Jezebel: alvin ailey

Stephanie Seymour Accused Of Bad Mothering; Manolo Blahnik "Hates" Celebrities

Jenna — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Stephanie Seymour's divorce from Peter Brant is getting even uglier. After police were called to the couple's home following Seymour's complaint that Brant's security assaulted her, Brant has accused the model of drug use and is seeking sole child custody:

Brant alleged in court filings that Seymour sought treatment for Vicodin abuse, and subsequently became addicted to the drug Subutex, which is used to treat opiate addiction. He says Seymour has missed multiple court-required breathalyzer tests, and has twice submitted urine samples that, though clean of Subutex, were too cold to meet the minimum valid temperature. The media mogul also says Seymour "broke in" to the couple's Florida mansion and removed $700,000 worth of items, all while the kids sat in a hotel in Connecticut. [NYP]
When fashion goes Galt, you know we're in trouble. [TDB]
Nanette Lepore, Michael Kors, Zac Posen, Anna Sui, Betsey Johnson, and that guy who was just endorsed by Barack Obama, whatsisname, Bill Thompson, will be on Seventh Avenue on Wednesday for a rally to save the New York Garment District. Twenty-five thousand people work in the district, and designers say they need their convenient access to sample houses and manufacturers it provides, but lax enforcement of existing zoning laws and competition from cheaper labor sources overseas have led the zone to dwindle. [NYDN]
Not to be outdone, Mayor Bloomberg — whom some designers have criticized for failing to do enough to protect the garment district — is launching a fashion incubator program for 12 up-and-coming designers this fall. [NYP]
Woody Allen is reportedly considering casting Adriana Lima in his new movie, which is set in Rio de Janeiro. Because he's "fascinated" by her beauty. [NYP]
"My fashion advice is to have a flattering mirror at home and then forget about it," says Vivienne Westwood. The designer lives in Captain Cook's old house, and has never sold out to a larger company or a private investor, despite some offers. And some polite nos: reports Cathy Horyn, one backer in the 90s picked another designer instead. "They could have made money with me. They lost it. I'm a woman," says Westwood. "I'm like household management or whatever it is. I would never spend more than I have." [NYTimes]
Tim Gunn has a cameo in the Sex And The City sequel. [E!]
JMS, a brand owned by Hanes, is adding a dedicated plus-size apparel line to its existing plus-size offerings, which were mainly jeans and underwear. It'll be sold at Wal-Mart and the creative director promises "slimming seams, strategically placed pockets, freedom of movement and appropriate-weight materials." [WWD]
Christian Louboutin, the designer who slimmed down Barbie's ankles when he had the chance to release a line of dolls under his own name, says he never meant to imply her ankles were big before. "Fat ankles she didn't have, she just could have had thinner ankles," explained Louboutin. Still digging, then. [WWD]
Manolo Blahnik: "I hate celebrities. All those pointless girls — I won't name names, but you know who I mean. They are 'famous'. Ridiculous. I like women with style: actresses like Uma Thurman, icons like Audrey Hepburn. I like women with style to wear my shoes." [Vogue UK]
Model Selita Ebanks joins Sinbad, Darryl Strawberry, and Cyndi Lauper in the next season of Celebrity Apprentice. [NYDN]
Pat Field made a tote bag for Diet Coke to give away with purchase, which will be available later this month from Boots stores. [Daily Express]
Erin Wasson, presumably to avoid her dreaded homelessness, makes an appearance in the fall J. Crew catalog. She eats a necklace in one shot. [Refinery29]
Something called the Japan Jeans Association given the country's first lady, Miyuki Hatoyama, its Best Jeanist Award. (She shares it with a pop star and an actor.) Pleased, the 66-year-old Hatoyama said, "This is the prize I have long wished to win. I'm a jeans lover. I'm always putting on jeans as they're easy to wear." She also recalled that she and her husband were each wearing jeans when they met. [AFP]
Gee, we're so glad reporter Giles Hattersley puts that nice boss, successful businesswoman, and maker of lovely shoes Tamara Mellon in her place in this hard-hitting profile. Apparently she smokes, wears "teensy" dresses, and altogether reminds Hattersley of "the heroine of some dicey Danielle Steel bonkathon." Can't have that. [ToL]
Love Moschino, the Italian company's lower-priced clothing line, is adding accessories to its collection. [WWD]
Georgia May Jagger, already having nabbed the Hudson Jeans campaign, is now the face of Rimmel cosmetics. [Telegraph]
Yasmin le Bon's daily life: "If lunch is at home then I tend to eat up leftovers from the fridge. I'm the leftover queen. I can't help it. I might mix them into an omelette or throw them all into a soup. One of the children won't eat soups any more because she's worried what old food I've put in it. Simon's mother, Ann Marie, often comes round with homemade bread and cakes." [ToL]
Alvin Ailey company dancers will wear Mark & James, Badgley Mischka's just-announced lower-priced line, to their season opening gala on December 2. [WWD]
Henry Holland kinda maybe sorta wants to move to New York. "Every time I come, the need to live here becomes more and more urgent and I want to go home less and less. I spend my entire time here plotting about how I would do it." But even if he did cross the Atlantic, he says he would still show his line in London. [Grazia]
The luxury market, once in free-fall, is still declining, just not as steeply as some analysts earlier expected. Instead of the overall 10% drop in luxury sales that had originally been forecast for 2009, analysts say the industry is on track for an 8% decline in sales. [WSJ]

Dancing Queen

Dodai — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Awesome news: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is teaming up with Mattel to launch the Alvin Ailey Barbie doll, the first Barbie ever based on a dance company. She looks very limber. [Crain's]

The Karl Lagerfeld Teddy Bear: High Priced, Not Too Cuddly

Sadie — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EDT

W on toy maker Steiff's limited edition, $1,500 Lagerfeld bear. "Naturally it looks just like him, from the impenetrable black sunglasses and high shirt collar to the skinny lacquered jeans. But, plush alpaca head aside, is the resemblance more than skin-deep? 'Bears are very nice, as long as you are nice to them,' mused Lagerfeld, as self-aware as he is iconic." [W]
If you or someone you know is interested in (cough) modeling for American Apparel, they're having an open call. Dov Charney takes this sort of thing seriously; chances are you'll get to meet him one-on-one! [American Apparel]
Petite gymnast Shawn Johnson loves her high heels. "But true to her coach’s orders, she’s stayed off them in the lead-up to the Olympics. With the competition behind her, she wore a pair of 3-inch silver peep-toes to Thursday’s event, occasionally flicking them off when she got tired. 'It’s actually the first time I’ve worn heels in, like, five months, so it feels a little weird,' she laughed. 'But I love heels. They make me feel a little more confident.'” [WWD]

WILL ZUMA NESTA ROCK ROSSDALE PREVENT GWEN STEFANI FROM ATTENDING FASHION WEEK?! For both their sakes, we're kind of hoping "yes." [ElleUK]
Rachel Zoe talks vaguely about the films that inspire her; it's unclear whether she's actually watched them. Of Love Story, "when she thinks of the film, Ms. Zoe has "visions of wide leg pants and vests and blouses," she says." [WSJ]
Agyness Deyn hops agency; now at Women. [Fashionista]
Tim Gunn, what hath thou wrought? British woman crafts dress from phone book. [The Sun]
Stylist Philip Bloch beats Rachel Zoe to the reality TV punch: '“Glam God With Vivica A. Fox,” in which Bloch judges aspiring stylists who compete for a $100,000 prize and a contract with Jed Root Inc., premiered Thursday night on VH1, well ahead of Zoe’s show, which begins airing on Bravo Sept. 8.' He's also getting into Recessionista fashion - yes, he said it! [WWD]
Ann Taylor: profits down, but still better than expected. [NYT]
"Yummie Tummy" shakes up fashion week with "pole-dancing extravaganza." [Page Six]
Despite heading to jail for money laundering, "King of Bling" "Jacob the Jeweler" launches new ad campaign. "The ads with Natalia Vodianova were shot by Fabien Baron. Denise Scala, director of marketing, said the media buy has increased by 200 percent from the jeweler's last campaign with Helena Christensen, and this time will include Vogue, GQ, Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Economist and Forbes." [WWD]
One group of incredibly extravagant luxury-cosmetics junkies is single-handedly buoying the Japanese market: "Although their numbers are small, the women, dubbed the "winners group" by media, have boosted the sales of expensive creams, despite tough times in the world's second-biggest economy that have slowed down sales of more modest potions." [Reuters]
Designer Adama Kai brings high fashion to her native Sierra Leone. '"Maybe I have more opportunities as a designer over there, but I'm making a bigger statement over here," said Kai. "In the same way that Ralph Lauren stands for America, Chanel for France, and Versace for Italy, I want Aschobi to stand for African fashion," she said.' [Reuters]
Hype or no hype, sales are still down at The Gap - although cost-cutting helps profits. [Reuters]
Unswayed by...well, anything, apparently, fashion promotes the fur vest for fall. [Style.com]
Aeropostale optimistic for Q2. [Crains]
CVS to get into high-end "prestige beauty" with new boutiques. "The first concept store is slated to open by year’s end in a major East Coast city" is all they will say... [WWD]
Movado collabs with Alvin Ailey Dance Company for the second year in a row. Only this one's an anniversary watch. "The back features Alvin Ailey's 50th Anniversary logo. While the watch retails for $795, 10 percent of proceeds will go to Alvin Ailey Dance Theater for the month of December." [Fashion Week Daily]
Issey Miyake is really behind a Japanese 2016 Olympics. "Not only has Miyake lent three knitted dresses from his A-POC collection - in the Olympic hues of green, yellow and red - to be displayed in the bid committee showroom, he has also created exclusive Pleats Please scarves and neckties for members of the committee to wear." [VogueUK]

Vivienne Westwood: Yup, Still Nuts

Jennifer — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST

Designer Vivienne Westwood is switching party allegiances from the (liberal) Labour to the (conservative) Tory, and will even be the keynote speaker at her new political party's Christmas party. Warns Westwood: "I'm going to take the opportunity to put them right on a few things. They're not going to get what they bargained for." [Vogue UK]
"Russians have started to learn that less bling is better, that more sophistication is in. The women here learn this slower than the rest of world, but they're learning for sure." Donatella Versace, folks. [WWD, sub req'd]
Heidi Montag of The Hills is designing clothing line for the label Anchor Blue. See, it happened in one of those brainstorming sessions where an Anchor Blue executive was like, "Who can we get that would actually be less qualified to design a clothing line than L.C. from The Hills?" [Sassybella]
Cory Kennedy is the new face of Urban Decay. Which is kind of cute, because she's the age we were when we thought Urban Decay — the nail polish, the societal phenomenon, etc.— were cool. [Fashionista]

B.U.M. Equipment is back. And starting a line called B.U.M. Organics. Way to beat the old, played-out, trendhumping image that killed your clothing line in the eighties and stay true to your authentic brand identity, guys! [WWD, sub req'd]
OMG: Elle Macpherson and Bryan Adams are dating! Dude, we can't even remember the last time we heard about Bryan Adams. [Daily Mail UK]
Model Erin O'Connor is all totally swoony for Antonio Banderas. [Daily Express]
First New York, then the Blue States! After TopShop opens in Manhattan in September, the company plans to open additional locations on both coasts. [MediaPost]
Model Hana Soukupova on when she "first felt beautiful": "I guess when I went into fashion. You know, I'm from a small town in Czech Republic, and I never thought I could do this, you know?" Profound. [BellaSugar]
Hillary Clinton: Likes hats! [WWD, 2nd item]
Badgley Mischka: Dressing the Alvin Ailey company's principal dancers! [WWD, 3rd item]
Would you like a Vivienne Tam-designed MP3 player? [Fashion Week Daily]