Kanye West Clothing Line Debuts In Paris

Live from Paris: Here’s Kanye! Shoot-From-The-Lip Rap star and style aficionado Kanye West unveiled his highly anticipated womenswear line in front of a star-packed crowd during a Paris Fashion Week runway show in the City of Lights on Saturday. Yep, you heard right: Kanye’s finally made the transition from the front row to backstage after becoming a runway fixture at a bevy of international fashion shows in recent years.

“I had a lot of ideas about colors and shapes I wanted to express … I’m really happy where I ended up,” the Watch the Throne hitmaker remarked nervously as he spoke to reporters after the presentation.

Celebrities — including singer Ciara, designers Joseph Altuzarra, Alexander Wang, and Olivier Theyskens, actress Lindsay Lohan, and fellow celebrity designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — turned out for West’s show, which was hands-down the premier event on the Paris Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2012 calendar. In fact, Ciara was full of praise for West’s fashion debut.

“To see someone like Kanye, who aspires to succeed in fashion, to get so much respect and cross over like this, it was monumental.”

Feeling ‘Ye’s designs?

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Nelson Mandela Has a Clothing Line, Stella McCartney May Collaborate

Photo: WWD

No, the humanitarian and former South African president is not making a career change into fashion in his ’90s. However, he is the central inspiration for a new South African apparel brand called 46664, which was Nelson Mandela‘s prison ID number and is also the name of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s AIDS awareness campaign.

The men’s and women’s brand has strong ties to Mandela’s legacy and, thus, to South Africa’s history, but also its future, as a sustainable way to benefit the country’s struggling clothing and textile manufacturing industries, as well as the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s charitable endeavors.

The line launched in August at Stuttafords, a department store in Johannesburg. Reportedly, 46664 will be stocked in 15 Stuttafords nationwide, as well as 70 independent retailers, will launch ecommerce by mid-November and roll out internationally next year. The price points are reasonable for what we’re used to–from $26 for a T-shirt and $86 for a polo–but out of reach for many South Africans.

Based on what we’ve seen, the clothes are well-tailored, classic sportswear with African influences seen in colors, prints and accents. 46664 is set to make its runway debut on Sunday during South Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg. Anna Wintour may not be in the front row, but that doesn’t mean the brand won’t have some legitimate fashion cred. According to WWD, Stella McCartney is rumored to be the brand’s first guest designer.

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Amy Winehouse Fred Perry Clothing Collection To Be Released As Planned

Good news, Fashion Fans: New music won’t be the only thing released following the death of jazz powerhouse Amy Winehouse. Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) reports that the remaining two Amy Winehouse for Fred Perry Collections will be released as planned, despite the singer’s sudden (and still unexplained) death in her London home last month.

Last week, a spokesperson for Fred Perry told Fashionista.com that the collection was “on hold until we speak with Amy’s family and management.” The Fashionverse is now ecstatic to hear that the Fall 2011 and Summer 2012 collections, designed by Winehouse months ago, will certainly go on sale as planned. Amy’s father, Mitch Winehouse, says “it was natural” for the clothing line to continue. “Amy loved working on both collections and would want them to be made available.”

The “Valerie” hitmaker collaborated with the British high street chain in the years before her death. Amy’s first, retro-inspired collection was released in Autumn-Winter 2010. A Spring 2011 line soon followed. At the time of Amy’s first collection, the brand described the threads as “classic Fred Perry pieces given a fresh twist with Amy’s attitude and style.” Popular pieces included high-waisted pencil skirts, checkered jumpsuits, and black trench and preppy jumper designs.

“Amy was passionate and dedicated to the collaboration, and her signature style is clearly stamped across each piece,” Perry told WWD Monday.

Upon news of her death, the brand released a statement, saying: “We had a great working and personal relationship with Amy during the design and development of the collaboration. Amy’s unique sense of style and attitude pervaded the entire collection. She was a pleasure to work with and will be deeply missed by the entire Fred Perry team.”

Royalties and fees from the sale of the line will be donated to the newly-established Amy Winehouse Foundation.

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