fashionologie

Rag & Bone Fall 2009: Packed to the Gills, With Goodness

fashionologie — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:24:13 PST

>> Rag & Bone always attracts the legions - last season there was enough trouble filing in when the show space was the vast Pier 94; this season, the crowd had to push and shove their way through the two small double doors of Cedar Lake Ballet Theater, and a number of people who were supposed to have seats were forced to stand. While the rest of us were bumped and budged, immobile, Julia Restoin Roitfeld knew how to conquer the immovable best - just after she waved hello to Genevieve Jones, a tall, modelesque man parted the crowd with an "Excuse me, I'm late for the show." Presumably, everyone assumed he was a model trying to get backstage fifteen minutes after the show was scheduled to start. Julia saw him and latched onto his elbow with a "Hey, Zack, I'm going to use you as an excuse to get through." And with that, she was in - the rest of us still in the same place. Turns out, the guy wasn't even in the show.

But Edita Vilkeviciute was, and Isabeli Fontana - who closed - Diana Farkhullina and Sigrid Agren - all new faces, in addition to Rag & Bone perennial favorites like Coco Rocha, Lily Donaldson, Sasha Pivovarova, Jessica Stam, and Julia Stegner. The label's usual palette of navy, black, and gray was in place, with some unexpected pops of red in a flower brooch here, in an obi belt there. Marcus Wainwright and David Neville worked with a different stylist this season - Tabitha Simmons - and she helped them take it to a new level - the chain mail detailing on a hem or peeking out under a jacket was an especially unique touch.
*image: source

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fashionologie — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:02:39 PST

>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL -Spring 2009 campaigns are all about going with the straightforward, traditional house image, and David Sims's interpretation of Balenciaga in all its robo-avant garde glory is no exception. Although there are ten campaign faces, Elsa Sylvan's shot is first out of the gates - fellow campaign model Diana Farkhullina confirmed back in November that each girl has her own ad. [TFS]

UPDATE: Hanne-Gaby Odiele's (below) and Iris Strubegger's Balenciaga ad just showed up. [Women Paris]

Balenciaga, Miu Miu, Prada Go With Gaggles of Girls for Spring 2009 Ads

fashionologie — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:29:28 PST

>> For Fall 2008, three of the big campaigns that every model wants to catch - Prada, Balenciaga, and Miu Miu - all went with one big name - Linda Evangelista, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Vanessa Paradis, respectively.

Come Spring 2009, all three labels have decided to switch things up by using a large number of new faces - Prada is using eight models (Anna Jagodzinska, Giedre Dukauskaite, Katrin Thormann, Nimue Smit, Sigrid Agren, Toni Garrn, Viktoriya Sasonkina, Ymre Stiekema); Miu Miu is using eight models as "accessories" to campaign star Katie Holmes (Darya Kurovska, Elena Lomkova, Imogen Morris-Clarke, Katie Fogarty, Myf Shepherd, Sophie Srej, Tilda Lindstam, Yulia Leontieva); and Balenciaga is going with ten models (Amanda Laine, Anabela Belikova, Anna Jagodzinska, Anya Kazakova, Diana Farkhullina, Elsa Sylvan, Hanne-Gaby Odiele, Iris Strubegger, Katie Fogarty, Kinga Rajzak).

Surprisingly, there are only two girls overlapping between the campaigns: Anna Jagodzinska in Balenciaga and Prada and Katie Fogarty in Miu Miu and Balenciaga, and especially in Miu Miu's cast, some girls - Tilda Lindstam, Yulia Leontieva - are very new faces. Although some are skeptical, especially in the case of Miu Miu, that all the models cast will make it into the final shots, it's notable that all three labels, which usually go with one face, have all decided that power comes in numbers this season. Get to know the chosen faces in the gallery below.
*image: source, source, source

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Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi's First Ferre Collection: The Reviews Are In

fashionologie — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:49:47 PDT

>> Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi had a tall order to fill for Spring 2009. Before Gianfranco Ferre passed in 2007, his architectural-based label had ceased to become relevent - as Cathy Horyn put it, "It’s been a while since anyone [has] paid serious attention to the Ferre name." So could the newly tapped designers bring it back to the forefront?

The general consensus says yes. Nicole Phelps of Style.com was pleased: "They deserve high marks for this outing." Cathy Horyn of The New York Times, a Aquilano-Rimondi fan, loved the effort, with one caveat: "The designers distilled the essence of Ferre in a new, eye-catching way. Now to just refine the elements a bit more . . . " WWD felt the same: "Aquilano and Rimondi have the right ideas, but what they need now is a little restraint."

Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune also echoed the same sentiment: "Not all the Ferré collection was approachable. Yet . . . the two designers created the clothes and the buzz that will bring fashion life back to Ferré." With another season under their belts, Aquilano and Rimondi could definitely hit the right stride at Ferre.
*image: source

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The Russian Dolls: Ten Years Ago

fashionologie — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:48:03 PDT

>> This month, Vogue Russia September 2008 celebrates the top Russian models in "10 Years Later" by pitting childhood photos taken ten years ago against recent photos taken by Terry Tsiolis. Sasha Pivovarova, Natasha Poly, Snejana Onopka, Vlada Roslyakova . . . they're all there — and if you're looking for a model who went through an awkward phase, you'll be severely disappointed.
*image: source

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Scads of Models Come Out for 2009 Whitney Art Party

fashionologie — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:28:56 PDT

>> One big party wasn't enough for the fashion crowd this week: Max and Lubov Azria gathered designers, editors, and models alike for their third consecutive year of sponsorship, simultaneously celebrating twenty years of BCBG, at the Whitney Art Party. "Have you ever seen so much BCBG in one room?" Max mused. "Even I haven't!"

The usual party circuit models - Hilary Rhoda, Dree Hemingway, Hana Soukupova, Sessilee Lopez - who loved her dress - were out in full force, but Jules Mordovets, Diana Farkhullina, Sasha Pivovarova, Arlenis Sosa, Charlotte di Calypso, Constance Jablonski, and Julia Stegner - who was in the market for some wall decorations - were also out to play. Even with the CFDA Awards on Monday, everyone seemed recovered: "It hasn't been that bad," said Jason Wu. "I used last night to recover from the CFDAs." Plus, attendees got to take home an artist-designed print umbrella, useful with all the rain New York has been getting.

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Narciso Rodriguez Brings Fall 2009's Neon Back to the '00s

fashionologie — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:21:18 PST

>> This evening, Narciso Rodriguez took the neon nuances of Marc Jacobs's Fall 2009 collection - which Cathy Horyn called "hard to like" - and did with them something Marc did not: made them modern. In fact, Narciso's best pieces were the neon ones: the highlighter yellow body-conscious dress worn by Natasha Poly will be fought over; the loose citrine dress with snap sleeves donned by Stephanie Carta and Ali Stephens's lace-overlayed pink highlighter minidress are also strong contenders. The camouflage pieces could be done without - except for Sessilee Lopez's pants; but more standouts - Liu Wen's polished silk top and wool pant, Diana Farkhullina's rich blue-purple dress, and Raquel Zimmerman's chic white frock more than make up for them. Perhaps even more amazing these days - Narciso's show was fully self-funded, and yet, it still felt like a true show - the bass was so loud, it reverberated in our seats, causing the Financial Times's Vanessa Friedman to bob her head along in approval.
*image: source

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