Aside from the (very) obvious: we are concerned that Nicola Formichetti seems to think that Ali G is a real person. (The band this anecdote seems to refer to, ZOHAR, is a four-piece ensemble that combines Middle Eastern and world music with dance beats. It counts Erran Baron Cohen as a member.) [W]
British
Vogue nabbed
Kate Moss for its August cover, the first magazine cover to feature Moss since her wedding to
Jamie Hince on Friday. Moss will also appear on the September cover of American
Vogue. [
Vogue UK]
Justin Bieber‘s February cover of
Vanity Fair is on track to become the magazine’s
worst-selling issue in 12 years. (Twelve years ago was when
Will Smith was given the July 1999 cover, to promote
Wild, Wild West.) Bieber also sold well below average on the covers of
Teen Vogue and
People, indicating perhaps that the tweens who buy every single piece of media the Biebs’ visage has ever graced to put it in their scrapbooks comprise a market as limited as it is reliable. [
WWD]
This may shock you, but
Lily Allen says the entertainment industry’s pressure on stars and models to maintain forever the dimensions of girlhood directly fosters unhealthy behavior: “I hang out with
models, the biggest
pop stars and, you know, really and honestly, I hate saying this, but
none of them are achieving those body shapes by being healthy. They’re not just going to the gym two hours a day. They’re not eating or they’re taking speed not to eat. In America everyone abuses that
Adderall stuff and people aren’t normal.” [
Monsters and Critics]
But
Hailee Steinfeld eats pizza in one of her new
Miu Miu ads, so everything must be okay! [
JustJared]
Jason Wu “customized” two styles by
Melissa, the Brazilian brand that makes those plastic shoes, for spring. [
WWD]
A press photo of
Pippa Middleton, turned black-and-white and surrounded with cut-out flowers, is on the cover of
Tatler. [
Vogue UK]
- Dov Charney has succeeded in shaking loose two pesky American Apparel board members. (During the company’s latest near-bankruptcy experience this spring, Charney — in the words of the Times — ranted “loudly” and “more than once” about the iniquities of his board.) The two departing board members are experts in corporate restructuring and risk-management; allegedly, they had argued back in April that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing could be American Apparel’s best option for reorganization. Instead, Charney borrowed more money: a consortium of Canadian investors gave American Apparel $15 million in exchange for equity. It wasn’t enough; Charney is allegedly looking for an additional $8-$10 million in emergency financing within the next two weeks. [NYPost]
- Cate Blanchett took in the Armani Privé couture show in Paris. Giorgio Armani, it turns out, is a major financial supporter of the Sydney Theatre Company, which Blanchett runs with her husband, Andrew Upton. [WWD]
- Giambattista Valli‘s couture debut, by the way, was really gorgeous. [T]
- At the Valli show, Olivia Palermo warned the world that she’ll be launching a blog this summer. [WWD]
- “Our house rested right on the San Andreas Fault. I can remember a huge earthquake happening one summer. I was standing in our kitchen and within a few seconds every porcelain plate, bowl and glass cup had literally flown off the shelves and shattered on the floor around me. I remember being mesmerized by the shards. A broken plate will always be more interesting to Laura and I than a perfect, untouched object. The value is in the stain, the shadow, smudge, tear. We are attracted to imperfection and to the beauty of chaos.” Laura and Kate Mulleavy, in conversation with Maurizio Cattelan. [FlashArt]
- Prada just made another $323.5 million by exercising an overallotment option of its recent IPO. What did you do this weekend? [WWD]
- In the International Herald Tribune, Suzy Menkes takes a look at the rising popularity of museum fashion exhibits. So far this year alone, there have been shows in major European and American museums dedicated to Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yohji Yamamoto, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, Madame Grès, and Hussein Chalayan, and that’s not even counting group or thematically organized shows. One possible reason: these shows tend to be big money-spinners. The Met’s McQueen show has already come close to breaking all-time daily attendance records. [IHT]
- Betsey Johnson — who was at one time married to John Cale of the Velvet Underground — says that Andy Warhol “probably” would have had Botox had he been alive today. (This really shouldn’t strike anyone as unlikely. Warhol had, what, three nosejobs?) [Vogue UK]
- There now stands a replica Venice in China. Another way of putting this: China now boasts a discount mall riddled with concrete culverts. [WWD]
- Colleen Miner explains why models dress so much alike: “Right when I arrived in New York, [the agency Elite] were like, ‘Bring your bag into the agency.’ I was confused but I did. They went through it and were like ‘These are amazing. These, don’t ever wear these again.’ And then they went through and put outfits together and took pictures. They were like, ‘If you don’t know what to wear, wear this.’ Then you show up to a casting and you look like everyone else. They’re all looking for an ‘It’ girl, someone who has their own personality and their own style so everyone just tries so hard to look different. You’ll see girls wearing like holey leotards and military boots and you’re like, huh? I guess it works though — the girls that are big usually wear the craziest stuff.” [WWD]
- Coco Rocha has switched agencies in New York, her home market. Formerly represented by Elite New York, the Canadian model is now with Wilhelmina. [Oh So Coco]
- Shoe brand Pour La Victoire is getting into handbags. They’ll cost $295 to $495. [WWD]
- A year after selling Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed is already back in the retail business. He has just acquired Cocosa, a flash sale site formerly owned by Bauer Media. [WWD]
