By Todd Cunningham LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - E! president Suzanne Kolb on Wednesday sent a letter to eight striking "Fashion Police" writers, defending the show's host Joan Rivers and insisting on a sanctioned election before it would come to the negotiating table. The writers have been on strike since April 17, after expressing a desire to organize and join the Writers Guild of America West. The writers want the network to recognize the WGA as their bargaining representative, while the network is insisting that a National Labor Relations Board election be held first. ...
By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) - Fashion media and analysts broadly welcomed Marks & Spencer's new clothing strategy and a preview of autumn/winter fashion ranges, giving the firm's boss some respite from pressure over falling sales. Britain's biggest clothing retailer said on Tuesday it would focus on better quality and styles in womenswear, deliver more compelling and clearer sub-brands, and make shopping easier in stores, as it tries to reverse nearly two years of declining sales. ...
(Reuters) - Diamond jewelry belonging to Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida sold for more than 4.74 million Swiss francs ($4.9 million) on Tuesday in Geneva and set a record for pearl earrings, auctioneer Sotheby's said. Lollobrigida, a leading sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s, said she was selling the jewelry to raise money for stem cell research. A pair of diamond and natural pearl earrings sold for 2.29 million francs ($2.37 million), an auction record. The earrings beat the $1. ...
By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mother-daughter therapy, nightly branzino dinners and pulls from a mimosa-filled water bottle at the gym. Welcome to just some of the life of Betsey Johnson, the eccentric and frenetic fashion designer whose personality goes on display in a reality television series beginning on Sunday on U.S. cable network Style. "XOX Betsey Johnson" casts an eye on Johnson, 70, best known for her bright, girly punk dresses, and her daughter Lulu as the inseparable duo look to relaunch their fashion careers after professional and personal setbacks. ...
By Vernell Hackett NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Lady Antebellum are growing up and getting sassy with their fourth studio album, "Golden," embracing a stripped-down sound to showcase their vocal strength as they prepare for an upcoming tour with a baby on board. The country band, formed by vocalists Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and guitarist Dave Haywood in Nashville, Tennessee, released its latest album this week, which saw band members drawing on their live tour experiences. ...
By Isla Binnie MILAN (Reuters) - Ottavio Missoni, founder of the global family fashion empire that spawned the no-bra look and revolutionized textile patterns with its trademark bold stripes and zig-zag patterns, died on Thursday aged 92. A company spokeswoman said Missoni, commonly known by his nickname "Tai," died during the night in the northern town of Sumirago, at the family home next to the company's factory. He had been recently hospitalized for heart problems. ...
By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fashion designer John Galliano, who was fired by Christian Dior over his anti-Semitic tirades, lost another job after Parsons The New School for Design canceled his workshop because they could not agree on conditions for a "candid conversation" with students. Last month, the college booked the British designer, once one of the most revered talents in the fashion world, to teach a workshop called "Show Me Emotion." His hiring drew complaints from some students who said the school should not employ someone who had been convicted of a hate crime. ...
By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - With their black leather, studded jackets, ripped jeans, bondage trousers and messages of rebellion and anarchy, punks from the 1970s probably never envisioned that a major museum would be celebrating their influence on fashion 40 years later. But the Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is doing just that with a new exhibition, "Punk: Chaos to Couture," that opens on May 9 and runs through August 14. ...
By Li-mei Hoang LONDON (Reuters) - British fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham said life as a working mother is a struggle but she relishes the challenge and plans to expand her empire with a retail store in London. As mother to three boys - Brooklyn, 14, Romeo, 10, and Cruz, 8 - and to 21-month-old daughter Harper, Beckham said balancing her family life and career was a constant juggle. "The children are my priority and always have been and always will be so it's a little bit of a juggling act," she told the Vogue Festival at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday. ...