Tommy Hilfiger

In the video above, our partners at FabSugarTV,
explain how ponchos will be the must-have outerwear item in Fall 2011.

"From over-sized to cropped, loose-fitting ponchos were shown in all different proportions (at NY Fashion Week Fall 2011)," says fashion reporter, Allison McNamera.

Tommy Hilfiger showed versions with longer lengths in back, while Max Azria showed an assymetrical version. More traditional ponchos were featured by Rag & Bone while designers Adam and Rachel Roy opted for blanket-style versions.

Watch the video and see how Alexander Wang mixed textures in his version as well as one with rain slicker details.

To see Luxist's full coverage of NY Fashion Week Fall 2011, click here.

There are tents within tents during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, curtained-off rooms backstage and in secret hallways, where models whip their clothes off and change into their first look; where they have their hair snipped and sprayed and teased; where Gwen Stefani's two little boys, Kingston and Zuma, were able to play in private; and, of course, the Diane von Furstenberg-designed "Star Room," where Mercedes-Benz served miniature cupcakes, fresh sushi, and fine cheese to swells.

The sexiest scene RSVIP noted was backstage at the Tommy Hilfiger show on Sunday, right, where the well-known new youth models, Arizona and Jordan, among many others, had their hair wetted as jugs of water were poured over their heads into a large plastic trash can backstage before they began drying their own tresses.

One of this year's most anticipated collection, NAHM, comes from an unlikely duo, Ally Hilfiger, of fashion royalty, and Nary Mavivong, who after living homeless as a teenager, pursued his lifelong dream of working in the fashion industry, a story that is told in the new documentary Dressed. The two have proven their worth as a young power duo, with enthusiasm and love of the craft that shows vividly in their Fall 2011 collection.

A week ago, I wrote about the hordes of celebrities with baby bumps on the red carpet during awards season. Well, designers must have been some kind of soothsayers, because several spent a good part of last year developing and launching children lines. Soon, they will no doubt see the fruits of their labor (sorry), as more and more of these privileged babies are born.

Jennifer Lopez's twins, Max and Emme, were the stars of Gucci's advertising campaign to publicize its designer munchkin wear (0 to 8 year-olds) which debuted late last year. Lopez said this week she only agreed to let her kids be photographed because it was for a good cause. Gucci pledged $1 million to UNICEF's Schools for Africa initiative.

New York fashion week at Lincoln Center is a wrap and we've tallied up the results. In a word? '70s. Want more words? Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver.

Fashion weeks in London, Paris and Milan have yet to dictate the top ten trends of Spring of next year, but here's an early take.

SHORTS: Everyone, and we mean everyone, showed shorts in their spring collections. Whether short and roomy at Badgley Mischka or long and blouse-y at Thakoon or almost Capri-length at Ralph Lauren, shorts are going to be the get for spring.

STUDIO 54: There were so much '70s and early '80s references this week, I could hear Charlie commercials in my head. Halston, famed in that era, showed drape-y colorful maxi dresses and caftans that could have been lifted straight out of the archives. Marc Jacobs showed brightly colored pantsuits and full-length halter dresses.

PRINT MADNESS: Spring is traditionally all about florals. Jason Wu's breezy blouses had cut-out posies. DNKY had tiny flower prints on youthful dresses. Michael Angel went the painterly route with a collection of beautiful multi-colored frocks.

FEMININE VERSUS MASCULINE: Jill Stuart typified the feminine push/masculine pull with high-water tuxedos followed by flouncy, frilly dresses accessorized with masculine belts. The juxtaposition was stunning.

CANDY COLORS: Michael Kors trotted out fuchsia and green. Rebecca Taylor favored orange. Cynthia Rowley went for yellow. Candy colors ruled the day.

It's been a big month for Tommy Hilfiger as he celebrates 25 years as a designer. In his many years designing clothing he's also put his stamp on a home or two. We have seen more than one of his lavish homes go up for sale and cast admiring glances at his interiors. He has sold homes in Greenwich, Connecticut, East Hampton, New York and Vermont. He recently bought another home in Greenwich and has a large apartment in New York but has decided to start fresh on those residences.

Now you can get your hands on Tommy's home decor castoffs. Items from his estate will be sold at Vintage Galleries in Greenwich, Connecticut on September 26. It is just the fifth auction for Vintage Galleries, which held its inaugural sale last September. According to Auction Central News, the fledgling auction house got the gig because Hilfiger frequents a neighboring store, the Greenwich Living Antique & Design Center. Hilfiger has an eye for quality antiques. The auction will include around 500 items ranging from vintage luggage to custom wooden Balinese furniture designed by Hilfiger. The prices are relatively modest, you can pick up most of the objects and art for under $1,000. Certain pieces including a French provincial hutch, an antique armoire and a pair of green painted and upholstered chairs in the style of Louis XVI are estimated to sell in the low four figures.

New York Fashion Week has officially begun here at the Lincoln Center, marking the first time in 17 years the main hub has been anywhere else but Bryant Park.

Yesterday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg kicked off the week, declaring the city the capital of fashion and noting that the Lincoln Center location was appropriate given that fashion is art. He even renamed a subway stop nearby "The Fashion Line."

According to Bloomberg-the wire service, that is-this is the biggest Fashion Week ever with more than 325 designers showing around town through the end of next week. At Lincoln Center, 97 designers will show, up from 75 one year ago.

Show producers say the reason for the uptick is more space and better technology. Among the biggest techie changes are self-service kiosks to detect bar-codes on invitations that will do away with check-in lines and, along with them, probably more than a few catfights. It will also likely prevent show crashers.

Among the trends we should expect to see for Spring 2011? The color orange, maxi skirts, Yves Saint Laurent-esque pantsuits, hot pants and dressy shorts. If resort 2011 is any predictor, we'll also see looser silhouettes-roomy tops worn with roomy bottoms. (The old rule of slim on top, roomy on bottom and vice versa no longer applies). The season is expected to be very colorful, too, doing away with nudes, camel and beiges we've seen in the last few seasons. Finally, blazers sans shoulder pads will be there. Think Julia Roberts après makeover in Pretty Woman.

Tommy Hilfiger gets the Assouline treatment in a new luxury book that celebrates both the man and the brand. The new luxury book takes a look at 25 years of Hilfiger fashion. The special edition from Assouline's Ultimate Collection uses a photo-album format to capture the essence of a designer and his all-American style.

"This book is a culmination of my life's work, sharing some of my innermost thoughts throughout the years," said Tommy Hilfiger. "The Tommy Hilfiger brand has existed for 25 years, but I've been designing all my life. This book is the equivalent of me telling a friend about my family, how I got to where I am today, and where I want to go from here. My hope is that everyone has as much fun reading it as I did making it."

The book measures 14 x 17 inches and has144 pages with more than 200 illustrations, 65 of which are tipped in by hand. The book comes in a linen clamshell presentation box with an embroidered flag logo with gold stitching. It is a limited edition of 1,000 and each one sells for $550.

Back in April we learned that Mel Gibson had sold Old Mill Farm, his 75-acre Greenwich estate. Now the Greenwich Time has news on the price. The home sold for nearly $24 million after spending three years on the market. We first saw this property hit the market in 2007 for $39.5 million. At the sale time the listing price had been carved down to $29.75 million. He bought the property in 1994 for $9.3 million.

According to town records the new buyer is Cosette Property LLC. No information is available on the company but this could be a trust for a buyer who wants to remain hidden. The paper says that the highest-priced residential transaction this year in Greenwich was the $31.4 million sale of a mansion on 22 acres at 30 John St., bought by a company that lists Tommy Hilfiger as its principal. That property was our estate of the day back in April and was listed for $33 million. Hilfiger sold another Greenwich home last fall for $20 million. That one was listed at $27.9 million when it was our estate of the day back in 2008.

Old Mill Farm is a design by architect Charles Lewis Bowman built in 1926 for his horse-loving client, G.L. Ohrstrom. The home is one of the last great manor homes in Greenwich and is significant not just for the architecture but for the fact that it has 77 acres of land. The home itself is an Elizabethan-inspired Tudor mansion of 15,800 square feet and the property has 15 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms total. The jaw-dropping room of the place is the great hall which has a 40-foot cathedral ceiling with a stone minstrel's gallery, walk-in fireplace and leaded glass ceilings. The grounds, which were done by landscape designer James Doyle, include formal gardens and a maze. There is also a terrace pool, tennis court, greenhouse, stable, staff houses, log cabin and a pond on the property.

Gibson's Lavender Hill Farm in Malibu remains on the market at $14.5 million.

Oceana, an international nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. dedicated to protecting and restoring the world's oceans, celebrated the launch of Oceana New York on Monday night with a star-studded bash at the stunning penthouse of socialite philanthropists Alexander and Brenda Schweickhardt (above, far right). A tableaux vivant of mermaids entertained guests at the event, which was sponsored by Tiffany & Co., including Sam Waterston and Sue Cohn Rockefeller (above, far left), John Varvatos and wife Joyce (above, center) Jeff Goldblum, Gina Gershon, Tommy Hilfiger and wife Dee, New York Jets tackle Damien Woody, New York Gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio, and socialtes Denise Rich, Bettina Zilkha and Jean Shafiroff. Since its founding in 2001, Oceana has achieved several major victories including protecting more than 640 million acres of ocean habitat.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Celebrity manager Rick Yorn has sold his Brentwood house for $9.35 million.
-- Wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin listed his 3,881-square-foot house in Malibu for $3,895,000 originally, it just sold for $2.5 million.
--The home belonging to Kanye West's mom, Donda West is expected to get another price cut, to $1.595 million. The contemporary home in the Playa del Rey area of Los Angeles was originally priced at $1.945 million and was dropped to $1.745 million at the end of May. The listing is here.
--The Polaroid house, shown above, is located on Malibu's Carbon Beach, has been home to plenty of A-list parties but with Malibu's new paparazzi crackdown the home is looking for just one owner. The property has 80 feet of beach frontage and has approved plans to build a 6,000 square foot estate with a beachfront pool and spa as well as the existing home. It is listed at $32 million.

From the NY Post's Real Estate section:
--Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger is about to list his Plaza apartment for $50 million. The apartment is located in the northeast dome on the 18th and 19th floors of the building and includes four bedrooms, a formal dining room, large living room, library and gourmet kitchen.
--Paul McCartney is looking for a New York City apartment closer to the Upper East Side apartment of his new flame Nancy Shevell.
--Denis Leary's TV series "Rescue Me" has just signed a six-month lease with Loft 14, the 10-story condominium building at 135 W. 14th St., where taping of their fifth season will begin this month. The lease is for $14,000 a month and the apartment has a real asking price of $2,375 million.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Actor Chris O'Donnell has paid an undisclosed amount for a house in Pacific Palisades. The seller bought it last year for $4.675 million. He sold his last house in Pacific Palisades for $5.05 million.
--Jamie Foxx has sold his Tarzana home. It was our estate of the day back in June.
--Nicolas Cage's Bel Air home is back on the market, this time for $29.999 million. It hit the market last September for $35 million and was later pulled. The listing for the classic home which has been owned by both Dean Martin and Tom Jones is here.
--Glenn Frey has paid $7.75 million for a six-bedroom estate in Hana, Hawaii, on Maui.
--Kiefer Sutherland has paid $8.25 million for a t five-story town house in Manhattan's West Village.

From the Real Estalker:
--Looks like neither Donald Trump nor the mystery buyer have picked up Ed McMahon's house. It is still listed at $4.6 million.
--Rumor has it that Cher has sold her Malibu mansion which was listed at $45 million.
--Stevie Wonder has put his home in Los Feliz on the market for $3.2 million.
--Nascar racer Denny Hamlin has put his North Carolina home on the market. It's our estate of the day later today.
----via Boston.com, quarterback Tom Brady is a real estate winner. He converted a Beacon Street town house into four condos and sold three of them saving the top floors floors for himself. As a result he earned back more than he paid two years ago for the building. His total proceeds were $7.95 million which is $1.71 million more than he paid for the entire building, according to public deed records.
--via Nashville City Paper, country singer Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn and his wife Barbara are the buyers in Nashville's biggest home sale of the year. They paid $5.45 million in August for a new house in Forest Hills.
--via the Real Deal, Moby sold his penthouse at the El Dorado, the twin-towered cooperative apartment at 300 Central Park West near 90th Street, for $6.7 million. It was our estate of the day in July of 2007 when it was priced at $7.5 million.
--Dane Cook has picked up a four-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills for $7,078,412.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Basketball player Allen Iverson has reduced the price on his Villanova, Pennsylvania home by 37%. We will be checking this out as our estate of the day on Monday.
--Basketball player Rasheed Wallace has cut the price on his Portland, Oregon home. It will be our estate of the day on Tuesday.
--Actor Matthew Modine has purchased a condominium in New York's Chelsea section for $1.7 million.
--Leonard Ross who put the Hearst estate in Beverly Hills on the market for $165 million has taken it off the market. He has decided to keep the home.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
-- A co-op penthouse in 1060 Fifith Avenue has sold for $48,836,000 setting a new co-op price record in Manhattan. Hedge fund manager Scott Bommer and wife Donya. The couple bought the home for $46 million penthouse back in January. The buyer is listed anonymously on the deed as Park View Trust.
--Writer Ian Buruma spent $1,495,000 on an apartment at the Kalahari on West 116th Street. He and Eri Hotta, who taught at Oxford until 2005, closed last month.
--Ben Stiller spent $10 million on a duplex in a prewar orange-brick co-op on Riverside Drive in the West 80s, the same building that his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, have lived in for years.

Leonardo DiCaprio's gorgeous Israeli model girlfriend Bar Refaeli has landed the fall ad campaign for classic California surf company Hurley. The ads (above) which showcase Refaeli's ample charms will debut in magazines this fall, and she will also appear in the brand's Spring 2009 runway show during Los Angeles Fashion Week in October. You can watch a video of her shooting the campaign here. Refaeli, the first Israeli model to appear in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue, was also recently named Best Body of 2008 by Arena magazine, and will appear in Tommy Hilfiger's Iconic America TV special this fall.



[via Kempt]

The world of online television takes a fashionable turn with the launch of Tommy TV, the new online television station launched by Tommy Hilfiger and Sony BMG. The channel is an online evolution of the Hilfiger Sessions music series which features high profile artists playing with new and upcoming talent in intimate gigs in cities around the world. Tommy TV shows live recordings of The Hilfiger Sessions as well as artist interviews and backstage footage. Hilfiger Auditions will also showcase new artists offering a chance to upload your own music. As "Fred Gehring, chief executive office of Tommy Hilfiger Group sees it, music and fashion go hand in hand. The website won't sell Tommy Hilfiger clothing directly but it will link to the Hilfiger online store.

[via WWD]

I was going to leave this one for the Sunday Real Estate Round-Up but I couldn't wait. Stone Hill in Greenwich, Connecticut is one of the homes belonging to Tommy Hilfiger. According to information from the NY Post the designer will be moving into the Plaza in Manhattan when his duplex is completed. Hilfiger bought this new home in 2005 for $18 million and worked his decorator magic. The 20,000-square-foot home has seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a massive great room, basketball court, spa with a waterfall, theater, gym and a huge 2,000-bottle wine cellar.

I'm a little embarrassed by just how much I love the decor on this one. In general I'm not a fan of a home decorated to within an inch of its life but this one is an excellent product of the Ralph Lauren/Tommy Hilfiger luxe American style.The decorator did a great job incorporating the art and the home is luxurious without being overly formal. It's similar in style to his Further Lane property (which he recently sold for $26.5 million) right down to the use of orange accents. This one is listed at $27.9 million.

UPDATE: As of January 2009, Hilfiger has reduced the price to $21.995 million. Cindy Rinfret of Rinfret, Ltd. was the decorator for Stone Hill. Rinfret has designed eleven of Tommy's homes, and is currently working on his duplex Plaza apartment.

[Thanks, Lana]