October 2022 - ON THE FASHION

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is A Fashion Dream Come True

Tamara C. Bean October 28, 2022 October 28, 2022

I can’t tell you how much I love a fashion film with a 66-year-old lead.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a period film, set in 1957, but it also feels like a throwback to a long-lost style of movie: heartwarming without being cloying, uplifting without apology. Utterly charming, the plot suspends disbelief just a touch, and after some fun twists—cover your eyes if you are afraid of violence against clothes; a Christian Dior gown meets a space heater in a nightclub!—the ending feels well-earned. Loosely based on a 1958 novel by Paul Gallico, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris opens Friday in theatres across Canada.

Mrs. Harris is a cleaning lady and a war widow from Battersea, England, played with level-headed understatement by veteran British actress Lesley Manville (who is set to be Princess Margaret in The Crown season 5). One day, she spies a Dior couture gown in a client’s closet, and she determines then and there to get one for herself.

Lesley Manville as Mrs. Harris. Photo: Focus Features

What follows is a fish-out-of-water story as Mrs. Harris travels to Paris and proceeds to transform herself and the Dior atelier on the Avenue Montaigne. Her ability to charm everyone around her with her matter-of-fact wisdom and refusal to acknowledge snobbery, even at the beating heart of Parisian couture, somehow bridges all cultural chasms. Yes, this is fashion as aspiration, but it’s also a nicely rounded exploration of how appearances are not always what they seem.

Fashion is the driver of the film’s plot, so the wardrobe department’s work was even more important than usual. Enter legendary costume designer Jenny Beavan. “It is so nice when the story actually involves what you are working on,” she tells me via video call from Australia, where she is working on her

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FASHION

Sunak and Truss clash on issues from UK stance on China to their fashion choices

Tamara C. Bean October 26, 2022 October 26, 2022

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss taking part in the BBC Tory leadership debate (PA) (PA Wire)

From the UK’s stance on China to each other’s wardrobes, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have clashed on a range of topics during their latest leadership debate.

The Foreign Secretary and former chancellor were also pushed to clarify whether they would deploy British troops to Ukraine and on how they felt about offering Boris Johnson a seat in their cabinets.

Here are the key points raised during the hour-long face-off aired by BBC News, and hosted in the Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent.

– Mr Sunak accused Ms Truss of pursuing a closer relationship with China, something the Foreign Secretary vehemently disputed

Mr Sunak said: “There was a time when Liz was talking about having a golden era of relationships with China and the mission there was talking about having deeper collaboration with things like food security and technology.

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss taking part in the BBC Tory leadership debate, Our Next Prime Minister (Jacob King/PA). (PA Wire)

“But what we do need to do is acknowledge that China is a threat to our national security, it’s a threat to our economic security.”

He added that under his tenure as chancellor, the Government tabled the National Security Investment Bill, which gives the UK the power to “protect ourselves against countries like China who are trying to infiltrate our companies and steal our technology”.

Ms Truss interjected, saying: “Rishi, I challenged you on the debate last week.

“As recently as a month ago you were pushing for closer trade relationships with China.”

She accused Mr Sunak’s former department, the Treasury, of harbouring a desire for “closer economic relations” with China, while the Foreign Office has taken “the toughest stance” with the country including

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FASHION

Emilio Pucci Is Heading to St. Moritz for Its Next Fashion ‘Experience’

Tamara C. Bean October 25, 2022 October 25, 2022

While practically synonymous with beach holidays, Emilio Pucci has roots in the mountains, too — a fact the Florentine house will bring to life in St. Moritz this winter.

A fashion “experience” has been scheduled for Dec. 8 to 10 at the glamorous Swiss ski destination, WWD has learned.

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“The main idea is to emphasize the position of Pucci for wintertime,” said artistic director Camille Miceli, who unveiled her first designs for the storied Italian brand last April in Capri, the jet-set island where founder Emilio Pucci opened his initial boutique in 1951.

Pucci, who died in 1992, was known for his athletic prowess and was a member of the Italian Olympic ski team in 1932. In fact, he was “discovered” as a designer while skiing and by chance met fashion photographer Toni Frissell, who asked to photograph his ski outfit. As legend goes, when she discovered he had personally designed the collection, she asked him to make some women’s skiwear, which was later shown in Harper’s Bazaar, and a career was born.

He began designing skiwear out of jersey fabrics in 1947 and opened his house in 1949, which quickly became famous for colorful, graphic motifs.

Miceli is still shaping the program for St. Moritz, but will surely conjure many Instagrammable moments as she did in Capri, where models lounged on towels doing synchronized leg lifts, and guests participated in yoga classes, lunches and dance parties.

A seasoned creative who was accessories creative director at Louis Vuitton before joining Pucci last September, Miceli said she prefers to “show things in a different way and surprise people. We are a resort and lifestyle brand: We show the clothes in a context.”

Pucci also unveils collections on a see now, buy now calendar, with deliveries timed

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FASHION

Mountains of clothes washed up on Ghana beach show cost of fast fashion

Tamara C. Bean October 24, 2022 October 24, 2022

Huge piles of discarded clothes line a beach in Accra, capital of Ghana.

The rags started life thousands of miles from the Gulf of Guinea and their coming to rest on this West African coast reflects the shortcomings of a huge global trade buoyed by fast fashion.

Ghana is the third-largest importer of second-hand clothing in the world and its market for used garments is so strong that traders of new lines struggle to compete.

Second-hand clothes enter the country from distributors abroad – Britain and the US are the biggest players – and are sold in bulk to local dealers before hitting the market stalls.

It is no circular economy: More than one hundred million items of used clothing drop from circulation and go to waste each year in Ghana’s capital alone.

Muntaka Chasant, a photographer based in Accra, knows where a good deal of this waste ends up.

He tells The Independent of his trip this week to the beach at Jamestown, an old district of the capital that is home to a fishing community.

Having been there before Mr Chasant knew what to expect but was nonetheless disappointed when he saw dense mounds of clothing lining the seafront.

Nii, a local fishermen, wades through the rags (Muntaka Chasant/Shutterstock)

The wall of clumped fabric bothers the locals, as it blocks the path of their boats into the ocean. But it is sure to be more bothersome to marine life, given activists who monitor the capital’s beaches say the waste visible from the shore is like the tip of an iceberg.

Mr Chasant spoke to Nii, a 20-year-old fisherman who was wading knee-deep in floating rags. He told the photographer: “This makes me upset. None of us living along these shores have anything

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FASHION

Milan Fashion Week’s September Edition Packed With Debut Shows

Tamara C. Bean October 23, 2022 October 23, 2022

Updated on Aug. 1

MILAN — September’s Milan Fashion Week, running from Sept. 20 to Sept. 26, is poised to be a packed affair, with 67 mostly physical shows, highly anticipated debuts and a bunch of returning designer brands.

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Among the creatives presenting their first collections for storied houses is Marco de Vincenzo, the newly named creative-director-1235188450/” data-ylk=”slk:creative director at Etro” class=”link “creative director at Etro, who will make his debut at the helm of the storied Italian brand. For it, he picked a location on the outskirts of the city for the Sept. 23 event, which takes place a few hours after Filippo Grazioli’s revamped vision for Missoni. This will mark Grazioli’s first catwalk since joining the brand as creative director in March. He was already responsible for the resort and men’s spring collections unveiled via presentations earlier this summer.

The following day, Sept. 24, a couple of additional eagerly awaited debuts are taking place: Salvatore Ferragamo, which showed via a presentation last season as it prepared a change of creative guard, is back with a coed show designed by newly installed creative director Maximilian Davis, while Bally, which had traditionally hosted presentations, is making its debut on the runway with the first collection designed by fashion-features/new-bally-creative-director-will-bring-la-view-of-switzerland-1235041414/” data-ylk=”slk:Rhuigi Villaseñor” class=”link “Rhuigi Villaseñor, the Manila-born designer behind the Rhude brand.

Moncler will cap off that day celebrating its 70th anniversary with a runway event at 9 p.m. CET.

Showing off-schedule on Sept. 25 at its Milan flagship store on Corso Buenos Aires, Benetton will parade the first collection designed by newly appointed creative director Andrea Incontri.

According to the provisional calendar issued Friday by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the week officially kicks off on Sept.

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FASHION

‘TRUE LASSIE FASHION’: Dog saves hiker that plunged 70 feet in California forest

Tamara C. Bean October 22, 2022 October 22, 2022

A border collie named Saul led search and rescuers to his owner, who had fallen 70 feet into a heavily wooded area in California.

The man and his dog were camping in Tahoe National Forest last week when the 53-year-old plunged off a ridge in Tahoe National Forest.

Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue, along with help from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, sent 25 rescue volunteers to find the man who were able to locate him on Day 1 of the search.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

But the volunteers gave all the accolades to Saul.

“True credit goes to the subject’s k9 Border Collie that ran through the forest approximately 200 yards and in true ‘LASSIE’ fashion to flag down two searchers and led them back to the subject,” NCSSAR wrote on Facebook.

“He had reported he had fallen 70 feet,” Nevada County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Dennis Haack told KOVR. “He called 911 on his cellphone.”

But when the call dropped, search and rescue teams were able to connect with the man’s friend, who showed them the missing man’s campsite.

Closeup of Saul, a <a href= — Closeup of Saul, a border collie that rescued its owner who fell 70 feet in a California forest. (Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue/Facebook) Photo by Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue /Facebook

“As our searchers got to the area and found his camp they couldn’t find him … so they spread out and searched the area,” Sgt. Haack explained.

That’s when Saul joined the search.

“He ran about 20 feet away from

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FASHION

Matty Bovan Is Taking His Avant-garde Maximalism to Milan Fashion Week

Tamara C. Bean October 21, 2022 October 21, 2022

LONDON — Matty Bovan is joining the Milan Fashion Week schedule.

The Yorkshire-based designer will be showing his spring 2023 collection on the official calendar with support from Dolce & Gabbana, which is supplying Bovan with fabrics and materials.

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Bovan graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2015 with an MA in fashion knitwear. Their graduate collection opened the final show at the fashion university that earned Bovan the L’Oréal Professionel Creative Award, followed by the prestigious LVMH Graduate Prize, which includes 10,000 euros and a junior designer placement at Louis Vuitton under Nicolas Ghesquière.

“Craft and handiwork are at the heart of my work, something that myself and this iconic maison have great affinity with; the synergy upon meeting Domenico and Stefano recently was palpable,” Bovan said in a statement, adding that they’re “still processing the idea that I am going to be exploring their archives and mixing their historic work with my new output for next spring. I’m already feeling the turbo charge of this alliance.”

Bovan’s avant-garde maximalist approach to design has secured them deals with the likes of Coach, working on a range of accessories projects since 2016; collaborating with Miu Miu on a series of dressed up mannequins, and a series of limited edition Barbie dolls dressed in their garments.

Fall 2022 was Bovan’s biggest collection to date, titled Cyclone, which they described as “chaos and destruction — even beauty — in the wake of its power.” Model Irina Shayk opened Bovan’s show in a repurposed Roksanda Ilincic voluminous gown.

Since their fashion week debut with creative hub Fashion East in 2017, Bovan has gone on to staging solo shows during London Fashion Week that have led to their designs being bought by Matchesfashion and Milan’s No30.

Bovan’s nonconformist aesthetic will bring

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FASHION

The Battle to Become Britain’s Next Prime Minister Is Suddenly All About Fashion

Tamara C. Bean October 20, 2022 October 20, 2022

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty

Americans are sometimes under the impression that politics in the U.K. couldn’t possibly be as petty and underhanded as proceedings in the United States. They’d be sorely mistaken, as the race to the bottom in the Tory leadership contest continues to prove.

Now, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has lashed out against the aesthetic choices of Rishi Sunak, former chancellor, and one of two candidates—alongside Foreign Secretary Liz Truss—to succeed ousted Boris Johnson as prime minister.

Insiders Admit Race to Be Next U.K. Prime Minister Is Headed for ‘Five-Star Catastrophe’

On Twitter, Dorries taunted, “Rishi visits Teeside in Prada shoes worth £450 and sported £3,500 bespoke suit as he prepared for crunch leadership vote,” a transparent attempt to knock Sunak’s campaign platform, which is based heavily on a descendant-of-immigrants, started-from-the-bottom-now-we’re-here sunak-liz-truss-britain-class-tory-leadership” data-ylk=”slk:success story” class=”link “success story.

In contrast, Liz Truss, Dorries’ chosen candidate, “will be traveling the country wearing her earrings which cost circa £4.50 from Claire Accessories,” Dorries said. (In fact, both candidates have been derided for inventing hard-luck personal narratives although they both come from comfortable backgrounds.)

“FFS Nadine! Muted,” tweeted Guildford Conservative MP and Sunak supporter Angela Richardson. (Dorries, aka “Mad Nads,” currently focused on the controversial sale of British broadcaster Channel 4, is herself a frequent target of criticism, derision, and satire—as seen in actor, singer and comedian Sooz Kempner’s series of witty video sketches.)

<div class="inline-image__caption"><p>Former Chancellor and Conservative <a href= — Former Chancellor and Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak leaves a broadcast studio following an interview with the BBC, on July 14, 2022 in London, England.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Anyway, is there

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FASHION

Asos, Boohoo and Asda investigated over ‘greenwashing’ fast fashion claims

Tamara C. Bean October 19, 2022 October 19, 2022

Asos said it was ‘committed to playing its part in making fashion more sustainable”’ (AFP via Getty Images)

Asos, Asda and Boohoo are under investigation over accusations of greenwashing of their fast fashion ranges.

The UK’s competition watchdog announced on Friday that it had opened a probe to assess whether the three companies had misled the public with their environmental claims.

“Should we find these companies are using misleading eco claims, we won’t hesitate to take enforcement action – through the courts if necessary,” said Sarah Cardell, interim chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority.

“People who want to ‘buy green’ should be able to do so confident that they aren’t being misled. Eco-friendly and sustainable products can play a role in tackling climate change, but only if they are genuine.”

Fast fashion companies have come under increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact.

An initial CMA review in January identified “concerns around potentially misleading green claims” by some fashion retailers.

“These included a number of companies creating the impression that their products were ‘sustainable’ or better for the environment — for example by making broad claims about the use of recycled materials in new clothing — with little to no information about the basis for those claims or exactly which products they related to,” the watchdog said.

The CMA said that eco-friendly language used by the retailers was “too broad and vague, and may create the impression that clothing collections — such as the ‘Responsible edit’ from Asos, Boohoo’s current ‘Ready for the Future’ range, and ‘George for Good’ — are more environmentally sustainable than they actually are”.

Boohoo is among the retailers being investigated (PA) (PA Wire)

The CMA will also continue its wider investigation into the fashion sector and consider whether to put additional firms under

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FASHION

Russians queue outside H&M amid final chance to shop at fashion retailer

Tamara C. Bean October 18, 2022 October 18, 2022

Russian shoppers have queued outside H&M stores this week when the fashion brand reopened its stores ahead of a final exit from the Russian market.

H&M, a Swedish brand, was among a number of companies that suspended operations in Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.

After pausing all sales in Russia, H&M said it was “deeply concerned about the tragic developments in Ukraine“- and that the situation was being “continuously monitored and evaluated”.

On Wednesday, photographers captured long queues forming outside a H&M store in port city St Petersburg. According to reports, similar scenes occurred in other locations, including Russia’s capital, Moscow.

In the ongoing war with Ukraine, powerful explosions rattled the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Thursday, and a city close to the country’s biggest nuclear power plant sustained a barrage of shelling.

At least four civilians were killed and 10 more wounded in 24 hours, with nine Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the office said in its daily update.

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The separatist-held eastern city of Donetsk also came under shelling, with Russian-backed local authorities saying that six people were killed. Kyiv said that two districts of Mykolaiv, which has been targeted frequently in recent weeks, were shelled. Russian forces reportedly fired 60 rockets at Nikopol, in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. Some 50 residential buildings were damaged in the city of 107,000 and some projectiles hit power lines, leaving city residents without electricity, according to Ukrainian authorities. Nikopol is located across the Dnieper river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was taken over by Russian troops early in the war. Experts at the US-based Institute for the Study

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