Thirty designers have been tasked to transform the look of “The Phantom of the Opera” mask in celebration of Broadway’s longest-running musical.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Bank of America and “The Phantom of the Opera” have teamed up for the musical’s 30th anniversary in a project that supports Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The “Phantom” mask was originally designed by Maria Bjornson and realized by milliner Rodney Gordon.
Designers were asked to create a one-of-a-kind mask with their own aesthetic vision.
Participating #PhantomFashion30 designers and brands are Badgley Mischka, Chloe Gosselin, Christian Roth, Dennis Basso, Edie Parker, Eugenia Kim, Gigi Burris, Ilesteva, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Judith Leiber, Kendra Scott, Kenneth Cole, Lizzie Fortunato, Marchesa, Naeem Khan, Nick Graham, Nicole Miller, Pamella Roland, Paul Marlow, Rebecca Minkoff, Sachin & Babi, Sally LaPointe, Stephen Dweck, Swarovski, Tadashi Shoji, Tanya Taylor, Title of Work, Vivienne Tam, Wolk Morais, and Zang Toi.
The designs will be revealed during an exclusive invite-only event sponsored by Bank of America on Oct. 30. Beginning Oct. 31, the 30 masks will then go on display at the Museum of the City of New York for 30 days.
The one-of-a-kind creations will be up for bids during a special online auction from

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Kenneth Cole is continuing the celebration of the company’s 35th anniversary. To acknowledge the event, Cole has launched The Voice Shop, which features a T-shirt collection with 12 “Kennethisms” that raises awareness for social issues that are inherent to the brand.
Among the T-shirt messages are “We Are All Immigrants,” “Stand Up, Show Up (or Shut Up),” “Today Is Not a Dress Rehearsal” and “Open Minds Let More In.” The retail price is $39.

A Kenneth Cole T-shirt in The Voice Shop. 

Following the T-shirt launch, the shop will expand to include canvas totes and hats.
All net proceeds from The Voice Shop will be donated to the Kenneth Cole Foundation to advance public health and civil liberties. The T-shirt collection is available, beginning today, exclusively at Kenneth Cole’s Bond + Bowery store and online at kennethcole.com.

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But only so that guests can kick off the beloved alpine resort’s ski season in serious style.

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PARIS — The long queues in front of leading luxury stores in Paris this weekend might suggest they were holding the high-end equivalent of a Black Friday sale.
But the crowds gathered outside Dior headquarters on Avenue Montaigne, the Guerlain flagship on Avenue des Champs-Elysées or the Chaumet salons on Place Vendôme weren’t looking to part with any cash — just to catch a glimpse behind the scenes of some of the 70 brands that form LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
From Oct. 12 to 14, the world’s biggest luxury group held the fourth edition of its Journées Particulières open-doors event, which gives members of the public worldwide a rare opportunity to meet the craftspeople who make everything from Louis Vuitton handbags to Tag Heuer watches and Berluti shoes.
The event is the brainchild of Antoine Arnault, head of communication and image of LVMH, who launched the biennial initiative in 2011 to counter a perception that the group was only interested in making money. It has steadily grown in size, with this year’s edition drawing a record 180,000 visitors, up from 145,000 in 2016.
Arnault kicked off proceedings with a cocktail party on Thursday at the group’s headquarters, where he posed with his father,

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The yearlong celebration of Sonia Rykiel’s 50th anniversary continues with another special project: Generous Sweaters.
Creative director Julie de Libran thought that a capsule collection of sweaters with charitable causes was apropos to celebrate the queen of knits’ golden anniversary. De Libran enlisted a group of international, influential women to design a limited-edition sweater, the proceeds of which will go to a charity of their choosing. The group includes actresses Kirsten Dunst, Sofia Boutella and Kristin Scott Thomas; architect Kazuyo Sejima; model and activist Liya Kebede; artist Langley Fox and ballet dancer and artistic director of the Korean National Ballet Sue-Jin Kang. The charities include La Maison des Femmes, Planned Parenthood, Ving, Hope & Home for Children, Le Refuge, Lemlem Foundation, Okaeri-Gohan Shokun and the Children’s Hospital of Seoul National University.
“These extraordinary women have been much involved in the creative process, each talent has given her precious time to this charity-driven sweater capsule,” said de Libran. “I’m thankful they jumped into this initiative, focusing on charities helping women around the globe. It means a lot in 2018.”
The global launch of the capsule for Sonia Rykiel stores is Nov. 5. In the U.S., 10 Corso Como in New York will carry the collection

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Continuing his 50th anniversary celebration, Ralph Lauren is launching the Polo Bear Collection, which combines Swiss watchmaking with the Polo Bear — a favorite icon in the designer’s world.
The collection represents the first time Lauren has created timepieces specifically for the Polo brand. The four bears that are featured are Flag Bear, Martini Bear, Preppy Bear, and Spectator Bear, each inspired by his personal style and retailing for $2,000 apiece.
In an interview at his Manhattan office last week, Lauren, who was dressed in an embroidered RL sweater and sat at a coffee table overflowing with memorabilia — including two stuffed Polo Bears — said the idea of the watches was just for fun. They’re not smart watches, nor are they rife with complications such as minute repeaters, chronograph, time zones or moon phase.
“It’s purely a fun project. It was not about who’s out there and what are they doing. I find that when I do things like this, with a smile on it, it works. It’s not planned to be a big thing. If it is, we’ll take it, but it’s not planned. I find for me, that’s what works,” said Lauren, chairman and chief creative officer of the $6.2 billion

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