Image courtesy of romantiqueandrebel.com

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen may have retired from the runway but she is still a big fashion presence. Bunchen’s new tabletop art book, Gisele, will cover her 20 years in the fashion industry.

The 500-page book is published by Berlin-based publisher, Taschen, and will feature over 300 photographs of the model ranging from professional campaigns to intimate shots. Gisele, art directed and edited by Giovanni Bianco and co-authored by photographer Steven Meisel, will have proceeds from the sale of the book donated to charity.

At $33 million dollars, Gisele Bunchen was the highest paid model in 2014.  In 2013, it was reported that Bunchen earned over $120,000 a day.

Image courtesy of fashionisers.com

Arab Fashion Week Debuts

The inaugural season of Arab Fashion Week will take place from October 30–November 2 in Dubai. Organized by the Arab Fashion Council, the Dubai-based association representing 22 Arab countries from Morocco to Lebanon, Arab Fashion Week will feature mostly Arab designers, with a smattering of some invited international guests.

“I’m happy to be engaged in this project aimed at creating jobs in the northern part of Africa: by setting up a textile, apparel and fashion industry,” explained Mario Boselli, honorary president of the Arab Fashion Council in a fashionmag.com article. “We can try to prevent people, the wars notwithstanding, from being forced to emigrate to seek work.”

“The pan-European and Mediterranean area can play a significant role in the globalized world to keep the various macro-systems balanced. These days, competition isn’t between individual countries,” Boselli said, “but among macro-areas: having a pan-European and Mediterranean area where goods can be manufactured cheaply and then sold on markets such as the Arab Emirates, means creating a bi-lateral economic system, with suppliers and customers, beneficial both for Italy and southern Europe.”

Arab Fashion Week will differ from the already existing Dubai fashion week in that it will feature mostly Arab designers. Communications giant, Capital Group, organizes Dubai Fashion Week.

Image courtesy of fashionmag.com/Mario Sorrenti

Threes the charm

Megabrand store H&M has chosen a triumvirate of top models to front their new campaign in collaboration with Balmain. Jourdan Dunn, Gigi Hadad, and Kendall Jenner will headline the print and billboard worldwide campaign flanked by male models Yun Xiang and Dudley O’Shaughnessy.

The H&M x Balmain collection includes women’s and men’s styles, as well as accessories will be available in H&M stores on November 3. Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing designed the H&M x Balmain collaboration.

Milan now boasts Chiara Boni La Petite Robe

Italian couture and ready-to-wear brand, Chiara Boni La Petite Robe has opened a flagship store in Milan. The store opened on September 24 and is located at 8 via San Andrea during Milan Fashion Week.

“The opening of our first flagship store during the year of the Expo marks a very important moment for us and for our brand, and it represents an important step for our expansion,” says CEO Maurizio Germanetti. “We chose Milan’s plaza not only because of its worldwide fashion recognition but also to highlight our Italian identity. Chiara Boni La Petite Robe is a Made in Italy brand, of which we are highly proud and we could not have chosen any other location as our first international flagship.”

The boutique houses the brand’s ready-to-wear and couture lines, currently with the fall/winter 2015 collections. This collection will be the starting point for those who love Chiara Boni’s style, one inspired by a timeless femininity and adapted to the needs of the modern woman.

—William S. Gooch