Anne Hathaway on "Becoming Jane" and Becoming Famous

New York - As Anne Hathaway walked the red carpet on Tuesday night in New York at the premiere of "Becoming Jane," her latest film that chronicles Jane Austen's rise to fame and fortune as an author in the late 1700's, she looked fresh and fabulous. At 24, Hathaway is already at the top of her chosen career, with a string of movie hits behind her, including "The Princess Diaries," "Brokeback Mountain," and "The Devil Wears Prada." It's a life that differs dramatically from that of Jane Austen, who didn't find fame and success with her novels until she was in her mid-thirties.

But that didn't stop Hathaway from identifying with Austen, once she explored more about the author, whose novels "Sense and Sensibility," "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," and "Emma" continue to be read and loved to this day.

"I was ashamed when I read the script that I'd never been more curious about her life, actually," Hathaway revealed at an earlier press day for the film. "I just assumed that I knew her because of [reading] her work. I accepted the two-line biography: Jane Austen lived 41 years, published five novels, never married.'"

But in making "Becoming Jane," and exploring the story of Austen's early romance with Tom Lefroy (played by James McAvoy), Hathaway discovered much more about the woman behind the novels.

"I inherited the image of Jane Austen as a sort of a dried-out old spinster. And in doing my research I found she was anything but that. She was wonderfully alive, very fun, a bit naughty and so much, so much more alive than I'd ever thought. And so it was wonderful, the idea of playing the woman before the icon."

Hathaway, who attended the premiere at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema and after party at the Bowery Hotel with her long-time boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, seems to be blessed with everything a modern woman could possibly desire career, financial independence, love, health - much more than Jane Austen ever had in her short life, in which mere financial survival was a constant struggle. But as Anne tells it, she's a bit more like Jane than people might think.

"One of my mantras in life is from the brilliant Mr. Oscar Wilde. He says, 'The less said about life's sores, the better.' I prefer to talk about the nice things that have happened to me and I'm very grateful and feel very blessed in my life, but, no, it hasn't been one big, easy, wonderful ride. There have been hidden [bad] moments in there, too, I assure you."

But none of those were on display at the "Becoming Jane" premiere; that night, both Anne Hathaway and Jane Austen shared a very happy moment together.

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Sportswear designer Liz Claiborne dead at 78

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Apparel designer Liz Claiborne, who founded a namesake women's sportswear label that grew into a multibillion dollar global empire, has died at age 78, the company said on Wednesday.

Claiborne was ailing from cancer and died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday, her assistant told Reuters.

Born March 31, 1929 in Brussels, Claiborne was raised in New Orleans. After winning a design contest in Harper's Bazaar magazine as a young woman, she launched her career upon moving to New York.

She worked at various Seventh Avenue sportswear and dressmaking firms before founding her own company in 1976, with her husband, Art Ortenberg, a textile industry veteran, and two others.

Designer Calvin Klein described Claiborne as a "thin and stylish" woman of vision whom he first met in the early 1970s, after he himself had launched his own apparel company.
"She was really the first American designer to concentrate on clothes that a large segment of working women could afford," Klein told Reuters. "She had great taste and great style and she built one of the largest, most successful apparel companies."

Indeed, Claiborne's keen understanding of the working woman -- still an emerging concept in the mid-1970s -- led her to design styles that combined fashion with functionality, introducing droves of women to today's modern work uniform of sportswear separates.

Key to that success were the moderate prices for sportswear that a mid-level career woman could afford and would want to wear -- a formula that soon made the Liz Claiborne brand a department store stalwart.

'HEARTBEAT AHEAD'

Claiborne and her take on modern fashion were also at the right place at the right time, said David Wolfe, creative director of The Doneger Group, a retail consulting firm.
"Her sensibility and her view of the American woman was a heartbeat ahead of the American woman," Wolfe said. "She was ready and waiting when the American woman grew up."
The company -- the first founded by a woman to be included in the Fortune 500 -- went public in 1981. Claiborne retired from active management in 1989.

Liz Claiborne's current portfolio includes more than 40 brands -- from rapidly growing, hipster lines such as Juicy Couture to luxury names like Narciso Rodriguez and denim from Lucky Brand Jeans as well as moderate sportswear lines like Dana Buchman and Ellen Tracy -- all in addition to the company's namesake label.

"In losing Liz Claiborne, we have not only lost the founder of our company, but an inspirational woman who revolutionized the fashion industry 30 years ago," Liz Claiborne Inc. Chief Executive William McComb said in a statement.

The company, which posted about $5 billion in sales in full-year 2006, recently said it would reorganize in order to push its brand strategies while managing costs.

A changing retail landscape, with consolidation and the growth of private-label brands, together with a squeeze on moderate apparel lines, have hurt Liz Claiborne Inc. Net profit was down 65 percent in the most recent quarter.

The dissemination of style at cheaper prices -- though now one of the factors behind a major shift in the retail environment as mass-market retailers launch designer clothing lines -- was actually started by Claiborne, Klein said.

"It didn't take very long for designers to eventually follow (Claiborne) and start making clothes at less expensive prices, and it became cool. The whole mind-set has changed," he said. "Style can happen at any price."

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Milan menswear turns to history for timeless style

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian designers turned the clock back for menswear during Milan's fashion week, which ended on Wednesday, and pulled out pocket handkerchiefs, neck scarves and waistcoats to create timeless styles for next spring.

Gucci's Frida Giannini was inspired by Italian 1950s Cinecitta films and the French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo for her collection, while Belstaff, best known for its tough biker jackets, followed in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia.

Valentino Garavani's 45-year-old label chose "historical themes of the maison" to give a colonial flavor to his presentation, which included an old-world burlesque show complete with topless dancers.

Waistcoats were winners with many designers, whether classically supporting a suit or worn alone.

Grand man of Italian fashion Giorgio Armani turned the waistcoat into a sexy sleeveless top by giving it a shawl collar and running it unbuttoned down to a broad waistband.

Gianfranco Ferre, who died on June 17 just a week before his show, adapted a traditional dress shirt front into a waistcoat while at Belstaff, the waistcoats were egg white linen under a white loose cut suit.

Donatella Versace pared her waistcoats down to a T at the back for her Versace label and dynamic duo Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, inspired by rock stars in their D&G collection, sprinkled a waistcoat front with sparkling metal beading.

NO REASON FOR SEASONS?

Down at the beach, baggy bermudas or drill cotton shorts with turn-ups were in vogue, although Belstaff struck out with a blue and red check sarong and Dolce & Gabbana stripped off to mini swimming trunks.

Designers plumped largely for classic summer colors -- creams, whites, pale grays and pastels, with splashes of summer sky blue and sun yellow, while fabrics were focused on cottons and linens.

Miuccia Prada was an exception, turning out her models in wool and silk for botanical prints and purpled plaids.

"That was one of my evil obsessions," she said of her use of wool in the designs.
Prada highlighted another trend at the shows -- recognizing the growing irrelevance of the spring/summer and autumn/winter fashion agenda.
"I don't believe the idea of the seasons ... you serve people in the north, people in the south, a lot of customers," she said.

Several designers worked to provide clothes that could adapt to temperature changes, including Bottega Veneta with detachable collars and sleeves, and Versace who provided shirts which could double up as jackets and trench coats pared back to a jacket.

And even accessories were changeable. Ferre's parting gift to men with more money than space was a capacious leather bag that folded into a flat rectangle to hang snug against the hip.

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Dior celebrates 60 years in Versailles

VERSAILLES, France (Reuters) - British designer John Galliano marked his 10th year at the creative helm of iconic fashion house Dior with an extravagant autumn/winter show in Versailles Palace inspired by Impressionist and Modern painters.

The fashion house, whose controversial creations helped build its fame, also celebrated its 60th anniversary with opulence that evoked the reign of "Sun King" Louis XIV, the 17th century monarch who transformed Versailles into a royal palace.

The fashion brand, cherished by the rich and famous, used the occasion to reflect on its evolution from Christian Dior's 1947 "New Look" to Galliano's theatrical dresses.

The Gibraltar-born designer paid tribute to both Dior and his Spanish roots in a 30-minute show where models, including Gisele Bundchen, Naomi Campbell, Amber Valetta and Linda Evangelista, strutted in dresses inspired by painters ranging from Cocteau and Picasso to Renoir, Degas and Goya.

Against a background of flamenco music, the models with ethereal faces powdered in white came to life like characters out of masterpieces such as Picasso's "Harlequin," or "La Gouloue," the Moulin Rouge dancer who inspired Toulouse-Lautrec.

"There's a close proximity in their talents. John has many creative talents that are close to those of Mr Dior himself and this is the reason why I chose him 10 years ago," said Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH which includes the Dior brand.

"They share the femininity and romanticism but also the modernity and extravagance ... Christian Dior was not classical at all in the 1950s. He was revolutionary. Today he looks classical. It is like Picasso," said Arnault.

SILENCE

Galliano attempted to silence those who say he has betrayed Christian Dior's spirit as he produced a stark knee-length white satin dress with a tight waist adorned with a big rose and narrow sleeves elegantly hugging the tip of the shoulders.

"Almost Famous" actress Kate Hudson applauded heartily as the last evening creation, a one-strap embroidered emerald bustier dress was presented before Galliano proudly marched on stage in a bullfighter suit, with his long hair hanging loose.

"I love him," said James Bond girl Eva Green, in a Dior-designed Chinese pink satin dress. "He has the Dior chic and on top of that a certain madness."

Galliano later changed into gypsy clothes and was cheered by flamenco guitar players and dancers at a ball thrown by LVMH in the candle-lit Orangery gardens, flanked by two 100-step staircases leading to the Palace.

Also present were film makers Pedro Almodovar and Sophia Coppola.
Christian Dior's first collection in 1947 introduced a sharply feminine silhouette with a nipped-in waist, opening on to a long-hemmed voluminous dress made with 20 meters of fabric, a style some critics deemed obscene after years of war shortages.

"I have designed flower women," Dior was quoted as saying of his style, which Harpers Bazaar reportedly coined "New Look."
Yves Saint Laurent and Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre who died last month also worked for the Dior house before Galliano brought his new "New Look."

Galliano's theatrical shows and emphasis on accessories such as bags, sunglasses and jewelry has contributed to transforming the French fashion house into a global brand.

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Models take wing at Chanel show, Lacroix echoes roots

PARIS (Reuters) - Birds of paradise braved Chanel's rain-soaked runway on Tuesday as German designer Karl Lagerfeld gave wings to his models to reinvent the style that has made the Paris haute couture house an icon of chic.

Torrential rain delayed the presentation of Chanel's latest fall/winter collection, set in a former royal park overlooking the Seine river, until a tarpaulin was fixed above the runway and hundreds of black Chanel umbrellas were given to the guests.

Hooded models with thick black sunglasses huddled along a gravel runway in the park outside Paris, sporting classic three-quarter-length coats and dresses with the new adornment of feathers and sequins on the arms and the side.

Avant-garde film maker David Lynch sat in the front row watching models in knee-length deep blue satin dresses fringed with black sequins running on each side from the hem to the armpit and from the shoulders to the hands.

For the evening, Lagerfeld dressed the Chanel woman in a long black sequin dress hemmed with white feathers.
"Haute couture has to be the ultimate in luxury or else a luxurious pret-a-porter would suffice. If it is not truly exceptional it has no reason to be," the pony-tailed Lagerfeld told the army of reporters surrounding him after the show.

"Haute couture is a distinct culture and this is the reason why there are so few couture houses around," he added, paying tribute to the "petites mains" who spend hours sewing beads and sequins on to haute couture dresses costing upwards of $10,000.

Haute couture, famed for its stunningly beautiful but also staggeringly priced craftsmanship, has gone through sporadic crises since the 1980s but new rich clients from booming Asian and Eastern European economies and a fascination for the famous has fed new appetite for designer clothes and accessories.

LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group, home of the Dior fashion house and Louis Vuitton handbags, reported first-quarter sales of 3.8 billion euros ($5.17 billion) in April, up 7 percent year on year.

Chanel, one of only 10 permanent members of the prestigious French haute couture union, dates from the early 20th century when Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel revolutionized the industry by replacing the traditional corset with more comfortable suits.

The life of Coco before Chanel is set to become a film, with "Da Vinci Code" actress Audrey Tautou due to play the role of the French designer.

GYPSIES AT LACROIX

Feathers and fur also featured prominently in the fall/winter collection of Christian Lacroix, who celebrates 20 years at the helm of a house influenced by the bull fights and Provencal traditions the French designer grew up with.

After John Galliano, who marked his 10 years at Dior and the 60th anniversary of the French fashion house with a star-studded party in Versailles Palace on Monday, Lacroix treated the fashion glitterati with a show true to his Southern roots.

Inside Palais de Tokyo, the contemporary art museum that faces the Eiffel Tower, models looked like disheveled gypsies with giant pearl necklaces and embroidered high-heeled shoes.
Lacroix played with volumes, with a green silk cloak topping a black sheath with a silver-studded belt, or a bronze-colored flounced jacket with feathers or colorful embroidered coats exposing sculpted yellow or purple gowns.

The audience went into raptures over Australian model Gemma Ward's Madonna-like wedding gown in golden fabric with flowers, and the vase with metallic roses on her head.
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Celebrity fashion? No thanks, we're Zara

ARTEIXO, Spain (Reuters) - There are no celebrities in the studios of Spanish fashion chain Zara, just hundreds of twenty-something designers copying catwalk lines faster than their labels can sell them.

While shoppers storm the stores of rival H&M for clothes designed by Madonna and Kylie Minogue, Zara has hitherto shunned the global craze for celebrity-designed, celebrity look-alike fashion.

As Britain's Top Shop buys wall-to-wall publicity for its popular Kate Moss collection, Zara sees no need for high-profile advertising.
Even its executives shun publicity, agreeing to be interviewed on a recent visit on condition they are not named.

"It's all about speed," says one, looking out from a boardroom at a distribution centre the size of an airport terminal at their headquarters in Arteixo, northwestern Spain. "Celebrities may work for other brands, not for us."

Some analysts applaud the formula: Luca Solca of the Bernstein consultancy says stars are a substitute for design, speed and quality. He compares firms that use them to athletes forced to take steroids to compete.

Trendspotter Marian Salzman of the JWT advertising agency in New York agrees: "Zara is right to stay away from celebrities. It doesn't mean it's always going to be that way," she said.
Indeed, analysts say, it was Zara's fast-to-market model and H&M's hip, cheap lines that obliterated the European middle-market and forced competitors to sign up celebrities to compete.

But retail professor Andrew Newman says Zara could begin to slow as it tries to sell the same fashions across 64 countries and still make the majority of clothes in Europe.
In just over a decade, Zara's parent company Inditex has become world's second-biggest selling fashion retailer after Gap Inc. Zara drives two-thirds of sales.

With 8 brands, ranging from higher-end Massimo Dutti to Bershka teenwear, Inditex is opening more than a store a day as it targets fashion-hungry Europeans and China's middle class.
"A classic problem with firms that have been successful is arrogance. It's possible that could happen to Zara," said Newman of Manchester Business School, England.

ZARA SECRETS

It takes up to a year for fashion houses to launch a catwalk collection but Zara can sell expensive-looking, affordable copies of the hottest trends within weeks of their debut.
Zara's limited lines appeal to shoppers who buy luxury look-alike clothes and mix high and low fashion, to keep people guessing if they are wearing Zara or designer label Marni.

Ask about Zara's answer to celebrities and, after swearing not to reveal the designs, journalists are taken to a basement studio where dimly-lit mannequins wear this winter's collection in elegant, minimalist window displays.

"This is our catwalk, this is our marketing," says an Inditex spokesman.
Over the road in a vast warehouse, workers use bikes to navigate between miles of automated rails that ship 60,000 garments an hour to Zara stores and restock them twice a week.
Proximity of these logistic hubs to designers and factories in Europe means Zara can keep its cutting edge speed, rather than lose it, the spokesman explains.

Competitors make clothes in Asia to cut costs but take longer to get clothes to market or halt lines that flop.

CELEB PERILS

Analysts are still concerned Inditex has no plans to build logistics hubs outside Spain -- which no longer provides the majority of sales -- or to increase production in Asia.
Some say Amancio Ortega, Inditex's 71-year-old owner, has to delegate more control for Zara to keep its cutting edge.

He eschews celebrity tie-ins and opposes online sales.
His youngest daughter Marta, 23, begins work at Inditex this year and may join a budding second generation of managers.

Salzman says they will have to deal with Zara stores that are growing "a bit chaotic" and need more staff after two years of cost controls. She fears the label may be settling into being attractive to the middle-aged rather than attracting a new generation.
At some point, they may have to commission stars if that is what customers want, says Salzman in New York.

Among the perils of using celebrities, say analysts, is the fact authentic stars are hard to find and members of the glitterati can become publicity accidents.

U.S. brand Jill Stuart commissioned singer Lindsay Lohan this year only to see her arrested for drunk-driving and check into rehab.

But British mass-market brand New Look sees no end to shoppers wanting to dress like celebs and has signed singer Lily Allen.

In Spain, source of around 40 percent of Inditex sales, actress Milla Jovovich has boosted sales for Barcelona fashion house Mango. Penelope Cruz will add panache to their next collection.

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Valentino returns to hero's welcome in Rome

ROME (Reuters) - Rome rolled out the red carpet to welcome back Valentino Garavani, decking out a historic museum with his sweeping gowns and restoring an ancient temple by the Colosseum to host festivities celebrating the Italian designer.

While other top fashion names unveiled their latest collections in Paris this week, Valentino is marking his 45th year as a designer with a catwalk show and decadent galas in the city where he opened his first atelier in the 1960s.

"I thought it was time to come back," the designer, who has not presented a show in Rome for 17 years, said at a news conference on Friday to kick off the three-day festivities.
Eager to reassert itself on the fashion map where it once dominated before losing its place to Milan, Rome has rushed to offer Valentino some of its landmark venues as the backdrop for his events.

With the help of funds donated by the designer, Rome restored the ancient Temple of Venus built by Emperor Hadrian, which hosts Friday's inaugural banquet with the added attraction of luminous columns designed by Dante Ferretti hoisted on top.

Bald mannequins draped with Valentino's trademark evening gowns lined Rome's Ara Pacis museum as part of an exhibit on the designer's works that opened on Friday with A-list stars such as Uma Thurman and Sarah Jessica Parker in attendance.

"What is wonderful for women is that he is committed to making us look better than ever, he's a warrior for women," actress Anne Hathaway told reporters on the red carpet entrance to the exhibit swarming with photographers and camera crews.

The retrospective also showed off old pencil sketches and about 300 dresses made by the designer, including sequined and ruffled evening gowns worn by stars like Audrey Hepburn that first catapulted the designer to fame several decades ago.

"I love women and I love to make women look wonderful," Valentino said, adding that over the years he hated the grunge look because it was "outrageous" while the minimalism phase was an "offence" because it made women look like "little nuns."

On Saturday, the stylist will unveil his fall collection in a former church complex by the Vatican before hosting another lavish gala in the lush gardens of Villa Borghese. The festivities end on Sunday with the launch of a new perfume.

Though it was once the undisputed capital of la dolce vita, Rome is no longer where Italy's top designers unveil their collections, and the city has been quick to capitalize on Valentino's big name status.

The designer was allowed to pick the city's monuments he fancied as settings for his parties and a list of Italian dignitaries have paid tribute to his role in putting Italy at the top of global fashion.
Valentino, whose group last month landed in the hands of private equity fund Permira, shrugged off rumors of impending retirement.

"I'm a disaster in everything else, but dress designing I can do," he said.

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Stars turn out for Valentino's anniversary show

ROME (Reuters) - Valentino reminded a crowd of movie A-listers and top designers why he has dressed the stars for nearly half a century on Saturday with an haute couture show conceived as a crescendo to his anniversary extravaganza.

Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace and Tom Ford joined movie stars Uma Thurman and Sarah Jessica Parker on the front row for a catwalk spectacular drawing on symbols of the Italian "dolce vita" -- opera, glamorous gowns and gelato.
Valentino, famed for his lipstick red evening dresses, gave them a show wreathed with the opulence that has defined his career since he dressed Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the 1960s.

It was the centerpiece of three days of parties marking his 45 years as a designer and attracting the kind of slew of stars usually reserved for the Academy Awards.
Mick Jagger, Sienna Miller and Maggie Cheung joined revelers at the after-party in Rome's Villa Borghese.

"I love Valentino. His dresses are so elegant and feminine. They are a pleasure and a privilege to wear," Thurman said.

At the show in a 12th century basilica near the Vatican, models wore day wear skirt suits webbed with lace work before switching into floor-skimming gowns glittering with diamante in blacks, whites, pastels and Valentino's signature red.

Fur, feathers and embroidery accentuated waists and shoulders while discs of chiffon on coats and sleeves lent the effect of scoops of ice cream.

"It was beautiful. I loved the ice cream dresses, the sorbet dresses. The pink and the purple ones were the best," said up-and-coming U.S. designer Zac Posen, another front row guest.

THE FUTURE

Valentino, who has repeatedly denied the celebrations are a prelude to his retirement, closed the show in a white suit and in tears met by a standing ovation from the crowd and the strains of Giacomo Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro."

"That seemed the show of a young man with a great future ahead of him," said Andre Leon Talley, U.S. Vogue editor-at-large and a front row regular for 25 years.
The future for Valentino, now in his seventies, has been the subject of rumors in the run-up to event, which immediately followed Paris haute couture week.

The famed fashion house landed in the grasp of a European private equity group, Permira, in May and a takeover is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.
Industry watchers are skeptical the new owners, whose trade is to cut costs and boost profits, will sanction the lavish spending that has defined Valentino's career. He reportedly spent $270,000 to rebuild a temple in the Roman Forum temporarily for dinner on the opening night of the celebrations.

Although Valentino's business partner Giancarlo Giammetti said it would be business as usual under the new owners, he failed to clear a lingering sense of the end of an era.
"It seems like a retirement," said Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova.

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Italian fashion house Prada in sale talks

LONDON (AFP) - A British billionaire is holding secret talks on buying Italian fashion house Prada, the Sunday Times reported.

Richard Caring, who made his fortune supplying many of Britain's leading clothes stores, is holding secret talks on the move, the weekly paper said, quoting unnamed sources from the City of London financial district.

At least two private equity houses are also interested in buying Prada, which is worth 1.3 billion pounds (1.9 billion euros, 2.6 billion dollars), the paper said.

It reported that these could include Permira and Carlyle.

Prada, known for its sleek, modernist tailoring, enjoyed a 63 percent increase in profits last year, taking them to 76 million euros.

It sold loss-making fashion labels Helmut Lang and Jil Sander in 2006.

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Rome looks for revival on global fashion stage

ROME (Reuters) - When native designer Valentino packed his bags for the catwalks of Paris 17 years ago, Rome's fall from the pinnacle of fashion glory appeared complete.

Just a handful of old Roman fashion houses were left in the city that was once the undisputed capital of glamour and "La Dolce Vita," and critics panned the lifeless creations shown on its catwalks as the death knell of Roman fashion.

Overshadowed by Milan and Paris and struggling with a dearth of big names at its fashion parades, Rome is now looking to get back on the fashion map by reinventing itself as a hub for emerging designers from regions like the Middle East and Asia.

"We don't want any competition with Milan or Paris, Rome is for young people and young stylists -- it's all for the future," says Stefano Dominella, the president of AltaRoma which manages the city's twice-a-year fashion weeks.

Sure enough, this week's "High Fashion" calendar features three Lebanese designers, including up-and-coming stylist Ella Zahlan, and India's Pria Kataria Puri and Neeta Lulla, known for dressing Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai.

Also parading their creations were young Dutch designers like Addy Van Den Krommenacker, and Swedish stylist Sandra Backlund. The fashion week hosted its third season of a contest to identify new talent, and has begun other initiatives like an exchange programme with its Indian counterpart.

"Milan is crowded with ready-to-wear and can't give any visibility to new talent, so Rome needs to take over this role," said Mario Boselli, head of Italy's National Chamber of Fashion. "We think it would be great if Rome can maintain its roots of high fashion and develop creative talent at the same time."

The new thrust is not without some skepticism. Established designers like Renato Balestra say they are all for fresh talent, but Rome must apply rigorous screening for stylists to avoid turning itself into a free for all.

"We cannot pretend to discover talent every season," said Balestra, who has unveiled his collections in Rome for years.

"It's not like you can push a button and suddenly there's a lot of it. This is a very refined business that demands culture, traveling and other things to make a great designer. New talent is one in 200,000 people."

'HOLLYWOOD ON THE TIBER'

All this is a far cry from Rome's fashion heyday of the 1960s during the "Hollywood on the Tiber" era, when trendsetting stars like Elizabeth Taylor descended on the city's cobbled streets and piazzas.

Haute couture -- sumptuous outfits painstakingly tailored to the client's measurements -- was the order of the day, and stars and aristocrats flocked to the studios of designers like Roberto Capucci, Valentino, the Fontana Sisters and Irene Galitzine.

But the city's appeal began to fade with the arrival of pret-a-porter -- or ready-to-wear lines -- in Milan, which was to quickly overtake Rome as Italy's fashion capital and home of designers like Giorgio Armani, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana.

Top designers like Valentino and Gianfranco Ferre departed for Paris and in the 1990s, a sense of gloom set in. Refusing to show his collection in Rome one year, designer Pino Lancetti said that Rome was "dead as a centre for haute couture."

The old Roman haute couture house, Gattinoni, summed up the industry's woes by seating life-size puppets of Italy's "first ladies" at a 1997 show to ask who would turn up to Rome's shows if women from Italy's political class didn't bother.

"Ten years ago, we had no young designers and no foreigners, it was only the old Roman fashion houses like Gattinoni, Sarli and the rest," said Adriano Franchi, the CEO of AltaRoma. "Today, young designers are seeking us out to promote them."

VALENTINO OVERDRIVE

Today, Rome's fashion week still attracts well-heeled, coiffed Romans rather than Vogue Editor Anna Wintour and the jet-setting glitterati that pack shows in Paris and Milan. But designers and organizers say a certain buzz is coming back.

Rome is basking in the glow of hosting Valentino's 45th anniversary celebrations this past weekend that drew a slew of A-list stars like Uma Thurman and Sarah Jessica Parker -- and was quickly hailed as a landmark for the city's efforts to become a fashion capital in its own right.
Eager to push up Rome's standing in the fashion stakes, mayor Walter Veltroni offered Valentino his pick of monuments for the festivities -- like the Temple of Venus by the Colosseum -- and then agreed to set up a permanent museum in his honor.

The opulent celebrations zeroed in on the use of perhaps Rome's biggest trump card to regain its past glory -- ancient monuments and regal piazzas that can be used as spectacular backdrops to any fashion show.

Gattinoni's models glided down a runway circling the equestrian bronze Marcus Aurelius statue in Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio on Sunday while the Spanish Steps has often been used as a runway in the past.

"Rome is coming back. It's becoming a place that people are coming to, like Valentino," says Franchi. "Paris may have history, but we in Rome have just a little bit more."

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"The Ten": Thou Shalt Laugh

New York - What's a perfect movie for a convicted felon to make? In Winona Ryder's case, it is to do a bit of atonement in "The Ten," David Wain's new comedy based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. But ironically, as partygoers to the film's premiere at New York City's DGA Theater discovered on Monday night, in her vignette (there are ten different short stories in the movie) Ryder plays a woman obsessed with a ventriloquist's dummy; so obsessed, in fact, that she steals it!

Ryder, who wore a long white coat to the film's premiere, recently told "Vogue" magazine that she doesn't actually feel too badly about her infamous arrest at Saks Fifth Avenue back in 2001, saying, "I didn't have this tremendous sense of guilt because I hadn't hurt anyone."

Except herself, of course. The 35-year-old star has struggled to resurrect her A-list career ever since, so she's hoping that Sundance favorite "The Ten" hits big with fans of outrageous comedy. She's in good comedic company, at least, especially with co-star (and producer) Paul Rudd. He made the party scene too, lending his high-wattage comic presence to the glittery scene. Rudd is riding on quite a high, with hits "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" proving he's the go-to comedy guy at the moment.

Gorgeous Famke Janssen also stars in "The Ten," as Rudd's hot wife; she looked fantastic as always at the premiere, and towered over Ryder and pretty (and very pregnant) actress Gretchen Mol, who plays a shy librarian in the film, who experiences a sexual awakening while on vacation in Mexico.

Also on hand from the film (which opens in limited release on August 3) at the screening and Avalon after party were Bobby Cannavale, Ken Marino, and Kerri Kenney, along with pals Janeane Garofalo, Rashida Jones, and "Law and Order: SVU" hunk Christopher Meloni.

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Milan plans ballet tribute for Versace 10 years on

MILAN (Reuters) - Milan will commemorate 10 years since the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace by hosting a red carpet evening at La Scala opera house with a homage to ballets he helped design -- including "Sudden Death."

Around 1,500 guests are expected to attend Sunday's event, which will be a tribute to some 12 ballets for which Versace designed costumes in collaboration with choreographer Maurice Bejart.
"Thanks, Gianni, with love," will also include costumes created by his sister Donatella, who now designs for Versace, and has moved its image from Gianni's glitz and superstar sparkle to a more wearable but still glamorous look.

Versace was gunned down on the street outside his Miami Beach mansion on July 15, 1997.
He first worked with Bejart in 1984 and their last collaboration was on "Barocco Bel Canto," which debuted in Florence in June 1997. "La Mort Subite" was first performed in Paris in February 1991.

"Gianni plunged into dance," Bejart said at a press conference on Saturday. "It was two artists, two art forms, working on the same level," he added.

Milan's city centre is currently enlivened with posters of Gianni Versace's ballet designs, including a twisted midnight blue flute of a dress for "Malraux, Ou La Metamorphose Des Dieux," and a black all-in-one with an inverted triangle top for "Pyramide," which debuted in Cairo and features Islamic music.

Bejart and Donatella said there would also be some innovations in Sunday's gala.
"There will be a little new choreography," said Bejart, who is 80-years-old and founded his own ballet company in 1960.

"All my costumes play on light," Donatella said, promising "about six very colorful designs where only the eyes are not covered."

Gianni Versace was born in Reggio Calabria on December 2, 1946. His first Gianni Versace collection for women was shown in Milan in 1978.

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Ivanka Trump to join Trump board

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Heiress and former runway model Ivanka Trump is joining the board of the gaming company that bears her flamboyant father's name.

"She's been outstanding in everything she has done, and she will be an outstanding board member," Donald Trump told The Press of Atlantic City for Saturday editions.

Ivanka Trump will join the board of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.

The 25-year-old already has some experience to draw from: She was her father's sidekick on his reality television show "The Apprentice."

She currently is a vice president with the Trump Organization, which controls Trump hotels, real estate holdings and golf courses, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, one of the nation's top business schools.

Before joining the board, Ivanka Trump must get a license from the state Casino Control Commission. The agency is expected to grant her preliminary approval as soon as Wednesday.
Casino regulators will conduct a background check to make sure she has done nothing that would disqualify her from holding a gambling license.

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Who needs to sing when you have "Idol" apparel?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Your singing voice might make Simon cringe and your two left feet might not endear you to Paula, but the chance to look like an American Idol could still be in the stars.

A line of rock n' roll-inspired clothing for girls and tweens hits mass-market retailers next February, with prices for the denim-based line ranging between $10 and $40 for T-shirts, jeans, dresses and vests.

FremantleMedia, producers of the hit television show "American Idol" -- which is judged by Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson -- penned the deal with Lyric Jeans Inc, a Los Angeles-based company known for its premium clothing adorned with iconic song lyrics, from "Revolution" by The Beatles to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees.

The 11-piece line called Lyrix by Lyric Culture will feature a palette of pink, white and black and logos that are embroidered or painted onto fabric. One pair of jeans has an image of a microphone snaking up the leg, while other pieces will incorporate lyrics from songs by winners of the show.

Fashion has always been a huge part of the "American Idol" experience, said designer Hanna Rochelle Schmieder, who first discovered rock n' roll by listening to Beatles albums on her Fisher-Price record player.

"From the moment they audition to the time they make it in the top 10, they become style icons in their own right," said Schmieder of the show's contestants. "All the little girls that are watching it, they want to dress like that. Why not make clothes for them that are affordable -- and very rock and roll?"

James Ngo, director of consumer licensing for FremantleMedia, said he would look into the studio audience on taping nights and realize the dewy-faced, prepubescent girls screaming and crying for their favorite singers were his target audience.

"They wear the T-shirts, they're holding up signs, they're so proud to wear it and show it, it clicked in our head those are the average consumers of our brand," Ngo told Reuters. "That's who we need to make the T-shirts and the clothing for."

Another line of T-shirts, produced through licensee JEM Sportswear, is sold at retailers such as J.C. Penney Co Inc and Macy's Inc and sales grew over 30 percent last year, Ngo said.
FremantleMedia currently has 45 licensees for such American Idol-branded items as toys, food and games, Ngo said.

American Idol, America's most-watched television show, is broadcast to more than 100 countries outside the United States and captured an average audience of 30 million viewers per episode in 2006 and 2007.

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At the "Hairspray" Premiere: One Hot Ticket

Los Angeles - As Tinseltown parties go, the "Hairspray" premiere on Tuesday night at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood was especially boisterous - and star-studded, too.

Look over there, it's Queen Latifah, looking outrageous in a shoulder-length blonde wig; she stars in the film wearing that same hair. There's John Travolta, who plays the doting, heavyset mother in the big-screen adaptation of the popular Broadway musical, with his wife Kelly Preston on his arm. Over there is Michelle Pfeiffer, another of the film's huge cast, with hubby David E. Kelley and sister DeDee, and of course, newcomer Nikki Blonsky was all smiles.

She plays Tracy Turnblad, the chubby girl who makes it big on a Sixties-era Baltimore dance show. The brainchild of John Waters (he was on hand, too), "Hairspray" is so much fun, big names really clamored to be in this musical film version. Except for Travolta, that is.

"I have been offered 4 musicals in 30 years. They are a minority genre, they don't get done very often, and when they do get done they are not workable or good. You have to really be careful when you say yes to these things," he explained at an earlier press day for the film.

"So a year and 2 months of meetings [about "Hairspray"] and what the vision would be, and what rights I had to play her the way I wanted to, I finally said ‘yes.'"

It wasn't such a hard sell for other famous faces in the film and at the premiere and after party, held on UCLA's campus.

"I grew up doing musicals before I was ever on television," Amanda Bynes said. "I did 'Sound of Music', 'Music Man', 'Secret Garden' - I grew up doing theater so I have always gone to musicals. I love them, so when I found out they were doing it, I was like, ‘I need to be in this movie!' So I was excited to have that opportunity."

As were the rest of the cast on hand at the premiere, including Allison Janney, James Marsden, Elijah Kelley, Zac Efron, and Brittney Snow, who looked amazing in a bright yellow Malandrino satin strapless mini dress.

Also singing along to the catchy "Hairspray" tunes were Forest Whitaker and his gorgeous wife Keisha, Carmen Electra, Johnny Knoxville, Vanessa Hudgens, Paul Dooley, Ashley Tisdale, and Buzz Aldrin.

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Celebs attend tribute to Gianni Versace

MILAN, Italy - Naomi Campbell, Jessica Alba and Claudia Schiffer were among the celebrities who attended a ballet at La Scala in memory of Gianni Versace, who was murdered 10 years ago.

"Thank you, Gianni, With Love," performed Sunday night, was the highlight of a series of events marking the anniversary of the Italian designer's death. He was gunned down outside his Miami Beach, Fla., mansion on July 15, 1997, by Andrew Cunanan, who killed himself a few days later.
Versace's sexy and daring clothes made him a favorite among rockers, Hollywood stars and other celebrities.

Maurice Bejart, who enjoyed a long professional collaboration and close friendship with Versace, wrote the ballet. It featured stage costumes designed by Versace over the years, as well as those created for the performance by his sister, Donatella Versace.

Donatella Versace, who attended the ballet with her daughter, Allegra Beck Versace, took over design at the fashion house after her brother's death.

Celebrities attending the red-carpet event also included Rupert Everett, Karl Lagerfeld and Claude Lelouch.

Other events commemorating Versace's death include an exhibit of his sketches and theater costumes installed on Milan streets and the establishment of a scholarship in his honor at the European Institute of Design in Milan.

"Hairspray" Shakes Up New York

New York - The cast and crew of the new musical comedy film "Hairspray" danced their way across the U. S., continuing the party that started last week in Los Angeles with an even-more glittery premiere held at New York's legendary Ziegfeld Theatre, and a huge after party at Roseland. Not only was the whole cast back out in force, from Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, James Marsden, Brittany Snow, and newcomer Nikki Blonsky to cross-dressing star John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston, who stole the red-carpet show in a teal blue David Meister cocktail dress that wowed the assembled crowd.

Fans of the John Waters' movie-turned-Broadway-show-turned-movie-yet-again included Katie Holmes, Paula Abdul, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, Nathan Lane, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara – pretty much anyone who is anyone and in New York at the moment turned up. Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna were on hand, too, along with Ralph Macchio, Alexa Vega, Edie Falco, Kathryn Erbe, Lance Bass, and Clive Davis.

So why does "Hairspray" keep coming back (the new film arrives in theaters on July 20), and drawing so many admirers in every incarnation? If you ask Queen Latifah, it's all about the clothes and hair, circa 1964.

"I had so much fun with the hair, makeup, and wardrobe," she said at an earlier press day for the film. "There are some really cool designs and they really make it work. And plus, now I know I could be blond if I want to be!"

But Michelle Pfeiffer disagrees, despite how wonderful she looks in the film.
"Honestly, that era is not my favorite era for women. I do think that the clothes are beautiful but I think when I look at women from that era, all I can think of is how uncomfortable they look," Pfeiffer explained. "It's just like everything is so fitted and so pressed and the makeup is so heavy and the hair is so sprayed. And it's like the clip-on earrings, the shoes, it all just looks like it hurts. And it did [in the movie]! Your feet were killing you, your ears were on fire!"
Even funnier, as young star Elijah Kelley, who stars opposite Amanda Bynes in the interracial romance that is a key part of the "Hairspray" tale, tells it, his hair got the weirdest treatment of anyone in the cast.

"It was my real hair," he laughed. "It was done with finger waves, they put all kinds of chemicals in it, and catsup and mustard and papaya juice, and some cement!"
Seems like that falls directly into the category of "do not try this at home"; but don't be surprised if the rest of the retro "Hairspray" style starts turning up off-screen as fans embrace this latest incarnation of the much-loved musical.

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In Paris, Fairy Tales With a Global Flair

GIORGIO ARMANI has never made a convincing stab at haute couture, the major leagues of fashion. His clothes always seem stiff and out of touch. But consider the power of a name: outside his show in the Place du Trocadéro the crowd waiting to see guests arrive stood three deep. The area is popular with tourists. Still, none of the other couture shows last week produced that degree of public awe.

You can’t be Giorgio Armani and not know, at this stage, that you’re a world-renowned figure, a symbol of glamour and Hollywood, the man who dressed Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Gere and lately Cate Blanchett. But Mr. Armani has struggled to adapt his cool understatement to a new, noisy world. The resulting look often includes flashy elements he once deplored.

On Wednesday, Mr. Armani’s fall couture collection was brighter, bolder and more flagrantly sexy than any he has done before. The opening outfits consisted of snug tweed and Prince of Wales jackets with flaring skirts in vivid orange or blue prints. There were tight jackets in hot pink and chartreuse crocodile. Orange satin flashed from the lining of a black coat. Platform shoes glittered. Necklines plunged.

Hilary Alexander, the intrepid fashion correspondent for The Daily Telegraph in London, hurried up to Mr. Armani after the show for an explanation. “A quote, Mr. Armani,” she said. “Just three words!” Not getting his attention, she shouted, “Are you on acid?”

If you said the clothes looked perfect for the wife of a Russian oligarch, it would be unfair to Mr. Armani and the wife. But, in a way, you wouldn’t be wrong. Until now, our notion of what is valid in fashion has been based on a rather parochial view of the world: Europe, North America, certain parts of Asia. Globalism has changed that. And it will continue to force people to come to terms not just with new markets but also new customers.

Mr. Armani is right to explore different styles and couture is the best place to do that. His pantsuits, with small, shapely jackets and lean trousers, were impeccable as well as fresh. Only a snob would complain that a feathery coat shot with hot pink was “a bit much,” the carved-out bodices of evening gowns “not for me.” Isn’t individuality a virtue of couture?

On the demerit side, some of the couture silks looked too heavy and old school for the sexier shapes. And he achieved nothing by putting hip pads in a silver-beaded sheath except to reveal a capacity to completely lose sight of proportion. Just because you get a fetishistic impulse in couture is no reason to throw away your basic standards. With no bust, the model looked like an ironing board from the side and a double-wide from the rear.

With Chanel and Dior at the head of the class, and a superb show by Jean Paul Gaultier on Wednesday, the couture season has been strong. Christian Lacroix’s collection was all savoir-faire as it explored the ethnic in chic and vice versa. Coats were voluminous, often in an Oriental pattern with an outsize detail like an ostrich-feather collar, and a simple wool dress underneath. One of the prettiest looks was a gold-embroidered tulle vest and a slim matching skirt under a black crepe bolero with Kelly green braid.

Mr. Lacroix managed to finesse the idea that while these clothes were wearable, they had little to do with the external world. They were a poet’s interpretation of femininity and beauty and only Mr. Lacroix could explain the relevance of the words he listed in his program, words like “furbelows” and “toilette” and “disorganized.” We just had to wonder at the life behind a vivid blue satin dress with a feathery black bodice and a white ruff.

You would have thought princess fairy tales old hat and certainly open to question after the publication of “The Diana Chronicles,” but Mr. Gaultier found a way to enchant us. This was his best haute couture show in several years, a wonderful mix of Paris tailoring (for elegant pantsuits and embroidered trench coats) and thoughtful wit.

The fairy tale had a maharajah twist. But here, too, Mr. Gaultier avoided the predictable plot, with biscuit-color jodhpurs in crocodile with an embroidered silk-satin blouse, an egg-shape parka in silvery beige silk embroidered with Asiatic dolls, an ornate kilt, and crowns of hair.
Sometimes the sartorial jokes get the better of Mr. Gaultier, but not this time. The obvious quality of the workmanship and the sureness of his hand kept you engaged, especially when he sent out a gorgeously draped navy satin dress, sashed on the left hip, with an officer’s coat in matching silk. Or a virtual second skin of embroidery and stones under a long leopard-print cape. Even the Raj prince who came out toward the end was a hunk

Galliano celebrates 60 years of Dior with Versailles extravaganza

One of the most extravagant couture shows in fashion history set Paris alight on Monday as John Galliano held his autumn/winter haute couture show for Christian Dior in the Orangery at the Palace of Versailles. The flamboyant British designer pulled out all the stops to ensure the 60th anniversary of one of France's most renowned couture houses was a moment to remember. And in an extraordinary coup, he persuaded some of the world's most beautiful women including Helena Christensen, Linda Evangelista, Karen Mulder and Stella Tennant back on the runway to model his extravagant creations.

Former Versailles resident Marie Antoinette would no doubt have been thrilled by the breathtaking gowns in ravishing colours that filled the catwalk. Many of the hand-crafted pieces were inspired by the art world's old masters and their muses, through works from Goya and Velasquez to Boticelli and Caravaggio.

Forties-style evening suits referenced Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci, while Brazilian model isele Bundchen wore an updated version of the hip-padded "Bar" jacket that was a key piece in Christian Dior's ground-breaking "New Look" collection of 1947.

Galliano, clad in a dramatic matador outfit, paid particular homage to his Spanish roots. Freshly returned from a trip to Seville, he had bought along a flamenco troupe and treated his A-list guests to tapas and paella washed down with bubbly.

Hollywood's leading ladies, who'd been requested to dress with "extreme elegance" for the occasion, were clearly bowled over by the affair. "It's amazing, it's like a dream come true," said Sin City actress Jessica Alba, who was just one of several international beauties, including Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson and Eva Green, bringing screen glamour to the event.

The Dior presentation was one of three high-profile anniversary shows taking place this week.

On Tuesday Christian Lacroix is celebrating 20 years in Paris, while Valentino is due to beginning a weekend of festivities in Rome on Friday to mark his 45-year contribution to the fashion scene.