Fashion photographer Russell James and designer Donna Karan welcomed nearly 500 guests to Pier 59 in Santa Monica on Tuesday to preview the multimedia exhibition “Nomad Two Worlds.” The Australian-born James, the project’s creator, said the artworks celebrate and support indigenous cultures and his country's reconciliation efforts toward its native population. 

James pointed to the painted embellishments on his photographs, done by Australia’s Aboriginal natives. "The Aborigines stored their history in art and music," he said. "You can learn their stories by looking at their paintings and listening to their music." 

Barbra Streisand quietly slipped into the shindig for an informal tour by James and Karan, and expressed her admiration at the artworks. "It’s all absolutely beautiful," she said. "What they’re doing here is fantastic."  

"Amazing," said Alana Stewart. "Astonishing," said Barbara Davis. Amy Sacco, founder of the nightclub Bungalow 8 in New York, London and Amsterdam, said she flew to Los Angeles to participate by hosting an after-party. "Donna [Karan] is so dynamic and so generous," she said. "I had to be here."

Some came from Australia, including Richard Walley of the Nyoongar tribe, who described his additions to James’ photograph, “Innocence Boya,” as mother earth, a dancer and “the story of energy going through the earth.” He said, “The world is now starting to realize the contributions of indigenous people - the understanding of natural medicine and foods and the knowledge of the land,” adding, “We don’t use the words, ‘natural disasters.’ We say signs from mother nature."

As for the placards worn by a few anti-fur demonstrators streetside, Chumash native Gil Unzueta, dressed in a bearskin, said he hadn’t noticed. Unzueta came to welcome the crowd to his ancestral lands of California with tribal rituals.         

“We’re here to celebrate two worlds,” said Karan, the preview party’s host. Through her Urban Zen Foundation -- also a beneficiary of the evening -- she said she focused on the past, present and future. “The past is in the preservation of culture; the present in healthcare; and the future in education," she said.  

 --Ellen Olivier

Photo of Donna Karan, Russell James and Barbra Streisand by Alexandra Wyman, WireImage

 

"Nomad Two Worlds" -- a decade-long collaborative art project launched by Australian photographer Russell James that sees him partner with indigenous artists to create new works of art -- is hosting an L.A. edition of its newest exhibition, starting Wednesday and running through March 2.

But the exhibit doesn't end with the artwork, which -- this time out -- features imagery of celebrities including Fergie, Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima, all modified by indigenous collaborators from Australia, Haiti and Native American reservations.

The event also boasts a fashion component, courtesy of Donna Karan, whose UrbanZen foundation helps preserve native cultures, among other endeavors.

Karan has collaborated with "Nomad" artist Clifton Bieundurry, a Walmajarri artist from the central Kimberley region of Australia, on 10 one-of-a-kind batik-print cashmere-and-silk scarves. Retailing for $6,500 each, four of the scarves are currently on sale at L.A.'s Arcade boutique; the rest (and those that have yet to be sold) will be for sale at the "Nomad" exhibit.

Karan will speak in a panel discussion with UCLA professor Jessica Cattelino and Richard Walley, a Noongar indigenous Australian elder, on additional topics relating to the challenges faced by native cultures in the modern world. This panel discussion is 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday; admission is free.

Proceeds from the merchandise and artwork sold at the event will benefit UrbanZen's programs and T=the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, which is dedicated to the prevention of childhood diseases and disability.

"Nomad Two Worlds," Pier 59 Studios West, 2415 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica (park at Bergamot Station). Free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) hosts a  kid-friendly viewing of the exhibit, featuring storytelling, didgeridoo lessons and painting activities.

--Emili Vesilind

Photo: Adriana Lima wrapped in a scarf from Donna Karan's collaboration for "Nomad Two Worlds." Credit: Nomad Two Worlds

Donna Karan's collection reminded me of Angelina Jolie in the film "The Tourist" (those costumes were designed by Colleen Atwood). Or Grace Kelly. (Karan made ample use of the chiffon headscarf.)

The palette was meant to evoke "the glow of pearls on skin," which meant a dozen shades of pale. And the shapes were simple and elegant -- a stretch skirt that hit below the knee, a flirty satin blouse with decorative folds on the bust, a felted wool jersey shift worn with long leather gloves.

Evening was about shimmery pale gowns, which truth be told, looked a little bit "I Dream Of Jeannie" with the head scarves.

Although there were certainly nice moments, this was an odd collection for Karan, more make-believe femme fatale than the real-world power woman for which the designer is known.

-- Booth Moore in New York

Photos: Looks from the Donna Karan fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during New York Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times

When it comes to fashion and beauty, we often waste time wishing we had something we don't -- or that we didn't have something that we do. Even Katy Perry, who is on the March cover of Elle,  spent a long time wishing for a smaller chest. But she's learned to love the curves she has. [People]

For some time now, Crystal Renn has been at the center of the ongoing conversation about models and weight. She's gone from anorexia (88 pounds), to plus size (14 and up)  and now to walking runways at a size 8. She credits exercise for her most recent weight loss and seems tired of the pressure of outside expectations about her weight and health in an interview on the Ford Models blog. [Telegraph] [People]

Ralph Lauren launches a luxury denim line, to take the American classic to the next level. [WWD] (Subscription required.) 

Donna Karan plans to offer a virtual trunk show of her fall line. Her runway collection will be shown live online on the “what’s new” tab on the company’s Facebook page on Monday at 2 p.m. Then starting Feb. 22, customers can order Karan's top recommendations from the collection on NeimanMarcus.com. The clothes will ship around mid-August. [WWD]

The custom Swarovski red dress and heart-themed necklace that Julianne Hough is to model in Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection Fashion Show on Wednesday is quite a showstopper. It reportedly took 150 hours to make, and the necklace has 10,000 crystals. [People]

The toll of unemployment and its effects on retailers could last a generation. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

Urban Outfitters jumps into the off-the-rack bridal business with its new Bhldn collection. Yes, you read that right. Bhldn collection. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

Actress Elizabeth Olsen --- younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley, whose clothing line Elizabeth and James is named for her and their older brother, (James) Trent Olsen -- has her own style and a way with layering and accessories. [FabSugar]

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Katy Perry at January's People's Choice Awards. Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

To celebrate 25 years of Donna Karan New York, Donna Karan is celebrating inspirational women and the causes that mean something to them. On the Donna Karan website, you can find mini-bios of a universe of women including the ultra well-known -- Brooke Shields, Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon, Maria Shriver -- as well as the lesser-known -- such as Francine LeFrak, founder of Same Sky, which helps AIDS-positive women who survived the Rwandan genocide. From the bios, you can link to their causes, find out more and, if the spirit moves you, donate. [People]

Karan was making political news too, with a visit on Monday from Michelle Obama, who is on a Democratic campaign tour. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

And speaking of politics (yes, it's relevant in a fashion blog sometimes, witness Obama and her influence in the design world) how about that Jimmy McMillan? Because we're writing from the left coast, we can view with amused detachment the New York gubernatorial race and admit that the guy we're most interested in watching is the fringe candidate from the Rent Is 2 Damn High Party, who appeared in Monday night's debate splendidly dressed in suit, tie and black gloves. It was, of course, the gloves that caught All the Rage's eye, though we're sure our "Bearded and Tschorn" columnist Adam Tschorn will be intrigued by McMillan's Civil War-style beard and mustache.  [New York Daily News]

Men tend to notice two or three things when they first meet a woman (as you can well imagine). But women can be assessing anything from how a man's clothes fit, to his smile, to whether he is carrying a messenger bag, to what kind of shoes he's wearing and whether he has cuff links -- the list goes on and on, though jeans seem to be a kind of universal turn-on. [WWD]

Following a lead from Nordstrom, other luxury retailers (Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's and soon Saks, among others) are inviting customer reviews online, something Target and other lower-priced merchants have been doing for a while. [Wall Street Journal]

Nike's collaboration with Japanese brand Undercover will bow in Tokyo on Wednesday. [WWD] 

Harriet Winter, designer of the Mrs. H. Winter collection, has died at age 83. [WWD]

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Donna Karan. Credit: Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

First off, it's been hot in Southern California. And I mean record-breaking, thermometer-breaking, triple-digits-where-I-live-by-the-coast hot. So of course the important question is what to wear? The old advice is still the best: dress light, dress in layers you can (modestly) peel off as necessary, and carry a shawl or sweater if you're going to work in, say, an over-air-conditioned icebox of an office. (Ahem, as I am myself.)  

Just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, breast cancer survivor Christina Applegate has teamed with designer Alex Woo to create a pendant whose sales will go to help her foundation, Right Action for Women, which helps at-risk women get screened for the disease. The pendant is a graceful tree within a circle, available in silver ($198) or gold ($998.) [People]

Donna Karan is relaunching her e-commerce site, joining a number of designers (like Marc Jacobs) and mass retailers (like Nordstrom) who've either launched or relaunched recently. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

We've noticed that Diane von Furstenberg seems to be everywhere these days, and if she isn't hosting some wonderful party, she is the toast of one. Earlier this week, in Italy for Milan Fashion Week, she was the guest of honor at a soiree and "visual homage" to her work and life thrown by Lapa Elkann and Franca Sozzani at Elkann's Italia Independent HQs. [WWD]

Sarah Burton says she will bring a new lightness to the house of Alexander McQueen in the women's wear collection she'll debut Oct. 5. Burton was named creative director after McQueen's death in February. She worked with the cutting-edge designer for years as his right-hand assistant, but says she won't try to copy his trademark theatrical style in her own shows. [Vogue UK]

If the 150-model public fashion show in New York a couple of weeks ago seemed extravagant, consider this: French department store Galleries Lafayette is organizing a synchronized multiple-city show to take place during Paris Fashion Week that they hope will involve 10,000 "models" -- actually, real people wearing their own real clothes. More than 50 cities in France, plus Berlin,  are supposed to participate. Hey, mes amis, I don't think this is quite the same as gathering 150 supermodels together in the same place to show designer clothes.  [StyleList] 

Macy's Herald Square flagship and Bloomingdale's in NYC are the latest retailers in that city to be hit by bedbugs, the scourge that's been spreading for several months now to the alarm of store managers and shoppers alike. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Christina Applegate at a women's cancer fund event earlier this year. Credit: John Shearer / Wireimage

DKNY and Thomas Pink, the famous British shirt-maker, have teamed up for a capsule collection of limited-edition tailored shirts — set to hit stores at the end of September. 

The collection consists of three timeless, button-front styles: a tuxedo shirt, a classic tailored shirt and a loose-fitting (or "boyfriend") button-front shirt. 

The white, cotton, stretch, pin-tucked tuxedo shirt, which feels very retro-'80s "Working Girl," will retail for $195 at DKNY stores, DKNY.com, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

The classic button-down, which has been updated with a modern nipped-in-at-the-waist fit, comes in white, charcoal with white stripes, French blue with white stripes and purple with white stripes; it will be available at Neiman Marcus and DKNY stores for $185.

The cotton-stretch loose-fit shirt — which would be adorable paired with skinny jeans and loads of gold jewelry — comes in three striped fabrics and features French cuffs. It will set you back $185 at DKNY stores and DKNY.com exclusively.

Thomas Pink, which is famous for its crisp, impeccable fit, was founded in 1984 by three Irish brothers, James, Peter and John Mullen, who wanted to reinvent the traditional Jermyn Street shirt (where traditional British shirt-making began).

The brand was named after an 18th century London tailor known for making coveted red hunting jackets. If you were lucky enough to score one, you were said to be "in the pink."

-- Emili Vesilind

Photos: The DKNY + Pink tuxedo shirt. Credit: DKNY

Maybe it's the grow-your-own food movement, the popularity of farmers markets, or simply the fact that these are spring collections, but botany is sprouting up as a theme all over the runways.

Carolina Herrera took colors, prints and floral appliques from 18th century botanical plates for her collection, which included a gown hand-painted with the image of a flower, along with its name and species.

 For her Garden of Eden-themed collection, Monique Lhuillier worked with cherry blossom print taffeta, draping it into a pleated A-line cocktail dress and a ball gown. (Also spotted: "sage green," "mint floral" and "poppy" organza.)

At Donna Karan, shoes were decorated with leather leaves and gauzy long slip dresses were "saffron-stained" and "tamarind-distressed." A rough-textured, jute-colored nubuck jacket was reminiscent of a seed sack.

 Jenny Packham, who is fast becoming a favorite of the red carpet set for her lovely gowns -- many of which have sleeves, for those who care about that sort of thing -- tapped wallpaper specialists de Gournay to design the moody, hand painted florals for her finale gowns, one in a silk crepe de chine with a beaded tulle shoulder.

And Barbara Tfank was inspired by the goddess Persephone, who was gathering wildflowers when she was stolen away to the underworld, as the myth goes. Tfank designs her own textiles, including the "morning garden" floral silk made into a swing jacket with gathered sleeves, paired with pale pink pants, and the topiary-print silk crepe draped into a gown that fell to the floor. (Tfank, who lives in Los Angeles, also produces most of her clothing there.)

She didn't use any jewelry, accessorizing models with contrast floral head scarves instead. The only thing missing were gardening gloves, which Tfank said she ultimately decided against because they were just too ugly to bear.

You might call the trend a "greening" of fashion, at least in sensibility if not yet fully in practice.

-- Booth Moore  

Carolina Herrera spring - summer 2011 collection photo gallery

Donna Karan spring - summer 2011 collection photo gallery

Jenny Packham spring - summer 2011 collection photo gallery

Monique Lhuillier spring - summer 2011 collection photo gallery

Barbara Tfank spring - summer 2011 collection photo gallery

Photos, from top: A look from Carolina Herrera, credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter / For The Times; cherry blossom dress by Monique Lhuillier, credit: Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press; jacket by Donna Karan, credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter; beaded gown by Jenny Packham, credit: Dan and Corina Lecca / Associated Press; floral jacket and pink pants by Barbara Tfank, credit: Kevin Sturman

 

The name Martha Stewart conjures up images of striped linens, puffy souffles and leaf blowers. So it's surprising that the lifestyle doyenne has chosen fashion as the subject of the debut episode of "Martha Stewart Presents," a new prime time interview special on the Hallmark channel.

"Martha Stewart Presents: The Women Who Dress America," a one-hour special  scheduled to air Sept. 19 at 9 p.m., will celebrate four modern-day fashion forces: living legends Diane von Furstenberg and Donna Karan;  Jenna Lyons, president of J. Crew; and Tory Burch, the queen of seaside prep.

The show will be formatted in the style of a traditional talk show, with Stewart engaging in conversations with famous faces from various realms. And like Barbara Walters' sporadic specials, this one will happen only occasionally; a second “Martha Stewart Presents”  is scheduled for November.

Timed to coincide with the close of New York’s Fashion Week, the show is hoping to "dig beneath the surface" to find the sources of inspiration for each designer.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring our viewers a different side of the world of fashion," said Stewart in a press release, "and a better understanding of the challenges and rewards of being on fashion’s front lines.”

Do you think Stewart (who, let's be honest, is almost always photographed in a smock-like button-front shirt) is the right person to interview four of fashion's most illustrious designers?

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: Martha Stewart attends a party earlier this year wearing a smock-like shirt. Credit: Peter Foley/EPA

We always knew those shoes were dangerous. Lady Gaga took a tumble at Heathrow Airport wearing 12-inch platform boots that weren't too different from these she's wearing onstage. No one seems to be sympathetic. [ABC]

Tres chic English "revolutionary" John Galliano was awarded the French Legion of Honor in a quiet ceremony Wednesday night. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

Louis Vuitton and Donna Karan are both launching sophisticated, elegant ad campaigns. And the models are actually wearing clothes! [WWD]

Katie Holmes dishes on her "classics with a twist" clothing line. [People]

Another royal wedding is in the offing ... and here at All the Rage, we just can't wait to see the clothes! We'll have a year to anticipate: Prince Albert of Monaco announced his wedding to former South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock will take place next summer. [People]

Make life simple: Designer Vanessa Vogel can help with her Vogel10. Each month she introduces 10 items --- seven articles of clothing she designs and three jewelry pieces from others -- to mix and match. Perfect for summer packing. [Mondette]

Nicole Richie is eye-catching in tribal jewelry, and you can be too. There are a lot of great pieces out there. [FabSugar]

The reportedly most expensive bespoke men's suit ever made is on sale in Britain for about $900,000. It's cashmere and wool studded with diamonds. Only three have been made, and one is already sold, so you better hurry if you're interested! [Telegraph] 

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Lady Gaga  Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Queen Latifah has evolved from rap royalty to beloved movie star to arrive at a look of seemingly effortless glamor and grace. [InStyle]

Emanuel Ungaro taps British designer Giles Deacon as its new creative director. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

Sarah Jessica Parker wore Valentino, and Cynthia Nixon was in Carolina Herrera at Monday night's New York City Premiere of "Sex and the City 2." But what on Earth was SJP thinking when she changed for the after-party? [New York Post]

Designers turned out in force Monday night to honor nominees for the CFDA Fashion Awards. In the crowd were Jason Wu, Donna Karan, Elie Tahari, Nicole Miller, Thom Browne and more. [WWD]

Talbot's is planning upgrades and outlets. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

How to pick a pair of sunglasses that look just smashing! [FabSugar]

The latest word in premium denim is the "banana cut," introduced by designer Domenico Vacca with styles named after some of his celeb clients, such as The Jeremy (Piven) and The Mickey (Rourke). [StyleList]

In case you missed it: See Marc Jacobs show you exactly how sexy his new men's fragrance, Bang, is as he bares all in ad campaign. Oh, my! [StyleList]  

Consumer Reports rates the best sunscreens. [StyleList]

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Queen Latifah. Credit: Donald Miralle / Getty Images

Donna Karan presented a collection that was largely a study in black, focusing on texture and volume to bring out the richness.

Karan was celebrating 25 years in business, and although there were small references to the women's wardrobe solutions that she made her name on, otherwise known as her seven easy pieces (draped matte jersey dresses and body suits), Karan has changed since then.