"We are not a designer for fashion per se"

They were separated by just a few hundred miles and 48 hours. Yet the crowds at Chanel's show in Paris and Nike's show in Barcelona earlier this month seemed beamed down from galaxies light-years apart.

In Paris, the room was perfumed by No. 5 and Frédéric Malle. In Spain, the conference hall stank of Sure and Lynx. At Nike, a mostly male audience with a penchant for polyester and denim were gathered to view the unveiling of a new World Cup football boot. At Chanel, a mostly female audience with a fondness for facelifts and bouclé were there to witness Karl Lagerfeld's next-season quilted shopping trolleys.

Planet Fashion and the Wide World of Sport might have different atmospheres, but in 2014 they have something in common, too: a passion for trainers. A genre of shoe that evolved to optimise performance, comfort and speed has suddenly found currency among women for whom style - often at the expense of their ability to walk in a straight line, painlessly, faster than 1mph - has always been the only criterion in town.

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The trainer thing has been bubbling under in fashion for a little while now: Valentino, Jimmy Choo, Givenchy, Hogan and Dior Homme have been making cool kicks for at least a couple of years. These, though, were a bit like fashion sunglasses - entry-level items for those who wanted that designer name more than the design itself. Isabel Marant made a trainer-wedge hybrid that proved hugely successful - but even she recently admitted they were OTT.

Then, a year ago, slip-on skateboard trainers were featured by fashion's Midas-of-the-moment, Phoebe Philo. That the only significant difference between her design for Céline and the venerable skater low-top by Vans was a price differential of several hundred per cent mattered not: for Philo's backing granted trainers an entrée to the fashion's high church.

Now, not only does the front row wear trainers - this season, the Brits resembled an outré running club and even French Vanity Fair 's relentlessly soignée rédactriceVirginie Mouzat was spotted at Bottega Veneta in an elegant rubber-soled ensemble I can only describe as Pilates meets Stefano Pilati - but the shoe is jogging down the catwalk, too. At Dior, Raf Simons (who moonlights for Adidas) combined a moulded trainer sole with a mid-heel pump. There were more slip-ons at Céline, this time with a sole that looked a lot like Nike's famous (if you are into trainers and smell of Lynx) Air Force 1. And at Chanel, bouclé trainers completed almost every single look.

Hence the trip thereafter to Barca, to ask the most influential designer of trainers in the world what he thinks of the phenomenon. Mark Parker, the man who was unveiling the Magista football boot that will be worn in Brazil this summer, is the CEO of Nike - which is by some margin the world's biggest sportswear company.

Today he runs a business that employs more than 30,000 people, has revenues of $26 billion, and boasts a globally recognisable logo. He is fiftysomething, wears jackets by Prada or Tom Ford, looks a little bit like Ron Howard, and is orbited by a constellation of PRs larger even than Lagerfeld's - but when he first started at the company in 1979 it was as a designer of running shoes, a job he still maintains as part of his portfolio today.

Once the Magista has been duly announced (it looks like a densely woven sock, is the first high‑top football boot, and will sell by the truckload) I show Parker pictures of the bouclé trainers from that week's Chanel show on my iPad. Mildly (considering), he observes: "That looks inspired by some work that we have done!"

The company Parker runs was founded in the Sixties to make running shoes. Ever since, its modus operandi has been to make footwear, and much else besides, for sporting endeavour. Or, as Parker puts it: "First of all, we strive to have the product perform at the highest level."

Yet while Nike focuses all its research and marketing oomph on serving an elite band of athletes in sports ranging from snowboarding to sprinting, the wider world is littered with hundreds of millions of immobile slobs like me - and now lots of fashionable women, too - who wear Nike simply because the shoes look great and are comfortable. To service us slobs, every week the company releases scores of new designs or colour combinations, and even offers its customers the opportunity to design their own. The fashionability of Nike - equal to its sporting credentials - is what makes it such a success. To admit as much, though, is not the Nike way.

So when I ask about the aesthetics of Nike's shoes, Parker responds by resolutely sticking to sports: "When athletes look at themselves in the mirror and are ready to compete, it is like an actor going out on stage. They want to look and feel like they are ready to do what they do. You want to be fast, you want to be strong, you want to be intimidating - you might want to be a peacock, too. That psychological element is incredibly important. To get into their heads, not only in terms of what they want from performance - fit, traction, cushioning, whatever - but also in terms of what kind of aesthetic they are looking for, is part of the equation."

OK, understood. Millions of people might buy Nike because they look cool, but Nike itself maintains that this coolness is only a by-product of making shoes that help sportspeople perform better and feel a little bit Eye Of The Tiger, too. So what, then, does Parker think of the sudden adoption of his sweaty specialist subject by chi-chi fashion designers?

He says: "Our motivation isn't to make products that resonate with the luxury fashion consumer. But the nature of what we do, the design and the inspiration, I think sometimes makes it part of that world. People adopt it, and put together as part of a statement they want to make. Comfort is a factor, too. But again, while the aesthetic is important we are not a designer for fashion per se."

Parker says his own desert island Nike shoe would be "the one I'm wearing right here, called the Roshe: immensely comfortable, very simple, clean design. I would wear black" - and sketches his philosophy for fending off competition such as Puma and Adidas: "They are in our peripheral vision. But I like to say at Nike that distance between us and our competitors is a lot less that than the distance between us and our potential."

Nike is a sports company that happens to be one of the biggest fashion brands in the world, too. And while capital "F" fashion has only just woken up to the fact that most of the world wears trainers, Parker's company (despite its athletic mantra) has been awake to that fact for years.

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The life of an iconic fashion designer hits the big screens

There's a fluttering of petticoats in the world of cinema.

It might even be handbags at dawn for the factions behind two films based on the designer Yves Saint Laurent to be released this year.

The first, entitled Yves Saint Laurent and released last week, is supported by Saint Laurent's former lover and business partner Pierre Bergé.

The makers have had access to the archives of the Foundation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent as well as its collection of costumes and it was filmed in the designer's Paris studio.

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The film stars Pierre Niney who with his own glasses and a prosthetic nose bears such a startling resemblance to the designer that apparently even Saint Laurent's dog thought he'd found his old master.

The rival film called simply Saint Laurent has a scheduled release date in France of October 1. Here the couturier is played by the former Chanel model Gaspard Ulliel.

It doesn't have Bergé's approval. It does however have the support of the conglomerate Kering who currently own the brand.

Bergé has said he won't try to ban the film but he will sue if clothes and sketches not actually made by the designer are shown.

"Bergé's role, even when Saint Laurent was alive, has been 'I tell the story,'" says Thomas Bidegain, scriptwriter of the second film. Saint Laurent had a very complicated life and Bergé always managed the legend."

And what a story he has to tell.

For years the rumour mill portrayed Bergé either as a steady rock supporting his emotionally fragile reclusive lover or as an evil controlling Svengali who secreted his protégé from the world.

This is his chance to get his side across. And he doesn't hold back.

His film lays open in raw uncompromising detail the tempestuous years that he and Saint Laurent were lovers - the breakdowns, the drugs and the promiscuity.

Bergé mostly comes across as the calm, steady one, Saint Laurent as the genius crippled by chronic shyness, neuroses and addictions.

Even allowing for the history-writer's tendency to spin the past what is clear is how their bond went beyond mere love. They simply couldn't live without each other.

The film begins in Algeria with the teenage Saint Laurent designing dresses for his mother and finishes in 1976 with the end of his and Bergé's romantic relationship and the triumph of Saint Laurent's definitive Opera/Ballets Russes collection.

In 1986, 10 years after the film ends, I worked in one of Saint Laurent's London boutiques.

I was a student and knew nothing about fashion and even less about the great designer. But even I could see how the beautiful fabrics could transform not just a body but a whole person.

These are clothes that make the wearer feel sexy, feminine and invincible.

Shantung silk featured largely that year as well as exquisite tailoring.

I remember a sharp black skirt suit with a peplum waist which would still look cutting edge today. And I learned that often the most wonderfully flattering garments look nothing on the hanger.

These clothes were thrilling and exciting: creations of sheer magic. One of the most treasured items in my wardrobe is a black organza top with satin-edged ruffles. It still makes me feel like a queen.

At the time huge mystique surrounded Saint Laurent who was by now famously a recluse holed up in his villa in Marrakesh emerging twice a year to accept the plaudits at his shows.

Thin and gaunt after years of nerve-shattering breakdowns and drug abuse he looked ever more haunted and awkward.

In between those appearances whispers circulated that he'd died - perhaps of Aids - and Bergé was keeping this a secret to protect the brand. But the whispers were wrong: Saint Laurent lived another 22 years, dying in Paris in 2008.

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent was born in 1936 in French Algeria. It was a privileged childhood spent in a villa on the Mediterranean.

As a small boy the young Yves liked to create intricate paper dolls; by his teens he was designing dresses for his mother.

At 18 he moved to Paris where he studied fashion and beat a young German called Karl Lagerfeld in a design competition.

His genius was recognised by Christian Dior, whose New Look had changed the face of post-war fashion. He appointed Yves his successor.

A successful future seemed assured. But when the 52-year-old Dior died of a heart attack things started to unravel.

National service resulted in Saint Laurent's first major breakdown and he was ousted from his position as head designer. He was just 21.

Enter Bergé. The pair were already lovers, having met at Saint Laurent's first show for Dior, but according to the film it was Bergé's drive that raised the money to create the couture label.

Friends rallied round. Farah Diba asked him to design the dress for her wedding to the Shah of Iran and when he opened his first ready-to-wear store the film star Catherine Deneuve was his first customer.

The Rive Gauche line went on to make pret-a-porter acceptable.

And then there were the models. Never less than controversial he was the first to use girls from different ethnic backgrounds.

His Dior muse Victoire, who in the film gets above herself and has an affair with Bergé, finds herself replaced by Loulou de la Falaise who introduces Yves to drugs.

These were the wild hedonistic days when Saint Laurent was part of the jet set and hung out in clubs such as Régine's and New York's Studio 54.

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L’Wren Scott, Whose Designs Evoked Elegance and Sophistication, Dies at 49

L’Wren Scott, a fashion designer whose creations were known for their discreet elegance, though with a soupçon of daring and glamour evoking her days as a celebrity stylist in Hollywood and her romantic partnership with Mick Jagger, was found dead on Monday in her Manhattan apartment. She was 49.

Pierre Rougier, a spokesman for Ms. Scott, confirmed the death. Two police officials said that the cause appeared to be suicide, but that the medical examiner had not yet made a determination.

Ms. Scott had earlier texted an assistant, asking her to come by the apartment, The Associated Press reported, quoting police officials. She was found kneeling with a scarf wrapped around her neck that had been tied to the handle of a French door, The A.P. said, adding that no note was found and that there was no sign of foul play.Ms. Scott, whose work was sold in dozens of stores and included eyeglasses, handbags and fragrances, began marketing her own designs in 2006; they became known as especially suitable for the kind of leggy, statuesque woman she was herself.Initially based on the idea of making the “little black dress” appropriate for women who want to appear both alluring and adult, her designs evolved to include wide variations on that theme.

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Her signature gowns, worn by celebrities like Ellen Barkin, Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicole Kidman, were sheathlike, some with a chic, retro, businesslike flavor, others with a brassy, Op Art pattern or overlaid with a vivid embroidery winkingly drawn from various sources — the Victorians, say, or outer space — but always with an aura of sophistication. Ms. Scott’s design were, she said, mindful of women’s sensitivity about their figures, something her clients appreciated.

“These dresses do extraordinary things to anybody,” Ms. Barkin told The New York Times in 2012, adding, “If I looked naked like I look in her dresses, I’d be very happy.”

The first lady, Michelle Obama, has also worn Scott designs, and they have been seen as costumes in movies like “Ocean’s Thirteen.”

Ms. Scott created tailored jackets and cardigans as well, accessorized with boldness and élan. As Vogue magazine’s website described her work in an appreciation on Monday: “Leather and tailcoats, top hats and marabou easily came together in a darkly elegant palette dotted with surprising combinations of chartreuse and periwinkle, or daffodil yellow and dove gray.”

A slender 6 foot 3 with cascading black hair — she towered over Mr. Jagger — Ms. Scott retained the appearance of the high-fashion model she once was, a profession she was ushered into serendipitously. In the mid-1980s, then known as Luann Bambrough, she met the photographer Bruce Weber, who was working on an advertising shoot in Utah, where she grew up . He took her picture, then encouraged her to move to Paris, advice she followed.

“I remember thinking, ‘God, you get paid to have your picture taken,’ ” she told The Times in 2008.

Her career flourished quickly in Paris, propelled by the appearance of her long legs in an advertisement for Pretty Polly tights. Soon she appeared on runways for Chanel and Thierry Mugler and was photographed by Guy Bourdin for French Vogue. By then she had changed her name.By the mid-1990s she had moved to Los Angeles, where she shifted her professional perspective to behind the camera, initially as a stylist for the photographer Herb Ritts. In addition to creating costumes for “Ocean’s Thirteen,” a caper sequel starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Ms. Barkin, Ms. Scott designed clothes for Sharon Stone in the 1996 thriller “Diabolique” and for Ms. Barkin in the murder mystery “Mercy” (2000).

She also worked on costumes for Stanley Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut” (1999), in which Ms. Kidman starred with her former husband, Tom Cruise, and she helped design the advertising campaign for the popular fragrance Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds.

It was in 2001, reportedly on a photo shoot with Mr. Ritts, that Ms. Scott met Mr. Jagger. A spokesman for Mr. Jagger, who is in Perth, Australia, on tour with the Rolling Stones, told the BBC that the singer was “completely shocked and devastated.”

Ms. Scott was born in Utah and grew up in Roy, just south of the city of Ogden, reared by adoptive parents, Ivan Bambrough, who worked for an insurance company and was a local official in the Mormon Church, and the former Lucy Randall.

Ms. Scott, who lived in London and Paris as well as New York, was married once and divorced. Her survivors include a brother, Randall.

One of Ms. Scott’s last collections was shown in London in 2013 at a seated lunch in an ornate building on the banks of the Thames, where a beaming Mr. Jagger sat next to Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, taking pictures of the models as they walked by.

“This was easily her boldest group of tailoring, prints and embroidery, all based on Gustav Klimt and his muse Adele Bloch-Bauer,” Cathy Horyn wrote in her review in The Times. “The collection was intense, giddy and no doubt for Ms. Scott a different way to tease her sense of fantasy.”

Still, Ms. Scott had canceled her fall 2014 show — it had been scheduled for February — citing production problems, and newspaper reports in Britain said her company there, LS Fashion Ltd., had had financial problems.

Luminaries from the fashion world reacted to the news of Ms. Scott’s death with shock on Monday.

“There are no words to describe how I feel,” the designer Diane von Furstenberg said in an email. “She was a very talented designer and a beautiful woman. I wish she would have reached for help so that such a tragedy would not have happened.”

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Designer César Galindo's Fall 2014 Collection, "Altered States" Celebrates the Mobility of the Modern Woman

When it comes to designing clothing, you could say that Mexican-American fashion designer César Galindo has traveled in time -- for he began his career designing corsets and period costumes for The Miami City Ballet and The Houston Grand Opera.

Now, he's as modern as can be and appearing as the only U.S. Latino designer presenting at New York Mercedes Benz Fashion Fashion Week, which runs from Feb. 6-13, Fox News Latino reports.

His new Fall 2014 collection is called "Altered States," and he says "the line is meant to be as tractable as his devoted customers."

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"Technology inspires mobility. The office isn't even in the office anymore for many people. I'm addressing the needs of my clients who struggle for a wardrobe as flexible as their lifestyles. We're in constant movement. It's become the DNA of our existence," he told Fox News Latino.

Galindo's spin on active-wear "offers lots of layering, with luxe hoodies, lots of outerwear and new versions of knits" using a palette of blues, greys and purples with vibrant pops of red and orange.

While Galindo, who is one of eleven children and grew up in Houston to Mexican parents, embraces his culture, he doesn't solely define himself as a Latino designer. He suggests the reason for a limited amount of Latino representation in the industry is because "we get stuck in our own barrios. We hold ourselves back. Many of us are lucky enough to extremely coddling of our families, but that can be a blessing and a curse."

At the same time, he also believes that the definition of a designer is constantly evolving, "in terms of their personal background including race or ethnicity, more Latino dynamos in fashion will begin hitting the national scene."

"Latinos bring to fashion our vivid personalities, our fearless love of color, clothing for women of all sizes, and our energetic attitudes. I represent my family every day. I love what I do," he told Fox New Latino.

How did he get his start?

In the mid-'80s, Galindo dove into the competitive fashion world and began working in the New York Garment business as a showroom manager with TSE Cashmere. From there he went on to land a design position at Carmelo Pomodoro. Galindo's first trunk show was at the renowned Martha's International on Park Avenue and was followed at New York City retail institution, Henri Bendel.

Galindo first "achieved notoriety when his washed silk kimono dress made the cover of Elle magazine, July 1993, on supermodel Karen Mulder," according to his official bio.

For over two decades, besides designing his own collection, Galindo worked as a contract designer for private clients and for established labels, such as Dolce & Gabbana, where he designed predominately for celebrities for nine years, as well as Calvin Klein and L.A.M.B., a contemporary women's collection launched by Gwen Stefani.

"In October 2011, Galindo launched CZAR by Cesar Galindo, his secondary women's collection consisting predominately of dresses and soft separate components and varied edgier statement items. CZAR offers a younger sophisticated version of his signature collection at a contemporary price point. Neiman Marcus's online store, Cusp, launched CZAR S12, with a successful overall selling performance."

In addition to Galindo's CZAR contemporary line and his couture line, Ceasar Galindo Couture, his work will soon make its way to a major department store, Fox New Latino reports. By Fall of 2014, Galindo anticipates launching a design collaboration with a huge American retail company (unfortunately he can't reval which one just yet) with a brand called "Lindo."

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Local couple loses 160 pounds in time for wedding

When Kristina Bauer tried on her wedding dress in April 2012, she realized that she wanted to look better in it than she did.

Unhappy with her weight of 202 pounds and a rapidly approaching wedding date, the Tallahassee teacher decided that if there were ever a time to lose weight, it would be now. And she knew there was no one better to go through the process with her than her fiancé, Trey Bauer.

“It was a two minute conversation I had with Trey over the phone,” said Bauer. “‘By the way I’m joining Weight Watchers, you can try it, too.’ ”

The soon-to-be husband and Florida State University grants compliance analyst took up the challenge. At 275 pounds and on medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, he knew it was time for a change.

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The couple was part of the high number of Leon County residents considered overweight; according to the Leon County Health Department, in 2012 the figure was 40 percent. The Bauers decided to start the Weight Watchers program in order to maintain a healthier weight not just for the wedding, but for the rest of their lives.

“It encourages you to change your lifestyle,” said Trey. “It’s definitely different than anything I’ve ever done before. It totally changes your view of food and your relationship with food.”

The changes included attending regular meetings, which the couple said were a helpful therapy tool that allowed them to connect with other people who were going through the same situation. They also began using the food point system, a plan where points are assigned to food items and only so many points can be eaten in a day.

“I was on the phone with him (Trey) and I tracked my first meal,” said Kristina. “I had a handful of Skittles and a Krispy Kreme doughnut and I already had eaten all of my points for the day. It was an eye-opener to share that with him.”

The couple adjusted their diet to revolve more around reduced fat, sugar-free and whole wheat foods. They practiced portion control as well, which allowed them to eat their favorite foods — Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and peanut butter — but in moderation.

“Every week we said we didn’t get there because we like food — we love food,” said Kristina. “We weren’t going to lose weight by giving ourselves food that doesn’t taste good.”

Becoming active was another part of their transformation. Kayaking, running and cycling began to fill up the couple’s schedule. Eating right and exercising was easier said than done, but luckily they had each other to help make it through the hard days.

“We always call each other on our ‘BS’ when we are having those really bad days and hold each other accountable,” said Trey.

Together the couple began to lose weight and gain health benefits. After he lost 50 pounds, Trey’s doctor took him off his high blood pressure and high cholesterol medication, which he recalls as one of his biggest successes. The triumphs didn’t end there, though; when his fianceé went to try on her previously purchased wedding dress, a pleasant surprise awaited.

“It was one of those moments you were proud of all the work you’ve put in and realize it was totally worth it,” said the bride. “We compared measurements and I went from an 18 to an 8.”

The wedding day finally arrived on Nov. 13, 2013, a year and a half after they started working towards their weight loss goals. The couple had lost 160 pounds combined —the groom had lost 100 and the bride had lost 60.

Although the wedding was the biggest motivation to start losing weigh, the couple has continued to stay healthy even after the “I do”s. Half a year later, the happily married couple can be found together biking down St. Mark’s Trail, breaking a sweat at the gym and participating in 5Ks. The support they had from each other got them through the worst obstacles.

“Having her as my partner is what made me most successful. I’ve tried diets on my own and I failed miserably,” Trey said. “It was her motivation that got me inspired.”

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Life in colour: Sam Coldy

Looking at Sam Coldy's work, it's not hard to understand the judges' decision. Coldy uses the latest computer technology to create images that explode on the eye. His use of colour is not just bold, it's almost confrontational, a pick and mix of candy hues that demand attention.

"I work a lot with computers, but I also like to play with paint," he explains. "With paint you get a real organic feel for layers and textures." The challenge of transferring the feel and texture of physical brushwork on to the screen is something that occupies much of his working time.

"Whatever I do, I put some kind of grain on it or it looks too flat, I think. I don't try to be different but I do like to have my take on these things."

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His take can involve experimentation with both colour and the source of its inspiration, which sometimes comes from unlikely places.

"I look at videos of heat patterns and movements and infrared tracking, and put them on the computer," he explains. "Then I try to get a palette that works. It's basically experimenting until I get it right."

It was his constant experimenting that led him to colour in the first place.

"The way I got to my designs has been quite instinctive and they seem to appeal to a lot of people. People always seem to like bold and bright colours and find them attractive. It's made me a more cheerful person too."

That response has included the enthusiasm of record company executives, and his work for bands such as O Children, Peace, Bondax, and The History of Apple Pie has attracted the attention of major labels EMI and Columbia. The challenge for the modern designer of album artwork, Coldy explains, is the amount of space at their disposal. The 12-inch squares of 1970s LPs gave way to five inches of CD, and now, in the digital age the visual real estate has shrunk still further.

"As a designer, you've now got 500 pixels to catch someone's attention. Attention spans are so short these days that a splash of colour might just make people pause for a second."

Interestingly, it is the glory days of album design that Coldy's most striking work often harks back to, the likes of Roger Dean's surealist inspired collaborations with Yes, or the Hipgnosis-designed artwork for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The influence of Dalí, in particular, is easy to detect in some of Coldy's recent work.

Coldy's vibrant use of colour in his work is balanced by a more muted personal palette. "I tend to wear quite bland clothing and my home is minimal, but in my studio I surround myself with colour, so perhaps I'm expressing some thing that I'm missing."

Now in their second year, the Dulux Let's Colour Awards recognise those whose work with colour has enriched our lives in six categories: Homes & Interiors; Fashion & Beauty; Technology & Design; The Arts; Contribution to Colour; and Colour Ambassador.

Look out for coverage of the award winners in Weekend.

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Brides tossing wedding traditions along with bouquets

Weddings these days are much ado about nothing - as in nothing traditional, nothing classic, nothing orthodox.

Think neon-colored cakes. Two-piece wedding gowns or pantsuits. Hashtags on invitations so guests can tweet the wedding.

As the season of matrimony draws near (June is the most popular month to tie the knot, followed by September and October), we went searching for what's trending in weddings in 2014.

Some of them get a big "I do." Others? Well, they're kind of like the in-laws. We're going to have to warm up to them.

"Clearly, most of these things would not have been done nor expected at weddings 25 years ago," said Leslie Swathwood, owner of Circle City Expos, which recently put on the Indianapolis Bride Expo.

Swathwood, along with plenty of others in the business of brides, filled us in on the latest and greatest when it comes to the road to marital bliss.

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TECHNOLOGICAL TAKEOVER

This @wedding is fab #johnandjennysbigday.

OK. Not everyone wants their wedding broadcast to the world. But in this day of social media, many couples adore the idea of having memorable tweets and Facebook posts from that special day.

Brides and grooms are creating blogs and Facebook pages to fill people in on everything related to their wedding. Some couples include hashtags on their invitations for guests to use when uploading photos or tweeting.

The more serious social media types are installing cellphone charging stations at tables or behind the bar, "displayed creatively, of course, throughout their reception," said Swathwood.

Couples are also live-streaming weddings so loved ones not able to make it to the ceremony can see it all.

"On the flip side, there's also a trend for those couples who truly want their guests to go unplugged for their reception," she said, "even asking guests to leave their phones at a device drop-off station when they enter."

SAVE-THE-DATE CARDS

Nope. It's not quite time to send those official wedding invitations. But the bride and groom want to make sure the valued people in their lives show up for their big day.

Enter the latest trend in wedding stationery: A pre-invitation or save-the-date card.

It's usually a fun postcard that couples send to their invitees, asking them to save their wedding date on their calendars.

Many of these cards give guests wedding websites, blogs and Facebook addresses to check in for further details.

And many are packaged in a fun (albeit expensive) way, coming as a message in a bottle or with a photo collage of the happy couple.

The cards also help with long-range wedding planning, said Scott Aldridge of Card Ink Wedding Stationery in Fishers, Ind.

As for the actual invitations?

"The vintage look," said Jennifer Aldridge, of Card Ink. "Brides are using lace and romantic touches mixed with rustic and burlap. It's a mix of the classic with a modern touch."

CAKE CONVERSION

Cream-colored and round. Adorned with icing of lace, roses and strings of pearls. That traditional wedding cake's time has passed for some.

Variety is in: colored cakes, themed cakes, box-shaped cakes, staggered in tiers. Even cakes based on interior designs for the home.

Jill Gosnell of Indy Cakes is consuming the latest confection trend. She recently created a wedding cake based on a design by famed New York cake designer Colette Peters. It featured seven tiers of various-sized cakes, ranging from 6 inches to 14 inches round. The colors were dark brown, various orange hues and white.

Then there was the cake Trish McGath of One Eleven Cakery recently concocted: a $1,000 brightly colored masterpiece with a bride and groom sitting under a shade tree, a waterfall running down the tiers of the cake and a cobblestone pathway.

The couple wanted their cake to match the venue where they were married, McGath said.

"I thought it sounded a little crazy for a wedding cake," she said. "But once it was completed and delivered, I thought it fit the nature of the venue very well."

ORGAN BE GONE

Let's be honest. This instrument conjures up sounds of a funeral. And who wants that on their wedding day?

Replacing that keyboard of pipes and pedals is the elegance of string quartets and brass groups.

"The strings' great strength is the grace, elegance and sheer beauty of sound that can only come from a group of live musicians," said Larry Powell, owner of Powell Music in Indianapolis. "There is also a highly artistic element."

Powell, who plays the trumpet, and his wife, Jenny, a violinist, have played professionally in Indiana for more than 20 years, performing at hundreds of weddings, cocktail hours and receptions.

Many couples are asking for contemporary music rearranged in a more elegant style suited to the harp, said Elizabeth O'Meara Ahlgrim, with indyharpist.

"That way, the music that is important to the couple can be used, but still sounds like it fits in at a wedding," she said. "Many guests still recognize the melody but appreciate the elegance the harp brings to the music."

HALF UP, HALF DOWN

The wedding hair style question used to be a no-brainer. Why, of course, sweep that coif off the neck into an up-do.

But flowing hair from those romantic-looking woodland weddings has taken over, with a twist.

Keep those locks down, but pin a few strands up. It's called the half up, half down style. It's a perfect solution for the indecisive bride.

The new hair style goes along with a broader trend in weddings - to look natural, to look like yourself on your wedding day, said Will Turpin, owner of Whiskey & Honey Salon in Carmel, Ind.

"Most brides I talk to want to look at their wedding pictures and see themselves, not someone who is so made up they don't recognize them," he said. "I don't know any woman who walks around everyday in an updo."

DISCO FEVER

Reception dancing used to begin with that sweet father-daughter number.

Oh, what simple times.

These days, wedding reception dancing is a production in itself. Many wedding parties are opting to kick off the boogie time with their own version of the Harlem shake.

Others have choreographed entire disco routines that even include grandma getting down with a move or two.

At Midwest Sound DJ Entertainment, wedding disco has become huge. The company provides all the music and lights needed for the wedding day, along with plenty of disco balls.

AND ... THERE'S MORE

-- Radiant orchid is the color of the year, according to the Pantone Color Institute, so expect to see varieties of this beautiful, rich purple in all aspects of weddings, as well as in fashion and interiors.

-- Chop that dress in half. Two-piece wedding gowns with cropped tops that show a little midriff are popular.Some brides are opting for shiny white pantsuits.

-- No more black and white tuxes. Think of this get-up, recently featured at the expo: a charcoal gray tux, satin turquoise vest and a black-and-white checkered bow tie.

-- Food stations have been the trendy way to dine at weddings, but 2014 will see more couples asking for family-style dining at their receptions.

www.queenieaustralia.com/cheap-formal-dresses

Celine, Phoebe Philo, Nicholas Kirkwood, and More

Phoebe Philo‘s handbags have spawned nearly as many knock-offs as theHermes Kelly. Fashionable people are cozying up in Birkenstocks and chunky sweaters because of the Celine designer. So pay attention, class, to what the teacher cooked up for Fall 2014: Knit pants that puddle around the foot (Marc Jacobs did them, too.), a longer narrow — yet still unbinding — silhouette, and comfy flatworm shoes. My particular favorite looks: jackets with the corners of fabric folded back and buttoned … as an embellishment.

Film director David Lynch created a creepy film backdrop of a clay monster head for theKenzo show bright and early on Sunday morning. Next time designers Carol Lim andHumberto Leon decide to collaborate with a famous noir surrealist on their set design, they might want to consider moving their show to the last-in-day 8 p.m. slot.

www.queenieaustralia.com/bridesmaid-dresses

But it goes to show that when you’re relevant, you’re relevant. These two besties from Berkeley have put Kenzo back on the map with their nerdy pop-culture fascinations, earnest do-good vibe (they protested global overfishing for their spring 2014 collection), and zany take on fashion trends. For fall 2014: maze-like jacquard suits, puffers (naturally), and for the truly trendcrazed, fur trimmed puffer clutches.

I stopped by Nicholas Kirkwood’s showroom in the Marais to find out what an infusion of cash and knowledge from LVMH has done for the shoe designer. He’s acquired a new CFO, representatives in the Middle East, and is re-working his supply chain. So in addition to those wink-wink velvet tuxedo slippers with the eyes on them, for fall, expect to see many many more of Mr. Kirkwood’s creations come 2015.

When Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhoff spied a photo of two protestors — one in a corduroy skirt citing homosexuality as sin, the other protesting corduroy skirts as sin, their fall fashion collection was born. Talbot Runhoff is the only label where you’re likely to find designer corduroy, because this Berlin-based duo did not go with the puffer theme like everyone else.

Hot designer alert: To take a rectangular band of cloth — roughly 4 inches by 16 — and turn it into the basis of a collection requires perfect balance. For Givenchy, Ricardo Tisci had me twisting in my seat to see where he’d place the next strip of cloth — on the front of a gown, as pockets, stripped across the top of a sweater, plain cloth on a fur jacket? Blown up prints based on butterfly wings — not the shape, but the colors and patterns — were equally memorable.

www.queenieaustralia.com