Our network partner, Clothes Pin, recently gave a little shout to jewelry designer Alisha Louise. Our bloggers love jewelry and, quite admirably, they also love scouting out independent designers from places other than New York. Alisha Louise does not sell her jewelry here, that is, she is not 'indie' in the sense that everyone from Houston to Canal and Bedford to Manhattan Ave is wearing her designs. She is from, well, Seattle and her jewelry is really gorgeous. Summer jewelry is a tricky thing, with sweat and breezy outfits, it sometimes just doesn't seem worth the effort, but when we read Clothes Pin's post, we realized these branch-like pieces are quite perfect for Summer. Props to our bloggers, most notably Clothes Pin, for keeping us in the loop with the truly indie designers.

Last night's Metropolitan Museum Gala stirred up a lot of celeb gawking over at WWD. We don't do galleries of famous people (unless you count designers or socialites of substance, but Getty doesn't really offer boring stuff like that) but we will say that there were some pretty fabulous dresses for the event. If you're interested in, you know, the exhibit, check out our little preview here.


Adidas' net gains jumped 32 percent in the first quarter despite the recently acquired Reebock, which is not doing so well. We're pretty sure the discord between Reebock and a thriving Adidas has to do with one of two things. Either it's Yohji Yamamoto's Y-3 line with Adidas that's making the brand, overall, feel pretty cool indeed, or, it's that the "All Day I Dream About Sex" acronym-joke has been deeply embedded in the subconscious of an entire generation of (now) adult consumers.


Vivienne Westwood contradicts herself and it's actually kind of infuriating. The designer put on a play called, "Manifesto: Active Resistance to Propaganda" last week in which she narrated her ideas about anti-consumerism. The play starred socialite, and otherwise vapid good-for-nothing, Peaches Geldof dressed up as Alice from Alice in Wonderland. When asked about her position in regard to her thriving, mass produced, ever-changing fashion line, Westwood said,

"Yes, I am sorry for that, and I'm afraid I don't really know how to answer that question...I'd like to do less, but there are people dependent on me now. My thing has always been, just let me finish this pair of trousers and then I can read my book. We've all got to wear something, I suppose. So my advice would be to buy quality. Choose well. I think there's a certain status in seeing someone wearing the same thing over and over again."[British Vogue]


U.S. trade policies concerning textiles should shift considerably with the new administration and increasing competition with Asia. Already, trade barriers in the Western Hemisphere are lessening and sourcing textiles from these countries, more common. The Bush administration is particularly responsible for these changes. Eleven of the 14 countries with which the U.S. has free trade agreements have become so since 2002.