YEAR IN REVIEW 2000: FASHION-AND-DRESS

Fashions Business dealsmore than a definitive look or an inspirational role modeldefined fashion news in 1999. Prada, the $800 million fashion company run by Miuccia Prada, acquired two of the leading international designer labelsHelmut Lang and Jil Sander. Prada also launched a joint venture with Italian eyewear maker De Rigo and acquired an 8.5% stake in the British footwear company Church & Co. Meanwhile, Gucci, fronted by CEO Domenico De Sole and Gucci designer Tom Ford (see Biographies), avoided a hostile takeover bid from Bernard Arnault, president of French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Instead, De Sole and Ford forged a deal that made Gucci a part of Pinault-Printemps Redoute, a new luxury goods group that owned French department stores and the Yves Saint Laurent fashion and fragrance empire and was controlled by French billionaire Franois Pinault. The move increased speculation that Ford would soon replace Alber Elbazwho received lukewarm reviews for his autumn-winter 1999 collection, which concentrated on modernizing Yves Saint Laurent classic piecesas the designer of Saint Laurent's ready-to-wear line, Rive Gauche. LVHM and Prada teamed up, however, to purchase for $1 billion a majority stake in Fendi, which specialized in handbags. LVHM also acquired Tag Heuer, Bliss, and Hard Candy. As fashion houses became conglomerates, designer labels became megabrands. Designers were bigger celebrities than ever before, and their shares as well as their shirts could be bought. Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Bulgari, and Este Lauder all made public offerings of their stock. To increase global brand awareness, leading fashion designers expanded their role beyond that of producing clothes and accessories to that of creating a fashionable lifestyle. Ralph Lauren, since the 1980s already a leader in designing furniture, opened a restaurant in Chicago. Other designers, such as Bill Blass, Nicole Farhi, Tom Ford, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Consuelo Castiglione of Marni, and Tommy Hilfiger, also began designing what the press termed homewear. Leading designers staged shows with budgets that rivaled the cost of producing independent films. Alexander McQueen's hour-long spring-summer 2000 show, which debuted in September 1999 in New York, was backed with a $1 million budget (about 10 times the usual amount) provided by American Express. Several outspoken critics wondered if the lavish production level of seasonal shows had begun to get in the way of the original task at hand. In an article titled Versailles Hosts Dior Delirium by Suzy Menkes, the author described John Galliano's winter 1999 couture show, which was staged at Louis XIV's chateau in Versailles, France, and took inspiration from the science-fiction film The Matrix, as a Gothic fright make-up, clothes apparently made from discarded battle dress and headgear composed of dead birds and animals. More popular was the feminine style of functional luxury produced by Michael Kors, who designed the costumes for actress Rene Russo in John McTierman's remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Kors also produced his own New York-based collection and seasonal lines for the Paris-based label Cline. Galliano's end-of-the-millennium excess affected several sectors of the fashion industry. In January Brett Easton Ellis's novel Glamorama, which attempted to portray the decadent lifestyle led by fashion-industry professionals, was published to mixed reviews. In March model Kate Moss revealed to The Face, a London magazine, that in 10 years of modeling she had never walked down a catwalk sober. In November 1998 Moss had admitted herself to a rehabilitation clinic and was reportedly sober a month later. She lost her lucrative Calvin Klein modeling contract, however, as the designer appointed a new face to front his fashion houseBritish model Lisa Ratliffe, whose lithe look failed to generate the same interest that Moss's fragile features provoked in the early 1990s. The star model of 1999 was the curvaceous 18-year-old Brazilian model Gisele Bndchenwho made headlines in September when she left Elite to join Mark McCormack's IMG agency. Rumoured to be earning more than $5 million annually, Bndchen appeared on several magazine covers, including British Vogue, W, and Veja, and was showcased in the most prestigious fashion advertising campaigns, including those of Ralph Lauren, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and Cline. The clothes seen at the international seasonal ready-to-wear collections summed up the prevailing spirit of sartorial excess. Sumptuous clothes appeared for spring, including the colourful dance frocks by Tuleh, a New York label founded by former stylist Josh Patner and Bryan Bradley, a freelance designer. Gucci made spring-summer skirts, dresses, tops, and bags from six-screen exotic floral print fabric. These popular items sold out of Gucci shops worldwide and inspired numerous copies. For autumn-winter McQueen designed huge sculptural wool sweaters that swamped the models wearing them. Hot colours such as lipstick pink, bright orange, turquoise, and red proved popular options for women's wear in summer and winter. The long sugar-pink Lauren dress worn by actress Gwyneth Paltrow to the Academy Awards, however, was overshadowed by the appeal of Cate Blanchett's floor-length black-beaded Galliano dress. Both were later copied by dress manufacturer ABS and sold at American department stores for about $300. Beaded accessoriessuch as wristbands, lariats, feather and beaded jewelry made by London's Ericson Beamon as well as by Jade Jaggerwere worn by women during both daytime and evening. Sonia Rykiel presented flat rhinestone shoes at her spring-summer collection. These prompted manufacturers to produce similar though less-expensive beaded and embroidered slippers that became a popular summer street fashion among young women in major fashion capitals. The most prominently photographed clothes for autumn were by Italian design duo Dolce & Gabbana. Their rhinestone jewel-encrusted hip belts and Louis XIV-like collarless coats provoked numerous copies. Nineteenth-centuryinspired corsetsmade by Mr. Pearl, the London-based South African corsetierbecame cult high-fashion items. Designers Christian Lacroix, Thierry Mugler, and Galliano all commissioned Pearl to make corsets for their collections. Pashmina shawls and cashmere sweaters were both increasingly worn by working women, despite their high prices. Women in New York who wore the expensive ($5,000$10,000) shahtoosh shawlslightweight yet superwarm garments made from the wool of the chiru, an endangered Tibetan antelopereceived subpoenas to testify before a grand jury to disclose how they acquired them. (See Environment: Wildlife Conservation.) Although animal rights activists continued to protest against the use of fur by fashion designers, animal skins such as pony skin and fur were used more prominently than ever before in both women's and men's autumn-winter '99 ready-to-wear collections. The price tags for denim designer jeans climbed to stratospheric proportions. Gucci's 1999 spring-summer collection included a pair of ripped, feathered, and beaded denims costing about $3,170. For autumn-winter, high-priced denims were launched by leading designers Stella McCartney for Chloe ($581), Louis Vuitton ($772), Kors ($623), Hussein Chalayan ($299), and Valentino ($1,411). Ironically, although denim's popularity was at an all-time high, including a craze for designer denim jackets that was sparked by Madonna's appearance in one for her video Ray of Light, sales for mainstream brands like Levi Strauss plummeted. As the result of an 11% decrease in European sales, Levi's was forced to lay off 5,900 workers. In only a year the company had lost sales of about $1,660,000,000. Cult labels worn by young people included Mudd, JNCO, and Evisu, a jeans line launched in the 1980s by a Japanese businessman who had bought the looms that made denim for Levi Strauss. Also providing competition was the market for combat trousersmade chic by the London label Maharishias well as chinos, khaki trousers made popular by the thriving casual fashion retail empires the Gap and Club Monaco. The latter was acquired from its Toronto-based president, Joseph Mimran, by Polo Ralph Lauren for $81.5 million. The increasing demand for functional clothing continued to demonstrate its relevance. Nike reported global sales of $8.8 billion and in July opened its biggest store in the world on London's Oxford Street. While in Paris, U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton shopped at JP Tod's, a store that featured comfortable moccasin loafers and large functional naturally coloured leather handbags. Forecasters predicted stratospheric sales for e-commerce (on-line shopping) ventures. It was reported that by 2003 the British on-line fashion retail market would be worth $66.4 billion. In the U.S., 95% of clothing retailers operated World Wide Web sitesa 55% increase from 1998. The most high-profile e-commerce launch was boo.com, which became one of the first user-friendly fashion Web sites, offering free membership, delivery, an exchange policy, and Boom, a fashion feature magazine. Other sectors of the fashion media experienced change as well. Cond Nast launched the Tokyo-based Japanese Vogue, and Katherine Betts, American Vogue's former fashion news editor, was appointed editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar. Bronwyn Cosgrave