Fashion Week Exclusive: W is going g.L.A.M.B.

Singer/designer Gwen Stefani, known for her love of red lipstick and teen style from Japan's trendy Harajuku neighborhood, will produce the uniforms for W Hotels bar staff in connection with L.A.M.B., one of her two fashion collections. W and L.A.M.B. are expected to announce the deal in a few days. The uniforms--short dresses made of washable black jersey--will debut in December or early next year.

The Stefani/W Hotel partnership grew out of the luxury hotelier's sponsorship of a Fashion Week lounge where celebs can escape from the hoi polloi and the flashbulbs.

"Gwen Stefani was in our lounge last season, and through that relationship she's doing uniforms for the [Rande] Gerber bars located in W Hotels," said Jenni Benzaquen, director of public relations for W Hotels, who declined to discuss terms of the deal.

This partnership is another way W gets a return on its sponsorship of Fashion Week and the backstage lounge, now in its tenth season. So far this week, J. Lo and Gossip Girls Blake Lively and Leighton Meester have stopped in, lending their wattage to the W brand.

W already outfits its employees in style, with Michael Kors' designed mix and match separates. And Gerber has his own elite fashion connections as husband of supermodel Cindy Crawford.

By Catherine Curan

Image: Andreea Angelescu/Corbis

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