A New Color Clash On the Catwalk | Newsweek Scope

Auf With Their Heads: The ‘Project Runway’ Roundtable
Ramin Setoodeh 8/14/2009 12:00:00 AM
We always try to look our best during our NEWSWEEK roundtables—we've done the Oscars, the Emmys, and more—but sometimes you can't help a fashion emergency. Just minutes before our Project Runway roundtable was set to begin, one of us stained a shirt collar with a big, ugly blob of makeup. Oy. How would we make it work?! Like a mother hen, Tim Gunn swooped to the rescue, wielding a fierce weapon: the tide stick he carries around in his bag. As he dabbed and blotted, he not only saved the day but also gave pointers about how to save the shirt.
Call It Recession Chic
Sameer Reddy 8/4/2009 12:00:00 AM
In the 1980s, a French haute couturier named Christian Lacroix set the fashion world on fire with a curious invention called the pouf skirt. Innovative, extravagant, and decidedly impractical, it has evolved into an iconic symbol of the era's over-the-top sartorial indulgence, an esthetic that one might assume to be obsolete given the global financial meltdown. At this season's couture shows, however, which wrapped up this week, it was clear that reports of luxury's death have been greatly exaggerated. The super-rich continue to consume products that would boggle the mind of ordinary mortals. But these days, designers of $100,000 dresses are striking a note of modesty and discretion in the way they display their wares, even though the price tags remain as precious. The strategic recalibration of their sales pitch matches the moment's mood, and enables wealthy clients to avoid an appearance of insensitivity while continuing to dress in the manner to which they're accustomed.
TOP SHELF
Watching the Models Go By
Sameer Reddy 4/11/2009 12:00:00 AM
I began with Brazil—São Paulo, to be exact. then Mumbai. then back to Brazil—Rio this time. Then Berlin. Belo Horizonte, Lisbon, Brasília, and on and on. It's been an interesting, and exhausting, 10-month itinerary, and I've spent most of it sitting around waiting for things to begin. I'm part of the mobile fashion press corps, a strange subset of the larger fashion-media machine. While most fashion writers and editors make biannual pilgrimages to New York, Milan andParis for the ready-to-wear shows, I exchanged those chic, if a bit staid, destinations a couple of years ago for a more unexpected roster. These days, I'm more interested in exploring emerging fashion markets. Seeing the world through a sartorial lens is exciting, and as instructional as any guided tour. The surrounding scene reveals distinct cultural truths about each destination, demonstrating how Fashion Weeks can serve as social statements, highlighting the aspects that make a particular locale unique.
LUXURY
Glitz to Brighten the Mood
Alexandra A. Seno 3/28/2009 12:00:00 AM
Just in time to help beat back the global financial blues, style trendsetters are serving up some of the brightest ideas seen in years. At the recent New York Fashion Week, Marc Jacobs said, "What? Is all black going to help the economy?" His fall/winter 2009 clothes made their mark with sunshine yellows, hot pinks and bright greens. Even for a usually somber season, brands ranging from Christian Dior to Alexander McQueen offered visual (if not economic) stimulus with color and shimmer. "During these times, you need fashion with longevity, but you also need inspiration," says Fiona Marin, the designer behind the luxury accessories label Kotur, whose current collection includes clutches with crystal flowers and insects on metallic snakeskin.
Icing Her Own Cake
‘Runway’ Makeover
Ramin Setoodeh
Like two girls fighting over a cashmere sweater, Project Runway spent 12 months in a legal tug of war between Bravo and Lifetime. (Lifetime won.) We asked judges Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and Tim Gunn to talk about their new home, and other changes we'll see when the show returns on Aug. 20.