Sarah Jessica Parker attended the Brooklyn Artists Ball last night in designer pieces top to toe. She paired a sleeveless ruched dress from Lanvin's spring 2011 collection with a tweed jacket from Chanel's 2011 pre-fall collection, and accessorized with jeweled Manolo Blahnik heels.
SJP has ventured out! Aside from film sets, the lady hasn’t been around too much recently (although I saw her for myself taking a walk in New York last week- had to get that in there!) but yesterday the actress attended the Brooklyn Artists Annual Gala looking splendid in Chanel, Lanvin and Manolo Blahnik. A holy trinity of sorts.
What I love about Sarah Jessica is that she really is a bit Carrie after all, whether she likes it or not, and every ensemble can take you back to the good old SATC days in a heartbeat- mixing print and effects from head to toe, even nude styles are slightly different on her. She just has it. Right?
Does this mix of spring and fall pieces work? Or do you wish she'd embraced yesterday's summery weather a bit more?
2011年4月26日星期二
Manolos Executives Milking Connecticut Cows
George Malkemus and Tony Yurgaitis, the top two executives of the Manolo Blahnik luxury shoe brand, have expanded their high-end shoe business to high-end milk from their Litchfield, Ct farm.
In a delightful story this week by Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal, tells the tale of how these two men launched their milk business in tony Litchfield, summer as well as full-time home to many famous people.
“Having persuaded women that $575 is a reasonable sum for slingbacks, Mr. Malkemus, 57, and Mr. Yurgaitis, 66, are now seeking to join the crème de la crème of the dairy world,” writes Abdulaziz. “Messrs. Malkemus and Yurgaitis serve as majority owners of the Manolo Blahnik label. Sold at upscale retailers like Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, the shoes are crafted, mostly by hand, at Italian factories in quantities of no more than 120 pairs per day.
“Last year, Arethusa, their 325-acre farm in Litchfield County, began selling pricey branded milk and yogurt at 23 retail accounts, including Whole Foods. The milk sells for $4.49 per half-gallon, or more than twice the national retail average.”
In a delightful story this week by Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal, tells the tale of how these two men launched their milk business in tony Litchfield, summer as well as full-time home to many famous people.
“Having persuaded women that $575 is a reasonable sum for slingbacks, Mr. Malkemus, 57, and Mr. Yurgaitis, 66, are now seeking to join the crème de la crème of the dairy world,” writes Abdulaziz. “Messrs. Malkemus and Yurgaitis serve as majority owners of the Manolo Blahnik label. Sold at upscale retailers like Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, the shoes are crafted, mostly by hand, at Italian factories in quantities of no more than 120 pairs per day.
“Last year, Arethusa, their 325-acre farm in Litchfield County, began selling pricey branded milk and yogurt at 23 retail accounts, including Whole Foods. The milk sells for $4.49 per half-gallon, or more than twice the national retail average.”
2011年4月24日星期日
Well-Heeled Men Behind Manolos Try on Hooves for Size
On a recent afternoon, George Malkemus and Tony Yurgaitis, the top two executives of the Manolo Blahnik luxury shoe brand, sat around a table and admired their newest collection.
"Just look at that color," said Mr. Malkemus, the CEO.
"You can really see the difference in quality," said Mr. Yurgaitis, the vice president.
They weren't talking about Mr. Blahnik's stiletto designs for spring. They were gushing over skim milk.
Having persuaded women that $575 is a reasonable sum for slingbacks, Mr. Malkemus, 57, and Mr. Yurgaitis, 66, are now seeking to join the crème de la crème of the dairy world.
Messrs. Malkemus and Yurgaitis serve as majority owners of the Manolo Blahnik label. Sold at upscale retailers like Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, the shoes are crafted, mostly by hand, at Italian factories in quantities of no more than 120 pairs per day.
Last year, Arethusa, their 325-acre farm in Litchfield County, began selling pricey branded milk and yogurt at 23 retail accounts, including Whole Foods. The milk sells for $4.49 per half-gallon, or more than twice the national retail average.
Arethusa's products, like the footwear, are being touted for their careful production and limited distribution. The farm's milk, packaged in a plastic bottle emblazoned with cows and the logo "Milk Like it Used to Taste," is sourced only from the farm's 350 show-strutting cows.
"Are we going to do some kind of berry granola crunch yogurt? No!" says Mr. Malkemus, who prefers to stick with the classics in both of his businesses. "We don't do platforms," he adds, dismissing the top shoe trend of the past three years.
Their venture is putting to the test just how far dairy marketers can milk the notion of exclusivity. Not everyone swallows the idea.
"All milk is pretty much processed very similarly," says Greg Miller, executive vice president for research, regulatory and scientific affairs for the National Dairy Council. "So, it's hard to see where the value might come from for some of these products."
Arethusa cultivates an aura of haute-living heifers. A sign above their abode reads: "Every cow in this barn is a lady, please treat her as such."
They munch on the finest, protein-enriched hay and rest upon soft wood shavings from Canada. Workers vacuum their bodies on a daily basis in a spa-like room. ("There's not a single fly" on any cow, boasts Mr. Malkemus.)
To plump up their coats and tails, cows are treated with some of the same beauty products used by ladies who lunch. Brands like Artec shampoo are slathered on dark-haired cows, while Pantene is preferred for the blonder bovines.
Such beauty regimens have fired up local rivals.
"We don't groom our cows," says Robin Chesmer, managing member of The Farmer's Cow, a cooperative of six Connecticut dairy farms. His herd, he says, consists of "working girls" who don't have fancy pedigrees or compete in cattle contests. And their milk, at $2.79 a half-gallon, is just as good, "if not better," he says.
Others sniff that Arethusa milk isn't really a luxury because it doesn't qualify as organic.
Dante Hesse, owner of the Milk Thistle Farm in Hudson Valley, charges $7 per half-gallon for his certified-organic milk. He says that Arethusa's milk is inferior because the owners use antibiotics—a forbidden practice in the organic world. He considers it to be "conventional milk."
Mr. Malkemus says he only uses antibiotics when a cow gets sick. "Much like in the fashion world, there's a great deal of jealousy and rivalry in dairy farming," he says.
The farm just received its license to market across state lines and is preparing to showcase its goods to buyers at the Bergdorf Goodman of dairy retailing, Murray's Cheese Shop in Manhattan.
Messrs. Malkemus and Yurgaitis purchased the farm, located across the street from the country house they share, in 1999. Mr. Malkemus, who hails from Texas and used to milk cows at his uncle's farm, says the dairy idea came naturally. After renovating the barns, they started investing in cows. The move baffled some of their associates in high fashion.
"I didn't quite understand it," says Vogue contributing editor André Leon Talley. "They bought seven cows. It didn't register."
"Just look at that color," said Mr. Malkemus, the CEO.
"You can really see the difference in quality," said Mr. Yurgaitis, the vice president.
They weren't talking about Mr. Blahnik's stiletto designs for spring. They were gushing over skim milk.
Having persuaded women that $575 is a reasonable sum for slingbacks, Mr. Malkemus, 57, and Mr. Yurgaitis, 66, are now seeking to join the crème de la crème of the dairy world.
Messrs. Malkemus and Yurgaitis serve as majority owners of the Manolo Blahnik label. Sold at upscale retailers like Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, the shoes are crafted, mostly by hand, at Italian factories in quantities of no more than 120 pairs per day.
Last year, Arethusa, their 325-acre farm in Litchfield County, began selling pricey branded milk and yogurt at 23 retail accounts, including Whole Foods. The milk sells for $4.49 per half-gallon, or more than twice the national retail average.
Arethusa's products, like the footwear, are being touted for their careful production and limited distribution. The farm's milk, packaged in a plastic bottle emblazoned with cows and the logo "Milk Like it Used to Taste," is sourced only from the farm's 350 show-strutting cows.
"Are we going to do some kind of berry granola crunch yogurt? No!" says Mr. Malkemus, who prefers to stick with the classics in both of his businesses. "We don't do platforms," he adds, dismissing the top shoe trend of the past three years.
Their venture is putting to the test just how far dairy marketers can milk the notion of exclusivity. Not everyone swallows the idea.
"All milk is pretty much processed very similarly," says Greg Miller, executive vice president for research, regulatory and scientific affairs for the National Dairy Council. "So, it's hard to see where the value might come from for some of these products."
Arethusa cultivates an aura of haute-living heifers. A sign above their abode reads: "Every cow in this barn is a lady, please treat her as such."
They munch on the finest, protein-enriched hay and rest upon soft wood shavings from Canada. Workers vacuum their bodies on a daily basis in a spa-like room. ("There's not a single fly" on any cow, boasts Mr. Malkemus.)
To plump up their coats and tails, cows are treated with some of the same beauty products used by ladies who lunch. Brands like Artec shampoo are slathered on dark-haired cows, while Pantene is preferred for the blonder bovines.
Such beauty regimens have fired up local rivals.
"We don't groom our cows," says Robin Chesmer, managing member of The Farmer's Cow, a cooperative of six Connecticut dairy farms. His herd, he says, consists of "working girls" who don't have fancy pedigrees or compete in cattle contests. And their milk, at $2.79 a half-gallon, is just as good, "if not better," he says.
Others sniff that Arethusa milk isn't really a luxury because it doesn't qualify as organic.
Dante Hesse, owner of the Milk Thistle Farm in Hudson Valley, charges $7 per half-gallon for his certified-organic milk. He says that Arethusa's milk is inferior because the owners use antibiotics—a forbidden practice in the organic world. He considers it to be "conventional milk."
Mr. Malkemus says he only uses antibiotics when a cow gets sick. "Much like in the fashion world, there's a great deal of jealousy and rivalry in dairy farming," he says.
The farm just received its license to market across state lines and is preparing to showcase its goods to buyers at the Bergdorf Goodman of dairy retailing, Murray's Cheese Shop in Manhattan.
Messrs. Malkemus and Yurgaitis purchased the farm, located across the street from the country house they share, in 1999. Mr. Malkemus, who hails from Texas and used to milk cows at his uncle's farm, says the dairy idea came naturally. After renovating the barns, they started investing in cows. The move baffled some of their associates in high fashion.
"I didn't quite understand it," says Vogue contributing editor André Leon Talley. "They bought seven cows. It didn't register."
2011年4月21日星期四
Watch This: Tyra Banks Tackles Math And Stilettos
Andre Leon Talley, Tyra Banks, and child...
Here are some of the highlights from the video:
- Blood on the runway!
- Please do not use stilettos as a form of weaponry. Always wear your stilettos responsibly.
- Andre: "The heel was invented in 3000 BC, but now we love the stiletto which became very very big in the '50s, especially in Italy."
- Tyra: "The secret to the platform if that however high the platform is underneath the ball of your foot takes away from the height of the heel. So say the height of the heel is five inches...If you have an inch or an inch and a half platform, that heel is really just three and a half or three inches...Get it? It's math, baby!"
- TIP: Create grooves on your soles to avoid shipping.
- Tyra: "Do not do this in front of any children. Can you imagine?"
- Andre: "Manolo Blahnik is the king of the stiletto now! As Madonna once said, 'Sometimes Manolos are better than sex!' "
- Andre: "Fashion is a learning curve!"
2011年4月20日星期三
She's bringing the '60s back
If the '60s are making a modern-day comeback, it's thanks in large part to Janie Bryant, the renowned costume designer behind the popular television series Mad Men.
Since 2008, she has been the force behind a revolution in the fashion world, bringing vintage back and inspiring designers such as Prada along the way.
Bryant is doing with 1960s style exactly what stylist Patricia Field did a decade ago with Sex and the City (the Manolo Blahnik craze, gold jewelery and vintage dresses).
You can see traces of Bryant all over the place; at retailers selling "nerd" glasses on Broadway, in the aisles of Forever 21, recent Michael Kors shows, in Halloween costumes and even on invitations to themed events. Even Brooks Brothers started selling a three-piece "Mad Men Edition" suit.
It is not often that a television show becomes so successful because of its clothing choices.
"I was not expecting this at all," Bryant says. "I see it everywhere, on the catwalk, in the street. The first time it really hit me was when (show creator) Matt Weiner called me at the beginning of season two to tell me he saw guys dressed up as Don Draper on the street."
I meet the Tennessee-born Bryant at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where she is getting ready to present a conference for fashion students. A "lady" to her core (she doesn't own a single pair of flat shoes), Bryant proudly shows me her handbag, a piece from her new collection of clothing for American chain QVC.
With the success of Mad Men, Bryant has slowly built an empire consisting of items such as vintage nail polish, a book on one's quest for personal style (The Fashion File) and clothing for women. She is now planning to step into the world of men's clothing, lingerie, wedding dresses and even bedding, all faithful to her passion for vintage.
Bryant is obsessed with antique clothing. She picks every piece of material for the show in Los Angeles second-hand stores with the same discerning eye as a museum curator. Good thing too, as Reiner is known for being a stickler for details. For example, he demands that his actresses stop working out so that they don't have muscled arms.
Each episode uses between 75 and 200 costumes, a massive task for which Bryant counts on a team of nine to help. She makes the majority of the costumes herself.
"Let's just say that the budget is really tight, we have to be really creative," Bryant says.
After studying fashion design in California, New York and Paris, Bryant then transitioned into the world of costume design. She earned an Emmy Award for her work on the show Deadwood in 2005, but it was Mad Men that really put her on the map in 2007.
Bryant says she draws inspiration from stylish early-1960s films such as The Apartment, The Days of Wine, Madison Avenue and Les Bonnes Femmes, which she studies religiously. Production for the fourth series of Mad Men wrapped in September and Bryant is still waiting to find out when filming for season five will begin.
Bryant also works with Montreal actress Jessica Pare, who play's Don Draper's fiancée Megan, on the show.
"I love Jessica so much," Bryant says. "That character was all about the new life for Don Draper, about showing what was going on in fashion at that time. It is still office wear, but we still have glimpses of mini dresses, boots; she's the modern young girl."
As for the character of Betty Draper (January Jones), Bryant said she draws inspiration from both her grandmother and Grace Kelly. Bryant has also been credited with the rediscovered appreciation for women with curves on the small screen, such as Christina Hendricks.
And what is she most proud of?
"That people are starting to dress up more," she says.
Since 2008, she has been the force behind a revolution in the fashion world, bringing vintage back and inspiring designers such as Prada along the way.
Bryant is doing with 1960s style exactly what stylist Patricia Field did a decade ago with Sex and the City (the Manolo Blahnik craze, gold jewelery and vintage dresses).
You can see traces of Bryant all over the place; at retailers selling "nerd" glasses on Broadway, in the aisles of Forever 21, recent Michael Kors shows, in Halloween costumes and even on invitations to themed events. Even Brooks Brothers started selling a three-piece "Mad Men Edition" suit.
It is not often that a television show becomes so successful because of its clothing choices.
"I was not expecting this at all," Bryant says. "I see it everywhere, on the catwalk, in the street. The first time it really hit me was when (show creator) Matt Weiner called me at the beginning of season two to tell me he saw guys dressed up as Don Draper on the street."
I meet the Tennessee-born Bryant at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where she is getting ready to present a conference for fashion students. A "lady" to her core (she doesn't own a single pair of flat shoes), Bryant proudly shows me her handbag, a piece from her new collection of clothing for American chain QVC.
With the success of Mad Men, Bryant has slowly built an empire consisting of items such as vintage nail polish, a book on one's quest for personal style (The Fashion File) and clothing for women. She is now planning to step into the world of men's clothing, lingerie, wedding dresses and even bedding, all faithful to her passion for vintage.
Bryant is obsessed with antique clothing. She picks every piece of material for the show in Los Angeles second-hand stores with the same discerning eye as a museum curator. Good thing too, as Reiner is known for being a stickler for details. For example, he demands that his actresses stop working out so that they don't have muscled arms.
Each episode uses between 75 and 200 costumes, a massive task for which Bryant counts on a team of nine to help. She makes the majority of the costumes herself.
"Let's just say that the budget is really tight, we have to be really creative," Bryant says.
After studying fashion design in California, New York and Paris, Bryant then transitioned into the world of costume design. She earned an Emmy Award for her work on the show Deadwood in 2005, but it was Mad Men that really put her on the map in 2007.
Bryant says she draws inspiration from stylish early-1960s films such as The Apartment, The Days of Wine, Madison Avenue and Les Bonnes Femmes, which she studies religiously. Production for the fourth series of Mad Men wrapped in September and Bryant is still waiting to find out when filming for season five will begin.
Bryant also works with Montreal actress Jessica Pare, who play's Don Draper's fiancée Megan, on the show.
"I love Jessica so much," Bryant says. "That character was all about the new life for Don Draper, about showing what was going on in fashion at that time. It is still office wear, but we still have glimpses of mini dresses, boots; she's the modern young girl."
As for the character of Betty Draper (January Jones), Bryant said she draws inspiration from both her grandmother and Grace Kelly. Bryant has also been credited with the rediscovered appreciation for women with curves on the small screen, such as Christina Hendricks.
And what is she most proud of?
"That people are starting to dress up more," she says.
2011年4月19日星期二
The gay Carrie Bradshaw
I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. Nobody knows the reason I named this blog "Over the Rainbow". Some have assumed it's because the gay pride flag is made up of a rainbow, others have speculated that The Wizard of Oz is my favourite film or that it's because I was born the same day that film was released back in 1939. Even that it's a play on words of being "Over" the whole gay thing, but that was more a happy accident that was pointed out to me, if I am being honest. The truth is, it's none of the above but there is a connection.
Since mid-2006 I have been developing and repeatedly rewriting a feature film project called Dorothy's Friends about a fashion designer based in San Francisco who turns 30 and realises that love and friendship have passed her by. Dorothy then sets out in search of finding love and dates three guys who turn out to be gay called Jake Straw, Rusty Silverman and Leo King. Along the way, Dorothy also struggles to accept her "wicked" stepmother Ellen West and meets a handsome Australian man from "Oz".
At the core of this story is the belief and perspective that when you find that one special person in life you know you are meant to be with, "it feels like home" - and just like the original story, sometimes we don't see or appreciate what is right in front of us. It's a somewhat whimsical and lighthearted coming-of-age story about a modern-day Dorothy but with side stories involving people with familiar traits from the original story as they try to overcome their own struggles of intelligence, heart and courage. A particular subplot close to my heart involves Dorothy's new friend Leo, a closeted school teacher lacking the courage to be himself and how he works to overcome that in order to help one of his students who is being bullied.
Having been inspired by one of my readers recently who wrote and released an eBook called The Arrival online, I found it something of an epiphany or wake-up call that I don't need to keep waiting for someone to agree to make the movie before I can share my story with the world. It is amazing how far technology has brought us and how more power than ever is being given back to those in creative roles instead of gatekeepers. Content is now king and it really is an exciting time to be an artist whatever your chosen arena.
So I've decided to follow in the footsteps of Nicole MacDonald and adapt the film script I have written into a book as it's now working well, according to my story editor in the US. The subject matter of the story as a film is perhaps a little bit too edgy to go ahead and make without any evidence of an existing audience or underlying material so I found myself thinking "why not write the book and create that underlying material myself?"
After all, a film script is a pretty good blueprint to work from and adapting it into a book is just a case of building the house, plastering the walls and doing the interior decorating. You can even afford to lift up a few rugs in the house and see what you find underneath. In short, a novel format allows more room to explore characters and environments and really bring them to life than a film script does, but it is also a lot more work.
The idea of adapting this project or writing a book first floated through my head last year after I got one of the more amusing comments I've received since starting the blog. In relation to this post, someone told me that they likened me to a gay Carrie Bradshaw and I just sat there in a moment of stunned silence and said to myself "really??"
Contrary to what you might think, I don't have a Manolo Blahnik shoe fetish and if I were to write a column or a book like Carrie, I reckon it would probably need to have been called "No Sex in the City". So I can only conclude they were commenting on writing style rather than the subject matter.
By chance, I happened to catch the final episode of Sex and the City being repeated on TV the other week and found the words spoken by Carrie in the very final moments particularly poignant given what was on my mind at the time. It made me draw parallels between blog posts and how they can often feel like a date or a short-lived relationship in their own special way: "There are those that open you up to something new and exotic...those that are old and familiar...those that bring up lots of questions...those that bring you somewhere unexpected and those that bring you far from where you started. But the most exciting, challenging or significant relationship of all, is the one that you have with yourself..."
And in the very last line of that show, Carrie says it better than I think I ever could:
"...if you find someone to love the you, you love, well that's just fabulous...".
Since mid-2006 I have been developing and repeatedly rewriting a feature film project called Dorothy's Friends about a fashion designer based in San Francisco who turns 30 and realises that love and friendship have passed her by. Dorothy then sets out in search of finding love and dates three guys who turn out to be gay called Jake Straw, Rusty Silverman and Leo King. Along the way, Dorothy also struggles to accept her "wicked" stepmother Ellen West and meets a handsome Australian man from "Oz".At the core of this story is the belief and perspective that when you find that one special person in life you know you are meant to be with, "it feels like home" - and just like the original story, sometimes we don't see or appreciate what is right in front of us. It's a somewhat whimsical and lighthearted coming-of-age story about a modern-day Dorothy but with side stories involving people with familiar traits from the original story as they try to overcome their own struggles of intelligence, heart and courage. A particular subplot close to my heart involves Dorothy's new friend Leo, a closeted school teacher lacking the courage to be himself and how he works to overcome that in order to help one of his students who is being bullied.
Having been inspired by one of my readers recently who wrote and released an eBook called The Arrival online, I found it something of an epiphany or wake-up call that I don't need to keep waiting for someone to agree to make the movie before I can share my story with the world. It is amazing how far technology has brought us and how more power than ever is being given back to those in creative roles instead of gatekeepers. Content is now king and it really is an exciting time to be an artist whatever your chosen arena.
So I've decided to follow in the footsteps of Nicole MacDonald and adapt the film script I have written into a book as it's now working well, according to my story editor in the US. The subject matter of the story as a film is perhaps a little bit too edgy to go ahead and make without any evidence of an existing audience or underlying material so I found myself thinking "why not write the book and create that underlying material myself?"
After all, a film script is a pretty good blueprint to work from and adapting it into a book is just a case of building the house, plastering the walls and doing the interior decorating. You can even afford to lift up a few rugs in the house and see what you find underneath. In short, a novel format allows more room to explore characters and environments and really bring them to life than a film script does, but it is also a lot more work.
The idea of adapting this project or writing a book first floated through my head last year after I got one of the more amusing comments I've received since starting the blog. In relation to this post, someone told me that they likened me to a gay Carrie Bradshaw and I just sat there in a moment of stunned silence and said to myself "really??"
Contrary to what you might think, I don't have a Manolo Blahnik shoe fetish and if I were to write a column or a book like Carrie, I reckon it would probably need to have been called "No Sex in the City". So I can only conclude they were commenting on writing style rather than the subject matter.
By chance, I happened to catch the final episode of Sex and the City being repeated on TV the other week and found the words spoken by Carrie in the very final moments particularly poignant given what was on my mind at the time. It made me draw parallels between blog posts and how they can often feel like a date or a short-lived relationship in their own special way: "There are those that open you up to something new and exotic...those that are old and familiar...those that bring up lots of questions...those that bring you somewhere unexpected and those that bring you far from where you started. But the most exciting, challenging or significant relationship of all, is the one that you have with yourself..."
And in the very last line of that show, Carrie says it better than I think I ever could:
"...if you find someone to love the you, you love, well that's just fabulous...".
2011年4月18日星期一
Manolo Blahnik shoes, preview, fall / winter 2011-2012
Who does not know Manolo Blahnik shoes and has never desired to possess a pair of shoes signed by him to feel a bit 'as the stars of Sex and the City? Difficult for our avid readers respond more negatively to these simple questions! Speaking of Manolo Blahnik in a blog that also talks about shoes is a little 'how to talk to Leonard in a magazine of art!
Despite the designer in recent years has been a bit 'supplanted by designers like Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik remains one of the most beloved by celebrities around the world. And you can bet that the winter collection will conquer the heart of many stars! Top models will be ankle boots proposed in printed stripes or fluorescent colors tartan Scottish, but also decorated with long fringes of feathers.
Perfect for every look and the boots are black suede and decorated with mini décolleté studsBut also and of course the legendary leopard sandals Campari Mary Jane, Which gives us a beautiful Manolo turquoise suede version.
2011年4月17日星期日
Luxury: love than I can say
Perfume law: If consumers can not afford a dress, a handbag always be able to afford it; if can not afford a handbag, it always afford to buy a pair of shoes; if not enough, it always afford to buy a bottle of perfume. Perfume can also be replaced with lipstick, sunglasses, scarf. According to the consultant's explanation is that the luxury market, get some high-end stuff, marked a less expensive price, purchasing power, but never tried to attract people to buy brand-name.
Mainland China on the world to the whole, in fact, affect the international trend in Chinese society has always been. Luxury goods in China and the world trend is the two curves, one from low to high rise, a decline from the high to finally have a cross in the 21st century, compared to the look, very mean.
In 1979, Pierkadan as the "aesthetic concept" Come by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of China, held his first fashion show and become the first western people know luxury brands. Of the 20th century until the mid-70s, European and American luxury goods market is very narrow, and except for wealthy aristocrats and nouveau riche, who buy Luyiweideng the trunk or Patek Philippe watches and Chanel clothing? It was to the French high society women aged 40 to prepare, not to mention special services to the royal family and the hereditary nobility of Hermes.
The true globalization of the formation of the luxury market, compared the fashion industry is recognized as a point in time the late 80s of last century, there are three factors played an important role. First, the booming economy created a large number of upscale; Second, the increase in tourism, because tourism and luxury goods consumption always go hand in hand; three luxury brand introduced a "fashion democracy" strategy. "Democratization" of the most critical is a "perfume rule": If you can not afford a dress, a bottle of perfume can always afford it. Kaerlage Field to Chanel last century, after 80 years, re-promote Chanel's sexy, elegant, but his biggest contribution is the introduction of jewelry, sunglasses, handbags, cosmetics, and even beach slippers, canoeing, put it into the market's most successful fashion brands. This process, the luxury has undergone a great change, not only led to the birth of LVMH luxury goods carrier, also contributed to the Anya Hindmarch, Tod's, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Coach and other small luxury brands.
90's of last century, the global economy heating up, the luxury goods industry to start targeting the market, the full realization of democratization. The brand's designers have started low-priced fashion products, designer Tiffany some relatively modest price of jewelry, Armani can not afford to buy one of its leading-edge products for the sunglasses, Donna Karan , Versace introduced a young family or second-tier brands, and even less likely to provide fringe products have suddenly launched Gucci handbags and shoes. Gucci newly appointed president of 帕特里齐奥迪 Marco (Patrizio di Marco) also stressed the need to increase the mid-range product line, such as adding fabric handbags, fabric but also exotic.
Stock and make money too easy high-tech bubble, and consumer experts say they are "one-time money." Luxury consumption habits have changed. Women buy handbags every few months, the credit card company can not afford to borrow. Stimulate consumption, the fashion giant was born. Before 1994, there are few true luxury brand, nothing more than Luyiweideng, Chanel, Hermes, Pakistan Polaroid, Tiffany, etc.; the last century, in the late 90's set off a buying spree, Dior, Yves * Saint-Laurent, Givenchy, Alexander Maikekuien, 斯泰拉麦卡 Courtney, Chloe, Guerlain, Fendi, respectively, are LVMH, Gucci, Richemont and other large companies acquired. Acquired brands, designers naturally be bought over.
The new millennium, European and American luxury goods market to peak. The McKinsey report said that in 2000 more than 100 million of wealth increase of 18% of people, a sharp expansion of the luxury consumption of blowing bubbles. That year, LVMH profits increased by 30%, Prada sales increased 57%, Gucci year third-quarter profit increase of 20%. Then, without warning, the economic bubble burst in 2001, many brands to follow the rapidly shrinking profits, off 5th Avenue in New York, Lundunbangde Street flagship store. Their exposure, show off, complacent spent too much money to sell themselves because of excessive depreciation, and finally became a victim of success. Followed by "9.11" and the impact of the global industry, but the hardest hit by the tourism industry, social elite - a luxury that is for them from birth - the beginning of "fashion" find a new concept.
"Democracy" while
In 2009, Chinese consumers of luxury goods consumption totaled about 156 billion yuan, however, over 50% of consumption abroad. View from the luxury product category, cosmetics consumption in the territory of more expensive watches and jewelry, but the relatively high proportion of consumption abroad
reporter from Shanghai Fu Bilian
In some ways, the Chinese people's growing demand for luxury goods expansion can be seen as a rapid development of Chinese economy and the performance of increasingly affluent Chinese. Top international luxury brand is are very positive about the Chinese people's spending power and potential of the flock. "2010 is the year of prosperity and development of the luxury market." April 16, Bain & Company partner Bruno Lannes International Business School in China at the "Summit Forum 2011, the third top brands," pointed out.
Second and third tier cities into the consumer market
China's luxury goods market growth from the second half of 2009, began to accelerate, the annual market reached 68.4 billion yuan in 2010, is to maintain strong growth momentum, watches and bags which lead the market growth in the two categories . Bruno Lannes said: "After 2009, mid-range category watch watch promoted strong rebound, and watch as the main personal and business gifts gift of choice, is expected to maintain the previous growth trend."
2009, 68.4 billion yuan in the Chinese luxury goods market size, accounting for 35% of the share of watches, bags, 20% -25% share, cosmetics, perfume and personal care products accounted for 20%.
The huge potential Chinese market is clearly in doubt, and the current potential of more consumers will have to drag the second and third tier cities. Many top-level representatives of luxury brands in China, said in an interview, second and third tier cities, consumer brand awareness and Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities, like consumers, demand strong, and often store and other places in Hangzhou sales better than Shanghai, Beijing, so more and more second and third tier cities in the luxury brand value, and is expected to open more stores in these cities.
Bruno Lannes further pointed out that the gift of luxury goods in China accounted for 20% to 25% of the market, many people are not buying luxury goods for personal consumption, but a gift to others. Some luxury goods as gifts, personal gifts and business models will continue to develop. Meanwhile, the Internet as an effective marketing tool, but also help the growth of luxury goods in the Chinese market.
With the luxury market in China matures, as in China's luxury consumers continue to mature. "Chinese consumers are now very high expectations of the brand, and 5 years, 10 years ago, has not the same. In particular, point out that some consumers not just want to buy the newest products, but expect better shopping experience, recognition of their personal taste. "Bruno Lannes said.
Over 50% of domestic consumption abroad keen
However, in the Chinese luxury goods, most of the phenomenon, mostly outside the consumer is we have to seriously. In 2009, Chinese consumers of luxury goods consumption totaled about 156 billion yuan, however, over 50% of consumption abroad. View from the luxury product category, cosmetics consumption in the territory of more expensive watches and jewelry, but the relatively high proportion of consumption abroad.
Bruno Lannes that the reason why most Chinese people prefer foreign consumption of luxury goods in China, the biggest reason is the same price of a product outside the territory more often than not cheaper, and more product choices and more new products is another a major cause of Chinese consumers shopping outside factors.
China's Economic Reform, vice president, director of the Institute on the economic forecast Haifu Ka Wang Depei also pointed out that the luxury tax revenue every year due to the irrational, on the loss of billions of the Chinese market. March 20, Commerce Department Minister Chen Deming has said publicly that as far as possible in the near future the price of China's luxury tax down substantially, thereby reducing the luxury in the difference between inside and outside.
However, Bruno Lannes also pointed out that although the proportion of luxury goods purchased within the territory is still less than 50%, but within recent years has been a growing trend to buy more and more apparent. "One do not want to spend more time waiting for the Chinese outbound tourism is more and more people choose the biggest reason for consumption within the territory. Second, a growing number of international luxury brands in the Chinese market to establish more comprehensive service, but also attract more people to buy the drivers in the territory. "
Inertia "dictatorship"
Chinese consumers are in need of services, while taking into account the overall size of the Chinese market so large, so may just be a luxury brand in China, to change themselves, change their own service-oriented brand, and such changes may be further extended to other countries
Mainland China on the world to the whole, in fact, affect the international trend in Chinese society has always been. Luxury goods in China and the world trend is the two curves, one from low to high rise, a decline from the high to finally have a cross in the 21st century, compared to the look, very mean.
In 1979, Pierkadan as the "aesthetic concept" Come by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of China, held his first fashion show and become the first western people know luxury brands. Of the 20th century until the mid-70s, European and American luxury goods market is very narrow, and except for wealthy aristocrats and nouveau riche, who buy Luyiweideng the trunk or Patek Philippe watches and Chanel clothing? It was to the French high society women aged 40 to prepare, not to mention special services to the royal family and the hereditary nobility of Hermes.
The true globalization of the formation of the luxury market, compared the fashion industry is recognized as a point in time the late 80s of last century, there are three factors played an important role. First, the booming economy created a large number of upscale; Second, the increase in tourism, because tourism and luxury goods consumption always go hand in hand; three luxury brand introduced a "fashion democracy" strategy. "Democratization" of the most critical is a "perfume rule": If you can not afford a dress, a bottle of perfume can always afford it. Kaerlage Field to Chanel last century, after 80 years, re-promote Chanel's sexy, elegant, but his biggest contribution is the introduction of jewelry, sunglasses, handbags, cosmetics, and even beach slippers, canoeing, put it into the market's most successful fashion brands. This process, the luxury has undergone a great change, not only led to the birth of LVMH luxury goods carrier, also contributed to the Anya Hindmarch, Tod's, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Coach and other small luxury brands.
90's of last century, the global economy heating up, the luxury goods industry to start targeting the market, the full realization of democratization. The brand's designers have started low-priced fashion products, designer Tiffany some relatively modest price of jewelry, Armani can not afford to buy one of its leading-edge products for the sunglasses, Donna Karan , Versace introduced a young family or second-tier brands, and even less likely to provide fringe products have suddenly launched Gucci handbags and shoes. Gucci newly appointed president of 帕特里齐奥迪 Marco (Patrizio di Marco) also stressed the need to increase the mid-range product line, such as adding fabric handbags, fabric but also exotic.
Stock and make money too easy high-tech bubble, and consumer experts say they are "one-time money." Luxury consumption habits have changed. Women buy handbags every few months, the credit card company can not afford to borrow. Stimulate consumption, the fashion giant was born. Before 1994, there are few true luxury brand, nothing more than Luyiweideng, Chanel, Hermes, Pakistan Polaroid, Tiffany, etc.; the last century, in the late 90's set off a buying spree, Dior, Yves * Saint-Laurent, Givenchy, Alexander Maikekuien, 斯泰拉麦卡 Courtney, Chloe, Guerlain, Fendi, respectively, are LVMH, Gucci, Richemont and other large companies acquired. Acquired brands, designers naturally be bought over.
The new millennium, European and American luxury goods market to peak. The McKinsey report said that in 2000 more than 100 million of wealth increase of 18% of people, a sharp expansion of the luxury consumption of blowing bubbles. That year, LVMH profits increased by 30%, Prada sales increased 57%, Gucci year third-quarter profit increase of 20%. Then, without warning, the economic bubble burst in 2001, many brands to follow the rapidly shrinking profits, off 5th Avenue in New York, Lundunbangde Street flagship store. Their exposure, show off, complacent spent too much money to sell themselves because of excessive depreciation, and finally became a victim of success. Followed by "9.11" and the impact of the global industry, but the hardest hit by the tourism industry, social elite - a luxury that is for them from birth - the beginning of "fashion" find a new concept.
"Democracy" while
In 2009, Chinese consumers of luxury goods consumption totaled about 156 billion yuan, however, over 50% of consumption abroad. View from the luxury product category, cosmetics consumption in the territory of more expensive watches and jewelry, but the relatively high proportion of consumption abroad
reporter from Shanghai Fu Bilian
In some ways, the Chinese people's growing demand for luxury goods expansion can be seen as a rapid development of Chinese economy and the performance of increasingly affluent Chinese. Top international luxury brand is are very positive about the Chinese people's spending power and potential of the flock. "2010 is the year of prosperity and development of the luxury market." April 16, Bain & Company partner Bruno Lannes International Business School in China at the "Summit Forum 2011, the third top brands," pointed out.
Second and third tier cities into the consumer market
China's luxury goods market growth from the second half of 2009, began to accelerate, the annual market reached 68.4 billion yuan in 2010, is to maintain strong growth momentum, watches and bags which lead the market growth in the two categories . Bruno Lannes said: "After 2009, mid-range category watch watch promoted strong rebound, and watch as the main personal and business gifts gift of choice, is expected to maintain the previous growth trend."
2009, 68.4 billion yuan in the Chinese luxury goods market size, accounting for 35% of the share of watches, bags, 20% -25% share, cosmetics, perfume and personal care products accounted for 20%.
The huge potential Chinese market is clearly in doubt, and the current potential of more consumers will have to drag the second and third tier cities. Many top-level representatives of luxury brands in China, said in an interview, second and third tier cities, consumer brand awareness and Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities, like consumers, demand strong, and often store and other places in Hangzhou sales better than Shanghai, Beijing, so more and more second and third tier cities in the luxury brand value, and is expected to open more stores in these cities.
Bruno Lannes further pointed out that the gift of luxury goods in China accounted for 20% to 25% of the market, many people are not buying luxury goods for personal consumption, but a gift to others. Some luxury goods as gifts, personal gifts and business models will continue to develop. Meanwhile, the Internet as an effective marketing tool, but also help the growth of luxury goods in the Chinese market.
With the luxury market in China matures, as in China's luxury consumers continue to mature. "Chinese consumers are now very high expectations of the brand, and 5 years, 10 years ago, has not the same. In particular, point out that some consumers not just want to buy the newest products, but expect better shopping experience, recognition of their personal taste. "Bruno Lannes said.
Over 50% of domestic consumption abroad keen
However, in the Chinese luxury goods, most of the phenomenon, mostly outside the consumer is we have to seriously. In 2009, Chinese consumers of luxury goods consumption totaled about 156 billion yuan, however, over 50% of consumption abroad. View from the luxury product category, cosmetics consumption in the territory of more expensive watches and jewelry, but the relatively high proportion of consumption abroad.
Bruno Lannes that the reason why most Chinese people prefer foreign consumption of luxury goods in China, the biggest reason is the same price of a product outside the territory more often than not cheaper, and more product choices and more new products is another a major cause of Chinese consumers shopping outside factors.
China's Economic Reform, vice president, director of the Institute on the economic forecast Haifu Ka Wang Depei also pointed out that the luxury tax revenue every year due to the irrational, on the loss of billions of the Chinese market. March 20, Commerce Department Minister Chen Deming has said publicly that as far as possible in the near future the price of China's luxury tax down substantially, thereby reducing the luxury in the difference between inside and outside.
However, Bruno Lannes also pointed out that although the proportion of luxury goods purchased within the territory is still less than 50%, but within recent years has been a growing trend to buy more and more apparent. "One do not want to spend more time waiting for the Chinese outbound tourism is more and more people choose the biggest reason for consumption within the territory. Second, a growing number of international luxury brands in the Chinese market to establish more comprehensive service, but also attract more people to buy the drivers in the territory. "
Inertia "dictatorship"
Chinese consumers are in need of services, while taking into account the overall size of the Chinese market so large, so may just be a luxury brand in China, to change themselves, change their own service-oriented brand, and such changes may be further extended to other countries
2011年4月14日星期四
Manolo Blahnik Shoes
A dose of eccentricity, constant desire to bring humor and originality to new heights and dedication to innovative design features represents the brand Manolo Blahnik undeniable.
PV Collection 2011 amounted to brand standards required, with appropriate dose of awkwardness and details inspired by the summer.
Take time and analyze it to choose your favorite!
Brand Manolo Blahnik is considered to be the definition of style and glamor. Even if the brand had all the attributes needed to become known on their own, nobody can deny that the series "Sex and the City" has greatly enhanced the popularity of the brand Manolo Blahnik. The collections place a strong emphasis on elegance, sophistication and originality, so it's pretty obvious that we can expect high heels, which have the power to transform a figure into a certain seductive.
Spring-summer collection of 2011 is very comprehensive, presenting several options that might interest you fashionistele who want to bring a little glamor in their lives. Sandals and shoes Bold, eccentric designs, classic and modern: they seem to be the main categories to choose from stylistic influences.
Manolo Blahnik brand makes a great job when it comes to choosing the main trends in fashion and transforming them, filtering them through a totally new vision. The results speak for themselves, because all models have a real potential to impress.
It is known that floral prints and summer are inseparable, they are a combo widely used by fashion designers. However, the brand Manolo withheld from such worldly styles and uses plants as a source of inspiration. Rough edges, the color palette used is a clear indication of the theme chosen. When chosen floral influence, it can only be found in shoe texture.
Neon colors are another trend that is much enhanced by designer. While neutral colors are also available for those who have a vision of a more conservative style, it is quite clear that the main intention was to create designer shoes taxes, which can instantly become the focal point and adds an original touch in a well-chosen outfit. Stripes and geometric prints are a small part of the collection, highlighting classic effects that many women appreciate.
There are many different details that make this collection stand out compared with others of its kind. Of these, models with geometric precision, great combos, vibrant colors, a variety of options available and balanced approach with appropriate dose of insanity are, without doubt, among the first that come to mind. Even if no heel shoes are also part of the collection, though not as beautiful shoes with high heels!
PV Collection 2011 amounted to brand standards required, with appropriate dose of awkwardness and details inspired by the summer.
Take time and analyze it to choose your favorite!
Brand Manolo Blahnik is considered to be the definition of style and glamor. Even if the brand had all the attributes needed to become known on their own, nobody can deny that the series "Sex and the City" has greatly enhanced the popularity of the brand Manolo Blahnik. The collections place a strong emphasis on elegance, sophistication and originality, so it's pretty obvious that we can expect high heels, which have the power to transform a figure into a certain seductive.
Spring-summer collection of 2011 is very comprehensive, presenting several options that might interest you fashionistele who want to bring a little glamor in their lives. Sandals and shoes Bold, eccentric designs, classic and modern: they seem to be the main categories to choose from stylistic influences.
Manolo Blahnik brand makes a great job when it comes to choosing the main trends in fashion and transforming them, filtering them through a totally new vision. The results speak for themselves, because all models have a real potential to impress.
It is known that floral prints and summer are inseparable, they are a combo widely used by fashion designers. However, the brand Manolo withheld from such worldly styles and uses plants as a source of inspiration. Rough edges, the color palette used is a clear indication of the theme chosen. When chosen floral influence, it can only be found in shoe texture.
Neon colors are another trend that is much enhanced by designer. While neutral colors are also available for those who have a vision of a more conservative style, it is quite clear that the main intention was to create designer shoes taxes, which can instantly become the focal point and adds an original touch in a well-chosen outfit. Stripes and geometric prints are a small part of the collection, highlighting classic effects that many women appreciate.
There are many different details that make this collection stand out compared with others of its kind. Of these, models with geometric precision, great combos, vibrant colors, a variety of options available and balanced approach with appropriate dose of insanity are, without doubt, among the first that come to mind. Even if no heel shoes are also part of the collection, though not as beautiful shoes with high heels!
Oprah's Very Own Manolo Blahnik Sandals Up For Grabs at Her Kiosk
The Oprah Store kiosk at Water Tower Place in Chicago doesn't just sell Oprah's favorite things—like sparkly Uggs and fluffy socks. Our sister site Racked Chicago found this pair of Manolo Blahnik sandals for sale at the city-center outpost of Oprah's flagship boutique—and it looks like they've come straight from the closet of the talk-show host herself! Check out Racked Chicago for more details, including details on the rather reasonable pricetag.
2011年4月13日星期三
Summer Dream woven shoe
Woven shoes in the hot season, so the first step to add some hand-Emmanuel United clog.
Prada woven leather sandals in the color flamenco dancing shoes as the prototype based on the impact of multi-color full of rhythm, interpretation of this trend will be most vividly, the different weaving patterns heel makes jump to lay out the color off. Dior to snakeskin, suede, leather and woven rope will be enchanting in the end, similar to the use of color make use of multi-element seems totally natural. Representatives of the same faction as gorgeous Manolo Blahnik Zeyi dazzling golden leather-like changes in the string out of a decorative pattern.
Manolo Blahnik shoes: Cinderella's Mary Jane!
Today we return to a timeless classic, the Campari Mary Jane of Manolo Blahnik shoes for years on the crest of the wave for their ability to combine a romantic and elegant, with a touch of class and modernity that are a bit 'all the characteristics that a woman wants in a shoe, or elements that would reflect his personality. The Campari Mary Jane, who owe their fame among other things, to "advertise" that the model has received in the American series "Sex and the City really become an evergreen, and many of us it can only give pleasure.
The success of Campari recently that Manolo Blahnik has chosen to collaborate with the famous jewelry brand Tous , to transform its shoe charms jewelry, which confirms the passion for a shoe that is really special.
Then are so many brands that choose to reinterpret it according to his own vision of fashion, as has happened with the spring / summer 2011 Prada , eccentric but beautiful.
The model that we propose again Campari Mary Jane is now one of the most romantic, in fact I immediately associated with fairy tales and Cinderella in particular. A prince who gives you a shoe so I will not get married? Maybe someone will have to say about the color, I think this is to make the special model, as well as a more rounded shape than the Mary Jane rectory.
You like it?
2011年4月12日星期二
Brooklyn Decker & Sofia Vergara: Conde Nast Party Pals!
Brooklyn Decker hits the Conde Nast Traveler Annual Hot List Party on Monday (April 11) at Soho House in West Hollywood, Calif.
The model and Just Go With It actress turned 24 the next day. Happy b-day, Brooklyn!!!
Brooklyn met up with Modern Family star Sofia Vergara at the bash, where guests snacked on bites by chef Jose Andres and speciality cocktails created by Erick Lorincz.
FYI: Brooklyn is wearing a DVF dress with Manolo Blahnik shoes and Jen Meyer earrings. Sofia is wearing a Dolce&Gabbana dress.
The model and Just Go With It actress turned 24 the next day. Happy b-day, Brooklyn!!!
Brooklyn met up with Modern Family star Sofia Vergara at the bash, where guests snacked on bites by chef Jose Andres and speciality cocktails created by Erick Lorincz.
FYI: Brooklyn is wearing a DVF dress with Manolo Blahnik shoes and Jen Meyer earrings. Sofia is wearing a Dolce&Gabbana dress.
2011年4月11日星期一
Sex and the buggy... Not sure Carrie would approve as Sarah Jessica Parker dresses down for day out with twins
Sarah Jessica Parker looked rather dressed down at the weekend compared with her fashion-mad alter-ego Carrie Bradshaw.
But then it’s not easy pushing a bumper baby stroller in Manolo Blahnik shoes.
The 46-year-old Sex and the City star was spotted on a girls’ day out with her 21-month-old twins Marion and Tabitha in New York City.
Her daughters with husband Matthew Broderick were born to surrogate mum Michelle Ross six years after the couple had their first child, James Wilkie Broderick, now eight.
And she made sure to have a special mother and children bonding day on her day off from shooting a romantic comedy in New York.
Looking like an every-day mother in grey jeans and a black and white cardigan, Parker took the girls to the Greenwich Village playground in Manhattan.
She pushed her children on the swings and let them have fun on the slide during the sunny day in the Big Apple.
Sarah Jessica is currently filming the sequel to Valentine's Day - New Year's Eve.
In it she plays a mother who relies too heavily on her daughter for company.
Her on-screen daughter is being played by Little Miss Sunshine actress Abigail Bresen, 15.
New Year's Eve is packed with an A-list cast of actors, including Robert De Niro, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel and Halle Berry.
The Gary Marshall directed film is based around the lives of several couples and singles in New York who intertwine over the course of New Yerar's Eve.
It is set to be released in the UK on December 9.
But then it’s not easy pushing a bumper baby stroller in Manolo Blahnik shoes.
The 46-year-old Sex and the City star was spotted on a girls’ day out with her 21-month-old twins Marion and Tabitha in New York City.
Push me mummy! Sarah Jessica Parker enjoys a day out with her twins Tabitha and Marion in New York City
And she made sure to have a special mother and children bonding day on her day off from shooting a romantic comedy in New York.
Looking like an every-day mother in grey jeans and a black and white cardigan, Parker took the girls to the Greenwich Village playground in Manhattan.
She pushed her children on the swings and let them have fun on the slide during the sunny day in the Big Apple.
Sarah Jessica is currently filming the sequel to Valentine's Day - New Year's Eve.
In it she plays a mother who relies too heavily on her daughter for company.
Her on-screen daughter is being played by Little Miss Sunshine actress Abigail Bresen, 15.
New Year's Eve is packed with an A-list cast of actors, including Robert De Niro, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel and Halle Berry.
The Gary Marshall directed film is based around the lives of several couples and singles in New York who intertwine over the course of New Yerar's Eve.
It is set to be released in the UK on December 9.
Scarlet soles are a red rag to feminists' ideology
www.michaelmucci.com Now, the signature flash of rich red beneath a towering pair of Louboutins has elevated the French designer from fashionable to cult. You want the Louboutin power strut? Don't expect any change out of $800. Millions of women pay, or would like to pay, to join this cargo cult. They see that flash of red as a flash of power.
Christian Louboutin is as big a commodity-maker as Manolo Blahnik was before his wave crested with the tacky embrace of Sex and the City. The red flash is as big as the Jimmy Choo fad, which peaked a decade ago, and sexually more potent. Louboutin is even suing Yves Saint Laurent for trademark infringement after the YSL fashion house introduced red-soled stilettos in its last collection. Red soles are hot.
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The pervasive power display of women wearing stilettos, despite the style's innate and obvious potential to damage the wearer, is not an evolution that feminists of the 1970s might have expected. But the world is an infinitely more complex place than the one laid out by Jurassic Feminism. Anyone who still wants to see the world through the prism of gender fixation, where women are structural victims and men are structural oppressors, is locked into a fusty bigotry that the stiletto generations are walking away from.All the great recent advances made for women have been made by people - men and women working together. Most of the legislation that seeks to advance the progress of women has been passed by legislatures dominated by men. And no amount of government social engineering is going to stop women behaving badly to women, which happens all the time. Women bully women. Women block women in the workforce.
It's not all sisterhood. Often it is competition, exclusion and ridicule. This can apply with even more Darwinian brutality among teenage girls. Teenagers are also the most vulnerable to the Great Insecurity Machine, and that machine will crank into action in all its glory on May 2, the first day of Australian Fashion Week.
Already, the giraffes are beginning to gather. Soon they will be strutting and pouting down the runways in the tents at Circular Quay. The giraffes are the models with the one-in-a-hundred bodies used to project not just the clothes but the ideal of what a woman should look like. And they are so very young.
That's the foundation lie fed to women, largely by women, via the Great Insecurity Machine, the commercial fashion industry. It is the lie fed by women's fashion magazines - the most corrupt genre of journalism - and fashion designers and fashion retailers. The fashion industry may have a noble goal - to give people pleasure, make them more appealing, and more confident - but even more important is profitability and cash flow. Along with the accelerating speed of online commerce and social networking, the fashion cycles are quickening. The energy required to stay sharp and current is becoming more acute. Commercial survival trumps consumer pleasure.
Reality also trumps ideology. Which is why academic ''feminism'' is ageing so badly. The entire edifice of classic feminist ideology, and gender studies, is devolving into an intellectual artifice as grand as Marxism or complex financial derivatives. Academic feminism in the West has turned out to be little more than another flag of convenience for the left, in the way the Greens use environmentalism.
The most totemic book of the 1970s wave of feminism, The Feminist Mystique, by Betty Friedan, was written 50 years ago and published in 1963. It became the paradigm of the dubious methodologies and victimologies still being marketed on university campuses under the brand ''feminist''. Friedan was not a scholar; she was a journalist. She was not oppressed; she was privileged. She was not rigorously impartial; she was a hardline leftist. She was not honest, and sought to cover up her early work for the largest Communist-led union in America. She also mined the work of Simone de Beauvoir for her book but gave no credit. Above all, Friedan was a navel gazer. Her feminism was about middle-class, middle-brow white women.
These flaws were not hers alone. They can still be found embedded in feminist ideology. We are living in the middle of a massive global struggle over the rights and freedoms of women, a life-and-death matter for a billion women and girls, and secular middle-class Western feminism is proving irrelevant.
What drove the great changes now - called the feminist revolution in the West - was not a wave of brave and articulate women activists, though they had a role, but something far deeper and more significant: the vast demographic deformity caused by World War II. It took two generations to unwind this deformity. Part of that unwinding was the liberation of women from the expectation of domesticity. It happened because of the actions of millions of people, men and women.
Society is still trying to reconcile the distortions caused by the most important difference between the genders: the mothering drive. This is the bedrock on which family and culture is built. Yet women must assume all the risks of fertility. It is a fundamental inequality.
It makes today's fertility and power displays, all those flashes of teetering red, even more loaded with density of meaning.
2011年4月7日星期四
"Stilleto Strut" raising money for Star Children's Charity
Ladies, it's time to get those spring pedicures and new heels for the annual "Stiletto Strut" at Neiman Marcus Willow Bend and just in case you've got a budget badger, remind him that those new stilettos are for charity.
Shoe-lovers of Collin County are counting the days until the April 14 Neiman Marcus Willow Bend Stiletto Strut benefitting Star Children's Charity.Ê The annual event boasts big names and large donations for the children's charity that donates funds to several Collin County children's charities.
"We are strutting for the children of Collin County," Jan Richey, co-chair and Star member, said. "Each day the demand grows for services to meet the safety, health and well being of our children.Ê Neiman Marcus Willow Bend and Star have partnered to create a fun event to raise much needed money to support the nonprofits of Collin County who serve children.Ê It is an honor to chair the Stiletto Strut with my dear friend, Maureen Steitle."
The evening is dedicated to raising funds for the children of Collin County through Star Children's Charity, which provides significant financial support to improve services for medical, education, enrichment and safety through children-serving, nonprofit organizations in the county.
Beneficiaries of Star Children's Charity include Boys and Girls Club of Collin County, Children's Medical Center at Legacy, CITY House, Plano Children's Medical Clinic, The Samaritan Inn and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano. Sponsorships and ticket reservations for the Stiletto Strut are available at www.StarChildrens.com or by calling 972-943-3344.ÊÊ
Get a pair of summer shades that fit perfectly at the sunglass fit event, or grab a snazzy sketch to take home by the stiletto sketch artist. A party photo booth will also be on hand to capture new looks after the Chanel makeovers and participants will have a chance to win $1,800 worth of designer shoes from Neiman Marcus during the designer shoe raffle.
A runway workshop will also take place to help obtain the perfect strut and swagger, not to mention the celebrity shoe auction featuring shoes from Magic and Cookie Johnson, Victoria Snee and others.
Participants will have a chance to mingle with celebrity co-chairs Victoria Snee of 102.9 and The Beauty Buzz with husband, Jeff Crilley as well as Lev Glazman, founder and creator of FRESH in Cosmetics.
Beauty experts and authors Sandy Linder and Lois Joy Johnson will be on hand at the Lancome counter in cosmetics where guests can receive a complimentary copy of their book, "The Make Up Wake Up" with any $100 Lancome purchase.
This year, men are also welcome to hang out in a special lounge while the women enjoy a little pampering and a lot of high fashion. Men can relax in the "Loafer's Lounge," which includes casino tables, a sports viewing center, cigar rolling, a Robert Graham Men's Fashion presentation, and complimentary men's facials in The Man's Store.
"Neiman Marcus Willow Bend is excited to partner with Star Children's Charity on our second annual Stiletto Strut event," Marcus Wyss, Vice President and General Manager for Neiman Marcus Willow Bend said in a release. "We know women in Collin County love designer shoes and we have the best selection from vendors like Chanel, Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Prada, Gucci and more. ÊThe event will be an evening of fashion and fun while raising money for seven Collin County non-profit agencies.
Shoe-lovers of Collin County are counting the days until the April 14 Neiman Marcus Willow Bend Stiletto Strut benefitting Star Children's Charity.Ê The annual event boasts big names and large donations for the children's charity that donates funds to several Collin County children's charities.
"We are strutting for the children of Collin County," Jan Richey, co-chair and Star member, said. "Each day the demand grows for services to meet the safety, health and well being of our children.Ê Neiman Marcus Willow Bend and Star have partnered to create a fun event to raise much needed money to support the nonprofits of Collin County who serve children.Ê It is an honor to chair the Stiletto Strut with my dear friend, Maureen Steitle."
The evening is dedicated to raising funds for the children of Collin County through Star Children's Charity, which provides significant financial support to improve services for medical, education, enrichment and safety through children-serving, nonprofit organizations in the county.
Beneficiaries of Star Children's Charity include Boys and Girls Club of Collin County, Children's Medical Center at Legacy, CITY House, Plano Children's Medical Clinic, The Samaritan Inn and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano. Sponsorships and ticket reservations for the Stiletto Strut are available at www.StarChildrens.com or by calling 972-943-3344.ÊÊ
Get a pair of summer shades that fit perfectly at the sunglass fit event, or grab a snazzy sketch to take home by the stiletto sketch artist. A party photo booth will also be on hand to capture new looks after the Chanel makeovers and participants will have a chance to win $1,800 worth of designer shoes from Neiman Marcus during the designer shoe raffle.
A runway workshop will also take place to help obtain the perfect strut and swagger, not to mention the celebrity shoe auction featuring shoes from Magic and Cookie Johnson, Victoria Snee and others.
Participants will have a chance to mingle with celebrity co-chairs Victoria Snee of 102.9 and The Beauty Buzz with husband, Jeff Crilley as well as Lev Glazman, founder and creator of FRESH in Cosmetics.
Beauty experts and authors Sandy Linder and Lois Joy Johnson will be on hand at the Lancome counter in cosmetics where guests can receive a complimentary copy of their book, "The Make Up Wake Up" with any $100 Lancome purchase.
This year, men are also welcome to hang out in a special lounge while the women enjoy a little pampering and a lot of high fashion. Men can relax in the "Loafer's Lounge," which includes casino tables, a sports viewing center, cigar rolling, a Robert Graham Men's Fashion presentation, and complimentary men's facials in The Man's Store.
"Neiman Marcus Willow Bend is excited to partner with Star Children's Charity on our second annual Stiletto Strut event," Marcus Wyss, Vice President and General Manager for Neiman Marcus Willow Bend said in a release. "We know women in Collin County love designer shoes and we have the best selection from vendors like Chanel, Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Prada, Gucci and more. ÊThe event will be an evening of fashion and fun while raising money for seven Collin County non-profit agencies.
The lowdown on high heels
After teetering on vertiginous stilettos, women may get some relief as designers have lowered their heights for their 2011 Fall/Winter collections.
Spiky heels and stilettos haven't disappeared from the catwalk, but designers showing their newest lines at New York Fashion Week featured plenty of lower, stacked, chunky heels, wedges, booties and coloured socks.
“They're quirkier. I think they're more wearable and cooler,” said Dana Schwartz, the director of communications for Jill Stuart about the shoes and the look.
“It goes with the current trend of longer hemlines, blouses and more done-up, sophisticated silhouettes. The shoes counter that to bring it back.”
New York designer Stuart paired bold, abstract animal prints, strong colours in rusts, red, oranges, black and aubergine and below-the-knee skirts in a collection inspired by the forest and a dark, wintry fairytale with wedges, booties and socks crumpled around or above the ankles.
The chunky shoes offset the feminine looks and gave the collection a quirky touch.
“It adds playfulness to the overall look,” Schwartz added.
Dark coloured socks were an added touch and accompanied nearly every outfit, including tapered trousers, elongated skirts, as well as softer shifts and feminine dresses.
Adam Lippes, the founder and creative director of ADAM, also featured socks in his fall collection, but instead of sturdier shoes he matched them with Manolo Blahnik high heels for a funky yet feminine look.
White, brown and black socks worn with strappy ankle-tie stilettos added the finishing touch to a button-topped pleated skirt, silk printed dresses, a strapless black lace gown and a gold embroidered dress in the collection inspired by a visit to the National Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan.
“It (the sock) really draws a lot of attention to the shoes,” said Erin Conroy, a spokesman for Italian shoemaker Via Spiga.
Wedged booties, stacked heels and combat boots also completed New York-based English fashion designer Charlotte Ronson's sombre grunge, outdoorsy look that featured chunky sweaters, military jackets, wide-leg trousers and maxi and miniskirts.
“Part of it is the comfort factor,” Conroy said. “For women who are seeking comfort, the wedge is a great solution because you don't have to give up the height to be comfortable.”
For Emmanuelle Alt, the new editor-in-chief of French Vogue, who will be presiding over the Paris shows, shoes are the most important element of an outfit.
“You can wear just about anything as long as you have beautiful shoes, but you can't do the opposite,” she told Elle Decoration in 1977.
Fans of super-high platforms weren't disappointed by designer Christian Siriano, of Project Runway fame. He opted for drama with shoes not for the faint-hearted. His towering clunky designs included snakeskin, studs and buckles.
But Siriano's shoes were a bit too challenging for one model, who tumbled on the runway during his New York show.
Spiky heels and stilettos haven't disappeared from the catwalk, but designers showing their newest lines at New York Fashion Week featured plenty of lower, stacked, chunky heels, wedges, booties and coloured socks.
“They're quirkier. I think they're more wearable and cooler,” said Dana Schwartz, the director of communications for Jill Stuart about the shoes and the look.
“It goes with the current trend of longer hemlines, blouses and more done-up, sophisticated silhouettes. The shoes counter that to bring it back.”
New York designer Stuart paired bold, abstract animal prints, strong colours in rusts, red, oranges, black and aubergine and below-the-knee skirts in a collection inspired by the forest and a dark, wintry fairytale with wedges, booties and socks crumpled around or above the ankles.
The chunky shoes offset the feminine looks and gave the collection a quirky touch.
“It adds playfulness to the overall look,” Schwartz added.
Dark coloured socks were an added touch and accompanied nearly every outfit, including tapered trousers, elongated skirts, as well as softer shifts and feminine dresses.
Adam Lippes, the founder and creative director of ADAM, also featured socks in his fall collection, but instead of sturdier shoes he matched them with Manolo Blahnik high heels for a funky yet feminine look.
White, brown and black socks worn with strappy ankle-tie stilettos added the finishing touch to a button-topped pleated skirt, silk printed dresses, a strapless black lace gown and a gold embroidered dress in the collection inspired by a visit to the National Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan.
“It (the sock) really draws a lot of attention to the shoes,” said Erin Conroy, a spokesman for Italian shoemaker Via Spiga.
Wedged booties, stacked heels and combat boots also completed New York-based English fashion designer Charlotte Ronson's sombre grunge, outdoorsy look that featured chunky sweaters, military jackets, wide-leg trousers and maxi and miniskirts.
“Part of it is the comfort factor,” Conroy said. “For women who are seeking comfort, the wedge is a great solution because you don't have to give up the height to be comfortable.”
For Emmanuelle Alt, the new editor-in-chief of French Vogue, who will be presiding over the Paris shows, shoes are the most important element of an outfit.
“You can wear just about anything as long as you have beautiful shoes, but you can't do the opposite,” she told Elle Decoration in 1977.
Fans of super-high platforms weren't disappointed by designer Christian Siriano, of Project Runway fame. He opted for drama with shoes not for the faint-hearted. His towering clunky designs included snakeskin, studs and buckles.
But Siriano's shoes were a bit too challenging for one model, who tumbled on the runway during his New York show.
2011年4月5日星期二
Manolo Blahniks vs. Cheaper Heels
When it comes to high-heeled shoes, most women are willing to tolerate pain for for fashion.
But does paying top dollars for high heels make a difference on comfort?
Consumer Reports ShopSmart tested basic heels ranging from $30 a pair all the way up to $575 a pair to find out.
The shoes on display at the Manolo Blahnik boutique are top of the line and you can easily spend a small fortune there. Anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dollars.
To find out if high-end, expensive shoes are worth the high price, Consumer Reports ShopSmart rounded up more than a dozen testers to try out three different pairs.
"We covered up all the labels so the women couldn't tell which were the less expensive pairs of shoes and which were the expensive ones," says Mandy Walker of Consumer Reports ShopSmart.
The shoes included a $30 pair of Mossimo's from Target, $69 heels from Nine West, and a $575 pair from Manolo Blahnik.
The women walked a defined course twice a day for a week in each pair of shoes. They filled out a ballot each time.
Most of the women thought two pairs looked and felt pretty good, but not the $30 pair from Target.
"I was holding onto the wall when I was walking around the building testing them," says Cathy Cotters, a Consumer Reports tester.
"These shoes were the most uncomfortable of the ones that we tested," says Lisa Gill, another Consumer Reports tester.
To size up how well each shoe was made, ShopSmart went extreme by cutting the shoes in half.
"Overall the Manolos were a better-made shoe," says Walker. "The materials they were made of were superior, and many of the women liked the styling, too."
However, in the blind tests more women thought the $69 Nine West shoes were more comfortable.
ShopSmart says the smart money move with high heels is to make fit the deciding factor.
"Determine the style you want, what your budget is, and if they feel good when you walk around in them, buy them," says Walker.
Consumer Reports ShopSmart says good leather heels need special care. It's best not to wear them two days in a row. That gives the shoes time to dry out. And avoid wearing them in bad weather. Step in a puddle with oil, gas, or road salt, and you can ruin them.
But does paying top dollars for high heels make a difference on comfort?
Consumer Reports ShopSmart tested basic heels ranging from $30 a pair all the way up to $575 a pair to find out.
The shoes on display at the Manolo Blahnik boutique are top of the line and you can easily spend a small fortune there. Anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dollars.
To find out if high-end, expensive shoes are worth the high price, Consumer Reports ShopSmart rounded up more than a dozen testers to try out three different pairs.
"We covered up all the labels so the women couldn't tell which were the less expensive pairs of shoes and which were the expensive ones," says Mandy Walker of Consumer Reports ShopSmart.
The shoes included a $30 pair of Mossimo's from Target, $69 heels from Nine West, and a $575 pair from Manolo Blahnik.
The women walked a defined course twice a day for a week in each pair of shoes. They filled out a ballot each time.
Most of the women thought two pairs looked and felt pretty good, but not the $30 pair from Target.
"I was holding onto the wall when I was walking around the building testing them," says Cathy Cotters, a Consumer Reports tester.
"These shoes were the most uncomfortable of the ones that we tested," says Lisa Gill, another Consumer Reports tester.
To size up how well each shoe was made, ShopSmart went extreme by cutting the shoes in half.
"Overall the Manolos were a better-made shoe," says Walker. "The materials they were made of were superior, and many of the women liked the styling, too."
However, in the blind tests more women thought the $69 Nine West shoes were more comfortable.
ShopSmart says the smart money move with high heels is to make fit the deciding factor.
"Determine the style you want, what your budget is, and if they feel good when you walk around in them, buy them," says Walker.
Consumer Reports ShopSmart says good leather heels need special care. It's best not to wear them two days in a row. That gives the shoes time to dry out. And avoid wearing them in bad weather. Step in a puddle with oil, gas, or road salt, and you can ruin them.
2011年4月1日星期五
Taking a tasty gamble on Singapore
I once dated a guy who halfway through our relationship was grumbling about having taken me to the best restaurants in Sydney and the expense that I had incurred on his credit card.
"I should have started in the mid price range and then I could have worked my way up to the top. Now you’ll be expecting five-star three-hat restaurants all the time."
I looked at him like he was crazy. "What makes you think I would have dated you if you had started in the middle range?"
(It’s not strictly true. My first date with Mr NQN was bad take away pizza. But then I thought Mr NQN was much more fabulous than this guy.)
But in any case, I couldn’t help thinking about this ex of mine when I arrived in Singapore to be whisked away to dinner at Waku Ghin, Tetsuya Wakuda’s new restaurant in Singapore. With food completely unlike his Tetsuya’s restaurant in Sydney and only seating a mere 25 people at one time, it was something that I was more than curious about. And when Mr NQN took my place at the Waku Ghin dinner in Sydney there was much gnashing of the teeth and moaning as I was committed to another event. But no matter, I finally got to try it here! It’s no ordinary dinner, costing about $S400 ($A307) per head, but it has a clear emphasis on Japanese cuisine as opposed to the French Japanese cuisine at Tetsuya’s.
We walk into the Marina Bay Sands complex. There are shops from Miu Miu, Gucci, Chanel and the mother lode, a Manolo Blahnik shoe shop. We make our way up to the second floor where we look down and see floors and floors of the casino. I’m not one for gambling, but because they allow for smoking here some of the cigarette smoke does end up in Waku Ghin, so there was a bit of sniffling throughout the night from yours truly who is allergic to cigarette smoke.
There is an illuminated sign above the doors and white drapes on the outside giving it an almost 'closed' look. But then the doors swing open and a battalion of staff greet us. And given that the restaurant seats 25 there has got to be at least 25 staff in both the kitchen and on the floor.
The restaurant experience was said to be one where you move from one table to another, but in reality it is much less complicated than that. There are two seatings, one at 6pm and one at 9:30pm. The diner is led to a room where the savoury courses are brought out (about eight in total) and then you adjourn to another room for the dessert courses. I was envisaging much more getting up and down so I am relieved given my heels!
We are seated in front of a long grill plate and facing a wall with protruding wood blocks. Ghin means silver in Japanese and for this restaurant it is represented in the knives, the grill and even things like fish, which feature prominently on the menu. Shortly after we arrive we settle in with a glass of NV Pol Roger to soothe the nerves after travelling.
The first course is a seasonal Japanese fish called Sayori, or needlefish, with Nanohana and Japanese strawberry. Now I usually run screaming from savoury dishes with strawberry in them. I don’t mind some fruit but strawberries are not a favourite with savoury. This changed my mind completely.
"I should have started in the mid price range and then I could have worked my way up to the top. Now you’ll be expecting five-star three-hat restaurants all the time."
I looked at him like he was crazy. "What makes you think I would have dated you if you had started in the middle range?"
(It’s not strictly true. My first date with Mr NQN was bad take away pizza. But then I thought Mr NQN was much more fabulous than this guy.)
But in any case, I couldn’t help thinking about this ex of mine when I arrived in Singapore to be whisked away to dinner at Waku Ghin, Tetsuya Wakuda’s new restaurant in Singapore. With food completely unlike his Tetsuya’s restaurant in Sydney and only seating a mere 25 people at one time, it was something that I was more than curious about. And when Mr NQN took my place at the Waku Ghin dinner in Sydney there was much gnashing of the teeth and moaning as I was committed to another event. But no matter, I finally got to try it here! It’s no ordinary dinner, costing about $S400 ($A307) per head, but it has a clear emphasis on Japanese cuisine as opposed to the French Japanese cuisine at Tetsuya’s.
We walk into the Marina Bay Sands complex. There are shops from Miu Miu, Gucci, Chanel and the mother lode, a Manolo Blahnik shoe shop. We make our way up to the second floor where we look down and see floors and floors of the casino. I’m not one for gambling, but because they allow for smoking here some of the cigarette smoke does end up in Waku Ghin, so there was a bit of sniffling throughout the night from yours truly who is allergic to cigarette smoke.
There is an illuminated sign above the doors and white drapes on the outside giving it an almost 'closed' look. But then the doors swing open and a battalion of staff greet us. And given that the restaurant seats 25 there has got to be at least 25 staff in both the kitchen and on the floor.
The restaurant experience was said to be one where you move from one table to another, but in reality it is much less complicated than that. There are two seatings, one at 6pm and one at 9:30pm. The diner is led to a room where the savoury courses are brought out (about eight in total) and then you adjourn to another room for the dessert courses. I was envisaging much more getting up and down so I am relieved given my heels!
We are seated in front of a long grill plate and facing a wall with protruding wood blocks. Ghin means silver in Japanese and for this restaurant it is represented in the knives, the grill and even things like fish, which feature prominently on the menu. Shortly after we arrive we settle in with a glass of NV Pol Roger to soothe the nerves after travelling.
The first course is a seasonal Japanese fish called Sayori, or needlefish, with Nanohana and Japanese strawberry. Now I usually run screaming from savoury dishes with strawberry in them. I don’t mind some fruit but strawberries are not a favourite with savoury. This changed my mind completely.
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