LONDON — London Fashion Week shook off its traditional image as a mere playground for quirky emerging talent with a display of grown-up elegance for the autumn/winter 2012 season that had leaders of the global fashion pack singing the British capital’s praises.

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By the close of the shows, top British designers such as Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton and Burberry’s Christopher Bailey had presented catwalk collections which more than suggested that the “edgy” London of yesteryear had matured into a sleek and sophisticated luxury powerhouse.

“We used to come here and think it’s all going to be eccentric and street chic and actually it’s incredibly grown up, polished and sexy, glamorous clothes so it’s a global stage now — it’s wonderful,” U.S. Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour told Reuters on the sidelines of the shows.

London has always been overshadowed by New York, Milan and Paris on the fashion map, and often derided by critics as the “capital of quirk,” despite spawning industry stars such as Stella McCartney, McQueen and Vivienne Westwood as well as leading global luxury labels such as Burberry and Mulberry.

Military styles, bright prints, furs and quintessentially English looks dominated the catwalks, while bejeweled, sequined and embroidered creations also featured prominently this season.

Many of the collections included paneled creations. Belstaff delivered tailored leather jackets with armor type paneling. Burberry sent paneled trenchcoats down the runway and Peter Pilotto dressed his models in figure-hugging stretch dresses slashed with mesh panels.

Designers accentuated the female figure by nipping coats and jackets in at the waist to create an hourglass silhouette — Burberry used colorful bows to achieve this look while McQ from Alexander McQueen chose leather military-style belts with gold buckles.

Sasha Wilkins, founder of the successful LibertyLondonGirl.com fashion blog, said the British capital now competed on equal footing with its rival fashion capitals.

“We seem to have got to the point where London can properly take its place on the world stage,” said Wilkins, a former Wall Street Journal executive style editor.

And the city’s place on the fashion map is likely to become more prominent this summer thanks to a “great halo effect” that the Olympic Games will bring, British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman told Reuters.

QUINTESSENTIALLY ENGLISH

Traditional English fabrics like felts, velvets, tweed and tartan found favor with designers who sought to overturn London’s reputation for young creativity, avant garde trends and edgy designs by opting for elegant tailored creations.

Burberry creative director Bailey combined country and town styles at a show packed with celebrities including Kate Bosworth, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and the British Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron.

His models sashayed down the runway in quilted jackets, peplum skirts and tiered fringe dresses teamed with brogue lace-up angle boots before a clap of thunder was heard and water emulating rain gushed down the sides of the transparent marquee in which the event was hosted.

Vivienne Westwood also championed the British cause with her Red Label collection which saw tattooed models don tweed suits, baggy jodphur-like trousers and tailored creations inspired by tribal prints.

“Britishness is just a way of putting things together and a certain don’t care attitude about clothes. You don’t care, you just do it and it looks great. What we do always looks British even if we’re inspired by Africa or the North Pole or whatever,” Westwood said.

HIGH DRAMA

At McQ, military chic ruled supreme — creative director Sarah Burton, who designed the wedding dress Kate Middleton wore for her wedding to Britain’s Prince William last year, sent models down a runway carpeted with autumnal leaves in khaki coats and suits featuring large pockets and big metal buttons with shiny leather lace-up stiletto boots.

Flared strapless tartan dresses with sheer sleeves, lacy tops, delicate embroidery and appliquéd velvet flowers showed a softer, more feminine side in a dramatic show which saw model Kristen McMenamy, clad in a bridal ivory gown, sign her soul away to the devil in a wooden hut in a forest.

Stella McCartney also staged an extravagant spectacle, wowing the audience with magic tricks, models dancing on tables, a jazz band and a vegetarian dinner as she showcased bright marbled patterns, floral prints and gathered puffy skirts.

“It’s London, it’s Britain. It’s celebrating everything that is bold and irreverent about being a British brand,” McCartney told Reuters about her inspiration for the opulent collection.

After presenting a Renaissance-inspired collection of fluffy fur hats, bright print dresses with oriental flower patterns and richly embroidered and beaded sheer evening gowns, British designer Alice Temperley said London had become a very exciting place to be as people realized a lot of businesses in the British capital were actually very scalable.

“It’s not just about the new generation, there are people coming through that are obviously very creative and very inspiring and what London is renowned for, but it’s also about people who have good businesses that can and do sell globally,” she said.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Article source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39230869

Models, brawls and broken jaws. Sounds like a formula for a nursery rhyme, no?

Top models Jessica Hart and Natasha Poly, their significant others, and accompanying friends were involved in a full-scale fashion feud that ended in ambulances, bruises and heightened emotions late Saturday evening at a nightclub in the Meatpacking District.

The account, first published by the New York Daily News and further investigated and published by the NY Post on Wednesday, is- unlike the parties involved- not very pretty.

Poly was seated at the Double Seven’s top table with her husband/wealthy businessman Peter Bakker, former club owner Adam Hock, and model friends Anja Rubik and Valentina Zelyaeva, prior to the incident. Although details are unclear as to how the fight broke out, it did lead to handcuffs for Hock, who was charged with four counts of assault.

On the opposing side was Hart, her boyfriend Stavros Niarchos, a Greek shipping-heir, best known as former fiance of Paris Hilton, Monaco Prince Pierre Casiraghi, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld (son of former Editor in Chief of French Vogue Carine Restoin Roitfeld), and Diego Marroquin. According to bystanders, after the alleged brawl occured, an inflamed Hart flipped off Poly and yelled, “Your husband’s a loser! F–k you!” Hart continued to yell at Poly, Rubik and Zelyaeva until a promoter stepped in.

Both Hock and Hart have aired their grievances over the incident. Hock claims that he was acting out of self-defense, saying that Niarchos, Casiraghi and crew harassed the three models, helped themselves to $500 bottles of vodka at his table, and subsequently attacked him.

In response, Hart took to her Twitter and said, “Ha! Its going to be so pleasurable when the truth does come out and he’s exposed as the freaky liar he is.”

Her tweets have since been deleted.

Read more from the NY Post / More from the NY Daily News

Article source: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/hautehouse_row/139999233.html

This Halston evening dress (1970s, silk chiffon and rhinestones) will be part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s new exhibition, “An American Legacy,” which spotlights the work of Hoosier fashion designers.

Fashion designers with Indiana ties will be spotlighted from May to January at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

The work of Bill Blass, Halston, Norman Norell and Stephen Sprouse — who all lived or were born in Indiana — is being honored in the upcoming exhibition, “An American Legacy.�

“This is really the first time these four designers are showcased together,� said Niloo Paydar, curator of Textile and Fashion Arts at the IMA. “When I saytheir names, people don’t realize they are from Indiana.�

Norell, who died in 1972, was a Noblesville native; Halston, who died in 1990 was raised in Evansville, Blass, who died in 2002, was a Fort Wayne native; and Sprouse, who died in 2004, was raised in Columbus.

Each of the artists influenced the world’s fashion landscape with everything from classic designs — think Norell, Blass and Halston — to rock ‘n’ roll chic: Sprouse.

The exhibition — which runs from May 4 to Jan. 27 — features more than 50 garments from the IMA’s collection, augmented with loans from Sprouse’s archives, according to the museum.

Highlights include a red Bill Blass evening gown created for former First Lady Nancy Reagan; a Norman Norell day dress, worn by American actress Betty Furness, while she was on camera during the 1960 Democratic convention; a 1972 evening dress that Halston designed around Andy Warhol’s “Flowers� paintings and a Sprouse-designed and Warhol-inspired camouflage dress,
popularized by “Blondie� lead singer and New Wave icon Deborah Harry.

The exhibition also will be used to inspire current Hoosier designers, Paydar said. An IMA program called “Project IMA� asks designers to produce original pieces for a fashion show around a theme. This year, they’ll be asked to get their inspiration from those four Indiana designers, Paydar said.

Article source: http://blogs.indystar.com/buzz/2012/02/22/hoosier-fashion-designers-to-be-highlighted-in-new-ima-exhibit/

BY BETH SCHEPENS

London

There was a surge of energy at this year’s London Fashion Week, which ended Wednesday. Shows featured flash mobs, magic tricks and neon-lit forests. Collections brimmed with gilded accents and vivid fabrics.

And even with the Olympic Games and Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee still months away, the city was already in a festive mood. While Londoners love to complain about the preparations for both summer events, which include work on the roads and Tube, they also love London’s return to center stage.

Nowhere was this excitement more evident than at fashion week, where prodigal children Stella McCartney and …

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203960804577239283711459606.html

As London Fashion Week officially wrapped up last night, we were left with plenty of amazing collections to be excited about this coming fall.

One collection in particular that caught our eye was Tata Naka, which is designed by Tbilisi-born identical twin sisters Tamara and Natasha Surguladze.

Gorgeous curly-top models showcased the duo’s dynamic Fall 2012 collection, which was inspired by “Motown, Malawian tribes and the photography of Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe.”

In keeping with the bold colors and prints we saw during New York Fashion Week, Tata Naka advances the trend with its unique form of whimsy and cultural cues. 60′s silhouettes juxtaposed with African beaded jewelry work beautifully–and dresses printed with portraits are especially groovy.

Although the line isn’t popular on our side of the pond (although you can shop the collection online), Taka Naka is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and counts Sarah Jessica Parker and Cameron Diaz as huge fans.

Well, they can definitely add us to the list! We love this Motown-meets-Malawi collection, what about you?

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/22/tata-naka-fall-2012_n_1293872.html

SoLita – the Italian restaurant that is practically already a bit of a fashion show on weekend anyway – is hosting “Fashion Forward” on Thursday, March 8 starting at 9 p.m.

The Las Olas Boulevard eatery will transform its back lot into a runway event featuring Casablanca Models wearing apparel from Mora Boutique, Tanya Marie Collections, Sergio Zelcer, Shop 603, Mimosa Boutique, Cerca Trova, Adore Me Boutique and The Archives Sole.

Additional sponsors include HAIR by Jessican Brand in Boynton Beach and makeup by Pampered Princess in Boca Raton and recording artist Michelle Forte will perform.

Here’s the best part: it’s free. But….dinner reservations are recommended. Seating is limited, so RSVP at 954-357-2616 or email events@solitaitalian.com.

Article source: http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/features_fashion/2012/02/solita-restaurant-the-parlor-lounge-on-las-olas-host-runway-fashion-show.html