Stella scoops top prize
Lily Allen,Stella McCartney,british fashion awards
Lily Allen
The winning line-up of The British Fashion Awards was a women-heavy affair on Tuesday evening, with Stella McCartney, Dame Vivienne Westwood, Anya Hindmarch and Agyness Deyn among those taking home a gong. Hosted by Zoe Ball, the annual event took place at Lawrence Hall in Westminster, London, with celebrities Thandie Newton, Dita Von Teese and Erin O\'Connor in attendance. McCartney was named Designer of the Year, the night\'s most prestigious award. Hindmarch was named Designer Brand of the Year. Marchesa won Red Carpet Designer, while the New Designer award went to Christopher Kane. A new award, the Isabella Blow award for fashion creator, created in honour of the late fashion icon, was presented by Phillip Treacy and Detmar Blow (Isabella\'s husband) to British production designer Michael Howells, famous for producing Dior\'s fashion shows, among other things.
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Online shopping hots up
mulbery
Michael Kors dress at NET-A-PORTER
Now for some online shopping news. First up, Net-a-Porter has recently launched its ‘Santa\'s helper\' function. This allows you, the shopper, to tell them exactly which pieces you covet most from the site, and they will "drop a hint" as they cheekily put it, to the people of your choosing. Next, fashion news service WGSN has launched ‘Storefinder\', which - yup, you guessed it - helps you locate shops in cities across the world, with the help of Google Maps. Just type in, say, Fred Segal, and Nicole Richie\'s favourite LA store is immediately located. Mulberry fans can soon subscribe to a new ‘notify me\' service, when they log on to the newly glossy site, which will alert to new products. Finally, if you\'re looking for the perfect gift for the man in your life, check out Drake\'s newly launched site: they make the best ties around.
www.net-a-porter.com/santashelper
www.wgsn.com
www.mulberry.com
www.drakes-london.co.uk
Viktor & Rolfs\' take on travel
viktor,and,rolf
Viktor & Rolf
Following the news earlier this year that they will soon be bringing out their own line of handbags, Dutch design due Viktor & Rolf have announced they are to design a line of luggage for travel lifestyle brand Samsonite, under it\'s upmarket Black Label. Called Samsonite Black Label by Viktor & Rolf, the collection will be ready for spring 2009, and will include beauty cases, boarding bags and travel totes. "We are very excited to be working with a brand so famed for both its know-how and heritage," said the designers in a statement. Considering their penchant for the surreal - past collections have included models on the catwalk with rails across their shoulders from which their dress was hanging, attached to pegs - it\'s safe to say the collection will be anything buy your usual boring black suitcase.
Gap goes designer
mulbery,gap,proenza schouler
Gap
Bono\'s RED and the fashion world are pulling no punches when it comes to drumming up support for World AIDS Day on 1 December. The company has enlisted Katie Grand to select a group of her fashion pals to create new versions of iconic fashion pieces for the Gap. These include Mulberry\'s Roxanne bag reworked in sweatshirt jersey, left, a classic flat shoe by Pierre Hardy, T-shirts by Proenza Schouler and Henry Holland, and a jersey bag by Kate Moss\'s pal Katie Hillier. They go in store on 1 December, and will be available in London in Gap\'s flagship store on Oxford Street, as well as in Dover Street Market. Speaking in a statement, Grand said that creating the collection had been "a lot of fun. It\'s not very often you get the chance to take designers from fashion\'s more exclusive areas and make them accessible to a wider audience through a high street icon."
Ossie Clark is back
vintage
Ossie Clark dress on a mannequin at the V&A
His wife and muse, Celia Birtwell, was recently hired by Topshop to design her famous printed dresses. Now the late Ossie Clark is also being resurrected as a brand, with the appointment of British designer Avsh Alom Gur at the helm. Clark, who is synonymous with the swinging \'60s, has become the stuff of legend as a designer, and his vintage dresses are highly sought after. According to brand owner Marc Worth, the time is right for a revival. "The problem with British design is that there\'s a lot of talent but just not enough investment... I believe Ossie Clark has the potential to be a global British brand like, say, Paul Smith." He went on to say that the idea is to create "what Ossie would be designing if he were around today". No plans as yet have been made to work with Birtwell. The first collection will be shown next spring.
Left: a vintage Ossie Clark dress at the V&A
Julia Roberts designs for charity
Julia roberts,Giorgio Armani
Julia Roberts for RED Emporio Armani
Giorgio Armani was the first designer to exploit the designer/celebrity relationship back in the \'80s, when he dressed the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer on the red carpet. (Now, of course, a celebrity stepping into the spotlight without the help of a designer or stylist is almost unheard of.) Now he\'s making the most of one of his famous friendships by asking Julia Roberts to design a special Emporio Armani RED bracelet. The bohemian style leather cuff, with sterling silver clasps, £150 (left), has the words "Revolution-Evolution-Devotion Tree" imprinted on it, along with the signature JR for Emporio Armani. Mr Armani said, "Julia has helped to create a beautiful accessory for both women and men, which will also be a visible reminder of the part that we can all play in fighting AIDS in Africa." The bracelet will be exclusively available online at www.emporioarmani.com from World AIDS Day on 1 December and in select stores from February 2008.
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BIBA artwork goes on sale
biba
Biba artwork
Now here\'s the perfect present for your fashion-obsessed friend: online gallery
55max has recently unearthed a treasure trove of original posters designed by James Wedge for BIBA during its 1960s heyday. The vintage art deco-inspired prints, such as the famous nude in a hat and gloves,
left, became synonymous with the sexual revolution and designer Barbara Hulanicki\'s youthful, freewheelin\' fashions, favoured by the likes of Julie Christie and Brigitte Bardot. Posters can be bought from the website, with prices starting at £150.
Tel. 020 7625 3774
Selfridges, you\'re spoiling us!
selfridges
Selfridges Christmas shopping offer
Don\'t say we don\'t spoil our readers. Here at Handbag we have just been alerted to a rather brilliant shopping deal going on this weekend, which it would be simply rude of us not to share with you. From 30th November until 2nd December Selfridges stores across the country are offering a 20% discount on all Christmas shopping as well as 10% off their fragrance and beauty brands. How brilliant is that? All you need to do is click on the link below, print off the voucher, and show it at the till before you pay - and you can use it as many times as you like. Go to the website for more details, but basically, this deal is a (Christmas) cracker, as far as we\'re concerned.
Selfridges discount voucher
