Itsy-bitsy fashion

  RIO DE JANEIRO - Just how many variations can you spin off the marvel of simplicity that is the bikini? Judging by the options on spectacular display at FashionRio, the five-day-long summer 2013 fashion extravaganza, the options are endless.

Sao Paulo-based label Triya served up the season's most eye-popping options, a psychedelic rainbow that broke the beachwear mold. Beyond the fringed pant bikini, the brand's brainchild, were tiny bottoms paired with long sleeve spandex tops cropped short to show off the models' abs and a zebra-printed bandeau top that sprouted an ankle length skirt in aubergine silk with a bold slit up one side.

Cia. Maritima brought out the big guns - including Victoria's Secret angel Izabel Goulart - to show off its teeny-weeny bikinis. Goulart rocked the catwalk in a leopard print string bikini fitted with a sexy spider's web of thin yellow straps.

Va-va-voom one-pieces emerged as major winners here, with just about everyone sending out variations on the vampish maillot.

A raucous, theatrical show by streetwear label Reserva wrapped up FashionRio in style late on Saturday. Models frolickedon a catwalk strewn with couches and armchairs and an oversized dining room table. AP



ONE PIECE OR TWO?

The popularity of the iconic teeny-weeny "dental floss" bikini is dropping in Brazil - thanks to thickening waistlines, the more forgiving one-piece is making a comeback.

Glam, royalty and fashion at RFW

Day I of the debut season of the Rajasthan Fashion Week started almost two hours late, much to the chargin of the audience, but the organisers made up for everything when they got actor Vivek Oberoi to light the lamp and announce the opening of the Rajasthan Fashion Week.

Most of the designers remained true to the title of the show as they incorporated a royal touch to their designs. Taking inspiration from old Hindi cinema, Kanwaljeet Singh's show began with a medley of Bollywood songs, also paying a tribute to the late Shammi Kapoor. His models even danced on the ramp.

Designer Daniel, Kirti Rathore, Shaahid Amir and Soniya Gohil brought Bollywood on the ramp in the form of Kainaz Motivala, Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan and Tulip Joshi walking the ramp for them as showstoppers respectively.

Kirti Rathore

'Linen is God's creation', with this belief Jaipur-based designer Kirti Rathore displayed her classic menswear collection of bandgalas and breeches. Enhancing the mood and oomph factor, her collection added charm when Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi walked the ramp with special kids.

Lina Tipnis

Lina Tipnis' collection was a tribute to the Sun City, Jodhpur, and her collection truly lived up to expectations. Her garments were an expression of Indian art, complemented with the use of Rajasthani gold and silver gota-pati. Her collection celebrated the royal heritage of Jodhpur, while showcasing the intricately woven designs of the Mehrangarh and other forts.

Rohit Verma

Designer Rohit Verma's collection was a melange of the traditional and the contemporary. His collection was titled 'Lights of Colour' and was inspired by the Kama Sutra.

Shaahid Amir

Designer Shaahid Amir's line of semi-formal shirts, loose and semi-fitted trousers, lounge wear and suave suits, sherwanis and lehengas was a blend of black and white. Like always, his collection was understated and elegant with the use of natural fabrics. While actor Raqesh Vashisth opened his show wearing a white kurta pyjama, actor Zayed Khan was the showstopper for Amir.

Kanwaljeet Singh

Bringing 70s era of Bollywood cinema on screen, Kanwaljeet Singh demonstrated his love for the retro style. With vibrant colours, bold prints and models sporting the beehive hairdo - everything recreated Bollywood on the ramp.

Soniya Gohil

Soniya Gohil's collection reflected her fascination for the Indian heritage - Mughal era and the architectural heritage. From Indian ethnic wear to the pret collection, to the Rajasthani Rajwada, her collection was glamorous. The showstopper for Soniya was actor Tulip Joshi.

Daniel

Daniel's classic designs, with a contemporary touch, offered a clean and sophisticated collection. Hand woven fabric, earthy colours with models walking barefoot in minimal makeup brought a spiritual experience on the ramp. Offering styling and silhouettes in his collection, he presented Kainaz Motivala of "Ragini MMS" fame as his showstopper, who walked the ramp sporting a hippy look complete with a guitar.

Aashna Vasvani

Jaipur-based designer Aashna Vasvani did everything to portray her love for the desert state. Highlighting the gracious feminine personality of a woman, her garments expressed extreme refinement. Featuring sensual and unique styling, her collection of lehenga-choli, saris, and dresses in lehariya prints was an interesting fusion of western and Indian styling. 

South Africa's Soweto gets its fashion week

 OHANNESBURG (AP) — Struggling but deserving designers got a chance to show work inspired by the creativity and history of South Africa's most famous township as Soweto's first fashion week opened Thursday.

The township on Johannesburg's southwestern edge was the natural place for a show for new designers, said 23-year-old entrepreneur and Soweto Fashion Week organizer Stephen Manzini.

"You walk around Soweto, you see creativity everywhere," Manzini said.

Manzini didn't ask designers to show extensive collections or charge them to take part, unlike the country's more established fashion weeks. Fashion blogger Mahlatse James says this gives designers who have not yet made a name a chance to show their work to boutique owners and potential investors.

"Creatives from Soweto do need their own platform," James said. "If the other fashion platforms cannot afford them that, they have to create their own."

Manzini acknowledges Soweto Fashion Week is an ambitious title for his three-day showcase of 16 designers. Rehearsals were held in the parking lot and garden of a modest apartment borrowed from a tailor friend, in a northern Johannesburg neighborhood some designers found difficult to reach by taxi van, the main form of cheap mass transportation in South Africa.

"We refused to be stopped because we don't have funding," said Manzini, who raised 60,000 rand (about $7,500) from churches, business people and other sponsors for the event. His mother, a nurse, tapped her contacts and acted as chairwoman of the event, and is someone off whom he could bounce ideas, Manzini said.

Manzini is confident that in coming years, the event will grow to a full week and give many more designers an opportunity. He hopes to start his own business distributing designs from Soweto Fashion Week.

Valencia Mache, a 31-year-old legal adviser from Soweto who came to the first night Thursday, had this advice for the young designers: "Even if there's no opportunity, make an opportunity."

Her friend, 30-year-old businesswoman Jabu Mlangeni, said she last went to a fashion show years ago, far from Soweto in the upscale Johannesburg neighborhood of Sandton. Then, she said, she was cheering on David Tlale, one of South Africa's best-known black designers. Thursday, she was just around the corner from her home, and said she was hoping to see the next Tlale.

Soweto has long been known for its quirky sense of style, with designers splashing bright colors and urban sensibilities on everything from the latest silhouettes on European runways to reworkings of the dapper suits Nelson Mandela wore when he lived in the township in the 1940s. The older Mandela is best known for his relaxed but colorful shirts. But as a younger man, the son of a royal family was a political celebrity in Soweto, and dressed the part.

"The style that Nelson Mandela rocked in his day," and other looks from the 1940s and 1950s are popular among Soweto designers, said fashion writer James, who himself sports a shaved part in his hair, like Mandela had as a young man.

James, dressed on the day he was interviewed in a purple tartan bow tie and eye-popping blue shoes, also favors the bright colors and nerdy yet cool skinny silhouettes popularized by the Smarteez, a design collective from Soweto that has drawn international attention.

The designers in Manzini's shows aren't as recognizable as Smarteez. But the strikingly modern Soweto Hotel, one of Manzini's sponsors, gave them a classy stage with an evocative history. The hotel where the shows will be staged sits on the square where, in 1955, South Africans of all races gathered to adopt the Freedom Charter, which proclaims: "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white." Freedom Square is now a national monument.

For 29-year-old designer Tebogo Lehlabi, Soweto is "liberation. It's freedom."

Lehlabi has never before participated in a fashion week. She said she had not been confident enough in the past to seek such a showcase, but now hopes that boutique owners will see her designs in Soweto and seek her out.

"It's a great opportunity. It's a long time coming. There's a lot of talent that's going on in the townships," said Lehlabi, who comes from another Johannesburg township, Alexandra.

"Soweto is coming along, it's coming into its own" along with the rest of South Africa, Lehlabi said. "We're an emerging identity. So, anything goes. It's a young and fresh identity."

She expresses her own identity in recycled materials and bits and pieces she finds at supermarkets and hardware stores. She dyes her clothing to washed out blues and grays that she says suggest Johannesburg's smog and "that bleached look that you sometimes get just before it rains."

Her collection for the Soweto Fashion Show includes sleeveless blouses made from cloth her local supermarkets sells for rags. It's a soft cotton that dyes beautifully, Lehlabi said.

She takes the brightly checked vinyl bags impoverished travelers load onto buses and trains across Africa, and cuts them into pieces to use as decorative trim. Other embellishments are hand-woven from hardware store rope.

"I'm inspired by the working class. Because I am working class," she said.

Each piece is painstakingly handmade.

But "it's very street. It's street couture," said Lehlabi, who showed her collection Thursday.

Lehlabi turns subtlety and thrift into elegance. Collen Monnakgotla, 32, another designer, represents the other extreme of township ingenuity. He dresses men in bright blocks of color, and his fabrics range from denim to Lycra.

Monnakgotla said he brings "something ghetto, something funky" to Soweto Fashion Week.

Guess Ordered To Pay Gucci $4.7 Million

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled on a different merchandise dispute this week, and that brings us to our last word in business. The question here is under what circumstances you can trademark a single letter - the letter G.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

That was the question posed in the form of a lawsuit filed by the luxury fashion brand, Gucci, of the famous interlocking G logo against its more downscale rival, Guess.

MONTAGNE: Gucci sued Guess over trademark infringement, citing multiple cases of designs it claimed were quote, "studied imitations of Gucci trademarks."

ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD: For example, there was a tricolor motif on some shoes, so it was a red-green-red stripe on shoes.

INSKEEP: Alexandra Steigrad is the legal reporter for Women's Wear Daily and she has been covering this trial. She explains Gucci's point of view.

STEIGRAD: They were basically saying that Guess had, you know, copied that mark. And there's also a G pattern which, you know, if you own a Guess or a Gucci bag there's a G kind of pattern on a beige background. They're very similar. And so Guess was basically being accused of copying that pattern.

MONTAGNE: The judge rejected Gucci's claim that Guess was counterfeiting, but Gucci did win part of the case.

INSKEEP: So while Gucci sued for $200 million, it was given a more downscale Guess-like judgment of $4.7 million.

MONTAGNE: Gee. Well, that's the business news from MORNING EDITION on NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

Talkin' Sex With Chanel Preston

So I had a little chat with porn star and professional sexy lady Chanel Preston. It was pleasant. We talked about how she once put a cucumber up her bum.

CRAVE ONLINE: You star as Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider XXX Porn Parody. What was that like to shoot?

CHANEL PRESTON: I was really excited because I heard that they were shooting it way before they actually did, and I was like “I HAVE to play Lara Croft!” It was a lot of fun. They had a choreographer come in to train me how to fight and I got to go rock climbing, so it was definitely an adventure.

The movie is obviously based on the popular video game series – what has the reaction been like from gamers who have watched the movie?

I think they’re appreciative that it’s based on the videogame and not the mainstream Lara Croft movie. I haven’t heard anything negative yet, which is really bizarre because I always thought videogame people were really particular.

So you’ve had nobody chasing you down the street with pitchforks yet?

No, I’m really surprised because those people can be really picky (laughs).

What was your favourite scene in the movie to shoot?

Maybe the rock-climbing scene...

You’re in a porno and your favourite scene was rock-climbing?

(Laughs) Well I only have two sex-scenes in it...

You’ve also starred in Wonder Woman Interactive. Could you tell us a little bit about what exactly an interactive porno is?

The viewer can choose what the girl’s wearing, what position she’s in and things like that. Wonder Woman Interactive is a ‘choose your own adventure’ videogame which you have to make your way through in order to get to me, and then once you win you can put me in any position you want – doggy, missionary, blowjob – and then you can choose where to cum aswell. It’s fun.

Have you personally played it?

No, I haven’t actually fucked myself yet.

You also starred as Wonder Woman again in ‘The Justice League of Porn Star Heroes’ parody. Who was your favourite superhero to have sex with on the shoot? Batman? Maybe Robin?

The character that I had sex with was a made-up villain, but people were upset that I didn’t have sex with Superman in the movie. He was pretty sexy, but I didn’t get to have sex with him...

Missed opportunity. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

I think I would read minds... I don’t know, maybe that would give me too much information.

How would you utilise it?

I’d use it on men!

Sinister. Is it difficult to maintain your composure when you’re having sex with guys in fancy dress costumes? Do you ever have to prevent yourself from laughing?

It is, but to be honest it’s really easy to just pretend you’re enjoying sex. Once we start it’s fine but the part beforehand is when you laugh – I’m like “I can’t believe I’m gonna have sex with this guy”.

'Mansome's' Morgan Spurlock reveals his favorite grooming products

Since Morgan Spurlock is known for fully immersing himself in his movies — famously subsisting onMcDonald's menu items for "Super Size Me" and pounding the pavement for every last product placement dollar in "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" — it seemed only appropriate to ask the man behind"Mansome" about his go-to grooming products and tools, most of which happen to come from boutique shaving brand the Art of Shaving, which signed on to sponsor the film's recent West Coast premiere and after-party. And, just in case there is any question about possible product placement in "Mansome," Spurlock is unequivocal: "No, nobody paid to put anything in the film," he said.

Razor

"What kind of razor do I have? The Gillette Fusion — that's the one with the five-blade cartridge — is my razor of choice. The one I use came from a shaving place in New York City ... it's got a great handle and a replaceable blade."

Fusion Chrome Collection manual razor, $100 at the Art of Shaving boutiques, better department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom and online at http://www.theartofshaving.com.

Get the monthly that has L.A. talking. Subscribe to Los Angeles Times Magazine at a special introductory rate.

Shaving brush

"One of the things that changed as a result of making the movie is that some time in the last year and a half I bought a shaving brush. At first I thought it was kind of old-timey and I didn't know why I'd need to use one, but from the minute I started to use a brush to apply shaving cream I haven't gone back."

Fine Badger Brush in black, $110, available at the Art of Shaving boutiques, better department stores and online at http://www.theartofshaving.com.

Shaving cream

"I'm currently using a shaving cream I got at the Art of Shaving in New York a month or two ago, it's got some combination of kelp and oils in it."

Ocean Kelp with Light Aromatic Essentials shaving cream, $22 for 5 fluid ounces, available at the Art of Shaving boutiques, better department stores and online at http://www.theartofshaving.com.

After-shave

"The shaving cream I'm not so precious about — but I am incredibly precious about my after-shave. I use Chanel Allure Homme. I got turned on to it years ago and I love the way it smells — it's musky and smells like a man. I guess I started using it not long after my son was born. I equate [having] my son to being incredibly masculine."

Chanel's Allure Homme after-shave lotion, $50 for 3.4 fluid ounces, available at Chanel boutiques and online at 

NBC Renews 'Fashion Star' for Second Season

 [URL=http://www.fashion-goods.us/]Fashion goods message[/URL] Star is staying at NBC. The network has renewed the freshman reality series for a second cycle after its midseason run generated modest but steady ratings.
Created by Rick Ringbakk and produced by Ben Silverman's Electus, Jane Lipsitzand Dan Cutforth at Magical Elves and 5x5 Media, the series follows designers competing for a chance to sell their wares in three retailers -- Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, H&M -- which each have a presence at the buyers' table. Each episodes' winning designs are available online and in retailers immediately following their air date.

Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richieand John Varvatos serve as mentors and judges, with Elle Macpherson playing both host and EP.

Fashion Star premiered in March to 4.55 million total viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49. It grew to a 1.8 in its second week, though subsequent airing have found it averaging closer to a 1.5. It's most recent episode, displaced to 8 p.m. for the two-hour Voice finale, was a series low.

Hands-off Review: Leica M9-P Hermes Edition

We weren’t actually allowed to touch this limited edition Leica M9-P today – it’s the only ‘Edition Hermes’

in the region out of a grand total of 300 in the world. And obviously we look like the kind of people to drop, drown

or gun down expensive gadgets.

But we were given a quick demo of the camera’s main ’style’ features, and since we couldn’t take snaps with it,

Leica kindly let us take plenty of photos of this US$29,000 digital rangefinder.

leica M9-P edition hermes rear view
The regular M9-P sells for just shy of US$10,000 so why all the extra dollars for this one? That would be the

special silver-chrome design and Veau Swift (whatever that is) calfskin leather supplied by French fashion house

Hermes.

This has been wrapped around the camera’s body and used for the shoulder strap that Leica’s throwing in for free

with the set.
In essense this is the M9-P in a new frock but designer Walter de’Silva (whose day job includes working on Bugattis

and Bentleys) was really allowed to go to town with tweaking the looks of this special edition. He’s made the top

and base plates all minimalist with new shutter speed dial, multi-function dial and shutter release.

There’s no hotshoe up top and none of the swirly Leica writing that you’ll see on the rest of the M series – the

USB slot and frame selector lever have also been axed from the front and sides. You do get a dedicated serial number

though and a limited edition number, just so you know you’re part of the Leica/Hermes club.
The lens has also been redesigned to match the camera’s body– this is the silver-anodised Leica Summilux-M 50mm

f/1.4 ASPH lens that comes with the standard set available in May.

If you really want to push the boat out, there’s a three lens set out in June that’s limited to only 100 sets in

the world – giving you 28mm, 50mm and 90mm options as well as a Hermes camera bag. But at US$58,000 a pop you might

have to sell that boat, and everything else you own.

Not that we think anyone has got this far still thinking they can afford a Leica M9-P Edition Hermes but if you’re

interested in the camera’s specs, look no further than the M9-P’s credentials. There’s an 18MP sensor on board,

2.5in LCD display with sapphire crystal, scratch-resistant covering round the back and compatibility with most M

series Leica lenses.

Drop us a line if you get one.

Cannes 2012 fashion: Jane Fonda, Diane Kruger stun (gallery)

At the opening of the Cannes Film Festival with the premiere of "Moonrise Kingdom" Wednesday, seventy-freaking-four-year-old Jane Fonda stole the show in a spectacular bronze mesh Atelier Versace gown with a corset back, the liquidy fabric clinging to every formidable curve. Hope the other starlets had notepads in their purses, because take note, ladies -- this is how it's done.

Not that the other ladies disappointed -- we particularly liked Cannes jury member Diane Kruger's billowy mint green custom-made Giambattista Valli gown, a 180-degree turn from her outfit earlier in the day, a teeny burgundy Versus mini (barely) lashed together on the sides from Versus. Eva Longoriashowed up perhaps the most dramatic gown, an elaborately-beaded pale pink column that exploded into a ruffled train at the knee, although we did prefer her opening dinner look better -- an Audrey Hepburn-esque column of black lace with a bateau neckline.

And we have to tip our hat to the sheer sartorial perversity of Bill Murray. At the "Moonrise Kingdom" photo call, he sported pastel plaid pants, a pastel shirt in a different plaid, and a patchwork plaid blazer in primary colors with boat shoes. He did don a tux for the opening ceremony and premiere, but his paisley bowtie appeared to have been tied by someone with one arm, a drunk, or a toddler. Or all three.

Passion for fashion: North Shore nears top in best-dressed list

It’s not a secret that many closets on the North Shore are filled with upscale, fashion-forward designer garments,

and now, thanks to bundle.com, the nation knows just how trend-setting the North Shore’s fashionistas can be.

The bundle.com report lists Glencoe as the second most fashion-conscious town in the U.S. after Newport Coast,

Calif., with 15.95 percent of residents listed as such. But lovers of all things sartorial from other towns made the

Top 40 as well. Winnetka residents (13.44 percent) enter the list at No. 4; Highland Park at No. 9, (after Beverly

Hills, Calif., at 11.84 percent; Hinsdale and Lake Forest round out the top 12 (11.29 and 10.74 percent

respectively); Deerfield (8.05 percent); Oak Brook (7.91 percent), and Wilmette (7.20 percent) take honors ahead of

the known shopping meccas of Malibu, Calif, and Palm Beach, Fla. For the full list, see bundle.com/article/most-

fashionable-towns-america.

The new site compiles anonymous spending data to compile user reviews for local businesses — using credit card

transactions to create data-driven snapshots of how people spend their money. It aims to give consumers a place to

research local businesses with hard numbers — cost per transaction, loyalty to a particular retailer and how many

customers a business serves — rather than a traditional online forum review site such as yelp.com.

“We defined a segment called ‘fashionistas’ by identifying those households that had at least four transactions

at known high-end merchants in a 30-month period,” CEO Jaidev Shergill wrote in an email.

Deerfield resident and stylist Debra Katz works to keep her clients fashion-conscious and doesn’t find one town to

be more fashionable than the other. “I think there are women in each of these towns who are definitely high-

fashion, who really subscribe [to it] and love it,” she said.

The Possessionista (a k a Dana Weiss, a Deerfield resident, blogger and expert on all things fashion), doesn’t want

her North Shore neighbors to think their fashion consciousness only relates to how much they spend.

“I think that list is a bit deceptive. Being fashionable and having an innate sense of style has nothing to do with

money,” Weiss said.