TREND I-SPY

                    --> Florence Welch, the flame-haired lovely who fronts Florence and the Machine is having her moment.  As reported by The Daily Telegraph Florence and the Machine's second album Ceremonials stormed to the top of the U.K charts with sales of over 90,000 in its first week knocking Coldplay's latest LP 'Mylo Xyloto' down to Number 2, according to the Official Charts Company.  Florence simply tweeted: "Aaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!" Welch and co previously hit the top spot in January 2010 when their debut LP Lungs climbed to the summit having entered at Number 2 on its release in July 2009. Now, Chanel creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, has captured the Florence and the Machine singer for the limited-edition vinyl cover of the band's new single, Shake it Out. 

In a recent Forbes.com article, journalist   Blue Carreon conjectures that the 2011 advertising campaign of luxury retailer Lane Crawford proves that Chinese models are finally coming into their own. "The campaign features a stunning all-Chinese cast wearing the latest threads from New York, Milan, London and Paris. Headlining the lineup is Estee Lauder’s first-ever Asian model Liu Wen. She is joined by her compatriots FeiFei Sun, Ming Xi, Shu Pei and Xiao Wen Ju . This is a great follow-up to the Givenchy Spring/Summer 2011 haute couture show that only had Asian models."  Several of the Chinese models in Lane Crawford’s Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott-photographed campaign, also star in Vogue China’s September issue. They are joined by pioneering Chinese supermodel Du Juan and relative newcomer Sui He, all of them in different jewel tone Gucci frocks. This is Vogue China’s sixth anniversary issue. Its debut cover featured then girl-of-the-moment Gemma Ward flan...

“ I have always loved the mechanics of nature and to a greater or lesser extent my work is always informed by that.” —Alexander McQueen  Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty , at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has now closed. With a total of 661,509 visitors, it's the most visited fashion exhibition in the museum’s history. McQueen’s runway shows were well known for their sense of Victorian theatrical drama with sets that included birdcages, butterflies, feathered wings and antlers. The exhibition, under the direction of curator, Andrew Bolton, successfully captured this spirit of Gothic splendor with its combination of horror and romance. Nature was the greatest, or at least the most enduring, influence upon McQueen. It was also a central theme, if not the central theme of nineteenth century Romanticism.  Many artists of the Romantic Movement presented nature itself as a work of art. McQueen both share...

  "After much consideration and with the blessing of Amy's family, we have decided to release the AW11 Amy Winehouse for Fred Perry Collection. Amy was passionate and dedicated to the collaboration and her signature style is clearly stamped across each piece.  In such circumstances the usual royalties and fees from the collection will be donated to the soon-to-be-established Amy Winehouse Foundation." 

  There's a chance you might not even know who she is but Zara Philips is technically a British princess is in fact 13th in line to the throne. Grand-daughter of The Queen, first cousin of William and Harry, she's spirited, athletic and very attractive. On July 30th in Scotland, she married another sporty-type, the former English rugby captain, Mike Tindall. Arriving on the arm of her father, Captain Mark Phillips, Zara wore a cap-sleeved, ivory silk gown designed by one of her grandmother's favorite couturiers, Stewart Parvin . The chevron-pleated bodice ended in dramatic inverted pleats on a dropped waist, designed to create a bell-shaped silhouette, while the concealed constructed corset had delicate fabric-covered buttons decorating the center back of the gown, running from the neckline to the hem. The groom wore a morning suit from Saville Row tailor, Cad and the Dandy  The ...

Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian   has pointed out that The Duchess of Cambridge has made some diplomatic fashion choices during her trip to Canada with husband Prince William. For example, the Princess has twice worn dresses designed by ErdemMoralioglu , a Canadian-born London designer, definitely an appropriate choice. I'd even go a step further and say that the Kate's wardrobe is wrought with symbolism. On Canada Day, she wore her cream Reiss "Nannette" dress, the same one she wore in her formal engagement portraits taken by Mario Testino. Her red maple-leaf fascinator was reminiscent of a hat worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, when she and Prince Charles toured Canada in 1983. A final touch was the Queen's Maple Leaf brooch which is on loan to the Duchess. The Queen, as Princess Elizabeth, wore the brooch on her first visit to Canada in 1951. Katherine wore the pin to decorate a stunning purple Issa dress. We'll never know how William...