Made-in-China U.S. Olympic uniforms spark political row

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ralph Lauren's stylish uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team, complete with a jaunty beret, have sparked a political row because the red, white and blue outfits were made in China.

With U.S. unemployment hovering just above 8 percent, politicians have spoken out against the uniforms for the London Games that start later this month, and six Democratic senators said they plan to introduce legislation requiring the ceremonial uniforms be produced in the United States.

'At a time when too many Americans are looking for work and our manufacturers are closing factories, we need to do everything we can to keep jobs in America and not give the work of producing our iconic American uniforms for our Olympians to China,' Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey said in a statement announcing the plan.

The senators said they will introduce the 'Team USA Made In America Act of 2012' next week.

'I call on the USOC to do the right thing for this summer's team, and I call on my colleagues to help pass this bill to ensure we don't find ourselves in this appalling, embarrassing situation before the opening of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics,' Menendez said.

The proposal from Menendez and Frank R. Lautenberg, of New Jersey, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Sherrod Brown of Ohio would amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, which specifies requirements and rules for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and its members.

A spokeswoman for Menendez said it would be limited to ceremonial uniforms because some athletes may require specific high-performance items for their sport uniforms that simply aren't produced in the United States.

The move follows criticism about the uniforms from both political parties on Thursday.

Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat from New York, said the issue was not just about a label, but an economic solution.

'Today there are 600,000 vacant manufacturing jobs in this country and the Olympic committee is outsourcing the manufacturing of uniforms to China? That is not just outrageous, it's just plain dumb. It is self-defeating,' he said.

House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, echoed that criticism.

'You'd think they'd know better,' Boehner told reporters.

The U.S. Olympic Committee defended its decision to have Lauren design the outfits and oversee the manufacturing process.

'Unlike most Olympic teams around the world, the U.S. Olympic Team is privately funded and we're grateful for the support of our sponsors,' spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement.

'We're proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company, and excited to watch America's finest athletes compete at the upcoming Games in London.'

No one was immediately available at Ralph Lauren to comment.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; additional reporting by Richard J.Cowan in Washington; Editing by Richard Chang)



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What's in store for Valentino after Qatar royals' purchase?

Rumors had been swirling around for days, but on July 12 it was confirmed that Italian luxury label Valentino has been sold to the royal family of Qatar for an estimated $858 million.

Mayhoola, an investment group controlled by Qatar's royal family, explained its vision for the fashion house -- which was founded in 1959 by namesake Valentino Garavani and is famed for its ultra feminine frocks.

'Valentino has always been a brand of unique creativity and undisputed prestige,' said a Mayhoola spokesperson in a release.

'Our vision is to back management for the long term to exploit the full potential of this exciting brand. We believe Valentino is ideally suited to form the basis for a global luxury goods powerhouse.'

Meanwhile, Valentino chief executive officer Stefano Sassi added the new investors will help the brand 'reach its full potential.'

As well as acquiring Valentino, the Qatar group also reportedly picked up the M Missoni license, while the Qatar Luxury Group, owned by the Qatar Foundation, acquired French leather goods company Le Tanneur last year.

Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, the glamorous wife of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, was behind the creation of the Qatar Luxury Group in 2008, and is considered to be one of the world's biggest couture collectors.



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Israel hosts Yamamoto's avant-garde designs

The geometric structures and angular light in Israel's ultra-modern Design Museum Holon offer a made-to-measure setting for a new retrospective by avant-garde fashion maestro Yohji Yamamoto.

More than 80 of the designer's creations spanning three decades went on show this week, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Japan.

It also marks the 40th anniversary of the company started by Yamamoto, now 69, who began his career in Japan in the 1970s and rose to international fame a decade later with his elegant cut, sober colours and fascination with fabrics.

The show in Holon is the latest in a series of retrospectives held since 2005 in Florence, Paris, Antwerp and London.

'But it's never the same exhibition. We adapt it to the people and the places,' said Coralie Gauthier, a spokeswoman for Yamamoto's fashion house.

'We're not just bringing our show to Israel, we are doing a show for Israelis, for the museum,' she told AFP.

Opened in 2010, Design Museum Holon, like Yamamoto's creations, challenges tradition. Conceived by Ron Arad, Israel's best-known contemporary architect, its striking exterior is made of massive orange and mauve steel ribbons that curve around the building.

'We found in this museum that there was something balanced between the place and the clothes that we didn't experience in other cities. It is the first time that it is so harmonious,' said Shohei Otsuka, president of Yohji Yamamoto Inc.

For curator Galit Gaon, Yamamoto and Arad share a 'great respect for the individual, who is always at the centre of their creation.'

The exhibition, which runs through October, shows both mens' and womenswear. The garments are displayed on headless figurines, suspended as if floating above ground and set off by sunlight that cuts into the galleries in geometric shapes or a crimson glow through coloured panes.

The women's pieces are surprisingly colourful while the menswear is more in line with the designer's signature style -- dark shades, elegant cut, discreet detailing.

In true Yamamoto style, the clothes drape the body, never constrict it -- like the museum, curator Gaon says, which 'is on a human scale.'

'It does not make one feel small, crushed, as in so many museums.'



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Report: women change clothes four times a day on vacation

A UK study has revealed the average woman wears 28 different outfits during a weeklong holiday, with one in 20 admitting they often change attire several times a day just to get through all the garments in their suitcase.

The survey of 2,000 women, commissioned by clothing line F&F at British high street store Tesco, also revealed women will then buy another two items of clothing or shoes to add to their wardrobe while on vacation.

And the constant outfit changing can sometimes cause friction when remarked by a partner or travelling companion -- one in ten ladies even admitted their outfit changes had caused rows while they were away.

According to the study, the average suitcase for a holiday abroad will contain four dresses, six tops and four pairs of shorts or skirts. Two pairs of trousers or jeans also go in the suitcase, as do three bikinis or swimsuits, three pairs of flip-flops or sandals and two other pairs of shoes.

Speaking to Britain's The Daily Mail July 9, Bernadette Lusher from F&F explained the importance of a capsule holiday wardrobe to avoid over packing.

'Unlike the typical day at home, which can involve an outfit for work or for popping to the shops, an average day on holiday can consist of several different activities.

'Each needs a different outfit -- a bikini by the pool, shorts for walking around the shops and then a chic maxi dress for an evening meal.

'This can make packing a nightmare, especially if you are travelling by plane and can only carry a certain amount of luggage,' said Lusher.

'The trick is to make sure you plan your clothes rather than just chucking the entire contents of your wardrobe into your case. Packing some staple items, along with some accessories can give you several different outfits without the bulging suitcase.'

For ladies in need of holiday packing help, there are an array of useful sites to offer advice including style-passport.com and whattowearonholiday.com.

The latter gives destination-tailored tips as well as advising on essentials to purchase from its online store, while style-passport.com offers style solutions for holidays ranging from beach vacations to city breaks.



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Livia Firth premiers ethical fashion line

Best known for co-founding the Green Carpet Challenge that has taken the fashion world by storm, Livia Firth has now designed her own pieces for new ethical fashion line Livia Firth Designs.

Firth is already creative director of eco-age.com, the shop within a shop on YOOX's shopping website Yooxygen, which aims to spread environmental awareness by collaborating with a series of international brands, designers and talents.

On the site, shoppers can purchase from a selection of clothes and accessories Firth praises for their style and eco-sustainability, via the collection Eco Age by Livia Firth.

Meanwhile, her new sustainable fashion line Livia Firth Designs will launch this September on YOOX, with items including a little black dress in organic wool with a vegetable tanned leather obi belt, two styles of woolen cloche hat and a hand-crafted butterfly necklace.

Since her actor husband Colin won a Golden Globe nomination for Tom Ford's A Single Man back in 2009, Firth has only worn dresses made from eco-friendly fabrics during the ceremony season, including one upcycled from an old Tom Ford suit.

The Italian-born former film producer famously convinced big-name creators such as Tom Ford, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Stella McCartney to sign up for the Green Carpet Challenge -- the initiative she founded in 2009 along with British journalist Lucy Siegle.

Other famous faces to have championed sustainable clothing include Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, who last year designed her third and final collection for ethical fashion label People Tree and supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who is currently promoting a T-shirt designed by Vivienne Westwood to support reforestation in Europe.



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Nicole Richie launches Polyvore guest editor series

Nicole Richie has launched a new guest editor series on fashion website Polyvore, which will see an array of style icons offering advice, inspiration and their personal clothing and accessories picks.

The social-commerce website allows users to assemble sets of clothing from its database of items, with reality star turned designer Richie kicking off the new series by revealing the contents of her Balenciaga handbag for the 'What's In Her Bag?' set.

Contents featured in the fashionista's bag include beauty essentials such as lip balm and bobby pins, as well as items by luxury labels including Goyard and multiple choices of sunglasses.

Throughout this month, Richie -- founder of fashion lines Winter Kate and House of Harlow 1960 -- will curate a collection of her favorite products based on specific weekly themes: 'What's In Her Bag?,' 'Morning/Getting Ready Routine,' 'Beauty Products' and 'Style Icons.'

It's a busy time for Richie, who announced last month that she will be launching her debut fragrance this September -- the same month she launches a capsule clothing collection for department store Macy's.

Among future Polyvore monthly guest stars are an array of experts including designers and beauty gurus, with online retailer Net-a-Porter's fashion director Holli Rogers set to be the guest editor next month.



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Fetish fashion takes over the Berlin underground

BERLIN (Reuters) - Riders of the Berlin subway have been taking trips this week that go far beyond the hip German capital's already outlandish standards, as models in latex wear, fetish gear and 'spirit hoods' staged a fashion show on a train.

Girls wearing all-leather sado-masochist bodysuits tottered through the train car, followed by male models wearing nothing but ornamental metallic sculptures around their groin. Models in neon tulle dangled from the subway poles.

Around 600 people showed up for 'Underground Catwalk', a ticketed show during Berlin Fashion Week that took place entirely on a train running underneath the city.

'Because of the special location, models pretty much walk across people's laps. There's loud music blasting, it's pretty wild and colorful,' event director Alexander van Hessen told Reuters.

Micaela Schaefer, a German reality TV star known for her self-professed 'fabric allergy' and near-nude appearances, made tabloid headlines by performing in the show as a burlesque Marilyn Monroe in a costume made entirely of artificial blonde hair.

But 'Underground Catwalk' is also a forum for young Berlin designers to show more classic couture fare without paying the price for a fashion tent show, said van Hessen.

Berlin's fashion week, which ends this the weekend, is no showcase for haute couture on the scale of Paris or Milan.

Though a strong host of young local designers have significantly raised Berlin's fashion profile in recent years, the culture of the fashion week remains alternative and less focused on exclusive designer goods.

'We are the alternative to Berlin Fashion Week,' said von Hessen. 'You wouldn't drink champagne here, but beer or whisky.'

(Reporting by Sophie Duvernoy)



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Tuareg designer brings 'anti-sharia' sass to Dakar ramps

The Sahel's most feted fashionista, Tuareg designer Alphadi, hit the runway at Dakar Fashion Week with a homage to Mali, whose vast north is largely under control of hardline Islamists.

The bright colours, occasionally bare arms and sparkle that sashayed down the catwalk were definitely not in keeping with sharia, the strict Islamic law that has been enforced in northern Mali for the past two months.

'That's the idea,' laughed the man who was introduced to the crowd at the final show of the 10th annual Dakar Fashion Week on Saturday night as the 'Magician of the Desert'.

Alphadi was born in the fabled city of Timbuktu, an ancient trading hub, intellectual centre and popular metaphor for a mythical faraway place.

But since jihadists exploited a political vacuum following a coup d'etat and planted their ominous black flags in the town in late March, tens of thousands have fled and those that remain have to follow strict Islamic law.

Women have to wear veils and are not permitted to wear trousers, smokers are flogged and cigarettes and alcohol destroyed.

'It shocks me,' Alphadi said in an interview with AFP on Sunday.

'Timbuktu has always been a secular town, everyone living together, sharing, blacks and whites, very cosmopolitan. A mysterious town!'

The 55-year-old, whose full name is Sidahmed Seidnaly, moved to Niger with his trader parents aged 13 which is where his brand rose from the arid, dusty edges of the Sahara desert to find fame in fashion capitals New York and Paris.

'The situation in Mali affects me deeply, I am Malian of origin, it cannot continue like this,' said Alphadi, effusing about politics while simultaneously directing assistants, models and greeting passers-by.

On June 2 he raised 50 million CFA (76,000 euros, $95,000) in a telethon held in Niamey which he will on Wednesday hand to the UN refugee agency, which counts 41,000 Malian refugees in Niger.

Through his 'fashion for peace' designs, made by Malian artisans and featuring hand-dyed polished cotton known as bazin, Alphadi wants to unveil Mali's creativity which he says should not be stifled by sharia.

He showed voluminous bazin skirts, shoulderless tops accessorised by a glittery wisp of fabric which could graze the hair and fall over the shoulders as an afterthought of a veil, or be used as a shawl.

At the end of the show Alphadi surged to the front dressed in shiny red, gold and green, carrying a large Malian flag in the same colours.

Mali's woes began in January when Tuaregs launched a decades-old bid for independence in the north. Alphadi agreed his people had been ignored for decades by Bamako, but said splitting Mali in two could not be the answer.

Mali's army was overwhelmed by the Tuareg rebels who brought weapons back from Libya's recent war, and staged a coup on March 22.

With the north barely protected, the Tuaregs quickly seized the main towns.

At their flanks were the Islamist group Ansar Dine, or Defenders of Faith, backed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who soon took the upper hand and have had a fractious relationship with the secular Tuareg.

Another Malian designer Mariah Bocoum is from Bamako where she and her children were holed up in the days after the coup, smelling gunpowder and hearing shots fired around the capital.

She was inspired to do a five-piece mini-collection.

A form-fitting green dress with green beret cocked on the model's head symbolised the low-ranking putschists.

A similar outfit with red belt and red beret symbolised the former regime, which was protected by paratroopers who attempted a counter-coup.

'The three others represent the Malian population as I would like to see it, full of colours which express joy: Blue, green, orange, yellow,' said Bocoum.

'It is an invitation to get rid of this hate we have for each other. Green beret against red beret, some Tuareg against the southerners and vice versa. My dream is to see these people hand-in-hand so we can save our country from the Islamists.'



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Swiss chemical process makes eco-friendly jeans

It takes lots of water and chemicals to make a pair of jeans, and environmentally conscious clothing makers caught on years ago to the need to make more sustainable versions these popular pants.

But a Swiss chemical company said Tuesday its process for making eco-friendly jeans could streamline those efforts, saving enough water to cover the needs of 1.7 million people per year if one quarter of the world's jean-makers started using it.

The dying technology, known as Advanced Denim, was described at the 16th annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute.

Miguel Sanchez, a textile engineer at Clariant, said the technique can produce a pair of jeans using up to 92 percent less water and up to 30 percent less energy than conventional denim manufacturing methods.

Traditional techniques may require as many as 15 dyeing vats and a host of chemicals, while Advanced Denim uses one vat and a new kind of liquid sulfur dye that requires just one sugar-based reducing agent, he said.

The process, if used on a wide scale, could save 2.5 billion gallons of water per year, prevent the release of 8.3 million cubic meters of wastewater and save up to 220 million kilowatt hours of electricity, he added.

'Advanced Denim wants to go beyond the technologies that are today considered standard for obtaining denim material,' Sanchez said.

Many other companies, including denim-giant Levi-Strauss, already make their own versions of eco-friendly jeans that use less water, are made with organic cotton, or use natural dyes. These products remain a niche market, however.

Jeans, particularly those that are distressed to appear as if they have been worn, have come under fire in recent years for wasting water, overusing harmful chemicals and using sandblasting that can endanger workers' health.



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Savile Row tailors open doors into exclusive world

LONDON (Reuters) - Michael Skinner and a tiny coterie of colleagues are intimately familiar with the physical details of rock stars, royalty and some of Britain's most famous historical figures.

But don't expect him to start dishing out the gossip, because absolute discretion is a professional hallmark of the tailors on Savile Row in London, whose customers over some two centuries of service stretch from famed military hero Horatio Nelson to Michael Jackson and Britain's Prince William.

The now master cutter at Dege & Skinner collected one of his most favorite anecdotes at the tender age of 18, when he was given the task of dressing then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation.

'It was an amazing thing...being at Westminster Abbey and actually having to dress the great man,' Skinner told Reuters on a visit to the Row in honor of London's first ever standalone event for men's fashion over the weekend.

Skinner has spent a lifetime on Savile Row, a street known around the world for the bespoke clothing made by a handful of traditional firms such as Dege & Skinner, Gieves & Hawkes, H. Huntsman & Sons and Henry Poole & Co as well as modern designers like Ozwald Boateng and E. Tautz.

The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Queen Elizabeth as well as Admiral Horatio Nelson and the man who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington, have all had clothes, robes, suits and military uniforms from the tailors gathered here.

Skinner who runs one of the last remaining family-owned businesses left on Savile Row with his son William, opened their showrooms and workshops to the public as part of last weekend's first London Collections Men fashion event.

'We're not a sort of hocus pocus bunch of people behind frosted windows. We're actually pretty decent people who do a pretty decent job doing our damnedest to make really nice clothes and that's what gives us the buzz,' Skinner said.

'It is exciting to be part of the fashion week and to showcase Savile Row and what we do as a trade in terms of the craft industry, making clothes in the time-honored fashion for the individual,' William Skinner said.

Two-piece suits from the country's top craftsmen in men's clothing start from 3,000 pounds ($4,719), but customers who may be daunted by the eye-watering prices for bespoke clothing from a Savile Row tailor have some options.

Dege & Skinner provides many alternative methods of payment to encourage people to buy on Savile Row, added Michael Skinner.

'We've always had a policy of doing everything we can to help each individual and we have means of extending credit, we have ways of paying by bank order, special offers for young officers in the forces to buy civilian clothes which we've now extended to young people for their first suit.'

His father William said that one of the selling points of Savile Row is that its tailors offer clothes that are timeless, because they are made just for you.

'When you're spending the money that people do on our clothes, then you don't want it to fall out of fashion in six months time, you want something special. And that's why they come to us,' he said.

Gieves & Hawkes Bespoke Cutter Richard Lawson's workshop displays an impressive collection of brown paper patterns, each containing the specific measurements of customers.

The company's archive includes pieces created for Nelson, who settled his tailoring bill just before he was killed at the naval Battle of Trafalgar as well as Waterloo victor Wellington. The firm is famous for its military tailoring services to the British Army and the Royal Navy.

A heavily embroidered black and gold jacket for late singer Michael Jackson on display in the company's showroom cost £20,000 ($31,330) alone to make.

Lawson, who has worked on the Row for nearly five years, said the greatest joy he gets out of his job is when the suit he has made for his customer fits perfectly.

'When you put it on the chap's shoulders and literally, it just slots on like that and the customer straight away starts feeling like he's wearing it, you cannot replace that feeling,' he told Reuters.

'It makes up for all the other stresses that go on when things don't go quite as smoothly or things are going wrong. It's a great part of the job.'

Getting an apprenticeship on London's most exclusive street for tailoring is competitive as there is a lot of interest in joining the trade, said Lawson.

'A lot of it is do with the luck of being in the right place at the right time when that apprenticeship position comes up and Savile Row has a real buzz about it now,' Lawson said.

'It's a beautiful little community, we all work on the same row, we know each other, and as I say, once you're on the inside, it's a real family atmosphere we have.'

(Additional Reporting by Cindy Martin, editing by Paul Casciato)



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Rocha and Anderson among designers tipped for top by British Fashion Council

Having previously championed now internationally acclaimed designers including Matthew Williamson, Giles Deacon and Christopher Kane, the British Fashion Council has unveiled the latest recipients of its famous NEWGEN sponsorship scheme.

Established in 1993 and considered one of the world's most significant fashion design talent identification schemes, NEWGEN this week announced the names of 13 emerging creatives who will receive sponsorship for London Fashion Week this September.

Michael Van der Ham, originally from The Netherlands, joins designer John Rocha's daughter Simone and Ireland's J.W. Anderson in the lineup of creators receiving sponsorship for runway shows.

Rising stars to receive presentation sponsorship include Christopher Raeburn, J. JS Lee, Lucas Nascimento and Portuguese designer duo Marques Almeida, along with hat designer Nasir Mazhar and knitwear label Sister by Sibling.

Receiving funding to exhibit their designs are footwear designer Sophia Webster and labels Palmer//Harding, Huishan Zhang and Lim Cooper.

'The calibre of design and talent in the UK fashion industry is outstanding and continues to grow from strength to strength,' enthused British Fashion Council Chief Executive Caroline Rush in a release.

To keep up to date with London Fashion Week visit http://www.britishfashioncouncil.com/.



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Adidas cancels release of "shackled" sneakers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After a public outcry, Adidas AG canceled the release of an upcoming sneaker model that featured plastic orange shackles attached to the shoes' heels.

In a June 14 Facebook post, the shoe company unveiled the 'JS Roundhouse Mids,' purple and gray sneakers with attached short shackles that bore the company's name. The shoes had been set for release in August.

'Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?' read a caption on the picture post revealing the shoes.

A storm of angry comments erupted on the Facebook page, including some accusing the company of racism in the shoes' design. The German sportswear maker canceled the shoes on Monday afternoon.

On Tuesday, however, the original post could still be found on the 'Adidas Originals' Facebook page.

In a Huffington Post blog post on Tuesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called the shoes 'offensive, appalling and insensitive,' saying they were reminiscent of slaves and prisoners.

Speaking on CNN Tuesday morning, Jackson said they were 'a gross insult' and said Adidas was insensitive in designing the sneakers and that the company only canceled the shoes in light of a potential boycott.

Adidas said in a statement that it apologized 'if people are offended by the design' and said it was withdrawing plans to make the shoes available in the marketplace.

'The design of the JS Roundhouse Mid is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott's outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery,' it said.

The 'shackled' sneakers are Adidas' second controversy in two days. On Monday, it was sued by a man claiming that the company's adiPure shoes, which mimic the effect of running barefoot and advertise a decrease in risk of injury, actually increase the risk for foot damage.

(This story has been refiled to correct that Adidas AG , not U.S. unit, canceled shoe)

(Reporting By Joseph O'Leary; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Dan Grebler)



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