Australian Fashion Week continues model debate

Australian fashion's show week wound up on Friday amid a bitter row over size zero models, lacklustre reviews and claims leading local designers largely ignored the country's yearly international showpiece. According to China Daily, Festival organizers were accused of allowing super slim models onto catwalks despite a promise to avoid the half-starved look, which fell out of favour globally after the death from anorexia of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston.

"We don't think the situation at this point requires rules in terms of regulating the appearance of models," Australian Fashion Week organizer Simon Lock told local media, promising to ban designers judged to have broken a promise to "self-regulate." Newspaper photographs of ultra-skinny swimsuit models appeared through the week, despite agencies being asked not to choose models who "would be considered to be unnaturally or extraordinarily thin, or suspected of having an eating disorder."

Top Texan model import Erin Wasson said most models relied on genetics rather than starvation. "People have to face the fact that it's in the genes," the face of local jeans label Ksubi said. Australian fashion businessman Danny Avidan said the show week suffered from the absence of Australia's established brands, like his own Charlie Brown and Lili. "For an established brand to participate in the week is like Madonna going on American Idol," he told Australian Associated Press.

Other critics said designers relied too much on ultra-short and baby-doll dresses, which McCann said were "best to be ignored if you are over 20 and not a trendy stylist or starlet with very skinny brown legs." Organiser Lock said international buyers, especially from Asia, had made the show -- and trends in color, metallics and micro minis -- a success.

Australia Fashion Week is set against the spectacular harbour side backdrop of Circular Quay in Sydney, the best emerging and established designers from Australia and the Asia Pacific previewed collections to some of the world's most significant buyers, media and key industry influencers.

www.afw.com.au
8 May 2007

Graduate Fashion Week secures sponsorship

UK Graduate Fashion Week, which takes place in June, is receiving further sponsorship from brands Mulberry and Pringle of Scotland. Other sponsors include Revlon, National Magazines and The Society for Dyers and Col ourists. Mulberry is set to sponsor the Accessories Award, which will be judged and presented by Mulberry creative director Stuart Vevers. Pringle will be sponsoring the event floor plan and its creative director Clare Waight Keller will judge and present the Visionary Knitwear Award.

The fashion news service WGSN is to award the Creative Marketing Award winner with a year's subscription to its leading online research, trend analysis and news service for the fashion and style industries. Renewed sponsors include River Island, L'Oréal Professional, Dalziel & Pow and Jon Adam. The event, to be staged at South London's Battersea Park Arena on June 3-6, features the work of more than 1,000 fashion students from 48 universities across the UK.

5 April 2007

Will bigger girls feature in Milan Fashion Week?

The Italian debate for size 0 models took a turn at the start of Milan Fashion Week, where designer Elena Miro presented her AW07 collection featuring fuller-figured models on the runway. Italy's government and leading fashion associations signed a code of ethics last year to promote "a healthy and general image of beauty." Designers such as Giorgio Armani have called against the use of waif-like girls, however modeling agencies seem to blame stylists and editors, designers point fingers to the agencies that employ the girls, and the agencies blame the magazines and consumers for perpetuating that thin is chic. In London, it was business as usual for skinny girls. No doubt the big Italian houses will continue this trend.

20 February 2007

Fashion Week

London Fashion Week was oversubscribed with events on Wednesday, with Liberty and Tank magazine slated as the best parties of the evening. Jonathan Saunders also hosted an after show event at the Truman Brewery and Lula magazine threw a soiree in West London.

The Brit awards, a no less glamorous event, pulled several fashion editors, who were treated to gift bags with exclusive items from Nokia, Damaris lingerie and C&C California. On Thursday Pop magazine will celebrate its 15 th issue with a special event to be held in North London. Designers Giles Deacon and Mulberry's Stuart Vevers will be on the decks.

15 February 2007

On/Off at London Fashion Week

On/Off, the off-schedule fashion week exhibition and catwalks held at the Royal Academy launched on Monday with an exclusive reception. Artist Natalie Silva, represented by Gloucester Room gallery, showed her latest work called 'Back Street Boys' alongside up & coming designers Mauvette Philips, Avsh Alom Gur, Eastern Block and Yasmin Rivzi.

From Tuesday, designer's catwalk collections are showcased throughout London Fashion Week, with designers such as Allegra Hicks, Spijkers & Spijkers and Jasmine de Milo preferring to showcase with On/Off rather than the traditional British Fashion Council tents.

On/Off is sponsored by L'Oreal, Creative London and the UK Trade and Investment body. The organisation was established in 2003 and claims to put London Fashion Week back on the map for international press and buyers by uniquely bridging the gap between on and off schedule designers.

www.thedoll.org/onoff
13 February 2007

Milan brings sexy back

What one editor refers to as Julia Roberts' wardrobe in the first half of the film Pretty Woman, another praises as being the new sexy silhouette. Either way, the Milan spring summer 07 shows had one thing in common; next season is sexy, sexy, sexy.

If Dolce & Gabbana's show was anything to go by, we will all be wearing bare legs, mini skirts, shorter than short dresses, corsets and shiny leather. For retailers, however, the runway dazzle and excess sexiness could overshadow wearability for customers. According to Womens Wear Daily, retailers said they were reassured to find the Italian's mainstay of beautifully crafted, commercially viable clothes and accessories in the showroom, proving catwalk antics don't necessarily affect the order books.

"The runways have been lacking in relevant day clothes for today's women living real lives," said Michael Fink, vice president and women's fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue. "Thankfully, we have found these clothes in showrooms and presentations that do not require spectacle to make a statement." Other buyers were even more upbeat about Milan's approach to spring and thought Milan was charged with youthful energy.

In one week, fashion has brought back color, shine and uncomplicated sexiness. Short dresses, miniskirts and metallic and patent accessories were cited as key directions for spring and summer, while the most widely praised collections included Marni, Giorgio Armani, Burberry Prorsum, Jil Sander and newcomer 6267.

2 October 2006

Milan men's fashion week gets off to a rocking start

Milan's men's fashion week began with the much anticipated Jil Sander show, the minimal luxury label with Raf Simons currently at its design helm. With Milan stores quickly swapping their spring summer 06 merchandise for the new winter season, the Jil Sander store housed its first collection from the Belgian designer where loyal followers were eager to see the clothes in the flesh. The mood for next season was anything but sobersober, but not without a fashionable twist.

Missoni showed a collection of dandy-esque fashion with a youthful edge. The house, who's technical know-how supercedes most knitwear brands on the market,, continues to produce the most exquisite knits available. Soft tailoring, pleated shorts, summer hats, eveningwear inspired by its iconic zigzag, were nothing compared the richness of its knits, shown in soft aquatic colours, and contrast hues. Burberry Prorsum (photograph) showed a refined and tailored collection but mood of easy glamour and as Christopher Bailey said: "effortless attitude of jeans and a T-shirt reflecting the Burberry look of disheveled elegance."

The show kicked off with a veritable display of the finest and freshest sartorial elegance seen so far, according to Vogue.com. The trench was omni-present as ever, but with sleeves rolled up and belted with a fine tan belt, it looked fresh and new. Teamed with taupe, mushroom, stone and vanilla-hued suiting, the finest cotton voile shirting, lightweight alpaca or cashmere cable knits and two-tone tie die silk knitted scarves, the look was impeccable.

25 June 2006

Milan goes back to longer show schedule

Not content with a five day fashion week, The Camera della Moda has confirmed the schedule will return to seven days from last September's five days. The shorter schedule drew waves of protests from buyers and editors, who complained about how grueling it was and how late the shows ran as a result. Milan Fashion Week has now been scheduled through 2008. Next year, it will run from Feb. 18 to 26 and from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1. In 2007, the shows will run from Feb. 17 to 25 and from Sept. 22 to 30. In 2008, from Feb. 16 to 24 and from Sept. 20 to 28.

Mario Boselli, head of the Camera della Moda, who has repeatedly voiced his displeasure with last fall's schedule, was especially happy designers are agreeing to return to a seven-day fashion week. "While we are not going back to an 11-day schedule, we are aiming at a more balanced, stronger seven-day week, which is the minimum required for our needs," he said.

"There is goodwill among designers," said Vittorio Missoni. "There really was so much unhappiness about the calendar." Clarice Pecori Giraldi, head of worldwide communications at Salvatore Ferragamo, concurred: "It is pivotal to regulate the schedule so that we can all work better." For the runway shows, the Italian Chamber of Fashion has secured a venue at the recently renovated Congress Center here in Via Gattamelata once the current fairgrounds are dismantled this spring. This is an interim solution until the future fashion area near trendy Corso Como, the Città della Moda, is completed in 2009.

Many of Milan's fashion exhibitions, such as Mipel, already have moved to the Rho-Pero fairgrounds outside the city, and will remain there. Boselli downplayed any conflict with the Winter Olympics, which will be held Feb. 10 to 26 in Turin. "I don't see any relation; it's all about different industries, different cities and different venues," he said.

29 November 2005

Agent Provocateur conquer Paris

Agent Provocateur, the British lingerie label synonymous with all that's sexy (and of course naughty but nice) has unveiled its line to the French during Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday.

Vivienne Westwood's son Joseph Corre - the label' founder - along with his wife Serena Rees, hosted a fashion show and cocktail party in the dome of Printemp's Boulevard Haussmann store. Appropriately, the event feature a performance by the ever-fashionable burlesque queen Dita Von Teese. Vivienne Westwood showed her Spring Summer 2006 collection on the Paris catwalks on Thursday.

7 October 2005

Milan shows a hit

Milan fashion week scored a hit with buyers and press alike. Prada, Versace and Burberry showed the strongest looks for the season, moving away from boho frivolity to a more constructed and feminine feel. Trends for the season were Greece for drapes, cross-over ribbon effects at waist and black shoulder straps. Fabrics were fine and feminine with lace, broderie anglaise, checked gingham, striped black and white cotton, crisp piqué for a cool summer look. Colors such as at Prada, were desert sand, old gold, apricot, yellow, parakeet green, sunset red and snow white.

Also on show in Milan was the tradeshow White, a collection of 151 highly selected collections at the exhibition in Via Tortona. On show were the most avant-garde and trendiest fashion ideas, the outcome of research based on creativity and product innovation. The showroom confirms its decidedly international scope, with growing numbers of foreign exhibitors, mainly fro the United States, Great Britain, France and Denmark, brining their total to 89 brands and surpassing the number of Italian exhibitors. Amongst the number collection debuting this year, notable designers include April 77, Hiromi Tsuyoshi, Lara Bohinc, Project E and Michele Rossi.

The constant trend towards innovation that distinguished this year's event is also evident in the exhibition layout, which was updated this year. For the new rendezvous, the Massimiliano Bizzi Studio proposes a route that winds its way through spaces and surfaces in gold and bronze, giving the showroom a luxurious and vibrant image with a dazzling and high-impact look.

5 October 2005

On/Off is on again

During London Fashion Week the official show and exhibition schedule co-exists with the On/Off shows at London's Royal Academy of Arts, which plays host to a myriad of designers including Ben de Lisi, Allegra Hicks, Bérubé and Aimee McWilliams.

Monday morning the ethereally beautiful Allegra Hicks presented her new spring/summer 2006 collection at the Royal Academy to an audience that included the International Herald Tribune's Suzy Menkes. Hicks looked to the 70s for inspiration, with big flower prints and good-luck charms like evil-eye prints featured on dresses, trench coats and kaftans. She indulged in a complete holiday wardrobe with crocheted kaftans worn over bikinis, baby doll dresses, halter neck jumpsuits and embroidered tunics. Employing a clean, soothing palette of white, beige, coffee, blue, green, black and turquoise, the collection recalled the relaxed ambiance of a yachting holiday off the Cote d'Azur. The platform wedges worn by the models were the result of a collaboration between Hicks and Salvatore Ferragamo, who designed the original wedge in the 30s. The shoes featured Hicks' bold eye fabric. This is Ferragamo's first joint collaboration with a fashion designer.

Following Hicks' show, the French Canadian Julie Bérubé also presented her collection at the Royal Academy, making this her fourth season at London Fashion Week. Inspired by a day in the life at an English country house in the 20s, Bérubé had her models walk down the catwalk in a dream-like state, mirroring the idyllic atmosphere of a luxuriant slow summers day. Subdued tones of coffee, peach, soft green, grey, cream and blue recalled the relaxed image Bérubé wanted to portray. Layered cream shirts in fine cotton and twill cotton shorts paired with laid-back, roomy cotton tops underscored the ease of the scene. Cotton jersey with delicate lace detailing hinted at an elegant femininity, while strapless dresses embellished with gold thread draw the eye to pretty bare shoulders and dewy cream skin. The scene was distinctly reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald in all its dreamy romanticism and old world casual elegance; only this was elegance with a definite edge.

Hall Ohara's show in the evening was the antithesis to the Hick's and Bérubé's shows earlier in the day. The husband-wife team of Steven Hall and Yurika Ohara, winners of TopShop's New Generation designers award, presented a show with a predominant rock-chick vibe. The shapes were deconstructed, the silhouette avant-garde and not for the conformists among us. Oversized t-shirts adorned with prints and the duo's logos were worn over black leggings. T-shirt dresses and baggy trousers paired with print T-shirts, while fitted Capri pants were worn under baggy cotton shirts. The shapes were exaggerated and tinged with a sly sense of humour; one of the prints featured on the front of the T-shirts was of a figure literally thumbing their nose.at convention, perhaps?

20 September 2005

Jessica Ogden

Girly, naïve and playful are three words to describe Jessica Ogden's spring/summer 2006 collection. Presented off the beaten fashion track at the Sunbeam Studios in north west London, the out of the way location did little to deter the fashion set from careering across town for the show.

Ogden demonstrated a predisposition towards cotton gingham dresses, pinafores and crochet tops and dresses. Raw cotton was the material of choice, calling to mind an innocence and unpretentiousness emblematic of youth. Working with a muted palette of predominantly cream, beige, olive green, dark grey and black detailing, Ogden chose a fresh crop of young models to underscore the natural, free-spiritedness of the collection. The image the girls called to mind was of freedom and youth and a complete lack of complications.

Ogden favours shapes like puff sleeves and puff-ball shorts, baby doll empire waisted tops and roomy silhouettes. The emphasis lies on ease and comfort; in this case the girls wear the clothes, and not the other way around.

20 September 2005

Peter Jensen

Peter Jensen kicked off day three of London Fashion Week with a show in Berkeley Square. The collection was all about lightness, both in tones and material, and in the clean, airy silhouettes.

Jensen worked with a basic palette of primary colours red and blue and white, varying the looks from Victoriana blouses paired with very short shorts to preppy style trench coats, Oxford shirts worn tucked into Capri pants and pretty, light weight cotton summer dresses. For men, it was all about faded navy jackets and quirky print shirts.

The Jensen look of the spring summer 2006 season is a playful cross between the clean, muted tones and shapes reminiscent of Scandinavian architecture and the raw innocence of 1950s America. Jensen favours a slow discovery of femininity instead of an in-your-face-can't-possibly-wear-that-in-public sexiness. He shows that understatement can be just as, if not more, effective.

20 September 2005

New NYC Fashion Week venue

There will be a new venue for emerging designers at New York's Bryant Park during the next Olympus Fashion Week this autumn.

The new venue, entitled "UPS Delivers Fashion's Future", is a joint venture by 7th on Sixth and UPS. The venue will be able to take 300 guests and will house state-of-the-art professional services and facilities. Most importantly it will feature the collecitons of ten emerging designers who will have been chosen by a panel of industry specialists.

"Olympus Fashion Week is the showcase of the American fashion industry and to have this venue be a part of the event not only brings attention to deserving designers, but also sets the tone for the industry worldwide to begin working more visibly with the next generation of fashion designers," Fern Mallis, Executive Director of 7th on Sixth and Vice President of IMG, told FWD.

11 July 2005

EuroFashion Week Berlin

Berlin's designer exhibition EuroFashion Week Berlin "Power of Design", taking place at the "Backfabrik" (Saarbrücker Straße 36) near the "Alexanderplatz", presents international young and established designers, which introduce their collections to professionals through this international trend forum. A selection:

From Russia: Anna Romanova was born 1970 in Moscow, Russia, where she lives and works. After her first degree in "History of Literature and Art" she took a designers course at the "Fashion Laboratory - by Slava Zaizev". Today her collections bearing the mark "Anna Romanoff" are sold in Moscow boutique shops. From Australia: Marg Talbi is the designer of 'Margaret Anne Fashion'. Her collection can be described as sensual, chic and feminine Australian resort wear/cruisewear. Marg Talbi uses exclusive high quality silks, cottons, lycra & knits including digitally printed lycra and silks, and featured hand painting.

From Japan: Karyn Knight is an Australian Designer, living and working in Japan. In May 2004 "Racefree Couture" came to life at Sydney Fashion Week. This new label gained the attention of the Asian market immediately. In order to built more intensive contacts on the asian market, Karyn Knight was taking part at the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week in November 2004 and now will participate at the EuroFashion Week Berlin "Power of Design" in Berlin.

From Vietnam: Vo Viet Chung from Ho Chi Minh City first appeared 1994 with his label "Chung Fashion Trademark". During the following years the Designer Vo Viet Chung won several awards for his engagement in fashion. Encouraged by his success he developed a new trademark named ASIA COLLECTION in April 2000. The collections force attraction by innovative creations and special materials.
And from Berlin: 2004 Kilian Kerner presented his first collection "Jetzt". Discovered by the German Pop-Star 'Nena' he now dresses the German Rock-Star 'Jeanette Biedermann'. Also for MTV presenters and actors of the most successful Daily Soap in Europe 'Gute Zeiten Schlechte Zeiten' styles from Kerner are ordered.
'EuroFashion Week' Berlin from 22 to 24 July

www.eurofashionweek.com
10 June 2005

Fashion Week in Tokyo

For those who think Paris Fashion Week in Ocotber is the last stop in their busy fall schedule, think again. Tokyo will host Japan Fashion Week, which is thought to take place at the end of October.

The initiative is being called "a Paris collection with a Tokyo style". Minister of economy, trade and industry, Shoichi Nakagawa, proposed the building of a special tent in Tokyo Park where the shows will be held. He hopes that this will tempt designers like Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto back to Japan to show their new collections. Nakagawa said that fashion is an area to promote intellectual asset-based industrial strategies. He added that it is his hope that this will give Japanese manufacturers a chance to produce attractive threads and materials found only in Japan, thereby stimulating their business.

1 June 2005

Time for a change

London Fashion Week may be moved to a different time slot if Anna Wintour has anything to say about it.

According to vogue.co.uk the formidable editor-in-chief of US Vogue will meet with Stuart Rose today to discuss changing the schedule to slot London Fashion Week in between Milan and Paris. In this way, the fashion press and important buyers will be able to schedule London into their travel plans, bringing publicity and capital to the city.

At The Sunday Times Style lecture at The British Museum, Wintour said that she was passionate about doing everything she could to help the British Fashion industry. "You have the most talented designers in the world,"she said.

5 May 2005

Grande Finale

After successful runs in New York, London and Milan, it is now Paris' turn to wow the international fashion crowd.

Despite a little red carpet distraction yesterday because of the Oscars, Paris is back in full swing today. Big names to watch out for are Bruno Pieters, Yohji Yamamoto and AF Vandervorst today. Tomorrow sees collections from Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier and Rick Owens who will no doubt dazzle and amaze us.

28 February 2005

Dissing the queen

It's that time of year again: the lack of foliage, the crisp weather, the models wearing gorgeous next-to-nothings. New York Fashion Week has begun. And so has the critique, whether it be sycophantic drooling or catty rantings. The New York Post's Orla Healy had a good go at hip hop queen Kimora Lee Simmons. "(…) last night the Baby Phat designer unveiled a line of hoo-haw looks that could only have been inspired by an X-rated bondage movie," wrote Healy. Ouch!

I suppose that Simmons does only design with a certain type of person in mind - namely, people like herself. Leather hot pants, lots of vinyl and skintight dresses should - in my humble opinion - only be worn by Amazons, socialites, hip hop acts and model types. However, those are exactly the people that Simmons designs for and her target audience was certainly in attendance during her show in Bryant Park. A-listers like Missy Elliot, Lil'Kim, Ashley Olsen, Shannon Doherty and Tory Spelling arrived to view Simmons' new collection.

New York Fashion Week will continue today with shows from Carolina Herrera, Jill Stuart, Oscar de la Renta, Proenza Schoulder, DKNY, BCBG Max Azria and Marc Jacobs.

7 February 2005

London salutes Matthew Williamson

Visitors to London Fashion Week will be delighted to see a retrospective of Matthew Williamson who has been awarded the Moet & Chandon Fashion Tribute for 2005. Williamson, who shows in New York, is rumoured to be organising the must-attend party of Fashion Week.

Designers Ghosts, Amanda Wakeley and Aquascutum are also joining this February's event.

www.londonfashionweek.com
31 January 2005

Graduate Fashion Week appoints vice chairman

Graduate Fashion Week has reported the appointment of Terry Mansfield as its vice chairman. Mansfield, whose background in publishing will ensure GFW gets the coverage it deserves, will have five months to promote the event, which takes place at the Battersea Park Arena in London from 5-8 June. Mansfield previously was the managing director of the National Magazine Company.

17 January 2004

Edinburgh to rival LFW

Talks are under way to put Edinburgh on the fashion map. The city is planning on staging its own version of London Fashion Week, thereby hopefully attracting the big names in fashion to the Scottish capital.

Following the opening of Harvey Nichols, Armani and Louis Vuitton stores in Edinburgh, establishing the city as a fashion capital has become a more realistic goal. It is believed that these shops and other big fashion names on The Walk, the up-market shopping arcade, will attract celebrities and persuade them to attend the fashion shows. Futhermore, a number of venues such as The Dome, the Opal Lounge, the City nightclub and Harvey Nichol's fourth floor bar-restaurant may be used to stage the fashion shows or host the extravagant parties.

A multi-million pound promotional campaign for this venture is to be launched. The city council and the Edinburgh City Centre Management Company are working together to realize their vision for the city. Although there is no financial backing for the project as yet, and it is still such early days, leading retailers have already promised their support of the endeavour.

A spokesman for the Edinburgh City Centre Management Company told reporters that their plans for the capital were far more ambitious than what other cities such as Manchester and Leeds have been doing. The plan is to promote Edinburgh as a major player in the fashion arena, and for this to become a possibility, the Company is looking for significant funding from both the private as the public sector. The project, Experience Edinburgh, is set to launch next spring. And with the proper funding the fashion shows should be able to take place in the fall of next year.

www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com
13 October 2004

London Fashion Week Kicks Off

London Fashion Week kicked off with some of the biggest names in British contemporary fashion showing on Monday night. Paul Smith, Giles Deacon and Victim all presented their Spring/Summer 05 collections to international press and buyers alike. But fashion week isn't just about the clothes any more; it's as much to do with the parties as the hot-list of celebrities attending the shows. .

Madeleine Press hosted her first birthday bash at her store on Marylebone High Street early evening. Guests chilled to music provided by Room for Music before heading to the next party at Kabaret in honour of Y3. The B-store event at the Great Eastern Hotel was well attended by the East-end fashion pack, who drank rum-punch cocktails and danced to a mix of electro-clash meets Kylie meets Blondie.

The most anticipated show of the evening was Giles by Giles Deacon, whose glorious print dresses were shown by Linda Evangelista and Karen Elson. His after-show party at Bistroteque was a heady mix of the expected it-crowd, who drank and boogied to beats provided by dj of the moment Nathan Gregory Wilkins. All in all a great start to the week.

21 September 2004

New York Fashion Week Kicks Off

New York Fashion Week opens Wednesday with Kenneth Cole in his traditional leadoff spot and other designers previewing their spring 2005 collections for retailers, editors and other fashion fans over the next eight days. Designers showing next season's creations include Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Zac Posen, Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan.

Tommy Hilfiger is back with his better sportswear H Hilfiger collection after sitting out last season, and, for the first time, rebel design team Imitation of Christ is joining the fashion mainstream at the Bryant Park tents in midtown Manhattan. Meanwhile, eveningwear designers Mark Badgley and James Mischka are absent from the schedule that includes more than 80 shows.

The clothes and collections are crucial to Fashion Week, but celebrities are increasingly becoming a regular fixture, too. Katie Couric, Iman and Nia Vardalos are expected at Bryant Park to announce a partnership among the fashion industry, Fashion Week title sponsor Olympus and the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. Conde Nast Media Group is sponsoring the Fashion Rocks concert Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall with performances by Beyonce, Usher, Hoobastank and the Black Eyed Peas.

Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, who won the Council of Fashion Designers of America award for best menswear designer earlier this year, is missing from the catwalk, but he's reminding the stylish crowd that his fashion brand is getting bigger: He's hosting a champagne toast at his new flagship Sean John store, located just down the street from Bryant Park.

8 September 2004

Evening Standard Sponsors Fashion Week

London daily the Evening Standard is the new title sponsor of London Fashion week. British Fashion Council chairman Stuart Rose said: "Having a media partner as sponsor will bring considerable benefits."

11 June 2004

Graduate Fashion Week

Graduate Fashion Week is taking place 7-10 June at the Battersea Park Arena. Sponsored by Topshop, a few lucky designers may see the store selling a capsule of their collections.The shows are open to the public - gala tickets cost GBP25 plus a GBP2 booking fee (0870 429 5320). Tickets for the college show are GBP10 plus booking fee (01903 885 748).

17 May 2004

50s Glamour Italian Inspiration

50s glamour remained a strong inspiration on the Milan catwalks for next season. From Luisa Beccaria to Missoni, beautiful dresses, fur trimmed jackets and coats and exquisitely floaty fabrics, next winter is all about lady-like elegance and dressing up 50s style. With Chanel-inspired tweed and the re-introduction of the twin-set cardi, you'll be a driving Miss Daisy in no time.

1 March 2004

New York Fashion Weeks Kicks Off

Bestseller Diane von Furstenberg's much awaited show at New York Fashion Week drew heavily from the English hunting lodge. Showing tweeds with curvy jackets and eye-dazzling colour and tartans, she evidently enjoyed the sport of it all. The designer called on Camelot as well, with touches of medieval battle armour: a metallic knit tunic with an attached hood and a dark-grey snakeskin leather jacket.

Stay tuned for more on New York Fashion Week.

9 February 2004

Milan Men's Round-up

Showy knits and cool dudes in sleek leather seem to be the essence of Italian style. In the movies or the streets and especially on the fashion runways, knits and leather are fixtures.

Taking the look forward for next season were Missoni and Bottega Veneta while Roberto Cavalli stayed with his favorite embellished leather, making it a master class in workmanship. Graphic and diamond patterns contrasted with sweet, soft, pink, mauve and gray colors at Missoni. The look was young and fresh, with zippered jackets, long student scarves, jaunty caps, narrow pants and an air of casual chic.

Tweed suits and tailored jackets trimmed with leather proved that Tomas Maier is steering Bottega Veneta from leather accessories in earth colors toward urban style and secret luxury. Wool and leather of a husky kind was the theme at the Dsquared show on Tuesday. Dean and Dan Caten, the twins behind the label, took a trip ''home'' - to the white world of their native Canada, whose snowy mountains and pine trees created a frozen North backdrop. It was all good fun, but in taking their work more seriously, Dsquared is diluting the camp element that was wittier on the soundtrack than on the runway.

Roberto Cavalli was also in snow and ski mode - or any other activity that belonged to the jet set when St. Moritz was the hottest fashion haunt. Ritzy sweaters embedded with jewels may never see the ski slopes, but as the models turned their backs to the runway, their blouson jackets were imprinted with figures whizzing down the piste.

Alessandro dell'Acqua is king of the sweaters and his collection was full of fine pieces - especially the jacquard knits that made eye-popping patterns when a vest was worn over a striped shirt and a striking side-zippered sweater.

15 January 2004

LA Fashion Week Report

OK. So LA Fashion Week doesn't attract the same quality of press and buyers as Milan, Paris or New York Fashion Week. Truthfully, even London far surpasses it in terms of innovation and style. Still, the Americans are learning to hold their ground on the fashion map, and the Spring Summer 04 collections showed that there is definitely some creativity to be reckoned with in otherwise money-machined Hollywood.

LA fashion has been making its impact on us Brits for while, most notably giving us Earl Jean and Juicy Couture. Relaxed and sexy clothes, as one would expect to associate with a Californian lifestyle, and one that has seen its adaptation on many a Chelsea shopping street.

A new breed of designers, such as Louis Verdad, Michelle Mason and Tree, are quickly becoming the hottest tickets with the American fashion press, and will no doubt soon be sold at a shop near you. Taking advantage of their edgy European counterparts, traditional and contemporary American fashion has been replaced by sexier images of trumpet skirts, cotton sateen knickers, chiffon halter tops and of course dresses ready for those red-carpet moments.

With front row supporters such as Jack Nicholson, Cate Blanchett and Sheryl Crow, LA designers couldn't ask for a better bout of publicity. One designer even incorporated some British humour in her show. "Thou Shalt Not Whine" was spotted on the back of a dress at Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent.

14 November 2003

Milan Round-Up

The Milan fashion season has gone off on a happy trip. At Prada the audience was greeted with flight maps superimposed on blow-ups of Venice. Showing 1950s style full-skirted dresses and hand-made-esque prints on luxurious fabrics, Miuccia Prada caught the real mood of the season with a quirky and disquieting show.

Burberry showed a subtle collection with ticking stripes or faint checks so lightly marked that the loose skirts, wrapped at the hips, and the baggy pants were barely traced with the graphic patterns. Even the big flat striped bags were in the same light, crumpled cotton.

There were high hopes at Cerruti that David Cardona, the Los Angeles-based designer who is best buddy of Janet Jackson, would sprinkle some of that Hollywood stardust on his first Milan show for the Italian brand. But the only outfits with the Oscar spirit were the grandiose black and white gowns at the show's finale.

Color was the message at Bottega Veneta where the designer Tomas Maier had left behind his familiar dark, chocolate box shades for the Adriatic seashore to produce an exceptional and well-thought-out collection. Gucci, who is still trying to get out of its slow sales doldrums, returned to the elegance it is known for and the mix of the romantic with contemporary glamour scored well over the in-your-face-sexiness from past seasons.

03 October 2003

Milan Fashion Week Off to Sailing Start

In the first top show of Milan Fashion Week, Giorgio Armani abandoned his minimalist and classic 80s look for a nautical theme. Showing stripes galore, Armani displayed a choreographed collection of vertical stripes on satin trousers, diagonal stripes on fitted jackets and many a blue tone, all in theme for an easy summer. Catching on to the light breeze of the twenties that's blowing through fashion, he charted a course for the season with a breeze of navy and white colours and translated them into his penchant for supple fabrics and easy cuts.

What nautical is to Armani next season, so British weather was the inspiration behind Chris Bailey's Burberry collection. Based around the theme of summer showers, Bailey called in a little help from stylish friends Kate Moss and Stella Tennant, to show one of his most accomplished collections to date. Made to look as if you just got caught in the rain, washed out pastels and ivory whites blended into shirtings and gauzes. Even the beautiful leather jackets looked as if they hadn't seen a brolly in years. Spending most of his time in Milan, Bailey is clearly still in touch with the edginess of London style, and took the tomboyish look off the London streets and incorporated it into his nonchalant looks.

As for the classic trench, an item now so synonymous with Burberry it carries it's own trademark, it was cut neat and to the knee in putty colored leather and others that transformed into a bolero with storm flaps. And if you think the check disappeared, think again. Found on white-edged clutches and umbrellas, the signature remains as strong as ever.

Other highlights so far were D-Squared, the off-beat Canadian twins who delivered a fifties-era American bad girl at the diner look. Pinups, stilettos, and lots of eyeliner set the mood for the show. Whether or not you think this is fresh and fashionable is debatable. Judging by the crowd, however, who turned out en force, the twins are on a definite high on the Italian fashion scene.

2 October 2003