Milan, Italy Fashion Week 2010

Milan Fashion week is taking place February 24-March 3, 2010 in Milan, Italy at the Milano Fashion Center. This event takes place twice a year to display the talent and designs of Gucci, Armani, Prada and many other top designers both local and international. Although this event is by invitation only, the atmosphere in Milan alone entices fashionistas from around the world to admire shop windows and fashion show attendees posing for photos outside the center. With four fashion halls and one sports hall there is plenty of room for creativity and inspiration to flourish and lure the eyes of the many who plan to watch. It will be exciting to see what comes out of this European Fashion Capital as it captures the attention year after year of the global fashion community.


S/S 2010






http://justluxe.com/luxecalendar/fashion-events/event-331943.php
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/milan-fashion-

MARCJACOBS&VICTORIABECKHAM

Marc Jacobs featuring Victoria Beckham. 2008.
Marc Jacobs is not your average american designer and his fashion print ads seem to mirror his designs. In 2008 when Marc Jacobs collaborated with Victoria Beckham and photographer Juergen Teller, Victoria was hot in the public eye. Her husbands newly signed contract and booming soccer career with Galaxy attracted much attention from the paparazzi. So of course Victoria was never a stranger to the camera, but this time Marc Jacobs wanted to mix up the "exploited" stars image. She had always been pictured as a bombshell with stilleto heels and pouty lips; these ads gave the star a doll-like appearance. With an emphasis on the authenticity of Marc Jacobs designs, Victoria was placed in props such as life size bags and specially made boxes that would fit her perfectly. Although these print ads attracted negative attention from many in the fashion world, others saw the meaning behind it and fully embraced the awkward yet charming photographs. These ads were not necessarily made to make the star look beautiful, but on the contrary bring into question, "Is that really Victoria Beckham?" or "What were they thinking?". Attracting memorable attention to both the designer and the star, the ads were a success.

Retailing: New Nordstrom to open April 2010

The long awaited Nordstrom department store in Fashion Island, Newport Beach will open on April 16, 2010, replacing the women's Macy's store. This Nordstrom, one of fashion islands six full-line stores will be 138,000 sq. feet of retail space. This will also be Nordstrom's sixth store in the OC area alone; the five other locations are as follows: Brea Mall, Irvine Spectrum Center, Westfield MainPlace in Santa Ana, The Shops at Mission Viejo and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. This will be a great addition to Fashion Island's many upscale stores. Due to the decline of the current economy and less traffic in the mall as a whole, fashion island has taken some of the lower scale stores out and withdrawn their leases from many others as of January 2010. Nordstrom will hopefully draw in more foot traffic, attributing to business for all retailers.

http://retail.freedomblogging.com/2009/05/06/nordstrom-gives-opening-date-for-oc-store/9297

http://www.shopfashionisland.com/Info/California-Nordstrom-Store.aspx

Current Event: Valentino's Eco Modernism

Valentino's Spring 2010 haute couture collection, presented in Paris January 27th, perfectly combined nature and technology creating "naturalistic fashion and quivering clothes". The models which were portrayed as "elongated insects", name given by the design duo, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who created the lean look and silhouette. The show took place in a medieval convent hospital in Paris, where huge images of swaying digital trees and pastel hues that mimicked the clothing cascaded the walls. The technology created the perfect atmosphere for the "Hidden Eden" collection. Soft chiffon and hard shark skin were the dominating materials used in Valentino's collection, creating remarkable items like a biker jacket with chiffon trim and a multi -pastel jacket made of feathers. The designers also managed to invent a new garment, a single sleeve jumpsuit with a hint of a tunic, the duo called this the "jump dress".