Question for Prada: Now What?
For most of his career, the designer Helmut Lang has strained the boundaries of commercial viability with bondage-inspired clothes that often appear as if they should be accompanied by a safety instruction manual, an intriguing but challenging sell. But after Mr. Lang resigned on Monday from his company, owned by the Prada Group, it is Prada's effort to make the brand profitable without the designer that is being described as risky business.
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WHEN the CNN correspondent Alina Cho reported live from Central Park about the blizzard last weekend she thought she had prepared for winter's worst in the most stylish way possible, dressing in a slim-fitting parka, a synthetic-fur hat from Bergdorf Goodman and a pair of Pucci boots.
For many women, a pair of jeans is the apparel to avoid when trying to hide or disguise a figure flaw. But the fact is that the right jeans with the right fit can not only shave 10 pounds from your figure, but can also give the appearance that your butt is higher, your legs longer and your hips narrower.
Ever notice how winter goods disappear from the shelves just when you really need them? On a recent reconnaissance mission in search of an extra pair of gloves and a warm wool sweater, I discovered next season’s bright green spring line already on display at many brick-and-mortar stores. I also noticed winter sale items were in shorter supply than usual, and what was left on the racks was priced way too high. What ever happened to those great winter sales of the past?
Vice President Dick Cheney's utilitarian hooded parka and boots stood out amid the solemn formality of a ceremony commemorating the liberation of Nazi death camps, raising eyebrows among the fashion-conscious.
Abandon your brushes! That was the subliminal message at Peter Som, DKNY, and Anna Sui, where traditionally über-styled models traded in their 1,800-watt blow-outs and intricate updos in favor of hair that was curly, kinky, frizzy, wavy, and otherwise left to its own disheveled devices. "This season's hair is definitely less controlled and contrived, more beachy and messy," says British coif-meister Charles Worthington, who was responsible for Som's unkempt looks. "It's not-trying-too-hard hair. I call it friendly hair."
"Did you see the magic bars I baked for everybody?" Teri Hatcher asks on set of today's cover shoot, pointing to a plateful of gooey chocolate-chip-and-coconut delights. "I love to bake. In fact, Marcia [Cross, her Desperate Housewives co-star] jokes that I'm the real Bree [the superprim character Cross plays]. For my seven-year-old daughter Emerson's winter fair at school, I made popcorn balls, cookies and 25 bags of handmade bath salts, and last year, a gingerbread church, which I built with Fruit Roll-Ups stained-glass windows that lit up. Doing these domestic things is very grounding and, for me, a stress relief."
If you don't have the look, don't bother
What to hop into on a night when you're hoping to get close? We found the perfect flirty ensembles.
Ted Gibson, celebrity stylist and owner of an eponymous hair salon located on lower 5th Avenue in Manhattan, is no stranger to outsize personalities. These days, he's finally able to give clients (famous and otherwise), the big hair to go along with their big, um, hearts.
Nicole Richie is sleeker. Softer. And definitely thinner.
