Versace 10th anniversary

Milan paid tribute to Gianni Versace, one of most famous fashion designers. People mark the 10th anniversary of his death last night.
Last night members of the Versace family joined celebrities and politicians at a gala evening of ballet at La Scala, the opera house, to mark the designer's love of the theatre. The event featured a new ballet, Thanks Gianni, With Love, by the French choreographer, Maurice B�jart, 80.
Donatella Versace, the designer's sister, arrived with her daughter Allegra, 20, who earlier this year it was revealed had been suffering from anorexia for many years.
Other guests included the actors Jessica Alba and Rupert Everett, the Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, and models Naomi Campbell - wearing a vintage Versace gown - and Claudia Schiffer.
Exotic costumes were displayed from Versace's stage archive, as well as a new ballet wardrobe by Donatella, who became creative director of the fashion empire.

True Religion opens new branded store in Houston

True Religion Apparel Inc announced it has opened its newest branded store at The Galleria in Houston. Located in Houston, the new True Religion store will feature 1,508 square feet of retail space and offer shoppers the entire True Religion line of clothing and accessories.
We are extremely pleased with the reception of our stores thus far, said Jeff Lubell, chief executive officer of True Religion Apparel, Inc. With seven full price stores and two outlets, we now have a greater opportunity to offer our customers the expanding line of denim, denim-related apparel and our entire collection of licensed products.
As the fourth largest mall nationwide spanning 2.4 million square feet of retail space and featuring some of the finest names in American and European retailers, The Galleria is the ideal fit for us to showcase the True Religion brand,” said Michael Buckley, president. “In addition, our retail stores are largely incremental to our wholesale business and provide us with enviable financial metrics and greater control of our growth potential
The Galleria is the southwest's premier shopping center and houses a collection of more than 375 stores and restaurants featuring retailers such as Cartier, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nieman Marcus, Nordstrom, Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co., along with an indoor ice rink, two hotels and three office towers. Attracting more than 24 million shoppers annually, The Galleria is the preferred shopping destination of the greater Houston area as well as visitors from around the world.

Kimberly Bardill wins t-shirt design contest

After receiving more than 2,500 original entries from throughout the country, J. Jill announced the top 10 finalists in its second annual "Nature of Compassion" t-shirt design contest benefiting poor and homeless women.
Starting July 16 through July 31, 2007, the public can view the 10 designs and vote for their favorite when visiting any J. Jill store or logging.
Long known for celebrating fashion's artistic origins, J. Jill established the "Nature of Compassion" contest in 2006 as a way to showcase original works of art, pay homage to nature's ever changing beauty and help women in need through its Compassion Fund, a donor-advised fund of the Boston Foundation.
Each year, entrants are asked to submit original artwork depicting inspirational elements of nature. Here are the 10 finalists in the 2007 "Nature of Compassion" contest:

Kimberly Bardill - Wilmington, North Carolina

Susan Handly - St. Helena, California

Busha Husak - Malden, Massachusetts

Anita Gildea - Fort Wayne, Indiana

Paulina Manzo - Niskayuna, New York

Frances McCloskey - Belmar, New Jersey

Carrie Ralston - Wanaque, New Jersey

Jennifer Reagles - Middleton, Wisconsin

Toby Reed - Newton, Massachusetts

Jamie Wyant - Salem, Oregon

Once the voting is completed, J. Jill will produce a limited-edition t-shirt featuring the winning design. The long-sleeve cotton tee will retail for $24.50 and J. Jill will donate 100% of the profits to its J. Jill Compassion Fund, which supports community-based organizations helping poor and homeless women become self-sufficient.
This exclusive tee will be offered in J. Jill stores, catalog and online in November through the '07 holiday season.
The winning designer will receive an artistic getaway for herself and a friend to Artista Creative Safaris for Women in Carmel-By-The-Sea, California.

Harry Collins - Queen's new official jeweler

Harry Collins will remember July 21 forever as the day his dream came true!! This will the day when he will finally be named as official jeweler of the blue blooded Family of UK.
Collins would be taking care of and managing the crown's jewels along with Queen's personal pool of jewelry.
Harry makes his living by a family-owned antique and modern jewellery business at Tunbridge Wells, on London's outskirts. However, he would travel once a week to Buckingham Palace to have a look at the Queen's collection of priceless tiaras, necklaces and brooches, so as to recommend any further variations.
The honored jeweler had worked with the Queen for a short time as a special designer.
Insiders reveal that time for a change was felt by Royals, taking away Garrard from the age old bond.

Ansell adds PawGard gloves to Polar Bear Safety Gear line

New PawGard gloves are the latest addition to Ansell's line of Polar Bear Safety Gear. They allow workers to perform most knifehand and some offhand applications with the highest level of cut resistance in the ASTM-ISEA standard.
PawGard gloves are designed for beef, pork, poultry, seafood, vegetable and fruit processing applications. When combined with Ansell's new Sol-Vex Blu nitrile gloves, PawGard gloves complete an ensemble that is both cut and chemical resistant.
"The yarn used in PawGard gloves is made up of multiple strands of Spectra and other hi-tech fibers to a high level of cut resistance," said Bill Bennett, Business Development Manager of Food Service and Food Processing Markets at Ansell. "This glove is just the latest addition to one of the industry's most recognizable brand names for cut-resistant gloves."
The gloves feature an extended cuff for extra cut protection around the sensitive wrist area. The product is shrink resistant and equipped with Ansell's exclusive TUFF-CUFF II technology that dramatically reduces cuff blowout even after multiple bleach launderings. PawGard gloves are available in white or gray colors and range from size 6 to 10.

Perfect the art of daytime dressing and you'll stand out at the most picturesque racecourse in the country, says Hilary Alexander

Top tips: a day at the races

Last month's Royal Ascot was a case in point, as styles on display veered from the rude to the ridiculous. Some ladies wore hats clearly designed by a blind milliner; others turned up in absurd headpieces that invited derision, not admiration.
I spotted girls in flip-flops and shorts who looked as if they were on their way to the beach, and women in backless and semi-frontless dresses who could have been making their way home from a nightclub.
Finding the truly stylish was like looking for needles in the haystack-hairdos of some of the hat-less guests.
Why dressing for a day at the races should be such a nightmare is a mystery.
The next major meeting on the social calendar is Glorious Goodwood, from July 31 to August 4. Sitting atop the Sussex Downs, it is a beautiful racecourse, often described as one of the most picturesque in the world.
The white stands, tented pavilions, green lawns and beautiful views create a real feeling of being in the country, the sort of landscape that had Constable racing to capture it on canvas.
Edward VII described it as "a garden party with racing tacked on". And ever since he swapped formal morning dress for a linen suit and Panama hat, Glorious Goodwood has become synonymous with English summer fashion.
Today, this translates as pretty frocks rather than formal, tailored skirt-suits; Goodwood is dressy, but not as dressed up as Ascot.
Think tea-dresses, printed silk shifts, retro style halter-neck dresses with full skirts and floral patterned drop-waists.
Whatever style of dress you choose, make sure that it looks right for the daytime.
Goodwood is not a cocktail party, a dinner dance or a bop in a bar with a trendy DJ.
You can bare shoulders - but don't go as far as Zara Phillips did last year when she wore a tight-fitting boob-tube; have a shrug or pashmina handy in case the temperature drops, and slip a little brolly in your bag.
The crowning glory of your outfit may well be a hat, so choose it with care, taking into account our top tips from six leading milliners. And, if you plan on wearing heels, prepare to tread cautiously - the terrain and decking areas can be tricky for stilettos.
Jasper Conran "Wear your hat; don't let your hat wear you. If the hat's busy, keep the outfit simple. Don't ever do bouffant hair with a big hat. Likewise, don't ever do bouffant hair with a small hat - sleek and simple is always best."

For the best content online, visit www.telegraph.co.uk

The stakes could not be higher for Apple.

This is not a good time to be in a deckchair on a pavement on Fifth Avenue next to Central Park. It's hot and disgustingly muggy, and when you are not sitting in a pool of sweat you are being drenched by torrential rain accompanied by flashes of lightning.
The conditions in New York are so extreme they are almost biblical, which is appropriate because the people gathered on the pavement are here on the 21st century equivalent of a pilgrimage. Take Greg Packer, first in the queue. He has been sitting on the same spot since 5am on Monday.
The "it" is the iPhone, the latest offering from that sanctuary of techno-worship, Apple. Wags on the blogosphere have dubbed it the jesusPhone, and they are only half joking.
The iPhone went on sale at 6pm yesterday in New York and selected outlets across the US, including the Fifth Avenue Apple Store outside which Mr Packer and dozens more are camping.
So ubiquitous has Apple's marketing of the product been over the past six months, with tens of thousands of articles written and millions of internet hits, that six out of 10 Americans surveyed said they knew it was coming (compare that with the two out of 10 Americans who can locate Israel on a map).
Steven Levy, author of the history of the iPod, The Perfect Thing, says Mr Jobs's reputation hangs on the next few months. "He is the face of the iPhone. He has been out there pushing it in a way that he has never done with any other product."
Jobs called the iPhone "revolutionary" when he announced it earlier this year.
Part of its potential attraction is that it pulls functions performed by many different gadgets together into one neat package.
It combines the capabilities of a video-playing iPod with a high-end mobile phone which can take photos, process email like a BlackBerry and surf the internet.
For the first time, full web pages can be displayed, and manipulated with ease on the iPhone's glass display by scrolling with a finger. Another first is that the buttonless, keyboardless screen can pick up more than one instruction at the same time, allowing users to zoom in or out of pictures or web pages simply by stretching or closing the thumb and forefinger.
Reviewers have had gripes. They are divided by the new form of typing by touch rather than key (the Wall Street Journal loved it, the Times did not), and they are not impressed by the fact that the iPhone is not 3G, the most advanced form of communications, but depends on wireless access where available or on a very sleepy service from AT&T.
But initial reactions appear to be that the gizmo is sleek, gorgeous, and easily useable. It has found the holy grail that has until now proved to be so elusive: a mobile device that brings together all forms of digital communications - internet, email, music, videos, phone - and makes them pleasurable to experience.
"This is the next step in convergence," said Ryan Block, editor of web magazine Engadget.com. "It is taking what is already out there and making it useable for ordinary human beings."
That has always been the strength of Apple: it combines marketing brilliance with design beauty and technical functionality so seamlessly that you can hardly tell where the style ends and the substance begins.
And the pilgrims love it.
Vincent Nguyen, number 11 in the Fifth Avenue line, took the red-eye flight from Arizona on Tuesday night to be here. He runs a website called myiTablet.com. "I screamed like a little girl when they announced the iPhone," he says. "I haven't slept properly ever since. I'm hoping on Saturday I'll finally find some peace."

How it measures up

Apple iPhone

Finger-based touchscreen non-3G phone with a 2 megapixel camera, and up to 8GB of memory, which means it is able to hold 2,000 songs. Can read some email, has iPod functions and costs $599 with a phone contract for the higher specification model.

Nokia N95

Flagship handset from the Finnish mobile giant is available for free if you sign up for a contract. It is the market heavyweight, carrying a 5 megapixel camera, music player, 3G and wireless internet, as well as built-in satellite positioning. Memory is small but expandable, and there is no touchscreen.

BlackBerry

Popular device focused on email on the go: top of the range 8800 packs a punch, with instant messaging and GPS (satellite navigation) - but it doesn't have Wi-Fi or a camera, and the full keyboard makes it hard on the eye. More aesthetically pleasing models, such as the BlackBerry Pearl and Curve, are available but are less powerful.

Ed Pilkington in New York and Bobbie Johnson

Saturday June 30, 2007

The Guardian

Fresh Fashion 'end-of-season-sale' at Pantaloons, India

Pantaloons Fresh Fashion, India's leading fashion retailer has announced its 'end-of-season-sale' for consumers commenced on July 12, 2007.
The Pantaloons end-of-season-sale promises discounts of up to 50% on all the major categories such as men's formal, casual & sportswear; women's ethnic & western wear; kids wear, infant wear and accessories.
The sale is on at Pantaloon Fresh Fashion stores in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot, Surat, Indore, Agra, Delhi (NCR), Hyderabad & Bangalore stores.
The sale at Pantaloons stores has something for everyone. The Pantaloons End-of-season-Sale offers discounts on all large categories like apparel and accessories for all kinds of customers. Also it offers products on discounts for all age groups including kids and infants.
Some of the popular brands on sale are - John Miller, Lombard, Urbana, Scullers, RIG, UMM, BARE Denim, BARE Leisure, JM Sport, Ajile, Annabelle, Honey, Akkriti, Chalk, BARE 7214, etc.
Said Mr. Sanjeev Agrawal, CEO, Pantaloons, Pantaloons Fresh Fashion is truly committed to providing consumers, fashionable apparel and accessories. It has been our constant endeavour to refresh the apparel and accessories collection for our customers. The end-of-season-sale is a great platform, which helps us reach out to larger set of consumers.

Armani, with attitude

By Suzy Menkes
It began with Giorgio Armani's "Rock Symphony" and ended at midnight Wednesday with a barefoot Courtney Love in a Givenchy couture gown belting out "Samantha" until even the wrought iron banisters of the august Paris fashion house were shaking.
So the haute couture autumn/winter season rocked? Not exactly. Although the former model Claudia Schiffer dressed as a "Libertine" as seen through the lens of Karl Lagerfeld - the image unveiled at a party awash in Dom Perignon Champagne - did suggest the rock-the-baroque scenario of Sofia Coppola's movie "Marie Antoinette."
But parties with a decadent glamour are nothing new for couture, especially in a season with so many landmark celebrations. The surprise was to find a new vision from the maestro of Milan: Armani with attitude.
Citing his muse as David Bowie and switching from beige to shocking pink, Armani Prive challenged pre-conceptions about the designer. And although a lot looked forced (think pink - and more pink) the show had an energy and dynamism you don't get from ladylike couture.
"Soft rock," said Armani. "I thought about the women of today - a lot has changed in the world even for the wealthy. And women who may be old still want to dress young. I am designing for a woman who wants to be assertive."
You would certainly be noticed in a shawl made up of a tangle of pink and blue plumes, a pink feather coat, a bright orange bolero with ballooning, frilled sleeves and what Armani called "crinoline rock." That was a strapless dress with an egg-shaped skirt, split to one side to show off boots and recalling some of Gianni Versace's wilder creations.
But since Armani Prive has built a serious client list, the partygoers did not need to take all the hoopla too seriously. It was as if a rock band in full swing was trying to drown out the bass notes.
But those were there in the collection: a lean tuxedo, fancied up with a shocking pink shirt and one of the crumpled mini fedoras, which had a rakish charm. Then there were the opening daytime outfits that seemed eons away from glam rock, with their small jackets, deep belts and full, girlish skirts. They too came in colors, but including an inky ikat blue.
For those who wanted impeccable evening wear, silver came up as the new neutral shade and the line was slender, nipped in at the waist.
The general feeling was that Armani was testing himself, trying to break out of his own shell, rather than seeing the 60-piece collection as a wild departure from his signature style. Often the funky pieces were accessories: a single fingerless, studded glove; an egg-shaped clutch bag in vivid pink; glitter bootees; and those multicolored shawls that the designer has tinkered with in ready-to-wear.
It didn't make for a cohesive vision. But the front row guest Cate Blanchett got the show.
"It was fanstastic - so rock," she said, picking out for the red carpet a black gown with a swoosh of chartreuse taffeta. "And God is in the details - I loved the shoes."
Suzy Menkes is fashion editor at the International Herald Tribune.

Paris Fashion: The jewelers of Place Vendome get in on the act

By Suzy Menkes
With rose-red rubies dangling in the trumpet of a flower and sapphire petals spreading over diamond branches, the "Catherine" necklace from Boucheron opened up its garden of earthly delights.
This nature-inspired collection was part of a general botanical jewelry theme that sprouted as the jewelers of Place Vendome opened their doors for the haute couture season.
Haute Joallerie, as the French call it, is living up to its rarefied name now that the hedge fund managers and oligarch's wives are zoning on jewelry.
As befits their big ticket prices, these floral classics of the industry now come in eye-popping sizes with a sculptural three-dimensional effect.
Boucheron's "Fleur Fatale" has a femme fatale allure, with trembling branches of stones and diamond serpents emerging from abundant nature.
Many of these flamboyant pieces can also be un-clipped to produce a smaller brooch or pin. Shown in the salon against boxwood greenery and mesh fencing, the collection also has a more approachable side, with a tiny owl on a chain and gold grapes.
Chanel's camellia is the house signature, but shown in a scenario of a crystal cherry blossom tree, the diamond tracery of the flower took on a new dimension. So did the classic 1930s feather, its whiskers of brilliant-cut diamonds buried in the tail of a white peacock.
The jewels - including the bold J12 watch - were shown in Coco Chanel's personal apartment at the Ritz hotel, decked out for the presentation with Mademoiselle's own objects, like a camellia-patterned fan and two sculptures of deer. In the autumn, the Chanel jewelry store on Place Vendome will be renovated to showcase a collection that is still rooted in the 1930s comet pieces that Coco designed but also contains imaginative new pieces.
For Van Cleef & Arpels, flowers are always in fashion and the big crowd that showed up for the open house evening gawped over both the big pieces and some of the charming additions to the sweet Alhambra range, including mother-of-pearl butterflies.
De Grisogono, famous for its black diamonds, went green. But that meant a selection of emerald jewels in exceptional mixes of cuts, from briolettes to pave work, so that the jewels looked like haute gravel on a bracelet or like stamen heads at the center of a floral ring. Also in this garden, a diamond serpent bracelet with emerald eyes.
Dior had bouquets of multi-colored flowers in its Diorette collection, where lacquered surfaces gleamed on the nestling blooms.
Chaumet's world was sea blue at its merry summer celebration, where the courtyard of its Place Vendome store had a mock swimming pool - the better to make a big splash with its new version of its iconic diving watch. The Class One 39 MM has a Mediterranean blue face washed over with white diamonds while the face of the Haute Joaillerie version is a foaming surf of pave-set stones.