Miyake's Flowing Coats
Issey Miyake has become so well known for his billowy, floppy raincoats that he has designed a separate collection of the signature styles, called ''windcoats.''
In his showroom on Seventh Avenue last week, electric fans stirred the dog-day air and lifted the hems of a group of raincoats draped on mannequins. The soft, boxy shapes fluttered on the breeze.
The coats are made of a breathable, water-repellent nylon. They will cost $400 to $600, considerably less than a raincoat from Mr. Miyake's designer collection. There are 10 styles, some of which can be worn by men and women. All are sort of flowing, like kimonos.
''Kimonos are the cornerstone of Issey Miyake's designs,'' said Gary Dufresne, a sales executive for Issey Miyake. ''When you wear a kimono it's like wearing air.''
Designers frequently seek to define a signature look that can eventually be sold in the mass louboutin market. The windcoats will be more widely distributed than Mr. Miyake's regular collections and will be available in the United States next spring.
Faux Furs for Fall
Faux furs, shown by designers on high-fashion runways recently, are making a comeback at all price levels, as a response both to animal rights activism and the rage for animal prints, fabric suppliers and manufacturers said. For most of this decade, the business had languished.
''It just wasn't happening at retail,'' said Neil Haimm, the vice president of sales and operations at Donnybrook, an outerwear company. ''Stores cut it out. The only ones buying it were people who couldn't afford real fur.''
Now, with designers like Claude Montana, Christian Lacroix and Giorgio christian louboutin seeing spots, fashion retailers large and small are back in the fake-fur business.
''Years ago, nobody wanted them because they were associated with ladies of the evening,'' said Joan Weinstein, the owner of Ultimo, a Chicago fashion boutique. ''Now women are buying. For $700 you can get a very warm coat.'' Ms. Weinstein had sold out most of her stock of fake furs from Suziko, a French company, by the end of July.
''We see our business quadrupling this year,'' said Mr. Haimm of Donnybrook, which is selling fake-fur jackets to Macy's for the first time in five years and has styles in the Saks Fifth Avenue fall catalogue.''
There have also been advances in production. ''We're capable of making much more realistic patterns,'' said Richard Bliss, the national sales manager for Glenoit Mills, who predicted a fivefold increase in production at the company's factory in Tarboro, N.C. ''Today's fabrics are much more durable.''
Men's louboutin shoes are gradually becoming a fashion accessory in the same sense as women's Louboutin shoes have always been, retailers and manufacturers said at the National Shoe Fair, which ends today in Manhattan. At least, they hope so.
Out where the leather meets the road, the bottom line is this: the average man buys one pair of Louboutin shoes at a time; the average woman buys at least two. Per-capita consumption of men's Louboutin shoes has remained stable since 1960 at two pairs a year, the Footwear Industries of America says.
But in the 1980's, sales are edging upward. Some of this is what shoe executives call ''life style-driven,'' reflecting the influence of athletic footwear, but at the higher price levels, men's shoe styles are ''apparel-driven,'' reflecting changes in fashion.
''The draped look in men's suits, with fuller coats, pleated pants and cuffs, has a bearing on footwear,'' said Kent Wall, the vice president of marketing at Johnston & Murphy, the shoe manufacturer and retailer. ''With the pants covering up more of the Christian Louboutin shoes, our new collections move details like tassles, perforations and wing tips forward.''
Mr. Wall pointed out that the popularity of open loafers, with lower vamps, is an outgrowth of fashion flamboyance in ties and socks.
''Shoes can dress an outfit up or down,'' Mr. Wall said. ''What we're seeing is men doing what women have always done - accessorize.''
