Gigi Hadid to be the new face of US fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger

American fashion model Gigi Hadid's career seems to be going from strength to strength. The latest is that the model has been signed on as the global brand ambassador by US fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger. Hadid will appear in the campaigns for the brand's women's wear line beginning Fall 2016. As part of her exclusive ambassadorship, Hadid has further more partnered with the brand to launch her first capsule collection, created in collaboration with the iconic American designer himself. The capsule will feature women's sportswear, footwear and accessories, including watches and sunglasses, as well as a new fragrance, which celebrate Hadid's unique take on modern style, fused with Hilfiger's signature "classic American cool" heritage. 

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Speaking about the collaboration, Hilfiger said, "I've known Gigi and her family for years, and it has been amazing to watch her grow into one of the world's top models and most-followed fashion influencers." He added, "Gigi has walked in our runway shows and now we are thrilled to continue our collaboration with her as the new face of Tommy Hilfiger womenswear and fragrance. She is truly the definition of today's 'Tommy Girl' - her magnetic personality is bright and always optimistic, and her style is confident, effortless and cool." 

"I never thought I would be asked to design a capsule collection, so it still feels like a dream that Tommy approached me to collaborate," said Gigi Hadid. "His company is one that I genuinely love and have been a fan of for my entire life, and Tommy is the easiest, most fun person to work with. I have always looked up to his brand, campaigns and design style. I think our collection celebrates the iconic Tommy lifestyle and mixes a bit of everything: there are styles that are really hippie-chic, styles that are sporty streetwear, and styles that are tomboy but girly; everyone's is going to love a different part of it." Past collaborators for the brand have included Beyonce, Kate Hudson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Naomi Campbell, Naomi Watts and Alexa Chung, and in recent seasons, Suki and Immy Waterhouse, and Behati Prinsloo. 

Tired of frumpy plus-size fashion, Rebel Wilson launches line

Sick of plus-size clothing that looks like something "your auntie would wear to a wedding", actor Rebel Wilson has created her own fashion line.

The Aussie Pitch Perfect star is set to launch her plus-size line for retailer Torrid on November 1.

Mic News reported that the collection contained "rock 'n' roll-inspired separates alongside cocktail-style dresses" and was a "punky, glittery and occasionally red carpet-worthy collection".

Wilson told People magazine she found a lot of plus-size clothing "didn't seem cool or on-trend."

"It was kind of like what your auntie would wear to a wedding. So it was a mission to find clothes that fit and were well-made... it definitely is an under-served market."

Her line includes 31 pieces in sizes 12 to 28.


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A New San Francisco Boutique for Fashion-Starved Locals

For a city ostensibly fixated on the future, San Francisco offers a retail fashion scene so safe it can seem retrograde. Sure, there are outposts of casual good taste and the on-trend-enough shops of Hayes Valley, but for women of a certain sartorial spirit — those seeking a world-class source of adventurous, cool-girl clothes by cult designers — the best the city has to offer sometimes feels like the e-commerce software invented here. Now, however, San Francisco has a brick-and-mortar boutique innovating at the same level as the city’s tech start-ups and artisanal coffee shrines. Nestled on a leafy residential street near Dolores Park in the Mission district, Anaïse isn’t new, exactly. It has for four years been operating as an online-only store from an even less likely location, San Jose, where its owner — Renee Friedrich, a former pharmacist from Maryland — moved “for love,” she says. (Friedrich’s Bay Area clients had been asking her to open a shop all along, though it’s perhaps telling that the majority of her online customers are from New York.)

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The high-ceilinged, whitewashed space, furnished with vintage space-age Italian lamps and hand-patchworked silk curtains that evoke a cross between Japanese boro cloth and lingerie, is devoted to what Friedrich calls “beauty in its subtlest forms”: gossamer dresses and statement coats from designers like Carven, A Detacher, and the insider-favored Italian label Hache; anti-It bags from Isaac Reina and Eatable of Many Orders; delicate, whimsical jewelry by Mirit Weinstock and Saskia Diez; and gauzy linen throws from Maison de Vacances. “I wanted to create an intimate, serene space filled with the things I love,” Friedrich says, “and I want people to feel like they’re walking into a friend’s home.” For fashion-starved locals, the experience is as satisfying as the sandwiches at Tartine Bakery a couple of blocks away.

Read More: http://fashionidolstyle.wordpress.com

Lady Gaga: Fashion is my art

Lady Gaga has never wanted to shock for the sake of it with her outfits, and insists she sees her fashion choices as a form of art.

The 29-year-old singer is no stranger to hitting the headlines for her eccentric sense of style, including the now infamous meat dress she wore to the MTV VMAs in 2010.

But when it comes to choosing ensembles, Gaga insists she doesn’t always opt for the ones that will cause a stir. Instead, she treats fashion as art and thoroughly enjoys each aspect of planning a look.

“It’s what I do,” Gaga told E! News. “That’s my art. And that’s what people don’t always really know about me. [They think] I’m always putting things on to be provocative or shocking for the sake of it.”

Gaga’s latest role sees her star as the villainous Countess in American Horror Story: Hotel. One of the first scenes fans will see the singer in involves her wearing a red “hunting outfit”. But while the clothes might look good on screen, they are anything but comfortable to wear.

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“That outfit is easily 35-50 pounds, and it’s got two corsets underneath it, and there’s a full body chain that’s all diamonds that’s, you know, not that comfortable,” Gaga said of the look. “And then, my hair is back, and there’s a net over the face and then a hat, and then a heavy jacket. And then, there’s a petticoat underneath the dress, and the gown is made of basically, like, Scarlett O’Hara’s curtains — it’s just so heavy.”


Gaga has previously showcased her acting skills in 2013’s Machete Kills and 2014’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. But it’s her new role as the Countess that is really testing whether the songstress can also make it as a successful actress. And Gaga adds the crazy fashion involved in the show adds a whole other level to her job.

“Actually, it’s not that easy to wear all of those things and to do it with poise and precision and to hit your mark every time, for a director,” she said. “So American Horror Story is actually really stretching me in a great way. It’s like I have to take the things that I’m good at and make them even better, and keep them the same every time but still loose so that [executive producer] Ryan [Murphy] gets something really truly organic from me.”

Nathalie Atkinson: Thanks to the internet, everyone’s a fashion critic

In the moments before a fashion show begins, I regularly think of this cautionary anecdote from American designer Elizabeth Hawes, who laments the bygone practice of “want” slips – those pieces of paper with customer wish-list items that department store sales clerks used to send to their buying office for consideration: “‘And when I asked the salesgirl for a coat without fur,’ say one hundred thousand women, ‘she just looked at me. ‘Madame,’ she said with raised eyebrows, ‘coats without fur are not being worn this season.’’”

“What could I do?” Hawes wryly observes. “The Duchess of Windsor was wearing a coat with fur that season and one hundred thousand women could do likewise or go without. The dictates of dear old Fashion come first.”

Every time I wish that Hawes, who died in 1971 just as the industry was on the cusp of its ready-to-wear heyday, were still around so we could toast the end of totalitarian trends together. Trends: soooo last century.

For decades, the accepted wisdom on the life cycle of fashion trends came from costume curator and historian James Laver’s Law, a timeline charting the obsolescence and recurrence of trends first described in his classic 1937 study Taste and Fashion. It’s obsolete now, ironically never to recur again. Laver didn’t account for the 21st century’s accelerated pace of fashion communication – all communication for that matter – and its effect on consumer appetite and power. That chart, in spirit, first dwindled to annual, then seasonal in/out lists in the 1990s but those, too, are obsolete.

Hawes was more prescient than Laver but even she could not have predicted the internet and its democratic effects. In an unwitting rebuttal to Taste and Fashion, her entertaining 1938 memoir Fashion Is Spinach: How to Beat the Fashion Racket is a critique of the then-modern industry, and today, it is more relevant than ever. The recent surge of interest – Dover published a new edition of her book in July – is not least because Hawes’ advocacy for the voice of the customer and denunciation of fad pronouncements delivered from on high (namely: Paris) was decades ahead of its time. But it took the internet (and its love child, social media) to achieve the trend-free style world Hawes advocated.

It isn’t just that interest in so-called new fads dissolves in the time lag it takes for designer samples to go from the runway to the shop rail (though they do: six months is a long time in a world of constantly refreshing updates); it’s that there are so many simultaneous fads that they add up to none. Brands and designers still push the looks and interpretations of the enduring three items – pants, dress, jackets – they want to sell each season, and make efforts to promote popularity through gifting, placement and advertising, but it’s everyone else who’s in charge. It’s been a steady dispersal of influence, starting with the peer factor on social media that I have in the past called the Yelp of fashion.

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Today’s leading arbiters and influencers are those who are online. Everyone is some kind of enthusiast or insider. And that has truly enabled subcultures of interest, of style, to connect – an exchange of virtual, non-stop want slips. If it’s not available in one shop it’s at another, possibly across the continent or globe, and can be requested. And labels are listening to what one woman, or 100,000 women, want. In the latest edition of fashion-house musical chairs during Paris fashion week, for example, Demna Gvasalia was appointed to the top creative post at Balenciaga – the one vacated by better-known Alexander Wang after a scant three years. It can’t have been lost on the Balenciaga brass that Gvasalia’s Vêtements label has been the darling of style watchers for some time, with a groundswell of appreciation most visible on social media. The power to make or break is collective and global.

The original influencers were true insiders – the select few editors, retail buyers and, in the case of couture, top clients actually invited to see a salon or runway presentation for themselves and mingle with the designer. Everyone else was in the dark, waiting to be told what would be available and acceptable. That traditional fashion media model was one of authority and, frankly, one of absolute power that promoted and made reputations. They were able to announce the sea change and their audience would shop and adjust hemlines, or whole silhouettes, accordingly. It was a delicately negotiated dictatorship.


The us/them identity crisis of traditional fashion media who initially bristled at their expanding ranks including non-traditional digital and blogging voices (interlopers!) has in the last couple of years been put to rest. We sit shoulder to shoulder crammed into front rows because the industry functions not as a hierarchy but an ecosystem and fashion critics like me offer both snap judgments and join in the flurry of blurred Vines and snaps at runway shows, and no more control information than decisions about what we’ll be wearing next season. Later, there will be sober second thought and, hopefully, meaningful cultural context, but first comes the more instant reaction and casual semiotics that the social medium and internet metabolism expect.

And trends? The latest denim lookbook from Madewell that’s on my desk showcases not one but several very different styles of jeans equally, with something for everyone– pegged black punk skinnies, dramatic hippie flares, slouchy overalls and high-waisted menswear styles. They’re not taking any chances. One hundred thousand women can’t be wrong.

Made In Chelsea star and entrepreneur on building a fashion brand

Oliver Proudlock is best-known for appearing in Channel 4 reality TV programme Made In Chelsea. He is also an entrepreneur, running clothing and lifestyle business Serge DeNimes. After starting up as a one-man band, Proudlock now has a team of four in his London office. Last week, in support of the Small Business Saturday campaign, he took part in a roundtable discussion with five small business owners from the fashion and jewellery sectors.

What inspired you to start the business?
I was always very interested in art and fashion. At school I spent the majority of my time in the art school painting. Then I went to Newcastle University, where I studied fine art for four years. I love art and painting but it can be quite lonely sometimes. And the thing I love about fashion is it’s very social and interactive.

I decided to move from art to fashion – it was a very scary move. So I started with a product I was really familiar with – T-shirts. I wanted to create the best T-shirt I could. At the moment graphic T-shirts are massively on trend.

You founded the business in 2011, just before Made In Chelsea producers got in touch. What impact did this have?
When I was deciding whether or not to do the show, one of the key things was how I was going to be perceived, because you never know with reality TV. So, how it would affect my brand, whether it would have a positive or negative effect, open doors or close doors? It obviously gave me a platform and a following, which helped me push my brand. For me [the business] was always my main passion. I love the show but it’s all about my brand.

How important is social media, and which channels work best?
So much is built on social media. We are doing a big push on that now, as well as marketing. For us, Instagram is the most beneficial. And for me personally as well. Maybe three to four years ago it was Twitter. People like to see imagery, they are too impatient to read however many characters it is on Twitter.

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How is the business doing?
The brand has developed in size and we have increased the range. Having started with T-shirts – a core collection of eight – we are now doing a lot more denim and working with wool and various other materials.

Each year we are doubling in size. We are now in 27 stores in the UK. I want to double that within the next two years. In the next five years I want to be wholesaling around the world, in America, Australia, and Asia.

Has your sense of style changed since being in the public eye?
No.

What’s a typical day like?
It depends upon the time of year. We are in that transition period now where we have just launched our autumn/winter collection and we are focusing on designing our spring/summer collection.

Who is your target audience?
Anyone from 17 to late 20s – style-conscious, young, creative individuals who aren’t scared to step outside of the mould.

How are you involved in the Small Business Saturday campaign?
I have been involved over the last two years as a small business. To promote small business on one day and get everyone to notice and help small businesses is an amazing thing. I spread the word through my social media handles as much as I can.

What have you learned since starting up?
When you are setting up a small business you have to have faith in yourself and the project and the product you are creating. If you don’t believe in it, noone else will. The key for any small business is being surrounded by a good team and like-minded people.

Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.

Donna Karan On Motherhood, Fashion And Designing The Perfect Pair Of Jeans

TERRY GROSS, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. My guest, designer Donna Karan, has dressed people like Barbara Streisand and Bill Clinton when he was president. Her clothes have been worn on many red carpets, but her clothes are also worn at work and on the weekends by people who buy off the rack at shopping malls. A recent New York Times article described Karan's idea of fashion as almost anti-elitist. She was recently described in Women's Wear Daily as one of the most important designers in the history of American fashion. Karan started off as a designer at Anne Klein's and became Anne Klein's assistant. She eventually became the company's chief designer. Karan started her own company in 1984. In '89, she started her more affordable casual brand DKNY. Over the summer, she stepped down from her role as chief designer at Donna Karan International. She's focusing on philanthropic work and her company Urban Zen. She has a new memoir called "My Journey."

Donna Karan, welcome to FRESH AIR. So what are some of the designs that you introduced that you feel had an effect on the fashion world?

DONNA KARAN: Oh, I guess the bodysuit - Seven Easy Pieces, a philosophy of dressing that I felt for women that needed to be on the go from the minute they got up in the morning till going to work, travelling...

GROSS: Explain what Seven Easy Pieces are.

KARAN: The Seven Easy Pieces was a philosophy that I had that if you had these seven pieces you were great to go. I almost took it from a point of view of having a piece of luggage and what would you pack if you traveled. And it started with the bodysuit, and the reason the bodysuit started is because my practice of yoga. So I was used to wearing a bodysuit and that's how I started my day. And then either a pair of pants or a skirt or top of some sort - a sweater. I always felt that a leather jacket was great and a coat. My favorite piece of all is a scarf.

GROSS: Why?

KARAN: 'Cause a scarf is one thing that - you can wrap it around, you can hide what you want to hide and show what you want to show and it's sort of like your partner in crime.

(LAUGHTER)

GROSS: So the thing about your Seven Easy Pieces is that you could travel, you have these seven pieces and they could get you through daytime, eveningwear. You could, like, you know, match things to suit the occasion of the day and you wouldn't have to travel with this big wardrobe.

KARAN: Exactly.

GROSS: Well, you mention the bodysuit. The bodysuit - it's like a one-piece thing that kind of snaps under the crotch, yes?

KARAN: It's sort of like a leotard. Well, it is like a leotard, but it's something that I wore every day. And the beauty of the bodysuit - it had all different neck lines, different arms. Some were sleeveless. Some were off the shoulder, turtlenecks, V-necks.

GROSS: You've had two really big lines under your name - the Donna Karan New York and DKNY. What were the differences between the two?

KARAN: Well, Donna Karan was a personal wardrobe for myself and my friends. I really never imagined that Donna Karan would grow to the size that it grew. But it was really after designing Anne Klein I decided I wanted to have a little collection - small little collection - for me and my friends of my Seven Easy Pieces, starting with the bodysuit. And then my daughter and all her friends started wearing all my clothes and I needed a pair of jeans - voila, DKNY.

GROSS: Because of the jeans or because of your daughter (laughter)?

KARAN: Well, it was a double situation. All her friends were borrowing all my clothes and I said this has got to stop (laughter). And I realized there was a larger market out there for what we were doing. But I wanted to create sort of the Seven Easy Pieces that I had done for collection but through a more him and a her point of view that we all needed a pair jeans. We needed an anorak jacket. We needed a T-shirt. I love jumpsuits - a blazer and a pair jeans.

GROSS: So what makes a great pair of fitting jeans since we all are shaped a little differently (laughter)? Like, what's great fitting for you might not be for me. Do you know what I mean? How do you make a great fitting pair of jeans that will fit women with different body sizes?

KARAN: Figure types.

GROSS: And figure types, exactly.

KARAN: Generally speaking, it's better to have it lower in the front and a little higher in the back...

GROSS: Yes.

KARAN: ...You know, for the curvature of the body.

GROSS: (Laughter) I agree.

KARAN: So then when you sit down it doesn't fall down in the back. And also where the crotch is created...

GROSS: Yes.

KARAN: ...It's better to have the crotch a little bit towards the front as opposed to the back. And then the cut of the legs - depending on what kind of leg that you want.

GROSS: You were born into fashion. Your mother was a model who later became a showroom salesperson. Your father, Gabby Faske, made custom suits. He died in a car accident when you were a child. Your stepfather was in the clothing business, too. You say he was on the cheap side of the street, selling knockoffs and schmahtas (ph). Looking back on your life as you do in your book - looking back you think that your mother was bipolar. What makes you think that?

KARAN: I'm not sure the word would be bipolar, but my mother was a very stressed-out lady. She had a lot on her plate. She was a working woman in those days, which is quite unusual. She had two children - myself and my sister Gail. And she loved working. You know, the woman who went to work was one thing and then the woman who came home from work was a little bit of another (laughter).

GROSS: More high strung after work?

KARAN: Well, she had a lot of migraines. She had to do a lot of work, you know, whether it was the laundry or, you know, making sure she was prepared to go to work. And, you know, in those days, she would go to the beauty parlor on Saturdays and make sure her hair was right for the rest of the week. So it wasn't really fun. It was more - rotated around, you know, preparation for her either tired from a weeks, you know, a week of work or getting ready for the week to come.

GROSS: So how did you know you wanted to be a designer?

KARAN: I didn't. I didn't want to be a designer. The last thing I wanted to do was work on Seventh Avenue. I wanted to be a singer like Barbara Streisand and I wanted to be a dancer like Martha Graham. I loved the body. I loved the movement of the body. But I was neither of them. However, what I decided that I thought I would like to do is be an illustrator. I love drawing. I love drawing bodies. I love drawing fashion, but I wasn't thinking of myself as a designer in those days. And then I went for a job at Women's Wear Daily and they said, you know, I think maybe you should look into design instead of illustration (laughter). I saw that I could not sing like Barbara and I couldn't dance like Martha so I was sort of put into the fashion industry. I started working in Sherry's clothing store when I was young and I love dressing people. I loved helping them find the right clothes. I liked working in retail store, arranging it and making it look really pretty, making it easier for the customer. So I found that I was getting into fashion whether I liked it or not (laughter).

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GROSS: You started your career working with Anne Klein. You became a designer there and Anne Klein got cancer - breast cancer. And you took on an increasing role when she was sick. You had your first child just before she died, and you had hoped to be a stay-at-home mother but instead the company called you and said we need you. You have to be here or you have to help take over. How did you weigh in your mind what to do at that point?

KARAN: It was such a state of shock for me. They called me as I was having my baby. And I said, would you like to know whether I had a boy or girl? By the way, it was a little girl. Her name is Gabby. And they said, well, Anne's in the hospital and we have a collection due. And I said, well, I asked my doctor. I said, when can I go back to work? And he says, you just had, you know, a 10-pound baby girl. You can't go back to work so fast. You know, you need at least a week. So they said, well, we'll bring the work to you. So we went to my home in Long Island where I had just moved in. And the entire company came to my house and I thought how great - bagels and lox and everything else and see my little baby Gabby. But as soon as that happened, the phone rang and Anne died. I had no idea she was as sick as she was. In those days, people really didn't discuss the disease of cancer, and it was a shock. And a collection was due the next day. Actually, they postponed it a day because of the funeral, but the following day the collection did open and that was pre-fall. And then I had to push up my sleeves and get fall done. It wasn't a question of really thinking this out. It's amazing to me how all of a sudden things happen the way they happen.

GROSS: So you became, like, the chief designer at Anne Klein. And what happened to your dream of being a stay-at-home mother? Why was that your dream, first of all?

KARAN: Coming from a working woman, I said I promised I would never go to work, or I'd never be a working mom because I had come from...

GROSS: Because your mother has paid so little attention to you.

KARAN: I had come from a working mom. Just that I realized how do you do it all? It's really quite hard. It's not an easy - you know, people ask me how do you do it today? And I'm saying it's not easy.

GROSS: And you saw how stressed out she was.

KARAN: Yeah, and I wanted to have the opportunity to stay home with my daughter, but I guess that's not what the universe had in mind for me.

GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Donna Karan, the designer - the famous designer. She has a new memoir called "My Journey." Let's take a short break. Then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GROSS: This is FRESH AIR, and if you're just joining us, my guest is designer Donna Karan. She has a new memoir called "My Journey." I want to get back to Anne Klein for a moment.

KARAN: Sure.

GROSS: We talked about how her death from breast cancer affected your career and your plans - how it upended your plans to be a stay-at-home mother. But I'm sure you were also very close to her as a person. She had guided you through the early part of your career and given you really big breaks. I'm assuming she was probably the first colleague you were close to who you lost that way. What impact did it have on you, personally, her death? And to lose someone you were close to and know that, you know, that these things...

KARAN: Happen (laughter).

GROSS: Yeah, that these things happen, yeah.

KARAN: I was in a state of shock. Anne was like my mom - my second mom. We did everything together. We worked together. I spent the weekends together. She hadn't had any children, and it just kind of worked for both of us. And I think we were sort of the 24/7 working pair, if that makes any sense - that we'd work and play and kind of hang out together. I remember a lot of times hanging out at her beach house in Westhampton.

GROSS: Did that lead to any conflicts, being, you know, close friends and hanging out together in your off time as well as working together?

KARAN: I never felt that she was my friend as much as my mentor.

GROSS: You left Anne Klein, the company, in an unusual way. After she died, you were their chief designer for a while. They told you that your heart wasn't in the company anymore, and you had to leave. But they also told you if you wanted to start your own company, that they would be your business partners. Would you explain that exchange little bit?

KARAN: No, I was really surprised. I had this idea of starting a - as I said to you - a small little company for me and my friends, just seven easy pieces. I just wanted to design, really, a little company. So I figured I could do Anne Klein. I did Anne Klein, too. And I felt that was rather easy. But my bosses at the time felt that that wouldn't work. And they wanted a hundred percent, you know, attention put on Anne Klein, which I could understand now, believe me. And they said, you know, basically that I was fired (laughter). And I go, what? What do you mean I'm fired? And they said, you're fired, but we'll put you into business. And you could do Donna Karan. And I was kind of shocked by the whole thing, but I started Donna Karan right after working at Anne Klein for over 10 years.

GROSS: Did you see this as a compliment or an insult?

KARAN: Both.

GROSS: On one hand, they were throwing you out the door and the other hand, were saying, we're going to help you start your own company - your own brand.

KARAN: Exactly.

GROSS: Yeah.

KARAN: I don't think anybody had realized that Donna Karan would be the size company that it became, nor DKNY, for that matter.

GROSS: Well, your second husband, Stephan Weiss, who became your business partner, he -sounds like he really helped build the company on the business end.

KARAN: Well, he was kind of wonderful. He kind of kept my partners and everybody - all the stuff that I didn't want to deal with, Stephan dealt with. That was great (laughter). But Stephan was an artist, and I was really shocked by his genius at business. And he was the one who said that we should start a beauty company. So Stephan, in our own bedroom, would mix the products. He'd design the bottles. He mixed the product line and everything. And we started to become in the fragrance business that Stephan himself ran.

GROSS: There's a funny scene in the book where you wake up, and your husband has to go a business meeting. And he is wearing a brown plaid suit, a tan shirt and a wide tie.

And you...

KARAN: Oh, my God.

GROSS: ...Write that, like, you almost died looking at him. And you write, if anything could've made me fall out of love with Stephan, that was it. I felt like I'd woken up to a stranger, a man who bore no relationship to the sexy jeans-wearing guy I'd gone to bed with. Why was that suit so upsetting? (Laughter).

KARAN: It was really in your face. It was almost like a clown suit (laughter) is the only way that I could describe it, sort of this brown and beige plaid suit. And I had seen, you know, Stephan as a pair jeans and a little sexy sweater, top and stuff like that. And all of a sudden, I see him - wake up one morning, and I see him in this suit. And this is way before we got married.

GROSS: Oh, uh huh...

KARAN: This is when we first met him.

GROSS: OK. (Laughter).

KARAN: So I was at Parsons School of Design, and there he was, you know, being the antithesis of everything that I would not want to be with it all.

GROSS: (Laughter). So how somebody dressed was very important to you 'cause that was your thing.

KARAN: Well, I'm a very visceral person. So it's what I see, what I feel, what I touch, what I smell. All of these, you know, senses are very, very heightened as a designer. So, yeah, what I see I have - has an effect on me (laughter).

GROSS: Did you start dressing him after that?

KARAN: Yeah.

GROSS: (Laughter).

KARAN: He looked much better in Giorgio Armani.

GROSS: (Laughter).

If you're just joining us, my guest is designer Donna Karan. She has a new memoir called "My Journey."

Your husband died of lung cancer in 2001. And before he died, he sold your company so that you wouldn't have to worry about the business end of things and so that the family would have financial security after he was gone. So that meant this huge change in your life, both professionally and personally. You no longer owned your company, and you no longer had your husband. What did you do to survive that period?

KARAN: What I will I say...

GROSS: Oh, should we throw in that 9/11 happened just a couple of months after your husband died? And you lived in Manhattan and worked in Manhattan.

KARAN: After Steve passed, I felt very alone. I felt, you know - how was I going to do this without him? And I had a collection due that was coming up in September. And at that time, 9/11 had happened. And that was - our anniversary was that day...

GROSS: Your anniversary was September 11?

KARAN: Our anniversary's September 11. So the night before, I couldn't go to sleep. I figured - how am I going to do a show? My husband's not going to be there, and it's our anniversary. So I wanted to take a piece of his sculpture, which was a very large piece of sculpture and have it sit at - I was showing at the Armory at the time. So I asked somebody to please deliver one of my husband's pieces, so at least I'd feel that - he had a wire sculpture with a man sitting in a chair. And I thought that would be very cool, of having that, because the collection was very much inspired by him, and it had a lot of wiring.

But then I got a call that morning. I got woken up. I hadn't slept the night before. And somebody said to me, Donna, life will never be the same. And we were living down on Wooster Street. And I looked outside the window, and I saw what was happening, you know, on TV. It was September 11, and they had just hit the trade center. And Patti Cohen, who was in charge of PR and public relations, called and said, don't worry, Donna, the show's going on. And I said, that's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of. You know, we have a catastrophe on our hands here right now. I can't imagine, you know, doing shows. She said, well, uptown seemed OK. And then the second plane hit. And then, all of a sudden, you know, the city was in complete, utter panic.

But the show did not go on. And what we did was - they had called us and said, could we use your armory as a holding ground because we felt all the hospitals would be completely jammed up? I said, absolutely, do whatever you need to do. And, unfortunately, nobody got to be at the armory, and even in the hospitals, you know. People hadn't made it.

GROSS: There wasn't that many people to rescue because they were killed.

KARAN: That's correct.

GROSS: You've left your company as of July. Why did you leave?

KARAN: It was a very difficult question. I don't ever feel like I left the company because I feel that the company is there (laughter). But I did realize - and I had been struggling for over past few years is - when I started Urban Zen, I was doing Urban Zen. I was doing Donna Karan. I was doing DKNY. And that was an awful lot to design and be the mother and the grandmother and all of that and the woman who was traveling all over the world. I said there are only X amount of hours in the day, and to do anything right, you know, I had maybe had taken on too much, you know, at this stage of life that I'm at. I had a future that I was getting older, and I wanted to say, you know - how did I want to spend the next 10 years of my life?

GROSS: And it still feels like the right decision?

KARAN: Now, I'm going through a little bit more difficult process. You know, it is a transition that I'm going through. There's no question that I know that I'm doing the right thing. But I still, you know, come September when the shows were going on, I'm going, oh, my God. I don't have to do a show.

GROSS: Donna Karan, thank you so much for talking with us.

KARAN: My pleasure.

GROSS: Donna Karan has written a new memoir called "My Journey." After we take a short break, Berkeley Breathed will tell us why he's returned after a long break and restarted his popular comic strip, "Bloom County." I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.

Hungarian Photographer's Refugee-Themed Fashion Photoshoot Sparks Outrage on Social Media

A Hungarian photographer's recent refugee-themed fashion photo shoot -- including scantily clad models wearing headscarves -- has sparked outrage on social media.

Some of Norbert Baska's photographs from the shoot show a model wearing a headscarves while baring skin, while others show the same model copying the way refugees have been dragged by police to stop them from crossing the border. Most of the photos are are set against the backdrop of barbed wire, signifying the 25-mile barbed wire fence recently put up on Hungary's border with Croatia.

The shoot, which is filed under the "FASHION" section of Baska's official website, is titled "DER MIGRANT," which is German for "The Migrant."

Many users on social media have referred to the shoot as "migrant chic" and criticized the way it sexualizes the refugee crisis and trivializes the tragedy on Hungary's border.

The country recently made headlines after its parliament approved the use of rubber bullets, tear gas and grenades against refugees trying to cross the border.

"Well now this is utterly sick," Twitter user @LewisKayBush wrote. "'Migrant chic' fashion shoot."

PHOTO: Model Monicka Jablonczky is pictured here in a photo series titled “DERS MIGRANT” styled by Mark Kiss and with makeup done by Mua Eszter Balla.Norbert Baska
Model Monicka Jablonczky is pictured here in a photo series titled “DERS MIGRANT” styled by Mark Kiss and with makeup done by Mua Eszter Balla.more +
Twitter user @chmeredith shared the photos, saying, "Apparently this migrant and refugee inspired photoshoot is 'raising awareness' about the totally chic crisis," Twitter user @chmeredith wrote.

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"Wow that designer definitely lacks empathy that he would use refugee crisis as a fashion shoot concept," another user @excogitate123 commented.

PHOTO: Model Monicka Jablonczky is pictured here in a photo series titled “DERS MIGRANT” styled by Mark Kiss and with makeup done by Mua Eszter Balla.Norbert Baska
Model Monicka Jablonczky is pictured here in a photo series titled “DERS MIGRANT” styled by Mark Kiss and with makeup done by Mua Eszter Balla.more +
Despite such reactions, Baska told ABC News that he stands by his work and that he actually "expected extreme reactions."

"The shooting is not intended to glamourize this clearly bad situation, but rather," he said, "to draw the attention to the problem and make people think about it. Artists around the world regularly attract the public’s attention to current problems through ‘shocking’ installations and pictures. This is another example of such art."

He said the shoot was designed to shed light on contradictory information about the migrant situation.

"This is exactly what we wanted to picture: you see a suffering woman, who is also beautiful and despite her situation, has some high quality pieces of outfit and an smartphone," he said in the statement.

Baska's full statement on his photoshoot is available here.

Lakeland holding its own Fashion Week

LAKELAND --
A local group is putting together Lakeland’s first ever Fashion Week.

High fashion and Haute Couture are two things most don’t normally hear mentioned with the city of Lakeland. But local designers like Jasmine Hunter are looking to change that.

“I am. One client at a time,” said Hunter, who is from Lakeland.

She debuted her fashion line Jay Hunt Designs at this year’s New York Fashion Week.

Another big name in fashion and in Lakeland is the Allusions by A-lekay swimsuit line. Designer Altricia Cook designs the high waist swimsuits.



She’s also been to fashion week and had rapper Nicki Minaj wear her swimsuit on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine’s July issue.
“It was pretty amazing. It was a wow factor for me,” Cook said.

That wow factor is exactly what the designers from Lakeland plan to bring to the first ever Lakeland Fashion week.

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This weekend, designers and organizers had their open casting call for models- all of them local of course.

“It’s just that we haven’t been put on the map the way that Tampa and Orlando is so we need this,” said model Lorenzo Edwards. “We need to grow in that way because we can blow up and be just as big as Brooklyn Fashion Week where I just came from.”

And if you’re scratching your head wondering…Lakeland? Fashion Week? Lakeland Fashion Week organizer Ekho Powell said people are in for a real treat.

“I’ve actually had people call me and they asked me in a very nice way, ‘You do know what Fashion Week is right?’ And I was like we’re Polk County, we’re not the moon. We know what fashion week is and it’s a proper fashion week too,” Powell said.

So whether you want to see the some of the hottest designs of the fall or some of the area’s talented models, it’s all going to be on the runway at this year’s Lakeland Fashion Week.

The show runs September 29 through October 3rd. For more information about Lakeland Fashion Week

Fashion Spy: 'I like Blake Lively. I think she always looks great'

Wore what? Boots, £30, New Look; jeans, £30, Zara; scarf, £20, Warehouse; cardigan, £12, t-shirt, £6, hat, £8, all Primark; bag, Louis Vuitton, present.

Why? My style is quite casual, but I like to be a little bit dressed up as well. I don’t like to wear trainers or anything like that.

Who? I like Blake Lively. I think she always looks great, but I don’t like Katie Price. Her clothes are always too tight and too small — it’s not my style.

Lora Chan (46), manager, Stranraer

Wore what? Coat, £60, dress, £30, boots, £40, all from Hong Kong.


Why? My style is quite natural and I like to feel comfortable. I like to wear what I want and choose something different every day.

Who? For my age, there aren't many celebrities who I look to for style inspiration. There are, though, lots of stars who are a bit too crazy and too revealing in their dress sense. I don't like that.


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Alison Hill (50), charity director, Dromore

Wore what? Top, £13, Quiz; jacket, £25, Vero Moda; jeans, £50, Levi; boots, £20, New Look; handbag, £250, Michael Kors.

Why? I tend to dress "smart casual", and I think you don't have to be uncovered to look good.

Who? I really like Jennifer Aniston. I think she dresses well for her age. She's smart without being over-dressed.

Ruth Bakley (20), student, Coleraine

Wore what? Shoes, £50, Moda in Pelle; trousers, £30, Zara; top, £20, New Look; bag, £125, Guess.

Why? My style varies from day to day. It can be a bit more casual than what I'm wearing today, but I like to dress up when I can.

Who? I admire Olivia Palermo. Her style is lovely and I think she is very chic.

Lydia McFarland (18), student, Ballymena

Wore what? Boots, £25, Topshop; jeans, £30, River Island; blouse, £20, Topshop; coat, £50, Miss Selfridge; bag, £30, Accessorize.

Why? I'm not too dressy, so I try to keep it casual and comfortable without being too revealing.

Who? I really like Rita Ora's style. She is not like other celebrities and makes unusual choices.

Cairrai Groogan (20), student, Ballymena

Wore what? Blazer, £30, DV8; blouse, £9, Asda; necklace, £12, Primark; shoes, £25, bag, £25 and jeans, £20, all from New Look.

Why? I don't think I really have a particular style, but I try to go for a casual look. I don't really follow celebrities or anything. I just wear what I want.

Who? I think Kim Kardashian dresses up for people she is surrounded by, and it's far too much. I'm not a fan at all.

India Hunter (21), sales assistant, Antrim

Wore what? Shoes, £30, Zara; trousers, £35, top, £45, both Topshop; jacket, £18, bag, £25, both H&M.

Why? While I prefer formal style, I sell jeans for a living, so I need to strike a balance. I love brogues and patent accessories, they're my favourite.

Who? I really like Paloma Faith because she is slightly different. I think Kim Kardashian's style at the moment is horrific - it really doesn't suit her.

Opening Ceremony show at New York fashion week: five things to know

The Opening Ceremony label are channelling the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, while his daughter inspired a catwalk filled with undercover ballet dancers



Models on the catwalk at the Opening Ceremony show.
 Models on the catwalk at the Opening Ceremony show. Photograph: WWD/REX
An Opening Ceremony show is never a straightforward, models-walking-up-and-down-a-catwalk affair. They have staged a play in the past, and made awesome sweatshirts with Kodak last season. Here are five things to know about their SS16 show.

 Model at the Opening Ceremony: Ready to Wear New York show. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
 Model at the Opening Ceremony: Ready to Wear New York show. Photograph: REX Shutterstock
The look is inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright
The architect’s graphic work on stained glass inspired the patterns on the lampshades dotted around the venue, and the lattice work on the clothes, including some very nice fringed skirts.

But it’s actually his daughter Iovanna who was the main event
She produced costumes for dance dramas in the late 60s and – surprise! – dancers were dotted among the models here. They were announced with a falling move (possibly in a nod to Frank’s famous Fallingwater building?) that looked like a regular catwalk stumble. When that turned into some Fame-worthy dance moves, the New York City Ballet dancers’ real identities were revealed.

 Background scenery at the Opening Ceremony New York show. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
 Background scenery at the Opening Ceremony New York show. Photograph: WWD/REX Shutterstock
Flowers cheer up any venue
Opening Ceremony turned their gritty Wall Street venue into a veritable green-fingered paradise with plants everywhere. For a set of harried editors at the end of a long day, it had a calming effect. The good work will continue long after the fashion crowd have left the building: the plants will be donated to nonprofit organisation Edible Schoolyard, to place in public schools around New York.

 Laverne Cox at the Opening Ceremony show. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
 Laverne Cox at the Opening Ceremony show. Photograph: WWD/REX Shutterstock
Laverne Cox is the best addition to the frow we can think of
She was at the Opening Ceremony show, and has long worked with the brand. This time, she appeared a vision in caramel and made the other frow highlight of the day – Beckham senior and junior at Victoria Beckham – seem almost secondary. Almost.

 Look 23 in the Opening Ceremony show. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
 Look 23 in the Opening Ceremony show. Photograph: WWD/REX Shutterstock
Look 23 was the SS16 winner
A short mac with smart gold buttons and a pair of flared mid-blue jeans is all you need next season. Refer to Grace in Look 23 and study closely. These two items – the rust mac in particular, something that Opening Ceremony call the Miller Barn jacket – are a little bit mid-century, but a lot modern. They’re very good indeed.

Seoul emerges as Asia's new fashion showcase

Seoul -- Move over Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.

Seoul is emerging as Asia's new fashion showcase, with the world's top luxury firms seeking to cash in on the regional trend-setting popularity of South Korean pop culture.

Fast-growing Asia is a key market driving the global luxury industry, with purchases by Chinese consumers accounting for one third of global sales, according to market researcher Bain & Company.

And those consumers often take their style pointers from elsewhere, which is why many brand companies are increasingly focusing on the country described by Bain as Asia's "trendsetter and influencer for fashion and luxury".

Over the past year, leading global fashion houses have upped their game in South Korea in a bid to reach those well-heeled Asians who take their fashion cues from popular Korean TV and pop stars.

French powerhouse Chanel held its 2015/16 Cruise Collection in Seoul in May -- its first show in South Korea.

And in June, Christian Dior opened a six-storey flagship store -- the largest in Asia -- in the upscale district of Gangnam, made famous by the eponymous hit by South Korean rapper Psy.

The world's top luxury group LVMH, which owns Dior and Louis Vuitton, has gone a step further by directly investing in Seoul's thriving K-pop industry.

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A regional style barometer

Last August, L Capital Asia -- the investment fund arm of LVMH -- bought shares worth about $80 million in YG Entertainment, a major K-pop agency.

The deal made the French luxury empire the second-largest shareholder of YG, whose roster of K-pop acts includes Psy, G-Dragon and the boyband BigBang.

"Global luxury firms have begun to realise that what's popular in South Korea soon becomes popular across Asia," said Lie Sang-Bong, a prominent fashion designer and head of the Council of Fashion Designers of Korea.

Lie said luxury brands that had previously favoured Hong Kong or Singapore as the centre of their Asia business started to turn to Seoul about three years ago.

China's influence as a trendsetter will eventually catch-up with its importance as a market, but for now "Seoul is where they look to see the next big trend," Lie said.

Famed fashion critic Suzy Menkes picked Seoul as next year's host for what will be only the second edition of the annual Conde Nast International Luxury Conference.

"I think that (luxury brands) are thinking of this country as a hub, this city in particular as a hub, where people will go and buy things," Menkes, the international fashion editor for Vogue, said during a visit to Seoul in July.

Riding the Korean Wave

The real attraction for the brand names is the promotional reach into the rest of Asia and beyond provided by the so-called Hallyu (Korean Wave) of Korean TV shows and pop music.

The power of the Hallyu phenomenon was most recently demonstrated by the 2014 hit TV drama "My Love from Another Star" which was enormously popular in China.

A pair of $625 Jimmy Choo shoes worn by the show's heroine, Jun Ji-Hyun, sold out in shoe stores across Asia, while an Yves Saint Laurent lipstick she was rumoured to be wearing experienced a similar run in China.

Rapper G-Dragon -- a style icon followed by millions of fans across Asia and beyond on social media -- is considered a poster child of the Hallyu boom.

His favourite items, from Yves Saint Laurent jackets to Christian Louboutin sneakers, earn instant recognition among his followers and are discussed on dozens of websites dedicated to the styles of K-pop artists.

Now the 27-year-old has become a front-row fashion show fixture, not just in Asian cities, but also Paris and London.

Korean TV dramas have also proved to be a striking marketing device for the cosmetics industry, according to a May report by market researcher Euromonitor.

Selling beauty

Beauty products featured in top-rated shows or favoured by their stars fuel "rocketing demand for the relevant colour cosmetics and skin care products" in other Asian countries, especially China, the report said.

And it isn't only foreign brands that are benefiting from exposure in the South Korean shop window.

A "cushion-compact" -- a sponge soaked with liquid foundation -- developed by AmorePacific has proved a major hit in Asia, prompting Dior to form a strategic partnership with the Korean cosmetics giant to use the "cushion" technology.

Kate Ahn, Seoul representative of the British consumer research firm Stylus, said South Korea had effectively become a "springboard" for luxury brands to test consumer sentiment in the Asian market.

"It's a small country but a perfect starting point to tap into the Chinese market and beyond," Ahn said, adding she had been bombarded with proposals from European and US firms hoping to invest in Seoul cosmetics makers in recent years.

"They even want to invest in relatively small, little-known cosmetics firms ... because they know many Asian women, especially Chinese, are closely watching beauty trends in Seoul," she said.

Lara Bingle returns to modelling for Westfield's Today, I Am fashion film series

Gracie Otto and Lara Bingle on set for Westfield's upcoming short fashion film Today, I Am. Photo: Instagram

Westfield has coaxed Lara Bingle to step back in front of the camera for its Today, I Am short fashion film series.

Acclaimed filmmaker Gracie Otto has shot, directed and edited two films for the retailer. The first was filmed against the Sydney skyline and features model/actors Thomas Cocquerel, who will appear alongside Anna Kendrick in Table 19, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend star Natasha Liu Bordizzo.

The second project with Bingle as the star will be released soon and was filmed on location in New York. Famed Victoria's Secret photographer Russell James is also rumoured to have been involved in Bingle's modelling comeback.

Breath of fresh air @nomadrj #secretsquirrel

A photo posted by Lara Worthington (@laraworthington) on Aug 6, 2015 at 4:23pm PDT

"Lara is looking the best she's ever looked. She's just got these Marilyn Monroe features on screen, I keep telling her to try acting but she just laughs," Otto told The Sun Herald. "Like the Sydney one, we shot some of it on a rooftop in New York, we cranked the music and she was dancing around having a ball."

Today, I Am will mark Bingle's return to the spotlight since giving birth to her son Rocket Zot in March.

"People always want to know what Lara is wearing so this project allows us to hear her thoughts on fashion and how fashion makes her feel," Otto said.

"It was so great to see her and work with her again. Especially now she's a mum, we're the same age so I'm like 'wow', she says it's the hardest thing she's ever done but she's doing really well."

Former Fashion Police panelist Kelly Osbourne stars in the first of the Today, I Am series.

"While Kelly encourages you to use fashion to be whoever you want to be, Lara's film is about what Lara wears and how she wears it."

Julie Bishop's Fashion Week

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It's no secret Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is a sucker for an Armani blazer and brooch ensemble, but when she's out in the field, like she was this week encouraging big business to bankroll foreign aid, she dons Australian designs.

First there was a Camilla & Marc number for an appearance on Sky News' Viewpoint.

Mixing politics and fashion - the Foreign Minister @juliebishopmp wearing AFC Members @camillaandmarc #fashiondiplomacy #viewpoint #chriskenny

A photo posted by Australian Fashion Chamber (@afashionchamber) on Aug 30, 2015 at 2:30pm PDT

Then Dion Lee designed her digs for the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Fashion Chamber, a pact which will see the federal government working with the local industry to enhance our presence in foreign stores and on their runways.

"I've already charged our overseas embassies and high commissions and posts to host events for our fashion designers during the major fashion shows and already we've held fashion events in our posts in New York, London, Paris, Islamabad, New Delhi and Jakarta," she said.

Bishop also officially opened Collette Dinnigan's Unlaced exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, wearing a black mesh and feather cocktail dress.

Delighted to open @collettedinnigan exhibition Unlaced @maasmuseum - a fashion icon #fashiondiplomacy

A photo posted by Julie Bishop (@juliebishopmp) on Sep 2, 2015 at 5:51pm PDT

"I first fell in love with Collette Dinnigan's glorious clothes many years ago and I have my own classic collection of sequined cardis and gorgeous frocks. Indeed, I was attending a dinner in New York for G'Day USA in January of last year and I bought this and the label says only seven were made worldwide. Well, imagine my delight when I found one of the seven upstairs in the exhibition. We've only got five to locate, Collette," she said.

It's not hard to see why Bishop, not our Country Road sweater-loving Arts Minister George Brandis, was invited. The well-read Attorney-General may have struggled for a conversation with the fashion crowd who are more into Paleo than Plato.

Richard Branson: The flexible parent's champion

Richard Branson with his children Holly and Sam.

For Richard Branson there is only one thing that trumps being a father, and that's becoming a grandfather.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun-Herald ahead of his Australian visit this week, the Virgin tycoon was practically giddy when pressed about the newest additions to his family.

"Fatherhood comes with so many rewards, but the best thing about being a dad is watching your children grow into capable and independent adults," he said. "This year has been extra special, as both my children, Holly and Sam, have had children of their own. They're extraordinary parents and being a grandfather is fast becoming my favourite thing about being a father."

Branson, who regularly took meetings and interviews while his children played in his office, said he has no regrets for routinely pulling them out of school for airline route launches all around the world, "I dreaded the conversation with their headmaster, justifying why taking them out of school was good for them."

The 65-year-old credits fatherhood to his professional success and encourages both men and women to push for flexible working conditions.

"Being so focused on being a father has helped to provide balance and act as a constant reminder that business isn't the be-all and end-all of life."

Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore join forces with National Breast Cancer Foundation

Actors Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette will help raise funds for the NBCF.

Julia Baird's moving op-ed about her cancer struggle last week put a lot of things into perspective – cherish your loved ones and don't sweat the small stuff. It's perhaps rather serendipitous then that in the coming weeks Hollywood will be focused on the illness thanks to the release of Toni Collette's new film, Miss You Already.

The film, which also stars Drew Barrymore, is a new age version of Thelma & Louise (minus the road trip). It charts the story of lifelong friends, one who is struggling with infertility and the other with breast cancer. Both Collette and Barrymore will attend the Australian premiere at the State Theatre this month. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for research.

Meanwhile, Margie Abbott will make a rare public appearance this week all in the name of women's cancer prevention for the launch of Pink Hope's second annual Bright Pink Lipstick Day. Abbott, together with the founder of the breast and ovarian cancer prevention charity Krystal Barter, will host a brunch at Kirribilli House. Model Jess Hart has once again created a bespoke pink lipstick for the social media movement which encourages women to talk about their family health history.

Rebecca Vallance eyes Manhattan

Bambi Northwood-Blyth and designer Rebecca Vallance.

New York Fashion Week is almost upon us and you can practically smell the champagne and expensive perfume from here. While all the usual international suspects will be showing their spring-summer 2016 collections all over the Big Apple starting this week, a strong contingent of Aussie talent will be storming the official schedule, including Rebecca Vallance.

Vallance, a darling of David Jones back home, will make her second NYFW appearance after experiencing a 270 per cent growth in sales this year alone. Her collection, Pop Noir, will be shown to key buyers, celebrities and media just after she takes her first international sales meeting with Barneys – more commonly known as Fashion Nirvana. The Zimmermann sisters will also show as will Dion Lee later in the week.

Meanwhile across the pond, after several seasons showing in Paris, Kym Ellery has finally been invited to participate on the official schedule in the fashion capital. Her show will take place on October 6 during Paris Fashion Week.

The man behind Lorde, gets behind the lens for Karen Walker

James Lowe's Poolside campaign for Karen Walker Sunglasses.

Rachel Zoe, super stylist and sunglasses aficionado, once said, "Sunglasses are the ultimate do not disturb sign" which is why Kiwi designer Karen Walker's range is a cult favourite for the celebrity types like Beyonce, Lena Dunham and Rihanna. For her upcoming spring campaign Walker has recruited her countryman, famed photographer and Lorde's other half James Lowe to capture the collection.

Lowe, who studied at art school and has a fine arts background, keeps a low public profile even in his native Auckland. He is renowned for his intimate yet playful portraiture and has previously shot his longtime love Lorde for a spread in music publication NME and for fashion house Chloe.

this is the third birthday i've been around for; the babies in this photo had only celebrated one! dreamy eyes in a van on tour in australia

A photo posted by Lorde (@lordemusic) on Jul 21, 2015 at 9:28pm PDT

His work and fashion features also regularly appear in Nylon and Oyster magazines. Karen Walker's Poolside campaign is one of his first major international commercial jobs.

Party of the Week: David Jones launch JT One at Vogue Fashion's Night Out

Alli Simpson with the models at the JT One launch.

The streets were alive with the sound of cash registers and "can I get a selfie?" on Thursday for Vogue Fashion's Night Out, with fashion editors, celebrities and those who treat shopping as cardio flooding the CBD for the sixth annual shopping festival. David Jones took the opportunity to launch its third Woolworths brand JT One with social media star Alli Simpson, sister of singer Cody. JT One is the department store's new lingerie and loungewear range from South Africa which boasts more bright colours and loud leopard prints than The Real Housewives of Melbourne.