New York Giants Super Bowl champion Victor Cruz cut the ribbon today in a kick-off event for New York's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, now gearing up to debut Fall 2012 collections starting Thursday morning at Lincoln Center.

There's also a whirlwind of virtual activity in what the HighLow blog calls "the most egalitarian" New York Fashion Week yet, including a Facebook invitation to RSVP to live-streams of the runway shows and join the conversation on Twitter via the #liverunway hashtag.

YouTube and Maybelline will once again sponsor a real-time YouTube channel that will bring 30 of the Fall 2012 runway shows to the world. The runway videos will also be archived at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week YouTube channel.

Cover Girl is partnering with Polyvore and the Fashion Institute of Technology on Polyvore.com/Live, which will see four FIT grads debut their collections to an audience of fashion insiders and bloggers: Lauren Bagliore, Vengsarkar “Ven” Budhu, Sergio Guadarrama, and Dana-Maxx Pomerantz.Continue reading...

With 13 years of e-commerce payments and processing more than $10,000 per minute in mobile payments, PayPal is jumping offline. The company plans to introduce PayPal Wallet next year as a service to merchants, and to replace credit cards burning a hole in consumers' wallets.

The pitch: PayPal Wallet is NFC-free and only requires that participating merchants upgrade software instead of investing in a hardware change. Users pay at PayPal-enabled terminals with a PayPal credit card and PIN – or down the road, an NFC-enabled tap. It's also competing with competitors like Square and NFC solution-based wallets from cell phone carriers and Google Wallet, and even social check-in services such as Foursquare and group discount providers such as Groupon.

Unveiling the service in New York for the official opening of PayPal’s Shopping Showcase this week, where the brand is wooing local businesses to check out its mobile payments, PayPal President Scott Thompson blogged: 

“Over the next 12-24 months, we’ll introduce technologies that give consumers the choice to “swipe, enter, or tap” when they pay… And no matter how you pay, you can go back and change the payment terms, even after the purchase…In short, we’re not just making a smarter wallet, we’re making money smarter.”Continue reading...

Thin is in. But is it ever not?

Our initial react to the announcement that Diet Pepsi would be available in a new "skinny" can was all cheers and raves. How better else is a product with near 100% market awareness and no ability to change its core product (diet soda) supposed to refresh itself?

A "skinny" can draws attention and asks consumers to look at what is essentially the same old product with a whole new perspective. It's exactly how brands should use package design to communicate brand qualities (without changing the product) and create a new brand-consumer conversation without risking core brand values.

But then we read Pepsi's marketing pitch.Continue reading...

American Airlines wins court order barring Sabre from hiding flight and fare information.

Barneys rumors pan out, as creative director Simon Doonan steps down to become 'ambassador.'

Campbell's soup returns to UK after two-year break.

CNN simplifies on-air look.

Facebook rolls out new profile design to all users.

Groupon raises record-breaking $950 million in venture capital.Continue reading...

Barneys New York creative director Simon Doonan invited celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, Jamie Oliver and other professional foodies to help kick off the retail brand's food-themed holiday windows this year, in a bid "to prove that fashion and food are not exclusive."Continue reading...

Call it A-scare-again Apparel. Continuing with today's Halloween costumes + celebrities (dead or alive) theme, check out Target's Haunted Couture collection designed by Simon Doonan.

In a side-step from his role as creative director and window-dressing savant of Barneys New York (when he's not moonlighting as a writer), Doonan's costumes for Target pay homage to Vegas-era Elvis, Paris Hilton (with a companion paparazzi) and other icons he details here.

The Barneys brand now extends to the White House: Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York, was selected earlier this year to organize the public displays for the Obamas' first holiday season in the columned Pennsylvania Avenue mansion.

Barneys can use the increased exposure, on the heels of declaring an end to pre-holiday discounts. Working with the White House is a good way to get it; Michelle Obama's style choices have been meticulously scrutinized, not just by fashionistas, but also top political observers like David Brooks and Maureen Dowd.

Doonan -- also known for his regular New York Observer column -- is the latest in a line of celebrity decorators to make over the White House during holiday-time. During the Clinton Administration, displays were created by the creative services department of Polo Ralph Lauren.Continue reading...

Barneys is back, just in time for the holiday season. The luxury department store saw same-store sales rise 7% in October, quite a difference from earlier this year. While the increase may not seem like much, it's a lot better than September's 9% drop, as well as the current performance of many competing retailers.

Last week, we noted the rise of what NPD Group's Marshal Cohen calls “frugal fatigue," boosting luxury and forestalling steep discounts for the holiday season. People are tired of saving their money, and show actual signs of splurging this season.Continue reading...