Tadashi Shoji – New York Fashion Week Spring 2008

Hilary Cruz (Miss Teen USA 2007, left), Rachel Smith (Miss USA 2007, second from left) and Tara Conner (Miss USA 2006) were three of the numerous celebrities hitting the shows this season. Photo by Christopher Bourne

By Christopher Bourne

L.A. based designer Tadashi Shoji, in his second appearance at New York Fashion Week on Sept. 12, impressed with his latest show inspired by the colors and textures of the ocean.

This theme made for a quite aesthetically pleasing show, with such colors as Aegean blue, coral, oyster, and bamboo dominant throughout. Coolly elegant cocktail dresses and evening wear made extensive use of ruffles and folds that evoked the sea in every facet of their design.

This show left no doubt as to why Tadashi is the go-to designer for such celebrities as Tyra Banks and Halle Berry, as well as the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. Practically speaking, most of these dresses would perhaps be out of place anywhere else other than Hollywood red carpets and beauty competitions. Still, on this day, the overall effect was quite memorable.

Source: Meniscus Magazine

Roger Gary, Facts and Roses team up for fashion 'xpo'

New York-based Guyanese designer/producer Roger Gary and the Facts and Roses husband and wife team Trevor Rose and Michelle Cole-Rose are the brains behind next Easter's Guyana Fashion Xpo (GFX).

The three well-known designers, who were conspicuously absent from last month's Guyana Fashion Weekend, plan to make a bold statement with this event, which they say will be an annual one. It is billed for the Easter weekend at Splashmin's Resort, which in recent years has been host to the Miss Guyana Universe Pageant.

According to a statement from the organizers, they also plan to use the Demerara Harbour Bridge as the "world's longest runway" as part of the promotional package for the GFX. The organizers say they foresee 100 male and female models beginning their catwalk strut on the West Demerara and modelling their way across the 1.25 miles bridge to culminate on the East Demerara. "Plans are in motion," they say, "for a representative of the Guinness Book of Records to be present so that the event can be officially recorded."

Meanwhile, as regards the main event, the organizers say there will be a specially constructed 80 ft catwalk at Splashmin's. "Designers will present their collections on a casted array of local, regional and international models strutting on the spectacular GFX 80 ft. long runway, especially created for the affair and which features a natural fresh waterfall backdrop."

Running conjointly with the runway segment, will be the GFX Fashion Boutique, offering opportunities to display and sell a wide variety of designer merchandise. The local, regional and international press will be on hand to capture the event, the release said.

The organizers said GFX had a successful preview at the Umana Yana in March (during Cricket World Cup) and was expected to highlight "the talent and skills of designers, models, stylists, hair and make-up artists, creating a sizzling weekend of fashion unparalleled in the southern Caribbean." It is expected that whilst the event would bring businesses and services ancillary to the industry from Guyana and the region together, it will also serve to propel Guyana as the region's new fashion and manufacturing hub.

"Set against the backdrop of its lush rainforest, ma-jestic rivers, soothing lakes, natural wildlife and an eco-friendly environment, Guyana will showcase its culture and style to the world as it plays host to the first annual Guy-ana Fashion Xpo," the release said.

Source: Stabroek News

A glitzy eve

Sayali Bhagat, Neha and Anuj Rakyan (TOI Photo)

The jewel in her crown...

What can make a beautiful woman more beautiful? A jewel-studded crown, that’s what! On Friday evening, Gitanjali, in association with the Miss India Asia Beauty Pageant 2007, hosted the crowning ceremony at a suburban venue where Miss India Asia 2007 Neha was crowned by Anuj Rakyan from Gitanjali.

Adding glitter to the glam was former Miss India Sayali Bhagat, glowing in a shimmering blue sari. Other beauty queens present included Miss Sri Lanka Jacqueline Fernandez and Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, the latter who was seen talking to Vasant Bhandari.

Deepti Varghese seemed to be in jovial mood as she caught up with Dipannita Sharma and her sister, while DJs Akbar Sami and Akhtar were certainly in the groove. Aryan Vaid was spotted after quite a while. All in all, a glittering night.

Source: The Times of India

Miss World Bikini

World Bikini Model International and Miss European Tourism 2007 were held in Malta with more than 55 contestants coming from all over the World.

The event was held at the Dragonara Casino, St. Julian's and was organized by Catwalk Productions International which is the only organization in Malta holding an International License to organize these two International events.

Source: Di-ve

Khanh Hoa submits Miss Universe hosting plan

Image of the future 7,500 stage

VietNamNet Bridge – Yesterday, September 19, Khanh Hoa Province People’s Committee submitted to the PM and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism its plan to host Miss Universe 2008 in Nha Trang City.

According to Le Xuan Than, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Hoan Vu Joint Stock Company will be directly responsible for organizing the event.

This means that Hoan Vu itself will pay the US$15million necessary to host the pageant (US$7million for copyrights and the rest is organization costs), as well as ensure adequate infrastructure that includes a 7,500-seat theatre.

Mr. Than said Hoan Vu would build the stage on an area of 7 ha within the Nha Trang Tourism and Entertainment Zone owned by Hoan Cau Nha Trang Ltd. Construction work will start as soon as the PM okays the plan.

Foreign experts will also be sent to Nha Trang to help carry out the project. Hoan Vu Joint Stock is made up of three companies - CIAT, Viet CEO, and Hoan Cau Nha Trang Ltd.

Hoan Vu submitted its hosting plan to provincial authorities right after Miss Universe Organization’s Chairwoman Paula Mary Shugart sent her letter to PM Nguyen Tan Dung, Culture Minister Hoang Tuan Anh and Khanh Hoa Chairman Vo Lam Phi expressing her wish to see Nha Trang host Miss Universe next year in August.

Source: Vietnam Net Bridge

Lara fights trafficking with MTV EXIT

By IndiaFM News Bureau

Lara Dutta fights the social issue of human trafficking. She is the brand ambassador for MTV EXIT, (End Exploitation, and Trafficking). She was asked to talk about trafficking and now features in the documentary called ‘SOLD’ which deals with human trafficking. MTV India will screen the documentary on September 22 at 1900 hrs IST.

“I was previously working on female infanticide with the UNFPA and trafficking of brides. It is after the approach from MTV that I explored further into the details of human trafficking” says Lara. On asking about trafficking in the film industry, she says, “There are a lot of people who come from far of places with the desire to become actors, but it’s not the only field where trafficking takes place. There should be agencies that give the right guidance to aspiring actors.”

“Being a celebrity I can reach a larger audience and I am glad I can use my status to promote this social cause and reach people” states Lara.

Source: India FM

Here she is -- it's Miss Internet 2008

Mathew Ingram, today at 1:05 PM EDT

Do John and Scott Ferber know what they're getting into? According to a recent press release that came floating into my inbox, they've decided to start something called the Miss Internet Beauty Pageant. Aspiring beauty contest winners (and we know there are probably millions of them out there, alas) can send in a couple of photos and/or video of themselves, and the winner gets chosen by the Internet! Or rather, gets chosen by whoever decides to go and vote for someone at the website, and you can apparently vote for as many contestants as you want, twice a day, and as many times as you like.

So, all you aspiring Miss Internet 2008 winners -- all you have to do is convince enough of your friends, or even complete strangers, to come and click on your photo. Or, you could always take a quick course in Java or C++, and write a script that would effectively accomplish the same thing! The choice is up to you. And apparently you don't have to answer any skill-testing questions, like the one that threw Miss Teen South Carolina off so badly awhile ago. You stand to win "up to" $25,000 in cash and prizes.

It's no secret that the idea of an Internet-voting contest is fraught with problems. As evidence, I submit the story of Time magazine's Person of the Century contest, which came within a hair of being won by Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey (thanks to a blockbuster campaign by Turkish supporters) as well as the People magazine contest in 1998 to find the most beautiful people in the world, which was won by one of Howard Stern's sidekicks, a little person who called himself Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf.

It seems likely, however, that John and Scott Ferber know exactly what they're doing: the two brothers were behind the rise of Advertising.com in the 1990s, which was eventually sold to America Online in 2004 for $434-million in cash. The brothers stayed at AOL for a time, but then took what the company described as some "much needed time off" and developed a site called Guess Now, which lets you guess the outcome of future events and then pays you cash if you guess correctly.

When you go to the Miss Internet Pageant site, it redirects you to Guess Now's servers, and to become a contestant you have to open a Guess Now account. Coincidence? I think not. Interestingly enough, the Miss Internet Pageant says if you can't upload photos of yourself, you can email them to this address: steve@vandelayindustries.com. Van Delay Industries is the name of the fictitious latex company that George Costanza worked for on Seinfeld.

Source: The Globe and Mail