fashionologie

Karl Lagerfeld on Staying Thin, Being Human - and More

Christina Perez — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:17:07 PST

>> Karl Lagerfeld guest edited today's issue of Metro International newspaper. In addition to featuring a Lagerfeld-sketched cover, a tour of Lagerfeld's work space, and interviews with some of Lagerfeld's most famous cohorts - Haider Ackermann, Silvia Venturini Fendi, Florence Welch, Carine Roitfeld - "The World According to Karl" edition also provides quite a bit of insight into the mind of the Chanel helmer himself. Read on for highlights:

On being human: "I look the part. But I’m not that human, hm? But more down-to-earth than me, you will never find. You cannot be more down-to-earth."

On his diet: "I haven't touched sugar, sweets, butter, cake, cheese - all of that - for more than 11 years, and I'm not even tempted. I’m beyond temptation. I think that's the best thing that can happen in life."

On his weight: "I found out that clothes are much better than scales and things like this. Clothes don't lie. If you have only clothes in one size and nothing one millimeter bigger, the minute something hurts somewhere, you know it's time. And always keep a pair of tight jeans, something tight for control. I know a woman who every year put on her wedding dress just to see if she can still fit in it. It's only a problem if you have four or five weddings."

On his sex drive: "No, I'm not very much interested in that. But it's not a question of time, people can make quickies, you know."

On Lana Del Rey: "I prefer Adele and Florence Welch. But as a modern singer she is not bad. The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice. Lana Del Rey is not bad at all. She looks very much like a modern-time singer. In her photos she is beautiful. Is she a construct with all her implants? She's not alone with implants."

On people saying he's done too many collaborations: "I couldn't care less. It depends if I know the people. If unknown people say this, they should send me a note and explain why. The limit is up to me to decide."

On watching television: "I like to be on TV, but I don't watch TV. I have no time for that . . . I prefer to live on my imagination."

On death: "I couldn't care less . . . if you ask me, it's like a sleep where you don't wake up. You don't remember before, you don't remember after. The only thing is, I don't want to be seen dead, huh? So anyway, over, over. The battery is finished, huh? Pfft."

The Theyskens' Theory Fall 2012 Show Will Be Live Streamed

Christina Perez — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:14 PST

>>>Theyskens' Theory Fall 2012: coming soon to a screen near you. The label has announced plans to live-stream next week's fashion show at the Park Avenue Armory, and as an added bonus, Derek Blasberg and Moda Operandi's Lauren Santo Domingo will be on hand to provide live commentary. It all happens noon on Monday, Feb. 13, online at theyskenstheory.com. In case you're out and about, the stream will also be mobile-friendly.

Designers Disappointed by CFDA's Impending Relocation

Christina Perez — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:47:54 PST

>> The CFDA has decided to move from its current location in the Garment District to a new residence in downtown Manhattan, leaving some New York designers none too pleased. "We are extremely disappointed by the CFDA's decision to leave the Garment Center," said Nanette LePore, whose husband, Bob Savage, has been a staunch proponent of the Save the Garment Center campaign. "We only hope this does not signal the end of their previous support for New York City manufacturing and emerging American designers."

For its part, the CFDA has stressed that the decision has nothing to do with a lack of support for the Garment District, a neighborhood the CFDA has always championed. "We are not abandoning anything," The CFDA's chief executive officer, Steven Kolb, told WWD. "We considered buildings in the Garment District significantly in our search. The criteria by which we were finding space was ultimately based not on neighborhood, but what the best space for a functioning office for the CFDA was." Kolb went on to say that the Council had outgrown its current space, adding "we are busting out of the seams."

CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg echoed the sentiment: "We needed a very large space so we can have board meetings and clinics there. We found a great space with a great deal, and that's that. We looked for a long time." Von Furstenberg added that she will always think of the CFDA as "the soul of the Garment District."

The CFDA has signed a 10-year lease at its new location at Bleecker Street and Broadway, with plans to move this Summer.
Above: the CFDA's Steven Kolb and Diane von Furstenberg. Getty

Was Jean Paul Gaultier's Amy Winehouse-Inspired Couture Show in Poor Taste?

Christina Perez — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:51:39 PST

>> Amy Winehouse's father seems to think so. Mitch Winehouse has spoken out against Jean Paul Gaultier, saying the designer's recent couture collection - which featured models styled in the late singer's trademark beehives and eyeliner - was "an insult" and in very poor taste.

"The family was upset to see those pictures, they were a total shock," Winehouse told The Sun. "We're still grieving for her loss, and we've had a difficult week with the six-month anniversary of Amy's death. To see her image lifted wholesale to sell clothes was a wrench we were not expecting or consulted on. We're proud of her influence on fashion, but find black veils on models smoking cigarettes with a barbershop quartet singing her music in bad taste. It portrays a view of Amy when she was not at her best, and glamorizes some of the more upsetting times in her life. That's upsetting for her family."

Gaultier, who has not yet responded to the family's criticism, said earlier in the week that the collection was meant as tribute. "It is very joyous,” the designer told the New York Times after the show. "To me the scandal is that no fashion magazine did an Amy Winehouse cover. She was so exceptional in her style; how she held her body; the way she dressed, mixing pieces from different decades."

See the entire Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2012 couture collection here.
Photo: Getty

Elizabeth Olsen Says Her Sisters Don't Dress Her

Christina Perez — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:18:23 PST

>> Elizabeth Olsen has been making style waves everywhere she goes - and lately, she's been everywhere. This week alone, the 22-year-old actress has been turning heads from Paris to Park City, in brands that run the gamut from Topshop to Chanel.

In a recent interview, the star of the upcoming films Red Lights and Liberal Arts opened up about her favorite designers: "Definitely Marni and Céline"; her penchant for Proenza: "I wore an orange floral Proenza Schouler dress that I was, like, obsessed with to the W magazine pre-Golden Globes party"; and her current wardrobe go-tos: "I always wear leather pants - always from The Row."

But does Olsen ever ask her famous sisters for styling advice? "It's funny to be asked that because I don't live with them, and they don't dress me. Like, I'm an adult," she explains.

Elizabeth Olsen in Proenza Schouler. Getty

Celine Cancels Fall 2012 Runway Show

Christina Perez — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:04:53 PST

>> LVMH wants Phoebe Philo - who is pregnant with her third child - to take it easy. "A runway show is a very demanding and personal engagement for a creative director," Celine's chief executive officer, Marco Gobbetti, told WWD. "The objective is to simplify." Though the house hasn't confirmed an alternative plan, the Fall 2012 collection will now most likely be presented in a more informal setting. Celine will maintain its current spot on the Paris Fashion Week calendar; Philo - who is currently "designing the collection with her team" - is expected to attend.
Photo: Getty

Karlie Kloss Doesn't Follow Trends, Buys Chanel Bags as Gifts

Christina Perez — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:38:21 PST

>> Karlie Kloss has been very, very busy. She walked her first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in November, got nearly nude for Vogue Italia in December, and fronted the most recent Oscar de la Renta campaign this January. With so much fashion at her fingertips, one might assume the supermodel-in-the-making has some strong beliefs about her own style choices. Not so, says Kloss in a recent New York Times piece. "I don't follow trends so much . . . I think I'm still finding my look," she explains. And, while Kloss admits to the occasional splurge - a Prada dress and Kurt Geiger boots are among her recent purchases - she also has a frugal side. "As much as I enjoy and appreciate luxury items, I'm also a total cheapskate. I'm always throwing in a hat from H&M or a Forever 21 T-shirt."

The thriftiness, however, doesn't extend to gift-giving - especially when it comes to family members. "For my younger twin sisters' birthday and my mom's birthday, I bought everybody Chanel bags. Now all the girls in my family have one. Karl gave me one last season, which is how I got my baby. I'm going to be buried with that bag."

Marc Jacobs on Happiness, His Physical Transformation, and Staying Humble

Christina Perez — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:30:45 PST

>> In a recent interview with The Talks, Marc Jacobs opens up on everything from his morning routine to how he relates to women. And, though the designer shed his indie-grunge image several years ago, there's quite a bit in the interview about why - and how - he's physically changed: "No, I didn't do it for the image." Below, more highlights from the article.

On happiness: "I don't know what the key to happiness is. Happy is just a feeling like every other feeling. I certainly feel happy some days and in general I am pretty happy, but I have all the other feelings as well."

On success and constant flattery: "Well, I just do my job. I'm not really distracted by it. Nice things are very nice to hear and it is flattering when one is given some kind of recognition, but none of that distracts me from what my job is . . . And honestly, no matter how flattering or even un-flattering something is, it doesn't prevent me from getting up and going to work and doing what I love to do."

On changing his lifestyle: "I did it for health reasons. I was really very weak. I had been working very hard and I had some stomach problems, so I saw a nutritionist and he recommended that I go to the gym and change my diet and all of that."

On how he relates to his customers: "It's funny: I enjoy clothing more, I enjoy getting my haircut, I enjoy grooming. In a way it kind of helped me to understand more of what the customer sees in terms of fashion. I got to appreciate it more from a first hand point of view. I like to shop, for example, which I never did before."

On how he relates to women: "I feel much more secure with my body and in some ways I can relate more to the joys a woman gets in terms of taking care of herself."

On his morning routine: "Now I get up early in the morning and I really enjoy getting dressed and putting lotions on my skin and getting manicures- all those things. It's a joy, it is really nice. You know, it used to take me five minutes to get in and out of the bathroom. I would get in the shower, get out of the shower and put on the same clothes every day and I didn't care."

Miuccia Prada Is Not Thrilled About Her Upcoming Met Exhibit

Christina Perez — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:30:34 PST

>> Miuccia Prada doesn't agree with the way the Costume Institute is comparing her with Elsa Schiaparelli in their upcoming exhibit. "It's too formal; they are focused on similarities, comparing feather with feather, ethnic with ethnic, but they are not taking into consideration that we are talking about two different eras, and that [Schiaparelli and I] are total opposite," Prada said backstage at her menswear show this past weekend in Milan. "I told them, but they don't care." The exhibit, entitled Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion, opens May 10 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

New York and London Agree to Fashion Week Date Change

Christina Perez — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:52 PST

>> The Spring 2013 Fashion Week date dispute finally seems to be settling down. In order to accommodate Milan's recent push for an earlier schedule, New York and London have agreed to shift the dates of their own Sept. 2012 shows. New York Fashion Week will now take place Sept. 6 through 13, with London following from Sept. 14 to 18.

"We've been back and forth on this. People are anxious and need to know the dates. There's no value for the cities to compete. In the spirit of working together, London and New York are in agreement that we will go in the earlier period, but with the hope that the four cities will come out of this confusion and work together to plan future show weeks. We need to begin to look at the fashion season not as individual fashion weeks, but very much as a global business," The CFDA's Steven Kolb, explained.

Spring 2013 Milan Fashion Week will take place Sept. 18 to 25, with Paris starting Sept. 25 and finishing the season October 2.