We love Sarah Jessica Parker. But in September, when rumors were circling that she might be the new face of Halston, we made our opinion clear: Not now, not ever.
Now E! online is speculating that SJP may take on even more of a starring role. Specifically, that of design consultant.
Insert Lindsay Lohan/Ungaro comparison here.
Of course, the biggest difference between Lohan and Parker is that people actually like the latter and are interested in her style choices. We’d even go as far to say that she’s a style icon in certain circles.
But it’s still a bad idea. Here’s why:
As we said in September, Halston is a mess. Let newly-appointed Marios Schwab do his thing for Fall 2010. Parker’s presence will take away from the clothes.
While Parker’s red carpet looks and Sex and the City ensembles are attention-grabbing, they’re not entirely her creation. (Remember that she collaborates with the most creative people in the business, including Pat Field and L’Wren Scott.)
Not only is Halston a mess in terms of design vision, but its sales are surely weak right now. Bringing on Parker as a consultant—even if it’s only for $3-$5 million per year—is a big financial gamble. Parker is a shrewd businesswoman—there’s no way she’d do this for free.
We think Halston CEO Bonnie Takhar is way too smart to let something like this happen. We hope we’re right.
“The alleged ‘copying’ claims made by these companies are false and have absolutely no merit or validity whatsoever. Any alleged similarities are purely coincidental.” —The president of 6126 onthis.
Color Us Happy: The first look at Balenciaga’s Jennifer Connelly-less SS10 campaign. We vote yes. You? {Women}
An Original Muse: Ines de la Fressange granted an interview to a British paper last week and took the opportunity to set the record straight regarding just how many hours she spends in front of her closet. Also this, “French women have a kind of arrogance. It’s: ‘I ignore fashion, I do my own thing.’” {Independent}
Meet the Maker: Nicola Formichetti talks fashion, celebrity, Dazed and Gaga. He says, “I like that it feels more like a hobby than a job,” and as for his own style, “I tend to get all my basics from Uniqlo, and I mix vintage clothing with a bit of Margiela.” {TheMoment}
Cover Me: It’s pretty hard to remember every single gorgeous cover we’ve seen this year, let alone pick just one favorite. I pretty much change my mind every time I blink. Here’s just a few to get you started. {Models}
More Lohan Than We Can Take: Yesterday it was a Twitter announcement. Today brings the sketches. We’ll let them speak for themselves. {The Cut}
Film Forum: Never in a million years would I have thought Gleaming the Cube would end up on a list of fashion trendsetting films. It is, however, on my top 5 Christian Slater vehicles list. {LA Times}
Trend-free Zone: “Designers are chucking any old thing in the pot these days in an attempt to appeal to the few potential customers out there who might be persuaded to buy.” You gotta love that Hadley Freeman, even if you don’t agree with her. {Guardian UK}
“i need MORE followers i am so sad about this, how can i tell everyone about my 6126 full collection COMING OUT! all clothing”—Lindsay Lohan’s Twitter. Ruh Roh.
We wanted to use this picture of Lindsay to illustrate just how out of control her Ungaro reign has gotten, but we felt nice and chose the image at left, from a respectable magazine!
This morning, WWD announced that Mounir Moufarrige, Ungaro’s President and CEO, is stepping down to focus on his other businesses, mostly Italian watch companies.
He’ll remain on Ungaro’s advisory board, their “strategic committee,” but after getting Ungaro into the Lohan mess, he’s getting out before it gets any worse (though with only one store carrying Ungaro for spring and heart pasties walking down the runway, we’re not sure how it can get any worse). Marie Fournier, who’s been with the company for eighteen years, is the lucky lady stepping in.
In what feels like a direct rebuttal to the raunchy sexuality of this Lindsay video at her Muse shoot, Models.com has a quick behind-the-scenes peek at Abbey Lee Kershaw’s Greg Kadel shoot for the magazine.
You know we love Abbey and this is just a little taste of why. It’s elfin, ethereal, quirky and pretty all at the same time. We feel like our palate has been officially cleansed.
(And there’s a little bare breast action, so consider yourself warned if that doesn’t play well at your office.)
There’s really nothing to say about this except that a) it’s a sex commercial and b) we think it’s funny the EIC or someone (we can’t remember where we read it yesterday) said it’s the first time Muse has used a celebrity, and probably the last. Also, obviously c) it’s NSFW.
From Jeans to Jolie: You might’ve thrown snowballs or watched football this weekend, but Georgia May Jagger was on set for her first Rimmel campaign shoot. Here’s a peek - we swear it’s not vintage Jerry. {LeLaid}
A Denim Treaty: Did you know jeans are banned in North Korea because they’re a “symbol of American Imperialism?” But Swedish denim brand Noko was going to bridge that political gap - manufacture their line in North Korea and sell it in Sweden. The plan lasted a day. {AP & MSNBC}
A Lively Crime: Robbers held a truck full of Victoria Beckham’s dresses at knife point this weekend. The shipment was heading to Neiman’s and the best part is that though it was only fifty to seventy-five dresses, it was worth over $600,000. {CatwalkQueen}
Barneys Does Brooklyn: This is very, very good news. Barneys is looking for a Co-Op space and real estate types expect they’ll end up on Atlantic Avenue near Steven Alan, about three blocks down from one of our apartments. Sweet. {Racked}
“Mr. Ungaro has his views, he can keep them. I have no comment,” says Ungaro CEO Mounir Moufarrige. Though he did go on to comment that Lindsay is staying on and that the collection sold well. Really? That’s not what we heard.
Blog-alicious: Meet Caroline. She’s guest blogging for Lucky (how we found her), but she’s actually a textile designer with her own blog full of illustrations, both fashion and otherwise, and other very pretty things. {ItLooksGoodToMe}
Oscar & Valentino: The designer’s doc is on the short-list for an Oscar nom. Sadly, The September Issue is not. But we’re still pulling for a fashion victory. Also, we couldn’t be more excited for Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to host. {Vogue UK}
Thigh High: The kids over at Nylon sound like they had a grand old time recreating Miuccia’s super festive socks and they’re letting us in on the scheme. Just in time for party season. Hooray! {Nylon}
This is the End: They may be denying it, but sources say there’s a major brawl going down between executives at Ungaro over what else? La Lohan. Let’s hope the best man wins. {Page Six}
If you thought Lindsay Lohan might give fashion a rest post-Ungaro, you’re wrong.
After hanging out with jeweler Pascal Mouawad at Jermaine Dupri’s house late last week, she told Access Hollywood that the two are actually working together, “we’re doing something with a friend who owns bebe.”
We wish we knew the terms of her Ungaro contract; if it doesn’t forbid her from working on other fashion collections, especially an American mall brand, CEO Mounir Moufarrige must be kicking himself (if he wasn’t already). That is, assuming Lindsay hasn’t made this up.
Poor Ungaro, if he reached the soul-sucking stage of grief last week, this news might put him over a dangerous edge.
When we heard Ashlee Simpson-Wentz was possibly being shot for Vogue, I had a minor fit in the office. Of everyone in young Hollywood that the magazine has yet to feature, I couldn’t believe this was the choice.
The younger Simpson sister perhaps irks me to a disproportionate degree, but that’s just how it is. (I did dress as her on Halloween for a “Come As Your Most Loathed Celebrity Party.”) Now that she’s been axed from Melrose Place, rumors are surfacing that she wants to do a clothing line.
It’s just too much. Is Joe Simpson not paying attention to what’s happening to Lindsay Lohan in the fashion press this week—because you know he’s still pulling the strings on those girls’ careers? And of the two sisters, Ashlee certainly hasn’t been the “fashion” one, if you can even categorize them that way.
Is she going to start knocking off Chucks and Vans? Is there another rocker tee and hoodie line in our futures? Ugh. Okay, off to do some yoga breathing.
The whole world weighed in on Lindsay Lohan and Estrella Archs’ SS10 collection for Ungaro.
Except Emanuel Ungaro himself. The founder’s kept quiet since he sold the house in 2004, but yesterday, at a film festival outside of Lisbon, he was quite blunt, “Lindsay Lohan’s collaboration was a disaster.”
“I am furious but I can’t do anything about it,” he told the Independent, adding that his vision “is in the process of losing its soul…That happens to a lot of designers. We were the creators and patrons, responsible for the creation and destiny of our houses. But when we gave up our houses, we gave up our souls.”
We can’t imagine the man ever coming to terms with heart pasties stamped with his name, but as the outcry over the collection settles down (or had until now), we wonder what happens next? If no one buys the collection, stores or customers, how long does it take until CEO Mounir Moufarrige gives up?
More importantly, if another Ungaro collection sees the light of day while Luella doesn’t, we predict a massive fashion temper tantrum.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I didn’t expect everyone to be completely loving the collection. It is the same with everything I have done. I knew that people were going to target me. I am a target. I don’t know why I am, but I am, and I accept that. I just don’t pay attention to it.”—Lindsay Lohan to the Sunday Times. Really, Lindsay, you don’t know by now? C’mon.
Add A Slash: As in model/actress. Next up is Agyness who’s shooting a short film with the guy who plays the ADA on Law & Order. Also we now have “Celebrity Skin” running through our heads, which is not a bad thing at all. {Page Six}
Is Adidas the New Target: They’ve had Jeremy Scott and Stella McCartney, but now they’re onto British brand PPQ. Here’s your first look at their stripe-y, Catwoman-y collection. {Nylon}
Rita Hayworth Gave Good Face: Lindsay Lohan does not. God love (or hate) the Daily Mail for pointing out what we also witnessed last night, some seriously weird expressions that did nothing but age the girl in a major way. {Daily Mail}
So last night, Versace and the Whitney threw a very fancy party. There was a dinner where people like Donatella (of course), Shakira, Gerard Butler, and other patrons of the arts got together upstairs at the museum.
There was also a downstairs party where they all made their way afterward. I got the chance to see the beginnings of this charity endeavor with Donatella back in July, and it was so nice to see the children’s art displayed on actual handbags that will be sold to raise money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation and the One Foundation.
Not for nothing, they created a graffiti wall where everyone could draw and have fun. So of course someone went for “balloon boy” and started sketching a CNN screen grab of America’s latest reality travesty. Oy, America. But that’s a discussion for another blog on another day…
And of course, the usual fashion crowd was out in full effect—Alexa, Leigh, Peter, Hana, Fabiola, Alexandra, Amanda—but there was really only one star in the room—Chuck Close.
These past few weeks we’ve seen a resurgence of all things juvenile. From pigtails at Prada to side braids at Wang, girlish hairstyles are a go for spring, but it doesn’t stop at the head.
Tao, Moschino, YSL and Ungaro embraced the youthful phenomenon in their Spring collections. Each designer topped their ready-to-wear with prints that would make any little girl giddy. Tao and YSL chose strawberries while Moschino opted for cherries (as did Anna Dello Russo on her feet all week). The playful prints are charming and romantic, stopping just short of saccharine, but the reviews weren’t, to put it mildly, nearly as positive at Ungaro.
We love Sarah Jessica Parker. But in September, when rumors were circling that she might be the new face of Halston, we made our opinion clear: Not now, not ever. 
