Archives for: November 2009Monday Nov 16, 2009
New Books
Robert Hillestad uses the metaphor of journey to trace the evolution of his illustrious career as a textiles artist and design educator. His autobiographical essay provides insights into the origins of his fascination with textiles during early childhood and then recounts the critical steps in the evolution of his artistry and career through formal academic programs, various positions in business and industry, and a year-long study of fashion design in the haute couture of Paris, then focuses on his long and distinguished career as a design educator at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In addition to his narrative, the ninety-six-page monograph designed by Dika Eckersley features essays by Jo Ann C. Stabb and Beverly Gordon, scholars in the field of costume and textiles; a poem by Mary Logue; and lavish photography by John Nollendorfs, Roger Bruhn, John Spence, and Richard Hay. Robert Hillestad: A Textiles Journey is published by the Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery, a not-for-profit organization that supports the gallery named in Hillestad’s honor. By capturing the essence of Hillestad’s artistic footprint, the book prompts readers to embark on their own fantastical journey through his kinetic, multilayered, and highly regarded art. Although images of his artwork and references to his life and career appear in numerous publications in both print and electronic media, this is the first comprehensive publication focusing solely on Hillestad’s background and artwork.
-Amazon.com
This is a basic guide to color theory and practice. It simply but comprehensively explains its vocabulary and terminology, opaque and transparent colors, and subtractive color mixing. It also provides temperature, tonal, and complementary color charts. There are also charts giving gouache, acrylic, oil, watercolor, and textile dye equivalents.
-Amazon.com
Label-free biosensors are devices that use biological or chemical receptors to detect analytes (molecules) in a sample. They give detailed information on the selectivity, affinity, and, in many cases, also the binding kinetics and thermodynamics of an interaction. Although they can be powerful tools in the hands of a skilled user, there is often a lack of knowledge of the best methods for using label-free assays to screen for biologically active molecules and accurately and precisely characterize molecular recognition events. This book reviews both established and newer label-free techniques and is intended to give both the expert user and the general reader interested in the technologies and applications behind label-free an insight into the field from expert opinion leaders and practitioners of the technologies. Most importantly, chapters contain worked examples from leaders in the field that take the reader through the basics of experimental design, setup, assay development, and data analysis.
-Amazon.com
The IUPAC system of polymer nomenclature has aided the generation of unambiguous names that reflect the historical development of chemistry. However, the explosion in the circulation of information and the globalization of human activities mean that it is now necessary to have a common language for use in legal situations, patents, export-import regulations, and environmental health and safety information. Rather than recommending a 'unique name' for each structure, rules have been developed for assigning 'preferred IUPAC names', while continuing to allow alternatives in order to preserve the diversity and adaptability of nomenclature. This new edition of the "Purple Book" is one of a series of books issued by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. It collects into a single volume the most important position papers on the nomenclature and terminology of several types of polymers, such as Regular Single-Strand Organic Polymers, Regular Double-Strand (Ladder and Spiro) Organic Polymers, and Irregular Single-Strand Organic Polymers. The scope has been extended to include papers on terminology for polymers. It is a handy compendium for scientists and is invaluable for those professionals working in this field.
-Amazon.com
This book focuses on the polyolefin additives that are currently important in the plastics industry, alongside new additives of increasing interest, such as nanofillers and environmentally sustainable materials. As much as possible, each chapter emphasizes the performance of the additives in the polymer, and the value each relevant additive brings to polypropylene or polyethylene. Where possible, similar additives are compared by capability and relative cost.
With major sections for each additive function, this book provides a highly practical guide for engineers and scientists creating and using polyolefin compounds, who will find in this book a wealth of detail and practical guidance. This unique resource will enable them to make practical decisions about the use of the various additives, fillers, and reinforcements specific to this family of materials.
-Amazon.com
A record number of U.S. companies beat earnings expectations in the third quarter, but a big portion of their profits came from cost-cutting, disappointing investors who were hoping for boosts in revenue. According to Goldman Sachs, 32% of the companies in the S&P 500, excluding financials and utilities, beat revenue estimates by a significant margin in the third quarter, below the long-term average of 40%.
Bags disappeared moments after appearing on store shelves, and years-long waiting lists popped up for handbags that generally list for thousands of euros. Since the downturn, it has been easier to find some Birkins and Kellys at stores, but waiting lists remain for particular colors or skins.
Friday Nov 13, 2009
Beth Dincuff Charleston, a professor and fashion historian at Parsons, the New School for Design in New York, likens the harem's return to the unlikely resurgence of other odd fashion trends, such as the feathered mullet hairdo, thick nerd glasses and trucker hats. Vogue's fashion editor Virginia Smith thought the styles were more suited to the runway than reality when she first saw them at some designers' spring 2008 fashion shows.
The pressure of rising unemployment and shoppers' fiscal restraint was a theme echoed by Wal-Mart Chief Executive Michael Duke, who said in a statement: "The economy remains challenging for customers and Wal-Mart sales, but we are encouraged by increased traffic and our market share gains."
Thursday Nov 12, 2009
The Cincinnati-based retailer, the first of several big department-store chains to report earnings this week, posted a third-quarter loss of $35 million on a 3.9% sales drop.
Wednesday Nov 11, 2009
Mr. Swoboda called the deal an "initial roll-out," but he declined to say whether Wal-Mart has expressed interest in buying more LED lights, otherwise known as solid-state lighting.
Tuesday Nov 10, 2009
Bain & Co, the consulting firm, said in a recent report that it expects sales of high-end clothing, accessories, tableware, cosmetics and jewelry will drop by 10% in Japan this year.
Monday Nov 9, 2009
New Books
Cotton textiles were the first good to achieve a truly global reach. For many centuries muslins and calicoes from the Indian subcontinent were demanded in the trading worlds of the Indian Ocean and the eastern Mediterranean. After 1500, new circuits of exchange were developed. Of these, the early-modern European craze for Indian calicoes and the huge nineteenth-century export trade in Lancashire goods, and subsequent deindustrialization of the Indian subcontinent, are merely thebest known. These episodes, although of great importance, far from exhaust the story of cotton. They are well known because of the enormous research energy that has been devoted to them, but other important elements of cotton's long history are deserving of similar attention. The purpose of this collection of essays is to examine the history of cotton textiles at a global level over the period 1200-1850. This volume provides new answers to two questions: what is it about cotton that made it the paradigmatic first global commodity? And second, why did cotton industries in different parts of the world follow different paths of development? Included in this second question is, of course, the problem of the so-called 'great divergence' that suggests that Europe and Asia followed a common path of economic development until the end of the eighteenth century. Cotton textiles have been central in explaining the nature, timing and effects of a 'divergence' in the nineteenth. A volume of this sort is timely for many reasons, not least of which is the growing interest in global history. Textiles remain one of the most important manufactured commodities in debates about economic, social and cultural change across the globe. By adopting a long historical view and a broad geographical viewpoint, this book wishes to avoid a Eurocentric perspective that has long dominated debates over the birth and rise of the cotton textiles industry in Europe.Empirically this book brings together, and adds to, the current state of knowledge on a number of questions related to the history of cotton textiles. The outlines of the cotton industry in medieval and early modern times, whether in southern Europe, central Africa, west Asia or the Indian subcontinent, are known only in the sketchiest of terms. The relationship between cotton textiles and those made from other fibres such as wool, linen, and silk is poorly understood. And there has been awoeful neglect of the cloth made from the great mixtures of cotton and linen, cotton and wool, and cotton and silk, which were mainstays of textile manufacturing from Europe to Bengal. And the long history of commerce and connections between the producers and consumers of cotton textiles in Asia, Africa,the Americas and Europe remains under-researched. As a consequence, even the Indian trade in cotton textiles and the rise of the Lancashire cotton industry are not fully understood within their larger temporal and regional and global contexts. The volume draws upon papers that were presented at a conference on " held in Padua, Italy, in November 2005 and a workshop on " held at the Fondation des Treilles, France, in March 2006. Both meetings were sponsored and organised by the Global Economic History Network of the London School of Economics and were held in preparationfor Session 59 on " for the XIV International Economic History Association Congress held in Helsinki in late August 2006.Essays included in the volume are authored by 19 scholars from eight different nations, all of whom are specialists in the study of textiles. They are drawn from a range of sub-disciplines within history and bring together their areas and periods of specialization to provide a global history. Therefore, the volume covers a wide variety of approaches to the study of history
-Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
This book deals with the new and now-expanding field of friction, wear, and other surface-related mechanical phenomena for polymers. Polymers have been used in various forms such as bulk, films, and composites in applications where their friction, wear resistance, and other surface-related properties have been effectively utilized. There are also many examples in which polymers have performed extremely well, such as in tyres, shoes, brakes, gears, bearings, small moving parts in electronics and MEMS, cosmetics/hair products, and artificial human joints. Around the world, much research is currently being undertaken to develop new polymers, in different forms, for further enhancing tribological performance and for finding novel applications. Keeping in view the importance of tribology of polymers for research and technology as well as the vast literature that is now available in research papers and review articles, this timely book brings together a wealth of research data for an understanding of the basic principles of the subject.
-Amazon.com
"Images left behind are in the end stronger than truth and facts. Through Douglas Kirkland's images we can imagine what the famous Coco had been all about before she became the formidable Chanel," muses Karl Lagerfeld in Mademoiselle, a selection of photographs of Chanel taken by Douglas Kirkland in 1962 on assignment in Paris for the American magazine Look. Lagerfeld is the designer currently at the helm of the Parisian fashion house, made iconic by designer Coco Chanel during her long reign, from 1909-1971--and the designer of this handsome edition as well. Through his introduction and captions to these photographs, we understand how important Chanel's image has been to the success of the century-old French couture line. Kirkland, a Los Angeles-based photographer famous for his portrayals of Chanel and Marilyn Monroe, gives us a glimpse of the sympathetic character beneath the hard-working fashion doyenne's ever-impeccable exterior, with his elegant shots of Mademoiselle leaving her suite at the Ritz Hotel, in her apartment and studio at 31 rue Cambon and watching a runway show from the apartment's famous mirrored staircase.
-Amazon.com
One of the most exciting fashion designers in the United States, Cuban-born Isabel Toledo has been honored with a National Design Award from the Cooper- Hewitt Museum and a Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion, given by The Museum at FIT. Yet her name and work are recognized only by fashion insiders. This ravishing book brings Toledo’s creations to a wider audience, places them within the context of contemporary fashion, and examines her creative process.
Interviewing Toledo, her husband (fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo), and other colleagues, clients, and critics, Valerie Steele gives an account of Toledo’s career and explains that while she has been heralded by leading fashion magazines and featured in stores in New York and Europe, she has not had the long-term financial backing to break out of the niche market. Patricia Mears investigates the artistic and cultural influences on Toledo’s work and analyzes her unusual methods of construction, noting that she designs in three dimensions in her mind and then begins working directly with fabric. Displaying garments Toledo has created since her first show in 1985, this book is a revelatory exploration of a fashion innovator in a mass-market industry.
-Amazon.com
No matter how talented you are as a designer, if you are going to run a successful fashion label you also need to know about business—from marketing and PR to manufacturing your collection, and where to find the money to finance it all.
In How to Set Up and Run a Fashion Label, Toby Meadows presents a no-nonsense guide to running your own business, whether it is within the clothing, accessories or footwear sectors. Packed with tips, case studies, and tasks to help you analyze yourself, your market and your product, the book is designed for anyone wanting to start their own fashion business.
-Amazon.com
Operations Management provides readers with a comprehensive framework for addressing operational process and supply chain issues. This text uses a systemized approach while focusing on issues of current interest.
-Amazon.com
Today's managers are increasingly expected to successfully oversee and understand information systems -- even when it is an area in which they have had little formal training or expertise. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR MANAGERS is targeted at these future managers who are expected to understand the business implications of information technology. Real world examples show future managers how information technology can be applied to improve their organization. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR MANAGERS provides a framework for managers to understand their important role vis-a-vis information technology and it emphasizes the importance of working effectively with all members of the organization to achieve results.
-Amazon.com
A new edition of a classic title, updated and expanded. With close to 1,000 different fashion details, plus additional advice on drawing fashion figures, this is the ultimate resource for designers, artists, and anyone interested in style. Now bigger and better than ever, it covers everything from belts and bows to hemlines and necklines to sleeves, tucks, and waistbands. The details span the entire 20th century up through today, with extra feature illustrations of outfits from key periods—including 1920s flapper dresses and bell-bottoms from the ’60s.
-Amazon.com
This book provides an introduction to the structural ceramics, their processing and properties. Five important groups of materials, porcelain, alumina, silicon carbide, silicon nitride and zirconia, are presented as case studies. Historical developments, the properties of constituent components, and relationships between production methods, resulting microstructures, and materials properties, are explained. The structural ceramics have many commercial applications, ranging from high voltage insulation and hot-gas filtration, to metal machining tools and surgical implants. These applications depend on combinations of chemical, physical and mechanical properties, which include structural stability over wide temperature ranges, strength, hardness, and resistance to wear. Over 200 diagrams and photographs provide visual aids to learning, and end of chapter summaries pull together key points. With numerous review questions to test understanding of the topics covered, and extensive referencing, this book is ideal for those studying materials science and engineering, or starting research in the structural ceramics area.
-Amazon.com
Brings together, analyzes, and contextualizes the latest findings and practical applications
Polyphosphazenes, an emerging class of polymers, include macromolecules, which have been proven to be biocompatible, biodegradable, and bioactive. Their unprecedented structural diversity and unique properties make them suitable as vaccine adjuvants, microencapsulating agents, biodegradable materials, scaffolds for tissue engineering, biocompatible coatings, and carriers for gene delivery.
Polyphosphazenes for Biomedical Applications offers a thorough review of polyphosphazene research findings in the life sciences, chemistry, and chemical engineering. It emphasizes biomedical applications as well as recent advances in polyphosphazene development such as high-throughput discovery and the latest controlled methods of synthesis. The book brings together, analyzes, and contextualizes a wealth of knowledge that previously could only be found scattered throughout the scientific literature.
Following two introductory chapters, the book reviews:
*
Vaccine delivery and immunomodulation
*
Biomaterials
*
Drug delivery systems
*
Biodetection
*
Well-defined polyphosphazenes: synthetic aspects and novel molecular architectures
All the chapters have been written by leading researchers in the field. Editor Alexander Andrianov, who has led the effort to commercialize polyphosphazenes for biomedical applications, has carefully reviewed and edited all chapters to ensure readability, accuracy, and thoroughness.
Polyphosphazenes for Biomedical Applications is not only intended for researchers working in polyphosphazene chemistry, but also for all researchers seeking solutions to problems arising in the areas of biomaterials, drug delivery systems, and controlled release formulations.
-Amazon.com
Covering in-depth structural investigations of polymeric micro- and nanocomposites as well as molecular modeling using different approaches and techniques, this volume's 15 chapters are presented by Karger- Kocsis (polymer engineering, Budapest U. of Technology and Economics, Hungary) and Fakirov (mechanical engineering, U. of Auckland, New Zealand) with the intention of demonstrating that a multiscale approach is the right means for understanding the structure-property relationships of these materials. Topics include nano- and micromechanics of crystalline polymers; modeling mechanical properties of segmented polyurethanes; fabrication and mechanical properties of nanoparticles and polymer composites; new developments in rubber nanocomposites; manufacturing, modeling, and applications of organoclay, particulate, and nanofibril reinforced polymer-polymer composites; viscoelasticity of amorphous polymer nanocomposites with individual nanoparticles; interphase phenomena in polymer micro- and nanocomposites; deformation behavior of nanocomposites studies by x-ray scattering; creep and fatigue behavior of polymer nanocomposites; deformation mechanisms of functionalized carbon nanotube reinforced polymer nanocomposites; fracture properties and mechanisms of polyamide/clay nanocomposites; the toughness of nanomodified polymers and their traditional polymer composites; microhardness of polymer systems containing a soft component and/or phase; Monte Carlo simulations of nanoparticle reinforcement of elastomers; and modeling of polymer nanocomposites for a multiscale approach.
-booknews.com
Textile Term of the Week & Pop Quiz
Viscose – a manufactured fiber of cellulose obtained by the viscose process.
Quiz Answer – Some other terms used for “count of yarn” are yarn count, yarn number, yarn linear density and grist.
Quiz Question – The term viscose is not only used to describe a type of fiber. What is another definition for viscose?
Daniels, PN and Denton, MJ, eds. Textile Terms and Definitions, 11th ed. Manchester, UK: The Textile Institute, 2002)
[...] it increased its share of the flat-panel television market to 14.6% from 12.1% over the past twelve months, according to research firm Traqline, while Amazon's fell to 2.7% from 3.1%.
Consumers will face an onslaught of elves and jolly snowmen in the coming weeks, as companies such as Target, Wal-Mart Stores and Gap boost their holiday advertising spending beyond last year's levels. For the first two weeks of October, retailers reached 35% more viewers -- their "ad weight" in industry parlance -- on national cable and network television than they did in the same period a year ago, according to TNS Media Intelligence, an ad-tracking service owned by WPP.
Burberry, whose chief financial officer recently cited the snood as one of the top drivers of the company's fall accessories sales, attributes the snood's rise to consumers' desire for safety in tumultuous times. [...] Many Snoods A quick tour through some of the fashion industry's latest offerings Burberry $295 for its popular "check" snood in cashmere Burberry, credited with reigniting the trend, also has wool, mink and rabbit fur versions.
Granted, American Eagle says the inventory increase will be driven partly by denim and woven tops, which showed better sales during the back-to-school season.
Friday Nov 6, 2009
The fall momentum has given retailers, beleaguered by a year of sharp sales declines and steep discounting, more confidence heading into the critical holiday shopping season.
Among the most active names were department-store operators Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc. Trading in Kohl's rose to four times the normal level, with investors picking up 14,000 calls that allow them to buy the company's stock and 19,000 puts that allow them to sell it, according to Trade Alert.
Thursday Nov 5, 2009
[...] another former haute couture house is seeking ready-to-wear immortality with new backers and a fresh designer. Madeleine Vionnet popularized the forgiving bias cut and dispensed with buttons, zippers and hooks in favor of draping and wrapping fabric in comfortable forms; she dressed both Garbo and Dietrich.
[...] what's driving sales of these garments? "It's like this competitive thing we have with other women," says Mary Pantier, a 40-year-old yoga instructor in Erie, Colo., who accidentally flashed her Spanx, worn under her workout ensemble, while in a downward-dog pose in class. The great-grandmother of shapewear, the corset, was "the most controversial garment in the history of fashion," says Valerie Steele, director and chief curator at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, who wrote a book about the rigid, uncomfortable garment.
Wednesday Nov 4, 2009
Sales during the month, traditionally a time of fall clearance, were better than expected for many retailers, according to analysts' estimates. Although October sales patterns typically don't predict holiday sales trends, retail executives point to signs of pent-up demand and a gradual return of shoppers.
Tuesday Nov 3, 2009
Textile Term of the Week & Pop Quiz
Count of yarn - Methods of variously expressing the mass per unit length or the length per unit mass of yarn.
Quiz Answer - The term "size" is used in North America for count of yarn.
Quiz Question - What are some other terms used for "count of yarn?"
Daniels, PN and Denton, MJ, eds. Textile Terms and Definitions, 11th ed. Manchester, UK: The Textile Institute, 2002)
New Books
An introduction to protein crystallography for students in the biology fields. The textbook explains the principles of diffraction of x-rays by a crystal, and how x-ray diffraction can be used to determine macromolecular structures. McPherson University of California, Irvine) covers the heavy atom method and isomorphous replacement for solving phase problems, and the interpretation of Patterson and electron density maps.
-booknews.com
This book covers the latest developments in fire retardant strategies including:
* New fire retardant systems (including nanoparticulate fillers, sometimes combined with conventional fire retardants).
* Intumescent formulations and their recent applications in bulk polymers, fibres and textiles.
* Test-methods for material flammability.
* Material-specific aspects of combustion, smoke and toxicity.
Fire retardant strategies covered, include the use of synergistic combinations of alumina with organoclay, organophosphorus compunds, silica and organosilicones, clay-phosphate combinations and a novel tecnhique for investigating fire retardant behavior.
The section on nanoparticulate fillers includes an investigation on the effect of filler shape, the use of carbon nanofibres and nanotubes, the interpretation of nanocomposite behavior in the cone calorimeter, and groundbreaking new research on the influence of rheological properties on burning behavior.
The coverage of fibres and textiles includes a discussion on trends in textile fire retardancy and flammability regulations, and some novel halogen-free approaches to fire retardancy of cellulose, acrylic and polypropylene textiles.
Finally, the influence of fire retardants on fire toxicity is discussed in detail, followed by an investigation of the toxic products from burning fire retarded polymer nanocomposites.
-Amazon.com
Aimed at fashion and textile students, Fashion A to Z fills a gap in the market for an affordable, accessible, and up-to-date guide to fashion terminology.
Bringing together all the key words commonly used in colleges and in industry, this fashion reference book is beautifully illustrated with diagrams and drawings of fashion details and costumes that bring the subject to life.
The book contains more than 2,000 entries, arranged alphabetically.
Illustrated by renowned fashion illustrator and designer Zakee Shariff, this unique fashion dictionary is quirky and fun, and provides invaluable definitions of all the words a fashion and textile student needs to know.
-Amazon.com
* Entirely devoted to the failure analysis of coatings and paints – an “excellent reference to a select market”.
* Latest edition contains new material on surface preparation, transfer of salt to steel from contaminated abrasive, effect of peak density on coating performance, on galvanizing, silane-modified coatings, polyurea coatings, polyaspartics, and powder coatings and on dry spray.
* Balances scientific background and practical advice, giving both the theory and applications in a slim, easily readable form.
* Includes case studies of laboratory tests.
* Written by an author with over 25 years of experience in the paint and coatings industry.
-Amazon.com
A Unique Resource on coordination Polymers
Coordination polymers are a growing, interdisciplinary field with numerous potential applications in chemistry and materials. Design and Construction of Coordination Polymers provides a comprehensive introduction to this field, focusing on synthetic strategies, structures, properties, and potential applications. Each chapter provides a unique perspective on coordination polymers, offering a dedicated approach as well as deeper insights on the most important facets of this interdisciplinary area.
Combining the consistent editorial approach of a textbook with the up-to-date data and topics usually found in the latest monographs and handbooks, Design and Construction of Coordination Polymers offers an unparalleled reference to the state of the art. Among other topics, it covers:
* Coordination polymers with versatile structures
* Crystal engineering of coordination polymers
* Organic/inorganic hybrid complexes based on polyoxometalates
* Molecular-based magnetic and ferroelectric compounds
* Heavy main-group iodometalates
* Gas storage MOFs
* Bioinorganic coordination complexes
Addressing a wide range of readers, Design and Construction of Coordination Polymers will prove an invaluable resource to everyone from senior-level undergraduate and graduate students to working scientists.
-Amazon.com
Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has remarked, “Much of the social history of early America has been lost to us precisely because women were expected to use needles rather than pens.” This book, part of the multivolume series of the International Quilt Study Center collections, recovers a swath of that lost history and shows us some of America’s treasured material culture as it was pieced and stitched into place.
American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870–1940 examines the period’s quilts from both an artistic and a historical perspective. From pieced block to Crazy style to Colonial Revival examples, as well as one-of-a-kind creations, the full array of style and design appears in this book covering seven decades of quiltmaking. The contributing authors provide critical information regarding the modern and anti-modern tensions that persisted throughout this era of America’s coming of age, from the Civil War to World War II. They also address the textile technology and cultural context of the times in which the quilts were created, with an eye to the role that industrialization and modernization played in the evolution of techniques, materials, and designs. With full-color photographs of over 587 quilts, American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940 offers a new visual and tactile understanding of American culture and society, bridging the transition from traditional folk culture to the age of mass production and consumption.
-Amazon.com
The fashion world has spoken: this book is essential for all visual artists! Kevin Tallon’s much-anticipated follow up to Creative Fashion Design with Illustrator(R),shows both students and professionals how to unleash their creativity and use the most popular software around. His new work provides valuable insight on how to create those stunning images that grace the covers of today’s elite fashion magazines; it’s a step-by-step technique guide just for fashion illustrators that covers everything from garment sketches and presentation boards to logos and graphics. Here, you’ll find tips and tricks for advanced layering, scanning, coloring, photo retouching, montages, and much more. Although the book provides instructions on the basics, don’t fret: there’s plenty of material for those who already know the software!
-Amazon.com
Valentina was the twentieth century’s first American fashion designer celebrity, working and living on equal social footing with the clientele she dressed (Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, Millicent Rogers, and Audrey Hepburn, among others). One of the few designers who proved that America could live without the Parisian haute couture, her career is a much needed missing link in the history of American fashion. Beyond merely turning out show-stopping evening gowns, Valentina’s exotic beauty, dramatic personality, and incomparable style earned her a legendary reputation. Kohle Yohannan explores the carefully constructed persona and lore of this designer who helped define American Couture. Published in association with the Museum of the City of New York’s exhibition Valentina: New York Couture and the Cult of Celebrity, this book includes photographs, never-before-seen personal ephemera, sketches, and original platinum prints from master photographers such as Cecil Beaton, Horst P. Horst, and George Hoyningen-Huene.
-Amazon.com
Textile Designers at the Cutting Edge showcases a selection of textile designs from all over the world, presented in feature interviews with the world's most visionary young designers.
Chosen for their contributions to fashion textiles and interior fabrics, the designers describe their output and inspirations in their own words. Whether speaking from style capitals, such as London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Berlin, Tokyo, and New York, or in less-trafficked cities, today's most forward-thinking textile designers showcase exciting work that signals new directions in textile practice and the emergence of new textile forms and fiber technologies.
The book not only features images of completed designs, but also previously unseen archive material, such as work-in-progress photographs and digital drawings. These unique visuals create a stylish picture of today's textiles, as well as an essential reference guide for those interested in contemporary textile design.
-Amazon.com
A billion-dollar industry, fashion accessories offer a world of business possibilities for stylish entrepreneurs like you! From jewelry and handbags to scarves and hats, Entrepreneur covers the hottest accessories businesses within the flourishing fashion industry.
Learn how to create and sell your own accessories, buy wholesale accessories for resale, or establish your own online or traditional store! Providing insider advice, tips, and tricks along the way, our expert fashionistas take you step by step and show you how to discover your specialty, establish your business, set up your home workshop and office, manage your finances, and much more!
* Choose from popular fashion accessory niches- handcrafted jewelry, handbags, belts, scarves, and hats
* Discover the right sales avenue for your products
* Outfit your home workshop and office with the right tools and supplies
* Partner with retailers and designers to boost brand recognition
* Efficiently manage inventory and supplies for easy order fulfillment
* Boost profits by expanding and cross-marketing your product line
* And more
Turn your passion for fashion into a successful business today!
-Amazon.com
[...] it's inorganic chemistry and it has upset the aquatics world. Polyurethane bodysuits caused a ruckus when the sport's ruling body, the Federation Internationale de Natation, or the International Swimming Federation, known as FINA, decided in July it would ban the suits as of January 2010 following pressure from coaches.
Shares have sagged 87% during his watch, underperforming "almost everybody in the apparel industry," says Brian S. Sozzi, an analyst for Wall Street Strategies Inc. Yet Liz Claiborne's board renewed Mr. McComb's contract this summer for three more years. Some analysts doubt the arrangement, announced Oct. 8, is enough to cure the clothing maker's ills.
|
|
 |
