Fashion News

Los Angeles - If something works, why not do it again?

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Move over kitties! Dog fashionistas will be parading on the catwalk in New York Tuesday evening for this year's "Paws for Style" fashion charity event.

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - The world of fashion remains dominated by five cities -- New York, Rome, Paris, Milan and London -- but B-list players like Sydney and Dubai are coming on strong, according to an annual survey of top fashion cities.

New York - It was a night when Heath Ledger should have been celebrating, for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" (the second installment in the Christopher Nolan-Christian Bale "Batman" series) is already generating Oscar buzz.

ABUJA (Reuters) - British supermodel Naomi Campbell refuses to retire after more than two decades on the world's catwalks because there are still too few black beauties in the fashion industry.

New York - Just the gap between high and low is increasingly closed - mixing a designer jacket with a pair of jeans from a chain store like Gap is perfectly acceptable these days - it also makes sense that customers of Gap Inc.'s various brands, Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic, would look to these stores to satisfy different wardrobe needs, whether it's clothing for kicking around the campfire or attending a company holiday party.

Rome - It sweltered in Rome this week, yet the clothes on the runway of Alta Roma, the city's fashion season, were sturdy enough to withstand a gale force wind and classical enough to fit into a repeat of La Dolce Vita, set in the same date as the original.

ROME - Just when fashion in Rome needed a dash of inspiration, Gucci's Frida Giannini comes along and throws a big party in a villa overlooking the Eternal City.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Cocoa runs in the family of Ivorian fashion designer Felicite Mai. It was her father, a tailor-turned-cocoa planter, who gave her her first sewing machine, a model dating back to 1952.

Rome - Gucci took its cruise 2009 collection to the top of Rome's highest hill, the Gianicolo, on Tuesday night, where under umbrella pines and before an audience of Hollywood, politico honchos and coolly haughty Italian aristos, designer Frida Giannini staged probably her best show to date for the house.

Rome - Next time somebody tells you there is a dearth of young design ideas in Italian fashion, tell them to head to Rome for the Franca Sozzani driven talent showcase Who Is On Next, which this weekend unearthed some quirky and cool new designers whose names won't be unknown for much more.

ROME (Reuters) - Rome's new right-wing mayor says he wants to turn the ancient city into a modern hub for budding fashion designers, dismissing criticism that the city's rich art and culture credentials will take a beating under his command.

ROME (Reuters) - Billowy summer dresses pinned with gold shells and flared trousers from a bygone era of languid glamour dominated Gucci's pre-spring show at a 17th century hilltop villa in designer Frida Giannini's native Rome.

ROME (Reuters Life!) - British designer Katharine Hamnett is relishing a comeback now that the fashion world has finally caught up with her campaigning notions about clothes.

PARIS - Designer Alessandra Facchinetti on Wednesday dispelled any doubts about her ability to fill legendary designer Valentino's shoes, drawing warm applause for her first-ever haute couture collection for the Italian label.

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Italian fashion house Romeo Gigli is taking on aspiring African designers to create a menswear collection as part of a project aimed at adding an international influence to its clothes.

PARIS - The history of Russian fashion label Irfe reads like a rollicking bestseller, but for designer Olga Sorokina, it's a fairytale come true.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

MILAN (Reuters) - Fashion designer Tom Ford's 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.

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.

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Florence, where Italy's fashion industry got its start more than 50 years ago, is carving a new niche for itself by exploiting booming demand for pre-season collections.