Archive for November 2010

A little background: John is our go-to menswear writer. We like to write about Taylor Momsen a bit too frequently. He’s annoyed. We respect his opinion. That’s why we’re publishing it. Also, it’s just another reason to bring up Taylor.

To the editors of Fashionista (Lauren and Leah, let’s not pretend we don’t know each other),

This letter is difficult for me to write, not because my heart isn’t in it, but because the subject—Taylor Momsen—has already had far too much attention from media outlets, including this one, and I am reluctant to keep feeding the beast.

I am greatly disappointed and a little disgusted at Fashionista’s continued coverage of Taylor Momsen and her band, The Pretty Reckless. Momsen’s cultivated, “shocking” antics and irresponsible behavior should earn the starlet anonymity, not attention.

I am not someone who normally goes around telling people what they should or shouldn’t say, but I write about young Hollywood, and I am particularly concerned with the current celebration of this fabricated, irresponsible little phony. Originally, I wrote off her new rocker adventure as just another starlet, accompanied by legions of producers and songwriters, taking her irrepressible talent to the recording studio—just like Lindsay Lohan, Jared Leto and Heidi Montag before her—and I paid her no mind.

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Be Invisible: There may not be a cure for cancer, but scientists are finally on the path to developing a real life Harry Potter invisibility cloak. That’s right–real, serious scientific researchers at a British university are spending their days working on a fabric that, depending on light, can render objects (or people!) invisible, because that will be soo awesome. {Mirror UK}

Justin Bieber Hearts Girls. And Charity: Apparently, Justin Bieber has a passion for shilling female beauty products. He already has a line of nail polish out, scented dog tags, and now he’s developing a women’s fragrance. He’s partnering with a company called Give Back Brands, which develops celebrity franchised products as a means of raising money for charity. He told WWD, “The idea that I can create an amazing fragrance that I love, and actually give back to a charity that matters to me at the same time, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” {WWD}

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WWD’s got the sales stats on the all important September issues. A quick break down of the winners and losers:

Who’s up?

Harper’s Bazaar: The Hearst title won big this past September with Jennifer Aniston on the cover. Sales were up 22%, making it the best-selling issue in seven years. Aniston’s love life (or lack thereof) has always moved tabloid weeklies, and apparently she can move fashion titles too. Go Jen.

Glamour: Not a huge increase for Glamour, but their J.Lo cover upped newsstand sales about 1%.

Marie Claire: Only a slight increase here too–the mag’s MK Olsen cover was up 1% from last year. Of course, these are pre-Maura Kelly numbers. It remains to be seen whether Kelly’s controversial blog post will have an effect on sales and subscriptions.

Who’s Down?

W: Sales for W‘s September issue under new EIC Stefano Tonchi were down a whopping 14%. We’re hopeful about Tonchi’s redesign and direction for the mag, so hopefully the drop can be chalked up to some kind of adjustment period. We’re sure October, featuring a naked Kim Kardashian, fared better.

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Blake Lively may have scored the first Vogue cover (she’s actually covered the mag twice), but Leighton Meester is the first of the two Gossip Girl stars to land a major campaign. Meester will be the face of Vera Wang’s next fragrance, WWD is reporting.

Wang told the paper that she chose Meester because the starlet’s “beauty, talent and spirit will inspire all the young women that I hope will enjoy this passionate, new young fragrance.” The fragrance–the name has not yet been revealed–will launch this summer. But, GG spotters, if you’re in NYC this weekend, keep your eyes peeled: Photographer Carter Smith is shooting the ad campaign in Manhattan.

Meester stepped out in NYC earlier this week to host Derek Lam’s SS2011 preview with Vogue, so maybe she’s got a shot at a Vogue cover after all. What’s more, she was wearing those awesome Lanvin for H&M leopard heels. This, following reports from Elle, that not even Madonna or J.Lo could get their hands on the coveted collection in advance of the November 18 runway show.

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Come on, we all knew this was coming. Just not that it was coming via Dr. Phil.

Kelly Cutrone, aka @peoplesrev, aka author of If You Have to Cry Go Outside, aka star of Kell on Earth (RIP), has just signed on to be correspondent on Dr. Phil’s talk show. This has been confirmed via Cutrone’s Twitter account as well as Dr. Phil’s Twitter account.

We’ve never watched Dr. Phil because his mustache scares us. He kind of reminds us of Patrick Swayze’s character in Donny Darko, minus the whole child pornography thing. But we’ll be DVRing every episode on which the public relations maven appears. Heck, if Kelly can get behind Dr. Phil, maybe we can, too.

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LOS ANGELES–Mid-afternoon yesterday, Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, the designers behind London’s burgeoning brand Peter Pilotto, could be found sipping champagne and grooving to the tunes of Salem at Opening Ceremony’s LA outpost. The designers were in the midst of a whirlwind global trunk show tour. Having just previewed their Spring 2011 wares in Tokyo and Hong Kong, the duo was passing through Los Angeles for a few days before a stop in New York. And then it’s back to London to continue working on Fall 2011.

“We have jet lag from all over the place,” Pilotto joked of their first grand trunk tour. “I love the heat. We’re going to the beach tomorrow,” he says in response to the heat wave outside. As for his take on Hong Kong? “It’s so gigantic, the stores and the shopping. Shopping for luxury seems to be like going to the supermarket. It’s crazy how many massive stores are sitting on every block.”

Much to the delight of the trunk shows attendees, Opening Ceremony was offering the collection early…well, sort of. Shoppers could reserve garments on the spot by putting down half of the necessary payment. Given the rave critical reviews and wearability of the sportswear-infused line, reserving pieces early isn’t such a bad idea.

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Meet artist Dave Rittinger. He designed these shirts made of leaves which he calls “zero footprint shirts” because they’re only made of leaves and glue. They seem real itchy and highly flammable. And they look pretty silly. He is not doing anything to further the case for green fashion, which conjures up images of things made from bamboo and hemp and now shirts made of fall foliage. Luckily there are lines out there like Bodkin, and designers like Stella McCartney, who both prioritize sustainability in their designs, to combat these stereotypes. But we could use some more smartly designed green fashion.

Mostly I like Dave’s modeling: He is totally smizing into the distance. Check it.

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Madewell, J.Crew‘s sister brand, just gets better and better. And a lot of that has to do with Kin Ying Lee, the label’s creative director. Not only is Kin nice, funny, and cool, she also has amazing personal style. So it’s not surprising that she makes the “Madewell girl” appear effortlessly hip.

I got to spend some time with Kin this summer on Madewell’s road trip–where a bunch of editors visited Montauk to just hang out with the brand’s team–and adored her instantly! Luckily, she was nice enough to answer some questions for Fashionista about her life, her career, and what’s next for Madewell. The brand launched its latest denim style, the High Riser, today, and you can pick it up at their Denim After Dark event, which takes place tonight at select Madewell stores across the country.

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Isabella Blow was one of the most brilliant, creative and fascinating people in fashion. Last night I got to talk with two people who were close enough with her to write a book about her life. Anthropologie hosted the launch party for Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow (which, in turn, is the launchpad for the Fashionista Book Club!).

Anthropologie co-prez Wendy Wurtzberger felt the company and Blow’s story were a great fit,. She took me through the amazing in-store gallery exhibition featuring iconic images and artifacts from Isabella’s life. Fun fact about one particularly interesting photograph of Issie and Detmar Blow, her husband and co-author of the book, in a field next to a castle: There is a mysterious bunch of flowers hanging at the top of the frame–those flowers are being held by Alexander McQueen.

Next, we spoke to Detmar, who was wearing a suit that had “The Modern Art” printed all over it in pink letters so tiny they almost looked like pinstripes. “Alexander McQueen picked out the fabric,” he told me, “He said the one I had originally chosen was too pink.”

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Trying on sunglasses for spring is a pretty good antidote to a dreary, rainy fall day. Luxottica’s Spring 2011 eyewear presentation this morning fit the bill perfectly. With wares from Prada, Miu Miu, Ray-Ban, Persol, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Burberry, Tory Burch, DKNY, and Stella McCartney to play with, we were in a sunny wonderland.

After checking out dozens of pairs, some very clear trends emerged. And trust us: chances are you’ll be happy this spring.

Click through to see the styles you’re going to want:

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Name: Dana

Age: 28

Occupation: Designer/blogger

How would you describe your style? Eclectic

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