AnnTaylor Stores, known for providing women’s business attire, has ventured into casual wear which generated additional revenues for the company. The retail giant reported decline in sales on its business attire for the past two years, citing the trend where women invest their money on necessities for their families.
For the past two quarters last year, the company reported slight profits. For fourth quarter alone, a mere $41,000 in profits has been reported by the company. Despite this, analysts said that this is still a positive development considering that a year ago, the company lost a staggering $375.6 million or about $6.66 per share.
This led the officials to expand its line by going beyond the business attire collection. The company is set to offer casual wear and other items that fit the women’s needs.
Stella McCartney’s newest winter fashion line received positive response from the audiences and fashion editors after it was show at the recently concluded Paris Fashion Week.
Her father, Sir Paul McCartney, was in the front row to personally see the collection and was clearly proud of his daughter’s achievement.
The former Beatles member and current beau Nancy Shevell looked on as the models showcased the elegant and simple designs from Stella McCartney’s Fall / Winter 2010 fashion collection.
The show was said to be dedicated to the late designer Alexanda McQueen.
Stella McCartney worked on the line based on the season’s hottest trends such as block neon colors, greys and blacks. She also included classic coats design with modern twists.
The show ended with the audiences giving a big round of applause to the designer. Also seen attending the show where US Vogue editor Anna Wintour and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
Now this is a friendly neighborhood retail store you’d want to go to. The Cache Fashion Store in Cape Coral offers a number of business clothes, apparel, accessories and other items at reasonable prices. Owner Ed Valero said that their clothing items alone won’t cost beyond $20.
Valero acknowledged that the economy is not in good shape at this point in time. He said that this led him to offer reasonably-priced clothing that still looks good. He said that he did not opt to offering branded clothing in his store because the prices are staggeringly high and he wants to stick to “what counts.”
The store opened in January and has so far reported positive response from the public.
Valero said that with this strategy, he gets to have more customers and it guarantees that they will return to buy some more. He said that they have new arrivals every week to continue piquing the interest of the public.
Fred Perry Marketing Director Richard Martin said that Winehouse has been wearing their brand for several years, making her a genuine fan of the product.
This made it easier for the partnership to be finalized. He added that the artist has her own creative style that coincides with their brand.
Fred Perry is a leading streetwear brand in United Kingdom. It started as a sportswear brand by tennis legend Fred Perry nearly sixty years ago. The brand has worked with a number of music industry artists such as Damon Albarn and Paul Weller.
Martin said that Winehouse joined three major design meetings and she contributed a lot in the development of the new line.
Actress Lindsay Lohan confirmed that she has ended her partnership with fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro and his fashion house.
This ended several months of speculation that the “Mean Girls” actress is no longer a part of the French fashion house. She personally announced that she no longer works as “artistic advisor” of the company.
Lohan was asked recently why she was not present at the Ungaro show at the Paris Fashion Week, Lohan said that she doesn’t work for the company anymore. When prodded to add more information, she said that there’s a lot of legal processes going on which prevents her from talking about the matter further.
Ungaro’s former CEO Mounir Moufarrige denied rumors last year that they are letting go of the actress after her first collection for the company did not meet expectations.
At that time Moufarrige said that the controversy brought by Lohan’s appointment increased the interest of the public to their collection.
Five students from University of California protested in front of the office of Assemblyman Jim Nielsen on Monday to protest the planned fund cuts for higher education. This resulted to these five students, wearing business attires, to be arrested by the authorities.
Now popularly known as “the Nielsen Five,” their campaign has sparked up efforts from other students to make efforts to call for the cancellation of the plans. In fact, students are demanding for more state funding on education from the legislators.
Nielsen has reportedly refused to meet with the protesting students.
Senator Leland Yee was outside trying the mediate the protesting public. In an interview, he said that he admired those students who stood up for their rights. Yee was one of the legislators in favor of the increased funding for University of California.
Billionaire television personality Oprah Winfrey has decided to auction off some of her accessories including items which have featured on the show but not been worn like designer clothing, sportswear, big bras and unwanted women’s business clothing for charity.
Winfrey has put up around 150 items which is composed of the aforementioned items plus designer bags and shoes for sale via the internet auction site eBay. The details of the auction have been outlined at her signature O Magazine.
Interested buyers can bid for the items starting March 1 with the target end date on March 11, 2010.
The proceeds of the sale will all go to Winfrey’s Leadership Academy Girls School situated in South Africa.
Winfrey is currently busy with her final few seasons of her eponymous talk show which has been announced to end soon. She’s been venturing to other modes of businesses and is believed to start her own talk show at her own television network.
Comedienne Mo’Nique revealed that her dark past helped her get into her character for the controversial film “Precious.” In the film, she portrays a pathetic mother who was cruel to her obese and illiterate daughter.
Her performance gained an Oscar nomination and she’s a favorite to win the Best Supporting Actress award on Monday’s ceremony. The comedienne said that she’ll be making a plus size fashion statement at the most prestigious awarding ceremony.
The 42-year old actress said that she was sexually abused by her eldest brother during her childhood years. This harrowing experience helped her in the film role. She added that whenever the camera rolls, she became her brother – the monster.
Mo’Nique said she did not tell anyone about her experience until she was fifteen.
The comedienne already won the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA awards on the supporting actress category.
As of press time, Madonna has yet to confirm the developments. Her rep has refused to make comments about the issue, as well as the representatives from Macy’s and brand management firm Iconix.
There have been reports that the fashion line may be called “Material Girl” or “Truth or Dare.”
Should the report confirm this, the pop icon may have a busy year. Aside from managing the line, she’s also in talks to shoot a film about a love affair between American socialite Wallis Simpson and King Edward III.
Madonna has collaborated with H&M in 2007 for her spring line called “M.”
Reality television stars Kim, Khloe and Kourtney – known as the Kardashian sisters are venturing into the clothing business by launching their own casual business attire line.
The line of clothes was presented during the New York Fashion Week. The American TV stars reportedly partnered up with fashion clothing chain Bebe to come up with designs for the clothes.
Kim Kardashian has sported on one of their latest creations which was a grey hooded mini dress hidden under a cropped leather corset as reported by a UK tabloid.
The line that was presented included fitted blazers, leather items and basic jerseys. The clothes that were also strutted in the runway were silk army jackets and white silk blouses that accentuate the wearer’s body.
The sisters are very talented and also have a store in Miami so a swimwear line may be on the horizon.
The sisters are part of the hit reality show “Keeping up with the Kardashians.” Khloe and Kourtney are also part of a reality tv show shot in Miami, Florida.
