Fashion house Fendi sponsors restoration of Trevi Fountain of "Dolce Vita" fame

The Fendi fashion house is financing a €2.18 million ($2.93 million) restoration of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, famed as a setting for the film "La Dolce Vita" and the place where dreamers leave their coins.

The 20-month project on one of the city's most iconic fountains was unveiled at a city hall press conference Monday featuring Fendi designers Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi, who said the project combined a love of Rome's past with a need to preserve its future.

Rome's fountains, Lagerfeld said, "are there to glorify water, which is the most important thing in life."
It's the latest example of Italian fashion companies coming to the aid of Italy's chronically underfunded cultural heritage. The founder of the Tod's footwear company has offered to pay for the €25 million (nearly $34 million) restoration of the ancient Colosseum, and Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said he hoped these two donations were just the start.

"Without similar initiatives, we won't be able to save the cultural memory of our country," he said.
Fendi is also donating €320,000 to restore another fountain complex in Rome, the Quattro Fontane, bringing its total contribution to €2.5 million.

SHARES SURGE AS SPECIALTY FASHION TREBLES PROFIT

Clothing retailer Specialty Fashion has surged 40 per cent after saying its first-half profit will treble.

The retailer - which owns women's fashion stores Katies, Millers, Crossroads, Autograph and City Chic - says its revenue for the half-year ending December 31 was 1.3 per cent up on the previous corresponding period.

The company says it has leveraged this small improvement in sales to a much larger rise in profit, with first-half pre-tax earnings expected to be between $37-38 million, compared to $21.9 million the year before.

Speciality Fashion's net profit after tax is expected to grow even more, almost trebling from $6.2 million to $17-18 million.

The company's chief executive Gary Perlstein says the surge in profit was largely driven by a focus on cutting costs.

"Our continued focus on our strategies to improve sales, margins and costs of doing business has meant we have delivered a significant turnaround in trading performance, almost tripling our net profit for the first half of financial year 2013, when compared with the same period in financial year 2012," he noted in the report.

"The economic uncertainties and structural changes affecting retail have not gone away, but we have pulled all the levers within our control to achieve sustainable improvements, and our results reflect this."

The retailer says it has recorded the highest gross margin in its history at 62.4 per cent, due to higher selling prices, reduced product cost prices and lower freight costs.

The company says the higher Australian dollar and reduced cotton prices also helped lower its costs and boost profit margin.

Specialty Fashion says it also made rental savings by reducing the base rents of leases renewed during the period and exiting leases of underperforming stores.

The firm says it made $11.3 million, or 3.6 per cent, of its sales online in the period.

The company's shares were up 41.4 per cent to 99 cents by 10:42am (AEDT) as investors digested the result.

Other fashion retailers such as Premier Investments, David Jones and Myer have also been trading between 0.5-2 per cent higher this morning.

Specialty Fashion will confirm its audited results when it releases its final half-year profit statement on February 18.

Entry Deadlines Ahead for The Art Institutes Scholarship Competitions

To be successful in a creative field, you need both education and talent. The first step could be entering one of The Art Institutes' scholarship competitions.

Deadlines are coming right up for these competitions, which award more than one million dollars in scholarships to The Art Institutes schools each year. Creative students can enter competitions in design, fashion or culinary.

To enter, view the competition rules or for a list of all participating locations visit www.aicompetitions.com.  Follow the competition with this hashtag:  #AiCompetitions.
The Art Institutes Best Teen Chef and Culinary Scholarship Competitions:  Deadline for entry: January 24, 2013

Students with a craving for culinary can enter either The Art Institutes Best Teen Chef Competition for high school seniors or The Art Institutes Culinary Scholarship Competition for high school graduates.

Selected finalists will participate in a cook-off competition at each participating Art Institutes school judged by professional chefs and culinary faculty. Those competing in the cook-off receive recipes to practice in advance and an opportunity to attend a pre-competition coaching session. The first-place winner in the high school senior competition earns a $4,000 tuition scholarship; second-place earns a $1,000 scholarship. The first-place winner in the high school graduate competition earns a $1,500 scholarship.
The Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts Poster Design Competition: Deadline for entry: January 31, 2013

The Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts Poster Design Competition challenges high school seniors and high school graduates to design a poster that best expresses the theme "You Can Create Tomorrow."  The local winner in the high school senior category earns a $3,000 tuition scholarship and the local winner in the high school graduate/adult category earns a $1,000 scholarship to attend The Art Institutes school where they entered the competition.

The first place winner in each category will progress to the national competition. The grand prize winner at the national level in the high school senior category earns a full tuition scholarship; the grand prize winner in the high school graduate category earns a $10,000 tuition scholarship to The Art Institutes school where they entered the competition.

The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition:  Deadline for entry: February 14, 2013
The 2013 Passion for Fashion Scholarship Competition offers high school seniors the chance to bring their fashion ideas to life and earn a tuition scholarship to The Art Institutes school of their choice. Students can enter the competition in one of two categories – Fashion Design or Fashion Marketing & Merchandising and Retail Management. Some locations of The Art Institutes offer only one category.

Local competitions take place at each participating Art Institutes school throughout the U.S. and Canada.  The Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing & Merchandising and Retail Management competition winners each earn a $3,000 tuition scholarship. The first place winners will move on to the national competition.

Two national grand prize winners each earn a half-tuition scholarship to their respective Art Institutes school and receive a VIP trip to New York City where they will participate in a "meet and greet" at Seventeen magazine's New York offices, have lunch with a Seventeen Style Pro, and receive both a $500 shopping spree at DKNY with the Style Pro and a $500 gift card to shop anywhere in the Big Apple.

First Annual Tri-City Fashion Show 2013: Where Fashion and Entrepreneurs Meet

1st Annual Tri-City Fashion Show: Entrepreneur Label and AllEyesOnWho.com presents a fashion show showcasing up and coming Fashion Designers in the Northern New Jersey area on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 doors open at 6PM.

This winter, the clothing brand Entrepreneur Label and the media company AllEyesonWho.com presents its 1st Annual Tri-City Fashion Show. This runway exhibition, will showcase various clothing designs produced by up and coming Fashion Designers in the Northern New Jersey area. This event will take place on Feb. 8 at 8 Lackawanna Plz, Montclair, N.J. doors open at 6pm.

Entrepreneur Label has created a mixed multifarious showcase of urban style and chic designs in celebration of Fashion Week 2013. The different aspects of the show from the runway, marketing and promotion, public relations, and guest services have been created from the execution of concepts by the worthy team of Entrepreneur Label and the popular photography empire of AllEyesOnWho.com.

"The 1st Annual Tri-City Fashion Show is an opportunity for fashion entrepreneurs to experience the inclusive energy of a major runway production," says Dare Thompson, the co-founder of Entrepreneur Label. "The show will provide not only a great opportunity but also a great experience to be able to develop their clothing designs and share it to a diverse crowd," says Oswald Harris, CEO and Founder.

The doors open at 6 PM and tickets are available for purchase in advance for $15 through the founders of Entrepreneur Label at (973) 901-0221 or (862) 210-4027. Tickets may also be purchased at the door. The event also features lives performances by local musicians and will be hosted by comedian Chris Thomas.
For more information, or to inquire about press-passes or VIP seating opportunities, please contact Kayanna S. Blair, Director of Public Relations for Entrepreneur Label at kaysharice(at)gmail(dot)com or call (917) 684-5697.

Entrepreneur Label, is an accomplished clothing line and public speaking company whose mission is to promote entrepreneurship to the youth and individuals around the world. Started in 2011 and is stationed in Newark, N.J.

Michelle Obama proves style and substance in fashion

Michelle Obama has proven her fashion savvy time and again since she was introduced as first lady in a yellow sheath and coat by Isabel Toledo on Inauguration Day 2009 - so much so that we don't discuss it nearly as much as we used to.

Four years ago, there was a daily barrage in the media: Jason Wu gown! J. Crew gloves! Jimmy Choo shoes! It remained that way for months and even years.

There was the Naeem Khan beaded strapless gown for the first state dinner in the Obama White House, the black racer-back dress by Michael Kors worn in her official portrait. Her wardrobe for the Obamas' state visit to England, including the white cross-neck halter gown by Tom Ford she wore to a black-tie event with Queen Elizabeth in London, and the fiery red Alexander McQueen she wore the for the state dinner the Obamas hosted for China generated news around the globe.

Even more recently, her pink Tracy Reese dress was practically an honored guest at the Democratic National Convention in September, and one of the moments so many are eagerly anticipating on Monday is when she'll emerge in her gown for the inaugural balls.

But she's figured out a way to largely move the focus from her style to her substance.

"What's really interesting about the first lady is that she's been able to incorporate the fact that she's stylish into a much larger persona," says Ariel Foxman, managing editor of InStyle magazine.

In the early going, there was intense focus on what she'd wear "because we hadn't seen a first lady who had such an innate style and sense of color - and great arms," he adds. "It's been exciting to see a first lady embracing fashion by remaining consistently interesting and diverse in her fashion choices, and in doing that, she's been able to draw attention elsewhere."

She probably doesn't want the first question when she visits a school to promote healthy living to be about her sneakers, and she doesn't want the print of her dress to steal the thunder of a speech about veterans.

"Consistency has made her look much more matter of fact," Foxman adds.

Yet in an age of the overused term "style icon," Obama is one of the few modern women to deserve it. In the past four years she has adeptly walked - usually in kitten heels or ballet flats - the line between directional fashionista and everywoman.

She has a pretty deep tool box and she knows how to use it, says Kevan Hall, a Los Angeles-based designer. "Every designer wants to dress her," he says. (She has worn his label.)

"Just like any woman, she wants to look pretty, and I think she's having fun with it. It must be fun to be a girl with a big White House closet," Hall says, noting all the events, galas and speeches to dress up for.

She looks comfortable in clothes that can be a little edgy, and, Hall says, women find that inspiring.

Nick Verreos, fashion designer, "Project Runway" alum and instructor at Los Angeles' Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, was the host four years ago in Washington of the California State Society's luncheon celebrating inaugural fashion. "It has been a great journey watching her," he says.

He credits her with putting daytime dresses back on the map. After years of women favoring separates and jeans, Obama came along in her sheaths and A-lines. Then they were a trend on runways, malls and Main Streets.

"I know I always gravitate to the woman who's not the wallflower, and the first lady is no wallflower," Verreos says.

She also makes "conscious choices" about what she's going to wear, knowing that people will take note - and read into it, he says.

"Of course she thinks about it," agrees InStyle's Foxman, "but she isn't preoccupied by it. She thinks about it in the way that everyone else does."

He describes her as a working mom who has those favorite go-to pieces: the sleeveless dresses, cardigans, capri pants, chunky jewelry, flat shoes and waist-nipping belts.

It's nice to see that she often wears the same pieces, finding new ways to mix and match them, Hall says.

The moment she's probably the most relaxed in her style is coming on and off Air Force One. Maybe travel encourages those above-the-ankle pants and flowy tops? "You just know there's some stretch in those pants," says Hall.

If you look at her style over the past few years, not much has changed, he adds, but you can tell she's grown more comfortable in her own skin, in her wardrobe and in her role. Casual clothes, looser hair and more natural makeup show that off.

The fashion industry is looking forward to another term, giving another chance for her to wear a variety of designer names and brands and call attention to new designers.

"It's a big business in this country," Foxman says. "We're waiting to see who she can pluck for obscurity on the inaugural night like she did with Jason Wu four years ago."

Italian menswear shows open in gloom over economy and Missoni

Milan's menswear fashion week started on Saturday amid concerns over the economy and also the fate of Vittorio Missoni, one of Italy's best-known clothes executives, whose plane disappeared off Venezuela a week ago.

Italy's luxury goods industry is set to continue to outperform other sectors this year, according to analysts, helped by the appetite of Asian shoppers for the country's tailored suits and leather shoes.
But prospects for the economy remain as gloomy as the cloudy skies under which hundreds of fashion critics and buyers rushed on Saturday to watch the menswear proposals for next winter.

Orders for the Italian menswear collections that will arrive in stores around the world this summer have fallen 8 percent, Italy's textile and fashion body Sistema Moda Italia (SMI) said.

Over half of domestic menswear manufacturers polled by SMI said they saw no sign of improvement this year, while the remaining 44 percent said they were preparing for deterioration.

The fashion world is also awaiting news about Missoni, eldest son of one of Italy's most famous fashion families.

A small twin-engine aircraft carrying Missoni, 58, his wife Maurizia Castiglioni, another couple and two Venezuelan crew went missing on January 4 after taking off from the Caribbean island resort of Los Roques.
The Missoni fashion house, known for its exuberantly colored knits featuring bold stripes and zigzags, said it had decided to go ahead with its show in Milan, although the family is unlikely to attend.

Media reported on Saturday that the location where the plane disappeared may have been found, but it was not possible to get an immediate comment from Italy's foreign ministry.

The Italian fashion chamber called reporters to retweet family members' requests to find Missoni and the others aboard.

CHEAP AND CHIC
Designers showing in Milan will need all their imagination to attract male customers flocking to e-commerce websites and outlets for quality bargains.

Domestic sales of Italian tailored clothes, silk ties and leather shoes fell 4.7 percent in 2012 for a fifth consecutive year, according to Italian textile and fashion body Sistema Moda Italia (SMI).
Only outlets and online sales bucked the trend, with a jump of 41 percent in sales to final customers during the 2011/12 winter season, according to SMI.

Big luxury names such as Zegna, Prada (1913.HK) and Salvatore Ferragamo (SFER.MI) have boosted their digital ranges to entice younger customers who shop from smartphones.

"You have to ask yourself: 'Are our products suitable for selling on line?'" Hugo Boss (BOSSn.DE) Chief Financial Officer Mark Langer told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"Amazingly, we've sold a lot more suits than we thought we would online," Langer said.
Exports helped global sales of Italian menswear grow by 2 percent to 8.6 billion euros ($11.4 billion) in 2012 despite a sharp decline in domestic stores, SMI said.

Europe is still the biggest market for Italian menswear but sales fell 2.7 percent in France and up to 7 percent in Spain in the first nine months of 2012, SMI said.

The Milan show opens with menswear champion Ermenegildo Zegna, followed by Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and Versace.

Milan Menswear Fashion Week Highlights

MILAN Menswear Fashion Week starts tomorrow, following on from another highly successful London Collections: Men showcase this week.

Kicking off the proceedings is Jil Sander - who will surely deliver more of her minimal clean lines. Dolce & Gabbana is next on the agenda, a label that always brings Sicilian summer spirit to every collection. Burberry will follow this afternoon, and - while the British brand's front rows are known for their starry turn-outs - we can only assume that its latest campaign star, Romeo Beckham, will remain in London, following his famous parents' return to the capital. Italian heavyweight Versace will close the schedule this evening.

Bottega Veneta will have the fashion pack up bright and early on Sunday morning, with Trussardi, Iceberg and Salvatore Ferragamo following suit. We can expect more of Calvin Klein's elegant simplicity in the afternoon (and an after-party, featuring a performance by singer Ellie Goulding), deconstructed tailoring from Vivienne Westwood and trends that the menswear world will religiously adhere to from the ever-influential Prada. It was confirmed earlier this week that Missoni will go ahead with its late afternoon slot as planned, while the search for a plane carrying company boss Vittorio Missoni continues off the coast of Venezuela.

On Monday, Emporio Armani will take centre stage first, as Gucci prepares to unveil its latest offering that afternoon. A trio of Italian greats will be poised to show next, namely Etro, Fendi and Moschino.

The four-day-long event will end on Tuesday with DSquared2 (a show that always encapsulates the frivolity of dressing up), one of the stalwarts of gentlemanly style Giorgio Armani and finally, Diesel Black Gold.

Fast-Growing Online Fashion Retailer Missguided.co.uk Announces Record December 2012 and Annual Sales Growth, and Unveils Expansion Plans for 2013

Independent pure play online women’s fashion business Missguided.co.uk has announced record sales growth for both the month of December, closing at +25% on the month and +270% on 2011, and for the year as a whole, with a total annual sales increase of +260% on the previous year. Sales for the young brand, established in 2009, went from strength to strength throughout the year, benefiting from an average +20% month on month growth rate, with December marking its best month to date.

Known for its extensive, regularly updated trend-driven women’s clothing and accessories offering, distinctive editorial-feel web format imagery, intuitive site navigation and keen use of social media platforms, Missguided has rapidly cemented itself as a leader in fast fashion sector.

Committed to continuous innovation and providing a seamless customer experience, Missguided is set to continue on an upward trajectory for 2013 with an ever-evolving domestic website offering and international and mobile expansion plans in the pipeline to further grow the brand.

Nitin Passi, Founder and Chief Executive of Missguided comments; “Our results are testament to the success of a streamlined brand marketing and product development strategy for 2012. Given the broad economic climate and the competitive climate, the year could have been a tough one, but unwavering commitment to strengthening our product offering, through both our buying and new in-house design team and to developing the Missguided brand identity - be it on the site itself, social media platforms or through our talked-about creative campaigns - has driven sales to record highs. 2013 will see us further our ambitious intentions – in particular, expanding our presence internationally and developing our mobile offering, engaging a new and global audience.”

London Champions Digital for Men's Fashion Week

British fashion designers will begin revealing their autumn/winter 2013 men's collections in London on Monday.

Although the three-day series of events promise to be more modest in scope than the unveiling of the women's collections at London Fashion Week in February, the British Fashion Council and several independent houses are endeavoring to escalate consumer attention to the collections via a series of digital initiatives spanning the web, social media and out-of-home display.

Eleven designers will be live-streaming their shows, up from nine the year previous. Livestreams (the schedule for which can be found here) will work on personal computers, as well as tablets and smartphones. Show footage will also be posted to the BFC's dedicated microsite for the men's collections.

In an aim to streamline discussion about the shows on Twitter, the British Fashion Council has dubbed #LondonCollections the official hashtag for the week. The public is encouraged to pose questions to members of the Menswear Committee using hashtag #AskLCM on Twitter; answers will be delivered via the @BFC account.

UK residents are also encouraged to snap street-style photos of fashionable men and upload them to Twitter and Pinterest using the hashtag #ManAboutTown; the best will be made into a Pinterest board and Facebook album designed to illustrate the best of British men's style.

Launch Announcement: Home Fashion Forecast Magazine Launches New Fully Responsive, Device-Independent Website

Home Fashion Forecast magazine, published by Scranton Gillette Communications, launched www.HomeFashionForecast.com, its new fully responsive, device-independent website on December 27, 2012.

Designed for optimal viewing on any platform, the site boasts a large Hero Carousel, housing editorial teasers and billboard-sized client ads. Editorial content and imagery reflow and reshape to fit the individual viewing device.

Employing Drupal 7, the latest open-source content management and organization system, the web development team of MediaPress Studios, an affiliate of Scranton Gillette Communications, designed the site to showcase the vivid home fashion photography that is the hallmark of tabloid-sized Home Fashion Forecast magazine.

In addition to an issue archive, www.HomeFashionForecast.com hosts product and trend information with photo-driven Feature Galleries to inspire its audience of furnishings retailers and interior designers. Style-oriented news is presented in a front-and-center Flash section and industry Top Tastemakers are profiled . Social media links to Pinterest and Facebook keep users connected, while a live Twitter feed on the site allows up-to-the-minute feedback.

MediaPress Studios specializes in building new or updating existing websites for clients, incorporating custom coding, e-commerce, search engine optimization, content strategy, and onsite or remote training for clients' staff members.

For more information about Home Fashion Forecast, contact Publisher/Editorial Director Laura Van Zeyl at Lvanzeyl@sgcmail.com. Contact webmaster@sgcmail.com for more information about MediaPress Studios.

Scranton Gillette Communications is a 106-year-old privately owned business-to-business media company. Combined, SGC/SGC Horizon own the print, digital, web and event assets of Home Fashion Forecast, Residential Lighting, Water & Wastes Digest, Water Quality Products, Storm Water Solutions, Imaging Technology News, Diagnostic & Interventional Cardiology, Construction Equipment, Professional Remodeler, Professional Builder, Building Design+Construction, Roads & Bridges, The Diapason, Greenhouse Product News, Lawn & Garden Retailer and Custom Builder.

The preceding is an American Business Media Editorial Exclusive issued via Marketwire. Neither the ABM nor Marketwire are responsible for the content of the preceding document.

Founded in 1906, American Business Media is the association of business information providers, delivering business intelligence to industry professionals worldwide, including Madison Avenue, Wall Street and the Beltway. Its 300 plus member companies reach an audience of more than 100 million professionals and represent nearly 6,000 print and online titles and over 1,000 trade shows, with well over $26 billion in annual revenues.