The party's over for Fashion's Night Out

The annual shopping event has been part of New York Fashion Week each September since 2009, when it was created in response to the recession. It was masterminded by Vogue's Anna Wintour and championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

The event expanded to 500 U.S. cities and 30 cities globally. Celebrities mingled with shoppers, champagne was served and designers sang karaoke and played pingpong to drum up business for the important fall retail season.
CFDA CEO Steven Kolb said Wednesday that he was proud of what had been accomplished. However, there was grumbling from some stores and designers that it cost money they weren't sure they saw back in sales.

Fashion's Night Out will still be held in select international cities.

Fashion Brands Flock to Licensing Expo

Advanstar Licensing, organizers of Licensing Expo, the world's largest and most influential licensing industry event, today announced that more than 40 fashion brands are confirmed to exhibit at the upcoming Expo. Licensing Expo is taking place June 18-20 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chris DeMoulin, President of Licensing at Advanstar, and former President of MAGIC Market Week, has led a focused drive to develop fashion brands at the show. The show floor has been re-merchandised by brand category with The Fashion District serving as a home to fashion and accessories brands looking to grow their business through brand extensions and international distribution. Fashion licensing is the largest sector in the $185 billion licensing market and represents $37 billion at retail. The fashion brands exhibiting will use the show to build a network of licensees, expand international distribution, develop retail exclusives and find brand collaboration partners.

Chris DeMoulin, President of Advanstar Licensing, commented: "Like a microcosm of MAGIC Market Week, brands from every segment of the fashion industry will unite at the show to make licensing deals that could change their businesses forever.  We are providing a forum in which brands can meet with manufacturers and retailers from all product categories, from housewares, home decor and accessories through to digital apps and consumer electronics."

More than 5000 brands will be represented at the show, with The Fashion District premiering Authentic Brands Group properties, including Marilyn Monroe, Judith Leiber, Adrienne Vittadini, Taryn Rose, Hart Schaffner Marx and Hickey Freeman.

"We are excited to present our portfolio of fashion and luxury brands as a key exhibitor in the Fashion District of Licensing Expo," said Nick Woodhouse, President and Chief Marketing Officer at Authentic Brands Group.  "Licensing Expo does a phenomenal job connecting best-in-class licensor and licensee attendees dedicated to formulating strong and rewarding business partnership opportunities."

Other new and notable brands include Crocs, Da Vinci, Rock and Roll Religion, Nat Nast, ale by Alessandro Ambrosio, Liz Lange, Wize and Ope, AND1, Blue Pearl and ABS by Allen Schwartz.

Armand Marciano, Co-owner at ABS commented "As ABS by Allen Schwartz looks to continue to build our brand globally the Fashion District at Licensing Expo will provide us with the platform and the opportunity to connect with the best partners to drive these growth initiatives."

Celebrity trainer and innovative fitness pioneer Tracy Anderson will also utilize The Fashion District as the launch pad for the Tracy Anderson brand's global expansion.

Oscars 2013 fashion featured neutrals, H&M and wizard hair

The red carpets have been rolled up but the fashion of the night is just starting its stride. The Sunday night trifecta of the Oscars, Vanity Fair party and Governors Ball brought notice-me neutrals, volume and lots of sparkle to those outside of Hollywood.

How did Jessica Chastain choose her look? “...It’s very ‘Happy Birthday, Mr. President.’” said the star on the red carpet. Robin Givhan, agreed that Chastain managed to channeled a bit of Marilyn glamour:

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2013 Vanity Fair Oscar party fashion: Fashion designers, actors, actresses and Hollywood elite arrive in style for the annual Oscar party.
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When Jessica Chastain walked down the red carpet just before the 85th annual Academy Awards wearing a pale copper strapless gown with a mesh overlay by Giorgio Armani, her promenade was a two-part statement about the complexity of branding and the perilousness of glamour....On the most photographed red carpet of them all, she steered clear of flashy designers, gossiped-about designers and controversial ones, too. Instead, she chose a classically glamorous gown by the godfather of red carpet style whose philosophy of celebrity dressing is: First do no harm.

However, it was the ladies in Dior who stole the show. Jennifer Lawrence took home the Oscar for Lead Actress for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook.” Her voluminousness Dior ball gown might have caused her to stumble on her way to accept the award, which she acknowledged on stage:

“You guys are just standing up because I fell and that’s really embarrassing, but thank you,” she joked while accepting the Oscar for best actress.

But the pale pink color, mermaid silhouette, and back-grazing necklace was not a misstep.

Charlize Theron looked statuesque in her white Dior gown, and her pixie haircut that has everyone talking.

Anne Hathaway also rocked the short hair, neutral gown combo (not well-loved by the people of the internet, but she took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, so we think she’ll recover.) Her Prada gown reminded Cara Kelly of Gwenyth Paltrow’s famous 1999 Oscar gown: The neckline differs from the spaghetti strap of the RL piece, but the square shape is reminiscent of popular silhouettes from the 90s.

The biggest fashion question mark of the night? Helen Hunt in H&M? Yes. Givhan explains:

The rote question called out from the media gauntlet on Oscar night remains “Who are you wearing?” But the more salient one is really, “What does the clothing say about your personal brand?” Is there any doubt that what Helen Hunt — best supporting actress nominee for “The Sessions” — was saying with her simple navy strapless gown, which she volunteered was made by H&M even before E! Entertainment host Ryan Seacrest thought to ask? She is serious. She stands apart from this out-of-touch Hollywood glitz. She is as willing to take a fashion risk and be judged brutally for it as she was willing to get stark naked on film without benefit of candlelight and traditional romance.

What about the men? Hair seemed to be the fashion trend of choice. Facial hair for Ben Affleck and George Clooney. Flowing locks for “Life of Pi”’s Claudio Mirando, Paul N.K. Ottosson of “Zero Dark Thirty,” and Per Hallberg of “Skyfall.” Caitlin Dewey explains what Twitter dubbed the “wizard hair tend”:

Is this the year metal hair makes a comeback? Maybe not. But it seems like a pretty good year for wizard jokes. Among the people Miranda, Ottosson and Hallberg were compared to on Twitter last night: Dumbledore, Gandalf, Meat Loaf (or another aging rock musician of your choice), Karl from Die Hard and the killer in The Da Vinci Code.

Fashion designers harness grannies' knitting power

Two Dutch entrepreneurs are merging the fashion sense of young designers with the knitting knowledge of local grannies to create a range of original knitwear, stitched together over coffee and cake at a retirement home.

A small room at the back of a retirement home in the suburbs of Rotterdam has been given over to the weekly "knitting club" for women aged 58 to 85, their cheerful chatter almost drowning out the rhythmic click-clacking of knitting needles.

"I think I'll make this one next," says an excited Willy Mollenaar, a grandmother in her seventies with dyed light brown hair, pointing to a thick grey woolly hat displayed on a table.

Once she will have copied the design, created by a young Dutch fashion graduate from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, the hat will be sold in a small shop in Rotterdam called "Granny's Finest", set up by businessmen Jip Pulles, 31, and Niek van Hengel, 27.

Her only payment will be a photograph of the happy customer wearing the fruits of her labour.

"I was visiting my grandfather in a retirement home and I always saw an old lady knitting," Van Hengel told AFP, as he served cups of tepid coffee and soft cake to the team of grannies.

"She didn't have any relatives or friends to knit for but she kept on because it kept her busy and she enjoyed it," he said.

That "oma", the Dutch word for grandmother, and the return of knitwear to the catwalk gave him the idea to team up modern designs and traditional techniques, fashion designers with knitting grannies, in a project that combines social inclusion with a commercial spirit.

"My grandchildren don't like to wear what I knit and I didn't have anyone to knit for anymore," said Mollenaar.

"I learned to knit at school and it's really fun to do, it's relaxing, but it's really sad when no one wears or uses what you knit."

Fellow knitter Loes Wijnbergen, at 58 the youngest of the group, said: "It's really worthwhile when someone buys and especially wears what we've made with our own hands."

Eager to be resupplied with fresh yarn and new designs to execute, Wijnbergen, Mollenaar and the other women get together every Thursday afternoon, finding new use for a skill passed down through generations.

They look at the designers' creations, anything from bow ties to bags, before choosing one and starting to knit. But the social side of the club is as important to the elderly women as the knitting patterns.

"I come here just as much for the new designs and for knitting material as for the social contact," said Niza Rauws, 80.

"It's not always obvious how to stay busy and meet new people when your old and retired," she said.

The shop sells a selection of hats, scarves, bracelets and bags ranging in price from 25 to 145 euros (33 to 190 dollars).

The project is partly financed by subsidies from Rotterdam municipality and organisations promoting social cohesion, but it's not making any money yet.
"It's a good project for young and old to meet each other," said the Oranje Fund, which promotes activities to get residents involved in the local community.

The entrepreneurs stress that they're far from exploiting idle and lonely senior citizens.

"The project's main aim is social, it's social cohesion and creative contact between the generations," said Ven Hengel.
"We make the most of the grannies' skills while at the same time providing them with a meeting place," he said.
The fashion designers, often fresh graduates at the start of their careers, see the project as "a way to make a name for yourself while learning the ropes by working with the grannies," said Annemarije van Harten, 28.

Another designer, Rosanne van der Meer, 33, wants to make a baby knitwear collection for next year's spring-summer collection.

"I really learn a lot of things from the grannies, about how to make the designs, about which are the right techniques to use," she said.

"Although, well, sometimes they don't have the same tastes and aren't convinced by the designs," Van der Meer laughs, holding up a pair of baby knitwear dungarees.

The "Granny's Finest" shop in Rotterdam pictured on January 10, 2013. The small shop in the Dutch city was set up by two entrepreneurs who wanted to merge the fashion sense of young designers with the knitting knowledge of local grannies to create a range of original knitwear.

Annemarije van Harten (R) explains on January 10, 2013 her designs to members of the "knitting club", founded by "Granny's Finest", a shop where customers can purchase items knitted by grannnies in Rotterdam.

Jip Pulles (L) and Niek van Hengel, who founded "Granny's Finest", pictured in their shop in Rotterdam on January 10, 2013. The Dutch entrepreneurs have melded the fashion sense of young designers with the knitting knowledge of local grannies to create a range of desirable knitwear.

Official Launch of Online Fashion News Cloud Site

The Hon. Jerry S. Grafstein, Q.C., Co-Founder and Chair, announced the launch of Fashion News Cloud (http://www.fashionnewscloud.com) - a premier provider of in-depth news from the fashion world.

"Fashion News Cloud," said Grafstein, "provides comprehensive coverage from the fashion world in every aspect. We curate microbloggers, live fashion radio news and mainstream media, breaking fashion news as it happens."

"In one glance, the visitor gets news and videos from the fashion world."
"This is instant news about fashion," said Grafstein. "Fashion News Cloud uses innovative technology to gather the diversity of the blogosphere, social networks and mainstream media, into coherent, news coverage about all aspects of global fashion trends."

"Our goal is to keep our viewers informed on the evolving scene about fashion, on a timely basis from the inside out," said Adam Miron, President and Co-Founder. "The world is interested in fashion and we have created a way to provide waves of news that is constantly updated. Fashionnewscloud.com is a resource to access all facets affecting fashion worldwide."

Special editions reflect all aspects of fashion including designers, runways, business, shoes, bags, accessories, kids, men, models, jobs, Hollywood, Bollywood, North America, Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, Russia, India. Future editions include Plus and Teens.

Fashionnewscloud.comis a timely, in-depth, news resource for fashion experts, fashionistas and the public.

Kate Middleton's Pregnant Fashion Frenzy

The fashion frenzy has continued, despite Kate Middleton's 4-and-a-half month baby belly. The stylish mom-to-be has still been making waves in the fashion world, the clothes she wears instantly selling out in stores.

For her first official appearance of the year in London, Middleton chose a MaxMara Studio wrap dress with a gold ring and necklace.

READ: The Royal Bump, Day by Day
The $525 wrap dress, from the 2011 collection, was reportedly bought by the duchess for half price. Her Asprey London diamond pendant necklace costs $3,800.

"There really is a Kate effect…whether she's wearing J-Brand jeans or her Zara cape that she wore just a few weeks ago within minutes everything that she wears sells out," said stylist Jamie Krell.

The dress has become a fashion obsession, appearing all over the Internet on blogs and Pinterest. If you like the dress, you won't be able to get it, as it's sold out in stores and online.

Kate vs. Diana: Compare Their Styles
Although you can't find the dress in stores, other retailers have similar wrap dress styles that can help you copy the look.

Another iconic duchess dress, the navy blue dress worn for her engagement announcement, is now being carried in stores. The Issa dress has just been re-issued in maternity form but can also be worn after pregnancy. The dress is being sold at U.K. store Blossom Mother and Child for $825.

London Fashion Week wraps up 5-day run

What's new for fashion in the coming winter? Consider glamorous animal prints, a touch of punk, polished tailoring, furry collars and lashings of shiny PVC.
London Fashion Week on Tuesday wrapped up a whirlwind of runway previews that offered a huge variety of looks from dozens of designers, but one thing seemed clear: This season, many of the styles were more wearable by women who aren't necessarily models.

That's not to say the looks were boring or conventional. Glossy rubberized material — think translucent raincoats — was everywhere, as were boxy, roomy jacket shapes. There were punk-inspired biker zips and a black and red theme at Preen, but clean and minimalist tailoring kept the outfits sophisticated.
Erdem offered dark dresses brightened up with neon florals, while Christopher Kane, recently acquired by luxury conglomerate PPR, showcased a whole range of creative looks from camouflage-printed kilts to dark velvet dresses to feather trims.

Roksanda Ilincic brought out a series of feminine dresses and separates in peachy pinks, but clashed them with fluorescent green and emerald accents, ghostly makeup and statement striped lace-up boots in bright metallic hues.
"It's about daring to bring the pink into winter because it's such a spring color, and it's such a girly color," the designer said after her show on Tuesday — the fifth day of the British capital's fashion week.
Earlier, the headline acts of the week lived up to high expectations.

Luxury brand Burberry updated its classic trenches with bold animal prints and more of the ubiquitous plastic, latex-like material, while Tom Ford unveiled bright, saturated tribal patterns. Vivienne Westwood delivered what she does best: draped dresses and jackets that magically create hourglass shapes for the wearer.

Color-wise, Ilincic and others brought pink and coral to the catwalk, but a deep palette of burgundy and wine, navy and bottle green was most popular.
Compared to New York, Milan or Paris, London fashion attracts many with its younger, edgier and more urban vibe, and catwalk shows were often full of theatrical or even madcap looks.

"I find it an exuberant, inspirational city, so that's why I chose to show here," said Ford, who staged a lavish runway showcase on Monday night, marking the first full-fledged womenswear catwalk show for his Tom Ford brand.
Officials have made a point of nurturing that creative energy, though increasingly designers based in the capital are encouraged to take a more business-savvy approach to fashion — the leading creative industry in Britain, worth 21 billion pounds (US$33 billion) to the U.K. economy.

"Before it was more like an art show, but now — now the creativity is still there, though with collections that are saleable, that generate a profitable business," said British Fashion Council chief executive Caroline Rush.
Designers including handbag specialist Anya Hindmarch, Ashish and newcomer Simone Rocha were the last to show at the fashion event on Tuesday.

As the runways get dismantled in London, models, editors and bloggers are jetting off to more womenswear shows in Milan, which begins its fashion week Wednesday, followed by Paris next week.