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By Nwinkus, August 30, 2009 7:48 am

In  what was a visual feast of pretty summer dresses, dazzling evening gowns, edgy silhouettes and bold design choices shown for three days  between 20th- 22nd 09 the spring/summer collections for 2009/2010, of the Arise Cape Town Fashion Week was presented at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in  South Africa.  African Fashion International and  ARISE Magazine collaborated again after their successful inaugural ARISE Africa Fashion week.

Its been said that Cape Town is also home to many of Africa’s most established couturiers and a significant tranche of its fashion media and models. Looking at what the city offered ranged from the  unique and innovative to the colorful and mellow.

What was particularly interesting was the The Cape Town Fashion Council presented a vast showcase of graduate talent from selected schools, from this pool we can take a look at the future of fashion talent on the continent. But also there were a number of established designers such as Tarien Malherbe, Undacova, Black Coal designed by Pumeza Mekuto, Doreen Southwood, Misfit, Tart, Michelle Ludek, LaLesso, SUZAAN HEYNS, LUELLA SHOES BY DAVID TLALE, CRAIG PORT, LOVEWATERLOVE, TRACY B, MALICK, CARDUCCI WOMEN, GAVIN RAJAH, FABIANI, STEFANIA MORLAND, KLûK CGDT. As we proceed, it will be interesting to see what this diverse and mercurial industry that is African fashion will Morph into.

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By Nwinkus, August 27, 2009 2:27 pm

Campbell was born in Streatham, London, England. Her mother, Valerie Campbell (née Morris), is a former ballet dancer of Afro-Jamaican descent. In accordance with her mother’s wishes, Campbell has never met her unnamed father, who left then-18-year-old Valerie two months after the birth of their daughter.Discovered by Elite’s Beth Boldt, aged 15, at the Italia Conti stage school in London, Campbell’s Caribbean and Chinese heritage bestowed her with exotic good looks that led to her being the first ever black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue in December 1987. Soon after
that she was walking catwalks for Versace, Armani and Westwood and starring in the campaigns of Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. n 1999, Campbell developed a spin-off company, the Design House of Naomi Campbell. So far, Campbell has created seven fragrances for women, most of which were released in Europe. In 2000, Campbell introduced her first perfumes, Naomi Campbell and Naomagic. In 2001, Campbell introduced her third perfume, Cat Deluxe, and in 2003 released Mystery.

A year later a fifth fragrance was made, Sunset, and in 2005 another fragrance was released, Paradise Passion. Campbell’s latest fragrance is a new version of her Cat Deluxe perfume called Cat Deluxe at Night..Since 1997, Campbell has been involved in charity work mainly focused on the children and people of  Sub-Saharan Africa. She has worked with Nelson Mandela, and has said that one of her greatest joys in life is knowing Mandela, stating that his kindness, passion and intelligence make him a modern world leader. In 2005, she helped create and participated in Fashion Relief, raising over a million dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims.^{[citation needed]} On 7 July 2007 she hosted the South African leg of Live Earth in Johannesburg.

What with well-documented tantrums, public feuds, high-fashion community service, superstar boyfriends, infamous catwalk

tumbles and hoards of designer best friends, Naomi Campbell could never be called dull.

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By Nwinkus,

Launching her 11th collection for Topshop on the 28th of August it will be interesting to see if supermodel Kate Moss’s  range will have the same exciting experience as before. The collection is in keeping with the 2009 Autum/Winter season, with some sleek tailoring thrown into her signature boho mix. “Personifying the rock’n’roll spirit of Kate’s dressing, the collection is heavily inspired by the 60s, 70s and 80s, with a distinct groupie feel,” Topshop says of the collection from the ultimate groupie – after all, Kate has dated Jamie Hince, Pete Doherty and er, Johnny Depp. Her sexed-up rock goddess style translates this season into billowy, printed blouses, mohair furs and two standout items a black leather dress and a shredded black top which are a must get.

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By Nwinkus, August 26, 2009 2:09 pm

With September 10 getting closer, the Vogue offices are buzzing in preparation for Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out celebration Taking place across thirteen countries, nine time zones, and eleven languages; organising event logistics for the global project and London event “has been all-consuming” says a Vogue insider. If you haven’t heard about Fashion’s Night Out yet, which just went live on the vogue website , go and see  P. Diddy rapping, “Come on, let’s do it for the people, baby,”  and a host of other celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker in an advert on the site, and get involved.

With events taking place in New York, Moscow, Saõ Paolo, Beijing, Madrid, Milan, Taiwan, Paris, Tokyo, Delhi, Athens, Berlin – and with London’s (W1 and Sloane Street) British designers; Luella Bartley, Christopher Bailey, and Matthew Williamson in store on the night; black ice cream at Selfridges; Dover Street Market’s special Swiss Army knife; Marni’s Fashion Night Out dolls; art installations; live music; styling and fashion shows – September 10 should be your diary in at least one language!

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By Nwinkus,

As bikini’s go this has to be one of the funkiest i have ever seen,  I am not entirely sure how practical it will be to wear one in the pool or sea,  but who cares,  its hot and you look hot… what else is life about….  from the Myer Spring/Summer 09-10 season launch.

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By Nwinkus,

Hermès has denied rumours that Jean Paul Gaultier is leaving the French power house. The fashion world was in a spin thanks to suggestions that Gaultier, who took over the reins six years ago from Martin Margiela, is stepping down from his post as creative director after his spring/summer 2010 collection is shown in Paris in October. A spokesman at Hermès Australia said: “Hermès and Jean Paul Gaultier both intend to continue their fruitful collaboration. Any rumours to the contrary are unfounded.” It was hard believe that such a successful relationship would be coming to an end. The luxury house has gone from strength to strength recording profits even in these trying times and also owns a 35 per cent stake in Gaultier’s namesake label.

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By Nwinkus, August 25, 2009 1:01 pm

Adidas, the iconic sportswear label with the three stripes, turned 60  on 18th of August 2009. Officially founded in 1949 when the three-stripe trademark was registered, the then trainer label was kick-started by Adolf “Adi” Dassler and his brother Rudolph (who eventually parted company with Adi and, in an impressive display of sibling rivalry, went on to start his own, Puma). Thankfully, Adi had already proved himself a canny businessman in his own right, having driven to Bavaria to persuade sprinter Jesse Owens to wear his spikes for the 1936 Berlin Olympics in one of the earliest examples of sponsorship for an African-American sportsman. (Owens went on to win four golds, much to Hitler’s chagrin.) Adidas maintained its record over the years and soon moved off the track and into pop culture thanks to the likes of Bob Marley and Run DMC – the latter moved to compose a musical tribute in the form of 1986 song/advert “My Adidas” – with Oasis, Damon Albarn, Ian Brown and Paul Weller following in later years. As part of the 60th anniversary festivities, Adidas has sponsored photographer Lawrence Watson’s book and exhibition The World Is Yours, which documents three decades of musical icons and from which the above image is taken, as well as throwing a house party in its latest David Beckham featuring campaign .

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By Nwinkus, August 24, 2009 3:54 pm

Japanese street fashion has always fascinated me not just because there are a lot of different subcultures but because of the range of style’s or subculture’s, one of these being the Gothic Lolita style. It is usually a combination of black and white, often black with white lace and typically decorated with ribbons and lace trims.  Skirts are knee length and may have a crinoline or petticoat to add volume. Japanese culture places a higher value upon extremely youthful appearance and behaviour. Goth is a very minor subculture with few followers, partly because the emphasis upon visual identity in Japanese youth culture makes other factors such as music and literature less important signifiers and perhaps partly because Christianity and Germanic culture are not integral parts of society. More interestingly though a lot of these styles seem to have found their way on to or from the various catwalks, and i would like to know how much one influences the other.

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By Nwinkus, August 23, 2009 4:38 am

When Bill Blass top right designed or sourced the fabric to make this coat it was a master stroke, the fabric is divine and it takes a particular amount of skill to do it right, as in this instance. Dsquared middle left are one of those designers that flirt between the classic and the street’s, yep love the jacket. This number from Botttega Vennetta bottom right is in complete contrast to the other coat & jacket shown here none the less it’s still very striking in its own way its short and sharp and can be worn as it is or dressed down with any thing from denim to leggings.

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By Nwinkus, August 20, 2009 3:04 pm

Karl Lagerfeld is the master of reinvention. From a portly fan-wielding designer for his own label he shrank to a snake-hipped figure (after which he authored and published The 3D Diet – about dropping 92 pounds in 13 months), and – although he still brandished a fan – he set about world domination as designer for Fendi as well as Chanel, plus a range for H& M.

He is a mini polymath: an intellectual who owns 7L – a bookshop in Paris – speaks several languages and has published books of his art photography too.

• Born in Hamburg in 1938, Karl Lagerfeld emigrated to Paris at the age of 14
• He has designed costumes for La Scala opera
• In 1955, at the age of 17, Lagerfeld worked at Pierre Balmain, after winning a competition. He then worked for Jean Patou, Krizia, Charles Jourdan and Valentino
• In 1967 he joined Fendi, then Chloe the following decade, then Chanel in 1983 – returning briefly to Chloe in 1993 to replace out-going designer Martine Sitbon
• In 1984 he also launched his own name Karl Lagerfeld label which, he said, would channel “intellectual sexiness”

It’s no wonder that he appears to be such a master of the fashion landscape. By 1997, Vogue crowned him the “unparalleled interpreter of the mood of the moment”. Humour in his designs never deserts him whether with quilted handbag earrings, to 2007’s quilted ankle bag.

In 2005 he sold his own name brands (Lagerfeld Gallery and Lagerfeld), to Tommy Hilfiger but maintained full design involvement