Fashion News and 2010 Sales of Note

Pictured: Project Runway Designer, Laura Bennett’s version of the Little Black Dress is on clearance at QVC.com. The dress is top-rated by customers.

As is my custom, I’m drinking my coffee on Sunday morning and surveying the weekly news. There are some interesting fashion tidbits to pass on as well as some great savings that have turned up on The Recessionista’s radar tracking system. Here are some of the items that I am checking out.

Fashion News
Angelina Jolie will no longer be the “face” of St. John Knits. The company seems to feel that her celebrity overshadowed the clothing, so they have picked a new model and the Spring 2010 ad campaign features her. The new model is flaming (and yes, I do mean flaming, look at the pictures!) redhead Karen Elson. Personally, I’ll miss Angelina. She looked stunning in the clothes and I loved that she donated to charity from the salary she was paid by St. John.

Pictured: Model Karen Elson is the new face of St. John Knits in their 2010 Ad Campaign. Question, does her flaming red hair draw your eye more than the black dress does? 🙂

Louis Vuitton released a Preview of their 2010 Fall Collection. For the most part, I am not impressed. Is it fashion blasphemy to say so? I don’t care. Look at this stuff. It’s fantastically expensive and over the top. You can see more pictures on the ILVOELV.com site.

Pictured: Louis Vuitton Fall 2010 images.

Pictured: Preview of Louis Vuitton Fall 2010. What’s up with the “big foot”like mittens and leg warmers? I have no words.

In contrast, the pictures from the Chanel 2010 ad campaign are subtle, simple and stylish. Images by Karl Lagerfeld. Click here to see video of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2010 preview.

The Kardashian sisters are about to launch their fashion line for Bebe. I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised by the advance pictures. I’ll be curious to see how these actually look on the rack. The line will be at Bebe in February.

Heidi Klum is about to launch a collection of maternity clothing with The Pea in the Pod. The collection will be in stores in February. A second collection will debut at Motherhood Maternity on Feb 12th. Is it wishful thinking that to hope that the line might contain her formula for staying in fantastic shape through four pregnancies? 🙂

H&M Responds Fully to the Allegations of Dumping Clothing. H&M press spokesperson in Sweden, Pernilla Halldin, responded to the New York Times story by saying the garments were already defective and unsuitable for either wear or sell. “In this specific case the clothes did not meet our safety standards,” she said. They were either damaged returns that customers had complained about or used as display examples in store – shoes that had been punctured to fit on mannequins.” Regarding the mutilation of the shoes, I have seen some of what Ms. Halldin is saying. I have tried to buy the last pair of shoes at H&M Beverly Center before, the ones on the model. The manager showed me that I couldn’t buy them because the inside had been “scored” or hollowed out to fit the mannequin.

Sales News: Fashion at the Best Price

Two lovely pieces by one of my Project Runway favorites, designer Laura Bennett are on sale at QVC.com. There is a little black dress (pictured above) and a stylish short jacket for under $45.00 US on the QVC clearance. Both pieces have received rave reviews from QVC customers. Laura’s clothing is accessible to all via price and size. It’s sized for plus sizes as well as regular misses sizes.

Loehmann’s is having a wicked good in-store sale featuring some of my favorite designers. Look for yellow, blue and purple tagged items for an additional 40% off.

For readers in Europe, a new online designer fashion club has turned up on my radar, Vente–Privee.com. Vente–privee.com currently has sites in France, UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. Vente–privee.com works with the brands like: Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Diane von Fürstenberg. Not bad, eh? If you live in the European countries that Ventee–Privee sell in, follow the instruction here to give it a look. You can go directly to vente–privee.com. Click on “Become a member” and fill in your referrer’s email address: therecessionista at yahoo dot com. Today’s featured sale is Shyde.

Pictured: The clothing racks from designer club HauteLook as featured on ABC Los Angeles.

Back in the US, check out local new coverage of online club, HauteLook.com. I love the video of all the fashions for less at their office in downtown Los Angeles.

If you missed Norma Kamali’s Sleeping Bag Coat at Walmart, good news. The designer is having a 25% off sale on the high-end version of her classic coat at NKCollection. Click here to check out the savings.

Stella McCartney for GapKids has finally gone on sale. Look for clearance prices online and at your local Gap store (check the website to see if your local store sells the collection.)

Enjoy your Sunday. Stay warm and shop wisely!