Michael Kors has a larger-than-life personality and even bigger ambitions for his namesake luxury brand. Coinciding with the debut of two new boutiques in Madrid and Taipei earlier this week, the designer just opened his largest lifestyle store to date at 667 Madison Avenue yesterday. With soaring 22-foot-ceilings, an 18-foot-high video screen (yes, campaign model [...]

Maybe it’s the upcoming Summer Olympic Games—the opening ceremony is July 27 in London—but track pants have really taken off. No, not the ones with logos written across the bum or those stretched-out old standbys you wear on the couch at home. We’re talking about tailored sweats that simply need a pair of heels to [...]

It had all the fixings of a standard fashion show—front-row fixtures like Michael Stipe and Jen Brill, makeup by James Kaliardos for MAC, hair by Bumble and Bumble, and in-demand models from agencies like IMG and Ford, but K8 Hardy’s Untitled Runway Show at the Whitney Museum on Sunday was anything but typical. The multimedia [...]

What’s the next big thing in fashion? Lately, signs are pointing to Africa. For starters, Franca Sozzani dedicated the entire May issue of L’Uomo Vogue to celebrating the continent’s intrinsic allure and creativity. This year’s International Herald Tribune Luxury conference will examine the growing African middle class as an emerging consumer as well as the [...]

With the exception of Cinderella, Lucite and Perspex shoes used to be associated with exotic dancers. But in the past few seasons, clear accessories have lost their lowbrow associations. During NYFW, we noticed oversize vinyl clutches at 3.1 Phillip Lim and were transfixed by Rodarte’s footwear with sand art stripes decorating the Plexiglas platforms. Karl [...]

To bedazzle or not to bedazzle: That’s the question for Fall, with designers building bling directly into their clothes. Oscar de la Renta showed trompe l’oeil bijoux, printing photos of precious stones on his cocktail dresses, while Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz and Miuccia Prada encrusted their respective looks with luxe crystals—some of which made their red-carpet [...]

With the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics (just 1,548 days away for those of you who are counting) on the horizon, Brazil is hotter than ever. Macy’s is celebrating the vibrant country with its latest campaign, A Magical Journey to Brasil. Enter Francisco Costa for a collaborative capsule collection. “I felt so honored [...]

Fashion’s scope is undeniably global. If you’ve been keeping up with Tommy Ton’s latest street-style dispatches, you already know that right now, the action is in Sydney, where it’s all about showcasing local talent. This season, when Aussie heavyweights Dion Lee and Josh Goot pulled out at the last minute (reportedly to focus on building [...]

Exotic-skins virtuoso Nancy Gonzalez is upping the ante for innovation with crocodile. This week, the Colombia-based designer launched a new, limited-edition capsule collection of bags and jewelry (her first-ever foray into bijoux), featuring tough-looking chains that appear to be hardware, but are actually made of pure croc, which is then wrapped and covered with more [...]

After several seasons of stacking contrasting hues one atop another, designers are simplfying things for Fall with monochromatic looks in a Crayola box assortment of shades. Working with a uniform palette plays up subtle differences in texture and fabric. Alexander Wang, for example, hit on this season’s must-have color with a head-to-toe burgundy outfit that [...]