fashionologie

Karl Lagerfeld on Cutting His Hair, Christophe Decarnin, and Who He'd Like to See at Dior

fashionologie — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:29:38 PDT

>> Karl Lagerfeld has never been one to hold verbal punches, and his recent conversation with W - in which he tells us how he really feels about Christophe Decarnin, explains why he doesn't use computers, and vouches for which designers he would like to see at Dior - is no exception.

A few highlights, below.

On whether he'll ever cut his hair: "No, because I’m afraid it won’t grow again. And I’m not very gifted for hairdos. This is the quickest thing in the world. It takes less than five seconds. I have someone who comes to the house and washes it, puts in the dry shampoo, and takes care of it because I have no time. I don’t even have time to go to the dentist. I’m busy but in a pleasant way. I’m the one who wanted to do all of it, so I can’t complain."

On who he wants to see take over at Givenchy: "Well I’m not a consultant there, but I think Riccardo Tisci would be good, and then Haider Ackermann at Givenchy - not because they are friends of mine, but because they are good."

And if he still wants Haider Ackermann to take over at Chanel: "Not especially. It’s not his world I don’t think."

His thoughts on Christophe Decarnin leaving Balmain: "Forget about it! This was a job done by a fashion editor. I don’t even know the name of the man who did it, so don’t ask me about that."

On why he doesn't use a computer and instead communicates by fax: "It’s very easy to explain: For me, sketching and writing are the same thing. I like to write. It’s a physical thing - I hate to be without paper and pencil in hand. And I write like a talk. I can put my way of talking on the paper exactly the same way. The machines they tried to make where you write directly on computers are not perfect. The minute they’re perfect, I will use them."

The one thing he doesn't like women to wear: "I’m not mad for thongs."

On whether he takes vacations: "I’m not an employee who goes to the office every morning at the same time. Then, vacations are not needed. I’m like a rock singer with one-night stands on the road. I’m here for two days in New York; I leave in the morning early. I come back for Anna Wintour’s party at the Met, then again at the end of May for a prize I get from the Gordon Parks Foundation. I’m lucky that I can do all these things in the best conditions. I don’t have to struggle for that. I don’t have to discuss budgets. I don’t do meetings. At Chanel, there are no meetings. At Chanel, we do what we want, whenever we want and it works. And Fendi is the same."

On not eating or craving sugar: "I like chocolate. I don’t eat it, but I like the smell of it. People can drink with their eyes; I can eat with my nose. I would love to have a perfume based on chocolate."

Olivier Rousteing Likely Christophe Decarnin's Replacement at Balmain

fashionologie — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:56:40 PDT

>> After reports that Balmain would go with an internal candidate to replace Christophe Decarnin, now comes news that Olivier Rousteing, a key deputy of Decarnin's - not Melanie Ward, as previously suggested - is likely the designer of choice. The contract is in the process, and Rousteing's appointment is expected to be announced as early as next week. Rousteing, "a young and promising creative dynamo," according to WWD's sources, has worked at Balmain since 2009 and was at Roberto Cavalli in Milan for almost six years before that. And as WWD points out, "promoting a number two has become a popular succession strategy in fashion in recent years as the importance of star designers has waned" - take Hannah MacGibbon at Chloe or Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli at Valentino, for example. [WWD]

Christophe Decarnin Out at Balmain, and Not Just Because of His Show Absence

fashionologie — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 07:11:58 PDT

>> Christophe Decarnin, who joined Balmain as a designer in 2005 and was named creative director of women's ready-to-wear in November 2007, has left the brand, effective immediately. A successor - an internal candidate is reportedly the frontrunner - is expected to be named next week.

Stylist Melanie Ward, who helped pull together the Fall 2011 collection under Decarnin's directives starting three weeks before the show, is Cathy Horyn's suggestion for successor. She has the experience: she was creative director of Helmut Lang for 13 years, when the namesake designer was still at that label.

Decarnin's exit is not a surprise, given his absence from the Fall 2011 show, due to doctor's orders after seeking treatment for depression. However, WWD reports that sources close to the designer say the state of Decarnin's mental health was overblown. A Balmain rep corroborates that the designer's depression wasn't the cause of his exit, saying this morning that Decarnin's absence from the show "is not the reason, but everything is related" and instead citing "work differences . . . that I cannot comment on."

Tensions between Decarnin and Balmain chairman and CEO Alain Hivelin had reached a breaking point by the time of the show, WWD reports, with each man holding widely divergent views of company strategy and direction. Hivelin cited a desire to keep a tight rein on distribution of the top line, which has had sales growth in excess of 50 percent in recent years, but was also quietly testing future avenues of growth for the brand - including a less-expensive line, Balmain Blue, that reportedly irked Decarnin and was never brought to market.

With Decarnin gone, it looks like that line may be brought back in some form: Ittierre, which produces diffusion collections like C’N’C Costume National and Just Cavalli (as well as Galliano), has reportedly secured a license with Balmain, although both companies have remained mum on the subject.

Are the Current Pressures of the Fashion Industry Causing Designers to Crash? Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, and More Speak

fashionologie — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:24:21 PST

>> Between Alexander McQueen committing suicide last year, John Galliano's drunken, anti-Semitic outburst, and Christophe Decarnin being sidelined for depression treatments, many are starting to wonder if the fashion industry and its current pressures - particularly the demand for more and more collections, released faster and faster - are to blame for designers spinning out of control. Karl Lagerfeld, Michael Kors, and more address the issue:

Karl Lagerfeld: “I see designing, running a company, like a high-level athletic activity. I don’t want to hear anything about the fragility or any of those things. If an athlete is too fragile to run, he cannot run. And this is exactly the same. You don’t accept this kind of business if you’re too much of an artist. I believe in discipline, so I’m not the right person to cry about weakness and things like this, but maybe I’m not human.”

Marc Jacobs: “You don’t think bank tellers have problems? You don’t think people in the middle of the suburbs have problems? Blaming is such a complete waste. I mean, it’s so pointless. To say, you know, my mother was absent and therefore I ran amok, it’s ridiculous. It’s a self-destructive nature, it’s a mental, physical and a kind of spiritual malady . . . people who are happy and healthy and spiritually well don’t do things to hurt themselves.”

Yves Saint Laurent's longtime business partner Pierre Berge: “I have a lot more sympathy for people who have to take the train to work every day. What a load of nonsense! No, no, no. Designers are artisans who are extremely privileged to have a poetic profession. They are not artists. We have to stop saying that they are.”

Marc Jacobs's longtime business partner Robert Duffy: “You cannot blame the industry. The majority of actors are not drug addicts, the majority of designers are not drug addicts.”

Theory founder Andrew Rosen: “I don’t see fashion as an industry being ahead of the world in terms of this issue. It’s a devastating and unfortunate condition that happens in every walk of life. It doesn’t make it better or OK, it’s a devastating illness to all those around it. Drug addiction, and addiction in general, is unfortunately part of society today. Maybe because we’re so close to our industry, we feel it more. Whenever it happens, it’s horrible.”

Michael Kors: "No question . . . I mean, I forget what season I’m in sometimes. I think every designer in today’s world, I don’t care whether you’re a designer who makes clothes that are phantasmagorical or very pragmatic, you have to figure out something that can ground you and bring you back. Whatever it is, if you go to the gym too much or you travel too much, you’ve got to have time to escape. I always tell everyone the crazy conversation I’ve had forever with actors, if they do two films in a row, and they’ve lived these characters and they’re on the set away from their friends and family, but then they take a year off. What are designers supposed to say? 'I’m tired. I’m not doing fall. Wear last year’s clothes, and maybe get some new nail polish.' It’s endless."

Photographer Mert Alas: “I’m the kind of person that I live under pressure, but I enjoy the pressure, so it very much relates to your own personality. Of course we’re all under pressure. The bus driver is under pressure. But, you know, it’s how you come out of it. If you can make good fun with it, pressure can be enjoyable.”

New York Times's Cathy Horyn: "For designers already at big houses, the pressures must reach absurd levels . . . Many people in professional and creative fields are under intense pressure, but for designers that pressure is manifested on the runway. The problem goes beyond having to produce multiple collections a year; it’s the nearly brutalizing feeling that something new and relevant must be communicated each season."

Co-President of PR firm KCD Ed Filipowski: “As a publicist, I have also taken on many times the role of ‘fashion therapist’ to my clients. Globalization, digitalization - the speed and scope of our work - has added a tremendous amount of pressure not only to the creative field but everyone in this industry. I would venture to say we are all doing at least twice as much work twice as fast as we were five years ago.”

A Decision on Christophe Decarnin's Future at Balmain Is Not Expected for a Couple of Weeks

fashionologie — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:23:14 PST

>> It's unclear when Christophe Decarnin, who sat out the Balmain show last week on doctor's orders, will return to work at the brand, according to a house spokesperson, and with no clear direction, apparently several assistants have recently left. The house still has yet to release a statement explaining Decarnin's absence, but a source close to the matter says that any decision about the designer's future is not likely to be made for a couple of weeks. [On the Runway]

It's Unclear When Christophe Decarnin Will Return to Work at Balmain

fashionologie — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:35:34 PST

>> A few more details on Christophe Decarnin's absence from Balmain yesterday, which was, according to a Balmain spokesperson, due to doctor's orders; Decarnin has reportedly been under treatment for depression. A spokesperson for the label has now confirmed that Decarnin's ailment is “not anything physical,” and the rumors of a mental breakdown from drugs or the mental hospital are “completely untrue.”

As for Melanie Ward, Balmain's new stylist, designing the Fall 2011 collection without Decarnin's input, the spokesperson says: "This collection was done under [Decarnin's] directives, but in the last weeks, he hasn’t been involved 100 percent - or as much as he would like . . . He has been exhausted because this season was particularly demanding and complicated."

This season's collection was executed by the house's "loyal" design team, the spokesperson added, who will continue to carry out the work until Decarnin, who has been with the brand since 2005, has recovered and resumed work at an unknown time.

Christophe Decarnin Was Absent from the Balmain Show on Doctor's Orders, Has Since Been Spotted Out

fashionologie — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:31:07 PST

>> An update on Christophe Decarnin's absence from today's Balmain show - although it was rumored earlier today that the designer was in a "mental hospital" and had no say in the Fall 2011 collection, WWD reports: "The designer was absent under doctor’s orders, after having recently been released from the hospital, where he was said to have been treated for depression. A Balmain spokesman said Decarnin was involved in the design." [WWD]

UPDATE: Decarnin was also spotted out and about this evening; one Twitterer dispatched: "Sitting at a table next to Christophe Decarnin." [@MinnieMuse]

Christophe Decarnin Has Reportedly Been in a Mental Hospital Since January

fashionologie — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:51:02 PST

>> Christophe Decarnin was a no-show at Balmain today, explained a label spokesman, because: "He's tired after working on the collection. He's not here. He's resting." However, Hint reports that Decarnin has been in a "mental hospital" since January, according to a source, because of a nervous breakdown. He apparently disappeared one day in mid-January - a "total nightmare" - and it was then announced that he would not be coming back.

Decarnin reportedly wasn't involved in the Fall 2011 collection at all, and Melanie Ward, who was previously confirmed to be collaborating with Decarnin on the collection, actually designed it all with Balmain's in-house team. Ward definitely has design experience - among other stints, she spent 13 years as creative director of Helmut Lang, when the designer was still at his namesake label.

Christophe Decarnin Was a No-Show at Balmain; Carine Roitfeld Attends Balenciaga

fashionologie — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:07:26 PST

>> Christophe Decarnin showed a new, more "subdued" Balmain collection, according to Cathy Horyn, today for Fall 2011 - which could be in part because Emmanuelle Alt is no longer the show's stylist and Melanie Ward took her place this season. But more curious: Decarnin skipped his final bow and was a no-show backstage. "He's tired after working on the collection. He's not here. He's resting," said a Balmain spokesman. And it seems that Nicolas Ghesquiere and Carine Roitfeld have officially made up - she attended the show today, Tommy Ton tweets: "Just spotted Carine leaving Balenciaga slyly avoiding the paps." [@MeenalMistry, @HilaryAlexander, @JakandJilBlog]

2011 Fashion's Night Out Fashion Show Reportedly Not Likely; Natasha Poly Most-Used 2010 Cover Model on Vogues Internationally

fashionologie — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:17:10 PST

Kanye West is reportedly having Christophe Decarnin custom-remake a portion of the Balmain Fall 2010 collection, "specifically seventies-centric pantsuits, cutaway coats, and gilded jeans," for an upcoming tour [Hint]
According to a Conde Nast source, there will most likely not be another Fashion's Night Out fashion show next September [Fashionista]
On 2010 Vogue covers (American and international), Natasha Poly was the most frequently used model, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin were the most frequently used photographers, and Dolce & Gabbana the most frequently used designer [Fashin]
Bryanboy says he makes more than $100,000 per year from advertising on his blog and charging fees for appearances [The Cut]
Marilyn Minter shot Jimmy Choo's 15th anniversary ads, marking her first luxury campaign, below [Elle]

Liya Kebede's film Desert Flower, in which she plays Somalian model Waris Dirie, finally has a release date is the US: March 18. Kebede is currently filming two more movies, Black Gold, with Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, and Mark Strong, and Le Marsupilami et l'orchidée de Chicxulub, with Gerard Depardieu and Julie Delpy [The Moment]
Pierre Hardy just opened his first US store in New York, which has been two years in the making; it features black leather floors - “It’s same as the soles of the shoes, so it feels very good on bare feet when you’re trying on," the designer explained - and an exclusive Skyline heel ($1,540), based on the Manhattan skyline [Racked NY]
Jane Mayle's limited-edition Holiday Kamikaze Love collection is now available online, with shoes and bags coming soon [Mayle]
Yasmin Sewell, who left her position at Liberty earlier this year, has reportedly joined the team at Lauren Santo Domingo's online venture, Moda Operandi [@_BoF_]
Vogue's bookings editor Valerie Boster shares one week of her outfits, which include an Isabel Marant fur coat, an Urban Outfitters thermal she bought in high school, and a croc tote she had custom made in Thailand [Vogue]
Tanga Moreau, who once had a five year exclusive contract with Ralph Lauren - one of the highest paid of all time - is experiencing a comeback at age 32. She also suffers from a genetic malformation which causes cysts inside her spinal cord: "When they get too big, they explode and cause nerve damage. In 2004 I woke and I couldn't move. I was kind of paralysed. I spent two years in and out of hospital recovering. It could happen again any day" [Telegraph UK]