Weekly Fashion News Roundup #1

Is Elton John helping Tamara Mellon to sell Jimmy Choo?

It was only announced a fortnight ago that Jimmy Choo owner Tamara Mellon is preparing to sell the label worth a staggering £500 million. So when we got the information that Elton John’s AIDS Foundations is honoring Tamara Mellon on this year’s Enduring Vision Gala event on October 18^th we started to wonder – is Elton John on the hunt for every-fashionista-must-have shoes? Well Mellon will receive the Enduring Vision award for her support of John’s organization in both Us and UK. And we are also sure Elton also loves Jimmy Choos!

Bulgari's inappropriate Venice conquest

A gigantic billboard from the newest Bulgari ad campaign showing American actress Julianne Moore is banned from Venice. According to Venice’s mayor Giorgio Orsoni the as showing a nude woman covered only by lions and a huge bag is not appropriate for St Mark’s Square. Apparently the ads made for Times Square are not necessarily good enough for Venice.

Lohan is back with first post-jail/post-rehab cover

Lindsey Lohan is gracing the cover of Vanity Fair, giving the magazine her first post-prison interview. As predicted she is back, let's just see if she will cash-in in a Moss style.

Is Dior a racist?

Dior's latest "Shanghai Dreamers" campaign is raising eyebrows around the world. Images shot by Chinese artist Quentin Shih feature rows of identical (digitally reproduced) Chinese men and women dressed in 1960s and 70s Cultural Revolution style ... among them is a single tall Western model dressed chic ... in Dior of course.

Is this just another lame full of stereotypes or could this be art? The choice is, as always, in the viewers eyes. My opinion though is that this certainly reflects an imperialistic view on the matter ... especially now when the roles of imperialistic West are often reversed ... let the East prevail for once.

H&M 2010 collaborations - Carolina Herrera and Tomas Maier

Alert all fashionistas! H&M will officially announce its next designer collaboration on September 9, 

but there already are rumors - Carolina Herrera and/or Tomas Maier (creative director of Bottega Veneta).

So let's wait and see, surely we will post the news when it gets officially confirmed by the Swedish superstore.

Istanbul fashion week with The Supermodel!

Ale Takes on Turkey

Istanbul Fashion Week 2010 is not exactly on top of our minds when we think of fashion. It is not as renowned as New York, Paris, Milan ... well not yet! However this year the event took a step up and invited some noted fashion people into it. Editors and fashion journalists flew to Turkey to experience latest creations from a place where the East meets the West ... and there they saw some great model moments to report about! Alessandra Ambrosio flew to Istanbul last week for a packed week of promos, interviews and of course the catwalk - opening the Koton show, attending the after party and shooting the brand's new swim-wear campaign. With booking models like that, the future of this fashion week is more than bright.

Check for more details of the 3rd Istanbul Fashion Week 2010 here.

Airbrushing is IN

It seems crazy to see Kate Moss in the last ad for the 2010/2011 advertising campaign for David Yurman's jewellery ... is it just me or is this one great airbrush?

New ambassadors for Japanese Zara

Japanese fast-fashion brand Uniqlo just announced two of their newest global brand ambassadors for thier "Made for all" philosophy - Charlize Theron and Orlando Bloom. Their contract is a year long and includes their presence in Uniqlo's worldwide ad campaigns, which focuses in communicating company's commitment to provide clothing for everyone, regardless of nationality, age, race, gender or occupation. First ads should appear in a month, so let's wait and see.

She is out in fashion!

She changed her orange prison jumpsuit and rehab pajama for a more stylish look after being discharged this week. In a true Young Hollywood way she announced her own fashion line 6126. Remember the Kate Moss cocaine sniffing scandal? And how we thought she is finished? Well it seems the story continues, this time with Lohan ... lets just see how she will cash in her prison/rehab days!

Istanbul welcomes Fashion week 2010

September is almost here and we all know what that means - Fashion weeks!! Before the big ones start in September, let's take a look at one of the youngest and fastest growing Fashion week events.

The 3rd Annual Fashion Week Istanbul was opened yesterday as a part of the European Capital of Culture 2010 activities. This year's festival will feature 21 catwalk shows, where Turkish designers present Spring/Summer 2011 collections for 6 brands. The event has a special importance for Turkish textile industry (Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporter Associations (IHKIB) is also one of the organizers of the event) and Turkish fashion community. In the last couple of years Turkey invested substantially into becoming a country that creates and designs fashion, going beyond the previous podium of being mainly a textile producer. Turkish apparel exports currently stands on 15 billion USD annually. With events such as Istanbul Fashion Week the IHKIB projects to reach up to 60 billion USD by the year 2023.

A four-day event is expected to welcome up to 40.000 visitors, including over 500 from abroad, editors of international fashion magazines and representatives of biggest fashion houses.

In love with Russia

Cindy Crawford is one of the original supermodels from so-called golden era of 80s in 90s. Along the runways and fashion campaigns for all the major fashion brands from Gianni Versace, Escada to Revlon, she holds ubiquitous presence on magazine covers – gracing covers of Vogue, W, People, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Allure. According to the count done in 1998 she made over 400 of such appearances. 

Today she is old enough to be the mother of the latest bunch of supermodels, walking on the hot catwalks – but she still shows her ability to sizzle all of the younger ones out as she makes the latest comeback in front of the fashion cameras! The 44-year old beauty queen returns with the series of sexy and sassy shots for Moscow’s department store TSUM and its Autumn/Winter collection. Wearing pieces from Stella McCartney, D&G, Giorgio Armani and skyscraping heels from Christian Louboutin, Cindy shows she still has it.

Check the photos and be the judge yourself!

Copywrite: Daily Mail

Looking fabulous in the rain

It was love at first sight back in the end of July when I first saw these rain boots from Valentino in its Venice flag store. I usually like it straight away or not at all, but these boots are more fab every time I see them. So when the rain caught me last night going home from the evening of laughter and sweet corn of Trnfest, I just couldn't help myself to think how cool it would be to have them. It seems like every fashion house is coming out with a fashionable rain boots these season. I suppose they are looking at it as taking a mundane accessory to the next level. I still look at rain boots more for their function more than for their fashion, but I admire this new chic rain boot trend. So Valentino created these Lace rain boots for the late summer rainy days and nights. I adore the delicate vintage-like lace pattern, which almost feels like utilitarian style of dressing up. It combines two of the trends - lace and military, but this time in a very chic way. I only think if paying almost 180 euros is appropriate for something you use to jump over puddles?  Well, my answer is yes, if it goes for fashion. Though in the copy-pasting era I am sure we will soon find a cheaper version. Will keep you posted!

Love them or hate them, they are a must for this season. 

This autumn is all about investment pieces!

Even though the fall fashion 2010 has been announced months ago, I thought it would be great to make a fast overview of what will be in this autumn. Just so we get ready before September starts! Once again we can say that designers have juggled between commercially pleasant ideas and creating great classics – so-called investment pieces of clothes like camel-hair coats, well-cut blazers and trousers, which should be easy, elegant and by all flattering! There will be fur sprouting from collars, hips and even tops of our feet. And we should not forget the chunky thigh-high tights!

Copy-pasting is completely out, but you might be happy to hear a quote from Coco Chanel: “Imitation is the highest form of flattery!” This certainly doesn’t mean copy what you see. At least make sure you have a piece on you that perfectly reflects your unique personality!

Let’s go through some of the top trends:

Aviator jackets: if you buy only one jacket this season, make sure it is an aviator one! It should be a simple leather biker jacket, but it should also have added cool of shearing collar.

Copyright: Glamour 

All in white: while it is still warm white is a must. If you cannot see yourself in all white, make sure you at least have a white shirt on. For a more relaxed look roll up the sleeves and combine it with camel trousers!

Copyright: Glamour 

Jumpsuits: they were all over in the summer, celebrities are crazy for them. Yes, they are officially back, so if you go for the Studio 54 glam look of a sophisticated version, just make sure you have at least a pair in you closet.

Copyright: Glamour 

Chunky knits: go for super comfortable of knits you can find around. Layer it up with grungy sweaters, oversize scarves, a hat and woollen skirts! If you like Nordic patters – well they made an official comeback!

Copyright: Glamour