fashionologie

Loulou de la Falaise, Yves Saint Laurent Muse and Collaborator, Has Passed Away; A Visual Tribute

fashionologie — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:34:12 PST

>> Loulou de Falaise, who collaborated with and inspired Yves Saint Laurent for over three decades, died Saturday at her country house in Boury-en-Vexin, northwest of Paris. She was 63.

The Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation announced her passing, citing an unspecified "long illness" as the cause of death. WWD's sources report that de la Falaise was diagnosed with cancer last June but wanted to keep her health a private matter. She is survived by her husband, Thadee Klossowski - who she married in 1977 in a Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche turban and harem pants - and their daughter, Anna.

De la Falaise met Saint Laurent at 1968, when she was 21, at a tea party given by the designer Fernando Sanchez. She began working for YSL in 1972, designing jewelry and hats for his couture and ready-to-wear collections and producing up to 2,000 pieces of jewelry a year until 2002, when he retired. Later, she collaborated with Oscar de la Renta on his jewelry collections. Her final designs - a line of costume jewelry she created over the Summer - go on sale next month in the shop at the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech.

A few of our favorite Loulou snaps, in the slideshow (NSFW).

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Helene Rochas, Muse and Former Head of Rochas, Has Passed Away

fashionologie — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:56:40 PDT

>> Helene Rochas, muse and former head of Rochas, passed away last week at 84. "It's the end of a myth, of an era," a Rochas spokesperson said of her death. "She was the muse of one of the great couturiers, the last to remain alive from that era."

Rochas passed away Aug. 6, and her funeral took place Friday "in the strictest privacy." Her children Francois and Sophie indicated through a law firm in Paris that a religious homage would be celebrated in September. The law firm was not able to specify the location and cause of death nor the funeral location.

Rochas was just 18 when she married couturier Marcel Rochas and became the face of his fashion house, founded in 1925; she was not quite 30 when he died in 1955 and she took over the company as CEO. She increased Rochas's business tenfold, turning it into one of the six largest perfume makers in France in the '60s before she sold the company in 1971.

She later returned to consult at Rochas between 1984 and 1989, and when Olivier Theyskens was creative director of the house between 2003 and 2006, he drew upon her as inspiration for his collections.

A Look at Hollywood Beauty Icon, the Bold Elizabeth Taylor

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:34:38 PDT

>> Elizabeth Taylor, she of the violet eyes, plunging necklines, and ostentatious jewelry, passed away this morning at 79. She first broke onto the scene at 12, in the 1944 film National Velvet; she became the highest-paid actress of the time when she accepted $1 million in 1960 to play Cleopatra; and her White Diamonds perfume, launched in 1991, remains a bestseller. But aside from all that, she was a Hollywood icon - the "beauty incarnate" to Marilyn Monroe's sex goddess, Grace Kelly's ice queen, and Audrey Hepburn's eternal gamine, as the New York Times put it.

Although she wasn't known as a fashion icon, she did have her moments: the strapless white gown covered in daisies Edith Head designed for Taylor in 1951's A Place in the Sun inspired the most popular prom dress that year, and the white dress she wore in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was licensed by its costume designer, Helen Rose, and sold in the thousands.

Valentino, who dressed Taylor in 1991 for her eighth wedding, said: “Liz is a very faithful friend. She can be the most extraordinarily beautiful woman. But what makes her a big star in my eyes is that she is like everyone else. She puts on weight, she loses it. She has depression, faces health problems just like everyone. It’s why she is a lasting personality.” A look back at some of Taylor's iconic moments, in the gallery.

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Model Isabelle Caro, Known for Nude "No Anorexia" Billboards, Has Died at 28

fashionologie — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:38:29 PST

>> Isabella Caro, who gained attention in 2007 for billboard ads showing her emaciated body above the words "No Anorexia," died on Nov. 17 at age 28, according to her acting teacher. Her boyfriend, Swiss singer Vincent Bigler, confirmed Caro's death, saying she spent about two weeks in hospital with acute respiratory disease.

Caro had suffered from anorexia since age 13; earlier this year, during an appearance on Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty, she spoke about how a designer told her in high school to lose 10 kilos (22 pounds) if she wanted to be successful, which caused her to stop eating. At the time of the 2007 billboard shoot - which she did because, she said, “I thought this could be a chance to use my suffering to get a message across, and finally put an image on what thinness represents and the danger it leads to - which is death” - she measured 5'4" and about 70 pounds. Earlier this year she self-reported her weight to be about 90 pounds.

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Kate Moss, Anna Wintour, Naomi Campbell, and More Gather at Alexander McQueen's Memorial Service

fashionologie — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:56:03 PDT

>> Friends and family - among the 1,200 guests were Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker, Naomi Campbell, Daphne Guinness, Hamish Bowles, Karen Elson, Stella Tennant, Hussein Chalayan, Roland Mouret, Antonio Berardi, Philip Treacy, Francois Henri Pinault (whom McQueen called Henry), and Stella McCartney - gathered this morning at St. Paul's Cathedral in London in honor of Lee Alexander McQueen, who took his own life in February.

Shaun Leane, Suzy Menkes, Annabelle Nielson, and Anna Wintour all spoke at the 70-minute memorial service, with Wintour recalling McQueen's tendency for last minute cancellations and his "often savage tongue": "He never appeared much at ease with himself, and he didn't care about the politics of fashion. The world that he loved was inside the atelier . . . He showed us everything was possible; dreams could become reality." Bjork gave a performance of Billie Holiday's "Gloomy Sunday" dressed in an angelic McQueen costume, and afterward, as guests dispersed, the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland played the theme of Braveheart on their bagpipes.

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Corinne Day, Discoverer of Kate Moss, Has Passed Away

fashionologie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:40:05 PDT

>> Corinne Day, the photographer who was credited with discovering Kate Moss - together they produced Day's most famous photo set, of 16-year-old Kate in black and white for The Face - passed away on Saturday at 45, after struggling with brain cancer, Vogue.it reports.

Day's raw, documentary-like style made her among the first photographers to react against the glossy images of the '80s, and she often collaborated with Moss - when Day captured Kate in her own flat for a 1993 cover of British Vogue, the image became associated with defining the waif look of the '90s.

Day has been suffering from cancer for the past decade, and last August, her friends, including Moss, organized a limited edition auction to raise money for further treatment. The treatment was reportedly unsuccessful, and as of February, Day's friends have been in talks with the Victoria & Albert Museum in London about doing a retrospective of her work.

A gallery of Day's images over the years, below.

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Hedi Slimane Remembers Ambrose Olson

fashionologie — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:56:15 PDT

The landing page of HediSlimane.com has been altered to memorialize model Ambrose Olson, who passed away last week apparently by hanging. Hedi's site features a video of Olson shot for VMan by Slimane for the first issue of the magazine in July of 2003. A moving tribute.

To see the video,

Model Ambrose Olson Has Passed Away

fashionologie — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:30:53 PDT

>> Click model Ambrose Olson passed away unexpectedly last Thursday, April 22. Details of the cause of death are still unknown. The 24-year-old from Alaska - perhaps best known for his 2007 Armani Exchange ads (pictured) in which he appeared alongside Alessandra Ambrosio - also modeled in campaigns for Hugo Boss, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and YSL, among others. May he rest in peace.

Alexander McQueen's Death Confirmed as by Hanging; PPR Said to Comment on Brand's Future Tomorrow

fashionologie — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:15:00 PST

>> This morning, a coroner's inquest confirmed that Alexander McQueen, whose body was found at his home in London last Thursday at 10:30 am, died of asphyxiation and hanging himself in his wardrobe. The inquest has not yet formally ruled the death a suicide, but police said there were no suspicious circumstances. A suicide note was found in the apartment and is being examined by police.

The inquest has been adjourned to April 28, and full details of the autopsy will be available in a few months. Despite the fact that McQueen's family is now free to hold his funeral, there has been no word on details, although it's rumored to be very, very small, and followed by a larger March memorial. A spokeswoman for London Fashion Week said an event featuring a tribute to the designer is being planned, pending approval from the McQueen family.

As for McQueen the brand, no official word yet on that either, but owner PPR has indicated it will comment on the subject when it releases its 2009 figures on Thursday.

fashionologie — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:08:52 PST

>> Remembering Alexander McQueen -Alexander McQueen, with his elaborate sets, creative choreography, and ability to shock and awe, knew how to put on a show. A few of our favorite McQueen spectacles, on video, below.

The videos »