coutorture --

Fashion in 50 Seconds 7/31

coutorture — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:26:56 -0700

Diane Von Furstenberg and Liz Claiborne were inducted into the Fashion Walk of Fame yesterday. DVF used the opportunity to raise concerns about zoning changes in the Garment District. “As president of the it is the hope that the city, the designers, the landlords, the unions and the factories can come together soon and help this district not to disappear — to secure a plan to keep some manufacturing in the Garment District as it is the foundation on which American fashion was built. Let’s always be together and try to find solutions together,” von Furstenberg said.

Speaking of Liz Claiborne, the apparel giant is said to be reviewing its foreign sourcing, a sure sign of tough economic times. Many global apparel brands are beginning to pull back their direct sourcing operations from India. What does that mean in shorthand? Good times for third party management firms Li & Fung and even tougher times for firms that wish to continue sourcing on their own. Or you can source online!

Red and blue state collide and thus fashion gives us purple

In collaboration land, DKNY is teaming up with Chandon to create a 20th Anniversary bubbly for the brand. Look for it at Fashion Week in September. Mmmm!

Coutorture ecommerce favorite eLuxury has a new CEO. David Asher, who also will serve as chief executive officer, starting Aug. 11. He replaces president Ann Hepler, who is leaving to pursue other interests. In other ecommerce news, Rugby is finally going online just in time for back to school.

Fashion In 50 Seconds 7/11

coutorture — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:28:02 -0700

The CFDA is worried about New York City's Garment District. Forty percent of the Manhattan Garment District's production base could vanish in the next three years, according to a new survey done by the Garment Industry Development Corp, and designers are being urged to press City Hall to preserve a stable and enforceable production core.

Women's Wear Daily has a blog so we can all quit now. What a relief huh?

Speaking of WWD they have a fragrance insert today (hope that advertisers liked it) including pieces on the troubled Prestige Market's desired comeback, the vast number of fragrance launches in the coming months (15 in July alone), and innovations in mass fragrance.

Maison Martin Margiela's debut fine jewelry collection, in partnership with Italy's Damiani Group, is deliciously oversized. The creative on this signet ring upsized to bracelet proportions makes us very much desire the piece which makes us feel strange since its a powder white hand. The collection of 14 items is to arrive in November in 14 Margiela boutiques with prices ranging from $1,100 to $61,800

Fashion in 50 Seconds 6/10

coutorture — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:09:39 -0700

Fashion never stands still, even when your editors are in a whirl of travel plans gone awry. Lebanese couturier Elie Saab is designing signature luxury hotels with Dubai real estate developer Tatweer, starting with a high-end boutique hotel at The Tiger Woods Dubai resort. This adds Saab to a growing list of fashion designer or firms such as Giorgio Armani, Christian Lacroix, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bulgari, who all have or are developing luxury hotel projects.

Barney's plans to open its fourth store in Japan in the city of Kobe.

The CFDA is still concerned about model health.

All of that excitement over China? Yeah, that obscures the real picture of just how hard it is to make it in retail or fashion over there.
Express decides to go all Mise en abyme thanks to Lloyd (+ Co) and their Peter Lindbergh shot advertising campaign. And while we like to make a little Hamlet joke it feels just a little too Ophelia. The concept of the campaign — models cavorting on the beach — is only part of the story. What are those tripods doing on the beach, and that fan? Express wants to give viewers the feeling of being behind the scenes at a photo shoot. The campaign's conceit is to have the gear used to make fashion images, such as backdrops, light stands and cables, intentionally visible in each shot.

CFDA 2009 Award Winners

coutorture — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:02:24 -0700

Council of Fashion Designers of America presented the following 2008 fashion awards.

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein Collection. See the Resort 09 collection.

Menswear Designer of the Year: Tom Ford

Accessories Designer of the Year: Tory Burch. See the Fall 08 fashion show.

Swarovski Womenswear: Kate and Laura Mulleavy for Rodarte. See the Fall 08 collection.

Swarovski Menswear: Scott Sternberg for Band of Outsiders

Swarovski Accessories: Philip Crangi

Lifetime Achievement Award: Carolina Herrera. See the Fall 08 fashion show.

Stand Alone Francisco Costa!

coutorture — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:41:26 -0700

We rarely cover red carpets as frankly we are almost never interested in anyone that traverses them. But last night at the CFDA 2008 Fashion Awards we had plenty to be interested in as it was the real celebrities of our world, the designers, that were doing most of the preening. But there is an unfortunate trend for red carpets at fashion events. More and more designers appear to be scared to walk the red carpet alone. They cling to their "celebrity" guests, afraid it seems, that without their groomed counterpart that the photographers might forget to snap their image. Clearly this isn't the case as menswear winner Tom Ford, accessories winner Tory Burch, and lifetime achievement winner Carolina Herrera got their pictures taken without a problem. Plenty of other designers didn't seem scared to walk by themselves either including Diane Von Fursternberg, Doo Ri, Vera Wang , Donna Karen, Erin Featherston , Zac Posen, and John Bartlett.

So why is it that the man of the hour, the winner of Womenswear Designer of The Year, Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein seems unable to stand alone? Every photo we have of him has been while swanning about with a certain beauty in white.

The CFDA presents the Womenswear Designer of the Year award annually to an American designer who has made the most outstanding contribution to and has influenced the direction of women's ready-to-wear fashion with his or her most recent spring and fall collections. The award nominees and winner were selected by the CFDA membership, comprised of a peer group of designers, editors, retailers and stylists. Other nominees for this prestigious category included Marc Jacobs, and Proenza Schouler’s Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough. Winning this award is no small matter. It very much makes you worthy of standing on your own two feet to be adored by the masses of photographers. To make matters worse (or better) Mr. Costa received the very same award in 2006 when he was nominated alongside the same designers.

We think its time for you to leave the embrace of your beauty Mr. Costa and stand alone. Surely after all of this time you deserve to have the limelight by yourself.

Fashion in 50 Seconds 4/15/08

coutorture — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:02:16 -0700

Marni now has 68 stores thanks to the opening of with its first freestanding store in Istanbul. The chic Turkish shopping district Akaretler will house 1,620-square-foot space. There are two rooms entirely dedicated to accessories and characterized by large stainless steel displays or backlit fiberglass showcases. The clothes are showcased on polished stainless steel racks that curl around the walls while suspended mannequins float in the air moved by fans. Other elements used for the decor include aged teak floors and walls painted with an unfinished hand. Marni is clearly banking on its international appeal as 20 more stores are in the pipeline for this year including retail outlets in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries.

The husband and wife design team Hanii Yoon and Gene Kei are eliminating their Y & Kei designer line. Its replacement is the duo's contemporary label Hanii Y. The Seoul based global marketing company SK Networks is backing the new initiatives. Fashionistas curious about the new Hanii Y collection will have a chance to see it shown in New York at the next fashion week.

The endless parade of international fashion weeks continue this week with Vancouver. Vancouver Fashion Week is hot on the tail of BC Fashion Week thus adding to the tally of alternatives for Canadian fashion designers to the traditional Toronto Fashion Week. Designers to watch include Katherine Koniecki, David Leach, Kaylyn MacKenzie and Coquette Couture 1827.

Fashion collaborations continue unabated as the second Gap/CFDA White collection hosted its launch party last Tuesday. We remain nonplussed.

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