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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Funny april fools day pranks holiday
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Italian valentino garavani fashion designer dresses runway
Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, best known as Valentino (born 11 May 1932) is an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Valentino SpA brand and company. His fashion house is among the world's most famous haute couture and ready-to-wear fashion empires.
photo (c) Loquax from wiki with "GNU Free Documentation License".
1989 marked the opening of the Accademia Valentino, designed by Architect Tommaso Ziffer, a cultural space located near his atelier in Rome, for the presentation of art exhbitions. The next year, encouraged by their friend Elizabeth Taylor, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti created L.I.F.E., an association for the support of AIDS-related patients, which benefits from the activities of the Accademia Valentino.
Valentino and Giammetti were together for 12 years. Neither ever discussed their relationship with anyone outside their closest circle of friends, not even with their mothers. Valentino's mother, Teresa, moved from Voghera to Rome to help with the business. Eventually both his parents was engaged with Italian actress Marilù Tolo, the only woman he had really loved and with whom he'd have liked to have children.
photo (c) Loquax from wiki with "GNU Free Documentation License".
On Thursday, 6 July 2006 President of France President Chirac of France awarded Valentino with final jewel in the crown of his achievements: Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur Légion d'honneur from the country where he arrived as a 17-year-old Italian boy - and fell in love with haute couture. "I am very honored", said Valentino, who has gleaned awards from across the world from his native Italy to America. "French people are charming, adorable but not extremely generous with foreigners, but they believe in what they do. I feel proud in exchange because what I did in restoration is something I did for La France." (Herald Tribune) Valentino was referring to restoring Wideville, his Louis XIII chateau outside Paris.
Fashion File: Valentino Spring 2008
It is difficult to deny that Valentino in his long career has created some of the most sophisticated dresses to be seen and worn, particularly for the evening, the time of the day in which his flamboyant and opulent style has expressed itself at the best. However, when it comes to considering the general output of his work, and its relevance in the history of fashion, it must also be admitted that things change. Compared to the influence and innovations of such great masters as Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and ultimately Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino's style can be seen as much more conservative and fixed. His concept of elegance and beauty is basically an exercise in glamour for the sake of glamour itself. Inventive as it may be, it lacks the modernity, the conceptual depth, and the daring spirit that has marked the work of the above mentioned designers, particularly that of the most influential of his contemporaries (and in general the most influential post war designer), Yves Saint Laurent. When one looks retrospectively to his collections, (and the recent celebration in Rome is an occasion to do this) it is possible to see clearly that he has always designed thinking only and exclusively for women of the so-called jet set, the vacuous and glittering world of the great socialites, about which he always had a particular craving. The Italian designer has never translated the Zeitgeist into his fashion, remaining constantly hooked to the more abstract imperative of a glamourized concept of femmininity. In this sense, there are no sociological traces to be found in his creations, as there are in the collections of the four French masters or, more recently, in those of Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace, two of the most acute interpreters of fashion as a mirror reflecting social and cultural changes. All of Valentino's talent has been put at the service of a romanticised notion of what the upper crust of society is, and consequently, of how a women belonging to it must dress and behave. This woman is more the fabrication of Hollywood in the 30s-40s; the main limitation of Valentino's work is that it is fundamentally tied to the period of the mythical stars such as Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, Merle Oberon and Joan Crawford). At 75 years of age, Valentino cannot but go on doing what he has already done, even if most of his creations seem anachronistic and too elaborate for today's standards of life, even for the very rich for whom they are produced. Of course, this issue concerns haute couture as a whole. info (c) wikipedia.org
miuccia prada designs luxury
Prada, S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women (ready-to-wear, leather accessories, shoes, and luggage). Prada is considered one of the most influential clothing designers in the fashion industry. The label is synonymous with opulence and quality, and is widely regarded as a status symbol. Like numerous other luxury brands, Prada battles against counterfeiting and ensures authenticity only from its official boutiques (found globally) and online store.
Prada Fall Winter 09 Women Fashion Show
First opened as a leathergoods shop in Milan in 1913, the Prada label was taken in by designer Miuccia Prada in 1989 and transformed into the luxury goods, fashion house recognized today. As of 2009, most of its line is made in China.
Miuccia Bianchi Prada was born Maria Bianchi 10 May 1949, in Milan. She is an Italian fashion designer (Prada, Miu Miu) and entrepreneur. She also has a Ph.D. in Political Science.
She is the youngest granddaughter of Mario Prada, founder of the company. According to: Forbes.com's The World's Richest People 2001: "She and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, took over the family-owned luxury goods manufacturer in 1978. Since then, they've turned it into a fashion powerhouse, acquiring Jil Sander, Helmut Lang and shoemaker Church & Co." Miuccia Prada biography info (c) wikipedia.org
Eye on Miu Miu Fall Winter 2008-2009
The company was begun as Fratelli Prada ( English: Prada Brothers ) by Mario Prada in 1913 as a leathergoods shop in Milan, Italy. Not only was his shop a purveyor of leathergoods, but also sold imported English steamer trunks and handbags. Fratelli Prada gained great reputation. Mario Prada did not believe in women interaction within business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his workshop. After his death in the mid-1950s, Mario's son harbored no interest in the business. So ironically, it was Mario's daughter-in-law who took the helm of Prada, and maintained it for almost twenty years. Her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970. Miuccia began making waterproof backbacks out of Pocone. She met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leathergoods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon on. He greatly advised Miuccia and she readily followed the advice on better decisions for the Prada company. It was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to begin to revolutionize the oldfashioned luggage styles.
photo (c) Argenberg from flickr
Miuccia inherited the company in 1978 by which time sales were up to $450,000 USD. With Bertelli alongside her as business manager, Miuccia was allowed time to implement for total mind onto design. She would go on to incorporate her ideas into the House of Prada that would transform it into a label of renown. She released her first set of backpacks and totes in 1979. They were made out of a tough military spec black nylon that her grandfather had used as coverings for his steamer trunks. Initial success was not instant, as they were hard to sell due to the lack of advertising and high-prices, but the lines would go on to become her first commercial hit. Next, Miuccia and Bertelli sought out wholesale accounts for the bags in upscale department stores and boutiques worldwide. In 1983, Prada opened a second boutique in Millan reminiscent to the original shop, but with a sleek and modern contrast to it. It was opened in the historic and upscale shopping district of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
The next year, Prada released its nylon tote. That same year, the House of Prada began expansion across continental Europe by opening locations in prominent shopping districts within Florence, Paris, Madrid, and New York City. A shoe line was also released in 1984. Miuccia released the classic Prada handbag in 1985, that went on to become an overnight sensation. It was practical and fashionable, functional and sturdy. In 1987, Miuccia and Bertelli married. Prada launched its women's ready-to-wear collection in 1989, and the designs came to be known for their dropped waistlines and narrow belts. Prada's popularity skyrocketed when the fashion world took notice of its clean lines, opulent fabrics, and basic colors. Time described the apparel as "unassertive, combining traditional good manners and an ultramodern industrial sleekness." Truly, the designs to come out of the House of Prada reflected feminine worker aesthetic which made it quite unique in contrast to other high-fashion brands. It would be identified with as for the affluent working women who held demanding jobs identified with it." Thus, it is no surprise that Miuccia herself took it upon herself to call her women's outfits as "uniforms."
photo (c) Ambrosiana Pictures from flickr
The logo for the label, the Prada silver-and black triangle, was not the main design element unlike other prominent luxury brands the likes of Louis Vuitton. And its appeal, including the apparel, were taken as "anti-status" or "reverse snobbery."
It suspended to merging and purchasing in 2000s, however, a loose agreement was signed in with Azzedine Alaia. Personal skin care products were introduced in the United States in October 2000 (a 30-day supply of cleansing lotion going for the retail price of $100 USD). To help pay off debts of over $850 million USD, the company planned on offering 30% of the company on the Milan Stock Exchange to the public on June 2001. However, the offering was slowed down after a decline in luxury goods spending in the United States and Japan. In 2001, under the pressure of his bankers, Bertelli also sold all of Prada's 25.5% share in Fendi to LVMH to help reduce Prada's debt. He raised only $295 million USD.
By 2006, the Helmut Lang, Amy Fairclough and Jil Sander labels were sold. Jil Sander was sold to the private equity firm Change Capital Partners, which is headed by Luc Vandevelde, the chairman of Carrefour, while the Helmut Lang label is now owned by Japanese fashion company Link Theory. Prada is still recovering from the Fendi debt. More recently, a 45% stake of the Church & Company brand has been sold to Equinox.
Fortune states that Betelli plans on increasing revenue for the House of Prada to $5 billion USD by 2010. Miuccia Prada history info (c) wikipedia.org
Japanese fashion designer kenzo takada
Kenzo Takada 高田賢三 was born 27 February 1939 in Himeji, Japan. He is a Japanese fashion designer. He is also the founder of Kenzo, a world-wide brand of perfumes, skincare products and clothes.
Kenzo Takada interview
Kenzo's love for fashion developed at an early age, particularly through reading his sisters' magazines. He shortly attended the University of Kobe, where he felt bored and eventually withdrew, against the will of his family . In 1958, he joined a fashion school, Tokyo's Bunka Fashion College, which had then just opened its doors to male students.
After earning his diploma, he settled in Paris in 1964. He was trying to gain a place in the fashion environment; attending shows, making contacts with the media and selling sketches.
Kenzo's first designs started because he could only afford to buy his fabrics from flea sales. most of these fabrics were scraps, the remains of grandmothers sewing baskets. As a result, Kenzo had to mix many bold fabrics together to make one garment.
Kenzo personaliza Havaiana no SPFW
Kenzo's success started in 1970: during this year he presented his first show at the Vivienne Gallery; his first store, "Jungle Jap" was opened; and one of his models appeared in the cover of ELLE. His collection was presented in New York and Tokyo in 1971. The next year, he won the Fashion Editor Club of Japan's prize. Kenzo proved his sense of dramatic appearance when, in 1978 and 1979, he held his shows in a circus tent, finishing with horsewomen performers wearing transparent uniforms and he himself riding an elephant.
His first men's collection was launched in 1983. In 1988, his women's perfume line began with Kenzo de Kenzo (now known as Ça Sent Beau), Parfum d'été, Le monde est beau and L'eau par Kenzo. Kenzo pour Homme was his first men's perfume (1991). FlowerbyKenzo, launched in 2000, has since become a flagship fragrance for the Kenzo Parfums brand. In 2001, a skincare line, KenzoKI was also launched.
Since 1993 the brand Kenzo is owned by the French luxury goods company LVMH.
Kenzo Takada announced his retirement in 1999, leaving his assistants in charge of his fashion house. In 2005, he reappeared as a decoration designer presenting "Gokan Kobo" ("workshop of the five senses"), a brand of tableware, home objects and furniture.
info (c) wikipedia.org
photo (c) Michell Zappa from flickr
badgley mischka dresses designers fashion label glamour
Badgley Mischka is also responsible for designing the second wedding dress worn by Kristin Davis as Charlotte York on Sex and the City.
The Badgley Mischka line is available at Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman and two boutiques in West Hollywood and Boston.
Badgley Mischka Spring Summer 2009 Womenswear Full Show.
Badgley Mischka is an American fashion label designed by Mark Badgley and James Mischka. Badgley & Mischka met at Parsons and found a common vision. The two launched the label Badgley Mischka in 1988, though their bridal business launched in 1993. Badgley and Mischka are partners in life and business. Their clothes have been worn by many celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Melissa Etheridge, and Tammy Lynn Michaels.
Badgley Mischka's looks are described as "red-carpet-destined evening wear" but generally produced with lighter fabrics and less construction. They are also known for fragrance, handbags, shoes and eyewear.
In September 2006, Badgley Mischka announced that Sharon Stone would replace Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as spokesperson. In August 2007, it was announced that Teri Hatcher will be in the Fall 2007 campaign.
info(c) wikipedia.org
photo (c) David Shankbone, "GNU Free Documentation License" from wiki.
alber elbaz lanvin designs
In 2007, Elbaz was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World.
On October 7, 2007 Alber Elbaz received a standing ovation for his Spring-Summer 2008 collection for Lanvin.
Lanvin Spring/ Summer 2009
lber Elbaz (born 1961) is an Israeli fashion designer.
Elbaz, an Israeli citizen, was born in Casablanca, Morocco. When he was 10 years old, Alber, two brothers, two sisters and their Jewish parents immigrated to Israel from Morocco. After mandatory military service in the Israeli Defence Forces, he studied at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design (as it is known today) in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israel, 1982-86.
In 1987, he moved to New York City, worked for two years for a manufacturer of mother-of-the-bride clothing. Eventually, he went on to work for Geoffrey Beene for seven years. He claims to have benefited appreciably from his time with Beene, influenced by Beene's rejection of trends and masterful drape and fit. "It was a very beautiful relationship... Our best dialogue was not in words," Elbaz has reminisced (Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune, May 24, 2005).
In 1997, Elbaz left Beene and, through retailer Dawn Mello, was hired by the firm of Guy Laroche. But, by the time of Elbaz's arrival, the Laroche enterprise had become overly conservative and lackluster. Even so, Elbaz was able to update the collection and somewhat enhance the image of the firm, whose activities at the time included the management of 15 boutiques and 70 license agreements worldwide. However, he departed within a year, 1998, and began designing ready-to-wear women's clothing for Yves Saint-Laurent, because Saint-Laurent himself wished to withdraw from his hands-on design of prêt-à-porter. In the position, Elbaz's talent was recognized, and he would have become the head designer of the house when Saint-Larent retired. This was not to happen because the Gucci Group purchased YSL Rive Gauche, the ready-to-wear label, and, hence, Gucci design director Tom Ford dismissed Elbaz after 3 collections.
Lanvin Spring/ Summer 2008
Elbaz then began working for Krizia in Italy and designed a well-received inaugural collection, but the circumstances were not to his liking.
After Krizia and in October 2001, he was appointed artistic director of Lanvin in Paris. Lanvin is the oldest extant fashion house worldwide, having been founded by Jeanne Lanvin, who began making dresses in 1909 and millinery earlier. In August 2001, the company had been purchased by investor group Harmonie S.A., led by Mrs. Shaw-Lan Wang, a Taiwanese media magnate, who hired Elbaz. 2006, Elbaz introduced new packaging for the fashion house, featuring a light forget-me-not blue color, a favorite shade which Lanvin purportedly had seen in a Fra Angelico fresco. There are shopping bags, imprinted with Paul Iribe's 1907 illustration of Lanvin and her daughter Marguerite, and new shoe boxes much like antique library files, tied with black ribbons, to emphasize the precious nature of the product.
Owing partially to the influence of Beene, Elbaz's wearable, simple and feminine clothing—similar to the sporty, casual character of Lanvin's 1920s outfits—has become embraced by the fashion press. "... Elbaz is every woman's darling. And that includes Nicole (as in Kidman), Kate (Moss), Chloé Sevigny, Sofia Coppola and a slew of rising movie names" (Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune, May 24, 2005). info (c) wikipedia.org
Lanvin Full Show Fall Winter 2007-2008
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