Fast-fashion brand H&M will roll out on Thursday its latest collaboration line with high-end brand Marni. H&M has been hooking up with a high-profile fashion brand or designer every year including Sonia Rykiel, Karl Lagerfeld, Jimmy Choo, Stella McCartney, Lanvin and Versace. The collaborations each time created a buzz in the fashion world, not to mention remarkable sales figures. “Marni at H&M” is full of the luxury brand’s signature color-saturated patterns and prints. They are intended to be

March 5, 2012

A model wears a creation by Hermes as part of the Fall-Winter, ready-to-wear 2013 fashion collection, during Paris Fashion week, Sunday, March 4, 2012. (AP)Equestrian styles dominated two major collections on day six of Paris fashion week, with horse-riding vestments -- some comfortably elegant, som

March 5, 2012

Paris Fashion Week kicked off on Tuesday with the in-crowd abuzz at the prospect of style icon Hedi Slimane designing for Yves Saint Laurent, and rumours putting a newly-free Raf Simons in the wings at Dior.Opening with a day devoted to young designers, the Paris autumn-winter collections round off a month of womenswear shows that have sent fashionistas, models and media trooping on a style trail from New York to London and Milan.A cellist performing George Frideric Handel’s baroque masterpiece

Feb. 29, 2012

Models wear creations from designer Moon Young Hee as part of the Fall-Winter, ready-to-wear 2013 fashion collection, during Paris Fashion week, Tuesday. (AP)Paris fashion week is rarely known for understatement, as confirmed by Portuguese designer Fatima Lopes who opened the fall-winter 2012 season

Feb. 29, 2012

MILAN (AP) ― Summertime looks are spilling onto Milan’s winter runway.Perhaps designers are taking a cue from the unpredictable and increasingly mild winters, filling their collections with looks once reserved for warmer weather. The February temperatures were decidedly springlike during Milan Fashion Week, which was in its fifth day Sunday ― affirming designer’s choices .Even functional daytime dresses can be sleeveless. Shorts are having their winter incarnation. Lightweight jackets are replac

Feb. 27, 2012

Sneaker fanatics who lined up outside stores overnight got their first crack Friday at a new outer-space themed Nike basketball shoe, getting so unruly in some cities that police were called to restore order.More than 100 deputies in riot gear quelled a crowd in Orlando, Florida, where the release of the $220 Foamposite Galaxy coincides with this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game. At a mall in Maryland, one person was arrested for disorderly conduct.The shoes, part of a space-themed collection, are a

Feb. 27, 2012

MILAN (AFP) ― Femme fatales straight out of a Hitchcock film stalked down the Bottega Veneta catwalk at Milan Fashion Week on Saturday, but they could not compete with the seductive pureness at the Jil Sander show.Designer Tomas Maier’s collection for Bottega Veneta indulged in darkness, with tailored coats, jackets and dresses with narrow squared shoulders and skinny sleeves, sinched in at the waist with ruffles enhancing the hips.A grey stretch-dress, embellished with orange and red autumn lea

Feb. 26, 2012

Low birthrate does not dent baby product industryOh Soo-hyun, a 31-year-old mother in Seoul, never stops looking at her smartphone while breastfeeding her two-month-old son. “There are many things to buy for a newborn, but I still don’t know what is the best for him. So I keep reading reviews of products recommended by moms on blogs and online cafes,” she said. From baby facial creams to detergents imported from Europe, North America and Japan, Oh said there are so many products that she has to

Feb. 24, 2012

MILAN (AFP) ― Fearless musketeers and seductive water nymphs sashayed down the catwalk at the Gucci show on Wednesday, kicking off Milan Fashion Week with a stunning array of velvet capes and see-through dresses.“This is modern-day romanticism. A dramatic sensuality, a dark glamour. With subtle tones of provocative intellect,” designer Frida Giannini said.And dark it was: models wearing a deep plum lipstick that was almost black stalked down the runway to pulsating beats, shooting looks to kill,

Feb. 23, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― London Fashion Week is winding down ― but not before some of Britain’s brightest young designers showcased the inventiveness, eclectic range and irreverence that the British capital’s fashion scene has to offer.On the final day of womenswear shows at the weeklong style extravaganza, two talented female designers, each with their own distinctive visions of femininity, delivered some of the most covetable clothes seen during the week.Fluid silk-dipped back gowns, fur-trimmed pencil s

Feb. 22, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― It must be fashion week: leather jeans, African body paint, androgynous clothes and much more were on display in London Saturday as big names like Vivienne Westwood, Mulberry and Paul Smith made their mark.Day Three of London Fashion Week saw a new strategy for leather pants: instead of the skintight Jim Morrison look, both Mulberry and Top Shop showcased wide-legged, baggy leather pants.Others turned to velvet for a showy, festive look.Much of the attention focused on Westwood, on

Feb. 20, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― It’s a blustery day ― February tends to be that way in New York ― and Marian Kihogo, a fashion stylist and blogger from London, is dashing from one runway show to another, from the tents at Lincoln Center to studios and galleries scattered around Manhattan.As she strides by on her “architectural heels’’ by Nicholas Kirkwood for Peter Pilotto, the heels hollowed out for artistic effect, this reporter dares to suggest she might be more comfortable in running shoes.She laughs. “Runn

Feb. 15, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― It’s time for the well-heeled women who shop from New York Fashion Week runways to pull themselves up by their bootstraps ― preferably Christian Louboutins ― and carry off clothes rooted in strength, confidence and even toughness.Even glamorous Victoria Beckham, rarely seen without stilettos on, sent some of her models down the runway Sunday in motorcycle boots. (They were indeed Louboutins.)The fiercer, fitted looks are a contrast to the flowing, airy silhouettes that dominated

Feb. 13, 2012

Browse hip domestic brands’ stores and in-house label shops for a stylish presentWith Valentine’s Day landing on a Tuesday this year, the weekend poses the perfect opportunity for girlfriends and female admirers to go gift-shopping. Each year has witnessed a progressive change in the way Koreans celebrate the day.What began as a day for females to express their affections to men through the medium of chocolate is a more even-keeled event now.“Valentine’s Day is no longer just for guys,” said dom

Feb. 10, 2012

 Herbal cosmetic products, shampoos and even red ginseng spa popularA housewife in her early 50s, Kim Jung-won has been using Sulwhasoo’s Snowise UV Protection Cream ever since she first spotted it at a local shop about 10 years ago. Though she has always been a fan of Korean cosmetics, the cosmetic brand’s oriental ingredients especially attracted her. “Who would know better about Koreans’ skin, Koreans or foreigners? From what I have used, cosmetic products made in Korea were milder and better

Feb. 8, 2012

The fifth season of Concept Korea, the government’s ambitious project aimed at promoting South Korean designers overseas, will kick off next week in New York. Five designers were chosen for the season, including Lee Ju-young, Lie Sang Bong, Son Jung Wan, DOHO and Steve J & Yoni P. They will hold presentation shows at Lincoln Center’s The Stage on Feb. 10. The project will go extra “Korean” this year, with the overall theme “Ink Wash Painting,” a Korean traditional type of ink brush painting. Ima

Feb. 2, 2012