There's a brown leather jacket, and a midnight blue blazer teamed with slim fit trousers or jeans in blue, black or leopard print. There is also the elegantly designed black tuxedo and T-shirts with silk front or side panels. Underwear includes both jersey and woven boxer shorts. Accessories include a scarf, a slim tie, a classic belt, shoes and boots. An extensive range of jewelry has also been designed for men, including a bracelet, cufflinks, necklaces, a pin and a key holder. "Cavalli's fashion is not only about the red carpet but foremost about a positive and optimistic attitude. It's about enjoying the good things in life with large dose of fashion glamour," adds van den Bosch. The love for women and colors has provided Cavalli with ultimate inspirations. "I love women and I understand what they would like to have," the designer says. "A woman in my dress feels comfortable and confident, that piece of my creativity is something that helps her to be sexy. Believe me, a Cavalli dress can change your life." The 67-year-old started his career as a painter. "Through painting you explain yourself with colors," he continues. "I explain my fashion with colors as well. To me, colors mean possibilities. A colorful world makes people happy, and so are my designs." The fashion legend was in Shanghai last year during a personal visit to China and he describes the country as a glass of tastefully mixed cocktail. He plans to open stores in Shanghai and Beijing some time in the near future. "I promise I will go back (to China) soon," he says at the end of the interview.
This is perhaps the only chance, the best opportunity for me to make them happy." Leopard and zebra is a significant theme in the women's collection, and features in dresses, tops, coats and lingerie. A tailored jacket is teamed with slim slacks or shorts. A leather jacket is decorated with fringes and a fake-fur jacket has eyelets and studs. A heavily embellished jacket adds instant glamour to tight fitting or wide leg jeans. A leopard-print or black corset top looks dazzling on bare skin for the evening and there are several blouses with animal prints, ruffles and bows. Also for the evening, there is a sequined mini dress, a chiffon baby doll dress in zebra print or leopard print, a long metallic pleated halter dress and a long animal print dress. Lingerie includes a leopard-print push-up and a soft triangle bra, a string and a hot pant, camisole and knickers. To complete the look there are accessories such as bone and pearl pendants, a golden cuff bracelet and a ring, a belt and a wallet as well as gold sandals and black satin Mary Jane shoes. "The collection is built around a selection of Cavalli's favorite pieces throughout the years, of which many are made to wear on the red carpet," points out Margareta van den Bosch, H&M's head of design. "I believe H&M chose me for a reason," Cavalli adds. "November and December is the high time to party, when everybody craves a beautiful dress. My name and style has always been linked to the parties and red carpets." Animal prints and lurex are important for women whilst for men, it's more discreet black, midnight blue, brown and white, sharply tailored and masculine.
Users will have to guess a little to decipher the Frette name. Accompanying Frette's linens is a versatile range of elegant home wear for men and women. "Like precious jewelry, our multi-purpose home wear covers all occasions, from a cozy night in front of the television to a glamorous night out in a theater or restaurant, to a cocktail party aboard a yacht," said Wu Yihui, public relations director of Shanghai Konglong Textile Ornaments Co Ltd. The company is Frette's general agent in China. The highlights of the season are new empire-line Marie-Antoinette slip dresses in midnight blue chiffon and satin with velvet trim. Equally sophisticated are the satin silk Charlotte slip dresses with velvet flowers in midnight blue, chocolate or vanilla. There are also lace-trimmed Caroline slips in contrasting combinations of vanilla, lime, wine and blue. For more relaxed occasions, there are loose-fitting Sophie pajamas and evening tops with lace inserts on the upper bodice. Beatrice ivory cashmere robes with luxurious fox collars and sleek Franoise robes in cashmere complement the season's look. For men, this season offers dandy Leopold in pinstriped velvet with decadent astrakhan collars, paired with slippers in black astrakhan. There are pinstriped and checked cashmere dressing gowns, for frosty winter nights. Adding a touch of luxury to homes, Wu said the luxurious brand is most popular among those who are not only rich but who also pursuing beauty and life quality.
"There's a lot of fur," said Jaqui Lividini, senior vice-president, fashion merchandising, at Saks Fifth Avenue. "It feels very glamorous, but it's not the kind of sexpot glamour we've seen in the past. It's more of an innocent glamour." Designer Michael Kors used paisley print for a fringed scarf skirt, off-the-shoulder blouse and halter dress, while Nicole Miller used peacock prints. Narciso Rodriguez used contrasting seams and ribbons to accent his structured solids. Textures and patterns that evoke earlier eras such as the Victorian or Art Deco ages will be popular for fall, said Ben Gomes of the fashion and trend information company OPR. "We are looking for things that are very reassuring and comfortable and also very interesting. We're looking for things that are gratifying," he said. Liebmann said she saw consumers craving an "emotional richness." "Multiple textures and beading and silks give a sense of richness emotionally and financially in a time that is pretty bare of that," she said. "It's the economy. It's an uncertain economy. It's an uncertain world geopolitically." More than a few designers this week liberally mixed looks, combining dense with sheer or rough with smooth. "A great tweed jacket with a satin skirt is perfect, and it's not a typical combination," Lividini said. "It's consumer-friendly. It's very commercially viable. It's very much what the customer wants right now. "I think the New York designers are on the right track," she said. More than 100 designers showed their latest collections last week in New York.
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.