Paige Hunter Blog

Thursday evening brought cold rain to New York along with the unveiling of Barneys New York's holiday windows on Madison Avenue. Designed by acclaimed director Baz Lurhmann — best known for "Moulin Rouge" and "Great Gatsby" — and his wife, Catherine Martin, an Academy Award winning costume designer, this year's theme was dubbed "Baz Dazzled."

"We shot 'Gatsby' in Australia, and it rained for seven days and we had to move to the studio. We shot 'Australia' in the desert and it rained," Luhrmann told WWD about the seemingly unfortunate weather.

The recently revealed decorations in Barneys' four Madison Avenue-facing windows will be on display for six weeks.

On Thursday night, under a banner reading "A life lived in fear is a life half lived," a cappella group Pentatonix, winners the 2011 season of NBC's "The Sing-Off," performed Christmas carols as the windows were exposed.

"I was at the dress rehearsal on the street last night," Mark Lee, Barneys' chief executive, told WWD before the reveal.

"I was left speechless."

The holiday display shows ice skaters, dancing elves, a marching band, Anthony Howe sculptures, a talking owl and two queens singing Madonna's "Holiday."

Fashionista elaborated upon Luhrmann's quirky tweaks on classic holiday themes, describing the display as, "a contortionist b-boy elf, a wise old 'True Owl' who speaks the truth, a graffiti-ing squirrel who makes use of his gold spray paint through Barneys and beyond, and Celestina the ice princess, eternally skating and longing to be set free - with the whole mythical world ruled over by the Luna and Solar Queens."

Across the pond, Harrods in London debuted its "Land of Make Believe" 2014 holiday windows on Wednesday. The spectacle includes giant traditional toys and mannequins dressed in exclusive outfits from British luxury designers, including Stella McCartney, Matthew Williamson, Thom Browne and Zuhair Murad.

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Buying clothes is easy; buying inspiration is hard. So come shop with me. Not to Blue in Green or the Real McCoy’s — we’ll get to them later — but let’s start in Midtown, at Kinokuniya, hot spot for Japanese printed matter. Down in the basement, plop down in the bustling magazine section, right by the full rack devoted to the men’s wear bibles.

These aren’t your American men’s fashion magazines, which are 50 percent celebrity-dude-hangout-ery, 30 percent style tips, 10 percent National Magazine Award baiting and 10 percent actual style. These offerings — Lightning, Popeye, Free & Easy and so many more — are loving sartorial catalogs, atlases of fashions and microfashions, sprinkled with real-guy style porn.

Take the special edition of Workwear, which features what appears to be a logger on the cover — red plaid blanket jacket, dirty reinforced jeans, a helmet half-scraped of its color. Inside: old photos of bros in henleys and fedoras on a break from some forestry work, vintage workplace manuals and Filson ads, and maybe 1,000 or so product shots. It’s an index of style at the granular level, and a playbook.

Now you have the information and are ready for a real-world assault. Start at the Real McCoy’s, which has been open for a few months on an unfriendly stretch of Greene Street in SoHo. The Real McCoy’s is a heritage brand of ostentatious quality, and the store is intimidating, austere and cocksure.

On the back wall is the denim, Sanforized and not, in a range of cuts that replicate vintage Levi’s ($285 to $436). I tried on the narrowest fit, which was still wide enough to hide ankle weights. A salesclerk said that he once drew blood trying them on, and it was by no means clear if he was joking.

These jeans are smarter than you are, designed with rough labor and nonsense-averse boots in mind, maybe even the cordovan engineer ones by Buco, which look as if they would have steadied many a soldier during the world wars. (They’d also be very effective in an episode of cop fetish play.)

The price is worth lingering on: $2,860. It’s a comical number, an amount for which you could buy a reasonable winter wardrobe, with money left over for extra Timberlands. But the goal of these boots, and the goal of most of the clothes at the Real McCoy’s, is to hide your money in plain sight, evident only to your fellow cognoscenti.

That’s why there are plain-looking luxury sweatshirts (yes, they feel beautiful) in three different weights, for the different seasons. That’s why the simple-seeming down vest is actually made of deerskin ($1,138). That’s why the vintage varsity jacket knockoff ($898) is convincing enough to dupe the occasional shopper into thinking that, yes, he went to Rockwood High School.

And then there are the military jackets, authoritative reproductions of the L2B, the MA-1, the G1 and more. Not sure which one to buy? Head back to Kinokuniya, where upstairs you can buy a book titled “American Flight Jackets: A History of U.S. Flyers’ Jackets from World War II to Desert Storm.”

If the Real McCoy’s is the M.I.T. of Japanese clothing, preoccupied with technical details, then its next-door neighbor Blue in Green (the two share an owner) is the Hampshire College, trying out any number of odd paths without sacrificing quality.

Before it was spun off, the Real McCoy’s was always among the more stoic brands at Blue in Green, which offers several meticulous and highly desirable labels, Japanese and otherwise. It, too, has a wall of denim, but in cuts far more varied than those at the Real McCoy’s — try the ones by Somét, which have give at the waist but taper cleanly near the calf for a natural sag and peak footwear flexibility.

There’s less of an emphasis on simulacra here, and more on modifying the classics, be it the high-end proletariat work jackets by Brown’s Beach ($545) or the organic cotton sweatshirts by Loop & Weft ($225) or the indigo rope-dyed crew-neck sweater by Eternal ($289), which was too elegant not to buy.

Blue in Green also carries a wide range of Kapital, a brand made by the world’s most detail-oriented, least carefree hippies. If everyone in the world had to live in Berkeley, this would be the clothing of the elite. One denim shirt had colorful embroidered cats, and there was a phenomenally formless coat made of melton wool that was able to be worn at least four different ways ($1,120), at least during the five minutes I indulged in wearing it around the store.

And then there was Low Hurtz, the Blue in Green store brand, and a test of will. I stumbled upon, and stammered over, a jacket made of leather so thin it seemed as if it might be tissue ($1,635). I would start a Kickstarter for this jacket. I slipped it on, almost as a dare to myself, and suddenly I was a guy in a Free & Easy photo spread. Everything else I was wearing felt different than it had before. My shoulders straightened. I couldn’t be sure, but my hair seemed to be gelling automatically. I had studied hard, and passed with flying colors.

Megan Freeland faced a dilemma that confronts many teens: She needed to buy new clothes for job interviews, but without a job, she didn’t have enough money to buy the clothes. In a bind, she turned to Social Advocates for Youth, the Santa Rosa nonprofit where the 18-year-old has been receiving support.

Through a unique partnership with Goodwill of the Redwood Empire, SAY is able to provide homeless and low-income teens with vouchers to buy clothes. On Wednesday, armed with a stack of clothing vouchers, Freeland shopped for smart sweaters and business slacks at a Santa Rosa Goodwill store.

“I’m going to start looking for a job, and this gave me the opportunity to get clothes for interviews,” Freeland said as she tried on clothes. “I’ve always found clothes from here that fit my style.”

Teens, even homeless and low- income ones, love to shop for clothes and wear the latest fashion trends. Sometimes, SAY, which gives out used clothes to teens at its youth shelter, receives donated clothing and household goods that are not very age-appropriate.

Instead of giving a teen that dress that belonged to some well-intentioned donor’s grandmother, SAY’s partnership with Goodwill of the Redwood Empire allows teens receiving aid to buy the clothes that they want, which the organization says will help them fit in with their peers.

Clothing and other items that are left at donation boxes at SAY’s office and teen shelter are taken to Goodwill and exchanged for the vouchers, which teens can spend at Goodwill’s retail locations.

“Teenagers, especially homeless youth in this county, want cool clothes that fit their style,” said Caitlin Childs, communication manager for SAY. “Letting them shop for their own clothes empowers them to do that. They can buy what they want so that they can blend in and not feel like an outcast.”

The program started about a month ago, and already it has given dozens of teens vouchers. The SAY shelter serves about 120 teens, Childs said. Some of SAY’s youth have found jobs working at Goodwill stores.

Goodwill’s bins are located at SAY’s office at 3440 Airway Drive and at the Dr. Coffee House Teen Shelter at 1243 Ripley St. Donations placed in these bins specially marked with the SAY logo will be converted to Goodwill vouchers.

Mark Ihde, president and CEO of Goodwill of the Redwood Empire, said the program benefits both organizations.

“It works well for their nonprofit and it works well for us,” he said. “It teaches the youth life lessons. They get an amount to spend and they get to decide how to spend it.”

chiffon prom dresses

Boot trends come and go every fall – over-the-knee, ankle, combat, wedges – but one boot remains, impervious to passing fads: the cowboy boot.

The cowboy boot entered mainstream fashion beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, when actors like Roy Rogers glamorized cowboys onscreen. Its popularity has ebbed and flowed since then (John Travolta, the star of “Urban Cowboy,” could be called the Roy Rogers of the 1980s), but has never gone out of style. And in the last 10 years, the cowboy boot has experienced a new boom – especially among women.

Wade Allen, the owner of The Bull Chute Western Wear in Raleigh, says for years now he has been selling more boots to women than to men.

“I never would’ve predicted that 60 to 70 percent of my boot sales would be from selling ladies’ boots,” he said. “It’s become a fashion staple in people’s closets. It started when these suburban moms got into cowboy boots about 10 years ago and turned them into a fashion statement. Since then, younger generations have embraced the boot as well.”

Durham fashion blogger Chanell Mitchell, 31, of Carrboro, has embraced boots since she was 4, when she’d try out her father’s tan Justins. Now she buys her own – and she’s partial to vintage.

“Some of my favorite brands have been making boots since long before I was born,” she said. “I recommend a resole and a good Doctor Scholls insert, since most used boots will be worn in and loved. ... I used to buy vintage and burn them out and move on to a new pair, but now I resole them.”

Mitchell currently has three pairs in rotation – they’re tan, black and white. On her blog, 3 Fs to Live By, she writes that cowboy boots have answered a lot of her fashion dilemmas, and she poses for photos in various outfits with a pair of Nocona White Calf boots.

How to wear them

Her favorite way to wear boots? “I love a super pointy black cowboy boot with leggings and a white tunic or denim Chambray Shirt, with gold bangles and a simple gold necklace,” she said.

Allen says his customers also choose outfits that highlight the boot.

“Most wear their boots with dresses, skirts, shorts or over skinny jeans to show off the boot,” he said. “Guys just wear them under jeans.

“A man buys a pair of boots because he needs them,” Allen said. “A woman buys a pair of boots because she wants them.”

Designed in the mid-1800s by boot makers for ranchers, the cowboy boot features an underslung heel and high boot shaft, which protected the cowboy’s feet and kept them in stirrups while riding horses.

Boots for the game

On the day of this year’s first N.C. State football game, local sports radio personality Joe Ovies tweeted, “As I walk up to Carter-Finley, a couple thoughts. 1) Cowboy boots are still a thing ...”

Yes, they are. Even in the heat of August, all across the stadium young women were decked out in cowboy boots and short dresses.

In fact, Allen said many college girls pick up their boots at his store specifically for football games. He even carries cowboy boots branded with college logos just for that.

Larry Denny of Raleigh, who sells cowboy boots at his booth at the Raleigh Flea Market at the N.C. State Fairgrounds, sees the same trend. “A lot of college girls come and get cowboy boots from me,” Denny said. “The sales are best in the fall.”

Sales of used cowboy boots have been so good that Denny has started focusing on those at his booth. He buys his boots for as little as possible from yard sales and thrift stores, but he said sometimes his friends bring them to him. His prices range from $20 to $100 a pair.

“I have boots made from snakeskin or alligator skin,” he said.

Cowboy boots also feature a variety of toe shapes – pointed, square and round. Allen said that most men go for the rounded toe, and women prefer pointed or square toes.

“The pointed toe actually has no practical use,” he said. “I recommend the square toes to horseback riders, but the pointed toe is just a fashion statement.”

‘Staying power’

Arlene Goldstein, vice president of trend merchandising and fashion direction for Belk, said cowboy boots pair well with frilly dresses and shorts because they add an unexpected edge to a feminine outfit.

“To me, the Western boot is almost like leggings. It’s become sort of a classic in the South,” she said. “It definitely hasn’t gone away and has an amazing amount of staying power.”

Allen doesn’t think the popularity of the cowboy boot will wane.

“There have always been certain aspects of the Western industry that are really trendy. But when trends come and go, certain things stay and become staples,” Allen said.

“Cowboy boots have become a staple, like worn jeans are. I think it’s because it’s Americana. Because of that, I can really see them being around forever.”

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Actress Eliza Dushku was robbed Friday, Oct. 31, at the Omni Hotel by people who were staying in the hotel as her, The New York Daily News reported.

The "Buffy and the Vampire Slayer" actress was staying at the Omni Hotel on Halloween for the Rhode Island Comic Con when she was robbed of a Louis Vuitton duffel bag given to her by Sharon Osbourne.

Dushku tweeted on Friday saying "Was just robbed in front of my hotel a few hrs ago. Cameras caught everything: hotel/police/security weren't able to do anything."

She followed that with a series of tweets updating her followers about her dilemma.

"2 guys, 1 dressed as a GOLDEN GLADIATOR/CEASAR. If anyone saw anything tonite please help me #fans #ricomiccon #RI #providence #GrandLarceny," she also wrote.

She also addressed the hotel after finding out that the robbers were allegedly staying at the same hotel as her.

"Really upset. It's been a long night. The 2 men are in my hotel currently & "nothing can be done," she tweeted.

"Please, @OmniHotels, these 2 men are guests here in the building & on your cameras robbing me. Help me find them & apprehend," she tweeted. "They're here. In hotel. Why I can't sleep. Possibly just right down the hall.Distressing. I want them found. Release pics/videos @OmniHotels."

The night ended on a positive note for the 33-year-old when police found the robbers.

"Apparently, she put her pocketbook down while she was getting other things out of her car and another guest of the hotel picked it up," a police told E! News. After looking at the surveillance tape from the hotel, they were able to identify the suspect and his companion.

Police arrested 27-year-old Scott Pryor and were still searching for his accomplice, 30-year-old Jamie Lange, according to PEOPLE.

It was reported that both suspects will be charged with a felony after stealing the bag, valued at around $4,000.

Dushku concluded her night with a tweet saying "Update:men found in hotel, w/my luggage, apprehended & spending wknd in jail until+. U guys helped this happen. I am VERY grateful. C u soon."

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What to do if you're sick of your hair looking limp and lifeless.

Bored of your hair? Try adding more texture through layering. To give the lowdown on exactly what to ask for at the hair salon, and which products to use once you are back home, we asked Jonathan Long, director of Lockonego in London and Clairol Nice 'n Easy Colour Advisor, for his expert advice.

"So many of our clients, both men and women, are looking for more textured hair styles which they can easily maintain once they leave the salon. Short hair cuts are generally the easiest to create it with as you can manipulate it with a good holding product like a soft moulding wax - something like

WICKED Wax by UNITE is great," he said. "Simply apply the product to your hair and roughen up the ends with your fingers for an instant coarseness in shorter, croppy styles."

Jonathan admits that longer hair can be slightly trickier and the finish depends on the thickness of the strands. Those with finer hair should ask their stylist for blended layers and thicker hair should opt for choppier sections created by a point cutting technique.

"The best way to add sharp, define texture to the haircut is to re-cut it again once the hair has been blow-dried and depending on your face shape, cut choppy layers around the face to add real definition," he continued.

"The best products to use on longer hair are a texturising or sea salt spray for textured waves. I would recommend Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray to spritz on to and work with a simple scrunching technique."

To take the style to the next level, use the diffuser on the end of your dryer and blast with medium heat. If you're looking for softer texture and wave, use a curling iron, ensuring to switch the direction of each curl and simply brush out the ringlets - this creates the desired look without the use of any heavy goods.

"I always start by applying styling products onto wet hair; something like Natural Volume Styling Mousse from the Wella Professional range is particularly great for fine hair as it doesn't weigh it down," Jonathan explained. "For second day hair or to re-texture it for an evening do try Wella SP Style Refine Texture - finish with a quick blast of cold air from the hairdryer and manipulate it simply with your fingertips."

Jonathan advises people not to be afraid of being rough with their hair.

"Ensure you use enough styling products to make the consistency last, smooth over the top of your hair with a soft bristle brush if needed," he said.

"Just before you go out, simply flip your head upside down and blast with the dryer - you can also reapply your chosen spray from underneath, this will add volume right at the root and lift from the base of the hair but will avoid your top roots looking greasy.''

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Olympian Louis Smith 'dating selfie-mad brunette beauty' after sparking up flirty relationship via social media

He's not shy of posting a revealing selfie online for his fans, so it makes sense Louis Smith has fallen for a girl with a penchant for posing.

The Olympian has reportedly started dating brunette Lauren Lamport after the pair struck up a friendship via social media.

A source tells Britain's Sunday Mirror: 'Louis and Lauren get on really well – it’s early days but things are looking promising. They are taking things easy and not placing high expectations on each other.'

The 20-year-old beauty's Twitter and Instagram page are littered with self-taken snaps, which no doubt caught the gymnast's eye.

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The new romance comes just weeks after the Strictly Come Dancing champ split from former The Only Way Is Essex star Pascal Craymer after a short-lived romance.

The model - who previously dated Mario Falcone - confirmed their courtship had fizzled out in September.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Pascal said: 'I don't know what happened but it's over now.

'We have a connection every time we see each other but it doesn't go anywhere. It's been over for a while.'

The romance ended as Louis hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons following claims a secret solo sex tape of the 25-year-old is allegedly doing the rounds online.

Meanwhile, Louis is undoubtedly still reeling over the X-rated footage, which was recorded during a Skype chat with a model, who he was seeing at the time.

When quizzed about the alleged tape, Pascal added to The Sun: 'He told me it was for a model from three years ago. I was worried people would think it was me.'

Louis, 25, hasn't had a long-term girlfriend since he split from Billie Whyatt in 2011.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Louis for comment on the report.

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The My Personal Stylist service is complimentary and offers customers one-to-one appointments with a professional style advisor.

The service has been rolled out to key stores following a successful trial launch in London and Ireland.

The re-launch comes after the unveiling of a major refurbishment of the Buchanan Street store earlier this year.

Oasis wants to offer its Glasgow customers professional advice and help to help them refine their look.

As Hash Ladha, Oasis chief operating officer, said: "Great customer experience is part of Oasis and our focus is to give customers a great environment, great product and great advice, which is why we are thrilled to expand our My Personal Stylist service across UK and Ireland flagship stores."

Oasis's Autumn/winter 2014 collection features retro prints, such as tartan, checks and stripes as well as graphic and modern patterns.

The collection features muted winter colours such as grey and black alongside pops of bright colour and textured fabrics.

Coats are a key winter purchase and Oasis has an array to choose from including Crombie coats, pea coats and faux fur designs.

Customers can inject some romance into their new season wardrobe with one of Oasis's winter floral items or they can toughen up their look by investing in a cool leather piece.

Look out for seasonally appropriate autumnal tones such as cherry red, ochre or forest green.

The My Personal Stylist service is aimed at customers who want to update their look for the coming season or pick out an outfit for an event.

Rosalind Gibson, Personal Stylist at the Oasis Glasgow Buchanan Galleries store, said: "It's always a great feeling to know you've been able to help someone."

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Japanese fashion label Dressedundressed opened the fourth day of ongoing Mercedes Benz fashion Week in Tokyo with a minimalistic collection themed as Intelligence for the Spring/Summer 2015 season.

Jointly created by the brand’s designer duo, Takeshi Kitazawa and Emiko Sato, the well-cut line was based on a neutral palette of white, beige, ivory, navy and black shades. The catwalk presentation’s menswear entry included vests, baggy pants, blazers, shirts and long jackets. The featured womenswear pieces were oversized button-down shirts, sleek sleeveless dresses, pants and double-breasted coats.

Nobuhide Koi, the graduate from the Parsons The New School for Design and the creative head behind Corazon del Alma label, showcased a resortwear range based on classic silhouettes. Enhanced with sheer overlays, low-cut backs, transparent fabrics, and asymmetrical ruching and draped details, the line displayed long flowing dresses, sleeveless tops, jumpsuits and wide-legged pants.

The Japanese talent Yurika Ohara and British designer Steven Hall, the founders of the In-Process by Hall Ohara label, gave a 21st century nod to traditional Mexican aesthetics through their S/S range. Titled as Estética, the Mexican arts and folk inspired collection was adorned with jacquard patterns and prints of tropical flowers, leaves, cacti and paint splatters. The vibrant line showed shrunken jackets, minidresses, shorts and shirtdresses.

Tokyo-based womenswear brand Yuki Torii International drew inspiration from 1960s for its latest creations incorporated with casual silhouettes. Enhanced with colourful digital prints and luxe broderie anglaise lace material, the runway parade highlighted flowy silk dresses and some Chanel-inspired skirt and jacket combos.

Japanese brand Alice Auaa’s designer Yasutaka Funakoshi chose to display a dark line, which was comprised of Victorian silk crafted ensembles, burlesque style innerwear and avant-garde asymmetrical pieces paired with elaborate headgears, whereas the father-son design duo Sansai and Jotaro Saito showcased their signature traditional Japanese clothing decorated with traditional prints and post-modern motifs.

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Designers on the final day of Fashion Forward took us back in time and then blasted us off to the future, to space, as season four of the three-day event came to a close on Monday night at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. Kicking off with Lebanese designer Bashar Assaf, inspired by all things ethereal, the day took a nostalgic turn with designers Ava and Madiyah Al Sharqi, who both brought some old-world charm with a modern twist on the catwalk. Then, as has become tradition, Dubai favourite Furne One wowed and then surprised all his fans, this time with an all-white collection themed around an alien abduction.

Madiyah Al Sharqi

One indicator that your label is making the right noises is when fashion influencers start noticing you. And that’s exactly what happened to this shaikha in Paris recently, who had none other than Kim Kardashian seeking her out at her showcase on the sidelines of Fashion Week.

But anyone who saw Al Sharqi’s latest collection on Monday would hardly be surprised. Taking on a ’70s vibe, the collection was feminine and elegant, playing with form and lots of layers. There were subtle touches of crocheted lace, many of them forming part of a top and then evolving into capes as the models turned. The colours were restrained as always, think peaches and khakis, but added to the mood of the regal collection.

Al Sharqi said later she now wants to go international. With such an accomplished collection, she’s more than ready.

Hashe

For her first ready-to-wear line, Dubai-raised designer Ava Hashemi took inspiration from the city’s architecture, showing off what one could call an extension of her accessories line she started in 2010 when she was just 19.

Playing with shapes and volumes, the collection, called Reflection, was inspired by Venetian mirrors. You could see them on many of the looks, shimmering and reflecting, as Hashemi sent out looks in bright colours, all of them retaining that old-world charm she’s come to be known for.

Dima Ayad

A Fashion Forward regular, Lebanese designer Dima Ayad’s timeless collection had an ’80s vibe but with a modern twist. She deliberately played it safe with her looks, ensuring that every piece was ready for the shop shelf and wearable. There were pastels and wild prints that wouldn’t look out of place with the Ewings, the wealthy family of the TV show Dallas.

Ceremony

Emirati designer Farha S is quite a tease. She sent out her models in a range of pale nudes and then, suddenly, upped the ante. There were electric blues, flashy reds and wild prints, all reflecting her inspiration: the sea. For summer, the living is easy and the shapes were flowy and girly as Farha introduced her signature touch of blending traditional Middle Eastern patterns with very modern cuts and lines. Just into her third collection, she still has a long way to go, but she’s definitely in the right direction.

Bashar Assaf

Beirut-based designer Bashar Assaf opened the last day of Fashion Forward Season Four with his second solo show (he has previously presented at FFWD under the Starch Foundation). Between separates and dresses, a relaxed look resonated throughout the collection with a summery palette of aqua and light turquoise dominating, well punctuated with bespoke prints inspired by rocks and plastic playing with water. From the fabrics to the construction — all done in Beirut — the designer made a strong case for the potential of Middle East’s fashion industry. What he describes as ethereal (“I looked back to all things I found ethereal over the past year”) is in fact a completely wearable collection that should do well next summer. The designer does need to better his fit though. It would have been good — but this pertains to most shows at FFWD and at hindsight seems like an opportunity missed for all concerned — had the designer collaborated with the accessory designers showcasing in The Garden to better present his concept.

Asudari

It was hard not to love Lamia Asudari’s presentation. The collection was crisp, well-edited, most importantly well-thought-of and well-finished. This season, the Central Saint Martin’s graduate explored the fashion stable — a bow — deconstructing it to create a stunning array of prints and appliques that in hands less adept would have seemed jarring. Playing with a deep colour pattern of maroons and purple, the designer presented a collection full of separates that not only make better business sense in terms of sales, but in allowing the consumers to edit the look to their mood. The prints were well balanced on each garment, in proportion to the piece and when layers with a mesh of appliqued bows, made the look instantly playful. “I’ve designed for that girl who has embraced her femininity, is a girlie-girl with an edge,” said the designer who retails in Saudia Arabia. For me, the Asudari show was more than just a fashion presentation. What we are looking at is a strong Middle Eastern brand laying its roots for future success as every element of presentation — right down to the professionally managed post-show interview session — was what we have come to expect from international presentations. As Lamia told me, she starts working on the mood boards for the next season immediately after she presents the show at hand. It is that level of dedication to her metier that delivers a show of the highest standards.

Amato

Filipino designer Furne One has made it a tradition to close Fashion Forward, make it the most well-attended show and then add lots and lots of drama — right from the seating arrangement to the catwalk. He showed a teaser of his collection at New York Fashion Week, which I attended, but I was pleasantly surprised to see he’d completely transformed most of the looks, diminishing almost any trace of similarity with the New York show, save for the palette: all white.

“My last collection was so colourful, this time I wanted to tone it down. I wanted it to be emotionless but full of emotion,” he told me backstage.

He not only has a flair for theatrics but also for quotable quotes, evidently.

Based around an alien abduction, One again played with wild accessories and mixed rich textures. The limited colour choice didn’t curb his creativity as the emphasis, as always, was on luxurious detailing and embellishments. Lace mixed with satin as the tone-on-tone collage finished off with matte Swarovski crystals came to life in glorious form. If an abduction can look this glamorous, we’d love to be taken, now.