Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Thu, Nov 5 1992 Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 05:22:46 EST Message-ID: 11-05 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Nov. 5, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MICHAEL JACKSON HAS A SCENT: Pop star Michael Jackson has joined the superstar perfume sweepstakes, with part of the proceeds going to poor children. The perfumes - Legende de Michael Jackson for men and Mystique de Michael Jackson for women - will be available in time for the holiday season. The perfumes will sell for $30 a bottle. It puts him in competition with Elizabeth Taylor's Passion. LYCRA STRETCHES FASHION APPEAL: There's a common thread running through much of next spring's fashion: Lycra. Du Pont's registered trademark for the spandex fiber, started out in the 1950s as a substitute for rubber in girdles. But the man-made stretch came on strong in the '80s with the advent of cycling pants and leggings. Last year, it gained more ground with body-hugging short skirts. (For more, see special Lycra package below.) THE THRIFT LOOK CATCHING ON: Grunge Chic, a street-smart style spawned in the showrooms of avante-garde Paris designers Martin Margiella and Ann Demeulemeester, has landed in New York with a big splash. Even Ralph Lauren, known for "civilized" clothing, coughed up his own modified version of Upscale Grunge on Wednesday: Wrinkled linen pants, lace-up granny boots and fingerless crocheted gloves. DESIGNERS EMBRACE LOOK: Every young designer from Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis to Christian Frances Roth is embracing the messy, mismatched Grunge Chic for spring '93. To join the look, just dig up some shrunken-too-small sweaters and jackets, stocking caps, shirts with cuffs worn way over the hands, mismatched prints, floaty floral dresses and pants that are too short, too tight or too big. MEN SPORTING THE BALD: More men are sporting the bald look. It's a path blazed by such actors as Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas of "Kojak," Charles Dutton of "Roc," talk show host Montel Williams, and superstar Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. Robert McRae, owner of Newport Barbershop in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., says at least two or three men a week come into his shop for a total trim. SEMINARS CALL TRAVELERS: Business travelers, who accounted for 47% of hotel stays in 1991, are increasingly going to out-of-town seminars and training sessions, according to the Home Testing Institute. Business hotel stays due to seminars or training were up 50% in 1991 from 1985. Stays relating to meetings and job changes were both up 17%. Those trips due to sales and service were down 17%. CLOTHING SOLD FOR A CAUSE: Artwear's new line of T-shirts bearing images by some of the nation's leading artists are hot, with 10% of the T-shirt's $25 price tag benefiting The American Foundation for AIDS Research. The T-shirts feature reproductions of works by Annie Lieibovitz, Herb Ritts, Bob Wade, John Lennon and Miles Davis. T-shirts are available at Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, Macys and Lord and Taylor. FRENCH STYLE SUMMED UP IN BOOK: French women have a certain look, a style so different and so chic that you can spot them almost immediately in a crowd. With a new free pamphlet from Express titled "How to Think, Dress and Shop Like a French Woman," getting that French look doesn't have to mean a trip to Paris. Written by Veronique Vienne, the pamphlet provides a short history of French style. ANNUITIES SELLING FAST: One of the best-selling investments at banks these days isn't a certificate of deposit. It's insurance company annuities. Banks are seeing an explosion in sales of fixed-rate annuities. They'll sell $12 billion in annuities this year, up a third from $9 billion last year. Annuities currently pay an average 5.63% for one year, the newsletter says. The average rate on a one-year CD is 3.28%. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON LYCRA: DU PONT FIBER SHOWS VERSATILITY: Lycra is making inroads all over the fashion map. For spring, Lycra is popping up in everything from long, willowy cotton and linen sheaths by Liz Claiborne's Lizsport to crewneck bodysuits from Anne Klein II, jodhpurs by Escada and tiny tank dresses from designer Donna Karan's DKNY division. MARKETING CAMPAIGN TO KICK IN: The latest Advertising Age reports Du Pont next March will start a global marketing campaign to increase consumer awareness of the fiber, including a $10 million plus effort in the U.S. Marketing of Lycra has been under way for several years in Europe, where consumer recognition now runs as high as 98%, says Jean Hegedus, marketing manager for Lycra. KARAN, KLEIN MAKE STRETCH: Donna Karan recently created her own answer to the girdle - a line of Lycra pantyhose manufactured by Hanes Hosiery. Called Body Toners, the sheer hosiery shapes, lifts and tones both thighs and stomach. At Anne Klein II, Lycra will be used in what the company calls "underpinnings" - bodysuits and little T-shirts. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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