The idea of seeing a fashion show in Riyadh fascinates me! From what I've heard, Dubai is the shopping capitol of the universe, which is noteworthy, because this is a part of the world where women are expected to cover themselves from head to toe. Dubai Fashion Week would be an excellent change of pace if I could afford the plane tickets and the cost of staying in a hotel room with solid gold toilets.

Dubai Fashion Week will take place from the 5th to 9th of October, 2008 at the Godolphin Ball Room in Jumeirah Emirates Towers, another good reason to visit if you're middling royalty (Jumeirah owns the Essex House in Manhattan, the hotel I got married in, and their service and amenities are completely peerless). Designers that showed in Riyadh at the most recent Fashion Week in March include Amal Murad and Hend Halawani, who design high-end hijab, Arifa Ali, who presented red-carpet worthy draped gowns that reminded me of Rami Kashou's collection at New York Fashion week, Deeya Nanda, whose collection looks like she designs for rock royalty, and Lamia Asudari, whose ideal customer seems to be a hot mom (you know the acronym) with a penchant for science fiction movies.

I love the fact that ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, modest and sexy are all mixed up. It's even better that most of the designers in this masculine-dominated world are women. But my favorite collection for clothes I would actually wear is Charu Parashar, whose fall palette of plum, gold ,grey and periwinkle was so sophisticated it would suit royalty (and it probably will do that, literally).

Ms. Parashar's fall fashion show was clearly influenced by her Indian background and consisted of modern interpretations of classic Indian dress merged with a hippie look featuring flowing skirts, ombre and wallpaper pattern fabric and offbeat accessories. It kind of looks like the teenaged daughter of a Bollywood superstar raided her grandma's suitcase and put together something fabulous. It's so against the perfect stylist aesthetic that I just have to love it. I can't wait to see what she shows for spring!

A rundown of the world's largest traveling fashion show.

Ebony Fashion Fair is the world's largest traveling fashion show. Conceived in 1958 by high society African-American women as a way to bring high fashion to their community at a time when segregation still existed, and currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, Ebony Fashion Fair is a chance for women of all backgrounds around the country to see high-end designers locally while benefiting over 180 non-profit scholarship funds. Each year features a theme, such as The Mood of Romance, The Jazz Age of Fashion, or Glam Odyssey.

Mrs. Eunice W. Johnson, producer-director of Ebony Fashion Fair, is kind of the black community's Fern Mallis. She's the first African-American fashion buyer to go to Paris, according to Ebony Fashion Fair's website, only her productions have raised over 54 million dollars for charities to date, as opposed to merely benefiting commercial sponsors. Ebony Fashion Fair is also credited with creating the first African-American supermodel, Pat Cleveland. Some other high profile people who have been connected with the production over the years include actor Richard Roundtree, Janet Langhart Cohen (wife of former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen), and Sue Simmons, one of our favorite local newscasters in the New York City television market. Fashion Fair cosmetics, another project of the Johnson family, is the world's number one cosmetics line for women of color, got its name from Ebony Fashion Fair, and has shared many models with the fashion show.

One of the local appearances of Ebony Fashion Fair in my area will be in Atlantic City, at the Taj Mahal Casino on September 13, 2008. This date immediately follows New York Fashion Week, and it's a hike from Bryant Park, but it's worth seeing, since such designers as Anna Sui, Carolina Herrera, Luca Luca, Tracy Reese, Missoni, Pauline Trigere, Roberto Cavalli, Lacroix, Ungaro, and the holy trinity of Dior, Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent have all been featured there. Though you can get by at New York Fashion Week with jeans, a black top and a good bag and shoes, if you're headed to Ebony Fashion Fair, make an effort or you'll embarrass yourself.

London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009 will be held from September 14-19, 2008, and possibly the oddest fashion show to see there is Allegra Hicks. Allegra Hicks first showed at London Fashion Week in 2005, but her background is interior design and textile design, and it shows in her architecturally-influenced fashion. She's a lifestyle brand more than anything (it's like if Martha Stewart suddenly started showing at New York Fashion Week, and that's not a comparison I'm making lightly - their palettes are virtually identical), so in some ways she doesn't fit in at all, but in other ways her outsider status makes for a visually pleasing and wearable, if tame, collection.

Hicks' regular collection has the appearance of a resort collection, featuring a large number of caftans mixed in with short, flirty sundresses, a bikini or two and some very posh shorts sets. These items featured tropical-influenced prints in black and white, teal and white, brown and cream, and my favorite, pink and brown, a timelessly retro-chic color scheme that reminds me of bonbons, Henri Bendel and a lot of the other ladylike good things in life. Her caftans are perfect for lounging around in if you're lucky enough to get invited to Jade Jagger's place in Ibiza, but they're even better if your summer destination is the municipal pool, because with a pair of big black sunglasses they'll make you look like a movie star.

Hicks' collection is clean, modern and graphic, but it definitely gives off an ice princess vibe. I wouldn't say there's anything sexy about it, and it skews older to me - young girls would look fine in it, but it seems made for the elegant woman "of a certain age" who never gets her hands dirty because she has staff to deal with the messy stuff for her. According to the London Fashion Week website, Ms. Hicks says that her new collection was inspired by Myrna Loy in The Thin Man, and describes it as"bohemian attitude, prints, and simple elegance." Very rich hippy rock-star royalty fantasy life, with price tags to match, as the primary retailers for Allegra Hicks are Harrods and Harvey Nicks in the UK and Searle and Saks in the US, but a flagship store will be opening in Los Angeles later this year.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is the world's most eagerly anticipated fashion show in the world ... if you're a heterosexual male, that is. Held on November 15, 2008 at the newly renovated Fontainbleau in Miami Beach, it will also be televised in December for the viewing pleasure of big dreamers everywhere. If you're a doer and not a dreamer, read on, because now you have a chance to go there in person.

Charity Buzz (www.charitybuzz.com) is a site that auctions off high-end stuff, and more importantly, high-end experiences, for the benefit of charity. They are currently auctioning off a pair of tickets to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The excellent seats come with passes to the exclusive VIP after-show party, and besides the fashion, there will be an A-list musical performance (artist to be announced, but previous appearances include Seal, Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Destiny's Child).

This auction benefits the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, which is run by Russell Simmons and his brothers. It is dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with exposure and access to the arts and giving under-represented and minority artists exhibition opportunities. Rush Philanthropic has hosted the Art for Life benefit and auction at Russell Simmons's East Hampton home to raise money for its mentoring, grants and exhibitions for the past eight years, and now Charity Buzz has the online version through July 23.

The current high bid on the Victoria's Secret fashion show auction is
$8,500, and they're looking for an increase of $1,000. Don't bid unless you're really serious about it, because the bid is legally binding. (They make you register for the site before you bid, so don't worry about accidentally spending your rent money for the year either.)

And if you prefer your models and your fashion one on one rather than walking down the runway at a fashion show, other lots include a date to a New York Knicks game with Petra Nemcova, a guest appearance on the Tyra Banks show and a Christian Dior fuschiaSamurai bag. Not all the lots are fashion-related, though; I'm about to go bid on a one week apprenticeship with Russell Simmons so I can learn how to afford a roomful of Louis Vuitton like Kimora Lee.

Source:
www.charitybuzz.com

A showcase of some of the most creative Los Angeles designers

The first annual "Who's Who In L.A. Fashion?" fashion show will be held on Wednesday, July 23rd at the Forbidden City, one of L.A.'s most happening nightspots at the world-famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine. Los Angeles is underrated as a hot spot for fashion, because anyone who reads magazines knows it's the Hollywood starlets who drive fashion purchases by being photographed in the garments. These days you can't make it in fashion if you don't make it in L.A.

The focus of the "Who's Who In L.A. Fashion?" fashion show is to get Los Angeles the recognition it deserves as one of the world's great fashion hubs while putting the spotlight on some of L.A.'s most creative homegrown talent, according to J. Smith, aka J.S., CEO of First Take Entertainment and producer of the "Who's Who In L.A." show. First Take has created a guerrilla marketing campaign for this event featuring videos on You Tube, My Space, AOL Video and Truveo.

The host of the "Who's Who In L.A. Fashion" show will be Vincent M. Ward, a featured regular on the show "Everybody Hates Chris." Designers featured all have urban flavor but run the gamut from the cheeky hoodies of Brown I'd Soul Fashions by Boo & Bambi to House of Syville Couture by Syville Morgan, a custom-made clothing line that sells through a membership club . Also appearing are EMEL Fashions by Michellee Liu; House of Bliss LA designs by Happy and Kristine Fernandez, a line of colorful and carefree sundresses; K Menzella Fashions by Katie, and Delis' Anna Fashions by Delissa Parker.

All of these fresh designs will be on display with the exciting backdrop of Forbidden City, an upscale-Asian themed dance club with two dance floors, multiple outdoor patios, 4 premium bars, an Asian-fusion kitchen, and a selection of VIP booths and beds for people with table reservations. Over the evening the fashion show will morph into a party and L.A.'s top fashion people are expected to be there.

The most anticipated fashion show of the year has got to be Project Runway's Season Five grand finale, slated for New York Fashion Week in the big tent in Bryant Park (some time between September 5-12-the actual shows haven't been scheduled yet but they like to leave Project Runway for the very last day).

Project Runway has been sold to the Lifetime network, and some Runway fans fear it's the end of the world as we know it, with such rumored modifications to the show as a move to L.A., new sponsors and possibly even changes on the judge's panel (we're happy to report that the last rumor turned out to be unfounded, and the next generation of Runway designers will still get to live in fear of boring Nina Garcia ).

However, due to a contractual obligation, the producers of Runway are being forced to put on one more season for Bravo, which means Lifetime won't get the show until Season 6, slated to start airing in November. This means that 2008 will feature an unprecedented three seasons of Project Runway-that' s a lot of fashion shows! But while that's good news for us diehard fans, Season 5, which will begin airing in July, is the last classic Project Runway season.

Project Runway stars are so numerous at New York Fashion Week fashion shows you can trip over them-I met Tim Gunn last September and Laura Bennett this past February, and I'm happy to report both of them were even lovelier in person than on TV, and Tim Gunn approved of the outfit I was wearing, which solved my self-esteem issues for all eternity. This just heightens anticipation for the finale fashion show. Who gets to show at Project Runway's fashion show is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Fashion Week, so much so that the producers use decoys.

What are decoys? Designers who have been eliminated at the time of the live Project Runway fashion show, but who are still appearing as contestants on the episodes that are airing due to the lag in air time. Rather than have every blogger in the world post the real finalists from their cell phones, and contrary to what Heidi Klum is seen saying to the losers on television, ALL of the last five or six finalists get to show at New York Fashion Week, although it's true that the ones who have already been eliminated get a lower budget. No one outside of the show knows who they are, though, so the press reviews them as equals. Maybe having the pressure of the contest off does wonders for the also-rans' creativity, because in previous years, non-contenders such as Kara Janx of Season Three have garnered the most critical acclaim.

Photos of all the designers showing at the Project Runway finale fashion show end up on the Internet within minutes of the curtain call, and this past February, though I suspected he was a decoy and ended up being correct, my favorite collection was that of Chris March, even though some of his Gothic touches like trimming his clothing with real human hair were kind of creepy. I can't wait to see what the Season Five designers come up with for Project Runway's final finale for Bravo.

fashion show, project runway, season five finale

The only fashion show on my mind right now is my sister Maria's wedding, for which I'm the matron of honor. I'm going to be walking down the aisle in front of 200 of our closest friends and family in a bridesmaid's dress, so I'd better look good. To top it off, I'm going to repeat the performance a few months later for my cousin Gina. Fortunately, both of them have picked out gorgeous bridesmaids' dresses.

Gina (who's also in Maria's wedding, and vice versa) told me I'd better check out the movie "27 Dresses," and though I haven't had a chance to yet, I've heard that the punch line of that movie is "But you can wear it again!" The truth is, no one ever wears bridesmaids' dresses again, but in a very real sense, you wear them forever. What do I mean by that?

The wedding pictures, of course.

You will be preserved for all eternity on your mother's, aunt's, or best friend's parents' wall wearing that bridesmaid's dress. It used to be that eventually the film would fade, but now with digital pictures there's a very real chance that your great, great grandchildren will be laughing at your pink tulle hoopskirt. And you just know someone's going to post a pic on Facebook and tag you and every guy you ever dated and every girl you ever hated will be able to see it. So if your bride doesn't have good taste, get her to go to Bridal Fashion Week in New York City from October 18-20.

It shouldn't be too hard to convince her. Their wedding day is the only time most girls get to wear couture, so why not check out the best of the best? With Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Priscilla of Boston, Lazaro and Kenneth Pool exhibiting, more glamorous wedding dresses can't be found anywhere. (And if she can't quite afford the high end version, she can snap a pic with her cell phone at the fashion show and then look for something similar at a mass market store. (the trickle-down effect is instantaneous these days.)

If the bride is a true fashionista, she'll love the drama of lines like Haya al Houti, a Kuwaiti designer who featured a wedding gown with octopus tentacles (anyone know if Bjork is getting married any time soon?) and another covered in seashells at the April 2008 Bridal Fashion Week.

If she just wants to look drop dead gorgeous, she can pick something from Lebanese designer Jamil Khansa, who featured a stunning strapless satin gown with a sweetheart neckline, criss-cross beading on the bodice, and a flared skirt with subtle embroidery. (This dress is so beautiful I'm almost tempted to ask my husband if we can renew our vows, which is a custom I would normally scoff at.) Distract her and she'll never notice the real reason you're there, which is to pick out a bridesmaid's dress that makes you look hot. Just don't pick one that's TOO hot, because one trend on the runway for bridesmaid's dresses at the April Bridal Fashion Week was visible underwear, and your posterior is one thing you don't want to preserve for posterity!

If I could pick a fashion show anywhere in the world to visit, Amsterdam International Fashion Week would be near the top of the list. The last time I visited Amsterdam was for a high school class trip, and due to the vices that are readily available in that fine city, we were not allowed to go out unchaperoned-in fact, we weren't allowed to go ANYWHERE except for a tulip garden and a diamond factory.

The truth is that Amsterdam is a hotbed of fashion these days. In fact, the red light district itself is experiencing a makeover, as a project called Redlight Fashion Amsterdam has given some of the best and brightest young Dutch designers the opportunity to live and work in former brothels rent-free, and this initiative is expected to make Amsterdam International Fashion Week one of the most innovative fashion showcases ever.

The next AIFW will be held from July 19 through July 28, 2008 inside the Westergasfabriek, a cultural center housed in the national landmark former gasworks for the city of Amsterdam. Some of the designers expected to host a fashion show at AIFW include Blue Blood Denim, Marlies Dekkers (an internationally renowned lingerie designer), Oilily children's wear, and Antoine Peters.

The fashion show I'm most looking forward to at AIFW July 2008 is the whimsically titled Super Trash, though. That name made me hold my breath, expecting a Dutch version of Heatherette, but it's actually chic, streamlined and wearable, which is quite a feat in the city that brought the world Viktor & Rolf. Super Trash's January 2008 show featured tones of cream, black and plum àla Chanel, with LWDs (little white dresses) worn over satiny-textured leggings and styled with finger-tip length black jackets with asymmetrical necklines.

The vibe was simultaneously modern and classic, and they even gave cowl-necked sweaters a sense of style. The only look that fell flat looked like a model in a cat suit with a serape blanket wrapped around it, but we'll forgive them one misstep.

Super Trash was created by Amsterdam natives, but originated in Los Angeles before relocating to take advantage of the Dutch city's creative renaissance, so if they picked up a little of the effortless American separates sensibility to temper their avant-garde Amsterdam tendencies along the way, more power to them. Super Trash's fashion show was as chic as anything I saw at New York Fashion Week, and I can't wait to see what they do for spring.

Those of us in the fashion industry tend to forget there's a whole country in between New York and L.A., and many who may never have attended a fashion show in their life, but still have style and taste. While we're reading WWD and obsessing over whether our cut of jeans is in or not, they're going about their everyday business, and if they're young, hip and inventive, they're creating street fashions that well-known designers will eventually latch onto and adopt for the runway. Now that fashion has become a spectator sport due to TV shows like "Project Runway" and "Ugly Betty" and books and movies like "The Devil Wears Prada," the rest of the nation is no longer content to sit back and let a handful of people on both coasts dictate what they will or will not wear. Hence the proliferation of Fashion Week in every city in the U.S. with a population of more than 500,000.

One of the more interesting of these Fashion Weeks is a relative newcomer; Detroit Fashion Week is in its fifth year now, and these shows are annual, not biannual like the bigger Fashion Weeks. Detroit may not be the first city that comes to mind when you think of a fashion show, but it has a long history of style, and Motown left its imprint on fashion in a big way in the 1960s and 1970s, an influence that's still being felt today.

Detroit Fashion Week

Detroit-based fashion photographer Brian Heath conceived Detroit Fashion Week in the hopes of creating a serious fashion industry in the city that's possibly been hardest hit by recession in the country. Detroit Fashion Week has employed a number of skilled designers, stylists, makeup artists, models, photographers and publicity people, and their youthful optimism and energy could be just what Michiganders need to regain their confidence. It's kind of like when you're depressed and your mother tells you, "Put a little lipstick on and you'll feel better!" It may not solve the whole problem but it's a start!

Detroit Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009 will be held from Sept. 27 through Oct. 3, 2008, with most of the events being held at Campus Martius Park. One of the designers to look out for is Lasijas Miller, a 25-year-old male Detroit native who designs under the label Nethade. Miller, who also works as a fashion stylist and as such is familiar with the myriad and competing needs of performers, is a versatile designer who does sportswear, menswear and couture with equal composure.

My favorites of the looks at his 2008 fashion show were the evening gowns, which included a brown mermaid shaped gown with velvet bodice, embroidered skirt and tulle ruffles at the hem and collar (it may sound busy but was fiercely sophisticated), a silver metallic asymmetrical gown with black ribbon accents, and a black jersey halter gown with ruched satin bodice. Keep your eyes out for Lasijas Miller in years to come. If I were attending the Oscars and needed something for the red carpet, he'd be one of the first people I would call.