The Stone Set: Dinner With Samantha Wills

There was a sort of meta-Hollywood moment on Tuesday night at a girly dinner for Aussie model-turned-jewelry designer Samantha Wills when Lindsay Lohan tried on a set of bracelets strung with religious charms, named Mary-Kate. The Sydney-based Wills was in town after a trip to Los Angeles, where she’s already amassed a starlet following. Lohan certainly seemed to like what she saw. The intimate dinner (and we mean 12-person intimate, not 100) at the Bowery Hotel’s Gemma, hosted by Sarah Howard, drew more would-be fans like Chrissie Miller, Amy Greenspon, and Zani Gugelmann. Wills’ five-year-old collection has been quite the hit down under and now sells in the States at Nordstrom, Blue & Cream in New York , and Beckley in Los Angeles. The look of the line—all rendered in semiprecious gems and various metals—is decidedly bohemian, but tracks the entire range of that category from the rocker chic end to the more luxe in statement cocktail rings and cuffs set with big colorful stones. Though Wills is based in Sydney, you’ll probably be seeing the former face of Billabong around town in New York, where she’s decided to spend more time.

—Bee-Shyuan Chang

Three Minutes And 38 Seconds With Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright signed copies of her new book Read My Pins: Stories From a Diplomat’s Jewel Box at St. John’s Fifth Avenue flagship this afternoon, and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. Everywhere you looked there were coordinating knit jackets and skirts, and plenty of brooches, too. In a brief interview before her speech, the former Secretary of State said, “What’s happening now is I’m getting what we’re calling pity pins. People are feeling sorry for me because all of my pins are in the exhibit [at New York’s Museum of Arts & Design]. So I’ve stopped saying, ‘I really like your pin,’ because they take it off and give it to me.”

As far as her collection goes, it’s hard to top the snake that she wore while holding the post of American ambassador to the United Nations after an Iraqi journalist wrote a poem denouncing her as an “unparalleled serpent.” But if she had to choose a favorite, Albright told us it would be her dove pin. “I got it from Leah Rabin after her husband [Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin] had been assassinated and wore it whenever I was giving a Middle East speech,” she explained. “On one trip, in my hotel room in Jerusalem there was a package with a necklace of doves with a note that said, ‘In the Middle East, one dove needs reinforcements.’ I love to wear that .” And what would Albright say should current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton come asking for advice? “I’d tell her she’s got a hard job to do and that everybody has to have their own style,” she answered. “It’s irritating when what women are wearing becomes the story. Nobody ever says a man is wearing a gray suit. But mostly I’d tell her to do what she has to do in terms of being the chief diplomat of the United States.”

—Nicole Phelps

India : IGNOU signs MoU with Apparel Export Promotion Council - Textile News India

IGNOU signed an MoU with Apparel Export Promotion Council(AEPC) for a slew of apparel industry specific educational programmes. AEPC comprises Apparel Management and Apparel Training and Design Centres (ATDC) which are non-profit industry-managed organisations promoting manufacture and exports of garments, education and training in the domain.

The MoU was signed by IGNOU’s Registrar (Administration) Dr U S Tolia and AEPC Director General for education and training Dr Darlie Koshy in presence of Vice Chancellor of IGNOU Professor VN Rajasekharan Pillai and AEPC Chairman Mr Rakesh Vaid.

The MoU aims to institute educational programmes in the skill-based domain of apparel, garments, fashion designing which will ensure employment to a large cross-section of the society. The two arms of the AEPC, Institute of Apparel Management(IAM) and ATDC, have already developed a few programmes for niche areas of functioning in the apparel industry. This MoU will ensure IGNOU certification and scaling up for further domain knowledge. It is hoped that the MoU will boost professionals in ‘fibre to fashion’ chain of textile, apparel and retail industries.

The MoU also ensures exploration of possibilities to set up Activity Centre to create avenues for gainful employment in textile, apparel, lifestyle and retail sectors.

A joint coordination committee consisting of five experts will be set up comprising IGNOU and AEPC experts and academics related to the textiles industry. The tie-up will especially address following areas of interests:
- Exclusive use of networks of IGNOU, IAM and ATDC to get skill-development of the unreached segment of the society.
- Innovative tech-voc academic programmes by share of expertise.
- Joint market surveys to develop need-based approach to help the professionals in their career pathways
- Creation of ICT-driven delivery culture
- Development of new concepts and white papers for bridging education and industry requirements.

There are 52 ATDC facilities in the country which will be used to provide vocational education certifiable by IGNOU according to the IGNOU standards. Confirming this Dr Koshy said, “The programmes will be technical and vocational. These will be for certificates, diplomas and degrees. All programmes will be in modular manner between IGNOU, and AEPC’s arms ATDC and IAM”. Various models to make use of the ATDC network will be explored following the MoU, such as distance education model, community colleges, open education norms etc., said Koshy.

Vice Chancellor Professor VN Rajasekharan Pillai lauded the AEPC for the move to educate and empower lakhs of youth who want to join the apparel industry for gainful careers. This initiative will underline IGNOU’s commitment to the goals of the National Skills Mission, which target creation of livelihood opportunities for needy individuals.

Swaziland : Trade reforms are more employment friendly - ILO/WTO - General News Swaziland

A joint study from the International Labour Organization and the WTO has found that high incidence of informal employment in the developing world suppresses countries' ability to benefit from trade opening by creating poverty traps for workers in job transition.

The study is a product of the collaborative research programme of the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies and the WTO Secretariat. It focuses on the linkages between globalization and informal employment and finds that informal employment is widespread in many developing countries, leaving thousands of workers with almost no job security, low incomes and no social protection. Levels of informality vary substantially across countries, ranging from as low as 30% in some Latin American countries to more than 80% in certain sub-Saharan African and South Asian countries.

“The study confirms what we know from experience, that by promoting complementarity between decent work objectives and trade, financial and labour market policies, developing countries are much better placed to benefit from trade opening, advance the social dimension of globalization, and to cope with the current crisis” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. He added that this echoes the recent call by the G20 to implement “recovery plans that support decent work, help preserve employment, and prioritize job growth....and to continue to provide income, social protection, and training support for the unemployed and those most at risk of unemployment.”

Informal employment involves private, unregistered enterprises which are not subject to national law or regulation, offer no social protection and involve self-employed individuals, or members of the same household. In most cases, informality has remained high and has even increased in some countries, particularly in Asia.

“Trade has contributed to growth and development worldwide. But this has not automatically translated in an improvement in the quality of employment. Trade opening needs proper domestic policies to create good jobs. This is all the more evident with the current crisis which has reduced trade and thrown thousands into informal jobs,” said WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.

The analyses on the effect of trade opening on the size of the informal economy suggest that the effect of trade opening on informality depends crucially on both country-specific circumstances and the design of trade and domestic policies. The empirical analysis in this study shows that more open economies tend to have a lower incidence of informal employment. The short term effects of trade reforms may in the first instance be associated with higher informal employment. But longer terms effects point in the direction of a strengthening of formal sector employment, provided that trade reforms are more employment friendly and the right domestic policies are in place.

Reducing informality can release additional productive forces, enhance diversification and strengthen the capacity to trade internationally. Adverse effects of informality can mainly be related to the absence of productivity gains and low average firm size resulting from barriers to firm growth in the informal economy. Entrepreneurship and risk-taking is reduced when informality is high, partly as a result of badly designed tax systems, weak social protection and poor business regulation. Informality also prevents countries from fully benefiting from trade reforms by creating poverty traps for workers in job transition.

UK : Balfour Beatty Workplace ties up with Incorporatewear - Apparel News UK

Incorporatewear is a major supplier of corporate clothing, workwear and uniform solutions to a host of blue chip companies. Recently it has won the contract to supply Balfour Beatty WorkPlace with a wide range of workwear and business clothing throughout the UK.

Balfour Beatty WorkPlace, part of the Balfour Beatty Group, is a market leader in support services to both private and public sector customers. The business has a total workforce of more than 10,000. The company provides facilities management services to a wide range of clients, including the BBC and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Balfour Beatty has a vigorous CSR policy which focuses on sustainable solutions and waste management and these elements have to be upheld in all areas of the business, including clothing. Incorporatewear also upholds these elements and its CSR policy states all fabrics and products are sourced from ethically sound manufacturers.

It was these principles that first drew Balfour Beatty WorkPlace and Incorporatewear together when representatives of both companies attended a conference on sustainable solutions last year. Following further consultation Incorporatewear was invited to tender and were eventually awarded the contract in May 2009 against stiff opposition from other major suppliers.

Speaking of the clothing range, Paula Cannon, Incorporatewear’s Head of Design, said, “Our submission included innovative designs which meant that our garments blended style with practicality.Our aim was to clothe the workforce in functional clothing that enhances their professionalism but offers suitable workplace protection and comfort.”

The garment range is extensive and includes corporatewear for office-based staff as well as workwear and safety garments. The clothing collection is worn in a number of work situations including parks, prisons, offices, hospitals and other public and private buildings by receptionists, cleaners, ground workers and engineers.

The range includes polos, fleeces, anoraks, trousers, skirts, boiler suits, knitwear, shirts and blouses, plus accessories such as ties, cravats, knitted hats and baseball caps, leather gloves, tool belts and hi-viz jackets. All products are branded with Balfour Beatty WorkPlace logos and/or tax tags.

Speaking for Balfour Beatty WorkPlace, Mike Thomas, Supply Chain Manager said, “Being a responsible organisation is key to us at Balfour Beatty WorkPlace so working with Incorporatewear to help us source garments from ethically sound manufacturers was a natural choice.”

With many thousands of wearers, the roll out of new uniform is a gradual process, but all wearers will have a new Balfour Beatty Workplace uniform by the end of the year, with older uniforms being recycled though a specialist agent.

Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction, services and investment business, well-positioned in infrastructure markets which offer significant long-term growth. We work in partnership with sophisticated customers who value the highest levels of quality, safety and technical expertise. Our skills are applied in appropriate combinations to meet individual customer need.

Incorporatewear is a major supplier of inspirational corporate clothing, workwear and uniform solutions supplied as bespoke wardrobes or via the company’s new on-line sourcing system, with some clients using both offers to create their ideal working clothing solution.

Hong Kong : WRAP to host environmental compliance seminar in Hong Kong - Apparel News Hong Kong

Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) will host a seminar on labor and environmental compliance at China Sourcing Fair in Hong Kong on October 22, 2009.

In today’s merchandising world, Social Compliance or Social Accountability has been added to the classic “3 legged stool” of the quality-cost-lead time equation for most buyers.

Selecting suppliers with good labor, health & safety and environmental management systems is no longer simply an option, but a requirement of doing business with leading global brands and retailers.

Titled “Corporate Social Responsibility & the Buying Process: Choosing Responsible Manufacturing Vendors/Partners”, this seminar will help you understand the issues making labor & environmental compliance such high priorities.

It is a very important issue for today’s retail organizations and will walk attendees through the process of how to find, evaluate and choose responsible manufacturing partners.

Partnering with responsible factories both puts you ahead of the competition and reduces your risks in sourcing from offshore.

WRAP’s Director of South East Asia Mr. Michael Lavergne will be the key speaker of this seminar. With more than 15 years work experience in the field of sourcing and manufacturing, Lavergne has been closely worked with many well-known global retailers and brands in 6 continents.

To know more about this seminar, contact Michael Lavergne at mlavergne@wrapcompliance.org.

USA : TEXbaseConnect to streamline Cabela's material sourcing processes - Technology News USA

Cabela's Inc., the World's Foremost Outfitter, has chosen TEXbase Enterprise Edition including TEXbaseConnect to streamline material sourcing, testing, color approval and overall product integrity processes.

"Material innovation and product performance are the cornerstones of Cabela's commitment to our customers," said Bill Yohn, director of quality assurance and sourcing for Cabela's. "TEXbase provides the opportunity to reduce costs and increase quality, propelling our organization forward."

"We are especially proud to work with Bill and his team, both here and abroad, to provide the supply chain solutions and best practices required to excel within today's retail environment," said Joe Walkuski, TEXbase founder and CEO.

The Lacoste Pink Croc Collection

Lacoste has partnered with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation to find the cure for breast cancer.

Lacoste will donate 10% of proceeds from this beach themed pink collection to BCRF during the entire month of October.

The Lacoste Pink Croc collection includes timeless style sunglasses, water resistant sporty watch, women's & men's washed polos with oversized croc logos, Lacoste's Love of Pink fragrance, contrast stitched flip-flops, crocodile belt with patent leather detailing, striped canvas beach bag and a striped beach towel.

The Ultimate Party Wardrobe From Jimmy Choo at H&M

When Jimmy Choo's exclusive collaboration with H&M lands in stores on 14th November, a glimpse of the brand's glamorous world will be available to all.

Not only will Jimmy Choo be providing the perfect shoes for the party season at H&M, it will also be offering the clothes and accessories to match, as well as dressing men from head to toe.

The collection features details such as crystals, studs and animal prints that make Jimmy Choo such a pioneer in the world of accessories.

Arriving in around 200 stores worldwide, soon all will be able to experience the passion for Jimmy Choo at H&M.

"The Jimmy Choo collection for H&M is full of fun, one-off items with an accessible and glamorous identity made with stylish materials, emphasised with colour and embellishment.

I wanted to create pieces that would reach a cool and young customer with a fashionable and independent sense of spirit in this one-off collaboration." Tamara Mellon, Founder and President, Jimmy Choo.

"This Autumn Jimmy Choo brings vitality and sexy glamour to H&M.

I love the really high strappy sandals with lots of decoration and attitude, matched with clean-cut, 80s-inspired clothes.

Designer Tamara Mellon always shows her amazing shoes with equally amazing clothes, and we wanted to offer our customers a complete collection - including men's shoes and clothes too.

I think this collection suits anyone with a flair for fashion and high heels."

Fashion News: Little House of Accessories

• Photo: Caleb Lin

Opening Ceremony has opened the Little House of Accessories, a new outpost for bags, shoes, and other ephemera—corncob stools!—all from the owners’ favorite lines.

Rafa Benitez’s wife Montse to front new fashion week in Liverpool

RAFA Benitez’s wife was today announced as the face of a new fashion week in Liverpool.

Montse Benitez, who married the Liverpool FC manager in 1998, will be fronting Lifestyle Fashion Week next week.

The five-day free event, which will be launched at Alma de Cuba on Sunday, was organised by former Queer Eye presenter Julian Bennett.

Montse, who moved to Liverpool with Rafa from their native Spain in 2004, said her family’s attachment to Merseyside led her to support the project.

She said: “We feel very close to Liverpool and Rafa and I like to help promote the image of Liverpool as a modern city of culture.

“We have found the right place to bring our children up and enjoy life. The children love Liverpool, if you ask them where is home they always say Liverpool.”

The avid fundraiser, who has two daughters Claudia, 10, and Agata, six, had explained Anfield boss Benitez likes nothing more than slipping into a T-shirt and shorts when he gets home from work.

But she admitted she has to give him advice when it comes to fashion.

She said: “I have to help him. Rafa is always very keen to help people and he will be coming to the launch event.

“If he is there it is great support for the event because everyone knows who he is.

“The most important thing is to give new designers the chance to show people their clothes.”

Lifestyle Fashion Week will showcase established talent such as Liverpool fashion designer Philip Armstrong alongside unknown designers.

Montse, 41, said: “There will be 15 designers throughout the week.

“The collections are not just for women but men too.”

The fashion shows will take place at the Albert Dock’s Circo restaurant and bar from Monday, October 19 to Friday, October 23.

Julian Bennett said: “I am so excited about my first Lifestyle Fashion Week.

“We have all worked so hard and the team at the John Alexanda modelling agency have pulled through for me.

“It is going to be a great week of amazing shows and the launch party and closing party will rock Liverpool.”

Who"Loses" More Jewelry

We gave her the benefit of the doubt the first, and the second time jewels turned up missing after being in the hands of Lindsay Lohan, we began to get suspicious. Now, the actress has apparently lost some pretty expensive jewelry for the third time.

LiLo reportedly borrowed some pricey pieces from jeweler Arielle de Pinto during Paris Fashion Week earlier this month, but allegedly then left France without returning the jewelry as promised. Of course rumors have since been flying that she snagged the gems, afterall, lately she's only been known for being broke, losing jewelry, and stealing fur coats.

This is the third time that jewelry has reportedly turned up missing while in her care. On top of that, she claimed to have had $2 million worth of jewelry recently stolen from her home during a break-in.

In response to the rumors, Lindsay Twittered:

That's a lame lie. Especially considering the people at the company are my friends and we laughed about this. F for failed attempt."

True or not, anyone who loans LiLo jewelry these days should expect it NOT to be returned.