Zombies Plague the Silver Screen & the Zeitgeist. From "Shaun of the Dead" to "Dawn of the Dead", Directors Like George Romero Help Us Deal With Our Paranoia & Fear of an Unseen Enemy + Top 10 Zombie Movies

Zombie Plague: The Undead Rule the Silver Screen & the Zeitgeist. From "Shaun of the Dead" to "Dawn of the Dead" Directors Like George Romero Help Us Deal with our Paranoia & Fear of an Unseen Enemy; PLUS Top 10 Zombie Movies - FASHIONTRIBES POP CULTURE PODCAST - MP3File

After posting about bubonic plague (!) & recent viewing of 28 Days Later, Gawker recently noted that zombie flicks are hot-hot-hot right now. We couldn't agree more. As we LOVE a good zombie-themed anything at Fashiontribes, we decided to, er, resurrect (sorry, couldn't help it!) some of our fave zombie-themed posts:

• Handbags of Horror
• The best mints to offer any zombie visitors that drop by
• A Heartwarming tale of Yuletide zombies
• and below: a reposting of a piece from the end of 2005 (were were prescient, or what?) on why zombies are so popular right now, along with a list of the best zombie movies ever:

Zombies here, zombies there, zombies bloody everywhere.

Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Land of the Dead - forget mere shopping malls and the countryside, the zombies have now overrun movies & pop culture. "I think (zombie movies) have become part of pop culture," opines Doug Rogers, assistant professor of communications, as he recently told The Eastern Progress Online (EasternProgress.com).

While original zombie movies from the the 1930s - such as White Zombie and Revolt of the Zombies - used voodoo spells to bring the dead back, Romero's classic Night of the Living Dead (1968) introduced wayward radiation from a crashed satellite - an added bonus fear: outer space! - to reincarnate the dead, while 2003's 28 Days Later relied on a virus. While the causative agents may change, the structure of the zombie movie has basically remained the same.

Although zombie films are quite varied when it comes to motivations, the technicalities behind how the zombies are created, and how you actually terminate one, Everything2.com makes the point in American Society Reflected in Zombie Films that the proper zombie film always centers around a small band of paranoid survivors attempting to fight off or escape growing hordes of an enemy, which have grown to include former friends and family that were transformed by "unknown means" and are now unable to stop attacking. The zombies, who could be anyone, will either kill you or assimilate you, regardless of family or social ties, and they require a huge effort to kill.

Characteristics of a Successful Zombie Flick:

• Enemies Everywhere: Whether the fear of the survivor is being bitten, sprayed with blood, or even being invaded by a pod person, "the sociological fear is that foreign agents are poisoning all of us. Any one person could unwittingly become an agent of evil and his comrades wouldn't be aware of the danger until it was too late, until the newly created fifth columnist attacked his friend and loved one," explains Everything2. In the classic zombie movie, the enemy can be anyone.
• Destruction of Family & Social Rules: In Night of the Living Dead, family-members-turned-zombie kill and eat each other with abandon. While the way zombies attack & the proper method for dispatching them vary in the different movies, "what remains a constant threat is the attack on the social rules of the audience and the nuclear family. More than the danger of physical assault, the zombie film represents a terrifying external threat that can easily infect individuals against their wills and turn mother against daughter and wife against husband. The implied message is that when the enemy comes, they will come not from the sky or in tanks, but from your living room. The enemy will wear the shell of your loved ones and destroy every facet of your way of life."
• Surviving Rather than Joining the Zombies: When someone becomes a zombie, they give up what makes them individual. "With a prevalent theme of loss of individuality it's perhaps no wonder that many of the survivors choose suicide to potential conversion into the enemy." Being part of a new "family" group with survivors, the humans will go to heroic lengths to protect their fledgling group, even self sacrifice, anything to avoid being converted to a zombie. In 2004's Dawn of the Dead, a formerly hostile mall security guard who initially tried to prevent the survivors from finding refuge in the mall later gives up his own life to save his new family group by hugging a propane tank, and blowing himself up.
• No Happy Endings: The beauty of the horror movie is that in the end, the survivors triumph over insane odds. Not so in zombie flicks. "We are rarely granted that release in zombie films though, as the survivors almost always, well, don't survive. The zombie film almost always ends on a sour note of hopeless defeat." After fighting for survival, pushing themselves to the limit, the survivors are dispatched. The only survivor of Night of the Living Dead makes it to dawn, and is promptly shot by the Sheriff's deputy who mistook his tired slumping walk for the lurch of a zombie. The survivors of Dawn of the Dead escape in a boat to an island sanctuary...to be greeted by horde of zombies rushing at them. According to Everything2, "this is a relatively unique way for any film to end."
• Zombies Tend to Appear in Times of Trouble: Because zombie movie heroes tend neither to win, nor even to survive the zombie plague, the zombie flick is in essence "a fantasy of hopeless battle against a world-altering force." In these uncertain, post 9/11 times where the threat of terror seems to be everywhere, and yet, remains intangible - causing feelings of paranoia and hopelessness -  the zombie movie is an effective means of dealing with our feelings and fears. "By taking part in the fantasy of hopeless loss, the anxiety of doubt and paranoia is purged in a safe environment instead of becoming a hostile emotional trap that prevents inclusion in the very social network the film destroys in its fictional setting...During periods of great national distress and threat of foreign subversion of the domestic population, the popularity of the zombie film increases as the audience uses this fictional outlet to indulge in the safe release of anxiety about a problem they can't hope to confront in their everyday life, but fear nontheless."

The Best Zombie Movies Ever:

Enough high falutin' zombie "discourse" (like a discussion, but it goes to 11). Time for mindless fun. According to AskMen.com, a, er, killer (sorry, couldn't help it!) zombie movie must actually have a zombie-driven plot - the mere presence of zombies does not a living, lurching zombie movie make. Also, it better be good; lofty themes and social commentary come in a distant second to nudity, violence and gore. For your zany zombie pleasure, we present AskMen.com's Top Ten zombie movies:

• # 10: DAY OF THE DEAD (1985). The third of George A. Romero's trilogy - starting with the Night of the Living Dead in 1968 & Dawn of the Dead in 1978 - a plague of zombies has overrun the earth. A small band of scientists & military types are hunkered down in an underground bunker in Florida, trying to figure out what the hell to do. "One of the first zombie flicks to focus on how testy humans can get during a zombie infestation, a story element that nearly every one of its successors would pick up on."
• #9: 28 DAYS LATER (2002). After animal rights types break into an English lab & free the animals being used in genetic research experiments, pretty much all of London, the UK, and the world show up undead. Only Jim, a bike courier, and his small band of survivors remain of the human race. The zombies don't lurch slowly, they zoom by in a blur, leading some to nickname the movie 28 Red Bulls Later.
• #8: BIO ZOMBIE (1998). Iraqi agents smuggle dangerous biochemicals into Hong Kong in soda bottles. Two bumbling video game bootleggers unleash it onto the public, and the usual zombie madness ensues, this time in a local shopping mall. Especially noteworthy scene: a sushi chef from the mall dispatches an undead football team.
• #7: CEMETERY MAN (1994). Aka Dellamorte Dellamore. A pre-Madonna-pal Rupert Everett stars as a man who has to keep watch over a cemetery where the recently buried keep rising from the grave in "a dreary existence of splitting open zombie skulls and and reburying them." While funny, gory, and entertaining, it's also considered to be an intelligent zombie flick.
• #6: RE-ANIMATOR (1985). Dr. Frankenstein-ish med student Herbert West has great success reviving dead human brains using his secret re-animator fluid - unless, of course, you count the violent side effects.
• #5: ZOMBIE (1979). Italian Lucio Fulci's attempt to cash in on the success of Romero's Dawn of the Dead the previous year - apparently, Fulci even tried to name it Zombi 2 to fool zombie fans everywhere into thinking it was the sequel to Dawn. A nosy journalist and his bimbo girlfriend on a Caribbean island, where voodoo is transforming the local population into the undead. Don't miss a zombie and shark duking it out underwater.
• #4: DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004). Humans take shelter from zombies in a shopping mall, and then battle their way out. According to AskMen.com, you're not imagining things: "That's right: The remake made the list and Romero's 1978 original didn't...The remake is simply a better, more entertaining movie. Crow all you want about how Romero's film was brilliant for its time, but we ain't in Romero's time no more. Our is a time that appreciates gushing neck wounds, cars careening into gas stations, and zombie-consuming fireballs. And Dawn of the Dead delivers all that, and more."
• #3: ARMY OF DARKNESS (1993). Time travel, evil spells, and Sam Raimi. What, I ask you, is not to love here? Despite the cheap-o production values - "ridiculously obvious" set backgrounds & hit-or-miss special effects - it stars B-movie god Bruce Campell as "a loyal S-Mart employee who finds himself transported back in time to medieval England. Booking a return trip requires finding an ancient text of spells, the Necronomicon, the recovery of which raises an army of the dead."
• #2: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). A mysterious satellite crashes into the Earth, releasing radiation which re-animates the dead. A rag-tag band of survivors gather in an abandoned farmhouse to fight the zombies. A low budget black and white film, while not particularly scary by today's standards, it not only "set the bar for zombie movies, but...was one of the first horror flicks to take the contemporary world as its setting, familiarizing the fear (in this case, the Cold War) for the audience."
• #1: DEAD ALIVE (1992). Aka Braindead. Directed by Lord of the Ring's Peter Jackson, it boasts so much delightful gore - one scene even used five gallons of fake blood per second - the full version is banned in various countries. However, in this zombie flick, humor rules the day as the hero (Timothy Balme) plays New Zealander Lionel who is "suffering from the psychological issues that come from an overbearing mother. Personal salvation comes in the form of a new girlfriend, but Lionel's blossoming romance is disrupted by the living dead. Coming to terms with his inner demons suddenly involves tearing out zombie's innards." There's even an impromptu zombie party at Lionel's mum's place, where they drink, crank the stereo, and get it on. Comedy combined with gore make this "the perfect zombie movie."

Wait, stop the presses! We at Fashiontribes feel there is an unfortunate omission in this list. To address this wrong, we hereby confer on Shaun of the Dead the special Fashiontribes Lifetime Zombie Achievement Award for Excellence in Plot, Acting, Gore & Humor!

• SPECIAL ENTRY: SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004) A spoof of Dawn of the Dead, a hapless low level manager at an electronics store with loser friends, a fed up girlfriend who just dumped him due to his daily trip to the local pub, and no prospects decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead. A most excellent rom-zom-com. Who knew zombies could be successfully dispatched with some of the cheesier records in your vinyl collection?
• EXTRA BONUS: Shaun of the Dead Game where you kill the oncoming zombies with your favorite music collection. http://shaun-of-the-dead-game.freeonlinegames.com/

- Lesley Scott

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GLAM SHOPPING BEAT: The Lesson from this Issue of People's "100 Most Beautiful"? Keep Your Makeup Light, Fresh & Gorgeous Advises CoverGirl Makeup Artist Molly Stern. FASHIONTRIBES BEAUTY BLOG & Podcast Interview

CoverGirl makeup artist Molly Stern works her magic on Rihanna.

Glam Shopping Beat column - by Lesley Scott:

   Yes, it's that time of year again: People's most beautiful people issue! One of the more interesting beauty trends to emerge is the emphasis on nude makeup...which gives those of us who do our own makeup hope. "It's a more modern take on beauty," explains CoverGirl (& celeb fave) makup artist Molly Stern in an exclusive Fashiontribes podcast interview. "It's a more modern concept to not cover, but to find what you like & reveal it. More women in Hollywood are wanting to look natural, accessible & realistic; they are letting their skin shine through and going for a minimalisticm natural look. It's a great look for women everywhere who feel empowered and want to enhance what they naturally have and show that off."

Keep your makeup naturally nude & gorgeous with these easy tips from CoverGirl makeup artist Molly Stern:

• EASY DOES IT "Keep it light," advises Stern. "The days of allover pancake coverage are gone. If you have ruddy cheeks, just apply coverage where you need it. The main thing is to keep skin fresh."

• HIGHLIGHT A SINGLE FEATURE "Identify the feature you want to highlight. If it's your eyes, make them lined &smokey and plump up your lashes, but tone down your lip & cheek." Alternatively, go for a dramatic mouth, but keep the rest of your face neutral.

• MASCARA: THINK BROWN, NOT BLACK "A well-defined lash line is important, but for summer, take it down a notch by using brown instead of black mascara because it gives a softer eye."

• BLUSH FROM A BOTTLE "Cream blush is more natural than powder, because it looks like it's coming from the skin rather than sitting on top, adding rosy depth in a natural way that's not powdery."  In case of beauty emergencies where you find yourself blush-bereft, rub some of your lipstick on your cheek. (Stern suggest CoverGirl TruShine lipstick - it's sheer, but still loaded with pigment.)
  

• THOU SHALT NOT OVERDO SELF-TANNER Before applying the self-tanner, be sure to exfoliate with a body scrub first, especially porous areas like knees, heels & elbows. (If you accidentally go overboard, rubbing alcohol or Windex can lift some of the excess color.) "Go lighter than you think you should," says Stern. "If you’re fair, makes no sense to get Hawaiian tan. Instead, you might want to use tinted moisturizer and add a tiny bit of darker shade & get deeper look."

• DOES YOUR FACE MATCH YOUR ENSEMBLE? "The emergence in fashion of so many gorgeous prints & florals means that it's really important to keep a balance with your makeup. Keep it fresh, and the colors neutral - a light shimmer on the eye and a nude lip looks really modern." (And don't forget to blend, blend, blend!)

Some makeup product picks to try:

• FOUNDATION & CONCEALER As an alternative to some of the more pricey brands, Stern recommends CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Age Defying Concealer & Advanced Radiance Moisturizing Makeup. "Their motto is clean, fresh, easy, breezy, and these foundations are guaranteed to match 97% of skin tones. The colors are sheer and even contain Olay ingredients to repair and smooth, whether you're preventing the signs of aging, or trying to repair them." (Alternatively, Shu Uemura foundation can easily be thinned with water for a fab sheer foundation.) At Drugstore.com

• POWDER TruBlend Naturally Luminous Loose Powder with Minerals "It's gorgeous for dusting some shimmer on shoulders, the back of the neck & the neckline." At Drugstore.com

• MASCARA CoverGirl Volume Exact - CoverGirl.com

 

•   CREAM BLUSH Vincent Longo Water Canvas Blush (Sephora.com) or Chantecaille AquaBlush (BergdorfGoodman.com)

- Lesley Scott

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FASHIONTRIBES 5 MIN. PODCAST: Fashionista Sarah Jessica Parker Plays the Role of Designer. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

Wanna see more photos of the collection? Steve & Barry's doesn't want you to. CLICK HERE to find out why.

Starting June 1, Carrie Bradshaw acolytes will be able to dress like their heroine for less when the 400 piece Bitten Sarah Jessica Parker collection launches at the 200-store Steve & Barry’s low-price chain. Priced at $20 or less, the offerings will include wool blend suit separates; shirts in a fabrics like voile, Swiss dots, dobby stripes & stretch poplin; classic sweaters in wool and cashmere; black cotton dresses, denim, lingerie, swim, bags, jewelry, and accessories. For fall, an additional 100 items will be added.

As a high profile fashionista, it’s not surprising that SJP is launching a line. "The fact that she's going into apparel does make sense because she's a fashion icon," Robin Kramer of Kramer Design Group (a brand identity and store design firm) recently told WWD. Plus she’s a familiar face to many with a high Q score amongst women between the ages of 18 to 34, regardless of income level. "She has a 90 percent familiarity in that age group, which is an important consideration," notes Steven Levitt of Marketing Evaluations. "Are there better choices [of celebrities] to hit this market? Probably. Are there better markets for her to go with this product? That depends on the product." And with such merchandise retailing at such a low price, the risk is that should the product be poor quality, her image could suffer. "I don't think any of this is about price. It's about the image they project and whether they add a lot of value and fashion to the products," agrees licensing expert Mary Gleason – who helped Kathie Lee Gifford with her Wal-Mart collection and the Payless launch of Shaquille O'Neal sneakers. "The only way it will hurt her image is if they don't produce a quality product."

However, as a big fashion fish doing business with the chain dubbed "the fastest-growing retailer you never heard of" (Forbes magazine, 2005) – whose fashion offerings to this point have been limited to sweatshirts bearing college logos, Coors or Marvel Comics for $10 - Parker’s licensing deal is no doubt lucrative, which Gleason estimates to be in the range of 4 percent to 10 percent of sales. Nonetheless, she is of the mind that Parker might have sacrificed the opportunity to do a higher priced line. "I'm really surprised [by the deal]”, adds Gleason, mirroring other insider’s surprise that she ended up partnering with Steve & Barry’s. "She could have done H&M or Target. It doesn't make any sense that this would be the retailer she'd talk to. Her fragrance, Lovely, was so successful in department stores. There would have been a great opportunity to do a regular-priced line."

CLICK HERE to hear the Fashiontribes 5 Min. Podcast about this.

- Lesley Scott

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FASHIONTRIBES 5 MIN. PODCAST: Recent Paris Trade Shows Portend a Flashy, Creative Fall. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

left to right: a look from Brazil's Osklen; Sweden's Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair (photos: WWD)

"The Paris shows offer a creative edge you don't see elsewhere," Janet Wong, accessories and ready-to-wear buyer for New York's Atrium, recently told WWD about the shows that run during Paris Fashionweek; the multi-show lineup included Vendôme Luxury Trade Show, Paris Sur Mode, Atmosphère d'Hiver, Tranoi and Rendez-Vous. "The Paris trade shows are the place where young creative brands are the most efficient," agrees Cedric Charbit, general merchandise manager of women's fashion at Printemps.

Popular labels like Les Prairies de Paris, April May, Iro and Eurythmic, Milly, Issa and Italy's Golden Goose made a strong showing that mirrored the trends on the runways: clean silhouettes, dresses, knits, a ladylike vibe, and tailoring. "It was a very strong jacket season, whether it's fitted, sharper shoulders or soft details, there are lots of desirable clothes to choose from," notes Ken Downing, Neiman Marcus senior vice president and fashion director. Many retailers mirror this sentiment, and report that their budgets have grown since last season. "Even though black is important, the return to color is really reassuring to us because our customer loves color. We're feeling dressed up and what we call the 'new polish' is very important, from the opaque legs to the return of pumps and clutches."

SOME PARIS TRADESHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

TRANOI Fancy streetwear & feathered frocks by Osklen, a line from Brazil known for combining a street vibe with elements of nature, and Sweden’s Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, featuring snappy silhouettes and fabric folded like origami in muted hues. "We are most known for our combination of draping with tailored pieces," says Anna Wallén, the brand's international sales manager.

RENDEZ-VOUS Despite showing in the 10th arrondissement, the show lured them in with a smorgasboard of new talent. "It's a real opportunity for young designers," agrees Johanna Dauphin who launched her new denim-centric J Dauphin collection at Rendez-Vous.

ATMOSPHERE D’HIVER With a multi-culti mix of more than 5,000 buyers attending – from the Italy, Japan, Finland, Denmark and Ireland, Russia, Romania, and the US (albeit less because of the weak dollar) – exhibitors reported buyers paying less attention to ruffles, in favor of garments with a tailored feel and luxe fabrics like silk satin in muted colors.

PARIS SURE MODE La Petite Robe Noire by Didier Ludot proved a hit with buyers, whose numbers were up more than 30 percent.

VENDOME LUXURY Spread across three venues - the Park Hyatt, the Ritz & the Meurice – mid-pricepoint lines didn’t fare nearly as well as brands at either end of the luxury & mass-price spectrum. "The American market is slowest, even though that is where we are the most developed," explains Stephanie Perez, international sales manager for Luella, mirroring other sellers experience that spending by Americans was less than spectacular, order from Paris were on the rise, new buyers such as Japan’s Isetan department store were in attendance, and Middle Easterners, Asians (Hong Kong & Korea) and Russians are the "power spend of the moment" says Katie Manderson of Jasmine di Milo (Jasmine Al-Fayed’s line).

CLICK HERE to listen to the Fashiontribes Daily 5 Min. Podcast about this.

- Lesley Scott

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FASHIONTRIBES 5 MIN. PODCAST: Top Trends in California Fashion. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

  (Eva Mendes rocks an LBD by Riser Goodwin - photo: Eric Charbonneau WireImage for WWD; Roxy by Quiksilver sends a message)

Now that all the main fall fashion shows have happened, WWD surveyed the trends emanating from the West Coast in the seven main apparel categories:

JUNIORS: Cellphone, iPod, blackberry, oh, and schoolbooks….today’s teens are toting a hefty load. Hence, the exploding market for bags. BB Dakota’s fall collection includes 18 pieces, all under $150, such as a giant tote in red patent leather, and a plaid number. "They look like a lot of stuff that is going on in the better brands," says BB Dakota CEO, Gloria Brandes. Other labels to know include Zinc & Hot Kiss.

DENIM: Low-rise jeans, R.I.P. Now, it's all about the high-waist. "The high-waisted flares have been a really big deal," reports James Hammonds, denim buyer for American Rag Cie in LA. Orders for jeans with rises in excess of 9 inches are also flying out the door at Cali’s Serfontaine, Hudson, Jainesse and Seven For All Mankind.

CONTEMPORARY: Couples that dress together stay together? A hot spinoff of the layering trend is unisex dressing, and labels like Corpus and Grandma's Glock offer simplied sizing – XS to L – in baggy linen shorts with 80s style paperbag waists, and striped tees and hoodies that can double as oversized cardigans and dresses. Colors are toned down grays and burgundies, in sex-blind fabrics like cotton jersey and cashmere.

ACTION SPORTS: Active types that skate, surf & snowboard naturally gravitate toward anything with an environmental bent. Volcom’s v.co-logical organic tees, bags & hats donate sales proceeds to 1% For The Planet - a charity devoted to environmental causes that Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia helped co-found – while Vans kicks feature eco-chic materials such as hemp, bamboo charcoal lining, and natural crepe rubber. Organic cotton and earth-friendly dyes are featured in the new line of tees & bags from Quiksilver’s $647 million junior brand Roxy.

SWIM: Multi-tasking has carried over to the swimwear market, where a cover-up from Haverhill Leach (formerly an accessories designer at Mayle & Kate Spade) fares equally well at the beach as over jeans, or a bikini top can double as a bra. "The biggest trend in the industry right now," explains Melanie Michaud, marketing director of Diane's, a swimwear retailer, "is being able to mix up sportswear and swimwear."

DESIGNER: Punk touches like shift dresses with cross-body zippers that can show as much (or little) as you want have helped turn Riser Goodwyn into a Eva Mendes and Kirsten Dunst fave (of course it helps to be Rosetta Getty, wife of oil heir turned actor Balthazar Getty). Sold at chi chi outlets like Kirna Zabête (New York), Ron Herman (Los Angeles) and Mario's (Portland, Oregon), new fall styles will include skinny leather pants, and cocktail frocks with inserts made from metallic leather.

ACCESSORIES: Girlie girls like Uma Thurman, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Bilson and Kirsten Dunst have all been sporting nerd-chic glasses from non-nerd labels like Miu Miu and Oliver Peoples, whose specs have also shown up on Nicole Kidman, Mandy Moore, Courtney Cox Arquette and Jennifer Aniston. For a recent Los Angeles party in L.A. for Viktor & Rolf, Chloë Sevigny showed up in a pair of horn-rimmed showstoppers from New York’s Fabulous Fanny's.

CLICK HERE for the Fashiontribes.com 5 Min. Podcast about this.

- Lesley Scott

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FASHIONTRIBES 5 MIN. PODCAST: New Versace Look for Fall, New Eponymous Perfume. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION & BEAUTY BLOG & PODCAST

    A fresh new fragrance & a newly stripped-down look from the Versace Fall 2007 runway.

In line with the newly stripped down – and critically acclaimed - aesthetic of the Fall 2007 collection, Versace is launching a fragrance of the same name. Instead of the heavy exotic scents for which they're known, Versace is a fresher floral fragrance. "I knew I wanted to create a unique and opulent floral fragrance that was at the same time fresh and enticing, in keeping with the way women want to wear fragrance today. I knew I wanted something classic but modern at the same time. I knew I wanted something that represented both the tradition of the brand and the 'New Versace' of today," Donatella Versace recently told WWD. "I wanted to create a fragrance that embraces you — that is fresh, floral and enticing — and that would become a distinctive mark for the Versace woman who is always sensual and sophisticated, particularly when selecting her perfume. My starting point was to create a classic perfume, an important and timeless scent, to be worn at any time of the day, providing that extra dash of glamour that puts the finishing touch to every outfit."

The fragrance, produced in partnership with International Flavors & Fragrances, contains multiple fruity & floral notes:

Top Notes: guava, black current, purple wisteria & white lilacs
Heart: Angel Wing jasmine, lotus flowers & azaleas
Drydown: cedar, Kasmir wood, musk & vetiver

The scent will launch at the end of March in London at Harrods, followed by Italy, and finally stateside in April exclusively at more than 50 Saks Fifth Avenues – which enjoy a robust Versace business. Next year, Nordstrom & Sephora will both carry the fragrance. The print campaign, Michelangelo DiBattista shot, will break in the fall in fashion, beauty and lifestyle books, accompanied by an international TV campaign. Insiders guesstimate that first year sales of the new fragrance at $5 million.

CLICK HERE to check out the Fashiontribes Daily 5 Min. Podcast about this.

- Lesley Scott

(runway photo: style.com)

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FASHIONTRIBES 5 MIN. PODCAST: Madonna Plays Fashion Designer at H&M. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

Madonna for Versace...or H&M?

"I wanted something casual but naughty, sensible but sexy. That's me. That's how I am. I wanted the collection to be for a working girl," Madonna recently told WWD about the launch of her new M by Madonna for Swedish mass fashion chain, H& M. "This is a combination of outfits I would love to wear. Bits and pieces have been inspired by the outfits in my own wardrobe, and also by what I love, like kimonos or my favorite Seventies vintage dress with the butterfly sleeves. I bought it in New York 10 years ago, and have worn it down to threads."

Unlike their other collaborations with A-list fashion talent – including Viktor & Rolf, Stella McCartney & and Karl Lagerfeld – once H&M launches the line on March 22, it won’t be limited to flagship stores but will be available in 26 countries. The capsule collection includes dresses with kimono styling, walking shorts, pencil skirts with a cummerbund waist detail, trenchcoats, cropped leather jackets & tailored jackets, white shirts – and an array of accessories: skinny belts, clutches, boots & sunglasses. Prices for the clothing will range from 15 euros or $20 (a bodysuit) to 250 euros/$330 (leather trenchcoat); accessories will start off at 10 euros/$13 (scarf with an M-print) to 100 euros/$130 (leather purse).

As always, the challenge for a chain like H&M is to balance high design with a mass pricepoint. "I think my biggest challenge was to make clothes that looked chic, sophisticated and expensive, but that weren't expensive. Going into this, I made a promise that I wouldn't design anything that I wouldn't wear myself." Such as Versace, apparently, given that the print ads shot by Steven Klein are extremely reminiscent of a previous Versace campaign Madonna shot with him.

While celebs like Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez & Beyonce have launched their own fashion lines to mixed commercial & critical success, Madonna will probably follow in the footsteps of Gwen Stefani; her L.A.M.B. line does extremely well, primarily because the songstress has so much credibility. When fans buy a celeb’s line, they are trying to buy their look; if it’s believable that the celeb would actually wear the line, then they create the necessary credibility that a celeb designer line needs to succeed commercially.

• CLICK HERE to check out the Fashiontribes Daily 5 Min. Podcast on Podcaster News.

- Lesley Scott

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FASHIONWEEK Fall 2007: Morphine Generation Rocks it With Joy Division & Suitably Sleek Rocker Gear. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

FASHIONWEEK Fall 2007: Morphine Generation Rocks it With Joy Division & Suitably Sleek Rocker Gear. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST MP3 File

Summary: If Joy Division is blaring, you could send models out in industrial garbage bags and they would look fabulous. Happily, however, the clothes lived up to their musical accompaniment at this downtown designer show, held in downtown NYC's Altman building. (Q: How do you know it's a cool show? A:Look for the fabulous, and Fashionweek-ubiquitious Patrick McDonald in the audience.)

A black belted mini trench dress opened a show filled with skinny legged pants for gals & guys, sexily slouchy trousers in gray menswear fabric (with a paperbag waist in one case & suspenders), and a gorgeous jersey cowl neck minidress which was belted at the natural waist and had a slightly longer hem in back. With a somber palette of black, charcoal, army olive, and white, and fun screen prints - Lord Byron's face; the German words "neue jugend" (new youth) - these are clothes you want to wear when you want to look cool, not be too "dressed up" or, for that matter, too dressed down. Interesting details included a cutaway vest worn with a slouchy chic jacket, and pairing a short black going-out dress with black fingerless gloves - which perhaps sounds kitschy, but actually looked fresh & fun. The menswear was a standout, in particular a 60s-Carnaby-Street-meets-80s skinny silhouette with cropped pants and wool vest worn over a button down and a tie, and a dashing short black cloak which closed the show, with dramatic shoulders and an arms-close-to-the-body cut, which even a (fashion-minded) straight guy could pull off.

Color Palette: black, charcoal, champagne, army/olive green

Textures & Details: black angora & cashmere blend; cotton twill; felted wool; fine whale corduroy; hand prints of Lord Byron's face & "neue jugend"; paper-bag waists; exaggerated epaulet shoulders; super skinny pants for both sexes

Key Looks: black cashmere & mohair cowl neck mini dress with asymmetrical hem (longer in back) & belted at natural waist; champagne wool turtleneck dress with Lord Byron screen print; men's 60s-Carnaby-Street-meets-80s cropped skinny pant, buttondown, tie & vest ensemble; short black men's cloak with oversized shoulders & arms-close-to-the-body cut

- Lesley Scott

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FASHIONWEEK Fall 2007: Celebs Walk the Red Dress Runway to Help Fight Heart Disease at the Red Dress Collection 2007. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

    (Rachael Ray's Donna Karan gown; Kim Cattrall in Carolina Herrera)

(Angela Bassett in Carmen Marc Valvo; Betsey Johnson in Betsey Johnson)

FASHIONWEEK Fall 2007: Celebs Walk the Red Dress Runway to Help Fight Heart Disease at the Red Dress Collection 2007. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION PODCAST MP3 File

Summary: Heart disease is the #1 killer of women. It kills more women than men, and women of color are especially at risk. To raise awareness about the disease & it's risk factors - high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, being overweight, being an inactive couch potato, being over  the age of 55 - & what we can do to care for our precious hearts, a galaxy of gorgeous stars bravely donned glamorous one-of-a-kind red gowns, specially designed for the occasion by equally prestigious designers.

While this show is less about the fashion, and more about the celebs (oh, and the cause, too), it's always a fun event that packs out the main Fashionweek tent at NYC's Bryant Park. Many of the delightful dames striding have made real strides for women (astronaut, co-founder of BET, race car driver, news anchor, social change activism) & had real-woman bodies with actual curves. The fact they were ballsy enough to strut in front of a fashion-insider crowd at a location teeming with whippet-thin models made it them - and the event - that much cooler. Kim Catrall was all that in glamourous floor lenth Carolina Herrera, while Betsey Johson in a shiny wide-skirted promdress of her own creation mugged all the way down the runway & back, but if you're Betsey, why not? NASA Astronaut Mae Jemison rocked a Lyn Devon deep-red cutaway dress over pants,  and Indy race car ace Danica Patrick was the epitome of downtown cool in a floor-length empire waisted Jovovich-Hawk. Sexy Angela Bassett got her groove back in a big way in Carmen Marc Valvo, along with a surprisingly voluptuous Miss Universe, Zuleyka Rivera (Puerto Rico) in Gustavo Cadile. However, the showstealer turned out to be former tennis star & social change activist Billie Jean King, who, to the strains of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, brought down the house and made everyone cheer & giving her a standing O as she clowned her way down the runway in a chic Gustavo Cadile pantsuit...and sneakers.

Red Dress Collection 2007 Runway Divas:

• Alek Wek in Ellen Tracy
• Angela Bassett in Carmen Marc Valvo
• Betsey Johnson in Betsey Johnson
• Billie Jean King in Gustavo Cadile
• Camilla Belle in Oscar de la Renta
• Danica Patrick in Jovovich-Hawk
• Helena Christensen in Calvin Klein
• Jane Krakowski in AlidioMichelli
• Katharine McPhee in Daniel Swarovski
• Kelly Ripa in Diane von Furstenberg
• Kim Cattrall in Carolina Herrera
• Kimberly Guifoyle Villency in Nicole Miller
• Kristin Chenoweth in Rebecca Taylor
• Lauren Hutton in Narciso Rodriguez
• Mae Jemison in Lyn Devon
• Marlee Matlin in Douglas Hannant
• Mary Hart in Carmen Marc Valvo
• Natalie Morales in Tracy Reese
• Paula Zahn in Bill Blass
• Phylicia Rashad in Alia Khan
• Rachael Ray in Donna Karan
• Sheila Johnson (BET co-founder) in Bob Mackie
• Zuleyka Rivera (Miss Universe from Puerto Rico) in Gustavo Cadile

- Lesley Scott

(Illustration from HeartTruth.gov; runway photos: Glam.com)

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FASHIONWEEK Fall 2007: Inspired by Icebergs, Linda Loudermilk's Brand of Eco-Chic is Rock Star Ready. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

FASHIONWEEK Fall 2007: Inspired by Icebergs, Linda Loudermilk's Brand of Eco-Chic is Rock Star Ready. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION PODCAST MP3 File

Summary: Calling them the "rock stars of nature", Loudermilk's interpretation of Arctic iceberg chic involved a stark palette of winter white, ice blue, a shimmery taupe, and "dark ash". The show opened with a sleek white wool mini dress with oversized "iceberg" sleeve - like a puffy fabric watermelon with multiple facets - cropped just below the elbow; it was particularly fab & lustworthy. Another interesting detail was shiny fringe applied down the sideseams of a pant & in another look, encircling a top; from the rear, it formed an elegant semi-circle suspended from each shoulder which dipped to the midback...and turned out to be human hair! While it might seem like a cringeworthy substance to use as trim, the effect was anything but. Cotton faux fur made for lush cascading ruffle lapels on one chic white jacket, while a black rice paper wool jacket was draped in the back to look like a modified bustle. Evening wear - such as a shimmery mid-calf shealth with (reclaimed) lace overlay - was paired with 80s style pointy ankle boots (with tons of buckles), making it cool & downtown. The poufy mohawk-like coiffure with the the "Mad Housewife" swingy dress - a swirly teal & gold confection - was another fun styling touch. One winter white dress with long bell sleeves even had white fabric cubes suspended from them - about the size of fuzzy dice hanging from a car rear-view window...and just as fun!

Color Palette: winter white, ice blue, shimmery taupe, dark ash (black), cream & chocolate ombre, charcoal, teal with gold, dark cinnamon

Textures & Details: eco-friendly wools (bamboo, Japanese rice paper); reclaimed lace; cotton faux fur; human hair; wood pulp; reclaimed cotton; organic wool jersey; hemp satin; bamboo stretch corduroy; biodegradeable wood pulp & silk; white fabric "icecubes" hanging from long bell sleeves; screen prints with global warming messages; chiffon one-shouldered ruffle tops & minis; poufy "mohawk" 'do

Key Looks: winter white wool sleek mini dress with faceted "iceberg" balloon sleeve; floor-length skirt with train & matching snug jacket suit;  white faux fur jacket with cascading ruffles for lapels; morning coat with cutaway front & gorgeously draped back; "Mad Housewife" teal & gold swing dress with poufy mohawk; lace overlay sheath with 80s ankle boots with tons of buckles

- Lesley Scott

(photo: LindaLoudermilk.com)

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