russian orange juice heiress update

via jezebel via Russia! magazine: Apparently, the Kira Plastinina firm is now in bankruptcy court owing over 54MILLLLLLLION dollars and ousted all of their employees. I am betting this is going to put a little cinch in papa plastinin's orange fueled purse. Something tells me that this will be in the don't column of 'potential business models'. I am not going to harp anymore on a child, she has had enough ridicule, but whom of her handlers thought this would be a good idea? Opening up a new spate of tweeny boutiques (at the time of) what was foreshadowed to be a very large economic downturn. However, I am glad that Americans somewhat proved that they are not succeptible to whatever just happens to be newsest, hottest, it-est, any more. Good for us, bad for others, apparently.

le freak c'est chic

maybe you have noticed, stayin' up late at night, watching cops or re-runs of cheaters, interspersed between ads to talk to hOt cHixXX in yr area and bowflex commercials are poorly directed spots for 'chickdowntown.com'. maybe you haven't noticed. if so, totally your loss. these commercials look like they should be for high class call girls and if it weren't for the micro-designer run down at the end of the commercial. i gather it is a shopping website since it lists brands such as see by chloe, current/elliot, among others. they also have two page ads in lucky, elle, etc. have i gone to this website? hell no. if they have see by chloe and current/elliot, two brands that are oft sold out then, why do they need to advertise on late night cable television? i can understand the magazine ads, but even those are just a rundown of the brands the site sells. print and television ads are pricey and not something you see generally trusted high-end retailers-barneys, saks, bloomingdales-throwing cash into. what consumers are they trying to reach? ones that aspire to mid-range fashion pages and love joey greco (im not hatin')? that consumer sect doesn't usually have $400 to drop on a brocade miniskirt and would sooner buy the 'designer inspired' version from forever21. if you are trying to expand your customer base there are less sketchy ways of doing it that don't involve product-placing yourself between phone sex line commercials and erectile disfunction ads, just sayin'.

again. with the rationalizing.

Below I already discussed H.Bazaar's take on the sinking economy -buy expensive! you can just buy less cheap shit!- but this morning New York Times' fashion doyenne, Cathryn Horyn, has another reasoning system consumers can ascribe to as we near the beginning of the most expensive (to produce and consume) fashion season of the calender year. Keep buying the same things, just buy the ones that are negligibly less! Follow the trends, but buy expensive because you wouldn't want to look tacky in a knock off of a 850$ gold sequined Proenza Schouler skirt that you'll likely wear twice (cost per wear is only 425! a steal!) BECAUSE YOUR ASS IS COVERED IN GOLD SEQUINS. People tend to remember a look like that. I digress, you can also buy the premium M.Jacobs velveteen trousers for $1100, but, caution shoppers!, don't tread into iconic french house Lanvin's territory in Bloomingdales! Their tweed, also timely, trousers are a whopping 150$ more and you know, in these times, we really need to limit ourselves. If you are spending over $1k on pants. Pants that may or may not last more than a season, 150 really isn't that much more to spend. That amount of money is so negligible to these designers that it will not even buy you a coin purse from their accessory lines. Do I deny that the economy is hard times for fashion houses, designers, and avid consumers? Not at all. Do I dislike any of the people or designers listed above? Bish pls, you know me. It is just laughable that the wealthy are buying down into 'cheap' categories where a blouse is still 495-695 in a feeble show that just comes off like 'See the rich! They're just like us! They are hurting! They can't take a private jet to pre-shop fall collections in invite-only showrooms! So sad!' Though, if they looked or at least instructed their assistants to look, they would find impeccable merch from new designers where the retail cost accurately reflects the worth of the garment and not the perceived worth of the label stitched inside by tiny ladies situation around 38th st and 8th ave. Though, with that much net worth, one does have to keep up appearances and cannot shame their family by wearing anything not found in Lord & Taylor or the pages of Vogue. That might insinuate that one is a liberal hippie with a rouge streak for designers not sanctioned by years of breeding and privilege. They might even be communists. Fall fashion is dangerous business. On a serious note, the article is well written and might help you put your own buying habits, or fall wardrobe acquisition plans into perspective.

krazy karl: moving from wildly expensive bikes to homes on fashion island

Karl Lagerfeld is designing homes on Dubai's Isla Moda. Yes, you read that correctly, FASHION ISLANDDDDD. Apparently, the isle will have a concierge service to bring you all of your couture and (sniff) r-t-w needs as well as home furnishings if you simply cannot be bothered to fetch them yourself. I am speculating that every item on fashion island will be branded, visibly, in some way. perhaps instead of maps and roadsigns they will have photos of Agyness Deyn pointing the way to the island that is shaped like the globe. Photos shot by Mario Testino, natch. Now, I am all for the seven deadly, but this seems to be indulging them to excess. Also, for as consumptive as fashion inherently is, do the surrounding U. Arab-Emirate areas condone this hedonism? Could all the money being funneled into Dubai be used for, I don't know, something OTHER THAN FASHION ISLAND? As much as I love fashion and design, I would never, ever go to fashion island. I would avoid it with nearly the same vehemence as I do the, Kerouac Kafe. (yes that is a real place, yes they spelled cafe with a K, yes they have free wifi, and probably someone to proof read your ground breaking coming of age novelette) I have a feeling that when the rest of the nations cause the earth to essentially explode, Dubai will just separate itself from the rest of the planet and set itself into orbit. I am sure it's residents have that kind of capital.