fashionologie

This Week's Best Dressed

fashionologie — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:51:33 PST

>> From London to Sydney to Miami, this week's best-dressed is a colorful bunch. See who's wearing what - and where - in the slideshow.

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See Azzedine Alaia's Three Paris Apartments

fashionologie — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:31:04 PST

>> Azzedine Alaia rents out three apartments next door to his atelier, at 5 Rue de Moussy in Paris. Converted from a loft in a traditional 17th century building, the three 1,100-square-foot apartments (one one-bedroom, two two-bedrooms) are furnished with Jean Prouve, Marc Newson, and Arne Jacobsen pieces from Alaia's private collection. Breakfast is served from the designer's private kitchen. See inside the apartments in the slideshow.

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This Week's Best Dressed

fashionologie — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:34:06 PST

>> It's a week of double-timers: two Haider Ackermann looks, two Calvin Klein looks, and one model who appears twice. See who's wearing what - and where - in the slideshow.

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Demi-Couture Is On the Rise

fashionologie — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:16:18 PDT

>> Designers are clocking an increased demand for the high-end side of ready-to-wear - demi-couture, as it's called. Mary Katrantzou's Jewel Tree dress, left, which required four studios putting in more than 150 hours to make, caused one seamstress to cry, and retails at $14,200, sold 18 units this Fall. Matthew Williamson president Joseph Velosa reports: "Pieces over $5,000 now account for six percent of our business. To put that into context, two years ago we sold nothing at that price." And Azzedine Alaia joined the couture schedule in July, showing what he called "semi-couture" - pieces which could be purchased as-is - to much acclaim.

Although these clothes have price tags that run mid-four to five figures, they are sold off the rack through the typical retail channels, rather than involving the time commitment of multiple atelier fittings like a couture piece does. Katrantzou's Jewel Tree dress, for instance, is currently available on Net-a-Porter and can be delivered next day.

Jason Wu, who has a houndstooth tweed overcoat with gold bullion embroidery for $15,000 and started using Paris ateliers like Lesage and Lemarie a few seasons ago, says: "Between all the designer collaborations and everything that's going on, we need to give people a reason to buy. There are some things that just can't be done for cheaper."

And Prabal Gurung, who is selling a hand-painted organza and braided chiffon gown for $15,000, adds: "There's a customer who wants this stuff, but it's like one in each city. You hope to sell a lot, but five total is great."

Azzedine Alaia Is a Beyonce Fan

fashionologie — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:22:51 PDT

>> Azzedine Alaia allows Beyoncé to poach from his archive, because the adoration is mutual. He listens to her music every day, he says, and can even dance the steps from her "Single Ladies" video. "Her music is invigorating; it really brightens my mood and fires my imagination. Beyoncé is a beautiful, elegant woman who is also a wonderful dancer. And her voice is sublime." [Harper's Bazaar]

See Full-Length Images of Sofia Coppola's Lilac Alaia Wedding Dress

fashionologie — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:30:48 PDT

>> Over the weekend, Sofia Coppola married her longtime boyfriend - Phoenix's Thomas Mars - at her family's villa in the remote southern Italian town of Bernalda. The town's mayor conducted the ceremony in front of about 80 guests, including Johnny Depp and director George Lucas; no word on whether Coppola's close friend Marc Jacobs attended.

The bride, who sat front row at Azzedine Alaia's couture show in July, wore a custom lilac chiffon dress by the designer, who also created a dress for her and Mars's daughter, Romy, to wear.

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Sofia Coppola Sets a Wedding Date

fashionologie — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:11:48 PDT

>> It was confirmed earlier this Summer that Sofia Coppola planned to wed her longtime boyfriend, Phoenix's Thomas Mars, this month - but now, there's an exact date: Saturday, Aug. 27. The couple plan to hold an "intimate family wedding" in Bernalda - the hometown of Coppola's great-grandparents - with the civil ceremony celebrated in the garden of Palazzo Margherita, a 19th-century southern Italian villa her father Francis Ford Coppola has been renovating. “The ceremony will mark the end of renovations at the palace, which will soon be inaugurated as a resort, open to the public,” said Coppola pere’s great-nephew Gaetano Russo who, on the day of the wedding, plans to screen scenes from both Sofia and Francis Ford's movies on the facades of about 10 buildings in the village.

There still hasn't been any wedding dress designer confirmation - Marc Jacobs, Coppola's close friend and the most likely candidate for the job, seemed unsure while denying that he was doing the honors back in June, and after Coppola attended Azzedine Alaia's couture show last month, rumors circulated that Alaia may be the dress's designer.

Azzedine Alaia Fall 2011 Couture

fashionologie — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:18:17 PDT

>> After eight years of eschewing the runway, Azzedine Alaia closed out the Fall 2011 couture season. Models in velvet gowns and Mongolian lamb coats stomped out to Josephine Baker singing “Je suis snob” and Beyonce's "Girls Who Run the World," as guests Sofia Coppola (with daughter Romy Mars), Kanye West, and Donatella Versace looked on; no one from Vogue was said to be in attendance.

It took a 10-minute standing ovation and French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand dragging Alaia shyly from backstage for the designer to take a finale bow. Afterwards, Versace rushed backstage to congratulate the "master" designer: “It was amazing. I’m so glad I’m here. I wanna steal the boots actually, but I better not.” When asked why Mitterrand chose to attend only Alaia's show during couture, he replied: “Designers all have a world - but Alaia has a universe.”

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Azzedine Alaia on Karl Lagerfeld's Bad Influence and Anna Wintour's Taste

fashionologie — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:17:52 PDT

>> Azzedine Alaia recently turned down one of fashion's most high-profile gigs, and now he has some choice words about two of fashion's most high-profile figures.

On Karl Lagerfeld: "Happily, women love me and buy my clothes, unlike Karl who’s never been loved like me! [Laughs.] . . . I don’t like his fashion, his spirit, his attitude. It’s too much caricature. Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life. That doesn’t mean that he’s not great, but he’s part of another system. He has capacity. One day he does photography, the next he does advertisements for Coca-Cola. I would rather die than see my face in a car advertisement. We don’t do the same work. And I think that he is not doing a favor to young [designers] who might think it works that way. They’re going to fall before they retire."

On Anna Wintour: "I said it before. She runs the business [of Vogue] very well, but not the fashion part. When I see how she is dressed, I don’t believe in her tastes one second. I can say it loudly! She hasn’t photographed my work in years even if I am a best seller in the US and I have 140 square meters at Barneys. American women love me; I don’t need her support at all. Anna Wintour doesn’t deal with pictures; she is just doing PR and business, and she scares everybody. But when she sees me, she is the scared one. [Laughs.] Other people think like me, but don’t say it because they are afraid that Vogue won’t photograph them. Anyway, who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion? No one. Take Diana Vreeland, she is remembered because she was so chic. What she did with the magazine was great, with Avedon and all the great photographers. Vogue remains while its fashion editors come and go."

Azzedine Alaia Was Asked To Take Over at Dior

fashionologie — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:12:47 PDT

>> Azzedine Alaia was called to take the open creative director job at Dior, recently vacated by John Galliano, he has just confirmed. But: he said he wasn't interested - flattered, but not something he was going to pursue. The story of what happened with Galliano was a sad story, he added, and he didn't want to be part of the next chapter. As the Financial Times's Vanessa Friedman points out: "The sheer fact that the Dior leadership was thinking this way does ... make me think the field may be more open than the fashion world suspects. ... Since I would never under-estimate Bernard Arnault, chairman of Dior (which actually owns LVMH), nor CEO Sidney Toledano, ... this makes me wonder if perhaps the group has some interesting plans to change the way it does business up its sleeve, and will use the new designer as an excuse to do so. If so, it would be a revolution that would have an enormous ripple effect on the whole fashion industry. My guess is other brands would immediately fall in behind; everyone is looking for a reason to change and slow down, but everyone is scared to be the brand that sticks its neck out." [FT]