Meet 13-Year-Old Fashion Designer Isabella Rose Taylor

Isabella Rose Taylor is a high school grad, college student and already an accomplished designer. Did we mention she's also only 13 years old? Seriously. The young fashionista, artist and entrepreneur has accomplished more than many design hopefuls twice her age. We chatted with Isabella about her road to success, designing clothes for other girls her own age and why she thinks it's important for girls to build and create things.
Isabella recently made her New York Fashion Week debut, and her designs are currently sold onNordstrom. The Texas native says she's always been creating art, but she became interested in sewing when she was 8 years old.
"I'd been painting for a while, but that was when I started sewing. So I went to sewing camp and just sort of fell in love with it, because it's like 3D art and it's really an art," said Isabella. "So that's sort of how I got into it and then over the years it slowly grew into a business."

QueenieAustralia formal dresses sydney

The coolest part about Isabella's designs are that they are made for teen girls by a teen girl! She creates pieces for girls her own age.
"I think one advantage I have designing for the junior demographic is that all the other designers are older designing for this age group," said Isabella. "So I sort of design for myself in a way and my peers."
However, being one of the youngest fashion designers at her level in the field does come with some challenges.
"There were definitely a lot of challenges. It was a lot of trial and error and learning from my mistakes, but the main problem I had was fabric sourcing, that was a huge one and still is kind of a problem for me now and that's actually why I started designing my own textiles, which was sort of a blessing in disguise, because that makes me unique from other designers. No one else will have the textiles, because they're something I created," said Isabella. "So it's just another way to incorporate my art, which is a nice thing to do."It's no surprise Isabella has already found so much success at a young age, because she is one smart cookie. She graduated high school at age 11 and is currently taking college classes.
"I'm in my second year of college right now. I've always been accelerated academically, so once I graduated high school, college was the next step for me."
Isabella is all about being creative, whether it's with fashion or art.
We had to ask: Why do you think it's important for girls to build and create things?
"I think it's important just because even if you aren't maybe a creative person [or] you aren't interested in the arts, [you can] find that mind-set for what you are interested in whether it's math or science. Just having that sort of [creative] mind-set is just really important," said Isabella. "Entrepreneurship is a great sort of equalizer for girls and you have to be creative to start your own business."
Isabella has already accomplished a lot, and she's only 13. She opened up about her future goals and ultimate dream in fashion.
"[My ultimate goal] for my brand is definitely to be a global brand and expand to accessories that can really complete my look, and also mentoring some girls," said Isabella. "I feel that it's so important to offer any advice I can to other people who are interested in the same industry I am and try to pay it forward, so they can have some of the same opportunities I did."
What advice does she have for other girls who have big dreams they want to accomplish?
"I would say, 'just do.' I know it's sort of a basic thing, but I mean the act of doing is what makes you better. And also asking for help. I would not be where I am if I hadn't asked people," said Isabella. "You'd be surprised at how many people will give you the time, they will give you great advice if you let them."Since Isabella is a fashion guru, we had to get her take on the latest fall trends. Check out our style Q&A with Isabella below.
Cambio: Do you have a favorite piece from your line?
Isabella: My buffalo flannel jacket is one of my favorites if I had to pick one, but I like all of the pieces in my collection!
Cambio: What's your favorite fall trend?
Isabella: I love fall because of layering. Monochromatic pattern mixing is also one of my favorite things this season, but layering is sort of always relevant, not just in the fall.
Cambio: What's your must have accessory?
Isabella: I really like chokers. That's probably what I wear the most.
Cambio: What's your best piece of style advice for girls?
Isabella: I would say: simple and accessorize. Accessories jazz up any simple outfit.
Cambio: Who do you look up to?
Isablla: I love Nasty Gal. I think that she [Sophia Amoruso] really did an amazing job of growing her business and in a relatively short amount of time, so I really look up to her. Donna Karen, as well, for the business side of things.
Cambio: Where are your favorite places to shop?
Isabella: I really like Urban Outfitters and Nordstrom.
QueenieAustralia cheap formal dresses

Susquehanna Township High School grad heads to fashion school with backing from benefactor Katz

Two years ago, Luis Hernandez had little hope of attending college. Now, thanks to lessons in paying it forward from a dedicated teacher and the late philanthropist Lewis Katz, the Susquehanna Twp. High School graduating senior is heading to the nation's most prestigious fashion-industry school.

Hernandez, the son of Jose and Olivia Hernandez, was born in Mexico and has attended Susquehanna Twp. School District for most of his school career. He studied fashion design under designer Richard Andries in Susquehanna Twp. High School's School of the Arts.

His sophisticated creations wowed officials at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and won his acceptance there. Through a connection made by Andries, Katz offered to pay his tuition.

Hernandez – voted best-dressed by his STHS classmates – said he always got good grades and had an interest in fashion, but by 10th grade, he "had no idea how to go to college" or become a designer.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

"In 10th grade, students start talking about college, but I felt really out of it," he said. "I had no direction. I wasn't motivated."

A friend who shared his interest in fashion convinced him to enroll in Susquehanna Twp. High School's new School of the Arts. By his senior year, Hernandez's portfolio of fashions – from a showstopping women's gown to a men's suit in black-and-white tiger stripes -- won a Gold Key in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

As part of a Gold Key exhibit, Hernandez exhibited his favorite design, a kimono-cape hybrid in black and gold, at the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Andries, known for such designs as Pennsylvania First Lady Susan Corbett's inauguration ball gown, said he recognized a bit of himself in Hernandez, trying to overcome stigmas about men working as fashion designers.

Katz entered the picture, offering to pay Hernandez's tuition, when an Andries acquaintance forwarded a note about Hernandez to the businessman and philanthropist.

Katz grew up in modest circumstances, raised by his widowed mother in Camden, N.J. Four days before his May 31 death in a plane crash, he and a partner won a bidding war to buy the Philadelphia Inquirer.

After his death, Katz was remembered for his generosity to causes big and small, from a $25 million donation to Temple University to a Super Bowl trip for a coffee shop worker. At his memorial service, Gov. Tom Corbett cited Katz's support for Hernandez as an example of his generosity.

After Katz offered to pay Hernandez's tuition, the pair met during a trip the philanthropist made to Harrisburg. Entering the room where the meeting was held, Katz immediately asked, "Where's Luis?" Andries said that Katz told them he was paying forward a favor done for him, paying his tuition to Dickinson School of Law when he had no money.

"And that is the one thing he asked of Luis, that when you're there, you pay it forward," Andries said. "That's what we do. You pay it forward with whatever little that you have."

When Hernandez learned of Katz's death, "this young man never once was concerned about what was going to happen to him," Andries said.

"Not even a mention," he said. "He was heartbroken, because here was this man who hugged him. Loved him almost immediately."

Hernandez inspires his fashion school classmates by his focus and his quiet way of handling things, said Andries. Friend Nick Brown, a junior, said Hernandez told him to be the class leader next year.

"He told me I need to step up," said Brown, who also hopes to study at FIT or Parsons The New School for Design. "All around, he's a really good person to be with. He's very positive."

Andries is "convinced wholeheartedly" that Hernandez will succeed, especially because of a work ethic that has kept him at school many days until 6 p.m. to finish his creations.

In a group that includes four other seniors heading to college to study fashion, Hernandez won't admit to being an inspiration for his classmates, but he hopes he has set an example for "just working hard, and everything you hope for will come true."

One of his "biggest personal goals" is someday paying forward the generosity of Lewis Katz and the support he has received from Andries, his family, and others.

"I'm not really motivated by the money," he said. "If I keep working hard, I know it's going to take me to big places. Hopefully one day, I can say I'm in a good situation financially, and I can give back to those who helped me and those who need it, because years from now there might be another student who can't afford college or can't afford fabric, or can't afford class, and I can be there for them, because they're going to be the future."

QueenieAustralia black bridesmaid dresses

Why Fashion Designers Said No To Melissa McCarthy's Oscar Dress

According to Melissa McCarthy in the July issue of Redbook, "five or six" fashion designers turned her down when she wanted to hire them to make her Oscar dress. At the time, she was more than a guest at the world's biggest event, she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role in the smash hit Bridesmaids. Instead of ferociously competing for the plum, publicity-rich red carpet job, they turned down the big bucks and big opportunity.

Why? Was it money? Were these designers minting so much moolah they could afford to say no? Salary reports the annual median salary of a fashion designer in Los Angeles is $51,325. The median hourly wage is $25 an hour. A fashion designer in New York City fares a bit better; the median annual salary is $55,197 and hourly a whopping $27.

Obviously, these figures don't apply to the crème de la haute like Versace and Chanel. Money wouldn't be the primary motivator for them. But what would be?

QueenieAustralia bridesmaid dresses

Scuttlebutt has it that "brand" is the reason behind the big turndowns. The fear that dressing a plus-size woman, even one as beloved as McCarthy, would negatively affect their cherished brand identity.

This sorry excuse was no surprise to Chrystal Bougon, founder of the popularCurvyGirlinc and head of its thriving community. "I hear from plus-size women day in and day out begging to give their money to the various retailers where they shop. But often there is just nothing that doesn't look like your Grandma's old drapes."

"Since the average American woman is size 14, it seems crazy there aren't more options for the rest of us. We are the standard now," Bougon continues. "Sexy is NOT a size. All of us want to feel sexy and relevant."

Michelle Merritt, acclaimed career coach and recent speaker at the Body Love Conference, shares her insights: "While the media may have found Melissa McCarthy's struggle to find an Oscar gown shocking, plus-size women everywhere just nodded in solidarity when we heard the news. Any woman over a size 16 who has worked in the business world or attended a black tie event knows the struggle it is to find quality fashion to fit her body. Until recently the options were matronly, poorly made, or resembled a tent. It's only been in the last few years that designers like Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren have added a plus-size selection."

"When I go shopping, most of the time I'm disappointed."

"Trying to find stuff that's still fashion-forward in my size is damn near impossible," McCarthy told the Hollywood Reporter in 2011. "It's either for like a 98-year-old woman or a 14-year-old hooker, and there is nothing in the middle." Born out of frustration and disappointment, the kick-ass actress (who studied fashion design in college) is launching her own plus-size clothing line. More than filling this significant retail gap, we expect her new designs to be as beautifully bodacious as she is. It's not only size twos who should be allowed to express their unique personal style.

In the meantime, let's try to figure out which designers said NO to the feisty, fabulous Melissa. Add your guesses to the comments below.

QueenieAustralia celebrity dresses

Thomas Tait Wins First LVMH Prize

Thomas Tait was crowned the winner of the inaugural LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize, a project that has shone a spotlight on a swath of indie labels and their challenges.“Congratulations,” said a beaming Delphine Arnault as she handed the slender Canadian women’s wear designer a golden helix of pearls wrapped around a star. The trophy by artist Jean-Michel Othoniel comes with a cash prize of 300,000 euros, or $409,270 at current exchange, plus a year of coaching from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton executives.

Arnault said the winner was selected on the basis of talent, creativity and potential for development.

Tait said the funds and advice would be a major boost for his London-based label, which sells to about 10 specialty stores.

www.queenieaustralia.com/bridesmaid-dresses

“It really will benefit every area of the business,” he told WWD, flanked by models in his minimal, otherworldly dresses. “Financial struggle is something I’m very familiar with as an independent designer.”

The announcement was made at LVMH’s headquarters here after 11 finalists had made individual presentations to a jury stacked with the conglomerate’s designers. It was an Instagram moment of historic proportions as Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Nicolas Ghesquière, Raf Simons, Phoebe Philo and Riccardo Tisci, along with Kenzo’s Humberto Leon, stood in a row for photos.

“He’s an artist in a way,” Lagerfeld said of Tait. “He sketches very well, and as you know, I like sketches.”

Lagerfeld handed over a booklet showing Tait’s delicate, X-ray-like etchings with a superhero undercurrent.

Tait is already something of a designer’s designer with his innovative pattern-cutting, exaggerated silhouettes and occasional Bauhaus and Constructivist touches. Architect Zaha Hadid is among aficionados of his sculptural, yet streamlined clothes.A native of Montreal and a graduate of its Collège LaSalle, Tait went on to receive an M.A. in fashion from London’s Central Saint Martins. He has shown his collections during London Fashion Week since 2010, when he won the inaugural Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize.

Arnault, the force behind the initiative and a key talent scout at the luxury group her family controls, also sat on the jury, along with Pierre-Yves Roussel, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Fashion Division, and Jean-Paul Claverie, adviser to LVMH chairman and ceo Bernard Arnault.

She surprised the audience of assembled journalists and LVMH bigwigs by unveiling two additional jury prizes, each greeted with a roar of applause.

Shayne Oliver, the designer behind the New York label Hood by Air, and Miuniku, by Mumbai-based sisters Nikita and Tina Sutradhar, are each to receive 100,000 euros, or $136,400, plus a year of mentoring.

The other finalists were CG by Chris Gelinas, Gabriele Colangelo, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Tillmann Lauterbach, Tim Coppens, Simone Rocha, Vika Gazinskaya, and Suno by Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis.

Julien Dossena, initially among 12 finalists with his brand Atto, was disqualified from the competition when he decided to shutter the nascent label and focus on his work as creative director for women’s wear at the Paco Rabanne fashion house.

Arnault also handed out 10,000 euro ($13,640) scholarships to three fashion graduates, who each get a one-year post in the design studio of a fashion house at LVMH, home to such brands as Fendi, Loewe, Pucci and Donna Karan.

The winners are Peter Do from Fashion Institute of Technology, who is bound for Céline; Teruhiro Hasegawa from Central Saint Martins, who will work at Givenchy, and Flavien Juan Nuñez from La Cambre in Brussels and the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris, who is to join Simons at Dior.

Arnault noted that each school that produced these graduates is to receive 10,000 euros to “symbolize LVMH’s support” of education that encourages fashion renewal and excellence.

There were moments of nerves and excitement earlier in the day as jurors trickled into the LVMH courtyard, where the finalists displayed their designs in a showroom setup. Assistants in Rocha’s booth carefully brushed dark coats with a lint roller.

Finalists were unanimous that the prize brought a windfall of attention and professional contacts, critical currencies in a competitive industry dominated by giants.

“It’s been exponential, really,” marveled Gelinas, two seasons into his CG line after working behind the scenes at Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler and Balenciaga. “The biggest challenge when I started was visibility, because in New York there’s a saturation of labels.”

He said the two-step judging process, with an expert panel whittling down from 30 finalists during a Paris showroom session in February, brought a deluge of sample requests and opened doors to key retail contacts, who have confirmed appointments to preview his spring 2015 range.

“It can really change the trajectory of an emerging brand,” Gelinas said.

The panel — roughly 40 prominent figures from retail, publishing and image creation, including Marigay McKee of Saks Fifth Avenue; Sarah Andelman of Colette in Paris; Natalie Massenet of Net-a-porter; stylist Olivier Rizzo; makeup artist Pat McGrath, and art director Fabien Baron — each voted for their 10 favorites, and a four-way tie bumped up the number of finalists to 12.

“This has been like fuel for us,” said Tina Sutradhar, revealing plans to move their business from Mumbai to London, and start showing in the English capital as early as February. “It’s really motivated us to see what’s out there and pushed us to raise the bar.”

The graduates of London College of Fashion are among designers tapped by Vogue Italia to produce a capsule collection for Pepsi, and they will travel to Dubai to present their designs next spring. “It gives us a lot of hope for the future,” Sutradhar stressed.

“It’s good to know that you’re being heard, and people are taking your work seriously,” said Oliver, confessing that the LVMH recognition changed his perspective, earned him more credibility at home, and prompted him to “take it more seriously.”

He said Hood by Air has been invited to show during Paris Fashion Week this fall. The plan is to present “wardrobe essentials” during New York Fashion Week and “artisanal, directional items” in the French capital.

“We have double the press requests we had before,” marveled men’s wear designer Tillmann Lauterbach, who plans to show his spring 2015 collection in Milan rather than Paris next month.

Participating designers cited a warm camaraderie among their peers, and they relished the chance to share war stories.

“Everyone is under pressure, no matter where they are,” said Rocha, a rising star in London whose most recent collection riffed on Elizabeth I. “It’s great to meet all your peers and you can see everyone striving for the same thing.”

Echoing other designers, Rocha said the prize has highlighted how “young designers all over the world have the potential to grow into serious labels.”

In a separate interview earlier in the day, Tait confessed that he was not aware that there were so many independent labels. “It’s nice to see this network of fashion around the globe,” he said, also hinting that the LVMH exposure yielded “some external projects.”

These are vital to support nascent labels, with German-born, Paris-based Lauterbach noting he recently took on a consulting gig in Korea, in addition to the work he does for Chinese brand JNBY, to support his signature line.

“When you start as an independent designer, you struggle. I did it,” said Tisci, who ran his signature label on a shoestring before being plucked from obscurity in 2005 and named the couturier at Givenchy at age 30.

Asked what guided his choice for the victor, Tisci had one word: “Emotion.”

Underscoring the popularity of such fashion contests — and suggesting budding talents are hungry for funding and business advice — 1,221 designers applied for a chance to win, as reported.

The LVMH competition is unique in its global scope, online-only registration and nomination process, plus a gradual elimination process. The competition was open to any designer between the ages of 18 and 40 who has presented and sold at least two collections of women’s or men’s ready-to-wear.

www.queenieaustralia.com/orange-formal-dresses

French Fashion Awards Come of Age

Quite the quadrille has been taking place around France’s most prestigious awards for young fashion designers. This year, Chanel has become one of the principal sponsors of the Festival d’Hyères, Kering has joined the list of sponsors backing the ANDAM award and LVMH has launched a new award of its own, dubbed the LVMH Prize. The first winner, to be announced on May 28th, will be awarded with a grant of €300,000 (about $411,000) and a year of business mentoring, making this the largest such prize in the world.

For sponsors, fashion prizes can offer important opportunities for brand building. With multiple stages — from application to shortlist to winner announcement — an award guarantees sponsors a long run of positive media exposure. A well-juried award can also be a way of building relationships with the young talent that fashion houses need to power their brands and studios, though Jean-Paul Claverie, advisor to Bernard Arnault and head of corporate philanthropy at LVMH, is adamant that the LVMH Prize fits under the umbrella of the group’s corporate philanthropy unit rather than its business divisions. “Yes, we will be in touch with [the winners], we will know them and we will have complicity with them, but it’s absolutely not about us having part of their company — it’s not business development for LVMH,” he says.

QueenieAustralia bridesmaid dresses

But as the scope and sophistication level of fashion awards grows, it’s worth remembering that things were not always this way. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ANDAM award, one of France’s longest-running fashion prizes. “Twenty-five years ago in France we had haute couture, but the luxury groups were not yet formed and the fashion culture industry was a new idea,” says ANDAM founder and director Nathalie Dufour. “I built the award on the idea that fashion is an art, but that it is also close to industry and that you had to build, promote and give money to help French and foreign fashion designers who want to build a business in Paris.”

Dufour started the award as a joint enterprise between France’s ministries of culture and industry, with the backing of Pierre Bergé, then president of the DEFI (a committee for the development of the garment industry).

In 1989, ANDAM’s first winner was a young Belgian designer called Martin Margiela who presented deconstructed designs on masked models wearing tabi boots that trod red paint along a white cloth-covered catwalk, and a sensational avant-garde défilé in an impoverished, rubble-strewn Paris ghetto. “Back then it was an award for creativity,” explains Dufour. “[For Margiela] it was symbolically very important to have the recognition of Pierre Bergé – it was like a cultural homage – but in those days we didn’t really think about the designer’s company or their future success.”

Over the coming years, Dufour approached French retailers like La Redoute and Monoprix, inviting them to become involved and collaborate with the award winners. “The idea was to give creativity and youth to these brands; they gave money and the prize became more important.”

In 2000, LVMH stepped in to support the award and this year, with Kering on-board, the prize purse has swelled to €250,000, the mentoring program has become more comprehensive and the prize itself has morphed from an acknowledgement of pure creativity to something closer to a business booster.

Fashion is a cash flow intensive business. Even when a fashion start-up is growing nicely, each season, these young businesses are forced to incur the costs of producing samples, staging shows, ordering fabrics and manufacturing collections long before they are actually paid by customers, meaning that, with limited capital resources, even high-potential businesses can easily go bankrupt.

“It is not artificial to help young designers; they really need support and cash flow,” says Dufour. “To have a strong company you need a big turnover — luxury requires big investment — to show, it is very expensive; to produce, you need to have good cash flow and you need to spend money on marketing. It’s not like being an artist. We have to support the new generation in France.”

Maureen De Clerq, a professor in the fashion department of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and coordinator of awards for the school, has seen the impact of major prizes on the careers of students past and present. Earlier this year, Hyein Seo’s bachelor collection was picked to be presented at the VFiles Made Fashion show at the start of New York Fashion Week. Two weeks later she was awarded Best Designer in the British Fashion Council’s International Fashion Showcase for Emerging Talent. And by the time the fashion week carousel had hit Paris, her eye-catching white fur ‘Fear’ stole was draped around Rihanna as the singer expertly worked the paparazzi. This June, Seo will graduate with an MA from the Academy.

“It goes so fast after winning an award like that,” says De Clerq. “It gives a lot of visibility, being able to show your work to people in a professional way and now it’s going very fast for her.”

Last year, another student at the Academy, Minju Kim, won the H&M Award for students. For those who have the strength to cope with it, De Clerq sees prizes like these as providing invaluable experience. “After she received the award, she had a lot of press and requests for fashion shoots and demand from stylists — she went through the whole rollercoaster of being a fashion designer in producing her collection, from working with suppliers to commercials in a short space of time.” After graduating last June, Kim created a collection for H&M. Then earlier this year, she became the most recently graduated designer to be nominated for the LVMH Prize.

But there is a flipside to such excitement. Young designers can sometimes feel great pressure to capitalise on the exposure that an award can bring by growing too quickly, only to have their businesses collapse under financial and administrative pressures a few years later.

“The world is full of awards — every week we get demands for participation, but only three per cent of what comes in is interesting to us,” says De Clerq. “You can tell if a company is only organising an award to get press attention; it doesn’t work, the students won’t pick it up. And a prize such as an internship at a commercial company isn’t interesting for the students.”

But for something like the long-established Festival d’Hyères — for which, this year, Chanel pledged to invite the winning designer to work with their “Métier d’Arts” ateliers (including the embroiderers Lesage and Montex, the feather and flower makers Lemarié and the master pleater Lognon) to create five silhouettes to the tune of €15,000 — De Clerq will work with her students to develop their portfolios, and guide their approach to styling and presentation.

The Hyères prize is aimed at graduating and recently graduated students. In addition to the Métiers d’Arts project, the winner of the Grand Prix du Jury will receive €15,000 from Première Vision and visibility at their shows in New York and Paris, as well as a commercial collaboration with Petit Bateau, before returning to Hyères the following year to show new work. There’s something of a salon spirit to the whole enterprise. Jean-Pierre Blanc, founder and director of the Festival d’Hyères, and his team recently launched an initiative inviting previous winners to return to the festival to use it as a networking site for meetings with jury members, sponsors and other professionals.

Unlike ANDAM and Hyères (which LVMH also supports), the LVMH Prize reflects the global scale of fashion industry. “ANDAM and Hyères are more dedicated to the national stage — we wanted to open our dedication to all continents and touch designers from every country… Fashion creation is totally global — the world is changing — we’ve had designers applying from India and Nigeria. It makes me very optimistic for the future success of the prize,” says Jean-Paul Claverie.

But at its core, the LVMH Prize is about providing designers with access to some of the leading figures in fashion. In February, thirty semi-finalists had the opportunity to meet and present their work to the likes of Anna Wintour, Nicolas Ghesquière, Raf Simons, Karl Lagerfeld andDelphine Arnault.

“It was fantastic for the designers to meet all these experts. Many of them are not so easily reachable, so to be in the same place as them and exchange ideas with them is a very positive experience,” adds Claverie. “The credibility and strength of this prize lies in this process; the involvement of all of these people is very important.”

In Paris, the ecosystem of support for young designers has traditionally lagged behind New York and London; few young fashion businesses based in the French capital have achieved the scale or media profile of their counterparts in New York or London. But with the growing scope and sophistication of French fashion awards, the elements of a more comprehensive support system for young designers at various stages of their development seem to be taking shape.

“In France, we try to manage different types of support for young designers after they graduate and at different stages of their careers,” says Jean-Pierre Blanc of Hyères. “The first support is our festival, then after two collections there is the LVMH Prize, then ANDAM and after that the support of the French Federation Council.”

“Actually we didn’t [plan for it] to be like this at all, but we’ve ended up with quite complete support for young designers from leaving school through the beginning of their career.”

QueenieAustralia cheap formal dresses

Perth Fashion Festival to honour designer Ruth Tarvydas as her family remember a ‘beautiful and eccentric light’

In a statement issued this afternoon, Tarvydas’ family said they were deeply saddened by the death of their loving sister and aunt.

Tarvydas, 66, was found dead outside her East Perth home on Friday. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

“She was both an artisan at work and herself a work of art and we, like many others, marvelled at the success of Ruth and our late brother Harvey’s determination,” the statement read.

“From opening their first store in Perth as teenagers to go on to share Ruth’s creations in stores around the world.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

“We are incredibly proud of her professional achievements that paved the way for many young Australian designers, we take comfort in the knowledge that the legacy of our darling Ruthie will live on for many years to come in our memories and in her designs.”

The family, who will be holding a private service and burial, thanked people for all the wonderful tributes, kind words and respecting their time together as a family as they mourn.

The family’s tribute comes after it was revealed Tarvydas’ legacy will be honoured with a commemorative runway show at the 2014 Telstra Perth Fashion Festival in September.

Festival director Mariella Harvey-Hanrahan, a close friend of Tarvydas, said the show would give Perth an opportunity to recognise her outstanding contribution to fashion and her lifetime of achievements.

“The festival would also like this moment to serve as an opportunity to raise awareness and give a voice to those suffering in silence,” Ms Harvey-Hanrahan said.

“At an appropriate time, we will contact the management of the Tarvydas brand to determine their interest in a commemorative project.”

Perth artist Steven Makse had almost completed a portrait of Tarvydas, which he was planning to submit for the Archibald Prize in June.

He said he was putting final touches to the painting on Friday morning, working off a photograph, when he learned of her death via the internet.

He said Tarvydas had last sat for the portrait at her apartment in January.

“I just took her as being a really positive woman,” he said. “Surprisingly positive considering what she was going through.”

Tarvydas was a Perth fashion icon, who designed some of Australia’s most attention-grabbing evening gowns and her designs were red carpet favourites.

She counted international celebrities among her clients including Rihanna, Emma Watson, Amy Winehouse, Jodie Kidd and Rachel Hunter.

Tarvydas had to close her King Street store in 2012 because of debts of $1 million.

Administrators were appointed to her company RTI (WA) Pty Ltd, but in December 2012 she opened a new store in Claremont’s Times Square precinct, thanks to Perth businessman John Bond.

A spokeswoman for Mr Bond said no decision had been made on what would happen to the Claremont store. “It is just too early to think about that now,” she said.

“So at this point nothing has been discussed or decided and he (is) just trying to process and come to terms with the tragedy that has just occurred and the loss of our beloved Ruth.”

QueenieAustralia celebrity dresses

Fashion Designers Taking Advantage of Gun Laws

Now that Illinois has become the 50th state to legally allow some degree of concealed weapons, several Chicago designers are ready to cash in on the change, coming up with creative and stylish ways for interested parties to hide their firearms.

According to a Gallup poll released last year, 23 percent of gun owners are women - up 13 percent from 2005. A quick Web search turns up a large variety of handbags designed to conceal weapons, but the new trend adds fashionable apparel to the mix.

No matter where you stand on state gun laws, there does appear to be a market for women looking to tote their guns around. Karen Bartuch, a former Chicago police officer and president of the Women's Tactical Association in Illinois translated her love of guns into her own company, AlphaGirls, which sells jewelry and hair accessories that double as self-defense weapons and also offers gun-training classes. "We are girly girls who like fashion, but we like guns too," Bartuch told the Chicago Tribune.

www.queenieaustralia.com/bridesmaid-dresses

Bartuch spoke with Yahoo Shine about her involvement in the recent Firearms & Fashion Show in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood. "Myself and my business partner [Marilyn Smolenski, who owns Chicago-based online retailer Nickel and Lace] joined forces to educate and empower women about self protection in general - not just guns, although we prefer those," she tells Yahoo Shine. "And what better way to do that than through fashion - something most women are attune to and something they share with their girlfriends. It was also great timing because concealed carry was on the brink of passing at the time last year when we held our first show. We knew more women and men would be looking for options for concealed carry."

Bartuch says her own experience in law enforcement has helped her understand consumer needs. "I ... have always had a tough time concealing my weapon when off duty, going to court, or undercover, so I knew this was a problem for women," she explains. "Aesthetics and concealability are important, but more important is function - an improper placement can lead to severe discomfort or inability to get to your firearm when you need to. Women tend to throw it in their purse, which is better than nothing but not ideal."

Another designer, Sarah Church, presented an entire collection of gun-hiding garments at the Firearms & Fashion Show. One hooded dress with a zipper down the front (pictured above) allows for quick and easy access to a gun holster beneath the garment. "This is a dress you could wear anywhere, anytime. You can use high heels to dress it up or boots to dress it down," Church said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "And when you're carrying a gun underneath, no one will know it." The dress retails online for $165.

More on Yahoo: Hillary Clinton Says Gun Culture 'Way Out of Balance'

Nickel and Lace camisole holster. Photo via Nickel and LaceMeanwhile, Smolenski's business, Nickel and Lace, has found success with camisole holsters ($79.95), described on the retail website as designed for "functional sexiness," since it sits under the bust, comes with detachable garters, and has pockets designed to hold guns on either side. The e-shop also sells holster bras, tank tops, and belly bands for guns. "We want to show women that you can dress how you want and have all kinds of options and still feel confident in your ability to protect yourself," Smolenski said in the Tribune story.

Fashion isn't the only way the gun industry is targeting women. The NRA is now airing original programming on its website, including "Love at First Shot," a show for the beginner female shooter. The organization also hosted a Youth Day where kids were offered free memberships.

Not everyone, of course, is thrilled about the gun industry's focus on females. Carol Marin, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times had nothing but criticism for the local fashion show. "In a city that can't shake its shooting reputation, here we have a firearms/fashion show billed as a way to 'empower women.' And it comes just days after a 14-year-old girl was shot and killed by another 14-year-old girl who will never grow up to be a woman."

Others took to Twitter to voice their concerns about the fashion show.

While concealed-weapon fashions may be growing in popularity in Chicago, clearly there are mixed emotions regarding the trend. Yahoo Shine reached out to Church and Smolenski for comment as well, but neither has yet responded.

www.queenieaustralia.com/red-carpet-celebrity-dresses

Vikram crafts designer line for Vishal Fashions at IIFA

Vishal Fashions Pvt. Ltd., which holds a strong presence in the domestic fashion industry, showcased its garments at this year’s IIFA Awards in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA.

Leading fashion designer, Vikram Phadnis, who is also a favourite among the leading ladies of Bollywood designed an exclusive collection for Vishal Fashions at IIFA Rocks, a event that is a specifically designed platform for fashion & music.

The Collection designed by Vikram Phadnis for Vishal Fashions is called ‘Nazakat’ and was be an epitome of classic Indian attire.

Held on the 24th of April at the Tampa Convention Centre, the evening was attended by Bollywood stars Shahid Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and many more. The dazzling Malaika Arora Khan and Yami Gautam sashayed down the ramp for The IIFA Collection by Vikram Phadnis for Vishal Fashions.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

Malaika Arora Khan said, “I am so excited to be walking at IIFA Rocks this year. The Nazaakat Collection is all about celebrating femininity. Elegant Indian wear in rich hues are an all time favorite and are guaranteed to be a runaway hit. Vikram is not just a brilliant designer but is also a very dear friend, and I am honoured that he has asked me to walk the ramp for this gorgeous collection. The Nazaakat Collection truly deserves to be showcased in a global scale and IIFA provides the perfect opportunity.”

Designer Vikram Phadnis said, “I’ve been showcasing my Collections at IIFA for many years and it has always been a fabulous experience. IIFA is the perfect platform to reach out to the global Indian community and the Indian Film Industry. Having partnered with Vishal Fashions this year, the Collection ‘Nazaakat’ is going to be a visual treat. The concept of the collection is old world charm, the idea being to bringing back classic designs in deep rich tones.

“The colors I have incorporated are primarily black, beige, gold and maroon with bursts of red, pink and orange. The collection is sexy and glamorous, but without modernizing the sari. The collection will largely feature Sarees along with Lehenga Cholis and Jalabias in tissues, nets, georgettes and brocades that speak of taste, class, richness and allure. Each piece will be an artistic design.”

Commenting about the association, Mr. Dipesh Shah, Director, Vishal Fashions Pvt Ltd said, “We are thrilled to have a designer of Vikram Phadnis’s caliber on board to design our IIFA collection. This collection will encompass the luxury Indian couture experience for those women who value and appreciate classic Indian designs.”

About Vishal Fashions Pvt. Ltd.

Launched with an aim to drape every Indian woman in the mosttraditional ensemble, today Vishal Fashions Pvt. Ltd. hold sa strong position in the national and international fashion industry.

Vishal Fashions has also ventured into the retail sector, launching its exclusive store ‘Arissa’ with 32 stores pan India and aiming to reach 60 by the financial year end in 2015. The brand has been associated with leading designers like Manish Malhotra, Neeta Lulla, Vikram Phadnis, Masaba, Falguni & Shane Peacock, Rocky S, Archana Kochhar and Priyadarshini Rao to name a few.

QueenieAustralia purple formal dresses under 100

Narciso Rodriguez Cited as Top Fashion Designer

Fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez will receive a National Design Award this year from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, along with 10 other top names in design.

Rodriguez designed the memorable black and red dress worn by first lady Michelle Obama in Chicago on election night in 2008. The dress recently went on display for the first time at the National Archives to represent her signature style in history. Earlier, Rodriguez designed Carolyn Bessette’s wedding dress for her 1996 marriage to John F. Kennedy Jr.

The New York City-based Cooper-Hewitt museum announced this year’s recipients of the design awards Thursday. The museum said Rodriguez “redefined American style for the past two decades, playing a singular role in global fashion through his structured and elegantly minimal designs.” He has also been named one of the nation’s most influential Hispanics by Time magazine.

www.queenieaustralia.com

In an email to the AP, Rodriguez said he was “elated and moved” by the honor. “It means so much to me to have my work recognized by an institution that I hold in such high regard,” he said.

Asked to characterize what he considers to be his contributions to American style and design, Rodriguez said: “I have always been passionate about process and craft. My focus is to make clothes that celebrate women and are relevant to the way we live.”

This year’s winners also include brand designers Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar for lifetime achievement; architect Witold Rybczynski for design mind; online marketplace Etsy for corporate and institutional achievement; Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa for architecture; San Francisco design studio Office for communication design; Aaron Koblin of San Francisco for interaction design; Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors for interior design; Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture for landscape design; and San Francisco design firm LUNAR for product design.

Museum Director Caroline Baumann said this year marks the 15th year of honoring the nation’s top designers.

“I am delighted to welcome this new class of extraordinary designers, each of whom represent the very best in their discipline and demonstrate design’s power to affect the quality of our life, community, economy and environment,” she said in announcing the awards.

The first lady serves as honorary patron of the National Design Awards, which were launched at the White House in 2000. A jury of design leaders and educators reviews nominations and selects winners based on their excellence, innovation and public impact.

www.queenieaustralia.com/bridesmaid-dresses

Anti-Semitic Designer Galliano Gets Dumped During NYC Fashion Week

John Galliano the clothing designer who was famously fired by Christian Dior after spewing anti-Semitic remarks at a Paris café in 2011 apparently won’t be getting a permanent gig with designer Oscar de la Renta either. The team at Oscar was not willing to put up the money that Galliano needed for his design team. Galliano who had gone through about two years of silence addressed his hurtful remarks in an interview to Vanity Fair magazine last year.

"It's the worst thing I have said in my life, but I didn't mean it... I have been trying to find out why that anger was directed at this race. I now realize I was so f---ing angry and so discontent with myself that I just said the most spiteful thing I could.”

In February 2011, Galliano was arrested for allegedly attacking a couple in Paris and using anti-Jewish insults, in addition to making his infamous comments like "I like Hitler" which eventually led to his dismissal from Dior.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

Galliano blames his despicable rhetoric on an on-going battle with alcohol and addictions. In his own words Galliano said “I was either going to wind up in jail or dead.” As time has passed and de la Renta allowed Galliano to show some of his collection this past year he stepped out in what appeared to be a Hasidic-themed outfit and everything fell apart again.

The controversial outfit, which Galliano wore the day of his big Oscar de la Renta comeback this week, reignited the conversation around the designer's ill-advised behavior and his subsequent forgiveness. Barneys Creative Ambassador-at-Large Simon Doonan and stylist Mary Alice Stephenson both argued that Galliano did not intend to offend with his questionable outfit. "I mean, John's dressed like that for the past 25 years," said Mary Alice. "I think it was innocently done," added Simon.

The New York Post blasted the designer's fashion statement, splashing the photo across the front page with the headline "SHMUCK! Jew-bash Designer's Costume Mocks Faithful." "He’s trying to embarrass people in the Jewish community and make money on clothes [while] dressed like people he has insulted," Williamsburg community leader Isaac Abraham was quoted as saying.

Around the same time that Galliano was suspended over the multiple incidents at a Paris bar, NY Mag's The Cut interviewed "a source" who'd "worked closely with Galliano on several projects" who said: "I'm an observant Jew, and I know from my own experiences with him that there's no way he hates Jewish people. He's incredibly gentle."

Galliano who insiders say has been getting sober has been focusing his talents in London. He has also been mentoring fashion students at Central Saint Martin’s College of Arts and Design.

Although no permanent deal could be struck with de la Renta the fashion icon released this statement: “John and I have known each other for many years, and I am a great admirer of his talent.” “He has worked hard on his recovery, and I am happy to have given him the opportunity to re-immerse himself in the world of fashion and re- acclimate in an environment where he has been so creative.” Sources say Galliano is in talks concerning multiple fashion projects.

QueenieAustralia backless formal dresses

HOW A 13-YEAR-OLD GOT HER FASHION LINE IN NORDSTROM

Fashion designer Isabella Rose Taylor did, and it’s landing her juniors clothing line on a rack in Nordstrom this fall. The Austin, Texas girl was eight years old when she attended a sewing camp. Soon after, she started making her own clothes. Her designs drew compliments, then her friends started asking her to sew clothes for them, and just a few months later she held her first trunk show in a local boutique.

Customer reaction was overwhelmingly positive and, when Taylor was nine, she and her parents realized it could be a business. She had the creative part down, but she needed help learning production. Her parents, who both work in the medical field, found Liza Deyrmenjian, founder of Fashion Accelerator 360, a New York-based fashion-business coaching firm.

THE POWER OF MENTORSHIP

www.queenieaustralia.com

“Liza taught us everything--from blocks to sourcing fabrics, finding models and creating samples,” says Taylor, who turned 13 in March. “She showed us the whole process--something we couldn’t have done on our own.”

Deyrmenjian had worked in fashion for more than 25 years, opening her own clothing factory in Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 19. She built her company into a 60-worker shop, producing clothing for large brands as well as her own label, Go Girl. She sold her business and moved to New York in 2003 and became an apparel consultant.

One of her first clients was Jay McCarroll, winner of season one of Project Runway. “He told me, ‘I learned more from you in half an hour than I did from a whole year apprenticing at Banana Republic.’” says Deyrmenjian.

A good mentor will coach you from where you are, respecting your expertise, says Deyrmenjian: “Isabella has a very honed aesthetic. She’s very on point with her market and is an incredible creative director. I helped her with other aspects.”

As an industry insider, Deyrmenjian coached Taylor on things like the fashion cycle, how retailers buy, how to sell wholesale, and how to leverage a trunk show. She helped Taylor release a collection twice a year for three years, slowly building her brand.

THE SLOW PROCESS OF BUILDING BUZZ

“It can take two to three years to build a following,” Deyrmenjian says. “When I mentor, I’m always pushing the strengths of the designer so I can get a lot of eyeballs on their designs. But they must be prepared to financially sustain, produce, and sell during the time they’re creating their story.”

When Taylor’s brand, Isabella Rose Taylor, matured, it was time to go after larger retailers. Deyrmenjian helped Taylor get the right publicity, so a large store would pay attention. Local press led to an appearance with a larger Austin, Texas designer who was showing at 2013 New York Fashion Week. That led to an appearance on NBC’sToday show. Then she was asked to be on Steve Harvey.

“It was a slow process of building buzz,” says Deyrmenjian. Taylor’s team reached out to Nordstrom, whose buyers had already heard of the young designer.

“And an amazing thing happened,” says Taylor. “They liked my clothes.”

Jennifer Jackson, the merchandising manager for children's clothing at Nordstrom, told Women's Wear Daily that Taylor has the “unique ability to create fun, stylish clothes that really represent her customer, who are also her peers.”

The Isabella Rose Taylor line, which is being called “hippie-grunge, yet feminine,” will debut in August 2014 for the back-to-school market, with 10 to 15 pieces in 10 Nordstrom stores.

Deyrmenjian says she can teach her clients the backend, but the mentee must do their part: “If you’re not out there sharing your story and selling your clothing, you’ll find it discouraging to keep creating lines that nobody is buying. You must be confident in moving forward.”

Taylor says the key to her success has been blood, sweat, and glitter. “Blood because it takes a lot of passion and sacrifice,” she explains. “Sweat because of the time and hard work you must do. And glitter because of the imagination and creativity. There must be a dream behind your business.”

While Taylor is the youngest client Deyrmenjian has worked with, age was never a factor in their mentor-mentee relationship: “Talent-wise, Isabella wasn’t at all different from my other clients,” says Deyrmenjian, who has also coached Rochelle Behrens, founder of The Shirt, and Gretchen Jones, winner of season eight of Project Runway. “Her age was actually an advantage; because she was young and wasn’t jaded and had no fear. Her vision was clear--and she’s an incredible designer.”

“Liza has given me a good foundation and an understanding of the industry,” says Taylor, who was home-schooled and is now studying fine art as a freshman in college. “Fashion will be a career for me. I want to do this forever.”

www.queenieaustralia.com/backless-formal-dresses

The Start-Up That's Giving Fashion Designers a Shot

There’s no standard path to becoming a successful designer. Some like Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs went to design school. Others had no formal training, just great mentors and access to fabric, needles and thread. For those who do manage to find his or her aesthetic, file a trademark and make a few dollars profit, the battle for fashion world dominance has barely begun.

The sad truth is that the majority of fledgling designers won’t make it. The failure isn’t always due to a poorly thought-through product (face it: that fanny pack line was never going to take off), but a mountain of other factors that many new designers aren’t prepared for. Pitch decks? Investor relations? Manufacturing chains? What does any of this have to do with fashion? As it turns out, a lot. Enter TrendSeeder, the brainchild of Columbia graduate and corporate lawyer, Avani Patel.

Based in New York, but aiding designers from around the world, TrendSeeder puts emerging labels through a four-month accelerator program to help them reach full potential. They also help customers connect with new brands and find those unique, once- in-a-closet cycle pieces. We caught up with Avani to see how her venture, a start-up itself, is helping to build fashion businesses.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

Paste: What prompted you to create TrendSeeder?

Patel: Having been a former emerging designer I understood the struggles they have. Also, having a business and law background I saw how that background was helpful in building a successful brand.

Paste: Other than taking equity instead of charging fees, how is this different to the other accelerators out there?

Patel: TrendSeeder provides a platform that works with emerging fashion brands to grow their businesses. We provide a creative professional environment to foster promising fashion talent through education, mentorship and brand building opportunities and provide access to advisors, investors, experts in fashion and PR, editors and marketing and production professionals.

Paste: How has TrendSeeder evolved since its inception?

Patel: When we first launched, we started with more of an e-commerce model with a marketing component to our services. Throughout the process we found brands asking us for assistance with everything from strategic to marketing to fundraising assistance.

Paste: Why did you move away from e-Commerce?

Patel: With the creation of services like Shopify, we realized that the value for the companies was more on the brand building side. That’s when we decided to build out the TrendSeeder program. We found that driving customers directly to the designers’ websites was more valuable, instead of driving traffic to our own website.

Paste: How can people find your designers now?

Patel: Every company is different and their definitions of whom their customers are, are different. With each company we create a holistic marketing and strategy plan and help them implement the initiatives.

Paste: What do you look for when selecting designers for the accelerator?

Patel: We look for companies that want to grow and build their business and that we feel we can help to reach a higher level of success. The personality of the team is important. It has to be people who we feel comfortable working with and who feel comfortable working with us. Of course, overall it has to be a company that we think has growth potential.

Paste: What have you found new designers need most while they are in the accelerator?

Patel: All of our companies are at different points in their lifecycle but one thing that we have seen is that they all need our hands-on support. When you start a company there are so many things to do and think about that it’s great to have another brain and pair of hands.

Paste: Which TrendSeeder successes are you are most proud of?

Patel: Some of the most exciting things have been quadrupling unique visitors to the website in a month’s time, driving the highest number of purchases in one day by over 400 percent and getting one of our company’s products on Alicia Keys for a big sports campaign.

Paste: What’s your piece of clothing or accessory that has come from TS?

Patel: I love so many things from TrendSeeder, but I especially love the fur vest Sahar Dada named after me and all of the fun jewelery from Zoetik.

QueenieAustralia bridesmaid dresses

Decoded Fashion founder: 'Designers need to launch like startups'

It is less than three years since Liz Bacelar launched Decoded Fashion, bringing together her considerable address book of fashion contacts and tech founders to bridge two very different industries.

Freshly acquired by the research and consultancy firm Stylus Media Group on 31 March for an undisclosed sum, Decoded fashion technology events have grown rapidly, reflecting a new commercial appetite for the sector.

Bacelar will continue to head Decoded, which is planning to expand its brand of conference and fashion-technology hacks across the US, Europe, Asia and South America.

Her own brand of enthusiasm comes from trying to "bridge the gap" between the two industries, she says, recently inspiring keynote speeches from big name designers including Zac Posen and Tumblr founder David Karp.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

Tech has been 'disconnected about the opportunities of fashion'

Given how established many technologies are - the ubiquity of Google, Apple and the 1.2 billion-strong community of Facebook, let alone the plethora of inventive retail and fashion apps - it could be seen as surprising that the fashion industry has taken to long to wake up to the commercial opportunities coming from inventive new tech startups.

“The technology side has been really disconnected about the real opportunities in fashion and lots of tech founders have tried to create solutions or ideas that weren’t based on real knowledge of the industry,” she told the Guardian.

“On the industry side there was disconnect about the possibilities and a lack of awareness on what was rising.” She saw an opportunity to mix both worlds with a well-designed event that would appeal to the fashion crowd, but would also retain "the wit of real tech, and right from the source".

A former CBS News producer, Emmy nominated Bacelar launched her first Decoded Fashion event at New York's Lincoln Centre with 700 delegates, and now organises 20 events across the globe each year. In February 2012, Decoded hosted the fashion world's first large-scale hackathon, with the Council of Fashion Designers of America, inviting 650 technologists to New York to meet design and digital product challenges from a panel of fashion experts. The five finalists went on to present at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

“It was so incredible to see what happened that day,” says Bacelar, who was eight months pregnant at the time. “It was the first time that Women’s Wear Daily printed the word hackathon in a hundred years.”

In November 2012, a Decoded competition for startups offered $65,000 from Index Ventures and Marks and Spencer for the best idea. “They needed to captivate the people they were talking to with very plain terms and very clear vision on how they’d fit that into fashion. So that was the challenge. It doesn’t matter if it's a Silicon Valley titan - when it comes to conveying the idea to someone in the industry there has been a huge communication problem.”

'No excuses' for failing to represent women

Bacelar has also become something of a focus for push for more women in the technology sector. Decoded was not started as a women’s initiative, Bacelar says, but has found it fast becoming a platform for women interested in the tech industry to be noticed. "The amount of pitches I’m getting that are led by women is growing like crazy. What I can't stand is when you go to all the top tech events around the world and you see 5% females - the most I've seen was 8%,” she says, with some exasperation.

"There are no excuses any more," said Bacelar. "When you look at the lineup for Milan, New York - I was looking for the best voices, if I turn out 50% women it’s because that’s what I found due to proper reporting. If you’re just copying what speakers people had from previous events, you just perpetuating the problem of the lack of visibility of women in tech.”

Fashion courses churn out 'old thinking'

Entrenched prejudices about technology are still holding back designers, says Bacelar. It's no longer enough to follow old-fashioned practices to run a modern business.

“Every fashion university in the world, they’re churning out designers with the old thinking. Very, very few if any are really equipped with the eco-system of today," she says.

“A designer launching today needs to launch like a startup: What’s your mobile strategy? What’s your e-commerce strategy? How about communities?

"It’s not the old game of being picked up by a magazine,” she stresses. “Technology is intertwined - and the builders and creators are tastemakers, in the sense that they’re building the journey and the industry."

QueenieAustralia bridesmaid dresses

"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.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

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.

QueenieAustralia bridesmaid dresses

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.

QueenieAustralia formal dresses

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.

QueenieAustralia bridesmaid dresses

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.

www.queenieaustralia.com

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.”

www.queenieaustralia.com/bridesmaid-dresses

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."

QueenieAustralia pink formal dresses

"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."

QueenieAustralia orange formal dresses

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.

www.queenieaustralia.com/plus-size-formal-dresses

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.”

www.queenieaustralia.com/semi-formal-dresses

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."

www.queenieaustralia.com/red-carpet-celebrity-dresses

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.

www.queenieaustralia.com/bridesmaid-dresses

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.

www.queenieaustralia.com/school-formal-dresses

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