We’re still in Milan, eating chunks of parmesan, pleading with PRs, and bringing you the latest show notes and galleries. Today we’ve got MaxMara’s sportier more casual li’l sis Sportmax, Fendi’s Rubik’s cube-y collection, and Christopher Kane’s loud prints and plasticized fabrics (all with a live soundtrack provided by Beth Ditto) at Versus.
Mary Katrantzou is collaborating with Current/Elliot on a an amazing-looking line hitting stores next February. Yes, February. It just seems a bit cruel, no? {SheFinds}
FLOTUS hopeful Ann Romney dressed like a blinding tropical flower patch on Live with Kelly and Michael–which WWD called “more Lisa Frank than First Lady.” Since when is that a bad thing? {HuffPost}
Didn’t quite get your shoe porn fix during fashion week? Lucky‘s got you covered with it’s comprehensive ‘Shoes of NYFW’ vid! Should do the trick. {LuckyMag}
The Feds? The mob? Private investigators? FASHION?! Looks like Calvin Klein’s split from ex Nick Gruber isn’t going so smoothly. As opposed to his face. Which is very, very smooth. {Page Six}
Check out the A/W 2012 adidas Originals x Opening Ceremony lookbook. Coming to a wishlist near you. {Nitrolicious}
Rachel Zoe’s new “Morrison” bag is named after her son Skyler’s middle name. No word on if he carries his snacks and sippy cup in it. {SheFinds}
Check out Charlize Theron’s shaved head for her upcoming debut in Mad Max. Still gorgeous. {Elle}
Christopher Kane, Stella Tennant, and Tali Lennox all took home awards at the Scottish Fashion Awards. And there was nary a kilt in sight. {Vogue UK}
Beth Ditto is just flat out awesome, so it makes sense that her namesake makeup collection would be, too. We reported way back in January that the collection was happening, and now it’s here; you can snag pieces from her very colorful polka-dot themed line starting June 7.
Beth Ditto may be one of the few people in the world who isn’t afraid to say she thinks Karl Lagerfeld is, er, insane. A few weeks ago the outspoken singer came out in defense of Adele, whom Karl Lagerfeld had called “a little too fat.” He apologized, but Ditto still went after the designer, saying that people “give him way too much power.” And she’s not done telling people how she feels about the whole situation.
As far as we can tell, Beth Ditto is one of the coolest people ever. The talented and stylish Gossip frontwoman is beloved by just about everyone–especially fashion people. And for good reason.
From gracing the first issue of Love (naked) to sitting front row at major runway shows, to walking in them, to performing at fashion parties, Ditto, who doesn’t quite conform to the industry’s typical beauty standards, has been described by Katie Grand as “an accidental size hero for the size zero” and “a generational icon, confounding the tedious stereotypes of what it is to be a wonderful 21st-century woman.” She also has great perspective and we love what she said in a recent interview with the Evening Standard about that time Karl Lagerfeld said fellow plus-size songstress Adele was “a little too fat”:
What do Johnny Weir, Daphne Guinness, Iris Apfel, and Beth Ditto have in common? They all have a distinct style point-of-view, and now they all have MAC collections. WWD announced today that Beth Ditto is the latest quirky MAC muse.
The brand and the singer have a bit of a history: Ditto performed last September at the MAC store in NYC’s Soho neighborhood for Fashion’s Night Out, making it one of the top stops on everyone’s FNO agenda. The match makes a ton of sense–MAC loves a strong makeup statement and so does Ditto. She’s rarely seen without heavy, winged black eyeliner (sometimes purposely smeared all over her face).
With just one night and counting before the madness that is Fashion’s Night Out, we’ve already brought you the breakdowns for celeb spotting and scoring an evening’s worth of free food and booze. So it’s a perfect time to discuss the musical performances of the night.
But if singing a karaoke duet with A.J. “The Bad One” McLean to “I Want It That Way” or chiming in to a chorus of high-pitched tweenage screams at a Joe Jonas concert would absolutely ruin your reputation, then this is the list (in alphabetical order) for you. Do you just feel more at home quaffing a PBR while checking out a band at Bowery Ballroom/The Bellhouse/the Cake Shop/[insert teeny, sticky-floored music venue here]? You’re going to love Fashion’s Night Out. Of course, to keep in the spirit of the evening, be sure to do a little shopping, too.
LONDON–And best bash of LFW (so far, and yes, slight intoxication may tint our estimation) goes to the Love magazine for Alexander Wang party at Liberty.
Daisy Lowe was there, dancing up a storm in a Mark Fast crop top and pencil skirt. When Beth Ditto forgot the lyrics during her a capella version of “I Will Always Love You,” she called on none other than Alexa Chung to complete the phrase.
The invitation to Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring 2011 show reportedly said that the collection would “explore the contrast between XXS and XXL.” True to his word, Gossip’s Beth Ditto, who is, according to the Daily Mail, a UK size 28 (to convert to US sizing, the rule is generally to subtract two, which would mean Ditto’s a US size 26), opened Gaultier’s show this past weekend. Crystal Renn, a size 10, also walked.
This isn’t the first time Gaultier has used plus-size models in his runway shows. A much fuller-figured Crystal Renn also walked in his Spring 2006 collection. Gaultier also featured Renn in his fall ad campaign.
And while there haven’t been many other plus-sized models on the runway this season apart from Renn (who is really more of a supermodel than a “plus-size” model at this point), perhaps it’s a good sign that many of the reviews of Gaultier’s show made little mention of the size debate. Hilary Alexander’s review for the Telegraph didn’t address the fact that Gaultier featured curvier models at all. Nor did Cathy Horyn’s. Suzy Menkes merely hinted at Ditto’s size by describing her walk down the runway as “wobbling.”
Cathy Pill is the kind of woman who makes girls green with envy: Drop dead gorgeous (to the point of being mistaken for a model during her private views), she can also sew admirably, and walk in Eiffel-Tower-high heels. And to make matters worse, she is absolutely lovely.
The designer, an Antwerp export, gives the once over to Parisian women, as she mixes classical, Cacharel-like chic with daring detailing, bold colors and urban prints. She’s already designed pieces for Beth Ditto. This fall, her clothes will be sold at Browns in London, and Colette in Paris.
Today, Cathy confides in Fashionista about her upcoming collection, her teenage years and Sex and the City.
1. When I tweeted that Jean Charles de Castelbajac’s theme was Bambi, I should’ve mentioned castles and cartoons and armor and the future, too. 2. This show opened with a horn, like the horns used to signal the arrival of royalty in old movies (and in real life circa the Middle Ages, right)? 3. Dita Read more →
