Georgia Pipeline for Fake Handbags Cut Off

If you’re the sort of style hound who scours Atlanta’s strip malls and downtown streets for peddlers who pawn counterfeit handbags, watches and shoes off on the masses, lean times are ahead.
News agencies now report that U.S. Customs agents seized shiploads of fake goods _ including Louis Vuitton and Coach replicas _ on Chinese vessels docked in New Jersey.
The Feds estimate that the goods captured have a street value of $10 million. According to the Associated Press, “The cargo was destined for locations in New York, South Carolina and Georgia.”
Todd Kahn, a senior VP at Coach gave the Feds involved in the never-ending fight against faux luxury goods a verbal pat on the back, saying: “We are grateful for the work that Customs and Border Protection is doing to protect our borders as well as stopping illegal products from entering.”
In other words, the supply chain may be snapping.
Somehow, the counterfeit sting (which included “handbags from Coach, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Dolce & Gabbana, as well as Gucci shoes and belts and Nike Air Jordan and Nike Air Force One sneakers”, according to wwd.com) was sniffed out in six different cargo holds. They were packed in crates that falsely claimed to contain, among other things, toys and home furnishings.
In a statement to the press, New York Customs director Robert E. Perez said: “Stemming the flow of importer counterfeit and pirated goods remains a high priority for the agency.”
How long can it be then, before, law enforcement starts spying around corners for those who think it’s a victim-less crime to buy fake goods on the cheap? Alas, the fashion police never sleeps.

Complex Magazine Spoofs Michael Jackson

There’s no way the editors of Complex magazine could have known that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, would suffer a sudden death when they sent their June/July cover story on comic actor Jonah Hill to print.
But the photo feature on Hill _ including poses that rehash Jackson’s most iconic oddities _ couldn’t feel more eerie; unless Joe Jackson was looming somewhere in the room. The snapshots, taken by Chris McPherson many weeks ago, show Hill cuddling with a stuffed chimpanzee, dangling a toy toddler over a balcony and pouring something resembling wine into cola cans for tots in high chairs.
The message is poignantly mixed. The images seem like mockery now. But the very first quote from Hill in the cover article reads: “I’ve been obsessed with Michael Jackson, even the Jackson 5, since I was six or seven. The whole sound, the vibe, everything.”
Like the rest of us, Hill and his Complex collaborators assumed that Jackson would be poised to dive into his 50-date “farewell” string of London concerts next month. Not pushing up daisies.
What an odd and unintended tribute.

Atlanta's "Top Chef" Richard Blais gets cold feat

There wasn’t a dry ice cube left in the Variety Playhouse once Atlanta’s favorite “Top Chef”, Richard Blais, got done demonstrating how he continues to curry favor with frozen food.
Blais commandeered the grungy Little Five Points concert venue and filmed a four-course demo where liquid nitrogen, not fire, fueled the dining experience. Talk about your slow cooking: Blais’ live culinary art exhibit focused on eats prepared at as low as minus-357 degrees.
“Liquid Helium is the only thing colder,” Blais blared as he risked frost burn while dipping his hands into pots that turned beet juice into bright red “pearls” for an oyster appetizer.
He accented his “Mr. Freeze” act with tequila lollipops to help wash down chips fried in duck fat.























A chef who got his start in fast food, Blais paid unabashed homage to his latest Atlanta restaurant with minced “Filet O’ Flip” burgers with foamy tarter sauce as the third course.
For his finale, Blais brought “Good Day Atlanta” co-host Suchita Vadlamani up on stage to help make BLT’s made mainly of pork belly cooked for days at room temperature..
The interactive nature of Blais’ production before a near-capacity crowd hinted that there’s another TV project in his future. Meanwhile, Blais divulged, he’s engaged in efforts to expand his Flip food franchise into Birmingham, Ala., Nashville, Tenn., Washington, D.C., and beyond.

"View" co-host rents her belly as billboard

After suffering much public backlash over her ultra-conservative comments during the 2008 Presidential campaign, Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s got her “hustle” back.
Hasselbeck, co-host of “The View” and wife of former New York Giants quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, has inked a contract with Reebok to be the spokesmodel for its new line of NFL-inspired maternity jerseys.
Due to deliver her third child in August (well before the NFL season even starts), Hasselbeck will appear in ad campaigns that depict her with words like “Kicker” and “First-round draft pick” plastered across her belly and breasts.
The shirts should retail in the $30-$40 price range.

Reebok says women represent the biggest growth segment of its business, and that women make up as much as 40 percent of NFL viewership.
Never one to fumble an opportunity for self-promotion, Hasselbeck said in an interview with EntertainmentTonight that she’ll try to take her social networking efforts to extremes during this pregnancy.
"I'll be tweeting, probably, right through birth," she mused to ET.
Alas, Hasselbeck still hasn’t learned the concept of too much information.

EyeSeeStyle now featured on Technorati

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J-Lo's Fashion Label Fizzles Out!

Those ladies out there who still swear by the Jennifer Lopez designs in their wardrobes may want to start stocking up on the label.
According to WWD.com, J-Lo announced Tuesday that her Sweetface fashion label will no longer be sold in the U.S. once the current cycle’s done. A prepared statement, in words we can’t believe “Jenny On The Block” actually uttered, this was the explanation: “(W)e have decided to put the Sweetface line on hiatus while we prepare to reintroduce the brand in the near future with new messaging points and an entirely new fashion point of view,”.
Translated into simple English: “No one was buying it!
Lopez launched her fashion brand to much fanfare in 2001 (click for video). Yours truly, in fact, had a (second row) seat at the lavish Sweetface debut during New York Fashion Week. The label’s prospects seemed so bright back then that chunky crystals covered the black carpet of the Swarovski-sponsored show.
Since then, La Lopez has had to juggle her music career, her acting aspirations, motherhood and matrimony along with her design enterprise. The latter languished into oblivion, though J-Lo has reportedly licensed Sweetface out for sales overseas and her accessories deals with Macy’s and Victoria’s Secret (along with her fragrance contracts) remain intact.
J-Lo’s official web site makes no mention of the news. Ironically, the biggest update surrounding Lopez’ multi-faceted career may be the report that she’ll soon star in a romantic comedy about a woman who seeks to jump-start her life by having a test tube baby. It’s titled: “The Back-Up Plan”.
Would you agree that she needs one?
CLICK THE COMMENT BOX BELOW!

Will Usher Come Out Smelling Like A Rose?

Rumors are swirling about how nasty the divorce proceedings between Atlanta-based R&B singer Usher Raymond IV and his former fashion stylist, Tameka Foster, could get. It was reported this week in fact that the multi-platinum performer has legally requested all evidence of wiretaps and/or surveillance that might have been acquired during the brief marriage that produced two children.
Unless he’s got a really solid pre-nuptual agreement, there may be another new bone of contention in the Usher vs. Tameka division of property battle. The crooner made a splashy announcement this week that he’s launching a premium-priced ($50-$65) fragrance that will reach stores this fall and is expected to generate at least $30 million in first-year sales.
During an interview with a WWD.com New York correspondent, Usher likened his new scent, VIP, to a precursor for sexual conquest. To add to VIP’s prestige value, its packaged to resemble a bottle of cognac.
“I really feel like VIP represents the growth I’ve had in the last two years,” Usher told WWD. “The man that wears this fragrance, hopefully, will go out in the world empowered by what he’s wearing.”
For his own sake, Usher ought to hope that any proceeds from the scent’s sales are off limits to his estranged wife.

Jimmy Choo Shoes The Masses Can Afford!

Prepare yourselves now for the shoe fiend feeding frenzy that’s sure to take place at metro Atlanta’s four H&M stores during the holiday shopping season.
The world wide press is positively panting with today’s news that the Swedish chain of designer knock-off stores has reached an agreement to sell stilettos, handbags, clothes and accessories by the original fetishists’ best friend, Jimmy Choo.
The Jimmy Choo goods _ for both men and women _ will reportedly arrive in 200 stores by November 14. In previous collaborations with top-notch designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Roberto Cavalli, limited-edition items have sold out entirely within minutes of the doors swinging open.
The Jimmy Choo brand of shoes _ which gained household name status soon after a partnership was forged with British fashion maven Tamara Mellon a decade ago _ normally sells for a reported $500 or more per pair. The collection of Choo goods for H&M is expected to start at $50 and max out at $200.
And, as if the brand didn’t have enough “Sex and the City” street cred already, First Lady Michelle Obama wore Jimmy Choo shoes at her husband’s Presidential Inauguration.

Bare Facts: W Hotel's Playboy Pajama Party

Blame it, if you will, on the Le Tournament Vert absinthe cocktails that starting pouring as soon as EyeSeeStyle arrived at Friday night's "Playboy Pajama Party" at the W Midtown Hotel, featuring a gracious personal appearance by 2009 Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist.
For various reasons, memory of all the details fails...


As it turned out, Ida was as coy and accomodating as she'd sounded over the phone in an exclusive EyeSeeStyle interview.
She dutifully signed autographs and greeted the short number of gents granted VIP introductions to her with the ease and glee of someone picking through puppies at an animal shelter. More than anything, she bared her patience for panting admirers. And, in a stark departure from the "diva" attitude expected of someone of her stature (shorter, thicker and more approachable than she appears in pictorials), Ida asked for nothing more than frequent refills of ice water.

The presence of local playas like Collective Soul frontman Dean Roland, SneakSunday's CEO Paul Broft, FOX 5 reporter Justin Gray and an assortment of well-placed businessmen kept the affair from taking on a cheesy aura.
Fashion designer Mychael Knight, radio star Jenn Hobby, celebrity photographer Ben Rose, nightlife guru Pablo Henderson, boxer Preston Haliburton and Noble Investment's Steve Nichols were also spotted in the W's dimly lit Crystal Lounge.





Somehow, the Atlanta ladies who dared to show up at the W's Whiskey Park bar knowing that there'd be an assortment of Playboy Bunnies in attendance conspired to dress in near unanimity.Short, frilly, semi-sheer babydoll dresses carried the night, albeit with a few astonishingly skimpy exceptions.


Perhaps there's some reality TV show in Ida's future that might reveal a less flattering side. But at least during the W's Pajama Party she struck all the right poses.

Photos: The Midnight Socialite

Atlanta Denim Fiends Get A Nudie Show!

Does this latest cry for attention from Calvin Klein Jeans offend you?
If so, join the online screeching that seems to be gaining volume now that there's a billboard towering over Manhattan's SoHo district that depicts the sort of amorous "artistic license" that folks in the fly-over states assume that neighborhood's known for.
And if the latest entreaty from the Virginia-Highland's Bill Hallman boutique reaches your inbox, treat it as "Safe for Work". It may say it's an invitation to a "Nudie Show" Thursday evening, but it's merely an opportunity to go and watch skinny models meander around in designer jeans that are dyed and stitched dark and tight so that the wearers' true "fit" shows through over time.
As Nudie's web site proclaims: "(We're) naked truth about denim. Denim has the ability to age beautifully – formed by its user into a second skin, naked and personal. The longer it lives the more character it gets. The indigo is a living colour that fades and gives the denim its character. The more you wear your jeans the more beautiful they get. Jeans are more than just a piece of clothing."
The Calvin Klein Jeans motto has always seemed more succinct: SEX SELLS!
Which message appeals most to you?