Archive for May 2011

Events

Hang Out With Brad Goreski and Chris Benz at Art Rocks! This Thursday

Art Rocks! is an annual benefit supporting the Naomi Diabetes Berrie Center at Columbia Medical Center. Each year, the org puts together a night of art and music to raise awareness and money for the disease, with this year’s proceeds directed towards the development of a pediatric diabetes program.

The 4th annual benefit is this Thursday, May 12, at the Bowery Hotel, hosted by frequent Fashionista contributor Chris Benz and Bravo star Brad Goreski. There will be music by David Berrie, Paul Sevigny, and DJ M.O.S., as well as expected appearances by Olivia Palermo, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jenna Lyons, Harley Viera Newton, and Becka Diamond. The art show is curated by LOLA NY and, from what we’ve seen, is bound to be really interesting: all pieces exist solely in the digital space, through projections and installations throughout the space.

Read more »

Get Your Portrait Done by Rankin

If you have even the slightest interest in fashion, you know photographer Rankin and his work. Renowned for his intimate portraits–and for co-founding the iconic culture and photography mag Dazed & Confused–he’s shot everyone from Madonna to the Dove “Real Women” campaign.

Rankin’s latest exhibit, “Open,” is coming to Milk Gallery from May 24 to June 10 and is a culmination of 20 years of his work.

But maybe more importantly: from June 1-5 at Milk Studios, you have a chance to participate in Rankin Live. The photographer is inviting people with “unique personalities and style” aged 16 and over to submit a photo and brief statement. The most original applicants will be invited to Milk to pose for a portrait shot by Rankin. For this project he’s working with Oxfam, the international development agency whose mission is to alleviate poverty and suffering. Each portrait will cost $100, and all the profits will go to Oxfam. $100 for a Rankin portrait? That’s unbelievable.

Read more »
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Lizzy Jagger Covers Playboy, Gossip Girls Are On the Outs, and a Jersey Mall of America

Lizzy Jagger Photographed for Playboy: The 27-year-old model is taking up mom Jerry Hall’s torch, er, bunny ears, and appears nearly-nude on the June cover. Will sister Georgia May of that enviable Hudson Jeans derriere follow in the family footsteps? {Vogue UK}

Taylor Momsen and Jessica Szohr to Leave Gossip Girl: Fans of the show may be sad, but can hardly feign surprise. Momsen has been a fractional presence this season, and Szohr’s Vanessa only shows up every couple episodes to aid other characters’ dramatics. Vanessa also let it drop on last week’s episode that she will be leaving to”‘study abroad”–TV code for “I’m leaving the show and this is the best way to slip that into the plot.” {JustJared}

Topshop to Open in Chicago: Windy City fans of the UK import will soon be graced with their very own location. The 35,000 square foot plan makes it just slightly larger than ours here in NYC, and will be located on the busy corner at 830 North Michigan Avenue. {WWD subscription required}

Read more »
The Business

American Apparel’s First Quarter Wasn’t Too Bad, But Bankruptcy is Still a Possibility

Dov Charney and American Apparel released its first quarter results last night, and the numbers weren’t terrible. For the first three months of the 2011 fiscal year, sales were down by 4.7% to $116 million. But the company was able to cut a ton of costs (about $2.2 million) by increasing the productiveness of its sales associates (they’ve got to work now instead of just standing around looking all hipstery) and making its distribution process more efficient. They also received about $14.2 million in additional funding in April, with the possibility of more down the road.

The best news was that online sales increased by over 28% to $10.0 million during the time period.

Read more »
Campaigns

Sneak Peek: Emma Watson’s Lancôme Campaign

We got a sense of what Emma Watson’s Lancôme campaign would look like when she was snapped by paparazzi back in March–that’s when Mario Testino was shooting the starlet for Lancôme’s Trésor line in Paris. Now Style.com’s Beauty Counter blog has the first image of the campaign up. Watson looks lovely and I like that there’s something Liza/Cabaret-ish about the campaign (or what we’ve seen of it so far).

According to the Beauty Counter blog, we’ll be seeing a lot more of Watson in the coming months.

Read more »
Magazines

Vogue ‘Disappears’ Ill-Timed Profile of Syria’s First Lady

Back in February, Vogue took a lot of crap for publishing a puffy swoony profile of Syria’s first lady, Asma al-Assad. And rightly so–the gushy piece by Joan Juliet Buck, “Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert,” which ran in Vogue‘s March issue, ignored Syria’s abysmal human rights record and that al-Assad’s husband, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, is, to quote the Atlantic‘s Max Fisher, “an anti-American autocrat.”

Shortly after the piece was published, Fisher got in touch with Vogue senior editor Chris Knutsen, the story’s editor, to get his rationale for the profile that painted Syria in such a glowing light. (Buck described Asma al-Assad as “glamorous, young, and very chic–the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies,” and said of her husband that he is “a precise man who takes photographs and talks lovingly about his first computer.”) At the time, Knutsen stood by Buck’s story and Vogue‘s decision to publish it, saying “We felt that a personal interview with Syria’s first lady would hold strong interest for our readers…The piece was not meant in any way to be a referendum on the al-Assad regime. It was a profile of the first lady.”

But good luck trying to find that story on Vogue.com today (you get this lovely image and error message instead).

Read more »
Haute Couture

Giambattista Valli Launches Couture

In an era when the headline “Is Couture Dead?” runs in newspapers and on websites nearly every fashion week, Giambattista Valli is saying phooey to those notions.

Indeed, the designer will show his first haute couture collection this July at the medium’s bi-annual event in Paris. The show, taking place in the Galerie de la Madeleine–home to Valli’s new store and studio–is part of the official Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week calendar. No easy feat for a newbie. (It’s unclear whether that means Valli has already been accepted into the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture, but we’re assuming it does if he is to be listed on the official calendar.)

Read more »
Magazines

Lady Gaga’s Face Is Transformed Into a Butterfly For the Cover of V Magazine

By Leah Chernikoff Wednesday, May 11, 2011 / 9:09 AM


Read more »

Royal Wedding

10 Looks Kate Middleton Should Wear on Her Honeymoon

As you’ve probably already heard, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took off for their honeymoon today. According to the official Royal Wedding blog, the site of the newlywed’s honeymoon “which will be overseas, will not be disclosed in advance…the Couple have asked that their privacy be respected during the coming weekend and during their honeymoon.”

Oops! Secret’s out! The British tabs are reporting that Kate and Wills will be honeymooning on a private island in the Seychelles. And while Kate will most likely wear some of the sensible items she picked up on her high street shopping spree just days before her big day, we thought it would be more fun to pick out some pieces from resort and spring 2011 that we wish she would wear. Keeping her conservative tastes and penchant for those damn L.K. Bennett wedges in mind, of course. (Yes, we photoshopped them onto these looks.)

Read more »
Events

Nine Lessons Learned at Last Night’s “How I’m Making It” Panel

Last night, a panel of fashion industry insiders gathered for the second installment of our “How I’m Making It” series at NYU’s Cantor Film Center. The panelists, from all corners of the fashion world, included fashion designer Chris Benz, runway producer Gayle Dizon, PR powerhouse Cindy Krupp, and Katherine Krause and Skye Parrott, editor and creative directer of Dossier Magazine.

Whether you’re an intern just entering the fashion industry or an entrepreneur building a company, here’s what you need to know in case you missed it.

Read more »
People Are Talking

A Closer Look at Why This Swimsuit Has Some Indians Burning Australian Flags

Protests broke out in India this past weekend over what might seem like a trivial matter to Westerners. But in Southeastern Asia, it speaks to a bigger cultural crisis that’s been underway for some time.

Members of the right wing Hindu organization Shiv Sena and the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata political party are angry at the Aussies for unintentionally disrespecting their culture. In fact, they burned images of the Australian flag and held up pictures of models in Hindu deity-adorned swimsuits at a protest in the Indian cities of Hyderabad and Amritsar this weekend, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The groups were angered by the use of Hindu deities like Ganesha and Lakshmi on designer Lisa Burke’s swimwear, which was modeled on the catwalk at Australian Fashion Week. (Burke’s label, Lisa Blue, donates 25% of net profits to protecting whales and dolphins in the South Pacific.)

Read more »
Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day: Iris Apfel Loves Wearing Jeans But Thinks Most Pairs are Overpriced

By Fashionista Tuesday, May 10, 2011 / 4:30 PM

“Have you seen the prices? Scandalous. I mean, yes, if they are embroidered or beaded or made special in some divine way, but honestly, jeans are jeans. I live in them most of the time, but I had a helluva time getting a pair of jeans around 1940, when I was at the University of Wisconsin. I thought I’d wear jeans, a turban, and some old earrings. So I went to an Army-Navy store, but you have to remember, back in those days, all the men in Wisconsin were the size of Paul Bunyan. Then the salesman told me, ‘Young ladies don’t wear jeans.’ He wouldn’t sell me any or have them cut down. So I kept going back to the store, and they kept throwing me out, so to get rid of me, they finally ordered me some boys’ jeans. I love men’s jeans; they fit me better.” –Fashion icon Iris Apfel in Architectural Digest.