Bloomie’s Spreads Breast Cancer Awareness With a Little Help From Elizabeth Hurley. And Bloggers.” y 2 mas

Bloomie’s Spreads Breast Cancer Awareness With a Little Help From Elizabeth Hurley. And Bloggers.
Pedro Lourenco Spring 2011: The Wunderkind is Triumphant
Lanvin Spring 2011: Beauty and Beene

Bloomie’s Spreads Breast Cancer Awareness With a Little Help From Elizabeth Hurley. And Bloggers.

Posted: 03 Oct 2010 07:00 AM PDT

Ralph Lauren wasn’t the only prominent brand to (smartly) tap into online media audiences when spreading breast cancer awareness this month. On Wednesday, Bloomingdale’s, along with the Estée Lauder Companies' 2010 Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, hosted a worldwide social media event to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. This year, a handful of bloggers participated by recreating the campaign’s signature visual. Elizabeth Hurley (Estée Lauder spokesmodel) and Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of The Estée Lauder Companies and Founder and Chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, kindly took a moment to talk to us about the campaign and the huge impact it’s made.

First of all, Evelyn and Elizabeth were two of the most glamorous people I think I’ve ever seen in real life. Evelyn wore black lace Oscar de la Renta and Elizabeth was outfitted in hot pink Badgley Mischka. Their makeup, of course, was impeccable. What was truly impressive, however, was that their dedication to looking good paled in comparison to all that they’ve accomplished with this campaign. Evelyn’s BCRF is the real deal. It’s why the pink ribbon exists (They’ve given away over 110 million as of this year) and why the Empire State Building, along with several other landmarks around the world, has been lit pink.

On why she started the campaign in 1992, Evelyn explained, “I was so impressed with the success of the AIDS activists and the publicity that they were able to garner that I said we should do something as well. So it was very very important for editors like yourself to write stories about breast health and it touched a nerve with the readers. It took a taboo subject out in the open and it has changed lives.”

A big part of this year’s event was the incorporation of bloggers. “They have a huge reach,” said Evelyn, “and we feel that we've got to continue to expand the opportunities to give more information to more and more women each year. People are blogging more than they're reading newspapers.” On how doing these events and making appearance can actually make a difference, Elizabeth explained, “We make personal appearances, we sign products and that works fantastically because we can get people involved. This time, we're asking people to tweet about it. We'd love them to tell their friends to come pick up a [free] pink ribbon or maybe buy the one that I've got on which is twelve dollars fifty. It's the keepsake one. It's affordable and it’s beautiful.”

It was really pretty. And so was the huge pink arrangement of limited edition beauty products. Evelyn’s favorite was a $25 set of lipsticks. Elizabeth favored a set of two double-ended pink lip glosses with a pink carrying case, also $25. She also made a soy wax candle, which I loved. The proceeds of all Pink Ribbon products will benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and are part of Bloomingdale's annual "Pink" campaign which to date has raised over $1.4 million for BCRF.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Pedro Lourenco Spring 2011: The Wunderkind is Triumphant

Posted: 02 Oct 2010 09:00 AM PDT

PARIS–Pedro Lourenco is 20. He’s Brazilian. His parents are designers. And he says that he’s been designing professionally since age 12.

There is plenty of hype around this wunderkind, but not as much as one would expect, given the extreme skill it takes to create what he creates. As I waited in the Beax Arts building on Paris’s left bank for the show to begin, I got a taste of what Lourenco is capable of. Several of the organizers–either his personal PRs or sales people–were wearing Fall 2010 Lourenco creations. In camel and black, the heavy wool pieces were made of blocks of fabrics that looked as though they had been fused together, some molded into curvy pleats.

For spring, Lourenco held to this aesthetic, with very, very precise seams and cuts. But this season, it was all done in leather and what looked like a sheer, nude nylon. The visual trick? An illusion that the heavy leather pieces simply floated on the body. (In reality, they were held up by this sheer fabric.)

The most successful pieces were the dresses, although none of it looked as wearable as what he debuted for Fall. The jumpsuits–nude leather with accents of green and red–were interesting, but wholly unbelievable.

Expect Lourenco’s profile to rise over the next year. And expect his next collection veer a bit more commercial. Buyers will indeed be calling, but they need to be buying, too.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Lanvin Spring 2011: Beauty and Beene

Posted: 02 Oct 2010 08:00 AM PDT

PARIS–To see a Lanvin runway show in person is to fully appreciate Alber Elbaz’s devotion to the school of his mentor, Geoffrey Beene. This season, Elbaz’s dresses were mostly jersey and crepe, and the models glided down the runway with a swagger that’s not normally encouraged on modern catwalks. Much like Beene’s work, which was clean cut and functional, Elbaz’s designs consider the woman first. There were flat sandals and spiky heels, formfitting liquid gowns and flowing crepe skirts.

Color, of course, played a major role, first in several shades of stone and putty, then jewel tones of orange and ruby, then finally, neon. The embellished tunics, which showed up near the end, will do well for editorial but not in stores. Conversely, the sparkly silver and black dresses were perfect party dresses–LA stylists certainly took note of them for awards season.

The finale–four beautiful black girls in draped dresses–ignited cheers from the crowd. While Elbaz was obviously making a statement with the gesture, we thought it was a celebration of beauty more than anything political. As was the entire collection.