Ladies Plaza

Poking fun at the ribs of size zero celebs, Brit/Oz fashion label,
Antipodium launched their size 0 “Size
Matters” skippy tote during the recent London Fashion Week. Maybe it’s
the drought plaguing Australia or just an eagerness to follow the
non-eating trends of late, but somehow the skeletal bush kangaroo has
wowed audiences from London to Leichardt with over 800 of the totes
snapped up during the week alone. Get your own piece of skinny skippy
designed by Rinzen from Alice Euphemia,
Fat4 or by emailing fenella [at] antipodium [dot] com.

A 25-YEAR-OLD Adelaide designer has scored a job with one of the biggest names in world fashion, working for Italian designer Valentino in Milan.

Reuters - Islamic fashion is
broadening its appeal beyond the faithful as women everywhere
are increasingly drawn to its flowing lines, says renowned
Malaysian designer Melinda Looi.

Street Shots by Photo by TONE. Sway Mondays. October 31, New York.
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Street Shots by Zach Slootsky. Mr. Flash. November 13, Toronto.
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WHILE difficult to upstage nearly nude supermodels strutting down a catwalk, the Spice Girls stole a share of the spotlight today as they kicked off a reunion tour with a warm-up at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

The new project from Roger Gastman, Caleb Neelon and Anthony Smyrski, Street World: Urban Art and Culture from Five Continents, clocks in at nearly 400 pages of full-color images of all the street culture we knew we loved (graffiti, fashion, skateboarding, and so on) with plenty of more esoteric global happenings. Think pigeon keeping, protests, activism, drum lines, urban exploration, signage and plenty of stuff that you’ll have to see the book to make sense of it. With contributions from Estevan Oriol, Adam Wallacavage, WK Interact, We Are Supervision, Blu, Shepard Fairey and dozens and dozens more, Street World hits a nice balance, introducing newcomers to urban culture while giving the cognoscenti plenty to look at. As author Caleb Neelon explains, “not everything in the book is obvious ’street culture,’ but some of those curve balls in the book are what we like the most.” Available on Abrams in the United States and Thames and Hudson in the U.K. Buy it from Amazon or Powell’s.

AP - Kanye West has pulled out of a performance at the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show following the death of his mother last weekend. Gabe Tesoriero, publicist for the 29-year-old rapper, declined further comment.

by Andrew Simkiss

There are always a plethora of young photographers in New York City, shooting everything from fashion pages to blog snaps and party photos. You might see them in a studio, lighting up some street corner or at the bar flashing away. Daniel Eric Weiss is none of these. Born and raised on the Upper West Side, Danny is a photographer for photography’s sake, snapping portraits and landscapes all around Manhattan with a friendly eye and a hometown sensibility. At only 20 years old, he wanders the streets like a young Andre Kertesz, meeting neighbors, friends and strangers and exposing it all to film as he goes, his Leica always in tow.

His work is beautifully composed street photography, so if a well-dressed young gentleman with a scruffy red beard and a deep voice asks to take your picture, you might consider saying yes. Click images for larger view or visit his site.

Fashion Wire Daily - The buzz has already been building all over Hollywood and New York, that with “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” artist-turned-film-director Julian Schnabel has created one of the leading contenders for Oscar’s highest honors. Perhaps that’s why everyone was grinning happily at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York on Wednesday night as the movie premiered?

CENTRAL Pier at the Docklands will provide a spectacular backdrop for the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival in March, previously held at the museum.

Fashion Wire Daily - Stylist, entrepreneur and Emmy award-winning costume designer Patricia Field is in the business of dressing dolls – mostly of the adult, real-life variety, from the guys and gals who are loyal fans of her downtown New York boutique, to, most famously, the characters of “Sex and the City,” where “Manolos” and “Louboutins” were brought into the lexicon of millions of viewers thanks to Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe fetish.

Fashion Wire Daily - One new line seemingly sure to be a commercial and critical success is Gap Design Editions, a capsule collection for the global retailer by French designer Pierre Hardy that was unveiled this week in Paris.

Fashion Wire Daily - Fit, function, fun and family - these are the things that Lands’ End does best, and their Spring 2008 collection fits that bill, particularly when it comes to swimwear for all ages and sizes.

Reuters - British fashion legend Zandra
Rhodes, now making her UK debut as an opera set and costume
designer, is feeling sad — too many of her fellow designers
are deserting London for Paris.

Reuters - Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger
says that if he had not ended up making clothes he probably
would have made movies.

Fashion Wire Daily - The stars glittered brilliantly on a chilly Tuesday night in New York City to see director Todd Haynes’ homage to Bob Dylan’s life.

Fashion Wire Daily - For those living with spinal cord injuries in the U.S., the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation provides a form of magic in the form of funding for research and quality of life improvements. So the theme of their annual fundraising gala, “A Magical Evening,” held on Nov. 12 in New York, was especially fitting.

HIS couture gowns may cost upwards of $3000, but designer Alex Perry admits teenage girls don’t need to spend a fortune to look good at their school formals.

Fashion Wire Daily - The red carpet was out in front of the H and M flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York on Thursday morning, Nov. 8, for the launch of Roberto Cavalli’s collaboration with the retailer, as hoards of fans snaked the block in anticipation of laying their hands on as many Cavalli pieces as they could possibly grab.

KATE Moss has suffered a triple slap in the face from Harper’s Bazaar fashion magazine, whose best dressed women in Britain 2007 list comes out tomorrow.

Reuters - Supermodel Kate Moss held on to a
place in the top 10 of the latest British best-dressed list but
lagged behind a 60-something actress, a 42-year-old novelist
and the girlfriends of two former lovers.

Fashion Wire Daily - Though Manhattan residents don’t have a Target store in their borough, if they, or any other commuters passed through Grand Central Terminal in New York on Nov. 6 or 7, they would have gotten a sneak peak at the latest clothing collections for Target from Isaac Mizrahi, Erin Fetherston, Liz Lange, Mossimo, Keanan Duffty as well as jewelry by Dominique Cohen and shoes by Hollywould for Target.

Reuters - French couture designer Christian
Lacroix drew on his long interest in fashion history for a new
exhibition at the main decorative arts museum in Paris showing
how modern creations are influenced by the past.

Reuters - Corrects identity of celebrity in sixth paragraph to
Yangerche Namu, not Sister Lotus

Fashion Wire Daily - The man whose own latest accessory is dyed blue hair, Marc Jacobs, took home the “Designer of the Year” award at the 11th Annual ACE Awards in New York on Nov. 5, one of many people honored by the Accessories Council this year for their achievements in the world of accessories.

Reuters - Chinese artist Zhao Bandi has
brought social conscience to the fashion conscious, kicking off
this year’s China Fashion Week by using his trademark panda to
highlight unresolved social problems.

Fashion Wire Daily - Looking at the normally swooningly handsome Spanish actor Javier Bardem on the red carpet at the “No Country for Old Men” film premiere Sunday night in Hollywood, it is hard to believe he is the same person that wreaks violent havoc throughout that modern western drama.

Street Shots by Photo by TONE. Sway Mondays. October 26, New York.
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Street Shots by Photo by TONE. SHQ Third Anniversary. October 28, New York.
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Fashion Wire Daily - In 1978 when the founders of Banana Republic, Mel and Patricia Ziegler, launched the company in California, they turned safari military looks into a fashion statement.

Reuters - Finally, coming to New York, a
fashion show devoid of skinny models and serious faces — in
fact the models don’t even exist.

Fashion Wire Daily - If you happened upon the Calvin Klein and CK Calvin Klein Spring ‘08 presentation on Wednesday, you might think you were at the site of an contemporary art exhibit or performance piece.

Known for stretching the fashion limits with his avant garde design for the label Undercover, Jun Takashi recently came out with this Brain Bag. An intricate knit of wool resembling the three-pound jelly structure encapsulated by the skull, it’s playful but also looks mature and sophisticated and holds its own among other designer handbags.

I will spare you most of the puns, but for any of you needing or wanting a bit more brain, the one-off handbag is available at Someday.

Created for this years Swarovski Fashion Rocks benefit is this super-lux set of encrusted DJ headphones.  Covering these sonic “gems” are tons of amethyst crystals and the set includes a special storage box and a small carrying bag.  Contribute to the good cause by coppin’ these approximately $2404 USD.

Info.Image:  Fashion Rocks via Hypebeast

Fashion Wire Daily - ‘Tis the fall, and the season of the ball…the Angel Ball, that is. The annual charity event, founded in 1996 by Denise Rich to fund cancer research in memory of her daughter Gabrielle’s untimely death at the age of 27 from leukemia, is always a star-studded affair, and this year’s ball, held on October 29, was no exception.

Allison Sarofim’s annual Halloween party featured a Surrealist theme, complete with red velvet-draped statues, topless waiters, and a staged Surrealist performance piece.

Fashion Wire Daily - It’s certain that awards season is right around the corner, when companies like Universal Pictures put on an “industry screening” (not a premiere, mind you) complete with long red carpet, screaming photographers, and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. That’s what happened Monday night at the Arclight Cinemas on Sunset Boulevard, as “American Gangster” began its optimistic trek toward Oscar.

Fashion Wire Daily - Fashion, like art, has always been a place for people with their own vision to make a statement, with the hopes that others might see it and celebrate it.

AP - A celebrity fashion designer pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of sexually assaulting 20 teenage girls and young women allegedly lured with promises of modeling jobs.

by Valery Joseph

That Portland, Oregon, is a poster-child of green values and sustainable living is hardly news. Consistently name-checked in the media and the recipient of countless awards—most recently, the honor of “Greenest U.S. City”—the Pacific Northwest town has become the urban darling of the eco-set. So, who better to celebrate the ever-increasing union between fashion and the environment?

With its 4th annual Portland Fashion Week—the world’s first sustainable fashion week taking place through today— the city is throwing its hat in the style ring, proving that eco-conscious fashion is not merely a fleeting fad. Here are some runway highlights from the week in Green:

Lara Miller
Chicago native Lara Miller’s architecturally inspired pieces are studies in contrast: with the flip of a garment, each can be re-created to suit the style of the individual wearer.

Stewart Brown
Husband-and-wife duo Karen Stewart and Howard Brown fashions easygoing knitwear and accessories from luxe yet sustainable fabrics such as super-soft Mongolian cashmere.

Anna Cohen
A vintage sensibility informs this designer, whose work combines organic cotton, hemp, soy, and wool to tasteful effect.

Continue reading

Fashion Wire Daily - A royal purple carpet flanked by a drumline in matching purple T-shirts with a large “M” emblazoned on the front, and so many security guards, you’d think the Queen were arriving.

Reuters - Oxygen is launching a
Web-exclusive offshoot to its series “The Janice Dickinson
Modeling Agency,” the women’s cable network said Monday.

AP - Fashionistas from Naomi Campbell to Carrie Bradshaw have made embarrassing missteps on the catwalk. But model Sarah Welch trumped them all when she fell through a hole during an L.A. Fashion Week show.

Fashion Wire Daily - For many women, their wedding day is one time in their life where a high-end, couture (or couture-quality) gown is a possibility, and worth the splurge. Walking down the aisle these days is the bridal equivalent of a red carpet.

Fashion Wire Daily - In just six years, Monique Lhuillier has established herself as a designer of some of the most coveted wedding dresses in the U.S. She’s a bridal market superstar. Her success lies in her ability to create gowns that don’t feel like traditional wedding dresses – in other words, no tacky embellishments or cheap-looking satin fabrics here.

E! Online - Look out, Tyra, Niki Taylor and Tyson Beckford are hopping on the catwalk to oversee America’s next top-model series.

Street Shots by Klicking and Screaming. September 29, 2007: Tales of Colt45, Chicago.

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Street Shots by Clayton Hauck. September 28, Los Angeles, 1107 Safari Sams.
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One of the only fashion books that keeps me sane season after season is Self Service Magazine, published by Ezra Petronio out of Paris. It’s like my Zoloft or something. Anyway, it’s finally hit newsstands in New York — $30, worth it.

In the back interview pages Patrick Li talks with Chandler Burr, the Times’ perfume critic Raakhee profiled a few months back. My course director Louise Wilson (who is also pictured circa 1983 in this season’s Self Service on page 182) at St. Martins always told us to read the interview pages in Self Service, so I do. And here’s something interesting from Burr’s interview:

“I wanted to do scent branding for the book I’m working on and I went to a branding company who gave me an interview on a major company. They have put millions of dollars into this, have done focus groups and testing in Brazil, the USA, Russia and Japan. You know who the company was? Samsung. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this scent. The scent is spectacular and they put it in a drawer. You can smell it in one place I know, which is the Samsung store on the third floor of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle in New York City. They have plastics now, like a polyurethane that is embedded with scent particles and will exude those for two or three years. The idea was you’d be sitting at JFK waiting for your flight and all of a sudden you’d realize that the guy next to you was listening to a Samsung MP3 player. You didn’t see the oval logo, you smelled Samsung.”