Dior Homme Inter-Galactic After Party (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - We got a large dose of pop futurism at Dior Homme on Sunday afternoon, in a markedly improved performance by its designer Kris Van Assche.

In easily the best staged show of the men’s season in either Milan or Paris, models marched down the gravel path of the charming garden of L’Observatoire, wearing Power Pop electric blue shades, burnished gold suits, belts with parallelogram buckles and faintly surgical shirts, for a posh French take on Kraftwerk.

Staged in a tent that suddenly opened to light the pollarded poplars that demarcated the catwalk and backed up by an excellent Space Age rock soundtrack by Justice, one could only admire this piece of slick fashion theatre.

Smartly, Kris largely stuck to the slimmed down Dior Homme silhouette, sending out sleek pencil pants, and taut leather jackets with vertical pleats. His sense of details was also good, like the horizontal chest high slashes in one-button jackets.

"I wanted to bring suits to a younger audience," the designer told FWD post show.

Plus, Van Assche had the guts to take a few risks with his tailoring, bringing the volume that has obsessed women’s fashion these past few years into men’s wear with splendidly cropped mess jackets with ballooned backs.

The Dior space cruiser did hit its spot of turbulence with multi pleat Afghan pants - an old Van Assche weakness - that looked ideal for a waiter in the Enterprise’s steerage class bar, or macramé white shirts and leather blousons that were cut and embroidered with lots of holes. They just about worked on the runway, but would flop in the real world.

But Van Assche injected the right soupcon of dazzle, earning a ripple of approval for a pair of sensational gold sequined jeans, randomly encrusted with bright stones and crystals.

"Rather wearable and with a certain panache," was Karl Lagerfeld’s view of this spring 2009 collection. Though when we asked the great man his view of the golden pants, he responded: "I’m not sure I would wear them myself, though I want to be perfectly clear that I could easily fit into them!"

Van Assche also came up with some winning accessories - notably, multi-lace high tops in posh punk black, dandy boxing boots in black and white, and Kubla Khan gold sequined belts, all ideal for some clubbing on Mars.

Lanvin: Light Weight And Lovely (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - If any fashion house in Europe set a new agenda on how men should dress in the future, it was Lanvin, which presented an exhilaratingly great collection Sunday morning in Paris.

Using elements of womens fashion - gathered hems on the side of pants, rouching the sides of jackets - playing with proportions masterfully and using light weight fabrics with a special skill, this collection stood head and shoulders above any other weve seen on the Continent in the past 10 days of shows, stretching from Florence, through Milan and ending in Paris.

Lanvin is a subtle sort of fashion, an understated look that does what clothes are meant to do for cool guys - makes them look their selves. By employing super light fabrics - silk/polyester, shantung and gauze - the houses design teams could cut a lean silhouette with short, above-the-hips jackets and drain pipe trousers, with a forgiving enough fit for most men.

Brilliantly sleek suits in putty, loosely knitted dinner jackets in silk jersey and a velvet moiré jeans and mini jacket were also outstanding.

We also got a first taste of Lanvins new partnership with Swedish jeans company Acne, with some natty denim jackets, shirts and - a must have for next season - suits.

The collection also contained the coolest of sneakers, high tops with green beaded inserts and contrasting hues of Pacific blue, Prussian gray and, again, putty. Plus, we got the sandal of the season - a silk string espadrille that was posh yet laid back. One acid test of a brands success is its ability to get fashion insiders to wear its products - most men attending this show wore Lanvin shoes.

One also had to appreciate the good housekeeping of show producer Etienne Russo, who sent the models out on the same great, battered wooden board runway hed used at last Lanvins womens show.

Shown with raffia Caribbean planter hats, mini trilbies and great flower bauble brooches, backed up by a ripping soundtrack of mixes from The Cocteau Twins and Jennifer Cardini from spin-minister Ariel Wiseman and worn by a first-rate casting courtesy of Henry Mackintosh, this was the defining mens fashion moment of the month.

A surprising fact, to the uninitiated, in the frequently sycophantic world of fashion, is that audiences very rarely give designers standing ovations. So, the on-their-feet crowd applauding and cheering that greeted Lanvins designers Alber Elbaz and Lucas Ossendrijver as they took their bow only served to underline the sheer excellence, innovation and panache of the spring 2009 collection they had created.

Christian Dior: Lisa Fonssagrives Lives (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - Christian Dior: Lisa Fonssagrives Lives Godfrey Deeny June 30th, 2008 @ 3:56 PM - Paris Beauty as an ethereal phenomena that makes the viewer feel, even be, better from seeing it was the real message at the thoroughly excellent Christian Dior haute couture collection staged Monday in Paris, a requiem for arguably the most iconic model of them all, Lisa Fonssagrives.

Generally credited with being the first ever supermodel, Fonssagrives ghost wafted down the custom made runway in the Rodin Museum in what was John Gallianos best couture collection in half a decade.

Lisas haute gamme elegance was apparent in the opening look, a devilishly well-cut white mega flared wool coat with a huge hip enhancing black patent leather belt. The hips had it throughout the first half, with "Bar belts" and fabric additions curving and swirling up and down.

Galliano had clearly been putting in the hours, as the clothes fitted the models beautifully. That might seem a given in haute couture, but remarkably is not the case with most couturiers.

Fabulous black crocodile jackets paired with sheer skirts, remarkably elegant tulle embroidered flared dresses and a few sliced-by-a-surgeon suits in silk chartreuse were the standouts in a show, powered on by a tremendous Jeremy Healy soundtrack.

Hatter Stephen Jones also put in a remarkable performance, dreaming up studded leather skullcaps with Art Deco spouts or flapper caps encrusted with jewels, mimicking looks worn by Fonssagrives.

"The whole idea came from having a cup of tea two years ago in New York with Irving Penn. We chatted a long time and he told me of the role of Lisa Fonssagrives in his art and work. When I realized her importance, as a figure, a beauty and a sculptor in her own right, I went from there," said a trim Galliano backstage in his parlor. The couturier builds a special room to greet guests in the back stage after every show, this season decorated like the sort of drawing room Noel Coward imagined as a set for one of his plays.

Even the fact that the final model, in an outlandishly over the top tulle dress with fins bigger than any Fifties Cadillac, stumbled on the catwalk only added to the sense of the unique at this great Lisa show.

Swedish born Fonssagrives moved to Paris to study ballet in the Thirties, going on to be a legendary cover girl who worked with such luminaries as George Hoyningen-Huene, Man Ray, Horst, Richard Avedon and Penn, whom she was to marry. In a neat piece of timing, the famous photo of Fonssagrives with elephants is plastered throughout Paris, the ad for a major Avedon retrospective that opened today.

Models appeared from a palatial country house backdrop replete with Old World chandelier, traipsing slowly in the towering heels. Galliano toughened up the mood with some great sadomasochistic platforms in metals chains.

As ever, John drew a great crowd, including Eva Mendes, Janet Jackson, Clotilde Courau, Jessica Christian, Olivier Martinez, Claudia Schiffer, Elsa Zylberstein, Marisa Berenson and Liv Tyler.

"I just loved that show. Johns always so theatrical and the clothes were magical," shivered Tyler in Gallianos mini drawing room.

Men's Paris fashions blur gender boundaries (AP)

PARIS - The French menswear collections ended on Sunday in a sea of sequins, silk and all things pink, challenging the adage that boys will be boys.

Fine fabrics like silk, gazar and crepe de Chine crept into the male wardrobe for spring-summer 2009 as Paris designers increasingly blurred gender boundaries.

"The most striking thing is the amount of crossover from women's collections that seems to be happening," Michael Roberts, fashion director of Vanity Fair magazine, told The Associated Press.

"A little bit of that goes a long way as far as I'm concerned. I just find it a little bit annoying that I'm supposed to be here for a week watching men's shows, and I keep having to pinch myself to remind myself that I'm not in the women's pret-a-porter," he added.

Case in point: the Dior Homme show, where models paraded in gold-sequined pants with bright jewel appliques, or a metallic bomber jacket in this season's ubiquitous fuchsia pink.

Admittedly, these were merely footnotes to a collection based on intricately constructed jackets, some featuring slits that allowed a glimpse of white shirt, others with pleats in the back that caught the wind like a sail.

The label's designer, Kris Van Assche, bristled at the suggestion that he was bringing feminine elements to Dior's sober aesthetic.

"For me, it's not at all about making menswear more feminine," he told the AP. "The whole job is to use these traditions like embroidery and all that, but to make it in a very masculine way."

However, Van Assche, who is known for his romantic sense of elegance, veered from his signature path with the presence of club-kid gear, coupled with a thumping soundtrack by hip French electronic duo Justice.

The danger is that it may confuse editors and buyers, who still have no clear idea of the Belgian designer's overall vision for the label he overtook three seasons ago.

If anyone can be credited with kickstarting the feminine trend in menswear, it is French label Lanvin, which created a minor sensation last year with its jogging suit made from purple duchess satin.

Lucas Ossendrijver, who designs the menswear line under artistic director Alber Elbaz, reverted to technical fabrics with a crisper feel this season, but kept the foppish details like ruched seams on trousers and jacket backs.

A black silk puff-sleeved blouse was worn over a T-shirt encrusted with black beads, while accessories included lace-up sandals and crinkly straw hats laden with thick ribbons.

"It's clothes you want to have, clothes you want to keep," Ossendrijver told the AP.

Even at Paul Smith, the British label famed for providing classics-with-a-twist, the model who opened the show was strikingly androgynous, his silky hair flowing well past shoulder length.

Highlights of the show included striped suits whose lapels were spliced to create a herringbone effect, but a seemingly endless sequence of baggy, faded jeans rolled above the ankle looked curiously out of touch.

Ann Demeulemeester: Growing Old With Grace (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - An elegiac series of images Saturday afternoon by Ann Demeulemeester dedicated to the ability to age gracefully made for easily the best fashion moment so far in the French season.

Presented on a casting that opened with poetic teenagers and ended with agreeably grizzled dandies it summed up this spring 2009 collections anti-ageism theme. Aptly it was staged in an old medical wing of the Sorbonne University.

"The art of growing old," explained the designer, adding that her inspiration was "The Glassbeadgame," Hermann Hesses novel set in the 25th century in a province dedicated to the life of the mind.

Rarely has a mens fashion show unfolded more poetically than this one, where curly haired youths in rocker colonial garb opened the event: wearing flat black raffia hats, off duty military jackets, semi shrunken vests and curiously religious sandals with one big toe strap. Made in black, bold beige and gray stripes and uneven polkadots, the clobber also captured a big current designer obsession – mega light fabrics.

In an age obsessed with global warming, designers have reacted by showing ever less substantial fabrics - see through linen, airy silks and feathery cottons, even Demeulemeester, a designer known for a signature downtown rocker style.

With a violin concerto wafting through the garden, the clothes morphed from black to white, and the average age of the models soared well into the pensioner era.

A dignified phalange of Paraty posada owners and high priests blessed with private incomes, they all looked really great, attired in colonial rum baron white linen and jute like redingotes.

It was a brilliant sleight of hand for Queen Ann, flipping the preoccupations of our obsessed culture on their ear and granting a vision of how cool it can be to grow old with panache.

Raf Simons' Galactic Groove (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - Will a lot of guys wear jump suits cut with shorts here on planet earth? Do you expect men to don pleated mini pants with jackets coated in imitation white chocolate flakes when they return from space travel? These were the questions one asked ones self, exiting the latest thought-provoking runway outing by mens fashion single most influential player Raf Simons.

Models had slicked back hair, rather, one imagined, like public school boys in a college on a far distant galaxy. They marched primly, fairly alien like along the corridors of a Paris high schools central courtyard. The fabrics were nearly all techy - from plasticized waffled cottons to light wools seemingly coated in very fine coconut shards.

That said, by Rafs fertile standards this was not a stellar collection; too traditional the cut, too tame the tailoring. However, when you looked at the accessories, you could hear the cash registers ringing. A series of boots and slips that came with contrasting fins in burnt orange and silver, you just knew one third of the audience would be wearing these in a few months.

"Anti Pajama," cracked Simons after the show, in a dig at all the sabbatical chic clothes on Paris and Milan runways, as designers design for laid off white-collar professionals burning through their severance pay.

"There is a crack in everything, thats how the light gets through," read the giant text, i.e., two-meter letters, in the courtyard of the 15th arrondissement Lycee Buffon where the show was staged.

The light may not have dazzled this evening at this Simons show, but at least it sure shone.

Model's death after NYC apartment fall was suicide (AP)

NEW YORK - The death of a fashion model who plunged from the ninth floor of a Manhattan building has been ruled a suicide.

The medical examiner's office said Sunday that Ruslana Korshunova (roos-LAH'-nuh kor-shoo-NOE'-vuh) died in the fall the afternoon before.

The fall was from her apartment in the Financial District. The 20-year-old Korshunova was a native of Kazakhstan who graced the covers of top fashion magazines.

John Galliano: Maharaja Party Tiger (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - There was absolutely nobody from the world of work in Friday nights John Galliano Homme show, which is precisely one of the reasons it was so great.

Let other, infinitely more mundane, design talents cut the suits for next summer, leave it to Galliano to dream up the clothes hipsters and fete freaks really want to pull on when they head out for a good time.

Galliano sent a cast of characters onto the runway, in a go-cart arena in industrial north Paris, ranging from Brick Lane dandies to arty posh punkers to Indian colonial civil servants who just happen to spend their evenings in Japanese rap clubs.

Adding to the excitement was the fact that Johns deconstruction techniques have rarely been better in mens wear, most coolly a blazer meets basketball mesh shirt, created spectacularly in violet or electric blue.

One thing that sets John apart from most mens designers is that he beautifies and soups up his male models as much as his gals - so we get mens makeup, wigs and hats made of mini Coke Zero cans. Too many designers still believe – hard to figure, but true – that real men” are not interested in fashion. Galliano, on the contrary, gets that straight guys really dig clothes and arent afraid of a taste of outlandish edge.

So we get high tech brothel creepers in garish contrasts of black and orange, tartan double-breasted jackets with Jaipur gold trim and pajama pants finished with multi-colored Pearly Men patterns,

But if this show had any hero it was the late, great Quentin Crisp, who appeared in the designers Galliano Gazette newspaper print dressing gowns, Gurkha kilts and a series of divine wigs, topped by absurdist knit or woven trilby hats in purple or cerulean.

Crisp, author of the greatest gay coming of age autobiography, "The Naked Civil Servant," would have loved this show. It was a charming testament to his heroic honesty and a great bunch of clobber to celebrate, well, life.

Givenchy: Tisci Does Gothic Romanticism for Guys (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - One sure could not fault Riccardo Tisci for failing to have a go in his debut collection for Givenchy, a take no prisoners collection of Gothic romanticism that was intriguing as it was commercially quirky.

"Sex, gothic, religion and romanticism. Just like my womens fashion," was Tiscis explanation of the inspiration for the collection, shown in the Bourdelle Museum in Montparnasse on an athletic cast of models and beefy guys.

In his three years at Givenchy, Tisci has re-established that house as a proper player in couture and womens luxury ready-to-wear with a fashion take that mixes snappy tailoring with a cool, yet historic, ladylike elegance. So, his first mens show for the house was the most anticipated collection of the current Paris season.

There was a respectable quotient of Neapolitan influence tailoring, sleek tuxedos with that soft southern shoulder and convincingly lean pants. But many of the models actually wore shorts, in rose cotton or a printed handkerchief fabric. These were often paired with simple rocker black T-shirts with Latin lettering and punky emblems. Waxy linen baseball jackets, chain mail tank tops and some very natty scarves with hundreds of grommets also impressed.

But, in truth this was a perplexing collection; an extended work in progress by a designer who clearly has lots to say in mens fashion, but is still working out the grammar and, for that matter, the syntax.

Macho man is going out of fashion (AP)

PARIS - As world financial markets wobble and bonuses shrink, the macho male is going out of fashion.

Paris designers showing their spring-summer collections on Saturday banished the tie and introduced a gentler take on masculinity, leaving the Gordon Gekko look in the dust.

With thousands of revelers pouring into the streets for the annual gay pride parade, French designer Franck Boclet proudly flew the pink flag at Emanuel Ungaro -- but there was no message intended.

"I didn't even know it was gay pride day today!" he said. "It just so happens that fuchsia has always been Ungaro's signature color."

Boclet celebrated the house heritage with a shocking pink backdrop, but used the color sparingly in his collection.

After all, he made his name at Francesco Smalto cutting suits with a defiant swagger. Here, they were rendered in checked patterns with pants that stretched suggestively across the thigh.

As a result, a pink linen blazer seemed slightly adrift, though a purple cardigan top with a loose matching parka was a plausible option.

French actor Samuel Le Bihan, known for his tough guy image, said he had worn a pink T-shirt last summer but would not be repeating the experience.

"I tried, but I just can't do it," he said.

The Smalto image has loosened up since Swiss-Korean designer Youn Chong Bak took over the design reins three seasons ago.

Models lounged around an Italianate fountain in a chic mansion in her crisp cotton jackets paired with tailored cream bermudas, conjuring images of the spoiled millionaire Dickie Greenleaf in "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

Best of all were the waistcoats cut away in the front in the style of morning coats. These came in white linen with a tone-on-tone satin trim, or in a denim version slung over an unbuttoned white shirt.

"I think it's always more pleasant to see men who have attitude but nonetheless have a slightly soft side, because people are sick of machos," Chong Bak said.

That mood carried over to the Hermes catwalk, where the focus was on bare necklines with sailor-style sweaters that framed the collarbone.

This might seem like a bad move for a company famed for its luxurious silk ties, but French designer Veronique Nichanian provided plenty of alternatives.

They ranged from plain shawls worn loose over the chest to brightly patterned silk squares jauntily tied around the neck. The signature Hermes scarf even doubled as a cummerbund, worn simply over a white linen shirt and dark pants.

Alongside the catwalk shows, dozens of designers show their collections to buyers and editors in showrooms.

At the headquarters of Japanese label Issey Miyake, a video showed designer Dai Fujiwara and his team checking color swatches against plants in the Amazon rainforest.

Those colors ended up on outfits including a silk suit featuring dark stripes melting into olive green, thanks to a computerized weaving process. Casual options included a camouflage-patterned denim jacket with matching cut-off pants.

Louis Vuitton: Little Tramp Insouciance (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - Theres a fine line between understated and dull, a narrow gap twixt quiet elegance and predictable formulism, and one cleverly negotiated – happily on the right side - at Louis Vuitton on Thursday in Paris when it presented its latest mens collection.

Inspired, albeit pretty loosely on Charlie Chaplin, the collection used elements of the Little Tramps look and, above all, his unique insouciance to create some charming and probable clothes.

In an odd introduction, Vuittons creative director Marc Jacobs greeted the more distinguished guests on the stairway of the Palais de Tokyo, as the mens design director Paul Helbers made the last minute adjustments back stage. Then, after the lights went up and the audience stilled, a last lone guest elicited a huge burst of laughter as he appeared flustered and alone on the runway.

It was a cleverly choreographed show, with a long opening section in white and solid black finale. However, it was apparent from the get go that Vuittons tramp was that rare sort, i.e. one with a private education and a first rate maid, particularly adapt at ironing. Mini mess jackets and crisp shirts in linen are not good items for sleeping rough. Yet the sense of Chaplin was just enough apparent in the baggy, nipped at ankle trousers and slouch hat worn by a particularly dashing casting of models.

Vuitton also looks like its got a great crop of new bags; even of the presentation was way off. They were obviously empty and made the young men carrying them look far too posed. Yet, other accessories did impress; from the faux war medals in silver with black gros grain ribbon.

And in a season of color clocking - from Jil Sander to Alexander McQueen - Helbers managed to hit the subtlest note with a delightfully cool shirt with shades of rose and lilac with a tuxedo wing collar.

Backed up a great soundtrack by Tindersticks, based on samples the band took from songs composed by Chaplin for "Limelight," the 1952 comedy he wrote, directed and starred in, this was a succinct fashion display, a fine personal success for Helbers.

Vatican paper says pope does not wear Prada (AP)

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The devil may wear Prada -- but the pope does not. According to the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the bright red loafers that Pope Benedict XVI wears are not designed by the Milanese fashion house, as has long been rumored.

"Obviously the attribution was false," the Vatican newspaper said in its Thursday's editions.

"Such rumors are inconsistent with the simple and somber man who, on the day of his election to the papacy, showed to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square and to the whole world the sleeves of a modest black sweater," it said.

Still, Benedict's fashion sense has often drawn media attention.

Three years ago around Christmas, he showed up for his weekly public audience in St. Peter's Square wearing a fur-trimmed stocking cap that could have passed for a Santa Claus hat. The hat, as it turned out, is a "camauro," which dates back to the Middle Ages and figures in many papal portraits.

On a separate occasion, Benedict sported a sumptuous red velvet cape trimmed in ermine -- another piece of traditional papal attire that had long been abandoned.

L'Osservatore Romano said the pope's interest in clothes has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with liturgy -- what symbolism traditional garments can bring to the Christian liturgy.

"The pope, therefore, does not wear Prada, but Christ," L'Osservatore said.

Dries Van Noten: There In His Cars (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - Making clothes that manage to look rather proper yet also seriously hip is a delicate balancing act, but one managed with aplomb and panache by Dries Van Noten on Thursday in Paris, the opening day of the spring 2009 mens shows.

Van Noten, the subtlest of designer, took us on a charming jaunt with this collection, a stylish journey for independent travelers, where the big message was "dapper not dandy."

The show was more literally a journey, as the models took a long jaunt up a delightful catwalk, a cobbled 15th arrondissement parking lot artfully enhanced by several scores of all-white autos, ranging from Bentley, Mustang and Thunderbirds convertibles to a Fiat 850 and beautifully over designed Citroen DS.

Van Noten opened the action quietly with a pair of navy blue suits before gradually injecting color and edge. His big idea was using geometrical patterns and prints in everything from spy trench coats, party shirts and proud poseurs suits.

"The prints were based on some Italian Thirties ties we found. We made them in polyester not the original silk, and they do have great atmosphere," Dries told FWD backstage.

The Belgium designer also dreamt up a great new pant; wide waistline trousers with oversized belt loops and cuffs two inches above the ankle. Plus, the show also had that other key Dries element, the unexpected, like the linen shirts with cashmere breastplate, the largely transparent spy raincoat and flat wingtips with leather belts.

Backed up a brilliant remix of the Gary Neuman classic "Cars," and fueled by correctly prepared glasses of Pyms, served by waiters out of the trunks of the smaller cars, the show was a huge success, a paragon of subtlety and savvy that other designers would do well to learn from.

Vatican paper: Pope Benedict XVI doesn't wear Prada (AP)

VATICAN CITY - The devil may wear Prada -- but the pope does not.

According to the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the bright red loafers that Pope Benedict XVI wears are not designed by the Milanese fashion house, as has long been rumored.

"Obviously the attribution was false," the Vatican newspaper said in its Thursday's editions.

"Such rumors are inconsistent with the simple and somber man who, on the day of his election to the papacy, showed to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square and to the whole world the sleeves of a modest black sweater," it said.

Still, Benedict's fashion sense has often drawn media attention.

Three years ago around Christmas, he showed up for his weekly public audience in St. Peter's Square wearing a fur-trimmed stocking cap that could have passed for a Santa Claus hat. The hat, as it turned out, is a "camauro," which dates back to the Middle Ages and figures in many papal portraits.

On a separate occasion, Benedict sported a sumptuous red velvet cape trimmed in ermine -- another piece of traditional papal attire that had long been abandoned.

L'Osservatore Romano said the pope's interest in clothes has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with liturgy -- what symbolism traditional garments can bring to the Christian liturgy.

"The pope, therefore, does not wear Prada, but Christ," L'Osservatore said.

Designers take on relaxed feel for Milan menswear (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Italian designers showed that next summer will be all about chilling out for men, with slim-look tops and loose trousers epitomizing a relaxed feel to collections.

Designer team Dolce & Gabbana, made up of Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, kicked off the casual yet elegant summer look at Milan mens fashion week which ended on Tuesday, presenting comfortable and ample trousers, tied at the waist.

The duo took inspiration from oriental kimonos to dress models in silk pajamas with Asian-style prints of dragons and butterflies on robes and shorts.

The pajama also inspired Roberto Cavalli and Bottega Veneta designer Tomas Maier, who presented an "extended meditation" on the jacket and loose trousers.

"I think it makes for a great silhouette," Maier told Reuters after his show.

Cavalli added to the skinny upstairs, loose downstairs look with spacious trousers. He reversed the look with skinny jeans.

Drawstring trousers were also seen at Giorgio Armani, one of Milans long-established names, who took inspiration from Asia for his main line, with Indian, Malaysian and Balinese styles.

The doyen of Italian fashion, who pulled in a front row at his shows that read like a Hollywood red-carpet event, turned out flowing designs that were easy to wear for his main line.

Shirts were loose and untucked and tied at the chest by a short string.

Armani emphasized a more streamlined silhouette for his Emporio Armani line, with wide trousers narrow at the hem and close-fitting sleeves for tops. Fans such as actors Josh Hartnett, Clive Owen and Adrien Brody applauded his creations.

VIVID COLOURS

As well as light cottons and linens, shantung jackets and trousers were a hit with many designers. They also plumped for mainly classic summer colors -- creams, whites, pale grays and pastels -- with flashes of vivid colors and fluorescent piping.

Armani experimented with flowing bright pink shirts for a more beachy look. Celebrity favorite Versace also went for fluid designs and added dabs of pink, orange, mint and lilac to sandals or bags that accessorized pale suits.

Gucci designer Frida Giannini went tropical with motifs of flowers and perched flamingos on jackets and shirts.

Idiosyncratic designer Miuccia Prada stuck to darker navy blue, black, dark green and mustard yellow but also kitted out her models in long, almost dress-like white polo shirts and T-shirts. Her jackets had halterneck-style straps.

Scarves were winners for accessories.

At Armani, they were draped over shoulders instead of hanging down around the neck. They also replaced belts on trousers.

Dolce & Gabbana tied short scarves round the neck for their less formal D&G line, while Versace replaced ties with long-fringed scarves, which peeked out below jackets.

The maisons designer Donatella Versace said she would like to dress U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama.

"He is already elegant, but I would change something, maybe his shirt and I would take away his tie," Italian news agency ANSA quoted her as saying.

(Editing by Matthew Jones)

Hilfiger eyes expansion, no IPO plan now: report (Reuters)

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Smart-casual fashion house Tommy Hilfiger is focusing on expansion after turning around its U.S. business and currently has no plans for a stock market listing, its chief executive said.

"An IPO is currently no longer up for discussion," Fred Gehring told German business daily Handelsblatt in comments published on Tuesday.

The brand, which spans mens-, womens- and childrenswear as well as watches and accessories, was bought by private equity firm Apax Partners (APAX.UL) in 2006 for 1.6 billion.

"The management and Apax want to further develop the company over the usual time horizon for financial investors of three to five years," Gehring said.

He added that the company was also considering buying other fashion brands.

"The turnaround in our U.S. business has been achieved. After the restructuring the signs point very clearly again to expansion," Gehring said.

Gehring had told Reuters in April that Hilfiger would look again at a flotation at the end of 2009.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Rory Channing)

Trenchcoats and cardigans up the fashion stakes at Wimbledon (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) - On a gloriously sunny afternoon at Wimbledon, Serena Williams strode onto court in a trenchcoat.

With the sun beating down on Centre Court, defending champion Roger Federer appeared in a cardigan. All that was missing was his pipe and slippers.

"Game, Set and Mac, Miss Williams," the Daily Express decided on Tuesday after the 26-year-old former champion grabbed all the headlines with the most eye-catching outfit on day one.

Williams made a stuttering start before overcoming Estonias Kaia Kanepi -- but reporters afterwards were more interested in her outfit than her tennis.

Was it a Sixties retro look? Can you tell us about the fabric? Is it lightweight or porous? No question was too trivial.

Federer, seeking his sixth Wimbledon title in a row, swapped his white blazer for a Great Gatsby-style cardigan which also had reporters seeking fashion tips.

It felt more like a day on the catwalk than the opening of the worlds most famous tennis tournament -- but fashion has always been an integral part of Wimbledon with its strictly enforced "predominantly white" dress code for players.

After last years rain-soaked Wimbledon, spectators blinked in amazement at the sunny start to the 2008 tournament and Serena Williams joked about her outfit "I dont think its going to keep the rain away but we can always hope."

"I absolutely love trench coats. I live in Florida. I probably have more coats than anybody," she said.

But she admitted "It doesnt really add up" to live in the sunshine state and have that many coats.

Waxing lyrical about her warm-up attire, she said "its ladylike and Im very ladylike. It goes perfect with my personality and everything else. Its perfect for me."

Donning a cardigan can be a cutting edge fashion statement -- Soccer player and style icon David Beckham has started wearing them -- but, as The Independent newspaper warned on Tuesday "Theres a fine line between cool cat and old codger."

Federer extended his unbeaten run on grass to 60 matches when easing into the second round with a straight sets demolition of Slovakias Dominik Hrbaty.

After much discussion at his post-match press conference about his tennis form, it was onto the cardigan.

Federer, it appears, was thrilled to put aside the white blazer he had won for the last two years.

"I thought two jackets was enough. Lets move onto something a little bit different," he said.

"We thought about something nice like a cardigan, a jumper. I think the result is nice as well. I have a belt as well this year. Just some new fresh things. Its a little bit more easier to wear than the jacket to be honest."

(Reporting by Paul Majendie, Editing by Justin Palmer)

Gucci Goes Gaudy (Fashion Wire Daily)

Milan - Gucci took off on a rock and roll tour Monday in Milan with a mens collection where the models looked like Flower Power guitarists or arty bassists checking into a faintly louche hotel after their latest gig.

Rarely have we seen a mens collection with so much embroidery, as Guccis creative director Frida Giannini sewed tropical flowers on everything from torn striped jeans to white cricket boots or jacquard tuxedos.

Staged in the Florentine labels show space in central Milan on the third day of the Italian mens spring 2009 season, the show also heralded the unveiling of Guccis latest perfume, whose face is actor James Franco.

But if Franco, star of "Spider Man 3," is the new face, the inspiration for the clothes was MGMT, the Brooklyn Indie band. However, what came out felt more like a self indulgent Sixties rock star, evoking memories of the faded rock star role played by Mick Jagger in Nicholas Roegs obscure but nonetheless brilliant movie "Performance." Its a memory further heightened by the fact that the tousled haired models were very obviously made up, more like ageing rock gods conscious of their fading grandeur than lads in the prime of their youth.

"I wanted a Gucci guy, but an optimistic and happier one," Giannini told FWD backstage after the show.

The show opened with a gang of Carnaby Street hipsters, in snug suits of bright hued lime green and pearly white cotton. These were followed by the Indie band members attired in dipped dyed leather jackets and faux vintage T-shirts. Pants came with beaded waistlines, or belts with agate buckles. Plus, Frida conjured up the loafer of the season; a great new moccasin in a three tone choice.

The clothes trumpeted just how far Giannini has led the Gucci man into the street, and, in a summer when the label plans to celebrate the anniversary of its first boutique in Rome, from where Frida hails, it seemed a long a world tour away from the founding familys vision of patrician luxury for aristocrats and Hollywood royalty.

Alessandro Dell'Acqua: Scrawny Poet Chic (Fashion Wire Daily)

Milan - With the Milan mens collections practically bereft of any clothes one might remotely consider wearing to work, and most designers creating sabbatical chic, it was refreshing to witness the latest collection from Alessandro DellAcqua whose aesthetic message appeared to be, why not take the time off work to write poetry.

In an innovative spring 2009 collection, DellAcqua went for the sensitive touch, sending out his models in loose mesh cashmere sweaters, ever so faintly stained to suggest a poet laboring over an epic work of verse.

And, after a critically acclaimed reading, our 21st century Wordsworth headed out for a drink in beautifully tattered jeans, darned and stitched together lovingly, worn under one button jackets cut to finished above the hip. Made in faded gold jacquards or cotton micro herring bone, they were the coolest jackets weve seen so far in Milan.

Not that these clothes were in any way dated, on the contrary they were a fresh take on hip after-hours wear, and beautiful ways of playing with fabrics by ageing yet ennobling the material.

Unveiled in an obscure art gallery, agreeably shaded in a Milan where moisture levels have soared in the steamy heat, the collection rightly earned hearty applause from the audience. The show also augurs well for DellAcquas latest project; he was appointed the creative director of the famed cashmere brand Malo this spring. The Neapolitan designer is to unveil his first ideas for Malo with a womens ready-to-wear collection in September.

His womens fashion has always been highly influenced by his youthful habit of watching the golden period of Italian cinema and its screen goddesses Sophia Loren, Monica Vitti and Anna Magnani.

Looks like the inspiration for his latest mens wear was a trip to see Shelleys grave in Rome and catching up on the latest Pete Doherty video.

East meets West for Armani men, D&G Riviera style (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) - East will meet West next summer for Giorgio Armani male fans with Asian inspired long shirts, shantung trousers and fitted jackets, the Italian designer suggested in his menswear show, which won him loud applause.

Armani, the last of the big names to present his ideas at Milans spring/summer 2009 mens shows on Tuesday, chose to put bindies on the foreheads of some of his models, dressed in flowing bright pink shirts and dark shorts for a beachy look.

The designer, one of Milans long established names, turned out flowing designs with perfect tailoring that were easy to wear and relaxed. Scarves sat on shoulders instead of hanging down the neck, and they also replaced belts on trousers.

He favored Prince of Wales check and chalk stripes for jackets, short and slim and worn over a double breasted waistcoat, with a loose untucked or Asian-style shirt.

Trousers were light, varying from Indian, Balinese or Malaysian styles, sometimes with printed patterns, and generous in dimensions. Some were drawstring, others were tighter below the knee. Shorts were below the knee.

"(The clothes) are relative to a type of climate, a well-being," Armani told reporters backstage, saying there is "a pinch of personal interest" in the collection as he is about to open stores in India.

The main colors of the collection included an almost-grey green, light grey, putty and violet.

Shoes came in a choice of snakeskin, crocodile and woven hopsack, or laced, again in an Asian style. Guests included actors Clive Owen and Adrien Brody as well as Thai Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana.

"I loved the colors, (they were) really amazing," Owen told Reuters after the show which ended with Armani walking on stage to male and female models sitting crossed-legged towards him.

D&G

At D&G, the less formal line of designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, the look was nautical, inspired by the French Riviera.

The duo stuck to white and navy blue, with small dabs of red appearing in patterned trousers, bow-ties and on linings.

Models walked out in peak lapel and shawl collar button-suits, both with contrasting stitching details -- blue on white or vice versa, with shirts that had contrasting cuffs, bow-ties and printed pochettes.

The more casual look suggested jersey vests, slim cut trousers and Bermuda shorts with nautical-themed prints while cotton knitwear was accessorized with a silk neck scarf.

Swimwear was white and navy blue, accessorized with white bags while for the evening, the duo offered silk shantung white tuxedoes, which were won with colored or patterned bow-ties and printed pochettes.

Belstaff, whose trademark biker jackets were a favorite of soldier and writer T.E. Lawrence, celebrated "the great traveler," offering a collection that went from soft linens to microfiber Nylon, or what it called the "lightest technical fabric ever made."

Shiny waterproof jackets and trousers came in green, indigo, lobster, grey and kiwi colors.

More than 40 designers held catwalk shows at Milan fashion week, which ended on Tuesday.

Prada's Almost Product Free Perfume Party (Fashion Wire Daily)

Milan - Few things are more painful than watching a major luxury label get things badly wrong, which was very much the dismaying case Sunday night in Milan when Prada decided to launch its latest mens cologne and made it tricky for most guests to actually smell the very product.

Instead, the Italian brand staged a runway show unveiling its spring 2009 mens collection and then projected a series of nine short experimental movies whose brief was "to challenge the idea of a perfume for a man; to produce visionary content" inspired by "sensory association of the Infusion dHomme perfume."

Largely pretentious visual ramblings by avant-garde cineastes, shown in semi darkness to around 500 people, these mini clips featured everything from verbal ramblings to images of a monkey awaking as it senses a new smell. Quite why an Italian label feels the need to name its newest cologne with a French title was never terribly clear, nor why the scent was nigh impossible to simply sniff. Few senior editors who attended when questioned the following morning reported actually smelling the cologne, or even seeing a bottle, though at one stage waiters did walk around in the gloom with trays bearing tiny bottles of the new scent.

Fragrance launches normally involve guests sensing the new cologne or perfume on scent sticks; and leaving with a flacon of the stuff. But nothing could be so simple for Prada, especially after a curious runway show, whose main conceptual thread involved men wearing clothes many of which seemed borrowed from their girlfriends - fashion it was hard to see many of them wearing outside their own homes.

A mono-color, print free collection the clothes big distinguishing feature was the fact that all the jackets, blousons and dressing gowns had an interior elastic strap that looped around each models neck; a curious accoutrement whose function was unclear other than to help the garment hang open on the catwalk. That last was the real star of this event; a brilliant stage set of miniature wooden platforms and mini hills, in between which rambled the shows cast. Few of the styling tricks - like wrapping a rubber band around all the boots and shoes - seemed terribly innovative, and, remarkably for Prada the clothes looked not at all new.

"From fascism to democracy," Miuccia Prada commented to FWD, referring to her last womens collection, an austere vision of authoritative ladies. Yet, it seemed an odd view of the participatory democracy when you dont allow the voters much chance to look at the goods. In a word, an ill-conceived moment from Italian fashions greatest conceptualist.

Designer Tom Ford opens Milan store as sales gain (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) - Fashion designer Tom Fords sales are not feeling the impact of the credit crunch, he told reporters on Monday, as he launched his first directly-owned store in Europe where suits will sell for upwards of 3,800.

"Absolutely not at all," said Ford, when asked if customers were feeling the pinch.

"Our customers are maybe not buying a house or a Warhol, but they are still buying clothes," he said, without giving detailed figures. "We are way ahead of our projections."

Ford set up his own design line in 2005 with Domenico De Sole after the two left Italian fashion house Gucci following a failure to agree contract terms.

The impeccably dressed designer -- whose boots alone cost 10,000 -- already has a store in New York and more are planned in over a dozen locations including London, Los Angeles and Dubai.

The Milan store is in a clean-lined grey building which was previously home to Ermenegildo Zegna, the self-styled world leader in luxury mens clothing which has moved further into Milans "golden quadrangle" of luxury boutiques.

Tom Fords store is just under 12,000 square feet over five floors, sumptuously decorated in deep brown velvets, mahogany and marble. In the entrance hangs a dramatic black artwork commissioned by German artist Anselm Reyle -- but no merchandise.

"It should feel like a house ... much more private than a store," Ford said.

On the top floor are two private salons for clients considering made-to-measure suits, with a terrace and a bar.

"They love to have a glass of champagne and drink and drink and shop and shop," he said, declining to disclose client names.

One well-advertised customer is Daniel Craig, who wears Tom Ford outfits in the next James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace."

"I think Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Sean Connery," Ford said. "He likes very simple things. Its hard to get him even to wear diamond cufflinks with a tuxedo."

(Reporting by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Ferre: Mohair Moods for Real Men (Fashion Wire Daily)

Milan - The coolest classical clothes one can see in Milan this season are available from the house of Ferre, where the late designers former assistant produced a spring 2009 mens collection of great poise and craftily inventive fabrication.

Presented Sunday on stationary models in Ferres headquarters on via Pontaccio, the spring looks had a refreshing crispness, in a clever modern updating of the Gianfrancos signature architectural style by his one time right hand man Giovanni Ridotto.

In a good deal of drama this spring, Ferres initial successor Lars Nilsson was relieved of his job before even presenting his collection and replaced by the talented duo of Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, who did a brilliant job reinventing Malo, like Ferre a division of the Italian fashion consortium IT Holding. Known as 6267, after their birth years, Aquilano and Rimondi will be responsible for Ferres womens collection, while Ridotto will oversee the houses mens signature line.

His collection was a brilliant advertisement for Italian fabrics, as the key material was mohair, treated with such novelty to create great lightweight clothes, yet ones that held their shape impressively.

The clothes had a Thirties feel, but updated with the contemporary slim-line silhouette. However, Ferres DNA was evident throughout, whether in the broad, gangster like lapel, couture quality finish and sense of haute gamme dandy.

Above all, the actual "hand" of the fabrics was stunning; mohair treated in such beguiling way that while the clothes were classical, the mood felt very new. This was certainly not a revolutionary show, nor was it supposed to be, but instead a smart evolution of Gianfrancos oeuvre.

"We twisted, treated and wove the mohair in ways that have not been done before giving it strength yet suppleness. So, in my view though the material is entirely natural its much more high tech than anything done by others in nylon or micro fibers," explained Ridotto, a behind the scenes man modestly enjoying a well-deserved moment of recognition.

He was also careful to stress that, "we did not attempt any stylistic make over, but wanted to respect Signor Ferres legacy and architectural fashion."

Now we can think of dozens of successors who have made that claim in fashion, without genuinely living up to it. Hats off to Ridotto for backing up his words with honest facts.

Gucci's men get tropical treatment for next summer (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) - Flowers and flamingos injected a dose of the tropical into Milan fashion week on Monday when Gucci designer Frida Giannini dressed her men colorfully for next summer.

Models walked out in blooming cotton shirts and thin ties with flamingo motifs. Even leather lace-up shoes had clusters of large embroidered flowers and crocodile heels in Guccis spring/summer 2009 menswear collection.

Jackets and trousers in floral stenciled aqua blue or deep amethyst were mainly slim, some slightly flared, and worn with print or bold tone shirts. Embroidered blooms crawled over pinstripes and plaid.

"What I really wanted to bring with this collection was a sort of happiness," Giannini told Reuters after the show, which was watched by American actor James Franco, who stars in the advertising campaign for Guccis new male fragrance.

"I was referring to this idea of travel, a sort of tour in the tropics ... In summer, in the minds of people in general, there are always colors, always prints, this idea of flowers, flamingo birds so I tried to keep all these elements and to spread them across the collection."

The designer accessorized her models with oversized bags and vivid colors -- duffel bags came in lapis blue while slouchy messenger bags were in orange suede.

Guccis casual wear had a slightly more rock influence. Fluorescent touches were seen on military jackets and thin cashmere sweaters, inspired by what Gucci called "fluokids," a musical youth movement. It said the collection was inspired by the style of the band MGMT.

Leather jackets and bags had graffiti prints and cotton trousers were worn with slouchy ankle boots. Giannini painted T-shirts and embroidered jackets with flowers and accessorized her models with necklaces with colorful pendants.

She embroided suits for evening wear, which was all-black or all-white. The only dose of color was in agate or amethyst stones on belts.

Guccis bright colors contrasted with darker tones seen at Emporio Armani and more neutral ones at Gianfranco Ferre at Milan fashion week.

At Moschino, it was "picnic and punk," where stripes, check and floral prints were matched together and models were kitted out with picnic baskets. Studs and pins were seen on hats and tops, while a waistcoat and jacket were embroidered with mother-of-pearl buttons.

At Dirk Bikkembergs show, models stepped out in jersey suits, jumpers, ties and tuxedos for the Belgian designers sport couture collection for next summer.

Milans spring and summer 2009 menswear shows run until June 24. More than 40 designers are holding catwalk shows.

(editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Versace: Posh Pastels (Fashion Wire Daily)

Milan - We got a posh pastel moment at Versace on Saturday in Milan, when the Medusa headed label staged their spring 2009 men’s collection before an eclectic audience of music, movie and mode greats.

The three big star invites made an unlikely combo – from music came Janet Jackson; from movies Jerry Butler and from la mode Tom Ford, in the midst of major campaign to re-establish himself as a major Milan player.

Highlighting the Sergeant Pepper mood in Milan, the show featured military tunics. Slimly cut, unadorned of medals they summed up the increasingly slim-line silhouette of Italian men’s fashion and the current obsession with pastels.

Dusty hues of mauve, tangerine, peppermint and rose ran through this show, most spectacularly in some great weekend bags and satchels, slung over the tousle haired models in the show, staged in Versace’s custom made theatre in south central Milan.

The clothes also had some clever tailoring tricks - like elongated jacket lapels or well placed shoulder panels.

And, the collection’s best looks were some ace faded silver trenches that had a modern panache yet lots of lightweight wearability.

"I think the moment is right for clothes that are easy to understand and wear," said Donatella at her garden dinner in the courtyard of the family’s distinguished via del Gesu palazzo, made over the night with huge couches and low cocktail tables.

Burberry: Drab, Nearly Dreary (Fashion Wire Daily)

Milan - Theres a hemline theory of economic cycles on Wall Street which predicts the severity of recessions by how much skirts rise above the knee, a curious method given the financial districts macho culture and historical domination by men. Why analysts dont attempt foretell the future by watching mens collections is something of an anomaly, especially after attending the Burberry spring mens collection in Milan, a drab affair of muddy colors, featuring young lads who appeared to have retreated to the country after their losing their jobs in town.

The whole affair was an abrupt about turn from recent seasons, where the UK labels creative director Christopher Bailey has filled his runway with shiny finishes, posh aristocrat military dandies, metallic trims and colors. On Saturday, the opening day of shows in the Italian mens wear spring 2009 season, the collection he showed featured askew cashmere sweaters, deliberately badly ironed and crumpled jackets of guys whose career straits had forced them to lay off their cleaning lady.

To be fair, it was gutsy of Bailey to take Burberry on a new direction, even if his radical change of gears did not come without a loud clash.

Most of the curly haired models looked like the gentleman farmers, though mostly the younger brothers who did not inherit the estate. The setting also felt far sadder. Where once Bailey had golden invitations, and runways showered in gold glitter, this season the invite and backdrop was a sad, flat gray.

Baileys silhouette was consistent; tight sleeves, short lengths but bulky torsos; but the feeling was far more downbeat. Recent Burberry ad campaigns by Mario Testino feted cool aristocrats in black and white St Pepper military gear. This collection felt ideal for a film version of "On Black Hills."

Worst of all, for tea diviners of economic change Saturdays scene at Burberry seem to prefigure several lean years ahead, where surviving not consuming would be the main goal.

Africa inspires Cavalli, Bottega focuses on jacket (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian designer Roberto Cavalli offered mens tops and trousers decorated with prints of pictures he had taken of an African sunset and overlapping palm leaves at his spring/summer 2009 show on Sunday.

Images of a floral bouquet and animal prints also featured in his menswear collection, entitled "Bohemian Safari," on the second day of Milan fashion week.

Cavalli, who also sent out female models in long, floating dresses -- some with gold chain detailing hugging the frame -- said he envisioned an extravagant man, an explorer, "a hippie and a nomad, who wears memories from a safari on himself."

"(Next summers) man is very free," he told Reuters.

Colors were vivid with doses of white, dark brown, red, geranium and intense blue. Silhouettes were skinny on top and large at the bottom or the contrary. Kaftans and shirts with airy sleeves paired with pajama trousers or skinny printed jeans.

Cavalli catered for all temperatures, going from jumpers and thickish, holey scarves to tight colorful swimwear. Leather belts were tied around jackets, some with no collars.

Bottega Veneta presented what it called an "extended meditation" on the jacket, starting with an unlined, light, pajama-inspired jacket in printed cotton or cashmere and moving on to "double" jackets of two monochromatic layers.

Designer Tomas Maier also sent out models in blazers in knit and jersey, finishing with a white shantung silk dinner jacket.

"Thinking about menswear clothes, for me the most important item is the jacket," Maier told Reuters after the show. "I also like the fact that the man is more covered. There is a lot of nudity out there and I think it is a little bit too much."

Trousers were loose, made from crisp cotton or double-pleated gabardine, and sometimes cuffed. Navy blue and cobalt dominated, with neutrals glimpsed on the lapel facings of jackets. Patterns were stripes and Vichy checks.

ARMANI GOES NORTH

At Emporio Armani, the theme was Nordic Europe, and designs emphasized a streamlined silhouette with wide trousers narrow at the hem and close-fitting sleeves with a narrow shawl collar.

Giorgio Armani used mainly dark Colors with hues of grey to dark variations of navy blue. He presented tight waistcoats and jackets with several zips all the way down.

Linings were piped, making the outfits look light with materials such as linen, silk and polyester blends. The show, watched by American actor Josh Hartnett, also offered light parkas and mini-trenches with drawstring Bermudas for sportswear.

Miuccia Prada turned out her models in cropped jumpers and long T-shirts that were low cut. The designer presented low-cut jumpers and jackets, some with a strap on the inside over the shoulder.

The line, in navy blue, black, dark green and mustard yellow, contrasted light items and rigid structure for trousers and jeans. White T-shirts and shorts were worn with black socks.

Gianfranco Ferre used a presentation instead of a catwalk show to present smoothly cut jackets, linear overcoats and slim trousers in dark neutral Colors with skinny belts that added shine.

Ferre said the line, designed by the houses creative team, had no clear inspiration "other than man himself."

Britains Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen also presented lines. Westwood featured vests, loose-fitting shirts and a pink tracksuit, even bringing on a dog to accompany one of her models.

McQueen looked at body definition, with collars vanishing into the body of jackets.

Milans spring and summer 2009 menswear shows run until June 24. More than 40 designers are holding catwalk shows.

(Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Barack Obama inspires Milan men's runway styles (AP)

MILAN, Italy - The latest "first" for Barack Obama comes off the Milan runway.

Calling the U.S. presidential hopeful "the man of the moment," Donatella Versace dedicated her Spring-Summer 2009 collection presented Saturday evening to Obama, creating a style she said was designed for "a relaxed man who doesn't need to flex muscles to show he has power."

Chatting with reporters in the cool of the garden of her private palazzo in downtown Milan at an after-show dinner party, the designer also had some fashion tips for the campaign trail. "I would get rid of the tie and jazz up the shirt," she said.

In fact, there were no ties in Donatella's latest show, and shirts under jackets were either super easy with rolled up sleeves or replaced by a silk T-shirt.

The new Versace suit has a structured jacket softened by a double lapel or no lapel at all and slim trousers with slick techno-fabric sheen. Crazy zigzags break up the monotony of pinstripes and checks, while the pastel palette gives the collection a warm summer feel.

Sitting in the front row, actor Rupert Everett applauded enthusiastically, showing that even if it was not dedicated to him, he found the collection right up his alley.

Overall, this round of "moda Milanese" menswear preview collections, which ends Wednesday, promises to be all about chilling out, a refreshing thought in a Milan in the grip of this summer's first heat wave.

The relaxed feel of the collections is epitomized by the return of the unlined jacket, which, when coupled with wide loose trousers, creates a casual yet elegant summer suit.

Right at home with this look was Tomas Maier, the creative director at Bottega Veneta, who presented his collection Sunday morning.

From the ultra soft pajama jacket to the classic blazer, to the white shantung silk dinner jacket, the idea is to keep a guy stylish and comfortable throughout the day. Novelty comes in the "double jacket" which appears to have separate layers, creating a two-jackets-in-one effect.

"If you think about the gap in menswear between a tailored suit and a T-shirt and jeans, it's filled by the jacket," Maier says in his show notes.

Ultra-soft trousers with well-defined cuff, cool khaki and pastel shades, loafers and saddle shoes, and the latest men's shopping bag in Bottega's exquisite leather complete the collection's casual chic.

Sunday afternoon, Giorgio Armani presented his second line Emporio collection aimed at a younger customer.

The first part of the show reflected the current return of the jacket and suit, with the added attraction of the vest, either as part of the suit or on its own. Here the designer was tops, but then suit tailoring comes naturally to the maestro who invented the unlined jacket back in the 1970's. An Armani suit is a must in the closets of the rich and famous.

The second half of the show, dedicated to sportswear, strayed from this tradition. Ruffled surfing shorts and rubberized -- or were they patent leather? -- Bermudas made one yearn for Armani the tailor.

Earlier Saturday, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana underlined the relaxed feel of these previews with a series of silk bathrobes and boxer shorts -- the utmost in the luxury of indolence.

Models walked down the runway of the designers' theater in downtown Milan wearing pinstriped suits as loose and easy as silk pajamas. Their horn-rimmed eyeglasses and leather sandals told a tale of a contemporary business man who can combine beach and office with ease.

When home he might be lucky enough to find his better half in a Dolce&Gabbana robe number, just like the one Naomi Campbell flaunted for the show's finale.

Also showing Saturday, Christopher Bailey for Burberry embraced the easy life for next summer wrinkling everything from jacket to trench coat before it gets crumpled in a suitcase or soaked in the rain.

Typically British, the summer Burberry man can't part with his cardigan -- this round so light it can hardly be called sensible -- and his traditional hat, the latest version a cross between Paddington Bear and a scarecrow.

To complete the first day of showings, the minimalist Jil Sander label presented its take on the current casual look: Jackets cut close to the body in color blocks like a Mondrian print with zippers instead of buttons for an extra cool fit.

Africa inspires Cavalli, Bottega focuses on jacket (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian designer Roberto Cavalli offered mens tops and trousers decorated with prints of pictures he had taken of an African sunset and overlapping palm leaves at his spring/summer 2009 show on Sunday.

Images of a floral bouquet and animal prints also featured in his menswear collection, entitled "Bohemian Safari," on the second day of Milan fashion week.

Cavalli, who also sent out female models in long, floating dresses -- some with gold chain detailing hugging the frame -- said he envisioned an extravagant man, an explorer, "a hippie and a nomad, who wears memories from a safari on himself."

"(Next summers) man is very free," he told Reuters.

Colors were vivid with doses of white, dark brown, red, geranium and intense blue. Silhouettes were skinny on top and large at the bottom or the contrary. Kaftans and shirts with airy sleeves paired with pajama trousers or skinny printed jeans.

Cavalli catered for all temperatures, going from jumpers and thickish, holey scarves to tight colorful swimwear. Leather belts were tied around jackets, some with no collars.

Bottega Veneta presented what it called an "extended meditation" on the jacket, starting with an unlined, light, pajama-inspired jacket in printed cotton or cashmere and moving on to "double" jackets of two monochromatic layers.

Designer Tomas Maier also sent out models in blazers in knit and jersey, finishing with a white shantung silk dinner jacket.

"Thinking about menswear clothes, for me the most important item is the jacket," Maier told Reuters after the show. "I also like the fact that the man is more covered. There is a lot of nudity out there and I think it is a little bit too much."

Trousers were loose, made from crisp cotton or double-pleated gabardine, and sometimes cuffed. Navy blue and cobalt dominated, with neutrals glimpsed on the lapel facings of jackets. Patterns were stripes and Vichy checks.

ARMANI GOES NORTH

At Emporio Armani, the theme was Nordic Europe, and designs emphasized a streamlined silhouette with wide trousers narrow at the hem and close-fitting sleeves with a narrow shawl collar.

Giorgio Armani used mainly dark Colors with hues of grey to dark variations of navy blue. He presented tight waistcoats and jackets with several zips all the way down.

Linings were piped, making the outfits look light with materials such as linen, silk and polyester blends. The show, watched by American actor Josh Hartnett, also offered light parkas and mini-trenches with drawstring Bermudas for sportswear.

Miuccia Prada turned out her models in cropped jumpers and long T-shirts that were low cut. The designer presented low-cut jumpers and jackets, some with a strap on the inside over the shoulder.

The line, in navy blue, black, dark green and mustard yellow, contrasted light items and rigid structure for trousers and jeans. White T-shirts and shorts were worn with black socks.

Gianfranco Ferre used a presentation instead of a catwalk show to present smoothly cut jackets, linear overcoats and slim trousers in dark neutral Colors with skinny belts that added shine.

Ferre said the line, designed by the houses creative team, had no clear inspiration "other than man himself."

Britains Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen also presented lines. Westwood featured vests, loose-fitting shirts and a pink tracksuit, even bringing on a dog to accompany one of her models.

McQueen looked at body definition, with collars vanishing into the body of jackets.

Milans spring and summer 2009 menswear shows run until June 24. More than 40 designers are holding catwalk shows.

(Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

No Naomi at Sao Paulo Fashion Week (AFP)

SAO PAULO (AFP) - Supermodel Naomi Campbell failed to turn up as scheduled at a runway show in Brazil on Saturday, apparently after her plans were upset by a conviction the day before for assaulting police officers at Heathrow airport in April.

Campbell, 38, had been scheduled to appear on the catwalk at the Sao Paulo Fashion Show for the summer 2009 swimsuit collection by the Rio label Rosa Cha, according to Globo.com, Terra and other Brazilian media.

But her sentencing on Friday in London to 200 hours of community service and more than 5,600 dollars in fines and compensation seemed to torpedo that modeling assignment.

The British celebrity had admitted in court to kicking and spitting at the officers in a foul-mouthed tantrum as they tried to eject her from a British Airways flight following a row over lost luggage.

Campbell is a regular visitor to Brazil, flying in every couple of months.

Several media in Brazil and Britain have reported that she is involved in a relationship with a Brazilian billionaire, Marcus Elias. The two were photographed kissing while swimming in the Mediterranean last month.

Brazilian Baroque on Day Four of Sao Paulo Fashion Week (Fashion Wire Daily)

Sao Paulo, Brazil - Porcelain dolls and little green men (and women) were just some of the disparate influences found on the runways during day four of Sao Paulo Summer 2009 Fashion Week, where minimalism takes a back seat to more baroque concepts in dressing.

Reinaldo Lourenco, whose wife Gloria Coelho and son Pedro Lourenco will also show their collections this week, on Sunday morning, designed a saccharine collection inspired by the famous French porcelain from Sevres and Limoges, with woven dresses with cut-outs that looked like caning or wrought iron. A series of art nouveau-style prints on dresses in with soft tiers of ruffles edged with pearls contrasted with the delicate porcelain-like looks, then Lourenco ended the show with dresses in gold featuring oversized bows.

Cavalera, a huge designer brand in Brazil, looked like the effects of little green men coming to Earth and taking over fashion. A dramatic show, Cavalera placed three models on their backs on invisible lifts, which slowly went up and down as other models walked the runway in ensembles in every shade of green imaginable to the sounds of a Klaus Nomi soundtrack, the infamous 1980s otherworldly New York performance artist. Lime green denim pants were among the tamer options (for the guys), while a sparkly green camouflage jumpsuit for women would work for members of a Ziggy Stardust cult. Bolero jackets and pencil skirts in contrasting shades of green were among the tamer options.

Alexandre Herchcovitch showed his womens collection on Friday, one of his strongest to date. Continuing along the same militaristic protest theme from his mens collection on Thursday, Herchcovitch swapped the black flags in favor of white ones as if to signal a less reactionary and pessimistic worldview for a more hopeful, light message.

Beautifully tailored khaki safari-type jumpsuits with military jacket details on the shoulder opened the show, which evolved to include short dresses with soft gathers in the back, or several transparent layers of printed fabric covered the shoulders or the seat of a pair of shorts, like old fashioned bloomers. Semi-transparent dresses in pale colors closed the show, and as the final model turned and walked away, you could see that the layers of ruffles extended along the shoulder blades like angel wings.

Dolce & Gabbana reflect relaxed lifestyle for men (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian designer team Dolce & Gabbana kicked off Milans fashion week in relaxed style on Saturday, taking inspiration from oriental kimonos to kit out men in silk evening pajamas for next summer.

Asian-style prints of dragons and butterflies decorated robes and shorts in black, white, grey, sepia and ivory for the duos signature line. Naomi Campbell modeled one of their designs as part of the spring/summer 2009 menswear collections.

Evening jackets teamed with black trousers also sported the prints, in a collection said to reflect "the relaxed lifestyle of the modern man."

A variety of light and dark blues, and natural hues from beige to brown, were used for formal striped suits and casual wear, topped on the runway with dark-rimmed glasses.

Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce tucked tight-fitting shirts -- often diagonally-striped, with small bow ties or chine jersey shirts with cotton collars and cuffs -- into drawstring trousers with a loose leg, or paired suits with bow and skinny ties. Jackets had small shawl lapels, single- or double-breasted.

The designers used crocodile and suede for jackets and for limited edition sneakers that also came in mixed leathers.

Models, some of whom were sent out with double-handled bags, wore python, crocodile, eel or patent leather sandals, as well as slippers in various leathers and colors.

The designers, whose show was watched by pop singer Fergie, will show off their more informal line, D&G, on June 24.

GARDEN INSPIRES

At Burberry Prorsum, designer Christopher Bailey looked to the garden for his "Crumpled Classics" collection, sending crumpled shirts, jackets, coats and hats down the catwalk.

Bailey, who said he went back to the Burberry archives to find a starting point for his collection, used unstructured tailoring and earthy colors -- smoky and musty green, sage, mauve, lavender, charcoal, brown and citrine.

"I wanted it to feel very neutral, I liked this idea of a garden," Bailey told Reuters backstage.

Rain-splatter prints, crochet knits and detailing and reinforced seams stood out. Shirts with white collars and cuffs were left untucked, some teamed with light knitwear.

Bailey accessorized with battered Panama gardening hats and check canvas and oversized leather totes.

Versace, a favorite with celebrities, made to change the face of formal wear, showing jackets with no- or doubled collars, and wings instead of buttons on the front of trenches.

Design head Donatella Versace rolled up sleeves and squared-off shirt hems as part of a collection summarized as "formal attitude, informal mindset."

In place of ties, models wore narrow silk scarves in white or pale colors, also sporting sunglasses with brightly-colored rims. Trousers were both slimmer and wider-style.

Versace used new fabrics such as techno taffeta, a type of nylon with a modified structure that resembled washed silk, and left out check patterns for a fresher take on stripes.

Flashes of pink, orange, mint and lilac on scarves, bags or sandals added color to sandy or grey tops and trousers, while some models were dressed all in black for the show, watched by pop singer Janet Jackson and actor Rupert Everett.

Milans spring and summer 2009 menswear shows run until June 24. More than 40 designers are holding catwalk shows.

(Editing by Catherine Evans)

Von Furstenberg courts Europe with ruffles, bows (Reuters)

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters Life!) - New York-based designer Diane von Furstenberg sent models traipsing down a lush garden runway in breezy chiffon dresses and ruffled headbands to mark her first fashion show in her native Europe.

Returning to the region that produced the first "wrap" dress that made her famous and courting European customers while the dollar struggles against the euro, Furstenberg showed off her pre-spring collection of travel wear in an open-air gala in a manicured garden tucked away in the Renaissance city.

"I do sell in Europe and have shops everywhere and but it just so happened that they invited me and I accepted and after I accepted I thought, this makes sense, this is where it started," von Furstenberg told Reuters.

"Going back to Florence was a very nostalgic thing for me. My first factory was 25 km from here, and the wrap dress was invented here," she said.

The Belgian-born designer had models bounce down the catwalk in flirty black and white sundresses paired with chunky brown or gold heels, while oversized bows and satiny headbands added to the girlish look.

Flowy dresses in bold geometric patterns splashed with sunflower yellow and engine red draped over the body like a sarong, while color ran amok on one number that featured bold stripes of pink, ocean blue, red and white.

"Its not winter, its not spring, its transitional and its nice, easy pieces, and season-less," said von Furstenberg, who became a princess after her marriage to Prince Egon von Furstenberg, which has since ended.

She is now married to media mogul Barry Diller.

Raised largely in Europe, von Furstenberg rose to fame in the 1970s with her hallmark wrap dress that became popular as a sexy yet comfortable option for women of all sizes.

The style is enjoying a revival of sorts lately, but that was not enough to make it the star of the show.

Tea roses, ribbon and ruffles dressed up classic halters and cocktail dresses, while shirt dresses were pulled together at the waist with skinny belts for a more feminine look. Cigarette pant-like capris and a classic beige trench coat cinched at the waist were tossed in to complete the suitcase line-up.

Evenings meant a shimmery white dress with a black belt, while a dark blue sheath dress with an off-the-shoulder twist set the mood for elegance to follow daytime chiffon and jersey knits.

Held before an adoring audience of Florence glitterati, Von Furstenbergs show kicked off the citys twice-a-year Pitti menswear fashion shows. They precede Milans menswear shows that start Saturday and feature top names like Armani and Versace.

(Editing by Jon Boyle)

From Beach to Boho Chic, Diversity in Design at Sao Paulo Fashion Week (Fashion Wire Daily)

Sao Paulo - The second day of Sao Paulo Fashion Weeks Summer 2009 season came to a close on Wednesday night with a collection highlighting an area of particular Brazilian expertise, beachwear.

Cia Maritima, which made its U.S. runway debut last summer at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami Swim shows, is one of Brazils top high-end swim label exports and a brand to watch when it comes to the latest beach trends.

With a disco-like setting underneath a modernist concrete pavilion in Sao Paulos Ibirapuera Park near the Oscar Niemeyer-designed Bienial building, the site of the shows this week, Cia Maritima sent out a dizzying array of seventies-inspired swim and beach looks on top models like show opener and closer Karolina Kurkova. There were tie-dyed caftans and swirling psychedelic prints and bikinis, cut in the typically itsy-bitsy Brazilian style, featured wide, flat ties and a host of hardware, from brass beads to square plastic buckles. Sexy one-piece suits, taking cues from the disco era featured plunging v-necks and cut outs. A suit with wide shoulder straps, almost like a bodysuit, could work both for the beach during the day or transition into night with a skirt thrown on over it.

This year marks the centenary of Japanese immigrants in Brazil, the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. To celebrate, Sao Paulo Fashion Weeks theme this year focuses on Japan, with exhibitions highlighting Japanese designers like Kenzo, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Comme des Garcons and a historical display of kimonos.

Japans influence on design could be felt in the Fause Haten show, as far as following in the tradition of avant-garde design. One of the most popular collections shown at SPFW, Fause Haten showed an eveningwear collection that included narrow silk cocktail dresses featuring origami folds and sculptural bubble skirts. A chic periwinkle blue silk pajama-like pantsuit especially stood out in this collection that never seemed to hit a cohesive mark, falling somewhere between a 2008 version of "Dallas," a 1980s prom or "Blade Runner."

Wes Andersons 2007 film "The Darjeeling Limited," with its wealthy prepster characters on a bohemian soul-searching journey, provided the theme for menswear label V. Rom, who distilled the narrative into a collection of looks for free-spirited men with a carefully constructed boho look. Loud Liberty of London-style prints, brashly colored pants in bright red or green, pegged pant cuffs, waistcoats and preppy suit jackets seemed to scream, "Im rich and eccentric, so what?"

Sassy womenswear label Triton mixed butterfly imagery - fluttery laser-cut layers of petals, ruffles and butterfly prints - with an homage to 1980s Thierry Mugler, with corseted waists and voluminous bubble skirts, mixed with a little punk rock flavor in the form of tartan plaids, zippered front dresses and studded belts. Disheveled blond updos and dark smokey eyes would have made Debbie Harry jealous.

Alexandre Herchcovitch Pitches Fashion as Protest (Fashion Wire Daily)

Sao Paulo, Brazil - Clothing may be a universal concept, but fashion on the runway doesnt usually address larger issues outside of silhouettes, color palettes or fabric choices.

This week, while political dissidents face violent attacks in Zimbabwe and a ceasefire takes effect on the Gaza strip, fashion week in Sao Paulo is in full swing. But designer Alexandre Herchcovitch, who also shows his womens collection in New York, brought the political sphere to the fashion arena on Thursday afternoon, the third full day of Summer 2009 shows.

A row of black flags formed the backdrop of the runway as he marched out a collection of loose olive khaki pants, jumpsuits, shorts and shirts and jackets in multicolored ethnic prints. Herchcovitch was inspired not only by the traditional clothing worn by people of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Turkey, but also by the military dress of the countries waging war in these areas, including Western armies.

Mixing militaristic-style silhouettes with ethnic prints of familiar, yet indeterminate origin, Herchcovitch said in his program notes that "it is a warning collection, a way of wearing fashion design as a protest, for freedom, compassion, love and equal rights for every human being." While Herchcovitchs fans will no doubt appreciate the political narrative underlying the attire, whether it will read as a statement of protest by the uninitiated rather than a trendy adoption of ethnic dress remains to be seen, but at the very least, Herchcovitch has made it a point of conversation in the fashion world, where such things are not always discussed.

Another major international Brazilian fashion export, Maria Bonita, showed a charming collection largely featuring what could be described as adult rompers: Loose linen onesies in wrinkled, semi-transparent linen utilizing this seasons big color blocking trend that conveyed a sense of whimsy. Oversized mens-style shirts and voluminous dresses were the alternative to the slouchy pants. This collection by Maria Bonita will appeal to fans of Dries Van Noten and Marni.

Cori, designed by Dudu Bertholini and Rita Comparato for the second season (the duo also design under their own label Neon, which shows Friday night), was their take on Age of Aquarius hippie adoptions of Native American and/or American Southwest dress. Think wardrobe appropriate for a road trip from Santa Fe to Los Angeles, or vice versa. Lots of denim, in the shape of culottes and high waisted flares, silk trousers in vibrant Southwestern prints and leather fringe swinging from dresses, some of which featured huge gold metallic chimes that noisily clanked as the models walked sounding like a string of aluminum cans on a "Just Married" car for newlweds. As one journalist remarked post-show, "That was the loudest show Ive ever been to."

Iodice, another Brazilian export familiar in the U.S. for their denim and casualwear, showed a solid range of daywear and easy eveningwear for women looking for something with a bit of edge, yet not terribly over-the-top or difficult to wear. The show opened with a series of pleated silk shirts and dresses in black and white or dusty pink, some of which featured balloon sleeves and pleated cap shoulders. The beachwear, in bright aqua, was standard issue (semi-transparent cover-ups, maillot suits, big hats) but softly draped white dresses and trapeze gowns for evening took the collection back up. The best were a series of color blocked dresses in an eye-catching palette of teal, nude, black and white.

Carlos Miele's Casual, Comfortable Cover-Ups for Resort (Fashion Wire Daily)

New York - A rooftop in the Meatpacking District with impressive views of downtown New York - and Carlos Mieles 14th Street store - was the setting for Mieles light and carefree Resort 2008 collection. As live musicians from Brazil softly sang and strummed a guitar, guests on hand to view the collection sipped strawberry caiphirinas to beat the balmy late afternoon heat on Thursday, June 5, while a handful of models posed in boldly colored caftans and ruffled dresses.

The collection focused on casual swim cover-ups that would look glamorous whether worn poolside or post-beach for a night stroll. Prints, one of Mieles strong suits, were well-represented here, as abstracted water droplets or red flowers and butterflies.

Comfort was the key message here, with empire-waisted goddess gowns or loose one-shouldered tiered trapeze dresses in washed, crinkled silk. The rosette, one of Mieles popular recurring motifs, was featured on the hem of a dress and embossed into a silk top. Not heavy on pants, there was one wide legged version in the collection and a pair of cute beige bloomer-like shorts. Raffia sandals, either strappy platforms or flats, completed the looks.

Celebrities mourn Saint Laurent at Paris funeral (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) - France said farewell to fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent at a funeral on Thursday attended by supermodels, film stars and President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Office workers and residents of nearby buildings leaned out of their windows as police held crowds back near the Paris church of Saint Roch where the ceremony was held.

Actress Catherine Deneuve, whose aura of refined elegance was most closely associated with the designer, read a poem by Walt Whitman, followed by a speech from Saint Laurents long-time partner and business associate Pierre Berge.

"You could have slid into fashions at times, but instead you remained faithful to your own style, and you were quite right, for that style is now everywhere, perhaps not on fashion catwalks but in the streets of the whole world," Berge said.

Although Saint Laurent himself famously hated his own time as a conscript in the French army, his coffin was greeted by an armed honor guard, whose stiff military bearing contrasted strangely with the elegant mourners mingling after the service.

Sarkozy sat in the front row of the church alongside his wife Carla, a former model who used to strut the catwalk at Saint Laurents glamorous shows.

Hailed as one of the great couturiers of the 20th century, Saint Laurent was part of a distinguished line of French designers from Coco Chanel to Christian Dior who consolidated the reputation of Paris as the fashion capital of the world.

A shy and reclusive figure in his later years with few close friends, his rank in the fashion world could nonetheless be gauged from the array of celebrities at Saint Roch, a church traditionally associated with artists and musicians.

Screen legend Jeanne Moreau joined the mourners, along with some of the models he dressed, including Claudia Schiffer and Laetitia Casta, and leading designers Christian Lacroix, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Saint Laurents body is to be cremated and the ashes spread in the garden of his villa in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

The oldest child of a rich French industrialist, Saint Laurent was born and grew up in Algeria, then a French colony, and showed an early talent for design, making clothes for his younger sisters dolls.

After moving to Paris at the age of 17, he was hired by Christian Dior and soon became chief designer, producing acclaimed collections under the Dior label before striking out under his own name in 1962.

With Berge taking care of the management side, Saint Laurent built up the YSL brand into one of the worlds most widely recognized fashion labels with hallmark designs like his womens tuxedo and trouser suits.

However he struggled with alcohol and drug problems as well as ill health and he became disillusioned with the fashion scene after he retired from designing in 2002.

Reuters/Nielsen

Isaac Mizrahi: Tangerine Dream (Fashion Wire Daily)

New York - Just when the Resort trend appears to be loose, flowing frocks or shapeless sack dresses, Isaac Mizrahi can turn around make a girdle dress look just as easy and about a hundred times more sharp, as he did in his Spa 2009 collection, aka Resort, which he presented in his showroom in New York, Thursday, June 5.

"This is our Spanx dress," joked Mizrahi, about a streamlined silk and wool dress (Mizrahi calls the fabric "tonic") in a bone-like color with a built-in corset. Paired with a smart Spencer jacket, its the kind of look youd want to wear as you board the plane.

Juicy citrus colors like tangerine were juxtaposed navy and Nile blue, as though creamsicles were raining from the sky, and a toile print inspired by the cover a notebook was on a peach acid trip.

Mizrahi does flounced dresses well, whether short-skirted and high-waisted or composed of tiered ruffles, while his Katharine Hepburn-esque wide-legged pants, in a cotton and silk blend, were designed to look dressy while still maximizing comfort.

Goddess gowns inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, such as a neon flower print gown ("Our noisiest dress," said Mizrahi) or a gorgeous pale watercolor striped v-neck gown, afforded the possibility of letting ones hair down while still looking done up when it came time to put the tailored pieces back in the suitcase for the evening.

Yves Saint Laurent's ashes scattered in Marrakesh (Reuters)

MARRAKESH, Morocco (Reuters) - Friends of Yves Saint Laurent scattered his ashes on Wednesday in the botanical garden in Marrakesh where the reclusive fashion designer found inspiration and refuge from fame.

More than 100 guests including French former culture minister Jack Lang and fashion designer Paloma Picasso joined the private ceremony at the garden where bulbul birds sang in the trees and sunlight bounced off pools of cool water.

Saint Laurent and long-time companion Pierre Berge bought the Majorelle Garden in 1980 and gave a new lease of life to its cobalt blue walls and lily pools standing among cacti, bamboo, palms and agave.

Today its quiet pathways and small museum of Islamic art are popular with tourists dazed from visiting the citys narrow, dusty streets crowded with donkey carts and beeping mopeds.

"I am very happy that he chose Marrakesh, this magical place, to rest for eternity," Lang said.

Saint Laurent was credited with changing forever what women wore and was the first designer to make luxury labels accessible to a wider audience through innovative read-to-wear collections.

But he also struggled with the pressure of fame and suffered from alcohol and drug addiction. Friends say he found peace and seclusion in the gardens, often retreating there after stressful fashion shows.

The designer was born and raised in the then French colony of Algeria and found something familiar in Marrakesh when he and Berge arrived there in the late 1960s.

Morocco inspired some of the daring color combinations in Saint Laurents creations -- orange with purple, pink with red -- that earned him a reputation as the designer with the best color sense of the 20th century.

MEMORIAL

"I remember we used to drive up to the mountains near Marrakesh," said long-time Marrakesh resident Bill Willis, a close friend of Saint Laurent who designed his villa.

"We would see Berber peasant women carrying their bundles of firewood who wore the most wonderful color combinations -- he inspired himself a lot from that."

The citys peasant lifestyle amid opulent town houses also helped inspire Saint Laurents ethnic look that became popular with hippies.

At the height of the free-wheeling 1960s, he and Berge would entertain friends at their Marrakesh palace, including Saint Laurents muse Loulou de la Falaise and Talitha Getty -- the fashionable wife of John Paul Getty -- who died of a heroin overdose in 1971.

When they bought the gardens, laid out by French painter Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s, Saint Laurent and Berge helped bring a cachet to Marrakesh that propelled it into world tourisms major league.

First adventurous Westerners moved in to restore houses in the old medina. Now construction cranes have joined the palm trees and Atlas mountains that form the citys backdrop.

Large hotels and golf resorts have sprung up, bringing much needed jobs to a poverty stricken region but removing much of the charm that drew creative foreigners in the 1960s.

After Saint Laurents ashes were scattered, a memorial to his memory was unveiled at his villa in the garden, staff said.

(Writing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Friends scatter YSL ashes in his Marrakech garden (AFP)

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AFP) - Close friends of the iconic French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who died 10 days ago, on Wednesday scattered his ashes in the garden of his Marrakech villa, his partner Pierre Berge said.

That was followed by a second ceremony at the Majorelle botanical garden that Saint Laurent and Berge acquired in 1980 and has become a popular tourist attraction in the Moroccan city.

"We scattered the ashes in the rose garden of his private home because he went there often over 30 years, and we have placed a pillar in his memory in the Majorelle garden, because Yves Saint Laurent and I, we gave it new life when it was supposed to be destroyed to build a hotel," an emotional Berge, the designers lifelong professional and personal companion, told AFP.

Some 88 people went to the designers home for the ceremony, including former French culture ministers Renaud Donnedieu de Vabre and Jack Lang, television presenter Claire Chazal, as well as former employees and nurses who cared for Saint Laurent.

Even his dog, Moujik, was there.

Saint Laurent, who reshaped fashion in a career that spanned four decades, died June 1 of a brain tumour at the age of 71, with his funeral in Paris on June 5 attracting the elite of the fashion world, friends and celebrities.

Algeria-born "YSL" spent much time in Morocco, and Berge said at his funeral: "He will stay there in a country that influenced and marked him greatly. He will end up in the Maghreb where he was born."

"Ive always thought Parisien cemeteries were sad and deserted. Here there are 650,000 visitors every year. The name of Yves Saint Laurent is so connected to Morocco and the Majorelle garden that it went without saying we would choose this location, so that people can spare a thought for him," Berge added.

The memorial column in the garden bears a white marble plaque with the words: "Yves Saint Laurent, designer, Oran 1/8/1936 Paris 1/6/2008."

Saint Laurent, who was born in the Algerian town of Oran, fell in love at first sight with Marrakech, known as the "pink city", 40 years ago, long before it became fashionable.

"I knew last year that the brain tumour was terminal, and thus I knew he would leave and I would be alone," Berge added.

Berge will also be cremated and his ashes scattered next to his partners when he dies, he revealed.

Guests enjoyed a lunch in the shaded canopy of exotic trees after the ceremony.

"Pierre Berges idea to scatter Yves Saint Laurents ashes in this country, which he loved above all, in this gorgeous and magical house, is a beautiful idea, and somehow it is a fitting way to be reconciled with his death," Lang said.

The Majorelle garden is home to flora from five continents, with 350 species, including a superb collection of cactuses, plants, palms, bamboos and ferns from Latin America.

"I will always treasure one dinner he gave," said TV anchorwoman Chazal. "It was very intimate. He was on top form. At the same time it was a little sad, because he was already a little bit aged, but you could still see the twinkle in his eye, because he had so much humour and compassion."

Nicole Miller Resort Goes to Bali (Fashion Wire Daily)

New York - Even if you cant make it to Bali next winter, picking up a few pieces from Nicole Millers Resort 2009 collection, which she presented in New York on Wednesday, June 11, would be your next best option.

Millers colorful collection of resortwear took its inspiration from traditional Balinese prints, which she applied to crinkled silk tops, sarongs, swimwear and dresses, punching up the colors along the way with bright, fruit-flavored colors.

Miller said when she was in St. Barts last winter, she had brought a mostly white wardrobe to wear. But when she arrived, she didnt feel like wearing white - she wanted to wear something more colorful. Her assistant had been on a trip to Bali and brought back all kinds of colorfully printed fabrics and traditional clothing. "Thats what I should have worn in St. Barts!" said Miller.

"All the men wear sarongs that have these checker prints, so it looks like a mismatch, but actually its not," said Miller about a colorful printed silk dress with checker ruffles extending from the dress.

Not all the pieces were a literal reference to the traditonal Balinese garb. In other pieces, the prints were used abstractly, as in a jersey dress with a patchwork version of the swirling, cloud-like print used elsewhere in the collection.

The focus with her resort offerings, like many other designers, was on light-as-air, comfortable fabrics - in Millers case, silk.

"Im always trying to reinvent silk fabrics," she said. The collection uses silk in a variety of ways, from the fabric she calls "ripstop," a kind of textured silk similar to a parachute, to silk georgette, to a cotton/silk blend that gives a cotton skirt, for example, and added dose of softness and effervescence.

Balancing out the loose, unstructured tops and dresses were skinny jeans and stretch linen shorts for layering underneath. If youre city-bound rather than sipping mid-winter tropical drinks, its a good way to stay warm while still imagining youre on an island.