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Cherokee clothing manufacturer, a leading licensor and global brand management company, announced today that it has signed an exclusive brand representation agreement with award-winning fashion designer David Rodriguez. Extraordinary style, focus and work ethic defines designer David Rodriguez, who is emerging as one of America's brightest stars in the fashion world. Rodriguez has received well-deserved recognition from the fashion industry, winning major awards and nominations, including: the Moet and Chandon Designer Debut award, the MODA award for Hispanic Designer of the Year, the Gold Coast Award, the Fashion Group International Rising Star Award, and the Smithsonian Latino Center Legacy Award. Combining his unique use of fine fabrics and styling to complement feminine curves, David Rodriguez has become a favorite among Hollywood celebrities, who rely upon his designs to make a major impact at red carpet events. "We chose to collaborate with Cherokee based on the successful partnerships they've engineered with leading designers and premier retailers in the United States, including TJX Co., Target and Wal-Mart," said Brandon Houchins, President, J.C. SOHO, LLC.
2008-06-02 17:11:00

Women's apparel and fashion industry designer Vera Wang, well aware of the pressures a sluggish economy has put on the world of fashion, said she remains optimistic the industry has the allure needed to get through tough times. "Fashion is an expendable commodity, but it also brings such joy and fantasy and fun to women's lives," the designer of the New York-based and closely held company bearing her name said in an interview. "For that reason, fashion will prevail ultimately." Watch interview with Vera Wang. Wang may know better. Since opening a bridal salon at the Carlyle Hotel on New York's Madison Avenue in 1990 and weathering past rounds of economic downturns, she has expanded her fashion business from designing gowns for brides to a full ensemble of ready-to-wear clothing, fragrance and home furnishing products. Wang's name, through exclusive partnerships, also accompanied flowers, a luxury hotel suite in Hawaii and an apparel collection at mid-priced retailer Kohl's Corp. One of her next moves: Open more stores. "This plan was made about two years ago," the designer said, without giving more details. "There's no question that many people in fashion have felt the repercussions of the recession. I'm fairly thorough about looking at the sell- through. I feel fairly optimistic that by the time they get done, hopefully the economy will be on the rebound." While the declining housing and credit markets and soaring gasoline prices and food costs have hurt consumer confidence, cutting into their discretionary spending, many retailers said the right fashions and products that give shoppers excitement still sell. Luxury retailer Nordstrom Inc., which sells items such as Vera Wang fragrance and sleepwear set, said Thursday its designer products across all categories, intimate apparel and cosmetics were performing well even as it reported a 24% drop in first-quarter profit and lowered its outlook for the year, citing uncertainty in consumer spending. Saks Inc., also a Vera Wang customer carrying her merchandise such as a $850 strapless gown, said earlier this month that women's designer apparel was among its strongest categories. Kohl's, which also reported a quarterly profit drop and trimmed its outlook for the year, said Thursday it expects its Simply Vera Vera Wang collection, including T-shirts and shower curtains and launched last year, will continue to be in demand along with some of its other exclusive products. "They would probably feel we've performed very well," Wang said, adding she wasn't at liberty to give details about that business.
2008-06-02 17:07:44

Khadi, jute, bamboo, straw. These eco-friendly fibers are guaranteed to strike terror in the heart of any fashion expert, irrespective of how politically brave a face she puts on. And all this recent talk of eco-friendly fashion is not helping any. Until now. A brave, intrepid lot of designers have taken it upon themselves to do their clothes — achkans to hot pants — without offending nature. The definition of what makes a collection friendly to nature varies from designer to retailer and every other agent in between. “My collection is inspired by nature”. That line is no longer working and designers are being forced to confront other words — organic, bio-degradable, vegetable dyes. “An eco-friendly fabric is quite simply defined as one where the fiber is bio-degradable,” explains designer Deepika Govind, who has been regularly showcasing collections made of natural material. “Cotton is a natural fabric, but normally cotton is grown with the use of a number of pesticides. In the case of eco-friendly fabrics, no harmful chemicals or pesticides have been used in the growth or manufacturing process. Further, you have the usage of eco-friendly dyes, such as vegetable dyes, etc.” For designer Payal Jain, “the entire process of weaving, printing and dyeing and embellishing the garment must be environment friendly”. So the yarn used to weave the fabric must not have any synthetic dyes or animal products added, while the looms must not waste yarn, but rather reuse and recycle them, she says. “The dyes used must be made from natural and organic elements with no acidic and synthetic additions. The colors used for printing should be natural and the printing techniques be as environment friendly as possible.” She even stresses that the working conditions of a factory where the stitching or embroidery is done must be of a certain standard and the recycling of wastes, generated from production, a must. This is a process which Companies like Birla Cellulose are eager to promote with the introduction of new technologies. “We want to promote the existing environment friendly, nature based fibers which are comparable to the best in the world,” says Manohar Samuel, Senior Vice President, Birla Cellulose. “Our effort is to make the entire process of going from fiber to fashion eco-friendly,” he explains. The company, to promote the cause of eco-fashion, aligned with nine new generation designers at the recently concluded Wills India Fashion Week. “The whole procedure has to be non-metallic, non-toxic and definitely bio-degradable, underlines designer Charu Parashar, one of the designers who worked with Birla Cellulose. There are a lot of steps involved in getting to the fabric, she explains. To begin, specially designed ‘hybrids of wood’ are grown, which are transformed into ‘wood pulp’ and further to ‘pulp sheets’. Then it is treated with alkaline solution, which transforms it into a powder form called ‘Alk Cell’. Then it is treated with Carbon disulphide (CS2) by which the pulp is transformed into ‘cellulose’ or liquid form. This, treated with alkaline, makes it ‘viscose’ which under high pressure transforms to filament. This can be transformed to fiber, yarn and finally fabric, where the designer steps in.
2008-06-02 17:03:34