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Cathy Horyn - Fashionista

Cathy Horyn

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What's Up With All These 'Open Letters' from Designers to Critics?

The latest in a string of "designers fighting back" memos has emerged. This time around, Jean Paul Gaultier has shamed Style.com critic Tim Blanks for giving the French designer's widely panned couture show a negative review, telling the CFDA Eugenia Sheppard Media Award winner that he needs to "brush up on his fashion history." As nasty and hurtful as Gaultier's words may be, he's certainly not embarking on new territory. Over the past year, designers have steadily criticized their critics.

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Where Have All the Fashion Critics Gone?

In the 1970s, the New Yorker’s fashion critic, Kennedy Fraser, wrote about clothes nearly every week. Yes, she reported on the collections. And industry personalities. But she also wrote about fashion’s role in the greater culture, whether discussing hemline lengths or blue jeans. In a New York Times review of A Fashionable Mind, Fraser’s collection of those essays published in 1981, writer Maureen Howard puts it pretty succinctly: “The book is about clothes - the wearing, buying, making, selling, discarding of clothes - and so, of course, it is about us and our society.” Fraser is undoubtedly a rare writer: one who has the ability to take an arguably shallow topic and give it the kind of depth even a serious New Yorker reader could appreciate. But lately, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the fashion critic in general, and how that role has changed, and sometimes disappeared altogether—for no good reason.

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Cathy Horyn on John Galliano's Comeback, Roberto Cavalli Pens an Autobiography, and Kendall Jenner Gets a Times Profile

No more hand-holding: Cathy Horyn thinks John Galliano needs to earn his second chance in the fashion world all by himself. {New York Times} Mark your calendars: Roberto Cavalli's candid autobiography will be released in October. And if it's any bit as hilarious as he has been on Twitter, this book is not going to disappoint. {VogueUK} Ever wonder what genius is responsible for Target's brilliant designer collaborations? Meet Gigi Guerra, Target's Curator of Design Partnerships. {Refinery29} Beyoncé proves once again that she is most definitely not preggers in a midriff-bearing Topshop ensemble she wore to Kanye West's birthday party. {US Weekly}

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Celebrating Parsons' Grads with Proenza Schouler, Prabal Gurung, and More

Last night, following the senior's fashion show in the afternoon, Parsons hosted a benefit dinner at Pier 60. The benefit served many purposes: to raise money for Parsons' scholarships, honor Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez and Bonnie Brooks, President of Hudson's Bay Company, showcase the senior class' designs, and announce the Designers of the Year. That's a lot to pack into one evening--and it was a long one!--but considering the benefit raised nearly $1.7 million for scholarships it was completely worth it. We caught up with attendees Prabal Gurung and Proenza Schouler as well as Parsons grad Harim Jung, who took home the womenswear designer of the year awards and the Kering Empowering Imagination Award. Read on.