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By sally, July 7, 2010 3:13 pm

The Haute Couture Fashion Week has begun and the high fashion market has posted some very positive sales news. Top Parisian labels, including Chanel, Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier, have revealed a marked increase in both sales and demand. ”We have received so many orders, we are not sure we can deliver them,” said Dior ceo Sidney Toledano. “The demand is here. The number of clients has increased – they are looking for high quality, and haute couture is the summit. I’m very optimistic for the future,” he continued. “In the business of couture, the numbers are becoming interesting. The rise has been credited to an influx of orders from China, the Middle East and Russia. Chanel has seen a rise “between 20 and 30 per cent” over the past year.

“There is no end of the season,” said Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion at Chanel to WWD. “The people who are interested in couture, they are quite active at the moment. They can come at any time.”

Kicking off this week’s shows today are Bouchra Jarra, Dior, and new comer Axelis Mabille. Tomorrow sees new offerings from Armani Prive, Chanel and Givenchy – the last time the label will show its highest end collections in catwalk format after it opted to conduct individual appointments. Elie Saab, Gaultier and Valentino will round up the event. This year’s event will also see the introduction of jewellery on the official couture schedule. Van Cleef & Arpels and Chanel Joaillerie will both present their new collections.

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By sally, September 10, 2009 10:44 am

Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is an American media personality, actress, occasional singer, former model and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model in Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo and New York, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough. Banks is the creator and host of the UPN/The CW reality television show America’s Next Top Model and is co-creator of True Beauty. She also hosts her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show. In 2009 she was honored by Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) with the Excellence in Media Award.  Banks began modeling in the 11th grade. She later went to Paris, France to do some runway modeling. Within Banks’ first week in Paris, designers were so entranced by her presence on the runway that she was booked for an unprecedented twenty-five shows – a record in the business for a newcomer. She has done extensive print and/or runway work for fashion/advertising giants, such as Anna Sui, Coors Light, CoverGirl, Badgley Mischka, Bill Blass, Cynthia Rowley, Chanel, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Gemma Kahng, H&M, Isaac Mizrahi, Maria Snyder, McDonald’s, Aislinn Dubois Modeling Agency, Michael Kors, Milk, Nicole Miller, Nike, Inc., Oscar de la Renta, Pepsi, Perry Ellis, Randy Kemper, Richard Tyler, Rifat Ozbek, Swatch, Todd Oldham, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria’s Secret and Yves Saint Laurent. She has appeared on the covers of high-fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Elle.

Banks was the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 1997, she received the VH1 award for Supermodel of the Year. That same year, she became the first-ever African American chosen for the cover of the Victoria’s Secret catalog. Banks retired from modeling in May 2005 to concentrate on her television career. She walked the runway for the final time at the 2005 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Aside from modeling, In 1998, Banks authored a book entitled Tyra’s Beauty, Inside and Out. The book was advertised as a resource for helping women to make the most out of their natural beauty.

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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