Rag Trade
- Kaiser Karl himself is set to help create and conceive of 80 homes on Dubai's new Isla Moda (yes, "Fashion Island"). Says the designer: "The metamorphosis of art and beauty is my passion. The discovery of contemporary mediums of expression has allowed me to pursue my interest in art, beauty, architecture and progressive cultural exchange. Dubai is a fashion bud on the verge of blossoming into the next fashion hub of the world. The city is alive with culture and rich in personality, making it a perfect place for aesthetic, fashion and design to flourish. Isla Moda has tremendous potential to be the style icon of the future and I intend on driving the island to high style stardom." [Refinery29]
- Perennially self-satisfied designer, phrase-maker and Cuomo in-law is disturbed by America's #1 slot in a recent international drug-use ranking, proclaiming it "A Number One We Don't Want To Be." [Awearness Blog]
- This blogger from New Mexico was just robbed. By chance, he happens to have been stalking Tom Ford. [Fashionista]
More »
Rag Trade
- Kazakh model Ruslana Korshunova jumped to her death from her Manhattan apartment in an apparent suicide Saturday. The 20-year-old had been featured on the cover of Vogue and walked for Marc Jacobs, Nina Ricci and DKNY. [CNN]
- Friends say Korshunova had been suffering from health problems and personal stress. [New York Post]
- And in a shocking show of ghoulishness ('poor taste' doesn't begin to approach this one), Fox News has aired footage of her body. [Huffington Post]
- Oy vey.Real World producers sign on for Project Runway. Bring on the hot tub. [Variety]
More »
rag trade
- Wacko Jacko is teaming up with Ed Hardy designer Christian Audigier to launch a new line this fall. The apparently delusional Frenchman says, “It’s the merging of the King of Pop with the king of fashion. Something explosive is going to happen.” Kitson, for some reason, has committed to carrying the line exclusively. Like all Michael Jackson news, this is somehow deeply depressing. [People]
- Um, Michael's sister Janet is also doing a line, apparently. Starting with lingerie. Insert "wardrobe malfunction" joke here. Oh, wait, Perez Hilton already did. [Perez Hilton]
- A spotlight fell on the head of a male model walking in Tom Ford's Milan show. Insert...no, don't. [Fashionista]
- Nelson Mandela has personally banned serenity-challenged Naomi Campbell from the stage of his 90th birthday concert! Campbell was wearing a "46664" baseball cap at the time of her arrest (Mandela's prison number during his 27-year stint behind bars and the emblem of his current anti-AIDS initiative), which Mandela found "disappointing" given that he personally counseled her following her last brush with the law/cellphone/maid. [Daily Mail]
More »
rag trade
- Rumors are swirling that Aggy will be making her "major" acting debut this holiday season as Dr. Who's "Christmas companion" (don't look at me) in the show's major 12/25 episode. [Gallifreyone.com]
- It takes a lot to replace Naomi Campbell. After, ahem, legal troubles prevented the beleaguered mannequin from walking in Rosa Cha's Sao Paolo swimsuit show, her replacement (a guy (?)) sauntered out in a Speedo, which he summarily doffed on the runway. [Page Six]
- And speaking of male nudity...Borat-style banana hammocks have hit the runways, hard. [News.com.au]
- Blind item!!! "Which Italian designer told a woman he was groping on a dance floor that he likes "slutty girls who dress badly"? She pointed out she was wearing one of his dresses." How many straight Italian designers can there be, anyway? [Daily News]
More »
rag trade
- Frances Bean Cobain is rumored to be the next face of Chanel. That's hot. And also crazy. Oh, Karl. [Vogue UK]
- Louis Vuitton has postponed indefinitely its "China Run" car rally, which was originally scheduled to take place in late May with a route from Chengdu and Kunming. Reason? Um, it's not exactly cool to be supporting China's blatant disregard for human rights right now and France is all pissed re: the Olympics etc etc. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Also, Yohji Yamamoto wants to teach China about Peace and improve relations though the country and his native Japan through his new Yohji Yamamoto Fund For Peace. This will mainly involve fashion shows. Of course. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Also China's on the warning list for counterfeiting shit. Oh, China. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Tommy Hilfiger, ambiguously racist? Says the designer, "[W]e feel that with our European-influenced approach, the sophisticated and higher level of quality and fashion somehow reaches the type of people who represent the brand very well... Ten years ago it was positioned with a lot of red, white and blue and a lot of logos and you would look at these street kids wearing the clothes as billboards." [FT]
More »
This
Tom Ford ad has been banned in Italy following claims of indecency. Really, no further commentary is needed. Click on the picture for larger view. [
Radar]
rag trade
- 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]
More »
rag trade
- "I think he's a great-looking guy but I think his suits don't fit him very well...I wouldn't say he's badly dressed, but he could sharpen up his look a little better." —Tom Ford on Barack Obama. [Vogue UK]
- Holy. Fucking. Shit. Comme des Garcons for H&M? Start lining up for this now. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Jude Law is set to be the face of a yet-to-launch men's fragrance from Dior. It will invariably smell douchey. [Cosmetics News]
- Your cell phone does not need its own pair of Crocs. [Sassybella]
More »
rag trade
- Oh lord: Tom Ford is having a baby in 2008. It will be "biologically" his, not his partner Richard Buckley's. "I don't want to get to 75 years old and just have made a lot of dresses, done some houses." In the same interview: "I don't find a guy's cock or a woman's vagina offensive; in fact, I find them beautiful." So will he be penetrating one to achieve this demonspawn? He probably won't be able to keep them off him! "I was having sex with girls when I was 14, and that was because they were pouncing on me." [Fashion Week Daily]
- Waris Dirie says she's super sorry about that whole "disappearance" thing last week. She said she got lost in Brussels and spent the whole three days she was "gone" walking around and sleeping in hotel lobbies since she didn't know where she was and didn't have any money. Um, Anne Heche enough for you? [MSNBC]
- Katoucha Niane's family is asking French police to investigate the possibility that she was murdered, despite the conclusion of accidental death by drowning from the autopsy. [Telegraph]
- ELLE Fashion News Editor Anne Slowey learns the whole "never put limp plumper under your eyes" lesson the hard way. [Fashion Week Daily]
More »
rag trade
- "It's really a crime - it makes me weep every time." Daniel Craig, on having to get his Tom Ford suits dirty while filming James Bond movies. [Vogue UK]
- Blind item! "Which aging actress was the celebrity guest for a fashion function and made the moves on the company's powerful and handsome - but married - CEO? The company no longer works with her." [Page Six]
- Looks like ELLE International Creative Director Gilles Bensimon is on the masthead in name only; though Bensimon has historically shot every cover in the history of the American fashion magazine, his services were not needed for its upcoming April and May covers. Incidentally, Bensimon's contract is up come December. Any bets on whether they'll continue to keep him on the payroll? [WWD, 1st item]
- OMG the designs from this season's Project Runway [Yes, I'll be liveblogging the finale tonight] are up for auction online! [Fashion Week Daily]
More »
Fashion Show
I've always loved the fresh, young, and decidedly
female perspective that 32-year old
Frida Giannini brought to the House of Gucci following the masochistic and misogynistic reign of
Tom Ford. And though her past collections dazzled with vibrant color palettes, her
fall/winter 2008 collection offered a play on the Boho/rocker babe style that seemed a little dated... and not in a hip vintage way. Heavy on the fur, light on the innovation, I can't decide if I love or loathe the fringe-bedecked boots, among other things. Judge for yourself with the annotated gallery of selected designs, which begins below.
politics of style
While it might be easy enough to assume that the fashion industry has too much on its mind today — what with the opening of the new Gucci flagship on 5th Avenue and the fashion shows of Badgley Mischka, Rodarte, J. Mendel, Matthew Williamson, Behnaz Sarafpour, Tory Burch, and Narcisco Rodriguez — the truth is that politics are, in fact, very much in style. Among fashion designers, loyalties are
divided between the two remaining Democrats. While
Diane von Furstenberg ("I sincerely believe she's the best candidate"),
Donna Karan, and
Oscar de la Renta have all maxed out in campaign contributions for
Hillary Clinton and
Nicole Miller,
Marc Jacobs, and
Marc Bouwer have also voiced their support for HRC, while Obama has
Tom Ford,
Tommy Hilfiger, and
Calvin Klein at his sartorial (er, proverbial) side.
More »
rag trade
- Hilary Swank in the January issue of W magazine: "I just took my most important [pills], which are my Oz Garcia Longevity Pak. I shoved them in my mouth right before I met you, which I actually shouldn't do, because I choked on my vitamins once before." [W]
- Has Vogue's Anna Wintour really had her lips injected and her eyes lifted.? If one of you can confirm this for us, we'll buy you a dozen cupcakes. Or a colonic, if you're a Conde Nasty and that's more your thing. [NY Post]
- A tipster tells us that this year, Conde Nast staffers are receiving "very big, engraved" umbrellas as their Christmas bonuses. "Engraved"? With what? Wintour's new lips? Anyone have a pic?
More »
rag trade
- In an unprecedented gesture, Donatella Versace has named Patrick Dempsey the face of the Versace men's line for not one but two consecutive seasons. Perhaps she's impressed by his track record on the whole "gets hotter every year OMG" front? [Fashion Week Daily]
- Speaking of Donatella, Tom Ford agrees with her that Russians are totally hot right now. "Russians are hardwired to appreciate the fine things in life. They have been denied nice things for years." Um, tell that to Boris Berezovsky's mistresses Tom! [Vogue UK]
- Victoria's Secret is holding competitions for college-aged women to model in their runway shows alongside the "real" models. This is a bid to get more college-aged students to buy their slave labor manufactured lingerie, and given what we know of college-aged girls, it will probably work. [WSJ]
- Kate Hudson: "I'm trying not to shop anymore. I've gotten in the habit of making phone calls when I see something and saying, 'Please, when that comes in, can you send it?'" How quaint! [WWD, 1st item]
More »
big spenders
As we're smack dab in the middle of the holiday shopping season, do you wonder if that oh-so-cheap cashmere sweater you've purchased was stitched by malnourished six year olds? Do you question whether the python that
gave up its skin for your handbag was killed humanely? (It definitely wasn't!) Some of the
big luxury names have received poor grades in a ranking of ethical and environmental performance, according to the
Financial Times. The WWF released a report called Deeper Luxury and gives both Italian jewelry company Bulgari and Italian accessory company Tod's grade F for their "environmental, social and governance performance and reputation." PPR, which owns Gucci, received a D, as did Swatch. Hermès, L'Oréal and LVMH got the
highest grades: C+.
More »
Jezebel
