that felt like too much pressure given that she is not a 'proper designer’. Topshop came along at a point in her life, post Lila, when she had cut back on the shoots she did abroad and had time to commit to the project. And anyway, she says, the store was the best at ripping off her style. 'I met Philip [Green, the owner of Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop], and I liked him. We got on really well,’ Moss shrugs. 'I’ve worked with loads of designers. I always felt uncomfortable, a bit like they saw me as this little model, and he [Green] is the first businessman who didn’t. He talked to me straight and I talked to him straight. We laugh at each other but if something needs to get done, we get it done.’

  Signing Moss must have been a no-brainer for Green. Everything she wears is analysed, dissected, discussed and aped by hundreds of thousands of girls across the country. Not only do the clothes she wears inspire micro-trends (high-waisted denims, pirate boots, waistcoats, gladiator sandals, hotpants, Hunter wellies), she is also always the first to embrace a way of wearing clothes or champion a particular designer (she was the first to pair ballet flats with skinny jeans, and she wore Balenciaga long before people were talking about it).

  But how does Moss herself gauge when she has put together a really good outfit? Ah, that is simple she says. Her litmus test is her driver because he sees her every day. 'If I put something on and he says “Looking nice, Kate”, then I know I must be doing something really right.’

  Still, hers is a look that is easy to aspire to but hard to nail – perhaps because it doesn’t follow a formula. There is no recipe. Nor does she give a fig about trends. Take what Moss is wearing today. She reluctantly admits it is all designer but is keen to point out most of it is several years old (a Westwood top, Marc Jacobs bomber jacket, Azzedine Alaïa leggings with an endearing run down one leg, and Balmain fringed ankle boots). Even to my trained eye, it is all incredibly anonymous – and very black. But what it does smack of is a frisson of danger, a dollop of bad-girl attitude and oodles of sex: the foxy boots, the louche top that is constantly slipping off her shoulder, the leggings that leave little to the imagination.

  She says she just throws clothes together moments before she steps out the door. 'I shove it on. Spontaneous outfits are the best ones. It’s about chaos, not pre-planning.’ It is a technique that probably wouldn’t work for mere mortals. Indeed, Moss’s friend, the photographer Mario Testino, believes it is a mistake to attribute her allure to simply her choice of clothes or the way she looks. 'It’s the mix,’ he says. 'The taste, the wildness, the surprise, the looks, the lifestyle, the laughter.’

  Moss walked her first John Galliano show when she was just 15 years old. Within three years she had shot to fame with the Calvin Klein ads (in 1992) and Corinne Day’s legendary shoot for Vogue the following year (photographs of the model in a pair of knickers with fairy lights taped to the wall behind her sparked moral outrage and were instantly labelled heroin chic). By the age of 20, she was dating Johnny Depp and criss-crossing the Atlantic up to eight times a week. In the decades since, her image has graced more magazine and newspaper pages than any other model or in fact anybody of her generation. She is the gamine non-supermodel who managed to out-super the lot of them. And yet Moss says it could so easily have not been the case.

  The week before the model agent Sarah Doukas discovered her in the airport terminal at JFK, the 14-year-old Moss had been holidaying with her father in the Bahamas. Her parents had just split up and the only way her father could coax her into accompanying him was, she says, to buy her a carton of Marlboro Lights. Not only was she smoking on holiday, she also experienced her first holiday romance. All of this, Moss says, contributed to her thinking, 'I was it! I thought I was 18 years old.

  I was really pleased with myself. Anyway, the agent came up to me and said have you ever thought about modelling and I was like, “Whaaaat…?”’ she recalls, doing a fantastic impression of Catherine Tate’s surly teenager Lauren. 'Before that I was really naive and then that holiday, everything changed. If I hadn’t had those experiences, who knows what might have happened…’ she tails off.

  Such disarming honesty is a huge part of Moss’s charm. It is what makes her real. That and her Croydon roots, which she would never dream of disowning. Ask her to recall her first proper fashion purchase and she will cite the fur-trimmed goose jacket and high-top trainers she bought in Harlem on another trip she made to New York aged 14. 'That was the real deal for me in Croydon. When I went back home, everyone was like, “Oh my God, you are rocking,” ’ Moss laughs. 'I was always a bit of a fashion victim.’

  That 14-year-old waif has grown into a confident, self-possessed 35-year-old who knows the fashion industry inside out. 'She instinctively knows the right designers of the moment, the right people to work with and when to change her image,’ says the stylist Edward Enninful, who has known and worked with Moss since the early 1990s. 'As a stylist, you’re like, damn, you’re better than any of us.’

  Certainly Moss says she has a profound passion for clothes. 'Somebody said the other day, most models don’t like fashion, they just do it as a job,’ she gasps. 'I was horrified. My God, why would you do it? If you don’t like it, people can treat you like shit. If you don’t enjoy the fantasy of it all, if you don’t get into the spirit, what’s the point?’

  According to the photographer Nick Knight, who has shot Moss for 14 of the 26 British Vogue covers she has graced, Moss has got her job down to a fine art. 'Her angles work. She knows how to turn and twist and which side of her face to present to me,’ Knight says. 'I recently asked her to turn one way and she said, “I will do Nick but

  I never show you that side. I always give you this side because it will look better for you.” So she understands the lighting, she understands her angles, she understands everything about her.’

  Moss isn’t just able to sell the products she is hired to sell (the mascara, the handbags, the designer clothes). If a news story has a link with her – no matter how tenuous – newspaper editors can’t resist using her image to illustrate it, splashing her face on their front covers. They understand that the power of her image is quite remarkable. Even when she was briefly dropped by a number of fashion houses in 2005 (when pictures of her allegedly doing lines of cocaine were splattered over the papers), those brands couldn’t stay away for long. If anything the furore increased her currency and within months her earnings had tripled.

  Given the short-shelf-life nature of most modelling careers, Moss’s enduring success is exceptional. Perhaps, says Knight, it has something to do with the fact that it is impossible to take a photograph of her without her personality coming through. 'When she puts on a piece of clothing and stands in front of the camera, you have somebody who is showing you the life behind that piece of clothing, giving it a context and a narrative.’

  Moss’s analysis is far more pragmatic. 'I’ve never worked on a job and said, “Let’s do a run-of-the-mill editorial story.” It’s pointless. It’s only interesting if it’s something that’s creating a new visual,’ Moss says, reeling off a list of shoots. There was the time she had to bounce on a trampoline, in a field, in the middle of winter wearing only a pair of skimpy knickers. Or the time she spent a whole day swaying on a swing suspended from a studio ceiling for Nick Knight. Or even when she recently spent hours having a bucket of water thrown in her face for a Mert & Marcus shoot.

  One aspect in her life that cannot be ignored is Kate Moss’s near-mythological status. Her face, plastered across magazines and billboards, is one of the most recognised in the world. As for her every move, it is what keeps the gossip mills turning. It is part of the reason Moss loves her home in the countryside. 'I can walk around without being papped. I can go for long walks without being disturbed,’ she says. 'I can go to the pub, and go to Londis and buy some cheese and crisps.’

  Tonight, though, she is off to the theatre to support her friend Sadie Frost in her play. Which means she needs to find an outfit to wear. As she pulls off her top and deliberates over what to wear for her night out, I see the Moss magic in action. She spots a grey smock with balloon sleeves from her spring collection hanging on a rail and whips it over her head. Without even looking in the mirror, she knows it doesn’t look right with her ankle boots. She goes back to the rail and spies another one of her designs, a laser-cut suede minidress, which she wriggles on over her leggings with the run in them. She throws her bomber jacket over the top, and hey presto! She is off into the night and the pop of the paparazzi’s bulbs.

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 women fashion trends - How to create perfect eyebrows

  
  23 March 2009
  

  Shavata Singh has 10 eyebrow studios across Britain, including the flagship at the Urban Retreat, Harrods, London SW1 (020 7893 8333).

  

   

  Be true to your shape Follow your natural eyebrow shape; you should never fight nature. If you’ve got naturally thick brows, don’t make them thin. You won’t be able to keep on top of the maintenance

  Tool up Invest in a good pair of tweezers – nothing like the kind you get in Christmas crackers. You are as good as your tools, and you wouldn’t expect a make-up artist to use a bad brush. If you have very dark, coarse hairs use pointed tweezers. If you’re not confident, try a slanted pair first as they’re easier to use

  Take your time Don’t do one eyebrow and then try to copy it on the other side. Two brows are sisters not twins. Hold a hand mirror and sit in front of a large mirror. That way you can do close-up work and also get an overview. Pluck a couple of hairs on one eyebrow, a couple of hairs on the other and continue in the same way. Hold your eyebrow taut, plucking with, not against, the hair growth. If you over-pluck, don’t try to correct it; let the mistake grow out

  A cut above If you have unruly or very wiry hairs, don’t pluck them; get a pair of scissors and trim them. Trimming will make them look much more manicured and you’ll never have gaps. Using an eyebrow brush, lift the hairs up past the top of the brow line, trimming any ends that stick up above

  Create an illusion Your age determines where the arch of your eyebrow should be, so if you’re looking for that 'lifting’ effect, you should make the arch slightly higher, and make the brow slightly shorter. The same goes for people with heavy eyelids. Using a highlighter underneath the arch can also make it appear higher

  Fill in the gaps Avoid the 'tadpole’ look. There shouldn’t be a thick bit or a thin bit. First fill out the thinnest part of your brow with small strokes of an eyebrow pencil. By straightening out the whole brow you get evenness, making your eye appear larger and creating a younger look

  Bold and beautiful The hottest eyebrow shape right now is very full and arched – like Brooke Shields used to have in the 1980s but more manicured. That’s what clients are asking for at the moment. Jade Jagger, Nell McAndrew and Natalie Imbruglia are among my customers and, as with everyone, we make the best of what they’ve got

  Daily upkeep If you can’t afford to have your brows done professionally, just go once. Get a professional to shape them, then you can maintain them yourself – on a daily basis. If you miss a day it’s a lot easier to catch up, but if you miss a week then you’ve lost the shape and you’ll need to go to a professional to get them shaped again

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 new fashion - Retail therapy for men

  
  23 March 2009
  

  CABIN FEVER

  Following the success of his debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, recorded in a snowbound log cabin in Wisconsin, Bon Iver – Justin Vernon on his passport – has emerged gloriously into the world. He has contributed the song Brackett, W1 to Dark Was the Night, 4AD’s 20th compilation for the Red Hot Organisation, which raises funds for HIV and Aids. CD, £11; 12in, £18

  LET’S TWIST AGAIN

  Can you believe it has been 10 years since Levi’s launched its jeans with a twist? The London-based online store Oki-ni is helping the brand celebrate the anniversary with an exclusive limited-edition reissue of the jeans in recreation fabric from 1999. They come in a specially created box and are a mustbuy for nostalgic denim collectors. Jeans, £200, T-shirt, £40

  THREE OF THE BEST POLKA-DOT BOW TIES

  SCHOOL'S OUT

  It is nearly time to pack up the jumpers and scarves and think about your summer look. As always, Marks & Spencer is on hand to offer you a refined smart-casual style. Team cotton shorts with a pair of traditional shoes and a blazer. Blazer, £89; Blue Harbour polo shirt, £15, and shorts, £9.50 (0845-302 1234

  TRENDSPOTTING

  Anoraks have never been so stylish. Get out more in this nylon bomber style from the K-Way collection at CP Company. £225 (020-7287 7734;

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - ‘Mai Mumbai,’ Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief event in Mumbai

  
  20 March 2009
  

  Naomi Campbell and Hotelier Vikram Chatwal are hosting a Fashion For Relief benefit fashion show in Mumbai.

  

  Naomi Campbell modelling for her Fashion for Relief event London last year Photo: EPA

  The supermodel, Naomi Campbell , and the Indian hotelier, Vikram Chatwal, have joined forces to stage a major charity event in Mumbai to celebrate the opening of Lakme Fashion Week.
  
  The event, a gala fashion show, will be held on March 28th and will raise funds for Citizens For Justice and Peace (CJP) and the ongoing relief programs in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, providing much needed emergency medical care and ambulances.

  A star-studded cast of models will walk the runway in Indian-inspired pieces by some of the most glamorous designer labels in the world, including Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Zac Posen, Roberto Cavalli, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and Diane von Furstenberg.
  
  The designs will be available to buy via a silent auction, and online on eBay with proceeds being used directly to support CJP’s initiatives, in tribute to the 26/11 victims.
  
  Naomi Campbell launched Fashion for Relief in 2005 to galvanize the fashion community to raise funds in times and places of need. Events have subsequently been held in New York and London. Ms Campbell hopes that the event will send a message of solidarity and hope to the citizens of Mumbai.
  
  Lakme fashion week, fall/winter 2009, will be held on 27th to 31st March’09 at Hotel Grand Hyatt , Mumbai. For further information log on to http://www.lakmefashionweek.co.in

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 new fashion - Win tickets for fashion fringe

  
  20 March 2009
  

  Two exclusive tickets ready to be won for the Fashion Fringe road show on Wednesday 25th March

  

  Model wears a creation by a designer from Fashion Fringe

  Two exclusive tickets ready to be won for the Fashion Fringe road show on Wednesday 25th March

  Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden, an annual nationwide search to discover and nurture young design talent, is hosting an in-depth session for budding fashion writers, buyers and designers .

  And you could be one of two lucky winners to receive a ticket to this one-off opportunity to hear from the best in the industry at an exclusive talk hosted by the London college of Fashion on Wednesday 25th March.

  Discuss fashion in London, London’s creativity and running a business in London with London’s top Press and Buying experts such as Averyl Oates, Head of Buying at Harvey Nichols; Claudia Croft of Sunday Times Style; Dolly Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue.com; Lorraine Candy, Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK; Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou, Editor-in-Chief of Ten and Ten+ Magazine. The panel will be chaired by Colin McDowell MBE

  Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden encourages young British talent to be part of the nationwide search to discover, nurture and sustain cutting edge design talent across the UK. Some of the designers Fashion Fringe has launcher in the past are William Tempest, Gavin Douglas, Erdem and Basso & Brooke

  For you chance to e-mail lara_buckle@jcpr.com before 10am Monday 23rd March with your name and telephone number

  A winner will be selected and notified after midday Monday 23rd March 2009

  Tickets are priced at £15 each and the event begins at 6pm; 

  Terms and conditions

  1. The winners for Fashion Fringe will have to be available to attend on Wednesday 25th March 2009.

  2. The competition email will close at 10am Monday 23rd March 2009.

  3. The winners will be notified by 6pm Monday 23rd March.

  4. Tickets will be available to be collected from the door- you will be notified with the address in London upon winning

  5. Details on this advertisement form part of the terms and conditions.

  6. One entry per person. Late, inaudible, incomplete or corrupt entries will not be accepted.

  7. The prize as described in this advertisement is available on the date of publication and is subject to availability. The prizes do not include personal expenditure and exclusion dates apply.

  8. The Telegraph is responsible for the publication and adjudication of this prize draw. All other facilities connected with the provision of the prize are the responsibility of Idea Generation Ltd. Promoter: Telegraph Media Group Limited, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT.

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 new fashion - BEVERY HILLS, Calif. – The bad economy and no official Mercedes-Benz L.A. Fashion Week couldn't get Kevan Hall down on Thursday, as 700 women gathered to gawk at his sleek, spy heroine-inspired fall collection. It wasn't your average L

  
  20 March 2009
  

  MUMBAI (Reuters Life!) – For globally renowned Indian designer Ranna Gill, one collection fits the world.

  Gill, who sells her "Ranna Gill" label to stores such as Neiman Marcus and Harvey Nichols, incorporates Indian motifs and colors in her fashions, but says they must suit the tastes, lifestyles - and pockets - of women around the world.

  Gill showcases her collection in New Delhi on Saturday at India's biggest fashion event, where over 100 designers are vying for the attention of 175 domestic and foreign buyers amid the global economic crisis and decreased spending on luxury goods.

  She spoke to Reuters about the recession and what it takes to make it in the international market.

  Q: What percentage of your business is international?

  A: "Sixty-five per cent of my business is export, stores that buy from me for their stores. I sell to Neiman Marcus, Harvey Nichols, to lots of stores internationally. It's not NRIs (Non Resident Indians). I have my own stores, but I also export."

  Q: What do you think it takes for an Indian designer to make it abroad?

  A: "You have to have a keen understanding of the global market, basically what a global customer needs. What does she buy, what is her lifestyle, what price point is she buying."

  Q: Because Indian clothes are known for particular fabrics and designs, when you sell abroad, do you adjust anything?

  A: "I don't wear my Indianness on my head, as a crown. I am a global designer. I could have been Greek, Egyptian, Lebanese, or French. I use my Indianness in terms of color. My collections have a lot of color, and they have a Western sensibility. When an American woman buys my clothes, I offer her color in a very international way, rather than, say, a New York designer. It's not "Indian Indian," you can't sell that in the West.

  What you see at my shows is what I sell everywhere. I don't tweak it at all."

  Q: Do you make a conscious choice between paying more attention to Indian clients or international clients?

  A: "You have to decide whether you're doing your sarees, lehengas, your Indian clothing, or are you doing your Western dresses. You have to make that choice and then go for it."

  Q: Has the economic crisis affected your business?

  A: "Well, there are a few American customers who have canceled orders, or want to pay later or want to talk about payment terms, or cut down on orders because they are not sure, but having said that, it's okay. Has it affected us to a point of breakdown? No. Has it not affected us at all? No. But that's expected. There's a meltdown, and you have to deal with it."

  Q: What are your aspirations for your business?

  A: "I really want the brand to go global. I want to see more international stores buying into my line. To do that, you have to understand who is your customer and where is she going with that dress. In an international world, people are not willing to pay a million bucks for their dresses.

  I make dresses for me. I am a working woman, I have a family, I need to go out. I need to travel. I can wear my dress in London, Hong Kong, or Bombay. And I don't want to look fat."

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• Kevan Hall Fall 2009 fashion show - Kevan Hall fills LA Fashion Week void

  
  20 March 2009
  
  

  A model walks the runway during at the Kevan Hall Fall 2009 fashion show during The Colleagues 21st Annual …

  BEVERY HILLS, Calif. – The bad economy and no official Mercedes-Benz L.A. Fashion Week couldn't get Kevan Hall down on Thursday, as 700 women gathered to gawk at his sleek, spy heroine-inspired fall collection.

  It wasn't your average L.A. fashion crowd: no quirky outfits, denim or drunken hipsters. The audience at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel consisted of actresses and powerful ladies-who-lunch, including a stunning 75-year-old Joan Collins.

  Former first lady Nancy Reagan, the luncheon's honorary chairwoman, was not in attendance, but the collection showcased sheaths worthy of first lady Michelle Obama, along with structured dresses in tweed and wool and Hall's classic red carpet creations in earthy shades of ruby, bronze and brown.

  "I was inspired by the spy, heroines Emma Peel and Honey West, all those fabulous girls that influenced American fashion," Hall said. "There's a restrained elegance, with the economy."

  Well constructed trench coats, belted pencil skirts and a gorgeous black wool A-line dress with zippers snaking up the sides came first, blended in with cheetah jersey dresses accented with leather or fur.

  In the audience, actress Virginia Madsen wore a Hall creation in snug-fitting leopard print, and model-actress Molly Sims donned a bright cranberry colored one-shouldered dress custom-designed by Hall for the event and decorated with real, freeze-dried cranberries to promote a new cranberry body wash by Dial.

  Waists on the runway came cinched into feminine silhouettes, with silk chiffon spilling out into brown or purple trains in a series of award show-ready gowns. An understated yet lovely red multi-patterned wrap dress in wool had a retro '50s fit and full skirt.

  Other standouts included a cowl-necked metallic bronze sheath made out of matelasse quilted fabric, and two back-to-back blood red gowns: one in silk chiffon with a one-shouldered sash, and one strapless with an asymmetrical, geometric neckline.

  Hall is also debuting a more day-centric, non couture line for Paul Stanley this year, with pieces "at a contemporary price point, for the working wealthy," Hall said.

  The former Halston lead designer had been a mainstay at Mercedes-Benz L.A. Fashion Week, which ended in October after event organizer IMG and Smashbox Studios split from their five-year partnership.

  This season, alternate shows and collaborations have popped up all over Los Angeles.

  The events range from funky Petro Zillia's noir trunk show to Gen Art and arts collective BOXeight's joint kickoff event for emerging talent to Downtown Los Angeles Fashion Week's "An Evening of 20th Century Glamour" benefiting the Museum of Contemporary Art, featuring stylized photos of Louis Verdad's newest collection.

  "I think L.A. Fashion Week will continue," said Hall, smiling at the luncheon. "But this is a different kind of vibe. It's a great setting, beautiful people, shoppers."

  The swanky event benefited anti-violence nonprofit the Children's Institute.

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• Thread Social Fall 2009 collection in New York - Thread Social's Girls About Town

  
  19 March 2009
  
  

  Model wears a design from the Thread Social Fall 2009 collection in New York on Wednesday, March …

  New York – Thread Social founders Beth Blake and Melissa Akey are dedicated to dressing the young, flirty and confident New York woman, and with a presentation in the downtown New York apartment of designer Beth Blake, the duo stayed loyal to their name as models and guests sipped champagne and socialized at the buzzing after-work cocktail party on Wednesday, March 18.

  Their variations on the dress - the brand's signature piece that Blake said you could "just throw on, zip up and go" - included color blocked or digital pixel print matte silk dresses and featherweight silk satin dresses. A color palette of navy, mustard, poppy, teal were meant to evoke a '70s French sophisticate, the kind of woman who would have hosted chic dinner parties in her home while wearing Yves Saint Laurent.

  "It's as though you went into mom's closet and found great pieces and then put them together in your own way," said Blake.

  The popular one-shouldered dress, one of which came in a basket-weave print mirroring the clear acrylic platform filled with bent wire hangers that the models were stationed upon, is a design first introduced in Thread Social's bridesmaid collection - they originally started the company making bridesmaid dresses - and "no one bought it," Blake said. But when they revived it for their recent holiday collection, it hit just at the moment that the dress style was gaining popularity.

  "The reason it works is because of the high empire waist," Blake said, explaining the success of the style, with the minimal length top supporting the tasteful cut. "You can put playful stuff on the shoulder, like a flower or a brooch. It's sexy, but classic. And shoulders are an easy thing to highlight." she said.

  Thread Social's Fall 2009 collection hit the mark with voluminous dresses, coats with folded ruffles, tiered skirts, and blouses embellished with oversized bows. It added up to a glamorous and flirtatious catch-me-if you-can attitude that the independent Thread Social customer embodies wherever the night may take her, whether a quaint candlelight dinner party with friends or a social night out on the town.

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - Recession the fashion at major Indian couture show

  
  19 March 2009
  

  NEW DELHI (Reuters Life!) – India's biggest fashion event started on a dark note in New Delhi with designers using the global recession and emotional depression to set a somber trend for their autumn/winter collections.

  Models draped in black, grey and deep purple sashayed down the catwalk at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, a five-day event in which 103 designers vie for the attention of 175 domestic and international buyers.

  "We are in the heart of recession, and it's fashionable," said designer Kiran Uttam Ghosh, whose "Frugality is the new Black" collection was inspired by the global downturn.

  "I've combined high-street cheap leggings with luxe jackets, T-shirts with luxury shawls," she said. "You can be frugal, sensible, spend less and yet you can be fashionable."

  Designer Nitin Bal Chauhan's "Condition Apply Part II" showed the underbelly of fast urban life, especially in India's capital, in a follow-up to an earlier collection.

  Models acted out themes such as vanity, divorce and depression on stage wearing predominantly grey pleated dresses, trousers and skirts.

  "It's inspired by the urban life, the flip side of urban life far removed from the glowing city life," said Chauhan, who added he is influenced by TV and newspaper stories of urban misery.

  Models wore headgear made from junk such as spectacles, which the designer said represented lonely senior citizens left behind in a bustling city, or a study lamp, in reference to students who commit suicide because of work and social pressures.

  The show ended with a masked robber strangling a model sitting on a rocking chair.

  Chauhan also wove gloom from the recession, which has dented India's recent economic boom, into the designs.

  "If you look at my shirts, they are asymmetric, and parts of the shirt is missing. Part of the cuff is missing, part of the collar is missing, so recession will definitely have an impact on my collection," he said.

  "All my headgear are made of junk," Chauhan added. "In times of recession things that you put aside certainly hold meaning."

   

  (Yahoo fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - Savile Row apprentice wins the Golden Shears

  
  18 March 2009
  

  Success for young tailor at catwalk competition in the City of London

  

  Left: Duffy's winning design. Main: Rory Duffy, winner of the Golden Shears, with David Furnish, one of the judges, and his model

  Rory Duffy, a former London College of Fashion tailoring student, has scissored his way to glittering success in the ‘Golden Shears’ contest, sponsored by the Merchant Taylors’ Company, which has a history dating back nearly 700 years.

  Duffy’s award-winning design, shown at a catwalk show, at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, in the City of London, this week, comprised a frock-coat and kilt in navy and cream windowpane check.

  Duffy, 25, who beat off competition from around the country, received a cheque for £2,000 and the coveted ‘Golden Shears’. The award was judged by a panel of experts, including David Furnish, Caryn Franklin and James Sherwood.

  Duffy, from Monaghan, began his career as a trainee apprentice with Joseph Martin, in Sligo. He then undertook a one-year diploma in Handcraft Tailoring at the LCF. He spent his work experience at the Savile Row tailors, Henry Poole & Co., joining them as an apprentice in July, 2006.

  The Merchant Taylors’ Company is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. It was originally founded in 1327 as a religious and social fraternity for tailors and linen armourers (makers of the padded tunics worn under suits of armour). Today it devotes its energies to educational, charitable and social activities.

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)

• 2009 fashion news - Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden launches for 2009

  
  18 March 2009
  

  Donatella Versace and some of the biggest names in fashion toasted the nationwide search to uncover the latest design talent

  

  Donatella Versace with Colin McDowell, founder and creative director of Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden, hosted the launch Photo: NICK HARVEY

  Donatella Versace flew in from Milan for the official launch on Tuesday night of Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden 2009 – this year’s search for a new fashion star.

  The Italian designer was joined by a host of celebrities and fashionistas including Claudia Schiffer, Natalia Vodianova and her husband Justin Portman, Roland Mouret, Tamara Melon, Jacquetta Wheeler, Tamara Ecclestone, Jonathan Saunders, Holly Branson, Elizabeth Saltzman and Jo Wood.

  Guests crowded into Guy Pelly’s new club, Tini, in South Kensington, enjoying the special ‘Fringetini’ and ‘Donatella Delight’ cocktails, created by Tini mixocologist, Gianfranco.

  Donatella Versace, who is honorary chairperson of Fashion Fringe, will be joined on the judging panel this year by high profile judges including Natalie Massenet, the CEO and founder of net-a-porter.com; Joshua Schulman, the CEO of Jimmy Choo; Ann Pitcher, head of buying at Selfridges; and Roy Peach, the Dean of MA Fashion at the London College of Fashion.

  This year sees the introduction of Fashion Fringe’s first Accessories prize, a new initiative which is being chaired by Tamara Mellon, the founder and president of Jimmy Choo. Five finalists will be selected and the winner will receive a six-month apprenticeship at the famous shoe brand.

  Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden was launched in 2004 under the creative direction of Colin McDowell and IMG Fashion Europe, as a nationwide search to discover, nurture and sustain cutting-edge talent.

  Since 2004, the winners have been Sinha Stanic (runners-up), Basso & Brooke, Jojo & Malou, Modernist (runners-up), Erdem, Gavin Douglas, Aminaka Wilmont, William Tempest and Eun Jeong.

  The four 2009 finalists will show capsule collections during London Fashion Week in September, before Donatella Versace and the judging panel, more than 500 sponsors, and international press and buyers.

  The winner will be announced after the show and will receive a trophy and in excesses of £100,000 to fund his or her collection for showing at London Fashion Week in February 2010.

  Following the Fashion Fringe launch cocktails, Donatella Versace hosted a private dinner in The Grill at The Dorchester.

   

  (Telegraph fashion news)