Mayoral Proclamation for Nashville Fashion Week, March 30, 2011

From the Office of the Mayor:

Whereas, the city of Nashville has a distinguished and nationally recognized history of celebrating the contributions of its creative citizens; and

Whereas, Nashville’s creative fashion industry and fashion-related entrepreneurship is an important part of the city’s economy; and

Whereas, Nashville Fashion Week is a celebration of creativity through fashion that brings together Nashville residents and visitors; and

Whereas, Nashville Fashion Week is organized through the generosity of private sponsors and the spirit of volunteerism, and supports the new Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Karl F. Dean, Mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, do hereby encourage all Nashvillians to join me in celebrating Nashville Fashion Week.

Lexus Nashville Fashion Week Educational Panels

Today starts the Educational Panels for Fashion Week Four fashion industry panels will take place during Lexus Nashville Fashion Week at Lipscomb University, Ezell Center, March 30–31. Throughout the week, Lipscomb will also display selected items from its Halston Collection in the Beaman Library through Nashville Fashion Week. Two panels will take place each day on March 30 and March 31. Admission to all panels is free, but online registration is encouraged. Featuring industry insiders, these panels offer students and anyone interested in fashion the opportunity to learn more about the art, craft and business of fashion. Panel descriptions and speakers are: The Fashion AdWednesday, March 30, 12 p.m. From the images of supermodels shot by Steven Miesel to celebrities like Nicole Kidman who grace the covers and pages of fashion magazines, the fashion ad can be just as important as the collection itself. Those designs and a collection’s aesthetic must be “presented” to the rest of the world. This panel looks at how a creative team juggles concept, production and budget resources to produce a fashion ad of lasting impact.Panelists are: Michael Howard, photographer; Amanda McRae, wardrobe/fashion stylist; Salome Steinman, model, Bravo’s “Make Me a Supermodel” Retail RealityWednesday, March 30, 1:45 p.m. In an era when “shop local” is both a frequent marketing slogan and an economic rallying cry, local businesses and boutiques can provide the sort of unique products, designs and experiences that savvy consumers seek. But for every small boutique that succeeds and prospers, many more fail. This panel explores the reality behind small, local retail endeavors from financing and merchandising to marketing and day-to-day operations.Panelists are: Jacob Keiser, visual merchandiser; David Levy, co-owner, Levy’s; Rhett Murdaugh, manager, imogene + willie; Dena Ferrell Nance, owner and founder, whats-in-store. Where Fashion and Web 2.0 CollideThursday, March 31, 12 p.m. In the last few years, small online start-ups (i.e. Gilt Groupe, ModCloth) have exploded into multi-million endeavors, attracting worldwide attention and financing. But, in many cases, more established fashion companies are still behind the curve in shaping and implementing an effective online identity and presence. This panel will focus on the industry’s successes, challenges and opportunities in fully engaging consumers and tastemakers in the digital and social space.Panelists are: Dave Delaney, social media strategist (davemadethat.com); Nicholas Holland, CEO, Centresource Interactive Agency; Rachel Lang, marketing director, Project Artisan; Zarna Surti, blogger, Zarna’s Runway. American LuxuryThursday, March 31, 1:45 p.m. As U.S. companies draw on their own heritage to reinvigorate brands, they are defining a new kind of uniquely American luxury market. At the same time, small design firms and local boutiques have new roles in the development of evolving parameters for what constitutes “luxury” in fashion. This panel will explore both the idea and reality of luxury in 21st century American life.Panelists are: Jeff Garner, designer, Prophetik; Robin Keyser, founder, Project Artisan; Matt Springer, manager, Billy Reid Throughout Lexus Nashville Fashion Week, Lipscomb will display items from its outstanding collection of garments, portfolios, patterns, and other memorabilia from the house of Halston. It is one of the finest collections of its type from an iconic designer whose work was worn by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Lucille Ball, Liza Minelli and Lauren Becall. The Halston collection was donated to Lipscomb’s fashion merchandising department by Georgette Mosbacher, president and CEO of Borghese Cosmetics in New York City. Fashion design majors at Lipscomb study the collection to better understand how fine fashions are conceived, designed on paper, presented on the runway and brought to the fashion market. Items will be on display in the Beaman Library.

Update For Lexus Fashion Week

It's a comparison that bears repeating: In many ways, Nashville's fashion scene reminds us of Nashville's rock scene in recent years. Both have thrived in country music's shadow where others have wilted, and just as Nashville's offbeat music scene gains traction every time another publication discovers one of our scrappy indie rockers for itself, the fashion scene too finds itself charting on notable fashion radars — from tastemakers the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow to Kings of Leon to Elle and Nylon magazines.
As usual, when reflected back at ourselves, we see a city of contradictions — to borrow an oft-used phrase, we are inescapably a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll, a little bit fancy, a little bit unadorned. Turn one corner, and we find a city's worth of crafty gals rifling through discount fabric bins and stitching their own handmade goods after hours. Turn another, and we find luxurious designer fabrics at Textile Fabrics. We frequent high-end boutiques owned by the spawn of country royalty (H. Audrey), and browse musical instrument stores doubling as a vintage- and thrift-lovers paradise (Diamond Halo Vintage). Our fashion schools such as O'More keep national pace by offering students future-minded courses focused on using recycled materials, while sleepy Christian university Lipscomb holds within it a magnificent nod to the past: the archives of legendary '70s icon and designer Halston — yes, that Halston.
But this frequent vacillation between an off-the-rack and on-the-cutting-room-floor existence isn't really so surprising, because Nashville is as much Manuel's glitz as it is Anna Sui-designed suits for the gents at Jack White's Third Man Records. It is just as much the rugged country-western wear of Katy K's, the embodiment of our rural roots, as it is Imogene + Willie's, a remodeled gas station a stone's throw away selling coal miner-inspired raw denim blue jeans. For $300.
So we devote this issue to embracing these tangled contradictions. The occasion? Our city hosts its first official fashion week showcasing sartorial pursuits with Lexus Nashville Fashion Week, March 29 through April 2. With it comes a spate of runway shows (see this story for our roundup of featured designers) and boutique-hosted events at retailers around town that portray a city eager to strut her stuff, even if, in many ways, she's still looking over her sequined shoulder. Visit www.nashvillefashionweek.com for a detailed schedule of events.

Updated Toyota Statement Regarding Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

NEW YORK, NY (March 22, 2011; Posted at 7:00 AM EDT) Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has decided to continue the vehicle-production halt started on March 14 at all plants in Japan (including subsidiary vehicle manufacturers) through March 26. A decision on when vehicle production will resume in Japan has yet to be made.

Meanwhile, TMC parts plants in Japan resumed production of replacement parts for vehicles already on the market on March 17 and resumed the production of parts for overseas production on March 21.

Regarding Toyota's North American operations, so far the impact remains limited. All 13 North American vehicle and engine plants are running normally, although overtime has been curtailed to conserve parts that come from suppliers in Japan. Regarding dealerships in the U.S., inventories remain generally good.

We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

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Previous Updates:

NEW YORK, NY (March 16, 2011; Posted at 3:15 PM EDT) Regarding Toyota's North American operations, so far the impact is limited. All 13 North American vehicle and engine plants are running normally, although overtime has been curtailed for now to assure we maintain adequate inventories of parts that come from Japan. In addition, since most parts and materials for Toyota's North American-built vehicles are provided by suppliers in North America, this helps insulate Toyota's North American plants from production interruptions in Japan.

Regarding dealerships in the US, inventories are good with adequate levels of supply. Toyota now makes 12 different models in North America, including high-volume vehicles such as Camry, Corolla, RAV4, and Lexus RX 350, and nearly 70 percent of all Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold in the U.S. are made in North America. Prius vehicles are built in Japan, and thus impacted more by the production halt there. But for now inventory levels of the Prius at U.S. dealerships are generally still adequate.

Regarding battery production in Japan, while future production plans are to be determined, only one of three hybrid battery plants in Japan sustained limited damage from the earthquake. The other two plants are located in central Japan and were not affected. The company is making every effort to minimize any long-term impact on Prius availability.

Meanwhile, Toyota employees in the U.S. are very interested in contributing to relief efforts in Japan. To make their support go further, Toyota Affiliates in the U.S. will match their personal relief donations to the American Red Cross.

This is in addition to Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan donating 300 million yen (approximately $3.75 million) to support relief efforts.

We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

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NEW YORK, NY (March 16, 2011; Posted at 7:00 AM EDT) We continue to place priority on supporting the relief efforts in the regions affected and ensuring that our team members, the employees at subsidiary vehicle manufacturers and at our suppliers—and all their respective family members—are safe.

With that in mind, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has decided to continue the vehicle-production halt started on March 14 at all plants in Japan (including subsidiary vehicle manufacturers) through March 22.

A decision on when vehicle production will resume in Japan has yet to be made.

Separately, we will resume production of replacement parts for vehicles already on the market beginning March 17. This will allow us to take care of current Toyota owners who may need repairs.

Additionally, in an effort to keep production lines moving overseas, we plan to restart production of parts for overseas production on March 21.

We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

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NEW YORK, NY (March 14, 2011; Posted at 8:45 AM EDT) - We continue to place priority on supporting the relief efforts in the regions affected and ensuring that our team members, the employees at subsidiary vehicle manufacturers and at our suppliers—and all their respective family members—are safe.

To that end, we are halting production at all plants in Japan (including subsidiary vehicle manufacturers) from March 14 through March 16.

We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

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NEW YORK, NY (March 13, 2011) - Toyota's associates and team members in North America extend our heartfelt sympathy and deepest condolences to the people of Japan, our colleagues and their families.

Our utmost concern has been the safety of all Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) team members and team members at our partner companies in the Tohoku region.

TMC has established a company-wide emergency task force to continually assess the situation and take initial measures.

There have been no reported injuries at Toyota operations, including the Tokyo head office, the Higashifuji facility, Tochigi office, Yamanashi office, Toyota Motor Tohoku facilities and at TMC subsidiary vehicle manufacturers.

While TMC plants were able to restart production on 3/11, plants that stopped production are Toyota subsidiary plants that produce parts and vehicles, including:
• Toyota Motor Hokkaido Plant
• Toyota Motor Tohoku Plant
• Central Motor Corporation Miyagi Plant, which also produces the Yaris model.
• Kanto Auto Works Iwate Plant, which also produces the Scion xB and Scion xD.

Employees at these facilities were evacuated to safe areas.

We are now conducting a detailed survey of each plant to determine the extent of any damage. We are also currently assessing the situation at our suppliers, dealers and the impact on North American import vehicles.

As we are committed to ensuring the safety of our team members and their families, Toyota has decided to suspend production at all TMC plants, as well as all subsidiary vehicle-manufacturing plants on Monday, March 14th.

Toyota’s number one priority is to support our team members at TMC, our partner companies, suppliers and dealers through this situation. On behalf of the company globally, TMC is moving to donate 300 million yen (approximately $3.75 million) for relief and recovery efforts in communities affected by the Tohoku Earthquake and is also considering the provision of goods and services as needed.

Lexus Ranks Highest of Any Luxury Brand in 2011 J.D. Power and Associates CSI Study

Congratulations to Lexus dealers nationwide! JD Powers has ranked Lexus #1 in overall CSI for 2011 for the third consecutive year! Lexus has achieved the #1 ranking 9 times in the last 15 years.

TORRANCE, Calif. (March 11, 2011) – Lexus ranked highest in customer satisfaction among luxury brands in the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Customer Service Index (CSI) StudySM. Lexus achieved an overall CSI score of 846 on a 1,000-point scale, 27 points above the segment average and the highest numerical score in the study, regardless of segment. “First and foremost, taking care of customers is our number one goal,” said Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager. “We are proud of our retail partners. Lexus dealers consistently do the best job of exceeding customer satisfaction and we are thrilled their efforts resulted in Lexus being the highest ranked brand in CSI for the 14th time, the most of any brand.”* The 2011 CSI Study is based on responses from owners and lessees of 2006 to 2010 model-year vehicles. The study was fielded from October through December 2010. Lexus ranked highest in the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction with Dealer Service (CSI) Study in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2001-1997, and 1995- 1991.

About Lexus
Lexus is the leading luxury automaker in the United States. With its reputation for high-quality products and exemplary customer service from its 229 dealers, Lexus has been the top-selling luxury automaker for 11 years in a row. In addition, Lexus is the luxury hybrid leader, offering five hybrids that provide the best in innovative technology and first-class luxury. When Lexus was established in 1989, it offered two models of vehicles. Now, more than 20 years later, Lexus offers variations of 10 vehicles, from the sport CT 200h hybrid to the V10 super, the LFA.

*Lexus ranked highest in the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction with Dealer Service (CSI) Study in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992 and 1991 (tie).

Note to Editors: Further detailed information of all Lexus vehicles is available at www.LexusNewsroom.com.

Lexus of Nashville Cool Springs

Please help us Wecome Terri Brittain to our Lexus of Nashville Family. Terri is part of the new car sales team in Cool Springs.

CT200h Launch Party

Lexus of Nashville hosted the 2011 CT200h Launch Party March 8, 2011 at CABANA.

This car is in a class all it’s own 42mpg, class leading aerodynamics, luxury at it’s best and active safety technology are just a few of the key features for this all new vehicle.The only full hybrid hatchback in the Lexus family, the CT 200h is firmly in a class of its own. With ground-breaking performance and refinement, the full hybrid offers a never-before driving experience, with the hallmark quietness and durability you have come to expect of the Lexus master craftsmen.

A Message from our Chief Engineer
“With its sleek design and class-leading environmental performance, the CT 200h is a totally new kind of car, delivering extremely low emissions and fuel consumption. The first ever Full Hybrid luxury compact to take to the roads, this revolutionary new Lexus offers an outstanding combination of smooth, dynamic handling and class-leading refinement.”