The Tribeca Film Festival hit Doha last week and my mom finally saw The September Issue.
She loved Grace, loved Raquel, and wanted to know if Thakoon ever did design for Mango, and if he didn’t, who did? The only other name we remember from Anna’s list, when she sat down with Oscar De La Renta, was Tracey Feith which, thank god, didn’t happen.
But this morning WWD suggested that Moises De La Renta, Oscar’s son, is up for the job. The Spanish brand’s staging their annual fashion show on Wednesday in Madrid’s Magic Box (built for their failed Olympic bid) and Moises is expected to attend. He’ll be among 600 other guests including Scarlett Johansson and Dree Hemingway.
Meanwhile, Thakoon does have a new job. He’s been appointed Creative Director of Tasaki, the Japanese jewelry line known for cultivating their own pearls. He says, “It is exciting to be working with fine jewelry as it will unquestionably feed into my overall creative process… My goal is to approach jewelry design in the same manner that I approach clothing: always move forward but respect the past.”
Last week, I spent a few days in LA soaking up the other side of the fashion industry, one that loves the art as much as we do, but revolves almost entirely around celebrities.
So I dove right in, starting with a celebrity stylist: Nicole Chavez. Never heard of her? Well, you probably love her work since she styles Rachel Bilson (who, let’s face it, is best known for her style), Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Bell. I’d spent time with my fair share of editorial stylists, but for a career that has the same name, it couldn’t be more different.
We spent the day pulling clothes for three events for Scarlett - Comic Con, the LA Shorts Film Festival and a Dolce & Gabbana in-store appearance - which means we ran from her loft to a designer’s house to Dolce’s showroom to Prada’s store stopping to pick up shoes on the way and unloading FedEx boxes at home. It was a never ending parade of pulling and editing and choosing and trying on and my peppering Nicole with a million questions.
So how’d she get started? What was it like working on The OC? Does she ever want to do editorial? Find out after the jump!
See all the images and continue reading…
Oh Hello: Ed Westwick’s celebrity crush is Scarlett Johansson. He also likes low-top sneakers and laments the fact that Chuck Bass has a billion dollars and he doesn’t. {NylonTV}
Drama Feed: Dolce & Gabanna’s AW09 campaign features lots of models, lots of Marilyn dresses, lots of fur and lots of dresses that we’d really love to have (especially if they come with one of the male models.) {Models}
Strap This: According to Garance, because according to the Italians, everyone needs a little strapless dress this summer, worn with flats during the day. This, we love. {Garance}
So What?: There’s a dude from Kentucky who diets so that he can walk for Cavalli and Co. He only eats twice a day. Mon dieu! {NYTimes}
Continue reading Mid-Day Snack…
On Friday, WWD reported that Salma Hayek is currently working on an undisclosed beauty project. Earlier this month, it was also rumored that Jennifer Aniston is on the hunt for an endorsement deal herself.
But all I could think was, really? Isn’t the celebrity endorsement template a bit staid, especially in today’s tough economic times? There are plenty of models out there that could do the same job for much less money and hassle. Sure, a celebrity creates more exposure for your brand, but do they really influence consumers to spend money? I can’t say I know anyone who’s rushing out to CVS because Drew Barrymore’s shilling a Cover Girl mascara via alluring blinks. (And just think of the stable of stars L’Oréal Paris employs - sixteen celebrities, including Beyonce, Scarlett and Eva Longoria Parker - and somehow they can’t think of how to help that year-to-year net profit drop of 26.6%.)
You’d think beauty companies would try to cut some of the dead weight right now - could what Neutrogena gets out of Susie Castillo’s advertisements really make up for whatever she was paid? - unless we’re totally off. Do celebrities smiling and flipping their hair really get you to spend your cash more so than models?
—MEGAN MCINTYRE