Posts for May 12th 2010

Gareth Pugh

>> Gareth Pugh Reportedly Plans to Open First Store Next Month —With nine runway shows under his belt and an ANDAM prize which allowed him to start showing at Paris Fashion Week in 2008, Gareth Pugh is taking the next step in building his brand.
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>> Gareth Pugh Reportedly Plans to Open First Store Next Month —With nine runway shows under his belt and an ANDAM prize which allowed him to start showing at Paris Fashion Week in 2008, Gareth Pugh is taking the next step in building his brand. Hilary Alexander reports via Twitter that Pugh will open his first brick-and-mortar store — not in London, Paris, or Tokyo, but in Hong Kong next month. [@HilaryAlexander]

A Further Look into Claudia Schiffer's Bump-Filled Crop of Vogue Germany Editorials
Claudia Schiffer

A Further Look into Claudia Schiffer's Bump-Filled Crop of Vogue Germany Editorials

>> The June 2010 issue of Vogue Germany dedicated to Claudia Schiffer, who is due with her third child any day, doesn't stop with a nude shot of the model, baby bump in full view, on the cover.
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>> The June 2010 issue of Vogue Germany dedicated to Claudia Schiffer, who is due with her third child any day, doesn't stop with a nude shot of the model, baby bump in full view, on the cover. Inside, editorials by Camilla Akrans, Franca Sozzani's son Francesco Carrozzini, Jan Welters, Ellen von Unwerth, and Karl Lagerfeld feature the pregnant model for the "A Celebration of Femininity"-themed issue.

It's not often that a  model will pose for a whole issue's worth of spreads while pregnant, but Claudia says of the decision: "It was important to us to show how beautiful it is to be a woman and that you can have a positive attitude towards your body, including when you're expecting."

A selection of images from the issue in the gallery below.

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Chanel

>> Lara Stone to Marry This Weekend?
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>> Lara Stone to Marry This Weekend? —Wondering why Chanel favorite Lara Stone was altogether missing from this week's Chanel Cruise 2011 festivities? The reason to blame may be because she's in the midst of wedding preparations. British tabloids have been reporting that Lara, who got engaged in January to British comedian David Walliams, has selected this Saturday, May 15, to hold her wedding at Claridge's in London — and there's a star-studded guest list of 200-plus. Now, Style.com corroborates the date: "We hear from Saint-Tropez that Lara Stone is getting hitched this weekend. We’ll believe it when we see it, but…" Stone asked Riccardo Tisci to make her dress. [Mirror.co.uk, The Sun, Style File]

First Look: Gucci's New Couture Line, Gucci Premiere
Gucci

First Look: Gucci's New Couture Line, Gucci Premiere

>> Although Gucci declined comment back in January when rumor went around that Frida Giannini was working on a debut couture collection for the brand, it appears the rumors were true.
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>> Although Gucci declined comment back in January when rumor went around that Frida Giannini was working on a debut couture collection for the brand, it appears the rumors were true. The brand sent out a release today announcing that the dress Salma Hayek wore to the Robin Hood premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, at left, is the "very first" couture gown from the Gucci Premiere collection designed by Giannini.

The dress was described in the statement as a "floor length bordeaux silk georgette one shoulder gown with hip, back and shoulder drape detail [which] also features deep red crystal embroidery at the shoulder and waist." Hayek was accompanied on the red carpet by her husband, Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO of PPR, which owns Gucci.

Back when the rumors of the Gucci couture collection went around, there were no plans to show it on the runway. Instead, it was said it would be sold by appointment and used to dress top celebrities for big red carpet occasions.

Cate Blanchett

>> Cate Blanchett Kicks Off 2010 Cannes Film Festival in Lee Alexander McQueen-Selected Dress —At the opening premiere of the Cannes Film Festival today — for Robin Hood — Cate Blanchett, who plays Maid Marian, wore a Pre-Fall 2010 dress designed by the late Lee Alexander McQueen.
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>> Cate Blanchett Kicks Off 2010 Cannes Film Festival in Lee Alexander McQueen-Selected Dress —At the opening premiere of the Cannes Film Festival today — for Robin Hood — Cate Blanchett, who plays Maid Marian, wore a Pre-Fall 2010 dress designed by the late Lee Alexander McQueen. In fact, word is the designer had personally selected the dress for the actress. [WWD]

New Interview Editorial Featuring Daria Werbowy Stirs Up Racist Allegations
Interview

New Interview Editorial Featuring Daria Werbowy Stirs Up Racist Allegations

>> A new Interview editorial from the magazine's May 2010 issue, "Let's Get Lost," photographed by Mikael Jansson and styled by Karl Templer, is described with the following tagline: "Let's get lost.
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>> A new Interview editorial from the magazine's May 2010 issue, "Let's Get Lost," photographed by Mikael Jansson and styled by Karl Templer, is described with the following tagline: "Let's get lost. The hour is late, the air is thick, and the evening is charged with a steamy sensuality. What works? Tone-on-tone swimsuits, slithers of silk, and plenty of skin, as flesh meets flesh, body meets soul, and Daria gets lost in the heat of the night."

But since being posted online, the editorial, which highlights Daria Werbowy among an all-black cast (save for Brazilian model Lisalla Montenegro), is eliciting adverse reactions around the web. Commenters on The Fashion Spot write: "I expect more from Interview than some stereotypical, white person enters into strange and exotic world of brown people editorial." And: "I can't believe that the editorial team got away with a story that overtly exposes and even promotes such racist stereotypes. The one time they chose to cast an amazing variety of black models they had to play with a tired concept; the only reason why they are honestly here in this story is to play up the stereotype of black people as anonymous, sexual, savage beings who here play back up dancer to Daria (the white person)."

Refinery29 agrees: "From the differences in their dress (Daria's in ethereal, angel-like gowns, the others are in knits and leathers) to their body language (A limp yet super-sexual Daria is the main focus, the others feel almost like props), the whole spread has a rather racist vibe that we can't get down with." As do commenters at the Livejournal community Fashin, one noting that the models surrounding Daria look like "blackcessories" and another adding that the models look like "they're just props."

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Balenciaga

>> More of Balenciaga's 10-Model Fall 2010 Campaign Cast, Revealed —Late last month, word came that Balenciaga cast 10 models for its Fall 2010 campaign, Karen Elson and Stella Tennant among them.  Now, a few more names have been added to the list: Mirte Maas, newcomer Julija Step, Meghan Collison, Eliza Cummings, Iselin Steiro, and in a bit of a surprise, perennial Chanel favorite Freja Beha Erichsen.
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>> More of Balenciaga's 10-Model Fall 2010 Campaign Cast, Revealed —Late last month, word came that Balenciaga cast 10 models for its Fall 2010 campaign, Karen Elson and Stella Tennant among them.  Now, a few more names have been added to the list: Mirte Maas, newcomer Julija Step, Meghan Collison, Eliza Cummings, Iselin Steiro, and in a bit of a surprise, perennial Chanel favorite Freja Beha Erichsen. Steven Meisel photographed the ads and house muse Marie Amelie Sauve did styling honors. [WWD, Vogue.it, TFS]

Noemie Lenoir Reportedly Found Unconscious After Apparent Suicide Attempt
Noemie Lenoir

Noemie Lenoir Reportedly Found Unconscious After Apparent Suicide Attempt

>> Noemie Lenoir, who recently walked Louis Vuitton's Fall 2010 runway, was found unconscious in a forest in La Celle-Saint-Cloud on the outskirts of Paris on Sunday afternoon by a man walking his dog, reports the Daily Mail.
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>> Noemie Lenoir, who recently walked Louis Vuitton's Fall 2010 runway, was found unconscious in a forest in La Celle-Saint-Cloud on the outskirts of Paris on Sunday afternoon by a man walking his dog, reports the Daily Mail. She reportedly had ingested a potentially deadly combination of alcohol and drugs at the home of former boyfriend and father to her five-year-old son, Claude Makelele.

A source close to the model told the Daily Mail: "After coming to, Noemie was in a state of great distress and clearly very ill. She had clearly attempted to harm herself and had fallen unconscious. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and treated for the effects of poisoning. It seems that she may have tried to commit suicide as a cry for help. She’s now in a far better condition and recovering."

Police confirmed the reports »