Tecno workmanship lends new shimmer to old world crystal beading. Makeup for this modern diva is either white-skinned, with creature of the night eye-shadow, or demurely pink. The preferred hairstyle is long and pinned up. The look of luxury was in the air with sultry velvet, sleek satin and soft furs dominating the collections for next fall shown last week by designers at New York's semi-annual fashion week extravaganza. Fashion experts, many of whom see design as a reflection of the public mood, say we may be seeking things in the clothes we wear that we otherwise don't have. "It means even if we're not rich, we like to feel rich. Those who are, can look rich, and those who aren't can look rich," said Wendy Liebmann, president of WSL Strategic Retail consultants. To look rich in next fall's fashions, consumers can scarcely find a designer who does not indulge in luscious textures and decorative design. Last week, Oscar de la Renta delighted his high-end clientele with embroidered sable trim coats, nubbly tweeds glinting with silver sparkles and bejewelled sweaters with fur collars. Bill Blass decorated silk cocktail dresses with sable trim and wove silver metallic thread through tweed jackets and coats, while Carolina Herrera evoked a jet-set ski trip to the Alps, with sporty cropped jackets in dark sable and reversible mink of chocolate and gold. Fur was simply everywhere in shawls, stoles, shrugs and sweaters. Douglas Hannant dyed a mink hooded halter vest an eggplant hue, Jeffrey Chow coloured a fox capelet cinnamon and Michael Kors unveiled a show-stopping mink poncho in lavender. Chaiken showed short fur stoles over nude mesh tops, and shrugs were popular with Vera Wang and Narciso Rodriguez.
Anyway, Shanghai ladies once again demonstrated their buying power at the launch party for Pudong's first Gucci boutique at Huarun Times Square late last month. That night, the two-level store was packed with the Italian high-end brand's loyal fans busy checking out and purchasing its latest collection. The boutique covering 430 square meters is the fourth Gucci store in Shanghai and the 18th on the Chinese mainland. It sells a complete collection including ready-to-wear for men and women, handbags, shoes, watches and other accessories. To celebrate, actress Li Bingbing and actors Joseph Cheng and Cheung Chi Lam took the stage wearing Gucci's "Cruise" collection. Well-known local models also catwalked some highlight pieces. The "Cruise" collection, as its name suggests, exudes a cheerful, carefree holiday mood. For women, Gucci's signature juxtapositions of femininity and toughness are carried throughout the collection. The full-skirted shape prevailing in the 1950s is back this spring in various designer brands such as Gucci and Prada. "Modern, graphic, swinging and circling the body" is how Gucci reinterprets this 1950s new look. The skirts are worn with sexy tailored jackets and tops and belts at the waist, not on the hips. Both men and women's collections feature strong colors: black and white interrupted by flashes of bright, fresh hues such as orange, green, yellow and citrus. The prints include Gucci's iconic bamboo and coral, stylized leopard and seashore motifs.
In one signature design, she works with Thai silk as the main fabric of a one-piece, a line dress inspired by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) outfits, and cleverly replaces the dragon embroidery at the hems and the collar with colorful wax. Sidney names her collection "Habesha," which, according to her, means "to mix" in a local dialect from Ethiopia. Born in Guyana with Haitian parents, Sidney was brought up in Paris, the capital of style and design. A trip to Shanghai to visit her friends in 2006 changed her life - she was a marketing executive in the airline industry, now she's a fashion designer. "I fell in love with the local fabric markets immediately," she recalls. "And I happened to bring some African wax with me. One day, when I walked in a fabric market, the idea came to me all in a sudden - why not integrate Chinese style with wax? "I've really wanted to become a fashion designer for a long time," says the 31-year-old. "Unfortunately, I couldn't do it in France because the market there is already saturated. I think China is a great place to realize my dream because people here are quite open to new things." Sidney visited China a further 10 times that year before she finally decided to make the move. The young designer labels herself a self-taught fashion designer, who draws inspiration from reading, traveling and simply, "looking around." Her design philosophy is to "look at a Chinese piece and to envision it as a new piece combining African inspiration." It certainly works.
The annual Shanghai International Fashion Culture Festival is a launching pad for many Chinese designers. Over its six years, it has witnessed the budding and flourishing of the city's fashion design scene. Some designers, such as Xie Feng, Wang Wei, Qiu Hao and Ji Cheng, are recognized not only in China but also around the world. At the same time, the competition among these designers is becoming sharper, and even furious. There are more and more emerging designers while the number of people who are willing to pay for their fresh ideas remains the same - or rather, their target customers are the same. Also, the prices of these designers' works sometimes can be as high as those of top design houses. It is no surprise for a cocktail dress to be priced over 5,000 yuan (US$715). People can't help wondering: Who are buying these clothes? How do these designers survive? "First of all, you have to make sure that the quality of your clothes is not second to that of designer houses'," says Chen Xunlei, who presented his namesake collection of leather apparel at the festival. "Some designers make clothes that only glitter under the spotlight. They are usually made of poor materials with lousy techniques - of course, nobody would want to spend a large amount of money on them." The 30-year-old says his collection is designed for elegant, confident women aged above 26. The inspiration came from a recent trip to Barcelona, where he was fascinated by the architecture, plants, seaside and the sky. He uses leather treated with different processes to create jackets, coats, pants and skirts featuring a tough feel but a soft touch. "Though I have used a lot of leather and fur, my works are by no means pretentious or showy," he says.
For the evening, there are short, colorful cocktail dresses featuring exquisite embroidery details. Accessories are highlighted by big and soft high-gloss bags with lacquered bamboo handles, comfortable ballerina shoes and two-color pumps. Biker and bombers jackets in leather and other luxurious fabrics are essential pieces in the men's collection. The skinny high-button suit and the long and lean trousers create the image of a sexy, crisp Gucci man. Get set for super-short miniskirts in autumn this year, if trends at last weekend's shows for New York Fashion Week are any guide for the fall season. Along with chunky turtlenecks and peacoats, the leggy look was big at shows for Nicole Miller, Lacoste, BCBG Max Azria, Erin Fetherston, Abaete and Kimora Lee Simmons' Baby Phat line - among the early previews for editors, retailers and stylists at the tents at Bryant Park. Most minis were paired with opaque tights and ballet flats, a good sign for women who bought into those trends last fall. Treat those things with care and you'll get another season out of them. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week still has plenty of time for new "it" items to emerge. Runway shows run until Friday with Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, Zac Posen and a new incarnation of Bill Blass yet to preview their collections. Nicole Miller reversed course with her fall styles, ditching the Central American and Moroccan themes she has favored in the recent past and adopting an edgy, rock 'n' roll tone.
Anyway, Shanghai ladies once again demonstrated their buying power at the launch party for Pudong's first Gucci boutique at Huarun Times Square late last month. That night, the two-level store was packed with the Italian high-end brand's loyal fans busy checking out and purchasing its latest collection. The boutique covering 430 square meters is the fourth Gucci store in Shanghai and the 18th on the Chinese mainland. It sells a complete collection including ready-to-wear for men and women, handbags, shoes, watches and other accessories. To celebrate, actress Li Bingbing and actors Joseph Cheng and Cheung Chi Lam took the stage wearing Gucci's "Cruise" collection. Well-known local models also catwalked some highlight pieces. The "Cruise" collection, as its name suggests, exudes a cheerful, carefree holiday mood. For women, Gucci's signature juxtapositions of femininity and toughness are carried throughout the collection. The full-skirted shape prevailing in the 1950s is back this spring in various designer brands such as Gucci and Prada. "Modern, graphic, swinging and circling the body" is how Gucci reinterprets this 1950s new look. The skirts are worn with sexy tailored jackets and tops and belts at the waist, not on the hips. Both men and women's collections feature strong colors: black and white interrupted by flashes of bright, fresh hues such as orange, green, yellow and citrus. The prints include Gucci's iconic bamboo and coral, stylized leopard and seashore motifs.