Jezebel: theory

Michelle At Fashion Week; More Katie For Miu Miu

Sadie — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:30:00 EST

There's the usual gloom, sex, scandal and, ahem, 50 Cent's makeup line - today, but first, brace yourselves: Michelle Obama has not RSVP'd to Fashion Week. This woman's priorities are way out of whack! [WWD]

About Fitty: he's starting a men's grooming line, containing both moisturizers and supplements. Quoth "someone," "his range will be for the guy who likes to be pampered, but the supplements will make it more butch." [Yahoo via New York]
Katie Holmes' latest batch of Miu Miu photos is "softer" than the last: Read, she's lying around dreamily in firelight. [Popsugar]
A bunch of children's Harajuku Lovers Hooded Jackets by Gwen Stefani are being recalled in California because their defective ties are a "strangulation risk." [CPSC]
Kelly Cutrone, who's cut an awesomely bitchy swath across the reality show landscape, may now be getting her own. Fashion PR doyenne Cutrone, who's stirred pots on The City and The Hills, has inked an eight-episode deal with Bravo for a show that follows her, presumably, insulting people at her company People's Revolution. [New York Post]
Alexander McQueen brings a touch of punk to a Target near you: "The heart of McQ is rebellious youth culture, a certain spirit that embodies the regular line as well as the Target collection. It's an ‘eighties punk aesthetic that evokes the anarchy and social change of the time. Youth culture now really looks back and embraces the past, but keeps it contemporary but not sticking to one particular style." [New York]
Victoria's Secret is introducing a new, green fragrance line to the bordello, plus a perfume that "smells like lace." [Racked]
It would seem that the president of Theory was one of Madoff's manifold victims, along wit a score of other fashion insiders. Bernie, meanwhile, is still sitting pretty under house arrest - one hopes not in a Theory suit! [WWD]
It's not much, but they'll take it: LVMH reported a "slim annual increase" and flat profits for the year. [WSJ]
In case no one was sure that Lorenzo Martone was Marc Jacobs' boy toy, the Brazilian looker sported, to the premiere of He's Just Not That Into You, a shirt bearing the immortal words: "Do me in the park. Marc." [New York Post]
Sometimes there's just no point in paraphrasing the perfection of the British press:
"Alice Hawkins looks like Dolly Parton and likes to hang out with gangsters, showgirls and topless models. She also happens to be one of the fashion world's hottest photographers." [Telegraph]
Oh noes! Teri Agins, the respected Wall Street Journal fashion writer, is a recession casualty. [Forbes]
Hey, remember that cute "I die. Bananas" tee? Yeah, cease and desist. Zoe has them trademarked. [New York]
DVF just threw an odd luncheon, the guest list of which included Diana Ross, James Frey, The City + cameras, and a bunch of designers. Stars: they're nothing like us! [WWD]
Ugh: The UGG index is up, which is bad news for real shoes, the economy. [MSNBC]
UGGS, at least, are total depression-wear: dreary, warm, stolid. The continuing popularity of Crocs? Totally baffling! [Telegraph]
Zara, one of the other indestructibles, expands its sorta-fast fashion to India. [FT]
We can add nothing to this: Lilly Pulitzer-print Jeep. [Fashion Week Daily]
What can we say? Digging on Julia Roitfeld's ads for Mango! [Fashionista]

Helen Mirren Is Pro-Sleeves, Possibly A Designer

Sadie — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:30:00 EST

A celeb designer we could actually get behind: Helen Mirren! If given a line for Marks & Spencer, she says she'd call it, "DWS: Dresses With Sleeves." [Telegraph]
Meanwhile, addressing the crucial shortage of celebrity fragrances, Patrick Dempsey launches "Unscripted," replete with "lavender top notes, fig mid notes, and patchouli finish." Quoth the Can't Buy Me Love star, “Sometimes people are scared off by patchouli, but I think most people secretly like it!” Think again, mister. [Fashion Week Daily]
Brit presenter Alexa Chung: "I stopped modelling because it was just so stifling. It is very hard, when something is your passion, to be controlled and told how to do it and what to wear." Um, exactly which part was she "passionate" about? [Telegraph]
Vogue editor-at-XXL Andre Leon Talley is sporting a rhinestone-bedazzled "Obama" hat, overcoat. President-elect backs away slowly. [WSJ]

Michael Jackson is auctioning off his iconic "Billie Jean" glove! The embattled King of Pop must be, ahem, embattled. [WWLTV]
While we have no idea whether or not Michelle would actually wear Khuraira's new bronze "Lady Obama" lipstick, she'd probably approve of a percentage of profits going to a breast cancer charity. [Nylon]
Victoria Beckham's dresses are selling like gangbusters stateside! [WWD]
Maybe it's because Posh has her design priorities: easy access. "I knew I would spend a lot on the best-quality zips because, like many women, I’ve had my share of crappy zips. I wanted a zip that undoes from both ends because then you can either put the dress on over your head or, if you don’t want to mess up your hair, you can step into it. And also, you know, going to the loo wouldn’t be this whole big palaver." [The Sun]
Conde Nast's new odds-beating Love mag has a secret blog. [Fashionista]
Celebs are all about odd-looking custom knits. [Telegraph]
Speaking of bespoke: Will Savile Row's custom tailors be a recession casualty? [Independent]
Meanwhile, mild winters spell doom for Russia's fur industry; probably still spells doom for animals. [Reuters]
Also hurting: the overseas factories who supply U.S. stores. [FT]
Ugh. Theory lays off 50. [WWD]
Oscar de la Renta, however, has hired 15! [Fashion Week Daily]
As we suspected, the Leger bandage dress is apparently impossible to eat in. [Daily Mail]
Conversely, sales of men's XL clothes are way up in England. [Telegraph]
Fashionistas are pissed that Marc Jacobs has canceled his annual holiday party. But could he really top last year's camel toe? [WWD]
Rich Parisienne scores some haute couture bargain. "It must be because of the crisis everybody is talking about." [Reuters]
They say YSL's art collection is good. Judge for yourselves! [Vanity Fair]
Given that Nike's collaborating with APC, you know the resulting sneakers will be chic, simple, and way out of our price range. [VogueUK]
"Have you seen a toddler? They're all bums and tums. But if you look at a mannequin of a toddler, it's a little shrunken adult body, like a little alien. If you're making clothes and using that as the model, it's not going to work." That's why Janice Wang makes realistic fit mannequins. [FT]
Save the planet, celeb style! "The event not only showed off McDonald’s exquisite pendants featuring pavé diamond bears on top of geodes, but also raised awareness for Conservation International, an organization that protects the Ursus Maritimus as well as other endangered species." [WWD]
New "invisible panties" are way less sexy, more practical than they sound! [Daily Mail]
When you remember that awful urine-drinking Diesel campaign, it's no shocker that the film for their new kids' line is totally freaky: "The finale is unnerving, as the whole cast—bathed in an unearthly, almost hellish glow—start screaming. " [AdWeek]
Mario Testino's new Burberry ads, featuring moddles in a plant nursery, is somewhat less alarming. [WWD]

Sadie Frost's Apparel Company Accused Of Racism Against Ex-Employee

Sadie — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Jude Law-ex Sadie Frost's company, Frost-French, has been accused of firing a sales associate based on her race. The highly-experienced Aba Yankah was hired over the phone, but when she showed up for work, she claims the store's manager was cold, subjected her to demeaning tasks and then summarily fired her without justification. While a tribunal has found that Yankah did not prove outright racism, they have judged that the company's explanation to be inadequate and compensated the plaintiff for damages and lost income to the tune of £5,000 ($9,800). [Daily Mail]
Vogue Italia pictures are up!! [NB: NSFW][Fashionista]
"An aging British model" was busted for shaving eight years off her age to get work. Apparently changing your birth certificate qualifies as tampering with official documents. [UPI]
Kanye West steals thunder by sporting his own line in the front row of fashion week. Apparently the Milan fixture "was kicking it in the front row at Louis Vuitton, kitted out in a teal T-shirt, khakis and a denim jacket accessorized with a Michael Jackson button and a chunky red Lego heart. What appeared to be a silk LV scarf billowed from his back pocket." [Los Angeles Times]
By the by...Project Runway is casting. [SeenOn]

Armani gets the French Legion of Honor. [VogueUK]
Recessionistas take note! Flailing economy's silver lining? "Aggressive sales." [New York Times]
The guns of august: lingerie trade show battles. [WWD]
Recessionistas, mourn: Steve & Barry's collapse will likely imperil SJP's "Bitten" line. [AdAge]
Viktor and Rolf to do "haute" eyelash line for Shu Uemura. "The three lash designs are Wing, which we think looks like paperclips! (pictured), Rhombus, which are gold, inspired by the diamond pattern on jesters outfits and Swirl, a set of super long lashes, which are the most simple of the three."[ElleUK]
New "good health certificates" are totally freaking out models, says one agency rep. She claims that the initiative, designed to prevent dangerous thinness in the industry, are just an added stress during London fashion week. "I think they (the certificates) are crazy — not a good idea," Doukas said. "It will make some of the girls even more paranoid and freaked out about the weight thing, and they won't come to the U.K. market, they simply won't come to London Fashion Week." [UPI]
Pop Magazine editor Katie Grand is, apparently, "an icon of cool." Best part of the interview? "When I met Grand she'd just been to New York for a POP shoot with the art photographer Ryan McGinley and model Agyness Deyn. She'd never worked with McGinley but he said he'd like to photograph Agyness, whom of course Grand knew, and Grand suggested they should do some nudes, because Agyness had never done a nude shoot, and McGinley agreed. 'And then a week later he sent me this reference photograph of kids falling off a fire escape - it was from the 1950s I think - and said he'd really like to have her falling. And naked. So we ended up with two stunt men and Agyness jumping naked from five stories onto a huge huge crash mat. It was incredible." [Guardian]
Stealing hats from beggars? All in a day's work for a fashion photographer. [Telegraph]
Mario Testino's diaries are somewhat less exciting. [Independent]
"In one shot, the woman - dressed in clinging black dress and spike-heeled Manolos - lies seductively across the man's lap. Elsewhere, she is captured in executive-style sharp tailoring in an office overlooking St Paul's, while he is pictured straddling an MV Agusta F4 - the "Ferrari of motorcycles" - in a chic trench." The new Aquascutum campaign. [Telegraph]
Record metal prices challenge jewelers. [WWD]
I've always hated purple; feels either new-agey creative or Lisa Frank. Must be because I fear "the ultimate fashion challenge." [Independent]
That $60 V-neck you got at Uniqlo? Probably at the expense of some Mongolian farmer being undercut by cheap Chinese cashmere. [Reuters]
Theory's new accessory line inspired by Hair My brother would so do the "loser" cough right now. [Los Angeles Times]
For fall, everyone and their mother "passionate about legwear." [WWD]
I guess we were about due for another go-round: cherries are a trend again! [VogueUK]

Kiki For Miu Miu: We're Not Buying It

Jennifer — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:30:00 EST

Kirsten Dunst looks almost as evil in these Miu Miu ads as we somehow believe she actually is. [Sassybella]
The latest ads for British lingerie label Agent Provocateur features model Vahina Giocante playing "a bored housewife drawn into a love affair with a reform school tomboy." Um, based on this image, she doesn't look so tomboyish to us! [Vogue UK]
First no black models, now no black customers: ck Calvin Klein Beauty Collection cosmetics for Caucasians only. [BellaSugar]
This is what diplomatic disputes look like in Western Europe: The mayor of Paris v. H&M [WWD, sub req'd]
Donna Karan: Still trying to cure cancer through yoga with her Urban Zen initiative. [NYMag]

Ooh, images from the Jovovich-Hawk for Target line. Yeaaaah, jury's still out. [Sassybella]
Elle fashion director/ em>Project Runway judge Nina Garcia is no stranger to shilling for Blackberry, but now she's shilling a pink Blackberry. [Fashion Week Daily]
This year, the Make-A-Wish Foundation fulfilled the dreams of a teenage girl named Yali, who had always longed to collaborate with Kate Spade in designing a handbag. "This was the most inspirational and gratifying experience of my life," says Yali. Um, so how's Yali holding up? What's her affliction? What's the prognosis? Yeah, they don't say. But Kate Spade ooh! [Fashion Week Daily]
Diane von Furstenberg is now designing shoes. "My shoes are not just pretty accessories; they are functional and serve a purpose." Shoes? A purpose other than retail therapy? Shock. [Fashion Week Daily]
Here's a handy place to hide your ill-gotten subprime mortgage hedge fund gains: a $18,000 belt. [UPI]
Alexandre de Paris, Elizabeth Taylor's favorite hairstylist, passed away over the weekend at the age of 85. [Independent]