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Hussein Chalayan has fashioned clothing of unrippable paper that can be folded into envelopes, a dress designed like a kite that can actually fly and a coffee table of malleable wood that swirls into a skirt. What saves his fanciful designs from unraveling into mere novelty is the fact that Chalayan, 29, an exquisite tailor, uses the show pieces to inspire his eminently more wearable clothes.
"These pieces might not sell," he says, "but they express the concept behind each collection." The result is feminine clothes that are spare, clean and architecturally constructed to create volume without frills.
Rather than reference styles from past eras, Chalayan, who is Turkish Cypriot and based in London, molds each collection around a concept derived from outside the fashion world, whether it be the role of women in Islamic society (chadors of varying lengths) or the plight of families forced to leave their homes in times of war (the inspiration for the table skirt).
He is equally dedicated to exploring technology (plastic dresses with shifting mechanized panels, and fabrics adorned with computer-generated prints). "The only new work you can do in fashion is via technology," he says. "It lets you create something you couldn't have done in the past."
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Following a trend toward "fuller figure" mannequins highlighted in yesterday's New York Times, Goldsmith, a New York based mannequin manufacturer, has rounded out and lowered the derriere in his new line.
On CNBC's Bull's Eye Report, broadcast live on Friday night, Dwight Critchfield, creative director at Goldsmith, said "seeing J. Lo flaunt her curves" inspired the company to design mannequins with "a little more back."
The continued trend toward jeans as a best-selling fashion, and the growth of the American consumer, also influenced the new design.
"It's no secret that Americans are getting bigger," said Critchfield. "The clothing industry definitely has corrected sizes, and it's our business to help retailers sell clothing." Other mannequin makers that have noticed and followed in the shift to bigger backed babes include Greneker, Los Angeles, Adel Rootstein, London and Ralph Pucci International, New York. Mr. Pucci, who recently released the curvier size 8 "Goddess" line, told the New York Times, "People with these types of bodies are flaunting it. They're comfortable with it."
He continued, "If you have your eyes open, you see this type of body becoming more relevant."
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From the spikes and safety pins on the Sex Pistols' costumes, to an outlandish tartan wedding gown modelled by Kate Moss, designer British Vivienne Westwood has shaped fashion for three decades.
An enigmatic figure, the 63-year-old started designing in 1970. She left behind her first husband and primary school teaching career to open a small shop in London with her new partner, Malcolm McLaren.
The shop changed names and styles five times over 10 years - with fashion phases embracing the rock'n'roll '50s, black urban culture, punk, and then pirates' clothing. But Westwood was here to stay, going on to become a global fashion icon.
The first major retrospective of her work, Vivienne Westwood, 34 years in fashion, opens today at the National Gallery of Australia, after a successful season at London's Victoria & Albert Museum.
Her husband and co-designer, Andreas Kronthaler, was in Canberra yesterday to launch the exhibition. Westwood had remained in Britain to be with a terminally ill friend.
The exhibition features more than 150 designs, some from her private collection.
Included are the Sex Pistols' costumes, the 25-centimetre blue mock-croc platform shoes from which supermodel Naomi Campbell infamously toppled on a Paris catwalk in 1993, and bright, grand ball gowns.
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The Huntsville Museum of Art presents Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen through January 23, 2005. The elegance of Hollywood comes to the Museum this fall with the exhibition Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen. Movie lovers won’t want to miss this opportunity to see 35 costumes from recent major motion pictures including Titanic, Evita, Out of Africa, Pride and Prejudice, and Gosford Park. These costumes were created for films by award-winning directors and filmmakers, and elegantly worn by such actors and actresses as Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Meryl Streep, and Elizabeth Taylor.
The high quality and authenticity of the costumes reflects the height of the dramatic period films of recent years. This exquisite selection of costumes comes from a stock of nearly 100,000 costumes and accessories made by the renowned British costumer, Cosprop.
Having mostly been made for film adaptations of classical novels, the costumes in this exhibition closely follow original models in the cut and materials used. Their high quality and authenticity derive from the period-drama-in-fi lms made in recent years.
The costumes demonstrate the development of fashion from about 1750 to 1960. Lavishly embroidered suits and elaborate dresses from Dangerous Liaisons and Jefferson in Paris, both taking
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Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Liz Claiborne are among the top U.S. designers experiencing a fall sales slump for their moderately priced clothing lines.
After a strong spring, many designers saw sales decline this fall, prompting plans for fewer career-driven outfits and more casual clothes on the rack, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Everybody can talk about weather and hurricanes and Republican conventions and all that stuff, but I think in general, fall has been softer in the better categories, Roger Farah, president of Ralph Lauren, said of Lauren, the company's moderately priced line.
He blamed too many players in the mix for the sales decline.
There's been a lot of new players entering the marketplace, some more successful than others, so the pie is being shared in a lot of senses, Farah said.
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