Mercedes-Benz Berlin 2008 Fashion Week Press Registration

Here is a link for the press registration form (both in English and German) for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2008 in Berlin: https://registration.img-fashion.com/?lang=1&e=60ea9acca8d602e1911ac4b2ab341a89

Berlin Fashion Week 2008 will be held from January 27 to 31, 2008.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Press Release

MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK BERLIN ANNOUNCES LOCATION, DATES AND PRELIMINARY LINE-UP FOR THE FALL/WINTER 2008 COLLECTIONS

INTERNATIONAL AND EMERGING DESIGNERS TO BE SHOWCASED IN BERLIN THIS JANUARY

Following the successful event that premiered in July 2007, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin will take its place on the international fashion calendar again this season with the Fall/Winter 2008 collections January 27 to 31, 2008. Berlin will become a unique fashion destination when the city’s Postbahnhof event location attracts media, buyers, fashion leaders, VIPs and celebrities from around the world.

“We are proud to announce the date and the location of the second Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin in January 2008,” said COO of IMG Fashion, Maureen Reidy, during her visit to Berlin. “The Postbahnhof is the ideal location to highlight Berlin’s distinctive and celebrated architecture.”

The upcoming season will feature designers such as HEIRESS, Marcel Ostertag, Strenesse and UNRATH & STRANO at the Postbahnhof location as well as HUGO, MICHALSKY and Rudolf Dassler by PUMA Schuhfabrik at off-site locations. Over five days, established and emerging designers will take to the runways to present their Fall/Winter 2008 collections at this global fashion event.

Elegance and styling have always played a key role in the success of the Mercedes-Benz brand,” says Dr. Olaf Göttgens, Vice President Brand Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars. “The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin establishes even stronger ties between our brand and the world of fashion. We are proud once again in 2008 to present in Berlin a fashion event of international standing.”

With great enthusiasm, Mercedes-Benz additionally supports fashion platforms in, for example, Los Angeles, Miami, Mexico and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the Stuttgart-based motor-vehicle manufacturer has already for a number of years been the title sponsor at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York, which is one of the four leading international fashion events.

For the first time, Premium, Ideal and Stark as well as Projekt Galerie will be held together in a full week dedicated to fashion as thousands come to the German capital to experience the synergy of the country’s design, arts and culture firsthand.

Harald Wolf, Senator for Economics and Technology of the city of Berlin states: “Fashion Week Berlin offers a week filled with top-class events, bringing an international fashion audience to Berlin.”

This December, visitors around the world will have access to information on all of the events and activities for the week in Berlin with the launch of an online media platform, details to be announced later.

Below is a complete listing of the events taking place January 25-February 3, 2008:

Stark.Men: January 25– 27, 2008
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin: January 27–31, 2008
Premium: February 1–3, 2008
Stark.Women: February 1–3, 2008
Ideal: January 1– February 2, 2008
Projekt Galerie: February 1– 3, 2008

Hervé Léger at New York Fashion Week for Fall 2008 Collections

BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP plans to show their Hervé Léger by Max Azria ready-to-wear collection during Fall 2008 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. This will mark the first time since the mid-nineties that the collection will be presented on the runway, and the first time ever that it will be shown in New York. The collection was originally shown in Paris.

“I’m thrilled to be bringing the glamour and sensuality of Hervé Léger by Max Azria to the New York runway,” said Max Azria, designer, chairman and CEO of BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP. “I’ve spent the last year focusing on redesigning and reinventing the brand, while staying true to the house’s heritage.”

The original Hervé Léger fashion house was founded in 1985 and acquired by BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP in 1998. With fashion moving in the direction of more feminine, shapely silhouettes, in the past year the Hervé Léger look experienced a resurgence in popularity. Recognizing this, Azria relaunched the Hervé Léger label with his own designs that have since been embraced by celebrities such as Kate Bosworth, Victoria Beckham and Catherine Zeta-Jones, among others.

Zac Posen at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin

New York’s darling Zac Posen and the German Fashion Label Joop! to show in Berlin.

Since Zac Posten debuted in New York City in 2002 with his collection he is in the spotlight of the international fashion world. Today the 27 year old announced that his Resort 2008 will be the final show of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin on 31st of january.

Especially the dynamic and creativity of Berlin were the main reasons for Zac Posen to show in Berlin: “Today Berlin is like New York has been back in the 80’s. The city is one of the most dynamic in Europe and is full of ideas and energy. I am overly happy to be able to show my collection in this creative environment.”

Simultaneously the international successful German fashion label Joop! announced that they will be participating with some off-site show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin. “The participation of the worldwide celebrated labels Zac Posen and Joop! at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin is a wonderful success for the event. The presence of those well-known designers is a sign for the big interest of the international fashion-scene regarding Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin”, says Massimo Redaelli, senior vice president of IMG Fashion Europe.

Besides of Zac Posen and Joop! the following designers have confirmed their participation at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin in january 2008: 30paarhaende, HEIRESS, INTUITIVE, Macqua, Marcel Ostertag, SINEMUS, STEFAN ECKERT, Strenesse, Suzana Peri? and UNRATH & STRANO at the location at Postbahnhof as well as HUGO, MICHALSKY and SISI WASABI in off-locations.

Like in the last season, the Karstadt New Generation Award will happen again and offer young design talents some ideal opportunity to present their creative ideas to some selected fashion professionals.

The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin starts on sunday the 27th of january with the opening show of HUGO and ends on thursday the 31st of january with Zac Posen’s show. Other associated fashion events happening around Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin are the Premium, Ideal, Stark and Projekt Galerie fashion fairs.

http://www.mercedes-benzfashionweekberlin.com

Stella McCartney Wins Top Honors at British Fashion Awards

Stella McCartney has been named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in London.

She beat out Anya Hindmarch and Luella Bartley to claim the coveted award, which recognizes the leading British designer of couture, ready-to-wear, knitwear or accessories.

Organized by the British Fashion Council, the annual awards celebrate the best emerging and established fashion talents within the British fashion industry.

The prizes are decided by a panel of top fashion editors, retailers and influencers and their committee is chaired by British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman.

Other winners at this year’s awards included jewelery designer Tom Binns, Burberry menswear designer Christopher Bailey and Dame Vivienne Westwood, who was honoured for outstanding achievement in fashion design.

The inaugural Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator, established in memory of the late stylist, was awarded to production and set designer Michael Howells, who has created backdrops for John Galliano and Christian Dior shows.

Designer Erdem Moralioglu won the £50,000 ($136,000) Swarovski-sponsored Fashion Enterprise Award to help develop his label Erdem.

Full list of award recipients:

Karl Lagerfeld Takes a Stand on Size Zero Models at Paris Fashion Week

Here is an article from the Telegraph about Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris Fashion Week Show and his refusal to allow overly skinny models to showcase his collection.

Paris Fashion Week: Lagerfeld takes a stand on size zero, by Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director at Paris Fashion Week

Karl Lagerfeld revealed in Paris he had taken a dramatic stand on the size zero issue by rejecting three models for his Chanel catwalk show yesterday (Friday) because they were ‘too skinny’.

“It is the first time I have ever done something like this,” he said.

“I have nothing against skinny girls. But these were terrible. They looked as if they had grown up in a Third World country with no food to eat.

“I sent them back to the agency. I did not think they should be modeling,” said the designer.

He described the three models – who he did not identify – as being so thin as to look ‘almost deformed’ and agreed his stance may persuade other designers to follow suit.

The 45 girls who were accepted to model the Chanel spring/summer 2008 collection ranged in size from lean to luscious. Gemma Ward, the blonde “surfer-babe” from Australia, in particular, looked positively curvaceous in a skimpy bikini.

The show was staged in the Grand Palais, on a dark blue and silver star-print stage, surmounted with a 30ft high bow – stars and bows being two of the themes of the collection – before one of the largest celebrity front rows seen this week in Paris.

Among those sitting ringside were Victoria Beckham, in a bright green, 1950’s vintage dress; the actress, Kirsten Dunst; the rock, rap and pop singers, Courtney Love, Kanye West, Lily Allen and Alison Mosshart from The Kills; the supermodel, Claudia Schiffer; and the burlesque queen, Dita Von Teese.

The collection was a “BoomBox” club mix of goth, biker, disco, rock ‘n’ roll, futuristic, surfer and sports looks, which even included tennis wear, complete with leg-warmer socks and Double C-logo rackets.

A classic cardigan jacket occasionally materialized amongst the cacophony, more often than not teamed with a denim leotard or a pair of baggy jeans equipped with the latest Chanel “must-have” – jeweled bicycle clips.

The show opened with a salute to America’s favourite fabric - denim. Woven with silk, technically distressed and faded, it came as sexy-sporty swimwear, with biker jackets and sparkling silver, wedge-sole, “disco boots” or shoes with no laces.

There was more Americana in a stars-and-stripes sequence, which featured flag-meets-nautical looks in raw-edge jackets, dresses and skirts with “pinking shear” hems, in a mix of red-and-white stripes and navy-and-white star prints, accessorized with patent high heels with a miniature quilted bag attached to one ankle, in the manner of the US ‘Alcohol Detecting Ankle-Strap’, as recently sported by Lindsay Lohan.

Party wear included everything from Little Black Dresses, stamped with rivets and festooned with dangling silver chains, to skintight slinks patchworked with metallic circles, embroidered lace trousers and demure, star-print long gowns with matching hair-bows.

“It’s all about proposals for life,” said Lagerfeld of his Chanel fashion ‘casserole’.

“There’s no room for just one way; people need clothes for different lifestyles”.

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2007/10/06/efchanel106.xml

Model Falls into Runway Hole at Los Angeles Fashion Week, October 2007

Here’s a brief bit from the AP about a model falling into a hole in the runway during a show at the Mercedes-Benz Los Angeles Fashion Week for the Spring 2008 Ready-to-Wear Collections:

Fashionistas from Naomi Campbell to Carrie Bradshaw have made embarrassing missteps on the catwalk. But model Sarah Welch trumped them all when she fell through a hole during an L.A. Fashion Week show.

A video of Welch’s dramatic drop — a sensation on YouTube — shows her walking the runway at last week’s presentation of the fashion line Shadang. She stares blankly ahead, not noticing the gaping hole left where a martial arts performer had cracked open the floor with a flip.

“As a runway model, you have to keep your head up, you know,” Welch, a former contestant on “The Bachelor” reality series, told KABC-TV. “So I didn’t look down for a hole, particularly.”

Then came the plunge. In the video, the crowd is heard howling with apparent shock. Welch, waist-deep in the hole, struggles to lift herself out, and is helped by “Heroes” actor Jimmy Jean-Louis, who modeled at the event. She regains her footing and exits stage left, raising her fist to seemingly signal that she’s OK.

The video of the tumble, posted Thursday, had more than 1 million views on YouTube by Monday afternoon.

Welch, now an Internet celebrity, has a good sense of humor about it.

“It is just a really funny mishap. And I hope they’re enjoying watching it just as much as I am,” she said.

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Karl Lagerfeld Turns the Great Wall of China into a Runway for Fendi

Here’s a fashion show on a scale never held before, with eighty eight models walking down a ramp that is literally one of its kind in the world - a ramp nothing less than the Great Wall of China.

Some of the country’s most famous stars gathered at the Wall at Juyongguan, an hour north of Beijing, for the unveiling of a new line, partly designed by Karl Lagerfeld for fashion house Fendi.

China’s Great Wall was not just a popular tourist spot on Friday (October 19, 2007) night - it was a catwalk. Over eighty models from all over the world flew in, just to be able to walk down one of the new seven wonders of the world. The brains behind all this is Fendi, one of the world’s most popular luxury brands. After working for a year to get permission to set up the glamorous stage, Fendi raised Chinese eyebrows. Silvia Fendi, the designer of the new looks, said there was hardly anything left to top this.

But the audience for the fashion show on the Great Wall, mainly constituted those Chinese civilians, who are benefiting most from the economy’s rapid rise - the newly rich. Still Karl Lagerfeld, designer of not only Fendi but also of a few other top luxury brands - defended fashion by stating saying that, it could in fact lead to the betterment of lives.

While all the Chinese political leaders are talking about an agenda to build a harmonious society, out there on the catwalk, the order of the day was consumerism, luxury and business.

Petro Zillia Closes Los Angeles Fashion Week Spring 2008 … with Paris Hilton?

CULVER CITY, Calif. (AP) — Who better to add some spice to Petro Zillia’s closing show of bright, sassy dresses at L.A. Fashion Week than ultimate L.A. girl Paris Hilton? It all was, like the show’s name, “So L.A.”

Light bulbs flashed and necks swiveled when Hilton sashayed down the runway Thursday night to her front-row seat at Smashbox Studios’ main tent arm-in-arm with the label’s designer, Nony Tochterman.

Hilton, wearing a Petro Zillia midnight blue satin jumpsuit, had missed her sister Nicky’s spring Chick collection earlier in the week.

“I’ve been shooting a film in Toronto for two months,” Hilton told The Associated Press, adding that she had arrived in town the night before for Spike TV’s Scream Awards and to see Petro Zillia’s “great collection.”

The last time Tochterman showed at L.A. Fashion Week was two years ago. Last year, the L.A.-based designer opened her first store, soaking in the trendy street styles of women in the area.

Thursday’s collection triumphantly reflected that influence, with block colors as bright and California fresh as Tochterman’s pink hair, and dresses either skimming the thigh or swept low to the ground.

“This season is all inspired by the L.A. girl, the fearless girl into fashion,” Tochterman told The AP in a phone interview. “I love the dress trend. Putting on a dress and running out of the house and looking like you didn’t try too hard. The girls here don’t know the rules our parents used to follow. They wear what they like.”

That confidence reigned on the catwalk, where models sporting fake Afro-puff ponytails and huge heart-shaped earrings strutted in gold knee-high Roman boots or gold platform heels, playing up a fun ’70s feel.

The line showcased silk ruffled dresses, either short in coral or floor-length in red. There were off-the-shoulder sheer gowns in orange silk and hot pink chiffon, accented by a trailing scarf.

A gold rayon knitted vest stretched to the ankle. It was saucily cinched in front and left open to reveal matching, high-waisted gold underwear.

One standout greeted by clapping and cheers was a gorgeous floor-length teal wrap dress with delicate folds of chiffon worthy of any starlet prepping for the awards show season.

Silk and satin jumpers, in line with trends in New York and Milan, came in bright yellow and fuchsia. Belted shorts and flowing wide-legged pants were paired with metallic knitted tops.

Only a daring woman would don the see-through black dress with enormous gold-edged flowers shown at the collection’s end. Then again, the gown brought a zesty finish to Mercedes-Benz L.A. Fashion Week.

The week’s 34 shows included designers Sue Wong, Randolph Duke, Christian Audigier, Kevan Hall, Jeremy Scott, Heatherette and Monarchy Collection, which presented its looks on a catwalk of green grass.

“When I lived in New York, I felt New York was the only place where I could get inspired in the streets. Now the mentality, the culture, is all changing,” noted Tochterman. “The fashion and culture is so inspiring here.”

J’aime at Los Angeles Fashion Week Spring 2008

Jaime Pressly, who took home the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress last month for her work on My Name is Earl, has reached another career milestone. On Monday, Pressly debuted her newly expanded contemporary collection from her two-year-old clothing line, J’aime.

Originally, Pressly’s clothing line consisted of a simple knit collection, but has now expanded to include ready-to-wear items made from an array of fabrics, such as washed linen, cotton voile, stretch cotton sateen, chiffon and eyelet. Further marking the growth of her clothing company, Pressly recruited European designer Renee Bardot to help bring her visions to life.

Pressly’s J’aime, which is French for “I Love,” now boasts of such items as flowing dresses with satin braiding satin braiding, well-tailored pants suits, short shorts and feminine tops. In making the new collection, Jaime Pressly said that as with her original line, the main goal was to create fashion that would suit all women.

“The collection, as always, was designed first and foremost to fit and flatter the body of every woman.” Pressly said. “My goal is to design clothes that make women look and feel confident.”

On the second night of LA Fashion Week, Pressly was beaming with pride as models paraded her new collection down the runway. Her My Name is Earl co-stars Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Steeples and Giovanni Ribisi were present at the event, along with friend Nicky Hilton, who had a show for her Chick clothing line over the weekend, and Hilton’s boyfriend, David Katzenberg.

LA Fashion week is an exclusive, invitation only event benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This year, the city’s fashion extravaganza kicked off on Sunday, October 14, and will conclude on Thursday, October 18.

Mercedes-Benz LA Fashion Week Spring 2008 Goes Green!

Li Cari finishes off a week of shows and celebrations with an Eco Friendly Finale show that will rock the planet. This Red carpet event will be held Friday, October 19, 2007 at Dom in the heart of Beverly Hills.

The evening will commence with a Cocktail party and lead into a catwalk for celebrity and VIP guests. Hosted by Morgan Weirich, CBS, Looks Like Love, and presented by LA Direct Magazine. DJ Poet from the Black Eyed Peas and DJ Pinxx will be spinning the turn tables for not only an incredible fashion show, but also for the pilot to “Catwalk” a reality series which started filming during New York fashion week. The show is based on Jazmin Whitley the designer of the Li Cari fashion house.

Jazmin Whitley was the youngest designer to show in NY fashion week. At the ripe old age of 19 this dynamic young designer will show for the second time in LA fashion week. The Li Cari label was launched in Los Angeles in March 2006. As the fashion world continues to speed up and hasten through trends, Li Cari lingers on timeless and classic looks that are eternally appealing, with a modern touch influenced by the designer’s youthful and innovative personality. The allure of the Li Cari fashion house is its youthful charm and clever twists on otherwise uniform trends.

Attracting hip clients like Blu Cantrell, Michelle Stafford, Sara Carter, Erica Rose, Jo De La Rosa, Victoria Justice, Aimee Teegarden, Brie Larson, singer Monet Monico and Alex M to name a few, Jazmin Whitley has dressed many other celebrities for red carpet events including The Teen Choice Awards, MTV Awards, Catwalk for Charity, Care Awards, Young Artists Awards, and will be dressing several for the Grammy awards. Whitley has been featured in 12 magazines in the pasted two months and seems to be on a very fast pass to the top.

Jazmin Whitley is not only passionate about fashion she also holds children and protecting the earth and its resources very close to her heart. The line will only be made in the USA, Italy and countries that enforce child labor laws. Whitley states “and that will never change”. Whitley is adamant on educating Americans on the harm of child labor as well as showing that Eco-friendly fashion is just as couture as the toxic textiles that are out there. She feels that building a better tomorrow starts today. Whitley states “Conventional clothing is killing our environment, the textile industry is one of the most polluting industries on earth but We have the means to create new industries, products, lifestyles that enhance our natural environment rather than destroy it.”

Dom Valcucine was selected as the venue because of its incredible leadership in protecting the environment. Dom specializes in Eco friendly products DOM works with architects and designers on individual residences as well as multi-unit projects offering eco friendly design assistance.

This young designer has taken young Hollywood by storm and is now the buzz around New York City with plans to show in Milan and Paris Ms. Whitley is well on her way to capturing the hearts of fashion lovers around the world.

Marc Jacobs’ Behavior at Paris Fashion Week S/S 2008

Here’s an article from the New York Post (by Danica Lo) about the Marc Jacobs’ show at Paris Fashion Week:

MARC Jacobs bared his tongue in Paris on Sunday night. While taking his bow on the catwalk following the Louis Vuitton show, he publicly - in front of an audience that included his boss, LVMH head Bernard Arnault, the world’s top fashion editors, and celebs like Courtney Love, Kanye West and Victoria Beckham - stuck it out at International Herald Tribune fashion critic Suzy Menkes.

The designer’s defiant, if childish, gesture was a response to Menkes’ scathing review of Jacobs’ namesake Marc Jacobs spring 2008 collection: “A bad, sad show,” she called it, that “symbolized everything that is wrong with current fashion.” And the tongue is just the latest in a string of bizarre, bratty antics that have industry insiders whispering about the state of Jacobs’ mental affairs.

While he is arguably the most influential working American fashion designer today, this past year has seen Jacobs, 44, in and out of rehab and plagued with rumors about plastic surgery and drug-induced weight loss (he insists he dropped the pounds by working out and going organic).

Embroiled in a steamy, on-again off-again relationship with Jason Preston - the ex-male prostitute and former porn-star who had Jacobs’ name tattooed on his fore-get-your-mind-out-of-the-gutter-arm - Jacobs has also posed naked for a WWD cover, Out magazine, and the latest self-edited issue of Visionaire.

His previously critic-proof professional success is also suffering rumblings of imminent backlash. Not only is he earning a (deserved) reputation for being unable to start a show anywhere near on time - the Vuitton show in Paris started an hour and a half late and the Marc Jacobs show here started more than two hours past schedule - recent reviews have been far less than stellar.

“A remarkable display of self-destruction,” The Post called it.

In the days that followed, Jacobs gave a ranting interview to WWD, blaming the Council of Fashion Designers of America for his tardiness, whining about feeling like an outsider and threatening to move all his shows to Europe.

To be honest, we expected a lot more from the man who was credited with bringing creative credibility back to the American fashion industry beginning with grunge in the early ’90s. Instead, he’s turned into a whiny, bratty, self-obsessed cheeseball. Whether his new image and obnoxious professional demeanor will impact his bottom line remains to be seen. And we’re not talking about his ass - though we’re sure it’s in great shape, and no we don’t want to see it (anymore).

Banned from Louis Vuitton Show at Paris Fashion Week

October 7, 2007 — FASHION journalists are buzzing over how Newsweek’s Dana Thomas was banned from today’s Louis Vuitton ready-to-wear show in Paris. Thomas apparently struck a nerve at the 150-year-old leather goods house with her best-selling book, “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster.” She wrote, “Vuitton is the McDonald’s of the luxury industry: it’s far and away the leader, brags of millions sold, has stores at all the top tourist sites - usually steps away from a McD’s - and has a logo as recognizable as the Golden Arches.” The International Herald Tribune’s Suzy Menkes was banned from Dior a few years ago and the New York Times’ Cathy Horyn from Dolce & Gabbana last winter, both after writing reviews that displeased the brands. Calls to Vuitton reps in New York and Paris weren’t returned. Thomas had no comment. Chances are, however, the ban won’t last forever. “Menkes is back at Dior now,” our source told us. Other luxury brands, meanwhile, seem unperturbed by Thomas’s book. She was spotted at the Christian Dior and Hermes shows earlier in the week.

source: page six

Valentino Bids Farewell to Paris Prêt-à-Porter Fashion Week

Valentino's Last Prêt-à-Porter ShowItalian fashion giant Valentino staged his last ever ready-to-wear show, winning a standing ovation Wednesday from his supporters and a reprimand from fellow designer Karl Lagerfeld, who said it was too early for the designer to retire.

Wednesday’s show is not quite Valentino’s last hurrah — a final haute couture display is scheduled to take place in Paris in January. But the emotions were palpable as he blinked back tears on the catwalk, and backstage there was hardly a dry eye.

“I want to stop at the height of my glory,” the 75-year-old designer told reporters. “I want to have a bit of fun because I have spent my life stuck in couture houses drawing hundreds and hundreds of sketches every season.”

Having celebrated his 45 years in fashion with three days of glittering celebrations in Rome, Valentino announced last month that he would retire in 2008. Alessandra Facchinetti, the former designer of Gucci women’s ready-to-wear, has been appointed to replace him.

Valentino's Last Prêt-à-Porter Show

Valentino said he wanted his penultimate collection to be young and joyful as a tribute to all his fans.

Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova, back on the catwalk just three weeks after giving birth to her third child, opened the show in a short pink-and-lilac cashmere coat.

Valentino's Last Prêt-à-Porter ShowTo a thumping soundtrack of Prince songs, models stepped out in flirty cocktail dresses scattered with polka dots and gold bows. Blocks of color formed graphic patterns that had an upbeat ’80s feel, while a print of oversized arum lilies added a romantic touch.

Fashion editors and retailers praised the legendary designer, who has dressed luminaries from Jackie Kennedy to Gwyneth Paltrow.

“It’s very emotional; he’s such an iconic designer, such an important part of fashion history,” said Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director for U.S. department store chain Neiman Marcus.

Lagerfeld lamented Valentino’s decision to stop.

“I am not very pleased because I think it is not good that he’s stopping; he is in great shape,” he told reporters after showing his Karl Lagerfeld ready-to-wear line earlier in the day. “He should continue. It’s no fun; he will be bored.”

Valentino had been insisting for months that he had no plans to retire, but the purchase of the Valentino Fashion Group — which owns his label — by private equity firm Permira may have influenced his decision.

The designer said he would take time to travel and perhaps design costumes for opera and ballet — he already has plans for a collaboration with the famed Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. He also is planning the creation of a foundation to house his creations.

Lagerfeld, 69, said he had no intention of stepping down in turn from his multiple roles as creative director of the Lagerfeld, Chanel and Fendi brands.

“All my contracts are for life, so I am like a death row inmate,” he joked.

Valentino's Last Prêt-à-Porter ShowWhile Christian Dior and Valentino have staged lavish anniversary celebrations this year, Lagerfeld barely acknowledged the passing of his 25th year at Chanel. He joined the firm in 1982.

“There were never any celebrations, there will never be any — I hate that,” he said.

“Fashion is about today and tomorrow, not about yesterday. If you have to be taken seriously because you have a heavy past, I don’t think it’s a good thing,” he said. “I don’t want to remember, I want to do things and go ahead.”

By JOELLE DIDERICH, Associated Press Writer
Source: Yahoo! News

Los Angeles Fashion Week 2008 Schedule October 14-18, 2007

SUNDAY OCTOBER 14th, 2007
3 - 8 PM DESIGN SUITES Softbox
4 PM SUE WONG The Main Tent
5 - 6 PM Welcome Cocktails with Smashbox
5 - 7.30 PM Design Suites Kickoff Party co-hosted by THE DAILY
6 PM CHICK by NICKY HILTON Stage One
7 PM YVES CASTALIDI Lightbox
8 PM RANDOLPH DUKE The Main Tent

MONDAY OCTOBER 15th, 2007
10.30 AM Mercedes-Benz BLUETEC Press Conference
2 PM ECOGANIK Stage One
3 PM COCO JOHNSEN The Lightbox
3 - 8 PM DESIGN SUITES Softbox
4 PM KEVAN HALL The Main Tent
5 PM William Good Launch & Press Conference
6 PM ELSIE KATZ COUTURE Stage One
7 PM JOSEPH DOMINGO The Lightbox
8 PM HEATHERETTE The Main Tent

TUESDAY OCTOBER 16TH, 2007
12 PM JUAN CARLOS OBANDO *CRAFT, 10100 CONSTELLATION BLVD.
2 PM GREGORY PARKINSON Softbox
3 PM JENNY HAN The Lightbox
3 - 8 PM DESIGN SUITES Softbox
4 PM CHRISTIAN AUDIGIER The Main Tent
4:30 PM PETA Ad Unveiling with Steve-O
5 - 6 PM “Bubbles and Baubles” with Judith Ripka and Melvin Sokolsky
6 PM DINA BAR-EL Stage One
7 PM GREY ANT The Lightbox
8 PM WHITLEY KROS The Main Tent

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 17th, 2007
2 PM TART Stage One
3 PM BEACH BUNNY SWIMWEAR The Lightbox
3 - 8 PM DESIGN SUITES Softbox
4 PM VOOM by JOY HAN The Main Tent
5 - 6 PM ecoStyle Kuala Lumpur Media Launch
6 PM The Green Initiative presented by The Gallery Los Angeles featuring Peligrosa, Rene Geneva, Wet Cement, Vintage China, Protect the Element, M the Movement, Artesania and Demano Stage One
7 PM EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION The Lightbox
8 PM JEREMY SCOTT The Main Tent

THURSDAY OCTOBER 18th, 2007
2 PM BIRD OF PREY Stage One
3 PM CANDICE HELD The Lighbox
3 - 8 PM DESIGN SUITES Softbox
4 PM MONARCHY COLLECTION The Main Tent
5 - 7 PM Design Suites Closing Party co-hosted by California Apparel News
6 PM SAMORA Stage One
7 PM OLIGO TISSEW The Lightbox
8 PM PETRO ZILLIA The Main Tent

The Main Tent, Stage One and The Lightbox are located at Smashbox Studios, 8549 Higuera Street, Culver City, CA 90232

* Indicates Associate Member Showing Off-Site

Entry by invitation only. Not open to the public.

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