Jezebel: liz

Retailers Treat Ungaro Like A Hot Potato; No Fashion Line For Ashley Tisdale

Jenna — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST

And now, the cold, hard, retail reality sets in: Neiman Marcus and Net-A-Porter are dropping Ungaro for Spring. Barneys and Saks also aren't ordering. Lindsay Lohan and Mounir Moufarrige, what have you wrought! [Style.com]

Ashley Tisdale does not yearn for a clothing line. "I've started a production company; I guess that's kind of my clothing line," says the actress. [WWD]
The incredible Alexander McQueen shoes — both the bulbous hoof ones, and the ones that look like some piece of anthropomorphic weaponry out of eXistenZ, which Lady Gaga wore in the video for "Bad Romance" — are apparently a hit. The designer says he's been inundated with calls from women wanting to buy the so-called "Alien" shoes, albeit some who are interested in them as art pieces. The process by which the shoes are made is protected by copyright, says a spokesperson for the brand. No word on whether a commercial version will be produced for wide sale; McQueen is mulling a charity auction for the runway samples. [Grazia]
Carlos Falchi's line of handbags for Target is in stores now through December 27th. The designer says, if he didn't have his current job, "I'd like to be a Brazilian cowboy." [TFI]
Victoria Beckham's people are denying the rumors she is planning, with Simon Fuller, to open a modeling agency — perhaps a U.S. branch of Storm, in which Fuller holds a controlling stake — in New York. "There is absolutely no truth in the story regarding Victoria Beckham and Simon Fuller opening a modeling agency in New York," says her spokesman. "Victoria is concentrating all her efforts on her fashion line and her family." [Vogue UK]
Daniel Lalonde, president of Louis Vuitton, basically confirmed Lara Stone will be the face of the spring campaign. [The Cut]
Betsey Johnson is redesigning her stores. Gone will be the hot-pink walls, replaced with white walls and checkerboard floors, to better display the clothes. [Racked]
Dooney & Bourke co-founder Frederic Bourke has been sentenced to 366 days in prison and a $1 million fine for his role in a failed scheme to bribe Azeri officials into privatizing Azerbaijan's oil company, which would have essentially deprived the country of profits from its greatest national resource. Bourke is appealing. [WWD]
Model Karmen Pedaru spent a year as goalie on an Estonian national soccer team. [W]
Funny, the only item this list of How To Look Like Gisele Bundchen is missing is: being born to look like Gisele Bundchen. (OK, so Nars Orgasm is bog standard by now, but $475 moisturizer? Come on.) [Blackbook]
The BHV — pretty much the most awesome department store in Paris — is getting Beth Ditto and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac to do its holiday windows. Meanwhile, stately old Printemps has Natalia Vodianova. [WWD]
The British Fashion Council will give an award to the winner of a public vote on who best "embodies the spirit of London." Nominees include Alexa Chung, Kate Moss, and Vivienne Westwood. [BFC]
Jeffrey Monteiro might be taking over as head designer at Bill Blass. [WWD]
Liz Lange is launching a lifestyle shopping site, apparently kind of like Gilt crossed with Daily Candy. [Crains]
People are trying to save Luella on the Internet. [Fashionista]
The Gossip Girl timeline is apparently now forever divided by the caesura of the Threesome; say Before The Threesome or After The Threesome, and everyone immediately knows what you mean. The boys on the show have been wearing a lot of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's line, Elizabeth & James, People notes. [People]
Jason Wu is doing a capsule collection for Tse this spring. [WWD]
Anthropologie is the most profitable of the three Urban Outfitters brands, quarterly results reveal. [TS]
Marie Osmond is licensing her name to a fashion and home decor line. Every last piece in the Marie Lifestyle Collection will retail for under $100. Expect to see it in stores later this month. [UPI]
Donna Karan's West Indies home is currently making us cry bitter tears of envy from our very black souls. [SB]

Heidi For Victoria's Secret; Tom Ford Talks About His Depression

Jenna — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Heidi Klum is not Superwoman, okay? She's not walking in the Victoria's Secret runway show a mere month after giving birth to her fourth child. She's just going to host it. Sheesh. Some people have such unrealistic expectations. [E!]

Meanwhile, this year's angels have been named: Candice Swanepoel, Chanel Iman, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Emanuela de Paula, and Lindsay Ellingson have all been welcomed into the fold. [SB]
In other important lingerie news, some people who sell bras in London say that 1950s-style pointy bras are gaining popularity. However, none of the equipment pictured looks that pointy. [Daily Mail]
Tom Ford says he struggled with depression after leaving Gucci, in 2004. "I started to sink emotionally, spiritually. I became a little bit lost. Leaving Gucci, it intensified because I had been able to cling to my job and to my work and to my identity as a successful fashion designer, and all of a sudden that was gone. It forced me to really think, Well, what am I, who am I, what am I about? It took me a bit of time to figure that out. I think this happens to most people in their life if they're insightful enough to indulge it and to get through to the other side." [W]
This week's episode of Project Runway was shot partly at the Getty Center, and the challenge for the contestants is to create outfits that somehow reflect the museum and its architecture. There's a free screening at 7 tonight at the museum. [LATimes]
Lady Gaga is now backtracking from her earlier claims, to Flare magazine, in which she said she would do a clothing line "at some point." The singer told the Accessories Council awards gala that she and her styling team aren't into that: "We will never do a line; we are not an economy." Then Toms founder Blake Mycoskie reminded the audience, gathered to celebrate, in Diane Von Furstenberg's words "friends you can carry with you and they make you feel better," that "Shoes, for 40 percent of the world, are not an accessory. They're a necessity." [Style.com]
50 Cent's torso appears in all its smoothly airbrushed glory for his new fragrance campaign, which he revealed to People. [People]
Stephanie Winston-Wolkoff, who, until this July, worked at Vogue and essentially ran the annual Met Costume Institute Gala, has just been confirmed as the new director of fashion week at Lincoln Center. [FWD]
There's news about Isaac Mizrahi's QVC collection, which goes on sale December 4, but we know what we all really are curious about is the cheesecake that will be sold. It's made by Junior's, the top looks to be printed with tartan in edible inks, and the crust is chocolate-flavored cookies. It'll be $40. Also for sale will be an Isaac Mizrahi banana nut loaf and chocolate-chip cookies. Yum. [WWD]
Sociology major and current Prada face Kendra Spears, on embarrassing moments: "Well, during a hurried interview backstage an investigatory journalist asked me what I liked to do when I was at home and I said, 'nothing too commotious.' Afterwards, I realized commotious isn't even a word." And on jobs she held, pre-modeling: "I worked part time as an assistant to the owner of a company called LiftPort which was (and may still be) in the forefront of technologies, mostly carbon nanotubes, to build an elevator into space." [W]
Because of the weak economy, more parents are trying to get agency representation for modeling and talent work for their children. Also because of the weak economy, there are fewer jobs to go around, and those jobs are still offered are less well-paying. [WSJ]
Rumor has it that John Galliano is designing and decorating this year's Christmas tree for London's Claridge's hotel. [Style.com]
Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous are in the Marks & Spencer holiday ads. [Mirror]
Designer Adam Lippes, who staffs his office with around 20 interns at any one time, says of them: "[I]t's rare to find an intern — especially one from a fashion school — that has good style. Because they try sooo hard, and it never works! You know?" Having been once dressed by an Adam Lippes intern who was wearing a kind of 1980s Medusa costume, with a corset, we are tempted to agree, but for chrissakes, Lippes, they work for you for free. (Also: look who's talking.) [The Cut]
Photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino is against France's proposed retouching laws, which would require digitally altered images to bear labels stating that they have been, well, digitally altered. He tells Libération Next, "The photos of old Hollywood? Retouched! The iconic image of Che Guevara? Retouched! All the photos taken by Richard Avedon of Marilyn Monroe? Retouched! And all of this before today's software existed, of course. Legs were lengthened using a wide angle; skins were smoothed through overexposure." Because using a wide-angle lens is exactly the same as scissoring one head onto another body and placing the Frankenstein creation into a separately shot background and then liquifying the nose a little and changing the light source and strength and whittling down the waist. [WWD]
Christian Siriano's holiday collection for Payless has turned up online. Are these even supposed to bear any resemblance to what he shows with his runway collection anymore? [Payless]
Jodi Arnold, starting with her resort collection, is changing the name of her line from MINT Jodi Arnold, to Jodi Arnold NYC. The designer, who has a new job working on a collaboration with The Limited, also just opened her first store, a pop-up in Greenwich village. [WWD]
The son of the founder of Escada is one of the bidders — in a consortium with the former head of Gucci and the department store owners Borletti Group — for the bankrupt German house. They are offering $118.2 million. [Reuters]
Steve Madden is not only not bankrupt, it's feeling pretty acquisitory. C.E.O. Edward Rosenfeld says the company is on the lookout for brands worth $30-$40 million, but could splurge on something worth up to $100 million. [TS]
Valentino head Stefano Sassi, says everything at the house is just great!!! Nothing to see here!!! Doth the C.E.O. protest too much? [Reuters]
Liz Claiborne's third quarter losses were even bigger than expected. This is the company's eighth consecutive quarter of losing money. [WSJ]

Elizabethan Age

Sadie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Although 364 Elizabeths assembled in Elizabeth, Illinois for the annual Gathering of Elizabeths, the number was down from last year's world record, and organizers have vowed to try again next year. Queen Elizabeth, unhelpfully, sent a letter. [UPI]

Lagerfeld Gets Modest, Valentino Gets Fined, Von Furstenberg Gets "Space"

Sadie — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:30:00 EST

Lagerfeld talks recession: “This... crisis is like a big spring housecleaning — both moral and physical... Bling is over. Red carpetry covered with rhinestones is out. I call it ‘the new modesty.’” [NY Times]

As part of Barbie's golden anniversary blitz, Stila's offering a Barbie makeup palette so you can (literally) replicate her natural look at home. "The collaboration features a talking palette (so you can follow along as a Stila makeup artist gives you step-by-step instructions on mimicking Barbie’s pastel lids) as well as four “Decades of Beauty” cans. The cans each channel a different decade in Barbie history: #1 Ponytail Doll is all about Barbie’s black cat-eye liner and red lipstick, Malibu Doll mixes a baby blue shadow with a shimmering bronzer, Foxy Doll gets you a more sultry look, and Jewel Doll is, well, all about sparkle and shimmer." [Nylon]
Flamboyant designer Roberto Cavalli is selling a minority stake in his fashion house to private equity company Clessidra. Hard times. [NYT]
Valentino, meanwhile, is being accused of massive tax fraud! [WWD]
Diane Von Furstenberg on her (presumably) mariage blanc to gay tycoon Barry Diller: "Barry respects me so much...We don't live together during the week, although we go out together. I live on top of my shop; he lives at the Carlyle hotel. It doesn't feel strange at all. I just need a little bit of space. If I can't be alone a little bit, then I lose myself—and I cannot lose myself." [Racked]
Agent Provocateur's new "Virgins" line is being touted by "nymphs and satyrs cavorting in approved Dionysian style." The lingerie is pretty. [Luxist]
Party-pooper Marc Jacobs conscientiously cancels his fashion week afterparty. [Fashionista]
Elite modeling agency says its recent cuts weren't about belt-tightening: "Periodically every model agency reviews its roster and evaluates the performance and re-evaluates the potential of each model. Last fall, Elite conducted such a review and decided it was mutually beneficial to release several contracts." [New York]
Goody's Family Fashion formally files for Chapter 11, following last week's announcement of their bankruptcy. [Breitbart]
Meanwhile, struggling Liz Claiborne warns retailers of 4th quarter losses. [WSJ]
On the other end of the spectrum, Tiffany fell a full 30% this year. [FT]
The (possibly mythological) New York Topshop wanted to sell liquor; was prevented by puritanical old Americans. [Racked]
American Eagle, for its part, is now successfully vending deodorant. [Nylon]
Uh oh. Nina Ricci sues tween "Twilight" fragrance for ripping off her bottle. [Now Smell This via New York]
Sonia Rykiel's anniversary book looks awesome...if you like fashion coffee-table books. [Fashion Week Daily]
Carine Roitfeld's son, Vladimir, is curating some photography show during Fashion Week. [Fashionista]
Tim Gunn's soft-spoken anti-fur documentary convinces Donna Karan to abandon the pelts. Score one for the silver fox! And, we guess, foxes generally. [Racked]
Iconic 60's model Jean Shrimpton bites the hand that photographed her: “I gave up modelling at 28 because I’d grown away from it. I’m lazy with clothes. It’s boring pouting at a camera after the age of about 25 and if you’ve got a brain and everybody around you is more creative, you’re just the person pouting at the camera. You end up feeling a fool.” [Daily Express]
Banana Republic launches a "heritage for women" collection, which sounds kind of like their regular collection. [WWD]
Louis Vuitton customers are equally divided amongst the sexes. Not, we're assuming, the tax brackets. [BigThink]

Stella McCartney Adds Sporty Spice To Fashion Show

Jennifer — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:00:00 EDT

Yup, we're still bitter about not being at London Fashion Week. The Stella McCartney for Adidas show was held at an amusement park at which the models and guests frolicked, playing mini-golf and eating hot dogs. [Vogue UK]
OMG. David Beckham is rumored to be designing the costumes for the Spice Girl Tour. OMG. [Vogue UK]
Snaps to ELLE.com for recognizing that the fashion industry is just like high school. And even bestowing the superlatives to go along with it. And it's even almost bitchy! Just like high school should be! [Elle.com]
At age 80 Eartha Kitt is the face of the new MAC line "Smoke Signals." And at age 80 she has better legs than we ever will too. Purrrrrrfect. [WWD, sub req'd]

Louis Vuitton is showcasing the works of Moscow artists in its Paris store. Just like Sherri Shepherd (and Tom Friedman) told us, the world is flat. [WWD, sub req'd]
Paul Smith introduces his first women's fragrance, Paul Smith Rose, which is inspired by the, uh, Sir Paul Smith Rose that his wife had named for him. [WWD, sub req'd]
Aretha Franklin does PR speak about Sean "Diddy" Combs new fragrance "Unforgivable for Women": "I like [Unforgivable for Women] because it's sexy and refreshing and has a lot of really good elements to it." [WWD, sub req'd]
Meanwhile Combs has posted the video advertisement for Unforgivable for Women that was banned from TV on his MySpace page "I feel strongly that this movie needs to be viewed and judged by the public and not executives." Dude - it's an ad for perfume not Do The Right Thing. [Vogue UK]
Want your own Versace-and-Liz-Hurley-esque black safety pin dress? London department store Harrods now says it will whip you up a custom version. For about $22,000 that is. [Sassybella]
Virtual Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen dolls. For reals. [Fashion Week Daily]