The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety says it has seen “tremendous progress” in the garment industry as it moves into its penultimate year, and that the atmosphere in Dhaka has improved since the terrorist attacks on the country last year.
The Better Cotton Initiative’s global investment vehicle has been awarded EUR2m (US$2.14m) from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to support its projects around the world.
Ronald van der Kemp said he was inspired by Dadaism for his RVDK label’s fifth demi-couture collection. The resulting lineup of vamped-up, whimsical looks had a strong Eighties bent — with puff sleeves and ruffles galore — but was ultimately a mixed bag of references from Surrealism to speakeasies.
The Amsterdam-based designer — who sources his creations by hunting for remnants of existing fabrics (new or vintage) — this season brought in plaids, spots, furs and floral prints, as well as patchwork quilting and lace. Goat hair details created a spiky halo around an ocelot-printed calfskin top. Swirls of yellow taffeta festooned from a skirt that looked rather like a bowl of Kraft macaroni, while a fisherman’s sweater made from patching together different weaves represented a comparatively subtle look.
Though van der Kemp’s creations are certainly not for wallflowers, the designer has won a certain following with his flamboyant creations. Justin Bieber has been spotted wearing a pair of the brand’s patchwork camo trousers, which are made combining uniforms from different armies. Those pants and several eveningwear looks are among the limited-edition items van der Kemp recently shipped to Bergdorf Goodman, which will stock the brand for the first time this spring.
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Design duo Galia Lahav and Sharon Sever were visibly moved as they took their bow at the end of their first Paris couture show. Indeed, backstage before the show, Sever described being accepted as a guest member on the couture calendar as the culmination of three decades of work for the Tel Aviv, Israel-based label, which is principally known for its bridal designs.
Inspired by the Victorian era in general and more specifically by a little-known designer called Jean-Marjorie Lacroix, who challenged the sartorial stereotypes of the time, Sever explained.
The designers sent out an array of gowns that combined the transparency of tulle fabrics, lace — some of it antique — guipure and sheer stretch fabrics with a multitude of embellishments and surface finishes.
Elaborate, extralong trains were morphed with the corsets of gowns decked with embroideries and glittering with beads and there were high collars, puff sleeves, sweetheart necklines, buttoned backs, peplums and pussy bow details aplenty, contrasting with the overtly sexy allure of their deep V necklines and sheer backs.
The use of velvet on certain designs added a different richness, as on a burgundy draped mermaid dress with its tulle point d’esprit bodice and short cape, or an off-the-shoulder corset
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Known for inventive outerwear, Marianna Rosati’s Italian leather label Drome really hits its stride in colder seasons. Her latest pre-fall lineup emphasized chic shearling, leather and wool statement coats, which were grouped into two disparate themes: military and ladylike. In the former, Rosati interpreted the nylon bomber jacket trend with a maximalist approach, decorating hers with buttery leather snap pockets and white shearling trim. Elsewhere, for something more feminine, Rosati’s sophisticated trenchcoats took on softer silhouettes in shades of burgundy, pink and ivory and were accessorized with contrast leather belts. A few curly shearling coats in bright neons — with exaggerated collars and cuffs — took on a funky Seventies feel. Ditto to the ruffled leather trousers, silk pussy-bow blouses and platform leather boots.
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It may have been Christine Hyun Mi Nielsen’s first solo collection, but the designer already has a solid résumé, having headed up women’s wear studios at Alexander McQueen, Givenchy and, most recently, Balenciaga, under Alexander Wang. She was one of six designers selected as guest members on the couture schedule this season, rare with a debut collection.
“It says a lot about the Federation and how supportive they are of new brands,” said the Danish designer, who was born in South Korea, backstage before the show.
Nielsen’s experience showed through in her designs, which she said were inspired by a dark period after she left Balenciaga and was feeling lost. “It happens,” she said. “Teams change.”
A dark, almost Gothic poetry emanated from many of her designs, which went from ethereal to verging on bondage in an unusual yet appealing play on contrasts. Organza and tulle were frayed and layered minutely in several black, white and burnt orange gowns, shaped into graphic ruffles that formed heart shapes around transparent panels. A murky green organza cape was adorned with floral embroideries in dark hues, and worn with straight black pants in a horizontally striped patchwork of leather, jacquard and tulle.
She contrasted the more fluid
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The Balmain Army is headed to Coachella. Star items in the festival-themed collection included a range of “couture” jackets and T-shirts embroidered in an “explosion” of motifs nodding to vintage rock T-shirts (complete with lightning bolts and tigers).
Olivier Rousteing, who conceived the collection to a blaring, Eighties soft-rock soundtrack, said he felt compelled to pay homage to recently departed pop icons like Prince, David Bowie and George Michael. “I also wanted to talk to my generation….It was music that inspired me to create fashion,” said the designer.
Other key looks included figure-hugging mixed-media dresses combining houndstooth woven leather (to match elements from the house’s new accessories line), beaded fishnet and fringing. The sprawling collection also showed a softer side, from pleated palazzo pants to a range of knits including long, enveloping cardigans with slim sleeves. The line’s rock-edged ponchos, like one in a fringed tweed mixed with leather, chains and angora, were terrific.
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DOG’S DAY: Snoopy and Belle are back on the fashion circuit, and this time they’re taking it to the masses with a retail bent. The “Snoopy & Belle in Fashion” project, which debuted at the Louvre in 1984 with nearly four dozen outfits designed by everyone from Karl Lagerfeld to Gianni Versace, has been on a nonstop worldwide museum tour ever since. Its last iteration celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2014 with new designers such as Isaac Mizrahi and Rodarte coming into the mix, and others such as Diane von Furstenberg and Betsey Johnson, who were part of the original exhibit, creating a second set of costumes.
Colleen Atwood’s sketch of Snoopy in an outfit inspired by her costume for Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in “Alice in Wonderland.”
The 2017 tour brings the collection back to the U.S. in shopping malls instead of museums. The first stop is Feb. 14 at Los Angeles’ Beverly Center, and it will hit six U.S. cities before ending at Brookfield Place on Sept. 7 in time for New York Fashion Week, where it will remain until Oct. 1 before it goes overseas.
To mark the Los Angeles kickoff, Peanuts Worldwide — which is 80 percent
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NEW YORK — Robert L. Wells, former president and owner of textile sales agency European Textile Trading Corp., died Jan. 18 in Palm Beach, Fla., according to his son, George. He was 90.
George Wells said his father helped Ralph Lauren source hand-printed wool challis fabrics from Switzerland in the early years before the Polo Ralph Lauren brand began. He also was instrumental in supplying Halston with matte jersey for some of the designer’s iconic styles.
In addition, Wells, who went by Bob, was among the first to bring Loden cloth from Austria into the U.S. market. Loden would go on to be featured by many classic men’s wear labels.
Wells recalled how his father’s easygoing manner and positive attitude within a hectic industry made him stand out among his peers.
“He was a trailblazer in the textile field and evolved the business with extensive travels to various mills in the years well in advance of Interstoff Germany and Première Vision in Paris,” said Wells, who succeeded his father as owner of the company in the mid-Eighties.
The company has been in operation for more than 50 years and was founded by Robert Wells’ uncle, Alfred, in 1936.
Born in 1936 in Waterbury, Conn., Wells enlisted in
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AZZARO RISING: Loris Azzaro began celebrations of its 50th anniversary with the presentation on Wednesday of a capsule collection designed by socialites Bianca Brandolini and Eugenie Niarchos.
Gabriel de Linage, chief executive officer of the Paris-based fashion house, said it was the first of five key events scheduled throughout the year, ahead of the planned relaunch of its women’s ready-to-wear collection in 2018.
In March, it plans to open its first men’s store in France in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district of Paris. This will be followed by a retrospective at an undisclosed location in May, to be accompanied by a book published by Editions de la Martinière.
The house is set to reveal soon a successor for Arnaud Maillard and Alvaro Castejón, its former artistic directors who exited their roles in June after a three-year stint. In addition, it plans to launch a men’s capsule collection in the fourth quarter.
“We are trying to develop men’s and women’s in parallel. They are both very strong segments: men in particular thanks to the perfume, which is very well-known, and women’s fashion thanks to couture, which is at the heart of Azzaro,” de Linage told WWD.
“We plan to reunite men’s and women’s with a new women’s ready-to-wear
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