Archive for October 2010

Beauty

Trendspotting: Messy Buns Or Stick Straight?

Whether you’re a control freak or have an out-of-bed-and-out-the-door beauty routine, the S/S 2010 runways have you covered. If you’re the first type, your hair will be flat as a pancake. Give it a severe center (or severely off-center) part and hope it doesn’t rain.

Read more »
  • Steff Yotka and Cheryl Wischhover
  • Monday, Oct 4, 2010 / 3:00 PM
  • 3 Comments
Streetwalker

Street Style: Wendy Nichol In Her Own Designs

Name: Wendy Nichol

Occupation: Designer

How would you describe your style?
It’s whatever inspiration hits me in the morning, mixed with whatever is in my reach on the couch. I generally look for one of a kind pieces.

What are the most prominent colors in your wardrobe?
This season it’s black and beige.

Read more »
Fashion Week

Jefferson Hack Interviews Gareth Pugh About Fashion Films Intead Of Runway Shows and His Hong Kong Store

PARIS–Days after Brit expat Gareth Pugh’s Mercury and Ebony S/S 2011 collection was presented on an 8 x 15 meter Imax screen to a warehouse full of buyers and press, the avant-garde designer sits for an informal Q&A at the Louvre’s Apple Store. The avant-gardeist snapped up France’s ANDAM award in 2008 and was rumored as next in line at McQueen and Dior Homme. The last in a series presented by Dazed and Confused called “Meet the Designer” the magazine’s co-founder Jefferson Hack talks with the young designer about the tentative future of catwalk shows, his sold-out shop in Hong Kong and why Saint Martins does not a star make.

Jefferson Hack: Gareth’s first store opened in Hong Kong in July. It was designed by Iwan from from Daytrip Studio who is super young, like 25. What was it like working with him?
Garreth Pugh: I’ve known him since he was 18 and we’re very good friends, I think that helps.
My two stipulations were that I wanted it to look like a black box inside and that one wall could control video.

Read more »
  • SABRINA MORRISON
  • Monday, Oct 4, 2010 / 1:39 PM
  • 6 Comments
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Stella McCartney For Target, Fashion Week Twit Pics, And Maria Cornejo Slams Carla Bruni

Louis Vuitton Bags Still Endangered: A few weeks ago, we told you about the shortage of Louis Vuitton Canvas monogram bags. As a result, LV stores in Paris are closing an hour earlier than usual. Apparently, LV can’t keep up with the high demand and want to save inventory for the upcoming holiday season. {Vogue UK}

Stella McCartney For Target: Stella McCartney has designed a capsule collection for Target. Sadly, the collection is only for Australian Targets. The collection includes everything from a lace cocktail dress to heavily embellished shifts. Do we foresee an uptick in Quantas sales? {Racked}

Fashion Week Twitpics: Modelinia has compiled a great slideshow of all the insider twit pics from fashion week. You’ll get a behind the scenes look at preparations for fashion week’s shows and parties. {Modelinia}

Read more »
Fashion Week

Finally Some Real Curves on the Runway: Beth Ditto and Crystal Renn Walk for Gaultier

The invitation to Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring 2011 show reportedly said that the collection would “explore the contrast between XXS and XXL.” True to his word, Gossip’s Beth Ditto, who is, according to the Daily Mail, a UK size 28 (to convert to US sizing, the rule is generally to subtract two, which would mean Ditto’s a US size 26), opened Gaultier’s show this past weekend. Crystal Renn, a size 10, also walked.

This isn’t the first time Gaultier has used plus-size models in his runway shows. A much fuller-figured Crystal Renn also walked in his Spring 2006 collection. Gaultier also featured Renn in his fall ad campaign.

And while there haven’t been many other plus-sized models on the runway this season apart from Renn (who is really more of a supermodel than a “plus-size” model at this point), perhaps it’s a good sign that many of the reviews of Gaultier’s show made little mention of the size debate. Hilary Alexander’s review for the Telegraph didn’t address the fact that Gaultier featured curvier models at all. Nor did Cathy Horyn’s. Suzy Menkes merely hinted at Ditto’s size by describing her walk down the runway as “wobbling.”

Read more »
People Are Talking

Love is Blind. We are Not. Street Style Censorship.

Which big American glossy won’t allow its street style photographers to shoot editors from other magazines? Apparently, they’re the only book in the biz with a rule like this. And it makes life for their street style shooters hard–particularly during fashion week, when editors are often the best-dressed candidates.

Burberry Sues Body Glove Over Their Checked Phone Cases

The Burberry check is one of the most knocked-off designs. Usually the knock-offs, like the kind you’ll find lining Canal St., are so bad you wouldn’t ever mistake them for the real thing.

But apparently Body Glove’s pink checked phone covers are cutting it too close. Last Friday, Burberry filed suit against Body Glove for copying their check, SheFinds.com is reporting. The case, which sells for $29.99 on Body Glove’s site, is described as “a hard shell case that has been wrapped with a unique plaid textured material.” Not so unique, Burberry is alleging.

As a brand susceptible to counterfeits, Burberry’s legal team keeps busy. This will be the third lawsuit they’ve filed this year to protect their trademark (though they’re not taking out ads to prevent you from saying “Burberry-esque” yet). They also sued NYC boutique Variazioni and TJX (TJ Maxx and Marshalls) for selling counterfeit goods. This case seems different, as Burberry appears to be going after Body Glove for actually creating a counterfeit product, rather than selling counterfeit goods.

Read more »
Fashion Week Parties

Last Night’s Parties: Vodka at ASVOF3, Champagne at Fendi

PARIS–Yesterday was a bit lazy. I went to Céline, wrote, met some friends for cocktails at Hotel Costes (where, I discovered, the entire fashion industry spends their downtime), and that was it.

Until, surely enough, that was not it.

Read more »
Reviews

Comme des Garçons Spring 2011:

Fashionista contributor Long Nguyen is the co-founder/style director of Flaunt.

PARIS–Halle Freyssenit, an old train freight located behind the Gare Austerlitz in Paris’ 13th arrondissement, is a popular destination this season for Paris shows.

But only a handful were invited to the depot, an empty storage area on the other side near the rail tracks, late Saturday afternoon for Comme des Garçons. Inside were four sets of benches set in a square and two large white lights. Eschewing conventional locations to stage its shows has always been the brand’s trademark of independence.

The audience members attending a Comme des Garçons presentation expect deliverance from yet another conventional fashion show. Whether or not they actual like what they see depends on one’s personal taste. But without fail, a CDG show always provokes a thoughtful debate.

Read more »
  • Long Nguyen
  • Monday, Oct 4, 2010 / 9:00 AM
  • 2 Comments
Reviews

Junya Wantanabe Spring 2011: The Oddity of Breton Sailors

Fashionista contributor Long Nguyen is the co-founder/style director of Flaunt.

PARIS–Very often, we expect seasoned conceptual and intellectual fashion designers to deliver puzzling shows. Ones bring us to exhilaration about the possibilities of fashion as art and as an influencer in broader culture.

Early on Saturday morning, we experienced such a show. With a break of sun from the previous evening’s downpour, a crowd gathered at the coffee shop adjacent to the Dries van Noten store for a first dose of coffee and croissant, before proceeding next door to the Junya Watanabe show in the small salon of the Beaux-Arts.

Read more »
  • Long Nguyen
  • Sunday, Oct 3, 2010 / 3:00 PM
  • 3 Comments
Reviews

Haider Ackermann Spring 2011: Bold Colors Add a New Dimension

PARIS–Haider Ackermann, the star of Antwerp’s new generation, drew an impressive crowd to his show on Saturday morning, ranging from Emmanuelle Alt to Janet Jackson.

A little brother to Ann Demeulemesteer, he has been steadily making a name for himself for his mastering of dark, deconstructed clothes, and a trademark use of leather and silk.

This season, he remained true to himself, but proved a definite evolution–he added colors to his usually somber palette.

Read more »
Reviews

Cacharel Spring 2011: From Dawn to Dusk

PARIS–Some shows display clothes, others tell an entire story. Cacharel certainly achieved the latter: its show at the Palais de Tokyo took us from dawn to dusk, on a warm summer day.

Soft rays of light filled the room to the beats of “Chérie Chérie,” by electro band Suicide.

In what resembled an illuminated morning in July, the models wore oversized flesh ensembles, three quarter trousers, and long dresses. These elongated, flowy cuts–paired with round sunglasses–felt like a Parisian take on Annie Hall’s impeccable ’70s chic.

Read more »