Amrita Rao inaugurates jewellery showroom

The connoisseurs of fashion and jewellery P.C. Jewellers (PCJ) launched their new showroom at Faridabad on 2nd October 2008 amidst much fanfare in a glittering function. The Grand opening was marked by the presence of much glitterati, Bollywood celebrity, Amrita Rao, who added extra sizzle and oomph to the high profile glamorous event.

PC Jewellers is one of the largest and most reputed chains of gold and diamond jewellery that provides a wide range of products, transparency in dealings and best customer care.





















Bollywood beauty Amrita Rao who inaugurated the new showroom said, "I am delighted to be here at this occasion, PCJ is a brand that embodies perfection in everything they do – be it jewellery or design. Being a woman, I have looked out for a brand that I could wear everyday and a brand that would match my needs at every occasion. In PCJ, I found a brand that not only satisfies these needs, but also embraces the desires of a woman in every beautiful piece of well-crafted jewellery.”

Gap saw like-for-like sales fall back 11% in July.

Gap's net sales were down 5% to $998 million (£517.5m) for the four weeks ended August 2.

Gap's international comparable sales, which include its UK stores, fell by 9% over the period against an 11% uplift in July 2007.

Gap chief financial officer Sabrina Simmons said: "In July, we focused on clearing through remaining summer product and preparing our stores for fall deliveries. We're pleased that we delivered merchandise margins significantly above last year."

Gap's second quarter sales for the 13 weeks ended August 2 also fell 5% to $3.5 billion (£1.8bn), with like-for-like sales down 10%. International comparable sales in the second quarter were down 6%.

USA: Jes Switaj wins Designer of the Year award.

Jes Switaj from Phoenix won the Designer of the Year award at the Scottsdale Fashion Week.

She started her fashion design career on a tiny Singer sewing machine, the one her mom took to college. She displayed her collection on the runway.

As part of Scottsdale Fashion Week, which features marketplace tents, runway shows and parties, local designers were invited to enter the competition. Online voting narrowed the field to four finalists for another vote. The runway show featured Switaj and the other finalists.

Switaj, 27, also will meet with boutique owners and buyers to show her line, said Lesley Oliver, spokeswoman for the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the sponsor of the runway show and competition.

Switaj sells her accessories online at jesswitaj.etsy.com and sells accessories and clothes at Bunky Boutique, Retail Laboratory and Gold Lion in Phoenix.

She also is an assistant sewing teacher in the fashion-design program at Phoenix College. She is one class away from her associate's degree in fashion design.

Switaj saw her friend's handmade purses and decided to do it herself. She started with handbags, improved on her technique with classes, bought a new sewing machine and expanded her line. Each piece is usually one of a kind, and at times Switaj makes a limited number of pieces.

She's inspired by nature and organic elements, typically using wool, silk and cotton corduroy fabrics. "I really like ocean stuff - you can see in the octopus dress," she said. "I like things that look like they move in the ocean, like jellyfish, just flowy and floating and organic-looking."

Italian Fashion

I love clothes. I love classics, avante garde, artsy, retro, and antique clothes. I know that I am the same me, whether in vintage Missoni or something I grabbed off a rack in the market, but I have always found that people respond to me differently based on what I wear, and this also happens when I travel. And I have found that when you have passed the age when people whisper "Sexy! Beautiful! Wow!", you can still make them say, "Elegant!" So, shall we talk shoes?

I live in India and I give thanks all the time that I live in a country where fashion shows are not considered primetime viewing. Sitting in a street side bar is a fashion show here. Gorgeous!

Fashion Designing

Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time. Fashion design differs from costume design due to its core product having a built in obsolescence usually of one to two seasons. A season is defined as either autumn/winter or spring/summer. Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first person to sew their label into the garments that they created. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.

Fashion designers design clothing and accessories. Some high-fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. Designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such as Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director.