fashionologie

W Fashion and Style Director Alex White Steps Down, Replaced by Edward Enninful

fashionologie — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:23:02 PDT

>> W fashion and style director Alex White, one of the last vestiges of the old guard at the magazine, is to be replaced by Edward Enninful, effective May 1. White, who held the position for 16 years, decided to step down to pursue a range of fashion and lifestyle projects in both digital and social media.

According to W editor Stefano Tonchi, the decision for White to leave was mutual: “Alex is a fantastic stylist and has done incredible work over the years. Everyone at W is grateful to Alex for creating such memorable fashion portfolios, and for the significant mark she has left on the magazine . . . She’s thinking very much about her own brand - the Alex White brand - and at a certain point that’s no longer what W is about.”

White agreed that they were "totally on the same page": “My 16 years at W have been thrilling. I’ve worked with wildly talented people and helped produce a gorgeous magazine. I was delighted to stay and help Stefano through his first, transitional year, and am looking forward new beginnings . . . I helped with getting over the hump. Now it’s time for me to continue my freelance and explore the other things I’m working on, including digital projects." Tonchi indicated that White is thinking about starting her own magazine, possibly online. White had recently been experimenting with her own column online, Alex White Edits, on W's website.

Tonchi and Enninful, meanwhile, hit it off while seated next to each other at a Balenciaga dinner during Paris Fashion Week a couple of months ago, Tonchi says: “I didn’t really think about hiring him, I just thought he was incredibly joyful.” They began discussing a job at W earlier this month and moved quickly from there.

"This is the beginning of a new era at W, and I couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of it,” said Enninful. And Tonchi added: "I'm thrilled that Edward is joining our team, and am confident that he will bring a great deal of creativity, professionalism, and industry knowledge with him."

Enninful, who has been a contributing fashion editor at Vogue since 2005 and at Vogue Italia since 1998, is ending those engagements. “Now I’m going to be focusing my editorial prowess on W,” he explained. “Whenever a relationship ends it’s very sad."

Peep Exclusive Behind-the-Scene Photos from Lara Stone's New W Couture Editorial

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:22:25 PDT

>> W fashion director Alex White recently started a blog, "Alex White Edits," where she posts the Polaroids she snaps at photoshoots, adding handwritten commentary, illustrations, and videos from behind the scenes. The images provide a peek into what doesn't make the final cut for the magazine, insight into the genesis of her shoots and their inspiration, and the like. The latest post is a look at the "One of a Kind" couture shoot she did with Lara Stone and Craig McDean at Pier 59 Studios in New York on Feb. 1 and 2, which appears in W's April 2011 issue. We've got a few exclusive photos White took on set of Stone in the gallery, along with a few from the final cut for comparison.

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Peter Copping Drops More Nina Ricci Spring 2011 Campaign Hints, Is Anti-Live Streaming

fashionologie — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:00:28 PST

>> Peter Copping was on set for his first Nina Ricci campaign yesterday - shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, styled by Alex White, at the spa of New York's Greenwich Hotel - but he wouldn't disclose who the model was, other than to say she is older and was not on his Spring 2011 runway.

He was more open with his feelings on other subjects, however. While he's in charge, Nina Ricci won't be live streaming its runway show: “I’ve never been into it. It appeals much more to the big brands. Their goal is to reach a huge amount of people. I don’t think it ever seems appropriate for Nina Ricci, because it goes beyond that sense of intimacy that I want to create for the house.”

And he doesn't like for his collection to be called "pretty," he says. “When people write that, I always think . . . I don’t know. I like it when people read something more into [the collection].”

Copping recently mentioned wanting to foray into bridal and lingerie soon, and he also won't rule out a secondary collection. It could happen - Nina Ricci is currently one of the fastest growing designer ready-to-wear businesses at Barneys.

Stefano Tonchi on W Creative Director Jody Quon's Exit

fashionologie — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:25:56 PDT

>> W is not looking to fill the creative director position that creative director Jody Quon left empty after only three full issues and six months at the magazine. While Quon couldn't be reached for comment, editor Stefano Tonchi shed some light on why Quon might have exited her position: "I really came back 10 days ago [from the fashion shows in Europe] and there was a lot of tension in the office, much more than before."

He added that he was "very sad, very sad" to see her go, and that Quon's reasons for leaving were "very much that she didn't feel comfortable anymore and kind of agreed that it was maybe not the best match." When asked to elaborate on whether the tension resulted from a culture clash or a personality clash, Tonchi said he couldn't speak for Quon, but surmised: "Probably both." He continued: "From my side, I was very happy with what she has done with the magazine, and I appreciate her professionally, and, more than that, her elegance . . . I respect her decision. I accepted it."

As The Daily points out, "Quon had to contend with Baron & Baron wunderkind Joseph Logan, a skilled design director who appears to favor the austere aesthetic pioneered by Fabien Baron. (He's bringing on a new art director from Baron & Baron in the next few weeks to replace Nathalie Kirsheh, who recently decamped to Details.) And the third party to consider: fashion director Alex White, whose relationships with photographers like Mert & Marcus and Inez & Vinoodh are a valuable asset that Tonchi doesn't take lightly. Widely considered to be among the best stylists in the business, White is not known to take a backseat role in creative decision-making."

Garance Dore Captures Behind The Scenes of David Yurman's Fall 2010 Campaign Featuring Kate Moss

fashionologie — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:18:25 PDT

>> David Yurman invited Garance Dore to St. Barths back in May to capture behind the scenes images of the brand's Fall 2010 campaign shoot. In doing so, the recent Paris transplant achieved one of her life dreams: taking part in a photo shoot with Peter Lindbergh, who's been photographing ads for Yurman for the past ten years.

"Lindbergh’s shoots were like I always dreamt they would be, the big black screen in the middle of the beach, steamy jazz playing in the background, sublime and natural girls, the make-up a bit undone by the salted sea spray, sand in their hair, light right in their eyes," wrote Dore. "I didn’t ask him [Lindbergh] any questions. My happiness was simply in observing. Sometimes he’d come up to me, tell me a few stories, ask me some questions, try to understand what was this weird thing I do: this blog thing, it really interested him." A gallery of Dore's images, below, plus the only Fall 2010 David Yurman ad so far released - of Kate Moss styled by Alex White.

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Stefano Tonchi Denies Any Anna Dello Russo Move to W

fashionologie — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:56:39 PDT

>> A number of rumors have swirled around, postulating that Stefano Tonchi asked close friend Anna Dello Russo to take the fashion director position at W - she was even spotted in the magazine's offices recently. But Tonchi denied to Daily Front Row that he had asked Dello Russo to replace current W fashion director Alex White (who remains from the pre-Tonchi era): "I love Anna, but she has a great job at Japanese Vogue that she quite likes, and I don’t have any idea to actually move her to New York. She’s a good friend, but I didn’t really even have a conversation with her about this seriously. She’s a fashion director, but she’s not necessarily the one that’s doing shoots and maybe that’s what I’m looking for. Alex is doing that, and that’s what we need at W."

He is working with new photographers for the magazine, however »

fashionologie — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:40:35 PDT

>> Rumor: Anna Dello Russo to W? -Rumors are running around men's fashion week in Milan that Stefano Tonchi may be recruiting Anna Dello Russo for W's fashion director position. Although Tonchi said last week that he "should be set" regarding layoffs at the magazine, he and Dello Russo are longtime friends; plus, current fashion director Alex White is the sole figure still in place on the top of W's masthead from the pre-Tonchi era. Daily Front Row argues, "Dello Russo essentially hires photographers and stylists for Japanese Vogue...which someone's gotta do at W, right? (Without [former creative director] Dennis Freedman, who had twenty-year-old relationships with A-list photogs like Michael Thompson, Mert & Marcus, and Bruce Weber, there's a real void in that category.)" [DFR]

W Experiences Last of Staffing Upheaval; Terry Richardson Back Working with the Magazine

fashionologie — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:32:55 PDT

>> The last of the staffing upheaval came yesterday at W, according to the magazine's editor Stefano Tonchi, when market director Treena Lombardo and accessories and jewelry director Brooke Magnaghi were replaced by T alum Karla Martinez, who will fill both roles as fashion market director. “I think we should be set,” Tonchi told WWD.

It sounds like fashion director Alex White is staying on, and she's rumored to be shooting stories for the magazine's September issue, which will mark the first issue with Tonchi's full redesign.

Changes are already apparent in the magazine's July 2010 issue, however: White worked with Terry Richardson on a 17-shot editorial. Recently, two current and former W staffers confirmed to Jezebel that Richardson had not worked with W in a while; another individual claimed that the most recent instance was in the November 1996 issue. There was a rumor that the ban on Richardson's work was instituted after former W art director Dennis Freedman took offense to a photo by the photographer of a model with her head in an oven.

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Confirmed: Longtime Creative Director Dennis Freedman Leaving W; Camilla Nickerson Likely Switching to Vogue

fashionologie — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:29:00 PDT

>> Just a week after Stefano Tonchi was confirmed as the new editor-in-chief of W, comes the announcement that, as expected, longtime creative director Dennis Freedman is leaving the magazine.

Freedman, who has been at W for almost twenty years, confirmed the news to WWD: “I have had the most extraordinary experience working with some of the most talented and brilliant photographers, artists and editors in the world, and these collaborations have brought me unbelievable joy and satisfaction. For me, this has been one of the greatest opportunities I could ever hope for.”

Camilla Nickerson to Vogue? »

Stefano Tonchi to Redesign W for September 2010 Issue; T Editor Search Under Way

fashionologie — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:37:42 PDT

>> When Stefano Tonchi was announced as W's new editor-in-chief yesterday, he said he only began talking with Conde Nast about the position last week. But WWD reports that Tonchi had been looking to leave T for more than a year, and was lobbying hard for a senior position at Conde Nast as well as looking at the possibility of a high-level position at Hearst or Time Inc.

Big changes for W under Tonchi are expected, and although he emphasized that the transition will be smooth - “Nothing is going to be traumatic. I don’t think there is any rush to make a revolution. It’s an evolution, it’s not a revolution” - those at the top of the W masthead - creative director Dennis Freedman, deputy editor Julie Belcove, and fashion director Alex White - are said to be in vulnerable positions.

White was reportedly interested in the editor gig »