Thursday, December 30, 2010

who portrays vampire Alice Cullen in the popular movie series

The actress – who portrays vampire Alice Cullen in the popular movie series – loves to be surprised by what her castmates are wearing when they arrive at the same events together and also keeps her outfits under wraps.

She said: “The ‘Twilight’ cast don’t consult each other about red carpet looks, so it’s a surprise on the night. We’re like, ‘Oh my God, I love your outfit.’ ”

The 24-year-old screen beauty – who is dating singer Joe Jonas – prefers to wear quite simple outfits and insists she doesn’t ever take long to get ready, even if she is attending a major Hollywood event.

She added: “My style in a nutshell is anything by J. Mendel. I don’t generally wear patterns.

“I don’t take too long to get ready – I work with such a good team they’ve cut it down to one hour.”

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Jay is said to have lavished B with $350,000 worth of Hermes goodies for Christmas

If, like us, New Year’s Eve typically finds you scrambling to make plans, and then wondering whether the fuss is worth the inflated price of a cab home, consider grabbing a last-minute flight to Vegas.

There, you could find yourself at the new Cosmopolitan hotel, where the NYE party boasts appearances by not one, but two music-world power couples… Jay-Z and Beyonce, and Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Martin’s Coldplay and Jay-Z will each play separate sets before coming together for a joint finale. Speculation is rampant that the stars’ musical other halves may join them onstage as well.

That’s right – Gwyneth is expected to sing. Maybe. The actress, who ordinarily shuns the spotlight when with husband Martin, has been flexing her vocal chords on Glee and in promotional appearances for her new film, Country Strong.

And Beyonce often delights audiences at Jay-Z shows by joining her husband onstage. What we really want to know is: how about a B and G mash-up?

In other Mr and Mrs Z news, Jay is said to have lavished B with $350,000 worth of Hermes goodies for Christmas.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

LeAnn Rimes Gets in the (Sexy) Christmas Spirit

Following in the footsteps of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton, LeAnn Rimes is showing off her sexy side this holiday season. The singer posted some photos of herself all dressed up as a sexy Santa on her Twitter account this weekend.

On Sunday morning, Rimes Tweeted, "Happy Sunday! Only 6 days til Christmas! Which means, only 9 days til sun and beach!!! Too much fun overload!!"

Just a few hours later, she posted her first sultry photo with this caption: "Mrs. Clause at your service ... LOL." Rimes, who is currently dating actor Eddie Cibrian, wore a Santa-themed, cleavage-baring outfit with knee-high boot and red lipstick.

Less than an hour later, the country crooner posted another sexy photo--featuring Rimes rocking the same sexy outfit and surrounded by a bunch of elves. "Santa's Elves and Me!" she Tweeted.

Late Sunday and early Monday, Rimes continued her holiday-inspired Tweets. "Thank you all for your sweet and hysterical comments! I love my friends, my TweLe's!!!! 5 days now til Christmas!!!!!"

"Happy Monday! Not just any Monday though, Christmas week Monday!!!" she wrote.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Sharapova arrives in NZ

Glamorous tennis star Maria Sharapova arrived in Auckland this morning for the ASB Classic - minus her fiance, New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic.

The world's highest-paid female athlete, who Forbes magazine estimated earned US$22 million ($29.2 million) in endorsements last year, flew into Auckland on Flight NZ5 from Los Angeles, entering arrivals about 8.40am.

The sight of one of the world's most recognised sport stars pushing her luggage surprised some passengers at the airport today.

"Is that Maria Sharapova?" one Japanese tourist asked incredulously of her partner as they sat at a fast food outlet in the international arrivals hall.

Sharapova leads a field of 15 players arriving today.

They include fellow Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova, twice a grandslam winner, and former world No 1 Dinara Safina.

But all eyes will be on Sharapova, who is famous for her on-court squeals and grunts. Some ear-splitting efforts have been measured at a record 104 decibels - louder than a small aircraft. She is also known for her on-court attire as well as gracing the covers of fashion magazines.


A spokesman for the classic said Vujacic - who asked the former Wimbledon winner to marry him in October - is not on the tournament list of people accompanying Sharapova. Instead, hitting partner Michael Joyce, a trainer and another coach are expected to accompany the three-time grand slam winner.

Last season was stop-start for Sharapova, who was returning from a lingering shoulder injury but had niggles with a foot and right elbow. She was bundled out of the Australian Open in the first round but improved to end the year ranked 18.

The Russian-born 23-year-old started playing tennis at 4 and moved to the US at 9 to advance her career.

She rocketed into the public eye when she won Wimbledon aged just 17.

Tournament organisers say Sharapova, who has also won the 2006 US Open and the 2008 Australian Open, is expected to attend a public meet-and- greet at Auckland's Viaduct Harbour on Thursday between 5pm and 6pm.

A speed serve event and other entertainment are planned and fans will also meet Sharapova and defending champion Yanina Wickmayer.

This year's field will be the first to play on the $26 million redeveloped Stanley St courts.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Popular culture goes back to the Thirties

A renaissance in popular culture from the austerity period that began in the 1930s is seeing theatres, cinemas and the small screen packed with the grit, grimness and escapist Technicolor of the pre-war and subsequent wartime years. Fashion, from high-end Prada to the online retailer ASOS, and hairstylists, are also picking up on the theme.

Sarah Churchwell, a cultural commentator and academic at the University of East Anglia, said that each decade's art subconsciously reflects the moods, fears and anxieties of the time. "There are many similarities between now and the 1930s," she said. "Not just economically. Both periods saw shifts in global power and instability. The response to the economic depression came not just in escapism, but also anxiety and psychological depression."

Susan Currell, a senior lecturer in American Studies at Sussex University, added: "I think people want to escape, but also to look at the reality of what's happening. The bestselling book of the 1930s was Gone With the Wind, and that looked back to a previous period of hardship. Even with escapism, however, there's a response to austerity. The Wizard of Oz is escapist, but it's also about returning to how you were."

Film

Hollywood can be relied on for a couple of hours of fantasy, but the Brits are made of sterner stuff. Colin Firth is winning plaudits for The King's Speech, out next month, about King George VI's ascension to the throne in 1936. An adaptation of Brighton Rock, Graham Greene's 1938 novel, will be released in February. Hollywood, however, is preparing to bring the 1930s radio hero from The Green Hornet to the big screen, along with Green Lantern, based on the comic-book hero who debuted in 1940. The much-anticipated Tintin from Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, based on three 1940s comic books, is also due out next year.

Theatre

Theatre-lovers are either escaping the gloom or confronting it head on in the West End, as grimy drama from the 1930s vies with light escapist farce from the period. Men Should Weep, set in a 1930s Glasgow slum and written in 1947, will be followed at the National next year by Clifford Odets' 1938 play Rocket to the Moon. Also in – or about to be in – the West End are J B Priestley's 1938 farce When We Are Married; Noël Coward's 1941 comedy Blithe Spirit; Lillian Hellman's 1934 drama The Children's Hour, which will star Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss; Tennessee Williams' 1944 play The Glass Menagerie, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Fashion

Hard times are also being reflected on the high street. "The 1930s look is right for today because, post-recession, more people are looking for investment pieces and classics, such as stripes, that won't date," says Harper's Bazaar. "The look is elegant, sophisticated and very feminine. In times of financial difficulties, people go that extra mile to look respectable and elegantly dressed, which in turn helps to lift the nation's mood."

Dance

Ballroom dancing is enjoying a boom thanks to Strictly Come Dancing, but couples are also flocking to genteel tea dances and trying their hand (or feet) at the gravity-defying Lindy Hop, a 1930s precursor to jive. Simon Selmon, of the London Swing Dance Society, said: "There's been a resurgence in Lindy Hop over the past couple of years. It's part of the growing interest in vintage, burlesque and cabaret."

Hairstyles

Men were serious in the 1930s and wore short, back and sides. That look is back, according to Jerome Hilton of award-winning stylists Hair and Jerome in London. Men such as George Clooney and Tobey Maguire are looking to former style icons such as Robert Montgomery and William Powell for inspiration. "Men now take a lot of care about how they look and I have been styling my clients in 1930s looks for a while. We can do a slick side parting with Brilliantine for the office, then create finger waves for a night out."

Television

The small screen is also turning to the austere decades for inspiration. Upstairs, Downstairs, the classic 1970s ITV drama about life in a London townhouse, is being revived by the BBC, with the story being picked up in 1936. Christopher and His Kind, a biopic of the writer Christopher Isherwood, predominately set in 1930s Berlin, is also coming to the BBC, as is South Riding, a saga set in 1930s Yorkshire, based on Winifred Holtby's novel and adapted by Andrew Davies.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Fashion Your Mind fundraiser helps cancer patients

It's a long way from a sewing class to a runway show, but you've got to start somewhere, as any fashion designer knows.

Just ask Karen Caldwell and Zoe Magee, two Bay Area designers whose works were included in a fashion show at the Westin St. Francis hotel hosted by Fashion Your Mind Organization, a nonprofit that teaches students to sew and draft patterns and educates them about entrepreneurial opportunities.

About 300 guests at the black-tie event paid as much as $150 a ticket to watch "Giving to Live" at Alexandra's, the penthouse suite, where the catwalk featured men's and women's fashions. Gelareh Design Studio, a custom apparel company at the base of Potrero Hill, Oxford Way Men's Clothiers of Richmond, and Naracamicie, an Italian company with a boutique on Sutter Street, rounded out the roster.

Each designer offered up a dozen looks, with Charleston Pierce producing the show and coaxing the models to donate their time. The event doubled as a fundraiser for people living with cancer, with funds raised going to individuals referred by South Bay hospitals, said Tiffany May, founder of Fashion Your Mind Organization, founded in 2008.

Caldwell learned to sew in a seventh-grade home economics class. But the inspiration for her silver-screen-starlet looks with simple, clean lines came from her grandmother, who worked for MGM Studios in Los Angeles and was a friend of costume designer Edith Head's.

"I used to get scraps from sewing shops and made something out of it," she said. "I'd watch my grandmother put something together, like sewing two scarves together to make it longer."

On the runway, there were dramatic nighttime gowns in black, and daywear for men, but the raciest looks belonged to Zoe Magee, who founded Zoe Bikini in the Mission District and makes each bathing suit by hand. She showed pieces from her 2010 and spring 2011 collection in monochromatic burgundy, white and charcoal.

"I altered clothing in junior high and turned it punk-mod. People are doing a lot of deconstructing and altering now," Magee said. "That's how I learned a lot, playing with premade clothes. ... One summer, I needed a bikini." A swimwear designer was born.

That should come as good news for students of Fashion Your Mind Organization, which May created a year after she tried to start her own line of daywear. She had previously worked with foster children in Vallejo.

"I like inspirational prints on clothing," she said. And, apparently, events that motivate people to do good.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Dresses expected on the red carpet at the 2011 Golden Globes

At the Golden Globes this year, bright colors and soft silhouettes are expected to replace the tight-fitting, shimmery gowns we're accustomed to seeing at the event. According to celebrity stylists, the 2011 awards season could be the first one in a long time where designers break the red-carpet mold.

Last year at the 67th Golden Globes, there was a sea of romantic gowns in neutral peaches, light greys and soft whites on the red carpet, like Nicole Kidman's champagne-colored Nina Ricci gown and Jennifer Garner's asymmetrical shimmery Atelier Versace number.

In contrast, 2011 is expected to be rife with color. "A lot of the spring collections had vibrant, beautiful colors. Hopefully we will see a lot of that, plus softer silhouettes," said Jessica Paster, who predicts Dolce & Gabbana and Dior to be the major labels celebrities will wear to the January awards show. "The days of the beaded, silvery, gown-y thing are kind of done," Jeanne Yang, who counts three nominees among her clients, told Women's Wear Daily. "I don't see anyone wanting that."

"It's going to be fun to see the limits pushed this time, to see designers go off the beaten path," said Elizabeth Stewart, who is styling Jennifer Lawrence. "I think the gradient-colored dresses that Juan Carlos Obando did would be beautiful, and it was an incredible season for Dolce & Gabbana with that soft, feminine aesthetic."

The contenders for the 2011 Golden Globes were announced this past Tuesday. Among them include Hollywood favorites Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Angelina Jolie (The Tourist) and Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs). People StyleWatch delineated the actresses' contrasting styles: "Portman continues to tap into her feminine side with elegant frocks by Jason Wu, Rodarte and Lanvin, Jolie has taken to more sophisticated silhouettes from the likes of Atelier Versace. Never one to shy away from a fashion risk, Oscar co-host Hathaway's recent choices have run the gamut from timeless Dolce & Gabbana to edgier looks from Miu Miu." Portman is expected to wear a Dior frock, given her recent appointment as the Miss Dior Cherie fragrance spokesperson in 2011.

The 68th annual Golden Globes will be broadcast on NBC on Sunday, January 16.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A gift of clothing can be risky, but if you must, stick with timeless classics

You want the ultimate, personal gift for a loved one, something that reflects how well you know them and how carefully you shopped -- clothes.

While the "perfect" piece you pick might be a huge hit, it also has the (much greater) potential to be a huge failure, say our shopping experts. Here are their views on the most common pitfalls and how best to avoid them.

"My first recommendation would be not to buy clothes for other people," says style coach Emily Salsbury with a laugh. If you insist on buying clothes, keep it simple, she urges. "Go with a piece that's more generic, but higher quality; like if you're going to do a cardigan, do a cashmere cardigan."

Stay away from trends. Stick with timeless classics like luxurious scarves or, for men, beautiful ties.

"I think clothing, to be honest, is one of the hardest things to buy for other people," agrees personal shopper Judith McDonald. "If you're going to buy clothes for someone, you have to know that person well."

She's a big fan of quality fabrics like cashmere or silk, in colours your loved one normally wears.

"Buy something a little more luxurious than she would buy for herself," whether it's a sweater, a scarf or a beautifully tailored white blouse.

"If you're going to gift, gift up. Buy them something that they wouldn't buy for themselves."

The two biggest challenges in buying for others are fit and style, says Kim Hill, owner of Edmonton boutique Thread Hill.

"Sizing is so all over the map, even within the same label," she cautions, so stick with less fitted items like hoodies and sweaters. "Stay away from pants, definitely."

Another fit-related problem is the potential for insulting your gift recipient, adds Salsbury. "Do you buy a size 12 that will fit her or do you buy a size 6 to flatter her?" To avoid that land-mine, stick to an outer layer, like a jacket or sweater, rather than a T-shirt or jeans that are harder to fit right, she adds.

Better yet, go with accessories like scarves, handbags and jewelry. Find out where they like to shop and go there.

"You just have to know somebody's style. There's a lot of good choices out there, especially in local jewelry designers," says Hill.

The trick is to make sure you're choosing what the giftee would like, not just something that you, the gifter, likes.

High-end lingerie is always a good choice for men looking for a gift for their gal. So are quality leather gloves, or nice, warm slippers like Uggs, which McDonald says are on her own daughter's Christmas list.

Although many of us hate to give gift cards, people love to receive them, she says. "People think they're so impersonal, but they're not."

Salsbury says she loves getting gift cards. If you want to personalize them, add a nice scarf. "That's something that's easy, it's going to fit, but they can also go and explore the store themselves." If you're not sure about what store to choose, get a gift card from a mall honoured by any of the merchants, she adds.

Above all, make sure whatever you buy is returnable, and include a gift receipt, warn our experts. "And make sure that you tell them that you're comfortable with them returning it; you won't be insulted," says Salsbury. Every year, she buys her 22-year-old brother clothes. "I just tell him, 'I didn't make it. Don't feel bad if you don't like it. Take it back and buy something that you're going to wear 'cause I don't want my money going to waste.' "

While clothes are not the safest bet for gift-giving, the potential for greatness is always there. "I love receiving clothes as a gift," says Hill. "Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but as long as you can exchange them, they're great."

Monday, December 20, 2010

Supermodel Jerry Hall

Supermodel and 1970s' glamour icon Jerry Hall says it wasn’t her lush blond hair or endless legs that inspired her to become a model.

It was LSD.

It was a high school party in her home town of Mesquite, Tex., that gave her an epiphany.

"A boy gave me a quarter of a tab. I didn't know what it was!" she told Harper's Bazaar. "I locked myself in the bathroom and spent the whole night staring in the mirror, going, 'Oh, my God. ... All of a sudden, I thought, 'Wow!'"

This getting-to-know-herself experience inspired her to fly to Paris at age 16. 

And the rest is history. Her collaborations with Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, her status as a Studio 54 regular as well as her hot-and-heavy relationships with Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry and her tumultuous marriage to Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger became the stuff of rock 'n' roll and fashion legend.

Now, at age 54, Hall still loves fashion – especially the kind that emphasizes womanly figures.  She cites "Mad Men" as one of her favorite shows and Christina Hendricks as an hourglass inspiration.

"I am so glad curvy women have come back. All this size 0! A bit ridiculous," she told Harper's Bazaar. "There's something creepy about fashion shows. The models look like they're going to be tortured. They do this strange pony walk; their heels are so high, they can hardly walk. Creepy!"

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Key wardrobe items for women this spring 2011

A November 2010 trend forecast by Trendstop.com brings you an early prediction of the key pieces expected to influence women's wardrobes come spring 2011. From extreme footwear to novelty biker jackets, here are the top pieces you should snap up now to ensure you'll be fashionista-worthy in the new year.

Novelty Biker Jackets:  Classic biker jackets will be huge come spring, replacing the bevy of shearling aviator bombers  that were everywhere this past A/W 2010 season. While Moschino and Balmain stuck with conventional leather styles, updating them with a few modern details like zippers, studs, and safety pins, Burberry Prorsum presented a stylish snakeskin number while John Richmond threw convention out the window and showed a sleeveless number in a surprising shade of bold forest green.

Superfine Knits: Knits have always served as a practical seasonal transition piece and next season, you can expect to see tons of super-fine knits in sensual silhouettes. Preppy styles were abound at Clements Riberio while Jil Sander juxtaposed sheer and knit, simultaneously concealing and revealing models' torsos.

Minimalist Tanks: Minimalism has been a key trend in fashion ever since the start of the global recession. The aesthetic won't be going anywhere next spring, as designers continue to put out pieces with clean lines. Expect to see form-fitting tanks in soft leathers and buttery shades with simple necklines and little embellishment that will serve as easy yet stylish separates.

Minimalist Maxis: The maxi dress will be a huge fashion piece next season given both its versatility and comfort factor. Jil Sander and Sonia Rykiel showed maxi dresses that functioned as both day and evening-wear in bright sherbet hues while CNC Costume National showed an anonymous, voluminous shirt dress.

Bloomer Shorts:  Expect to see these retro babies in stores everywhere for spring. Bloomers, with their loose fit and exaggerated hips, convey a youthful non-chalance and will be the silhouette of the season. Shorts were shown in gingham, stripes, and white crochet. At Thakoon, they were paired with chic linen blazers.

Striped Bags: Contrasting loud wide stripes, both kitschy and nautical, will be found on a number of accessories for spring from clutches to over-sized totes. These statement pieces were shown on the runways for Moschino Cheap and Chic, Prada, Jil Sander, Proenza Schouler, Sonia Rykiel and Fendi.

Extreme Wedges: Summer sandals will be fashioned with extreme wedge heels next season. Fendi channeled the Seventies with their wood veneer and satin combinations, while Anne Valerie Hash and Barbara Bui showed elegant, neutral numbers, and Charles Anastase revealed a bold pair with exotic ostrich-skin detailing.

Wooden Heels: Like extreme wedges and minimalist maxis, wooden heels constitute another key trend for spring that gives a nod to the Seventies. Chunky wooden heels offset by neutral leather uppers or natural canvas uppers can be expected among the shoe offerings. Everyone from Donna Karan to Marni to Matthew Williamson showed variations of the 70s-era strappy wooden heeled shoes.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Gwyneth Paltrow is staying 'Country Strong' on all fronts

For Gwyneth Paltrow, acting can be an out-of-body experience.
Take, for instance, her first leading role in seven years — that of Kelly Canter, a country singer battling alcoholism in Country Strong.

The Oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love and mother of two "loved doing (the role)" but also calls it "wrenching."

She recalls shooting a scene in the film in which her character breaks down in a bathroom stall.

"You sort of see how unhinged she is. I sobbed in that scene for six hours. I went home, my kids (Apple, 6½, and Moses, 4½) were already asleep, and I was like a shell of a human being, wrung out to the bone," she says. "I took a hot bath and had a big glass of wine, and I began coming back into my body. Then I was like, 'Oh my God, how am I both these people at the same time?' In the morning, I was like" — she raises her voice excitedly— " 'Pancakes! Let's color something!' I thought, 'This is crazy.' I'm multiple personalities."

The role of a hardscrabble country princess battling addiction couldn't be more different from the serene and sunny Paltrow, 38, who radiates refinement. Kicking back after a lengthy day of press to promote the film, in select theaters Wednesday, Paltrow, ever the fashion icon, politely asks the waiter at an upscale Beverly Hills restaurant if she can take her shoes off. Her character would've simply tossed them aside.

"There's a part of me that relished playing her so much because there was no filter, no responsibility, total recklessness, and I am so the opposite," she says. "We approach things from such different places. Every decision I make, I take into account three people. Even a decision as small as where am I having dinner and what time. It was terribly freeing to play someone who just did what she wanted."

That's not to say Kelly doesn't have any heart. "Sometimes you play someone who's just dark, or they're just manipulative," Paltrow says. "But she was so human. You can see how much love and humanity she has. She's just off the rails a bit, and it's sad. (The addiction) was just bigger than her, and she just couldn't fight it off."

Director Shana Feste considered Paltrow the ideal person for the part because she would be playing against type.

"I was looking at this list of actresses, and I get to Gwyneth Paltrow's name, and I'm thinking, 'Now that feels like the most interesting, unexpected choice,' " Feste says. "I've been a fan for a long time, so I knew she had the chops to pull the role off. And some of my favorite performances are from actors that have nothing to do with their character."

Pitch-perfect

But could Paltrow sing? And better yet, croon country? (Alt-rock, maybe. Paltrow's husband, Chris Martin, fronts Coldplay.)

"I had heard her sing in Duets, and I knew she had a beautiful voice," Feste says. "But I didn't know how her voice lent itself to country music."

Not only did Paltrow's vocal ability impress Feste ("It's on par with all the country singers out there," she says), but Paltrow acquired a genuine love for the country genre.

"I'm so sick of irony and being cool and cynicism," she says. "In country, there's no irony, there's no cynicism. You better be true to what you are, to the bone, and sing from your heart without any faking and no cheesy lyrics about thongs or private planes."

Now Paltrow sings with her own kids, even if their musical choices are questionable.

"My kids are really into pop music, and it's crazy," she says. "They're singing like, 'Throw my hands up in the club,' and I'm like, 'You're 4, OK?' "

Paltrow jokes easily, whether about being a mom or the acting life.

"She's very funny and giving and open," says Country Strong co-star Leighton Meester. "She's always very kind. She's cool, but it goes beyond the fact that she's a talented actress, singer, style icon, wife, mother, chef, all these things.

"To not take yourself too seriously and just have a great sense of humor is very winning. "

When it comes to being a mother, Paltrow is passionate, but also pragmatic and prioritized.

"You know what I've learned? You can't have everything," she says. "You can't be a No. 1 movie star and have a good relationship with your kids and marriage. That's not going to happen."

Aside from a recurring role in the Iron Man series as Pepper Potts and a recent stint as a substitute teacher who sings on Fox's Glee, Paltrow has largely stayed out of the spotlight since daughter Apple's birth.

"That was the right choice for me. I'll never regret it," she says. "If anything, I still feel like my son's a little young for me to be traveling. They say until they're 7, they're still forming and really need you there. Their stability and routine is what's important. You can see when they don't have it, if we're traveling and they get out of sorts or we don't have a plan. They're like, 'Which way is up?' " Paltrow tries to keep things consistent for her kids when they travel as a family, "like morning and evening routines."

When the Country Strong part required shooting in Nashville, Paltrow was forced to choose between her children and immersing herself in her character. "It was such a hard part, and I thought, 'Oh, how am I going to do this?' " Paltrow says. " 'I can't bring my kids for the whole time. I'll never be able to understand this character.' "

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Designer apparel on parade

GERMAN leather brandname Braun Buffel lives up to its tagline of being “a brand true to its time” with its Autumn/Winter 2010 collection which was showcased in a gala runway show at the Queensbay Mall in Penang.

Over 40 lifestyle-inspired pieces including handbags, briefcases, purses, wallets, sunglasses and accessories — were paraded by models to an excited crowd over four rounds at the hour-long showcase.

The pieces were from the Norin, Schnitt, Renew & Wella, Lapel, Cruddy & Floret, Simply and Exotica ranges.

Bags for all occasions: Models showing off the latest pieces from Braun Buffel's Autumn/Winter Collection 2010 during the runway show at Queensbay Mall in Penang.
In line with the concept of For All Life’s Moments, each item is designed to complement the social lifestyle of young urban professionals whether enjoying the fine life of wining and dining, or simply partaking in casual friendships and bonding moments.

According to Sunny Lee, general manager of Lianbee-Jeco (M) Sdn Bhd, the exclusive brand representative in the Asia Pacific region, some customers had already placed pre-orders for pieces from the latest collection even before they were launched.

“Braun Buffel is well known for its fine quality and workmanship, and that’s what keeps customers coming back to us,” he said.

The show also coincided with the Queensbay outlet’s D’Guild Members Exclusive sale, which offered customers additional discounts on a special selection of products during a two-hour period.

Lee added that the latest collection is now available at all Braun Buffel outlets nationwide.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Shiseido to enter Panama in 2011

Shiseido announced on Tuesday that starting January 2011, it will commence sales of its prestige skincare and makeup lines in Panama. It will be the first market entry of a Japanese premium cosmetics company in the Latin American country.

Latin America is quickly emerging as the most attractive beauty market, beating North America, Western Europe and Japan. While global beauty sales are expected to gain 12% through 2014, Latin American sales are predicted to surge ahead by 22%, according to the London-based research firm Euromonitor International. Brazil remains the number one beauty market in the region, with Peru and Colombia close behind.

Panama will be the fourth country in Latin America where Shiseido is present - the others being Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. The beauty brand said it decided to invest in Panama given the country's stable economic growth since 2004, excluding the global recession in 2009. Shiseido sales will be handled in Panama by the WISA Group, a leading Colombian distributor for prestige cosmetics product sales in Latin America. Sales will initially be launched in five high-end speciality stores, with no stand-alone boutiques planned at this time.

Shiseido Company Limited is one of the major Japanese hair care and cosmetics producers. It is the oldest cosmetics company in the world and the fourth largest cosmetics company in the world, selling skincare, makeup, suncare, body care, fragrance and men's cosmetics products.

The decision by Shiseido to enter Panama in 2011 makes sense. Latin America is expected to be the second highest contributor to the global growth in beauty and personal care sales between 2009 and 2014, according to trade publication GCI. Growth in Latin America will be driven primarily by fragrances, skin care, hair care and color cosmetics. The leading player in Latin America is Procter & Gamble, followed by Unilever and Avon.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Where to Get Your Nail Art On in New York

Nail art is tacky, gaudy, and absolutely fabulous. Even if you're not one of Gaga's little monsters, it's a really fun way to add some sass to your otherwise boring claws. Hate it or love it, the craze is still going strong, with everyone from celebrities to trendsetters running to their nearest salon to get bedazzled or Minx-ed up. But not all salons offer this service, leaving you to buy those half-assed DIY versions from the drugstore which almost always turn out sloppy. Whether you're a skeptic looking to test the trend or a fan in dire need of some new spirit fingers, here are a few salons from NYC to LDN that get the seal of approval.

New York
Valley
198 Elizabeth St
New York, NY 10012
Mon-Sat 12pm-7:30pm; Sun 12pm-6pm

Jin Soon
56 E 4th St
New York, NY 10003
Mon-Sat 11am-8pm; Sun 11am-7pm

Primp and Polish
189 Grand St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Mon-Thu, Sun 10am-8pm; Fri-Sat 10am-9pm

 

Monday, December 13, 2010

Portland Garment Factory caters to independent fashion designers

Like women everywhere, but particularly in their chosen industry of fashion, Rosemary Robinson and Britt Howard can be coy about their ages.

The accomplished co-owners of the city's hippest cut-and-sew salon, the Portland Garment Factory in Southeast Portland, aren't sure they want customers to know how young they really are.

Twentysomethings they may be, but they're taken quite seriously in a sector that's been on the rise in Portland during the past decade or so.

Long known for fleece and sneakers, the metro area has produced three winners in eight seasons of "Project Runway," the reality TV competition that's the nation's highest-profile mass showcase for emerging designers.

There's also a growing core of independent designers here, many devoted to the city's eco-hip ethos, who need help with all aspects of production -- pattern drafting, size grading, sample construction and sewing final garments -- to meet demand for their creations, whether in local stores or online outlets.

Enter Howard, Robinson and their humming new Montavilla warehouse space, the third location for a business that's been bursting its own seams since it began a little more than two years ago.

It was Howard who started the business in 2008. A mother at 17, who has worked both as a model and an Oregon Zoo researcher, Howard had been hand-sewing chic little outfits for her second child and getting inquiries from boutique owners about selling her designs.

Stores, of course, want to carry multiple sizes of different styles, and Howard was thrown by the time commitment for such production. She hoped to find some help, someone with an interest in design and a reverence for her garments, and most of all, someone local, instead of in Los Angeles, New York or China, where so much clothing is made. She asked friends in fashion, but it didn't take long to determine she'd found a niche to fill.

A Belmont beginning
 
So the self-taught sewer opened a tiny storefront on Southeast Belmont Street, and, at least in the beginning, did most of the sewing herself. Still nursing her baby girl, she rifled through books when she needed to learn a technique, and to drum up business worked her connections in the creative community as a sometimes model married to a musician.

By 2009, Howard had enough clients to move up to a space nearer to her home in revitalizing Montavilla, where rent is still cheap but cool new storefronts pop up all the time. More importantly, it's close to the heart of Portland's Vietnamese community, where Howard found skilled sewers.

Robinson, a San Francisco State University graduate experienced in pattern cutting, walked into the Belmont location as a potential client, took one look at the operation and figured out two things: It was a great idea, and Howard needed help. A few months later, they were business partners, later launching First Friday gallery and fashion display events in their storefront, the forerunner to the now-rollicking and regular First Friday celebrations on Montavilla's Southeast Stark Street main drag.

Kate Towers, who opened Seaplane, an influential, early adopter boutique that was one of the first citywide to showcase locally owned designers, says Portland Garment Factory is "something that the city was really missing. I like that it has the term factory, but it is really much more of a grass-roots place, just like everything else here. Suddenly, there are all these people here that are making clothing, and this is still keeping it local."
 
Employees and interns
 
These days, settled into a hangar-like space that has been a mechanics shop and woodworkers studio, Howard and Robinson have six employees and a cadre of interns. They offer everything from fit sessions and initial pattern-and-sample making to design consultation and production of entire lines of clothing, as well as fabric goods like slippers, pillows and baby slings. They're size-blind, accepting jobs as small as 10 pieces, and working with some of Portland's bigger fashion names, including Project Runway winners Leanne Marshall and Gretchen Jones.

Commissions from outside the area have been growing. Florida-based A-Bird, a spendy, trendy baby/toddler line, has placed orders for hundreds of pieces, and the Seattle fine-dining restaurant Canlis placed an order for custom jackets for its women servers.

Profits go back into the business -- Howard and Robinson recently swallowed hard and wrote a check for more than $3,000 for equipment, including machines that can sew leather -- and they've only recently quit second jobs waiting tables. But they've got no debt, though not for lack of trying -- "No bank would give us a loan," Howard laughs. Plans call for sourcing fabrics for clients and representing designers to boutique owners.

Howard and Robinson know they'll never be as cheap as having clothes made in China, because labor costs will always be higher here, they say. But local designers say the quality control, and chance to keep production logistics simple and local, are worth the cost.

Barbara Seipp, who owns Phlox boutique on Mississippi Avenue, had been frustrated by the lack of care put into garments made for her own line, sold at her store. Then she started working with Portland Garment Factory.

"We struggle because Portland doesn't have the same resources for fabric shopping, production, promotion," she said. "So for them to be here is amazing. These guys are realistic about what we need, and their prices are reasonable for locally made small volumes."

 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Hosiery makers aim to give stockings a leg up

Horrified at the trend for young women to wear trouser suits to the office, leggings or - even worse - go bare-legged, a group of Japanese hosiery manufacturers has banded together to make stockings chic again.

A women-only fashion show was held on the fringes of the recent "Love and Eros" film festival, in the city of Kobe, with mini-skirted models showing off the designs of three of Japan's largest hosiery makers. 

"In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the variety of women's leg wear, ranging from pantyhose to leggings, leg warmers and shorter sock-type stockings that Japanese women now have a huge choice when it comes to fashionable leg-wear," Megumi Suzuki, a spokeswoman for Tokyo-based Fukusuke Corp., told Relaxnews. 

"Because Japanese women have the biggest choice in the world, this means that sales of pantyhose have gone down," she said.

"In the past, the fashion for professional women was very conservative, but that trend is changing and it is common for women to wear business suits or even what would be considered casual wear to the office," Suzuki added. 

According to the Japan Socks and Stockings Association, production of pantyhose hit a peak of 1 billion units in 1988. In 2009, however, that figure had collapsed to a mere 127 million pairs.

And as well as the vaguaries of fashion, manufacturers have been hurt by their own high standards of quality, with modern tights far less likely to run than their predecessors. 

Fukusuke Corp. pioneered the stocking fashion show at last year's film festival, but invited two other companies, Atsugi Co. and Gunze Ltd., to display their wares this year. 

"We wanted the fashion event to show off our stockings because it seems that fewer women like wearing them at the moment," said Gunze spokesman Tatsuya Ban. "We hope to be able to reverse that way of thinking."

Friday, December 10, 2010

Powder puff' snood wearers get it in the neck from Ferguson

Alex Ferguson has gone for the jugular this week, banning his players from wearing warming neckwear, despite the recent plunge in temperature.

Scarf-like appendages are cosseting the chilly necks of dozens of Premiership players, including Manchester City's Carlos Tevez, whose snood bears his club's initials , and Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboué, left.

"You won't see a Man Utd player wearing a snood," Rio Ferdinand tweeted on Thursday, after Ferguson apparently instigated his ban and called snood wearers "cissies" and "powder puffs".

England cricketer Graeme Swann piled in from balmy Australia, writing smugly on his Twitter account: "I wonder what Norman Hunter and Chopper Harris would've made of [footballers wearing snoods]."

Hunter and Harris may have been too hard for neckwear but what they and Ferguson perhaps don't appreciate is that the men's snood is enjoying a renaissance, frequently draping the chests of pop stars such as JLS and teen sensation Justin Bieber.

For those who don't know, a snood in its fullest form is a scarf-cum-hood. It is a descendant of the Anglo-Saxon cowl, as modelled to great effect by the likes of Robin Hood and Richard the Lionheart – so the footballers are in great company.

The archetypal snood wearer is perhaps Eighties pop singer Nik Kershaw, who teamed his with fingerless gloves and was, arguably, also not a "real man" when judged by Alex Ferguson's exacting standards. The snood is effectively the only piece of clothing to have waited almost 800 years to make its fashionable comeback.

But the article that Sir Alex Ferguson has banned is not a snood as such. For one thing, they are too small to unfurl into a true hood, and for another, they don't have the volume of a traditional snood; they are mere circlets of fabric designed to keep the wind off your Adam's apple.

Perhaps if Manchester United players began wearing the real deal, as modelled by Nik Kershaw and Justin Bieber, their manly manager and his name-calling captain might have relented and realised how flattering a length of draped wool can be as a means of framing a rosy-cheeked wintry face.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Vera Wang to launch beauty line

Bridal wear designer Vera Wang has announced that she will launch a mass market cosmetics line, which is slated for release by spring 2012.

Wang's new line will include makeup, skincare, and bath and body products, and will be available exclusively at Kohl's stores in the US and at kohls.com (US shipping only). The value-oriented American chain department store has been carrying the designer's Simply Vera Vera Wang merchandise, comprising women's apparel, intimates, sleepwear, handbags, jewelry, footwear, bedding and bath, since 2007.

This will be Wang's first foray into the cosmetics business though she has previously rolled out fragrances for department store distribution. The scents, which include her Vera Wang Signature fragrance, Vera Wang Princess, Rock Princess and Flower Princess scents, have sold extremely well and Wang is launching yet another fragrance due summer 2011 for which Gossip Girl celeb Leighton Meester will serve as the new face.

Wang has been gradually repositioning herself as an affordable, mass market label. As of this past November, she ceased designing bridesmaid dresses under her own luxury label. Beginning in June 2011, the company will only design and manufacture bridesmaid dresses, ranging from $150-$200 (€113-€151), under her new label White by Vera Wang (to be carried exclusively by the US bridal wear apparel chain David's Bridal).

Another high-end bridal wear label to have recently made the leap into cosmetics is Marchesa. Designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig teamed up with the makeup line Le Métier de Beauté to create an elegant Fall 2010 makeup collection comprising lip glosses, highlighting powder, concealer and pressed powder, which hit the shelves at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman in New York this past September.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Hermes Boosts LVMH Defense With New Holding Company

Hermes International SCA’s family shareholders sought to bolster their defense against a possible takeover by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA by setting up a holding company for more than 50 percent of the share capital.

The proposed company will have first right of refusal on the remaining shares held directly by the family, Hermes said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. The family “have reaffirmed their unity and their confidence in the solidity of their current control of Hermes.” The commitment to create the majority holding is “irrevocable.”

“It’s an intelligent move,” Luca Solca, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said today in a phone interview. “At this stage, the likelihood that LVMH will be able to get a majority stake is significantly reduced.”

Hermes, the maker of Kelly handbags that retail for about 7,000 euros ($9,375), has said that the three branches of its founding family are “fully united” in their desire to retain control of the 173-year-old company after LVMH announced in October it had acquired a 17.1 percent stake via equity swaps and would consider buying more.

Hermes’s family shareholders, who own more than 70 percent of the bagmaker, need a mechanism to allow them to sell without LVMH swooping on the stock, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday. Family members sold an average 0.5 percent of the shares annually over the last decade, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks were private.

Advisers

A family shareholder sold a stake of more than 1 percent in Hermes last week, Le Monde reported today, without identifying the seller or buyer or where it got the information. Christel Denef, a spokeswoman for Hermes, did not immediately return calls and an e-mail seeking comment.

The proposed structure may not deter LVMH from trying to buy more shares and the world’s largest luxury-goods maker may bide its time, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.

Hermes hired BNP Paribas SA and Bank of America Corp. as advisers last month to help fend off a possible LVMH takeover bid. LVMH, which has said it doesn’t intend to seek a board seat or control, can’t make an offer for all of Hermes until at least April 23, according to French regulations.

Hermes fell 75 cents, or 0.5 percent, to 149.80 euros in Paris trading today. The stock has surged 61 percent this year, boosting the company’s market value to 15.8 billion euros. About 10 percent of Hermes shares are freely traded, exacerbating any movement in the stock.

‘Speculative Pillar’

Hermes shares will likely fall further “because the speculative pillar is completely removed from the multiple,” Solca said. Investors, who were wagering that LVMH might make a bid for company, “will be discouraged and will probably seek to liquidate their position.”

LVMH stock was little changed in Paris and has gained 55 percent this year, valuing the company at 59.5 billion euros. Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault has built his company into the world’s largest luxury-goods company by snapping up brands from Donna Karan International Inc. to Glenmorangie Plc.

He bought a 5 percent stake in Gucci Group in 1999, saying LVMH didn’t intend to make a full bid, then increased the holding to 34 percent within a month. Arnault, ranked seventh on the Forbes magazine list of the world’s richest people, eventually lost a battle for Gucci to French rival PPR SA.

Acting in Concert?

The setting up of the proposed holding company rests on getting a “definitive waiver,” immune from any appeal, from the French stock market regulator on having to tender a public offer for Hermes, the family said today in a separate statement.

The French stock market regulator, Autorite des Marches Financiers, can’t comment on whether it has already received a request to review the company, said a spokeswoman at the agency who declined to give her name, citing agency policy. Olivier Labesse, a spokesman for LVMH, declined to comment.

A formal alignment of the relatives’ shares means they would be acting in concert under AMF rules, obliging them to make a bid for the rest of the stock, Colette Neuville, president of minority shareholder group Adam, said on Dec. 3, before the holding company was announced.

Lawyers advising Hermes on the possible structures available for the family to barricade their stake disputed Neuville’s reading of the rules, she said. The lawyers took the view that Hermes’s SCA status means the family already controls the company and that any new structure to emerge from the Dec. 3 meeting would warrant a simple “reclassification” to the AMF of their existing position, she said.

 

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The show where everyone wants to be the face in the crowd

You could be forgiven for thinking that the 150,000 girls (and a few parents and boyfriends) who will visit Birmingham's NEC for the Clothes Show Live this week were there for the fashion.

While once they might have come for the miles of stands dedicated to clothes and beauty products, increasingly they flock to to the Midlands to follow their dream of being plucked from obscurity to the catwalk.

"A lot of visitors of a certain age come because they want to be spotted," says Gavin Brown, managing director of Clothes Show Live.

"This has become the UK's premier event for scouting, some come hoping to be discovered as the next Cat Deeley or Vernon Kay, both of whom were spotted here."

The firm that spotted those models-turned-stalwarts-of-Saturday-night-telly, Select Models, has been the official agency of the event for the past 15 years and have become an increasingly important part of the event. Two years ago, providing evidence that dreams can come true, they found Nina Porter, a schoolgirl from North London, who has since become the face of Burberry.

The Clothes Show Live started in 1989, as a spin-off from the now defunct TV programme presented by Jeff Banks and since then has welcomed an estimated 3.5 million fashion lovers through the doors and into the vast NEC in Birmingham.

In the new age of reality TV, fast fashion and spiralling ambitions among young people, it provides an outlet for those who want not only to have their unfulfilled talents discovered – but also their faces noticed.

At the Select stand on Sunday afternoon, a growing group of wannabes, showing nerves in varying degrees, hovers around the stand. One girl walks slowly back and forth, pausing each time she passes as though she is looking for something.

After her third, solitary catwalk, she wanders off. Minutes later an eager mother approaches with her rosy-cheeked daughter, keen that her her beauty be recognised. Both are (politely) sent away.

Throughout the day the agency organises shows with some of the models on their books and presentations from staff on a small stage in the main room. After the live show, things get worse, with at least a hundred girls converging at the stand.

Soon weary staff use a megaphone to disperse the crowd, reminding them they have to be approached, rather than approach the stand to make it as a model. Of course most girls will walk away disappointed. The agency is aware that the fashion industry has an arguably unfair reputation as cold and exclusive – and does what it can to let down girls gently. "The ones that want to be spotted gravitate towards the stand," says Susannah Hooker Head of New Faces at Select. "Some come year after year, hoping to be spotted, even though they never will. You have to be extremely tactful. At the end of the day, these are young girls."

The company's scouts patrol the floor of the venue from 9am to 6.30pm every day of the show. Girls that are seen to have potential are approached, given a card and asked, if interested, to visit the stall. There, they are photographed and have their height measured (you have to be or have the potential to be 5'9") and fill in a form with their and, if under 18, their parents' details.

"They might be sitting on the floor with friends; they might be in the queue for the toilet," says Hooker.

"If they're coming out of the fashion theatre you can have 4,000 girls streaming towards you and you might just have a split second there and then to decide whether they are right."

Testing to see whether I have what it takes to make it as a scout, I point out a tall, bright-eyed, blonde girl, who, to my untrained eye at least, looks a bit like a young Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley.

Susannah is only half-impressed. "She might be scouted by someone else, but we're looking to innovate and find new looks," she says. "It's very rare that we go for the classic prettiest-girl-in-school type.

"A lot of our new faces have quirky, different looks. In fact a lot of models have been bullied at school for being different looking."

At 4pm each day Select puts on a catwalk show with 10 of the prospective models they have spotted in the crowd that day. Some step nervously along the runway; others give away the tell-tale signs of having practised in their bedrooms.

What's striking is just how young they seem. One twelve-year-old (who is keen to add she's "going on thirteen") comes off the stage. She had been spotted performing with her dance group and approached by a scout. "I've always wanted to be a model," she says, confidently. "And my parents have always wanted me to be one as well."

Like many agencies now, Select is strict about how it manages the youngest recruits.

"Although we do start working with some at 12 or 13, most of them won't work until they're older," she says. "We like to keep an eye on them; meet them and their parents every six months or so and take their picture again."

Also here is Rosie Tapner, 15, who looks like she's enjoying herself as she gets the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

Rosie's part of a 400-strong group from Downe House school near Newbury in Berkshire, which describes itself as "one of the country's leading boarding schools" and has organised a school trip to the event.

And it's clear to see that for some the possibility of being thrust from normality to what is seen as the glamorous world of fashion is a thrill.

Rebecca Porter, 17, from Leicester was spotted after coming to the show with her parents Julie and Andy. The family seem nice, normal – a world away from the the pushy-parent stereotype – and seem genuinely surprised to be approached.

"She just came to get a signed book from Gok Wan," she says.

"Obviously we have always thought she was very pretty, but we'd never thought about modelling, but it's made her day."

Monday, December 6, 2010

Scarves, Shawls And Accessories

Well to speak of enhancing an outfit there’s nothing quite like the scarf which makes a dull and boring outfit come alive with the right blend of colors to match!

Scarves are something which enhances the fashion statement of just any plain outfit can be worn with a little bit of imagination going wild.

There are various options already available like head scarves, neck scarves, motorcycle scarves, aviator scarves, and what have you, with fabrics ranging from velvet to silk to cashmere. Scarves can be used for an evening look to go into a formal meeting with the neck covered in the nice soft accessory or to cover the head to cover the hair on a considerably bad hair day. Shawls too, can make a splash with the wide range of excellent designs, colors and prints available, thereby making one look just right for any formal occasion by simply draping it stylishly.

Pins and brooches are also some of the best of accessories that can make any outfit look like a million dollars if worn with the right choice like diamond studded brooches for silver, black or any dark colored outfit, while pearl studded would be great with whites, peaches or all pastels etc.

Well one can get as creative as ever and these can also be innovated to be used as clip-on’s or just as an added attraction to take the attention away from some faux pas in outfits too. So come on, invest in some scarves, shawls and brooches to add some class to your outfit!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Some of our greatest artists have switched to working with diamonds and gold

If you can't afford a fabulous masterpiece on your wall, at least you can wear one. How about an Antony Gormley necklace? A Dinos Chapman choker? Or a Sam Taylor-Wood ring? Costing £10,000, the 18-carat white-gold diamond piece has a hollow in the top to catch your tears and comes with a presentation box containing five vials in which to decant these tears. More lavish still, how about a Picasso necklace with a gold faun's head, at a cost of £85,000?

You may chuckle, but artists' jewellery can turn you into a walking work of art. And if you don't fancy putting on your wearable sculpture one day, you can always plonk it on your coffee table and enjoy it as a miniature work of art in itself. Anish Kapoor has designed a special-edition ring for Bulgari's B.Zero1 collection. Made of reflective steel set between two pink-gold rims, it's a bite-sized version of the Turner Prize-winning sculptor's most famous concave works – and at £630, far more affordable. Yinka Shonibare, too, has branched out into jewellery, offering fans of his ship-in-a-bottle on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth a chance to wear it around their neck in a pendant. But is the trend for artists designing jewellery merely gold digging? Or is it worth its weight in gold?

The British sculptor Anthony Caro has just unveiled his second jewellery collection at the New Art Centre in Salisbury, the delicate dangling earrings and finely wrought pendants a far cry from his monumental steel sculptures, including Millbank Steps, standing in the grounds outside. Caro, like many other artists, came to designing jewellery later in his career, attracted by the challenge of showcasing his artistic principles on a miniature scale. Each item of his jewellery is unique, made for Grassy jewellers in Madrid, and is marked in gold plate with his signature (AC). Prices start at £13,000.

"I enjoyed the challenge of what for me is tiny scale," Caro tells me. "It was intense work. I approached the process from a sculptor's point of view – not a jeweller's. I started with the piece itself and then saw where it would work as jewellery. I used materials I had in the studio and the piece was then fabricated in Madrid in either gold or silver." When he embarked on the first collection in 2006, he feared he lacked the patience needed for such fiddly work.

While Caro creates one-off pieces of jewellery and treats them as works of art, are some contemporary artists merely cashing in – like pop stars with trashy perfume lines – or is this a true representation of their work? And who buys it?

Louisa Guinness is the leading dealer of contemporary artists' jewellery in the UK, from her gallery on London's Cork Street. She first approached Kapoor, Gormley, Taylor-Wood and Gavin Turk in 2003, and commissioned them to make some pieces. This was, she says, "the beginning of a new era". "I was already collecting and selling jewellery by Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso. But nobody was making anything new. That's what I tried to change," says Guinness. "When I approached the artists they were enthusiastic. For them, it is just another medium to express themselves."

Her collection includes Turk's earrings with jewels that look like pearls, but are actually moulded out of masticated chewing gum, priced at £3,000. Marc Quinn's diamond pendant, Frozen Strawberry, is more garish – and more expensive, at £28,000. But then it did involve removing every single pip from a real strawberry, counting them and replacing them with 561 diamonds. She also has some new Kapoor works, priced from £4,000 to £20,000, including his hollowed-out Water Earrings, Water Cufflinks and Water Rings, sold in limited editions of 10 or 100 and costing about £10,000. "The questions that Kapoor poses about space and form in his large-scale sculptures are also evident in his miniaturised gold and enamel rings," says Guinness.

How is the jewellery made? The artists first come up with the concept, then Guinness takes it to a goldsmith and interprets it for them. "You can't just scale down existing works – that's where I help. I show them the prototypes and they do the tweaking," she says.

Guinness's current group show includes work by Shonibare and a one-off Damien Hirst silver pill bracelet. "95 per cent of the people we are selling to are art collectors," says Guinness. "This is like buying a mini sculpture to wear."

It's not just for women, either: men particularly like Tim Noble and Sue Webster's Fucking Beautiful necklace. "I only make jewellery that I would actually wear myself and most of the designs are based around some of the bigger artworks we have made," says Webster. "For instance, the Fucking Beautiful necklace and bracelet was based on a very successful neon work using my own script that was translated into individual handmade letters then cast in both white and yellow gold. I wanted the jewellery to look quite dangerous to wear. As I'm not used to adorning my body in expensive jewels, afraid that I might lose it, I opted to have Fucking Beautiful tattooed around my wrist instead."

Sales of jewellery by postwar artists is also big business. Didier Haspeslagh first started dealing in the 1980s and launched a gallery on Kensington Church Street in 2005 with his wife, Martine, to specialise in jewellery by master painters and sculptors such as Picasso, Georges Braque, Man Ray, Lucio Fontana, Salvador Dali and Roy Lichtenstein. "A famous artist's jewellery is instantly recognisable, like a Burberry coat," says Haspeslagh. "Big jewellery can hide bad surgery or a sagging neck. Most of our clients are 40 to 60-year-old, wealthy, cultured women."

But will you have to re-mortgage your property to buy it? Lichtenstein's 1968 metal and enamel pendant/ brooch Modern Head, complete with his iconic Ben-Day dots, costs £8,500. Meanwhile, Dali's Eye of Time brooch, made by the artist in 1946 as payment for his bill at the St Regis Hotel, New York, recently sold for £20,000. Further up the scale, Man Ray's La Jolie necklace, with its profile of a woman's face made in pure 24-carat gold, set with a cabochon lapis lazuli eye, costs £100,000. Originally designed by Man Ray in 1961, it was executed by his close friend, the Milanese jeweller GianCarlo Montebello, in 1971, in a limited edition of 12.

And the market remains buoyant around pieces by the sculptor Alexander Calder; one of his gold necklaces recently reached $500,000 in a private sale in New York. Calder was unusual, says Guinness, for hammering out 1,800 pieces of jewellery with his own bare hand. Most artists employ a goldsmith.

The time to buy jewellery by artists is now, according to Joanna Hardy, former head of the jewellery department at Sotheby's, who now runs masterclasses at her own Jewellery School of Excellence, for connoisseurs. "In today's climate, people are more discerning with money. You can still collect an artist, but artists' jewellery costs a lot less," she says.

"The perfect formula is for an artist to enlist the help of a goldsmith. It's very clever to do something so small that is instantly recognisable and then have it beautifully made."

Newer jewellery by contemporary artists is only just beginning to trickle on to the art market. "People just haven't had our jewellery long enough to want to sell it. You only tend to sell jewellery through death, divorce or bankruptcy and it hasn't been around for that long. People don't buy it to sell it later, they buy it to wear it," says Guinness.

Bonhams December sale catalogue has dedicated a whole page to Kapoor's limited edition 2007 Water Ring, made of 22-carat yellow gold. It comes with an estimate of £6,000 to £8,000. "It shows that the art market is recognising these pieces as important works. This is the start of things to come," says Guinness. "In time they will appear on the art market. It is a good investment as long as they remain one-offs or limited editions. If they become one of millions – then obviously not."

Friday, December 3, 2010

Second Glance never second rate

Is that my necklace?” Jessica Kneisel asked good-naturedly by way of greeting to her mother, Nancy Kneisel, on a recent afternoon at Second Glance.

The two women share a lot of things, including their love of fashion and good deals at two successful downtown shops.

“We get to come to work and play in a big closet every day … we do something fun and we win awards,” said Nancy Kneisel. “How many people get to say that?”

Nancy was a finalist in the micro category for this year’s Excellence in Family Business Award, presented by Oregon State University’s Austin Family Business Program. In addition, she was given the Robert C. Ingalls Business Person of the Year award at this year’s Celebrate Corvallis awards ceremony and November’s Orange Spotlight Award by the Oregon State University Powered by Orange campaign.

Nancy has run Second Glance, located at 312 S.W. Third St., for 26 years. In 2008, she added The Second Glance Annex around the corner at 214 S.W. Jefferson Ave., where her 29-year-old daughter, Jessica, manages a  store focused on younger trends.

The original store is a bit more classic, but no less fun with Nancy in constant motion greeting customers, setting up dressing rooms and working the front counter to take in new apparel for consignment. On special days, the shop might offer shoppers a taste of champagne or cupcakes. In addition to Nancy, there are eight employees and several seasonal workers.

Both stores focus on resale of recent fashions.

“When the economy was tanking, I think a lot of people became a lot more conscious about how they were spending their money,” Jessica said. “You’re not walking into a thrift store; you’re not walking in and getting the cast-offs from 50 years ago; you’re walking in and you’re getting items that were well-loved from the last two years.”

Added Nancy: “It’s like a treasure every day. You never know what’s going to come in. Everything has been cherry-picked and I know that the value that I’m presenting is a really good value, so I make no apologies because I have thought about it from every angle.”

Nancy and her husband both graduated from Oregon State University in 1976. He went on to get a master’s degree in nuclear engineering.

Nancy earned a general science degree in history, English and art. Afterward, when the couple married and moved to Alaska, she started taking small business classes. But her real teacher has been experience.

“When I started Second Glance it was really truly learn as you go,” she said.

Nancy’s two daughters grew up around the store, but had their first jobs at the Dairy Queen across the street.

Jessica got her degree in fashion merchandising at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, and interned at a high-end consignment store in New Orleans and at Nordstrom’s before deciding to return to Corvallis and join her mother in business.

They originally looked at placing the Annex in Portland, Wilsonville and Salem before finding the ideal location just a few blocks away in downtown Corvallis.

“That place literally fell in my lap,” Nancy said. “I don’t think I anticipated that it was going to be that popular. It really stunned me the number of people that found her store first.”

“We’ve got a lot of walk-by traffic,” Jessica said.

Right now, the Kneisels are in the process of rebranding the shops with a new logo and website.

“In all businesses, you need to keep yourself fresh,” Nancy said. “The creative part of this business, you can’t beat it, it is just too dang much fun.”

Their goal is to have five new shops in five years. The next location will likely be for menswear in Corvallis, and the rest will be in other cities around Oregon.