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(09/13/07 2:44am)
NEW YORK – Zac Posen, with his handbag line, new fragrance deal and long list of sponsors for his show, certainly has an entrepreneurial spirit. It seems, though, he also admires the spirit of the pioneers.\nHis spring collection, presented Tuesday night to Demi Moore, Lucy Liu, Serena Williams, Martha Stewart, Sean “Diddy” Combs and hundreds of retailers, editors and stylists as part of New York Fashion Week, honored early American settlers and “their insistence on simplicity and craft.”\nIn his notes, Posen explained that inspiration came from “‘Days of Heaven’ (a 1978 farmland film), the Shakers, wheat fields of the Great Plains and the romance of the wide open sky.”\nBelieve it or not, “wheat” on the runway wasn’t the craziest thing at the Bryant Park tents over the past eight days of previews for next season. Posen interpreted it both literally – a minidress with a large bow and a gigantic crystal wheat brooch – and figuratively. Those results were much more wearable: a series of daytime khaki-colored outfits, including a trim pantsuit with a jacket that had oversized pockets and a belt around the waist, paired with a white tie-neck shirt.\nIn Posen’s world, pilgrims and pioneers also have occasions for fancier styles, such as a white cocktail dress with an oversized ruffled collar and pleated skirt – the pleats horizontal across the middle and vertical down to the hem – and a gown made of twisted ribbons that had tiers covering its full skirt and an exaggerated pouf on one shoulder.\nPosen somehow turned a tornado into a good thing, sending a silver breeze down the runway with a lot of draping, a swirl of fabric on the skirt and a haphazard feather burst on one shoulder. However, a ravine remained a dangerous place, somewhere that a gown, especially a fussy, asymmetrical, one-shoulder one, should go.\nThe final group of gowns came down the runway together, each representing a different kind of cloud. The Cirrus gown had a puff of blue and white fabric on its shoulder, the Cyclone had the puff around its middle – not a look many women are striving for.\nIt made for a dramatic photo but there really was only one, the slimmer and strappier Cumulus, that likely has any future in the real world.
(09/10/07 1:37am)
NEW YORK – Ralph Lauren took a well-deserved extended bow Saturday night as he presented and celebrated his 40th anniversary collection.\nLauren sauntered down the runway at a tent erected just outside the Conservatory Gardens in Manhattan’s Central Park to Frank Sinatra’s “The Best Is Yet To Come.” A crowd that included Sarah Jessica Parker, Martha Stewart, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters gave the designer a standing ovation. Fellow top-tier designers Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg and Vera Wang, who once worked for Lauren, also were at the black-tie event.\nThe theme of the spring collection, debuting during New York Fashion Week, was “a day at the races.” Some models wore oversized hats with garden-party dresses – one of the best being a pale-blue floral printed silk plisse gown with a halter neckline and ruffled jabot – while others wore menswear-style jackets, ascots and tailored trousers. Spatlike shoes completed the look.\nEven the jockeys were represented, with crystal-embellished jodhpurs, a yellow jersey dress with an equestrian print, and a bright pink equestrian-print taffeta jacket with splashes of blue, white, green and yellow, and a peplum at the hip.\nSpring ‘08 features more colors than Lauren has shown in years.\nThe clothes, however, were secondary to recognizing Lauren’s long tenure at the top of an industry always looking for the next big thing.\nLauren is one of the “nicest, warmest and loveliest” in the fashion world, said von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.\n“He is so successful because he lives his fantasy with such passion. I just love him,” she said.\nAfter the last gown – a slinky and stunning silver chain-beaded gown – disappeared from the runway and Lauren had his moment in the spotlight, the back wall opened to reveal an elegant and elaborate party set up in the Conservatory Garden. This was the first private event ever held at the Gardens by a third party.\nA sprawling fountain in the middle picked up the light from the dozen chandeliers hanging from arched arborways on the terrace and from the hundreds of candles on the tables.\n“Like a Henry James character, (Lauren) is the last true idealist about America’s imagination of itself,” said Harold Koda, curator at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “That makes him the greatest ambassador of American style.”
(08/22/07 3:41am)
It’s payback time for Sarah Jessica Parker.\nParker, famous for her fashion-maven character Carrie Bradshaw on HBO’s “Sex and the City,” says she wouldn’t have been so successful in that role– nor had such a wonderful wardrobe –if it weren’t for the everyday women living in cities, suburbia and beyond who were her most loyal fans.\nIt’s for them, Parker explains, that she has delved into a partnership with retailer Steve & Barry’s for the budget conscious collection Bitten. The 500-piece fall collection arrived in stores this month with a houndstooth coat, trench coat with fleece lining, henley-style sweaters and suit-style separates among the offerings. No piece costs more than $19.98 and the size range goes from 0 to 22.\nThis is the second season of garments; the summer collection debuted in June.\n“I’m really cognizant of the fact that I wouldn’t have these opportunities had I not spent a lot of time on a particular show. I wouldn’t have been a success without all the women who watched. They had a commitment to me for so long, I’d like to do something for them,” Parker tells the AP.\nWomen outside the chic surroundings of certain Manhattan neighborhoods – or similar areas of Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, for example – don’t always have access to clothes that are stylish, well-made and affordable. Bitten intends to bring all that to them and more.\nTrue, she says, she now can afford to buy designer clothes on a regular basis and simply replace them if they’re stained or out of style. But her instincts tell her it often makes no sense to do so.\n“I have the financial means to buy trendy things like sweaters and great cords, but, as a mother, when I get up to take my son to school in the morning what I need are these clothes, good basic clothes,” Parker, 42, says.\n“I still would like to pay a different price for something that is going to get paint or food on it. I like to be able to say to my son, `You can wipe your nose on my shirt.’”\nShe also says it was important to offer a full range of sizes, something you don’t see on high-fashion runways. “I don’t think it should be for us to decide what a plus-sized woman looks good in – she should decide.”\nPersonally, Parker has already taken the sheer V-neck, wool-blend sweaters, the gingham and plaid round yoke tops, ballet flats and corduroy pants – with a medium rise and double belt loops – from the fall collection for a test spin. She even wore a little bit of Bitten to a recent press event for her fragrance, Covet. “I was very proud to wear a Bitten belt to something that had a high-end fashion requirement.”\nWhen Steve & Barry’s, known more as a store of sweats and T-shirts, decided to get into the “fashion” market, Parker was the only name on the list, says Howard Schacter, the company’s chief partnership officer, who previously arranged deals with basketball player Stephon Marbury and golfer Bubba Watson.\nParker hadn’t heard of the company, according to Schacter, but she took its call seriously because she was interested in the brand’s mission to deliver quality within a certain price point. She then spent several hours in one of the stores, asking many more questions about fit, fabrics and manufacturing than Schacter expected. “She went with a team to look under the hood of Steve & Barry’s,” he says.\nHer interest in Bitten is “authentic and genuine,” he says, noting that she meets with designer director Irene Newman, several times a month. “This is not another `celebrity’ brand. This is a partnership. We would’ve hired her as a designer had she applied.”\nParker had previously been approached for more upscale deals but she did not think she had the expertise. Further, she thought doing them would be an insult to her fashion friends, such as designers Narciso Rodriguez and Alexander McQueen or “Sex and the City” stylist Patricia Field, if she pretended she could compete with them.
(04/19/07 4:00am)
NEW YORK – So many brides say they want to look like a princess on their wedding day – and now we’re about to find out if they mean really mean it.\nThe Walt Disney Co. has teamed with bridal designer Kirstie Kelly to create a collection of gowns inspired by favorite Disney princess characters: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel from “The Little Mermaid,” Belle from “Beauty and The Beast” and Jasmine from “Aladdin.”\nBut Kelly is quick to point out that “inspired by” doesn’t mean gowns that look like they came from the animated movies, which have been translated many times over into dress-up costumes for little girls. Instead, the designs attempt to channel the personality of each princess in terms suitable for a real-life, modern woman.\n“We wanted women to feel like they had something in common with these princesses. We had to identify who the princesses are now and who does the everyday girl relate to,” Kelly said during a telephone interview prior to the gowns’ runway debut Sunday during Bridal Fashion Week in Manhattan.\nA mood and fashion sensibility was assigned to each princess-themed gown: Cinderella is for the classic glamour bride; Sleeping Beauty is about pretty romance; Snow White is sweet elegance; Ariel is sultry allure; Belle is stylish sophistication; and Jasmine is bohemian chic.\n“It actually touches on every type of wedding,” explained Kelly, who also has her own bridal couture label. “For the destination wedding there’s Ariel or Jasmine, but if you’re having 500 people in a ballroom, you’re definitely the Cinderella gown.”\nWhen she got married several years ago, she would have gone for the Cinderella look, Kelly said, although now she would lean the slimmer shape, such as the Jasmine gown.\nAndy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products Worldwide, said that when the company began developing the marketing concept of the princesses six or seven years ago, the company discovered that the demographic wasn’t limited to the 2- to 8-year-olds Disney was expecting. “We’ve been blown away how strong the demand is for princess thematic things in almost every stage of a woman’s life,” he said.\nAdult women buy into a sort of lifestyle role play, he explained. As a brand, Disney has a built-in reputation for quality and trust, Mooney added, so it doesn’t start from scratch when it enters categories such as cruise travel, better furniture or wedding gowns.\nThe decision to go into the bridal market was largely made because of that princess dream so many brides talk about, Mooney said. “Every bride wants to be Cinderella, but she also wants to be classic, feminine and beautiful. Kirstie has allowed a woman to enter the princess fantasy but in a way that’s absolutely appropriate for the event.”\nPlus, 1,500 couples do say “I do” at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida each year.\nThe gowns will be sold at bridal salons. Kelly said Disney identified a void in the mid-tier level of gowns for brides who want to spend between $1,100-$3,400.\nWomen often start their gown shopping with the idea that they want to be different from everyone else, but they change their tune once they start trying on dresses. “Looking like Cinderella is probably something they never considered before they got engaged, but then the traditional side almost always comes out. It’s hard to resist romance and sparkle,” Kelly said.\nThat said, bridal retailers are always looking for the new thing that can help their store stand out – and that’s what gives Disney a good chance at the market, said Carley Roney, editor-in-chief of TheKnot.com.\n“As to consumers, the success of this line all depends on the dress design,” she said in an e-mail to the AP. “The Disney brand has a strong, positive, emotional meaning for a surprising number of people – consider the couples who choose to get married at Disney. But I see these ‘Disneyphiles’ as being a relatively small group. As to the women who have no real Disney brand loyalty, if the dress designs are strong enough, they will probably overlook the brand association.”\nRoney envisions suburban brides on the younger side as the target customer. And, while a lot of women toss around the words “fairytale” and “princess” about their weddings, she thinks they’re talking more of an ultra-luxurious celebrity wedding.\nBut Disney’s Mooney points out that a woman’s first impression of love often comes from an animated character and it’s hard to completely erase that from her mind. \n“If you think about who the first person who teaches you about love, romance and Prince Charming is, it probably happened between the ages of 2 and 5 and included Disney.”
(02/06/07 3:18pm)
NEW YORK -- When Rogan Gregory and Ali Hewson, the designers behind the fashion label Edun, took the stage at a cabaret-style nightclub Sunday night to present their fall collection, they said they didn't do things conventionally -- and they weren't kidding.\nInstead of a runway with super-thin, super-tall models as has been the norm at the other New York Fashion Week previews, independent-film stars Rain Phoenix and Zooey Deschanel, along with former soap star Ian Buchanan, a trapeze artist, a few tap dancers and a pregnant ballerina, wore Edun's Nature at Night collection as they performed a half-dozen song-and-dance routines.\nAll this while U2's Bono, Hewson's husband, cheered from the balcony.\nIt was hard to see the details of the clothes, but they were generally dark, loose, made of cotton and a perfect fit for the hip East Village neighborhood where the show was staged. There were subtle prints on some garments that stemmed "from the eerie essence of night in the Garden of Good and Evil," Gregory and Hewson said.\nThe overall message, however, was much clearer. One song was about global warming, another about a young man who made up every excuse in the book to avoid going into the military. A surprisingly catchy ditty about over-reliance on gasoline included the lyrics "Everywhere you smell it" and "It rules the world."\nGregory said that Edun's socially conscious clothes, including the use of organic fabric when available and bringing sustainable manufacturing to Third World countries, were at the "forefront of a groundswell," noting that green clothes -- as in eco-friendly, not the color -- are becoming a bona fide fashion trend.
(10/11/06 4:25am)
Ninety years and thousands of pairs shoes ago, a 16-year-old Italian cobbler named Salvatore Ferragamo came to Los Angeles hoping to find a little glamour.\nHe found a little and then created a lot more. So it seems fitting that the twin worlds of fame and fortune are honoring him this month on the Rodeo Walk of Style, one of the ritziest and most high-profile shopping streets in the world.\nFerragamo's plaque takes its place with those belonging to Tom Ford, Giorgio Armani, Edith Head, Mario Testino and a handful of others nearby a 14-foot sculpture called Torso by Robert Graham at the corner of one Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way, which award organizers describe as the intersection of fashion and film.\nFrom the early going of his career at the Hollywood Boot Shop, which he opened in 1923 just as studios began to turn out lavishly costumed films, Salvatore knew that the link between Ferragamo -- the man and the brand -- and celebrities would be one of the keys to success.\nHe courted and won over stars such as Lillian Gish, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo, and later Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Sofia Loren, with his creative styles and innovative wedge heel. The big names even followed him to his palazzo in Italy for shoe fittings once Salvatore returned in 1927 to be with his family and the fine craftsmen in his homeland.\n"When he went to America, he was very young," recalls his wife Wanda, still an officer at the company. "He started to design very fantastic shoes. The movie actresses and artists started to be enthusiastic about them. Because of that, we have a great legacy with the cinema."\nSalvatore's youngest son Massimo adds: "They loved his charm and his shoes, and he knew how to make shoes comfortable."\nFerragamo shoes first appeared on screen on Gish in "Way Down East" and on the feet of the entire cast of Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," and most recently were featured in "The Departed," "Miami Vice" and "The Devil Wears Prada." In between, Monroe wore them in "The Seven Year Itch" and Drew Barrymore's princess slippers in "Ever After" were made by Ferragamo.\nSalvatore's grandson James, who is now charged with the brand's handbag and leather goods division, says it's personal relationships with consumers that set the brand apart from others that might find themselves with an "it" item one minute only to be obsolete the next.\n"Our customer has an understanding of fashion, is sophisticated. It's not a customer who's driven by a bag that could become a fad. We want you to be able to carry it tomorrow."\nCould that be a jab at the trendy accessories that command huge prices yet are fashion relics even before they show up on the pages of US Weekly? Maybe, but James is too much of a Ferragamo to say.\nIn interviews, Wanda, James and Massimo, chairman of Ferragamo USA, come across as warm, likable and surprisingly unstuffy. Even in conversations about Ferragamo's celebrity ties, it doesn't feel like they're name-dropping. They speak fondly of longtime friends and leave the rest up to a written filmography and history to be considered later by a reporter.\nThey don't criticize competitors or pop culture.\nThe Ferragamos prefer to focus on the legacy left by Salvatore and the importance of construction and quality materials in their goods.\n"The spirit of my grandfather is part of any product we make today. He was always trying to do something unique, not trying to max out on a specific style or logo," James says. "In the archives, there are 10,000 shoes. You can see history: the use of other materials during World War II when they couldn't find any leather, the use of color, the innovation in construction. It was innovation that stemmed from the desire to create a product that's timely and timeless"
(10/04/06 3:01am)
NEW YORK -- Are models too thin? That's the question of the moment in fashion capitals across the world.\nNew York Fashion Week came and went last month with little talk on the issue, other than a few fashion-show regulars noting that they were seeing even more ribs and vertebra than usual.\nMeanwhile, Madrid banned ultra-thin models from appearing in its Fashion Week. The British culture secretary urged London to do the same, but organizers rejected her plea, saying that designers deserved creative control of their catwalk.\nIt was announced that in Milan, Italy, models will soon have to present a health certificate to appear on the runway, just like athletes need to do before playing competitive sports.\nCatwalkers -- now mostly an anonymous group of models since big names like Daria Werbowy, Carmen Kass and Karolina Kurkova seem to eschew the runway in favor of ad work -- are the primary target.\n"The place you tend to see very thin is the runway, and models on the runway tend to reflect trends in fashion design," says Katie Ford, CEO of Ford Models. After a parade of "womanly" models in the 1980s, "The counter-fashion trend in the '90s was grunge. That was a look that appealed to very young people. It was almost the opposite of womanly. The models were androgynous, very thin -- heroin chic, which ended pretty quickly because people rebelled against it -- but on the runway, some of that stayed on."\nWhile the debate over runway models has created lots of headline, runway modeling is only a small chunk of the business. Catalogs, advertising and magazine editorial pages spend far more money on models -- and they also are seen by a much bigger audience.\nThose models are still slimmer than most American women, but they are more likely to be fit.\nWitness some of the nation's most popular models, including Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum and Gisele Bundchen. They're all pop culture queens, and no one could say they look hanger thin, even though they're certainly slim and trim. "Womanly" superstars of the '80s and '90s -- Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and Christy Turlington -- are also still going strong.
(09/13/06 2:31am)
NEW YORK -- Spring fashion is beginning to take shape in the opening days of New York Fashion Week -- however loose that shape might be.\nFlirty frocks are mostly short with swinging hems. Some designers have gone so far as to describe a few dresses as "sacks" -- and stylists, editors and retailers have also used that word more than once.\nEyelet fabrics embrace the best of the season's lighthearted spirit, while the favorite colors are black and white with pops of brights instead of traditional warm-weather pastels.\nScores of designers, however, have yet to preview their lines before the shows wind up Friday, so there's room for other trends to show up on the catwalks.
(09/11/06 3:01am)
NEW YORK -- New York Fashion Week opened with more substance than style Friday.\nInstead of Kenneth Cole leading the seasonal previews as he usually does with his celebrity-packed show, menswear brands John Bartlett and Perry Ellis were the first to present their spring 2007 clothes in quiet, almost subdued runway shows, followed by BCBG Max Azria, which dotted its front row with starlets, including Carmen Electra and Kelly Rowland.\nMarc Bouwer then infused some glitz and more formfitting styles, but still there was nothing too fussy.\nThe clothes seen in the early shows Friday were mostly wearable -- no wild shapes, no big gimmicks, not much embellishment. However, it remains to be seen if these are the trends that will be carried through the full eight days of the designer previews, which run through Sept. 15.
(08/30/06 3:59am)
NEW YORK -- Jillian Dempsey studies the faces of the people on the red carpet at awards shows.\nShe's there because she's the wife of "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey. She's interested because she's a top makeup artist and the global creative color director for Avon.\nHer report from the Emmy Awards is "the eyes had it."\n"A lot of women wanted to concentrate on the drama on the eyes. Maybe because it was so hot. An intense lip might have melted," she said. Instead, the lips often had just a hint of color from a stain or not-too-gloopy gloss.\nDempsey said she saw a lot of stars wearing fake eyelashes - either full bands or individual lashes complemented by eyeliner.\nShe sat next to Ellen Pompeo and liked the way Pompeo handled her eye shadow with her purple-hued gown. \n"She had on soft purple liner under eye and a soft smoke on top," Dempsey reported. Purple will be a hot color for fall apparel, but Dempsey warns against overdoing it with makeup. She said the way to wear it is to have a light touch - either an almost sheer top layer over a neutral eyeshadow or lip gloss with just a slight purple tint.\nFor her own look, though, Dempsey wore a sheer coral shade that she just created for the spring 2007 collection. She predicts that moving through fall into spring, light- and natural-looking lips are the backstory to dramatic eyes.\nHairstylist Marc Anthony, who was working backstage at the Emmys, was a fan of Mariska Hargitay's extensions that created a sleek, sexy look - totally different from the loose, low bun that many stars wore.\nBut Anthony thought Katherine Heigl was "best tressed." She wore the bun, but Anthony said her side part and wavy bangs gave it a modern twist. "She's that stereotypical American beauty but surprises us with just how gorgeous she is every time she comes out on the red carpet," he said.\nThe hairdo can be achieved at home with large hot rollers held in place with light hairspray, said Anthony. When the hair cools, take out curlers and separate hair in the back from ear to ear. Twist the back into a bun or French twist. Create a side part with the remaining front. Gently pull and pin each side back to join the twist. Make sure to leave a gentle wave on each side to give it that retro look.\nBefore you walk out the door, Dempsey recommends snapping a quick digital photo of yourself to check your look -- whether you're a celebrity or not. It's a trick she uses whenever she's headed to a big event and one she'd suggest for women across the country to do anytime they're headed to a big event.\nBruce Grayson, head makeup artist for the Emmys, said stars also face a new challenge as the award-show broadcasts switch to high-definition TV.\nHDTV has an "infinitely sharper image," he said. "Skin doesn't look as good.\n"More people have been seeing the shows on an old standard monitor - which makes people look softer, more beautiful and it's more forgiving - but that's changing," added Grayson, who helped Olay launch its Definity moisturizers earlier this summer.\nThe filming technique is not going to revert back to the previous method, so people will have to adapt to the new one, he said. This probably will put more of an emphasis on skin care than all-over makeup such as foundation or even bronzer, both of which come out looking flat on HDTV.\nHe also said less is more for color cosmetics because they too are amplified.\nThese tips aren't only for celebrities: Grayson said that anyone using a high-definition video camera at home will see the same results.
(03/06/06 4:09am)
There's a new young fashion star in Hollywood. Keira Knightley wore a striking wine-colored, one-shoulder gown by Vera Wang to the Oscars Sunday night that hit the right balance between youthful funkiness and movie-star glamour.\nKnightley wore her strawberry blond hair in a loose ponytail, and she complemented the dress with a one-of-a-kind necklace with emeralds, rubies and diamonds from the Bulgari archives and gold sandals with multiple ankle straps by Jimmy Choo.\nHer makeup artist, Kate Lee, said she wanted to create an "iconic and classic" look for the 20-year-old. Lee said she used steel and charcoal Chanel eye colors but otherwise used a light touch to reflect Knightley's young age.\nMichelle Williams went the screen siren route in a marigold yellow chiffon gown with tulle pleats surrounding the V neck, which allowed her to show off a 19th-century diamond fringe necklace from Fred Leighton. Her hair was swept up in a 1930s style, and on her arm was Heath Ledger in a classic bow-tie tuxedo, down to the white pocketsquare.\nReese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe looked like a superstar couple _ she wore a gown with rows of silver beads and he was dressed in a three-piece suit with a black tie.\nFelicity Huffman wore a supersexy black gown by Zac Posen with a plunging V neck, keyhole back, sheer panels on the side and pleated bodice and hem.\nFor Rachel Weisz, who is 7 months pregnant, comfort was important in picking her long, slinky black gown with cap sleeves _ which also showed off significant cleavage. "My friend Narciso Rodriguez made me three dresses and I chose one this morning," she said. Her Chopard emerald-cut diamond demi-drop earrings had round white diamond studs.\nJessica Alba, who was caught by the cameras touching up her Dior lipgloss, chose a tight gold Versace halter gown with floral beading that she said "fit like a glove," and Jane Seymour was in a champagne satin halter gown with jeweled accents on the bodice by Pamella Roland.\nSandra Bullock and Amy Adams both wore strapless dresses _ and both actresses said they picked their gowns because they had pockets. Bullock's navy gown was by Angel Sanchez and Adams' chocolate brown gown with ribbon applique was by Carolina Herrera. Adams even borrowed Herrera's own aquamarine dangling earrings.\nCharlize Theron's forest-green, handpainted gown with a giant bow on the shoulder was designed by John Galliano for Christian Dior. She said the leather silk satin fabric was "insane." Jennifer Lopez was in a lighter green gown with a fitted bodice that laced up in the back like a corset.\nZiyi Zhang picked a Giorgio Armani gown fresh off the runway: a black scalloped seashell-shaped lace bustier with jet beading worn with a gray Swarovski crystal encrusted full crinoline skirt. Hilary Swank was in a sweetheart-style black strapless gown by Versace.\nJennifer Aniston was in a black tank gown by Rochas with a long train and a vintage platinum-and-diamond Bulgari necklace from the 1930s. Makeup artist Angela Levin, calling Aniston "a sun-kissed angel," emphasized her eyelashes with a not-yet-available Chanel mascara.\nNicole Kidman was in a cream-colored strapless gown with beautiful delicate embroidery, and Naomi Watts wore a nude-colored, one-shoulder gown with frayed fabric on the top by Givenchy. As the model in jeweler David Yurman's new ads, Watts' rose quartz-and-diamond earrings and a rose quartz ring were made especially for her.\nJennifer Garner wore a halter-style, hand-embroidered Michael Kors gown in nude-colored tulle featuring Swarovski crystals and sterling silver flowers.\nJada Pinkett Smith was in a bright blue strapless column gown by Roberto Cavalli. "I just wanted to be a little vibrant and a little sexy on the carpet," she said. Husband Will Smith chimed in, "That's my wife in the dress. It becomes difficult to notice the dress itself."\nSalma Hayek had on a slate blue gown, and her hair was long and loose.\nOne of the biggest misses of the night was Helena Bonham Carter. Her off-the-shoulder, tea-length blue satin gown was fine but her bed-head hair and clunky white shoes were not.\nOscar.com fashion analyst Tom Julian was a fan of Meryl Streep's plum V-neck gown with long sleeves that she wore with dangling earrings. Julian also noted that the shape of the Oscar gowns shifted to full skirts from the more formfitting styles at the award shows earlier in the season.\nAs for the men, George Clooney was trying to be sarcastic when he told E!'s Isaac Mizrahi "I'm very stylish," but he indeed was in his Armani two-button peak lapel tuxedo.\nAnd the directors of "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," Nick Park and Steve Box, wore oversized striped bow ties, which somehow seemed a perfect fit.\nThe Oscars were presented at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
(09/12/05 4:32am)
NEW YORK -- Tommy Hilfiger's spring 2006 collection incorporates many of his signatures: seersucker, madras, the American flag, and red, white and blue.\nBut as Hilfiger marked his 20th anniversary in fashion, he said there were many subtle tweaks to his newest designs. For example, the red is softer -- almost pink. The blue is lighter, and the white is more the color of sand.\n"We're reinventing the classics again," he said before sending a staggering 100 looks down the runway Friday night at New York Fashion Week.\nThe audience, which also watched a video retrospective of Hilfiger the man and Hilfiger the brand, included Paris Hilton, Jesse Metcalfe of "Desperate Housewives" and Jason Lewis ("Sex and the City"), a former Hilfiger model.\n"People in their 20s didn't grow up with madras, seersucker, oxfords and pique (cotton), so we're giving them a new way of their own to wear it," Hilfiger told The Associated Press.\nHis men's styles included a red silk linen three-button blazer with a red, white and green plaid shirt, a blue-and-white seersucker pant with nautical embroidered details, and a blue-and-white striped canvas jacket with a navy hood paired with a khaki knee-length short.\nFor women, he adapted menswear classics to fit a woman's curvy shape. A khaki blazer with shirting piping had a trendy shrunken shape, and a button-down "banker's shirt" had the wide stripes of a rugby shirt and was tied in a knot just above the waist.\nSome combinations seen on the runway might have appeared to be over the top, but Hilfiger is a showman. Many of the individual pieces, such as the full silk skirts, cable-knit sweaters and pants embroidered with beach creatures, will likely find a home in many closets.\nJohn Varvatos, named top menswear designer by the Council of Fashion Designers of America earlier this year, explained in his show notes that he was heavily influenced by utilitarian design.\nThat inspiration was most evident in an earthy peak-lapel "bus driver's jacket" shown with self-belt pants and a linen trench coat in a subtle camouflage pattern.\nBilly Delaino, senior market editor for the men's shopping magazine Cargo, particularly liked a distressed motorcycle vest worn over a white light cotton shirt with flight pants.\n"Varvatos captured the way men dress -- there were a lot of good pieces instead of a head-to-toe look. It's about dressing being easy," he said.\nDelaino said the menswear look for spring is classic American style with traditional pieces being worn in new ways.\nHe noted Kenneth Cole's use of a dark navy seersucker and DKNY Men's pairing of a worn-in leather jacket with a cardigan underneath and pinstriped trousers.\nFashion Week, which runs through Friday, now turns its focus to women's wear, with spring previews by designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren and singer Gwen Stefani.
