The biggest story to come out of Fashion Week in Milan isn’t Jil Sander’s new collection or Naomi Campbell’s triumphal return to the catwalk; it’s a billboard. The shocking Nolita billboard features a photograph of a 27-year-old French woman by the name of Isabella Caro. Next to her 68-pound frame, the poster reads “No Anorexia.” Though Caro is not a model, she has suffered from anorexia for 14 years.

The billboard has been endorsed by the Italian Ministry of Health. Officials claim the image promotes responsibility for the worldwide problem of anorexia.

Designers, on the other hand, feel differently. Giorgio Armani challenged the connection between anorexia and the fashion industry, saying, “Even people who take no notice of fashion get anorexic.” Dolce and Gabbana echoed that sentiment, pointing out that anorexia is a psychological ailment that has “nothing to do with fashion.”

So what do you think of this poster? Is it too much? Do you think it is fair to pin the problem of anorexia on the fashion industry?

What ever happened to the good old days when designers stuck to designing clothing and accessories? Giorgio Armani has confirmed that he will be creating an Armani branded cell phone for Samsung.

The cell phone, which is about the size of a credit card, will have a large LCD screen and touch-screen functionality that is similar to the iPhone. You would think a phone so tiny couldn’t do much, but this phone is fully equipped with a camera, internet browser, and a Bluetooth stereo headset. The phone retails for about $915 US dollars (SGD 1335).

When Armani was asked why he decided to lend his designing skills to something more “technical” he said (in a statement):

“Today, fashion has expanded to encompass our way of life, not just how we dress, but how we design our home, the hotels we stay in, the car we drive, and the technology we buy. In fact, we make as much of a personal statement with the mobile phones that we carry or the televisions we have in our living rooms as we do with the shoes and bags we wear or the furnishings we choose to place in our homes. These are all lifestyle decisions, where design and performance are the criteria. Samsung has successfully anticipated the growing role for consumer electronics in our lives, while recognizing the importance of self-expression in the development of its products.”

Armani’s cell phone will be available in European countries in November 2007 and will expand to other markets in 2008.

After reading countless stories about Britney, Lindsay and other celebrities behaving badly, you start to wonder: doesn’t this start to mess with their careers? It’s not like they’re only acting up when they’re out at the club, these people are consistently a pain in the butt to work with, so how is it that we keep seeing them in movies and magazines?

Well, apparently being difficult can get your blacklisted — but only by some directors. David LaChappelle, for instance, is a photographer/filmmaker who most-recently shot Christina Aguilera’s Dirrty video, the indie documentary hit Rize, and H&M’s five-minute Romeo and Juliet commercial for their ‘Tis the Season to be Gorgeous denim line. He’s a talented guy, and his work is super trendy right now, so seemingly everyone is fighting to work him.

However, he won’t shoot with everyone.

In fact, LaChapelle keeps a list of people he won’t work with — a list that includes Christina Aguilera, Madonna and Gwen Stefani.

While Stefani admits the famous photographer can be a challenge to work with, she also claims the blacklist is just a rumor. However, she also admits to throwing a couple tantrums during a photo shoot the two did together for No Doubt, so it wouldn’t exactly be surprising if LaChapelle had sworn off working with her. They both sound more than a little high-strung.

Suddenly throwing like a girl isn’t such a bad thing. Chanel has been expanding into sportier territories lately with accessories such as surfboards, skis, tennis rackets, and footballs to supplement their 2007 Chanel Sport collection.

The 2007 Chanel Sport collection will have you wishing you took those skiing lessons back in high school, and rethinking the notion of football being a “boy’s only sport”. Then again breaking a sweat in thousands of dollars worth of clothing might not be such a great idea.

With this collection Chanel is able to take care of your sporty needs the only way they know how – with style and class. Whether you are a dynamo on the slopes or a master on the tennis court there is something for you.

The Fall/ Winter collection has the key cold weather pieces covered including; penguin intarsia sweaters, fingerless gloves, fur earmuffs and scarves, one-piece ski suits, sporty vests, and boots (sans sky high heels). For Spring/ Summer knock around the tennis ball in a Chanel tennis skirt, work up a sweat in some yoga gear, or hit the waves in a slick little wetsuit.

The entire collection is gorgeous; just don’t try to find it at your local Sports Authority. For information on where to buy go to your local Chanel boutique or go to Chanel.com.

Neiman Marcus will continue to party like it is their birthday, because it is! The slew of NM exclusive handbags is a sure fire way to lure in buyers and let them know that Neiman Marcus is there to make their lives better. A fan of the faux-horn top handle from the beginning, the Yves Saint Laurent Ostrich Mombasa adds another dimension to make the masses drool. The body of this version is designed with supple gray ostrich, which makes my heart skip a few beats. Combining exotic ostrich with the hottest color of the season is a sure fire hit. The gold tone hardware is a luxurious accent along with the seamed body. Looking at this bag makes me think I just got off of an exhilarating African Safari and catches me like a deer in head lights. Cost…SGD 5600

For the show that was over 2 hours late, merely lasted 15 minutes, and went in a backward order, a plethora of hot celebs still gathered to view the Marc Jacobs show at the Armoury in New York City. Victoria Beckham changed outfit after the Oscar de la Renta show and showed up in a stunning dress and carrying a Hermes Kelly Pochette in suede. Hermes is the go-to brand for Victoria Beckham’s handbag decisions. Earlier in the day she carried her special order Hermes Baccara Crocodile Clutch and for MJ’s show she switched to her Hermes Kelly Pochette in purple suede. A highly flattering dress for her ‘curves’ (ok simply her bust), a stunning handbag, now all that is left to wonder; did she enjoy the show?

Sometimes when I go to the supermarket, I stop by the ice cream aisle and consider treating myself to a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Vermonty Python. However, if I spot a price tag of anything higher than four dollars, I immediately turn on my heel and walk away. After all, it’s just ice cream and my money tree is still in development.

Well, it looks like there are some people out there who take their dessert much more seriously and would probably scoff and snicker at my reaction to four dollar ice cream. Forbes has put together an astounding list of expensive desserts, complete with pictures, prices, and locations, so you know where to go when the mood strikes to bust a wallet for some chocolate. Just how expensive can these desserts get? The pictured goody is SGD $22,000. That’s, like, four thousand pints of Vermonty Python. But, unlike most supermarket ice creams, this dessert from The Fortress Aquamarine in Sri Lanka comes with an 80-carat gem. I suppose involving jewelry is bound to tip the prices a bit.

And no, no one has purchased the SGD $22,000 dessert yet.

You want a better butt, don’t you? And if it doesn’t involve squats, even better, right? Well, then, I’ve got good news.

The butt-lifting shoes I mentioned in the title of this post are made by a company called Earth. What makes Earth shoes different is exactly what makes Earth shoes a perfect partner for those of you interested in lifting the junk in your trunk. Namely, it’s all about the negative heel technology.

Negative heel technology was first developed by a Scandinavian yoga teacher by the name of Anne Kalsø. Kalsø noticed on a beach visit that standing in sand felt an awful lot like the sensation of holding the standing mountain yoga pose. Her shoulders rolled back, her breath eased, and her feet relaxed as her spine aligned to its natural position in the compressed sand.

What Kalsø had stumbled on was something she dubbed the “negative heel,” meaning that the ball of your foot is kept on a slightly highly plane than your ankle. Because of the slight incline of Earth’s negative heel shoes, you exert more effort than you otherwise would as you walk around. Like a strolling on a treadmill with a 3.7° incline, Earth’s negative heel rocking motion tones your legs, butt and even your heart. The negative heel can also improve breathing and relieve back pain since these are often symptoms of chronic bad posture.

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It’s not always easy to find things that are both functional and fashionable. Sure, there are lots of things functional things out there that try to be fashionable, but in the end, they end up looking stupid.Not so with the USB flash drives from Active Crystals, a line of crystal products from the partnership between Swarvoski (the fashion) and Philips (the function). The USB flash drives come in four different models, two of which look like locks that can be attached to a keychain, and two of which, my favorites, are shaped like hearts and are worn around the neck on a silver cord. All of them feature 1 gig of storage and built-in password protection.

The one shown is called Heart Beat, with half the pendant in silver and the other half encrusted with Swarovski crystals. The other heart pendant is similar, except that the crystal half looks like a giant crystal rather than studded with small ones.

Straight leg, wide leg, skinny jeans, flare, tapered leg, bell-bottoms. There are so many cuts of denim out in the fashion world but there is only cut that has stood the test of time. These jeans are of course the boot-cut jeans. I call them the happy median, and since when is a happy median a bad thing?

Boot-cut jeans were first introduced in 1990’s. They originated as a less extreme version of the bell-bottom jean that was made popular in the hippie days. They also served as a backlash from the too tight jeans of the 1980’s. It’s kind of the fashion version of “what goes up, must come down”

Boot-cut jeans are easy to identify; in women’s jeans they are tapered at the knee with a slight flare at the ankle to accommodate a boot. And for men they are loose and wide the whole way down. Boot-cut jeans are very flattering as they balance out most figures. If you are a bit heavy on top a boot cut with have you looking slim in no time.

These are jeans you just can’t go wrong with. Let’s say you are in a coma for 10 years and come out pretty much clueless. You can go into your closet and push aside the skinny, wide leg, bell-bottoms, and mom jeans — just go right for the boot-cuts and people will be none the wiser. That is if you remember what boot-cut jeans are after waking from your 10 year coma.

A word of caution: If you were to travel in US and happen to fly Southwest Airlines, dress like an your grandma

At least that seems to be the new company policy, after a customer service supervisor nearly removed Kyla Ebbert from a flight because he thought the college student’s clothing was “offensive.”

Granted, this isn’t the best-looking outfit I’ve ever seen, but it’s not that bad — and it’s certainly not that revealing. However, when the Ebbert asked the surly Southwest rep what was so wrong with ensemble, the snarky fashion fascist simply replied, “The whole thing.”

Clearly, the clothing isn’t the problem, so my theory is that the overzealous Southwest rep has deemed himself Fashion Police of the Skies, or simply thinks attractive blond women are some kind of threat to national security.

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LOS ANGELES — Paris Hilton continues to expand her empire. The heiress, author, singer, perfume designer and reality-TV star unveiled her namesake clothing line Thursday at Kitson, a trendy boutique known for its celebrity clientele.

“It’s a dream come true to have my own clothing line,” she said. “It’s just Paris style: fun, bright and flashy.”

The collection, which Hilton described as “really comfortable” and “really affordable,” includes shoes, T-shirts and jeans. Hilton said she spent a year submitting and approving designs.

“It’s just from my closet to their closets,” she said. “I’m just excited about it and everyone really loves it.”

Additional pieces will be released next month, she said.

This wallet is winking at all of us for a reason. The price tag is too good to be true, even if this is not your everyday wallet. Keep winking Marc by Marc Jacobs Pouch Pocket Wallet, because your two pouch pockets and inside sections show that you mean business. On the inside there is a zip fastening section for coins, a section for cards, and a place for notes. The outside pockets give off the wink effect with one sporting a zip fastening while the other sports a press stud fastening. The gold metallic leather is accented with gold hardware. Cheap and cute, SGD 285

Maybe she carries a chip on her shoulder, but this brunette beauty does have reason to feel very self-confident. With an amazing toned body, beautiful skin, and dark sultry hair, Jessica Alba is the woman of many men’s fantasies. Right now she is in Vancouver and was spotted out to lunch with friends looking very casual. Her outfit is simple and monotone but her Tod’s D-Bag Grande adds the perfect splash of color to her ensemble. This pebble-grained patent leather handbag stays true to Tod’s signature style. While Jessica Alba’s body is not for sale, her stunning handbag is.

I almost never wear sneakers. I’m not a sneaker fashion girl so just about the only time I ever wear anything on my feet that lace up is when I go running, and we all know how often that is.However, I was intrigued by the Puma Basket CC, where “CC” stands for “Color Change.” The Rifle Green-Tender Shoots-White shoes are made of a heat-sensitive synthetic leather that changes color in different temperatures and environments. Granted, they don’t go from black and green to oh, say pure white and screaming royal blue when the mercury starts rising, but they do change when you touch them (heat of your hand).