Jezebel: secret

Karl Makes Over SpongeBob; Kate Moss Wants Photographic Proof She Eats

Jenna — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Karl Lagerfeld gave SpongeBob SquarePants a makeover for a charity auction, resulting in this little charmer, which sold for €1,000. [WWD]

Zac Posen, who two weeks ago announced a lower-priced line, Z Spoke, will do a line for Target in the U.S. (He already designed a capsule collection for Target's Australian outpost in 2008.) Zac Posen for Target Go International will hit stores on April 25 of next year. Rodarte for Target goes on sale this December, at last. [WWD]
Even though it's late November in sunny London, Kate Moss is allegedly planning an outdoor dinner party. Her nefarious plan? The supermodel, whose recent choice, in an interview, of a notorious eating disorder sufferers' slogan as her motto we highlighted, wants to be photographed eating food. [Mirror]
The verdict on "Black Friday" post-Thanksgiving sales: an "unexceptional yet decent" $41.2 billion was spent. [WWD]
Both potential buyers of the bankrupt house of Christian Lacroix failed to meet a new, extended deadline to provide the bankruptcy court with guarantees of their capital. If the company is not sold, the current owners, the Falic Group, will likely go forward with their preferred scenario, in which only 11 key staff are retained, and the brand is either auctioned off to cover debts, or turned into a licensing machine for scarves and perfumes. [AFP]
Patrick Dempsey stars with his wife, Jillian, in his new Avon perfume ad. Because this scent is "about two people and the power of the relationship." [People]
Sonia Rykiel's H&M lingerie line will be launched this December with a fashion show at the Grand Palais. The models will walk on moving floats that travel around a fantasy Parisian streetscape, dominated by a 30 meter Eiffel Tower made from 25 km of wire and fairy lights. Trees will have balloon canopies, and the Café de Flore will be mocked up as the Café Flirt. Also, imagine 6 meter poodles and 2.5 meter bunnies. Best part? It'll be streamed live on the mighty Internet. [SB]
The pink-and-black '50s-themed collection goes on sale this Saturday in more than 1,500 H&M boutiques worldwide, as well as Rykiel's own stores. Prices range from €7.95 - €19.95 for underwear, and €79.95 for sleepwear. [WWD]
Morrissey is collaborating with Stella McCartney on a line of vegan footwear. McCartney says the shoes could be in stores next year. [Daily Mail, 2nd item]
Helena Christensen, on the term of art 'supermodel': it's "silly and cartoonish, but to be a part of that whole group of girls — at the end of the day, I was there. I did it. I am a million experiences richer." [Telegraph]
It's a comeback for Aussie model Catherine McNeil. McNeil will be on the cover of next month's Australian Vogue, a casting move that her booker says gives any model "credibility" — oddly implying that McNeil needs some. The 20-year-old has been on an extended break from international modeling, but is expected to rejoin the moil next show season, in January. [News.com.au]
Mulberry creative director Emma Hill, who previously designed accessories for Marc Jacobs and the Gap, on the heyday of 'it' bags: "I was partly responsible, at Marc Jacobs, for the It bag thing. I realized that we'd made it when I saw knock-offs on the street corner. But a trend like that squashes people's individuality. If you're all trying to get the same thing, it's not very special. There are possibly more things to worry about in life than waiting two years for a handbag. I think those years are over." [ToL]
Jenny Sanford applied to trademark her own name in early July, shortly after the June revelation that her husband, South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, was ~~hiking the Appalachian trail~~ enjoying two magnificent parts of another woman. Jenny Sanford applied for the trademark intending to use it to market a line of clothing, mugs, and other household items, to be sold through her website. The trademark application has not yet been approved. [State]
Christian Audigier is opening an Ed Hardy store in London this week, the U.K.'s first. [Guardian]
Victoria's Secret is a popular target for professional shoplifters. Four women pepper-sprayed a sales associate in Tennessee this month in order to boost 30 pairs of underwear. [UPI]
Due to Dubai's debt crisis, the American investors who recently and separately bought significant chunks of Barneys New York's debt, Ron Burkle and Richard Perry, might end up controlling the Dubai-owned company. If they do, they should probably convince someone there to hire a C.E.O. All the best companies have one. [Dealbook]
Pierre Cardin, 87, was briefly hospitalized in Paris for exhibiting falling blood pressure and a slow pulse. Cardin was en route to Greece, where he was holding a fashion show. As if this were 1963, or something. [AFP]
French eBay users are banned from selling or buying certain branded perfumes, like Christian Dior and Kenzo. A court in Paris has fined the auction site 1.7 million Euros for not enforcing the law effectively enough. [BBC]
The market in exotic skins, like alligator, has been among the worst affected by the recession. (It's not hard to imagine why, given a pair of alligator Manolos can easily run $4,000.) The farmers who raise the gators in Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia are paid for their troubles by tanneries, who then sell the processed hides to fashion companies. But while farmers complain that prices offered by tanneries have fallen below the cost of even raising the animals, fashion companies say the reduction in the cost of finished skins has been minimal. Which major fashion brand significantly expanded into alligator tanneries during the boom years? Hermès. The other thing you should know about this article is that a man named Tommy Fletcher, whose work involves going into bayous to fight mother alligators with a pole and frequent bites when handling the live young, says that running an alligator farm is "like being married to Miss America. You get all the benefits of the hugs and kisses, but she's mighty high-maintenance." [NYTimes]

Is Madonna's Louis Vuitton Ad Worth The Hype?

Sadie — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:30:00 EST

First peek at Madonna's much-hyped, possibly exorbitant Louis Vuitton ad: the Steven Meisel shot features Madge in a Parisianish bistro, striking some unladylike poses. [Just Jared]
Carine Roitfeld denies that she's replacing the nuclear Wintour: “I’m very happy at Vogue France.” [WWD]
Naomi Campbell: "“I’m getting to like Miami again...It was very hard to come back here after they killed my friend.” We assume she means Gianni Versace. [WWD]
Kanye West: “I want to and will be the real thing...I will not just be a ‘celebrity designer.’” He wants an internship with LV or Raf Simons. [NY Times]

Phew. At least online sales are good: Monday's were the second-highest ever, boosting retail shares. [WWD]
Christian Siriano continues his career of being totally ubiquitous by designing a line for Payless! Quoth the phrase-making wunderkind, "IIve already been working with the Payless Design Team in New York, and I can't wait to see how they will take the high-end shoes and bags I'm designing for the runway and turn them into pieces that everyone can buy. I'm all about the runway and the sidewalks!" [Daily News]
Speaking of TV designers (sorry, Christian), Lauren Conrad has named her next line...after her MySpace fans. [Oh No They Didn't]
New York Times discovers lace tights; fails to discover they make one's legs look diseased. [NY Times]
Some glaucoma drug seems to make eyelashes longer and fuller. Not liking where this is going. [MSNBC]
What to get the snob who has everything? Why, an Armani pen! “To attain such exceptional smoothness, diamond paste is used initially before the final polish is imparted by hand.” [Fashion Week Daily]
Aeropostale slips in the fourth quarter. [Crains]
Victoria's Secret is gonna pull out all the stops to beat the recession. They weren't already doing that? [WSJ]
At least someone's thriving: the Rachel Zoe Project has been renewed! [LA Times]
DVF's pre-fall: geometric and jungly. [WWD]
Apparently "green" dry cleaners could be a lot greener. Moot: no one can afford dry-cleaning! [WSJ]
Tina Knowles is designing a line inspired by daughter Beyonce's film Cadillac Records. [WWD]
Vena Cava designers have way cooler Christmas decorations than the rest of us: "Ms. Buhai says that Christmas-tree lots often have leftover branch trimmings free for the taking. She'll pick up a large branch and paint it black. 'It looks much cooler than a Christmas tree. And it's a little darker...I usually add plain silver bulbs. It's a minimalist Christmas tree.' She prefers to simply lean her twig tree against the wall, but smaller cuttings could be put in vases." [WSJ]
London's Royal Ballet tams up with the Italian dance clothier Freddy. They'll be doing one line for the RB and one for general sale. [Reuters]
Designer Lela Rose: "When the Bush family entered the White House, Jenna and Barbara were older and already had their styles pretty well established. But with the Obama girls, we will see their styles develop right before our eyes...I do think that we shouldn't expect too much, since they are so young, but I would love to see them become not so matchy and really come into their own," [VogueUK]

Nina Garcia And ELLE: In? Out? Or In?

Jennifer — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EDT

You knew this already, but Project Runway judge/style tome author/ELLE fashion director Nina Garcia has parted ways with the magazine that made her. At least, ELLE has yet to tell anyone the rumors are false.
Our sources say Garcia came in Friday morning around the hour fashion people usually get to work Friday morning, and was gone with all her earthly possessions by lunch time. Her assistants apparently cried all day, packing the rest of her things.
New rumors are starting to surface that she's "in talks" with ELLE regarding some sort of position there.
We suspect the fact that ELLE fashion news director Anne Slowey and creative director Joe Zee are getting their own Tyra-produced show this fall doesn't exactly make for a great environment. (Coupled with the fact that the magazine's fashion coverage has gotten a million times more interesting since Zee came on board.) But these are just our speculations. Know anything? Drop us a line! [WWD, MediaBistro, NYMag]
And in other very important world news, Project Runway guest judge/style tome author/ELLE covergirl Victoria Beckham's denim line DVB has been dropped by Kitson and Fred Segal. Um, anyone else seeing a trend here? [News of the World]

A reader wrote in to Guardian fashion writer Hadley Freeman asking when it is okay to wear shorts. Freeman's response? "When it's flipping well warm enough to do so, like, duh." [Guardian]
Despite the rumors, Kate Moss is not on the outs with lingerie line Agent Provocateur and just shot a wedding-themed ad campaign for them. [This is London]
Phat Fashions is suing Victoria's Secret for copyright infringement. Apparently, no one can use a frilly letter 'P' but the Phat designers. And while I can't believe I'm saying this, I think it's gonna be Kimora FTW. [WWD, sub req'd]
Whoa, Vidal Sassoon was a resistance fighter during WWII?! [Telegraph]
Elton John: Wears Tom Ford's fragrances! (Also likes that Tom Ford's ads frequently contain naked men? Again, JUST speculation.) [Page Six]
The John Varvatos store in the old CBGB's space? Could suck more. [Washington Post]
Yay for Cambodia, the latest country to allow its young female citizens to be exploited by the western world by making them into runway models. (And Cambodia is usually such a leader on the youth exploitation front.) In all seriousness, [ITN]
Nicholas Huxley, the director of the Sydney Institute's Fashion Design Studio, says Australian women dress "cheap and nasty." [News.com.au]
Want to have guaranteed success as a jewelry designer? Than go into a career in anything but jewelry design [WWD]
OMG will or won't Prada go public in June? The suspense is killing me. [WWD, sub req'd]
Carolina Herrera junior is pregnant again. Just what the world needs: Another kid with a trust fund. [WWD, 2nd item]

Posh Spice's $11,500 Shoes Get Stolen

Jennifer — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:30:19 EST

Uh oh! Yet another fashion thief is on the prowl, and this time he is targeting Victoria Beckham. Posh's dressing room was ransacked and two pairs of shoes costing $11,500 each, as well as a red silk Roberto Cavalli robe saying "Mrs. Beckham" on the front and "Posh" on the back were amongst the stolen goods. We're picturing some fashion larceny version of Antiques Roadshow wherein the thief's great-nephew finds out his gay uncle's shoes once retailed for $11,500... [Page Six]
Officials with London Fashion week will begin doing "spot checks" on models' health starting with the Fall 2008 shows, which start in London on February 15. Auditors will be hired to be on the lookout for drugs, girls under the age of 16, and health certificates claiming that they're not like anorexic or whatever. [WWD, sub req'd]
Natalie Portman, being the good little indie hipster intellectual that she is, will be designing a line of vegan shoes for label Te Casan. [Sassybella]

There's a Greta Garbo line of outerwear? [WWD, 2nd item]
Tim Gunn: Promises to make Liz Claiborne not suck anymore and to prove to all the doubting Thomases that he's not just a pretty reality TV face. Says Gunn, "My respect for the real world has grown while I've realized how daunting the industry is." [WWD, sub req'd]
Bags mocking the Anya Hindmarch "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" bag are beginning to annoy us almost as much as the object of their mockery. [FabSugar]
The Roberto Cavalli Spring 2008 ad campaign stars Kate Moss, Daria Werbowy and Eva Herzigova. It also makes very little sense. [Sassybella]
Victoria's Secret is totally in bed with Gossip Girl, filling the show with product placement galore. Do real Manhattan prep school kids even know where Victoria's Secret is? [WWD, 2nd item]
The Christmas tree at the Victoria & Albert museum in London was designed by English fashion house Boudicca. [Vogue UK]