Alexander McQueen and the Power Suite

References to Art Deco and the work of Gustav Klimt ran throughout the spectacular Alexander McQueen collection for resort. Creative director Sarah Burton played with contrasts, juxtaposing ultrafeminine dresses with sharp power suits. She worked a large round silver or gold buckle as the leitmotif, putting the focus squarely on the waist for many of the looks. Several pieces were embellished with opulent dragonfly prints — a gold-and-black version for a fluid halter evening gown, and a Japanese floral motif for a great suit. Another standout suit, this one done in iridescent silver with an intricate cutaway blazer with wide lapels, was inspired by Bianca Jagger’s signature white numbers.

Elizabeth Arden Acquires Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj Licenses

With its purchase Tuesday of the fragrance licenses of Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj from Give Back Brands LLC, Elizabeth Arden Inc. is giving Coty Inc. a run for its money.


Bieber’s first fragrance, Someday, was launched in spring 2011 and became the number-one women’s fragrance launch in U.S. department stores, with annual sales of $39 million according to NPD Group figures cited by Give Back Brands. A second fragrance, Girlfriend, will be launched in Macy’s on Monday and in other national retailers on June 25, Kathy Widmer, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Elizabeth Arden, told WWD Tuesday afternoon. 


Minaj’s first fragrance is set for a September launch. These moves will meet head on with Coty as it prepares to launch its first Lady Gaga fragrance in the fall, following the debut of Madonna’s blockbuster Truth or Dare scent in late March. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. 

In a memo to employees dated Tuesday, E. Scott Beattie, chairman and chief executive officer of Elizabeth Arden, said: “We are pleased to announce that today we signed an agreement to acquire the licenses for the Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj fragrance brands from Give Back Brands.…The marketing and creative activities for these fragrance brands will continue to be managed externally by their existing team. Sales, finance and operational activities will be absorbed by the respective Elizabeth Arden functions. These brands represent another opportunity to grow our extensive fragrance portfolio through both new licenses and fragrance acquisitions.”

Ralph Pucci and Ruben Toledo Team for Furniture

NEW YORK — “I’ve painted on just about everything, from refrigerators to barns. I cover every surface I can think of,” says illustrator Ruben Toledo.

Yet his latest gig is different. He’s illustrating coffee, dining and side tables as well as benches and chairs created by Ralph Pucci. It’s a limited-edition collection, whereby Toledo will paint each piece based on what a customer specifies in the order. This manner of customizing is new to Toledo. “If you love turtles, he’ll paint turtles,” Pucci says. “Sometimes art can be too intellectual and distracting. This is clearly whimsical, surrealistic and fun.” 

The Ruben Toledo for Ralph Pucci collection will be unveiled Monday at the Pucci showroom, 44 West 18th Street in Manhattan, in conjunction with the Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Pucci, whose eclectic showroom features art, photography, mannequins and home furnishings, two years ago added to the mix by creating furniture under his label. “It’s modern, very minimal and classic. When you apply Ruben’s painting, it becomes very theatrical but it’s pleasant to live with.” 

Pucci also believes it’s a format for furniture destined to be widely copied, though he characterized the project with Toledo as a “fresh take” on a famous collaboration in the Forties and Fifties between the Italian artist Piero Fornasetti who painted furniture by the Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti.

Pucci and Toledo have been collaborating since 1986 on mannequins and wall illustrations, and the designer Isabel Toledo (Ruben’s wife) has dressed Pucci mannequins. 

Men's Designers Bring New Take to Women's

With acclaimed men’s wear mavens now piloting storied women’s houses — headlined by Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent and Raf Simons at Christian Dior — it just might spark an important change in female style.

Giorgio Armani, perhaps the industry’s most compelling example of a designer who successfully made the leap from men’s into women’s, said of the overall trend, “A men’s wear designer never loses sight of the relation between shape and function, which, transferred into women’s wear, can give great results.”

And what else might a men’s wear designer bring to the table that a women’s wear specialist might lack?

“I think the sense of reality, the elegance translated into a clean and bold line,” Armani replied.

Massimiliano Giornetti, who was named creative director for all product lines at Salvatore Ferragamo in 2010 after a decade in its men’s department, agreed that “the idea of construction and functionality — a concept banned from women’s fashion for years,” is something second-nature to designers formed in men’s wear.

“Men’s fashion always had the necessity to combine aesthetics and functionality, because men refuse to wear pieces featuring details with no function,” Giornetti noted.

Michael Kors 2013

The international retail expansion circuit recently took Michael Kors to Turkey, where the designer was struck by the counterpoint of modern architecture and classic Ottoman opulence. So, he packaged luxurious ornamentation on sleek, streamlined silhouettes for a resort collection of the utmost Korsian glamour. It was rooted in a bounty of gold that came splashed across a graphic black ikat bell dress, crinkled to perfection on a crushed panne velvet shift, and as micro chains and studs embroidered on a lace skirt. “When you go to Istanbul, whatever you think is glamorous jewelry in the rest of the world is considered daytime there,” said Kors, who bejeweled the necklines of jackets and dresses and the chunky mid-heels on the stellar (and seemingly comfortable) gladiator sandals.

The CFDA Fashion Award Winners

NEW YORK — The Row’s Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen won the 2012 Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Womenswear Designer of the Year award. The Menswear Designer of the Year award went to Billy Reid, while Reed Krakoff picked up the trophy in the Accessory category.


The 2012 CFDA Fashion Awards, which marked the organization’s 50th anniversary, took place at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall Monday evening. 

The night also honored emerging talents with the Swarovski Award. This year, Joseph Altuzarra won in the Womenswear category; Phillip Lim in Menswear, and Tabitha Simmons in Accessory Design.


Tommy Hilfiger received the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award; Andrew Rosen took home the Founders Award, in honor of Eleanor Lambert, and the Media Award, in honor of Eugenia Sheppard, went to Scott Schuman and Garance Doré.

Happy Feet

It’s been 30-plus years since sneakers as a fashion statement got their improbable start when the New York City transit strike of 1980 had legions of career women hoofing it to work with broad-shouldered suits on their backs and high-tops on their feet. Little did they know then, those women were creating a look that would last — even if it was a dubious look at best — and one that has reemerged ever stronger in the designer market, where high-tops are kicking ballerina flats off their casual-chic perch. 

 

“The high-top trend has been bubbling up for some time, and, as trends go, it usually takes a few seasons for them to take hold,” says Holli Rogers, fashion director of Net-a-porter.com. “I think it’s most prevalent now, since this year we have seen a resurgence of trends from the late Eighties/early Nineties and the high-top sneaker is certainly associated with that excitement.”