Sex and the City lingerie is seen at Meghan Kendall's Pretty Thing boutique in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, May 16, 2008. Shown are "Miranda" - periwinkle blue with turquoise and lace trim soft bra with low rise thong, right, "Charlotte" - Ecru, or ivory, bamboo pajama set, cami top and elastic pull-on bottoms, center, and "Samantha" - passion fruit color chantilly lace push-up bra with low rise boy thong. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Reed Saxon
NEW YORK - With no other Hollywood characters filling the stylish shoes of the ladies of "Sex and the City" in the years the TV series has been dormant, the fashion industry has been eagerly waiting to see how Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda look when they emerge from hibernation.
So it's no coincidence that the splashy feature film at the end of the month has a long list of fashion marketing tie-ins - right down to your underwear. Lingerie brand Cosabella created a "Sex and the City"-inspired line, and stores are welcoming it with themed cocktail parties.
The collection by Cosabella - a staple for the HBO show - includes mini collections based on each of the character's tastes in lace and satin. The Carrie look is the most funky and fashion forward, including a bustier top with a black background, floral print and leopard trim, while Charlotte's more demure loungewear outfit is all in an ivory colour and made of an eco-friendly bamboo fabric.
Samantha's set is characteristically racy and in a bright tropical coral colour, while Miranda's violet-and-turquoise pieces are sophisticated in their design yet bold because of the colours.
"It's all stuff I would sell anyway," says Meghan Kendall, owner of Pretty Thing boutique in Beverly Hills, Calif. "It's true to the Cosabella line - some trendy, some elegant, some sexy, but all beautiful colours and beautiful fits."
She has high hopes for what it can do for her sales: "The 'Sex and the City' movie is a big deal. Everyone wants a piece of it; everyone wants to be a character."
At the upcoming theme party at her store, she'll offer Skyy Vodka cocktails and have aspiring male actors and models serve them. (The Carrie drink is dubbed "the new cosmo" and includes mango nectar instead of cranberry juice.)
Typically, lingerie events are drier affairs that tend to be more serious and clinical because they focus on fit, according to Elizabeth Hospodar, Bloomingdale's operating vice-president and divisional merchandise manager for intimate apparel. The retail chain is planning several "Sex and the City" parties in different cities.
"I think the character tie-in makes it more fun," she says. "I think every woman has a little bit of each character in her."
Cosabella lingerie was featured often on "Sex and the City," and while it was not referenced as overtly as Manolo Blahniks, it had plenty of air time. Sarah Jessica Parker reportedly wore a bra in bedroom scenes to honour the no-nudity clause in her contract.
Guido Campello, vice-president of branding and innovation at Cosabella, says it was important to resonate with fans, but the brand - and its partner HBO - wanted to do so without relying on cliches or logos. There are no obvious references to "Sex and the City" other than the inside label.
"The fan-base merchandise has its audience - the T-shirts with 'Sex and the City' or 'Hello, lover,' or 'I'm a Carrie' - and we have to satisfy that base, but we always do it with great quality fabrics, look for things that are eco-friendly and try to make them more upscale," says James Costos, vice-president of licensing and retail for HBO.
A shoe partnership might have seemed like a natural, but HBO is protective of the brand and wouldn't want anything less than a deal with Manolo Blahnik, Costos says with a laugh.
As soon as Gretchen Reachmack, owner of Wildflowers Lingerie in Chicago, saw the Cosabella offerings, she knew it would warrant a party. "All of my girlfriends love 'Sex and the City,' so how could I not have them over and celebrate the new movie?"
She expects 200 people and then plans to go on with most of them to a local lounge.
The excitement among her friends is genuine, Reachmack says, because no entertainment brand - not a film, TV show or music icon - has filled the fashion void left by Carrie and her crew.
"From a fashion perspective, 10 per cent of all women have their own fashion sense and they don't need to be guided. The rest of us need to be guided," she says. "Maybe we didn't all want to look like Carrie and her friends, but we used them as a guide, and they helped us brand out and be more feminine, have more vision and individuality for ourselves."
"They gave us permission to experiment," she adds.
Reachmack's friend and customer, Nancy Veloo, is taking a page from Carrie's fashion notebook for the party at Wildflowers. She's dressing up as Parker's character in all her mix-and-match glory.
"I love the show 'Cashmere Mafia' - although I don't know what happened to it - but there's still be a void without 'Sex and the City.' You would see a dress on 'Cashmere Mafia' and be able to identify it like you would a Carrie or a Charlotte," Veloo says.
But when it comes to the lingerie, Veloo has her eye on the Miranda pieces. "I haven't tried it on yet, but I've seen it and I definitely will try it on at the party."
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NEW YORK - Can you embody a personality in lingerie?
Cosabella gave it a try for its new "Sex and the City" line, with looks identified as Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. Prices range from approximately $33 for a thong to $164 for a bustier:
-The Carrie pieces are in a bold, black-background floral with touches of animal print. It's the most fashion-forward and trend-inspired, says Guido Campello, vice-president of branding and innovation at manufacturer Cosabella. The key piece is a bustier that can be worn as an undergarment or as a top.
-The Samantha styles are the boldest and raciest - no surprise there - but they're also feminine because they're all lace and in a passion-fruit colour. "It's a very high-end feeling for her," Campello says. (The Kim Catrall character did wear Cosabella in several of her bedroom scenes in the HBO "Sex and the City" series.)
-An all-natural bamboo fabric was used for the Charlotte pieces - which are more like typical sleepwear - since she seems like the most likely candidate to actually lounge at home in her pyjamas.
-The sexy-yet-sophisticated Miranda styles, rooted in a violet colour with turquoise lace trim, are the most unexpected. That's in line with her character, Campello says, because she seemed so professional and serious on the surface but was a sensual woman underneath. The Mirandas were the first to sell out at the wholesale end, Campello notes. "It's very comfortable. She's a mother - she has to be comfortable - but she still wants to be sexy and have that boldness to her."
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Article online since May 21st 2008, 0:00
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