|
|
Canada's most celebrated wedding dress designer got her start hand-stitching in her attic. Today, Justina McCaffrey sells dresses across the continent, and she calls it a labour of love ... based on her own marriage.
"It all started when we got married," McCaffrey explains. "I made my own wedding dress. It was a very large and involved wedding dress."
She married David McCaffrey of Winnipeg, whom she first me at the age of six. McCaffrey hand-stitched her gown, which bore hundreds of beautiful silk roses. Everyone wanted one just like it.
"I started making dresses that had no owners," she said. "All these dresses and David was getting angry with me saying: 'What's going on?'"
The couple had three children and David worked for Ottawa's food bank. Then one day, he decided to take Justina's dresses on the road.
"I packed these dresses in the back of this Oldsmobile and I drove across the United States and knocked on every door," David says.
His efforts paid off. In what seems to be a fairytale come true, the couple showed Justina's wedding gowns at New York's Fashion Week. For American buyers, it was love at first sight.
"How did you cope with all the orders?" CTV's Rosemary Thompson asked the dress designer in an interview.
"That's a great question because originally we had no plans to open a factory," M
more
www.ctv... (657)
added by
Levent OZLER
|
|
|
|
Mick Jagger was there that night in 1996, watching the cheering boys with dreadlocks and the girls in shirts embroidered with the enigmatic logo that Tommy Hilfiger created a decade before, when he was still a nobody. The rock star was among hundreds of people gathered in a tent near Lincoln Center to see Mr. Hilfiger, the charismatic clothier from Elmira, N.Y., receive the Menswear Designer of the Year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Back then, everything in the world seemed to be going Tommy's way. "There were these city kids, along on this magical ascent, because Tommy had crossed the barriers - he'd crossed both racial and demographic barriers," said Joseph Abboud, the clothing designer and a friend of Mr. Hilfiger, who was there that night. "Tommy had become the darling, he was at the pinnacle; he had transcended the whole preppy-Ivy League-Ralph Lauren-wannabe image to create a whole new paradigm of what the market looked like."
Driven in part by the association with hip-hop stars like Snoop Dogg and Coolio, Mr. Hilfiger's business boomed. And it is still huge: For its last fiscal year, the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation posted revenue of $1.9 billion, by selling mostly casual clothes throughout the world, and by licensing its name and red, white and blue logo for accessories like handbags, watch
more
www.nyt... (138)
added by
Levent OZLER
|
|
|
|
Cashin had a definite view that clothing should be both functional and fashionable. So she spent 70 years shrugging off notions of how a fashion designer should work and who she should design for; Cashin created her own designs and put them on the backs of women the world over.
Her refusal to compromise paid off: She built a fashion empire that today continues to shape retail successes such as Coach Inc. Cashin's now known as "the mother of American sportswear" -- along with fellow designer Claire McCardell -- owing to her lively imagination, willingness to learn and ability to communicate creativity and independence.
Cashin (1915-2000) was born in Oakland, Calif., and spent her childhood playing with textile swatches as she moved down the California coast with her dressmaker mother. She later credited her "apprenticeship " in her mother's stores for shaping her craft.
She loved clothing, and was eager to learn everything she could about creating the final product. She sketched out her ideas constantly, and sewed them to test them out on herself. But she wasn't sure she wanted to spend her life with fabric -- she wanted to be a showgirl.
At her first audition, however, she realized that the long-legged competition was what directors wanted -- not a diminutive 16-year-old. Deciding not to leave empty-handed, Cashin tu
more
biz.yah... (87)
added by
Levent OZLER
|
|
|
|
For years considered a fashion no-no, fur is making a hearty comeback to the runway, turning up in haute-couture designs and on the backs of top-name celebrities, much to the chagrin of animal rights activists.
In Denmark, the world's leading mink producer, furriers say they are expecting the coming year to be a good one for business. "We're optimistic for 2005 ... as long as there's cold weather, because fur is back in fashion again, catapulted by the big designers," said Sander Jacobsen of leading fur dealer Kopenhagen Fur, which produces about half of the world's mink pelts.
Vilified in the late 1980s and early 1990s as environmentalists bemoaned the violence used in the killing of fur-bearing animals, the slinky material has for years been off designers' drawing boards. But now, top couture houses such as Dior, Armani, Yves St Laurent, Gucci, Karl Lagerfeld and Versace have all featured fur in their recent collections, with models strutting the soft stuff on runways in Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo.
Hollywood starlets like Jennifer Lopez have been seen wearing luxurious pelts, as has supermodel Cindy Crawford, who 10 years ago spearheaded the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)'s anti-fur protest entitled "I'd rather go naked than wear fur". "Fur is fashionable and is being
more
www.dai... (172)
added by
Levent OZLER
|
|
|
|
The 60th Helsinki International Fashion Fair will be held on February 4-7, 2005 at the Helsinki Fair Centre, a week later.
The Fashion fair for the tenth time will hold Consumer Days on February 4-5 to allow exhibitors to present their latest collections and increase interest among consumers. A lifestyle segment in the event to highlight Finnish and international brands will also be included.
In its eleventh year, The Golden Hanger 2005 award will be presented at the show to a Finnish company or designer that is deemed to have produced a well-designed, high-quality collection that reflects the spirit of the times is exportable and value for money.
Initially, the fair established in 1975 was restricted to Finnish firms but in the 1980s it expanded into the Nordic Fashion Fair. Exhibitors from outside Europe were already attending in 1992 and the fair began operating under its present name the following year.
The fair has been called the Helsinki International Fashion Fair ever since.
more
60th Helsinki International Fashion Fair in February 2005 (1807)
added by
Levent OZLER
|
|
|
