From first lady of fashion Michelle Obama to newcomer brand Rodarte, those honored by the fashion world yesterday in New York City were all first timers! Other members of the "new guard" to have been put on the spotlight at these Council of Fashion Designers of America were Proenza Schouler by Jack McCollough or Alexander Wang.

Michelle Obama received a special tribute award even though she was absent from the Alice Tully Hall of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts but her name was both on CFDA President Diane Von Furstenberg regarding her "unique look that balances the duality of her lives" and  awards ceremony hostess Tracey Ullman. Obama accepted her award on a pre-taped filmed speech in which she celebrated fashion as an American "art form" channeling the "ingenuity and craftmanship that contributes so much to our economy and culture".

Californian sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy designers of Rodarte got their second awards from the CFDA for being the US' top womenswear designers after the one for being the best emerging talent last year from the hands of German actress and Chanel enthusiast Diane Kruger.

Powerhouses of the US fashion industry like Narciso Rodriguez, Vera Wang and Marc Jacobs saw their dominance challenged.

The star-studded fashion night also saw actor Bradley Cooper in a Calvin Klein suit, Blake Lively and Heidi Klum in Michael Kors steal the fashion industry's show for a bit.

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Entertainment Channel E! News revealed that Vera Wang, fashion designer of her own label featured at the New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week each february, has signed to participate in the 9th season of iconic tv show Dancing With the Stars.

The former Vogue-editor known for her stylish wedding dresses has yet to confirm her participation either in person or through her agent.

The question on everybody's mouth now is will the soon-o-be 60-year-old native New Yorker design her own dancing outfits or leave that to someone else while concentrating on the dancing task?

The ABC show which is the US equivalent of the UK's "Strictly Come Dancing" is set to premiere on September 21 with a 3-nights 5-hours launch.

The DWTS's Disco Trophy has already been awarded to Olympic ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi, winner of season six.

Vera Wang designed costume for professional ice skaters Nacy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan, and less known are her young years when she trained as a professional figure skater.

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The Dubai Authority for Culture and Arts has just announced that it was going to open a Fashion & Design district in the most populous city of the seven United Arab Emirates and that they were hoping to attract foreign artists in another planned Arts neighbourhood through a change of the legislation.

After managing to get a branch of the Paris Louvre Museum and of New York's Guggenheim Museum to open on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, capital of the U.A.E for example, this is one of the many attempt by Dubai Authorities to put their energy-rich Gulf Arab State on the world's artistic map through the staging of major exhibitions and festivals and the opening of big museums.

The head of projects and events department at Dubai's Authority for Culture and Arts Mishal al-Gergawi just revealed at the Reuters Global Luxury Summit in Dubai that he had been handed a billion dollar budget to develop infrastructures for artists and develop culture in the city.

Dubai Culture ordered this whole district dedicated to high-end design, fashion and gastronomy and indicated they would modify the law to grant residency rights to foreign artists even if they only have part-time or non-profit work which is not possible right now!

Gergawi said : "We want to bring (works) from international museums who have universal collections of pre-historic times, contemporary, impressionist, antiquities, Islamic, and take them out of their comfortable space,"

In this vein, they have in mind to open a neighboroud of galleries and affordable housing similar to London's Spitafields market, and already signed agreements with many German museums :  those in Dresden, Munich and Berlin State Museums to transfer exhibits.

Since that many expatriates settled in Dubai over the past 6 years thanks to the economic high oil prices-induced boom the emirate experienced and looking for all-year-long sun and that they are more likely to get involved in arts and fashion for traditional and cultural reasons than locals, many think that the Dubai Authorities are ahead of the curve.

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Fashion designer of leather clothing to the stars Daniel Rodan, had the original idea of using part of the Berlin Wall's graffitis as decoration on his last collection unveiled this Tuesday June, 9th!

To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of this illustrious and historic construction, the designer chose to take on this political subject as inspiration and commented that it was a first for him and a challenge.

Adding to the task was the Art featured at New York's East Side gallery : a 1,300 meters portion of the Cold War barrier, which was painted on by 118 artists hailing from 21 different countries in 1990.

Rodan, whose clients range from Tina Turner to David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff, said at a news conference today :

"Bringing together these three things: the political event, fashion design, and the art of the East Side Gallery, and then making sure the clothes fit on the celebrities -- it was a real challenge"

All the leather outfits on display, inclusing a very short min-dress with a drawing of the infamous "Trabi", the traditional East German traction automobile will be worn by several prominent stars in the coming months before being auctioned for charity near the November 9th date of the commemoration.

Another element Daniel Rodan presented was leather-made barbed wire to be used as a sexy fashion accessory.

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Giancarlo Di Risio, now former CEO of the famous fashion house Gianni Versace SpA, has resigned over disagreements with Donatella Versace regarding the way the company should proceed to cut costs during this economic downturn.

According to various insider sources, as sales in the luxury goods sector are on the wane, he suggested to Mrs. Versace to simplify her designs and cut down on promotional spendings to lower prices to which the strong and exuberant charater that Mrs. Versace is disagreed.

Recruited in 2004 to pull the company out of a bad financial momentum started in 1997, when the company's founder Gianni Versace was found murdered in his country house.

As leaked by The Wall Street Journal at the beginning of last month, Mr. Di Risio and Versace's board of executives, among whom Donatella, are parting ways in decent terms through a "mutual decision to close their professional relationship".

So this recession will have to be faced by Versace with a new leader.

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