Beauty in the Face of Recession
@ 11:53 am August 30, 2009Filed under: Health & Beauty, Los Angeles
Email This Post
Print This Post
Subscribe to our Feed
add a comment
LOS ANGELES, Aug 30, 2009 / FW/ — One hundred years of beauty and L’Oreal is still out there doing their research. The World Beauty Leader recently conducted an international beauty survey on how the current economy is affecting the beauty market. Over 4,000 women in the U.S. and Europe were asked about their beauty regiments and how, if anything, things have changed since living in the face of recession.
Surprising or not, the survey found that women are not sacrificing beauty in tough times. Majority of the women felt that wearing makeup made them look and feel better. Some even thought that the effects of make-up were advantageous in the work place.
Being a woman has changed over the years so that the power women and sexual icon are blending, interchangeably in some cases. Being successful doesn’t mean being asexual anymore and the beauty market shows this. While the survey shows that a larger percentage of women are veering towards more toned down and natural looks then before, the desire for make-up is still there.
With L’Oreal’s 100 year mark they are still aimed at understanding the consumer and making beauty accessible to the general public. If women are not compromising on beauty then the beauty market still has a big job on their hands, to make women feel and act more confident. Even if natural beauty is big right now, make-up is still in demand to create that effect and give women the confidence they desire.
Versace in Ho Chi Minh City
@ 2:34 am December 7, 2008Filed under: News
Email This Post
Print This Post
Subscribe to our Feed
add a comment
MILAN, Dec 7, 2008 / FW/ — Just in time for holiday shopping, Versace has opened their first boutique in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. The store follows the newest stylistic guidelines for the most important Versace Boutiques worldwide. The importance of clean, modern and elegant design is accentuated by the focus on the color white, with white matt ceilings and white lacquered walls. Black granite marble floors add a bit of contrast as do the lacqured black and white wood furniture. Lights play an important role in creating mood for the store as they work as a decorative effect throughout the store and as a centerpiece in the form of a 9meter chandelier.
The Versace Group said: “We are looking to create an environment where the architecture of the store supports the presentation of our collections in a way which is modern, refined and accessible to our customers. Following the previously announced investment plan of 45million euro to open 11 new Asian boutiques, this boutique in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam reconfirms the Versace Group’s strong expansion plan in the Greater Asian market, now placing it second in importance after Europe.”
The store will carry the new season’s Versace women’s ready to wear collections, Versace eyewear, Versace fragrance and both men’s and women’s accessories featuring the complete range of bags, shoes, and belts. The one floor space covers 200 square meters and was inaugurated December 6th 2008. Special guests included Ms. Vietnam 2008 and the Italian Ambassador to Thailand. With the importance of the Greater Asian market, the Ho Chi Minh City store is a big step for the Versace Group.
Gianfranco Ferre: It’s Raining Men
@ 12:09 am July 11, 2008Filed under: Milan, News, Runway Shows
Email This Post
Print This Post
Subscribe to our Feed
1 comment so far
MILAN, Jul 11, 2008 / FW/ — Opting to show the whole Spring / Summer 2009 collection all at once, the Gianfranco Ferré menswear presentation held during the last week of June here in Milan is a mixture of the gentlemanly urban male, the Ivy League student and the young corporate up-and-coming guy.
The label actually does not show any sign of slowing down. Last Jun 17, on the eve of the Milano Moda Uomo Spring 2009 seasons, Gianfranco Ferré opened its 18th boutique in China, which is the second Ferré Milano concept store in the country.
With two more scheduled to open later this year in Guiyang and Zhengzhou, the Gianfranco Ferré retail network in Asia continues to expand. These latest openings confirm the success of Ferré Milano in the Far East, where it owns dedicated stores in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Malaya, and strengthen the international expansion of the brand, which is already available in such locations as Istanbul, Moscow, Warsaw, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta.
The Gianfranco Ferré retail network in the Asian continent totals 31 branded stores in addition to the 32 Gianfranco Ferré boutiques and 19 of the young line GF Ferré, which includes boutiques in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Macao, and Seoul, is expanded through the opening of new Ferré Milano branded stores.
(Click on thumbnail to see bigger photo)
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
(Photos by Lisa Helm)
Bally: Travel & Adventure
@ 10:47 pm July 10, 2008Filed under: Milan, News, Runway Shows
Email This Post
Print This Post
Subscribe to our Feed
1 comment so far
MILAN, July 10, 2008 / FW/ — Perhaps it is only in the U.S. where ‘staycation’ is en vogue. (For those who live outside the U.S., ‘staycation’ is the new term being used to define vacations that are spent at home or near at home wherein you only use one tank of gas going there and back). In Europe, the populace still plans to go to seaside resorts for the summer.
For Bally fans, whether they are Europeans or Americans do not matter. They are still going to travel next spring break and summer in the new gorgeous renditions of travel totes, sandals and sneakers!
Bally might be known for its leather goods and they are great in making them, but the company has been tinkering with high tech for the past several seasons and the results are to be expected – the excellent Bally quality we have come to expect.
(Click on thumbnail to see bigger photo)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
(Photos by Lisa Helm)
Costume National: 36 Ideas for the Future
@ 9:58 pm July 10, 2008Filed under: Milan, News, Runway Shows
Email This Post
Print This Post
Subscribe to our Feed
2comments
MILAN, July 10, 2008/ FW/ — While most designers are interested in the future Ennio Capasa takes this interest to the extreme. Costume National is always techno conscious and fashion forward and for Spring Summer 09 Ennio Capasa made sure that fashion forward meant new and futuristic. With 36 exits Ennio proposed 36 ideas for the future.
This year when the importance of being green is ever more pertinent in our day-to-day lives, natural becomes a part of our future. No longer is the future represented solely by super tech fabrics and sleek sheens but also by the ‘au natural’. Costume National reflected this new future by blending their signature futuristic techno looks with more natural earthy ones.
Colors were lighter and more romantic then the normal Costume National palette. Tan, white, grey almost fully replaced the typical black that we normally see and highlights in burnt yellow and silvery midnight blue were other toned down versions of Costume’s classic colors.
Pants followed the big trend of the season and were cut off right above the ankle in the famous Thom Browne style. The silhouette was slim or illusionary slim with larger fit sheers adding misleading volumes.
There was a touch of femininity in the collection with cut outs in the back of shirts and a weightlessness in the materials giving a feminine edge to the rather masculine styles. Sheers and glosses could be interpreted as both feminine and futuristic or both, considering how strong a player men’s fashion is today’s fashion world.
The collection stayed with Costume National’s roots while playing with ideas for a sustainable future. The blend of shiny jackets and recycled materials still has room to grow but for now just getting the idea out there is a step in the right direction.
 |
 |
(Photos by Lisa Helm, click on image to see bigger photo.)