Francisco Costa

Francisco Costa had been working for Calvin Klein for only a year when he was asked to assume one of the most powerful positions in American fashion: the hand-picked heir apparent to Mr. Klein himself, head designer of womenswear. It was 2003, and Costa was a relative unknown.

Costa was born in Guarani, Brazil, and moved to New York in the early nineties to study English at Hunter College by day and take classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology by night. After graduating from FIT, he logged time on Seventh Avenue, spending five years rising up through the ranks at Oscar de la Renta. In 1998, Tom Ford recruited him to design eveningwear for Gucci, but Costa soon found himself contributing across the board, working alongside Ford on such groundbreaking collections as the Spring 1999 Cher collection.

Following in the footsteps of an icon is never easy, but Costa has earned his share of praise from retailers and the press for forging his own identity within the clean and spare Calvin Klein aesthetic. Adding subtle embellishments like geometric prints, circle motifs, and flashes of patent leather, Costa has attempted to freshen the house's minimalist sensibility without abandoning it. His precision tailoring and attention to the structure of a garment have given his more recent collections an austere, architectural quality.

In both 2006 and 2008, Costa nabbed the CFDA's highly coveted Womenswear Designer of the Year Award, further proving that he is emerging from the shadow of his predecessor.

New beginnings

Nature Reports Climate Change
Published online: 5 May 2010
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Olive Heffernan
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The philosopher Seneca said that every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. On 5 May, once this issue goes live and a little more than three years after its launch, Nature Reports Climate Change will close. In practical terms, that means that the site will no longer be updated, but the archived content will still be freely available online. Although an ending of sorts, the closure of Nature Reports Climate Change is necessary to facilitate what will ultimately be a much larger effort by Nature Publishing Group to cover climate change.

In April 2011, we will launch Nature Climate Change, a full-fledged journal, whose mission will be to publish original research on climate change and its impacts, as well as to place such change in a wider social and political context. This new addition to the Nature family of journals is exciting for a number of reasons. As an interdisciplinary publication, Nature Climate Change will be the first Nature-branded title to publish research from social scientists. This marks an exciting new venture for us, but also a challenge in reaching out to a new community.

In addition to publishing the very best research from the natural and social sciences,Nature Climate Change will take forward the features, commentary, analysis and reviews that Nature Reports Climate Change has become known for over the past three years. Blending high-quality original research and opinion from international experts with unique reporting from renowned journalists, Nature Climate Change will set itself apart from existing climate research journals, enabling it to reach out beyond the confines of academia to decision-makers and other stakeholders.

Although April 2011 is some time away, launching a journal is a protracted process, and already the wheels are in motion to ensure that it happens on schedule. So, as the Editor-in-Chief of the new journal, it is with a mixture of anticipation and relief that I sign off on the last issue of Nature Reports Climate Change. Since its inception, the site has provided a home for engaging content from a host of thought-provoking authors and climate change experts. And Nature Publishing Group has done a wonderful service to society in making this content freely available to all. Nature Reports Climate Change has been the obvious precursor to what will be a bigger, better beast.

Our regular readers can follow the journal's launch on our Climate Feedback blog.Climate Feedback will continue to be a mainstay of discussions on climate science in the world at large, but will also become a vehicle for informing a wider audience of the new insights, analysis and opinion published in the subscription-based journal.

Finally, sincere thanks to those who have followed and contributed to Nature Reports Climate Change since its launch in 2007. We hope that you share our excitement about our new venture, and we welcome your thoughts and suggestions for its evolution.

Anh yêu em

Uruguay-Netherlands preview

The prospect of a Uruguay versus Netherlands semi-final was scarcely mentioned in the long build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, yet these are the teams who meet in the last four on Tuesday evening in Cape Town. Both are there on merit too, as they have performed consistently well from the first day, defended resolutely, and taken their chances efficiently at the other end. The winners go forward to the Final, while the consolation prize for the losers is the third-place play-off.

The game
Uruguay-Netherlands, semi-final, Cape Town, Tuesday 6 July, 20.30 (local time)

After the drama and tension of their penalty shoot-out victory over Ghana in the quarter-finals, Uruguay are in the last four at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 40 years. La Celeste fell 3-1 to eventual winners Brazil at Mexico 1970, and went on to finish fourth. The Netherlands, who staged a remarkable second-half comeback to defeat five-time winners Brazil in the last eight, previously fought through to the semis in 1974, 1978 and 1998.

The teams’ solitary previous meeting at the FIFA World Cup came in the 1974 tournament. Johnny Rep fired a brace as the celebrated Dutch ensemble spearheaded by the great Johan Cruyff won the group stage encounter 2-0. The Uruguay squad that day included defender Pablo Forlan, father of current La Celeste marksman Diego Forlan.

Ahead of Tuesday’s clash, Uruguay boss Oscar Tabarez and Netherlands supremo Bert van Marwijk are both mulling over enforced changes to their winning teams. For the South Americans, Jorge Fucile and Luis Suarez are suspended, and captain Diego Lugano is rated very doubtful with bruising and a stretched knee ligament. Young Nicolas Lodeiro will play no further part in South Africa after breaking a foot. For the Dutch, Van Marwijk is without suspended pair Gregory van der Wiel and Nigel de Jong.

Players to watch
Diego Forlan (URU) v Wesley Sneijder (NED)

Our two players to watch may not cross paths that often on the field of play, but the spotlight still falls on the respective teams’ leading scorers. Forlan shares top spot in the Celeste goalscoring list with Suarez, but the latter can only watch from the stands after his red card against Ghana. The task of piercing the Dutch defence thus falls fairly and squarely to Forlan, now up to 27 goals for his country, and whose four strikes at the current tournament have all come against African sides.

His Netherlands counterpart Sneijder also has four goals, and rates as an equally creative orchestrator of the Oranjes’ versatile forward line. The world already knew all about Sneijder’s flawless technique and visionary passing, but his lethal finishing has taken many people by surprise.

The stat
100 – No-one can fail to be impressed by the Netherlands’ current run of form. Since the start of 2010, Van Marwijk’s men boast a 100 per cent record, with nine wins in nine matches, extending their unbeaten run to 24 games. Uruguay are themselves unbeaten in nine, winning five and drawing two of their seven games in 2010, giving them a win ratio of 77.7 per cent.

What they said
"It will be a very dangerous match. The euphoria at home is massive at the moment and maybe it's good that we're so far away and can't witness it. We really need to concentrate on Uruguay and that won’t be easy. They didn't reach the semi final for nothing, so we have to really focus again and not think that we're already there," Bert Van Marwijk, Netherlands coach.

"Holland are tough opponents. They’ve not lost for almost two years. This generation is a little different to the traditional Holland - they are a very balanced side. At the back they give nothing away, they link well in midfield, and up front, they have hard-running, technically capable players like Van Bommel, Sneijder and Robben. They’re always on the front foot, looking to attack. It’ll be very difficult - but not impossible," Oscar Tabarez, Uruguay coach.

Voice of the fans
"Bert van Marwijk’s analysis is spot on. Euro 2008 showed us the biggest danger for Oranje, which is thinking the World Cup is already won. In fact, they have to win twice more before getting their hands on the cup. Holland need to concentrate totally on their next two games, and then maybe they’ll earn their first star," FIFA.com-User Saitou (Germany)

Have Your Say
The Netherlands have contested the FIFA World Cup Final twice in the past. Will all good things come in threes – at Uruguay’s expense?

Mascherano: We need to focus

Argentina captain Javier Mascherano has defended his national team's decision to arrive early in South Africa for the FIFA World Cup™ finals.

While several other sides are yet to touch down in South Africa, the South American giants are already settled and have been training since 29 May in Pretoria.

"All the madness and anxiety that the World Cup generated in Argentina didn't give us the privacy that we needed. We needed to get away from all that anxiety," said the Liverpool midfielder.

"That is why we believed it was better to arrive here, be together and not only prepare the training sessions but be part of the atmosphere inside the group."

The 25-year-old is delighted with the team spirit within the Argentina camp.

"We could not be any better. We have a fantastic group and everybody shares the same enthusiasm from the first to the 23rd player in the squad."

Argentina have been drawn in Group B alongside Korea Republic, Nigeria and Greece.

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Christina Aguilera: Billboard Cover Girl!

Christina Aguilera continues to show off her thigh-high Christian Louboutin boots on the latest cover of Billboard magazine, on stands May 17.

Amidst comparisons to Lady Gaga, the 29-year-old singer states, “I’m in it for the long haul, and a decade later in my career, I have nothing to prove. To anyone who wants to be negative, it’s like, ‘I’m obviously relevant enough to you for you to care and to talk and to evoke negative feelings inside of you.’ At this point in my career, I’m over any and all weird comparisons or negativity.”

Christina claims making hit songs is not what inspires her: “There was actually a song that the label really wanted me to record, and I just said ‘no,’ because it didn’t fit on the album – it wasn’t creatively inspiring to me. They said, ‘It’s a hit, it’s a hit!’ And absolutely it’s a hit for someone. But it’s not for me, because when it jeopardizes my integrity too much I can’t do it. The hit thing… (sigh) ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ was a f–king hit, you know what I mean?”

Aussie singer, Sia, who is working with Christina is also quoted in the article saying, “Christina could s–t in a bottle and her fans would still love it.”

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