Chanel Bags Lover

Following her show, Miuccia Prada took her bow with two very fine fruity accessories dangling from her ears

If food and fashion appear to be – for myriad and obvious reasons – unlikely bedfellows, their relationship is currently enjoying what might not unreasonably be described as a moment.

First up: Lady Gaga’s Argentinian beef dress. Despite the hype that has sprung up around this particular garment it is a not entirely original statement, having previously been made by not only Elsa Schiaparelli – whose lamb-chop hat was famously worn by the heiress Daisy Fellowes (there was also a lamb-chop jacket to match) – but also by Hussein Chalayan. In his days as an art student in the genteel seaside town of Leamington Spa, Chalayan used cuts of meat to create a not-so-genteel print. The gesture earned him a place at Central Saint Martins.

For the forthcoming spring/summer, meanwhile (and also for pudding?) the fashion follower might simply like to have a banana. Following her show in Milan last week, Miuccia Prada, the first lady of Italian fashion, stepped out to take her bow with two particularly fine and garish examples of that very fruit dangling from her earlobes where, more predictably, a pleasingly precious pair of vintage baubles might have been.
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Trousers aren’t welcome in Donatella Versace’s vision of summer.

prada

Designers chasing the vision of modernity have offered up many solutions this season. Alexander Wang chose pure white, Prada chose bold colour and Christopher Kane chose neon. Knowing the close and inspirational friendship between Kane and Donatella Versace, fluoro was a much touted bet for Versace too. Donatella wasn’t so bold, but perhaps that’s no bad thing.

Red and turquoise boxy jackets and matching thigh-split skirts provided more wearable shades. A jigsaw graphic print was tracked in Perspex along swing dresses and fitted tops and an irregular multi-colour stripe brought simple shapes to life. The finale sequence of floorlength dresses with flowing sections of tassels were the strongest moment of the show.
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It’s built by a couple who see good opportunity in the contagious obsession of today’s women
Photos by Rodel Rotoni

A FEVER that seems more prevalent and powerful than dengue has now invaded the supposedly exclusive confines of BF Homes in Parañaque with the recent opening of Leilanie’s House of Bags.

Located on Aguirre Avenue (tel. 975-9301; 0917-803-3147), the imposing three-story, neo-European-inspired building with a glass facade is impossible to miss. It has a huge inflatable pink Birkin perched on the roof.

The incongruous-looking structure seemed to have sprung up overnight in BF’s thriving commercial row.

It has wood-and-glass shelves on the first floor almost exclusively devoted to second-hand bags, from such high-end brands as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Prada, Goyard, Balenciaga, Dior, Burberry, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Coach and Gucci.

The place is bound to fuel the raging bag
fever that seems to have afflicted countless Filipino women (and not a few good men) for years now.

A cursory look reveals these finds: a small Birkin in dark brown can set you back by P395,000; a black-and-red Kelly similar, says a saleslady, to the one swung about by Gretchen Barretto costs P230,000.
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Prada Spring/Summer 2011

Midway through Milan, and the mood among retailers and the press is optimistic. Bananas and stripes at Prada! Leather fringe at Gucci! Long day at D and G! Perky, preppy bags at Fendi! And everywhere flag colors are set against chic white, skirts to midcalf, and wearable, non-conceptual clothes. Fashion appears to have come to its senses again or at least to have regained a sense of proportion, an impression fortified by London’s refined, unselfconsciously pretty offerings at Christopher Kane, Erdem, Marios Schwab, Peter Pilotto and Meadham Kirchhoff.
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Leopard prints are hot to trot, but a little goes a long way

Leopard prints are hot for fall, but a little goes a long way.

OTTAWA — Take a walk on the wild side this fall with leopard and zebra prints. Just remember you can make a statement without looking like a cougar on the prowl.

Giraffe prints, zebra stripes and cheetah and leopard spots are everywhere in women’s fashion and home decor thanks to safari-style fever and tribal motifs.

Top designers such as Dolce&Gabbana, Betsey Johnson, Roberto Cavalli and Prada are including the look in their collections. Extrovert fashionistas such as Katy Perry and Lady Gaga embrace the trend and have been seen sporting a yellow leopard print dress and leopard coats.
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vogue

Victoria Beckham’s storm is already seeing a glimmer of light as one of the most coveted covers in the fashion world’s magazines, the American Vogue cover, is already citing possibilities of her being featured.

Victoria already graced the covers of the British, Russian, German, Indian and recently Turkish Vouge.

The Daily Mail quotes American Vogue’s Anna Wintour as being a ‘big fan’ of Victoria.

So, what made the frosty editor, as depicted in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” take notice of Mrs. Beckham? Ms. Wintour started paying attention when Victoria had her implants reduced to a B cup.  Afterwards she was impressed with Victoria’s latest dress collection showed at the New York Fashion Week to which she said, “Don’t underestimate her.”
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prada

It was all wind and rain at launch of new film The Other Guys in London’s Leicester Square last night, but brightening up the miserable weather was brunette beauty Eva Mendes, who wowed us by wearing a green Prada halterneck dress.

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Prada Handbags

Hi, my little fashionistas, did you miss me? I have gone on a voyage for you: I traveled all the way from Michigan to Toronto and back again, on a wild, crazy search for some new, stylish Prada handbags to review for you. That’s how much I love you guys — plus, you know, I frigging love Toronto and secretly I went mostly for selfish, personal purposes. I did, however, chance to stay in the most luxurious hotel possible and spent endless amounts of time lounging in the lobby, watching all the glamorous travelers checking in and out, and I found lots of fodder for all you little Prada aficionados.

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Part one of an exclusive serialisation of Justine Picardie’s new biography of Coco Chanel.

First portrait of Gabrielle Chanel with one of her own hats published in the theatre magazine 'Comoedia Illustre', 1st October 1910.

‘Those on whom legends are built are their legends,‘ declared Coco Chanel to her friend Paul Morand, one of several writers to whom she tried, and failed, to tell the story of her life. ‘People’s lives are an enigma,’ she said to another friend, Claude Delay, not long before her death.

‘I don’t like the family,’ she also told Delay. ‘You’re born in it, not of it. I don’t know anything more terrifying than the family.’ And so she circled around and about it, telling and retelling the narrative of her youth, remaking history just as she remade the sleeves of a jacket, unfastening its seams and cutting its threads, and then sewing it back together again.

The official record shows that her mother, Eugénie, gave birth to Gabrielle on 19 August 1883 in the poorhouse in Saumur, a market town on the river Loire. Eugénie (known as Jeanne) was 20, Chanel’s father Henri-Albert (known as Albert) was 28, and listed as a marchland , or merchant, on Gabrielle’s birth certificate. They were not yet married but already had one daughter, Julia, born less than a year previously.

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Gucci!

A new business has emerged thanks to the fashion aspirations of Indians in small towns. Some online shopping sites are bringing national and global luxury brands within the reach of these people at throwaway prices.

A couple of years ago, 34-year-old Pankaj Maithil, a businessman and also a collector of designer perfumes from Indore, had to travel abroad or to Delhi to add volumes to his collection.

Today, the best fragrances from around the world are just a mouse click away from him. Thanks to the boom in online shopping sites.

Inder Goyal, a 42-year-old engineer from Jodhpur, loves to indulge in buying high-end labels like Versace and Armani and Gucci. And now, living in a Tier-2 city he fulfils his passion of following the global trends with the help of his laptop.

For Frainy Singh, former Mrs India and now settled in Chandigarh, online shopping is a blessing. Earlier, she had to make frequent shopping trips to bigger cities to maintain her glamorous lifestyle. Now she can do the same even without stepping out of her home.

All this has been made possible by a gamut of online fashion retail web sites that have been launched in India in the last couple of years.

Both Indian and international luxury brands can be bought at throwaway prices on these sites. Fashionandyou, 99labels, Brandmile, DesiCouture and Privatesales are some names that are getting popular among the fashion-conscious Indians.

These sites also offer good discounts for the customers. Davidoff Cool Water perfume priced at Rs 4,000 can be grabbed at Rs 1,800, a Calvin Klein dress priced at Rs 7,000 is available for Rs 3,000 and Polo Ralph Lauren T-Shirts with a regular price range of Rs 4,000-5,000 can be bought for less than Rs 2,000.