Wholesale Fashion Clothing

Associated Press

BERLIN – Austrian fashion designer Lena Hoschek says she is not put off by the prospect of “Bruno” — Sacha Baron Cohen’s new film where he plays an over-the-top flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion enthusiast.

Hoschek, who is popular for her 1950s pinup girl style clothes with U.S. pop star Katy Perry, says she’s actually looking forward to seeing the movie.

“I think it’s gonna be a fun film,” she told The AP on the sidelines of the Mercedes Benz Fashion week in the German capital.

“Bruno” is the follow-up to the surprise 2006 box-office hit, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” in which Baron Cohen played a clueless journalist on a U.S. tour.

Munich-based designer Marcel Ostertag was a little more reserved about his expectations.

He says while he’s looking forward to the film — which opens July 10 — he was worried that it may give people the wrong idea of the fashion industry.

“The world of fashion isn’t really like what he shows,” Ostertag said. “I can laugh about it because I liked ‘Borat,’ but I am also worried if people will take him seriously.”

By JENNY BARCHFIELD, Associated Press Writer Jenny Barchfield, Associated Press Writer

PARIS – Britain’s diminutive king of fashion, John Galliano, paid homage Friday to another vertically challenged emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte of France.

For his spring-summer 2010 menswear display, Galliano — a master director whose opulent runway shows verge on theatrical performances — conjured a cast of Napoleonic characters, including the emperor himself, looking pallid but proud in flowing black- and jewel-toned sashes, and Bonaparte’s soldiers, in desert-ready military uniforms embellished with Oriental details from their North African campaigns.

Other characters that peopled Galliano’s world Friday were latter-day Middle Eastern explorers modeled on Lawrence of Arabia and proto-hippies clad in only briefs and flower crowns.

Star pieces included a pair of low rise harem shorts covered in disco ball mirrorwork, a smart, three-piece suit topped with a swath of ripped tulle — as if the model had just torn through the mother of all cobwebs — and a muscle-bound model in underwear and a leopard-skin headdress.

In a backstage interview with Associated Press Television News, Galliano listed the elements of the raucous collection, which was — as always with him — over the top: “Napoleon and his trip to Egypt … Orientalism, the colors of painters like Delacroix, the ‘homme fleur’ or mountain guy.”

Silhouettes were wildly romantic, with military-inspired coats cut amply and fitted with a layer of gauzy silk that fluttered as the models walked. Button-down shirts did double-duty, cinched around the waist in guise of cummerbunds or ingeniously wrapped around the models legs in lieu of shorts.

Applause echoed loud off the concrete walls of the abandoned, graffiti-covered swimming pool where the show was held when Galliano swooped down upon the catwalk for a final spin.

His chest puffed out in his trademark pigeon pose, Galliano was the spitting image of a modern-day Napoleon.

By Samantha Critchell
Associated Press

Isabel Toledo, the designer of Michelle Obama’s famous bright lemongrass-colored inaugural ensemble, is a creative woman with eclectic interests.

She is a gardener, cooks a mean batch of Cuban black beans and is attached at the hip to Ruben, her husband and business partner. She says she wouldn’t — actually couldn’t — continue her career without him.

“We don’t work the way other people work. I think of an idea, and I tell him to get a notebook — he has thousands of notebooks. I dictate to him, and he draws what’s in my mind,” she explains.

What Isabel Toledo is not: a publicity monger.

When Mrs. Obama chose the sheath dress with matching coat to watch her husband become the 44th president, Toledo didn’t send out a press release. She didn’t have her people speed-dial fashion reporters. She doesn’t even have “people,” really, unless you count Ruben.

It was the same scenario when Mrs. Obama wore Toledo’s two-tone dress to meet Queen Elizabeth II this spring. A reporter had to hunt down Ruben by land-line phone at their joint studio/home in New York’s Garment District. The Toledos don’t do cell phones.

When she eventually does see a photo of Mrs. Obama in one of her outfits, Isabel thinks to herself, “Yeah, she looks good.”

Still, don’t mistake the Toledos for reclusive. The couple seem genuinely too busy — enjoying their work, enjoying their lives, enjoying each other — to worry about public relations. They don’t bother with celebrity dressing, and they barely keep up with what’s going on in the rest of the fashion industry.

Next month, for example, they are off to glassblowing camp outside of Seattle to spend four weeks playing with color, texture and a new art form.

The fashion industry, however, has kept up with them. Even before Mrs. Obama turned on the spotlight, insiders knew about Isabel’s fondness for draping and her aversion to side seams. They also could recognize Ruben’s illustrations and mannequins, all of which capture at least a hint of Isabel in their faces, shape and body language.

For three seasons she was the designer for mainstream brand Anne Klein, and now her own label hangs on the racks at top department stores and high-end boutiques like Chicago’s Ikram, which is known to be an incubator for the first lady’s wardrobe. Isabel, 47, says she is flattered that Mrs. Obama, a woman she believes to have a strong personal style, has chosen her clothes without being pushed.

The inaugural outfit is currently on display at the Museum at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology as part of an exhibit that grew out of the institute’s Couture Council Award, bestowed on Isabel last year. “Isabel Toledo: Fashion From the Inside Out,” running through Sept. 26, is billed as a mid-career retrospective.

“Her artistic contribution will matter in fashion history,” says curator Valerie Steele.

Isabel’s favorite piece is the Packing Dress from 1988, which has since been born again in many incarnations. It’s essentially two circular pieces of fabric that mysteriously, yet simply, come together with blurred lines. Imagine a garment that mimics the point where the ocean and sand meet at the beach.

There’s also her Hermaphrodite Dress, which is gathered every which way with tubular piping separating tufts of fabric. “At first, everyone said it was ugly,” Isabel recalls, “but I thought it was very sensual. You have to look at it not as a front and a back, but that it’s a dress that goes from its front to its back.”

Many of the garments are inspired by architecture, sculpture and origami. Isabel says she’s not moved by trends, current events or even sales figures. Instead she relies on emotion. “Being a woman, I design for a woman. I’m always breathing, and from that comes the next idea.”

Isabel’s designs became more elaborate and expensive in the 1990s, as she used hand-painted fabrics (Ruben’s prints) and fine details that would take seamstresses hours to do. But that was then.

“There’s a moment now to get back to user-friendly clothes, and you need to be a better designer to do that,” she says.

Wal-Mart announced their plans June 3, 2009 to launch a fashion line with Miley Cyrus, setting themselves up with a teenage super star right about the time shopping for back to school is about to begin.

Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) is teaming up with designer Max Azria (BCBGMAXAZRIA), to create a budget friendly line of graphic tees, tops, pants, shoes, and accessories which will be under $20.00.

Miley Cyrus’s line is expected to hit Wal-Mart stores around August, right in time for the back to school season. Wal-Mart is also sponsoring Miley Cyrus’ North America Concert tour as well, which starts in September.

The beautiful ensemble worn by First Lady Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day which took place Jan 20, 2009 went out display today, allowing everyone to a close up view of the design of the outfit. The sheath dress and matching coat designs are by Isabel Toledo, which is who the First Lady helped bring up the popularity of on the day of the inauguration by wearing Toledo’s work.

“This is now one of the most famous dresses in the world,” said Valerie Steele, chief curator at The Musuem at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “Even people who have little or no interest in fashion will be really interest to see this,” Valerie added.

First Lady Michelle Obama has won her acclaim for her sense of style in fashion.

The Toledo ensemble is on exhibit from today, and is to become part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian. The Outfit was matched with Jimmy Choo shoes, and a pair of J.Crew gloves.

“It proves good design can be had at all price points,” said Mears. “She can still look chic, but so can everybody else. I think it’s a wonderful statement to make.”

“You don’t have to be a big corporation in America,” said Toledo. “Here I am. It’s the American dream.”