...pistachio miniskirts. "They're all very thin and lightweight," Ms. Melendez said. LaVelle Olexa, senior vice president of fashion merchandising at Lord & Taylor, says technology is making leather more user-friendly and more practical than...

...when color was added - and exploded this season with bright color," observed LaVelle Olexa, the senior vice president of fashion merchandising for Lord & Taylor. Ms. Olexa speaks of a color spectrum that ranges from the typical beige and black...

...even bigger than monogramming, which also has become even more important," says Jaqui Lividini, senior vice president of fashion merchandising at Saks Fifth Avenue. "Individuality is a cultural shift. In the '90s, we were attracted to uniformity...