>> Over the weekend, a "strongly worded letter" from Vogue UK's Alexandra Shulman "sent to scores of designers in Europe and America" — including Prada, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and Chanel — was leaked to the Times UK in what some are calling a publicity stunt.

In the letter, Shulman exhumed the size zero fight, accusing designers of an "increasingly disturbing" practice of sending fashion magazines "minuscule" clothes for photo shoots. "I am finding that the feedback from my readers and the general feeling in the UK is that people don't really want to see such thin girls."

She noted that the samples sent were becoming "substantially smaller": "Nowadays, I often ask the photographers to retouch to make the models appear larger." Furthermore, she wrote: "We have now reached a point where many of the sample sizes don't comfortably fit even the established star models. Instead, we are having to use girls with jutting bones and no breasts or hips, to fit them."

So who's with her? »

>> Matthew Williamson and Burberry are both returning to London Fashion Week for its 25th anniversary during the Spring 2010 season, and now Pringle of Scotland is, too.  It's all part of the plan that Harold Tillman, chairman of the British Fashion Council, has actuated to create more buzz around London's Fashion Week, and he's not planning on stopping with just those three: “There are talks going on with other big names who we’re confident will come back. I want us to be the number-one destination for international press and buyers.”

Does that mean we could see Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, or Gareth Pugh back in London — or maybe all three?  The hopes are that all the returners will bring the international press — including Anna Wintour, who usually sits out LFW — back to London with them.  And the efforts might be working: Matthew Williamson's spokeswoman hinted that the designer is considering staying in London after September: “I think that the way the British Fashion Council is reworking LFW will see lots of people coming back. London has been pigeonholed as being about new, young designers and people don’t attend because they wait to see how these designers will develop. The return of some established brands will change that perception.”

>> Alexander McQueen, famously outspoken, spoke out in an interview for the Spring 2009 issue of Numero Homme (#17), and started by giving his interviewer, Numero editor at large Philip Utz, and fashion journalism as a whole, a dressing-down: "[it's a] thinly-veiled exercise in marketing."  Then, he moved on to the British Fashion Council — "[it] doesn't know what the f*ck it's doing" — and another one of his favorite subjects to disparage — Hubert de Givenchy.

McQueen was the designer for Givenchy from 1997 to 2001, and upon his installation, he declared Hubert de Givenchy's work "irrevelant"; it seems the years have not softened his opinion: "Well what do you make of Hubert de Givenchy? He was only ever any good at ripping off [Cristobal] Balenciaga."

He saves admiration for a select couple »

>> Budget cuts brought fewer European retailers to New York Fashion Week and fewer US retailers to London Fashion Week — Julie Gilhart of Barneys, for one — so instead, designers are meeting them at the one Fashion Week they all can't miss: Paris.

Those from New York heading across the seas to meet with potential buyers and hopefully secure sales are Brian Reyes, Alexander Wang, and Victoria Bartlett of VPL, who are all sharing a space, plus Elise Overland, Jason Wu, Erin Fetherston, and Justin Giunta of Subversive Jewelry.  Diane von Furstenberg and Philip Crangi have already been spotted together at Tuileries, but The Ritz Paris is said to be the unofficial headquarters of retailer-designer-meet-and-greet activity.

The British Fashion Council is also investing itself in a trip to Paris — starting Friday, designers such as House of Holland, Osman Yousefzada, Felder Felder and Louise Gray will reside at the JTM Gallery on Rue de Richelieu, where international fashion press and buyers will have a second chance to peruse the collections; the hope, of course, is to increase investment in London designers.
*image: source

>> Despite the emergency meetings held during London Fashion Week to hash out the issue, it sounds like neither Milan or New York officials would budge on their February 2009 Fashion Week dates.

Since London was left with only four days in February between the time Fall 2009 New York Fashion Week ends and Milan Fashion Week begins, the British Fashion Council has decided that one day of London Fashion Week — Feb. 20 — will overlap with New York Fashion Week.  According to Hilary Riva, chief executive of the BFC, the decision was made because "the majority of designers showing at London Fashion Week" agreed with the measures being taken.

So much for the fashion cities working together . . .
*image: source

>> Although London Fashion Week is at risk of being squeezed out by New York and Milan next season — Diane von Furstenberg is in town to discuss the matter — Harold Tillman, chairmain of the British Fashion Council, had a more positive announcement to make last night.

Britain's largest-ever emerging talent fashion fund — modeled after the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund — is being launched, with backing from Topshop owner Sir Philip Green and Erin O'Connor, who is vice-chairman of London Fashion Week.  The first awards will be given out next year — and considering the forward-thinking talent pool that comes out of London, I can't wait.
*image: source

>> A lot of attention has been placed lately on increasing model diversity, but what about that other troubled topic — model weight? 

Today, the British Fashion Council announced that their initiative to ban "size zero" models from the London catwalks next month has been abandoned after the other three major fashion capitals refused to follow suit. 

The plan was to require models to obtain a doctor's certificate proving they were in good health, but the Chambre Syndicale in Paris thought imposing model health certificates lay outside their realm, the Camera Nazionale della Moda in Milan preferred self-regulation, and according to Steven Kolb, executive director of New York's CFDA:

We looked at things like doctor’s certification and body mass index and decided that, for us, it wasn’t the appropriate recommendation. We felt it was wrong to force a girl to have a physical examination, especially because the signs of a problem aren’t always obvious.

After the negative reaction of its peers, London deferred — with fashion week coming up next month, if the city had imposed such strict standards alone, models would likely have skipped the city altogether.
*image: source

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»More on Daphne Guinness's "scorching and controversial" September 2008 Vogue Italia shoot [Page Six]

»Francisco Costa gifted CK Jeans face Toni Garrn a dress after she told him she loved it [Chic Report]

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