Dorian Ho may not be a big name here in the states but in Hong Kong and China he is a fashion god. His family has been in the knitwear production business for some time, which of course explains is wonderfully made sweaters (etc), but he is also known for having worked with the Australian Label “Country Road”. Dorian established his own label in 1993 and has been the lead of his own product design and development since. His label Doriano International LTD is intended to be a ladies fashion label (which is huge among the gals in Hong Kong & China, as mentioned before), and his other label DSC is directed at ‘Smart Contemporary Co-Ordinates Fashion for the Modern Day Office Lady’. Doriano was established in 1993 when he first took his own label and DSC soon followed and is still growing rapidly with boutiques popping up everywhere. In 1996 & in 1997 Dorian Ho won the BEST KNITWEAR AWARD during Hong Kong’s Fashion Week and it is very apparent why. Check him out. Clean lines, soft hues, ingenious embellishments, graceful curves, sex appeal, addictive design, and keen style. Dorian Ho! He’s Your Man!

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On April 24th Tom Ford will be leaving the Gucci empire which he so gratefully over the last 14 years has been apart of. The news broke last November that Ford would be leaving Gucci, but he has yet to give any real reason why. There are rumors that he may pursue movies, so I would like to say that we can expect to see Tom Ford on the big screen, but we will just have to wait and see.

On October 1, 1990 Ford arrived at Gucci, fresh out of Perry Ellis, he was 29 years of age and full of many bright ideas. Gucci was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time. After five years of working in the background and attempting multiple design ideas that left Gucci questioning, Ford finally made wave on the Gucci runway making many a believer in the Tom Ford way. Kate Moss and Shalow Harlow (just to name a few) and their well-known, Ford created, Gucci inspired, grunge waif look took hold and ‘turned a corner’ for fashion. Ford took another very bold, very new approach. He took his first steps on the runway and introduced himself as the man behind the masterpiece. So to speak.

The ‘G’ metal belt buckle which we all know so well, became product of his creation sometime after committing himself to the Gucci label. Which he willingly committed himself too, but all for a price, I might add. In 1998 Ford very seriously pondered leaving the Gucci name. All the money and success that he achieved in the previous years just weren’t satisfying enough. He admits to being “miserable and unhappy . . . it is very hard becoming a celebrity and becoming rich” and admits to 3 or 4 months of tears while bearing the weight of the ever expanding Gucci label. Luckily, and practically over night, things cleared up for Ford and he, in no time, was back on the top again.

Tom Ford . . . one of the wealthiest fashion designers of his generation, a designer with no design training, a hard working man with belief and dedication to a company he stood behind for 14 years, a man who offered all his skills and the absolute best he had, his passion, personality, taste, talents, his put-together, sophisticated, and killer stylish attitude . . . worth appreciating, never underestimating, filing in your ‘Top 100′, and definitely worth following in his future endevours.

Check out these images from the (last ever) Tom Ford Gucci Fall 2004 collection.

She has appeared in advertising campaigns for Alberta Ferretti, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Chole, Dolce & Gabbana, Anee Klein, Bloomingdale’s, Barney’s, Gianni Versace, Perry Ellis, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint laurent, Christian Dior, Jill Sander Valentino and Jones New York. She and her ‘trio’ Christy Turlington & Naomi Campbell dominated the supermodel industry in the 1990’s. She has appeared on nearly every fashion magazine cover on an international scale. . . (She is one of my favorites – very pretty, and professional, with good business ethics . . . that always interests me) . . . Linda Evangelista.

Linda was born on May 10th 1965, in Ontario, Canada. To bad really (you know with my misfortune on the Canadian borders one might think I despise all that is Canadian) but the fact that she was also born into a Italian Catholic family really allows me to overlook the whole Canadian thing. (hee hee)

She is quite the woman, using her fame to help in good causes (something I also always admire in fame). Getting on the band wagon for raising awareness for breast cancer research for one. In 1996 she won the VH1’s Fashion Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award (thanks to all her very very hard work and dedication to her work in the industry). She even plays the accordion! Wows! to her.

It is true she is very dedicated to her work. She has lead the trends in the supermodel pool for many years, paving the way for new trends such as her sudden, drastic short hairdo (she drastically changed her hair after years and years of long locks only to shock many with her new short sexy bob . . . a bob that became very popular and led many other supermodels to also go under the scissors). Yes . . . believe it or not.

Linda Evangelista’s 1980’s quote which she is known by . . .”I don’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 A day.”

Since the age of 14 Danielle Marie has had her hands in fashion. An avid Vogue reader and a matching the proper accessory guru, she has coached many big names in the world of looking fabulous. Her passion for fashion illustration has lead her to produce a wide variety of articles, such as (and of course not excluding the basics) evening gowns, party dresses, ladies suits, night wear, swim wear, accessorizing items such as, jewelry, hand bags, hats, and even some foot wear. It is obvious that her interests cover a wide range of areas. I believe her ‘know-how’ of fashion design is prevalent through her sketches. Although her sketches don’t coincide with most fashion illustration she still portrays a sense of passion and knowledge, and definitely has a style all her own. I would recommend keeping your eyes open as I am sure to show many more of her sketches and designs over time. Until then . . .

The Jimmy Choo ready-to-wear company was founded in May of 1996 by Tamara Mellon (the company’s president). It is one of the most successful high-end shoe & handbag companies in the UK. Not too mention it is the fastest-growing one. The company specializes in the ‘retailing of elegant fashion-forward accessories of highest quality’. Jimmy Choo merchandise is sold only in ‘high-end’ retail stores (Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman) around the globe and there are now 13 boutiques, designed as high-end couture salons (London, New York, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas). Tamara Mellon & Sandra Choi do all design for Jimmy Choo. The two together cooperativly implement everything from product design to opening of boutiques, even the advertising compaign. The two make a great team that’s for sure . . . sure wish I had a couple thousand dollars & I would start a Jimmy Choo collection in my own closet.

Erwin Blumenfeld was born in Berlin in 1897. Among his great accomplishments are his first photographs taken at age 11, his 1st ever photo exhibition which took place in Paris during 1936, his having been subject to life in a French concentration camp, his surviving ‘camp’ life and immigration to the US in 1941, and of course his many years and wonderful work for Life Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue.

Erwin’s first photography may have been at age 11, but his career as a commercial fashion photographer started at age 41, before that, during WW2 he was an ambulance driver. He surely is known to have become one of the greatest and most influential photographers of his time. And it is said that Erwin’s work not only appeared on nearly every magazine cover in the 1940’s & 50’s but he is still considered ‘one of the most influential & copied photographers of the 20th century’.

It was after Erwin’s arrival to the US in 1941 when his career really took flight and Erwin became the highest paid freelance photographer in New York City. He greatly enjoyed many areas of photography, but his far most favorite area was the photography of women which he was very successful in. “How seriously I take beauty! All my portraits reflect my vision. . .”

Erwin used techniques such as multiple exposure & solarization in the darkroom to create his soon to be a widely adopted and what some said to be a revolutionary style. He said of his images ” . . . my aim was to shake loose the unreal from the real . . . every magazine page is seen by millions . . . we are responsible for the tastes of tomorrow . . . every page has to have it’s own face, it’s own spirit, to catch millions of eyes . . .”

Sadly Erwin died while in Rome in 1969 after 61 years of photography.