Venus Williams and fashion may not seem like the most obvious combination but that's exactly what the tennis player is focusing on. Earlier on this year she relaunched EleVen by Venus Williams by taking complete control over the line after originally designing it for Steve & Barry's, who went bankrupt in 2008 and now, she taking it to New York Fashion Week.
Over the weekend she threw a party for the line in the Hamptons where she confirmed that it's definitely happening despite the fact that the planning is in its infant stages due to her being in London for the Olympics. Yesterday her publicist confirmed that the line will be showed in a presentation format rather than a runway show on Wednesday September 12 and by the sounds of it, everything we'll see is completely Venus. 'I lead up all the design,' she told The Cut. 'That's really number one, because if I'm not there doing that, then it won't look like me, and it will start to look ordinary.'
With TeamGB stars like Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis doing so well in the Olympics, it's easy to forget that the Games were big for Michael Phelps too. The American swimmer made sporting history by becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 gold medals. It was only a matter of time, then, before brands jumped on the bandwagon and the first big deal comes from Louis Vuitton.
Yesterday the brand unveiled their latest Core Values campaign showing Phelps posing in a bath in swimming trunks, goggles and that much spoken about mysterious bubble between his legs. In another image from the Annie Leibovitz-shot campaign, he appears alongside Larissa Latynina, the former Soviet gymnast who Phelps stole the most decoarted Olympian title from.
Jokes aside, Phelps is the perfect choice for the campaign. Rather than simply jumping on the Olympics bandwagon, nobody can deny that Phelps (and his achievements) refect the core values that the campaign promotes.
Georgia May Jagger, Kate Moss, Lily Donaldson and Naomi Campbell
Yesterday we finally saw the likes of Stella Tennant, Kate Moss and Jourdan Dunn hit the runway at the closing ceremony wearing British designers like Victoria Beckham and Alexander McQueen but the party started before the event.
Ahead of the festivities Naomi Campbell hosted a party in the capital to mark the Olympics but also for her Fashion for Relief charity. As you would expect, the party was full of fashion folk like Vivienne Westwood and Ozwald Boateng but Campbell did actually invite some athletes so British cyclist Dani King was there along, who naturally turned up sporting her gold medal.
The 'supers' were not the only ones flying the flag for British brands tonight. Tinie Tempah opted for this block coloured orange and yellow jacket from the S/S13 Burberry collection tonight to perform with 'Written in the Stars' with Jessie J at the closing ceremony. Not my favourite look from him but you might disagree.
Ryan Lochte has pretty much been the centre of everyone's attention this Olympics. The fact that he's actually a talented swimmer is besides the point. It's his other 'assets' that have kept images like this in the newspapers day after day. And surprise, surprise, brands are already queuing up to work with him.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Lochte's agent Erika Wright confirmed that there have been 'offers' - so plural - for a fashion line and also confirmed that he's considering foraying into the precarious, and increasingly boring, world of reality TV. Who knows, it could be a combination of the two or maybe a swimming version of the Rihanna's 'Styled To Rock' where the winner gets to design his speedos or swimming cap? Now that would be good, even if for the pure comedic value.
No sooner had everyone applauded Ralph Lauren for his U.S. Olympic team uniforms, a backlash against him begun after ABC News uncovered that the label manufactured all of the uniforms in China. Senator Harry Reid went as far as to say that people should 'put them in a big pile and burn them,' but the big question is whether the criticism is warranted.
While the move wasn't necessary the best one, as the Times notes, this isn't something new. Ralph Lauren moved most of their manufacturing to China back in 2008 and most fashion brands have followed suit but not much has been said about that. Why is it then that the only we're only sensitive about the 'China' issue when it comes to the Olympics and the patriotism surrounding it?
As Stella McCartney explained this morning to myself and a group of journalists, 'China has the monopoly on lower-priced range products full stop, so you can have that conversation with any high street brand,' and it's true.
With the Olympics just around the corner, the details of the closing ceremony have finally been released and as expected, fashion is set to play a prominent role in the festivities.
Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Stella Tennant, Lily Cole and Lily Donaldson will walk the runway as David Bowie performs songs 'Fashion' and 'Rebel Rebel'. Georgia May Jagger will also walk in the show as a replacement for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley who dropped out of the show as a part of her efforts to be seen as an actress rather than a model.
Blue Ivy Carter is a fan and so is the queen and with the Jubilee weekend around the corner, the timing couldn't be better to create a scarf range as a new brand category and that's exactly what Temperley London has done. Yesterday the brand confirmed the launch of a new line, Temperley Scarves.
The six-piece range launches alongside the cruise 2012 collection and features a range of colourways from capri tones and raspberry to neutral oyster and blush, but that's not all. To celebrate the Jubilee festivities and this summer's Olympics, the brand has also created a limited edition medal print scarf, which comes in white and black inspired the official Olympic insignias.
'I am really excited to launch a new collection dedicated to scarves,' AliceTemperley said in a statement. 'It has always been an important part of what we do but now we can really focus on prints and textiles which is my first love...With the opening of our first flagship store in the autumn, now is the right time to expand into new categories.'
With the Olympics coming to London this summer and the long weekend for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee just around the corner, there's a lot to celebrate this summer. With that in mind, Coast have created a capsule collection of summer party wear pieces, which are set to hit store on June 28.
Model and Met Gala live stream presenter Elettra Wiedemann has been brought on board to serve as the face of the collection. In the campaign she sports everything from feathered dresses in dusty pinks to a statement floor length sequin number.
With less than 100 days until London hosts the 2012 Olympics, all eyes are on TeamGB girls and not just in the way you would expect. Over the last few weeks, four key members of the team have been announced as the face of various beauty brands.
Last week Pantene announced that they have brought track cyclist Victoria Pendleton on board as the face of their latest beauty campaign; a move which is part of Proctor & Gamble's (their parent company) worldwide Olympic partner status with the London games. 'It makes so much sense to me that a female athlete would be a beauty ambassador,' Pendleton said in a statement. 'Part of being beautiful is being healthy, but I don't think people realize when they look at us that we want to be healthy from head to toe and that includes having healthy, beautiful hair.' This is particularly special for Pantene as the partnership marks the first time they have partnered with an athlete in this way and will see Pendleton join the likes of Liv Tyler as one of thir brand ambassadors.
