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news from Malysia…

Breaking through the mold of sequined tunics and abaya, fashion brand Up2date has stormed the Indonesian market with comfortable pieces using fabric that was once unthinkable for Islamic fashion wear: cotton spandex.

Since the opening of their first store in Bandung two years ago, the brand has aggressively expanded, with 17 stores across Indonesia and sales representatives in Dubai and Tehran.

Introducing a mix and match concept by providing colorful clothing pieces with fashionable cuts using comfortable fabric, the fashion label makes it possible for Muslim women opting to cover up according to religious teachings in their own personal style.

“Women who have decided to wear a jilbab (headscarf) of course do not want to lose their character in the way they dress,” Up2date manager Tia said Wednesday.

“Often, the desire to wear jilbab has always been there but there is no Islamic wear that suits their character, making them indecisive about wearing the jilbab. By giving women the option to mix and match clothes made from comfortable fabric, they can adjust the clothes to their own style.”

The popularity and acceptance of the jilbab began to surge in the late 1990s, triggering the development of Islamic fashion in Indonesia. With the majority of the population adhering to Islam, Indonesia has a huge potential market.

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read more about this amazing woman

That makes some sense. The incoming presidential couple, Barack and Michelle Obama, bear superficial resemblance to John and Jacqueline Kennedy of the 1960s Camelot White House — charisma, vigor, her fondness for sheath dresses, for instance.

(picture under cc-license by zoepf )

But maybe the most obvious similarity is that many Americans are as excited and curious about her as they are about him.

“People will be riveted,” predicts Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist and CNN analyst. “She is going to set a record in the amount of attention she will receive.”

President John F. Kennedy once jokingly introduced himself, during a news media-frenzied visit to France, as “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.” Some day, the president-elect may have occasion to say the same.

Americans are seeking to learn more about Michelle Obama and sort out what kind of first lady she might be.

The role of first lady

“The first lady has always been a helpmate and sounding board for the president, his most trusted adviser, and that’s always a given,” said Ann Stock, a White House social secretary under President Bill Clinton.

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news from the U.A.E

The Godolphin Ballroom at Jumeirah Emirates Towers was a joyful and trendy venue last week when the Dubai International Women’s Club held its annual lunch with a fashion show of party dresses worn by volunteer club members.

About 10 women, only two of whom were professional models, took to the catwalk wearing dresses designed by Zinc (Mazaya Center) to the sound of electronic and house music.

“We have a good turnout today, and the hall looks full, so we’re happy,” said Durrea Abbas, president of the club’s committee.

The festive lunch was organised to celebrate both Eid and Chritmas and announce the new committee members. Several models wore Venetian masks with feathers and colorful and elegant dresses with intricate embroidery and cuts as well as bead and flower work.

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some gossip

Fashion speaks volumes about you. And the messages came through loud and clear in 2008.

Some of the memos sent through style spoke with confidence and charisma, while others signaled the end of an era. And for two decades the unspoken fashion cue that Vogue editor Anna Wintour’s clothes have delivered has always been the same: “I never make a style misstep.”

Things change.

This past week, Time magazine unceremoniously tore Wintour a new set of seams, naming the Karl Lagerfeld dress she wore in May to the Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art the “worst fashion faux pas” of the year.

To be fair, Lagerfeld’s nautilus number was designed for a party celebrating superheroes and fantasy.

Even so, Wintour’s dress seemed to say to Time’s editors, “My sense of style has gone straight to shell.”

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the kilt is back

The passion for plaid, fast becoming one of fashion’s longest-lasting relationships, is as predictable as tinsel at this time of year.It was barely two years ago that Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, and our own Alexander McQueen all tripped into tartan territory.Now, here we are again, poised for another round of highland games.

The trend, this season, covers all the extremes from the psychedelic plaids of the young fashion pretender Henry Holland and the clash of the tartans in Dolce&Gabbana’s D&G collection to the more muted touch employed by Yohji Yamamoto in his Y-3 range or the upmarket Aspen-meets-Auchterarder approach of Ralph Lauren.Comme’s Kawakubo also revisits the theme with punk overtones, while Vivienne Westwood has once again subscribed to the revival in her younger Red Label collection.

Tartan, however, does need to be treated with a certain amount of care.Sassenachs such as the extrovert Jean Paul Gaultier and Madonna on her 2001 Drowned World tour may be able to carry off a kilt, but it is generally wise to start with a pinch of plaid to avoid looking like an extra from Brigadoon or a Bay City Rollers groupie.

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mh is this clever?

Paris, France (CNS) – France’s first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is suing a fashion company for using her 1993 nude photo in its shopping bag.

Clothes designer Pardon has produced 10,000 of the bags emblazoned with Mrs. Nicolas Sarkozy’s photo, showing the former model nude with her hands covering her private part. The caption reads: “My guy should have bought Pardon!”

The bags are sold for 3 euros or approximately $3, or are given for free to customers who spend more than $6.50 in its stores.

The French President’s wife said that the photo had been used “without her consent and to promotional and commercial ends.”

Theirry Herzog speaks for Bruni-Sarkozy to the Telegraph saying, “We are going to ask for 125,000 euros [around $167,000] in damages for the sale of this article which constitutes a moral and matrimonial attack.”

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good for Uganda

The Uganda International Fashion Week is back. Organizers of the fête, Arapapa Fashion Designers, say this year’s Fashion Week will showcase East African fashion geniuses and will pay lots of attention to sub-Saharan Africa. They promise a stunning display of African talent, innovation and skill.

Alongside Ugandans in the fashion industry like Latiff Kasumba, Jemma Kisaale and Dorothy Lubega among others, fashion designers from Tanzania, Kenya, South and West Africa are coming to showcase their works in Kampala, according to the president, Uganda International Fashion Week, Ms. Santa Anzo.

“Names that have not been in the fashion industry have joined us,” said Anzo, “we have ten new faces that we will unveil during this year’s fashion week.”

Anzo, who is also the chief designer at Arapapa Fashion Studio, says fashion lovers should expect “a glamorous and sensational fashion week”

Uganda’s fashion industry is boosted, many fashion schools have started and young fashion designers have been inspired. “Fashion week is no longer an Arapapa event. It is a Ugandan event. It gives our nation a positive, clean and creative identity,” Anzo told The Independent in an interview.

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You should do the same if you don’t have H&M in your county

Over a year ago Sandy Livak-Furmanski formed a hugely popular Facebook group calling on Swedish fashion chain to make aliyah. On Tuesday she received a thank you letter from the company, which decided to do just that

Sandy Livak-Furmanski, 30, from Givatayim received a thank you letter from the press department of fashion chain H&M on Tuesday, acknowledging her support of the Swedish clothing giant’s coming to Israel.

Over a year ago Sandy, a great fan of the chain’s clothes, founded a group on Facebook dedicated to bringing the chain to Israel. The group, titled “Open an H&M store in Israel!” started out with only a few members, most of them Sandy’s friends, but rapidly expanded and currently consists of more than 11,000 members, mostly women.

“We are very pleased to inform you of the decision (to open a store in Israel) and thank you for your support and enthusiasm. It’s a strong vote of confidence,” the H&M letter read. “We very much appreciate your interest in H&M and hope you’ll share this news with all of your members.”

Tired of shopping abroad

“It started out as a joke,” Sandy admitted Tuesday. “Every time I visited my grandmother in Finland I would buy heaps of clothes and return to Israel with tons of items.

“I thought that it was high time the company opened a store here,” she explained.

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i think many people were curious to have H&M in Israel

Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz said on Tuesday it had entered into a franchise agreement with Match Retail Ltd to open stores in Israel. The company said in a statement the first H&M store in the country was planned to open in 2010. H&M said Match Retail Ltd was a privately owned company founded by the Horesh family for the exclusive purpose of handling H&M in Israel.

“There has been a great interest in H&M from the Israeli market for quite some time and we believe that our business concept will suit the Israeli market well,” H&M Chief Executive Rolf Eriksen said in the statement.

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