Danielle Helayel, Issa London‘s founder and creative director of 12 years, has left the company, WWD is reporting.
The designer of Kate Middleton’s headline-making engagement dress (and countless others) is jumping ship at a time of rapid growth for the company (which that dress undoubtedly jumpstarted).
Issa, the designer label that Kate Middleton put on the map, is coming to a high street store near you.
The London-based brand is collaborating with Banana Republic on a 40-piece collection to hit stores August 6.
Issa almost went bankrupt a few years back due to Kate Middleton and a certain little blue jersey wrap dress… {Vogue UK}
Get ready to simultaneously swoon and cringe: Ryan Lochte’s E! reality show now has a full trailer. {E! Online}
As Victoria Beckham says “Goodbye” to singing, rumors are floating around that the Spice Girls are planning to hold a reality show competition for the next Posh Spice. Obviously we’re trying out. {Gossip Cop}
You can count rapper and nouveau fashion icon A$AP Rocky as a gay rights activist. {Interview}
American Eagle is “selling” the skinniest pair of skinny jeans available on the market now–in cans of spray paint. Early April fools? {HuffPo}
British designer Debbie Wingham creates the world’s most expensive dress that money can’t buy—not even if you can afford the $17.7 million price tag. {Today}
France’s former First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy returns to her modeling roots as the star of Bulgari’s haute joaillerie campaign. {Grazia}
i-D magazine serves Lara Stone’s head on a platter in its upcoming Q&A issue. {i-D}
Four cities, one season: Fall 2013. Nemo kicked the collections off and every city to follow added its own dose of wintry chill. Somehow all that cold weather caused a discernible note of restraint to float through the collections. Don’t worry–the passion and excitement were still there, but designers actively pursued defining new ways we can really dress next fall. These looks felt grounded in the return of the “Lady,” as fashion’s pendulum swung away from the risqué, toward the refreshingly refined (spike-studded shoulders be damned). Check out our top trends for fall in the slide show.
Hello from London! London fashion week is in full swing and we’re doing our best to cover it all. Check out our new show reviews and galleries from Moschino Cheap & Chic, House of Holland, and Issa.
Most of the world may forever associate Issa with the dress Kate Middleton wore in her official engagement photo–but there’s a lot more to the brand than just flattering wrap dresses. And designers Daniella Helayel and Camilla Al Fayed drove that point home for Fall 2013.
Cara Delevingne opened the show wearing a long-sleeved maxi dress and a dapper chapeau with a massive feather. The hat, which turned out to be a constant in the show, made the theme of the collection clear: It was ’70s to the max.
Talk about Kate-ering to a specific audience.
Issa, the Brazilian-by-way-of-Britain brand that created Kate Middleton’s sell-out (and knocked off) Royal engagement announcement dress, has recently released the latest addition to its growing family of wrap dresses: A maternity version!
Cheerio! We’re hitting the London shows and we don’t want you to miss a single review! We checked out House of Holland‘s 90s inspired runway, Issa‘s tropical prints, and Preen‘s quietly gorgeous collection.
Daniella Helayel and Camilla Al Fayed’s spring collection for Issa had a “Garden of Eden” theme. That meant bright color and tropical prints–a reflection of Helayel’s native Brazil. Her signature wrapped jersey numbers and pantsuits were done up in loud tropical floral and bird prints–though there were still a few solid floor length jersey dresses–low cut and wrapped at the waist–that we could see on Helayel’s most famous fan, Duchess Kate Middleton.
CFDA Agrees to Move S/S NYFW Dates: In the latest S/S Fashion Week scoop, the CFDA agreed to move NY Fashion Week to September 6-13, but won’t eliminate the second Thursday to allow for more men’s shows in London. It also agreed to revisit its scheduling after three years, instead of setting future dates in stone. No word yet from Italy. As Geri Halliwell famously said in the timelessly classic film Spice World, “have [they] not heard of compromisation?” {WWD}
Is Rudolph Cuter Than Karlie? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, which has aired multiple times annually since 1964, pulled in 1.6 million more viewers last week than this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Maybe these stats will inspire VS to put some claymation models down the runway next year. Fingers crossed. {Washington Post}
Designers Design Their Ultimate Hunger Games Dress: Bella’s wedding dress – what?? InStyle asked 11 amazing designers – including The Blonds, Rachel Roy, and others – to sketch out their versions of Katniss’s fire dress for the upcoming The Hunger Games film. The results are seriously on fiya. {StyleCaster}
Issa had the misfortune of showing against House of Dereon (yep, that’s Beyoncé’s line with her mom) on Saturday, which was debuting for the first time ever in the UK. The London fashion week press bus (a godsend and also a great way to see the city) was absolutely abuzz about the show, and the poor PR person at Selfridges was undoubtedly inundated with requests (myself included!) And yes, Queen B walked the runway after the show, arm-in-arm with mom Tina. Alas, I wasn’t there to see it, which was fine, because I sat front row at Issa, a line adored by actual royal, Kate Middleton.
Kate has famously worn Issa for high-profile events, like announcing her engagement to Prince William and multiple times during her trip to Canada. Issa is making sure that she has plenty to choose from next spring–especially if she decides to take a trip to Rio’s Carnival. Daniella Helayel, Issa’s designer, hails from Brazil, and Rio de Janeiro was the inspiration for the collection. While a modern version of “Girl from Ipanema” played, models sashayed by with long Middleton-esque waves bouncing in time, some topped with adorable Stephen Jones hats.
