Dolce and Gabbana Sentenced

BY IMRAN AMED, EDITOR FRIDAY, 21 JUNE, 2013

Source: Dolce and Gabbana

LONDON, United Kingdom — The fashion world took notice this week as Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were sentenced to 20 months in prison and received an initial fine of €500,000 (about $660,000 at current exchange rates), following a verdict issued by a Milan court that found the famed Italian design duo guilty of tax evasion in the sale of the Dolce & Gabbana stable of brands to Luxembourg-based Gado Srl in 2004. The designers were acquitted on a second charge.
In response to the decision, the designers’ lawyers issued a detailed (though at times hard to decipher) statement expressing a mix of satisfaction and astonishment, vowing to appeal the decision in the Corte di Cassazione, Italy’s highest court. Indeed, it seems this legal saga is far from over.
Meanwhile, in Istanbul, the streets have been filled with people from all strata of society protesting the authoritarian tendencies of the Erdogan government, which has deployed police armed with water cannons and tear gas to counter the demonstrations and threatened to use “all its powers,” including the armed forces if necessary, to “establish peace.” We managed to speak with Ece Sükan, a well-known street-style star, former editor-at-large for Turkish Vogue, and friend of BoF, who is participating in the ‘OccupyGezi’ resistance movement and examined the ground-level realities and future prospects of the luxury market in this fast-growing nation which bridges East and West and has, in recent years, shown signifiant economic momentum.
We also got to know two very talented creatives from the broader BoF community this week. Lynn Yaeger, an inimitable writer and journalist, shared her amazing story with us in an honest and forthright account of her impressive career and the joy she still derives from being part of the fashion industry. And across the pond, we sat down with Robbie Spencer, the rising styling star and newly appointed fashion director of Dazed & Confused.
Over in New York, while many have covered the crop of fast-rising East Asian American designers making their mark on the American fashion scene, much-less discussed, but equally interesting are a group of American designers of South Asian origins — Naeem Khan, Bibhu Mohapatra, Prabal Gurung and Sachin + Babi — who have leveraged their ties at home to deliver contemporary fashions which fuse their Western design sensibilities with Indian craftsmanship and handwork.
And, down under in Australia, we shone the BoF Spotlight on From Britten P/L, whose sharp menswear silhouettes caught my eye on my most recent trip to Sydney.
Speaking of eye-catching, earlier this week I sat down with Charlotte Tilbury, Chris Levine and Malcolm Edwards to talk about a striking lenticular portrait of Kate Moss, the result of a great coming together of talent from the worlds of fashion, beauty and art. You can watch the video here.
In other news, Dior announced it’s plans to sponsor the fall gala at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, 032c appointed Mel Ottenberg as fashion director, Paris-based RAD announced a Series A round of €2.5m, Bloomberg reported that Moncler was assembling a team of investment bankers to pursue a long-mooted IPO, French couturier Jean-Louis Scherrer died at the age of 78 and Valextra revealed its plans for an initial public listing as the culmination of a new five to 10 year strategy.
And that’s another around-the-world look at this week’s news in the business of fashion. More from us, including reports from the men’s shows in Milan, next week.
Happy weekend everyone.

Imran Amed
Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Winter Coat and Clothing Inspriations from NYC Students!

Six Need-to-Know Tips Before Booking Your First Cruise

By Anonymous...

The good news: You’ve decided on a cruise line, a destination and maybe even the ship and a sailing date for your first cruise. The bad news: It’s hard not to wander into the booking process and encounter unexpected questions and alien terminology.

Here’s how to make the process go more smoothly.

#1

A travel agent can be a great ally
Although you can book a cruise direct with any cruise line, travel agents are paid a commission by cruise lines and have access to pretty much all the same deals that you do. In other words, if you have your heart set on a specific ship or itinerary, let a travel agent do the legwork to locate the best price. And when you don’t know the exact cruise you want, a good travel agent will work to match you with the right cruise line and vessel and source the best price. Our experiences with travel agents have not always been perfect—find one that specializes in cruises and has performed lots of ship inspections, get all promises in writing and, when you find a good agent, reward them with your future business.

#2

Never pay full price and watch for onboard credits
With rare exception, virtually every cabin on every ship sells for less—often considerably less—than the “brochure” rate. The brochure price is the published fare for a cruise, a price that’s usually set more than a year in advance. But as soon as cruise fares are announced, the special offers start to materialize, starting with early booking discounts. These can be a good deal, but for most cruises additional sales will lower the rate even further. If a cruise isn’t selling well, the price will drop dramatically in the last few weeks before departure. Conversely, when the cruise is nearly sold out, deals will evaporate. Note that discounts are often less pronounced for unique itineraries that aren’t repeated throughout the year. But those who can travel on less than a month’s notice and are flexible with travel dates can often find discounts off brochure rates of 70 to 80 percent, even on luxury cruise lines.

Onboard credits are a neat incentive, in effect a rebate on your cruise fare that comes in the form of a credit to your cabin account. The credits can be as little as $25 or $50, or they can amount to hundreds of dollars, especially for cruises longer than a week or for more expensive cabins. Unless you’re booked on an all-inclusive luxury cruise, don’t worry—you’ll spend it. Tips run $11-$12 per day, per person, and most cruise lines even charge for sodas. Always get onboard credits in writing and check your onboard account soon after embarkation—we find credits are often not properly communicated to the cruise line in advance of sailing.

#3

Know what’s included
This is where things get tricky. While cruises used to be a fairly inclusive product, in recent years cruise lines figured out that one way to increase overall revenue was to lower the upfront price of a cabin, but charge for many of the extras we used to take for granted. When comparing the major cruise lines, the list of inclusions varies. Most charge for sodas, but Disney Cruise Line doesn’t. Celebrity charges for pay-per-view movies on your TV, but Holland America has an extensive DVD library on each ship, delivered gratis to your room. All of them include meals at the main dining room and grazing at the buffet, but they charge for specialty dining—experiences that can range from $5 to $95. And don’t forget to check airfares before locking in a booking. A great deal on a swanky Mediterranean cruise during peak season isn’t necessarily hard to find, but Europe’s summer airfares may give you heart palpitations.

#4

Understand the cabin types
There are four basic types of cabins on almost every ship. Cheapest will be theinterior or inside cabins—that is, a windowless room with no view. While we haven’t met anyone who actually prefers an interior cabin, the savings can be significant. Often identical in size and features to an interior, ocean view or outside cabins will be found along the exterior of the ship, most frequently on lower decks. The views can vary considerably—from round portholes barely one-foot-wide to floor-to-ceiling windows allowing ample natural light. Note also that ocean views can be obstructed by lifeboats or railings; these should always be identified as such on cruise booking websites.

Next up are balcony or verandah cabins and, again, the size of this feature can vary—from Juliet-style, big enough only for one or two people to stand on, or spacious enough to set up dinner at a table with two chairs. Cabins with balconies usually command a premium—sometimes double the price of an ocean view cabin. Before plunking down on a big fare, think carefully about how many hours you expect to be out on the balcony, gazing at that sea view. The fourth category is, of course, suites,and in size and amenities these vary greatly from one cruise line to the next. Considering the expense, suites are one more reason to work with a well-versed travel agent who can walk you through cabin layouts and amenities.

Note that within each type of cabin are sub-categories. So, the cheapest ocean view will probably be an obstructed view or one with a small porthole view, while a few dollars more will buy a better view. A few dollars more will put you in an ocean view cabin towards the middle of the ship, the location preferred by most cruisers.

#5

Consider a guarantee
During the booking process you will choose your cabin from within the category you have booked. While there are reasons for choosing one room over another, there is often another option to consider, a guarantee—one of our favorite ways to save. In this instance, most commonly availed to those booking in the final months before sailing, by choosing a guarantee cabin, cruisers put the cabin choice in the hands of the cruise line. In exchange, the cruise line offers a lower rate than the lowest for that cabin type. So, the cheapest ocean view cabin for a given cruise might be priced $1099 per person, for an assigned cabin, but those choosing a guarantee ocean view will pay $999. The downside is that you could wind up with the worst cabin in that category—a slightly smaller room or obstructed view, or an unfavorable location, but it’s possibly the same one you might have paid $1099 for anyway. The upside—in addition to the savings—is you might be upgraded to a better cabin.

When do you find out your assigned cabin? We’ve usually gotten our cabin number a few weeks before sailing, though once we didn’t find out till we arrived for embarkation. And the results have panned out both ways: We’ve chosen a guarantee and wound up in a less desirable cabin, and on other occasions we’ve been upgraded to a better cabin than our budget could afford (from an ocean view to a balcony on one luxury cruise). But we’ve never been downgraded to a lower cabin type (i.e., from an ocean view to an interior), so when the savings are good, we usually take the risk.

#6

Know Your Dining Options
In addition to table size, there are usually two basic dinner choices that you will be presented during the booking process on most of the mainstream lines: One of two set dining times in the main dining room—usually around 6 and 8 p.m.—or an open seating option, whereby you can have dinner in the main dining room any time from about 5:30 to 9 p.m. Once you lock in your choice for a set dining time or the open plan, it is not always possible to switch it after embarkation, so give this step of the booking process careful consideration.

While the open seating option (which goes by different names for each line) would seem to be the easiest pick, allowing the greatest flexibility, there are downsides. At prime time (around 7 p.m. for most cruises) there may be a wait for a table, especially for parties larger than four. You will be seated in a different location nightly and, unless you request a private table—not always available—you’ll be dining with different guests nightly. If you opt for the traditional set meal times you’ll be assigned the same table and waiters each evening and break bread with the same fellow cruisers nightly.

Whichever option you choose, this impacts only your dinners in the main dining room. For breakfasts and lunches here you will be seated at the first available table—usually without a wait. And you’ll be able to dine anytime at the ship’s buffet (at no charge) or specialty dining venues (with a surcharge and, usually, a reservation).

Deck 5

Marquee Suite

Penthouse Suite

zfashionista on Lyst - Rainy season in the East Coast Coat!

zfashionista on Lyst

Best Street Style 2012 – Miranda Kerr

Miranda Kerr makes the world her runway. The sidewalks of New York City and her hometown of Sydney are no match for this Australian supermodel (and supermom), who has incredible street style.
She boasts the uncanny ability to look effortlessly chic and oh-so-sophisticated—even when she’s balancing her son, Flynn, on her hip.
When she’s not strutting down the Victoria’s Secret catwalk or posing for her next big fashion campaign (she’s the new face of Mango for Spring 2013), Miranda is still camera-ready with her trendsetting staples.
She does uptown glam—think pencil skirts, structured frocks and diaphanous blouses—as easily as downtown cool, showing off her long, lean pins in Current/Elliott skinny jeans, leather leggings and chic shorts.
And she’s not afraid to rock a good animal print or exploded floral pattern, or a pair of oversized, python-embossed Linda Farrow shades.
Alexander Wang, Equipment, Isabel Marant, Maison Martin Margiela and Victoria Beckham all occupy places of supreme importance in Miranda’s personal closet; so do Manolo Blahniks, Prada loafers and Marant’s ankle booties.
Plus, when this stunning star isn’t carrying her favorite Givenchy “Antigona” tote (or her adorable Yorkshire terrier, Frankie) while she’s out and about, she has another handsome accessory to tout—hubby Orlando Bloom.

Credit: PacificCoastNews & FameFlynet

Bottega Veneta: The Simple Life (Fashions)

See more & read article:
http://fashionista.com/2012/12/bottega-veneta-pre-fall-2013-the-simple-life/
Regards,
"TopHatModel"

What does a photographer think about style?

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