It seems like things are finally happening at Schiaparelli.
A year after Diego Della Valle announced he would revive the storied label, rumors of a creative director finally being named are swirling, and today Schiaparelli has confirmed that the inimitable Christian Lacroix has been tapped to design a limited-edition capsule collection.
It’s hard to believe, but the granddaddy of all red carpet events – THE ACADEMY AWARDS! – is only two days away. Can you tell we’re excited? Really, we are. Obviously, our favorite part of the entire evening is the arrivals: Who’s there, and more importantly, who they’re wearing. Above all, we want to see who’s bold enough to take the fashion risks – because those are the dresses we’ll be talking about the next morning. And those who really make a mark could end up on a list like this one in twenty years time!
Behold, our choices for the fifteen riskiest red carpet Oscar looks of all time. Some are great, some… not so much. But the best ones are an amazing combination of both. Read on as we take a look back at some of the most fashionably daring dames on Hollywood’s biggest night.
PARIS–Needless to remind you that Christian left Lacroix in 2009 due to financial difficulties, (which were mainly because of its costly couture line).
Last season, the house relaunched, led by Sacha Walckhoff, the founder’s assistant of 17 years, who had heavily contributed to just about every department of the brand.
Now working only through licenses, Lacroix launched a menswear collection last season that were miles away from Christian’s once theatrical designs: wearable, elegant, the former’s designer’s loudness appeared only in discreet touches, on linings and collars.
Last night in Lacroix’s flagship boutique in Paris’ left bank, Sacha presented a full-blow runway show, but a humble one nevertheless. The interior, currently going through renovations, had bare walls and floors, and felt like a chic squat party. On
the outside, a simple sign hung stating “Lacroix: work in progress.”
Beauty Trucks Are the New Food Trucks: The beauty brand Fresh will be handing out free tubes of their Sugar Lip Treatment from a pink truck in New York City tomorrow and this Saturday. Follow their Twitter (@FreshFounder) to find the truck’s exact locale. {Style.com}
Tavi Talks Jane Pratt and Summer Wardrobe Plans: The blogger, who just completed her first post for Pratt’s new website, xoJane, says that she hates summer dressing but she is, however, excited to wear her swim suit with an astronaut on it. {Stylelist}
In Defense Of Our Criticized Sao Paulo Fashion Week Post: Our own Leah Chernikoff has received some backlash from Brazil this week for her post, “The Top Ten Most Outrageous Looks From Sao Paulo Fashion Week”–apparently lots of people didn’t see it for what it was: fun and silly. The blog Made in Brazil has come to her defense, citing the many favorable reviews Chernikoff wrote about the designers seen during the week. {Made in Brazil}
Jessica Alba Gets the High Fashion Treatment: The actress posed for Michelangelo Di Battista in this month’s Vogue Italia, and she looks amazing and pleasantly un-Hollywood. {Styleite}
Christian Louboutin Sues YSL: There’s only room for one designer with signature red soled shoes in this town. Louboutin claims that YSL is violating trademark and misleading the public by producing their own designs with red soles. {Telegraph}
Happy Birthday Vivienne Westwood!: The quirky British designer turns 70 today! {Vogue UK}
At the couture shows, one expects flair and drama. Beauty is an important part of any runway show, but it’s taken to a different level in couture. It’s either masterfully understated to let the clothes shine, or a literal extension of the couture pieces themselves.
The Spring 2011 couture shows delivered flair in abundance. Yes, there were quiet and pretty moments, like at Elie Saab and Valentino. And Jean Paul Gaultier was kind of a hot mess, mixing Marcel waves, braids, and mohawks–though he did a magnificent elongated cat eye, so we’ll forgive him for the hair.
A few trends emerged as well–some things to watch for in the upcoming A/W 2011 shows, perhaps?
-Asian models: Givenchy used all Asian girls, as befitted the Japanese theme (though many weren’t Japanese). Elie Saab used three, all in a row and all dressed in red. Does two make a trend? We’ll see.
-High blush to the temples: Chanel and Valentino both put blush in unnatural places (coincidentally not unlike Justin Bieber did at the Golden Globes). Start at the high cheek bone and blend to the lower orbital bone, then continue right up to the temples. Instant couture glow.
-Cat eye with a twist: Chanel did a thick cat eye that cut up towards the brow rather than out horizontally. Dior did a double cat eye, with wings extending from both the upper and lower lids. Jean Paul Gaultier’s was a traditional shape, but exaggerated almost out to the hairline.
So what were our favorite looks at the shows? Click through to find out.
PARIS–Lacroix is back, ladies and gentlemen–sans Christian, alas. When the house closed in 2009 after going through severe financial trouble, we mourned its baroque dementia. But today, Sacha Walkhoff, his assistant of 17 years, is in charge. “We are going to run the house very differently than we once did,” said Walkhoff, “we are currently developing lots of licenses, and are starting by relaunching Lacroix homme. We’ll wait a little longer to restart women.”
The line, shown through a presentation at the Maria Luisa boutique themed around “migrating boys,” was for elegant globetrotters: Suits with flowery seams and lining, spurts of color and button badges. “Lacroix, Chapter Two” as Walkhoff put it.
Bernhard Willhelm did his usual nutty number: the Solomon de Rotschild private mansion in Paris was taken over and transformed into a gigantic performance that looked like Willy Wonka going off to the jungle.
Even if Bruce Oldfield seems to have pinned down the honor, designers still had fun imagining what they would create for princess-to-be Kate Middleton, if indeed she chose them to fashion her royal wedding dress.
Women’s Wear Daily asked 29 designers to sketch their fantasy. Karl Lagerfeld gave her boots. Chris Benz gave her color: yellow, to be exact. And Christian Lacroix–yes, the man, not the brand–gave her a collage of the old (a Victorian skirt), new (a patchwork gown), borrowed (Queen Elizabeth’s veil), and red (an “Elizabethan top, as red was the wedding color until 1900!”). Other impressive participants included Tory Burch, Lyn Devon, Prabal Gurung, and Jason Wu (shown here). Which look did we like the best? Well, we have to hand it to our friend Chris Benz. While we know Kate won’t go with his sunny yellow–as fun as that would be–we do think the slinky, nipped in silhouette he chose is perfect for the soon-to-be royal. (And we promise we aren’t being biased.)
Click through to see our 12 favorite designs.
