The Return Of London Fashion Week

by Tania Machowska

Provisional dates for London's fashion week are 16-23 September 2007. Fashion weeks tend to be held several months before the season, which gives press and buyers a chance to preview designs in advance. The last London Fashion Week was a huge success, bringing more than £100 million worth of business to London. Expectation is high for the next event, which many hope will be just as successful.

What We Can Expect

It's the first fashion week since top stylist Isabella Blow died in May. As Blow kick-started the careers of both Philip Treacy and Alexander McQueen, we're expecting to see many tributes. Models such as Lily Cole, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Agyness Deyne are being lined up to sashay down the catwalk in the latest designs.

The last London Fashion Week in February 2007 was a huge success with £40 million worth of orders and a huge £24 million of media coverage. Following London Fashion Week will be London Fashion Weekend, which takes place at the Natural History Museum and offers visitors the opportunity to purchase designer clothes at sales prices.

Next Season Predictions

We're eagerly anticipating next season's trends. Will next summer prove to be the season for you to dust off your capri pants? Who knows!

The Designers

Luella Bartley will show her Spring/Summer 2008 collection at fashion week, which also coincides with the launch of her new flagship store in Mayfair. It’s unclear whether Vivienne Westwood is showing this year but if she does, we never fail to be impressed by the grand dame of fashion.

It was Marc Jacobs in February but who will be the talk of Fashion Week in September? Fashion week favourite Hussein Chalayan should be returning with a collection that promises a blend of simplicity and volume. There are also rumours that John Galliano is returning to London with another one of his spectacularly outlandish collections. Inspired by the French Revolution, one of his last shows featured a realistic-looking guillotine and so we’re can’t wait to see what he’ll do this time. Hot young designer Henry Holland is also one to look out for. His cheeky House of Holland label is guaranteed to raise a smile with bitchy slogan t-shirts and androgynous styling. Needless to say, we're expecting Julien McDonald to dazzle us with a glamourous Givenchy show.

The Fashion Industry and Model’s Health

Since the death of catwalk models Luisel Ramos and Ana Carolina Reston, fashion bosses have been under increasing pressure to ban size zero models. However, it's unclear whether they plan to do this at fashion week. However, the organisers of Madrid Fashion Week 2006 banned models with a Body Mass Index below 18 and pressure is mounting on London Fashion Week bosses to do the same.

The Independent Model Health Inquiry has also found it 'profoundly inappropriate' that young girls should be portrayed as adult women on the catwalk and have called for them to be banned from fashion week. However, it is unclear whether they will be. Lily Cole, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell all modelled before their sixteenth birthday but should they have been allowed to?

Discover More about Fashion Week

If you’re eager for more news and gossip, stay tuned. We'll be at the shows in September, bringing you the hottest looks straight from the catwalk.

Tania Machowska is a former model with experience of catwalk and catalogue modelling. For the past four years she's been contributing to websites such as http://www.chemodels.com, Brussels Model Agency.

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Fashion Magazines – Friend or Foe?

by Sheri O. Zampelli

I love clothes. For me, clothing is a form of self-expression just like paint on a canvas is a form of expression for an artist. So, over the years I’ve been known to scour the pages of fashion magazines for ideas. Sometimes I buy the magazines in the store, other times I subscribe to them for a year or more. Often times, when I flip through the pages, I get inspiration to combine colors, textures or styles in a way I hadn’t thought of in the past.

I’ve known for years that fashion magazines are filled with unrealistic, computer-enhanced images. I know that many models have eating disorders and drug problems and I know that many young women aspire to look like models and therefore become victims of eating disorders, compulsive dieting, body dissatisfaction, drug use, smoking and more. I know because I was one of those girls.

But I figured since I “know better” now, since I’m smart enough to see beneath the surface, that there’s no harm in looking at the magazine for fashion ideas. It was only this past week, after the mailperson delivered a 500 page copy of one of my favorite fashion magazines that it all began to hit me. I sat at the table eating cereal and flipping through the pages one at a time.

I oogled a $500 purse and a $200 pair of shoes. I saw pictures of $1,000 dollar watches. Page after page was permeated with items that would break my bank if I were to purchase them. I realized that I was literally paying money out of my pocket to be advertised to. I was paying for a 500 page manual which might as well have been titled: 500 pages of things you will never be, do or have.

I realized I was paying to look at and read lies. Even though I “know better” on a conscious level, there was still a little girl part of me that wanted “that purse”, “those shoes” and “that watch,” even if they were all incredibly overpriced and sure to wreak havoc on my financial future and my self-esteem.

On this particular day, looking at the fashion magazine wasn’t enjoyable, it was infuriating. I suppose this fury has been working it’s way out over the past few months. There was the time when I saw the picture of Madonna in a Versace ad and it hit me: she doesn’t have a wrinkle or a smile line or crow’s feet. Not one sign of being a mother of two, over 40 and a woman with an incredibly demanding career that spanned several decades. I thought to myself, “that’s impossible.” It wasn’t a jealous or envious thought, I meant it very literally. It is impossible. Computer enhancement and heavy duty make-up is the only logical explanation for the flawless face I saw.

I decided to put my emotions and judgments in check and get objective about what I saw. I performed an unofficial research project and scanned the pages of this 500 page magazine to get an accurate account of what I had been absorbing mindlessly month after month and year after year. Here’s what I learned: of the 500 pages, 300 were full-page ads. 172 pages were ads that pretended to be fashion advice, party advice and editorial content. Let’s get real, when the fashion advice includes the name, phone number and website of the store and the price of the item, it truly is an ad. About 30 pages of the magazine were not technically ads but they were things like: “This star likes this” or, “This star does that.” Three of the pages were public service ads (I believe this is a requirement). So, there you have it, my 500 page contained 472 ads and approximately 30 pages of “content.” And I’m the sucker who sent the check in to cover the yearly subscription fee.

Now after this informal research project, I was beginning to get a little steamed up. Then, my friend Cindy e-mails me a link to the Dove website (campaignforrealbeauty.com) I go there and watch a 30-second video that shows a sped up version of all that goes into your typical fashion photo shoot. The 30-second video clip encapsulates the hours of time spent on hair, make-up, lighting, professional photography techniques and computer enhancement that takes place before an ad is published or broadcast. When I say the magazine ads are unrealistic and unattainable, I mean it. Because not even the model looks like the model!

So, I’ve made a decision. I am boycotting all fashion magazines. I will never purchase another one again. I will not spend my money on lies and images that lead to self-hatred, deadly behaviors and oppression for women. I know that money is power and I refuse to spend my money on harmful lies that destroy the lives of many women.

I know that my few dollars will not be a big loss to the mega-rich publishing industry but I think it’s important for all women to realize that in a very real way we do not have to buy the hype. I mean that in two ways. We do not have to buy the magazines with our money and we don’t have to buy the lies that reside within their pages. We can also decide to support designers and manufacturers that promote positive images for women. We can choose to withhold our dollars from companies that exploit women whether it’s the model or the sweat shop worker that sews the clothing.

If a full boycott of fashion magazines is not for you, you always have the power to write advertisers when you see images that are harmful or ridiculous. These letters do make a difference.

Now, as far as my fashion inspiration, I decided that if my clothes truly are to be a form of self-expression then I will decide for myself what textures, colors and styles I want to combine. I’m a grown woman living in a free country. I don’t need a magazine to tell me how I should dress.

Sheri O. Zampelli, M.S., CCH has developed a weight-loss and body image program called Donate Your Weight. Her program takes all the things that have been creating weight and eating problems in society and turns them upside down. Donate Your Weight is the stress-free program to stop dieting, get slim and help others while doing it. For details, visit www.donateyourweight.com

Provided By: Women's World

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Fashion Hype

by Karen Conroy

Every new season brings new hype to the fashion world. This season’s top hottie is the new “skinny jeans.” These are the jeans from long ago when May Tyler Moore wore these slim cut pants on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Designers claim that all shapes and sizes can wear these jeans. The skinny jeans are make with lycra that stretch, hold you in and still be able to move freely. These amazing jeans come with a price, and boy will it cost you. Top end stores will be selling them anywhere from $100.00 – $300.00. Ouch! This price certainly is an eyesore to people on a budget. They will have to wait for markdowns that may take a while. Budget conscious people may have to opt for the same style of jeans with more affordable labels. Levi’s will be coming out with a much more reasonably priced jean ranging from $25.00-$50.00.

As top models contend for the fashion spotlight, I have yet to see a person out of proportion wearing these jeans. Top designers always use the prettiest models with the best build. What about the average person? Not all are built with the best body, but want a shot to share the limelight modeling the best in fashion or see someone with not so perfect body wearing top fashions by the top designers.

Fashions, being universal, let out an excitement that is almost electric. “This seasons fashions by the best designers Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass and Max Azea always top the charts with their signature fashions. From Europe to America every country has its own flare for fashion. From sexy to tame designers have us drooling for more. Months of planning and art layout and photography are now ready to be put in print with the most famous models on the magazine covers with the latest fashions for all the world to see. A funny thing about fashion is that it has come full circle. Capri pants, ruffles, bell-bottoms, and now the return of the “skinny jeans” to name just a few have made a huge comeback.

Karen Conroy
Teacher of elementary education for thirty years. Enjoy sun, traveling and reading.

http://www.fashionbeacon.com

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