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NY Fashion Week: Zac Posen Fall 2012
Lifestyle

NY Fashion Week: Zac Posen Fall 2012

Posen presented his smallest show in years, taking a breath from a whirlwind few months that included joining Project Runway as a judge. For a designer who thrives on flashbulbs, cameras and frenzy, the change might seem odd, but he said his intimate show at the Plaza Hotel was the best way to sharpen his focus in a collection that was thoughtful and intellectual. "My fantasies about glamour or about society, about travel, all took place here growing up in New York. When you drive by great historical backgrounds, this is where Halston did his first shows, where Oscar de la Renta used to show,'' Posen said. Part of Posen's signature are red-carpet gowns, such as the strapless, draped bustier ballgown worn by Crystal Renn and the architectural peplum gown with cutouts and sharp shoulders worn by Coco Rocha.

NY Fashion Week: Tommy Hilfiger Fall 2013
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NY Fashion Week: Tommy Hilfiger Fall 2013

At first, Hilfiger's looks, staged like a movie-set library, looked like they were built on the Savile Row-styled menswear and Ivy League prep-school uniforms he has played with for almost 30 years. There were houndstooth prints in every scale imaginable - on a coat, turtleneck, tuxedo pants and even a dickie - and probably even more plaid. "Classics receive an unexpected twist,'' was Hilfiger's mantra, putting some newness on the catwalk while maintaining a relatable ease that would appeal to his broad audience. Together on the runway, the collection evoked mod for 2013. The leather argyle pattern shifts and shirtdresses could reintroduce his muses - and fashion icons - Twiggy, Mary Quant and Marianne Faithfull to a new generation.

NY Fashion Wee: Betsy Johnson Fall 2013
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NY Fashion Wee: Betsy Johnson Fall 2013

The tireless 71-year-old designer, best known for punky prom dresses and a lot of pink, introduced her fall collection as a theatrical exercise video for the Style Network program Betsey and Lulu, which follows the lives of Johnson and her daughter. It was a catwalk of energetic, giggly models in active wear chatting on mobile phones as they waved to attendees, then an exercise routine led by the designer that included running in place, yoga and pull-ups. Rows of pink yoga mats were strewn on the runway, each accompanied by a pair of high-top sneakers, towels and wine bottles. The collection, named BJ Kicks A, veered from the high school dance party looks that she has championed for decades, running toward a junior high school gym class with a lot of cheek. It was an explosion of neon pink and yellow, animal prints and plaids on mini dresses worn over leggings, a veritable visual feast piled over one another.

Ari Seth Cohen colab with Karen Walker
Lifestyle

Ari Seth Cohen colab with Karen Walker

Ari Seth Cohen has turned his eye to Karen Walker, photographing four stylish women for the designer's new Karen Walker Forever campaign, described by Walker as "a celebration of eternal optimism". Read more here or grab a copy of Viva.

NY Fashion Week: Tracy Reese Fall 2013
Lifestyle

NY Fashion Week: Tracy Reese Fall 2013

Any model will tell you: It's hard to walk down a catwalk. Especially when you're an actual cat. Designer Tracy Reese's autumn-winter show had a guest model, of the feline variety. The cat was supposed to be walked on a leash, but was a bit frightened, the designer explained backstage, and had to be cradled in the model's arms for its one trip down the catwalk. Er, runway. The cat may have been timid, but Reese's designs were the opposite - full of mixed prints and bold colours, like the floral-printed neoprene frock in pink, orange and black that accompanied the cat-bearing model.

Photos: Stars shine at Baftas
Entertainment

Photos: Stars shine at Baftas

Hollywood stars squelched up a soggy red carpet today at the British Academy Film Awards, which pitted presidential biopic Lincoln against epic musical Les Miserables and Iran hostage crisis drama Argo.

NY Fashion Week: Rebecca Minkoff Fall 2013
Lifestyle

NY Fashion Week: Rebecca Minkoff Fall 2013

Minkoff named her colours after planets and other spacey things. A winter white was "Saturn'' and used for a leather motocross jacket. The colour caramel became "eclipse'' for a leather duffel coat. Minkoff put a twist on the colour-blocking trend that has been around now a few seasons by mixing chunks of different textures instead of contrasting hues. Minkoff's soft-line exaggerated shoulder, instead of the aggressive ones that were so popular on the runways a few years ago (and in the 1980s), also turned up elsewhere.

NY Fashion Week: Lacoste Fall 2013
Lifestyle

NY Fashion Week: Lacoste Fall 2013

Designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista presented his Menswear and Womenswear collection. The focus was on colour-blocking and mixing of materials and textures in a similar sense. For example a fabric and leather-like garment might have leather-like sleeves, hips, pocket trim and lower legs.

NY Fashion Week: BCBG Max Azria Fall 2013
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NY Fashion Week: BCBG Max Azria Fall 2013

The room was packed for Max and Lubov Azria of BCBG Max Azria, whose silk print dresses, magnificent furs, and over-sized jackets were full of exoticism. The designers said they drew inspiration from "the beautiful history inlaid within the architecture of Istanbul and the eclectic style of the Gypsies of Southern Europe."

Luxury still sells
Business

Luxury still sells

Christian Dior opened its first Australasian flagship boutique in Sydney last week, reflecting continued demand for luxury fashion despite the tough economic climate.

Paris Fashion Week: Christian Dior F/W 2013
Lifestyle

Paris Fashion Week: Christian Dior F/W 2013

Raf Simons confidently evolved the angular portions of previous seasons' work into softer, more saleable silhouettes. The new Bar jacket, looser and in trendy wool denim, seemed to point to a man who's finally settled in to his role. This season was the supplest fusion so far of his minimalism and the house's ultra-femininity and curves. Fall-winter saw a parade of "memory dresses," some 48 looks that delved into the iconic houndstooth, peplums, and the original '40s designs of Monsieur Dior himself. They hit the catwalk reimagined, sometimes asymmetrically, alongside enormous mirror ball decor. Overall, the show was a success; one step further on in Dior's mission statement for the designer, to "propel its iconic style into the 21st century."

Paris Fashion Week: Jean Paul Gaultier F/W 2013
Lifestyle

Paris Fashion Week: Jean Paul Gaultier F/W 2013

Clothes as body armour was the concept behind Jean Paul Gaultier's rather dizzying Paris show. A play on voluminous layers of leather, fur, silks, chiffon and even knits - both hanging and enveloping the body - constructed a protective silhouette over models. It all made for a varied collection with some great looks, but one that was frustratingly hard to pin down. Graphic 80s elements, such as Polaroid-type prints, followed a long sheer chiffon dress in eggplant with '70s pleats. Long stripy scarves accompanied a tartan dress. And studded leather bustier tops with '50s peplums could easily have come from another collection altogether. Gaultier explained backstage: "It was also the idea of patchwork."