Fashion trends in 2013

Whether we choose to consciously compute the fact or not, how we look does impact the way we feel. It may be that we dress to a theme that evokes a mood, that we choose to pull on something that incites a certain confidence within us, or that we – for no definable reason at all – simply fall in love with a particular piece of clothing or accessory. Either way, the reality is that a large part of how our style evolves each year has to do with the clothing, hair, beauty and accessory trends sweeping fashion, sweeping the runways or the magazine pages or the streets. Not because we have to follow them, but because they inspire us. Each year we analyse what’s happening in the fashion world as a way to understand where the trends are coming from, where they’re going, and – should you so choose – how you can adapt them to your own personal style, in a way that suits you.

So for 2013 what to expect? Read on after the break to discover the latest on the year’s fashions.

Zuoan Fashion Limited Receives '2012 Product Development Award' from China National Textile and Apparel Council

Zuoan Fashion Limited (ZA) ("Zuoan" or the "Company"), a leading design-driven fashion casual menswear company in China, today announced that it was one of fifty-six textile and apparel companies awarded the '2012 Product Development Award' from the China National Textile and Apparel Council ("CNTAC").
CNTAC is a national, nonprofit federation of textile-related industries that aims to provide the best service to the modernization of China's textile industry. The Product Development Award is given to the companies which have made significant product development contributions in China's textile and apparel industry in 2012.

James Hong, Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are proud to be a recipient of the '2012 Product Development Award' and are grateful to the China National Textile and Apparel Council for recognizing our fashion casual menswear products and Zuoan's leading position in China's apparel market. We have a strong design team, comprised of both domestic and international fashion design talent, and have incorporated the latest technology to enhance our fabric design, accessories and apparel innovation. By accepting this award, we remain committed to developing high-quality, in-demand fashion products and will continue our efforts to contribute to the overall development of China's textile and apparel industry."

Classic fashion brand Burberry goes digital

Angela Ahrendts may be CEO of Burberry, but one of her favorite accessories is an Apple iPhone5 that she's used to oversee a mobile makeover at the 150-year-old company best known for trenchcoats and tartan plaids.

"This is the biggest flagship store in the world," Ahrendts says, holding up her iPhone during an interview in Chicago where Burberry just last month opened a new store. The Michigan Avenue site immerses customers in all things digital — from iPads for children to play with to video screens streaming Burberry fashion shows.

Burberry has long stuck to its English roots, giving its look from time to time modern tweaks, but it's been Ahrendts and chief creative officer Christopher Bailey in the past few years who have pushed the brand's digital, and now mobile, boundaries.

"It's very easy to allow an iconic brand to remain true to its heritage and at the same time obsolete itself," says Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group. "The hard thing to do is keep the iconic brand relevant. This is about somebody at the helm deciding they're going to find a way to keep the brand relevant for the future."

Burberry has done that by making moves that it says attract a millennial consumer. That includes monthly updates at Burberry.com, where Ahrendts said more people visit every week than walk into all the brand's stores around the world combined.

The company has an internal social network called Burberry chat. And since Ahrendts started in 2006 she started hiring a team of "digital natives" with titles like mobile director and music director. The brand also has a strategic innovation council.

While some efforts were underway when she took the helm, Ahrendts says Burberry was "a manual spreadsheet organization" at the time.

"We just kept evolving the structure," she says. "We always said if we were going to target a millennial consumer then we had to do it in their mother tongue, which is digital."

Cohen says iconic luxury fashion brands have the story to attract consumers, but the challenge is finding the right means of communicating it in the digital world. "They have to turn the store into a story and the story into a site," Cohen said.

The Burberry website offers 10 times more online than what the company has in stores "because we say that is 'the world's store,'" Ahrendts says.

Mobile commerce gives customers instant access to products they aspire to own. "To me, the key is that even the luxury brands have to learn, have to evolve," Cohen says. "Without evolution the luxury brands will be overtaken by more progressive, up and coming luxury brands. Luxury has to worry about keeping their brand alive."

Burberry is interacting directly with consumers in the digital sphere too, launching projects like artofthetrench.com. The website invites users to upload pictures of themselves wearing Burberry trenchcoats, which have been made by the label since World War I. The result is a collage from around the world.

Burberry.com also features Burberry Bespoke, which lets users customize their own trench, down to buttons and belts.

Ahrendts wants Burberry online and Burberry offline to be seamless for customers. But it's not without challenges in a digital world where fashion buyers can become overwhelmed with emails, tweets and others messages.

"How do we keep the brand so cool and so pure and so relevant so it cuts through that clutter?" she wonders — then answering her own question. "But by the same token how do we keep the marketing and the communication much more customized and personalized."

Fashion model drives success of hot restaurants

It's only when you analyse Australia's hottest restaurant, the Thai-inspired Chin Chin, as a retailer more in common with Spanish fast-fashion chain Zara than other chic eateries that colonise the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs, that you truly realise the global ambitions owner Chris Lucas has for his cool diner.

Lucas, who opened Melbourne's Chin Chin last year and its stablemate, Italian trattoria Baby, only two months ago, talks of business models not menu options, consumers not eaters, he ponders over social media rather than napkins and table settings, and speaks about retail products rather than food.

''I think the food game is a retailer, basically you come in here and buy a retail product - rather than wearing it you are consuming it.''

And it's a business philosophy that seems to be working. While a typical restaurant might turn over 200 to 300 customers a day, Chin Chin and Baby are racking up 800 diners from breakfast to dinner, and still turning away hundreds more each night. It's ''no bookings'' policy has people queueing for hours for a table.

Advertisement
''This is not a gentle evolutionary change,'' says Lucas, ''this is a revolutionary change going on in the food business and there are a lot of restaurants that are sitting empty, literally empty, while we are doing on average 800 customers a day.''

Jetting off to New York and London last week, Lucas now wants to take his restaurant - or business - model to the world and is seeking fresh capital and partners to turn Chin Chin into the template of an international chain to rival upmarket Japanese franchise Nobu or global noodle bar Wagamama.

''There is a massive gap in the market for what we are doing,'' he says. ''The top end is catered for, the mass market at the bottom end is catered for. But it's that everyday quality experience at affordable prices that hasn't been catered for, a la retailers like Zara or GAP or Top Shop. I like to think of Chin Chin and Baby as the Zara of the food game.''

The link to Zara is apt. The Spanish fashion retailer, described by one industry executive as ''possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world'', has built a cash cow empire on the concept of fast fashion. Imitating cutting edge designs straight from the catwalk, using good quality fabric but priced at affordable levels, has made the 1700-store Zara a billion-dollar fashion juggernaut.

Lucas has simply twisted and reshaped that model for food. He buys his produce from the same suppliers as his upmarket city competitors, but where they might charge $50 for a main course he is spinning dishes out from the kitchen at $15 to $25.

From his vantage point running two successful restaurants, Lucas sees the same destructive forces that are shaping and shocking the retail sector now turning their power on the restaurant game.

''What's been going on in the retail sector for the last five years is going on in the food business right now, and that is the consumer is dramatically changing their behaviour in a number of ways.

''Our object was to do what has happened to a certain extent in retail, that is go from a low volume/high margin model, to a high volume/low margin model. Most top end restaurants just aren't making enough money, hardly any margin, and for many their profit margins are around 5 per cent.

''We are probably tracking at two or three times the standard industry return, so 10 to 15 per cent [profit margins] and climbing. Our brands are so successful that our volumes are continuing to grow month on month.''

The change in restaurants is being driven by younger consumers, argues Lucas, empowered by iPhones and tablets, people working non-traditional hours and eating at non-traditional times.

''It's not like the old days where our mother and father would go out at 6 for dinner, eat, have one drink and be home by 8 - which is why probably nobody is watching free-to-air TV these days. We have become the new social hub, the kids instead of going to the grungy nightclubs are now coming to places like this, having a drink, some great food … and it's fun.''

He claims there are nights where he has turned away up to 1000 customers, although many plot a course for the bar beneath Chin Chin for a drink - another nice little earner for sure.

Social media has replaced word of mouth, and advertising is done via platforms such as Facebook and twitter. Its no surprise then that among his 250-strong staff of chefs, waiters and dishwashers, Lucas employs a social media officer.

The ''no bookings' tactic is another example of the loosening of traditional formalities and while it might have ruffled the feathers of some traditionalists, Lucas believes it is a luxury (as well as a nuisance) that the restaurant sector can no longer afford to support.

Sitting at his hip and humming Chin Chin restaurant - it's not even noon and already there is a queue of hungry city workers lining up for tables - Lucas says he has learnt from the shockwaves pulsing through retail and is copying those brands that are beginning to dominate the new reality.

''So our model basically follows the same sort of principal which is, I felt, that five or six years ago the restaurant business wasn't really delivering to the consumer what they wanted - which was value, a more relaxed fun, environment, less stiffness, less formality.

''It's about the way we conduct ourselves and the space we fit out, and the same is true for retail.

''So, no longer do customers want to walk through marbled Versace-style retail spaces that costs developers and retailers millions, they are happy to walk into a warehouse stripped back to its bones as long as it has got the product that they want - in other words, they actually don't give much of a damn anymore about the physical space.

''My view is that you embrace change or you get trodden over by the hordes that are driving the change.''

Fashion Eyewear Introduces New Featured Section to the Website

Fashion Eyewear's exclusive insight on geek glasses, transitions lenses and varifocal lenses.

From quirky glasses to varifocals lenses, the featured pages from Fashion Eyewear offers the latest news on speciality eyewear and trends.

GEEK GLASSES
The geek-chic look is a very popular and fashionable trend that is followed by many. From trendy celebrities to well-known fashionistas around the world geek glasses have become a style staple accessory people cannot be seen without. Glasses shouldn't just be an investment to eye health but should also be a fashion statement to one's personality and style.

TRANSITIONS LENSES
Photochromic lenses adjust according to the amount of UV exposure. For example, on a day where there is a lot of sunlight, photochromic lenses will automatically darken and vice versa. Transitions are the world's leading manufacturer for photochromic lenses. Transitions lenses can adapt to UV exposure in a matter of seconds. The only time the photochromic technology doesn't work is in cars because the windscreens have built-in UV protection and in houses or buildings.

VARIFOCAL LENSES
For those who need more than one pair of glasses for reading or watching TV, driving, or distance may want to invest in varifocal lenses. These lenses have several powers for near, far and in-between distance. There are four different types of varifocal lenses; basic, advanced, premium, and elite. The premium and elite lenses offer optimal visual clarity and the ultimate ease of adaptation which makes them the ideal choice for first-time users.

Fashion merry-go-round brings Paris new faces for 2013

Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga: three top Paris fashion houses kick off 2013 with a new designer at their helm.

What better way to whet the appetite of fashionistas and keep sales ticking over?

“There comes a point when a brand needs to renew itself,” said Serge Carreira, a luxury industry expert and professor at Sciences Po University.

Change can come about involuntarily — as in the case of John Galliano, sacked by Dior over a racist outburst in February 2011 and succeeded last spring by the Belgian minimalist Raf Simons.

Or it can be deliberate, as at Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, where Hedi Slimane and Alexander Wang were named to replace the outgoing designers Stefano Pilato and Nicolas Ghesquiere respectively.

“Taking on a new designer has become the new way for brands to whip up consumer appetite,” said luxury industry consultant Jean-Jacques Picart.

For the fashion world, this much change in one year spells the end of a cycle and the start of a new one, as seen in the early 2000s with the arrival of Slimane at Dior Homme, and Tom Ford at Saint Laurent, Picart said.

Ghesquiere spent 15 years at Balenciaga, as did Galliano at Dior, while Pilati was at YSL for 12 years in total, starting under Ford, said Pamela Golbin, curator at the Paris museum of decorative arts.

Long enough for the industry to change, and the job of designer too.

“The number of collections has gone from four to eight, 12 or more if you include capsule collections,” she said.

Brands increasingly look to designers to act as their public face, opening stores and attending galas.

‘Couturiers have to sell clothes’

Golbin captures the outlook in today’s fashion industry with a quote from the late French designer Madeleine Vionnet:

“‘Artists are here to make us dream — couturiers have to sell clothes, or they go out of business.’“

“Today it’s no longer enough to be able to design a dress,” Carreira said. “Having a strong identity and a distinctive product are the keys to success.”

At a time when luxury houses are looking to shore up their prospects for future growth, they need to strike a balancing act between creativity and business imperatives.

“And history tells us that it pays to be bold,” Carreira said. “If you ask talented creatives to produce standardised products, there is no reason it should work.”

Consumers have changed, too, in the past 15 years.

The industry is now addressing switched-on customers who are far from the fashion novices of the 1990s. Today’s clients go back and forth between big and niche brands and more or less expensive offerings.

This spring will bring what is widely awaited as Slimane’s first “real” shows for Yves Saint Laurent, after last October’s spring-summer collection by the cult designer seen as a homage to the house’s late founder.

Dior’s new designer Simons has already made a mark in Paris with two collections, one couture and one ready-to-wear, that reworked the house’s iconic nipped-waist silhouette with a clean-lined, contemporary twist.

And Wang, the darling of the New York fashion scene, will be taking his first steps at Balenciaga at the autumn-winter ready-to-wear shows this spring.

At 28, Wang is already a seasoned businessman, at the helm of an own-name fashion house that has been pushing into Asia, where the Taiwanese-American designer has his family roots.

His arrival at Balenciaga may or may not herald a more aggressive market strategy, but whatever direction the house takes, for Picart, Wang’s appointment “seals the arrival of a new generation” of designers at the high table of fashion — in the style capital of the world.

Fashion books: Their styles stack up

Books that examine the world of fashion can make for good reads. Here are some of the latest.—By Booth Moore and Adam Tschorn

Alexander McQueen: The Life and the Legacy

Harper Design, $35.

It's hard to think of someone better qualified to tackle her topic than Judith Watt. In addition to being a personal friend of the fashion designer — who took his own life in February 2010 — Watt happens to head the fashion history department at Central Saint Martins (where McQueen studied).

Wyatt traces the trajectory of McQueen's life primarily through his work, collection by collection, filling in the lesser-known parts of his creative CV that tend to get lost between the high-profile bullet points of things like his infamous "bumster" trousers or his Highland Rape collection. She touches on his early work on the Romeo Gigli spring/summer 1991 collection, for example, as well as his Central Saint Martins graduate collection (titled "Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims") and includes detailed photographs of same.

Extensively footnoted, the book does pull from a good deal of previously published magazine and newspaper articles, but it also serves up first-person observations and insight from those he worked for, studied under and collaborated with.

Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland

Amanda Mackenzie Stuart

Harper Collins, $35.

Legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who died in 1989, has been celebrated in a number of mediums this year — Lisa Immordino Vreeland's documentary "The Eye Has to Travel;" a museum exhibition in Venice, Italy; a Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award in Beverly Hills and now Amanda Mackenzie Stuart's biography.

With cooperation from Vreeland's family and access to Diana's private diaries, Stuart creates a complete portrait of Vreeland, drawing particular attention to her lifelong "complex" about her ugly duckling looks, her self-invented persona and her efforts to bring "pizazz" (a word she coined) to American fashion. By working with designers to get around wartime restrictions on fabric and materials (putting models in ballet slippers and fabric espadrilles, for example), Vreeland helped define a vision of American style that endures to this day.

The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson

Michael Bush

Insight Editions, $45.

For more than 25 years, L.A.-based costume designers Michael Bush and the late Dennis Tompkins were the men behind the man in the mirror, designing tens of thousands of pieces of Michael Jackson's personal and tour wardrobes and helping to craft his image.

"The King of Style" is a glossy scrapbook of stories, sketches, patterns, still photos and performance shots that detail their collaboration with Jackson (including eight pages about that glove alone). The book reveals that everything was designed to enhance Jackson's performance or to create mystery and playfully tease fans.

Among the looks and styling tricks that are explained? The "Smooth Criminal" Lean shoes, which had a device inside that bolted to the floor to let Jackson lean forward 45 degrees; the "Billie Jean" pants, which had extra deep pockets, so Jackson could lift the material inside to raise his pant legs and draw attention to his dancing feet; and the infamous armbands, which had no meaning other than to make Jackson instantly recognizable, as if that were ever a concern.

Graffito Books, $24.95.

Even if you've never heard of "steampunk" — the retro-future mash-up that marries science fiction and the Victorian era (think Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" or H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine") — you're likely to be intrigued by what's depicted on the pages of "Steampunk Fashion."

Part source book for emerging and established designers dabbling in the oeuvre and part glossy, coffee-table art book, it showcases 21 people and brands and their wares. Among the featured items are underbust corset belts and bustle skirts for the ladies, swallowtail jackets and brass-filigreed top hats for the gents.


Designer Greg Chait: Ready for his close-up?

Beauty metals: The 24-karat spin

Toms Shoes: A Venice shoe-in

Holiday beauty gift sets: Are you all set?
A trove of choices
It's hard to know why the author chose to end the book with a separate, one-page appendix listing designer contact details (instead of simply including the information with each entry). We're just going to guess it's a steampunkish thing to do.

Titanic Style: Dress and Fashion on the Voyage

Grace Evans

Skyhorse Publishing, $24.95.

The 2,223 passengers and crew of the ill-fated Titanic as insects trapped in amber? That's the kind-of conceit of "Titanic Style," with author Evans describing them as "a microcosm of post-Edwardian society," each dressed according to his or her station, from the uniforms of crew members to the elaborate hats, corsets and dresses of the genteel women who occupied the first class cabins.

The book is text-heavy and most of the photographs that appear depict what those aboard would wear, rather than what they did wear. There are a few notable exceptions, specifically the apron worn by one of the survivors — the maid and secretary to first-class passenger and fashion designer Lady Duff Gordon.

Fashion designers drawn to causes near and dear

Fashion designers sometimes get to wear their hearts on their sleeves, making their personal connection to charitable causes part of their public lives.

Sometimes the choices of charities seem obvious, such as the recent effort by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue magazine to raise $1.7 million in relief aid for those affected by Superstorm Sandy, which happened in their backyard. Others are driven by more intimate reasons.
Designers explain what drew them to their causes:

—Donna Karan and Urban Zen Foundation.
Karan's husband, Stephan, died in 2001 of lung cancer. It's also when her Urban Zen Foundation was born.
Stephan had asked her to "take care of the nurses," she recalls. "I knew what he meant."
While there's often a lot of deserved focus on the sick person, the caregivers need support, too, she explains.

Urban Zen supports a program of integrative health therapy. "It's a combination of acupuncture, aromatherapy, yoga, reiki and massage. This unique and compassionate program is now in dozens of hospitals and care facilities across the nation. It focuses on the 'caring,' which enhances the curing for the patient. And it also takes care of their families, the doctors, and yes, the nurses."

—Michael Kors and God's Love We Deliver.
Kors' commitment to God's Love We Deliver, an organization that delivers more than one million meals per year to house-bound people suffering from illness, isn't a here-today, gone-tomorrow trend. He has been involved for two decades, and this year he was honored with its lifetime achievement award. At the group's annual gala, Kors announced he was donating an additional $5 million.

It's a cause rooted in his own backyard, Kors says. And he finds the dedication he sees at the organization — including working straight through Superstorm Sandy — inspiring.

"I am continually dismayed by the scope and magnitude of the global hunger crisis, but it is not an issue just facing third-world countries," he says. "We see it right here in this country and in New York City on a daily basis."

—Tory Burch and the Tory Burch Foundation.
Do what you know: It's what Burch does. The foundation that bears her name targets women who are starting and growing businesses.

"I started the Foundation based on my experience as an entrepreneur and a working mother — I wanted to support other women entrepreneurs and help them achieve their aspirations," Burch says. "They are an investment in our collective futures. Strong women build strong communities, and women reinvest in their families and local economies."

Participants can receive micro loans, mentorship and business-education opportunities, she explains.
The Foundation was part of her blueprint since launching her label in 2004. Philanthropy, she says, is part of her identity. "There is no greater reward than giving back. It's part of my personal history; it's something I teach my children, and it is woven into the DNA of our company."

—Ralph Lauren and the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention.
Lauren became involved in breast-cancer awareness charities through his friend Nina Hyde, the Washington Post fashion editor who was diagnosed with the disease and died in 1990.

A commitment to the breast cancer cause runs deep through the fashion and beauty industry — it's largely where all that pink comes from — but Lauren takes it farther. He helped establish a center for breast cancer research at Georgetown University Medical Center, and he encouraged the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign.

The focus on breast cancer eventually morphed into all cancers, especially in underserved communities. The Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation spearheads the Pink Pony Fund and the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention, a partnership with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

"Seared in my childhood memory," he has said, "is one particular moment when my mother had a health scare and panicked about where she could turn for help."

—Georgina Chapman of Marchesa and the Rose Home.
When Chapman married film producer Harvey Weinstein, they didn't want wedding gifts — they wanted to start their union by building something meaningful, says Chapman. They collected donations for the Rose Home, a residence for about 50 girls in New Delhi that their trust created from scratch.

Chapman says her British family has longtime ties to India and she particularly wanted to help girls and give them a sense of belonging, self-worth and family. "Most of the girls are permanent residents," she says. "We get legal guardianship of them. Most of the girls are found in the train stations or walking around the streets."

She adds, "We thought of doing a school, but I thought what they really needed was a home and some semblance of normality. They go to school, but it's a regular school nearby. I get all their marks sent to me, and they get really good grades."

—Tommy Hilfiger and Millennium Promise.
Hilfiger says that giving back had to be a part of his growth plan, personally and professionally. He grew up in a small upstate New York town and thought about the big time. "I always wanted to be successful enough to give back to causes that are near and dear to my heart," he says.

Hilfiger and his wife Dee, each with a child affected by autism, joined the Autism Speaks board earlier this year. And the Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation gave a five-year commitment to Millennium Promise, a nonprofit that aims to eliminate extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease through partnerships with groups such as UNICEF and the World Agroforestry Centre.

All it took to convince him was one conversation with Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and a co-founder of the organization, Hilfiger says.

"We can end extreme poverty in our lifetime. We can pass on our skills, dedicate our resources, and share our ambitions with communities across the globe. What we get back is immeasurable."

Icelandic Fashion Label Gydja Collection Releases New Hekla Fragrance for Women

Icelandic fashion label Gydja Collection recently introduced a new fragrance for women to its already popular range of perfumes. The label's new perfume is named after one of Iceland's most active volcanoes, Hekla, and is made with water extracted from the streams that cascade down the volcano's slopes.

Sigrun Lilja Gudjonsdottir, the founder and head designer of Gydja Collection, said, "Both of our former fragrances, EFJ Eyjafjallajokull and VJK Vatnajokull, have been a tremendous success and due to this I wanted to add a third fragrance to the Gydja Parfum range. We chose to name the fragrance Hekla because we extracted and utilised water from streams that rundown from the volcano's slopes. The reasoning for this was to capture minerals that gather in the water as it filters down through the lava rock adding a unique touch to the fragrance."

Sigrun Lilja continued, "Also, for us Hekla symbolises strength, power, and persistence, which are all great qualities we want to promote to women through our products. It is wonderful to be able to offer a perfume that not only smells beautiful but that also encapsulates the power and force of the Icelandic nature all within one glass," continued Sigrun Lilja.

To place emphasis on the use of Iceland's natural elements, the bottle is accompanied by a small piece of lava rock sourced from the base of the Hekla volcano that is attached via a small keychain to the bottle. According to Sigrun Lilja, the fragrance marries the four elements -- earth, water, air, fire -- together: the lava rock symbolises the earth; the water used to make the perfume is sourced directly from Hekla; the air is the oxygen that blends with the fragrance when sprayed, and the fire rises up from the core of the volcano.

"Once the water is extracted from Hekla, it is shipped to Grasse in the South France, the world's capital of perfume, where it is produced by professional perfume makers. The fragrance is sweet, feminine, and full of sweet vanilla and woody undertones. It is also an Eau de Parfum which means it provides a long-lasting fragrance for all to enjoy," explained Sigrun Lilja.

Furthermore, in previous years with the release of Gydja Collection's other perfumes, the company has held large events for the grand unveiling of its products; however, this time around the label has instead decided to give the amount of such costs in the form of bottles of the Hekla fragrance to Maedrastyrksnefndar Reykjavíkur, a foundation that helps single mothers, for gifts this Christmas.
"It's good to be able to help single mothers who are not able to make ends meet and are in need, especially at this time of year in the run up to Christmas. We want to help them by making our contribution and also by helping to distribute the gifts along with members of the Maedrastyrksnefndar Reykjavíkur," commented Sigrun Lilja.

Charity Meets Fashion: A Benefit Honoring The World's Children

Mariam Kinkladze and Honor Vitae, a non-profit organization that improves the welfare of children worldwide will partner with Toilet Hackers, an organization dedicated to improving sanitation and hygiene internationally, and the William Talbott Hillman Foundation to present Charity Meets Fashion, a special holiday celebration and fashion show in NYC on December 17, 2012.

Olympic figure skater Sasha Cohen will host the ticketed event. Celebrities, including Vanessa Hudgens, Rose Mcgowan and Jack Huston, will join donors, supporters and members of the press to learn about Honor Vitae and enjoy an evening at the newly renovated Affirmation Arts studio and gallery. The event will include a DJ, open bar, hors d'oeuvres by Iron Chef Jehangir Mehta, and the highlight, a premiere fashion show by menswear designer George Nazgaidze,of the country of Georgia, where Honor Vitae has assumed patronage of 50 children.

Montreal Fashion Week Reveals Partial Fall-Winter 2013 Program

Groupe Sensation Mode has announced the partial program for the fall-winter 2013 edition of Montréal Fashion Week (MFW), taking place February 4 to 7 at the Arsenal. The initial list includes 13 hand-picked designers and more than 30 are expected for the complete F/W 13 program. This international spotlight on creativity is presented in collaboration with P&G Beauty & Grooming and is held twice a year, bringing together industry influencers from across Canada.

The first designers that have registered for MFW fall-winter 2013 to date are: Mélissa Nepton, Harricana, Ralph Leroy, L''autre couture de Luko Marion, RUSH COUTURE by CLAUDETTE FLOYD, Nisse, Pedram Karimi, Matière noire, COKLUCH, Symbiose by Hinda A., Maryline Baril, Jennifer Glasgow Design and Voyou.

The event serves as a launch-pad for designers to showcase their upcoming seasonal collections and is known for its quality program that stands out from other fashion weeks around the world. In addition to runway shows, MFW also presents a series of exhibitions, conferences, artistic performances and fashion films during the four-day event. Carly Stojsic of WGSN will present a conference looking at macro-trends for the 2014 spring-summer season, with others to be announced.

"Our team is very excited about the upcoming edition of MFW," said Chantal Durivage, co-president and co-founder of Groupe Sensation Mode. "The success of spring-summer 2013 left us inspired and so we have kept the stand-out elements and are working on adding new ones. One of these additions is the creation of a new room for the small collections that will feature a more intimate format, giving the designers a greater level of creative freedom."

The Target Emerging Designer Award will also make its debut at MFW in Feburary. The five designer finalists will show their creations at a fashion show, with the grand-prize winner announced at the end of the event. The winner will be presented with a $25,000 grant and the opportunity to create an exclusive collection that will be sold at Target stores in Québec.

Advance tickets for Montreal Fashion Week are on sale now at www.montrealfashionweek.ca. Pre-sale tickets are available until December 24 with the following promotional packages:

Groupe Sensation Mode created a Designer Selection Committee six years ago in response to the needs of a constantly evolving fashion industry. This Committee meets before each fashion week to select the new talent that will present their collections at the next MFW. The members are responsible for evaluating applications submitted with a view that meets MFW participation standards and criteria. This season, the Committee members include: Marie Geneviève Cyr, professor at New York''s Parsons The New School For Design; Martina Djogo, decoration, fashion and trend reporter at Elle Québec; Jean-Claude Poitras, multidisciplinary designer and design columnist; Andrew McNally, professor at Collège LaSalle and fashion writer; and Ariane LaSalle, program and creative director at Groupe Sensation Mode.

Fashion Island shooting: 'Luck was on our side,' police say

The gunman who fired more than 50 rounds at the busy Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach was described by police as a "destitute individual" who decided “this was his way of venting his life problems.”

Marcos Gurrola, 42, used a semi-automatic handgun to fire more than 50 rounds into the air Saturday afternoon before he was taken into custody, authorities said. No one was shot, although authorities said one person was hurt fleeing the scene.

As investigators worked Sunday to determine a motive, Newport Beach Police Deputy Chief David McGill characterized Gurrola as someone who was "unhappy about a lot in life and decided this was his best way of releasing his tension."

"It's just one of those things where you scratch your head and go, 'Really?'" McGill told The Times.

Gurrola — who remains in Orange County Jail on a charge of shooting at an inhabited dwelling — appeared to be unemployed, McGill said. McGill could not confirm reports the suspect was living in his car, but said the vehicle had "a lot of personal items" inside.

Court records did not indicate Gurrola had a criminal history but state records showed he was a registered guard/patrol person with the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. That license expires in January.

Lt. Jon Lewis stressed there was "no connection" between Gurrola's alleged acts and a shooting Friday at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults.

Gurrola allegedly began shooting outside a Macy's about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Given the Newtown shooting, McGill said he was "terrified" when he got the initial call.

All he thought, he said, was, "Oh my gosh, here we go."

Some officers were already in the area — part of an effort to curb theft at the mall during the holiday shopping season — and police were able to find the suspect almost immediately, McGill said. Gurrola allegedly put his gun down and his hands in the air and was arrested without incident.

McGill said Newport Beach police train for active shooter scenarios at various locations and had specifically been in contact with mall security in recent months. They started monthly meetings about eight months ago and have a “great relationship” with security, both at the mall and at individual stores like Macy’s.

That relationship proved important Saturday, he said, adding that Newport Beach police knew their counterparts at the mall personally and how they would respond.

He commended his officers for following their training and reacting like they were trained to.

“They all see thousands of people running away from a madman with a gun, which is what we want them to do, and my guys are the guys running toward him," McGill said. "Our guys did exactly what they are trained to do.”

But, McGill said, given recent events — the Connecticut shooting, along with a Tuesday shooting at a mall outside Portland, Ore., where a gunman killed two people and wounded another — Newport Beach police recognize just how badly the situation at Fashion Island could have ended.

"It scares the heck out of me. ... The police — we keep preparing and keep preparing because this makes us nervous. We can't be 100% prepared but we're constantly working on it," he said.

"Thank God he pointed up," he added. "Luck was on our side."

Fashion books boost style IQ

Coco Chanel once said, “I don‘t understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little — if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that‘s the day she has a date with destiny. And it‘s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.”

Help the fashionista in your life be prepared for her destiny with a book of style. There are many options to choose from for the Chanel-loving woman in your world. Buy her the book written by Jemma Kidd about beauty secrets, or one on defining the art of dressing, or a book on the life and legacy of Alexander McQueen. There are several options of style reads to make this time of the year a chic one.

“A to Z of Style,” by Amy de la Haye ($19.95, Abrams): The latest volume in this clothbound fashion series, “A to Z of Style” brings together the secrets of style from the world‘s greatest fashion designers, their famous clients and other figures from the world of fashion in this illustrated dictionary.

Beginning with A for Accessories and ending with Z for Zips, this guide preserves wisdom of fashion‘s big names from Chanel on perfume to Christian Dior on elegance to Elsa Schiaparelli on hats. Whether you have lots of it, or just a little, style is something that evolves: a lifelong work in progress, with some over-the-top moments, and some more terrible ones we‘d like to forget. But it is our faux pas that forge our style and make us more self-assured and confident, and help us understand who we are, suggests de la Haye. Like many other areas in life, it‘s the mistakes that make us progress. With time, we realize what works for our personal style — and what doesn‘t.

“Jemma Kidd Make-Up Secrets: Solutions to Every Woman‘s Beauty Issues and Make-Up Dilemmas,” by Jemma Kidd ($24.99, St. Martin‘s Press): International make-up artist, business woman, award-winning product designer and former model Jemma Kidd reveals her sought-after makeup secrets in her new book.

“With all my experience in beauty and make-up, the advice and tips in this book are invaluable,” says Mary Greenwell, Chanel Ambassador and make-up artist. “It has taught me things I thought I knew — so worth reading, even for the most seasoned expert.”

Included is the best foundation for your skin type and skin tone, great ways to turn high-fashion looks into something you can use for everyday and make-up to make you look younger.

“Alexander McQueen: The Life and the Legacy,” by Judith Watt ($35, Harper Collins): This is a rarified, intimate look at the personal and professional life of the fashion world‘s most visionary designer. Written by Judith Watt, a leading fashion historian and personal friend of McQueen, the book features never-before-seen photographs of some of his most intricate garments, and images from private collectors, like Daphne Guinness and Isabella Blow.

“Audrey: The 60s,” by David Wills and Stephen Schmidt ($40, Harper Collins): Audrey Hepburn is unparalleled as an iconic photographic subject. Regarded as one of the most beautiful and best-dressed women in history, her appeal is timeless. She defined a decade with her elegant style. From her little black dress in “Breakfast at Tiffany‘s” to her high-fashion spreads in Vogue, her legacy is seen everywhere. Her personal style is a rare constant as subsequent generations discover her anew and look to her as a template for chic that no one else, except perhaps Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, represents.

“Tim Walker Story Teller,” by Tim Walker, Robin Muir and Ruth Ansel ($75, Abrams): This stunning photography collection from world-renowned fashion photographer Tim Walker showcases his signature style with some of the biggest names in fashion and contemporary culture. Included are many A-listers in fashion and Hollywood, including Alexander McQueen, Tilda Swinton, Helena Bonham Carter and Alber Elbaz, among others. Walker is one of the most exciting photographers of our time with his flamboyant style — often tongue and cheek but always exquisitely executed.

“The World in Vogue: People Party Places,” edited by Alexandra Kotur ($75, Abrams): This one-of-a-kind book of 300 photographs of some of the most celebrated actors, artists, models, first ladies and social figures draws on stories that have appeared in the pages of Vogue over the past four decades and photographs from never published stories. Richly illustrated in black and white and in color, the book contains a stunning look at portraits, houses, gardens and parties of celebrated figures from many worlds.

“Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland,” by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart ($35, Harper Collins): In 1936, when few women of her social status worked, Vreeland was thrilled by a offer a job at Harper‘s Bazaar. Hired for her dramatic international sense of style, grounded in an appreciation of Parisian haute couture, she was thrust into unfamiliar territory — covering the New York fashion industry. Today, nearly 40 years after ending her magazine career at Vogue and nearly a quarter century after her death in 1989 at age 86, Vreeland is internationally recognized as a catalyst for American fashion. Stuart reveals the resilent, diligent, determined dreamer beneath the famous lacquered face. This biography says Vreeland brought pizzazz to American fashion, championeding clothes that flattered and liberated the natural female body and made fashion accessible to every woman — regardless of her figure or finance — as a personal choice and statement.

“Diane von Furstenberg and the Tale of The Empress‘s New Clothes,” by Camilla Morton ($21.99, Harper Collins): This empowering new story styles a feminine twist to the classic tale of ‘The Emperor‘s New Clothes,‘ as it draws parallels with Diane von Furstenberg‘s story. Morton, a fashion writer and internationally best-selling author, celebrates the story of the fashion designer and weaves a cautionary tale for the empress in all of us. This is the third book in the Fashion Fairy Tale Memoir series.

“The Style Mentors: Women Who Define the Art of Dressing Today,” by Elyssa Dimant ($30, Harper Collins): Profiling more than 80 contemporary women with great style, Dimant, a fashion historian and expert in contemporary fashion studies, offers role models for the here and now. Each of the book‘s eight chapters addresses a signature look with proven fashion longevity — icon, maverick, bohemian, gamine, siren, minimalist, rocker and classic — and demonstrates how to achieve it by analyzing the style of those who wear it admirably. The book shows how to incorporate that know how into a current personal look. Included throughout are a wealth of dos and don‘ts, lists of wardrobe and accessory essentials and sage tips on fashion and beauty.

“Vogue: The Editor‘s Eye,” edited by Eve MacSweeney ($75, Abrams): Vogue, the world‘s most influential fashion magazine, is celebrating its 120th anniversary this fall. To commemorate the milestone, Conde Nast and Abrams Books have created a stunning volume chronicling the history of Vogue, as seen through the eyes of eight of the magazine‘s iconic fashion editors. The book celebrates the pivotal role Vogue‘s fashion editors have played in shaping America‘s sense of style, featuring a forward from Anna Wintour.

With world-famous photographers such as Richard Avedon and Annie Leibovitz and model muses such as Suzy Parker and Linda Evangelista, the most memorable collaborations between photographer and model have become pop-culture touchstones that have far outlasted their context and influenced fashion for generations.

“Hollywood Sketchbook: A Century of Costume Illustration,” by Deborah Nadoolman Landis ($75, Harper Design): In her book, this author and Academy Award-nominated costume designer opens the doors to the dynamic world of costume illustration, revealing the world‘s most sumptuous illustrations and behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most beloved costumes of all time. A comprehensive introduction contextualizes the rigors of costume illustration and highlights the contributions each of the featured artists made to the history of the art form. The book is authoritative, yet accessible in tone, and contains a dazzling array of first-person anecdotes that inform and enhance the images.

“W: The First 40 Years,” edited by Stefano Tonchi, with Christopher Bagley and Joseph Logan ($75, Abrams): This book takes a remarkable journey through four decades of W, one of the most innovative and provocative fashion magazines in the world. Since 1972, its unique blend of unparalleled access, cultural smarts, high glamour and visual panache has kept it consistently in the vanguard of what‘s new, hot and noteworthy not only in the world of fashion, but in art, design, style, beauty, celebrity and society. One of its greatest legacies is stunning photography with the best from past and present featured on these pages.

“Vogue Weddings: Brides, Dresses, Designers,” edited by Hamish Bowles ($85, Knopf): In nearly 400 stunning photographs, a breathtaking and inspirational look at the weddings and wedding dresses that have appeared in the pages of Vogue throughout the magazine‘s 120-year history.

From grand royal weddings in storied castles to weddings by the sea or in the countryside, we see the glamorous nuptials of Grace Kelly, Kate Moss, Sofia Coppola, Carolina Herrara Jr., Plum Sykes, Audrey Hepburn and others. The Wedding Designers Guide offers 10 designers celebrated for their stylish and romantic designs, from Vera Wang to J. Crew. This book is not only informative and rich with historical detail, but also presents a collection of dramatic and inspirational images.

Meet Denmark's Newest, Youngest Fashion Billionaire

Danish fashion executive Anders Holch Povlsen is the latest billionaire to join Forbes’ worldwide ranks. At age 40, he is also one of the youngest in the world.

Danish Billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen

Holch Povlsen of Denmark took over his family’s fashion retailer at age 28. He is now the CEO and sole owner of Bestseller, the $3.2 billion (sales) fashion player, which sells apparel and accessories to women, men, teenagers and children in 46 markets in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Canada. The company markets the items under 10 brand names, including Mamalicious, Name It and Vera Moda, and employs 12,100, one fourth of whom are in Denmark.

Anders’ parents, Troels Holch Povlsen and Merete Bech Povlsen, opened the family’s first store in 1975 in the small Danish town of Ringkobing. The couple are still involved in the business – Merete is its chairman and Troels sits on the board – but they gave up ownership to Anders, possibly in 2012. Though the company website says the business is family owned, a spokesperson confirmed that Anders, the eldest of their two sons, is the sole owner, with a 100% stake. He would not provide any more details or specifics, citing the family’s desire for privacy.

British Billionaire Strikes Deal With Retail Investor; Aims For Big U.S. Expansion

Forbes figures the company is worth at least $1.8 billion, based on a multiple of its earnings, which declined 48% in the latest fiscal year to $210 million. The family also has an interest, along with two Danish partners in China, in Bestseller Fashion Group China, an independent company that designs its own collections for approximately 5,000 stores in China.

Anders, who is married with three children, has been getting attention lately for a series of land purchases in the Scottish Highlands. One British paper, The Telegraph, estimated that he now owns 120,000 acres, making him one of the Highlands’ biggest landowners behind the Prince of Wales, British billionaire Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, better known as the Duke of Westminster, and a few others.

Quebec Fashion Conquers Brussels in December

The Groupe Sensation Mode (GSM) team takes off for Brussels, Belgium today, where they will hold a fashion display highlighting the creations of eight Québec designers. The showcase takes place December 13 and is in partnership with the Brussels Louise Association, an organization that holds annual public events in Brussels'' chic Louise district during the holidays. Québec is being featured this year and GSM was invited to promote Montréal as a fashion leader and cultural tourism destination.

Groupe Sensation Mode helped produce the official opening ceremonies for the association''s event, which will begin with the illumination of the district''s Place Stéphanie with an art installation called "Polar spheres" created by Québec artist Bernard Duguay. The luminous display won the hearts of Montréalers in 2010 during its debut at Place des Festivals. After the ceremonies, delegates from Brussels will make their way to the Sofitel hotel to attend a cocktail reception celebrating the launch.

The fashion portion of the inauguration was designed and produced by GSM, which sought to present a broad selection of local creations that represented all that Montréal fashion and arts have to offer. Eight of Quebec''s designers will attend, including DUY, m0851, Mackage, Ève Gravel, Arielle de Pinto, ça va de soi, Marisa Minicucci, and Harricana.

Models from Dominique Models Agency of Brussels will showcase the designers'' creations on two runways in an avant-garde setting with a Montreal signature. Model Amélie Lens, known for Martin Margiella''s H&M campaign, will take part in the fashion event.

"We have been at work preparing for this event for months," said Chantal Durivage, co-founder and co-president of Groupe Sensation Mode. "Leading the creative process for this presentation has been an amazing experience and we intend on using this opportunity to increase our visibility and show off the talented designers of Quebec to everyone in Brussels. We look forward to the results that will come from the business meetings that we have ahead of us in Brussels."

The strong Québec presence at the event this year is an opportunity for the Brussels Louise Association to promote itself with unique programming, while also commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Délégation générale du Québec in Brussels.

"The Louise District is lined with the biggest names, the most prestigious fashion houses and the greatest gourmet restaurants in Brussels," said Claire Hajadj, Director of Communications for Brussels Louise Association. "We have developed an exceptional and progressive partnership with Groupe Sensation Mode, which strengthens the prestige of our event in the eyes of our clients."

Several Quebec government organizations approached Groupe Sensation Mode, a Canadian leader with ties to Belgium, to add a fashion component to the event. This opportunity has been made possible thanks to the support of Élaine Zakaïb, Minister for Industrial Policy and the Banque de développement économique du Québec, Pascal Bérubé, Minister for Tourism, the Ministère des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur and the Délégation générale du Québec.

"We are pleased to support this event and to have this tremendous opportunity to highlight Québec creativity and the talent of Montréal''s designers," said Christos Sirros, Québec Delegate General in Brussels. "This evening will mark the culmination of a year spent celebrating 40 years of Québec''s presence in Brussels. It is an exceptional opportunity to underscore its representative role to the people of Belgium, to European institutions and, most importantly, to nurturing the strong ties that bind Québec and Brussels."

Fashion show proceeds to aid refugee program

The fourth annual Passion for Fashion Charity Show on Thursday will feature an evening of fashion, strolling hors d'oeuvres, desserts, live entertainment, a silent auction and special guests.

Festivities will kick off at 9 p.m. at the Shenandoah Country Club, 5600 Walnut Lake, West Bloomfield Township.

Attire for patrons age 21 and older is sexy chic.

Advance tickets are $40 at www.groupon.com/deals/4th-annual-passion-for-fashion, $60 at the door.

Proceeds from the silent auction and $10 of each ticket purchased will be donated to Adopt-a-Refugee Family Program, which provides immediate help to refugees persecuted because of religious beliefs.

Future fashion

The latest trends change so fast that what’s in tomorrow is already in the news today.

FASHION Week ends today in New York, even as we speak. You already have an idea of what to expect for Spring/Summer 2012.

But aren’t we just starting the Autumn/Winter 2011 fashion season? Well, you’ve just got to love fashion, if not for anything, for the speed in which it moves.

Who cares about Autumn/Winter? The style set is already taking notes on what to wear next season, and with social media and live streaming, you don’t have to physically be at any Fashion Week. Even better, most brands would have selected clothes to be pre-ordered soon for those who can’t wait until they hit the stores or want a jump start on the latest looks.

Given this current climate, there’s no such thing as waiting anymore. If you want to get ahead of everyone else, you would have observed, dissected and noted what to buy and wear.

As I’m writing this, New York Fashion Week (NYFW) isn’t over yet, so I can’t give a rundown. Besides, there’s still London, Paris and Milan coming up. But, there were some collections shown that had some beautiful and interesting looks.

My favourite is The Row by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The duo have an uncanny knack for knowing what women want to wear. Actually, it’s the things they want to wear or have in their wardrobe, and being spot-on in most of their fashion choices, which others seem to go for as well. Their multimillion dollar sales speak for itself, and the label which started in 2007, is known for its luxurious but classic edgy look.

For their Spring/Summer 2012 collection, it’s all about gorgeous, wearable pieces in a predominantly white palette. Easy looks of loose pants, chiffon and tulle overlays, satin pajamas, tunic tops, long and cropped jackets dominated the show. There were also specific detailing here and there just to give things an interesting variation. The best look, to me, was the caftan with detailing on the bodice. Simplicity in elegance was the keyword for this collection.

One of Sarah Jessica Parker’s favourite designers, Prabal Gurung, pushed the buttons in his SS2012 collection with engineered prints and transparent dresses. My favourite dress was a transparent black and white one with what looked like a criss-cross bodice of black leather strings at the waist. I also liked a print dress that had a handkerchief hemline but am not too sure of some of the plastic-looking latex materials used for a coat and some of the other outfits.

Alexander Wang’s collection was all sporty and athletic with plenty of mesh thrown in. Am not a fan of this collection, but am sure those who like hard-wired, sporty looks will go for this. Perfect for hanging out at a “Fast and Furious” type of gathering.

Altuzarra also went for sporty, with lots of fabulous fitted sleek dresses and plenty of prints. Leather and mesh were also thrown in the mix, so you had a combination of a print T-shirt with leather sleeves, or a half-leather skirt, and print and leather dresses.

I’m looking forward to seeing Marc Jacobs, of course. I love that his collections have more polished, grown-up looks and he’s always been a personal favourite. I have been lucky enough to actually attend his shows at NYFW before, and that’s always been a thrill. The other collection I’m looking out for is Victoria Beckham’s. Now, she is a celebrity turned fashion designer success story (like the Olsens) and her clothes always look right whether she’s wearing it or designing it. The thing with Beckham is that it’s always about the fit, so her clothes always fall perfectly. And really, when it comes to clothes, it is always, always about the fit.

So what are some of the trends from what’s been shown so far? A little too early to tell, but I think there’s plenty of colour; it is Spring/Summer after all. And sporty, athletic looks and prints, be it engineered or graphic. Let’s see what crops up for the rest of NYFW and the following Fashion Weeks in London, Paris and Milan.

I’ll be taking a short break, or rather this column will, just to refresh and rejuvenate. Like fashion, sometimes you need to redefine your look (or rather, oneself), and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. As the German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer said: “Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.”

Dzireena Mahadzir is looking for the meaning of life beyond the status quo. She’s planning on taking a break, and her Sense of Style column will return after two months.

Fashion leader honoured

The director of fashion label NOM*d, Margarita Robertson, was recognised for her role in invigorating Dunedin's fashion scene with an honorary degree from Otago Polytechnic yesterday.

Ms Robertson received an honorary bachelor of design (fashion) at the polytechnic's graduation ceremony yesterday.

She said it was ''pretty special'' being awarded the degree, despite feeling a little odd about not having put in years of study as other graduates had.

''We have always been a big part of the Dunedin fashion scene, and NOM*d is a proud supporter of local fashion and the development of emerging fashion designers,'' she said.

Otago Polytechnic fashion academic leader Margot Barton said the names NOM*d and Margarita Robertson were ''synonymous with Dunedin fashion''.

''Margi has been instrumental in the continued growth of Dunedin's vibrant fashion sector since 1986, when she and her husband, Chris, boldly launched NOM*d, despite an economic slump in the Dunedin fashion industry,'' Dr Barton said.

From these early beginnings, NOM*d quickly established itself as one of the country's premier fashion labels. In 1999, NOM*d was chosen to represent New Zealand at London Fashion Week, alongside Karen Walker, World and Zambesi. These were the first New Zealand labels to show at an international fashion week.

Dr Barton said Ms Robertson had also been notable for the mentoring role she played with budding fashion designers.

''Margi has personally been visible, accessible and supportive to Otago Polytechnic students.''

Ms Robertson said the current crop of young fashion lovers benefited hugely from being able to take courses like the one offered at Otago Polytechnic.

It was a ''different world'' when she first entered the fashion industry, she said.

Her message to her fellow graduates was to ''make sure that they love what they do every day''.

Fashion retailer H&M offers to take your old clothes

Swedish global fashion firm Hennes & Mauritz plans to start collecting old clothes from next year to hand over for recycling, it said on Thursday.

H&M, the world's second biggest fashion chain after Spanish group Inditex, said in a statement it will become the first fashion company to launch a clothing collection initiative worldwide.

"From February 2013, customers will be able to hand in used garments in H&M stores in all 48 markets," it said. Any items of clothing from any brand and in any condition would be accepted and customers would receive a voucher for each bag.

The collected clothes would then be handled by I:Collect, a global recycling company, which would transport them to a sorting plant in Germany, it said. The material could then either be re-used as clothes or for other products like cleaning rags or insulation material in the car industry.

H&M said tonnes of textiles were thrown out every year, when as much as 95 percent of the clothes could be used again.

Mixing Prints 101: Fashion Tips to Wear Mismatched Prints Like a Star

Mixing prints is one of fashion's riskiest trends, but if you get it right, it can have a big payoff, says Lori Bergamotto contributing style editor of Lucky magazine.

Bergamotto visited " Good Morning America" today to show us how to pull off this tricky trend. First, the basics:

When you're mixing prints, you need one of the pieces to act as a neutral so it doesn't come off as clash.
Keep texture in mind as well as print. Knits can help break up the pattern and balance the look.
Here are three foolproof combinations that Bergamotto says always work nicely together.

1. Stripes and Florals. Stripes act as a neutral and can help ground the "floatiness" of a floral. Look for a unifying color and pair with a solid shoe.

2. Animal Prints and Animal Prints. (Yes, you read that right.) Choose pairs that are complimentary, but not too matchy. The key to pulling off this look is scale. Look for one print that has a smaller pattern and another that is more graphic. Keep the jewelry and accessories simple.

3. Polka Dots and….just about anything! They're one of the easiest prints to pair thanks in part to their ability to look super casual and ultra-feminine all at once. When rendered in neutral shades (black dots on a white shirt), they can be the anchor to an otherwise bold look. Worn with stripes, tweeds, global, chevron, houndstooth, florals, and more, the polka dot is the print that keeps on giving!

On "GMA," Bergamotto started with a floral-printed pant from H&M with shades of dark purple and green, a pop of red, some blue and gray as the foundation for all three looks. The flattering silhouette and the varied color palette makes it a little easier to pair with things probably in your closet already, she says.

Trendy Look: Put the floral pant with a black-and-white polka-dotted shirt and wide-striped sweater for a fashion-forward look. The polka-dot blouse peeks out to anchor the look and adds some lightness. The wide-striped, knit sweater leaves room for the print to breathe and doesn't overwhelm the outfit as a whole.

Seen on model: Pants- H&M, $ 34.94; Shoes - Modcloth, $32.00; Blouse - Tommy Hilfiger, $69.50; Sweater - Forever21, $22.80

Middle Look: This look is almost right, but misses the mark. While the fabrics and slate blue colors play nicely together, too much of the same can be your downfall when it comes to prints.The chambray polka-dot shirt hits the same slate blue color note and instead of looking like a well-orchestrated outfit, it comes off as a clash. To fix it, opt for a neutral piece like a white or a beige top instead. This will help break up the monotony.

Seen on model: Pants- H&M, $ 34.94; Shirt - Old Navy, $24.94; Over Shirt - Joe Fresh, $49; Shoes - Aerosols, $59

Tragic Look : In the fashion world, you often hear people say "stick within the same color family," Bergamotto says, but when you're mixing prints, you need one of the pieces to act as somewhat of a neutral. Here, it should be the striped shirt, but because the stripes are so thin and in black and white, they come across as too severe. You want something that is going to help mute your other prints, not turn up the volume on them. While the plaid blazer picks up on the green tone in the pants, it doesn't compliment the painterly print of the floral. Bottom line: There's just way too much going on here.

Simon Announces Comprehensive Transformation of Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California

Simon Property Group, Inc. (SPG), the world's leading retail real estate company, is pleased to announce a comprehensive transformational redevelopment of Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California, the iconic 2.3 million square foot super-regional shopping center serving the upscale South Bay market of greater Los Angeles.

In conjunction with the announcement of Simon's redevelopment plans, Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) today also announced its intention to relocate its full-line store at South Bay Galleria to Del Amo Fashion Center. The new Nordstrom store will be 138,000 square-feet on two levels, and is expected to open in 2015.

Del Amo Fashion Center is owned by Simon Property Group, Inc. and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.  The announcement of Nordstrom's arrival at Del Amo Fashion Center marks one of many significant upgrades Simon will undertake over two years to one of the most recognized and successful enclosed shopping malls in America.

The redevelopment will commence in spring 2013 by replacing the existing food court with a transformed garden-inspired dining area and renovating the interior of a portion of the north mall, which will be completed by holiday 2013.

Starting in early 2014, the redevelopment will include the demolition of the remaining portion of the original north mall, replacing it with a new state of the art two-level mall to connect the existing Macy's women's store with the new Nordstrom store (to be located near the intersection of Hawthorne Boulevard and Fashion Way).

The redevelopment will also include enhancements to the ambience of the outdoor lifestyle village, the addition of a 1,800 car parking garage, planting of lush landscaping, upgraded parking throughout the entire mall property, new identity and informational signage, and improvements to facilitate customer circulation in and around the property.  Completion of this work will be timed with the grand opening of Nordstrom in 2015.

"Today's announcement by Nordstrom that they will be relocating to Del Amo Fashion Center as a part of our redevelopment is consistent with our objective to create dynamic retail environments for our retailers and customers," said David Contis, President of Simon's Mall Platform.  "We expect to expand the trade area of Del Amo Fashion Center and solidify its reputation as one of the nation's most successful malls."

W for fashionista wedding party

The fashion crowd came south of the border to support W magazine fashion market and accessories director Karla Martinez, who recently married longtime boyfriend Francisco Solas in Mexico. Guests included W Editor-in-Chief Stefano Tonchi, Vogue’s Hamish Bowles and Valerie Boster, Glamour fashion director Anne Christensen, and beauty writer Sarah Howard, along a slew of fashion writers and publicists from various brands. Martinez cut a stunning swath down the aisle in a custom-made Carolina Herrera gown, and later changed into a Nina Ricci frock for the reception.