Fatima Lopes kicks off Paris Fall 2012 Fashion Week

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press ©Mercury News

PARIS fashion designer, Fatima Lopes kicked off Paris 2012 fall-winter ready-to-wear season Tuesday with blood reds, provocative leathers and fox fur at the Hotel des Invalides war museum. The Portuguese designer channeled human morphology with blood-red dress inserts, shredded leather sleeves and prints of the venous system in the iconic monument that was built for generals wounded in French imperial wars. Bucking the current trend for padding, the Lopes woman in geometric sheaths had narrow shoulders a look that would have accentuated the frailty of the tiny-boned models had it not been for the provocative leathers in patent black and nude. “Yes, I make tiny shoulders and waists. But this is not weak. It’s feminine and sexy, therefore strong,” said the designer backstage, wearing one of her figure-hugging creations. And sexy was the overriding mood, with bias-cut sheaths split revealingly up the leg and exposing the shoulders. In another sensual look with a plunging decollete, voluminous brown fox fur sleeves contrasted with tight patent leather lapels and a second-skin micro skirt. When the show ended, the crowd departed sheepishly through the courtyard, with 40 huge canons pointing straight at them. – - see Gallery  : NOTE: International Icons reign supreme at this Paris

Jil Sander Fashion Designer ‘Raf Simons’ replaces Galliano

A Fashion show hosted by Jil Sander is usually cool temples of austerity but the atmosphere was crackling with emotion on Saturday when fashion designer Raf Simons showed his final collection for the house at Milan Fashion Week shows. The Belgian-born fashion designer received a standing ovation for his swan song, an opulent symphony to minimalism comprised of clean cuts and double-faced cashmere coats in sugary pinks, pale grey and white fashion looks. The volume of the coats in the fashion show were all countered by fine knit dresses cut close to the body, along with others incorporating seams used to construct geometric shapes. The fashion show was one of the better

shows, no doubt. Belgian designer Raf Simons cried  at the end of his final Jil Sander  fashion show. (Photo: AFP) Simons is leaving the brand after 6½ critically acclaimed years to make way for the return of German designer Jil Sander to the house she founded in 1968. It will be the third coming of Sander at her label: she left it twice when it was controlled by the Prada Group because of creative differences. Designer Sander said she was excited to

Fall 2012 Models featured in Milan fashion Shows

By Joanna |  ©FahionGoneRogue.com

Fall 2012 Blumarine’s Playful Fashion – Blumarine showcased a collection of over the top glamor with colorful fur coats, wild animal prints and techno silver fabrics. Opening the show with sexy ski bunny coats, designer Anna Molinari at Blumarine, made sure the fall fashion shows season was a playful one by featuring oversize bags that looked like poms poms more than actual accessories. As the show progressed, some sparkle was added in the form of sequin embellished tops, pants and chunky jewelry. Always unapologetic with the amount of excess and glamor, Blumarine brought a sense of carefree style to the upcoming season fashion shows.

Elie Saab in Paris: all winners

The Oscars are about to provide yet another dazzling showcase for the Lebanese designer Elie Saab, Julia Robson meets the couturier with Hollywood at his door.

Story BY Julia Robson | telegraph.co.uk

Dressed by Saab: Halle Berry (Oscars, 2002); Kate Winslet (Emmys, 2011); Gwyneth Paltrow (Bambi awards, 2011); Bérénice Bejo, star of The Artist (Baftas, 2012). PHOTOS: REX/CORBIS

Two words are synonymous with red-carpet fashion these days: Elie Saab. Rarely a week goes by without a beautiful celebrity wearing an exquisite, twinkling creation by the 47-year-old Lebanese designer at an awards ceremony or starry premiere. Remember the curvaceous, crimson-hued, cap-sleeved gown Kate Winslet wore to collect her Emmy last September? It was an Elie Saab (a copy now graces the waxwork Winslet at Madame Tussauds). And the emerald-sequined ‘mermaid’ gowns Gwyneth Paltrow and Zoe Saldana wore on the same night in November to functions on either side of the Atlantic? Elie Saab.In the past year the roll-call of leading ladies who have chosen Saab’s fluttering chiffon or billowing satin to wear on the red carpet has trebled.

Lebanese designer Elie Saab waves after the presentation of his Women’s spring/summer 2012 Haute Couture fashion collection in Paris. PHOTO: AP

Christian Louboutin Designed Shoes for 6 London F/W Shows

When Christian Louboutin has a birthday, he generally over-consume cake, champagne, and well just about everything. Especially cake though. Luckily for us, the man behind the red-soled wonders, Christian Louboutin, has created a glorious capsule collection to celebrate the shoe fashion label’s 20th Anniversary. We eat, and he designs. What a team we make. Made up of twenty pairs of shoes and six bags, the collection will be available exclusively at a pop up store in Selfridges from 27th February, and then at the Christian Louboutin boutiques from March. Who’s betting Loub-lover Blake Lively will have first dibs? Have a scroll through the Gallery to see what treats lay in wait.

Animal Rights [PETA] No matter at Fendi Milan F/W show.

©Story courtesy of Maysa Rawi | DailyMail.co.uk

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Animal rights activists will be up in arms after seeing the Fendi show today at Milan Fashion Week. While fur has been a big trend this season, the Italian label unveiled a collection of pelts that featured in almost every look. From antelope to goat, mink to crocodile – it seems no hide was spared.

Animal Fur. Are you fur real? Fendi unveil a collection of animal pelts at their Autumn/Winter show at Milan Fashion Week. Models wore braided hair – lending a tribal feel but it failed to camouflage the amount of animal skin on display. Even handbags and iPad cases were fashioned using fur. No stranger to controversy, designer Karl Lagerfeld will no doubt have little regard for Peta’s opinion. A spokesperson for The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal said: ‘Fashion should be fun, and there’s nothing fun about draping models in skins torn from the backs of an animal who may have been alive and able to experience every agonizing second of it. So much for Fun fashion!

London Fashion Week Designers sportswear trends

©ourtesy of Beth Schepens | Photo: ©Getty Images

 

Erin Mullaney cut her fashion teeth at Selfridges and Browns, iconic U.K. stores known for their cutting-edge mix of luxury designers. It’s no wonder then the current fashion and brand director for new luxury e-tailer Avenue 32 has a penchant for fashion forward looks. We caught up with Ms. Mullaney at the end of London Fashion Week to make use of her expert eye for fashion, which that morning had paired leather trousers with a leopard-print crombie. London designers remained avant garde with their collections.

What were your highlights this season? The usual suspects. London Fashion Week

Fashion Design Competition Seeks Submissions

DIY IOU/Screen capture

Design for IOU Project is the fashion label that aims to connect consumers directly to artisan producers, and together with Summer Rayne Oakes‘ Source4Style is hosting DIY With IOU – a sustainable fashion design competition to find the next designer for the “Made in NYC” Capsule Collection. IOU project wants to tell the stories of individual fashion pieces of clothing, and in this way connect designers, producers, and consumers – sort of a sustainable fashion Etsy. Source4Style, on the other hand, is concentrated of creating the infrastructure necessary fashion design for designers to have access to the most sustainable materials to use in fashion, as well as connecting consumers to the greenest clothing available. DIY With IOU is the perfect marriage of the two organizations’ aims and goals. As Summer Rayne Oakes describes it, the winning entry will be produced for next year’s spring/summer fashion design collection.

CDG Honors Dragon Tattoo for Excellence

Baldur Bragason/Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc.

Excellence in honoring the usual suspects at its 14th Costume Designers Guild Awards Tuesday night, the guild focused its spotlight on three movies that haven’t gotten as much attention this awards season for costume design: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 [Fantasy Film] and W.E.. Of the three films, only W.E., along with its designer Arianne Phillips, is nominated for the Academy Award for costume design. At the CDG Awards, the Madonna-directed movie about the love affair between King Edwar VIII and Wallis Simpson, earned the trophy for excellence in period film, beating out such nominees as The Artist, Jane Eyre, The Help and Hugo.

Fashion BURBURRY Prosum Show in London Dazzles

Cara Delevingne walks the runway during the Burberry Prorsum show at London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2012 at Kensington Gardens

©ourtesy BelfastTelegraph by Susannah Frankel  - – If London is still predominantly famous for its fledgling names, the exception that proves the rule is Burberry, a globally recognized international fashion brand with the money and power behind it to match. London Burberry Prorsum has been showcased in the British capital since 2009 (prior to that the show was in Milan Haute Couture show alongside