it’s a wrap: adidas’ women’s competition line, s/s ’09

Not a surprise, but the spring/summer 2009 adidas women’s competition line keeps low-key, staying with that bumblebee shade that we’ve been trying to expunge from the tennis palette for two years (Yonex is keeping adidas company during this sit-in).

The bright yellow is broken up by black lines around the back of both the tank and the cap sleeve top, while the standard three-stripe detail makes an appearance on the sleeve of the latter.

There’s a diamond in the rough, though: continuing with the Asian-inspired Australian Open top, adidas has produced this red mock wrap cap sleeve tee to kick of its players’ 2009 campaign. (With Anna Chakvetadze defecting to Fila, Dinara Safina and Patty Schnyder will be the highest-ranked women playing in these pieces.)

Buy: adidas Competition Tank and Cap Sleeve Top, neon yellow/black, starting at $45; Competition Skort, white, $45; all items available at shopadidas.com in January 2009.

happy holidays from Prince

A greeting from Prince. I don’t know about you, but this makes me want to get a spirograph…

By the way, we’re still awaiting word about their brand-smackin-new will-change-your-tennis-life tennis racquet technology. We’ll post as soon as we hear about it.

fashion short balls: no mas finishes Starters, lanvin sneaks, and a japanese riot

Finishing what they Starter: Earlier this month, NO MAS mastermind Chris Isenberg, the guy who revived Bjorn Borg‘s logo, released his latest collaboration: a limited run of duffel bags created with fashion phenoms Dee and Ricky Jackson (read up). The duo played around with a few of Isenberg’s vintage Starter Jackets, turning them into bags and using the snaps as closures and the trim as the bag’s lining. Isenberg fell in love with the samples and gave over his whole trove of 250 jackets. Each bag will come with a special “Finisher” tag (get it?) and will be hand-signed and numbered by the twins. Buy: Contact NO MAS directly to purchase.

Lanvin’s latest: The man behind Lanvin‘s menswear design, Lucas Ossendrijver, continues to play with traditional lowcut tennis sneakers, following up iterations of satin and suede uppers with this latest nylon version — available in black and grey colorways. Grab yours for an economy-resuscitating $570 at aloharag. (via hypebeast)

Not enough? If Lanvin shoes alone aren’t pimp enough, maybe add some bling?

(OT) A new riot: I love the Hollywood Boulevard store Lallure for a few reasons: first, they’re open ’til 2 am on most days, taking care of my drunk shopping fix; second, they carry some awesome clothes like JOYRICH, Dim Mak, and NIR, which stands for Nu Ideal Riot. This third brand is a Japanese import brought over by Lallure owner Maki Asako that currently focuses on slim-cut outerwear: cardigans, military jackets, hoodies, all with subtle accents like off-center zippers and striped linings. Drop by Lallure or purchase from this e-shop.

Serena on to the next frontier: HSN

In the tennis world, getting ambushed by the papparazi is so 2008. If you want to flex your celebrity muscle and burrow your way into the hearts and minds of America, there’s only one way to go: get your own show on HSN.

The Serena Williams piece in this month’s h magazine mentions that her new fashion project, Signature Statement, will be hawked on the shopping network. (Hmm, whatever happened to Aneres?)

Serena still strives to have unique and modern designs with a bold edge. She usually causes quite a stir when wearing her designs to events (such as the near topless gown she wore to the London premiere of Pierce Brosnan’s 2004 film, After the Sunset), but she gave me the impression that her new designs are a bit more tame. “I’m really excited to feature my new collection, Signature Statement, on the Home Shopping Network,” she explained. I figured HSN probably doesn’t want to be in the business of exposing areolas, but you never know with this fucking economy. Nevertheless, Aneres will have new looks in boutiques on both coasts, and she has plans for jewelry, bags and coach wear, and bedding as well.

And speaking of covered areolas, the photos that accompany Ms. Williams’ piece are wonderful. Way to tastefully show off the curves!

Read: See the whole article here. December issue of h on newsstands now.

More: Three other shots of Serena

party watch: Fila x Sportie L.A. = Melrose

We had a chance to stop by Fila‘s West Coast launch of their new “Melrose” — a collaboration with iconic sneaker purveyor Sportie L.A. The three high tops feature 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material in custom print and color panels in combinations of Lilac, Teal, Silver, Crocus and Blues.

They threw the party on Thursday, Dec. 10 at Sunset Mansion in West Hollywood (the view from the balcony was amazing!).

On hand to toast the launch were Joel Madden, who DJed for the evening wearing his vintage-style Fila track jacket (while gf Nicole Richie handed out gift bags in the downstairs VIP area; we were on the wrong side of that velvet rope, unfortch), Audrina Patridge, Cee-Lo, and Friday Night Lights‘ Aimee Teegarden and Scott Porter.

Buy: Melrose shoes available exclusively at Sportie LA, $100, sportiela.com.

More: See the images of the other two colorways

delray beach makes music

The folks at the Delray Beach ITC have amped up their non-traditional marketing techniques, following up their Volley Girls (no, but thanks) and their backcourt murals (five thumbs up) with the tournament’s first ever soundtrack, entitled “Making a Racquet”.

The album features winners of a Florida artist music search, including the now defunct Coexist Scientist (which again proves that bands I like or want to like are always the ones that break up. Meanwhile, Sean Paul is still making music…), the reggae sounds of The Resolvers, and Jacob Jeffries, who sounds an awful lot like David Gray.

From ITC head honcho John Butler: “We all fell in love with these performers as soon as we heard them. And to have them all together again at one show… What a way to kick-off the holidays.”

Proceeds from the album ($7 apiece) will go to the Milagro Center, an organization that exposes underprivileged kids in Palm Beach County to all forms of art.

And to celebrate the release of this soundtrack, Butler and his camp are throwing a party tonight at 8 pm at City Limits. Beginning tomorrow, twenty retail outlets on Delray Beach’s fabled Atlantic Avenue will take over sales of the CD. This includes shops, boutiques, bars and restaurants that separates ITC’s tennis stadium from the beach.

I’ve been really impressed with the way that this tournament has brought together different parts of the local community in a very grassroots way. Especially now with the economy (and the world) how it is, it’s nice to know that no tournament is an island.

More info: Making A Racquet CD release party, Friday, November 19, 8 pm at City Limits, 19 NE 3rd Ave in Delray Beach. Admission is FREE. For more information call City Limits at (561) 279-8222.

adidas on the edge of something good

While Ana’s adilibria dress keeps me thinking about messenger bag boob mash, I must say the rest of the season’s Edge line hits the mark.

Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who ended last season at a career-high No. 12, will sport separates from the line: the Edge Tank, with its layered bust and slits down the side (for better movement); and the big-pleated Edge Skort. I hoped for them to use a more subdued shade of yellow (like Jankovic‘s U.S. Open Reebok dress), but you can’t have it all.

The other pieces stay true to the Edge line’s feminine and fashion-forward vision: the Cap Sleeve Top, accented with an empire waist and an oversized banded hem (!) that slopes down from left to right; and the Warm-Up Top, with a ribbed cuff stretching all the way from wrist to elbow. Warm-up pants are also available.

Buy: adidas Edge adilibria Tank, neon yellow and white, $45; adilibria Skort, Cinder Beach (slate), $50; Edge adilibria Cap Sleeve Top, white, $42; Edge adilibria Warm-Up Top, white/Cinder Beach, $52; Edge adilibria Warm-Up Pant, $39; Barricade V, Running White/Cyan, $120. All items available in January 2009 at shopadidas.com.

(Wozniacki image courtesy of adidas; adilibria images via prodirecttennis.com)

fashion focus: ana’s adilibria aussie attire

adidas‘s customary “sneak peek” into the early 2009 wardrobe of Ana Ivanovic left us a little disappointed. The violet adilibria dress suffers the same fate as her other dresses from 2008; they look good on the mannequin but fail to maintain elegance in action (see: the bubble skirt, the petal skirt). The diagonal detail across the bust looks messy.

It didn’t help Ana’s aura that she fizzled out at the Year End Championships, getting knocked out of the round robin portion by Russian Vera Zvonareva, whom the Serb handily beat the week prior in Linz.

But she still finished the season in the top 5, nabbed herself a hot Spaniard (ever girl’s dream, no?) — hers in the form of Fernando Verdasco — and she’s already in Australia getting ready for the start of the 2009 season.

Ana’s shoes, the adidas Barricade V, will be white with metallic grey — a perfect complement to her purple dress!

That being said, the rest of the adilibria line is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaabuluos (it’s almost McCartney-esque), so I have a feeling Ms. Ivanovic might defect to the separates sometime before Roland Garros…

Shop: adilibria dress, violet, $70; Barricade V, white/metallic grey, $120; all the gear will drop in January at shopadidas.com.

slowly but surely

Hey everyone — if you’re even still out there — I am going to give this thing another try. Various things have kept me away from TSF in the last few months: taking responsibility of a busy job (saving the world, as I like to say), ridiculous financial obligations as a means to physical health, flirting with locavorism (thanks, Ms. Kingsolver), and watching lots and lots of DVDs (next step: video-on-demand). Oh, and facebook.

Buuuuut we’re back. Anyway, I’m going to start off light and easy. Seeing that it’s snowing out here in Los Angeles — leaving the entire metropolis hogtied — I bring you my picks for winter gifting (that is, if your wallet can spare it):

Bodum’s Orange Kenya Coffee Press Pot: There’s always room in your life for bright orange. Plus, it’s $10 cheaper than the classic Chambord version. ($29.95, peets.com)

Silver Spoons are so over: For the baby who has everything, a golden slinky. Simon Doonan does it again. ($100, barneys.com)

White ceramic things, pt 1: Splurge on this Aughts-friendly phonophone by artist Tristan Zimmerman. ($500, Unica Home)

…pt. 2: The “I am not a paper cup” coffee cup, which has upended the New York Coffee Cup as our new mock ceramic love. ($20, Unica Home)

Retail therapy: Feel good about picking up one of these reversible cotton/canvas totes from Rugby. Parts of proceeds from the bags’ sale will feed children in one of 74 developing countries sponsored by the UN World Food Program. Your mom, Pony. ($60, rugby.com)

Snap your ring finger: Lego as jewelry. Brilliant. ($140-$165, Edition Mathea; via Refinery 29)