Rebekah Wing
Billy Hazel
Samantha Mariko
Lina S
Mikko Puttonen
For the first time, the Soil Association will be exhibiting organic products at London Fashion Weeks' Ethical exhibition Estethica from 16 to 20 September at Somerset House. Brands on the Soil Association stand, co-designed by Telegraph style guru Tamsin Blanchard, will include Monkee Jeans, People Tree and Continental Clothing.
The event coincides with Organic September, the Soil Association’s annual, nation-wide celebration of organic production.
The Soil Association certifies to the Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS), the international gold standard for organic textile processing. With regulation on organic textiles set to get tighter, and consumers increasingly asking for evidence to back up sustainable or ethical claims, certification to GOTS is a great option for businesses wanting to shout about their environmental and social responsibility and prove to consumers that what they are buying is the real deal.
Estethica started in 2006 showcasing 13 brands, and has gone on to support a total of 108 international designers over the past 5 years. It is now recognised as a leading ethical designer showcase with over 20 brands exhibiting this year who have to meet increasingly stringent ethical criteria.
Georgina Thomas, Soil Association Certification textile specialist, said:
"It is increasingly clear that it is possible to produce modern, fashionable textiles in a way that is kinder, cleaner and better for people and the planet. It is great to be representing sustainable organic fashion at such a prestigious event."
"The rapidly growing certified organic textiles market demonstrates burgeoning consumer appetite and an exciting and buoyant sector. There are now almost 3000 GOTS certified textile and garment businesses worldwide and Soil Association textile licensees saw sales grow a whopping great 35% in 2010."
Soil Association Certification Ltd is the largest organic certification body in the UK, with almost 30 years experience. We operate a rigorous system, and our trusted symbol ensures high confidence in the integrity of products approved by us. Today, we certify over 80% of organic farming and food processing in the UK.
We certify to the Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) – the international gold standard for organic textiles. There are now around 3000 businesses in 55 countries certified to GOTS. The whole supply chain from field through manufacture to final product must be certified, AND we check against environmental and social standards.
The British Fashion Council founded Estethica five years ago to showcase the growing movement of cutting edge designers committed to working eco sustainably. Estethica has evolved to become the hub of London's ethical fashion industry.
Jaco Clothing, the athletic apparel brand designed for high performance training disciplines, further solidifies its global position with the announcement of its new ownership structure, Power in Honor LLC and the establishment of a new operating entity, Jaco Athletics LLC.
Under this new business structure, Jaco founder Ron Wilson will remain the company President and will continue to manage the key operations of the business, including building Jaco Athletics as a top quality hybrid training and performance brand. Jaco Athletics will report directly to Glenn Robinson, Chairman, of Power in Honor LLC.
"From the start, I always believed that Jaco had the potential to grow into a category leader as a smart, high performance brand for the training disciplines targeted to an emerging culture of new athletes," said Wilson. "Jaco takes a giant step forward in making this a reality."
Originally founded as an innovative, high quality manufacturer of Board Shorts and other athletic apparel worn by premier athletes, such as UFC star and former Light Heavyweight Champion, "Suga" Rashad Evans, Wanderlei Silva and others, Jaco will restructure some key business and manufacturing platforms allowing the brand to further achieve aggressive growth opportunities, while maintaining the focus on building the brand as a leader in the quality, high performance lifestyle and athletic apparel category.
Based in Southern California, Jaco Athletics stands for respect, strength, courage, and tenacity, and will continue to design and develop high performance apparel for high performance lifestyles.
Jaco Clothing is a performance sports brand that designs apparel for the training disciplines and emerging culture of a new breed of athlete. Our dedication to understanding these athletes has allowed us to create a brand that embodies the attributes that define them: Respect for one's self, others, and the environment; Strength in mental fortitude that translates itself into capabilities and accomplishments; Courage to do what other's only dream of doing; Tenacity with the ability to view failure as a valuable part of the journey.
This September, the Dockers brand is partnering with celebrated apparel designer Alexander Wang—as part of his being named GQ's Best New Menswear Designer in America—and a diverse group of five other influential American menswear designers to unveil a limited-edition collection. The highly anticipated assortment allows each designer the opportunity to reinterpret the iconic khaki pant in a fresh, modern way, while using the Dockers brand's time-tested expertise in working with the fabric as a source of collaborative inspiration.
In addition to Wang, who received the honor earlier this year for his T by Alexander Wang collection, the khaki leader is teaming with designer brands Riviera Club, Miller's Oath, Warriors of Radness, and CFDA members Patrik Ervell and Michael Bastian in the creation of unique head-to-toe khaki looks.
Beautifully detailed, the resulting collection created by the winner and nominees of GQ's Best New Menswear Designers in America project showcases the Dockers brand's own khaki heritage, incorporating both utilitarian and sartorial details with each designer's clearly defined aesthetic. Highly collectible, the collaborative range will be introduced for purchase through an event hosted by actor Donald Glover from NBC's hit comedy "Community" at the Bloomingdale's store at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City. This in-store event is open to the public and will coincide with the third annual Fashion's Night Out shopping extravaganza in New York City on September 8.
"It was a huge honor to win the GQ Best New Menswear Designer in America award this year, and we've enjoyed the process of collaborating with GQ, Dockers and Bloomingdales," says winning-designer Alexander Wang.
NEW YORK – As editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, Glenda Bailey has seen some pretty fantastic things — "epic moments," she calls them.
In her 10 years at the helm of the magazine, she has overseen fancy photo shoots with A-list stars, insider moments with top designers and the times the magazine hits the zeitgeist just right. Bailey highlights many of them in a new book about her decade in charge, "Harper's Bazaar: Greatest Hits," and in an interview with The Associated Press, she listed her favorites:
Demi Moore's 2010 cover, where she shared the coveted front-page real estate with a giraffe. Moore wore a dress and the 10-inch Armadillo heels from Alexander McQueen's last collection on a staircase to nowhere. The image was shot a few weeks before McQueen's suicide, but Bailey said she could think of no better tribute to him.
William Klein's portraits of designers, shot in 2007, his first fashion photographs in more than three decades. Bailey said the images captured the designers the way they chose to present themselves: Marc Jacobs practically having a party in the studio, Miuccia Prada all by herself, Karl Lagerfeld surrounded by his muses and the craftsmen who bring the vision to life, and Alber Elbaz with his entire staff, from the company president to the cleaner, doing a little dance.
Naomi Campbell's stunning 2009 "Wild Things" spread by Jean Paul Goode, especially the supermodel wearing a Blumarine cheetah-print dress outrunning a cheetah. "When those pictures arrived on my desk, it was fashion heaven," Bailey says. "I can't remember ever being speechless but I was."
The animated characters of "The Simpsons" taking a tour of Paris in 2007 with Linda Evangelista as their tour guide. Marge met Lagerfeld, Jacobs, Elbaz, Donatella Versace and Jean Paul Gaultier.
"Marc Jacobs loved his illustration so much, he had his made as a tattoo on his arm," reports Bailey.
Top models Amber Valletta, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Shalom Harlow, Kristen McMenamy and Nadja Auermann posing without makeup for Peter Lindbergh in 2007. The women — all in their 30s and 40s — showed they were embracing their looks and age, Bailey says.
The gallery is still one of the most popular features on the Bazaar website.
"When people talk about Bazaar, they talk about a fun, fashionable, feel-good fashion magazine. They know we have a sense of humor," says Bailey, "but I think we're also renowned for our ideas."
The all-important September issue of 2009, which was going to press earlier that summer when news came of Michael Jackson's death. Bailey went into action and had Agyness Deyn dress up in Jackson's signature style in a red leather jacket, cropped black pants and military jackets. The next month the magazine scored an interview with Janet Jackson.
"When Michael Jackson passed away, a lot of people wanted to talk to her. It was a sign of us being able to move quickly," the editor says.
Features that presented fashion as part of pop culture, incorporating art, music and movies. Over the years, Bazaar has paid homage to filmmakers Mike Nichols, Tim Burton and Pedro Almodovar.
In one photo, Lagerfeld and Almodovar, guns in hand, recreate a scene from "Live Flesh."
Kate Winslet's "exquisite" white strapless gown by Ralph Lauren, peeled straight from the runway for a cover shoot in 2009. She stood on what looks like rooftop scaffolding high above Manhattan. "In reality, she's not that high off the ground, but it looks like she's risking life and limb, and that's what you want from a fashion magazine. You want to dream. You want to be aspirational and uplifting — literally in this particular case," says Bailey.
She adds, "So often with celebs you see them doing the same thing time and time again. That seems dated. I want to see them in a new light. I'm buying a fashion magazine because I want to see the relevance of the time I live and I also want to see what's coming next."
With support by the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Taiwan Textile Federation will host the “2011 International Forum of Sustainability in Textile Industry” on October 13, 2011 in the Room 101AB, at Taipei International Convention Center, which will coincide with the Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show (TITAS) also organized by this Federation. Supporting organizations invited for the Forum include BCSD-Taiwan, Green Trade Project Office of MOEA, Outdoor Industry Association, Textile Exchange and Kingpins Show/Continuum.
The theme for this Forum is “Sustainability in Textile Industry–United and Focused: Further Links in Partnership”. The agenda will be divided into 3 sessions as follows:
Session I: The market and demand of sustainable textiles and partnership in the supply chain.
Session II: Technology and innovation trends in sustainable textiles.
Session III: Common standards of sustainability for textile industry.
The purpose of the Forum is to create more dialogs within the entire textile supply chain to work out market-based solutions to the challenges of the environment and industry development. Currently a number of initiatives have already been engaged in building indicators and assessment tools for the supply chain. Alignment of these standards and tools to become more commonly used tools to better assess and measure environmental and social performance is also an issue to be further discussed in this Forum.
Taiwan Textile Federation welcomes textile trade professionals to participate in this Forum.
Charleston Fashion Week has announced that in addition to accepting applicants online, they will hold open model castings in Charleston, Atlanta, and Charlotte for the March 20-24, 2012 event. Accredited with discovering and cultivating talent, former CFW models have gone on to land contracts with IMG and Elite and television appearances on America’s Next Top Model. The CW series featuring Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker, and Jay Manuel most recently voted Charleston Fashion Week former model Molly O’Connell as a finalist during season 16 of the successful show.
In conjunction with the Spring Bridal Show, chic after-parties and citywide shopping events, the premier fashion event will feature close to 35 runway shows under the tents in Marion Square. Charleston Fashion Week organizers look to add as many as 300 male and female models to the event look book this fall. All models that are cast for Charleston Fashion Week 2012 will receive a gift bag, recognition on the CFW website, and the opportunity to compete in the Rock the Runway Model Competition.
Showcasing fashion designers, retailers and models, Charleston Fashion Week has fast become one of the premier fashion weeks in North America. Held March 20-24, 2012 under the tents in Marion Square in Charleston, SC, this five-night celebration will feature more than 35 runway shows, the Spring Bridal Show, Emerging Designer Competition: East, and Rock the Runway Model Competition. Named a Top 20 Event for March by the Southeast Tourism Society, this true multimedia event presents high-end runway shows, interactive entertainment, chic after-parties, and charitable fundraisers.
Horiyoshi Worldwide Inc is pleased to announce the imminent launch of the company's first Horiyoshi branded retail store in London, UK. The store will carry the complete Horiyoshi the Third collection and will be a focal point of its growing international presence. The store's design will embody the essence of the Horiyoshi brand and establish a unique fashion forward presence in London. The new location will serve as a model for the development of a dedicated retail platform to showcase our current and additional lines, which are under development.
Promotional information related to the launch of the store can be found on the Horiyoshi website in late September, 2011. The new store is located in Central London in an area with a number of internationally recognized design firms represented.
Mitsuo Kojima, President of Horiyoshi Worldwide, Inc. said this about the new store opening, "This is another important step in our plan to build the Horiyoshi name into a recognizable international brand. The new store will give us an important platform in a city that has served as a second home for us. London is a vital fashion center and our gateway to all of Europe. To have a permanent presence here is an important part of our stated goal which is to solidify our base in Europe, build our presence in the United States and introduce the brand to the many markets we have targeted in Asia. This is a significant part of our strategic plan."
Dawn Green, Commercial Director of Horiyoshi Worldwide, Inc. had this to say about the new Horiyoshi retail store, "We are very happy with the way we were able to assemble all the pieces necessary for our new store opening. Most importantly, we were able to be selective about location and received terms that were beneficial to our company. Our new store in London will not only function as a dedicated retail outlet but will serve as a window into the fashion consciousness of Europe which will help us develop our collections going forward."
Horiyoshi Worldwide Inc., designs, manufactures, and markets Horiyoshi the Third - a luxury clothing and accessories product line based on the artistry of World renowned Japanese Tattoo Artist, Yoshihito Nakano (Horiyoshi III). The Company is rapidly expanding its distribution platform and its products are being marketed worldwide.
NEW YORK – Rachel Zoe's 4-month-old son will probably know his Christian Dior from Yves Saint Laurent before he can walk.
At celebrity fittings or business meetings, Skyler is the new favorite accessory of the stylist, reality star and author. But there's a new baby in her life, too: Her own line of contemporary clothes, designed, she promises, with love, style and careful attention to detail.
There was a small, under-the-radar preview of the fall collection in February, but she's going center stage in September as part of New York Fashion Week.
Zoe says she doesn't want her label to be like anything else she's seen over the years on runways or red carpets.
"My personal collection comes from concepts and ideas I've been cultivating since I started collecting clothes. I'm inspired by Halston, YSL, but I try to keep it true to who I am," Zoe says.
"I will still be going to other designers and their shows — that's something that's very important for me as a stylist, but I don't let it influence me. Just like you can't compare Marc Jacobs to another designer — you can't say his collection looks like so-and-so — and it's the same thing with people like Sarah Burton and McQueen, or Prabal Gurung. I want this collection to look like my collection."
Celebrities seem to like what they've seen so far. Jennifer Lopez has twice been spotted in clothes from the collection, including a tuxedo-style minidress named after Cameron Diaz.
Also look for long, dolman-sleeve dresses inspired by Kate Hudson for resort.
Zoe's probably most famous for a beachy, bohemian look — very St. Tropez — and she has put a lot of young Hollywood in kaftans, maxi dresses and platform sandals. Of course there's some of that in her collection, she says, but she very purposefully also included pieces for the hipster downtown girl, the fashion-forward experimenter and the more polished sophisticate.
"I want people to walk out after they've seen the clothes and say, `I loved it. I see the essence of who this girl is, a girl who loves fashion but not a fashion victim, on trend but not trendy, someone with an appreciation of vintage but modern,'" the 39-year-old Zoe said during a recent telephone interview.
That's a tall order in this business, but perhaps even more so for Zoe, who is largely credited with taking behind-the-scenes styling to the front row — and in front of the cameras. The fourth season of her Bravo show "The Rachel Zoe Project," which made the catch phrase "I die" shorthand among the chic set for being excited about something, premieres Sept. 6.
While no one in the industry seems to dispute her sense of style, Zoe has become a media personality who attracts paparazzi and gossip. Does she think it will be hard for her collection to be taken seriously?
"I will never, ever think of myself as a celebrity. I'd never consider myself a celebrity designer," she says. "I'm a celebrity stylist. Or a designer. Or a stylist-designer. I want this to be perceived as a collection done by a stylist and a designer."
But, yes, she allows, she knows there's a likely mention of her Fashion Week debut on Page Six. "I just hope that people focus on the clothes."
Shoppers, apparently, have no problem doing that.
Linda Fargo, senior vice president of fashion and store presentation at Bergdorf Goodman, says customers are "running, not walking," to get their hands on Zoe's items. "I went to buy the camel high-waisted trouser and it was already sold out!" she says.
Fargo told the AP in an email that she had a good feeling about the collection long before she saw a sketch, let alone a garment.
"Rachel let me in on the secret over two years ago that she was developing a collection. I took this little whisper very seriously. I made her promise to show us as soon as she was ready. And we don't say that to just anyone who has a line up their stylist's sleeve," Fargo says.
Zoe's passion for fashion translates to the fabric, the silhouette and the style, Fargo adds, noting that it only helps Zoe that she lives the glamorous, jet-setting life of many of her clients and her label's customers.
"Rachel's years as a stylist has put her in the dressing rooms of a lot of choosy, image- conscious women and their needs and phobias. It's also happened to have given her tremendous access and exposure," Fargo says. "She has a firm grasp on the power of personal style and the value of a well-chosen closet."
Unlined pockets on white pants? That's something her clients hate, reports Zoe, and has been duly addressed on her version. Mid-calf skirts are another don't, especially in the Diaz rule book, and you won't see them in her line either.
"Those," she says, "are the little things I've picked up along the way."
NEW YORK – Even though she's got her own fashion line, Lourdes Leon — better known to the masses as Lola, the daughter of Madonna — admits that she had a lot to learn when she first launched the Material Girl brand.
"It was really hard at first because I didn't know what I was doing," Lola, dressed in a tank top and jean cutoffs, said in a recent interview. "I was like, `You know, not a lot of people wear this. Let me just wear it.' It wasn't even that it looked good on me. I was just like, `Let me do this because not a lot of people are doing it.' Now I feel like I can follow fashion a lot better than I used to, but also have some of my own take on it."
Her learning curve is understandable: After all, she's just 14. But she's already a fashion star with Material Girl, which is geared toward teens and sold at Macy's. The line, which she launched with her mother last year, is now branching out into cosmetics, undergarments and nail polish.
Through laughs and typical teenager banter, Lola talked about her vision for Material Girl, her mom and fashion dos and don'ts.
AP: It's been a year since your clothing line launched. What have you learned about fashion over the past 12 months?
Lola: I learned a lot of things that I shouldn't wear or do. Like don't wear white to school, because then stuff gets dirty really fast. I don't think you should wear shorts that are too small and I don't think you should wear shorts that are too big either because I find myself looking really awkward. It takes me a really long time to find the perfect pair of shorts. I like the ones you can pull up to your bellybutton almost, which makes it look extra weird and retro.
AP: Your mom once told me that the two of you don't always agree on designs.
Lola: Absolutely. Every day. ... I will be like, "Mom, you can't wear that." Or she will be like, "Lola, you can't wear that." A lot of the time we don't listen to each other, but sometimes we do.
AP: When it comes to designing Material Girl, who wins out?
Lola: Me. I have to tell her, "Mom, it is the in thing. This is what kids are doing now. If you don't do this, then it is going to suck." And then she usually gives in.
AP: Do you go to your mom's closet for inspiration?
Lola: Her closet is huge. All the time. I am always in there and if no one knows where I am in the house, it is usually my mom's closet and I am usually taking something without asking her. She gets mad at me.
AP: How does it feel to have a clothing line at such a young age?
Lola: It is really cool, and also it is a lot of fun to know that my friends enjoy it, and to know that a lot of people enjoy it because it is also a lot of what I like. My friends have great style. I go to an arts school, so a lot of them are really artistic and passionate about a lot of things that inspire what they wear.
AP: Advice time. What is your idea of a fashion faux pas?
Lola: Don't wear white. I am all for crop tops, but I don't like it when people wear crop tops that are excessively cropped. Really, don't be a skank with your crop top. I think boots are always a "go-to," no matter what you are wearing, but you always have to make sure they don't cut off your leg because that is not right. When you are wearing heels, it is more comfortable to walk in platforms. Platforms always look good and they are more comfortable to wear and they make you look way taller. I used to do this a lot, but the hippie bands around your head are very out. Don't ever wear that again.
AP: Your line has expanded to include nail polish and undergarments. What is your ultimate vision for the collection?
Lola: I think it has continued to evolve and now it is at a point where we have so much stuff that I use and that I think other people will really enjoy using, so I like it.
Authorities of the Dalian city, located to the east of China, will take a final decision on shifting of the Fujia petrochemical plant, following fears of toxic leakage after the breach of an embankment a few days back.
The Fujia plant is engaged in the production of paraxylene (PX), which is used in preparation of raw materials for the production of fabrics and polyester film.
A tropical storm Muifa gave rise to huge sea waves that hit the coast of Liaoning province in north-eastern China. An embankment in the Jinshan Industrial Zone in Dalian was broken, raising fears of sea waves striking the Fujia plant situated just 50 meters behind the embankment.
The two ruptures, each of which was at least 20-30 metres in length, have been temporarily blocked, but still it is being feared that heavy tides may sweep away the slackly piled stones and once again break the embankment.
Sensing the danger, people residing in surrounding areas have been evacuated, and the toxic chemicals lying in the tanks close to the dike have also been shifted by plant employees.
Li Wancai, Dalian Mayor said that the government would constitute a team to probe into the incident and held those found responsible for it.
In the interim, the plant officials would also re-evaluate the safety situation for PX production at the plant, as a part of government’s drive to free the city of all the environmental risks and to form a basis for discussion on plant’s probable relocation.
