Fashion News - 01-25-2006

...New York

The Prada flagship store located in Soho was gutted by fire. American Eagel Outfiiters situated in the same building at 575 Broadway was also forced to close due to extensive smoke and water damage.

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and Interview Magazine who both had offices upstairs were affected. Prada is racing to reopen the Rem Koolhaas-designed space which it hopes to do in a week or two.

<<Prada Spring/Summer 2006 Collection during Milan Fashion Week. Photo: Randy Brooke

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New York Fall/Winter 2004 Trends

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...New York
	While the Tommy Hilfiger Brand was bleeding money and losing market share for years, Tommy always seems to be doing alright. The terms of his new pay package were recently released. Hilfiger is personally guaranteed an annual salary of $14.5 million for the first four years of his contract with Apax Partners who recently bought Tommy Hilfiger Inc. That is actually down from his previous contract that guaranteed him 20 million a year.

...Toronto

These shoes are made for walking. A rare pair of lavishly decorated 19th century slippers valued at more than $160,000 was stolen from the Bata Shoe Museum in broad daylight.

Embroidered in gold and encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds they once belonged to an Indian Prince. The shoes were removed from a display case during visiting hours. Police suspect it was an inside job because the glass cabinet required special tools to open. The gems have very little street value since they are uncut and not of very good quality.

...Melbourne
	Fashion and world class tennis do not seem to mix very well at the Australian Open. Last year Serena Williams was criticized for wearing a lime green court outfit and spaceboots at the Australian Open and denim at the US Open. Now William's arch rival Maria Sharapova is catching flak for showing up in a powder-blue empire line mini-dress which is being compared to lingerie and even maternity wear.

...Los Angeles

Indian actress Sheetal Sheth who finally made it big in Hollywood in Albert Brooks' Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World has learned that to Americans size matters.

She recently told an interviewer that every agent she spoke to told her she needed a boob job. Sheth expected some culture shock after relocating to the United States but not such fixating on her breasts. "I went to Los Angeles and they told me to get boobs. About five different times they have suggested I get breast implants.”

However she insists that Hollywood will have to take her the way she is. She said that she is happy with her body and has no desire to change anything.

...New York

Ironically some Morgan Stanley male employees who were fired for demonstrating poor discretion by visiting a Gent 's Club may turnout to be the victims of the company's own bad judgment instead.

The financial services company is supersensitive to the issue. In 2004 it settled a $54 million gender discrimination case and gave sensitivity training to staffers and forbade them from participating in male-only activities.

However the clubs are no longer a bastion for bad off hour male behavior. Kate Moss and Lindsay Lohan recently took to the stage in a strip club and performed a poll dance for their friends.Lisa Ling was among 20 or so women who recently celebrated a friend's birthday with lap dances at another strip club. The clubs have dramatically changed. They are no longer exclusively for men. Sounds like a good lawyer could put together a nice little wrongful dismissal case.

...Paris
			Avril Lavigne seems set on making the transition from punk to high fashion. She made her couture début at the Chanel show dressed from head to toe in the label with a shiny lambskin purse from the Luxury by Chanel collection. The singer even met with the man himself Karl Lagerfeld. She was shown around Paris by Katie Ford of Ford Models Agency after signing an exclusive modeling contract. Lavigne also appeared in a glamour pose on the cover of February's Harper's Bazaar showing off her new make over.