FASHION STATEMENTS STEPPIN’ OUT Fluevog style... Rising star shoe- maker John Fluevog opened his store recently in New York City’s Soho. Though special invited guest Lady Miss Kiet of Deeelite did not attend the opening par- ty, the eclectic shop was packed with loyal followers who topped their Fluevogs with everything from white plastic bubbles to green Astro Turf. Fluevog carefully chose the date of Friday the 13th for the event, explaining to his guests that it is “ta day of power and a day of love’’ because the entire opening day’s sales were donated to New York’s homeless. Fluevog said he was passing on some of his luck and donated $5,000 to Soho’s Bowery Mission at the reception. Fluevog admits the original reason for his decision to open in New York stemmed from the re- quests of two employees. He says, ‘They both wanted to move to New York and | didn’t want to lose them, so ! decided to open a store here and transfer them. ’ Designer guests battled for the clothing spotlight. Top contenders were New York clothing designers Kanae and Onyx. Kanae wore a bright orange faux fur jacket, pants and hat. Onyx, a male partner in the firm, was in a white plastic bubble jacket with matching diaper and white mesh body stocking beneath. As he pointed to his white pat- ent platform shoes he explained, “John Fluevog is my hero. He was the only one who had shoes which exactly matched this out- fit.” . Furniture designer Sandra Sing dressed to thrill in a bright green fake fur coat over skin-tight black feather and black fishnet. Sing, who is originally from Edmonton, owns an advant garde furniture shop and art gallery called Studio Ze in New York’s East Village. Also in attendance was Lauren Mecxersky, a writer for New York’s trendy underground publication called Paper Maga- zine, and host of a Manhattan television show called Behind the Velvet Robe along with Rachel Pugliese, 2 journalist for Women's Wear Daily and Footwear News, and Stan Putko, a respected New York artist, who is currently showing his ar- chetypical figure paintings at an upscale Soho gallery. 3e was Fluevog’s wife Ingrid Fluevog, however, who stole the show with her grass-like Astro Turf jacket which had plastic daisies planted on it. Though she locked bright and fresh, she con- fided she'd spent the entire night- before on scaffolding painting the store's ceiling. FASHION FILE Openings, shows, and what XR) YOO? WARY XX) AKrX) AY NEW YORK’S famous and fashionable turned out in high style for a recent Soho store opening. Unique fashion creations included a grass-like Astro Turf Jacket with piastic daisies planted on it. The store created a perfect sct- ting for the spectacle, complete with Corinthian columns, and painted murals depicting Renaissance-style angels with shoes. ° History-making fashion con- ference held in Montreal... The Canadian Apparei Federation's Inaugural Conference was held in Montreal from May 10 to {3. This series of lectures, exhibits, trade shows and meetings was organized to decide the future of Canada’s fashion designers. A new Canadian Apparel Fed- eration, (CAF) which links all of the provinces and ail aspects of the industry, has been formed through this conference. The fashion design communities of Canada have traditionally been separate, without any solid com- munication or organization be- tween them. However, over the past two years, Industry, Science and Technology Canada has been working to change the isolation through the introduction of CAF. The Canadian Appareil Federa- tion will act as the voice of the entire fashion industry to the public and promote Canadian merchandise. It will enable the apparel industry to communicate between all firms and organiza- tions on current issues. !¢ will provide information to fashion industry members and establish better links between the manufac- turers and the retailers. Several members of the Van- couver fashion community attend- ed the conference which featured prestigious guest speakers in- cluding Tony Lamantia, vice- . president of Eaton’s merchandis- ing, Irwin Kahn, professor at New York’s Fashion Institute of Tech- nology, Margaret Schuett, fashion director of Sears Canada, Peter Nygard, Nygard International chairman, Ted Jehnson, CEO of Adagio, and Canadian designers Brian Bailey and Hilary Radley. Versus Gianni Versace Boutique «.» The new Versus Gianni Versace Boutique at 1008 West Georgia St. offers a good selection of Italian designer men’s and women’s clothing including the Versace Versus line, which is a more af- fordably priced collection than Versace’s top line. The store also carries Versace Jeans Couture Cocktail & Grad Dresses G% OFF South °s new separates. A full range of the designer’s accessories including belts, shocs and fragrances are available. Kevin Wea, Versus general manager and partner in the company which owns the store, states that the Versus line is exclusive to the firm in North America. Wu, who moved from Toronto to open the store, explains, ‘‘After our research, we chose Vancouver ‘as the place to open the store. Toronto does not have the . tourism market, and also the gov- ernment in Ontario does not allow Sunday shopping. Vancouver is the gateway for tourists from the Orient and the U.S.”° We're buying quality, noi quartity ime to Lynn Rockwell ... Lyan Rockwell, owner of Phoenix in Park Royal, recently lectured at a Designers and Fashion Associa- tion general meeting at Le Meri- dien Hotel. Rockwell, who has been in the fashion business for 23 years, gave an insightful look into the retail industry. Rockwell says, ‘“‘Women are tired of the gloom and doom of the recession, and they want te be enticed by something special. I overstock the store for jots of selection. “I display bouquets of fresh flowers and have coffee brewing and try to get them out of their negative mood and into having fan with clothes again.”* What is selling in fashion stores? She says, “‘Everything that you wouldn’t expect to sell is moving right now. Non-sensible items, those pieces that women get emo- tionally tied to, which they fall in love with no matter what the price, are selling well in the store.”” Hats and other fun extras are selling well for the first time in several seasons, and Rockwell States that they are now consid- cred major items in a store’s total sales. Men’s wear knot covers to be launched in Westesn Canada ... Thanks to Sylvester Stallone, Arsenio Hall and Dean Steckwell, -a new accessory called knot covers is the latest men’s hal . Knot covers, which are now sported by television stars on sev- eral of the U.S.’s scap operas and talk shows, surround the knot of the tie to provide a finishing touch to menswear. They are available in four styles and designed in silver plated nickel. . This patented design, which is owned by Hennessey Jewellers located on Rodeo Drive in L.A., has had overwhelming response at Nordstrom’s locations where it is distributed in the U.S. A new Canadian company call- ed Specialized Trading Company (STC) has bees established in Vancouver to represent the acces- sory, which is retailing for $29.99. To see the unique tie accessory, contact Paul Thompson at STC, 355 Richmond St. New Westminister, 526-0676. 986-2271 119 East let St. :