Scott Weiner/Calvin Klein Cosmetics

If recent food price rises have families in shock, Oxfam has a worse outlook in the next 20 years if urgent action is not taken to change the system, says the charity charged with fighting global poverty.
   Oxfam’s Growing a Better Future report forecasts that maize and other key staples will rise in price by between 120 and 180 per cent by 2030, with up to half due to climate change. The world’s poorest, who spend up to 80 per cent of their income on food, will be hit hardest.
   Supporters of Oxfam’s latest campaign include Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, actress Scarlett Johansson, and former president Lula Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil.
   Oxfam says the world will hit a crisis point as the planet’s natural resources are depleted, and millions more hungry people will be created. Already eight million people face chronic food shortages in east Africa. By 2050, demand for food will rise 70 per cent, yet the capacity to increase food production is declining. The average growth rate in agricultural yields has almost halved since 1990, ‘and is set to decline to a fraction of one per cent in the next decade,’ says Oxfam.
   â€˜In more than half of industrialized countries, 50 per cent or more of the population is overweight, and the amount of food wasted by consumers is enormous—quite possibly as much 25 per cent,’ the charity adds.
   â€˜Our world is capable of feeding all of humanity yet one in seven of us are hungry today,’ says Jim Clarken, CEO of Oxfam Ireland. ‘Millions more men, women and children will go hungry unless we transform our broken food system.’
   His counterpart in New Zealand, Barry Coates, executive director of Oxfam New Zealand, echoes this view: ‘The food system needs to serve the interests of the seven billion of us who produce and consume food, rather than the interests of big agribusiness and powerful élites.’
   The crisis is, in part, driven by globalized corporations. Three companies—Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill—control an estimated 90 per cent of the world’s grain trade. Their activities help drive volatile food prices and they profit from them, according to Oxfam. In the first quarter of 2008, at the height of a global food price crisis, Cargill’s profits were up 86 per cent.
   Small farms could lead the renaissance in feeding the world, if given the right investment and market access, says the Oxfam report.
   Johansson says, in her statement, ‘Sharing food is one of life’s pleasures. On a global scale, we don’t share fairly. Close to a billion people go to bed hungry every night. The fact is: the global food system is a broken one. All of us, from Kentucky to Kenya, deserve enough to eat. That’s why I’m joining Oxfam’s Grow campaign.’

The French lingerie label, Les Jupons de Tess, which has only been around a short time (since 2009), is already finding its beautiful creations are firmly positioned on many women’s wish lists. Its latest autumn–winter 2011–12 collection is no different, exuding elegance reminiscent of an 18th-century Parisian woman. As an era characterized by female ‘coquetterie’ and the ‘art of dressing’, this collection is set to tempt.
   Les Jupons de Tess uses such luxurious fabrics from French dévorée lace, satin and silks in classic nude tones covered in white polka dots, to soft pink satin trimmed sheer black lace ensembles, to completely black lace and silk pieces. There is a quality of innocence mingled with demure seduction as the models playfully pose with ostrich feathers, clad in long stands of pearls and suspenders. Of course, the signature frills and ribbons adorn various styles, and a pair of black, lace trimmed wrist cuffs adds a mischievous flair.
   So if you have found yourself tempted, Les Jupons de Tess can be found in stores in France, Italy, Japan, China, the UK and the USA.—Vicki Matias

As revealed in Women’s Wear Daily ten days ago, Louis Vuitton’s autumn–winter 2011–12 campaign features models Zuzanna Bijoch, Daphne Groeneveld, Gertrud Hegelund, Nyasha Matonhodze, Anaïs Pouliot and Fei Fei Sun.
   Louis Vuitton has sent a little more behind-the-scenes info on the campaign, with nine images photographed by Steven Meisel.
   â€˜For fall–winter 2011–12,’ says Louis Vuitton artistic director Marc Jacobs, ‘Steven Meisel and I met and decided we would do this wonderful story of beautiful vintage cars, little dogs and fresh-faced young women.
   â€˜It’s a very classic scenario, and of course it suggests travel, but I think we gave it a fresh, modern and sometimes a little bit naughty, tongue-in-cheek spin.’
   The campaign involved the six models, five vintage cars and their chauffeurs, and fourteen pedigree dogs, shot at a disused aerodrome in Brooklyn, New York.
   The story is the journey to a Louis Vuitton fashion show, where the woman leaves her hotel, dog in tow, and enters her limousine. By using some luxury cars from the past, Vuitton highlights the materials used in the collection: patent leather, lacquered python, shearling, and Mongolian lamb.
   ’The season’s star accessories [are], among them, shiny rubber boots, shearling officers’ caps and glazed lambskin gloves as well as the variations on the iconic Lockit handbag, including the Extraordinaire clutch in alligator with its diamond-paved padlock and handcuff,’ says the company.
   The campaign breaks in August 2011 issues of magazines worldwide.

Chanel has launched its J12 Chromatic, a development of the J12 line of watches. The Chromatic is made from titanium ceramic, a new material, in what Chanel calls ‘a unique and ever-changing colour.’
   The material, after being polished using diamond powder, is particularly reflective, and is highly resistant to scratches.
   The J12 Chromatic is available in seven models: a 33 mm with quartz movements, and 38 and 41 mm models with automatic movements, in two versions set with round or baguette-cut diamonds.
   The company has released the image at left as well as a 30-second creative, shown below, to promote the J12 Chromatic.

Coty

Top Imogen Poots. Above Camille Rowe Pourcheresse.

Coty has signed English actress Imogen Poots (V for Vendetta, 28 Weeks Later, Fright Night) and French model–actress Camille Rowe Pourcheresse, both 21, to be the faces of the Chloé fragrance advertising campaign, breaking September 2011.
   The campaign will be photographed by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.
   This is Poots’s first brand endorsement, according to Coty.
   Pourcheresse appeared in Romain Gavras’s Notre jour viendra (Our Day Will Come) alongside Vincent Cassel, and has been photographed as a model by Karl Lagerfeld, Bruce Weber, Paolo Roversi and Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
   In a release, Françoise Mariez of Coty says, ‘Imogen Poots and Camille Rowe Pourcheresse are the perfect choice to represent the timeless and iconic Chloé fragrance. They both embody the Chloé woman in their own way: Imogen incarnates the natural and youthful side of the Chloé woman while Camille embodies her seductive and modern facet.’

Model Penelope Benson (left) has been signed to the Playtex brand, and the company has come out with a bra fitting guide and tips to coincide with the new development.
   Playtex claims that seven out of ten women are wearing the wrong size bra, based on US research.
   Its hot tips include: ‘If you want to enhance your cleavage, look for underwire bras and push-up bras.
   â€˜If you want a sleek look for under your clothes, full-coverage or minimizer bras are best.
   â€˜If you have a bigger bust, look for a bra that provide strong support, especially in the midriff band area and with wider straps to reduce pressure on shoulders.’
   Playtex’s website has a bra fitting guide, and the company also invites women to visit its stores for a professional’s advice.
   For stockists within New Zealand, call (0800) 450-103 or visit www.playtex.co.nz.

Hohl Fels

Virginie Verrier

The fifth Fitting Room will move from its traditional home of Madrid to Barcelona on July 14, at the B-Hotel in the Plaza España. It will take place at roughly the same time as the Brandery, the trade show of urban and contemporary fashion in Barcelona.
   As in Madrid, the event takes place inside hotel rooms, with each one decorated by the exhibiting designer or artist.
   The Brandery will be held at the Fira Barcelona, across the road from the B-Hotel, on July 13–15.
   The two events have partnered in the past. Ten store managers will attend the Fitting Room to choose at least one participant for each store, according to the organizers, while the Brandery will choose a participant for a 9 m² stand at its next winter showroom. (The most recent winner was Salvador Bachiller.)

Rodia

Inés Susaeta

Miguel Balbás

Fox

The media are going into Cheryl Cole overdrive again with rumours that ‘Britain’s sweetheart’ has been dumped from the US version of The X Factor, after months of speculation over the producers’ attempt to court her.
   The gossip mill claims that there is no chemistry between Cole and fellow judge Paula Abdul, and that American audiences are finding her Geordie accent difficult to follow.
   This is at odds with early reports that Cole had positive feedback from US audiences.
   She may be replaced by co-host Nicole Scherzinger.
   Cole could return to the original X Factor, the ITN report below claims.
   Meanwhile, Pixie Lott has launched her third collection for Lipsy, with celebrities including David Hasselhoff, Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes attending.
   Lott says her collection has a greater focus on festival and party dresses, with a vintage and 1970s’ inspiration on the one hand, and colour blocking and boldness on the other.