News Brief for September 2017

September 2017 News

Hurricanes and earthquakes brought the world to it's knees with damage everywhere from the United States to Mexico and various island nations with new concerns over Climate Change and it's possible contributions. Meanwhile Donald Trump continued his presidential run by stoking more tension, this time with athletes protesting during the national anthem. Elsewhere in the world of sports we saw the US Open come and go. Along with Donald Trump and the GOP's failed healthcare repeal comes an attempt at tax changes which would mostly benefit individual's like Donald Trump himself. In the world of entertainment we saw the Emmy Awards and it's cast of unlikely cameo's but most of the focus was on the beautiful people at the New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks.

The Big Stories of February 2017

It may have been the shortest month of the year but it was packed with the what we've come to expect, from Donald Trump to new planets offering safe haven from Donald Trump.

Headlines

Donald Trumps administration saw resignations and humiliations the order of the day. Protests were popular with Trump baring the brunt of it with issues from travel bans to transgender bathrooms and Climate Change while on the other side of the world ISIS did their best to get back some of the attention.

Sports

In the world of sports America saw the annual spectacle of the Super Bowl played out with it's famous half time show featuring Lady Gaga. The New England Patriots had a miraculous turn around before going on to win their fifth title.

Entertainment

The Grammy's kicked off award season with Adele taking the top prize after a hotly contested battle between her and Beyonce meanwhile on the other side of the pond the BAFTA's followed with La La Land continuing it's winning streak. Then there was the big daddy of awards shows, the Oscars. All went well except for best picture which was awarded to La La Land by mistake only to be given to Moonlight.

Technology

February saw the tech industry tackle Trump on immigration and transgender rights while a new security threat appeared in the form of a Cloudflare bug and a major outage due to failures of AWS. Meanwhile SpaceX launched another rocket showing itself as a serious contender in the space travel while further away NASA discovered 7 new earth like planets.

Style

New York Fashion Week officially kicked off the year with all the beautiful people descending on the Big Apple to get an eyeful of the luxuries in store along with political commentary. London Fashion Week followed close on it's heels with the likes of Burberry before heading to Milan Fashion Week to round things off for the month with Versace and Missoni.

The Big Stories of September 2016

Headlines

The world saw the refugee struggle continue with France pushing to shut down the infamous "Jungle" refugee camp while out at sea hundreds died when a ship capsized. Typhoons in China killed dozens this month while Italy tried to rebuild after last months devastating earthquakes. Over in the US, New York City was rocked by explosions in the Chelsea district by homemade bombs, the suspect was arrested two days later. We saw another mass shooting, this time at a Washington Mall and the US Election heated up with the first debates pitting Clinton vs Trump. Charlotte, North Carolina was rocked by protests after another unarmed black man was shot by police.

Business

Carrying over from the world of politics Donald Trump faced criticism for not providing his tax returns while in Europe they pushed for multi national corporations to pay more in taxes. The VW scandal was still in the news with management suspensions and investor lawsuits while China hosted the G20. Elsewhere Twitter gained attention with news of it's possible sale while Deutsche Bank had investors worried after it was hit with a massive fine.

Sports

In the world of sports we saw the Paralympics showcase the best in perseverance against all odds while the US Open had some shockers with the Williams sister losing out. US protests made their way on to the field with NFL players refusing to stand for the national anthem due to police shootings.

Entertainment

The Emmy Awards saw the usual winners with Game of Thrones taking top honors while young talent also took to the stage with Rami Malek and Tatiana Maslany winning for best leads. In sad news famous celebrity couple Brangelina announced a divorce while the case against Bill Cosby continued with the judge allowing phone records.

Technology

Cyber crime was in the news with the Democrat party emails being hacked to the medical records of athletes being stolen but they were nothing compared to Yahoo's announcement that over 500 million accounts had been hacked. Elsewhere we saw the launch of the iPhone 7 which was met with skepticism and the month ended with Elon Musk announcing plans to colonize Mars.

Style

Finally in the fashion world it was time for the seasonal showings in the form of New York Fashion Week leading the way followed by London Fashion Week and then on to Milan Fashion Week and finally ending with Paris Fashion Week.

Introducing Storyboards

We've redesigned Storyboards to put the power in your hands, now you decide the story by collecting articles and sharing with friends.

To show you just how easy it is we've gone ahead and created some Storyboards following current trending topics in the News. These categorized Storyboards can be found in the left hand column associated with their respective categories or you can see all Storyboards available from the main Storyboard page.

These are the 3 main Storyboards this Week

1. Refugee Crisis - Thousands of Refugees flee war torn areas and head to Europe.
2. US Election 2016 - Debates by the GOP hopefuls continued.
3. New York Fashion Week - The fashion industry gathered for the star studded event.

Create a Storyboard about the stories that inspire, infuriate or intrigue you and let us know what you think.

Let the Fashion Weeks Begin

That time of year has rolled around again with designers descending on New York City with their latest wears to kick off the Fashion Week calender.

Designers

A year of fashion weeks started in New York City with every designer a fashion conscious individual could image. Inspired and diverse the collections made their way down the runway with Carolina Herrera making waves with a collection inspired by water while Rebecca Minkoff took inspiration from punk rock princess Patti Smith and Derek Lam who hopped on the 70's style bandwagon featured flared monochrome pantsuits, ribbed turtlenecks, and culottes. The 70's inspired many with Tommy Hilfiger's show taking place on a makeshift football field while Calvin Klein brought a version 70's sex appeal with manipulated leather and wool with patchwork and frayed details.

What would fashion week be without Diane Von Furstenberg who focused on Knitwear & Lingerie Stylings with Michael Kors embracing more masculine prints at the same time introducing feminine ruffles and gold accents. With the passing of it's name sake last year there were questions of it's future but the Oscar de la Renta powerhouse put all concerns to rest with a solid body of work anyone would be proud of. Vera Wang displayed a collection with a relaxed, almost pajama inspired shapes and sensual accents. However, it wasn't all plain sailing as Marc Jacobs showed with an offbeat, somewhat scary runway show in what resembled a derelict mansion with more crazy being brought in by Jeremy Scott in a psychedelic experience inspired by baby clothes and dolls.

DKNY had a mixture from ladylike dresses to sporty bombers while Banana Republic brought impeccable styling. The Lacoste show combined sport and luxury with Rag & Bone bringing lingerie worn in offbeat ways. Zimmerman brought femininity with pretty paisley prints, bold color-blocking, and major cut-outs while J.Crew had a solid collection with coats, bags and even a tuxedo onesie.

Celebrities

Of course celebrities made their way in droves to see the latest designs all clambering to be front an center with Sofia Coppola, Deborah Harry, Christina Ricci showing their support front row at Marc Jacobs show. But they weren't the only ones with Chrissy Teigen Susan Sarandon, Coco Rocha showing support for Donna Karen while Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Uzo Aduba, Christina Hendricks showed the love for Zac Posen. Fashion icons in their own right, Blake Lively showed her support front row at Marchesa while Sieanna Miller appeared front row at Calvin Klein.

The old guard made news this week in fashion with Naomi Campbell holding a fashion show for a good cause on Valentines Day. Finally Cindy Crawford stole the headlines this week when untouched photo's of her appeared showing an honest view of women.

New York Bustling with Beautiful People

The start of September brought the beautiful people to New York City kicking off the fashion week season with designers and celebrities vying for attention.

Designers

It was a classic affair with all the usual suspects showing their wares to the throngs gathered for the spectacle of Fashion Week. Kicking off in early September Rebecca Minkoff started with a cute Seventies pastel palette later incorporating technology asking attendees to wear Ray Ban designed 3D glasses for her final few looks.

Rebecca Taylor brought a bohemian vibe with paisley prints and gauzy fabrics. Alexander Wang was all about sneakers while Diane von Furstenberg proved she was the master dress maker and DKNY's "New York Nation" theme aimed to celebrate New York "color, culture and creativity."

Derek Lam aimed for a simple "update on American sportswear" with Donna Karan looking to the street art movement for inspiration. Carolina Herrera sprung into spring with a garden palette of pink, iris blue, purple and yellow while Tommy Hilfiger aimed for the music festival look with a Sixties and Seventies music scene inspired collection.

Oscar de la Renta's beautiful spring collection reflected optimism and light contrasted by Rag & Bone doing something different with a collection that consisted of predominately black, white, and earthy fabrics. Marc by Marc Jacobs jumped on the darker side with a more punk rock theme.

Hugo Boss' Jason Wu went with the house source material of Teutonic tailoring with Calvin Klein aiming for a more minimal and sophisticated look with some downtown elegance. Ralph Lauren brought things back to earth with khaki pieces, from safari jackets to cargo pants.

Cross Overs

With entertainment and fashion often colliding it's no surprise then that a few celebrities have crossed over to the world of design showing their talents. Gwen Stefani called her L.A.M.B spring collection "The New Nomad" with vibrant, ikat-print bohemian dresses and a cool black caftan with white tassels. Serena Williams not only made it in the US Tennis Open but also her first fashion debut.

Victoria Beckham brought staple items with polish and commercial appeal. Victoria said she would be roping in her handsome hubby and boys to help in her shop. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen showed there talents designing pieces that mix masculine and feminine elements with a laid back and polished vibe.

Celebrities

It wouldn't be complete if there weren't a few well to do celeb's picking up ideas for their red carpet moments. Rihanna, seated a few seats away from Nicki Minaj, grabbed attention front row at Alexander Wang while Kate Bosworth and Zoe Saldan took front row seats at Boss Women spring/summer 2015 runway and Baz Luhrmann and Martha Stewart sat front row at Marc Jacobs show.

While you would expect Nicki Minaj and Kate Upton to attend the September "Icons" issue of Harper's Bazaar party I don't think many expected Lady Gaga's dog to be there. Cara Delevingne didn't enjoy herself as much with a member of the paparazzi acting inappropriately "stroking his ass".

And finally while the Clintons took the opportunity to push for a good cause with plush baby elephants on the seats at the Oscar de la Renta show some just wanted attention with Justin Bieber being booed after he decided to strip down to his underwear at the Fashion Rocks event in Brooklyn.