New York Fashion Week represents a melting pot of conceptual fashion ideas shared not only in a country of mixed cultures, but the city itself has profoundly mixed cultural roots. This is why the fashion line Urban Masala is so apropos for metropolitan markets such as New York.

While blue jeans and T-shirts may have served you well in college, if you want to command respect, look like a professional, and impress your boss, you’ll need to make some major changes in your daily attire once you make the move into the working world. That prospect can seem daunting on a number of fronts, whether you hate to shop, have a small budget, or don’t really know what qualifies as work-appropriate clothing. Luckily, building up a work-ready wardrobe isn’t as hard as it sounds, and by starting with essentials and working your way up by adding a few…

TADASHI YANAI, FOUNDER OF THE GLOBAL clothing retailer Uniqlo, is on the other end of a videoconference screen. From his Tokyo office, Yanai-san speaks enthusiastically about Uniqlo's innovative fabrics. "Americans believe cotton is best," he says, "but we've invented new fabrics that will change your lifestyle." First, Yanai marvels over Heattech, a proprietary warmth-generating Uniqlo cloth developed in partnership with the Japanese company that provides carbon-fiber for Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Next, he boasts that Airism, Uniqlo's cooling fabric, is "so light you don't even know you're wearing it. It is the number-one must-buy product for summer."  

Re-engineered for even better performance and striking design

This year’s Top Textile & Garment Co. list compiled by TTIS comprises 3 Fiber companies, 40 Textile companies, 25 garment makers, and 6 companies in the ’Other’ category. In total 74 companies withrevenues in excess of Baht 1000 million were selected to represent the local textile sector in operating year 2010, compared to 66 companies on the 2009 list.

The question marketers are always interested in: how big is the market?   World Muslim populations. The Islamic fashion is particularly interesting because of the huge Muslim population in the world.  In 2010, 23.4% of the world population or 1.6 billion people are Muslims.  (For those of you who may be confused, Islam is a religion, while Muslims are the people with Islamic faith.)  Islam is the second largest religion in the world, next to Christianity.  But based on the high birth rate of Muslims, it may become the largest within this generation.

What do most of us know about Islam fashion?  Except for the exceptional few, the answer is next to nothing.  And yet, Islam is the second largest religion of the world.  And the trick is, many dress like Muslim, or the Islam fashion.  We don’t have Christian fashion or Buddhist fashion, do we?  Interesting, hah?

I am doing a research project, out of personal interest, on Islamic fashion.  What I have found is so fascinating, that I decided to start a series of blog on the topic, in case anyone wants to read up on this later.  

ZangToi, Malaysia's best-known icon in the haute couture world, recently presented some stunning items from his Fall 2012 collection at New York's Lincoln Center where the New York Fashion Week was held.  

Uncertainty is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the apparel industry in 2012. The economic situation in Europe and the US, swings in commodity prices, labour shortages and rising costs, especially in China, all add up to a worrying year.