fashionologie

Alexander McQueen Perpetuates That Enfant Terrible Streak

fashionologie — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:37:03 PDT

>> 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 »

Zac Posen Pre-Fall 2012

fashionologie — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:58:17 PST

>> Chinoiserie and couture shapes come to a head in Zac Posen's Pre-Fall 2012 collection. Or, as the designer put his inspiration: "American Royalty takes a trip east - this collection was inspired by 50s American couture, Charles James, and Cristobal Balenciaga." Nipped waists and flared skirts were Posen's silhouette of choice for this opulent outing.

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A Complete Look at the Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2011 Collection

Chi Diem Chau — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:14:17 PST

>> Eight photos from Balenciaga's Pre-Fall offerings were revealed last week - and now the complete collection is available for perusal, all against a faded floral background. The collection features updated renditions on archival Edition pieces, like a black trapeze coat dress Cristobal Balenciaga designed for Spring 1966, his take on athletic "wellness wear" - including sneakers - and even a few lengthier hemlines. “It’s really the first time I have done that length - longer, oversize,” Ghesquiere noted.

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Nicolas Ghesquiere, Sick of Clone Models, Cast Gisele, Carolyn Murphy, and Pregnant Miranda Kerr for Balenciaga Spring 2011

fashionologie — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:27:54 PDT

>> Nicolas Ghesquiere's Spring 2011 model cast grabbed as much attention - if not more - than the clothes; and it seems that he devoted just as much time curating his model troupe as designing this season.

In June, the Balenciaga team started a street casting tour: in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Belgium, and Australia, eventually turning up seven girls - Ghesquiere called them "characters" - a dancer, an artist . . . all willing to have their hair bleached or dyed black and cut into a punky crop specifically for the show. Alongside those girls - among them was Alexander Wang opener Britt Maren - the cast included a parade of notables: Stella Tennant, Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy, a pregnant Miranda Kerr, with Gisele Bündchen closing. "I was sick of the clone-model thing," the designer offered as explanation, adding: "It's about individuality."

The show also explored “bringing out the man that is in every woman,” according to the designer, who sourced the collection's houndstooth pattern from a 1965 Cristobal Balenciaga silk column dress. Also featured: in his first time since joining Balenciaga, Ghesquiere did flats, creeper-style.

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in the balenciaga bubble

philleif — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:52:00 PDT

>> While we get plenty of interviews from the house of Marc Jacobs, we are more deprived of words from another tastemaking house: the formidable house of Balenciaga.

Recently, however, two key members opened up. Nicolas Ghesquière - who has no formal fashion training and got his start in fashion filing, photocopying and cataloguing fabrics at Jean Paul Gaultier - has run the ship for the last 11 years. But only after he designed the lowly licensed lines, including office uniforms, bridal gowns and Japanese widows’ dresses for Balenciaga, first.

Now, he has the pull to have models come in for fittings five times in the two or three day period before the Balenciaga show. And he designs dress like the latex and silk concoctions he came up with for Fall - that retail from $46,000-$86,000 apiece.

Meanwhile, at his side is Sigrid de l'Epine, Balenciaga PR extraordinaire (above left); the woman who is likely behind Kanye West not getting an invitation to the most recent show. So devoted is she, that her son is named Cristobal . . .

*image: nytimes