Burlesque artist Dita Von Teese has designed an eye mask for Moschino. The pink silk-satin eyemask is embellished with rhinestones, feathers and lace. It comes in a matching case. Proceeds from the masks will benefit amFAR, an AIDS charity. The mask retails for 120 Euros - about $165 U.S. - and can be purchased here.
The Daily Mailreports that swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker - the wife of US tennis star Andy Roddick - is the new face of of La Senza's Valentine lingerie. La Senza's website can be found here.
WWD reports that
Alice + Olivia is designing a limited edition line of sneakers for Keds.
Alice + Olivia founder Stacey Bendet created a version of Keds' classic Champion style inspired by her spring collection. Available in four colors -- black, silver, pale pink and safari green -- each slip-on shoe is adorned with colored sequins and retails for $88.
"I don't think I removed Keds from my feet as a kid," Bendet said. "I can't even count how many pairs I had. We decided to do a collaboration that would bring a little Alice + Olivia fun to the 2010 Keds Champion."
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The Alice + Olivia collaboration is the first step Keds is taking in repositioning itself as a modern, fashion-forward brand. It plans to partner with other designers and artists who "can bring their own unique vision and creativity to the iconic Champion silhouette," said Keds president Kristen Kohler Burrows.
The shoes are adorable and are just perfect for summer. The line will be called Alice + Olivia for Keds and will be sold at Neiman Marcus this spring. Later on, the line will be available at other retailers and at aliceandolivia.com.
This strange nightgown reacts to noise. When someone speaks near the nightgown it starts to lift up. There is the potential here for someone to create a sexy sound sensitive nightgown. Unfortunately, the person in the video has to yell at the nightgown to get it to move, which is not very romantic. Take a look:
Dvice says the dress was made with Flexinol, a shape memory alloy.
The Campbell Soup Company and Campbell red dresses were featured on last Thursday's episode of Project Runway. The red dresses help raise awareness and funds for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women movement. Campbell sponsored the Project Runway challenge as part of the company’s "AdDress Your Heart" campaign, which has enlisted top fashion designers for the last four years to create Campbell red dresses.
On the entertaining Project Runway episode designers were each asked to create Campbell red dresses. Heart disease survivors became runway models and served as inspiration for the competing designers. The winning designer was Amy Sarabi from Plano, Texas. Her silk red dress was worn by American Heart Association (AHA) ambassador Nadine Jenkins from East Orange, N.J.
Project Runway style consultant Tim Gunn said, "These women truly are role models and should be proud of all that they have accomplished in their fight against heart disease. They certainly 'make it work' on and off the runway."
Nadine Jenkins and Amy Sarabi will be joining Tim Gunn on the red carpet at the Woman's Day Red Dress Awards in New York City on February 10th, 2010. A limited edition replica of Sarabi's winning dress (pictured) is being sold here on ProjectRunway.com for $199. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the American Heart Association. The dress will also become part of the Campbell red dress collection joining creations by noted designers including Nicole Miller, Lisa Perry and Michael Vollbracht for Bill Blass.
Adidas called on Snoop Dogg to help launch its new line of Star Wars sportswear in New York City. Snoop Dogg was accompanied by Darth Vader and a large number of stormtroopers. He was wearing the Adidas Men's Star Wars Superstar Darth Vader Track Top, which retails for $85. Take a look:
The Adidas Star Wars collection also includes Star Wars shoes. You can see all the Star Wars sportswear items available here on the Adidas website.
Abercrombie & Fitch may have more problems than trying to sell expensive clothes to teenagers in a weak economy. The Wall Street Journalreports that some retail analysts think the brand's fashion is also stale.
Retail analysts said Abercrombie's troubles go beyond pricing to its once unerring sense of style, a problem that could be trickier to fix. The logo T-shirt and torn jeans ensemble that Abercrombie made the unofficial school uniform a decade ago has played out, said Kimberly Greenberger, a retail analyst with Citigroup Inc. who tours malls every two weeks to assess trends. That misstep has created an opening for lower-priced competitors such as Aeropostale Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc., which reported December sales gains of 10% and 7%, respectively.
"The look is stale," Ms. Greenberger said. "They need to figure out what the next hot trend is and push that, because that's the only way out of this downward spiral."
The Wall Street Journal article says sales at stores open at least a year for Abercrombie plunged 19% in December compared to the year before. Even its lowest priced brand, Hollister, suffered from plunging sales. Hollister's sales dropped 25% in December. The article says Abercrombie is making changes. Hollister has a new line of new dresses out for spring. The WSJ also says the CEO Michael S. Jeffries has personally taken control of selecting the company's new female clothing offerings.
We did notice a welcomed change recently when walking past an Abercrombie & Fitch store at the mall. There was no longer deafening music coming from inside the store. It is possible the store had simply blown out its speakers, but if it is really a change it is a good one. Unfortunately, the smell of cheap cologne coming from the store was still overwhelming.
WWDreports that the Modern Amusement fashion brand ceased operations last week. WWD says Nicole Castrogiovanni, vice president of sales at Modern Amusement, informed retailers in an email, "With regret, I am writing to inform you that Modern Amusement has ceased operations effective immediately. In light of prior management disputes, it is a difficult but necessary choice. Unfortunately, this is all the information we can provide at this time and we are unable to elaborate on all the details. This is deeply troubling for myself, Mossimo and the entire Modern Amusement family."
Modern Amusement's headquarters in Costa Mesa, California will be closed and spring apparel to any of the retailers that carry the brand, including Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. The company has not updated its Twitter account, @followthecrow, since last December. ApparelNews.net also has a story about Modern Amusement ceasing operations.
Hong Kong Fashion Week Fall/Winter was recently at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. On display were some very colorful collections. Do Do Leung and Dorian Ho from Hong Kong and Xie Feng and Guo Pei from mainland China were some of the best known local designers displaying their latest collections. The exhibit featured over 2,000 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions. Some of the international fashion brands attending this year's Hong Kong Fashion Week included London's Vivienne Westwood and Dutch menswear label OntFront. Take a look:
You can find more coverage of Hong Kong Fashion Week here, here and here.
In this behind the scenes video, we see Kellan Lutz at the photoshoot for his upcoming campaign for Calvin Klein X underwear. Kellan says he loves candy and had to cut it out to get in shape for the shoot. He talks about how much he loves the Twilight fans. They always ask him when he'll be shirtless in the film, so he says he hopes they'll like the campaign. Somehow, we think they will. Take a look:
Eva Longeria and her husband Tony Parker are back together for another London Fog campaign. The new campaign was shot by Nina Munoz at Milk Studios in Los Angeles. This time Eva is wearing a white London Fog trenchcoat. You can see the couple's first campaign here. The London Fog website also has behind-the-scenes video of the photoshoot.
The nominees for the 12th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards have been announced. The winners will be announced at the awards gala on Thursday, February 25th, 2010. Here are the nominees.
Excellence in Contemporary Film:
(500) Days of Summer - Hope Hanafin
Brüno - Jason Alper
Crazy Heart - Doug Hall
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Marina Draghici
Up in the Air - Danny Glicker
Excellence in Period Film:
Coco Before Chanel - Catherine Leterrier
Julie & Julia - Ann Roth
Nine - olleen Atwood
Sherlock Holmes - Jenny Beavan
The Young Victoria - Sandy Powell
Excellence in Fantasy Film:
Avatar - Mayes C. Rubeo & Deborah L. Scott
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Monique Prudhomme
Star Trek - Michael Kaplan
Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Miniseries:
Here's a peek behind the scenes at Beyonce's new commercial for Style Savvy, a new fashion video game for the portable Nintendo DSi. Beyonce talks about the shoot and why she likes the game so much. Take a look:
Mattel and the the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) are auctioning off Barbie dolls wearing little black dresses that have been designed by top fashion designers. The designers include Issac Mizrahi, Betsey Johnson, Rachel Roy, Justin Giunta, Lorraine Schwartz, Alex Bittar, Monica Botkier, Deborah Lloyd of Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Albertus Swanepoei, Philip Crangi and Devi Kroell. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the CFDA Foundation, Inc., a separate, not-for-profit company which was organized to raise funds for charitable initiatives and campaigns on behalf of the American fashion industry's designers.
The doll with the highest bid so far is the Lorraine Schwartz Barbie (pictured below), which has a high bid of $4,100. The Lorraine Schwartz Barbie contains real diamonds valued at $25,000. You can find all the designer Barbies here. The auction runs until February 7th.
The 45-year-old, nicknamed The Body, will preside over the reality show, in which 25 aspiring models compete for a modelling contract.
The series is a spin-off of the runway hit America's Next Top Model. Created and hosted by Tyra Banks, the show is about to start its 14th US series.
Macpherson's lingerie line previously featured in the show's photo shoots.
In a statement, Elle Macpherson said, "I am really enthusiastic and motivated to work with the team of Britain's Next Top Model. We are looking forward to finding the face that can represent the next generation."