Girly tied-lace belting shaved years off the look of a flounce dress with chestnut bow embroidering, while diamante bow earrings put the icing on the cake of the carefree, chic gamine look. This insouciance translated to a short skirt wardrobe. It was a blatant “sticking your tongue out’’ at the normal autumn covered-up look, with pleated miniskirts and short dresses in plum and black exposing y...

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 tra...

FATIMA LOPES Fatima Lopes’ fall-winter show Tuesday put blood reds, provocative leathers and fox fur on the catwalk at the Hotel des Invalides war museum. The Portuguese designer channeled human morphology with bloody dress inserts, shredded leather sleeves and prints of the venous system in the iconic monument that was built for generals wounded in French imperial wars. Bucking the current tr...

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 dayt...

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 Maryla...

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...

Low birthrate does not dent baby product industry Oh 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 dete...

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 dee...

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 som...

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 leathe...

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 ...

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 indee...

Browse hip domestic brands’ stores and in-house label shops for a stylish present With 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 ...