>> Alber Elbaz was in New York City today to show editors his leopard print-riddled Pre-Fall 2010 collection for Lanvin — but apparently it almost wasn't meant to be. Elle's Anne Slowey Tweeted, "Poor Alber! He had to cry to get his pre-fall collection out of US customs!!!" But editors weren't the only interested parties in attendance at Milk Studios: An Education's Carey Mulligan showed up in jeans and rocker tee, according to Elle's Joe Zee, where she told Elbaz how much she loved her dress — cue the speculation that she might be wearing Lanvin to the Golden Globes.
Elbaz, for his part, was full of his usual witticisms. Of designing the Pre-Fall collection, he said: “Sometimes I feel like Carrie from Sex and the City. I sit in front of my computer and ask myself, ‘Does the daytime have to be boring and grey?’” And he stayed home over the holidays to sketch: "It was pajamas, CNN, and Style.com. It was great."
>> Stefano Pilati has been in New York since the weekend, hanging out at the Mercer Hotel with Purple's Olivier Zahm, Chloe Sevigny, and Waris Ahluwalia, but last night he got down to business, hosting the launch of the Yves Saint Laurent sustainable "New Vintage" collection with Barneys. All the bags, shoes, and dresses were cut from archive fabric left over from previous seasons, and Barneys fashion director Julie Gilhart reports that it went fast — only a few pieces left, and she grabbed one of the bags for herself.
>> All 21 designers nominated for the 2009 CFDA Awards have been photographed by Craig McDean for the CFDA Journal, but the nine who are Swarovski emerging designer nominees will also be featured in individual short films, along with an editor or stylist of their choice, to be shown at the June 15 ceremony.
The shorts, directed by Michael Palmieri and still photographed by Jennifer Livingston, feature designers Thakoon Panichgul, Jason Wu (who partnered with T fashion director Anne Christensen, left), Alexander Wang, Justin Giunta (who picked Harper's Bazaar accessories director Ana Maria Pimentel), Alejandro Ingelmo, Albertus Swanepoel, Patrick Ervell (who shot with V fashion editor Jay Massacret), Tim Hamilton and Robert Geller. The films also feature editors Anne Slowey, Brian Coats, Brian Molloy, Kate Lanphear, Camilla Nickerson and Melanie Ward.
>> Eric Wilson's article in The New York Times today about those mysterious items in fashion magazines listed as "price upon request" — turns out a lot of them never went into production and aren't available for purchase — is especially ironic, considering a conversation Elle editors Joe Zee and Anne Slowey had on last night's episode of Stylista.
In the clip below, the show's contestants are presenting the trend page they created for the magazine, full of product, but Anne notices that they forgot to add in the shopping credits: "What's that all about?" One of the contestants tries to explain that she "didn't think it would be okay to make up prices" but Anne retorts that on a shopping page, the credits are "imperative . . . it's the only reason why we exist as a fashion magazine." Joe backs her up — "Credits are key" — and then Anne ends the conversation with a sarcastic, "I want everything on this page, but I don't know where to buy it."
>> At last night's annual Accessories Council ACE Awards, Nicholas Ghesquiere may have been awarded Designer of the Year, Sally Singer the Marylou Luther Award for Fashion Journalism, and Tamara Mellon's Jimmy Choo the Brand of the Year, but Stella McCartney was awarded the most special treatment.
The designer, who was flanked by Helena Christensen, Coco Rocha, and Dean Koons and anointed with a new award, Green Designer of the Year, had her table completely set with salads while everyone else had "a decadent lobster plate." And out of respect for her vegan views, even her award — a Judith Leiber miaundiere — was made green, with a black hemp lining in leather's stead and no stainless steel plating. Such attention to detail kept Stella in a high mood — she joked as she accepted her award, "Little did I know that my award would be second to last and I would need to use the ladies' room after putting on my unitard outfit. But that's life!" *image: source,source
>> After the second episode of Elle's Stylista aired last night, I think it's safe to say that it's not going to get any better. Fashion news editor Anne Slowey still can't walk on a pair of heels — never good when you're acting as omnipotent fashion editor on national TV — and her show has been relegated to the bargain basement with the label of "tremendously silly and kinda boring fashion magazine editor competition show." Even with some of The Devil Wears Prada furniture on-set, the show remains a sad shell of the real thing; Anne Slowey is no Meryl Streep.
There are numbers to prove how unimpressed watchers are — the second episode lost 30 percent of its viewership from last week, and while it's lead-in show, America's Next Top Model, attracted 4.4 million in audience, Stylista "fumbled all but 2.4 million of the viewers, which is barely better than The CW was doing in the time period with repeats of the next generation of 90210."
>> INSIDER WIRE —As one door opens, another door shuts for Anne Slowey: Just as her starring role in Stylista debuted this week, Hachette Filippachi has suspended publication of Elle Accessories, of which she is editor. The magazine will allegedly return in Fall 2009, but in the meantime, four staffers were let go. [FWD]
>> Elle's first major foray into TV — aside from a long-running but now defunct Project Runway sponsorship — premieres tonight, and the reviews are in. Fashion news director Anne Slowey has restyled herself from a reasonable person to someone more cold-hearted, working in an obviously stagedElle office. For the so-called reality show Stylista is supposed to be, there are an awful lot of facades going on, but one thing is real — the critics have spoken, and while there are no caustic words, the general feeling seems to be apathy: "Oh, another reality show? Ho-hum."
Stylista is — what is the phrase? — like a little tick that you want to flick off, but it's no worse than other reality games that have come before and will come after. It celebrates and elevates life's most trivial drivel, but if that were a crime, reality television would quickly go the way of the crooked quiz shows of the '50s.
>> INSIDER WIRE—Anne Slowey has been given grief for her diet and pitted against former co-worker Nina Garcia, but nothing seems to phase her; She's still got a show debuting Wednesday. Besides, she doesn't seem to think much of Nina: "I think she certainly. . . . by comparing herself to me, lent it some credibility. I'm not even really conscious of the fact that, oh yeah, she used to work at Elle." But the real question is, why was Anne at her town dump before being interviewed? [LA Times]
The article, written by former Jezebel editor and current Gawker employee Maureen "Moe" Tkacik, tends to portray current Elle employees like Myers, international creative director Gilles Bensimon, creative director Joe Zee, and fashion news director Anne Slowey in a less positive light than former fashion director Nina Garcia. At one point, Tkacik writes that Myers had a "lack of jurisdiction over the fashion department," and at another point she reports on the power struggle between Gilles Bensimon and Myers:
Bensimon wanted little to do with [Myers]. In photos from the rare occasions they would attend shows together, his expression is dour. He saw Myers as ambitious, insecure and overly American; she saw him as an overpaid, out-of-control spendthrift who was losing his touch.
fashionologie is the musings of a twenty-something American girl who wishes she could have a Freaky Friday incident and switch bodies with Phoebe Philo.
>> All 21 
>> After the second episode of Elle's 
>> INSIDER WIRE —As one door opens, another door shuts for Anne Slowey: Just as her starring role in 
>> INSIDER WIRE —Anne Slowey has been given grief for 
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