Showing posts with label saint laurent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saint laurent. Show all posts

Friday, December 21, 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM FEAL

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

It's nearly time to hang up our stockings and settle down to Love Actually, Quality Streets and just one more turkey sandwich. Before that though, I'll whizz you through the week's fashion happenings...

There'll be no Givenchy couture show in January, the Parisian house announced this week. However, that doesn't mean there'll no representation of Riccardo Tisci's designs on red carpets as commissions will continue to be taken for celebrities and other special clients.

Cate Blanchett  in Givenchy Couture
The Beckham fashion world takeover continues with plenty of stories from the family this week.  Not only is Romeo the star of Burberry's SS13 campaign but his Mum is launching an e-commerce site in the New Year while David has apparently bought his wife some silky Olivia Von Halle pyjamas for Christmas. Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman was quick to point out that Romeo doesn't meet Vogue model standards so a cover is a little way off yet.

Gwen Stefani graces the cover of American Vogue's January edition. She's wears Hedi Slimane's Saint Laurent, which is quite a statement of support for the collection which caused such a drama when it was shown in September. Fashion observers are now labelling Saint Laurent as the go-to for musicians while Raf Simons' Dior is for princessy actresses apparently.



Gwen Stefani images via Vogue.com
In other ad campaign news, Prada has switched from the usual course of telling stories in its ads- recall the models at the petrol station, or playing chess?- and gone for a series of pared back images for SS13. Steven Meisel is, as ever, behind the camera. Prada say the new approach is about reflecting "confident individuality". Meanwhile, I would love to know the story behinds Marc Jacobs and Juergen Teller's SS13 Marc by Marc Jacobs ads which feature grafitti and a toilet. 
Prada SS13 (Image via Prada)

Marc by Marc Jacobs (image via highsnobette.com)
Finally two big publishing industry stories this week which you should certainly cast your eye over. Thailand and Ukraine will get their own Vogue editions next year, which can only mean one thing, reports Jess Cartner-Morley. Also this week, Vice Media bought i-D magazine. Andrew Creighton, Vice's President said "What i-D has not necessarily done, by accident or design, is move into the digital area in a big way." Watch this space.

Melanie and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and New Year. Thanks for helping us have an awesome FEAL year, bring on 2013. We'll be back in January

XXX


Friday, October 12, 2012

THE WEEK IN FASHION: SEPTEMBER 5-12th

Posted by Kasia Hastings and Bethan Holt

So we've just about recovered from four weeks of shows...

REMEMBERING VIDAL SASSOON
Friends and family paid tribute today to one of hairstyling's legendary figures. Vidal Sassoon was described as a "generous and compassionate man" during the service at St Paul's Cathedral this morning. The service was made up of both Jewish and Christian tradition (Sassoon a lifelong anti-Semetic campaigner) and attended by friends such as Zandra Rhodes, Michael Caine and Jeremy Irons, amongst many others who remembered him for his contribution to fashion, culture and human rights.
Rex Features
CHANEL LBJ EXHIBITION
Last night Chanel opened their Little Black Jacket exhibition in London at the Saatchi Gallery following the success of their book, "The Little Black Jacket" this summer and the subsequent exhibition in New York. Naturally, Karl Lagerfeld invited London beauties such as Alice Dellal, Eva Herzigova, Yasmin le Bon and Amanda Harlech to mark the occasion. The exhibition itself consists of more than 100 black and white photos of Karl's favourite muses (some more surprising...Kanye) all sporting the iconic jacket. Sounds like a perfect Sunday afternoon treat to me - The exhibition is on until October 28th and admission is free.
Image: bohomoth.com
WHAT'S NEXT FOR CARINE
Is there no stopping Carine Roitfeld? Just when we all thought she had settled nicely into her CR Fashion Book project she goes and announces yet another string to her bow. And it's a fascinating one at that as Roitfeld is assuming the newly created role of Global Creative Director for Harper's Bazaar, published by Hearst and major rival to her former employers, Vogue owners Conde-Nast. Fans of Roitfeld's work should rejoice as the move will make her work way more accessible; her stories, which look set to include covers, will appear in Harpers editions around the world. She will be working closely with her friend Stephen Gan, Harper's Bazaar creative Director. Hearst's President and Chief Executive, Duncan Edwards said in a statement, “This collaboration marks the first time anything like this has been done, and we’re very excited about what Carine will bring to Bazaar editions around the world.”. Bring on the March editions which will be the first to feature Carine's shoots.
The Roifeld-Restoins en famille at the launch of CR Fashion Book Image: Bazaar.com
THE DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE
Today it has come to light that the Duchess of Cambridge dressed up as Cheryl Cole and performed her hit "Fight For This Love" on her hen night. In her forthcoming autobiography Cheryl Cole reveals that it was Prince William who personally informed her of Kate's tribute back in June at the Jubilee Concert in which she performed. The Duchess is said to have donned Cheryl's famous split trousers and have been step perfect, now that we'd like to see, so much in fact that we have recreated the look for ourselves...

ALEXA CHUNG'S BOOK IS NOT A STYLE BIBLE
Alex Chung has insisted that her new book is not to be taken as a style bible! The style icon and Vogue contributor told Fashionista.com, "It's basically a compendium of drawings and photographs, and I'm going to write about a bunch of stuff,"- phew, no Victoria Beckham dictatorial then. Alexa's book is expected to be published next September by Penguin Books.

TREND: ENGAGEMENTS:
The bigger the better - Blake Lively and Jennifer Aniston have been flashing their atomic sized rocks this week in the latest round of celeb ring-offs. Blake Lively made her first public appearance since marrying Ryan Reynolds at the Chanel Bijoux De Diamant 80th Anniversary celebration earlier this week.  The Chanel campaign star's ring is reported to have cost $2m, the rose coloured diamond is the stuff of child fantasy and was paired with a similarly sugary Chanel AW12 dress. Meanwhile Brit girl Poppy Delevigne received an extraordinary proposal from her beau James Cook, whom she has been dating since 2007. Poppy's proposal came in the form of a bespoke jewellery box with an inscribed message by British designer, Anya Hinmarch. We hope Poppy knows it's James she's marrying and not Anya.
Delevigne tweeted "Err YES...#happiestdayofmylife" along with a photo of the jewellery box.

THE SAINT LAURENT DEBATE CONTINUES 
The Saint Laurent debate continued this week as Cameron Silver spoke out against Hedi Slimane's debut collect for the Paris fashion house. The L.A. "antique" store owner spoke to British Vogue about the "vintage education" he gave Raf Simmos before the designer embarked on his spring collection,  and of Slimane told them, "If you're going to present yourself as the messiah then you better deliver the 11th commandment". Ouch. Silver's branded Slimane's collection as, "too referential" and confirmed it as the wardrobe of every L.A. girl of the past 5 years. It seems there is still appreciation for Slimane's collection in the form of Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO and chairman of PPR who own Yves Saint Laurent. He spoke to WWD, publicly backing the collection. Finally, Susie Lau of Style Bubble wrote a great piece this week in the light of the Saint Laurent collection about what really constitutes "modern"- is what the average, non- super fashion girl wants to wear now? Or is it what is deemed experimental and entirely new by critics?

Image: ITVE/PA Wire
BRITISHISM IN AMERICA
"Crickey, Britishism are everywhere" wrote Alex Williams in the "Style" section of the New York Times this week. It seems the Downton effect is spreading beyond the Autumn/Winter catwalks and into the vernacular of the average American, or New Yorker anyway.  Brit colloquialism such as "cheers", "brilliant" and "loo" have been adopted by Americans... Whilst Williams suggests it might be Anglocreep and even annoying we're sure a bit of good old British charm won't hurt and with the likes of Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow way ahead of this trend perhaps it's here to stay. Jolly hockey sticks!

BABY FORD
Congratulations to Tom Ford and his long-term partner Richard Buckley who announced the birth of baby, Alexander John Buckley Ford, last Friday. The pair who have been together for 25 years, kept the pregnancy completely hush hush, Ford previously told Time Out, "if I have children, no one will know about it until the child is born. And no one will ever see the child because I certainly wouldn't use it as a press tool'. Looks like we'll be waiting a long time to see little Alexander John in a Ford suit.

vogue.co.uk
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA FOR H&M
H&M released the first images of their latest designer-high street collaboration this week shot by artist and director Sam Taylor-Johnson. The first glimpses of the eagerly anticipated collection from Maison Martin Margiela suggest we can expect chic separates, statement coats and beautiful silhouettes- just the thing for a winter pick me up. The collection is available online and in store from November 15th.

HUGO BOSS AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE 
This week the first of Hugo Boss and the National Theatre's creative collaboration took to the stage in the opening night of Frank McGuinness' production of Tirso de Molina's Damned Despair. This is the first time the National has joined forces with a designer and with Hugo Boss set to create all the costumes for their forthcoming contemporary productions we are expecting some extra style with our next slice of culture. It's also an interesting development in the wider context of fashion gaining cultural capital and the stage as a commercial space.

Finally, check out the art work for RiRi's new album... Taking graffiti to the next lev

Image: JustJared.com




Wednesday, October 3, 2012

SS13: HEDI SLIMANE AND SAINT LAURENT, WHAT SAY YOU, WORLD?

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large


Paris Fashion Week was billed as the battle between Raf and Hedi. Which designer would deliver and show us a new way to dress, a new version of what they're known for while staying true to the codes of the houses they're designing for? It was sad that it had to be a "battle" in the first place, couldn't both designers propose something unexpected and fresh without it being a head-to-head thing? Maybe those would be different propositions but choice is no bad thing.

Well, it's turned into something quite different. Raf's collection for Dior was generally much loved and without drama.  Hedi Slimane's debut collection for Saint Laurent is a different story. There was  major pre-show hype, some upset caused by super controlling behaviour from PRs, heaps of praise from Slimane's mentor and Yves Saint Laurent's partner Pierre BergĂ© as well as Kate Moss ("Gorge!") then lukewarm reviews from fashion editors which led to the publication last night of a slightly bizarre letter from Hedi (well, it was posted on his Twitter page) to New York Times' Cathy Horyn branding her "a stand-up comedian" as well as making sly digs at her book, her style and how Dior might give her a 2-for-1 tickets whereas "she will never get a seat at Saint Laurent". Ouch.

The whole episode has opened quite a can of worms about how Saint Laurent have handled Hedi's debut - or perhaps how Hedi himself has chosen to direct it - as well as whether it really matters commercially if a collection gets a so-so verdict from press. What would the reviews have said if editors noses hadn't been put seriously out of joint from the pre-show diktats and seating issues? Or do editors really let these things affect them? Was the collection properly good, or a stab in the dark from a menswear designer out of his depth in the womens' arena?

And what sane designer would refuse to take questions post-show from Sarah Mower of US Vogue, Suzy Menkes of the New York Times, Lisa Armstrong of the Telegraph and Laura Craik of The London Times? And why not?

We've gathered all sides of the story into one place....


THE LOVERS

Pierre BergĂ©: "Sublime... He respected the codes of Saint Laurent."

Diane von Furstenberg: "I completely identify with that look, and I think he did a great job"

Kate Moss: "I want it all"

Alison Mosshart: "It's the best thing ever"

Harrods' Marigay McKee told Vogue: "He delivered a slick collection fusing his contemporary silhouette with rock-meets-Seventies-inspired styles that echoed an iconic era of the house drawing heavily on the archives. This strong aesthetic reflects the continued demand for a more pared-back look, which has been prominent over the last few years - with many women buying less, and picking clever investment pieces that can be mixed and matched. The focus was very much on the cut, fit and fabrication, and this was a collection that is perfect for our customer."

Betty Catroux, Yves Saint Laurent muse: "He is our saviour... I love the fact he has the same attitude as Yves Saint Laurent, a lot of things in common with him, he understands his times totally."


THE NOT-SO-GREAT-ERS

Robin Givhan, The Daily Beast: "Slimane’s silhouette looks to be so unforgiving that it could be a financial liability to a brand trying to build its clientele"

Jess Cartner-Morley, The Guardian: "But the show left viewers with a hankering for more of the Slimane-stamped skinny tailoring which dominated the first few exits, and fewer of the dress-and-cape outfits. An industry who arrived at this show preparing to be scandalised at how Slimane ignored the YSL heritage left wishing he had imposed himself just a little more"

Tim Blanks, Style.com: "It seemed that witchy seduction was the agenda of the evening. A bizarre way to stake a claim to one of fashion's most unimpeachable legacies, maybe, but it felt perfectly in tune with what one could legitimately claim to be Slimane's California obsession"

Lisa Armstrong, The Telegraph "The problem was, that like quite a bit of this collection, the accessories were slightly underwhelming... Crucially, what was lacking was the frisson of the unexpected - that challenging jolt that only a really strong show delivers"


HYPE AND CONTROL

Imran Ahmed, Business of Fashion: "It was the latest in a series of bizarre communications from a PR team whose attempts to control communication about YSL — whether coming directly from the brand itself or independent media outlets — seems obsessive...

"When we explained our thinking, namely that no designer can claim that every single collection is a commercial success, and politely declined to change the article, we were informed via email: “Don’t correct, fare [sic] enough, we won’t collaborate on any kind of project in the future"

Lisa Armstrong, The Telegraph: "For starters, there was the seating. Or the standing, with some journalists admitted only right at the back. ("Don't worry", soothed the PRs, "you'll be standing with your peers") . Then there were the instructions about the change of name. Sorry, names"

Lisa Armstrong, The Telegraph: "I would love to be able to watch his evolution at this house. Judging by his apparent fear of any kind of objective criticism, however, I fear I won't be allowed back"

Laura Craik, The Times- in an open letter to Hedi Slimane "All the things you seem to love and value — music, fun, sexiness — require freedom. You have yours. I have mine. Without it, we are nothing. So please, don’t ban me from your next show, because I really want to see it. We all do. We like you, even though you treat us like a bitch"




"I was not invited. Despite positive reviews of his early YSL and Dior collections, as well as a profile, Mr. Slimane objected bitterly to a review I wrote in 2004 — not about him but Raf Simons"

"And that was the problem: the collection was a nice but frozen vision of a bohemian chick at the Chateau Marmont. Or in St. Tropez. Mr. Slimane’s clothes lacked a new fashion spirit"

"I had the impression from the clothes of someone disconnected from fashion of the past several years. If so, that might be an interesting perspective. But there wasn’t something new to learn here"

THE HEDI LETTER

Some have said that Hedi's twitter account could have been hacked by a stirrer and these may not be the words of the man himself. However, nearly 24 hours later no denial has been issued nor has the tweet been removed. 

From Hedi Slimane on Twitter- click to read more easily
THE TWEETS


Had a really weird dream last night that I was in Zara circa 2008.

Word for word RT: Backstage at YSL :no questions no photographs. us: can we breathe? Pause: yes you can breathe

From hot dogs 2 Hedi, is it just me or did the fashion industry just get really, really dark & scary all of a sudden? Why all the hate? 


Hedi Slimane's odd behavior is creating more headlines than his somewhat underwhelming first show for YSL: 

Did Saint Laurent's Hedi Slimane refusal to seat top editors front row in Paris fuel bad reviews?