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»Anna Wintour has requested the Vogue staff to wear dresses in shades of white, silver, or other pale colors to the Costume Institute Gala [FWD]
»The first shots of Naomi Campbell, in baseball uniform, filming Ugly Betty, have surfaced [Splash News]
»My favorite rumor of the day: Vanessa Paradis for Miu Miu? [Glamurama]
»A sneak peek at Rick Owens' upcoming foggy Manhattan outpost [Style.com]
>> Carine Roitfeld is still loving on those silver-tipped lace-up Christopher Kane for Manolo Blahnik bottines she wore all through the fashion weeks in February and March — they are worn throughout an entire accessories editorial styled by her former assistant Melanie Huynh in the May 2008 issue of Vogue Paris (scans to come later).
*image: source
>> The numbers are in, and Gisele Bundchen remains Forbes' top-earning model for 2008, raking in $35 million in earnings, thanks to those lucrative Ipanema sandals of hers (left), the $5 million Victoria's Secret contract that didn't end until December 2007, and a multitude of other campaigns, from Versace to Pantene.
A breakdown comparison of the 2008 list to the 2007 list:
Making more money: Gisele, Heidi, Adriana, Doutzen, Karolina, Natalia, Daria, Miranda, Valentina, Isabeli, Selita
Making less money: Kate, Carolyn, Liya
Make the same amount: Gemma, Hilary
New to list: Miranda, Isabeli, Selita, Valentina
Disappeared from the list: Alessandra, Shalom, Stam
The takeaway message: Victoria's Secret and mass-brand cosmetics contracts are still the two biggest modeling cashcows (The newcomers, plus Doutzen, who had the biggest jump in income, all have one or both of those to thank.).
*image: wireimage
>> Ashley Olsen wearing Balenciaga shoes: normal. Not so normal? Heidi Montag of The Hills was photographed wearing them first, then Sarah Jessica Parker, and now Ashley — doesn't it usually happen in the reverse order?
"Everywhere At Once” Cocktail Party and Screening Hosted by Harper's Bazaar; New York City, April 29.
*images: wireimage
»The all-black issue of Vogue Italia drops in July [Independent UK]
»Agyness Deyn has a collaborative single coming out in June [NME]
»Alexander Wang is attending the Costume Institute Gala for the first time . . . bringing . . . Erin Wasson? [The Cut]
»Poor Philip Crangi choked on his steak at the Parsons Benefit and Fashion Show [FWD]
»Anouck Lepere in those crazy Margiela sunglasses and more, Coachella-style [Style.com]
»Bids for investing in Roberto Cavalli due by mid-May [Reuters]
>> Even online, sample sales create a frenzy. In order to keep up with the proliferation of online sample sale sites like Gilt Groupe and HauteLook, Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet announced today that she is launching TheOutnet.com (which I assume is a play on "outlet"), a high end designer sale site that is set to go live by the end of the year. Let the games begin.
>> Alber Elbaz is in town, divulging that he's in talks with Acne jeans to do a denim line starting in 2009, and hopefully also to dress a gal or two in those fabulous Lanvin party frocks of his for the Costume Institute Gala.
But more imminently intriguing was the conversation he and NY Times critic Cathy Horyn had over a lunch of chicken dumplings:
[Alber] offered that, in his view, fat designers tend to have a lightness to their clothes (because they [want] what they are not), while thin designers, lacking the particular dream, seem to have the heavier hand. We didn’t mention any living names, of course. Let me say at the outset that we’re making a vast generalization, but the conversation, so typical of the barmy directions that Mr. Elbaz and I can go over a satisfying meal, got me thinking.
I threw out some names. Dior? He was a big fellow—died, I believe, after a powerful supper in Italy. You can’t say some of his New Look dresses were exactly light.
“But he loved a small waist,” Elbaz said, imitating a hand-span waist.
It would be especially interesting to apply this theory to before-and-after designer cases: Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld come to mind. Did they have something before that they lost with the weight?
More fodder for thought from the Alber-Cathy lunch powwow:
The conversation made me think of another fashion challenge posed many years ago by Suzy Menkes while some of us waited in Paris for a Romeo Gigli show to start. Name five designers, Suzy said, who changed fashion and who were married. I can only remember two names that the group accepted—Pucci and Courreges. I tried to get Ralph Lauren’s name in there but, as I recall, I met some resistance. This was a purist group.
*image: gettyimages
>> Is Nina Garcia turning down the editor-at-large position and severing all ties from Elle after a 13 year tenure? She was spotted leaving the Hearst Tower and avoiding all eye contact earlier today.
This is especially notable, since Nina was reportedly courted for a director's position at Harper's Bazaar in 2005. When contacted for comment about her presence at Hearst today, Nina downplayed the possibility of a position at Hearst, but did say that she was doing freelance work . . .
*image: wireimage
