Daria Werbowy gives a rare interview to the Times of London, where she endorses champagne as breakfast, shares that she filmed the Prada movie on her 21st birthday, and says “once on the Burberry runway, I walked into a wall.”
If that’s not enough of a model fix, tear through your March Vogue and find an actual article - not just a photo spread! - on Agyness Deyn, which manages to name check Henry Holland and The MisShapes within the span of two paragraphs.
Q: Why did you resurrect Daria’s cover for iD?
A: Because it’s one of the hottest photos of Daria I’ve ever seen, and I thought it would wake you all up
Not content with crashing the Prada show, PETA made another stunt attempt at Valentino today. ELLE’s Cheryl Locke writes…
There was a protester naked save anti fur slogans painted on her back. She made a valiant attempt getting very close to the photogs before four security guards tackled her. Props to her for making it closer to the stage than all of us.
Cheryl may have been marooned in the tenth row, but her posts - along with the ones by Kate Lanphear, ELLE’s senior fashion editor - are the most insider things we’ve read all season. If you’re like me, you’ll quickly become an ELLE blog addict… and if you’re not like me, you’ll applaud Peta’s relentless protest gags.
The real question is - how did this girl get through Valentino security? We thought buck naked chicks in body paint were only common backstage at Alexander McQueen…
The strangest sight of last night might have been this:
Kanye West nestled in a room full of girls.
He was there to support his fiance, designer Alexis Phifer, as she joined designers from Tibi, Alice + Olivia, and Milly to discuss the demise of little black dresses, and the rise - of course - of their own, as modeled by a handful of adorable tall girls and narrated by Full Frontal Fashion’s Christina Ha.
Among the night’s highlights:
“I didn’t know you were pregnant. I just thought you were on trend!” - Tibi’s Amy Smilovic to Christina Ha, who wore a sack dress from her line.
“I don’t think a dress can ever be too short, as long as you have tights underneath.” - Stacey Bendet of Alice + Olivia
“There is a wrong way to wear my clothes. I’m sorry, but there is!” - Milly’s Michele Smith
“My favorite dress is probably my wedding dress, which I finally just found. I can’t describe for you right now because my fiance is here, and he’s not allowed to know.” - Alexis
It’s rare that America gets something cool before TopShop, but today’s British Vogue gives us an exception: the Brazilian line Totem launches a capsule collection next month, transferring their bold runway prints onto UK hemlines around the country.
The catch?
The real thing is already in America, in the same TopShop price point: Go to Anthropologie and buy this dress straight off their runway for $178 - much cheaper than the Oscar de la Renta dresses of the season which also riff off Marimekko’s prints, and much easier than waiting for your TopShop frock to zip through customs.
Abandoning denim is a little bit like swearing off carbs: it works for a few days, maybe a few weeks, but eventually, you come crawling back. And so, instead of denying the twelve (yes, twelve) pairs of jeans in our closet, we’re simply going to highlight the brands that we see on Kate Moss and not on Lauren Conrad.
Enter Chloe Lonsdale and Made in Heaven, a British brand that began in the ‘70s and recently got resurrected in London. Ms. Moss has surfaced in their jeans, but so has this idea: that denim trends will soon shift territory from California to Britain, and with it, a big chunk of street style inspiration.
Which means that Chloe could be the start of something big…
After launching their street style book last year, Nylon has a new guide to getting chased by trend spotters while you walk: Pretty, The Nylon Book of Beauty, a cosmetic-induced photo book.
Inside you’ll find a list of the greatest beauty products ever, a run down of celebrity beauty icons, and a section devoted to the cult fans of Nylon’s beauty illustrations, those insane pop art renderings of lipstick and mascara that you hung on your walls with scotch tape in college.
The book is available on Amazon; extra eyeliner for you and your boyfriend is sold separately.
Yesterday, Coco Rocha balanced a light shaft on her head while walking in high heel clogs, thanks to Viktor and Rolf’s Fall ‘07 death match show.
But that’s not all - after surviving unscathed (and the same could not be said for V&R’s new collection), Coco opened Gaultier’s Scottish-inspired show with a traditional highland step dance for the audience! Coco has been a step dancer in her native Canada for over ten years; at sixteen she started choreographing professionally, and now:
Riverdance, the Fashion Show.
Somebody email us when her stepping goes on YouTube; meanwhile, see all of Gaultier at Style.com
Come for… This dress made entirely of metro-cards spotted in the window! We thought it was the most amazing and literal translation of urban wear we had ever seen. “It’s about recycling and making art out of garbage!” explained store owner Kate Goldwater who also designed the one of a kind piece.
Stay for… Kate’s reworked and reconstructed vintage pieces. Other offerings include a collection of consignment jewelry and metro-card ties and skirts which, unlike the dress, are actually for sale.
Allowance: Shirts for $20 to $50, dresses and skirts from $45 to $150.
And we care because…?: Kate’s environmentally and socially conscious designs, like this dress, have to be seen to be believed. Plus you have to love a girl who wrote her senior thesis at NYU on art and clothing for social justice. We suggest you get on her good side by bringing your own eco-friendly shopping bag— ten bonus points if it’s made out of maxed-out credit cards…
Paris brings the the cave couture of Vivienne Westwood, who spoke backstage of her cavewoman vision, a girl “who doesn’t know she’s a human being yet.” Vivienne acknowledged the audience’s Flintstone connection with denial - “I don’t watch television!” Which is unfortunate - if she’d seen Betty and Wilma, she could have turned out this sheath dress in electric blue and pale pink, too.
Meanwhile, the initial thoughts for Rick Owens were “Bigfoot Chic,” though once you get past the fur-covered flippers, some of the coats are almost beautiful (maybe really beautiful, with something simple underneath?).
We won’t tell you who’s eliminated on the first episode of Top Model, but we will tell you this:
Their first photo shoot is based on political viewpoints, with one girl trying to model the “life in prison” look and another doing an inspiring shoot on the death penalty. There’s even a pro-choice versus pro-life pose, which is beyond comment.
But the strangest part of the shoot: its set designer seems to be an arts and crafts counselor at camp. How else to explain the painted rainbow hanging above the “gay marriage” models, which looks like something from Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat? This could only be the work of Mr. Jay.
Attention ladies, as now you will be called: there is no room for casual in Dior’s new sight.
There is no place for mess or for slack or shredded starlets in baggy balloons. Instead there is beauty and order - a vivid color palette so tight it could come from a Skittles bag. Swirls and ripples constrained like geometry lessons. Lacquered faces and bound hair; signs that say “do not touch” like the neon talons for nails.
Is this a message for girls like Mischa Barton, who sit front row and dictate fashion’s descent into hot pink thermals and non-washed jeans? Is this a continuation of Marc’s Fall show, where everything got tighter and harder to fake? Or is this just a plea for beauty and order, more political and polite than we’ve seen?
It feels like Galliano is an older father, instructing his daughter on how to behave at a party. And so, we’re already plotting our rebelion: give us that gorgeous gray strapless poof and we’ll wear it with tangled hair, smeared eyeliner, and French Sole ballet flats that less us sprint fast.
DSquared may have sent models down the runway in headphones, but it’s Balmain sharing their DJ duties with French Vogue today.
The label had “fashion DJ” Frederic Sanchez choose their music - he’s helped Marc, Narciso, and Calvin Klein in the past - now his tune selection for Balmain is available on Vogue.fr
For maximum results, open another window on your computer, then click through the Balmain show while listening to the tracks, which are heavy on The Cure. Also, try not to dwell too long on the pictures of Daria, who’s finally back on the runway and might upstage all of her outfits…
Andre Leon Talley got plenty of Oscar exposure this weekend, but his fame isn’t just for the red carpet crowd. Recently, art school student Dana Veraldi made her own Andre homage on a limited edition shirt, dedicated to the Style Faxer and bearing his image on American Apparel cotton.
The shirt is seen modeled by scenester Jordan, and available on the art website Deer Dana until it runs out. Unlike the actual Andre, it comes without leopard print lining, crocodile casting, or kidskin fingerless gloves, but it does carry a measure of devotion and detail that even Mr. Talley could agree is something like luxury. And also, something equally valuable, spoof.
Most reports on the Gap’s new campaign center on Jessica Stam’s enlistment or the fact that nothing can help the clothes.
We’re slightly cheered by some of spring’s slouchy jackets (Chloe runway ripoffs indeed), and we’ve also fallen hard for one of their other ad stars: Nadja Auermann, the ’90s supermodel who used to dominate Vogue with her iced eyes and papercut shoulder blades.
Almost 35 years old (!) and in some cotton khakis, Nadja actually looks relaxed and cool. We love her new vibe and we hope, we hope, we hope she’ll continue her streak in some more campaigns - especially since it seems designers are starting to realize, many women don’t want to look 18 anymore…
Yesterday we asked H&M to follow Barneys and TopShop with some organic fashion. Today, H&M tells us not to worry - starting this week, they’re introducing a line made from organic cotton, with a color palette “inspired by vegetable dyes.” This isn’t the same as using actual veggie dye, but it’s a start.
The adult collection runs from $19.90 - $49.90 and includes jeans and dresses; there’s also a children’s line and a baby line.
As for the actual look, it’s a cute hybrid between Kibbutz Chick and Baby Doll Chick, and brings us to the next question: do all organic clothes need to reference Joni Mitchell? Stella McCartney, aidez-nous!
Vogue’s bid for digital attention gets stronger this season, when the magazine launches a series of podcasts. Available on iTunes, the bite size style segments include an interview with Alexander McQueen, a montage of “Grunge Glamour” outfits, and an Aerin Lauder profile, complete with several makeup plugs.
Are you really so surprised, then, that the podcasts can be accessed primarily at ShopVogue.com? That’s the companion site to the magazine, where many of the clothes in the fashion spreads are up for sale (in normal and model sizes).
From a marketing standpoint, the idea is pretty genius. From a fashion fan view, the podcasts are cool, but a little icy. Maybe they need a narrator to bring a face to the brand?
Marc Jacobs does not see the super-high/super-low idea as a one-off to entice customers. He and his partner, Robert Duffy, are mulling the idea of following… Marc by Marc Jacobs with a third category. And they are not the only ones to believe that to face-off fast fashion, designers could create a new category at an even lower selling point.
Translation? Marc might launch another line, even cheaper than the Marc by Marc collections, in order to compete with mass market brands (and knockoffs). Mark tells Suzy he thinks a third-tier line “can have the integrity of what we do.” Which isn’t to say it can have the cashmere knits and the creamy leather, but still - possibilities.
Flip Side: At a dinner party this summer, Ruffian’s Claude Morais asked the table if mass clothing was “the death of American fashion.” Are younger designers crushed when they can’t (or won’t) produce a cheaper line? Or will Marc 3 continue the trend of erasing “must have” items in favor of personal style?
Come for… A tidy pile of indie fashion favorites: A.P.C. sundresses, Cheap Monday jeans, and Loeffler Randall shoes to match. Plus, the vintage Eiffel Tower sign in front is a Brooklyn Landmark that’s been there for 40 years.
Stay for… The easy laid back vibe of owner Celeste Wright, who left her job as a Steven Alan buyer last year to curate her very own boutique with partner Alec Stuart (No, they are not married. Yes, they finish each other’s sentences.)
Allowance: Jeans for $65, dresses for $150 - $200, flats for $90 and heels for $150 - $250.
And we care because…?: It’s rare a store has an equally great selection for both men and women - besides Opening Ceremony, this is the boutique that gets it right. Plus, sometimes you want a little adventure with your fashion, and the store is nestled in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene, which might be our new favorite neighborhood (so many juice places! so close to Target!).
The Daily has a lip-smacking revenge story of sorts today: PETA apologized to Miuccia Prada for invading her show! They realized her runway fur was faux, and their catwalk storm of her show wasn’t just self righteous, it was actually wrong.
To atone, they sent Miuccia two dozen roses and a note of congratulations on her collection.
But wait.
Don’t roses have rights, too?
Did they deserve to be uprooted from their tender branches just to create a display of beauty for fashion?
And so it goes.
Meanwhile, Peta won’t be all smiles for long - the French shows have started, and texts are trickling in that several mini dresses on the runway are made of mink and fox fur.
Uggs have finally started fading, replaced by motorcycle stompers, horse riding boots, and Wellies lined with extra socks. But in their place comes another vision of slouch: flannel pajama pants in plaids and prints, flapping in the streets.
We’ve seen the pants in Starbucks, at the Angelika Cinema, outside Chanel in Soho, uptown by the Met, and yesterday, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The fashion transgressors wearing them are young (15 - 30), accessorized (a faux Louis, a real Stam, a boy with a Prada duffel), and usually paired with a cropped jacket and huge sunglasses. One blown-out blonde wore hers in Dean & Deluca with a Michael Kors cable knit tunic and - despite the weather - London Sole ballet flats.
The upside: the pants do compliment the Alaskan hunting vibe everyone’s got with their trapper hats.
TopShop’s latest line isn’t by a supermodel or a designer - instead it’s made in collaboration with People Tree, a British label that uses organic cotton and Fair Trade practices with all of their factories and artisans.
The six-piece line has a tunic, a bubble dress, and a geometric print top, all available on the TopShop website starting on February 26.
Meanwhile, Barneys announced today that it plans to feature eco-friendly products in every one of its departments, with Julie Gilhart telling WWD, “This isn’t a trend - a trend is something that dies. This is a movement.”
It starts this month with a new Loomstate for Barneys collection and continues all the way through Christmas, when Simon Doonan stuffs the windows with recycled materials and as much “green” product as Barney’s can allow (plus some organic inspired characters, like Rudolph the Recycled Reindeer, at left).
Our one complaint is similar to our Whole Foods issue: Loomstate clothes are expensive (the cheapest at Barneys will be $120), and not everyone can balance the green in their wallets with the green on the planet. Only when the eco movement becomes affordable will everyone embrace it, so challenge to H&M: Where’s your Free Trade line?
Past seasons of MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen have all been super cheesy, especially on the fashion front - remember the Connecticut boy who called himself a “Divo” and insisted on a “fashion show” at his party? Not okay.
This season, it seems the network - and the kids - have stepped up their game. Last November in Queens, 16-year-old rocker Teyana had a bash where she was clad in custom Heatherette. The designers themselves packaged Teyana for her party’s grand entrance - in a giant plastic doll box - and reworked their 2005 Living Dolls Fashion Show to star the birthday girl instead of Amanda Lepore.
Also on hand? Pharell Williams, who presented the birthday girl on stage and - rumor has it - gave her several pairs of his Louis Vuitton sunglasses as a gift.
Get an eyewitness account of the party at Gurj’s pink explosion, and tune in tonight for the spoiled rotten fun, and click below for some behind-the-scenes photos of the Heatherette team.
Q: Why the Polaroid graphic?
A: It’s Mary Kate Olsen in Heatherette! I flipped when I saw it, and I thought you might, too.
“There is a general feeling that museums across the world are buckling under the pressure of hugely rich designers offering clothes, cash and marketing expertise… Maybe it is time to go back to the historical approach and dare to be didactic, so that museum fashion is less of a designer love fest and more of a learning curve.”
But it also seems that art is seeping far into the style world: there was the Gagosian dinner in LA last week, where Zac Posen and Hedi Slimane crashed into artist Bryce Marden (and Kirsten, and Naomi, and Tory Burch). Art Basel is now a haze of cross promotion and champagne, with Miami boutiques hosting new work in their windows (or their ceilings and floors, depending). And the Citizens Band, a performance art collective helmed by Deitch Gallery, is now muse to Erin Fetherston, Zaldy, Edun, Zac… yeah.
The partnership between fashion and art is nothing new (just ask John Singer Sargeant, whose paintings often set off a dress craze from the rivals of his painting subjects). What might be new is the sponsorship aspect - How much would Campbells have paid Warhol if he’d been working today? - and the shredding lines between what’s beautiful and what’s bought.
The fun part: Suzy wrote another article that ran yesterday in the Trib. It’s called, “Kylie — The Exhibition Draws a Young Crowd to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.”
SEE: your own Jackson Pollock painting come to life.
GET: a shared experience with artist Miltos Manetas, the Athens-born artist whose projects fuse art and technology together.
LOVE: the way when you click the mouse, you can change paint colors - our favorites are lavender, dark gray, and navy blue, which remind us of the Marni show!
As requested, pieces of the Erin Fetherston spread in March’s Paper Magazine.
The story is called “Urban Flowers,” and features Erin’s gang of style icons styled by Leith Clark posing in front of various graffiti murals in the city.
It stars Karen Elson, Zooey Deschanel, Sarah Sophie Flicker, and new additions to the Fetherston posse, Victoria and Vanessa Traina, who love to jump on a stylish bandwagon (especially one that comes with daisy chain headbands). The photography is by Ellen Von Unwerth.
Heads up to the London Set: Henry Holland’s limited edition sneakers are at Dover Street Market this week.
Rumor has it there’s only one pair per size, so you’d better hurry, even if it means sprinting from Shoreditch all the way down the city - if you wear out your shoes, you can always replace them with these once you get there…
One more note: the shoes are designated for men or for women, though if you have a shoe size anywhere in the middle, you could take two sizes up (for boys) or down (for girls) and get whatever color you like - a trick I often use when buying Vans and Converse.
The Times finally prints the explanation for scoff-faced models (like Caroline Trentini, right), and it’s this:
“Smaller guys have to make nice to survive… and high-status women apparently don’t feel the need to smile as much [as low-status women]… The non-smiling faces of the higher status brands are not trying to make the consumer feel bad; they are simply attempting to display the signals associated with higher status… Most folks admire higher status individuals and want to be around them. Thus, the irony is that higher status brands are creating a positive image -– high status—by using a negative signal (lack of a smile).â€?
Note how the scientists don’t discuss a lack of food in the equation, though no doubt, you all still will…
It was easy and sexy and a little bit Kim Basinger from the ’90s.
We were especially struck by Milana Bogolepova, the Russian blonde who looks like a dream version of Donatella.
Casting herself as one of the collection’s muses was probably wise - can anyone under 25 afford a career sheath from Versace? Would anyone under 25 wear one? They’re so severe, but gorgeous.
Reese Witherspoon’s dress by Olivier Theyskens might top the style charts, but Zac Posen’s gown for Gwyneth still wins a contest of sorts. Here’s a raw, unedited, unresearched, slightly mad scorecard for designers, dresses, and the Oscars. Zac, it seems, gets a Mr. Popularity award for two major dresses of the night…
Armani - 2 - Cate Blanchett (four stars - intergalactic); Beyonce (four stars - when your mom stops making your clothes…) Balenciaga - 1 - Nicole Kidman (three stars - rouge encore) Calvin Klein - 1 - Emily Blunt (four stars - is she a new Sienna?) Carmen Marc Valvo - 1 - Queen Latifah (three stars - she looks better than the gown) Carolina Herrera - 1 - Jada Pinkett Smith (three stars - great dress, weird on Jada) Chanel Couture - Kirsten Dunst - (two stars - the hemline…) Christian Lacroix - 1 - Helen Mirren (four stars - regal) Escada - 1 - Naomi Watts (three stars - flouncy) Lily Et Cie - 1 - Celine Dion (four stars - it looked like Versace…) Marchesa - 1 - Jennifer Lopez (four stars - they do have some talent!) Nina Ricci - 1 - Reese Witherspoon (five stars - runway worthy) Oscar de la Renta - 2 - Jennifer Hudson (one star - takes “vamp” too literally); Jessica Biel (four stars - young, hot, and tasteful) Prada - 1 - Meryl Streep (three stars - yeah, we get it) Proenza Schouler - 1 - Maggie Gyllenhaal (four stars - well East Coast girls are hip…) Valentino - 2 - Kate Winslet (four stars - smart, easy); Anne Hathaway (three stars - the big bow…) Vera Wang - 1 - Rachel Weisz (three stars, eh) Versace - 1 - Penelope Cruz (four stars, and yes, it’s the same dress that Carrie Bradshaw wore in France, in a different color) Zac Posen - 2 - Gwyneth (four stars - structure paradise), Portia Dei Rossi (four stars, first lady)
A major fashion publicist told me an interesting story.
“My child is applying for all the high maintenance private schools, and it’s a pain in the ass. They interview her, they interview me, it’s like, really, this isn’t NASA.
In my interview, the first question that the admissions woman asked me was, ‘How do you feel about TV?’ Well, I watch TV all the time. I’m a publicist so partly, it’s my job to see what other people are seeing, but besides that, I’m sorry, I love TV - I know it’s not fashionable, but it’s fascinating. I love it. What I don’t love are these snotty school moms.
So I said, ‘I love TV. I think it’s so important for children to absorb images and storytelling, and also to understand the difference between real and make believe. I think all children should watch some TV.”
The child was accepted to the school, and we went home that night to a marathon of My Gym Teacher is a Monkey. Then we looked at some clothes…
Inside the comic section - yes, it has a comic section - we noticed the prominent placement of a Prada Cell Phone.
We plan to color the drawing with Crayola crayons and hope next time, they feature a Goyard.
Merci, Tyler!
PS - we know we’re obsessed with Fashion Cell Phones lately, and we apologize - if you need something new to be obsessed with while we post another entry, go play at Colette for a few minutes.
To: Faran@Fashionista.com
From: Heather_Catania@condenast.com
Subject: JANE CASTING CALL
I’m casting 50 pairs of breasts for JANE’s “Guide to Boobs”. I am looking for 50 girls who are down to get topless. All colors, shapes, and sizes please! Here are your opportunities:
Shoot dates: March 2, 3, 4 (fri, sat, sun) NYC
You MUST agree to have your naked breasts photographed. You will be shot from the neck down and will not be identified. Some categories I’m really on the hunt for are:
small around, large breasts
small around, small breasts
medium
large around, large breasts
small around, large breasts
Be photographed topless and with your bra on (we’re not sure which we’ll run yet) and tell us in one sentence something about your boobs (why you love them, why you hate them, etc.) Your first name and age will be used. All participants will receive $50.
Editor’s Note: $50 is enough to buy a very nice new bra…
British fans of ELLE can soon buy their own cell phone inspired by the magazine.
The phone comes in sparkly silver, with the magazine’s logo tattooed in purple or gray rubber casing at the top. It can save or send images, email, and texts to all the other fashion addicts on your network.
Presumably, if Vogue ever launches a similar mobile, it’ll be thinner and more sophisticated - but maybe not as fun, because Anne Slowey won’t text you with a food diary and E. Jean Carroll can’t ring you up with advice…
Paper’s March issue stars Milla Jovovich and Carmen Hawk, with a story called “How to Succeed in Fashion - While Really Trying.” The piece has seven gorgeous photographs of the girls in their own clothes, plus an explanation of how the Jovovich Hawk line came into the loght - when Milla was offered an Emporio Armani modeling gig, her contract came with an option to “guest design.” That never panned out, but a new desire to make clothes did.
Meanwhile, author Mickey Boardman plainly reveals that the team had some work to do:
“Both girls were armed with lots of fabulousness and cute taste, but neither had much design experience. (To that, Milla says to Carmen, “Well, you took a class at Parsons.” Carmen responds, laughing: “In printmaking!”)
Compare this article to yesterday’s Times piece on Marchesa questioning whether the label’s success is due to talent or to Harvey Weinstein - the boyfriend of Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman.
And also, there’s this: during Fashion Week, we remember running to the Jovovich-Hawk for Mango presentation. Directly ahead of us was a harried English journalist. “Hello,” she said to the PR girls at the front, “I’m here to see Marchesa… I mean Jovovich Hawke… I’m sorry, which is it?”
Milla’s electric shadow at the back of the room let her know.
Even if Patricia Field doesn’t win the Oscar on Sunday, she’ll still have her hands full with new projects - British Vogue reports that the Sex and the City movie is actually going to happen.
Whether Carrie Bradshaw can still be a style icon remains to be seen - her show ended in 2004, before the rise of Mary Kate, the return of actual Kate, and the influx of suburban women who just had to have Manolos and a Cosmo and a completely inappropriate boyfriend.
Regardless, if the rumor is true, it means a coveted wardrobe trailer is probably in the works - maybe including some dresses from British designer Jenny Packham, whose first Milan catwalk show was styled by Ms. Field.
“For a mere $80, common Web surfers got prime seats for the high-profile Max Azria show during Fashion Week. One source claims he bought tickets to the Feb. 5 show on Craigslist from someone claiming to be “from the show’s set production.” This online salesman then met his buyers “in the front of the tent.” Our source continues, “He took us backstage and took the money from us and let us hang out where all the models were getting ready.” Eventually the online shoppers were seated just four rows back, “directly behind Anna Wintour and her two assistants.” The tent-crasher also claims the Craigslist hawker “did the same for eight other people.” Reps for IMG, who put on the shows at Bryant Park, told Page Six, “This story sounds far-fetched. The access given to any crew person at Fashion Week doesn’t allow them to walk any other person into or around the complex.”
Fashionista called a handful of PR directors, all of whom confessed they’d sneaked at least one person backstage at a show - one source even claimed, “a few years ago, I took five of my friends backstage at [insert huge, glitter-engorged show here] - it was so crazy, nobody even noticed.”
“Yes, I have done it,” admitted another source whose job routinely sends her backstage at fashion shows, “and it is not hard - just don’t give them good seats once they come to the front of house!”
Prada’s plastic strips were echoed with Fendi’s own shiny, shimmying fringe on the runway - and a theory, explained to us by a mass brand designer, on why.
“Those strips are hard to produce cheaply,” she explained, “so it’s an upmarket trend - we probably won’t be able to copy it and neither will anyone like us. If you’ve got it, everyone will know it’s because you went down to Soho with an AmEx Black Card.”
The Paris couture season might be many things, but hurried isn’t one of them. Designers spend weeks on single gowns; models sit in the same makeup chair backstage for hours; shows themselves stretch into the night or the morning.
Because a couture piece is made by hand, it takes some labor time - at least, we thought it did until this weekend, when Texas socialite (and hardcore couture junkie) Becca Cason Thrash showed up at her Dallas party wearing a bejeweled swing jacket from Christian Lacroix’s most recent show.
Days lapsed between the Lacroix runway and the party? Twenty nine - less than a month! Fortunately, Mr. Lacroix didn’t need to Supersize his freshly ordered outfit - Becca looks petite enough (and the jacket looks so boxy), she could steal the sample from the runway and wear it as her own.
It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Gisele’s major runway gigs are Victoria’s Secret and Dolce - both productions are heavy on the boudoir feel that vamps girls up with hairspray, cinched waists, and stompy satin pumps.
But the sex appeal on the Vikki’s Secret runway is juicy, flirty, and flounced; Dolce girls flaunt their sex instead, storming their bodies with leather bodices, eyewear poised between S&M blindfolds and satin sleep masks, rounded hips swathed in lace, rounded breasts shielded with fur. Dolce also clung fast and hard to their leopard print from last season, which is - at least according to Andre Leon Talley, who told us one afternoon in Bergdorf Goodman - their current bestseller.
The show was fun, but we didn’t learn anything new about fashion except this - Gisele still works damn well on a “normal” runway, even if the leopard prints she’s wearing sort of don’t…
Those of you still marooned in the office can watch Ridley Scott’s flick for Prada, which now lives on their website. The movie is based on a poem found by Ridley’s daughter, Jordan, and stars Daria Werbowy in a revolving spread of roles (and outfits, many excavated from the Prada archive just for the project).
For maximum enjoyment, you might want to pull a Baz-Luhrmann-Romeo-and-Juliet maneuver and turn off the sound before watching - the movie is really better as moving art, though it is kind of cool to hear Daria talking instead of just, you know…
Stalked Her: Because the coat reminded us that winter grayness isn’t forever - and neither are the grimy jackets specking streets around the city.
Shot Her: Because the purple tights reminded us of yesterday’s Marni show, and the smile made us psyched.
She Says: “The coat is from Eley Kishimoto. Colorful coats, you just have to watch your shoes. And the bag is from London… I can’t really tell you where!”
Today Disney announced a new initiative: princess bride dresses. Inspired by the Disney heroines who inevitably marry (all of them except Pocahontas, I think…), the gowns are for grown-up women approaching their wedding day. Designer Kirstie Kelly shared her sketches for the line with the Wall Street Journal, and here’s where it gets interesting:
“As Ms. Kelly sees it, Cinderella is “classic glamour” — the dresses in her line come in high-shine satin with ball-gown skirts and make generous use of silver embroidery and crystals. Snow White has a slightly more conservative look dubbed “sweet elegance.” Ariel and Jasmine models are considerably racier. Ariel, who played the title role in “The Little Mermaid,” has a “sultry allure” and is “comfortable showing her body.” Jasmine, from “Aladdin,” is “bohemian chic,” and her various dresses are big on sheath and lace.”
Isn’t it funny that now, we’re given permission to see Ariel and Jasmine as sexy? Cinderella too - Annie Leibowitz recently shot her, in the form of Scarlett Johansson, for an upcoming Disney campaign…
Once I got into the office, I rang TopShop to investigate the Kate Moss Waiting List.
“There’s no such thing,” replied the TopShop manager. “If you want to buy the Kate Moss line, you’ll need to come to the store when it launches on March 1. It will be a regular business day here, as far as I know, and you could try checking for it online as well.”
Then, a pause.
“Oh wait, I’m sorry, I’ve given you the wrong information!”
Aha! There was a wait list, a secret website, something.
“The line doesn’t launch on March 1,” she said. “It’s actually on May 1.”
Well then.
Meanwhile, Preen’s new line just hit their website, and it’s great, but my new crush is this cute navy swing coat at right. It’s about $80 and as far away from Kate’s throwaway style as you can get, which a girl needs, sometimes.
The New York Times has a cryptic quiz online today, a sort of test to answer the big question, “Why are the models scowling?”
Among the answers guessed by readers…
“It cannot possibly be that by smiling, the models think it makes their faces look fatter. Can it?”
“Smiling represent the desire to please, and pleasing is a strategy for social success that smaller, less attractive people use.”
“I’m going to guess that it has something to do with lack of personality.”
“Smiling is a submissive gesture. Haute couture is all about power and exclusivity.”
“THE DESIGNER HAS TOLD THEM, NO SMILE ON THE RUNWAY!”
“The models are scowling because their hungry, thats pretty obvious.”
A note on that last explanation - Virginia Heffernan recently wrote in The Times Magazine on the loss of humor in anorexia patients (actually, it was about how sitcom writers are usually overweight, but that was in there). We genuinely don’t believe most models are anorexic, but during Fashion Week, they are certainly tired and often hungry from working such long hours.
The answer to this mystery won’t appear on the Times site until tomorrow, but at least now we can ponder - again - why the smiling models at Michael Kors looked so odd.
New York magazine thinks the Katherine Bernhardt painting Naomi Campbell Pleads Guilty on Assault is “a bargain” at $4000, where it’s probably already sold at the Armory Show uptown. In its place, we’ve picked some other things you could get for $4000 that are also reminiscent of the vicious supermodel…
26 pairs of Chip & Pepper Jeans, the same ones that made Naomi (allegedly) attack her maid.
5 bejeweled cell phones designed by NYC Peach, to match the one Naomi hurled at another maid.
8 pairs of Vivienne Westwood shoes, just like the ones Naomi wore when she toppled on the runway. Years later on Top Model, Tyra Banks would tell the girls only that “a really famous model fell in these shoes, you guys.”
401 copies of Bob Marley’s Legend featuring the song Is This Love? As all good Campbell fans know, when Naomi was seven, she starred in its music video.
Things I remember from Elise Øverland’s recent presentation: Julia Roitfeld looking perfect. Sally Singer breezing past. Clumps of models in hunks of fur and leather sheaths, catching slivers of sunlight in their hair and on their shiny patent bodices. Me feeling totally uncool.
Things I remember from Elise Øverland’s studio, which I visited last week: Slabs of yellow light in the windows. A crumpling pile of classic records. Illustrations of Mongolian Warriors on the walls. An incredible jacket made of horsehair. Elise sitting calm on a wrecked sofa, talking about her hometown in Norway. Me feeling totally uncool.
But hopeful, thanks to the clothes.
Elise used to make rock star costumes, but her new collection is more exciting than stage wear because it’s real: slide into the leather mini dress, slouch into the horsehair jacket, add the rough hewn boots, and you’re somewhere between a warrior princess and a party queen.
“You won’t want to stay home in the clothes,” explained Elise, “but… I like the idea of a girl being alone, needing to be alone sometimes. These clothes are good for a girl who can be alone, and not really be lonely.”
One effect of intensive exposure to next season’s fashion is…you want the next thing, right now… One thing that’s beginning to activate the spending reflexes is the odd sighting of vivid color. Top of the new, so far, is magenta and its bright-purplish stablemates… Prada’s violet satin pumps have been dangling nonchalantly from the feet of several front-row editors, making them the winners of the directional accessory trophy of the week.
But if you’re not in Milan and can’t race to the Prada store to buy them, here are some other options…
How to get into the David LaChapelle posse, and pose with Pam, Paris, and Amanda Lepore…
1. Come up with a club schtick involving glitter and your bare, glistening body - think back to the Spin Art booths at a carnival and take it from there…
2. Become friends with Kelly Osbourne (this can be accomplished via a mutual tattoo artist).
3. Replace Mariah Carey. Please. Somebody.
4. Show up in Soho tonight to buy his newest publication, Heaven to Hell, and meet the outrageous auteur during his book signing. The Happening is also fun for collectible art freaks, since it’s the first open event to take place in Taschen’s new gallery store. It’s at 107 Greene St. from 6-8 pm. And if you’re not wearing Barbie pink lip gloss, you obviously haven’t gotten the point.
Q: Why is there a picture of Natalie Portman with this story?
A: Because it’s my favorite David LaChapelle photo, and also - I think - my favorite photo of Natalie herself, and I wanted you all to see it…
Flicking through the Marni runway and all I can think of is “rush” - the thrill of something so right and so fun and so out of my budget I’ll scheme to buy it.
Also, the hurry you can almost hear from the clothes - “Are we in the future yet? Are you ready for me yet? Come on, I’m dying to get out and be with you!” It’s like the outfits are Cabbage Patch Kids. You want to pluck them and take them home, and most important, you want to make them a part of you.
It’s exciting, for sure, and it’s also full of friction: the runways this season are rife with debate. One party wants to stay linear, to keep fashion safer and more relatable by pulling refrences from the past. The Gucci runway is a great example of this; everything was wantable but absolutely nothing was new. Meanwhile, the Marni contingent wants to push fashion forward to somewhere newer, scarier, and maybe less believable - would you wear a nylon bubble dress to work? Would your sorority sister from college? Would your mom?
Here’s the fun part: the fight might be happening on the catwalks, but the decision is up to you: whatever you wear this spring, this summer, this fall… that determines the future. As for me, I’m voting for Marni - except for the huge totes, which look like bean bags and could probably fit an entire model inside.
Fashionista received several panicked texts today, telling us the Kate Moss for TopShop line already has a waiting list! Furthermore, retail analysts and/ or teenagers are saying the collection won’t even hit the internet because it will sell out from stores on the very first day. This is especially insane considering nobody’s seen the collection - except for this dress, from the “secret” British Vogue cover for April.
As a survivor of both the Stella McCartney for H&M craziness and the Proenza Schouler for Target insanity, I’m not as optimistic on these predictions as I’d like - Proenza’s blue bustier blouse was available for maybe 3 hours before being snatched up by everyone, and as for Stella’s bubble trenches, I actually saw a magazine editor stripping one off a mannequin.
Tomorrow morning I will call TopShop about the wait list, and then I’ll let you know.
Hilary Alexander’s reports from Milan are whirlwind morsels of new news (Versace seamstresses dispatched to LA!), old news (Kate Moss on the British Vogue cover for Top Shop!), and things that make us laugh too hard. Among that last category is this:
Christopher Bailey may be headed to Vanity Fair’s Oscar party for the first time, but “one definite no-show for the Oscars is American Vogue’s editor in chief, Anna Wintour.
�No way. I’m off to London to see Equus,� she told me. Asked about the controversial nude scene by Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe – currently Heat magazine’s ‘Torso of the Week’ – Ms Wintour smiled and said:�I’m ready!�.
Yes, but is Harry Potter ready for Anna?
Meanwhile, Women’s Wear Daily had a piece today called The Power of Anna - we assumed it was about the Vogue commandeuse and clicked, totally disappointed to discover it was actually about Anna Nicole Smith.
And finally, in vaguely Wintorian news, will Meryl Streep wear Prada to the Oscars?
Milan is the only big fashion city so far to adopt official model regulations: According to the Italian goverment, models must have a BMI of 18 - 22 in order to work on the catwalks. Rumors have swirled about girls bulking up - even curvy Gisele gained a reported fifteen pounds for her Dolce & Gabbana cameo.
What’s odd is the rules don’t seem to match the models. Snejana The Svelte sat out New York because of the controversy, but now she’s back at the biggest shows - Prada, Jil Sander, Burberry - and she looks envious (read: so thin). But Snejana’s not the thinnest; that honor may go to Vlada Roslyakova. Vlada’s elegant face is exquisite, but it’s hard to focus on it when her neck is gnarled in bones and little hairs stand on end from her legs (observe this photo at Just Cavalli - killer outfit, amazing face, but oh).
Fashionista does not believe that “real girls” should be on a high fashion runway - far from it. In fact, Fashionista is obsessed and in love with models, and yes, we often wish we could be one, had been one, anything that could get us on a Henry Holland shirt.
We just want to know - why do the models in Milan look thinner and sharper than ever?
Dear Scott, please shoot a new Limited ad campaign, featuring your wife’s designs and real (gorgeous) women on the street wearing them. It will be a smash; it will make The Limited relevant to the fashion world again… and who knows? Maybe after such a project, Phoebe Philo will jump ship from The Gap and come sketch peasant blouses for you guys - publicly, of course.
The list of designers with cell phones just got longer: Italian virtuoso Giambattista Valli will get his own roaming signal at Paris Fashion Week, thanks to Nokia.
Mr. Valli follows Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Diane Von Furstenberg, Betsey Johnson, and Baby Phat in designing a new phone and accessories. The phone comes in black or ivory, with a satin bow-sewn case and a silver skull charm to dangle from the antenna. It debuts before the Valli show in Paris, and will retail for about $300 in Europe (and eventually, of course, here).
For years, tech companies have been calling cell phones an “accessory,” but the explosion of designer mobiles might actually make it true - do you think teen girls will swap cell phones to match their outfits, the way grown women do with handbags?
A more important question: Does the Valli phone come with a camera? Because we fully expect whomever gets it to snap photos of the Valli show for us…
Unfortunately, some little boys still get teased because of their fashion obsessions. They are called “pansy,” “wimp,” and other names best left for British cigarettes. Those boys just need to open Page Six to see that even fashion boys have raging tempers, incurable violent streaks, and amazing accuracy when throwing a punch.
The Post reports today that “former AsFour fashion designer Kai Kuhne… went on a nasty and destructive rampage after his credit card was rejected.”
We have never seen Kai this - and we have seen Kai many, many times - but we have heard it known to happen. We also remember during Fashion Week, when Kai peered at us with a tiny flashlight and insisted in looking in our eyes “for pollution.” He found it in my mascara and began wiping it away with a crumpled tissue. It was odd.
Everyone’s already talked about how Prada’s challenging show looks like an ecological statement - the Styrofoam chairs, the plastic strip dresses, the fuzz - but nobody’s really addressed this: the girls themselves looked like trees. The coats were cut longer, thicker, no waist. The colors were mossy and barky, (looking like bark especially was the crinkled brown silk of the skirts).
The models themselves looked planted within their outfits, stemming out of their two-tone leggings (insanely cool and sure to be splashed in every magazine, then copied by Club Monaco - although technically, they might actually be leg warmers).
Some of the outfits looked decidedly space age, especially the plastic dresses and the Creamsicle colored suit worn by Jess Stam. But it was a friendly, Ewok kind of space age - not the shiny black coldness of Carine’s Alaia coat or the bright white space odyssey of Husein Chalayan and Narciso. In Miuccia’s world, the future brings harmony, and a fusion of the natural elements with the ultra modern ones. It’s a less threatening vision, and that might make it more easy to sell.
Anyway, maybe the real coolness of the Prada show is that it actually happened twice - anyone who watched the fuzzy boys march down the Prada Man runway last month got a major sneak preview of what Ms. Miu Miu had envisioned - it was like the Marie Antoinette movie trailer that everyone watched over and over again for clues last year…
(see the whole show at Style.com)
The custom sneaker game just got a notch more elusive thanks to Puma. After pairing with Alexander McQueen, Christy Turlington, and Phillipe Starck, the brand pairs with Central St. Martin’s - the school that spit out Galliano, McQueen, and Stella McCartney - for a redesign contest that challenges students to redesign old Puma favorites.
The winner - Georgy Baratashvili, whose work you can see at left - gets his shoes displayed in the windows of Harrod’s this March, where British hooligans can steal them and sell them on eBay for us, the disconnected Americans.
Until then, we’ll have to ponder this mystery - why is everyone running around Soho in gold Adidas sneakers?
Very intrigued by this job posting on Mediabistro:
“If you love all things Fashion and are desperate to break into this glamorous world then Go Go Luckey Productions (producers of Laguna Beach) are offering the fashion newbie the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to work as an assistant at a major fashion magazine as part of a documentary television series.
If you are 21-28, outgoing, ambitious and passionate about all aspects of the fashion industry and need that big break…we’d like to hear from you.
YOU MUST BE AVAILABLE TO SHOOT THE PILOT MARCH 19-20 IN NYC and the SERIES JUNE-JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER.
Compensation and housing will be provided. We will relocate someone from the West Coast if you turn out to be the perfect person for the project.
Please send a fun description of yourself along with a recent photo ASAP to: subs@barbarabarnacasting.com. No attachments; all info should be in the body of the email.
Please do not refer us to your MySpace page.”
Does this mean The Hills is moving to New York next season? Or is reality TV getting another show about the “glamourous world” of fashion? Please, somebody apply for this, then email us with details.
Infinitely more important and exciting, of course, is what the Prada clothes he was protesting actually look like, but you’ll have to wait on that one until tomorrow…
Q: Why is there a picture of Gemma Ward’s old Prada ad with this story?
A: No reason, it’s just incredibly beautiful and perfectly styled, and I wanted you all to see it…
Claiming a coat can save American fashion may be a bit dramatic, but that’s exactly what Slate did when it heralded Anne Klein’s stadium coat - designed by new director Isabel Toledo - as the new potential of American sportswear.
We think there are several other coats from New York Fashion Week showing that American style may not be in need of saving after all…
Now Booth Moore, the fashion editor of the L.A. Times, explores her own obsession with the Prada turban, musing, “Maybe then I’d get my photo taken in the front row like all the masthead queens.”
The fun part: this fashion week, a young writer wondered aloud - maybe to me, maybe to herself - if she should try to get a job at a newspaper instead of at her glossy magazine. “Maybe then I wouldn’t have to borrow my sister’s Marc bag just to go to work. Maybe I’d even get some credibility,” she smiled, “like Booth Moore.”
First Lily Cole brings her Anya Hindmarch tote - the one that screams “I am not a plastic bag” - to the Tents last month.
Now Sarah Mower (she of the sublime and scathing Style.com reviews) writes a two page manifesto, urging British women to stop accepting plastic bags when they shop for clothes, carrying a cloth bag instead. Sarah’s teamed with the London Telegraph and illustrator David Downton to create her own reusable bag for shopping - alas it’s available only in England, and anyway, is that really as chic as it comes?
The Wall Street Journal blogs today that Milan’s front rows are lacking the usual burst of Cate, Kate, and Leo. Here’s a fun excerpt of their point:
“Another local Italian actress, Martina Colombari, pushed past to get inside the show as people in the crowd wondered who she thought she was — and who she actually was.”
The WSJ blames the imminent Oscar season, saying no celebrity can stretch to Italy and back to LA in time to erase their under eye circles. We can’t help but wonder if it’s something bigger, a trend that started in Manhattan this month with stars skipping shows because they’re too big a hassle. As Rachel Zoe told WWD:
“The paparazzi have become so aggressive that a star can’t walk four steps to her seat without cameras going off. The celebrities could be thinking, ‘Why should I go through that?’ while the designers think, ‘Why should I disrupt my show?’”
Of course, celebs are used to constant flashes and tabloid craziness, but Fashion Week can get a bit insane - the image at left is a photo I took last season, when I sat a seat away from Hilary Duff at the Zaldy show. Those are the photographers that hovered around her chair.
Last week in London, Marc Jacobs drew a crowd and Gareth Pugh drew applause, but perhaps the real breakout star wasn’t a designer - it was a website, called Dirty Dirty Dancing and skyrocketing, somehow, onto everyone’s bookmarked pages.
The concept of the site is easy - photographer Alastair Alan goes to fashion parties, takes unposed photos of the general mayhem, then hits “post.”
Addictive, absolutely, but also familiar: Nearly three years ago, L.A. photographer Mark Hunter launched Polaroid Scene, which later became The Cobra Snake, which later became humongous. Along with its New York counterpart, Last Night’s Party, the site set off a voyeuristic sensation - anyone in the right place at the right time could be snapped, could be posted, could be famous (in fact one girl, Cory Kennedy, did get famous, landing columns in Paper and Nylon just for the reckless beauty she blipped on screen).
Is Dirty Dirty Dancing the latest in the trend? Sure, but with name checks last week on Style.com and French Vogue’s website, it’s also something bigger: a shift in fashion obsession from LA street style to the closets of London kids (and we will be discussing this a lot, in different ways, this week).
The good news? London’s street style is more interesting, and Nicole Richie’s huge-t-shirt-and-heart-earrings-style may fade from the big fashion books. The bad news? It’s a long wait until Top Shop opens on our soil.
Also, an observation: it seems Mark is technically a more skilled photographer, or at least a more dynamic one…
Uniqlo is often called “the Japanese H&M,” but today they announced a project that might make them “the Fashion Red Cross.” Starting in March, you can drop off old or unused clothing at any Uniqlo store, and it will be shipped to refugee camps in Thailand and Nepal.
Right now, the program is slated to only happen in Japan, but Fashionista thinks this is a great idea, and encourages those running the New York store to initiate a similar program here. Meanwhile, you can donate your old clothes to Dress for Success, the Salvation Army, or the Multiple Sclorosis Association of America.
In other Uniqlo news, casting directors finalize their choices for the next campaign faces this week - in the running to join Jessica Joffe and Paz de la Huerta are a very cute DJ, an underage Californian, and a former blonde model, all of whom could end up on the side of a bus, Carrie Bradshaw style, within six months.
Fashionista received word last night that Tinsley Mortimer is heading to Los Angeles for the Academy Awards.
We predict she’ll appear at Teddy’s, Hyde, Fred Segal, Toast, and also Diane Von Furstenberg’s annual Oscar picnic (where her sister in law, Minnie Mortimer, met her future husband, Stephen Gaghan, last year).
What could also happen in LA?
Tinsley’s handbag line for Samantha Thavasa could get some red carpet mileage, and Tinsley herself might get “discovered” - rumor has it that director Whit Stillman is a fan of the Virginia native, and other industry types are sure to fall hard for the blonde from the Left Coast. But will all-out Tinsley Mania spread from The Daily to US Weekly?
Hours before Burberry Prorsum’s fall show, Peta protesters stormed the Milan boutique, throwing buckets of red paint on the windows.
Burberry’s rebuttal? A runway full of dark magic, maille references, and warrior princesses that met the future halfway with the medieval. There were no reds on their runway yesterday, but the message from Christopher Bailey was clear: this means war.
The battles were many - Burberry’s trench-heavy heritage vs. Burberry’s bubble-swoosh future. Fair weather party girls vs. stormy, storming women at work. Even the fabrics seemed to fight with each other: a print medley at the show’s end had Julia Stegner in a silk camo print - except up close, the camo turned out to be flowers, and coats on the runway resembled Carine Roitfeld’s winning Alaïa jacket.
Burberry’s fashion crusade even hit the headlines: Mr. Bailey’s chosen models were so skinny, some threatened to disappear into their enormous lapels, and back in action was Snejana, the model who sat out the New York season after being targeted - over and over again - as a danger to women’s health, thanks to her visible bones. She may have lost the battle to walk in Marc and Oscar, but at least on the Milan catwalks (D&G and Pringle, besides Burberry) she appears to be winning her war.
Sifting through the Barney’s Warehouse Sale on Sunday and saw this protruding from a rack like model vertabrae: Narciso Rodriguez’ finale dress from his Spring ‘06 collection.
Good news: It was in beautiful shape and a reasonable size four. It looked just as amazing on a scratched plastic hanger as it did on the model. It felt shiny, swishy, and right.
Bad news: Marked down, the dress still cost $800, which I couldn’t bring myself to spend.
Still, if you view clothes as investment pieces - and you trust yourself to stay a size four for the next ten years - go rescue it from the 18th St. warehouse. Then send a photo of the dress in its adopted homeland, your closet.
Total minutes it took to make our own (admittedly juvenile, and merely inspired) version: 4.
Here goes…
You’ll need: Plastic bangle bracelets in a solid color (we found ours at Forever 21).
Two Sharpie paint pens, oil-based. One should be medium tipped and one should be fine tipped.
Clear nail polish.
A soft pencil.
Step one: Choose the song lyric/ movie quote/ designer initials you want on the bangle. With your pencil, lightly write the lyric onto the bracelet for spacing. Adjust until the whole quote fits perfectly.
Step two: Shake your Sharpie pens until the paint is free flowing. Write your script around the bangle, being careful not to smudge.
Step three: Wait five minutes for the paint to dry. Coat the script in clear nail polish to protect it from chipping.
Step four: Impress Gwyneth with the Coldplay lyric you’re wearing at Beatrice; avoid subway boredom by reading your own wrists; trendset as usual.
Fashionista is closed for Presidents Day. We celebrate by dressing like Jackie O. The site will be back tomorrow.
Ruth La Ferla’s article on model tastemakers was strangely prescient: 24 hours after it ran in The New York Times, Selma Blair appeared at the Marc by Marc Jacobs show in London, looking less punk and Edie-inspired as the tabloids described and much more like Agyness Deyn, the featured model in the story.
Has the style world had a Deyn O.D., or is she just the right face at the right time?
We like to think there’s a reason Agyness is famous besides her magic DNA - as you see from her Style.com strip, she doesn’t take the fashion world too seriously, setting something of an example for high school goofballs (and girls with pixie cuts) everywhere.
Her example even extends - apparently - to Hollywood stars…
Who: David Lauren and Lauren Bush
Where: Airbound for Aspen - sitting in the economy section of their plane.
When: This morning.
Why: Because even Aspen is warmer than NYC right now.
And We Love It: Because despite David’s Senior Vice President status and Lauren’s family allegiances, the couple flew pleb style wearing sweats, flannel, and Ralph Lauren thermal jackets.
In the words of our fashion editor source, “they are very snowbound looking.”
New York Magazine’s upcoming spring fashion issue stars Claire Danes, Liev Schreiber, and a very novel theme: food.
We’re dying to see how Harriett Mays Powell works the epicurean feel into her cover shoot with Claire, whose figure is admittedly wispy (though she is a dancer, after all).
But maybe the juiciest tidbit in the magazine won’t be the food - Amy Larocca’s fashion news piece asks “What happened to Jeffrey Sebelia?” and takes an inside look at the Project Runway winner’s path. Sounds
tasty.
The ELLE style awards may have brought Penelope Cruz out to play, but this may have been the biggest news:” Harvey Weinstein spent much of the evening trying to persuade Stella McCartney to make a film about her life.”
Of course, Harvey often gets what he wants, and a film based on Stella McCartney (however fictionalized) would be great fun. It would also fall into this new pantheon of “fashion flicks,” movies that seem to exist purely for girls between the ages of 15 - 30, second tier designers, socialites, and Teen Vogue.
Witness Marie Antoinette, Factory Girl, The Devil Wears Prada.
Now comes the fun part: if Stella McCartney’s life did become a movie, who should play the former Chloe head on film?
Our picks: Gwyneth Paltrow, since she’s her best friend anyway; Kate Winslet, since she can play anyone; Emily Blunt, since she looks great in slim-waisted silk jackets; Liv Tyler, since she’s a rock star’s daughter too, and also: we love her.
Got Him: At the Maurice Villency store on 58th St., Midtown
Stalked Him: Actually, the founder of Purple Magazine snatched US away from our party companions because he liked our mini skirt!
Shot Him: Because he said “why are you not taking my picture?” And because we love a man who mashes prints together.
He Says: “The jeans are very old Helmut Lang, and the shirt is Prada… I like that when I go to parties, everyone can tell I’m not American. American men don’t dress like this.”
Britney may not get a new Puma/ Heatherette/ Hearst bag, but maybe she’ll get something better - a Judy Garland gown from Heatherette’s Fall ‘07 line.
We remember seeing the photo-screened frocks in Heatherette’s Fall show. Now here they are on Total Request Live, looking glittery and gorgeous and rather like Alber Elbaz’s most recent dresses for Lanvin!
While Gemma Ward and Irina wore the clothes last season in Paris, they do seem to work better on the Heatherette crowd, who can appreciate the pop culture references and plastic-fantastic fifteen minutes that accompany them down the runway (or to a party).
In that vein: Heatherette’s getting some major attention from MTV lately - besides yesterday’s TRL appearance, they also shot an episode of My Super Sweet Sixteen in Queens, modeling the party’s theme after their Fall ‘05 collection, Living Dolls.
Nathan’s boots are slightly lower with a chunkier black heel, almost like very puffy loafers, but you get the idea - Nathan’s girl doesn’t care about a head-to-toe outfit; she’s much more interested in storming parties and stomping streets in a slight huff. Of course we love it, but we do have to wonder - does he want Lily Allen to design a capsule collection, too?
Gareth Pugh continues to astound this season with his collection of cyborg warrior princesses, half Princess Eowyn and half Princess Leah.
I’m not sure how the pieces will break down on actual women, but they’re fun to watch and fascinating when they catch the light.
We should note that these photos come straight from a London laptop - scenester photographer Diamond Rodgers took a momentary break from shooting Radiohead and raves to make a rare catwalk set for us.
Huge thanks to him for the images, and to Gareth for this blue coat that we want, we want, we want…
Project Runway sweetie Michael Knight has changed his name to Mychael and gotten a new gig: he’s designing tees for Starbucks, and doing a coffee national tour. Look for him today in Seattle, then next week in LA, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta.
We can’t forget last season’s finale, when Walmart buyers appeared in the front row and told Heidi they were smitten with Mr. Knight. The store does seem like a perfect home for his future collections - especially if they’re as derivatively disco (read: shiny. short. gold.) as his final collection for the show.
Open one can of Campbell’s creamy tomato soup. Okay, we opened one box of Whole Foods’ organic creamy tomato soup because we read Silent Spring in 7th grade and now we fear American produce.
Pour into an antique crystal goblet from your great aunt’s house in Queens.
Sprinkle Trader Joe’s shredded Mexican blend cheese on top.
Microwave for two minutes. Ignore the warnings that you can’t microwave an antique crystal goblet. You can. You can also use it as an ashtray, or a weapon if a boy breaks up with you in your bedroom.
Take goblet out of microwave. Open bag of Kettle Chips, Hickory Honey Barbecue Flavor.
Dispense chips into soup. Crush with spoon.
Eat wearing too much eyeliner, while looking at coffee table books about Alexander Calder. Photographs of your ex boyfriend could also work.
Fall asleep on your couch. Whatever you do, do not take off the extra eyeliner - it will look incredible in the morning.
The first snapshots from Gareth Pugh are finally posted, and with them comes this weird word association: shower curtain, King Tut, rave, horror movie.
The last one is interesting because anytime I see a Gareth show, I think about a book by the theatre director Anne Bogart called Viewpoints. Bear with me here, because I think this is important: the first chapter of Anne’s book talks about how theatre is the only safe space in which to scare people, and she thinks that provoking fear in people is one way to get them to think, reevaluate, and eventually, change. Anne thinks the theatre’s responsibility is to scare the shit out of its audience in a safe, beautiful, productive way.
Gareth Pugh used to be a costume designer for London’s National Youth Theatre, and his designs are… well, they’re definitely scary, in that Dark Crysytal / Labyrinth kind of way.
So now here’s the question: when you experience a Gareth Pugh creation, what are you thinking?
Whispered to me on Fashion Week at 7 am: “More straight guys should get into fashion - they don’t know the girls they’re missing.”
Whispered to me last night - on Valentine’s Day - at 7 pm: “We’re fashion girls, we can’t think about dates - let’s just start drinking.”
And so began the Hollywould Lonely Hearts Club party, starring Jose Cuervo, Stella Artois, and about 50 pairs of $500 shoes, all crammed into Holly Dunlap’s Soho boutique. As Paul Sevigny played Brown Eyed Girl, various shades of misbehavior dotted the store - there were socialite keg stands, indoor snowball fights, and one memorable moment of stiletto shoplifting.
But what I remember is when Men’s Vogue’s Hud Morgan took a quick glance around, then asked Holly, “Do you think I could meet my wife at this thing?” The whole room laughed, though the girls continued scanning the room - the boys may have been elusive, but the shoes were up for grabs.
Someone left a comment on Cathy Horyn’s blog today that they were “desperately waiting” for the Giles show. I’m a Gareth Pugh girl myself, but I’ll admit that I’m anxiously pacing for Mr. Deacon’s clothes as well.
If you’re equally hungry for your next London fashion fix, I have some very nice news: Swarovski is streaming some of London’s shows live on the internet, and today’s Giles spectacle just happens to be one of them.
Tune into the action by clicking here - the show is set to start at 7 pm in London, which means you should sit in front of your computer around 2 pm if you’re in New York; 1 pm in Texas; and 11 am in California (apologies, Los Angeles, but perhaps you can watch it over brunch).
From what I hear, though, the Americans won’t be the only ones who have to tune in through their iBooks - a last minute venue change for Giles means there are less seats at his show, and some people are actually getting uninvited to his presentation. Yikes.
And one more thing: there’s something of a holy Trinity happening today in London: Gareth shows at 5 pm, Nathan Jenden (alias Diane Von Furstenberg’s right hand man) goes next, and then Giles. That’s like folding Proenza, Marc, and Zac into a three hour span. Really, I can’t wait.
The big rule in my apartment: don’t wake anyone up before 7 am, unless it’s to say “get out of bed, our building’s on fire,â€? or “I’m pregnant…I think.â€?
Since my roommate Kate said none of those things when she burst into my room at 6:15 am, I should have slapped her. But I didn’t, because of what she whispered: “Barneys Warehouse Sale.”
Anddd I’m up.
By the time we got downtown, it was 7:30 and the doors opened at 8. We weren’t the first ones on line - those people had camped out, American Idol style - but we got a good spot by the door. The air was frigid and the spirit was of excitement, fear, and anticipation - not unlike what one might experience in a hostage situation. We quickly bonded with those around us. The girl behind us confessed she’d sneaked out of the apartment this morning because her boyfriend had given her a lecture: not to spend her entire bonus “on shoes…like last year� (boyfriends: sweet and blissfully uninformed, all at the same time).
In front, there were instructions being given out: “Listen, if you see something you like, for god’s sake, take it and run. There are no second chances at the Barneys Warehouse Sale.” Thanks, Simon!
Not only does Sophie seem genuinely happy with her sister’s top model status, she also relates some adorable childhood tidbits, including a story about writing letters to Gemma in the family car during a road trip. It’s almost unbelievably sweet, and also strangely absorbing.
As for Sophie’s look, it’s strong enough to get her a Levis campaign in Australia and the accolades of Mario Testino - is she next on a casting director’s board, or will she be the Savannah to her sister’s Sienna and go behind the scenes?
Is Teen Vogue intern Emily Weiss pleased with her appearance on The Hills? Only the fashion closet knows, but it seems the rest of New York - and probably LA, too - is now totally obsessed with her.
For the record, we were totally obsessed with her last year, when she admitted that Teen Vogue girls love Doritos. Our obsession is rekindled today by this piece on Teen Vogue’s amazing new website, showing Emily’s chosen office outfit: a Marni dress over a Marc by Marc turtleneck.
The irony? Senior Teen Vogue editors like Joanna Hillman and Eva Chen confess their favorite stores are H&M and Topshop. And it’s true, Emily would look incredible in a Forever 21 minidress, but where’s the fun in that?
Lily Allen’s appearance at Chanel last season may have mixed up her fans, the fashion press, and us (we’re both): Lily’s not starring Chanel’s new ad campaign; she’s starring in her own ad campaign for a future New Look collection!
WWD reported the story this morning: Lily will work with New Look designers on a capsule line of clothes; Ellen Von Unwerth just shot the ads; Karl Lagerfeld is not involved.
As for the actual clothes, we expect a lot of prom dresses, some tiaras, some filthy sneakers, and - please, please, please - gorgeously cheesy hoop earrings, painted gold and bent into the shape of hearts. Unlike Christopher Kane’s line for Top Shop, you can’t buy it online, so let this be a plea:
Opening Ceremony, please import some Lily for New Look to your store!
Fashionista will have a full report on the goods later today, but if you have anything to share, leave it in the comments section. Bonus points if you email camera phone pics of your Miu Miu shoe scuffle with your former best friend: tips@fashionista.com.
Wallpaper’s new cover has Hussein Chalayan’s animatronic dress - shift the paper up and down, and the dress actually opens and closes, just like it did on the runway. The effect is similar to an issue of Visionaire magazine from last year, when Karl Lagerfeld made a moving image for Cecelia Dean - of course in that one, the dress wasn’t a robot.
Lindsay Ellingson wears the Hussein dress, but another model has a curious connection to Wallpaper - her father Matthew photographed one of their spreads in December of 2003.
Freshly dumped photos from the runway reveal Basso & Brooke’s latest obsession is the future - check out the digitized print on that dress, and about ten more from their new collection. This small detail is more significant than it seems because of this strange fact:
Bruno Basso, Chris Brooke, and the swirly troupe of party kids who illustrate their fabric and style their clothes are London club royalty, in the same vein as Gareth Pugh and his glittery tribe (this is Namalee Bowles, a B&B muse and stylist; this is Katie Shillington, Gareth’s muse who works at Dazed and Confused ).
If the label has latched onto futurism for the runway, you can bet you’ll see the trend in the clubs, and the streets, and the stages, and the music videos of all the underground kids in London. And that’s more valuable than the millions of dollars in sales that Basso will probably do in Russia and Italy this year, because it’s fashion come to life.
Catstalker: Like Gawker Stalker, without the Hartnett - unless, of course, he’s shopping with Scarlett J…
Who: Kirsten Dunst and Fabrizio Moretti (or a tres convincing lookalike)…
Where: The New York Studio School, 8th St. and Fifth Avenue
When: Alas, it was during Fashion Week, when we hoped to see her in the Tents!
Why: Rumor has it Ms. Dunst is using her downtime before promoting Spider Man to take some art classes and bond with a certain new boy (see above).
And We Love It: Because we know if Kirsten had gone to our high school instead of gone to Hollywood, she would have been the artsy girl who got the giggles in the museum, baked brownies with her best friend for the senior class painting show, and drawn on her white Converse with Sharpie during calculus. Also, visions of oil paint streaks on her Stam bag… a new trend waiting to happen, you just wait.
(Do you have a Catstalker moment? Email tips@fashionista.com to tell.)
Fashion obsessives around the globe are already aching for a new issue of Lula, the magazine founded by Vogue princess Leith Clark, and subtitled “Girl Of Our Dreams.” While the glossy won’t hit shelves until March 9th, London style elite got a sneak preview last night at the Cobden Club in London.
Sadie Frost, Zandra Rhodes, and scores of stylists in skinny white pants turned out for the party, fueled by champagne and cupcakes, plus a midnight screening of a new flick with Sarah Sophie Flicker and Zooey Deschanel.
Though our Lula copy is currently getting flown across the ocean, we do have a few preview snippets thanks to our spies…
At least one spread was inspired by cupcakes, which makes us think of Paper Magazine’s new Fashion Food Feature.
For one story, the Lula Girls were sent scouring for vintage tap shoes, and photos of girls in their favorite dance outfits.
Look for Valentine Fillor Courdier, the perennial face of Lula, to grace the pages again this season…
Now all we need is an advance of Lindsay Lohan’s new Pop cover, shot by Mert & Marcus and sadly not yet leaked, and we will be full of glossy London gorgeousness.
Bad idea for Fall ‘07: Proclaiming you will “bring sexy back,” then giving us a runway of miniskirts, black tights, and girls who can’t walk in their shoes. You know who you are.
Good Idea for Fall ‘07: Saying relatively little, then introducing tie dye on your runway.
It’s cool for a few reasons - there’s a practical element in dip-dyed fabric, where the actual shape of your figure isn’t so important.
Maybe more exciting is the subversion: tie dye goes two places, a Grateful Dead concert or a preschool art class. In fact, I still have the tie dye t-shirt I made when I was four. Turning the treatment into something so luxe brings wit to clothes in a realistic way - unlike the laugh out loud outfits of Jeremy Scott, or even Gareth Pugh.
The tie dye revival began on Miuccia Prada’s Fall ‘04 runways, then hit Vera Wang’s evening gowns in Fall ‘06. This season, we’ve already got two contenders: Oprah’s favorite cutie, Adam Lippes (of Adam + Eve fame, left) and British designer Amanda Wakely (right).
*They are made of fossilized mammoth ivory, which you can also see in the Museum of Natural History
*They are inspired by the scrimshaw tradition of 19th Century sailors; instead of Biblical verses or women’s names, Jessica has inscribed her own bracelets with movie quotes and graffiti.
*Hilary Duff likes them
*They are about $800 each at Barneys, which means…
*We will be doing a DIY story inspired by the bracelets very soon. Stay tuned.
NYLON TV trades their loopy correspondent Tracy for Amber Tamblyn - watch her magic as she crashes backstage at Anna Sui, and almost knocks into Jessica Stam!
Today marks the official launch of IQONS, a website designed as a “Fashion MySpace.” Along with info about themselves, members can upload their portfolios onto the site, so clothing designers, art directors, photographers, models, stylists, and even writers can showcase their stuff to their peers.
IQONS also comes with some virtual mentors, called Iqonographers. Each month, the Iqonographer will click through the site and choose some members to critique, advise, and maybe even hire. In March, the Iqonographer is Vivienne Westwood. In April, it’s Lanvin creative director Alber Elbaz. And in May, everyone’s going to have a virtual heart attack, because it’s John Galliano surfing the site for new talent.
Still, the cyber world is still quite fickle, and whether IQON replaces MySpace for fashion kids remains to be seen - as does the quality of actual talent on its pages. To explore it yourself, click here to join the clique, and then become our friend - obviously, it’s mandatory that you report any contact with Galliano, even the virtual kind…
The lovely Eleanor Ylvisaker sent us an Earnest Sewn press release about her busy Fashion Week. Besides booking it to several shows, Eleanor kept famous booties all over New York covered in her premium denim. Among the fans she mentioned in her memo…
Julianne Moore (tapered gray)… Ashley Olsen (slim Harlan 18)… Heidi Klum (slim leg)… Zac Posen (the Fulton)… Jessica Stam (the LC)… and Derek Blasberg, who wore his Rotten 71 jeans while blogging for Jane.
Do fashion editors follow Derek’s style choices? Would the Sex Pistols approve of $250 jeans named in their honor? When will Fabiola get some denim named after her?
After nearly two months, the infamous Times article, “Questions A Couple Should Ask Before Marrying,” is still one of the paper’s most emailed stories.
Though its queries, including “do you want children” and “how shall we handle finances,” are certainly important, Fashionista wonders if there are more pressing matters for those friends and lovers whose relationship revolves around frequent trips to Jeffrey. Questions like…
1) Are we going uptown or downtown?
2) Do we have time for me to try stuff on?
3) Will you come into the dressing room with me, or do I have to do the run-out-grab-you-drag-you-to-the-mirror dance that always happens in Intermix?
4) Will you tell me I look fat if I actually do?
5) Will you tell me that bitch in the next dressing room looks fat if she actually doesn’t?
6) Can we have sex in the dressing room?
7) How do you feel about being seen in Forever 21?
8) If you object to fur, will you still come to Prada with me?
9) Do I have to watch you try on clothes, too, or can you handle that yourself?
10) You’re paying, right?
Happy Valentine’s Day, or: aren’t you glad you shop single?
Amy Larocca and Harriet Mays-Powell give an expertly clear run-down of the Fall ‘07 runways. They also manage to make some adorable Fraggle faces along the way. Can you guess which quote made Amy so excited?
Just off the runway, it’s Christopher Kane’s Fall Collection, so fresh it still has the Getty Images stamp.
British Vogue raved about its sexy vibrancy (and the crowded craze of the front row), but all I can think about is this:
A college dinner party, weirdly on Valentine’s Day. I knew the crowd would be older and cooler, and I would have to try. I pulled a red velvet Betsey Johnson out of my closet, straightened my hair, stole heels. There was black mascara and sparkly lip gloss, and I tried to buy wine but they carded me. Instead I sprinted to Whole Foods and got a $40 chocolate cake.
I drove myself off campus and knocked on the door, and when he answered - my “date,” even though not really - his face froze. “Holy shit,” she gasped, “You’re not supposed to be that girl! You’re supposed to be the quirky, innocent freshman.” Apparently I’d messed up his table casting. The rest of the crowd parted and peered out at me, then burst into faux British accents at the same time. They kept them for the entire meal; my date wore jeans and a patched vintage smoking jacket. I got very drunk and scooted, somehow, into someone else’s bed, where I fell asleep alone. My red velvet dress got crushed by the covers and in the morning the mascara turned to war paint. On the nightstand was a note - written in Dry Erase marker on toilet paper - and a huge slice of cake.
“You’re awesome - sorry you missed dessert.”
I wore my dress to my dining hall for breakfast because I didn’t care - or probably because I did care, because I loved the dress with the shitty meal plan - and the girls at my table squealed “slut!” when I sat down, because they loved it too.
That’s what rushes to my head when I look at Chris Kane - a little too much, and a little too ready to get crushed and crumpled and dragged back to a drunken party.
To some, this symbolizes roses, chocolates, inevitable “why didn’t he call?” whines, and a general rush to impress someone, even if it’s just yourself, or even worse, your mother.
To Fashionista, tomorrow symbolizes 10% off all the clothes in the Patricia Field boutique. Even better, it means 10% off all salon services, so if you want to dye your hair an electric hue of pomegranate red, in homage to Ms. Field, you can do it a little cheaper.
We like this idea of sale shopping and hair shading a lot - perhaps even more than the idea of a date.
House of Field Boutique. 302 Bowery St., between Bleeker and E.Houston. 212-966-4066. Hours: 12-8pm
Here’s some fun trivia for Hills addicts: TV star Lauren Conrad always looks slightly out of place in the Teen Vogue office, especially next to superstar interns like Whitney Port and Emily Weiss (whose appearance last night was hysterical, and “very Teen Vogue”).
But while Lauren’s wide eyes and slight shyness may indicate a fashion newbie, it turns out she worked for a California label before she attracted MTV’s attention.
Can you guess which company hired Lauren before she was famous?
Nestled among Grammy photos, party pictures, and an Anna Nicole Smith Tribute, the canine film strip is a little bit fabulous, but also makes us wonder:
If this is what happens when a party planner gets a new dog, what exactly will the scene entail if Tinsley Mortimer chooses to have a baby?
Then again, perhaps this is just a follow up to the Cat People stunt - that cute sweater Margie Beck is wearing could totally be Trovata…
A good rule of thumb when reading Fashionista: we love the Brits. Love them. For all intents and purposes, if their mouths are open saying something—anything—in those accents—seriously, it could be “Those last pair of Pradas are mine, bitch!�—they can do no wrong.
Luckily, for those of you who may not be as cheap a date as we, bag designer LuLu Guinness had much more to say at her Bleecker Street party last week. Lulu also knew that a party is not a party unless there are champagne bottles with your name written out on them in Swarovski crystals, which makes her a genius.
Also genius? Her answers to the ten questions that James Lipton asks every Angelina and Anna Meryl, and that Fashionista now asks every Stella and Mayle.
Just when you thought we’d reached the final frontier of the ANTMization of the world, we get word that Tyra and her cohorts are just getting started. Witness: Cycle 7 first-runner up Melrose, as the new face of Scoop NYC.
Though she looks rather fresh and cute and, for lack of a better word, Scoopalicious, we have been sitting in our Chloe wedges (well, Faran has, and I’ve been sitting in something less fabulous but aspirational nonetheless) thinking, “What, they couldn’t have at least gotten one of the actual winners, instead of this runner-up nonsense?�
Henry Holland’s first full collection debuted in London yesterday, after much speculation about the designer’s new model slogans. Your favorites: LISA CANT - OH YES SHE CAN… IRINA IRINA, PRIMA BALLERINA… and WHAM BAM JESSICA STAM!
The actual runway was a bit more wordy. Here’s what it said (and take note, the rhymes work much better when you say them in a Manchester accent)…
I’VE GOT MORE THAN A HANDFUL FOR NAOMI CAMPBELL… FLICK YER BEAN FOR AGYNESS DEYN… LET’S PLAY NAKED TWISTER, LINDA EVANGELISTA… MY FLY’S UNDONE, LILY DONALDSON, and one that’s a little too rumpled to read, but it looks like it says LOVE MY WEINER, IKELEINE…
Excellent, Henry!
Also, fast fact: in their first official London Fashion Week gig, the MisShapes DJed the show… therefore, the next batch of shirts could say ANGELS HARK FOR LEIGH LEZARK… FICKLE TICKLE GEORDON NICOL… ALL HEARTS FLY FOR THE OTHER GUY… right?
It’s like a lunar eclipse of fashion: the Grammys and the Baftas aligned in style harmony last night, and famous folk on both sides of the pond committed major fashion coups, and also some crimes.
We’ll let the Fug Girls do cleanup on the gross looks and instead focus on our favorites: Mary J. Blige at the Grammys and Sienna Miller at the Baftas.
First let’s go for Mary, in Michael Kors: She looks healthy. She looks graceful. She looks cool. Most of all, she looks like she was born this gorgeous and poised. The Michael Kors gown is perfect, and unlike the designer’s slightly creepy grinning models, Mary J. can actually work her smile.
And now Sienna in Ungaro: Perhaps the pantless thing didn’t fly so well at the Factory Girl premiere, but the backless dress is definitely wise - no risk of cleavage slips, no mistaking your incredibly fit body, and no doubt every socialite with a benefit invitation will try and imitate it come spring.
See the rest of the Baftas and Grammys, and pick your own favorite outfits.
We weren’t supposed to go out on Saturday night. Fashion Week was over, the starlets had gone back to their stables, the models were shipped off to London, and we were too tired to stand. So when our phone started ringin at 9 am that morning, we were pretty displeased.
“Uh, hello? It’s 9 am.” That was us.
“Oh hiii…” that was the voice on the other end, the one that we tuned out until we heard a few buzz words that were a little too good: “… Saudi Arabian Princess… custom Louboutins… exclusive boutique… candy… boys…” and then we tried to wake up.
Here’s what was happening: Amanda Miller, the Manhattan publicist with a hot pink apartment, was hosting a party for Deena Abdulaziz that night.
Deena is a Saudi Arabian princess (and mother of three!) who owns the DNA boutique in Riyadh, where she works with Western designers to customize their clothes for Muslim women. There would also be candy and boys.
Naturally, we dragged outselves out of bed and searched for a dress that would match a hot pink apartment. And when we got there, we were blinded by Deena’s beauty and dazzling obsession with clothes. Here’s what she told us…
Check out the Top Model web page and let us know - our vote’s going to Sara, the 20-year-old “photographer” whose winsomely weird face is almost as sharp as her shoulders.
Of course, “who could actually be a model” and “who will win” are two separate things for Tyra Banks and her producers, so we could be dead wrong…
London Fashion Week started yesterday, but we’re stuck in America with our imported pints of Stella and our crush on Stella McCartney.
We’ll keep you posted with the runways (and the insane gossip that follows), but if you’re feeling diehard, here’s an industry trick:
Wire Image and Getty upload their runway photos hours after the shows conclude. You won’t get the detail shots and model guides that Style.com gives you, but you will get and instant fashion high, however brief (like Pixie Sticks with handbags).
London Fashion Week’s website also shows the runways soon after their trodding, which means we have our first early favorite: Ben De Lisi’s no-shoulder cocktail dress, which looks like a debutante picked it up off the floor, gave it a good hem hack, and wore it to a rock concert.
You know when you’re out with some impossibly cool person, trying to make intensely relevant conversation, and then they exhale that sneering sentence, “Oh, I don’t watch TV”? Fashionista will never, ever do that to you, because we do watch TV. A ton of it. All the time.
Maybe that’s why this season’s runways were so fun for us. Besides the ultraviolet hues, the ultra-skinny shapes, and the general tingle of excitement that comes from seeing Tanya D on the runway, there were some very familiar characters on the catwalk, especially for those of you with cable or ’80s childhoods…
Mass retailers must be feeling very left out because of all the attention on Fashion Week. The proof is today’s email inbox, which overflows with uppers and downers from the world of high / low collaborations…
*H&M confirmed their release date for Madonna’s new line (called “M by Madonna”) today. The clothes will be in American stores on March 22, but Italy gets them a day earlier, on March 21. Presumably, this is because Italians eat tons of pasta and are still thinner than we are, and therefore deserve a prize.
*TopShop’s London Fashion Week show went up yesterday with mild applause and one empty seat: “guest designer” Kate Moss went on vacation and didn’t sit in the front row. Excitement transferred from the paparazzi pit to Oxford Circus, where Christopher Kane’s new line for the brand finally debuted (and, we have to say, it might be cooler than a Kate sighting).
*Couture legend Paco Rabanne lashed out at his legacies today, calling John Galliano and Alexander McQueen “gratuitously provocative… fashion hooligans.” It seems nobody informed Mr. Rabanne that after his clothing label shut down, his own head designer Patrick Robinson made a deal with Target for a Spring ‘07 line. Oops.
It was only a matter of time before an actual bag designer released her clutch into our clutches, and here we go: meet Holly Dunlap, former Lily Pulitzer head, current creative director of Hollywould, and marathon party girl.
The first time we met Holly, we were knocking back Cuervo shots in her Elizabeth Street boutique - of course, that was before she got Lydia Hearst and Theodora Richards to model her designs in a calmer setting (the ground floor of Christie’s; Tinlsey Mortimer was also in the show).
Now Holly has a showroom across the street from Chanel, but the guts of her bag (which she designed herself) could belong to the bad girl in your sorority…
Racing to one last show (Alice + Olivia) and one last party (Trovata’s faux Romanian bash) and then we’ll be back with major fashion recaps on Monday. In the meantime, here’s one last trend that seeped through the runways: purple everything, as seen by the powers of Posen last night. Purple happens to be my favorite color, but it’s also the most useful one for a cocktail dress - you can dump a glass of wine on it, and even if it stains, you can’t really tell. Not that Coco or Bruna would ever have a klutz moment…
Looks like we don’t have to wait for British imports anymore - after House of Holland’s tees (seen right) took over the wardrobes of club kids, Heatherette jumps on the printed tee trend with some block lettered shirts of their own, all styled for Dorothy and her Yellow Brick friends.
But what if The Wizard of Oz isn’t quite your thing? Hold out until next spring - rumors are already swirling of a future Alice in Wonderland theme on the runway, just in time for Marilyn Manson’s movie Phantasmagoria: The Vision of Lewis Carroll.…
The Lutz + Patmos presentation on 18th street was an unlikely hub of chic last night: coveted cashmere sweaters shared space with the Vogue girls, the Ruffian boys, Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos (formerly 2/3 Trovata; now eternal heartthrobs), and Julianne Moore, who replaces Liv Tyler as the line’s new guest designer.
Ms. Moore did a quick cashmere drive by, posing for pictures and hugs before rushing to Broadway for her curtain call time. When she arrived, the room glowed. But an hour after she’d gone, Carine Roitfeld waltzed into the space, wearing smeared violet eyeliner and the envious Prada coat she’s been sporting all week.
“You know,” mused a fashion VIP, “Julianne Moore was cool to see, but I’m way more starstruck seeing Carine! Look, I’m shaking!”
Socialites and fashion publicists may drink Diet Coke, but the hair and makeup teams at Duckie Brown and Marc Jacobs have crushes on the Jones Soda Co. Observe:
At the Rock & Republic party on Saturday night, I crashed into Trovata’s lone ranger, John Whitledge. I asked about his fall line.
“It’s a lot more controlled,” he said proudly. “There’s less filler clothes; the focus is there.” We exchanged cell numbers so I could come to his showroom before he went back to Cali. I drunk texted him at 3 am and told him I’d better see the clothes and laughed at how Fashion Week reduced me - instead of calling boys with booty calls, I was calling to see actual boots, and dresses, and jeans, and whatever. Sad.
The next day I crammed into the packed presentation for Jovovich Hawk. I had the pleasure - seriously, she’s awesome - of gabbing with Style.com reporter Jess Ramakrishnan. Lou Doillon and Carine sailed by, but we were most interested in a stuffed looking couple. The boy looked like Ryan Adams playing Clark Kent and the girl had a weird Empress- Anastasia-goes-to-Sarah-Lawrence vibe. They carried a giant persian cat.
“What is that?” shrieked Jessica, and I shrugged. “Rock stars?” That was my guess, and I felt slightly annoyed I couldn’t place them. No one else could either - before long, WWD and Gawker were buzzing about “The Petrescus,” a pair of royal Romanians who were apparently fabricated. But why?
Everyone thought it was a Borat-like stunt, and their mystery intrigued me less than another more realistic one - what does Trovata’s Fall line look like? I texted John again: “Clothes?” I wrote. “You’ll see!” he answered.
And I did - on The Wall Street Journal’s blog. Apparently, the Romanians were a hoax by Trovata. They got photographed all over town - wearing Trovata’s new line - without actually paying for a look book, a presentation space, or a show.
Meanwhile, I feel like a total idiot, but I’m massively impressed by this stunt. I texted: “You bastard! I can’t believe you’re behind the silly Romanian people! You’re like Fashion Borat! Cute clothes.”
John’s response?
“Hey! ??? Romanians? I don’t know what you are talking about? Come out to a party tonight that’s hosted by the Petrescu’s for Waris!”
Uh huh. I’m actually going to go, too, because the whole thing is so hysterical.
If you’re not in the Tents today, ditch work early to go shopping - Tracey Feith is having a sample sale, and dresses that used to be $300 are marked down to $75, $50, or even $25. His fauxhemian style works best in warmer weather, but slide a cashmere sweater and some wool leggings underneath one of his flowy print dresses, and you can (sort of) pretend it’s spring.
873 Broadway (18th St. near Union Square), Suite 301. Shop 11am - 7pm.
Looking at the most challenging collections for Fall ‘07 zooms me back to a Times article by Peggy Orenstein. Called What’s Wrong With Cinderella?, it’s about princess worship among young girls and corporate America, and the consequences - bad and good.
The piece quotes a social historian who says, “historically, princess worship has emerged during periods of uncertainty and profound social change… Girls play savior during times of economic crisis and instability.â€? You can see where I’m going with this…
On the runway, there’s an eerie connection between the white gowns of Narciso Rodriguez, Vera Wang, and Rodarte, and the look of Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. She is my favorite princess - even better than Ariel, Little Mermaid - because of her amazing hair and her suicidal tendencies throughout her story. Also, she kills trolls.
Whatever. If they didn’t spend their entire adolesence hiding in cafeteria corners reading Sci Fi novels, then I can’t quote Clueless (and I can - the entire thing).
All I could think when the clothes flounced down was Mists of Avalon and Return of the King and - as Irina’s twisty pleated thing emerged - A Wrinkle in Time.
Actually, that last one is pretty apt, considering the pleated silk of her dress must have taken thirty hours to sew (that’s about four viewings of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which maybe flickered in their studio as they worked).
Who’s the latest designer to get their own custom Lancome shade? After Behnaz and Proenza had their turn at the makeup station, a new fashion insider got his own trademark pout stamped on all his models this week.
Hints:
*Tinsley was front row at his show
*Sasha opened
*The critics enjoyed it, but just politely enjoyed - there is no gushing this season, save for Narciso.
*Though the lips were deep red, there were no Olsens in the picture.
Does gorgeousness run in the family? Decide for yourself by checking out the Luella Bartley/ Teen Vogue party invitation, designed by Julia Roitfeld.
The event itself was hosted by Amy Astley and Luella herself, and included appearances by Camilla Belle, Agyness, The MisShapes, the entire Teen Vogue fashion department, and Ms. Astley’s latest discovery - Tom Travis, an eighteen-year-old DJ plucked from London’s Dover Street Market.
Also on hand to celebrate? Our intern Kevin, who snapped Luella, Amy, and crush-worthy Kimball Hastings while fielding the same question all night: “Hey, aren’t you the blonde guy on the Sartorialist?”
In fact, yes, but back to Julia’s invitation, which we think looks like an old McQueen print from the ’90s!
Lulu Frost’s Lisa Salzer made accessories for Alexander Wang’s Fall runway show. Yesterday, the same accessories landed on editor desks around the city, and were promptly worn back to the Tents - but this time, in the audience.
Among the lucky recipients were Susan Cernek from ELLE and Nylon’s Tina Langley, who sported her Lulu Frost earrings to the Heatherette show. Civilians can’t buy the baubles until August, but we hear breaking into the accessories closets in the Hearst building is painfully easy… something Tina herself will discover in 2 weeks, when she flees Nylon to become Seventeen’s new accessories editor - congrats, Tina!
Have you seen this Warhol print of Mr. Mao? It’s gone missing from a Soho gallery, where it was stolen by a tall, pretty blonde woman who called herself “Stephanie.”
The why and how of the situation is so bizarre, it almost strikes me as a hoax - someone was allowed to pluck a Warhol print off the wall and slip out of a store with it? What?
Still, the search is on to find the missing painting, and the reward money is enough to buy yourself five pairs of Miu Miu wedges. Read the Fashion Addict Diary for more details, and speculate about the thief here - Our money’s on Sienna Miller. What other tall, pretty blonde could get away with walking into a gallery and swiping a Warhol while the staff sits serenely at their desks?
Michael Kors Fall ‘07 collection was aspirational in an unexpected way: audience members looked up at the Denver down parkas, silver fox hats, and elbow-length kidskin gloves and wished hard they were looking that chic in the bitter cold (alas, they weren’t - as The Times Eric Wilson reports, everyone’s in Montcler puffy coats instead).
But while the clothes were surprisingly, refreshingly fun, something was odd on the runways - the models were smiling. We’ve all seen them do it backstage, at after parties, in teeny bathrooms at 2 am. But on the runway was a bit odd, especially since only two - Agyness Deyn and Coco Rocha - managed to convincingly grin at the cameras! The rest looked beautiful and chic, but hollow - the smile you get from a tidy neighbor at a cocktail party, or an old acquaintance you accidentally see on the street.
I’ve never seen this website before, but it has Suchin Pak interviewing Lydia Hearst about Darfur, modeling, and her obsession with table manners. It requires a lot of time, but it’s worth it if only to hear her talk about her college psych class - they skipped the chapter on Patty Hearst syndrome, and she never knew until her roommate started taking the same course.
Speaking of Ashley Olsen, here she is stacked between her sister and Rachel Zoe at the Jenni Kayne show.
Her appearance there (instead of at Marc, Proenza, etc) raises an interesting trend of this week: the younger, less known, less practiced designers are getting more boldface action than any of the style titans thus far.
But why?
Part of it is location - Jenni is from L.A., which gives her more access to starlets. Erin Fetherston is from California too, and she had Zooey Deschanel sing in her show. Meanwhile, L.A. native Stephanie Schur from Mischon Schur had a private viewing with Kirsten Dunst last week.
But maybe more relevant than address is this: a starlet’s style might be as important as her movies. Nicole Richie does virtually nothing, yet she’s an A-list star because of her clothes. Mischa Barton’s talent has yet to be tested, but she sure looks amazing in Chanel. But nobody wants to admit that Rachel Zoe, etc, has picked out her outfits. If an actress aligns herself with an up-and-coming designer - as Hilary Duff did a few years ago with Zac Posen - it proves her taste, her fashion know-how, and ultimately a big part of her It Girl appeal.
Also there might be some empathy involved - once they’ve started showing on runways, young designers learn their craft in a very public space. Actors are the same - everyone remembers Zooey Deschanel in Almost Famous, though she was still a newbie. There must be some alignment among young creative talents that makes them glom together in support - though we doubt Zooey will wear Erin Fetherston’s clothes to the Oscars.
PS: In case you were wondering, Ashley wore red gloss to Jenni Kayne’s show, and Mary Kate wore full-out red lipstick, Proenza style.
How cool is ELLE fashion editor Kate Lanphear? Let’s put it this way: when Imitation of Christ showed their Spring ‘07 collection in September, they made sure she was sitting next to Scarlett. When Kate walks out of a fashion show, every assistant in the room turns to her third row friends and says, “she’s my girl crush.”
When we spotted Kate ditching the Marc Jacobs party at 205 (along with half the Marc Jacobs staff), we knew the routine: “She’s my girl crush,” I grinned to my date, then ditched him and promptly asked Kate to open her bag.
Kate: Sure; what do you want?
Us: Do you have any candy?
Kate: I have Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! The best kind! You get sugar lows during Fashion Week and they’re horrible; you’re waiting for a show to start and all you want is candy.
Us: You also have a lint roller.
Kate: I do. I wear mostly black and white, and in the winter with so many knits, those colors love to shed. Look, and I have a map of New York! I’m such a tourist! But people have shows in the most random places. Sometimes I look at the invite and I’m like, “Are you sure this show isn’t in London? Because I’ve never seen that address before.” It’s like streets get invented for Fashion Week.
Us: Why do you have an eraser?
Kate: I refuse to write in pen. I take all my show notes in mechanical pencil.
Us: Is there anything you do write in pen?
Kate: My name!
Getting into Heatherette may have been hard, but backstage at the Tent last night was strangely serene. Amanda Lepore climbed quietly into her tutu; Lydia Hearst cooed over her red ruby slippers (Louboutins, obvs); Lisa Cant whooshed through hair, makeup, and a star struck beauty editor from Teen Vogue.
At least, that was before someone said “Britney,” and then came chaos.
Richie Rich wheeled backstage in pink roller skates; zooming steadily into Robert Verdi’s microphone. Sidekicks buzzed with the same news - Paris is coming; find an outfit! No wait, Paris is really sick with the flu; so sorry she can’t make it! - glitter spilled on M.A.C counters, assistants scattered to the exits.
“What size is Britney?!” screamed a stylist, and some models started laughing. Alas, she never came - she missed her swirly psychedelic dress; she missed the six-year-old ballerinas who danced down the runway; she missed the Danity Kane girls hum Somewhere Over the Rainbow; she missed a boustier made of plastic googly eyes and a new shoe collection that’s weirdly wearable and really quite hot.
Did we miss Britney? No way - we were having too much fun. Click below to check out the beautiful madness…
Backstage at Proenza Schouler, Coco Rocha fielded video cameras, Agyness Deyn ordered espresso, and one girl haunted Milk Studios even though she wasn’t there: Ashley Olsen.
It wasn’t just the clothes, which Jack continues to explain are “for girls that don’t try too hard” - though really, anyone who can pronounce or spell Proenza Schouler does make some sort of effort. Instead, the Olsen vibe was strongest in makeup room, where Freja’s lids were dusted with powder and smeared with clear Vaseline, and everyone’s hair feathered messy and straight, and fell in their eyes. And of course the pucked lips, stained a dirty, deep red and squirted with clear gloss.
We loved the look. We wanted the look. But we did wonder if it would work without the lifestyle, without the attitude, and without the special It Girl something that negates a bright red lip and tells the world you’re not trying too hard at all.
Nylon’s YouTube explosion just took another gleeful hostage: designer Ben Cho, his models, and his clothes all get the Nylon TV treatment from Tracy, the magazine’s loopy photo intern with no last name, lots of lipstick, and a digital video reel that goes straight to our hearts. If you couldn’t witness Ben’s beautiful crackle of a collection in person, this is a good way to see his capabilities. Or, as Cathy Horyn said after his show, “Ben’s great; he knows what he’s doing.”
A full report of Heatherette’s backstage madness is coming, we promise. But while we shake the glitter out of our hair and recover, why don’t you play this petit pop quiz:
Heatherette maven Mack Dugan is selecting this dress for…
a) Paris Hilton
b) Britney Spears
c) Lauren Conrad
d) The boyfriend of Lance Bass
Stay tuned for the details… right now we have to sneak backstage at Catherine Malandrino. Meanwhile, prep yourself by watching the whole show, including baby ballerinas and bare asses, on NY Mag.
Camilla Belle is a rather gorgeous, strangely cast young actress, and so when she was picked to be Vera Wang’s face for the Princess perfume, we thought, “huh, okay.”
But at last night’s Teen Vogue party for Luella Bartley, it began to make sense: Not only is Camilla extremely smart and quite sweet, she also bears strange resemblance to Bee Shaffer, Teen Vogue golden girl and daughter of Anna Wintour.
They’re even starting to get the same perks: last night at the Hotel on Rivington, Camilla wore a Luella dress that swooshed down the runway just two days ago!
Jealousy: only provoked with boys and stiff silk, cinched at the waist.
Just when the crush for Proenza / Target stuff abates, another craving by Jack and Lazaro begins: Lancome’s limited edition lipstick for the brand, created with help from the designing duo for their Spring ‘07 collection, is about to roll into stores.
Sadly, you can’t just roll in there with it - instead, you need to be put on a lipstick waiting list. Yes, really. Give your name to the Lancome boutique in midtown and await the call that your lipstick has arrived - like a Birkin, but cheaper and harder to wield as a weapon at the Barneys Warehouse Sale.
A small irony: the lipstick retails for around $20 - slightly more expensive than Proenza’s new Target tees.
A small prediction: Peter Som’s new lipstick, which debuted this morning on the runway, will be a little easier for most girls to wear, but maybe not as fun…
The socialite/ writer/ actress gives it a go next season, when her first sitcom gets developed and produced for network TV. “It’s about a woman whose family thinks she’s a little crazy,” she tells us, “because of some of the choices she’s made - but really, it’s the family who is nuts!”
Expect to see the show next year, starring Annie herself and also, quite possibly, the Vogue approved actress Byrdie Bell. Until then, catch Annie in the upcoming films The Brave Ones and The Nanny Diaries with Scarlett Johansson, and consider this:
If the stylishly smart Annie chooses to wear a fur (or rather, a faux fur) trapper hat, shouldn’t we all consider it?
One of Betsey Johnson’s backstage hallmarks is huge, elaborate signs to psych up the models.
Last year, Betsey wrote all the words to Big Spender on giant hot pink poster board and sprinkled them with glitter, encouraging her girls to vamp it up on the runway. Last season, Betsey scribbled “Be Sexy, Sexy, Sexy, Cool, You Know!” above all the hair and makeup stations.
And now?
Just one big sign, with a Debbie Harry drawing and a banner screaming “I love my girls” in Betsey’s signature scrawl.
The clothes were similarly relaxed, as was Betsey herself when she rehearsed with her catwalkers before the show. “It’s supposed to be charm school,” she told her opening models as she armed them with feather dusters and French maid caps, “so, you know, look cute but kind of rich, too.”
And thus, Betsey summed up the entire Fall ‘07 season so far.
Here’s another little secret, brought to you by Abaete’s Laura Poretzky: if you sneak into the Payless Shoe Store on Fifth Ave. and 39th St., you can buy the spring Abaete for Payless shoes that were on Monday’s runway!
The shoes are available for this week only - then they get put back in storage until their official March launch. If you’re in the neighborhood, go buy a few pairs at $20 each. They might match your new Proenza for Target jeans ($30), the upcoming Jovovich Hawk line for Mango ($50 - $150), and your growing stash of secret Phoebe Philo for Gap dresses ($75 - $100).
Of course, nothing can beat the notes Laura sent out with model Polaroids from her show, all the girls wearing their new shoes - that’s pretty much priceless.
Rule #1 of Fashionista: it’s okay to be obsessed with models. We are, and now we’ve picked up some tips for helping you emulate the otherworldly beautiful people: get thee to the circus.
At Rag & Bone, they used Ben Nye black clown makeup—as its name suggests, it’s most often used not under The Tents but the ones that come with rings of three.
To get that “My Fair Lady� look on the eyes of Coca Rocha, Jessica Stam, Lily Donaldson, and Du Juan, schmear a little bit of it on your eyelids in place of eyeshadow. You can also smudge it very lightly with a brush or even a Q-Tip for eyeliner. We’re not suggesting you go all out for the Bearded Lady look (disastrous Top Model shoot, anyone?). But a little on the eyes and you could soon be a little more model-y. Maybe Coco will even say hi.
When Amber Valetta walked into the Chris Benz dinner for Lancome, we were already obsessed, but then she pulled out her Prada clutch. “You’re in love with it, aren’t you?” she asked, so we tiptoed to her side of the table (where she sat next to Shalom Harlow in a pool of unfairness) and did a little style investigation.
AMBER: It actually has hooks for a chain on the inside; it’s supposed to be a proper bag but I thought it would be much better as a clutch.
US: So in love.
AMBER: It goes with everything and all my friends want to steal it.
US: Yeah, Chris Benz said he’d swipe it for us as soon as you went to the bathroom.
WHICH hardcore Fashion Week socialite carries baby powder at the bottom of her Birkin? In between shows, she dusts down her hair and face to absorb grease… WHICH modelizer crashed The Box party for Mercedes Benz only to realize his business partner had been legitimately asked to go. Oops… WHICH major model is a closet klepto? She sneaks the handbags she shows on the runways into her hoodie or duffle bag as she leaves… WHICH web editor decided to call this story “Beautiful Strangers” just so she could post a Madonna/ Mike Myers pic?
What to do instead of the Marc Jacobs After Party…
*Get caught in the Gramercy’s revolving door with Margherita Missoni before the Marchesa bash.
*Distract Lydia Hearst while she’s modeling for Jovovich Hawke
*Dare Shalom Harlow to arm wrestle at the Lancome dinner for Chris Benz
*Dance with Venetia Scott and her MJ stylist team at 205
*Reflect on Chloe Sevigny’s surprising coolness/ niceness/ prettiness in person
*Make Mac & Cheese with a fashion photographer at 4 am, while wearing a fur trapper hat.
Tonight: Heatherette’s bash hosted by Carmen Electra, Luella Bartley’s spring fling with Teen Vogue, and the ultra cool Purple Magazine party… can they top it?
While we were blissfully shooting pictures of Amber Valetta’s handbag (you’ll see; you’ll see…), Marc Jacobs seems to have unraveled and unrumpled Miu Miu’s Spring ‘07 suits and shook them out onto the runway for Fall. Though the clothes were beautiful (especially some asymmetrically swooshed gowns at the end), we think this text message from a friend sums it up:
“At Marc but confused - what am I looking for? Do I need to sit in the front row to see how the clothes are different?”
Um… maybe?
If you’re feeling fashion bewilderment, head to Style.com and flick through all the collection’s looks - just like a movie with a swift plot twist, it might take a few views to get what’s happening this time around.
Daria Werbowy gives a rare interview to the Times of London, where she endorses champagne as breakfast, shares that she filmed the Prada movie on her 21st birthday, and says “once on the Burberry runway, I walked into a wall.”
Spotted at Jeremy Scott’s Paris show, and party at Le Baron: 
Yesterday we asked H&M to follow Barneys and TopShop with some organic fashion. Today, H&M tells us not to worry - starting this week, they’re introducing a line made from organic cotton, with a color palette “inspired by vegetable dyes.” This isn’t the same as using actual veggie dye, but it’s a start.
URL: Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas
First thoughts while camped out on the red carpet (our red carpet, in the living room, from Marimekko) watching The Oscars…
British fans of ELLE can soon buy their own cell phone inspired by the magazine. 
Even if Patricia Field doesn’t win the Oscar on Sunday, she’ll still have her hands full with new projects - 
Totally amused by this 
It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Gisele’s major runway gigs are Victoria’s Secret and Dolce - both productions are heavy on the boudoir feel that vamps girls up with hairspray, cinched waists, and stompy satin pumps.
Those of you still marooned in the office can watch Ridley Scott’s flick for Prada, which now
Once I got into the office, I rang TopShop to investigate the Kate Moss Waiting List. 
Fashionista received several panicked texts today, telling us the Kate Moss for TopShop line already has a waiting list! Furthermore, retail analysts and/ or teenagers are saying the collection won’t even hit the internet because it will sell out from stores on the very first day. This is especially insane considering nobody’s seen the collection - except for this dress, from the “secret” British Vogue cover for April.
Fashionista received word last night that Tinsley Mortimer is heading to Los Angeles for the Academy Awards. 
Hours before Burberry Prorsum’s fall show, Peta protesters stormed the Milan boutique, throwing buckets of red paint on the windows. 
Sifting through the Barney’s Warehouse Sale on Sunday and saw this protruding from a rack like model vertabrae: Narciso Rodriguez’ finale dress from his Spring ‘06 collection. 
Text Messages to Fashionista, Sent From Backstage at Marc by Marc (right now):
Project Runway sweetie Michael Knight has changed his name to Mychael and gotten a new gig: he’s 
The first snapshots from Gareth Pugh are finally posted, and with them comes this weird word association: shower curtain, King Tut, rave, horror movie.
Someone left 
The big rule in my apartment: don’t wake anyone up before 7 am, unless it’s to say “get out of bed, our building’s on fire,â€? or “I’m pregnant…I think.â€? 
Those who doubt the magic of Gemma Ward need only read
Is Teen Vogue intern Emily Weiss pleased with her appearance on The Hills? Only the fashion closet knows, but it seems the rest of New York - and probably LA, too - is
So you all know the Barney’s Warehouse Sale in New York starts today, right?
Fashion obsessives around the globe are already aching for a new issue of Lula, the magazine founded by Vogue princess Leith Clark, and subtitled “Girl Of Our Dreams.” While the glossy won’t hit shelves until March 9th, London style elite got a sneak preview last night at the Cobden Club in London. 
The lovely Eleanor Ylvisaker sent us an 
Amy Larocca and Harriet Mays-Powell give an expertly clear run-down of the Fall ‘07 runways. They also manage to make some adorable Fraggle faces along the way. Can you guess which quote made Amy so excited?
Here’s some fun trivia for Hills addicts: TV star Lauren Conrad always looks slightly out of place in the Teen Vogue office, especially next to superstar interns like Whitney Port and Emily Weiss (whose appearance last night was hysterical, and “very Teen Vogue”). 
Normally we leave the activities of Patrick McMullan to 
A good rule of thumb when reading Fashionista: we love the Brits. Love them. For all intents and purposes, if their mouths are open saying something—anything—in those accents—seriously, it could be “Those last pair of Pradas are mine, bitch!�—they can do no wrong. 
We weren’t supposed to go out on Saturday night. Fashion Week was over, the starlets had gone back to their stables, the models were shipped off to London, and we were too tired to stand. So when our phone started ringin at 9 am that morning, we were pretty displeased.
The CW just updated their website, and now we’re faced with a major crucial question: 
Mass retailers must be feeling very left out because of all the attention on Fashion Week. The proof is today’s email inbox, which overflows with uppers and downers from the world of high / low collaborations…
The Lutz + Patmos presentation on 18th street was an unlikely hub of chic last night: coveted cashmere sweaters shared space with the Vogue girls, the Ruffian boys, Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos (formerly 2/3 Trovata; now eternal heartthrobs), and Julianne Moore, who replaces Liv Tyler as the line’s new guest designer.
At the Rock & Republic party on Saturday night, I crashed into Trovata’s lone ranger, John Whitledge. I asked about his fall line.
If you’re not in the Tents today, ditch work early to go shopping - Tracey Feith is having a sample sale, and dresses that used to be $300 are marked down to $75, $50, or even $25. His fauxhemian style works best in warmer weather, but slide a cashmere sweater and some wool leggings underneath one of his flowy print dresses, and you can (sort of) pretend it’s spring.
Does gorgeousness run in the family? Decide for yourself by checking out the Luella Bartley/ Teen Vogue party invitation, designed by Julia Roitfeld. 
Michael Kors Fall ‘07 collection was aspirational in an unexpected way: audience members looked up at the Denver down parkas, silver fox hats, and elbow-length kidskin gloves and wished hard they were looking that chic in the bitter cold (alas, they weren’t - as The Times Eric Wilson reports, 
How cool is ELLE fashion editor Kate Lanphear? Let’s put it this way: when Imitation of Christ showed their Spring ‘07 collection in September, they made sure she was sitting next to Scarlett. When Kate walks out of a fashion show, every assistant in the room turns to her third row friends and says, “she’s my girl crush.” 
Rule #1 of Fashionista: it’s okay to be obsessed with models. We are, and now we’ve picked up some tips for helping you emulate the otherworldly beautiful people: get thee to the circus. 
