INSPIRATIONAL GEMS: In celebration of its 35th anniversary, jewelry company Carolee has chosen several notable women for a new initiative. Beyonce Knowles and her mother, Tina; Deborah Norville; Lynda Carter; Mena Suvari, and Amanda Beard have been selected to put their personal quotes on Words to Live By, a collection of five limited edition sterling silver bangles. The Knowleses' bracelet is stamped with "Love Will Conquer All" and Carter's says "Wonder-Believe-Create." All profits from the bangles, which cost $100 each and are part of the firm's Sterling Sentiments line, will benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The bracelets will be on sale throughout the fall starting at Bloomingdale's in September. "We wanted a diverse group of women who would speak to the wide range of Carolee customers," said Karen O'Brien, Carolee's vice president of worldwide marketing. "They all have great words to live by. These women will have great life stories to share with you." A print advertising campaign will bow in October magazines....WWD

posted by Niko @ 7:18 AM  0 comments Permalink

In Toronto yesterday to announce that she will be hosting Project Runway Canada, style icon Iman said, "We don't come out of our mother's womb and become designers," clearly missing the parallel to how her natural beauty launched her career as a supermodel.
But to the extent that fashion design is a skill learned through practical application, business savvy and a passion for original presentation, Iman thinks she has the background to judge fairly. "I'm not a pushover, but they better be careful," she quipped, having been in the industry for over 20 years.
The show - a spinoff of successful U.S. and British versions (hosted by Heidi Klum and Kelly Osborne respectively) - will begin production in June and is scheduled to run on Slice, a Canadian women's channel, this fall.
Twelve contestants will compete for $100,000 to launch a fashion line, with the winning collection featured in a major Canadian glossy, yet to be determined.

Another detail still to come is which big-name designer will fill the shoes of Michael Kors or Julien MacDonald from the U.S. and U.K. versions, and the identity of the fashion mentor, a pivotal role.
In the meantime, Iman, the Somali-born CEO of a namesake line of cosmetics, is prepared for a month of commuting from New York, where she lives with her six-year-old daughter and husband David Bowie....Globe&Mail

posted by Niko @ 7:03 AM  0 comments Permalink

The Ramones have waded into the row over footwear giant Dr. Martens' controversial advertisement which uses dead rock stars in heaven to promote boots.
The company has already apologised to Courtney Love for featuring her late husband Kurt Cobain in the commercial.
Now the brother of Joey Ramone - also depicted in the ad - is demanding a similar response.
Mickey Leigh says, "Obviously, we are in the same position as Courtney Love, as well as the estates of the others (featured in the advertisements).
"We were never consulted about this ad. We were never asked for permission to use Joey's image, or paid for the use of it. As executor of my brother's estate I never would have approved this ad as Joey never wore these shoes. And, not that my brother was terribly religious, but the fact that he was Jewish, and this ad is not exactly Kosher, makes it that much more inappropriate, inconsiderate and contemptible."
The footwear manufacturer has since sacked the advertising agency behind the advert, Saatchi & Saatchi, adding, "Dr Martens is very sorry for any offence that has been caused by the publication of images showing dead rock icons wearing Dr Martens boots. Dr Martens did not commission the work as it runs counter to our current marketing activities."
Other late rock stars featured in the campaign included Joe Strummer and Sex Pistol Sid Vicious...FemaleFirstUK

posted by Niko @ 6:56 AM  0 comments Permalink

It doesn't make high-profile ad campaigns, its billionaire owner doesn't do interviews - and you'll never see a range designed by Kate or Kylie. But Zara's drive for global domination is unstoppable. Susie Mesure takes the measure of the high-style, high-street empire with a decidedly old-fashioned motto: let the clothes do the talking.
Couldn't face dressing as a wannabe Kate, from the model's new TopShop collection? Left cold by Lily's frilly prom numbers at New Look? Worried that just because H&M loves Kylie, the bikinis designed for the Swedish retailer by the diminutive pop princess may not love you quite as much?
Amid the celebrity designer-fuelled high-street hysteria, Zara stands alone. This is a brand that abhors celebrity tie-ins, eschews all advertising, and prefers to let its mannequins lure customers into its stores - of which it has more than 1,000 in 64 countries. And the customers can't get enough. Visit any high street on a Saturday afternoon - whether in Oslo or Osaka, Brasilia or Beijing - and it's hard to avoid shoppers swinging the store's understated navy-blue bags...more from Belfast Telegraph

posted by Niko @ 7:10 AM  0 comments Permalink

She was the first fashion type to take the stage at the annual Hay Festival of Literature in Wales - and boy did Dame Vivienne Westwood give her listeners an earful. Much to the packed audience's dismay, the punk princess turned political activist didn't want to talk fashion at all. Instead, she laid out a "cultural manifesto," weaving together elements from "Alice in Wonderland," "Pinocchio" and Greek philosophy into a diatribe about what art is - or maybe isn't. Whatever it was, it was hard to follow - even for an audience used to sitting through some heavy-duty political, scientific and cultural debate. Actress Diana Quick, who was moderating the event, tried in vain to steer the conversation back toward frocks, but Westwood insisted that subject bored her. Some people marched out of the tent, those who didn't were left bewildered. And - true to form - Westwood succeeded in becoming the talking point (so far) of the weeklong festival, which runs until June 3. One audience member was overheard calling Westwood "mental" - and that certainly wouldn't have been the first time the word was used to describe fashion's flame-haired enigma. For those who missed it, there is more to come: Dame Vivienne plans to publish the manifesto on her Web site, and - get ready - Brian Grazer has recently bought the rights to her life story...from WWD

posted by Niko @ 6:53 AM  0 comments Permalink

Life Ball, the largest charity event of Europe, which takes place annually in Vienna, was celebrated this year on May 27, where international celebrities like Sharon Stone to pop sensation Scissor Sisters participated. The event saw an attendance of around 4000 people, to witness a combination of Gay Pride parade, Rio Carnival and the Oscars red carpet.

The show opened with a fairytale song-and-dance number including a figure-skating performance on the red-ribbon-shaped catwalk. Appearances of German model Nadja Auermann, designer Vivienne Westwood and French opera star Natalie Dessay got a huge round of applause.Costumes like Little Red Riding Hoods and big bad wolves can be seen here. A young man imitating Empress Sissi in white ball gown with crystals in his hair moved gracefully down the red carpet. Politicians also took part in the social cause like Austrian Social Minister Erwin Buchinger appeared as a musketeer. An ample range of materials were used to make costumes. The star of the evening, Hollywood actress Sharon Stone representing the Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR), praised the event and the local and national governments for such an effort.

A fashion show was also organized where in celebrities like singer Mya, actor Alan Cumming, Lance Bass appeared wearing creations by hip New York designer duo Heatherette, aka Richie Rich and Traver Rains.

Organiser Gery Keszler expected that this years collection would top the previous years $1.8 million....LifeBall

posted by Niko @ 7:22 AM  0 comments Permalink

Cristian Mungiu's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'", a grim and gritty tale about a young woman seeking an illegal abortion in the final days of Romania's Communist dictatorship, won the Palme d'Or prize for best picture at the Cannes Film Festival over the weekend.
The award makes it a double triumph in Cannes for Romania. Romanian director Cristian Nemescu, who was killed in an automobile accident in August 2006, was posthumously awarded the top prize in the Une Certain Regard section of the festival for his film "California Dreamin".
At the post awards press conference, winning director Mungiu said that the Palme d'Or was "so much more important than the Oscars. It says we are real filmmakers.'"
"Mogari no Mori", or "The Mourning Forest'", directed by Naomi Kawase of Japan, won the runner-up Grand Prix award. This poignant film tells the story of a careworker and a retirement home resident who help each other come to terms with past grief after becoming stranded in a remote forest.
Julian Schnabel of the U.S. was voted best director by a nine-member jury chaired this year by British film maker Stephen Frears. Schnabel won for "Le Scaphandre et le Papillon" (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), the true story of French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffered a stroke that left him permanently unable to move or speak, and how he dictated his biography by blinking his eye....BloombergTV

posted by Niko @ 7:15 AM  0 comments Permalink

posted by Niko @ 8:13 AM  0 comments Permalink

Motherfucker's Seventh Anniversary Extravaganza...(you will most certainly miss your BBQ)

Motherfucker fabulons Justine D., Michael T., Georgie Seville and Johnny T. are back with another chapter in their mind-boggling series of messy, rock & rolly, sexually mixed extravaganzas-just in time for their seventh birthday party-at the massive Webster Hall. Justine and Michael, along with the Bangers, hold down main-floor DJ duties with rock, punk, new wave, disco and more; the Oh My Goth Coffee Bar sees DJ Xris Smack! running the show; the Balcony features new wave and dirty electronic dance beats, with Dave P. and Josh from the Fixed fiesta in control. The new-wavey synth-rockers of the Faint perform live at 11pm, and Misstress Formika and Empress Chi Chi Valenti are the party’s comperes. And work a look or risk door doyenne Thomas Onorato’s wrath. Go to motherfuckernyc.com for more info.

East Village
Venue: Webster Hall
Subway: L, N, Q, R, W, 4, 5, 6 to 14th St-Union Sq
Address: 125 E 11th St
Phone: 212-353-1600
May 27 at 9:30pm
Prices: $TBA, advance $25. Advance tickets available through ticketweb.com

posted by Niko @ 7:44 AM  0 comments Permalink

40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love at The Whitney

"Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era." Social uncertainty and political unrest in the '60s and '70s gave way to a new freedom of expression. This assembly of swirling, colorful compositions (by Jimi Hendrix, Yayoi Kusama, Andy Warhol and other iconic artists) revisits the epoch's revolutionary aesthetic. Through Sept 16.

Neighborhood: Upper East Side
Venue: Whitney Museum of American Art
Subway: 6 to 77th St
Address: 945 Madison Ave
Phone: 212-570-3600
Website: http://whitney.org/
This week's schedule: Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun 11am-6pm; Fri 1pm-9pm.

posted by Niko @ 7:19 AM  2 comments Permalink

CANNES, France (AFP) - The actors, who feature with Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin, were to provide the most glamorous evening of the 12-day festival, which wraps up on the weekend.
"Ocean's Thirteen" -- the third in the series of heist films directed by Steven Soderbergh and inspired by the "rat pack" movies of the 1950s and 1960s -- is to be released around the world next month.
The feature was one of the most highly-awaited entries in the official festival line-up, even though it was not in the race for the Palme d'Or prize.
Speculation was strong that Pitt might go into the Cannes premiere with partner Angelina Jolie.
The couple have been in the Riviera resort for several days.
Jolie was presenting her latest movie "A Mighty Heart", about the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, in competition. Pitt co-produced the movie.
Clooney, Pitt and other members of the "Ocean's" cast were also using the publicity surrounding their movie to bring international focus to their social campaigning -- they raised millions at a charity event on a yacht in Cannes' harbour for the victims of the Darfur conflict.

posted by Niko @ 6:43 AM  0 comments Permalink

ARCTIC MONKEYS rocker MATT HELDERS is desperate to collaborate with super producer DANGER MOUSE - on a fashion label. The drummer, who already boasts his own clothes range with fashion house Supremebeing, was in talks to work on a new record with the Gnarls Barkley star and hoped the meeting would lead to further joint ventures in the world of fashion. He says, "Danger Mouse was interested in collaborating with us (Arctic Monkeys) on the new album. He wanted to meet but we never ended up getting together. I want to discuss starting a fashion label with him."...ContactMusic

posted by Niko @ 6:38 AM  0 comments Permalink

Elizabeth Hurley has reportedly been dropped by Jordache Jeans.
The 41 year old actress and model has been the face of the brand for the last year. She signed a £250,000 contract to represent the classic jeans brand in their advertising campaigns.
According to reports, she has been replaced by supermodel and television presenter Heidi Klum. Klum is the mother of three children and is married to the singer Seal.
She recently picked up an Emmy award for her role as the judge and host on hit reality fashion show Project Runway.
A source told the Sun: "Jordache jeans have gone for another 'yummy mummy'.
Klum is the world's third richest model with earnings estimated by Forbes magazine last year at £3.2m.

posted by Niko @ 6:29 AM  0 comments Permalink

Eve is bringing her Fetish back. It's been nearly three years since rapper/actress Eve Jeffers closed her brand under Marc Ecko Enterprises, the company that purchased the license from Innovo Group in 2004. For holiday, Eve is relaunching her label under a partnership with the New York-based Signature Apparel, which acquired it from Ecko.";The main reason we partnered with Eve was because we always felt that she is well respected in fashion and always felt that when the product was out, it just wasn't right," said Chris Laurita, president of Signature Apparel.Laurita said the holiday re-launch will show an entirely new mix of product for a contemporary customer, rather than the junior sportswear customer the brand used to target. He said it will not be logo-driven and will offer a range of products, from premium jeans ranging from $98 to $198 at retail to leather jackets that retail for up to $1,500.";We are walking slowly with this brand and we are going to be very careful not to overexpose the product," he said....from WWD

posted by Niko @ 7:43 AM  0 comments Permalink

Okay, we normally do not endorse products, but...wow...
For women, choosing what shoes to wear with an outfit is more than just picking the right color and style, it's also about choosing the right height. Should you wear flats, kitten heels, or taller ones? To solve the dilemma, women have for years been buying up a variety of shoes in bulk, but a new shoe may help ease some of the financial cost involved in having the right shoe for every occassion.
Introducing the world's first adjustable high-heeled shoes. The CAMiLEON Heels show can quickly change from a 3-inch heel to a 1-inch heel, using a concealed flip down stainless steel heel. The high heel can clip in discreetly and unnoticably under the shoe.
The line of CAMiLEON Heels shows currently features 23 designer styles, and is being sold in the United States at about $300 per pair. If you prefer to do your shoe shopping online, you're in luck - you can pick up a pair (or two) from the popular online retailer Zappos.com....more

posted by Niko @ 7:27 AM  0 comments Permalink

Berlin, Germany (AHN) - British designer Vivienne Westwood and German fashion label Hugo Boss will be be presenting collections at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin, Germany, from July 12 to July 15. Along with Westwood, Hugo Boss and some other international labels, five up-and-coming Berlin-based designers will be presenting their Spring/Summer 2008 collections at the event, which is Berlin's first official fashion week.
Westwood, who until last year was a professor at Berlin fashion school UDK, will be showing her Anglomania collection. Hugo Boss will be showing his spring-summer 2008 collection for its Hugo Line.
Other international designers taking part in the event include Michalsky, Sisi Wasabi and Rudolph Dassler by Puma.
The five up-and-coming designers will be competing for the New Generation Award. The winning designer will also get the opportunity to have his or her collection for sale at some of Germany's leading department stores.
Berlin Fashion Week will take place on a custom-built stage before the backdrop of the Brandenburg Gate, where the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

posted by Niko @ 7:21 AM  0 comments Permalink

FLORENCE: Like psychedelic clouds, wildly patterned balloons floated over the ancestral courtyard. Among the vivid swirls of pink, purple, turquoise and lime - the graphic designs of Emilio Pucci - bounced feather-light jersey dresses.
"Joyous - and cool," said the singer Kylie Minogue, who was wearing a tiny sequined minidress and had the current Pucci designer, Matthew Williamson, on her arm; while Elizabeth Hurley incited paparazzi flashbulbs in a corseted dress by the former Pucci designer Christian Lacroix.
For a 60th birthday, last weekend's party to celebrate Pucci's world was as vivacious as those iconic prints. By the end of the evening, the thick stone walls of the Renaissance palazzo resonated with dance music, as guests from current celebrities to aristocratic Florentines - Corsinis, Frescobaldis and Nicolinis - took to the dance floor or viewed a small exhibition of terry-cloth beach cloaks and densely embroidered beaded gowns...International Herald Tribune

posted by Niko @ 7:04 AM  0 comments Permalink

Eva Cavalli, wife of Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, loses her trousers in Cannes...
Hosting a star-studded A-list party aboard the couples' exclusive private cruiser in Cannes, Eva encountered an A-grade wardrobe malfunction of Titanic proportions.
Known in fashion circles for her red carpet composure and sophisticated style, Eva found herself in a less than glamorous state when her white silky skirt fell down around her ankles.
Eva eventually made her way onto the boat - rather red-faced no doubt - where she joined her guests, including Sharon Stone, Mischa Barton and Minnie Driver....source: ThisIsLondon

posted by Niko @ 6:35 AM  0 comments Permalink

British soul singer Amy Winehouse has married her on-off boyfriend, Blake Fielder-Civil, in Florida, her representatives confirmed on Monday.
Last week the singer denied any wedding plans and said her trip to Florida with six friends was just a holiday. She got engaged in April.
Amy wore a short floral-patterned sundress for the ceremony, while Blake wore a 50s-style grey suit.Amy's spokesperson confirmed the wedding, saying: "Amy and Blake got married on Friday. They are both very happy." The couple rekindled their romance in April following a split in 2006 and got engaged after an alcohol-fuelled night out. Amy previously revealed: "He proposed at home and I took a day to finally agree. Obviously we are both young and it is frightening. But it is the right thing to do. That is why I agreed."
Winehouse, 23, won the best British female solo artist award this year at the Brit Awards, the UK music industry's biggest night of the year, where she performed her hit single "Rehab," about her refusal to get treatment for alcohol dependency.

posted by Niko @ 6:28 AM  0 comments Permalink

CANNES, France (AP) -French actress Audrey Tautou, the slight, dark-haired star of "The Da Vinci Code," will play fashion visionary Coco Chanel in a new French movie. French director Anne Fontaine told Le Film Francais movie journal that she is working on a tale about Chanel before she became famous, and that Tautou would star."I wanted to follow the interior path of this young woman who was poor, without education, but who had an uncommon personality that was ahead of her time," Fontaine said Saturday. Shooting will start in early 2008.

Besides Fontaine's film, two other Coco Chanel projects are in the works. Director Daniele Thompson is in the early stages of a biopic, and William Friedkin ("The Exorcist") is working on a film about Chanel's relationship with composer Igor Stravinsky.Actress Marina Hands, who played the title role in a recent French adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover," is set to star in Friedkin's film.

posted by Niko @ 7:14 AM  0 comments Permalink

"Live from Paris, Chanel Line No. 5. Please be careful when opening the overhead compartments. Some quilted bags may fall out."
With that loudspeaker pronouncement, Chanel's Cruise presentation took off, literally. Two Challenger 601 jets pulled up to Hangar 8 at Santa Monica Airport on Friday night, the doors popped open, and the models stepped out in a tour de force show that only Chanel could have pulled off. The stage was made up to look like an arrival lounge with three levels of white banquettes and a giant arrivals monitor announcing Karl Lagerfeld's landing in Los Angeles. The 60 or so looks were a lighthearted take on the private travel theme, from Chanel's version of a stewardess getup to a cozy floor-length cardigan.
500 guests attended, including Demi Moore, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Claudia Schiffer, Victoria Beckham, Jessica Alba and Lindsay Lohan. "That was so cool, no?" gasped Diane Kruger, who had jetted in from the Cannes Film Festival....from WWD

posted by Niko @ 7:04 AM  0 comments Permalink

Betsey Johnson has opened a boutique in London's Covent Garden

"I wanted to open a boutique in the flowery street, because this place has so much energy and eccentric shops nearby, said Betsey Johnson. Dressed in pink which is her trade mark, with red lipstick, Betsey was reminiscent of her favourite time period, the 1960s. I used to have a boutique in South Kensington - I went there because Gaultier's store is on the corner, but soon the area became a little 'ladies that lunch' ".

With help from her good friend Virginia Bates, Betsey served sushi and "Pinky Pink" cocktails with vodka, until the party moved out onto the streets.

posted by Niko @ 6:57 AM  0 comments Permalink

Joey Ramone's signature bleat was the voice of punk rock in America. Sporting a leather jacket and torn jeans (like his bandmates) and hiding his face behind a pair of sunglasses and a thick shock of dark hair, the lanky Ramone helped define punk's early image as well and his two-decade-plus tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.
When the Ramones recorded their debut album in 1976, it heralded the true birth of punk rock; although groups like the Stooges, MC5, and New York Dolls laid the groundwork, the Ramones' hooky, three-chord songwriting, cheerfully dumb humor, and boundless energy created the blueprint that countless punk bands would follow in the decades to come. Their 1976 tour of the U.K. helped ignite that country's punk scene as well and their impact on American music was never more apparent than in the '90s, when a legion of punk-pop bands who never could have existed without the Ramones' music took that sound to the top of the charts....more

posted by Niko @ 7:33 AM  0 comments Permalink

It's the last weekend of the festival...tickets & info

The H&M High Line Festival is a new multi-discipline arts festival that will be curated each year by a different artist. The inaugural edition, curated by David Bowie, will run May 9 to 19, 2007. The inaugural 10-day festival will take place in venues near the High Line, the elevated rail structure soon to open as a public open space, running through the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen. A portion of each ticket sale will go to benefit Friends of the High Line.

MEOW MEOW at Hiro Ballroom Fri. May 18 (7:30 PM) at Hiro Ballroom 363 West 16th St. , New York, NY
THE SECRET MACHINES
with Michael Gira, The Bellmer Dolls, and Dragons of Zynth
May 19th 8:00pm:High Line Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street

posted by Niko @ 7:30 AM  0 comments Permalink

It may not be a bottle of purple rain, but a new fragrance by musician Prince, called 3121, does come in an emerald-cut-diamond-shaped bottle with a purple hue. The scent, which was dubbed 3121 for Prince's March 2006 album of the same name, will be launched at selected Macy's locations on July 7.

The introduction truly has a theme of all seven; at midnight on July 7, the fragrance will be launched at 3121perfume.com and 7 percent of online sales that day will be divided between seven charities chosen by Prince and Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics Inc., which developed and will market the 3121 scent."Our goal is to raise $500,000 on 07-07-07," Larry Couey, president of Revelations, said in a statement. "Prince has an affinity for the number 7, it's a spiritual number," Couey said in an interview Thursday, adding, "He was very much involved in the fragrance creation. With Prince, things need to be purple."

Couey noted future plans for Prince could include a branded line of 3121 accessories like jewelry and handbags. For those wondering about the aroma of eau de Prince, the white floral fragrance was blended by Adriana Medina at Givaudan and combines notes of jasmine, gardenia, muguet and tuberose, with patchouli and sandalwood.

posted by Niko @ 7:20 AM  0 comments Permalink

Associated Press
Cannes, France- The Cannes Film Festival celebrated its 60th anniversary Wednesday with an opening movie that blends an indie sensibility and a glittering cast: Wong Kar-wai's road trip tale starring Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Norah Jones, in her acting debut.

The 11-day Riviera festival strives for just the right mix of arthouse films and star power, and "My Blueberry Nights" has both. Hong Kong director Wong ("In the Mood for Love") is a Cannes favorite, as are many of the other filmmakers showing movies for the anniversary edition, including Michael Moore, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen brothers.
In "My Blueberry Nights," Jones plays a woman who hits the road to cure her broken heart. Wong heard her sultry voice and knew he had a role for her.

Cannes was founded in 1939 as an alternative to the Venice Film Festival in Mussolini's Italy - but almost as soon as it opened, the event was canceled because World War II broke out. Cannes did not get going in earnest until the 1950s.
The festival is looking back at its glamorous history this year with a photo exhibit on the beach. There's Cary Grant in black tie; Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty hailed by paparazzi; and Kim Novak in a limousine, with raindrops sparkling on the window like diamonds.

posted by Niko @ 7:58 AM  0 comments Permalink

As Aishwarya Rai walked up the steps of the Theatre Grand Lumiere on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, it was apparent that the parade of Bollywood stars on the French Riviera would be stronger than it has ever been before. Aishwarya, a Cannes red carpet regular, was at the opening night yet again yesterday but this time with hubby Abhishek Bachchan by her side. Media reports in India had suggested that Aishwarya, who first walked up the red carpet in 2002 for a special screening of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Devdas", might skip Cannes this year because she would be busy shooting for Ashutosh Gowarikers "Jodha Akbar".
But as a brand ambassador for French cosmetics giant L'Oreal, one of the official partners of the film festival, she was contract-bound to make it to Cannes. The Bollywood diva took a week off from her "Jodha Akbar" dates to be on the Croisette.
Aishwarya and Abhishek will be attendance when Mani Ratnam's box-office hit "Guru" is screened on Sunday afternoon in the Tous les Cinemas du Monde as part of a special focus on Indian cinema.
Also present at the opening night ceremony was Preity Zinta, in Cannes for the second year running to promote luxury watch and jewellery manufacturer Chopard. John Abraham and Bipasha Basu are expected to land here on Thursday to promote Vivek Agnihotris "Goal", a film about an Asian soccer league team shot for the most part in London.
"Goal" is on the slate of films that UTV Motion Pictures has brought to Cannes this year. The biggest Bollywood star of them all, Amitabh Bachchan, will be in Cannes for the first time to promote "Cheeni Kum", helmed by advertising executive and debutant director Balki. His imminent arrival has aroused keen interest among the media here. "Cheeni Kum", which co-stars Tabu, will be screened in the Cannes Film Market.

posted by Niko @ 7:50 AM  0 comments Permalink

THE BLACK EYED PEAS frontman WILL.I.AM is to launch his own denim fashion line, called i.am Antik. The rapper/producer - real name William James Adams Jr. - has teamed up with fashion house Blue Holdings Inc. to design the new high-end clothing range, which is scheduled to hit stores in August 2007. The 32-year-old was a student at the Fashion Institute of Design in Los Angeles before finding chart success with the hip-hop group, and is "excited" at the prospect of moving into the clothing industry. He tells AllHipHop.com, "I produce and write my own music, and the same creativity, energy and imagination I put into making music is the same creativity, energy and imagination I put into designing clothes. I am excited to collaborate with Antik to create a fresh remix of denim. "I want to design the line and score it the way a composer scores a film and tour the collection like a band will tour an album. I want to make a fresh stylistic collection that everyone wants but limited and special to keep them looking for more."

posted by Niko @ 7:40 AM  0 comments Permalink

British fast fashion retailer Topshop plans to launch three stores in Manhattan following the success of supermodel Kate Moss's collection for the chain, its owner Philip Green has said.
Green said sales of the first clothes range by Moss were "very good" in the week since it went on sale in the United States at upmarket department store Barney's.
It was now a natural progression to launch more Topshop stores.
"We are looking for sites this week but realistically nine months is the time horizon to get a store sorted and opened," Green said in a telephone interview.
Green, one of Britain's most successful retailers, added he was also scouting for real estate in Paris with the aim of opening a Topshop flagship store there in the next few months.

posted by Niko @ 7:54 AM  0 comments Permalink

Actors, socialites and friends from the fashion industry all turned out yesterday to say their final farewells to fashion stylist Isabella Blow. There was a show of hats and elaborate fascinators in the crowd of 250 guests who attended Blow's funeral held at Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucestershire. Among the mourners were Sophie Dahl, Alexander McQueen, Tara Palmer Tomkinson and actor Rupert Everett who read a tribute to the style diva. Blow passed away last week after taking weedkiller, the third time she had allegedly tried to take her own life. Her funeral was indeed a glamorous affair but I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted it any other way...Catwalk Queen

posted by Niko @ 7:44 AM  0 comments Permalink

GEORGE AND GIORGIO: While the summer movie lineup may offer plenty of action, fashion, for the most part, is more fantastical than fabulous: webbed suits, pirate blouses and oversized ogre sacks. But a little latter-day Rat Packer style is set to seep into the blockbuster onslaught courtesy of "Ocean's Thirteen" and Giorgio Armani. The Italian designer collaborated with Hollywood costume designer Louise Frogley to create the on-screen looks for George Clooney's Danny Ocean in the third installment of the heist franchise. Clooney, a regular front-rower at Armani shows and a friend of the designer, said in a statement that the idea of the collaboration came about last summer during a dinner at his Lake Como villa, where both Armani and Ocean's producer, Jerry Weintraub, were guests. Frogley selected a series of clean, tailored looks from Armani's Hand-Made-to-Measure collection, a category that didn't exist 27 years ago when Armani made his first and most memorable foray into film, outfitting Richard Gere in the Eighties' "American Gigolo." Three decades later, Armani is clearly still enjoying his Hollywood connection. "Dressing George Clooney is every designer's dream," Armani stated. "He inspires me, as Cary Grant did a generation ago." "Ocean's Thirteen" opens June 8. from WWD

posted by Niko @ 7:36 AM  0 comments Permalink

Mall of the Emirates, the world's first shopping resort, is home to over 200 international, regional and local fashion stores under one roof. The mall provides a wide variety of brands ranging from major high street names to exclusive boutiques offering the latest trends and styles for any occasion at affordable prices.

Building on the success of the Centre's fashion offering, Mall of the Emirates is running an exciting sales promotion offering the style conscious the chance to win a break from the summer heat and a trip to one of the fashion capitals of the world - London, Paris, Milan or New York. By spending a certain amount at any of the mall's fashion stores customers receive coupons entering them into a draw which will take place after June 9 resulting in 4 lucky winners, one to each destination.

posted by Niko @ 7:29 AM  0 comments Permalink

Despite emancipating women from the corset and revolutionizing early 20th century fashion, French designer Paul Poiret has largely been forgotten by time, overshadowed by rivals such as Coco Chanel. But now, more than 60 years after Poiret's death, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is hoping to change that with an exhibition devoted to a man best known for inventing the chemise dress and making bold color mainstream.
"He is forgotten except by fashion specialists," the museum's fashion curator Harold Koda told AFP, adding that he hoped the show could help foster a newfound appreciation for Poiret's groundbreaking designs.
He said that Poiret's simple cuts, luxurious fabrics and saturated colors were just as visually appealing today as they were almost a century ago. "It's eye candy and the general public is going to embrace it," he said.
The 50 or so mannequins in the show offer a spectacular vision of shimmering colors in rich fabrics cut in what at the beginning of the 20th century was an adventurous and pioneering style.
An auction in Paris in 2005 helped raise Poiret's international profile, with some of the world's biggest museums fighting to snap up a slice of Poiret's collection, which had been put up for sale by his grandaughter.

The exhibit runs through August 5.

posted by Niko @ 6:52 AM  0 comments Permalink

What do Versace, Christian Lacroix and Ralph Lauren have in common (besides presumably impressive walk-in closets)? They all have hotels-and they're in good company. The Italian fashion houses of Missoni and Moschino will both open fashiov/hospitality hybrids this year in Milan. Giorgio Armani recently announced ambitious plans to build branded hotels in New York, Dubai and London. And Versace will add a second resort to its empire this year in Dubai (naturally)....more from Forbes Traveler

posted by Niko @ 6:30 AM  0 comments Permalink

So...I am back now and in full work-mode.
Before jumping right into it, let me first say a few things to those of you interested in our recent excursion. Ride a camel. If the opportunity ever presents itself, just say "Yes, of course, I would love to!"
Will I do it again? In the words of Whitney, Hell's to the NO! But I highly suggest doing it once. Sleeping in the Sahara is near impossible to express in words. I've lived in NYC for the past 20+ years and nothing I've ever experienced has pushed my 'comfort zone limits' like traveling through Africa and sleeping in the Sahara did in the span of two weeks.
I drank mint tea with the majority of the Berber population in the Atlas Mountains. I rode a donkey with a Berber man and was guided hand-in-and by a Berber woman through the Medina.
What a wonderful, eye-opening, unexpected journey this was.
I sit here writing my blog on my laptop while my new found young friend & guide, Rashid, is in the Medina balancing his time between football game, school and finding enough money from assisting tourists to their hotel at $.50 a pop to buy food for his family & hopefully save for a new Man U jersey.
This does not even compare to the women in the Atlas mountains carrying POUNDS upon POUNDS of supplies on their backs, up the hills to their homes for miles to feed & clothe their families and heat their homes.
I returned from this trip to find a leak in my new refrigerator. One that drips straight from my cookies & cream ice cream in the freezer through to the V8 juice on the top shelf and down to the crisper containing my very fresh & overpriced pineapple. I'm not thinking "Oh man, I have a leak in my refrigerator!!!"...right now, after my recent experience, I'm thinking "Oh man, I HAVE A REFRIGERATOR!!!"

back to the fashion presses tomorrow...

posted by Niko @ 7:02 AM  0 comments Permalink