Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Street Is the Star






LONDON — “Against the backdrop of a year ago, we are on a front foot, fighting,” said Philip Green, the retail mogul of Topshop, referring to the improvements he has seen in the marketplace as well as to the battle ahead.








“Fashion is this country’s second-largest employer and supporting it is to make sure that we generate new talent and new business,” said Mr. Green, the chief executive, whose company has supported the “New Generation” fashion talent program for the last eight years — not to mention putting Kate Moss on her new career as a designer.






The Topshop Unique fashion show proved why the British fast-fashion chain, which has now set out to conquer the United States, is at the beating heart of London style. The collection picked up on all the current street style, focusing on down-and-dirty denim, worn as brief shorts over stretch biker mini-leggings, bra tops or coats teamed with graffiti-patterned pants. The models, with their bubble gum pink lips and tumbled, messy hair, had the sexual charge and fashion energy that has characterized the city since the days of “Swinging London” in the 1960s.






It was in the 1980s, when London Fashion Week was in its infancy, that underwear was first on the catwalk as visible bras at a Vivienne Westwood show.






Louise Goldin updated the pointy bra and incorporated it into her girly knitwear, as the shape emerged in twin peaks above skirts that were shell-shaped in a series of pleats. Brief dresses or rounded romper shorts gave a short-and-sweet look to a pretty, but never sugary, collection, in a spring palette of lilac, primrose and pale blue.






London designers excel at prints, but this season the sweet florals have been sharpened up with geometric patterns, including curving lines that outline the shape of the body.






“They were simple — but I liked them,” said Vivienne Westwood of the faux innocent dresses in her Red Label collection. A master of wacky historicism, the designer was inspired by the royal country home of Hampton Court to take her favorite shapes, wrapping the body with folds and drapes, to give a seductive cheekiness to polka dots, stripes and not-so-innocent floral prints.






Matthew Williamson banished Bohemia in favor of a more structured silhouette of short, form-fitting dresses, often with a corset built under looser draperies. Similarly, the designer’s prints shifted from ethnic patterns in vivid colors to more graphic and geometric shapes inspired by the Scottish contemporary artist Jim Lambie and his use of colored vinyl tape. The result was a harder silhouette that took the designer’s look forward.






Nicole Farhi was also influenced by art — the work of the German Expressionist Emil Nolde, who inspired blocks of prints in strong, sour colors. They were interspersed with curving stripes that gave a sensual shape to cotton separates. And there were echoes of Dries Van Noten in the combination of square cut jackets and pants in offbeat colors. Ms. Farhi has built a successful business in making palatable to modern women the look of the moment.






Prints — playful and charming — have always been at the core of an Eley Kishimoto collection. A Japanese vibe, but cutting the cuteness with wit, is the contribution of Wakako Kishimoto, while her partner Mark Eley brings a clean-cut style to simple silhouettes.






Is it the 2010 Olympic Games in London that has encouraged designers to turn their attention to sportswear?






In the Adidas by Stella McCartney collection, you might expect ergonomic wet suits as streamlined swimwear, form-fitting biker gear, hug-the-body hooded jackets and graphic striped sneakers. But, significantly, designers known for sophisticated dressing with a focus on evening wear have taken up sporty styles.






Julien Macdonald gave a scuba vibe to stretch bodysuits, scooped out at the front and replaced with flesh-colored mesh, or stretch pants with curving seam lines. Or there were color-block jersey dresses in strong mixes of gray, white and tomato red. But fans of Mr. Macdonald’s glamour could also find slim-line satin trench coats or the body-conscious aquatic look as stretch dresses winking with sequins, but with arcs of revealing nude fabric.






Antonio Berardi’s return to London after a decade away brought his signature body-conscious, ballerina dresses back to the British runways, but toughened up with samurai style. Flat-cut kimono shapes contrasted with the taut little dresses. But the imagination seemed to be more in the choice of a de-consecrated historic church, with a nave as the show runway, than in the clothes.






Graeme Black’s show backdrop was sketches of Indian temples with the chatter and cawing of birds on the soundtrack. But this was an upscale vision of India, where fine fabrics in vivid colors gave even a pair of jodhpurs, worn with a satin blouse and cropped jacket, a couture sportiness — not to mention the rivulets of diamonds and gemstone butterflies from the jeweler Moussaieff.






The London front rows are winking and sparkling with sequins, the preferred look of cool dressers from morning shows until the late-night parties. This highly visible trend was used discreetly and effectively by Jasper Conran, who included a striking silver sequined dress in his collection of pretty white dresses, embellished with appliquéd flowers.

Monday, September 21, 2009

The good Indian

Many things – culture, history, DNA, everything and a lot of things – have coalesced into making the Indian what he is today. If you just turn the focus inwards, it'll be clear as day that not all of these have got together to make us the perfect people walking on earth. But let us think for a while what we are that others aren’t and perhaps can’t be.














For one, we must certainly rank as one of the most welcoming and warm people in the world. Try asking a Frenchman for directions in English while you are in Paris and you’ll understand what I am saying. More often than not, he’ll not even look in your direction. And if he condescends to do that, he’ll make you feel like scum. Don’t know French? What the hell are you doing in my country?














Compare this with how foreigners are treated in India. Most are made to feel like traveling deities. The whole atithi deva bit plays an important role in this. On the whole, and I think a lot of expats will support me on this, foreigners in India are treated much better than Indians are in foreign countries. Hum kaale hain toh ky hua dilwaale hain!














Oh yes, many here don’t like a lot of things they do too, like using toilet paper and eating beef and pork, but few will go down to beating the daylights out of them or make them feel so unwanted that they leave the country on their own.














We take God and faith so seriously that I am sure it makes a lot of us actually quite a people of faith. Have you counted the number of temples, mosques, gurdwaras, churches in our country? Don’t, it’ll be a futile exercise. Yes, there will be the communal riots in a country of more than a billion with various tugs and pulls of coexistence, often under difficult and trying circumstances, but it doesn’t exactly take rocket science to figure out why this huge, rambling country hasn’t imploded. The average Indian, deep down, is accommodating, of different cultures, peoples and persuasion.














Let’s take the two big countries that matter most in today’s world – China and America. Almost the whole of China is communist, Han and speaks a language that forms a common thread joining them. Almost the whole of America is capitalist, speaks English and loves burgers. In India, they say, dialects change every few kilometers. So do food habits, physical features and other signifiers of difference. It’s a hundred nations within a nation. Travel from Mizoram to Kashmir, from Bengal to Karnataka, from Punjab to Gujarat, from Bihar to Maharashtra – the multiplicity amazes, staggers, overwhelms. We’ve done tremendously well to stick together. And let’s not be cynical about this. It’s an achievement other countries would find hard to emulate.














So importantly, Indians believe in community and that’s a fantastic thing. Almost the whole town came to my brother’s wedding recently in Darjeeling. There was the vice-chancellor of a university and there was a poor driver with whom my brother had played football in his childhood. They shared the same table. Indians know how to rejoice in one another’s happiness and partake of each other’s sorrow. Divides of class, caste and faith apart, the instinctive response in India to the three things that wrap up life – birth, marriage and death – is to come together. It means something.














But the best thing by far about this country is how nothing is ever taken too seriously – terror attacks, riots, corruption, even traffic rules. It not always good, but it’s easier to move on. The psyche of the average American has permanently changed after 9/11 and a lot of things are now seen in black and white in that country. One attack. I don’t think Indians will let that happen to them. Ever. After so many attacks, against each other and from outside, so many deaths, tragedies, calamities, heartbreaks, Indians remain who they are – intrinsically humane, happy and hearty, coming out from each crushing blow thinking this too shall pass.














ECO - CHIC









I recently attended The Green Initiative Humanitarian fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City. I was so excited to see this show since I missed it last season, and I was even happier when it didn’t disappoint.







What’s extra special about this show (staged by uber-hip Mikey Koffmann and The Gallery, Los Angeles) was that it featured not one, but FIVE fab designers debuting their eco-friendly Fall ’08 collections.





While all of the designers were absolutely incredible and super inspiring – proving you can be chic AND help save the planet - my favorite designer of the night was Simplico Michael Luis from my hometown, Los Angeles, and his M the Movement collection, which featured a collection of mostly menswear with distressed denim, vests, and trousers made from charcoal, bamboo, organic cotton and soy. This collection also came with an element of surprise – break dancing male models who jumped and spun their way down the runway -- feeding a photog frenzy.







I also was a fan of Mathilde Rosset (also hailing from L.A.) and her Lady Muse collection which featured brilliant, rich coats constructed from reused velvet tapestry and brocade.







Newcomer Barbara Boswell’s Lilikoi collection featured organic cotton dresses detailed with hand-painted prints straight from nature, as well as the young and super-cute design team Bethany Armstrong and Beth Doane, who showed comfy looking organic T-shirts that featured paintings created by children living in the endangered rain forests of Central and South America in their Andria Rain Tees collection.



Vintage China, an L.A. based denim line, featured designs using organic cotton and bamboo. The show-stopper was a floor-length gown created from recycled denim .

Sunday, September 20, 2009

fashion is toast




One of the best parts about New York - extreme weather changes in a concentrated period of time. I got to use almost everything I packed, though this could also be attributed to changing three times a day. Who am I kidding, I change at least that often when I'm at home too. The difference actually being that it's harder to get sick of your clothes when different ones are always spontaneously becoming appropriate.






Bumble and Bumble was kind enough to invite me to their salon in the Meatpacking District to get my hair styled. Normally I'd be more wary but I'm into the beachy look they're known for...I really love the smoother style they created and tried to pay attention to how it was done but somewhere around the tenth finger curl/flip/brush-through I got confused. Either way I left feeling liking a better version of myself so thank you to the Bumble and Bumble team.






I still have a bunch of NY pictures to post but Colin and I are leaving for New Zealand fashion week in a couple hours, can't wait for the adventures that await, though I'm kind of nervous too. It'll be my first time in the southern hemisphere, the furthest I've been is Hong Kong..

Saturday, September 19, 2009

WHAT COLOR ARE YOU WEARING FOR 2009?

The year gone by saw a splash of bright colours everywhere. Yellow, purple, fuscia, green all colours were seen in their unusually bright and pure forms. Ombre & colour blocking were the sought after techniques to create fun and vibrancy in the products across all streams: clothing, accessories, footwear and home.


Moving forward indications have started coming in which say that the colour palette is likely to take a steep curve. Colours of Year 2009 will be seeing more of muted and subdued tones as opposed to the loud and bright colours of the last year. Consumers would pick up colours in a manner that when put together they create a soothing and a very pleasant environment.



Recent terror activities in Mumbai have shaken up everyone in the city and the incident has marked its impression to a large extent on the mental framework of the people across the nation. Such an incident has only worsened the ongoing economic slowdown, which is likely to reflect in consumer purchase decisions, be it anything. In such a scenario fashion and clothes cannot remain unaffected.



The year for India has opened on a relatively relaxed and a go between notes. The year will ascend into a palette of pastel shades in the summer. Summer of 2009 will re-introduce classic shades of beiges & whites as a must have. Pink and Peach will be feminine favourites. Peach in fact is projected to be the colour of the year. Shimmering gold, flesh brown with a shimmer and silver will be the party colours. But silver of the season will be more on a grey side and not in its oxidised form. Khaki, Granite grey, moss green, greyish blue and burnt pink will hold an important position in men's wardrobe. Red and Turquoise blue will act as highlighters or accent colours.





Going further down, winters will see colours in their jewelled and deep tones. Emerald green, Aubergine, granite green, wine red, ash grey, charcoal black, greyish brown will be the picks of the season for both men & women. Clothing colours will be muted with a touch of grey to all shades. The fun in one's closet will come through nice, bold & bright accessories. Deep tones of red, blue, green, pearl white and Black will remain important for occasions and ceremonies.


Friday, September 18, 2009

Fashion is easy





‘Never stop exploring’ shouts the motto on The North Face official website, but this is a principle that applies just as much to The North Face as a company themselves. Their ever increasing range of innovative products, especially The northface jacket, and continuing research and development program proves that The North Face is far from happy sitting on it’s laurels. The continuing race to stay one of the most popular outdoor equipment brands in the world is as tough as any ascent of the north face of the Eiger itself.china consumer research





As classic waterproof and fleece jackets from The North Face, these jackets come with an array of excellent features:china purchasing





Ultilizing a mixture of their own Hyvent breathable fabric and Gore Tex in the higher end models, the M Venture Jacket has an excellent feature set for the price in particular. As the temperatures drop, take a look at the Nuptse Jacket and Nuptse Vest which are the timeless classic down insulation among The northface jacket.

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Another model from the North Face–the Womens Resolve Jacket, stands out like a beacon on the moors when it comes to performance and value in waterproof and breathable outerwear. Constructed from The North Faces’ proprietary HyVent fabric, this classic lightweight Jacket will definitely ensure you stay warm and dry on the hills. Offering seam sealed protection from the elements the Resolve Jacket incorporates some excellent features including a fully adjustable stash-away hood, two hand warmer pockets, elasticated cuffs and a cinch cord hem, the Womens Resolve Jacket is the ideal northface jacket for the spring and summer.

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In addition, we just love the Mens Venture Jacket from the North Face too. It’s a good looking, lightweight No. that’s increased in popularity beyond all expectations over the last few years. constructed to a superior standard, the Mens Venture Jacket incorporates The North Faces’ proprietry HyVent DT fabric which is both waterproof and breathable. This model of all the northface jacket offers the user a very good level of durability and comfort whether on hill or high street. The adjustable stash-away hood rolls snugly into the collar, pit zips to help cool you down and the whole thing stashes away in it’s own pocket for travelling light. You just can’t go wrong really!



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As a waterproof, breathable and seam sealed men’s jacket, The North Face M Resolve Jacket is made from The North Faces’ own HyVent fabric, which helps allow for a good level of breathability and water resistance. This technology will ensure you remain dry, as well as comfortable. Available in a variety of colours, this is the perfect northface jacket for going out travelling and exploring this Summer.china business practices

Thursday, September 17, 2009

PURE FASHION...........


Pure Fashion... A Celebration of Style and Virtue!Pure Fashion is an international faith based program designed for girls 14-18 to help young women re-discover and re-affirm their innate value and authentic femininity.


 

Pure Fashion is a character formation program that enhances not only a young woman's external appearance, but more importantly, her interior beauty and balanced self confidence.



Our goal is to emphasize a young woman's inherent dignity and therefore create in her a desire to dress and act in accordance with that dignity. We understand that many young women today are losing their sense of innocence at a very young age, and Pure Fashion aims to reverse this trend by offering a fun, exciting and effective virtue formation program that can impress the hearts and minds of young girls at a very critical stage in their lives.





The Training Program



The Pure Fashion Model Training program spans the course of 7 months and consists of monthly training sessions designed to help young girls develop into young ladies.



Through the monthly training sessions, Pure Fashion Models are taught the foundational skills of becoming confident, competent leaders in their schools and communities. With training sessions focusing on topics such as table manners, social etiquette and public speaking skills, Pure Fashion Models will learn the basics of growing into distinguished, capable and respectful young women. Pure Fashion models will also be taught the art of makeup and hairstyling, all the while remembering that grace, decency and dignity are our greatest adornments.



In our modern culture, which sometimes promotes an "all about me," "look at me" mentality, Pure Fashion promotes balanced self confidence with a desire to love, serve and respect others. The Models are also given opportunities to love and serve others through outreach and mission projects, which cultivate the virtues of love and generosity of spirit. In addition, the young women will be taught how to sit, stand, and walk with grace and elegance as we realize that sometimes our actions speak louder than our words. And finally, they will be taught to think critically about the choices they make, the merchandise they buy, and the overall way in which they present themselves to the world.





The Runway!At the end of the formation program, Pure Fashion Models will have the exciting opportunity to star in their cities' own spectacular Pure Fashion Show! Through a professional, first class production, the fashion show will showcase the beautiful models wearing the latest fashions, with entertainment from professional singers, dancers, and inspiring speakers. The audience will be entertained, uplifted and inspired by watching fashion, beauty and glamour being presented in a way that is wholesome, virtuous and truly beautiful.





Join Us!We believe that by supporting our children through positive, fun, exciting programs like Pure Fashion, we will be investing in the hearts and souls of thousands of girls nationwide. This impact will be felt in her family, among her friends, in her school and in her community.



By supporting a community event like Pure Fashion, our sponsors will show that they care about our children and our families. Corporations understand that when they support our families, we will in turn support them.



In a time when many people think about how our culture needs to change, and others talk about how our culture needs to change, we are actively working to promote that change.



Won't you join us in our efforts to help protect the innocence and purity of our youth, by supporting the Pure Fashion Program in your city? And if you are interested in becoming a Pure Fashion Model in your city's Pure Fashion Show, contact your local representative today!



Pure Fashion... where values and virtues are always in vogue!