Cynthia Rowley has designed beautiful shapewear you will be tempted to show off in public.  When we think shapewear, we’re usually bombarded by images of confining undergarments; contraptions we’d dare not be seen in, either behind closed doors or anywhere else.   Well Cynthia Rowley may have put an end to dowdy girdles and shapers with her new collection, Slim.   It’s a sleek and sexy line of shapewear designed to mold our curves.  Sleek and sexy is just the way we want to look and feel when we wear it.  The line costs between $118 to $226.  So this fall you’ll be dressed to impress from your undergarments to your outerwear.

Vera Wang is set to give the girl on a budget the wedding dress of her dreams.  The reigning queen of bridal gowns has teamed up with David’s Bridal to bring affordable dresses to the masses.  Gowns will range from $600 to $1,200, a relative bargain when you consider a Vera Wang gown can cost you between $4,000 and $25,000.  Now this is what I call business savvy.  In order to maintain dominance one has to continually extend into other markets, and this is a logical extension.  We are all living a new reality, we live in a fashion world where high-end and lower-end lines collaborate everyday.  It was only a matter of time before bridal entered the arena.  Lucky for David’s Bridal’s customers, Wang plans on providing the same quality fabrics for her lower-priced designs. 

Vera Wang to Design A Line For David Bridal [The Cut]

Costello Tagliapietra are two of my favorite designers, and they have collaborated with Uniqlo to bring us a lower-priced collection.  The duo work wonders with jersey for their high-end line, and they plan on doing the same with the new capsule collection.  There are 14 differently styled dresses in a range of spring colors that are beautifully draped from silk jersey.  You can have your pick at Uniqlo on May 20th when the collection hits stores.  The dresses are moderately priced at $29.50 to $39.50.  Summer has definitely gotten more stylish for the fashion maven on a budget.

Dana Lorenz celebrated her new limited-edition jewelry collection last night with a launching party.  Lorenz collaborated with J.Crew to create the Fenton/Fallon jewelry line.  She designed beautiful pieces that will glam up even a simple white T-shirt and demin look.  The collection has an antique-like quality, but it’s been updated with a great mix of metals, from silver, gold and pewter to diamond like crystals.  Looking chic does not have to break the bank because they’re priced from $95 to $295.

The ladies of Vena Cava are all set to launch a new T-shirt collection in the fall of 2010.  The ready-to-wear line will offer T-shirts at a lower price via Viva Vena.  Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai saw an opening in the market for printed tees and embarked on this new venture.  The collection includes tees, tanks and dresses all made from organic cotton and jersey.  You will be able to shop the collection at Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Shopbop an La Garconne for under $200 in July.  Judging from the excitement from this announcement, it looks like Vena Cava will have a very successful collection.  The demand is there, and the lower price only sweetens the deal. [WWD]

When I say sweatpants you think, the gym.  That would usually be the correct answer, but we now live in an alternate universe where sweatpants are associated with luxury.  If designer Michael Kors has his way, you will be casually chic in a pair of cashmere sweatpants for $995.  I remember a time when the money crowd would rather be caught shopping the sales rack than be seen in public with sweats.  What’s changed?  Maybe all they needed were for said item to be made by top designers in the finest fabrics.  Kors is not alone, Alexander Wang was among the first to start this trend along with Isabel Marant for Spring 2010, then Rag & Bone and Bottega Veneta.  The trend appears to be catching on judging by the reported sales from designers and stores.  Will this be more than just a fad?  I doubt it, we have far too much history with sweats to fully find them acceptable for anything other than lounging or exercise.  It should go without saying that sweatpants should not be worn on a date, even if they are paired with Louboutins, your date will be left underwhelmed.  There’s a time and place for everything, and sweats may be fine for shopping, but not for fine dining.

The $1,000 Sweatpants  [WSJ]

Rock & Republic has fallen victim to an economy that has lost its appetite for $300 jeans.  The high-end designer denim company filed for Chapter 11 bankrupcy protection yesterday.  Back in November of 2009 we wrote a post titled Do These Skinny Jeans Make My Credit Card Bill Fat?  We now have an answer to the question posed, and it is a resounding yes.  The post referred to the high price of denim jeans, and evidence was already mounting that lower-priced denim were favored by consumers.   Even the most fashionable and trendy men and women are now cautious about their spending when comes to jeans.  The post came from a New York Times article Preshrunk Prices which dealt with the pricing resistance denim designers and retailers were facing from consumers.  Rock & Republic is sold in high-end retail stores like Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

Rock & Republic files Chapter 11 bankruptcy  [Reuters]

Preshrunk Prices  [NYT Style]

Related Post: Do These Skinny Jeans Make My Credit Card Bill Fat?

Erdem Moralioglu was announced the winner of the British Fashion Fund/Vogue Fashion Fund award last night.  It is a prestigous award, and said honor comes with a $303,000 cash prize.  The award acknowledges new design talent within the fashion industry. Erdem is an enormous talent, and is highly deserving of this win.  Prior to starting his own label in 2005, he worked for Diane von Furstenberg in New York.  He was up against very notable players in the industry; fellow nominees included Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Clements Ribeiro, Angel Jackson, Patrick Grant of E. Tautz, Nicholas Kirkwood and Richard Nicoll.  Erdem is clearly a rising star for whom success was imminent.  You can shop for his collection online at Net-a-Porter.

French actress Marion Cotillard is once again the face of Lady Dior.  The new “Lady Blue” campaign marks Cotillard’s third stint with the label.  Steven Klein shot the ad in Shanghai, and the view is picture perfect.  John Galliano chose the right woman for Lady Dior because she’s beautiful, yet there is a complexity about her that is very enchanting.  Cotillard was also featured in a 12-minute film shot by David Lynch for the house that will debut on May 15th.  Not so coincidentally, Galliano will also unveil Dior’s cruise collection in Shanghai on that same day. It appears having an actress as your model really does pay off, she gives great face and good acting.  Annie Leibovitz shot the second ad, the “Lady Rouge” campaign with the actress, and you can watch the behind the scenes footage of that shoot in the video below.  Both the bags and shoes could leave you with the age old dilemma of rent or shoes.

Marion Cotillard’s Shanghai High  [WWD]

 We are inching closer and closer to a Tom Ford womenswear launch for fall 2011.  We are also learning that all is fair in love and fashion. Ford has hired womenswear designer Caroline Tixier from Givenchy, and accessories designer Pablo Coppola from Alexander McQueen.  It appears he wants nothing, but the best for his ready-to-wear line.  The fashion world has been anticipating this launch for years, and there is a lot of excitement.  Hiring designers from two of the top fashion houses in Europe will only add to the buzz that usually surrounds a Tom Ford project.  What will the well-dressed man send down the runway to satisfy the well-dressed woman?  That will be the question on the industry’s lips until the line is unveiled.  Everyone expects him to recreate the magic he made at Gucci, and from this latest move, he intends to.

Tom Ford Secretly Poaching McQueen and Givenchy for His Own Women’s Design Team  [The Cut]