Fashion PR division of Pierce Mattie Public Relations, A Fashion Public Relations. Fashion publicity, promotion marketing firm

September is here, New York Fashion Week is just around the corner, and with a weekend of rain on deck, the temperature is sure to sink a few degrees. Sounds like it’s officially time to do some fall shopping! If you dont have a membership to FWD (Fashion Wire Daily), try the FREE 14 subscription here.

Let’s Go Girls
Summer merchandise at Girlshop is 15% off in the store, and the website is also offering additional discounts on new fall merchandise.
WHEN: August 28thth - September 4th. Mon - Wed 11am - 7pm, Thurs - Sat 11am- 8pm, Sunday 12pm - 7pm.
WHERE: 819 Washington St. (at Gansevoort St.), 212-255-4985.
PAYMENT: Cash/Charge

On Tuesday, August 29th, STAGR launched its premier collection at the “G-Suite” in Palms Casino Resort. UFC fighter Chris Leben was the evening’s special guest. Guests and members of the media enjoyed music spun by special DJ Malik from The Real World, Back to New York and had the chance to create their own customized STAGR shirt.

Kohl's Corp. said it would carry a line of clothing and handbags by Vera Wang, the designer known for her high-end wedding gowns, in the latest move by a large department store chain to carry fashion celebrity merchandise.

The department store will market an exclusive line of sportswear, intimate apparel, handbags, leather accessories, jewelry, footwear, linens and towels under the Very Vera by Vera Wang brand.

Known as the wedding dress maker to the stars, Wang has designed gowns for singer Jennifer Lopez and model Heidi Klum, among others. Her sleek evening wear often appears in red-carpet award photos of celebrities.

Wang received the Council of Fashion Designers of America's 2005 women's wear designer of the year award. Her Vera Wang Group designs and distributes women's bridal wear, while the Vera Wang Licensing LLC division has granted licenses for fragrance and beauty-related products.

Kohl's, a mid-priced department store operator, joins Target Corp. and other companies in carrying products of a well-known designer. Target carries the Isaac Mizrahi apparel line, among other names.

I fell in love with Mango as a teenager while on my first European trip. I remember the Spain based clothing retailer Mango as the one place where all of the clothes fit my hour glass shape perfectly and had a playful yet sophisticated look that often evaded American designers. While other European based clothing retailers, such as H & M and Zara, expanded to the US, Mango remained a European treasure.

When I first saw these Ads I thought they were exploratory portfolio comps. Some of the most edgy stuff never makes it out into the public sector.

Hindu clothing chain High-Style The Fashion World creates relevant "shock-and-awe" advertising campaign that will definitely appeal to the younger audience. If you think about trends, this is nothing new, we've been incorporating more and more gore in our entertainment for years. Cobranding big name brands in goreiffic video games is old news. From my experience the more edgy and subtle the integration into the game the better it is received. Clients never like o hear this of course, they want blatant obvious placement which is not accepted as well as modest "easter-egg" style placement. Has anyone seen Michael C. Hall in Showtime’s new drama DEXTER? I'm not advocating that this is appropriate advertising for everyone. I do think you can take things too far, remember the Sandra Burnhard Mac cosmetics spot?

The gore is not from physical violence, just fashion descriptions supported by graphic images. It gets my attention, seems appropriate for the target market and the ads are "executed" well. Although I no longer fit the 18-34 demographic, I actually love first person shooters! I have several girlfriends who love them and UFC fights as well-go figure. Most of us worked in advertising or marketing which taints the demographics a little. So I understand that it takes "more" edge or shock-and-awe to reach an over stimulated generation of shoppers. Trends to keep in mind: Shock-&-Shop, Multicultural-Must-Haves and Gore-iffic.

Tom Ford, the designer who helped to revitalize the Gucci brand, is tapping into a growing market for male grooming with the launch of a new menswear range and shop in New York next year. Ermenegildo Zegna, Ford's partner in the venture and owner of the world's biggest luxury menswear group, believes that men are finally waking up to fashion.

"Men are becoming more feminine. They enjoy shopping, they take more time over the way they look, they travel and they shop around, they finally are taking better care of themselves." "Men are not only there to buy cars and art, they've realized there is also fashion," he added.

Zegna, whose great grandfather started his Italy-based group, said the time was ripe for Ford's return to the fashion fray with menswear and accessories showing the biggest growth of any area in the luxury industry over the past few years.

"It is going to be a great collection. Many, many retailers are waiting in line to buy," Zegna said at a luxury goods conference. "The store will be opening in New York next spring and then the rest of the stores will follow." Ford roared to fashion stardom in his 14 years at Gucci with his sexy, tight-fitting designs coming to define luxury and celebrity glamour in the 1990s.

Since his abrupt split from Gucci and parent company PPR two years ago, he has only dabbled in fashion, putting his name to a range of sunglasses. The menswear, originally planned for release this year, will be his big relaunch.

Ford's split from Gucci provided one of the biggest public spats to hit the fashion industry in recent years. But his former employer Francois-Henri Pinault, chairman of the Gucci Group's parent company PPR, speaking at the same conference, had no regrets about showing Ford the door. "When we decided not to renew Tom Ford's contract people were shocked," he said. "But it worked out well for all in the end."

If you live in New York, Miami, L.A. or Chicago, then you've probably noticed more and more British accents as you go about your daily routine. With the British pound at the astronomical exchange rate of almost 2 to 1 to the US Dollar we've been holding a half off sale every day of the year!

The deals and steals going on in fashion are so tempting that British families are not only taking more vacation in the U.S, they are coming on long weekend shopping trips! Even if you factor in Airfare and Hotels, they are still finding bargains left and right. Remember, this is not like getting a discount at one store or in one category - its EVERYTHING. Restaurants - half price. Hotels - half price. Taxis - half price. I was in the Miami area a few weeks ago to pay a visit to what I think as one of the most luxurious shopping malls in the country. The Bal Harbour shops are an oasis in the middle of causeways, freeways, and no-ways that are so often part of the Florida experience. Once inside you are not in Florida anymore, you are in the state of Luxury!

Every major fashion designer in the world has shop there. The favorite lunchtime spot of the Madison avenue soial set - La Galoue even has an outpost there. There are palm trees surrounding Koi ponds that hold dozens are the most colorful koi you will ever see. On sunny days, you even find turtles sunning themselves on the rocks - all this while you contemplate that perfect shoe from Jimmy Choo or that dress in Magenta from Oscar de la Renta! It was on one of these perfect days that I strolled into one of boutiques that was having a Spring trunk show. The company is French and dominates the trunk show experience. I was in awe at the amount merchandise for sale, the amount of samples to pre-reserve, and just at the amount of people in the store - all excited to be previewing the new collection, all except one. I overheard a very pleasant sales associate being lectured by an unhappy British woman AKA Ms. London. She was telling the associate how she "never" saw anything like this in London. In London she informed the associate, the boutiques are always kept in impeccable order! The associate said she was sorry to hear that the customer was unhappy with the boutique and she explained that it was busier than usual due to the trunk show. Ms. London was not impressed and said she had been a model (must have been in the 50's!) and that things were NEVER This way. She pursed her lips for a bit and looked around and left. So Ms. London "Debbie downer" soured a moment of my perfect day.

I have spent alot of time in London myself and you know Ms. London was right. Boutiques on New Bond or Bruton Street or Brompton road are beautiful and they are luxurious - but they are not crowded! You see British women shop differently than Americans. British women are frugal. They typically go and browse for something once, twice, even three times before purchasing. The other major difference in London is that like it or not, there is still a definite class system in place. People who work in shops are treated as a lower class than the people shopping in such shops. There is distinct attitude towards sales associates and anyone that works in the service industry. The home of Big Ben can also be the place to find Big attitude by the ladies who shop for a living. The best example of the old school class mentality is found right in Harrods - the most famous department store in the U.K. - if not the world is owned by a non British citizen. Mohamed Al Fayed has been fighting to get citizenship for over a decade. Just log on to his website Alfayed.com to find out how he feels about the British establishment!