Only available one season a year, Italian knitwear designer aleXsandro Palombo created a collection called ‘knit atelier no season’, which is available now. Made in a workshop following the same processes as for haute couture, Palombo dedicates craftsmanship to each model creating a high-end clothing piece. Palombo has had several years of experience in the fashion world and is a valued interpreter of luxury knitwear. Throughout the years he designed pieces for artists, international celebrities including the American rock star Sheryl Crow amongst others.

“The aim was to create the first ‘knit atelier no season’ the world’sfirst haute couture collection in the field of knitwear”, said aleXsandro Palombo. The new label is targeted to high-end markets and clients looking for the luxury of stylistic originality and aesthetic taste.

aleXsandro Palombo is a multicultural creative designer born in Salento, in southern Italy in 1973. In 1991 he moved to Milan where he studied at the Marangoni fashion school and subsequently worked as a freelance creator as well as illustrator consultant for the most prominent fashion houses in Milan, Paris and Hong Kong. In 1998 aleXsandro Palombo launched his fashion label.

L’Arsoie, a prestigious French company founded in 1920, has linked its historical brand Cervin Paris to the Italian designer creating a collection of haute couture tights, ‘aleXsandro Palombo by Cervin Paris’.

Image: aleXsandro Palombo

Click Here: France Rugby Shop

Shoppers prefer to spend online in the run up to Christmas, with a 26% surge in November sales proving to be the highest of the year. Online retailers defy the recession as sales grow by 16% year on year and sees shoppers splurge on clothing, footwear and accessories as they prepare for the festive season.

Figures released from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index yesterday show that growth in online spending for November surged 26% on October. Despite difficult conditions, shoppers appear to be attempting to beat the recession in the run up to Christmas by heading online, with online retailers continuing to fare better than their high street equivalents.

In November, for the first time this year, every sector tracked by the index saw positive monthly and yearly growth. In particular, sales of shoes and accessories grew ahead of the Christmas party season, by 32% and 108% respectively. But the growth in sales of clothes (18%) failed to match this, demonstrating that shoppers may be updating old looks in favour of splashing out on a new wardrobe.

Mike Petevinos, Head of Consulting for Retail at Capgemini UK, said: “The Christmas spirit is with us, but it seems clear that shoppers are being more considered than ever in making their generosity fit their budgets. The current climate is causing consumers to turn to the internet to help them make more informed value decisions and purchases.”

Paul Frantz, Industry Head-Retail Google UK, added: “For e-commerce marketers, keeping pace with the demands and interests of their customers presents a real opportunity to develop their competitive edge and invest in long term growth and profits in the most cost- effective way possible. The downturn in the economy is the first in the digital age and it is far from clear exactly how deep or lasting it will be. What is evident though, is that there is no slowdown in consumers’ adoption of e-commerce. The UK is Europe’s largest online market with residents already averaging 33 hours per month online. Search behaviour has also been impacted, with the search term “discount vouchers”, for instance, rising 94% in the last 30 days according to Google Insights .Online technology now offers a clear and unambiguous measurement of every pound, dollar or euro spent online. Businesses looking to react fast to current search trends or convert website visitors into buyers have powerful free tools at their finger tips like Google Analytics, Website Optimiser and Insights for Search.”

Image: Online shopping

Covering eight sales formats including Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Bershka, fashion distributor Inditex announced its net sales rose to a total of 2,338 million Euros in the first quarter of 2009. The net income of the company, which opened 95 new stores in 1Q, reached 184 million Euros. Inditex’ total number of stores now comes to 4,359 in 73 countries.

In comparison to the same period a year earlier, the net sales went up with 5%, and 8% in local currencies. Albeit the net income reached 184 million euros in the first quarter, it was 16% less than in the same period of 2008. Gross profit rose 4% to 1,331 million Euros, resulting in a gross margin of 56.9%.

With the opening of 95 new stores in 28 countries in the first quarter of 2009, Store sales in local currencies from 1 May to 7 June rose 9%. The Group maintains its plan for FY2009 net store openings of between 370 and 450 new stores.

How do you like them shoulders? This season the fashion zone of focus is not the waist, not the legs, not the hem nor the Obama arms, rather its the shoulder. You may have wondered why outfits on the catwalk have been saddled with outsize shoulder pads to cry upon, however these were the concoction of the some of the world’s most coveted designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, Balenciaga and Balmain.

Come September, they’ll still be all over the high street and there’s barely been a collection worth mentioning that doesn’t feature expressive shoulders. According to the Daily Mail, the shoulder can’t be ignored next season. It has come back for winter 2009, bigger, bolder and weirder than before.

So what’s so great about exaggerated shoulder details? A strong shoulder can really alter the proportions of a body – and thus carve off unwanted visual baggage from elsewhere, says Mimi Spencer in her Mail on Sunday column. Big shoulders will, through a delightful trick of the eye, make your waist, hips and bottom look smaller. They also lend undeniable power to an outfit.

Indeed, according to designer Gareth Pugh, this shoulder evokes pure power. ‘The inverted triangle is a strong, anti-feminine silhouette,’ he says. ‘When shown on a female body, it creates an interesting friction between two poles. It’s the mixture of masculine and feminine within one image that fascinates me.’

Source: Daily Mail

Click Here: thierry mugler angel

John Lewis has launched a £1.5 million advertising campaign that focuses on both its fashion and home elements for the spring and summer season. The campaign created by Lowe London aims to communicate the company’s credentials in both these key areas of its business. Craig Inglis, head of brand communications at John Lewis, says: “We want to remind customers that we have an extensive range of beautiful own-brand and branded fashion, whilst also reassuring them that a relatively small investment can make a big difference to any home.”

The ‘fashion’ element of the campaign features supermodel Karen Elson whose image will adorn print advertising featured in a number of top glossy publications and supplements. It will also encompass outdoor advertising with 40 strategically placed billboards. The campaign will also feature in-store Point-of-Purchase throughout the season. In-store and online, male model Matthew Avedon, grandson of the famous fashion photographer Richard Avedon, is the face for John Lewis menswear.

Karen Elson first became of John Lewis for the autumn winter campaign. ‘Karen is a fashion industry icon but she’s also a highly intelligent, British working mother and this makes her real and accessible,’ explains Rachel Doyle, Communications Planning Manager, fashion and beauty.

There are four main lifestyle shots that should resonate with the John Lewis customer: these are ‘grand entrance’, ‘friend’s lunch’, ‘flower shop’ and ‘home’.

In three of the scenes, Karen wears clothes and accessories made up largely from the own-brand womenswear range while, in the fourth, she models a Ted Baker chiffon top and 7 For All Mankind jeans.

The advertising campaign was launched on 21 March, with fold-out ads in the Observer and in the Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine. Further ads are set to appear in glossy magazines this month.

Image: Karen Elson SS09

Click Here: chanel perfume sale

Fashion Designers’ & Craft Makers’ Network just held its annual, innovative 2009 Young Designer Awards and Gala Showcase. The Awards are established by knitwear designer Joanna Marcella with the aim to help raise profile of young designers from multicultural backgrounds aged between 13 – 25 years. The brief this year was to produce an Avant-Garde outfit based on the theme ‘Homage to a Fashion Leader’.

The judge panel from the worlds of media and fashion included Des Cooke from Barnardo’s, Akosua Annobil Founder of Fire Media UK, Esther Lee Fashion Editor of SHE Caribbean Magazine, Juanita Grey and Christie Dinham CEO of Fashion Girls Production & The International Designer Show (New York), Neil Smith Lecturer at Central St Martins College of Art and Design, and Sue Foulston First year tutor across all the fashion pathways at Central St Martins College of Art and Design.

The awards was split into three categories, The Young Designer Award ages 13 -16 years, 17 – 20 years and the Avant-Garde Award aged 21 – 25 years. The Young Designer Award category ages 13-16 years went to Gbemisola Okunlola aged 15 years. First place ages 17-20 years went to Kanyinsola Onalaja aged 17 years, who also took home the FDC 2009 Young Designer of the Year.

First place of the Avant-Garde Award went to Saffron Knight aged 23 years. Juanita Grey and Christie Dinham of Fashion Girls Production presented the special International Designer Award 2009 to Saffron Knight, who won an opportunity to début her collection in Caribbean Fashion Week in Jamaica in June 2010.

This design award is the only national award in the UK that has given several young fashion designers, who are still studying for their fashion degrees, an opportunity to showcase in New York Fashion Week and Caribbean Fashion Week.

The Victoria & Albert museum will host Women’s Tailoring: Genesis and Evolution on 6th November 2009. The event charts the history of women’s tailoring in Britain, as part of the V&A’s prestigious seminar and events programmes.

Women’s Tailoring will be presented by three British talents including Jaeger, the iconic British fashion brand; flourishing fashion brand; and Tailoring for Women, one of the few female tailors from Savile Row. Each will provide the audience with an exclusive insight into their brand’s history, their design processes and will demonstrate how they are carrying the tradition of tailoring to today’s generation of fashion-savvy women.

The event will be divided into two parts: the first will be in seminar format with a closing Q&A section and complimentary goody bag for audience members. The second half format is a drinks reception featuring an exhibition of garments from all three brands and will allow a rare opportunity to speak with the designers.

Luxury knitwear label Pringle of Scotland is launching a design competition in association with the British Fashion Council. Students from BFC Colleges Council leading design courses are invited to design five or six outfits for either a womenswear or menswear capsule collection; these designs will be put to a panel of expert judges for consideration.

Students will present their collections during an interview with an advisory committee, which draws from a pool of leading UK and International fashion press and buyers in addition to Joint Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council, Caroline Rush. The competition prize includes a full-time, paid, six-month design position, giving the winner the opportunity to work alongside Pringle Creative Director, Clare Waight Keller. Plus a £1,000 cash prize.

On the competition Clare Waight Keller commented: “I see this as a great opportunity for a talented student to show us something with a real flair, a unique interpretation and strong visual impact representing the brand’s heritage whilst being fresh and modern. I am really looking forward to seeing the results!”

The closing date for entries is 11th December 2009.

For the first time collections from Holland & Sherry, Reid & Taylor, Neill Johnstone and House of Edgar will be on show at Textile Forum. Set up in 202, London’s fashion fabric exhibition will take place from 21-22nd October at The Music Room.

“The inclusion of these great Scottish collections significantly broadens the range of fabrics offered by Textile Forum. October will be our biggest show to date, making it without doubt the UK’s premier sourcing show for designers and small to medium sized manufacturers looking for stock and forward order fashion fabrics,” comments organiser Linda Laderman.

In addition to the Scottish collections, the John Kaldor range will be shown for the first time. Regular exhibitors include Henry Bertrand, G H Leathers, J T Knitting, Michael’s Bridal Fabrics, HOH, Filtex, James Hare, Bernstein and Banleys, Bennett Silks, Pongees, Acorn, Basinghall, Tissus Malhia Kent and Ringhart.

Click Here: Cheap Golf Golf Clubs

There seems to be a match made in heaven for style and sports affenciado’s now Armani and Reebok have joined forces. The two companies combine active style with sport and technology when they brought together the EA7 and Emporio Armani labels with Reebok’s innovation and technologies.

The EA7/Reebok and Emporio Armani/Reebok collections debuted at Milan Fashion Week, within the Emporio Armani menswear show. The collection infused Reebok’s sporting DNA and Armani’s contemporary vision towards fashion.

Click Here: Kenzo Women’s New Collection

“Today sportswear and active wear have become really important parts of our wardrobes. I wanted to offer my customers the possibility of wearing sports clothes that were stylish and comfortable. My new alliance with Reebok is a natural consequence of this philosophy. As with all my collaborations, I am delighted to be working with experts in their field,” said Giorgio Armani.

Distribution will be limited to Emporio Armani boutiques, select Reebok concept stores and preferred retailers worldwide, starting from July 2010.