The Modest Side of Fashion Through Nzinga Knight

The ever competitive fashion world is always changing, and many designers strive push the boundaries of the fashion world with more skin revealing designs. But while many fight the fight of how much skin to show, one designer is going the opposite route with fashionable pieces that barely show any skin. Nzinga Knight, an up-and coming American Muslim designer takes the strict approach of covering up her models. Rather than flashes of breasts, low skirts, and high splits, her designs are all about long hems and long sleeves that leave very little to the imagination.

For tho who haven’t heard of Nzinga before, she’s the face behind the Nzinga Knight line, launched in 2008. She also happens to be a Muslim living in New York City who religiously prays 5 times a day. But even with her religious ways, Nzinga Knight is anything but a preacher and instead is a fashionista through-and-through. Her fashion roots date back to when she was a young girl, which eventually led her to study fashion design and fine art at the prestigious Pratt Institute School of Design in New York City where she received a BFA in fashion design.

Throughout her short career, she has been noted as a visionary and became a recipient of many awards such as Council of Fashion Designers of America Award and the DCA Grant. In 2008 she emerged as the winner of the 2008 Power UP Business Plan competition sponsored by Citigroup.

In her line of work, her designs are easily viewed as different, but many will say that they’re also not for the average woman, but instead geared towards the glamorous woman in search of colour and uniqueness.

Photo Credit (Yahoo)

Jimmy Choo 4 Him

Jimmy Choo 4 Him…Finally! This may be fresh news to some of you, while for the rest of you this will be old news. Jimmy Choo’s strategy to enter the men’s fashion market, and diversify into a full-fledged brand that caters to men and women is fully underway. The first test came with a very successful fragrance launch, and in January 2011 men’s footwear was the next launch and a step towards the luxury evolution.

According to former CCO of Jimmy Choo Tamara Mellon, she said then that the men are targeting exude confidence and style. In a short span of twenty years she has turned a small shoemaker into a major global brand worth over $500 million. Sadly what any don’t realize that Jimmy Choo shoe’s are not even made anymore by the man who invented the brand in 1996. While it bears his name, he “has had minimal contact” with the label since he split from it in 2001 and only creates shoes privately for a very small circle of Jimmy Choo shoe lovers.

Currently Holt Renfrew carries Jimmy Choo shoes for men in Canada. For a bigger selection, check our Saks 5th Ave online – they ship timely, provide pricing in Canadian dollars and take care of all the customs jargon.

Despite all the illustrious craftsmanship, Jimmy Choo brand has been in a slight limbo ever since last November, when Tamara Mellon suddenly left Jimmy Choo. While she helped build the brand to what it is today, Jimmy himself was bought out in 2001 for reportedly $135 million. There have been whispers here and there that he’s been trying to get his brand back and has a strong backing through Chinese investors.

Time will tell what happens with the Jimmy Choo brand, but if you’re in a position to afford a lovely pair of these unique type of shoes…..well consider yourself lucky and enjoy it for however long they last!

You Are What You Watch

They’re on your wrist to keep time, And show the world your true status!

Everywhere you go, you’re surrounded by objects that tell time. Literally, think about it: Your mobile phone, iPod, office clock, radio, computer, alarm clock and your car’s digital clock. So, what about watches? Truthfully watches fave no fallen into the category of decorative fashion accessories, rather than being there to tell the time.

This wrist accessory called the watch that most men and women wear, still does provide precise time-telling, yet it also exemplifies to the world our status, sense of style and a tad bit of our personality.

Even the most fashionable can get tripped up when it comes to buying the right watch. Watches are complex, can be expensive and there are a lot of them out there. So just what should you know when shopping for one? Well, you can start by looking at your wardrobe and your budget.

Watches are big business these days. And the last five years have seen extraordinary growth in the sector. The Swiss watch industry, for example, saw its exports grow from $2.5 billion in 1986 to $10 billion in 2008. All this despite the fact that the primary function of the watch – to tell the time – has been rendered pretty much obsolete by the invention of the mobile phone.

So why are we still buying them? Why do heads of state still give watches to their hosts on the occasion of state visits? Why did Bernie Madoff own 17 Rolexes and seven Cartiers? Why are the most common items stolen from wealthy footballers not sports cars but watches? Why are the pages of men’s magazines such as Esquire and GQ, or publications such as the Spectator and the New Yorker, festooned with glossy advertisements featuring A-list celebrities wearing watches that cost many thousands of pounds each?

The answer is simple! To men watches are what shoes are to women. It’s the only accessory men truly have to display and what women look for first when sizing up a man.

One of the most intelligent buys for a man is a nice watch to go along with that sharp dress-shirt in the office or with the sleeves rolled up on the weekend. If you choose a watch carefully it will hold on to, or even increase, its value through time.

Whether it cost $50 or $5,000, men clock the watch in the same way some women might take note of another shoes. It’s what we do. And the watch industry is very happy about that.