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Remember when we carried briefcase bags?
Then we toted our new laptops around in computer bags.
Now, to be truly stylish as you carry that laptop and the assorted digital gadgetry that accompanies it, you need to get yourself a bicycle messenger bag -- even if you commute in an SUV instead of on a Schwinn.
The single-strap, big-flapped, brightly colored bags are hot items these days among students who use them in place of the old two-strapped, backpack-style knapsacks and business types who've dumped the stiff-handled leather attaché cases that used to be corporate chic.
The bags were first developed for couriers who plied the busy streets of London, New York and other metropolises delivering letters, contracts, architectural documents, small packages and legal papers.
The first models were made of thick canvas and vinyl coated to keep out the rain. They were basically big, flap-covered pouches that looked like modernized versions of the bags once used by newspaper delivery boys.
The bags were meant to be worn across the back with a wide strap that sat atop one shoulder and under the opposite armpit, leaving the hands free to steer the bike.
Today's models are more typically made of nylon, are waterproof, contain numerous pockets, flaps and adjustable straps, and come in bright colors, like rooster red or M
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Michelle Mooy once wanted to work as a stylist on a television show, but her classes at a Henderson interior and fashion design school have changed her plans.
Now, Mooy, 31, dreams about having her own clothing line after she graduates from the Las Vegas Valley's only higher-education institution focusing exclusively on interior and fashion design.
The International Academy of Design and Technology, which celebrated its grand opening at its Henderson campus Friday, opened its doors to students in April and already has 300 students enrolled in its design classes. The school is expecting to increase enrollment to 1,500 students over the next few years.
"I could start working for someone big or someone smaller," Mooy said Friday. "We all have to do internships for one quarter of our third year. So that will help me decide."
In the meantime Mooy is joining classmates to help produce and promote a new clothing line by Christa Hilda, a contestant from CBS' "Survivor." Mooy will be her event-planning manager at an upcoming Las Vegas fashion show. Mooy said a class assignment researching the financials of two similar companies helped her understand merchandising.
"I looked at Warner Brothers and Disney. Both offer similar products but Disney is leading the way," Mooy said. "I learned a lot about character merchandis
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Shirlette Thompson's fashion idea popped her in the head like a rubber band.
She was doing her sister's hair one day and noticed the mound of rubber bands surrounding her feet. She envisioned an evening dress made of rubber bands. Simple, but yet so elastic.
Nga Dinh had a vision, too.
It was a wedding dress made of white plastic bags tied meticulously together in rose pattern. The layers of the dress draped along the floor and crunched nicely the way fresh plastic does.
The women, both fashion design students at Houston Community College, let their creativity run wild for the school's recent annual Flash and Trash fashion show.
Their ingenuity leads me to believe that we have it all wrong.
Instead of searching for the coolest styles in the best fabrics, maybe we should take a nod from fashion students like those at Houston Community College. Their annual Flash and Trash fashion event shows us that a lot of creativity and trash can go a long way to creating fashion. The students use almost anything -- from leaves to macaroni to Sweet 'N Low packets -- to create their designs.
Of course, this trash-as-treasure concept isn't new.
We've had a variety of trendy recycled fashions in recent years: seat-belt purses, bottlecap belts, fleece jackets made of recycled plastic pop bottles, and, of course, clo
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If shoes are the cherry on top for a woman, what sets a man apart in sophisticated dressing? Neckwear, better known as ties, are to a gray suit what Manolo Blahniks are to the little black dress. Ties are the candy of men's fashion.
Stylewatch caught up with one of the hottest menswear designers recently to chat about his signature collection of neckwear. Daniel de Fasson, a Cuban-born architect turned designer, takes ties to the must/lust, gotta-have-it category.
We especially love the silk — pure momie for those fashion-savvy men — ties that are crafted in brilliant colors. This is the kind of stuff you want to hang on your wall, not just on your neck.
One of de Fasson's signature touches to neckwear includes making each tie 2 inches longer and wider to provide what he calls a more elongated, sensual appearance.
We love to pick a man's brain about fashion, and gave de Fasson a little Q-and-A.
Q: How did an architect turn to fashion design?
A: A love of fashion. It just absolutely turns me on. The concept utilizing architecture in fashion design is a natural for me. It doesn't matter if I speak in terms of brick or silk. Starting off with a blank piece of paper and finding a solution that makes people happy. Building something with beauty and function. As far as I'm concerned, I practice architecture every da
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The "Luxury 2004: the Lure of Asia" conference wrapped up here Thursday, with participants from the world luxury industry expressing their confidence in the Asia-Pacific region, and in China in particular.
The two-day conference, organized by the International Herald Tribune, has attracted major players in the world fashion industryincluding UmBernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton; Ferruccio Ferragamo, the CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo;Christia n Blanckaert, the executive vice president of Hermes International.
The representatives from the world famous brands had a lot of discussions on China at the conference, expressing their confidence in the country with a fast economic growth and vast population.
Arnault noted that Louis Vuitton will open 13 stores in the Chinese mainland by the end of this year, and all their products enjoy robust sales there. After the opening of a Louis Vuitton flagship store in Shanghai, another one in Beijing is to open later.
Moreover, Prada is targeting 30 stores in the Chinese mainland by 2008. Giorgio Armani, who opened a store in Shanghai in April, announced direct store sales on the mainland up by 17 percent and plans 20 to 30 stores in the mainland by 2008, when the next Olympic Games will be held in China.
Ferruccio Ferragamo note
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