ECOFALGE: t-shirt 100% ECO-FRIENDLY (both for women and men) dedicated to PEACE and belonging from brand IL VIAGGIO, first own collection of MARIO VIGILANTE, a fashion myth who already worked in his career together with Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Fendi, Miyake, Yamamoto, Martin Margiela, M+F Girbaud, Allegri, Katherine Hamnett and others.
Paul Smith shows his Autumn / Winter 2009 Women’s Collection at Claridges
Last night Paul showed his Autumn / Winter 2009 collection at Claridges, London.
The Collection was classic Paul Smith, luxurious striped cashmere and Fair Isle knits were teamed up with feathered Fedora hats for a country look whilst tailoring had a military theme. Jackets braced the catwalk in khaki’s and beautiful bright pinks and yellows.
Paul’s shares his thoughts…..
“Another show has come and gone. Backstage, as usual, everything went smoothly and it was very calm. I have to say this is the one comment I get every year regarding my show from the models, dressers, photographers etc; everything is always very relaxed. Today we will wait to see what the press thought about it. Who knows? Oh, Vogue.com has just come through and it is really good…phew!!
The show was very British using lots of fabrics that we are familiar with; Harris tweed, pinstripe, flannel mixed with Scottish Fairisle patterns and my popular stripes plus rose print in faded pinks and khaki’s. I included a big section of khaki colours with hint of military. The make up for the girls was very matt with lips painted in a deep burgundy colour and the hair was a very soft chignon, clean and healthy and sometimes wispy around the face. Six months work and a 10 minute show but that’s what it’s all about – simple, to the point, no theatre!”
Smithy is such a fluffy geezer underneath.
55DSL Audience Design Contest: THE FIFTH DIMENSION @ the Cut&Paste Global Digital Design Tournament
Join the design community at the Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament and enter this year’s Audience Design Contest (ADC) in 2D design, presented by 55DSL, to express your own creativity and challenge yourself to a rapid design round by creating your own interpretation of 55DSL’s FIFTH DIMENSION.
The global winner will be awarded with a complete 55DSL Spring/Summer 2009 collection outfit, and an expenses-paid trip to Cut&Paste’s first-ever Global Championship, taking place on June 20 in New York City, where the winner will be officially announced onstage!
The competition kicks off tonight in Hollywood @ the Avalon with Music by Stones Throw Records’ J.Rocc, Dam-Funk, & Jamie Strong
Go to http://www.55dsl.com/blog/cut-and-paste for contest guidelines and details.
Armani disclosed that in honor of the store opening, he is making a $1 million donation to The Fund for Public Schools, which seeks to bring in private investments in school reform and works to inspire more involvement by New Yorkers in the local school system. Armani made the announcement at a press conference in the store, in the presence of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Caroline Kennedy, vice-chair of The Fund for Public Schools, and Joel I. Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.
The grant will establish the multiyear Armani Arts Institute umbrella program, which will support arts programs in public schools in underserved neighborhoods, with an emphasis on schools in the Bronx. In fact, the Mayor said the designer even took the subway up to the borough on Tuesday.
Armani also shared his view of America under President Obama at the press conference.
“I wouldn’t want to be in Mr. Obama’s shoes,” the designer said, adding change isn’t easy. Yet he remained enthusiastic about Obama, calling him “a young president, looking good.…He moves like a young person,” he said.
Victoria Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, John Mayer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Caroline Kennedy, Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Mira Sorvino, Liam Neeson, Josh Hartnett and singer Solange Knowles were among the partygoers at the opening of Giorgio Armani’s new store on 5th Avenue.
Alicia Keys praised Armani, claiming: “I love his style. I love his passion. I love how Italian he is. I love that he doesn’t speak English. … I love the way he makes a woman be a woman.”
Vicky Beckham also repeated her undying love for the fashion monarch: “I have so much respect for Mr. Almond”, she said, as she pouted and fluttered her false eye-lashes with unrelenting girl-power!
Surprisingly, Giorgio had to leave the event ealier than expected.
Christopher Wicks, owner and designer of English Laundry, was born a child of the sixties in Manchester, England. His childhood pastime of sketching shirts, shoes, and guitars became a life-long career in designing men’s and women’s apparel. At 22 years old, Chris designed men’s formal shirts for one of England’s largest gentlemen’s shirt manufacturers. He went on to design for such sportswear brands as LA Gear, Ocean Pacific and Hang Ten.
Now under his company banner Defiance USA, Wicks designs and manufactures all the clothing for: Fender, Jimi Hendrix “The Experience”: A Clothing Collection, Davinci Shirts, and English Laundry, the jewel in the Defiance Crown. The English Laundry and English Rose designs reflect his upbringing in the UK. You will see references to his home town of Manchester as well as English influences – Mods, Rocker’s, and of course Soccer. Christopher Wicks has also successfully licensed the English Laundry brand for leather goods, accessories, ties and scarves, suits, luxury watches, outerwear and fragrances.
Recently the Obama government was slammed by the “left” for pushing the Made in the USA “ONLY” label. Should American shoppers be encouraged to buy made in the USA products? Might it help support worker’s rights so blatantly ignored in China and other cheap manufacturing bases? Rag & Bone has been waving the “Made in the USA” banner for years:
Founded in 2002, rag & bone had one very clear vision in mind: to make clothes that they and their friends would love to wear everyday. With no formal fashion training, rag & bone set about learning how to make jeans. They believed that denim represented the history, authenticity and fundamentals of classic work wear that they would strive to reflect in their designs.
Beginning in Kentucky, rag & bone surrounded themselves with people who had been making patterns, cutting fabric and sewing their whole lives. Working with these kinds of craftsmen taught them the importance of quality, craftsmanship and attention to detail early on.
These principles soon became the keystones of the rag & bone philosophy, the definition of what clothing can and should be. With these principles in mind, rag & bone chose to center all of their manufacturing in U.S. factories that still sew clothes the same way they did 50 years ago.
rag & bone launched their men’s line in Spring 2004 and expanded the label to offer a full women’s collection by Fall 2005. The Fall Winter 2007 season marked the introduction of rag & bone accessories for both men and women, adding a touch of style and distinction to their tailored looks. Guided by a strong British tailoring influence, rag & bone produces classic yet modern sportswear for men and women that is known for being understated and wearable. Each piece, whether it be a tailored shirt or a pair of jeans, is framed by the constants of high quality fabric, classic construction and perfect fit with a handmade feel.
The famous Ittierre is knocked-out!
IT Holding SpA, owner of the Gianfranco Ferre fashion label, said Ittierre SpA, its main production and licensing unit, will file for bankruptcy protection after failing to find adequate funding.
The bankruptcy order may be extended to the whole company, the Milan-based clothing maker said today in a statement to the Italian exchange.
The company said last week it was in arrears in paying royalties to the designers Ittierre makes and sells luxury goods for, including Roberto Cavalli and John Galliano.
“The board ascertained the absence of the conditions necessary to continue its operations in a regular course of business,” IT Holding said in the statement, citing a lack of financial resources and the unwillingness of its licensors to alter their agreements.
NOHARM, is generally considered the original environmentally x vegan clothing and footwear brand. The NOHARM organic T-Shirt looks simple, stylish and sophisticated and would make a good match with a pair of eco-friendly Sugar Cane jeans.
To quote NOHARM “NOHARM synergises High Fashion and Ethical Consumerism. NOHARM recognises these two terms are no longer mutually exclusive and the synergy of fashion and ethics is consumer driven by a powerful and wide demographic. “Ethical consumerism” is a term gaining support and recognition at an exponential rate. The growing demand for cruelty-free, eco-conscious, environmentally-friendly and fair-trade products is placing an onus on the fashion industry to look towards socially and ethically responsible materials and production methods. NOHARM is at the vanguard of this new era and is proud and honoured to introduce an exciting range of high fashion, cruelty-free, vegan footwear for the discerning and ethically responsible consumer.”
A persistent rumor that surface during the recently concluded Paris Menswear Fall 2009 season linking British-born designer Gareth Pugh with Dior Homme.
Hedi Slimane’s vision injected Dior Homme with an iconic status but it’s widely agreed a very limited number of men could wear his designs. One has to be very thin to fit into those trousers, states current Creative Director, Kris Van Assche. However, Pugh’s style is not dissimilar to Slimane’s and that could land him the position as the hierarchy look to revivie the Slimane years.
At 14, Pugh began working as a costume designer for the English National Youth Theatre. He started his fashion education at City of Sunderland College and finished his degree in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins in 2003. His final collection at St. Martins, which used balloons to accentuate models’ joints and limbs (a technique that would become one of his trademarks), attracted that attention of the senior fashion editor of Dazed & Confused magazine, who placed one of his designs on the magazine’s cover shortly thereafter. Pugh was selected to participate in British reality show The Fashion House two months after his graduation, which he would later call “horrible” and his “only other option [to being on] the dole.” The rise of !WOWOW!, a feature in Dazed & Confused, and a debut show at London club Kashpoint’s Alternative Fashion Week brought Pugh to the attention of Fashion East “London’s breeding ground for cutting-edge new talent,” leading them to invite Pugh to participate in its Autumn 2005 group show. Pugh had only four weeks, with no studio, no assistants, and little money, to create the collection. His collection ended up a critical success and attracted significant attention to his designs.
Tom Ford, Mr Controversial himself, has taken a leaf out of Mr Ksohoh’s book and has decided to offer the more decerning denimista $1000 selvedge jeans with 18k gold-plated buttons!
If we leave it up to Tom Ford, ex-Gucci designer, the recession is non-existing. Launching his exclusive luxury denim jeans range as part of the Tom Ford menswear collection, the jeans feature 18k gold-plated buttons. The denim line is made in Italy from 13 ounce selvedge, premium Japanese denim, and the waistband and seams are reinforced with double-stitched thread.
There are two available styles: the TF001 that has a bootleg and the TF002, which has a straight leg. Both come in dark indigo denim and white and black bull denim and will be sold in all Tom Ford directly operated stores and by most franchisees and licensed retail partners.
Following his departure from Gucci (and YSL), Ford opened the fashion house, Tom Ford. Ford began with accessories; his line of eyewear was the first to become successful. The Tom Ford line now covers Menswear, Beauty, Eyewear, and both Men and Women’s Accessories. In 2006, he also established a fragrance line called Tom Ford Beauty. In early 2006, Ford attracted media attention for appearing fully clothed on the cover of Vanity Fair alongside Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson, both nude.
Ford’s first ‘Tom Ford’ flagship store opened on April 12, 2007 on New York City’s Madison Avenue. In Spring 2008, Ford opened his first boutique outside of the United States in Zurich, Switzerland located at Munsterhof 17. In September 2008 Ford opened a boutique in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Harry Rosen store on Bloor street.
Kylie Minogue was spotted at the recent Jean Paul Gaultier show. The antipedian star is well known as a JPG fan and was in town for a cover shoot for British Elle. The unofficial Queen of Australia revealed she’ll soon be jetting off to India. “I’m going to be doing a musical number in a Bollywood film,” she said.
Jean-Paul Gaultier is one of the most talked about and influential couturiers in the world. His designs are always unusual and controversial and he is the darling of the fashion press. In 1952 Jean-Paul Gaultier was born in Arcueil, near Paris. He studied at the Lycee d’Arcueil. When only 14, in 1964 he started sketching his fashion ideas on paper. For 2-3 years, he continued this and then in 1969 he sent designs to all the majordesigners. In 1970 on his birthday, 24th April, he got his first response from Pierre Cardin inviting him to work with him for a year.