Shades of Barbie for Kids and Adults
Now that she’s 40, Barbie has learned a thing or two about marketing. Mattel Inc.’s Barbie has teamed up with eyeglass designer Alain Miki to create sunglasses for adults.
The glasses include all the must-have Barbie trademarks--pink frames or lenses and side arms shaped like a shapely Barbie leg or a functional hair comb (works great as a hair-holding headband).
The collection of 18 Barbie styles sells for about $165 a pair at stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys New York.
Never one to ignore her core market--little girls--Barbie has also introduced the new spring Barbie clothing collection for girls sizes 2 to 12. The sporty shorts, capri pants, T-shirts, dresses and overalls come, of course, in pink and bear the Barbie logo. The clothes mix with a wide variety of coordinating accessories, including translucent sandals, handbags and sunglasses (at $10 to $40, they’re considerably cheaper than the grown-up’s version).
Barbie apparel is sold at Target, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Robinsons-May, Lord & Taylor and select children’s stores.
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Khaki Crafters: Dockers and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising are pairing up to help promote the next generation of fashion designers.
Dockers Khakis sponsored a program with 10 graduating advanced fashion design students who created a collection of garments made from Dockers Khakis fabric. The collections were shown recently at an FIDM fashion show featuring “The Nanny†actress Nicholle Tom, who served as both muse and model. Student Bonnie H. Kim, 28, was judged the outstanding entrant and given a $1,000 award and a Dockers Khakis wardrobe.
Dockers also is sponsoring a nationwide scholarship contest for high school seniors. Five will be granted full scholarships in five different disciplines, including fashion design, fashion marketing and visual merchandising. Entrants will be asked to complete a Dockers Khakis project. Winners will be announced in June 1999.
For more information, call toll-free at (800) 711-7174, or consult the Internet at https://www.fidm.com or https://www.dockers.com.
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Grand Designs: The winners of the 18th annual CFDA Awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America were announced Wednesday.
The big news: Michael Kors was named Women’s Wear Designer of the Year, and Calvin Klein is Menswear Designer of the Year. Marc Jacobs took the Accessory Designer of the Year award.
Yohji Yamamoto earned the International Award. Special awards go to Betsey Johnson for her “timeless talent,†to Simon Doonan for his “window on fashion,†to Sophia Loren for a “lifetime of glamour†and to Cher for her “influence on fashion.†Yves St. Laurent was given the Lifetime Achievement Award and Harper’s Bazaar editor Liz Tilberis was named the recipient of the Humanitarian Award.
The winners are selected from ballots submitted by 70 editors and retailers. The awards gala will take place June 2, when the winners of the Perry Ellis Awards will be announced.
The nominees for the Perry Ellis award for women’s wear are Josh Patner and Brian Bradley for Tuleh, Katayone Adeli and Rebecca Danenberg. The menswear nominees for a Perry Ellis award are Richard Lambertson and John Truex for Lambertson Truex, Rafe Totengco and Tony Valentine.
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Hot Rocks: For her latest gig as Academy Awards host, Whoopi Goldberg was loaned $41 million worth of Harry Winston jewels, the most ever worn by any one person at the awards. The loot included a 107.18-carat white diamond ring valued at $15 million (worn in her “slave to fashion†skit).
Goldberg also wore a $1 million marquis diamond bracelet and diamond chandelier earrings worth $750,000, in addition to multiple other bracelets, earrings and brooches.
Best actress winner Gwyneth Paltrow wore a $160,000, 40-carat diamond and platinum necklace and $25,000 earrings with six carats of diamonds.
Not to be overlooked--the 100-carat diamond necklace worth $1 million that circled Jennifer Lopez’s neck and her $100,000, 10-carat diamond earrings.
Harry Winston’s jewels had competition at the ceremony from many sources, including Martin Katz of Los Angeles, H. Stern, Asprey & Garrad, Van Cleef & Arpels, Concord watches, David Orgell, Frances Klein and New York estate and antique jewelry specialists Fred Leighton, which loaned nearly $10 million in jewels.
The long moonstone pendant Laura Dern wore is called a sautoir, which was often worn with a choker at the turn of the century, explained Fred Leighton’s daughter and company co-owner, Mara Leighton.
Photographers also largely missed one of the most innovative uses of jewelry, the $125,000, foot-long hinged diamond spray brooch that wound through Catherine Zeta-Jones’ hair. The 19th-century piece was often draped across shoulders, around a waist or disassembled to be worn separately, said Leighton. And Sophia Loren wore nearly $1.1 million in Leighton gems, including a $500,000 diamond necklace and a 12-carat diamond ring.
The cultured-pearl promoters also poured on the gems, with loans from Cynthia Bach, Mikimoto and Ellagem. They’re also hoping that the Fred Leighton pearl-and-gold armbands that Uma Thurman wore will spark a trend.
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Madonna on the Spot: Pop star and fashionista Madonna has finished shooting an overseas commercial for Max Factor. The 30-second spot was directed by Alek Keshishian, the man who brought a slice of her real life to the big screen in “Truth or Dare.â€
Madonna signed a two-year contract to be the face of Max Factor’s new Gold Premium makeup line, available only in Europe and Asia. The ads are not scheduled to be shown in the United States.
A spokesman for Max Factor said Wednesday that Madonna is perfect for the new role because she’s “renowned for always changing her appearance and for using makeup to do so.â€
The new ads are scheduled to debut in the United Kingdom in May.
