fashionologie

Anna Wintour Denies Video Stalkers During Milan Fashion Week

fashionologie — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:18:50 PDT

>> Anna Wintour has had a camera crew running around after her all throughout Fashion Month for a video profile on 60 Minutes, but during Milan Fashion Week, she also got some unsolicited camera time.

Italian fashion website Fashion Times approached her at least three separate times throughout the course of the shows, asking permission to interview with the camera already on. Each time, they were denied - despite her recent uptick in smiling for the camera. You'd think they'd have learned from the last time someone tried to interview Anna for YouTube - 2006's infamous debacle at Costello Tagliapietra - and the responses, though cordial on Anna's part, became increasingly less patient, starting with a "Can we do it another time, do you mind?" and by the third try, ending with an "I'm actually just talking to my colleague right now," as she pointed to Hamish Bowles.

Videos: The three ill-fated tries »

fashionologie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:48:44 PST

>> INSIDER WIRE - Raf Simons unsurprisingly finished with one of the top - if not the top - Milan collections for Fall 2009, and Suzy Menkes scored a rare video interview to chat with him about his newest Jil Sander collection. She points out that until he came to Jil Sander, he was solely a menswear designer, and he comes off as one would expect - very real and down-to-earth; when Suzy asks him, "Do you feel yourself as an artist?" He quickly replies: "No, I'm a fashion designer." [The Moment]

Fall 2009 Milan Wrap-Up: Still Whitewashed, But with Promising Talents Aquilano and Rimondi

fashionologie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:55:21 PST

>> Milan is infamous for being one of the hardest markets to break open for models of color, and unfortunately, that still seems to be the case, based on tallying by The Cut. The worst offenders? Burberry, Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, who all only used one model of color, while Gianfranco Ferre, Jil Sander, and Prada didn't use any.

Meanwhile, buyers have spoken on their Milanese favorites: Jil Sander, Prada, Marni, Bottega Veneta, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Pucci, Roberto Cavalli, and Gianfranco Ferré - surprisingly, Missoni was not in the mix.

A number of critics and retailers have Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi on their lists as Milan's most promising up-and-coming talent, but their situation at Gianfranco Ferre is currently tenuous - the front row Friday included three government-appointed special administrators, a reminder that owner IT Holding faces bankruptcy proceedings, and could take Ferre, Just Cavalli, John Galliano, and Malo down with it. Regardless, hopes are high - as Linda Fargo, fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman, put it, "Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi continue to show the promise of world-class design for the future - both in their own line and at Gianfranco Ferré. We hope the dust settles favorably on Ferre as the two designers are hitting the right notes."

Other highlights on the to-watch list: Christopher Kane at Versus and, for next season, Vionnet, under the care of Prada alum Rodolfo Paglialunga.
*image: source

fashionologie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:08:47 PST

>> THE MODELIZER -Mystery solved; an anticlimactic end to the why Auguste Tomasuite (aka Auguste Abeliunaite) was crying at Jil Sander question. Her agent confirmed that the tearing was due to the harsh runway lights, and it was indeed Tomasuite who commented two days ago, "There wasnt any small shoes or my emocional [sic] problems!!!! The lights was very strong and cameras was flashing all the time. My eyes are very sensitive thats why i was crying." Apparently, two other unnamed models were crying at the show as well. As for Auguste, she's done for the season, even though she snagged Jil Sander and Prada spots - she can't go to Paris because she's too young. [Heard on the Runway]
*image: source

Frida Giannini's Gucci Approach Still Polarizing Fashion, Earning Bebe Comparisons

fashionologie — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:40:14 PST

>> Frida Giannini's runway-clothes-as-merchandise concept for Gucci may be selling well, but it's still not sitting well with critics. Last season, her collection was likened to Zara, and this season her Fall 2009 collection earned another mall-brand comparison: Bebe.

Cathy Horyn and Suzy Menkes, neither of whom are afraid to be blunt, seemed indifferent to criticizing the collection - both just focused on Frida's decision to channel sex. But Christina Binkley of The Wall Street Journal got more pointed, going so far to ask "Who is the Gucci woman?": "[Frida] seems to develop a startling new personality each season, leaving last season’s clothes lost in relation to the new collection. Last season, she was globetrotting with flower children. This season, she’s shaking it in sequined leggings and a sparkling tunic at Studio 54."

"Gucci continues to look like Bebe with a bigger budget" »

Extreme Beauty Brings Out Three Extreme Beauties: Eva, Claudia, and Nadja

fashionologie — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:27:12 PST

>> Paris Fashion Week starts tomorrow, but fashion folk couldn't leave Milan without hitting up the Palazzo della Ragione last night for one last Milanese shindig, courtesy of Anna Wintour, Domenico Dolce, and Stefano Gabbana. The launch for the "Extreme Beauty in Vogue" exhibition - which Anna selected 89 images for - the party was likened to the Milanese equivalent of the Costume Institute Gala; in other words, the week's hottest ticket. Karl Lagerfeld made a beeline for the photos after mugging for a few cameras, while Anna was trailed by 60 Minutes's Morley Safer and Carine Roitfeld by CNN: “I am being followed round all the shows, and they are doing lots of interviews. But you won’t be seeing me naked.” Miuccia Prada sported one of her new Fall 2009 gladiatorial dresses, and rounding out the fashion wattage a troika of supermodels: two we see quite a bit of (Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova) and one we do not (Nadja Auermann).
*image: source, source

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Marni's Mixmaster Does It Again for Fall 2009

fashionologie — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:18:08 PST

>> While her husband's got his fingers in the new Vionnet pie, Consuelo Castiglioni worked her hand at Marni, earning rave reviews across the board - reviews that probably weren't hurt by the fact that more than one fashion editor left the brand's outlet in Milan happy. The eternal mixmaster may have turned down the brights from Spring, but there was still plenty to look at - bib necklaces, fur earmuffs and mittens, patterned tights - and let's not forget those standout geometric jacquard dresses, done just right in jeweltone metallics.
*image: source

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fashionologie — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:02:20 PST

>> THE MODELIZER -The mystery of why Auguste Tomasuite (aka Auguste Abeliunaite) was crying through both of her passes on the Jil Sander runway continues, and even though there is photographic evidence, the brand's US publicist denies it happened: “No model was crying on the runway! No idea what you are talking about, sorry.” When shown the pictures: “I did not see it, can’t see it in the video and no one has asked about it to anyone in the press offices.” [Heard on the Runway]
*image: source

Miuccia Prada Brings Out the Fight for Fall 2009

fashionologie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:09:57 PST

>> What did Miuccia Prada have in mind for this sober season? Another look at her favorite urban warrior. After the audience crowded onto double-assigned bleacher-style seating, Prada sent out leather gladiator dresses, studded shoes with Trojan helmet-like fringed comb on the back, thigh-high loose fisherman boots held up by garters, and more fur than you could ever want. Plus, according to Suzy Menkes, "the best coats and suits of this Milan season" - even though Miuccia says she hasn't worn a suit herself in six years. Ymre Stiekema finally showed up this season - so it looks like Prada kept her exclusive - but there doesn't look to be any models of color, not even Jourdan Dunn. For the finale, instead of the regular tour, all the models crowded into a group in the center of the boxing ring-type arena setting.
*image: source

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Maier Works the Grace Kelly Angle for Bottega Veneta Fall 2009

fashionologie — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:12:32 PST

>> Tomas Maier is ever working the understated, the investment dress angle at Bottega Veneta - and the Grace Kelly twist he took for Fall 2009 seems so right. The gauzy goddess gowns with rectangle-shaped tiers in the skirt were full-on glamour of the best kind; sure to be snapped up for a red-carpet appearance here, an editorial there. But even the simple chocolate nappa leather or mauve velvet strapless dresses resounded - warm tones in a season full of cold blacks and grays. Resisting full-on ladylike, Maier slipped in "sly fetishistic" underwires and seams cupping the breasts into his dresses, and first-hand viewers called the collection "breathtaking" and "dreamy." The only lack of beauty shown? Apparently the pit photographers screamed at the models in Italian, and the "front row was appalled."
*image: source

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