Ed Hardy Fragrances

Christian Audigier has now added to his Ed Hardy line two new fragrances for both men and women. It seems obvious that this addition to his other items makes sense along with hats and tattoo designed skateboards. Both scents retail for around $65.00 according to a sales person in Audigier's South Beach store. If your looking to experience the Ed Hardy world this is an affordable solution. For more information please visit www.edhardyshop.com

Hugo Boss Pure

One of the most affordable luxury items for anybody is fragrance, and Hugo Boss has understood this for quite some time. It seems the design house has released fragrances on a steady basis for quite some time. The new offering for men is Pure. The scent is designed for the confident man who is style conscious and successful. The top note is Mediterranean citrus with the middle consisting of Lily and hyacinth. The bottom note is Massoia wood which dries down to a soft wood scent enhancing the male character.

Hugo Boss Pure is available at Bloomingdale's, Dillard's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. For more information please go to www.hugoboss.com

Pistol Panties swim 2009

The Pistol Panties 2009 swim collection can be best described as “hit & miss”. On the hit front we really liked the graphic print suits they sent out but for the misses we found the polka-dot suits dated and the jewled adorned suits bringing us back to the Fall season of New York fashion week 2007. It seems they took the current jewlery trend of chunky crystal stones and used it on the suits and it just didn’t seem to work. The over-sized hats were a distraction and not needed. Never the less we feel its a company to watch and see how they evolve over time.

Photos: Corinna Lecca Mercedes Benz

Zimmermann Swim 2009

“life is so strange when you don’t know. How can you tell where your going to?”~Missing Persons

Zimmermann’s 2009 swim collection seemed like a shot in the dark design wise. Once again we see that they are still trying to find the zimmermann girl offering many choices in their suits. As for the styling of the models the jewlery was way to heavy and seemed thrown on. We feel that no woman would go out to the pool with 10 pounds of necklaces and heavy stones.

The one suit we did like was look #23 a Black Kaleidoscope 1 piece. But with only leaning on this one piece it seems like this collection is destination unknown.

Photos: Corinna Lecca Mercedes Benz

Vix Swim 2009

We had never heard of vix swim wear before but for a first time on the Miami runway this design company is certainly one to watch. There seems to be nothing outlandish going on here but just really well constructed suits done in simple patterns. The white enamel details on a few of the suits adds a touch of class not seen by other designers. The color choices as well are vast, allowing a wide degree of selection, the one piece black suit we loved. Yet again we see another swim suit line playing it safe and delivering a great collection for 2009.

Photos: Corinna Lecca for Mercedes Benz

Tibi Swim Wear 2009

The Tibi 2009 swimsuit collection is a lesson to other designer on how to focus a collection for a particular customer. This by far was one of the best shows we had seen during Mercedes~Benz Fashion Week. What makes the collection such a success is that The Tibi line also produces a spring, fall and resort collection and has been doing so for quite some time. So with that in place taking their customer to the swim side is not a problem.

The color palette for the season is medium tone blues, purple, black and earth tones. We love the fact that the designer infused gold cuffs on the models to ramp up the luxury factor to give the look richness. Standout pieces where the candy stripe suits and her floral/paisley prints. The beach cover up’s and dresses add the resort element to the collection and is a smart move to incorporate this into the line, one stop shopping is always a nice touch in shopping for swim wear.

Photos: Corinna Lecca Mercedes Benz.

Andrew Marc Ladies Hand Bags

Andrew Marc has long been a name which has been supplying men with great cut leather jackets and well constructed bags for as long as I can remember. But when your core business is fourth quarter, November & December sometimes a new outlook can take a company in a different and more profitable direction. Marc's new avenue is in its women's handbag line which is like none we have ever seen before. The company has taken a take charge approach and is shipping deliveries of these lamb skin leather bags monthly! Choosing a understated style with barely any "jewelry" on the bags makes for a bigger offering via different colors with this line. Prices for these bags top out at around $500-600 making them very affordable and allowing them to transcend from season to season. The company is not interested in making the new "it bag" but more along the lines of selling well constructed leather goods. On the radar screen for the future there will be a small leather goods line with wallets and other accessories. The full line can be seen at www.andrewmarc.com

Brynn Hudson Jewlery

In the world of jewelry designers it not easy to find one that goes “the extra mile” in their product; but designer Brynn Hudson demonstrates that by going down this road results pay off. Brynn uses sterling silver as her primary medium and infuses jewel-tone Swarovski crystals and fan shaped beads to create chic and elegant works.

It might sounds crazy on our part, but what attracted us to this jewelry line is Byrnn Hudson’s Sterling Silver toggle clasps. It’s that finishing detail one does not see with other designers and makes this jewelry line stand out. Pieces that we love are the three strand brushed sterling silver with Swarovski beading and the ten strand sterling silver rope chain with six focal sterling silver rings. The full line can be viewed at www.brynnhudson.com