Designers Not Exactly Thrilled About Dressing Ann Romney

Several fashion designers were polite but a tad, well, unenthusiastic when asked about the prospect of dressing a First Lady Ann Romney. “She’s a beautiful lady, but it’s not about style,” offered Diane von Furstenberg, who has donated to the Obama campaign. Michelle Obama has worn DVF clothing on several occasions; Ann Romney has yet to do so (she opted for Oscar de la Renta, one of the few American designers Michelle Obama hasn’t ever worn, for her speech at the Republican National Convention). “Michelle is so strong. She gets in there. But Ann is a very nice person. They’re both very nice.” Donna Karan — also an Obama donor — said “I can’t imagine we wouldn’t” dress Romney, “but who says she’s going to win?” Then, after “a long pause,” she added, “I would dress her as a person, absolutely. She’s a beautiful woman.” [The Cut]

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Michelle Obama opted for a — truly breathtaking — burgundy dress from lesser-known designer Laura Smalls last night at the Democratic National Convention. [Refinery29]

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Do you want to read an advice column by Waris Ahluwalia? Of course you do. The actor, jewelry designer, and popcorn enthusiast has sensible and plainspoken advice for people with fashion week problems — like not being invited to Proenza Schouler, what to say to designer friends when their collections aren’t that great, and how to tactfully skip a friend’s party because there’s a “better” event on elsewhere. Ahluwalia quotes Oscar Wilde and Thoreau, asks “Why must you go somewhere you have not been invited?” and offers a firm reminder that friends are forever: “they will be around when the parties end and the flashbulbs fade.” Naturally, he has a personal assistant named Enzo. [Style.com]

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Before you watch this clip, ask yourself, Do I want to live in a world where “directors cuts” of luxury brand advertisements are A Thing? Well, do you? [YouTube]

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• Here is a missive from Girls star Allison Williams, who found co-hosting a Fashion’s Night Out party at the DVF store very stressful last night:
• I realize it’s all going to be okay. Nothing huge is at stake (you’re witnessing someone giving herself a reality check), and everything’s going to be fine. The truth is, I am working at my dream job, shooting a very important scene…and I’m leaving to go to a Fashion’s Night Out event. Every day I feel blessed and amazed that this is my life. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Hold up — a woman just walked by with what looked like a cheetah on a harness. Is there such a thing as stress hallucinations?
• Spoiler: it was a Savannah cat. [USAToday]
• That crazy fool from DecorMyEyes.com, Vitaly Borker, has been sentenced to four years in prison for fraud. Borker was notorious for harassing his customers, including several whom he threatened with rape over email (with attached photos of their homes for that added top note of utter assholery). [WWD]
• “They asked me, ‘What do you feel is a real extension of you?’ And I said, ‘There’s nothing more synonymous with Nicki Minaj than a pink wig.” Nicki Minaj attempts to explain her perfume bottle design. [WWD]
• Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls will co-host MTV’s revamped House of Style. They would like you to Tweet them ideas for the show and/or requests for coverage. [Refinery29]
• House of Deréon, the clothing label founded by Beyoncé and her mother Tina Knowles, is reported to be in some trouble. Since 2010, the label has been owned by Li & Fung, the Hong Kong-based sourcing giants, with Beyoncé and Knowles under long-term contracts to endorse the brand. Word is that Li & Fung just fired “many” of the company’s 15 U.S. employees:
• Retail sales of the brand have slipped considerably from their peak of $100 million, according to a source familiar with the current situation. At one point, the House of Deréon and Deréon labels were carried at Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, but after that business faltered it was sold to more mass accounts like Burlington Coat Factory, the source said.
• [WWD]
• Ryan Lochte: not the smartest E! fashion week commentator in the shed. According to Page Six:
• E! execs privately complain the gold medalist, who was famously flat in his Olympic interviews, is disappointing on camera.
• Says an anonymous source, “E! is regretting the decision. Even after media training, he’s still not sharp.” [P6]
• Speaking of Olympians, sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross says it would be her “ultimate dream come true” to have a fashion line. [Fashionista]
• Casadei and Prabal Gurung collaborated on some shoes that will be unveiled at Gurung’s runway show tomorrow. [WWD]
• Lululemon had a good quarter: net income rose year-on-year by 49.1%, to $57.2 million. Same-store sales were up by 15%. [WWD]
• And now, a moment with Simon Ungless, a former professor at Central St. Martins in London and the current director of the fashion school at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Simon, what’s wrong with the London fashion scene?
• “I feel London is kind of eating itself and regurgitating a lot of things it does. There are all these young London designers, and they all look like shit to me. I’m sorry to use that word, but I don’t understand what people are talking about. […] If I see one more digital print on a really ugly dress, I think I’ll just have my eyes removed. It’s awful — it’s just so not designed. I think that Jonathan Saunders is fantastic. What he’s doing looks so real and so beautiful. But I think London needs to get over itself, and I think New York can sometimes be like that, as well.”
• Mary Katrantzou just got called out. [The Cut]