fashionologie

Balenciaga Reportedly Dropped Their Longtime PR Firm Last Year Because of Attention Paid to Versace

fashionologie — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:32:34 PST

>> Last May, when Balenciaga severed its 12-year relationship with public relations firm PR Consulting, rumors circulated that it was the result of a Balenciaga designer leaving to work for one of the firm's other clients and that some of the client's designs were too similar to Balenciaga. Now, WSJ. reports that insiders at PPR say Nicolas Ghesquiere felt slighted by the attention Pierre Rougier was giving to Versace, his newest client, at the Costume Institute gala last year. It's worth noting the decision to drop PR Consulting was made within two weeks of the gala at the beginning of May.

At the time of the severance, Rougier said: “It’s been a wonderful 12-year adventure with Balenciaga and I really wish Nicolas and Balenciaga all the best and lots of luck going forward. It’s been really great and I really don’t want it to seem any other way.” And now, he tells WSJ. simply, "I love Nicolas."

Post-Balenciaga, Rougier seems to be doing fine. Alongside Versace, he counts among his clients Yves Saint Laurent, Jil Sander, Dries Van Noten, and Proenza Schouler. He is "notoriously picky about whom he takes on," according to the WSJ., and "can lift a brand to another level . . . his job is to keep the Americans, whose critical opinions drive international buying trends, in line."

Vera Wang president Mario Grauso avers this fact - one of the first things he did when joining Wang a year and a half ago was hire Rougier: "Vera had gone dark - hadn't done enough media, wasn't dressing celebrities. Pierre helped me change that. We [at Vera Wang] can veer a little too mainstream, a little too bridal-y. I wanted to be edgier and Pierre knew how to do that." Grauso also credits Rougier with bringing top European press to Wang's shows, admitting it's "something we couldn't do without him."

But cultivating brands isn't all Rougier aspires to - apparently he wants to get more involved with advising the venture capital and investment side of fashion, WSJ. reports: "Too many backers choose the wrong horse in the race, he says, and then are flummoxed when throwing money at the problem doesn't solve it."

Andre Leon Talley Had Capes Made for His ANTM Appearances Because He "Wasn't As Thin As Some People Want Me to Be"

fashionologie — Fri, 07 May 2010 11:19:57 PDT

>> An audience of 300 ran the gauntlet of PETA protestors, Police officers, and a metal detector to hear Andre Leon Talley wax lyrical last night at FIT on everything from blogs and the Internet - "love it . . . the Internet is very important to fashion" - to his original career path - "I went to school to be a French teacher, but I always knew I wanted to be in fashion" - to a current project in the works - "I'm working on something that I hope maybe one day can become a one-man Broadway/Off Broadway show."

He rattled off his personal Costume Institute Gala best dressed list, "in this order": "of course Anna Wintour in exquisite Chanel," Lee Radziwell in "a beautiful Ralph Rucci sequin paillette caftan," Renee Zellweger in an "extraordinary" Carolina Herrera, Isabel Toledo, Ricky Lauren "dressed as Marlene Dietrich," and Cassie, of whom he added: "she was dressed by a new young designer called Laquan Smith [Editor's note: who Talley has recently taken under his wing]."

Talley says his own Met Gala ensemble came under fire, however »

Eight Gap Dresses From the Met Ball are on Display and Ready For Bids

coutorture — Fri, 07 May 2010 07:41:12 PDT

M.I.A. in Alexander Wang for Gap, Jamie Bochert in Rodarte for Gap, Kirsten Dunst in Rodarte for Gap, Kerry Washington in Thakoon for Gap

The eight dresses designed by past CFDA/Vogue Fashion Funders for the Gap and worn to the Costume Institute gala on Monday are now on display in a pop-up shop next to Gap's Fifth Avenue flagship. The dresses-created by Alexander Wang, Rodarte, Thakoon, and Sophie Theallet-will be on view through the end of May and available for purchase (to the highest bidder) via an online auction hosted by Gap. Proceeds will be donated to the Met's Costume Institute, adding to the $9 million raised for Monday's event.

Why Didn't Rick Owens Attend the Costume Institute Gala, Despite Being Invited and In Town?

fashionologie — Thu, 06 May 2010 09:03:01 PDT

>> Rick Owens has been in New York two times in the last seven years, by his estimation, once for his store opening in 2008 and again now for a week. He prefers to stay in a four-hour travel radius of his Paris home, and didn't travel for recent store openings in Seoul or Tokyo.

Although Owens has been staying at the Bowery Hotel since Sunday, he didn't attend the Costume Institute Gala, despite being invited, for "reasons he’d rather not discuss," WWD reports. He did hit up Mick Jagger and L'Wren Scott's after party at The Carlyle, however.

He's "surprised" at how much he's been recognized »

fashionologie — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:15:32 PDT

>> Video: RJ Cutler's "The Met Ball" Short Film -Vogue posted a short video on the planning of this year's American Woman-themed Costume Institute Gala, but if you're looking for a more in-depth peek behind the scenes, The September Issue's director RJ Cutler produced a short film, The Met Ball, leading up to and covering the 2007 Paul Poiret-themed event, which was just posted online in its entirety. Among the highlights, Hamish Bowles trying on a robe at Tom Ford, which he calls "a bit too queeny for me," and Sally Singer summing up the event as such: "It's one of those evenings where there's no real inherent value to the meal -- it's a fashion dinner so there's never an inherent value to the meal; the whole point is to go to the bathroom a lot to keep looking at people as you go in and out of the bathroom, and see who's in the bathroom." [Part 1, Part 2]

Amber Valletta, Kate Bosworth, and Jamie Bochert in Our 2010 Costume Institute Best Dressed List

coutorture — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:35:28 PDT

Karolina Kurkova in an apron dress from Joseph Altuzarra's spring collection, Alexa Chung's Western-style tuxedo by Phillip Lim, Jamie Bochert's Rodarte for Gap column dress, and Chanel Iman's metallic Michael Kors jumpsuit were some of our favorite looks from last night's Costume Institute gala. Click through our top picks and tell us if you agree!

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Notes from the 2010 Costume Institute Gala: Jessica Stam's Torn Gown, No Armani Dresses Worn, Miuccia's Front Row Gaga Seat

fashionologie — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:18:47 PDT

>> There were no headbuttings this year at the Costume Institute Gala, but there were a few other surprises - particularly for Jessica Stam, who Tweeted last night of her slinky Rachel Roy gown: "I can't believe I put my dress on at 6pm and it was ripped all down the back. Last minute stitching before I hit the red carpet at the Met."

And there was Katy Perry, who nixed the de rigeur designer gowns in favor of a LED-flashing dress from a shop in France called CuteCircuit, earning her today's WWD cover. "I respect and appreciate Anna Wintour, but I'm doing this for me," she told StyleList. "That's what people should do, especially when they're representing true women in American fashion. [If] Anna comes over and says 'Shut that f-ing thing off,' I'll do it."

Sarah Jessica Parker debuted her first Halston Heritage design »

Costume Institute Gala Red Carpet Trend: Long-Sleeved Evening Looks

coutorture — Tue, 04 May 2010 07:50:26 PDT

From left: Gisele Bundchen in Alexander Wang, Diane Kruger in Calvin Klein, Marion Cotillard in Christian Dior, and Jessica Stam in Rachel Roy

Undoubtedly the year's most fashionable red carpet event, last night's arrivals for the Costume Institute did not disappoint. Designers walked hand-in-hand with models, actresses, and muses up the Metropolitan Museum steps for an entrance which Zoe Saldana said made the Oscars look like "a nice get-together." Our personal sartorial highlights were the sleek, long-sleeved evening dresses (like those above on Gisele Bundchen, Diane Kruger, Marion Cotillard, and Jessica Stam) which looked fresh and new among a sea of sleeveless gowns.

Source: Getty

2010 Costume Institute Gala Arrivals Have Started!

fashionologie — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:08:09 PDT

>> It's officially Costume Institute Gala time: Anna Wintour, in her requisite Chanel couture, and Bee Shaffer, in Balenciaga, are among the first to arrive. Anna is chatty, joking about the humidity's effect on her newly-blonder hair, while Bee, complaining that her feet hurt, won't talk with press. Evening co-host Oprah appears on Oscar de la Renta's arm (she's wearing a custom-made gown by the designer), to deafening cheers, and shrieked with excitement at Iman's arrival.

Jessica Alba, in Sophie Theallet for Gap, meanwhile, reportedly had trouble maneuvering in her dress - her husband Cash Warren had to practically carry her up the steps. Marc Jacobs arrives in a baseball cap - "I had a hair transplant," he explains - and doesn't stop for pictures; Lorenzo Martone, on the other hand, walks the red carpet with client Alessandra Ambrosio. And fashion week buddies Andre Leon Talley and Whoopi Goldberg appear again together tonight in matching white Chado Ralph Rucci robes.

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Inside “American Woman" on View at the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute

coutorture — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:36:52 PDT

“American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity," the Metropolitan Museum's spring Costume Institute exhibit, kicks off tonight with an Anna Wintour, Patrick Robinson, and Oprah Winfrey hosted gala. Starting tomorrow, the Costume Institute will be open to the public.

Sarah Jessica Parker narrates the 2010 exhibition, taking viewers through six archetypes of American femininity from the 1890s to the 1940s (The Heiress, The Gibson Girl, The Bohemian, The Patriot and The Suffragist, The Flapper, and The Screen Siren). As we walked from room to room during this morning's press preview, we watched new money princesses of the late Nineteenth century become athletic tennis-loving girls and, through the feminist movement, emerge as bobbed flappers and glamorous film stars.

The last room in the exhibition aims to bring one's gaze back to present day. "American Woman" by Lenny Kravitz plays on repeat along with a video installation created by Trey Laird. Images-mostly sourced from Vogue magazine-of actresses, athletes, reporters, models, politicians, and musicians (like Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Connie Chung, Janet Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Condoleezza Rice, and Gwen Stefani) appear alongside sometimes curious video footage (Serena Williams celebrating on the tennis court, Halle Berry and Katherine Bigelow accepting Oscars, Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video). One can assume the viewer is meant to place these modern day American women neatly into the aforementioned archetype, where Michelle Obama becomes our Gibson girl and Angelina Jolie is the new screen siren.

The hand-painted rooms by Nathan Crowley, are a definite highlight-heiress gowns by Worth are presented in a replica of Mrs. Astor's drawing room, while the flapper dresses by Jeanne Lanvin appear in front of an Art Deco cityscape-as are the wigs and headpieces created by Julien d'Y.

“American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" will be on view May 4 through August 15. The exhibition was made possible in large part due to a partnership with the Brooklyn Museum's Costume Collection, which is currently staging a parallel show on American fashion.

Source: Courtesy of John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

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