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A true Waimea boy, Micah Kamohoalii used to ride his horse to elementary school.

With his backpack on, the paniolo in the making would tie his noble steed to a post near campus before heading off to class.

This mode of transportation is entirely fitting for Hawai‘i Island’s northern countryside that’s lavish with rolling hills, green pastures and cattle as far as the eye can see. The air there is brisk, too, as the town sits at 2,600 feet above sea level, set against the grand backdrop of Mauna Kea.

“I was raised in Waimea all my life,” says Kamohoalii, proudly. “My family has come from this town for, I usually tell people, the last 100 generations. My family’s been here forever.”

Growing up in a town with a population of 400 at the time taught him the meaning of community from an early age. Everyone looked out for one another and no one got left behind.

“The word community is ‘common’ and ‘unity,’” he shares. “We learned that we have to be that way because we have no other resources. There was no governmental money that made it to us; it all ran out by the time it hit Hilo and Kona. We had to learn how to share, work together and be one family unit if we ever wanted to get anywhere.”

So, when New York Fashion Week came knocking and Kamohoalii had no clothes to show, he called upon his community and they came through — just like they always do.

It all began when the Honoka‘a High and Intermediate School graduate, who’s been creating and selling apparel through Dezigns by Kamohoalii since the early 2000s, held a pop-up shop during Merrie Monarch, a weeklong cultural festival that he dubs “Hawai‘i’s fashion week,” to sell his items that range from men’s and women’s clothes to pillows and coffee mugs. It was a successful, whirlwind of a weekend, and Kamohoalii had nothing left by the end of it, which is when he received an email he thought was too good to be true.

“I thought it was a hoax, so I put it in the spam folder,” he says, laughing. “Then, the next day, I was like, ‘Imagine if that was real,’ so I wrote back, not really believing it, saying, ‘Sure, whatever.’ We set up a Zoom call, and here I was thinking it was going to be (people) asking for Target and Walmart gift cards. But when they came on, it was actual executives from New York Fashion Week — and you could tell they were the real deal — and I was like, ‘Oh, hi, give me a second,’ and I fixed my hair and came back on.”

Kamohoalii says the very-realand-not-fake fashion officials saw his Telly Award-winning commercial — which featured his ‘ohana at their local heiau, at the beach and on horseback, staying true to their Waimea roots — as well as his part in the Emmy-nominated Hawai‘i Fashion Showcase that premiered last year. They asked if he was interested in strutting his stuff on the New York catwalk in four weeks’ time, to which Kamohoalii, of course, responded with an enthusiastic yes. Though, when reality set in after the call, he exclaimed, “Wait, I don’t have any clothes!”

“I told my cousin who’s the chief operating officer, and he said, ‘Don’t worry. I got it.’ I was like, ‘What are you going to do? You don’t sew,’” recalls Kamohoalii with a joking tone. “He called everybody in our town and my halau — I’m also a kumu hula — and said, ‘Hey, kumu got invited to New York Fashion Week. I need you to bring back all the clothes you just bought from us. We need to use it and we’ll bring it back to you.’ Everybody came through — and that’s community for you.

“At New York Fashion Week, when people asked me, ‘So, how did you choose this collection?’ I couldn’t tell them that I used whatever I could get my hands on,” he says with his ever-present smile.

After a month of planning, fundraising and rehearsing, it was finally showtime. Kamohoalii and his entourage of models, musical performers and cultural practitioners brought local fashion to a global stage — Hawaiian style. Part of the show’s allure was Kamohoalii’s commitment to ensuring the audience, which was filled with some of the industry’s best, knew the history behind the clothes they were seeing in front of them.

“I tell people I’m part of the fabric creators of the world. That’s a rare breed because most people go to the store and buy the fabric,” says Kamohoalii, adding that kapa-making runs deep in his family lineage. “I come from the people who fabricated the fabric — the ones who made the materials that were then turned into fashion. I told them that I had to be able to present this on stage because this is the origin of what Fashion Week is.

“I need to explain what they’ll see so they can understand what they’ll see. I don’t want them to see kapa and think it’s really horrible linen. I want them to know that this bark grew in my backyard.”

The heartfelt commentary, along with a surprise performance by the final models who broke out into a hula before leaving the stage, made the crowd, which, according to Kamohoalii, typically snaps their fingers to applaud so as to not disrupt the show, go wild.

“It sounded like a football game,” says Kamohoalii, noting that a lot of people were moved to tears. “They were screaming and yelling and you could tell that people threw the towel in with the snapping because it wasn’t doing it justice.”

The showcase landed Kamohoalii in publications such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, The New York Times and Forbes, to name a few, and, soon after, officials from European fashion weeks were on the other line.

Currently, Kamohoalii is at Milan Fashion Week, after just wrapping London Fashion Week and before he takes the train to conclude at Paris Fashion Week.

“This has always been about my community,” he shares. “It’s about coming together, pulling our resources and making it happen. We’re taking aspiring talent, cultural practitioners and a whole array of community members as our models — and none of them fit the mold. When I had to submit my lookbook to Paris Fashion Week, their response was, ‘None of them fit the standard of Paris Fashion Week.’ I was like, ‘Hmm, was that a question, a statement, or a negative or positive remark?’ All I wrote back was: ‘Yes. And that’s the way we like it.’

“I’m showing what Hawai‘i can bring to the table — and that’s beauty in every shape and size. You can see all of our beauty from top to bottom and all of our races are mixed together. If I was trying to do Paris, I would get Paris models. I’m not trying to do Paris, I’m trying to do Hawai‘i in Paris.”

The shows will be different in each city, though they will all meld what’s traditional with what’s modern. In London, Kamohoalii pays homage to the feathers worn by Hawaiian royalty; in Milan, he will demonstrate kapa creation; and in Paris, it’s all about lau hala and other items that are finely woven.

“I know there’s a language barrier when we hit France and Italy, but you don’t have to speak our language to understand a Hawaiian heart,” shares Kamohoalii. “Our culture is so moving; it’s the drum beat, it’s emotional. You don’t have to speak the same language to know something is powerful and for it to touch you.

“I hope that we at least leave the impression on these countries that there’s a connection between people, place, honoring your history and to have respect and love for everything that’s around you. We’re teaching Hawaiian values to the world and sharing our aloha.”

Along with the three fashion shows, Kamohoalii will also be putting on three concerts in each of the major cities with his reason simply being “because I’m crazy like that.” Featuring Amy Hānaiali‘i, Kainani Kahaunaele and Jeff Peterson, the musical performances will honor the Hawaiian monarchy and its time spent in Europe.

Kamohoalii has come a long way — literally and metaphorically — from the small town that he loves so dearly. He may have temporarily exchanged Hawai‘i Island’s country roads for the world’s premier runways, but, no matter where life takes him, he’ll always be a proud Waimea boy — and his community will be right there beside him.

‘OUR STORY’

Micah Kamohoalii’s vision for his brand was born out of a slightly awkward situation. During his college years, he saved all of his money to buy a designer aloha shirt. Feeling like the coolest person on the planet, he showed up at a party donning his new attire — only to find 10 other guys were wearing the same thing.

“We looked like the house band,” Kamohoalii says with a laugh.

Learning from that experience, Kamohoalii only releases about 60 pieces of the same style and color at a time, with about 250 looks in total. Each print channels Hawaiian culture in some way, with the company’s foundation lying in “preserving our past and perpetuating it for the future,” to hear Kamohoalii tell it.

“All of the (prints) connect us to the origin of who we are, but it also becomes a spiritual totem for us. When we wear our lightning pattern design, we understand that this comes from the mountains — how do you not feel empowered?

“We are empowering ourselves spiritually, physically and mentally by wearing clothing that is meaningful and purposeful and empowers us throughout the day. We wear clothing that recounts our history and tells our story.”Read more at:pink formal dresses | green formal dresses

At the turn of the millennium, paediatric surgeon Dr Priya Ramachandran had a moment of epiphany. One of her patients, who had been diagnosed with cancer and began undergoing chemotherapy sessions, abandoned it mid-way. Several months later, when she resumed, the cancer had advanced. When Dr Priya met the child’s mother, she said that she had to sell off her possessions for her child’s treatment, and she didn’t have anything more to pawn off to continue the course further.

That’s when Dr Priya decided to start a foundation to help children from the lesser-privileged pockets by paying for their treatment. Thus, the Ray of Light Foundation was born in 2002. As it completes 20 years, nine children who got cured of cancer with the NGO’s help met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the inaugural function of the Chess Olympiad. Dr Priya walks us through the journey and the foundation’s work, while insisting that childhood cancer is curable.

Excerpts follow.

Tell us all about the origin of the foundation.

When I came back to India after my post-graduation training abroad, I found that the survival rate of children with cancer was about 40% while in the West it was about 85-90%. I decided to start an NGO that will take children who cannot afford treatment, see them through the entire course and give them whatever it takes to ensure that cancer is cured. Caring for cancer was never the goal, curing cancer was.

How did you raise funds for treatment?

Treating one child costs at least Rs 6-Rs 7 lakh. Back in 2002, there were no CSR schemes. When I went to some companies asking for money, they said for Rs 5-Rs 6 lakh they could vaccinate a village! I spoke to other NGOs working in different fields, in Chennai, and asked about fundraising. I learned that one fundraising event will give you Rs 5 lakh. So, I decided to approach individuals and philanthropists. At that time, the art market was booming. A friend, who is an art curator, advised me, and I bought a painting for about Rs 1 lakh. I then waited for a year for that painting to appreciate and when it went up to Rs 3.5 lakh she told me to sell it. That was the first donation to Ray of Light and that was the only money I have put into it. After this, I started following the art market. My friend Sharon Apparao, of Apparao Art Gallery, introduced me to a lot of artists. Whenever I got a weekend free, I used to go to Mumbai or Delhi or Kolkata to meet artists, talk about the foundation and get works of art from them. From 2002-2010, we were limping along.

In 2010, I started collecting artworks, and in January 2014, we held the art auction. We got paintings worth Rs 90 lakh. Meanwhile, I was treating two-three children a year with the small amounts of money I was able to raise (from individuals), probably spending Rs 15-Rs 20 lakh a year. In the auction, we made some of the children who had been cured, the first batch 2002-05 do a fashion show wearing clothes from the Lakme Fashion Week. We had a picture of them when they were undergoing treatment in the background. That night, we sold the paintings for close to Rs 2 crore. That gave the foundation a boost. The government, in 2014, implemented the CSR scheme strictly and I could approach companies. So that auction plus CSR helped us raise a lot of money and suddenly we started treating 20 children a year. We were able to raise Rs 1-Rs 1.5 crore every year. Across the board, our survival is 85% which is what is there in the West. I wanted the PM to meet those children and see the benefit of the CSR scheme in person.

Tell us about your meeting with the Prime Minister.

I wrote to the PM office and we were given an appointment to meet after the function at Nehru Stadium. I accompanied nine children and he spoke to each one of them and asked them what they wanted to do in life. Two of the children in the group had lost their father to suicide. When I told the PM about them, he was kind to them. It was a nice meeting where he came down to the level of children and interacted with them in a way they would understand.

We had taken a drawing of the PM made by one of the children, Divyadarshini, who is in Salem. The other kids brought a photograph of themselves of when they had cancer to show him how they looked then and now. He signed all of them and took pictures with them too.

What have been your learnings in these 20 years?

Over the last 20 years, I have observed that fathers commit suicide when they know their child has cancer. Among those we have treated, 10 fathers committed suicide and two mothers deserted their children. Largely, this is because of the fact that society is not aware that cancer in children is curable.

We have had failures. Every time when some of our children don’t make it, it is heartbreaking. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, life has thrown a curveball at the family. When the father deserts the family, and the mother is emotionally stunted, we make sure that the child is absolutely fine and is taken care of. But though these kids come from lower socio-economic backgrounds, they are angels. They are so well-behaved, adjusting, and kind even though life has not been kind to them. They know not to expect much from life. Even in their hardest, most painful moments, they turn around and comfort their mother. The children are strong and resilient. People who study societies will tell you differently that when one comes from harsh circumstances, they end up being harsh. That has not been my experience.

How do you select children for the treatment?

Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital is a tertiary care pediatric hospital. Children come there with various ailments. They rarely come with cancer but they come with fever, cough or cold. When they are diagnosed with cancer (after blood work-up), they are referred to an oncologist. This oncologist identifies those who need our help and contact us. The oncologists also talk to the parents and convince them.

Have there been any dropouts?

We have treated 210 children and we have had no dropouts. The mother becomes a warrior for her child. When we say he/she is going to make it, she lives on that hope and thrives on it. Hope is what makes her wake up every morning. Faith and hope are wonderful things.

Is there enough awareness of childhood cancer being treatable?

There is not much awareness of paediatric cancer. That was one of our goals while meeting with the PM; to reiterate that cancer in children is curable. The children he saw that day are going to lead normal lives. Some of the children from the first batch are married, and employed. There is a 15-20 per cent chance of recurrence, but it can be treated.

What are the challenges?

As a paediatric surgeon, I work closely with paediatric oncologists. One of the big mistakes that happen, I think, is that children with cancer are not treated in a children’s hospital. You need to treat them in a children’s hospital because children get all kinds of complications during chemotherapy. They become blind, get strokes, renal failure, and you can’t have a paediatric nephrologist, a paediatric endocrinologist, a paediatric infectious diseases person in every cancer hospital that treats adults. It is not viable. So when children need these specialists, they are most often seen by adult specialists. Adult medicine is very different from paediatric medicine.

Although there are government hospitals across India treating cancer Ayushman Bharat scheme, state healthcare insurance and schemes paediatric cancer is a niche speciality where it is not enough if you put money into it. You have to ensure that the money is put to proper use by doctors trained to take care of those children. Now there are more training programmes for pediatric oncology too.

How can the taboo around paediatric cancer be eliminated?

By showing off these children, showing off how they made it. We have to talk about the positive story. That’s why I thought meeting the Prime Minister would make a huge difference. If the Prime Miniter of a country has met the children, it means that he thought that the cause was worthy.

Forwarding goodwill

The Ray of Light Foundation donated `1.3 crore to Childs Trust Hospital in 2017 to build a bone marrow transplant unit. They also donated four specialised intensive care rooms in the hospital. There are positive and negative pressure rooms to take care of the children when they become sick. This is to protect the children from the infection outside and for them not to spread if they have a bad one.Read more at:brisbane formal dresses | evening dresses melbourne

The official New York Fashion Week (NYFW) preliminary schedule for September 2022, welcoming new and returning brands, was issued by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) on Thursday, August 4. The six-day New York Fashion Week American Collections Calendar, presented in association with IMG, will begin on September 9 with Proenza Schouler and conclude on the evening of September 14 with Tom Ford.

The preliminary schedule includes over 100 designers including numerous returning brands, such as Altuzarra, Carolina Herrera, Christian Siriano, Coach, Jason Wu, Michael Kors, Prabal Gurung, and others, will have runway shows and presentations on the calendar. In addition, Tommy Hilfiger, Area, and Puma will return to the official schedule after a break.

Furthermore, AnOnlyChild, Ashlyn, Heron Preston, Foo and Foo, Midnight Studios, One/Of by Patricia Voto, Tia Adeola, as well as the international labels Fendi, Marni, and Cos are among the new entrants to the calendar. Fe Noel, Sukeina, No Sesso, Elena Velez, Judy Turner, Wiederhoeft, and BlackBoyKnits, this year’s contenders for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, also participate in the week with collection showcases.

Additionally, Fendi will host a special display honoring the 25th anniversary of the Baguette bag and Kim Jones’ second stint as artistic director of the company. Both the H&M Group-owned Cos and Milan-based Marni, which debuted in London last year, will go to New York.

The physical shows will once again follow New York State Health Guidelines, and the presentations and shows will continue to be delivered through Runway360, the CFDA’s unified digital hub and business tool to support the collection releases of American fashion firms all year long.Read more at:green formal dress | purple formal dresses

New Delhi: Known for his grand designs and rich aesthetic, designer JJ Valaya showcased his collection, 'Alma' on Day 3 of the FDCI India Couture Week 2022. This collection also marks JJ's thirty years in fashion. Historic influences have always been a major part of Valayas design language, whether it is digging deep into our own culture or taking inspiration from the rest of the world.

For this line, the designer presented snippets of Spain through his ensembles that mainly consisted of embroidered lehengas, printed saris and embellished jackets. Floral headgear, lavish jewellery, and the music complemented the garments beautifully.

The highlight of this outing was the colour play and the exquisite prints and patterns. From customary reds, bold blues, and emerald greens to lighter shades of ivories and peaches, this collection truly celebrates his larger than life design journey.

"Every year my inspirational journeys start somewhere deep in my soul and are triggered by something visual. This is where I start my research, dwelling on the visual treasures I chance upon either in books or through travel," said the designer.Read more at:white formal dresses | blue formal dresses

Anna Franziska Michel was a fashion designer herself and experienced how time-consuming and inefficient the design process can be. Considering the rapid change in trends in fashion, it’s clear that drawn-out development processes must inevitably lead to backlogs. Data can change that, she thought, and began researching AI modules for digital product development with a research group at HTW Berlin’s Department of Business Informatics. Now Yoona.ai, her software-as-a-service solution, is running partially automated and has already been tested in large German fashion companies. In this installment of the Start-up-of-the-Day series, Anna Franziska talks about her innovation and the challenges of starting up a company:

What problem are you solving and why is it important?

Before fashion designers even know what to design, they have to gather information, such as the current bestseller in a category. Artificial intelligence manages this laborious research in just a few seconds. To digitize the finished design, conventional programs first have to make a 2D cut to create a three-dimensional model.

Currently, only 10 percent of all fashion companies can create digital or 3D products without first making a 2D cut. We want to make this technology available to everyone. Our software should make it possible to create a 3D object with just a few clicks and then use it for multiple media channels. And the faster fashion companies can respond to current trends and the needs of end consumers, the more likely it is that their products will be sold on the market and surpluses can be avoided.

How exactly will the design process be automated?

Users of our software can create a profile on our platform and upload basic things for the product development process such as color data, mood boards and technical drawings. In the partially automated design process, artificial intelligence in the form of two neural networks runs in the background. One of the networks learns using the data – product images, web analyses, color analyses, etc. – and the other designs digitally. Both neural networks must be trained to the specific requirements. Once the training is complete, they create up to 20,000 design suggestions in a matter of seconds.

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?

Before founding my start-up, I first had to work with a research team at HTW Berlin to find neural networks that are applicable in the field.

It’s also a challenge to find the right team – to decide who fits in and understands the product. For a programmer or a normal technician, a T-shirt is a square with a hole in it. But for a designer, it’s different. A technician needs to have an understanding of what a designer does. My co-founder, for example, is very good at that.

What have been the best moments so far?

There were great moments, such as when we achieved the shortening of the process and when we realized that our product really delivers the expected impact. It was also great when companies started using our product and realized the added value. Later, when we won awards, we were proud and happy because it’s nice to get something back for all the work you have been doing.

But above all, it wasn’t easy to get involved in a subject that involved highly complicated technology since I was actually a fashion designer. Just taking this step from designer to software company was a big success for me.

How difficult was it to get funding?

As a woman? (laughs) I think it’s always a challenge to get funding. But an additional hurdle was definitely that our innovation is anchored in fashion and that I, as the founder, am a woman. But we did it and closed a very normal pre-seed round. Techstarsis an American accelerator that invested in our start-up, as did Alexander Gedat, the former CEO of German fashion companies like Gerry Weber and Marc O’Polo.

What are the conditions like for your start-up in Berlin?

I previously lived in Madrid and considered staying there. Today I have two children and a start-up and probably wouldn’t have been able to balance that anywhere else. For me, Yoona.ai is not just my start-up and the eight people who work there, but a network that consists of some 100 people – and most of them live in Berlin. We have supporters like the University of Applied Sciences (HTW) and the city of Berlin. Our partners include Premium Exhibitions, one of the big German fashion trade fairs, where we are co-curator in the Fashion Tech area. That’s our network and relationships from Berlin as a location.

Where would you like to be with your company in five years?

Our design process is already partially automated but we will constantly continue to research to develop it further. We also just founded the conference series yoonaverse and want to build The Metaverse Berlin together with partners like Telekom, H&M and some Italian brands.

Our goal is to become a global company and THE provider in digital generation of apparel. I’m flying to New York next week for the PI Apparel conference and then we want to start rolling up the American market.

We want to become the Tesla of the fashion industry.

Tesla in the sense of sustainability?

Yes. It’s crucial that people understand that technology can have an impact on the sustainability of products. With technical support, you can calculate much better what is needed to design and are faster and closer to the trend as a result. The 3D rendering of models can reduce the need for physical prototyping. Digital models make physical samples obsolete for prototyping, photo shoots and fashion shows – making the design process more sustainable.

With my start-up, I wanted to make working with new technologies more feasible. As a designer, I would have been just one of many, but with Yoona.ai I can change the back end of the whole industry and create an exponential impact.Read more at:formal dresses australia | short evening dresses australia

Dress for Success Bay of Plenty is ecstatic to be bringing a fashion show full of creativity and sustainability to the runway, with stunning and quirky designs.

Recycle the Runway is a community fundraiser event where local designers and dressmakers take up the challenge of creating bespoke one-off garments using pre-loved and recycled items.

The garments are then showcased on the catwalk in a light-and-sound event curated by local designer Kharl WiRepa.

It is being held on July 29 and 30 at Rydges Hotel, and the fashion categories are street wear, avant-garde, bridal and evening.

There is also a new category that has been added called the Landfill Challenge.

It is sponsored by Vanish, and involves designers creating garments out of rubbish or waste that has been cleaned using Vanish products.

A panel of judges will decide the category winners and an overall winner, who will get the opportunity to showcase their design in-store at the Classic Couture Pre-Loved Fashion shop.

All proceeds go to Dress for Success Bay of Plenty.

The purpose of the charitable trust is to offer long-lasting solutions that enable women to break the cycle of poverty. It provides each client with personal development and professional attire to secure employment, and its programmes aim to arm women with confidence.

Dress for Success Bay of Plenty president Michelle Pleydell says they have had nine garments submitted into the Landfill Challenge, with some including videos showing how they found and cleaned the materials.

"We've got upward of 80 garments going into the event altogether, and 18 different designers coming from all around the Bay of Plenty, and a couple from Auckland.

"There are also designers as young as nine and 14."

Michelle says it is special to be able to showcase the overall winner's designs in their Tauranga store because Dress for Success is all about helping people get employment and creating a sustainable future.

She says there are stunning and quirky designs that will be on show.

Michelle encourages the community to come along and be part of the excitement for many reasons.

"It's supporting people stepping out into their career paths, supporting recycling in our community, and will be a fun night. Both nights will be a great show."

On Friday, July 29 is Family Theatre Style Night - a family-friendly fashion show with open cash bar available.

On Saturday, July 30 is the Gala Dinner and Judging Night - Rotorua's Chapmans Gala, three-course dinner with matching wines, spectacular show, and culminating in winners being announced.

Michelle says this year is the first time they have been able to run the event, and it is third-time lucky, with 2020 and 2021 dates having to be cancelled due to Covid restrictions.

"To finally be able to go ahead is fantastic. Lots of the designers, sponsors and supporters have stuck with us through the whole thing."

She says, "There are a lot of people in our community struggling, with half a job or redundancies kicking in again".

"I would say there are high levels of stress and anxiety at the moment."

Rotorua fashion designer and Miss Rotorua Foundation Director, Kharl WiRepa, says since 2020 Miss Rotorua has supported Dress for Success in a variety of ways.

"We are excited to work with them on this kaupapa.

"This event is an excellent platform of art and fashion, celebrating creativity in a post Covid world.

"The event brings back the magic to our community. Also, all the proceeds go back into supporting unemployed people to find work."

Kharl says it is important to look at sustainable ways of creating fashion.

There are some businesses who manufacture in third world countries, with workers being paid roughly $10-$20 a month, he says.

"Also it has a terrible carbon footprint on the world. Upcyling fashion is more sustainable, much like manufacturing in New Zealand."Read more at:formal dresses | purple formal dresses

The fashion show within a movie has been a staple of cinematic escapism since the days of “The Women” and “How to Marry a Millionaire,” right through “Sex in the City”; its vicarious pleasures never cease.

That’s one takeaway from “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” a warmhearted confection, based on Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel, that contains a short but stunning glimpse of mid-century Christian Dior designs, presented in a soignée showcase in the maestro’s Paris atelier. There, a Battersea house cleaner named Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) feasts her eyes on a collection of beautifully constructed gowns and day dresses — or “frocks,” as Mrs. Harris cheerfully calls them. How she came to arrive at this particular moment is part of the fun of “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” a Cinderella tale of postwar grit and stiff-upper-lip optimism that becomes ever more fanciful as its sturdy, unfailingly kind heroine overcomes the obstacles in her path.

Directed by Anthony Fabian from a screenplay co-written with Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson and Olivia Hetreed, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” chronicles how, while cleaning for a particularly snooty client (Anna Chancellor at her most deliciously imperious), Mrs. Harris happens upon a Dior dress that becomes something of a holy grail. By dint of prudence and a few passes at the dog races, Mrs. Harris just might raise the dosh for a junket across the Channel and a shopping spree. In a real fairy tale, her tea kettle would turn into a carriage and those dogs would become plumed white horses. Here, it’s Mrs. Harris’s innate decency, with her loyalty, honesty and humaneness, that is the source of her magic.

At nearly two hours, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” crams a lot of thematic material into its gossamer-thin narrative. In between luscious shots of gorgeous clothes (the Dior pieces have been lovingly re-created by Jenny Beavan, the genius behind “Cruella” last year) are vignettes involving class solidarity, budding young love, potentially budding older love and the cruelties of middle age. (“That’s what we are, Vi,” Mrs. Harris says to her best friend, played by Ellen Thomas. “Invisible women.”) Fabian swirls the story points together with waltzing, sprightly grace, but over time the characterizations feel facile and patronizing, whether it’s Isabelle Huppert overplaying the cat-faced meanie who runs Dior’s front of house or Jason Isaacs’s dreamily sweet London bookie.

Hovering over “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” is a character from another movie entirely: Cyril, the martinet-like sister Manville played in 2017’s fashion-centric melodrama “Phantom Thread.” In that performance, the actress seemed to channel her inner Mrs. Danvers to create a chilly woman of untold depths. Here, she’s in cozy mode, calling people “ducks” and “pet” in a turn reminiscent of Geraldine McEwan in a Miss Marple mystery.

This isn’t a criticism: Manville in any incarnation is one of the great pleasures of screen storytelling, especially now. And even at its most patronizing, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” provides a generous, gentle stage for her most endearing qualities to shine through. There are moments when “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” resembles the cinematic equivalent of nursery food: over-egged but soothing, and perhaps a much-needed respite from a world in danger of spinning off its axis.Read more at:formal dress adelaide | white formal dresses

As post-punk band Moaning traversed Europe on tour in 2018, bassist Pascal Stevenson crafted electronic demos in the back of the van. Stevenson had tried several times to write her own songs, but until getting sober, she had trouble putting words to them. After the tour, as she pulled back what she dubs the “veil of intoxication,” she finally began to write lyrics that felt both introspective and outwardly political. Drawing from personal experience with newfound lucidity, she eventually constructed 10 songs set to soft synths. She then polished them with drummer Nik Soelter and fellow L.A. musician SASAMI, surrounding her lyrics with grandiose new wave production. After two years of delay, her debut album Scrutiny finally arrives from L.A. electronic label Felte. The music harkens to ’80s goth rock, but at the album’s core lies a righteous intellectual ennui.

Stevenson’s lyrics are direct and even accusatory, cutting through washes of gated drums and vocal delay to accost those who fail to live the values they preach. “Can you justify your cruelty to the world? Are you terrified of your own words?” she asks on the scathing chorus of opener “Pantomime.” There’s a long lineage of satirical songs poking fun at false activists, like Phil Ochs’ 1966 track “Love Me, I’m a Liberal,” but Stevenson confronts her subject with earnest despair. The sneakily upbeat “Chapel” zeroes in on the guilt and frustration of a failed confrontation that ends in a moment of acquiescence. As difficult as it can be to speak one’s truth, self-negation sounds even worse when she asks, “When it’s over, who will even know?”

Stevenson handles the album’s more personal themes with the same intensity and insight, applying that search for honesty in others to herself. “Are you listening?” she repeats on shoegaze-leaning lead single “Feign for Love,” while her voice dissolves into a deliberately smudgy mix. Singing over mixed-meter verses, she spends “Dependency” debating whether it’s worth “blaming bad thoughts on my dependency” or leaving behind the numbness of addiction. Instead of harrowing or self-serious, it scans as a candid internal dispute about whether self-expression is worth it or whether pain is better left repressed.

Scrutiny is a defiant act of self-expression, but musically, it still feels as though Stevenson is pulling punches. With the exception of closer “All in Time,” she sings in a dry baritone throughout, ironically obscuring the power of her lyrics. At times, her brooding melodies outright clash against the thin drum machines of “Phantom English” or bright guitars of “Failure.” And even though this album looks deeply within, there was one more layer to peel back: Long after the record was completed, Stevenson came to terms with her gender identity as a trans woman, lending further weight to the album’s themes of repression and self-deception. This personal revelation recontextualizes the frustration at the heart of Scrutiny: relentlessly searching for truth and only finding more to uncover.Read more at:blue formal dresses australia | formal dress shops

Magnum ice cream has teamed up with luxury Dutch fashion designer, Iris Van Herpen, to design a vegan dress made from cocoa beans, inspired by the brand's vegan ice cream. Titled Magnum Vegan Dress (pictured), the dress is touted as a celebration of Magnum ice cream's vegan range, and seeks to bring to bring together consumers to indulge through a fusion of cocoa and apparel.

Unveiled at Paris Fashion Week, the creation of the Magnum Vegan Dress is in line with both the brand and Herpen's ambitions to work towards a fully sustainable production chain within the fashion industry and beyond. According to Magnum ice cream, it actively seeks to lessen its impact on the world. As such, the partnership with Herpen marks the brand's first step towards a wider ambition of circularity in the fashion industry.

To further promote the dress and the partnership, Magnum ice cream and Herpen will be sharing exclusive behind-the-scenes content on TikTok and Instagram, inviting fans to experience the partnership virtually from across the globe.

The first of its kind for the ice cream brand, the dress was designed and created using 3D design, while incorporating sustainable materials that reference Magnum ice cream's vegan ingredients. By leveraging 3D printing technology, the Magnum Vegan Dress is also the first haute couture dress to be made from cocoa bean husks, which has been processed to create a fully organic biopolymer material.

Additionally, the dress features details such as plant-like body embellishments which are copper-coated, and draped with upcycled and pliseed organza. At the same time, other 3D elements have been printed using Selective Laser Sintering technology.

Meanwhile, the vegan dress is part of Herpen's 15th-anniversary collection entitled "Meta Morphism". According to Magnum ice cream, the collection explores society's embrace and acceptance of a new world of digitalism with the arrival of the metaverse, and how this is becoming an increasingly prevalent part of everyday life. Through the dress's design, Herpen is said to have blurred the lines between reality and digital realms in a futuristic, avant-garde collection designed to inspire and evoke the question of who we are beyond perceived reality.

Herpen said: "I am honoured to have been approached by Magnum ice cream as a partner to bring to life the Magnum Vegan Dress. As a designer, I have always worked to push the boundaries of design and this collaboration has really allowed us to take this one step further by linking the ingredients of an iconic Magnum Vegan to create a haute couture design. She added that the opportunity to work with the brand on such an innovation in sustainable fashion has been a "very special experience".

"What an honour to be able to reveal the Magnum Vegan Dress to the world - and to be able to do this at Herpen's 15th anniversary show just makes this even more special. Bringing together ice cream and haute couture in such an unexpected and impactful way is so exciting, making this a partnership that I am delighted to be a part of," Cindy Bruna, who modelled the Magnum Vegan Dress in Herpen's 15th Anniversary show, said.

Magnum ice cream has also launched other creative campaigns to drive brand engagement, and promote its different lines of ice cream in the past. For instance, in April 2021, the ice cream brand created an AR experience in Malaysia via its Magnum Playground to bring its cookies and cream ice cream to life. The AR activation featured a three-part journey where users could navigate from one station to another within the AR portal, and interact with a custom photo and video booth that was social media-enabled. Additionally, the mini-game station taught players about Magnum's premium ingredients, and offered users a chance to win prizes via an Instagram competition.

Separately, in May 2018, Magnum ice cream also launched a lifestyle game, Magnum LIFE, in conjunction with its golden anniversary. Offering a grand prize of RM1,000 everyday for 20 years, the game was launched to appeal and serve the younger generation of players. Following the move, the approach enabled the winner to plan and manage their winnings better, without the fear of spending their money all at once.

“This game offers life enhancing opportunities with worry-free money management,” he said. “Our market is young office workers who dream about travelling, the freedom to start their own businesses and to pursue their passions in life,” Lawrence Lim Swee Lin, CEO of Magnum, said then.Read more at:purple formal dresses australia | formal dresses australia

Michael Olawole’s passion for African designs has unleashed a wave of African print fashion on the East African island nation of Mauritius. What does this say about Mauritius’ relationship with the mainland?

From their home in the western coastal village of Flic en Flac, Michael Olawole, 32, and his wife, Karen Kistnamah, 31, can regularly be spotted driving to malls, shopping centres, and hotels in Mauritius to showcase and sell creations presented under their brand “Ankara Mauritius”.

The couple has created a new and hungry market for their unique designs, using African fabrics. Their products, including shirts, trousers, dresses, caps, skirts, and other accessories, show off the rich and diverse patterns and colours of Africa.

Mostly unknown in Mauritius, the couples’ Ankara style has quickly seduced the local market.

“Since the beginning, I was sure it would work even though African fashion was not popular in Mauritius,” said Olawole.

Mauritians, most of whom are descendants of enslaved people shipped to the island, either abandoned or lost their heritage during the island’s period of colonial rule.

The French, who colonised the island, used punitive decrees and laws such as the Code Noir, a set of laws passed by King Louis XIV in 1685. The Code Noir defined the conditions of slavery in France’s colonies, including Mauritius. It forced enslaved people to put aside their beliefs, languages, traditions, and clothing.

Those who resisted were severely punished and sometimes killed. Anything that celebrated or encouraged “African-ness” was quickly erased.

With the loss of their identity and heritage, Mauritians developed a culture largely influenced by the colonial powers. This new Mauritian culture—a mix of African and colonial—is what was passed on to the descendants of enslaved Mauritians and is the adopted culture of what is today a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual “Rainbow Island.”

But that culture is beginning to adopt new sources of influence.

According to anthropologist and social worker, Daniella Bastien, the changing fashion dynamic, especially towards an Afrocentric style, is being influenced in part by the growing number of students from different African countries studying in Mauritius.

“Many young Mauritians get influenced by their friends and get acquainted with their way of dressing,” Bastien said, adding that this is also helping to erase the colonial legacy, with more and more young Mauritians wanting to show that they are part of the African continent.

“It’s not only the descendants of enslaved people embracing the new trend. We notice Mauritians of different backgrounds are following this trend, too,” she said.

According to Bastien, imitation fabrics and designs expressing African-ness and African identity were popularly worn on a limited number of special and significant occasions, such as Africa Day and Abolition of Slavery Day. Now that “real” African garments and fabrics are available too, African fashion is becoming popular as everyday wear.

“It is encouraging that the designers are bringing in the original fashion and fabrics from the continent,” she added.

Catalysing the change are Olawole and Kistnamah. Their approach is unique; they work with diverse artists to capture and infuse African themes into their Ankara fabrics, both in design and colour.

Olawole, who arrived in Mauritius to study marketing at the local branch of the UK’s Middlesex University, started his “fashion adventure” in 2015.

Seated on the bench at his seaside home as the winter winds blow from the sea and rattle pods in the trees outside, Olawole said it was in Mauritius that he also found the love of his life, Karen Kistnamah, who, too, had a passion for African fashion.

“She gave me the idea to bring my rich Nigerian culture into the fashion industry here,” he said.

“I chose one of the specialities of the Nigerian Ankara fabric—which goes by many names, among them African prints, African wax prints, Holland wax, and Dutch wax, which are 100 per cent cotton fabrics with vibrant prints.”

According to Olawole, the “African-ness” of the patterns in the Ankara cloth drew local attention to their early designs, even though they had to start from scratch with their garments.

“The real turning point was an eye-catching blazer designed out of cloth by Karen. It was collaborative because she designed it and worked with local tailors to work on it, “he said.

Ankara fabric’s origin and popularity in Africa date back to the mid-1800s when the Dutch company Vlisco began selling cloth with designs that had originated on the island of Java in Indonesia and which had originally been hand-made, using the “wax-resist” or “batik” technique, in coastal towns in West Africa. Vlisco’s mechanised production meant that vast amounts of the materials could be manufactured-and West Africa proved a ready market.

Thanks to its popularity in Africa, the designs were soon adapted to reflect African tastes, including a demand for bright colours. Patterns also began to include traditional African motifs and colour schemes. Other producers besides Vlisco discovered the market-which was enhanced by a network of women traders in the region-and designs from traditional African fabrics like Akwete cloth-a unique hand-woven textile produced in Igboland-Kente cloth and Bogolan influenced their designs. Since then, the material has been a mainstay of African fashion. In East Africa, it is known as kitenge.

As interest in the fabric and demand grew, Olawole and Kistnamah started importing and selling the fabric. But Olawole, who had entrepreneurial experience back in Nigeria, saw another opportunity.

They started bringing in ready-made clothes and accessories from Nigeria and other West African countries that are known for their Ankara fabrics. They also kept working with local fashion designers on their designs.

“For the design, we get inspired by the patterns on the fabric. The artisans with whom we work in Mauritius have understood the principle behind the Ankara style and now know how to work with the patterns,” Olawole said.

He added that their business has taken root because of Karen’s passion for African fashion, entrepreneurial skills, innovativeness, and market readiness for the fabric.

“At first, we were replicating the styles already in shops. We did not want people to be intimidated, so we proposed to them things they already knew in original colours. But with time, people started asking for more traditional African outfits, and we moved in this direction, “Olawole explained.

He said one of their highlights was when Miss Mauritius 2022, Liza Gundowry, wore an Ankara Mauritius dress.

Their creations have also featured in fashion shows held at upmarket hotels such as Lux and Hennessy Park Hotel.

“We now have customers who come to us for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations. The demand has gone way beyond what we expected, “says Micheal as he proudly caresses a colourful shirt and cap.

“We thought that our customers would mostly be Creoles, that is, Mauritians with African origins. But finally, we have clients from all walks of life, irrespective of their origins and cultures.”

As its reputation grows, the pair is also readying Ankara and Mauritius for the export market. Though the COVID-19 pandemic slowed their plans, it also allowed them to enhance their creativity and improve their quality.

Isabelle Pierre, 30, said she was particularly attracted to the couple’s designs because of their lively colours and African design style.

“It brings happiness and a good vibration,” she explained. She also witnessed the early steps taken by Ankara Mauritius.

“I saw Karen and Michael starting this project and encouraged them to move ahead because I was convinced by the style,” she said.

“It’s a way for Mauritians to show their belonging to the African continent, and we are proud to be African. Mauritius has a diverse culture; African, European, and Indian, but is proudly African.“

She also said Olawole and Kistnamah have set the pace for others.

“This new fashion will grow, and I am sure that one day, every fashion house on the island will have something African,” she concluded.

Other fashion houses, such as Mauritian designer Gabriel Froid’s The African Marquis, have already entered the market, promising to give Ankara Mauritius a run for its money and suggesting that suddenly, in this Indian Ocean island nation, African design is all the rage.Read more at:formal evening dresses | formal dress online