Fashion & Style: While many established labels are cultivating their brand name in the face of economic setbacks, Freshjive has decided to go in the opposite direction. Eschewing the use of logos and even label tags, the more than 20-year-old streetwear company is promoting a return to design's purist essence by letting the clothes speak for themselves-a move that just might be what the label-saturated world of fashion needs.
Sunglasses: Of course, when you pay a premium price for luxury products, you expect excellence in return. That is the deal. It doesn't happen often, but there are times when something bad happens to well-made product sold by a solid company.
It's these moments where a company claiming to make quality goods either shines or fades on the spot. Recently, I had such an experience, which reinforced for me, why it always pays to be "luxe-minded" and buy quality products.
Fashion & Style: Colombiamoda is an event that showcases the growing status of the Latin American apparel and accessories market. Considered one of the most important fairs in the region, the event also includes presentations by emerging and established designers whose collections are featured during a four-day catwalk event that parallels the fair.
Fashion & Style: Heather Kosch's edgy line of jewelry lies somewhere in the ambiguous intersection of fashion and art. Inspired by the latter, each piece could easily be put on display in a museum as sculptural masterpiece.
Kosch drew the latest collection from artists who deliberately referenced geometry in their work-an edgy, architectural approach that gives it a transcendent quality. The collection's pieces evolved from oversized bracelets to earrings and pins, all of which retain her unique aesthetic approach. "I'm fascinated by sculpture, so I take into consideration multiple planes and dimensions when I work," she explains.
Fashion & Style: Simon Fashion Now is bringing runway fashions to San Diego during the Simon Fashion Now Fall Tour. September 11-12, Fashion Valley will host Simon Fashion Now, a series of exciting fashion shows that allow shoppers to purchase luxurious, fashion forward clothes right off the runway.
The Runway event showcases the latest in style from brands that fit everyone's budget, whether it is high or low. Designers to be featured include: Henri Bendel, Betsey Johnson, Custo Barcelona, Guess, James Perse, Karen Millen, M Missoni, Kate Spade and Tiffany & Co.
Fashion & Style: Though the cut off trend appeared on fall designs, the current summer humidity has made us impatient to wear all the edgy styles.
Rick Owen's Twisted Jersey tee has a whiff of deconstruction with the designer's signature tight shirring and just the right amount of skin on the shoulder. Alexander Wang also honors this part of the body in his sexy off-the-shoulder blouse with a playful collar and triangular cuts that create a peek-a-boo effect along the torso.
Fashion & Style: The beachwear collections are always one of the highest points during São Paulo and Rio fashion weeks. The powerful national industry includes 2,300 companies, which collectively delivered 273 million beachwear pieces in 2007 alone, so it's no doubt that beachwear is a serious business in Brazil. In fact, the presentation of beachwear brands will be a delicate competition between the newly born Claro Rio Summer and Paulo Borge's Rio and São Paulo fashion weeks as well as Heloisa Simão's Rio Summer.
Fashion & Style: Clothes not only become less complicated during the summer heat, but we also wear less of them. During these scantily clad months, make your style statement with accessories, especially piles of cool bracelets and bangles.
We've rounded up our favorites pieces to help you mix and match in order to achieve a carefree look with your outfits and take our style tip: more is more.
Fashion & Style: Raphael Young is taking things up a notch. With a well-built team of partners in key cities from New York to Tokyo, marketing and PR headquarters in Paris and a devoted cult following around the world, Young is positioned to leverage his fanatical following into a truly global footwear business.
Young was first inspired to design shoes at the tender age of 14 after attending his first haute couture show. Trained under his uncle Alexandre Narcy, who was the head of Yves Saint Laurent's shoe studio for 40 years, he even received some key advice from Mr. Laurent himself: "keep it simple." He went on to work at various design houses in Italy, including Gianmarco Lorenzi, before starting his own line.
These days, Young pays close attention to balance, proportion and physics as he handcrafts his own wooden lasts, which are paired with a proprietary sole material. The resulting comfort factor makes fashionistas salivate.
His fierce Barbarella-inspired designs feature aggressive Space Age architectural silhouettes paired with gleaming metallic leathers and a genius take on the almond shaped toe box. All you have to do is put a pair on to rule the world.
Fashion & Style: Manhattan-based designer, Rachel Roy, has recently launched her Resort line. Known as one of the most stylish women in fashion, Rachel Roy Resort stays true to the designer's emphasis on comfort and elegance.
Combining a natural color palette with bold, eye-catching pieces in an array of wearable fabrics, Rachel Roy Resort stays true to its "Scuba Pop" theme. Featuring nude shoes and black bags in a variety of shapes and fabrics, the accessories compliment and enhance the bold colors and fabrics that make up the essentials of the collection.
Launching from a tropical feeling of scuba diving through exotic coral reefs, the fabrics highlight shimmering, flowing shapes in bold hues of royal, coral, pumice, and neon. Light-catching sequins and fabrics made to look like snorkeling and scuba-wear invoke the tropical, under the seas vision of "Scuba Pop." The collection also pairs structure with fluidity in many of the pieces, with cut shoulders and geometric prints alongside clean and lean shapes.
Sequins add a mermaid-like feel to clothes that are exaggerated, like a mini paired with a long coral cardigan or a long sequined sleeveless top with some royal blue pants that hit the floor in waves. Adding to the exotic aura, the look book for the collection was shot against a tropical-flavored background, resembling the inside of a painted concrete pool.
Playing with textures and colors, the resort collection is a lively tribute to the tropical vacation of a fashionista. Rachel Roy can be found at luxury department stores nationwide, including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.
Fine Living: Claudiae, from Miami-based designer Claudia Estrada is Fresh and Flirty. Originally from Ecuador, Claudia has traveled around the world in the name of fashion. She eventually settled in Miami, where she opened the fashion-forward boutique, Toff, which features an assortment of luxury fashions from the world's best-known designers.
Claudiae is the fashionista's own line, featuring her own aesthetic, which favors shimmering fabrics, bold prints, and surprise details. The newest offering from Claudiae is Fresh and Flirty, combining feminine colors and bold prints. Claudie is as wearable as it is stunning.
Combining textures and prints, the collection offers textured leggings, loose tunics and blouses as well as the season's latest retro throwback, the romper. Ankle-length pant rompers are an easy, stylish wear that are as flirtatious as they are comfortable. The vibrant colors, accessorized by heavy jewelry, would catch glances while strolling through Miami's candy-colored boulevards.
The minis are versatile from season to season when paired with leggings and offer various options for day or night. The entire collection is feminine and fun, emphasizing the waist, with drawstring ties or belts as well as drop waists and high-waisted options. For yet another collection, Claudiae showcases ease of wear and comfort with a fashion-forward bend.
JustLuxe is a luxury Web publication providing objective analysis and information to affluent consumers to assist with their decision making, decisions such as charting a yacht, purchasing a jet membership card, booking a luxury hotel, traveling to a specific destination, or buying real estate. Our writers conduct interviews with industry executives and leaders in their fields, analyze product offerings and review the Web sites of leading companies to ensure our readers have up-to-date data to make informed decisions. Consumers can find purveyors of fine luxury goods, services and travel solutions throughout the pages of JustLuxe via content or with our advertising partners. See our Best of Luxury High end Brands and partners.
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