On Wednesday, April 28 Neiman Marcus Coral Gables hosted an event for designer Zuhair Murad. Over 70 ladies joined in the fashion celebration, as special guest Zuhair Murad presented his Fall 2010 Collection of stunning cocktail dresses and evening gowns.

Laure Heriard Dubreuil, Barbara Becker, and Frederic Dechnik

The Webster boutique’s first runway show featuring men and women’s spring and summer 2010 collections took place Thursday night at the posh store. Overall, the show was a good first effort, (the fabulous boutique has been open less than a year), presenting dozens of stunning pieces, despite a few mishaps with the show notes. According to a local fashion editor, “the Webster is an excellent purveyor of the best that fashion has to offer. The styling was done in-house, which sends a clear message regarding the owners’ aesthetic: so it’s an interesting approach to presenting the season’s looks while infusing the Webster’s personality.”

Well-heeled guests joining Webster co-owners Frederic Dechnik and Laure Heriard Dubreuil for the fashion celebration included: Zaha Hadid, Pharrell Williams, Barbara Becker, Tracy Mourning, Iran Issa-Khan, Susie and Walid Wahab, Criselda and Jonathan Breene, Richard Martin, Suzy Buckley, Jilian Sanz, Princess Firyal of Jordan, Sam Robin, Gingi Beltran, Leonardo Davalos, Pedro Maal, Glenn Albin, Susanne Birbragher, Terry Zucker, Naeem and Ranjana Khan, Louis Aguirre, Belkys Nerey, Luis Pons, Loren and JR Ridinger, Richie Rich, Cathy Leff, Christina Getty-Maercks, Michael Comras, Tara Solomon, Nick D’Annunzio, Rene Gonzalez, Nicola Siervo, and Lana Bernstein.

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In a tent to rival those formerly in Bryant Park, Fashion Miami, presented by Chrysler, kicked off its inaugural season with over 30 designers who showcased their fall/winter 2010 collections throughout four nights of runway shows.  With an average of over 1000 guests per show (multiply that by 30 shows!) this was a fashion aficionado’s dream come true.   Celebrities such as Whitney Port (who showed her new line Whitney Eve, during Gen Art’s opening night), Jon Secada (singer), Romero Britto (artist), Ana Cristina (singer), Burn Notice’s Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar, Roxy Olin (MTV STAR-The City), soap star, Khotan with girlfriend Candela Ferro, Alejandro Sanz and Rony Seikaly attended Fashion Miami, some sitting front row at multiple shows.  These VIPs just added to the list of celebrity designers who were all present throughout Fashion Miami, including Custo Barcelona, Craig Signer, Red Carter, Silvia Tcherassi, Julian Chang, and Gustavo Cadile to name a few.   On opening Night MTV filmed an upcoming episode of “The City” and closing night was filmed by the Bravo Channel.   For those of us who missed NY and Paris Fashion Weeks, we were lucky to get a little taste of the excitement thanks to Fashion Miami. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier in the week, a chic crowd of over 700 gathered for the official opening of the Webster rooftop, the majority of which wasn’t even aware that there had been a football game played in Miami a few days before.  Guests clamored into the stairwell to access the minuscule, (1,100 square foot, do the math- it was a tight squeeze) chili rooftop of the boutique. Upstairs, patient attendees enjoyed Grey Goose cocktails, small bites from Kaspia, and music by DJ Jeffrey Tonneson.  The VIP list, included Barbara Becker, Sam Robin, Jonathan and Criselda Breene, Merle Weiss, Iran Issa Khan, Susie and Walid Wahab, Markus Ketty, Tui Pranich, Jeffrey Koffman, Glenn Albin, Juan Carlos Arcille-Duque, Ambra Medda, Jamie Jo Harris, Jillian Jacobson-Altit, Susan Birbragher, James and Samantha Wall, Lolo Sudarsky, and Webster owners:  Laure Hériard Dubreuil, and Frederic Dechnik.  The Webster rooftop is open 6 days a week, Tuesday through Sunday, serving lunch and dinner from Kaspia and full bar service. Bottle service is also available.

Armani minus the Sticker Shock

Armani Exchange, which for 17 years has brought “Affordable Armani” (not an oxymoron) to South Beach, celebrated its facelift and expansion last week with a bit of fanfare. If you’ll recall, 17 years ago most of Lincoln Road was condemned by the city and Ocean Drive was a retirement community. Yet Armani Exchange set up shop to bring hip and stylish clothes to the pioneers of the SoBe we’ve come to know and love (most of the time). President & CEO Harlan Bratcher told the 411 “AIX was the first designer flagship store on South Beach, and Giorgio Armani was the first designer to offer a ‘diffusion line’ (that’s a fancy way to say cheap, chic designer duds). The average price for a designer piece is just $50, but it’s not a ‘one-time-wear.’ Affordable Armani is still Armani.” Other designers following in Armani’s footsteps by creating diffusion lines include Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta and Marc Jacobs.

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If the shows at the Tents and Paris, the fashion world’s fabulous versions of Mardi gras and Carnaval combined, have left you fashionably jetlagged (even if only in your mind), you’ll be glad to know that we’re heating up the runways right in our own backyard. To boot, at least a few of these fashion fetes and shows are designed to benefit great causes not just to wear out the strip of that Black Card. Here’s to a stimulus plan that actually works, and is oh, so much fun!

One such fashion celebration was last week’s opening of the Carolina Herrera boutique in Bal Harbour followed by her runway presentation the next day. Making a pit stop in Miami in between her shows in New York and Paris, Herrera showcased her spring 2010 collection last Thursday, October 1^st, in support of the Guardian Angels, a branch of Jackson Memorial Foundation, which hosted its 11^th Annual Guardians of the Children luncheon at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Miami. Herrera, who exudes a regal elegance which is personified by her designs and boutiques around the world, was on-hand to present a full runway fashion show, which was inspired by the intricate forms of woven Japanese baskets. The texture of the fabrics, the prints and the interlacing in the accessories are taken from patterns found in details of these baskets. Following the spectacular fashion show, the designer made a personal visit to Holtz Children’s Hospital where she met with all of the children, reviewing the sketches of budding designers and fans, as well as autographing teddy bears for the children to enjoy.

“It was wonderful to be able to show the spring collection to the Jackson Memorial Foundation’s Guardian Angels to benefit the Holtz Children’s Hospital. Children’s charities are so important to me. After the show I was taken for a tour of Holtz Children’s Hospital and the amazing medical facilities and I had the opportunity to meet the very impressive doctors and patients they help –the children were incredible. The whole experience was something really special to me.” Read the rest of this entry »