Kristin G
Manuella Lupascu
Nhi Py
Lina S
Mirka Germanova
Manish Malhotra, Furne One and “Neon Edge”’s Mona Fares are set to light up Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) with their stunning Spring/Summer 2011 (SS11) collections between 24th and 28th October. In preparation, Capital Marketing, DFW owners and organisers, are pulling out all the stops to ensure DFW SS11 is better than ever, with a top-level line up of the regions hottest designers.
Debuting at this season’s DFW are the local talents of Abeer Al Suwaidi of “USH Boutique”, Sara Al Madani & Apple Wang of “Rouge Couture”, and Lamya Abedin of “Queen of Spades”. Designers returning to the catwalk include Aartivijay Gupta, Shrehkanth, Amber Feroz, and Homa Qamar to name a few.
Commenting on the upcoming season, Manoj Bhojwani, Chairman of Capital Marketing said, “As the new owners and managers of DFW, we are committed to building the brand, developing stakeholder relations, reaching out to a wider pool of designers to showcase the very best talent, in addition to attracting top local, regional and international buyers. To ensure DFW takes its place on the international fashion circuit it is vital that all these elements come together. This is not an overnight task but one we are fully committed to. The Middle East is home to a burgeoning fashion scene and it is important that this obtains global recognition.”
DFW SS11 sees a total of 40 designers set to delight attendees with their creations. The show, now in its 8th season also moves to a brand new venue; Asateer at Atlantis The Palm, providing a much bigger venue, that is more in tune with the much anticipated growth of Dubai Fashion Week.
Rohit Sabikhi, Dubai Fashion Week General Manager, said a few changes to the show have been announced. “DFW SS11 will have 30 shows over five days. The show timings have also been revised with shows starting and ending earlier. Both changes have been incorporated to give more time and flexibility to designers and buyers.”
Showcasing for the first time at DFW are the SS11 Emerging Talent winners presented by Max and co-founder whose show will be open to the public on 26th October at 2.00 pm. Designers include: Sachin Gada, Niteesh Singh Chauhan who are both based in India, and Dubai based Susan Jacob, Nova Krishnan, Samah Ali and Nasrine Dechache. These six exciting new designers were selected from a shortlist of twelve and will each début five runway designs at DFW SS11, in addition to an exhibition stand providing them with a platform to interact with business-driven associations.
Established in 2006, the Emerging Talent competition was created to showcase the work of the many talented amateur designers in the Middle East. Entries and submissions come from a wide range of designers, from students to existing fashion designers looking for exposure in the dynamic fashion industry. The competition has cemented itself as an opportunity for industry experts as well as fashion lovers to get a sneak peek into some ofthe region’s up and coming designers.
Marc Robinson, DFW’s official Show Director and co-founder, added, “DFW SS11 will be bigger, more energetic and a fashion display like never before in the Middle East. Unique original designs, new trends and a fresh outlook on hair and make up will bring visible enhancement to the shows. We are looking forward to making DFW the most talked about fashion event in the region.”
Adding to the events excitement, DFW is pleased to announce that Manish Malhotra will be the Grand Finale for the show. Manish Malhotra is the leading fashion designer in India, designing outfits for many prominent Bollywood celebrities, in addition to clothing Michael Jackson for his appearance during the Bollywood Awards held in New York and Kylie Minogue for the Bollywood production of “Blue”.
Experience casual, free spirited expressions of creativity with Esprit’s Bohemian inspired collection. Celebrate being a true lover of world culture with Esprit’s bohemnian collection which draws inspiration from its modern designs and non- conventional fashion forms to make every season a fashion extravaganza.
Bohemian inspired edc by Esprit is sheer, a classic bohemian signature. New cargo styles, used leather jackets with sturdy laced boots can be matched perfectly with flannel shirts, or colourful shorts. Crank it up a notch with oversized loop scarf, long tank top, white tops and shirts. Break the conventional fashion norms with sexy boyfriend jackets for a bolder more edgy look. What never fails to work is a riveting tank tank top with boyfriend jeans.
The leather jacket is an all- timer. Esprit brings you the edc collection in ravishing tones of neutrals, grey shades and black accents and in teal, blue tones, red, berry tones. Trendy footwear courtesy of classic and vintage inspired edc shoes will do the magic. Mix and match is the key, so accessorize all you want with edc’s simple yet exuberantly styled leather bags, belts and scarves to complete the look.
Bohemian inspired Esprit Women Casuals is made to suit every wardrobe. Try the boho-chic fashionista look that will spell a million bucks. Recapture some of the free-spirited '70s romance with down jackets and gilets, including new shapes, duffle coats, pea coats and feminine trench coats is a real winner. Faux leather jackets, including suede and lambskin effects, single blazers in classic materials such as tweed can be teemed with unconventional patterns and punk t-shirts.
Pull on feminine shirts and denim blouses over loose boyfriend jeans. Carry off bright floral tops to recreate clothing of the 70’s with an unconventional touch of modern. The garments are made of cord, bouclé, flannel, classic and bright effects, in authentic material that looks comfortable, casual with slight touch of tribal prints for an absolute wardrobe revolution.
Bohemian Esprit Women’s Collection is a fashion statement perfected by Sienna Millers and Kate Moss. Slim-line, figure-hugging, draped styles oversized off-shoulder silhouettes tops, cardigans and sweaters should be part of the ensemble. They come in novel cottons and soft knits with visible zip details. Accentuate your hourglass figure with wide belts, big chunky bags, scarves along with simple yet bold sundresses.
This collection comes in basic black, white and neutrals and beautiful highlights like gemstone tones, smoky frosty pastels. They also come in bright and breezy shades of blue, red and also floral shades adding a touch of hippy sensibilities. Team it up with bags made from luxurious Morocco leather and hats to complete for a look of sophistication.
Bohemian inspired Esprit Men Casual spells a look that’s breezy and is perfect for everyday wear. Whether you are looking for a pair of regular trousers or an alternative to jeans, Dress trousers can be worn with any basic colour shirt and stylish chequered blazer for the evening. Wear Plaid shirts with Khakis for a laid back vintage look. Try a nice blue, grey or khaki-colored cotton suit over a white shirt, and a pair of jeans to make a subtle statement like that of Johnny Depp.
Esprit collection comes in soft natural tones, grey, black dark brights, red and wintery blue tones. Experiment with edc that comes in traditional materials with watercolour effects. Each garment has a catchy natural vintage character to add a spontaneous touch to it.
Bohemian inspired Esprit Collection for men is the stylish new reinterpretation of old classics. Retro styled blazers with fine stripes or cardigans make classic effortless dressing Wear them uncompromisingly like tweed jackets, dandy-esque mini checks with jeans or formal pants. Make a huge statement by revamping your wardrobe with the much needed subtle and shadowy patterns and slim cut blazers. Plaid pants can be teemed with white crisp linen shirts and jackets for a bohemian touch to fashion. The collection comes in basics: black, grey, white, brown and navy.
Arrow known for its strong heritage of making unique high quality of formal wear presents an exclusive collection of ‘President’s Collection’ shirts, inspired truly from the office of importance. The unique play of garment, colours and quality gives you a chance to step into the president’s shoes & “Live Like a President”.
President’s Collection shirts are made of densely constructed fabrics in double and super single yarns. The garment is made of German threads and interlining giving it a clean seam and collar appearance, as well as imparts immense strength to the garment. It just doesn’t end there; Italian craftsmanship deployed in construction of the garment, topped with exclusive mother of pearl buttons makes the ‘President’s Collection’ shirts fit perfectly and is a complete state of the art.
The rich heritage of Arrow has been the reason for loyal customers in the office of importance to don it with pride. The Shirts come in classic shades like blue, white, black and grey.
ARROW has always been for the few. The quintessential choice of the discerning gentleman, Arrow changed the way corporate India dressed. In the post liberalization era, foreign names came knocking on our boardrooms & India turned to Arrow, a 150 yr old American icon, to make sure it was sartorially prepared. Arrow has always elevated one’s wardrobe to another league & exuded a certain pedigree, heritage that spoke in a subtle, sophisticated & yet emphatic way.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Prince Daniel are on an official visit to Beijing. While in the capital, they inaugurated a Swedish fashion exhibition.
Princess Victoria attended the opening ceremony at the White Box Museum of Art with her husband Prince Daniel, to whom she was married in June of this year.
The touring exhibition is produced by the Swedish Institute and presents avant-garde fashion by young Swedish designers. It has already been on display in Moscow, London, Tokyo, and Shanghai.
Designer Diana Orving explained why China is an area of interest for Swedish designers.
Diana Orving said, "At the moment I don't think there are many Swedish designers selling to China, but I think as the country is developing so fast I think that it's a really important market to look for in the future."
The royal couple later enjoyed a dance performance at the Yan Club.
The fashion exhibition runs until November 7th.
The famous Japanese online luxury products sales website, Glamour Sales came to China in April. Shortly in five months, it boasts of 200,000 registered members. More and more luxury products sales websites such as 5lux.com and 91lux.com appeared from last year. Shopping luxury products becomes very popular among young Chinese.
Influenced by financial crisis, the global luxury products market is quite gloomy. However, the luxury product sales in China increases by 12% with the sales value of 9.6 billion US dollars, which makes China the second largest luxury products consumption market in the world leaving USA behind.
Statistics show that over 100 million netizens shopped online last year. However, experts predict that the consumption capacity of netizens is much stronger. As a result, global luxury brands expand their Chinese market share not only by increasing franchise stores but also exploring online market.
However, the development of online luxury products sales is not always smooth. These sales websites face difficulties during their growth. Some of them cannot attract top luxury brands and some don't have enough consumer source.
The textile commissioner has suspended cotton exports registration saying they have received applications equivalent to the quantity earmarked for this season that is 5.5 million bales.
We have received applications for the stipulated quantity of 5.5 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) of which nearly 1.58 million bales have already been approved. Export authorisation registration certificates (EARCs) for the approved quantity of 1.58 million bales have already been issued, said Textile Commissioner A B Joshi.
All applications would not yield into EARC. Some of them are bound to be rejected on various grounds including incomplete applications, lack of details and letter of credit (LC) from banks etc. The difference between allotted quota and approved quantity will be filled by new applicants,Joshi clarified. As on October 11, the government received applications for export of 5.5 million bales of cotton of which quantity 7058.82 bales were rejected.
The group of ministers late last month decided to permit export of 5.5 million bales in 2010-11 marketing season for which registration with textile commissioner started on October 1. The shipment, however, is expected to start from November 1. The government had kept cotton under the restricted list of exports in 2009-10, as exports had hit a record 8.3 million bales, resulting in a sharp rise in domestic prices.
USAID representatives expressed support for Ethiopia's effort to increase foreign currency from textile and leather sectors, reports ENA.
Speaking at a forum organized to discuss with the Ministry of Industry on activities to be carried out in the textile and leather sectors to achieve the five-year Growth and Transformation Plan, Chief of Party USAID/VEGA Ethiopia, Addis Alemayehu said the U.S government is prepared to provide support towards success of the Plan.
Addis said though the plan put in place for the sector seems broad, it will be achieved if activities will be carried out in integrated and appropriate manner.
Head, Economy and Business of Ethiopian Embassy in the U.S, Eyob Tekalegn on his part said the U.S government expressed desire to work with the private sector engaged in textile and leather work towards success of the plan.
Ethiopia plans to increase income from textiles from 20 million USD to one billion USD within five years.
40 Chinese shoes recalling cases took place in EU countries during the first half of this year, 38 of cases were due to failure to meet the standard of DMF that account for 95% of total footwear recalling. Obviously the DMF is the most urgent quality problem to be solved for Chinese shoemakers; otherwise it will be the largest trade barrier for Chinese footwear exports.
The DMF has been banned in all the consumption products since March 17, 2009 in EU, in recent years products content DMF caused many health diseases in EU countries. Now products with content of 0.1mg/kg DMF are forbidden to sell in EU market. According to the resolution of 2010/153/EU the regulation for banning DMF are extended to March 15, 2011.
Currently China produces 10 billion of pairs of shoe and 80% for exports. Quality and safety should be the top priority for shoemakers. The quality inspection department warned that DMF should be totally banned on shoe production and the some agents used as desiccants and fungicides are recommended which are safe and compliance with the regulations in EU countries.
A museum displaying the famed shoe collection of ex-first lady Imelda Marcos has reopened in the Philippines, heralding a fight back by its beleaguered shoe industry against a flood of cheap imports.
The museum is not just a showcase of the best of Imelda Marcos’s 3,000-pair collection, but also of the craftsmanship in shoe-making in the riverside eastern suburb of Marikina where the industry was born over a century ago.
Footwear consultant Tessie Endriga said Imelda Marcos failed to provide the Marikina shoe industry with much-needed infrastructure or financing when she was in power. But she did help in her own way. “She did patronize local brands. If she liked a certain style, she would buy a dozen pairs,” recalled Endriga, who has worked with the government’s Bureau of Product Standards.
Marikina shoes were once famous, both locally and abroad, until low-priced footwear from countries like China and Vietnam flooded the industry over the years, said local business leader Jose Tayawa.
The museum was set up in 1998 as just one more way for Marikina to advertise its century-long history of making footwear, from humble slippers to rugged work boots to high-fashion custom shoes.
The town has also made the world’s largest shoes – a pair of leather men’s shoes, each as large as a van – which are still on display at a Marikina mall.
Generations of Filipinos grew up wearing the local products, and Marikina-made snake-skin shoes became the toast of Fifth Avenue in the early-1980s, the city boasts on its website.
But Marikina’s shoe-makers – and the shoe museum – have suffered setbacks in recent years. Massive flooding from tropical storm Ketsana last year damaged the museum as well as many shoe-makers’ facilities and inventory.
The storm and the foreign competition took their toll. From the mid-1990s peak of 3,000, only about 200 Marikina shoemaking factories remain, said Roger Py, director-general of the Philippine Footwear Federation.
Giorgio Armani, a fashion luxury retailer from Italy, recently stated that, it is in India for a long heave and is in no rush to broaden its horizons here. It added that, instead it would prefer to take up a standardized approach for expansion here.
John Hooks, Deputy Chairman of the Giorgio Armani Group, stated that, they are in no rush to launch their outlets in India as they don’t want to commit any blunder. However, he admitted that, they need to adopt a distinct outlook for India.
He averted that the company is still not able to make it out clearly as to at what speed it could develop here, so presently they are trying to comprehend and survey the markets.
The firm which already vends two of its labels Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani in Delhi through its two outlets there, is all set to launch its third outlet in Mumbai within a couple of days.
While responding to a question on the company’s expansion plans for the future, Hook said that, they are intending to launch Giorgio Armani outlets in cities like Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and added that, all in all they intend to have 10-12 outlets in India, but did not reveal the time limit for the same.
He further emphasized that the firm is gearing up to pave a strong base for healthy trade in India, and added that, they have a strong game plan for expansion in India, and would have to control the urge to cash on imminent opportunities, as they are planning a long stay in the country.
Dearth of good retail locations in India, has been coming in the way of the firms expansion plans, he said and added that, the distribution channel in the country is lacking as there are not adequate number of departmental outlets and luxury retail points here. However, he did state that, the company is satisfied with its performance in India, till date.
Hooks further stated that, the company possesses various highly-value brands like Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Armani Exchange, Armani Jeans, Armani/Casa and Armani Junior many brands which can be launched in India and could serve needs of different class of people.
