FashionAlbedo

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

ADDIS ABABA: Forget silk. Let's have sex on the runway, instead

And now that we have your attention... Picture this: Four shows held at the most exclusive hotel in town; ten of the most amazing dresses - (artistic and architectural feats in their own right); and, finally, 10,000 condoms?!!

Ethiopian social marketing group, DKT, in association with the Zalef Fine Art and Fashion Design Institute, are the brains behind the Condom Clothes Fashion Show, an event which aims to address Ethiopia's growing HIV/AIDS problem in the boldest way yet.
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What a load of Greenwash

You have to feel sorry for marketers. It's tough trying to place your company's product in an ameliorating light when you know the environmental impact of those same products may be more than your company's as a whole.

The situation reaches its peak in the apparel industry where cut-throat competition necessitates expert juggling of advertising, promotion and price - not to mention preoccupations with product quality, and how that can be made more appealing by way of the simplest methods, such as packaging, to more elaborate ones like celebrity endorsements.The fact that it's a tough industry out there is really no secret. What's more covert are some of the ways these companies attempt to lessen the pressure.
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Talley for Top Model

They first met backstage at an Yves Saint Laurent show when she was just 16, but that's not the only reason Vogue Editor-at-Large, Andre Leon Talley agreed to join the panel of judges for Tyra Banks's America's Next Top Model.

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Nicole Miller F/W 2010 SNEAK PEEK !!!

In the designer's own words, "runway show insanity is in full swing"...

Miller and her team

photos courtesy of NicoleMillerNYC

NEW YORK: Jenden makes his exit

Nathan Jenden, the mastermind creative director of Diane von Furstenberg, is making a bittersweet exit from the powerhouse label in order to focus on his own.

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Will Versace Make the Cut?

In the past year, we’ve been forced to bid adieu to major fashion houses as the recession swept through. But now, even the fate of the strongest appears to hang in the balance.

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Ports 1961 F/W 2010 Sneak Peek!!!

Tia Cibani and the Ports 1961 team are busy working their way to what promises to be a magical show, next Thursday.

Showroom

Toned down metallics and (myrtle?) greens; fall foliage anyone?

It wouldn't be Fall without knits, right?

Make-up testing

More to come on the 11th!

ARISE Africa Collective III

Culture and style magazine ARISE, will be showcasing pieces from yet another select group of African designers, as part of ARISE AFRICA COLLECTIVE PART III, during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Participating designers include Black Coffee, Loin Cloth, Ashes, and Deola Sagoe.

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The Fanny Pack Returns?

Fanny pack, bum bag, belt pack, hip sack - whatever you choose to call them - these chronically unfashionable bags have been one of the calling cards of loud, obnoxious American tourists for decades. Leave it to Marc Jacobs to make them fairly acceptable, though.

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Beauty Watch: Less isn't always more

Time to shake up the make-up. Fresh faces of last year have given way to more theatrical looks (and acts) on the runway...

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Marc Jacobs invites YOU to his F/W 2010 show

So you're not exactly guaranteed the seat next to Madam Wintour and, well, this posting is not something you should wave at security at the door. But you can still get an exclusive first-look at what promises to be an exciting collection online. Wow! Just like a real fashion journalist.

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Deviant Art

Forget the tattoo taboo! Chanel's got you covered when it comes to eye-catching accessories for your next (fashion-related) job interview...

Chanel is thinking ink. The fashion house has joined the movement of body art led by Rodarte and Jean Paul Gaultier last season, by launching a line of transfer tattoos for the shoulders, legs, and calves which are slated to arrive at Chanel boutiques by March 1^st.
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Luella S/S 2010 Couture

Luella’s S/S 2010 collection is a bit of a departure from the line’s usually monochromatic mad-hatter feminine brashness to simpler, more lady-like silhouettes hearkening back to the 1950s.

Models in topknots and oversized bows marched down the runway in delicate pastel dresses and lipstick red coats, but something looked a bit strange about them…

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Fashion Steps Forward

Already into the 2nd month of the New Year, Features Editor Daniella Cagol investigates how well Fashion is sticking to its resolutions - if at all.

Givenchy S/S 2010 Couture

Altogether, 2009 was a year of loss for the fashion industry. We saw the passing of several fashion icons; among them our favorite angel Farrah Fawcett, our King of Pop Michael Jackson, Gap co-founder Donald Fisher, and renowned Vogue photographer Irving Penn. In the midst of the worst financial debacle since 1929's Great Depression, we also witnessed the demise of Christian Lacroix and the fall of Luella Bartley.

But with the end of a year so bleak and yet another season fast approaching (Feb is the month of fashion weeks, after all), is the industry ready to pick up its heels and start strutting to a new beat? Throwing out (or perhaps you’re one to hold on to the past) your Louis Vuitton agenda fillers and replacing them with new ones is bound to get any fashionista ready to buy her ‘new year shoes’, her ‘new year bag’ and of course, to pile on that ‘new year attitude’ as thick as the British girls do with hot pink blush. But 2010 is nothing to blush about.

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AMSTERDAM: OntFront F/W 2010

Designers Liza Koifman and Tomas Overtoom continue Ontfront's burgeoning tradition of crafting a line of menswear that calls for a little swish in the step.

These are not overly complicated, overly thought-out pieces. They are, instead, very wearable, following that eminent principle of keeping things sleekly contemporary.
But what does contemporary mean? That overly used trope of fashion journalism that is eminently interchangeable with 'urban'. Does that particular phraseology evoke something acutely reminiscent of our times? In Ontfront's case, I believe it does.

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Emma Watson for PeopleTree

Emma Watson has been a very busy girl lately. Not only is she filming the last part of the Harry Potter series and assuming her responsibilities as the new face of Burberry and Chanel, but she’s just launched a new fair-trade, organic line for the UK based online retailer People Tree.

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PARIS: Ode to Avatar

Avatar is arguably one of the most influential films of our generation. Naturally, always quick on the uptake of trends, the fashion industry is already showing the effects of Cameron’s masterpiece...