Archive for May 2011

Beauty

Beauty Bloggers Design a Color Collection for MAC

Fashion bloggers are afforded the opportunity to design everything from shoe collections (Jane Aldridge) to Coach bags (The Glamouri). But what about beauty bloggers? It’s time they were acknowledged for their devotion to those little pots and jars.

MAC agrees, so they’ve launched a Bloggers’ Obsession collection. Nine bloggers got to visit the MAC lab in Toronto to create a signature Lipglass or eye shadow. The lucky few included Beauty Blogging Junkie, Temptalia, Lipstick Powder N Paint, The Makeup Girl, Makeup and Beauty Blog, Afrobella, Beauty Maverick, the Shades of U, and Nitrolicious.

As befits a collection dedicated to beauty bloggers, it will only be available online. You can snag it starting June 21; each piece will retail for $14.50.

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Kate Middleton Sells a Dress a Minute: How Does the Duchess’s Selling Power Stack Up to Mrs. O’s

Michelle Obama may have met her match when it comes to selling power.

During the Obama campaign and her first 100 days in office, whatever Mrs. O wore created a buying frenzy. The $148 Donna Ricco floral print dress from White House Black Market that Michelle Obama wore on The View during the campaign? Gone. The three-piece J.Crew ensemble the First Lady wore on the Tonight Show back in October of 2008? It crashed the retailer’s site.

Now it’s Kate Middleton who sends shoppers to stores and online in droves to buy whatever she’s wearing.

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Fashion Careers

Want to Be a Trend Forecaster When You Grow Up? Stylesight Might Be Your Ticket

For trend forecasters, the goal is to identify a trend years before it comes to fruition, and to break down the context of that trend for those who don’t have time to travel the world searching for inspiration. (I.e. design teams and marketers at big time retailers.) But as fashion seeps deeper and deeper into the web–traditional trend forecasting firms seem, well, a little…staid. Who needs a trend forecaster when we have Susie Bubble?

Enter Stylesight, an online-only paid subscription service that offers trend analysis for pretty much every market in the world, about pretty much every topic, from children’s clothing to interiors. Not only does Stylesight (www.stylesight.com) offer users in-depth reports, but it also serves as a sort of Google Docs for your fashion stuff. The service allows each user to store their inspiration in tidy folders–and it also allows you to clip items from anywhere on the Web to reference.

So instead of looking at Stylesight as a resource, users look at it as a tool. They take advantage of the all-inclusive nature of the site, often making it their homepage. Sound interesting? We recently sat down with Frank Bober–a former fashion designer and founder of the company–to talk shop.

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Beauty

How Racist is the Beauty Industry? Take a Peek at The Most Recent, Most Controversial Ads

The fashion and beauty industries are not really role models for highlighting racial diversity, nor are they known for being particularly sensitive. Often it’s just the opposite.

Dove, whose “Real Beauty” ads earned a lot of kudos for portraying women of all ages, sizes, and colors, came under fire last week for an ad that showed an African American model turning white after benefitting from the Dove VisibleCare Body Wash (that’s how it was perceived anyway). Were people being hypersensitive or did Unilever really eff this one up? Reading the seemingly thousands of posts about the subject, there are good arguments made in both directions–the bottom line is it depends what skin you’re in.

Some 40% of women buying skin care are women of color, and this number is growing. Obviously the message of beauty companies hasn’t caught up with reality yet, though there are small moments where companies seem to be getting a clue. Estée Lauder’s new campaign featuring Joan Smalls, Liu Wen, and Constance Jablonski is a baby step. But will we someday open a magazine that isn’t Essence and see an African American model alone in a fancy skin care ad without two other races to “balance” it out?

Click through to check out some of the ads that caused a lot of controversy recently.

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Sales

Racked DealFeed: Noir, Stella McCartney, Gap Discount, and More

Stella McCartney
Deal: 40% off selected ready-to-wear and accessories
When/Where: Ongoing. Mon—Sat 11am—7pm, Sun 12:30pm—6pm. 429 W 14th St between 9th and 10th Aves (212-255-1556)
Link: stellamccartney.com
Ends: Friday, 1 Jul 2011

Noir
Deal: Pyramid rings were $80, will be $45; Multi-color glass beaded necklace was $220, will be $75
When/Where: Wednesday, June 1 through Friday, June 3. Daily 10am—7pm. 350 W. 38th St between 8th and 9th Aves, fifth floor (212-244-4846)
Link: www.noirjewelry.com
Ends: Friday, 3 Jun 2011

Change of Season
Deal: 30% off the lowest marked price. Items are already marked 60% to 80% off. Brands include Marni, Balenciaga, and Comme des Garcons, among others.
When/Where: Friday, May 26 through Thursday, June 30. Tues—Sun 1pm—7:30pm. 341 E. 9th St between First and Second Aves (212-420-7770)
Link: changeofseason.com
Ends: Thursday, 30 Jun 2011

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Trendspotting

Trendspotting: Garden Party-Inspired Swimwear

We’re captivated by the photography of Toby Knott in this incredibly sweet and feminine series of images entitled “Portrait,” featuring the beautiful Brynja Jonbjarnardottir and styled by Violet Buchanan. This gorgeous series serves as the ultimate inspiration to reconnect with pure and delicate femininity. (View it all here.) Here are some of our top floral swimwear picks to encourage your softer side:

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Magazines

The Deal is (Finally) Done: Elle Staffers Will Move Into the Hearst Tower in the Next Six to Nine Months

Hearst’s acquisition of Hachette Fillapachi’s US titles went through today. Which means staffers at Elle, Woman’s Day, Elle Decor, and several other mags will be moving over to the Hearst Tower within the next six to nine months, reports Min Online.

Hearst is also buying about 300 international titles from Hachette. Most of those deals have also gone through, except for the China acquisition. (That one will happen later on this year.)

It’s too soon to say who’s staying or who’s going at Elle, but we’re confident Carol Smith will be calling her favorites from the old company about making a move to Harper’s Bazaar. So expect some shakeups at both magazines.

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Streetwalker

Street Style: Emma’s Coffee Order is Seven Adjectives Long

Name: Emma

Age: 24

Occupation: Intern, Freelance Stylist Assistant

How would you describe your style? Very eclectic, lots of menswear.

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Campaigns

Here are Stills From Margherita Missoni’s Missoni for Target Commercials

Stills from the Missoni for Target photo shoot have made it onto the Fashion Spot and are making us giddy with anticipation. Brand ambassador Margherita Missoni stars in both the editorial and television campaign, paying homage to mod style in a zigzag mini dress and teased ponytail with matching luggage. Alex Prager is reportedly filming the ’60s escapade for TV (amazing mental image: Missoni as a Bond girl), which will attempt to highlight tons of stuff from the enormous 400-product collection. The candid pictures are great behind-the-scenes looks into advertorial campaign shoots, and also kinda funny. Margherita may be beautiful, but even she gets caught making funny faces. The line debuts in-stores and online on September 13. For us, it can’t come soon enough.

See the pictures after the jump.

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The Business

LVMH: We’re Not That Crazy About Hermes, Okay?

“LVMH directors are rational and lucid people,” said Pierre Godé, vice-chairman of LVMH, at rival Hermes’ annual meeting on Monday. Really? Why, we thought the most powerful luxury company in the world was run by a bunch of Bellevue transplants!

Anyway, this little nugget is just the latest from the conglomerate, which obviously wants to buy Hermes at some point or another. (Although it seems like they’d like to do it peacefully, and from what we gather, a few years from now.) The whole thing is just getting kind of hilarious. LVMH has bought up just about as much stock as they can, and Hermes is shaking in its saddle. The next move is bound to be an extreme one. But from which side it will come? Who knows.

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Campaigns

Peep Freja in Chanel’s Fall Ad Campaign, Styled by Carine Roitfeld

New flicks weren’t the only thing to come out of Cannes. Apparently, Chanel’s Fall 2011 ad campaign also made a little appearance. Karl Lagerfeld shot Freja Beha Erichsen in some gorgeous, unabashedly Parisian pictures–styled by Carine Roifteld–in which the model flashes both pearly whites–from under an interlocking-C mask–and an exposed back from under spidery lace.

Click through to see the images, first released during festival but just showing up on the internet now. Which is your favorite?

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Buy Marylin’s White Dress, Alex Wang Does Swimwear, DvF Does Gap

Alex Wang Does Swimwear: Um, yes, please. The king of downtown amazeness is working on a line of women’s swimwear, which he’ll debut this month. And men’s ready-to-wear debuts next month. Boy never stops, does he? {ElleUK}

DvF Falls into the (Baby) Gap: Does your baby need a tiny wrap dress? Diane von Furstenberg thinks so–she’s teaming up with Gap on a children’s collection to prove it. Hat tip to Racked for calling this months ago. {WWD}

Marylin Monroe’s White Dress is For Sale: Actress Debbie Reynolds has apparently been collecting film memorabilia for decades, and will sell the infamous subway grate dress from The Seven Year Itch, along with 3,500 other collectible items. The price for the floating frock? Oh, just a paltry $2 million. {Daily Mail}

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