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Humberto Leon

Saturday October 22nd, 2011

Opening Ceremony Spring 2012 is the Cat’s Meow
Look Book

Opening Ceremony Spring 2012 is the Cat’s Meow

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Just because Carol Lim and Humberto Leon are now busy turning Kenzo into the coolest brand around, it doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten about the line that started it all or that their creative energy is spent. Their latest collection for Opening Ceremony is filled with as many fun, lust-worthy pieces as we’ve come to expect from the talented duo. Not that it’s predictable–we never know what Lim and Leon are going to do next–only that it won’t be boring and we’re going to want it all.

The inspiration for spring 2012 was summer music festivals in England, Argentina and the U.S. and we bet we’ll be seeing a lot of these clothes on the backs of stylish revelers at those very festivals next year. The ’90s definitely have a presence here via babydoll silhouettes, crop tops, metallic silver pants, plaid miniskirts, varsity jackets, lots of matching tops and bottoms and off-the-shoulder body con dresses.

However, our favorite part the collection, which should come as no surprise, is the cat faces. As we’ve learned, the best way to make something better is to cover it with cats. And that is what they’ve done here.

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Published at 2:00 PM

Monday October 3rd, 2011

Kenzo Spring 2012: Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim Debut a Fantastic First Collection for Kenzo
Reviews

Kenzo Spring 2012: Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim Debut a Fantastic First Collection for Kenzo

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PARIS–Last night, Kenzo converted their headquarters in Paris’ Palais Royal into a giant-pop up catwalk stretching throughout the ground floor offices and into the paved courtyard. There, a sleeveless Jared Leto and Terry Richardson (full-sleeves) watched models walking down as amuse-bouches and anis champagne were served. (A newly brunette Chloe Sevigny even modeled the collection at another showing).

No need to remind you this is the first collection with Opening Ceremony founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim at the helm. Quite a stretch, you might think, between the retailers of cool and the Franco-Japanese house? Not that much, the two believe.

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Published at 10:45 AM

Saturday September 10th, 2011

Fashion News Roundup: Karlie Kloss on Under-16 Models, Nicola Formichetti’s Interactive Video and Being Forced to Wear Louboutins by Anna Wintour
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Karlie Kloss on Under-16 Models, Nicola Formichetti’s Interactive Video and Being Forced to Wear Louboutins by Anna Wintour

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Making Kenzo New Again: New Kenzo creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim discuss further details about their Kenzo revamp–including repositioning as “top contemporary,” bringing their retail knowledge, and starting from scratch from digital. {WWD}

Karlie on Underage Models: Karlie Kloss, backstage at Jason Wu, talks about feeling old at 19 and starting out at 15, and shares her thoughts on under-16 models. {The Cut}

Anna Wintour’s Shoe Influence: Florence and the Machine guitarist Rob Ackroyd once had dinner with Anna Wintour, which resulted in him being forced to wear a pair of Louboutins (men’s ones, obviously) to the Met Ball that he would not have worn otherwise. {Vogue UK}

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Published at 2:00 PM

Friday September 9th, 2011

Fashion News Roundup: Ali Lohan Aging Gracefully, Daphne Guinness For MAC, and a Booty-ful Model Bites Back at AA
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Ali Lohan Aging Gracefully, Daphne Guinness For MAC, and a Booty-ful Model Bites Back at AA

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Ali Lohan’s Agency Says She Didn’t Have Plastic Surgery: There’s been a lot of speculation that Lindsay’s little sis, now a model for Next, went under the knife (see then-and-now photos). However, the agency director at Next issued a statement denying the rumors, saying the drastic change was due to natural aging. Do you believe it? {Us Weekly}

Daphne Guiness For M.A.C. The inimitable icon is partnering with M.A.C. for a line of 24 cosmetics. It launches December 26 and will hit stores in January. {WWD}

Marc Jacobs’ Blondie Pop-Up Shop: Next Tuesday the designer will turn his Bleeker Street boutique into a tribute pop-up for his longtime friend Debbie Harry, where the new Blondie album and various fan items will be sold, including exclusive $35 T-shirts. {WWD}

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Published at 1:15 PM

Friday August 12th, 2011

Solange Knowles Says She’d Love to Do a Collaboration With Opening Ceremony
Parties

Solange Knowles Says She’d Love to Do a Collaboration With Opening Ceremony

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Last night, Opening Ceremony threw a block party on Howard Street (where their flagship is located) to celebrate the stateside launch of Kim Jones’ collaboration with Bean Pole, a South Korean retailer. Thus, the party was sort of Korean-themed with a Korean taco truck and cocktails made with soju. To round out the block party vibe, Brooklyn MC Theophilus London performed to a fashionable crowd that included Shala Monroque, Jen Brill, Phil Oh, and Rachel Chandler. Even new Kenzo creative directors (and Opening Ceremony co-founders) Humberto Leon and Carol Lim made time to stop by.

The always stylish and multi-talented Solange Knowles was also there and joined London on stage for two songs after doing a three-hour DJ set. Even though she was probably pretty exhausted from all that, Solange, who is becoming a regular here on Fashionista, was nice enough to chat with us briefly after her awesome performance. Here’s what she had to say about dj’ing, stealing clothes from her sister and doing a clothing line.

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Published at 3:06 PM

Friday July 15th, 2011

Fashion House Musical Chairs: A Visual Guide
Fashion Is Fun

Fashion House Musical Chairs: A Visual Guide

by Dhani Mau and Alaina Hernandez

Usually, it’s editorial shakeups that get us all confused and inspire us to create befuddling charts and guides to recap and (at least attempt to) make sense of movement within the fashion industry. Lately, however, it seems that most of the movement is taking place at big fashion houses. Whether it’s the economy or designers getting burnt-out, it seems like a top level position opens (or gets filled) every week.

From Galliano’s exit from Dior to Marios Schwab’s from Halston (which happened so recently we didn’t have a chance to include it), here’s our little visual guide to the recent ins and outs at major fashion houses.

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Published at 5:00 PM

Tuesday July 12th, 2011

Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim Named Creative Directors of Kenzo, Have Signed Multi-Year Contract

Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim Named Creative Directors of Kenzo, Have Signed Multi-Year Contract

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With so many top-level shakeups at major fashion houses, we’ve come to expect the unexpected and we’re pretty sure no one could have predicted this (at least we were pretty shocked). LVMH has appointed Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, co-founders of specialty store Opening Ceremony, as the new creative directors of Kenzo, effective immediately. As in they are already in Paris piecing together some sort of a collection to present in some format this October.

This news is surprising for a variety of reasons, the first of which being that Kenzo already had a creative director, Antonio Barras, who seemed to be doing fine.

The brand, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, was doing well, but not everywhere, according to WWD, who reported dwindling sales in Kenzo’s traditional markets, but an increase in emerging countries like Russia and China.

Also initially surprising–that two retail store owners with no formal design training were chosen to take over the fashion house.

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Published at 9:24 AM

Monday May 30th, 2011

Jeremy Laing, Anthony Vaccarello and Adam Kimmel Nominated for This Year’s ANDAM Fashion Award

Jeremy Laing, Anthony Vaccarello and Adam Kimmel Nominated for This Year’s ANDAM Fashion Award

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Thanks to a grand endorsement from Carine Roifeld, Hakaan Yildirim was already a name to know when he received France’s prestigious ANDAM award in 2010. “We’re in Harvey Nichols, Colette, Opening Ceremony–it’s nearly 26 stockists internationally!” he told Fashionista at the awards ceremony in Paris last October.

Now it’s time for another up-and-comer to take advantage of the prize, i.e. €220,000, a mentorship with former Chloe chief exec Ralph Toledano, and the chance to show at Paris Fashion Week. This year’s nominees include Jeremy Laing, Adam Kimmel, Anthony Vaccarello, Commuun, Matthew Harding, and Yiqing Yin. The judges? Pierre Berge, Hillary Alexander, Emmanuelle Alt, Nicole Phelps, Sarah Lerfel from Colette, and Humberto Leon from Opening Ceremony, to name a few.

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Published at 12:35 PM

Thursday April 7th, 2011

We Heart: Terry Richardson’s Opening Ceremony Look Book, Starring Lindsey Wixson
Fashion Is Fun

We Heart: Terry Richardson’s Opening Ceremony Look Book, Starring Lindsey Wixson

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Shopbop‘s got a great interview today with Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, which you should definitely check out.

The duo’s wise words make it a must read, but the accompanying images from Opening Ceremony’s Spring 2011 look book–starring Lindsey Wixson and shot by Terry Richardson–shouldn’t be missed, either. If you haven’t perused the entire look book yet, you can do so right here. (Oh, and the best news: most of the stuff is available to buy on OC’s site right now.)

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Published at 2:48 PM

Friday March 11th, 2011

Target Celebrates Five Years of GO International With Opening Ceremony: Is OC x Target Next?
Parties

Target Celebrates Five Years of GO International With Opening Ceremony: Is OC x Target Next?

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I’m not a party animal in any sense of that silly little phrase, but I do love a well-planned soiree. Especially when there’s a mix of shopping, “good” celebs, awesome food, and fantastic entertainment.

Target accomplished that delicate balance last evening at the Ace Hotel, where the store threw a bash with Opening Ceremony celebrating the fifth anniversary of GO International.

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Published at 12:23 PM

Tuesday February 8th, 2011

Fashionista 50: The Most Influential People in New York Fashion

Fashionista 50: The Most Influential People in New York Fashion

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How do you measure influence?

Is it through website hits? Or sales? Through ad dollars? Or the number of mass retailers who’ve knocked off your work?

The answer is all of the above and none of the above. Influence is an intangible thing that just happens when you know your craft and you work hard at it.

To determine who belongs in the Fashionista 50–our list of the most influential people working in New York fashion–we used our own knowledge of the industry, combined with advice from industry sources. We also considered each candidate’s consumer reach–through sales, media, etc.

To be considered, candidates had to live and work in New York for most of the year.

What’s Fashionista’s definition of influential? It describes people who are shaping the direction of the New York fashion industry, both aesthetically and in terms of how the business works.

You’ll find the entire Fashionista 50 list after the jump. Click on the person’s name to read a full bio. And if you really want to click through the whole slideshow, you can do so here.

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Published at 12:01 AM