Stars sparkle on and off catwalk

By Kerstin Gehmlich Fri Oct 5, 7:55 AM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - Golden stars and large sequins sparkled from dresses at Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent as designers Karl Lagerfeld and Stefano Pilati presented youthful collections for two of France's most established fashion labels.

Staying true to a fashion house's legacy is a tricky business for designers, who have to add their own edge to a label while remaining faithful to the brand's history.

Italy's Pilati carries a lot of weight on his shoulders at Yves Saint Laurent, where he was appointed in 2004. Lagerfeld, approaching 70, is used to the task, having designed for Chanel for more than 20 years.

On Friday, the German designer brought out models in Chanel's trademark tweed jackets, but worn over long shifting dresses covered in stars or combined with tight denim skirts.

"Chanel -- to me that's just haute couture," supermodel Claudia Schiffer said at the show for spring-summer 2008 collections, adding that she still liked to wear Chanel outfits that dated back 10 or 20 years.

Schiffer and other front row guests including actress Kirsten Dunst and singers Lily Allen and Courtney Love watched as models presented sporty striped V-neck tops and light pastel-colored blouses held at the waist by a black ribbon. One girl wore a small leather wallet attached to her ankle.

"Coco Chanel was the spokeswoman of the modern woman," Lagerfeld said of the label's founder, who died in 1971. "(The brand) continues to incarnate the development of the modern woman," he said backstage. "(Now) it's up to me to lift people up into the stars."

SPARKLING STARS AT YSL

At Yves Saint Laurent, Pilati presented models in sleek oversized vests, parading them out beneath giant white balloons in Paris's glass-roofed Grand Palais exhibition hall.

French actress Catherine Deneuve said Pilati had respected Laurent's inheritance while adding a new edge to the label.

"He has done the impossible thing," she told Reuters at his show late on Thursday, in which Pilati showed high-waisted fuchsia skirts and tunic-style dresses covered with stars.

"He is bowing to the spirit of what Yves Saint Laurent did. He got into the job with a lot of modesty," she said.

The bespectacled Saint-Laurent, born in 1936, ruled the French fashion scene from the age of 21 until his retirement in 2002. This year, he was awarded the title of Great Officer in the Legion of Honor.

Pilati, born in 1965, sent out a girl in a tight knee-length skirt covered in triangular-shaped sequins in pink and turquoise. Other models presented dresses cut close to the body around the shoulders and the front but floating out in the back.

"When I think of Yves Saint Laurent, I think of dark elegance," burlesque artist Dita von Teese said at the show. "It's very special what (Pilati) has done. He's staying true to the brand but also brings new life to it."

Designer indicted on sex assault charges

By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 4, 6:09 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - Celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander was indicted on 59 counts of sexual assault in a move prosecutors said Thursday would keep his accusers from having to testify at a preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors previously charged Alexander with more than 40 felony and misdemeanor counts involving 18 victims that included rape, sexual battery and committing a lewd act on a child. He pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday, added two more alleged victims to the original case, bringing the total number to 20. Alexander targeted the women and girls, ages 15 to 27, between November 2002 and March 2007, prosecutors contend.

"One of the reasons in seeking the indictment is that it speeds up the process and avoids a preliminary hearing," said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. "The nature of the charges allows victims not to testify twice."

Alexander, 33, has made the rounds of parties and fashion events, working with celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Michelle Rodriguez and Mary J. Blige. He also was a profiled designer on the TV show "America's Next Top Model" in 2003 and was among 20 people profiled by Newsweek as up-and-coming players in various industries.

Alexander is suspected of meeting women on the Internet and assaulting them when they visited with him about modeling opportunities.

His defense has claimed some of the women made the allegations to seek fame. Alexander's lawyer, Anthony Brooklier, said in some of the cases, the victims either kept in contact or met with the fashion designer after the crimes supposedly occurred.

"We think this is made up of whole cloth, the entire case," Brooklier said Thursday outside court.

Alexander was arrested in March at his Beverly Hills apartment. Bail was set at $1.3 million but Alexander remained in custody.

He was in court Thursday when Superior Court Judge David Wesley ordered him held without bail pending an Oct. 25 hearing. Prosecutors had asked for bail to be reset at $5.1 million.

A grand jury in Houston charged Alexander on July 30 with felony sexual assault of a child between ages 14 and 16, assistant district attorney Brian Rose said. Houston police have an open warrant for his arrest. Investigations also are under way in New York and Massachusetts.

Alexander came to the United States from India as a teen with his sister and mother. He graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York in 1998 and began designing jewelry and clothing.

If convicted of all counts, he faces up to life in prison.

Paris fashionistas fret over strong euro

By Anna Willard Wed Oct 3, 9:38 AM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - Jeannie Lee is a fashion buyer for an exclusive U.S. store and is in Paris this week wondering whether her American customers will pay for European designs made expensive by the strong euro.

"As an American buyer in Paris, some things just don't make sense commercially any more because the exchange rate is so high," said Lee, who works for top Los Angeles store Satine.

She is in the French capital to spot the latest trends and to stock up on clothes to sell next summer, but she is wary.

"We have to be careful ... For example, yesterday we saw this really cute line of underwear that was retailing at $250. Cotton underwear. It just doesn't work by the time you've brought the exchange rate in."

Comments like hers are worrying European designers.

In the last year, the euro has risen around 10 percent against both the dollar and yen, climbing to fresh highs over recent weeks and putting some European luxury goods out of reach for all-important American and Asian shoppers.

The European currency has also strengthened against Britain's pound, which industry experts say has made British buyers think twice about splashing out on European goods.

"It is certainly a problem," said Didier Grumbach, head of the French fashion federation.

"We have fewer problems in Europe because of the single currency but it certainly is (a problem) for the U.S. and UK."

FRENCH HANDBAGS

Luxury goods accounted for 20 billion euros ($28.34 billion) of French exports last year so it is no surprise the government is also worried.

Politicians, including President Nicolas Sarkozy have warned repeatedly about the danger to France's economy from the strong euro and pressed the European Central Bank for lower interest rates to hold back its rise.

Complaints have also come from French companies of all shapes and sizes.

"The situation is abnormal," Bernard Arnault, told Reuters at a fashion show for Christian Dior, which he owns. "We would of course prefer if it (the euro) were weaker."

Arnault's company represents the very top end of the luxury goods market catering to the richest clients who will stay faithful to a handbag or a pair of shoes even if it becomes more expensive. This gives his company the freedom to raise prices if necessary, as it did twice in Japan in 2006.

Slightly lower down the designer food chain is where the real problems lie.

"Unfortunately, what is suffering is not so much the (traditional) luxury lines, but more the contemporary lines," said Lee.

Grumbach said clothes and accessories targeting a younger audience are also having a hard time.

"When a product is very expensive and has always been expensive often 10 percent more doesn't make any difference. But for the medium range product or those targeted at young people, it's a problem," he said

Costume Jewelry - The Vintage Stuff is Worth Some Serious Dough!

Fashion jewelry made its first appearance in the U.S. following the conclusion of World War I. First purchased in French boutiques by American GI’s fighting in the war, superbly crafted yet inexpensive costume bracelets, pendants, and necklaces were purchased in record numbers. New designs featuring a host of semi-precious stones and unique materials caused a rapid rise in popularity allowing the poorer Americans to feel rich. Soon after, American companies quickly dominated the market. Some of the most popular manufacturers of vintage costume jewelry include:

• Trifari
• Florenza
• Weiss
• Eisenberg

Authentic costume pieces are basically any type of jewelry not featuring any type of precious metal or gemstone yet produced in large quantities. This cheap yet beautiful alternative soon found its way into jewelry collections across the nation. Essentially, the jewelry was a thrifty alternative to the relatively excessively priced fine pieces made of out precious metals and featuring gemstones like diamonds, rubies, sapphires, or perhaps even pearls.

Virtually any vintage fashion jewelry was readily available for anywhere between $1-10 prior to World War II. Some manufacturers were forced to go out of business during the Great Depression, but surprisingly, a lot of the companies survived and did quite well after World War II. The hay day for the jewelry came in the 1950's and 60's spurred on heavily by advertising on television. Today, high quality costume pieces are more popular than ever and make great gifts for young girls, teenagers, and even adults just looking to add some diversity to their jewelry collection.

While cheap to buy when first released, vintage costume jewelry pieces produced between 1920-1970 are often seen as treasured collectibles in today's frenzied market. Incredibly, there are many pieces being sold in flea markets for a few bucks while being worth hundreds! There are three main things that help determine the value of authentic vintage pieces:

• Rarity
• Stone/Gemstone Quality
• Craftsmanship

Although there were a number of manufacturers, they produced jewelry in varying quantities. For instance, major players like Florenza and Coventry unleashed thousands of copies for every design. Some of the smaller manufacturers like Barclays, DeMario, and McClelland produced much smaller volumes and as such pieces made by them are both rarer and worth more money on the marketplace. Indeed when all other factors are held even, the DeMario necklace will almost always be worth more than a similarly designed Coro version. You definitely need to do your homework, however, because even the large players produced some designs in small quantities making them more valuable than typical pieces from the company.

In many cases, the quality of the stone plays the largest role when it comes to determining value. While none of the stones would be considered "precious" in the traditional sense, there were companies that crafted pieces consistently using high quality stones and semi-precious gemstones, such as:

• Eisenberg
• Bogoff
• Weiss
• Hollycraft

One place renown for using exceptionally high quality stones is Eisenberg. It is hard to find a piece at a flea market that is not already high-priced unless you happen to stumble upon an unsigned one. You want to locate those pieces produced by Hollycraft, Weiss, and Bogoff because they tend to be under-priced on the market and thus make a better investment. Besides the materials used, the quality of metal and craftsmanship will help determine how valuable a piece is on today's market Manufacturers known to consistently craft superior pieces were:

• Danecraft
• Trifari
• Kramer
• Monet

Jon Kreps is a jewelry expert specializing in vintage cameos, indian jewelry, and authentic costume jewelry. To learn more about cameos or other vintage jewelry, visit http://www.vintagetemptations.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Kreps