>> After missing out on the Chanel Mobile Art opening and the Versace-hosted Whitney gala earlier this week, Anna Wintour was back in fine form — with Karl Lagerfeld at her side and Chanel on her person — at the Fashion Group International's Night of Stars last night. It was a night of family — Donatella Versace picked up the Superstar Award as Allegra Beck Versace looked on, Franca Sozzani was honored with her son Francesco Carrozzini in attendance — and friends — honorees Christopher Bailey and Francisco Costa brought Kate Bosworth and Ashley Olsen, respectively. Host Simon Doonan kept it light, at one point joking that Carla Sozzani had to make it back to the Marriott Marquis in time for a speed-dating session.
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Francisco Costa
Anna Wintour Makes It Back for A Night of Stars
Karl Lagerfeld's Influence in Olsen's Book: Models Who Don't Talk
>> Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's book, Influence, doesn't come out until Thursday, but The Cut got an advanced copy — an advanced look at all the interviews the Olsens conducted for the book — among their subjects are favorite designers Francisco Costa, Diane von Furstenberg, John Galliano, Christian Louboutin, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Giambattista Valli, favorite photographers Peter Lindbergh and Terry Richardson, plus pictures by Rankin of the interviewees and their work.
Needless to say the Olsens didn't leave out their favorite Karl Lagerfeld — The Cut excerpted parts of his interview, including his views on models:
KL: [N]owadays you start to model because you're young. Now the girls are sixteen, seventeen, fifteen, and Russian. They are like from another planet.
AO: They can look very bizarre!
KL: I hate all these tall women. They are all giants!
MKO: If only I were a little taller — that would make me happy!
KL: You are one meter fifty-one. You are taller than that?
AO: We're five feet and one inch.
KL: Oh, I thought my office told me that you were four-foot eight or something. Not that it matters. What you need is a face. If you have a face you don't need height or a voice. Models know this; that's why the good ones don't need to talk much.
KL: I like to work with models for a long time. Sometimes the girls change, but some girls I work with for years and years.
Enlightening, perhaps, since some think the Chanel Spring 2009 campaign will host not long-time Chanel girl Claudia Schiffer but either Heidi Mount or Russian model Sasha Pivovarova . . .
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New, New York, Talent: Julian Louie
>> Being known as a protege of Francisco Costa doesn't hurt — especially when you're showing your first-ever collection. Julian Louie's fifteen sculptural pieces reeled in the likes of Kate Lanphear and Hamish Bowles last week — and they left with glimmers in their eyes, mirroring those of the Swarovski crystals embedded on Julian's dresses. The bright colors, innovative fabrics (neoprene!), and cocoon shapes reminded me of something that would appear at London rather than New York Fashion Week — even a touch of Christopher Kane's first collection — but nevermind, I'm glad to have a talent like his stateside.
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Christian Louboutin, Vanessa Bruno and Then Some Open Their Designer Homes for Domino September 2008
>> We know a lot about how designers work, socialize, and even think, but with the exception of Marc Jacobs, we don't know a lot about how they live. That's where Domino's September 2008 fashion issue comes in — its various stories offer peeks into what might be considered a top designer's last sacred bastion — their home.
Featured within are the favorite rooms of Christian Louboutin (his bedroom in Portugal) and Francisco Costa (his garden in Bellport, NY), plus Yves Saint Laurent's famous Majorelle Gardens in Morocco, Vanessa Bruno's Paris apartment, Matthew Williamson's London home, and Sonia Rykiel in her Paris living room.
So, do their design aesthetics match their living quarters? A few peeks below will give you a hint . . .
>> INSIDER WIRE —If you enjoyed having a look through Carine Roitfeld's Parisian apartment, just wait until the September 2008 issue of Domino comes out on August 19.
The magazine's fashion issue features Matthew Williamson's home on the cover, plus Vanessa Bruno's Paris apartment, Yves Saint Laurent's Majorelle Gardens (left, in 1982), Christian Louboutin in his bedroom in Portugal, Francisco Costa in his Bellport garden, and Sonia Rykiel in her Paris living room, all inside. [FWD]
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Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, Befuddled By Crystals
»What did the men of Rag & Bone do with all those Swarovski crystals they won along with their 2007 Swarovski Award for Menswear? [Fashionista]
»Julia Stegner, Nicole Trunfio, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Egle Tvirbutaite and more celebrate 10 years of Milk Studios [Of The Minute]
»Carla Bruni-Sarkozy continues her brand loyalty by wearing a Dior Homme tuxedo in her new album promo images [WWD]
»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]
»Christopher Kane, Erdem, Marios Schwab, and Roksanda Ilincic all received funding from the British Fashion Council [Vogue UK]
»Vivienne Westwood did like the clothes in Sex and the City, after all [The Cut]
»A peek at Georgina Stoljilkovic for Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti Fall 2008 [Models.com]
»Stylists Leslie Fremar and Annabel Tollman move into an office space together [FWD]
Michael Kors, Coco Rocha Uncover Fashion's Nasty Habits at CFDA Health Event
>> At last night's CFDA-hosted "Beauty of Health" discussion, Michael Kors, Coco Rocha, and casting agent James Scully all stepped up to the plate to address the waning weights of models.
Kors threw in a designer's perspective, suggesting that his peers should "stay away from child-size clothes unless [they're] designing for children," and pointing out that when designers offer such small sample sizes and celebrities starve themselves to fit into them, their super-skinny aesthetic has a far-reaching impact on the general female population. He also advised agents to only send the most suitable girls to castings: “Sending a girl when there's little chance of her being booked throws a 16-year-old into a tizzy. The odds of a girl being booked for my show and Rick Owens’s are slim.”
Next up to the podium was Coco Rocha, who just like Natalia Vodianova and Ali Michael before her, admitted that the job comes with some very unhealthy habits. Two years ago, she weighed 108 pounds (at 5'10"), and yet people were stilling telling her "you need to lose more weight. The look this year is anorexic. We don't want you to be anorexic, we just want you to look it." Even crazier, an agent once advised her to throw up after meals.
Eventually, she submitted to the pressure. "Last season I took diuretic pills. Once I took so many on an empty stomach that I was doubled over for hours. That's the last time I ever did something so terrible to my body." She asked designers to provide healthier food at their shows — "No one wants to be caught with that photo 'Model Eats Cake'" — and to make their fit models, and therefore their sample sizes, bigger — models are humiliated when zippers won't zip up at castings.
Finally, casting agent James Scully advised insiders to consider the weight of their words. "Let's stop treating models like greyhounds we plan to shoot after a race. We have to remember we are dealing with real people who have real feelings."
Francisco Costa, Georgina Chapman, Keren Craig, Donna Karan, Richard Chai, Marcus Wainwright, David Neville, Derek Lam, Doo-Ri Chung, Diane von Furstenberg, Phillip Lim, and Anna Wintour, plus several other Vogue editors, were all in attendance at the event — which leaves quite a few American designers unaccounted for. But as Michael Kors pointed out, designers aren't the only people responsible. "The next one we need to do is about skinny people who work in fashion: editors, buyers, stylists. That’s called ‘Why Does This Sample Fit Me?”
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Will the CFDA's Health Discussion Tonight Make a Difference?
>> Tonight is the night the CFDA convenes to hear president Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, and Coco Rocha wax philosophical on "The Beauty of Health: How the fashion industry can make a difference."
The event's expected attendees "include Donna Karan, Francisco Costa, Nicole Miller, Tory Burch, Doo-Ri Chung, Amanda Brooks and Michael Vollbracht." I hope that's only a smattering of who actually attends, considering the lengthy list of CFDA members, because if it's not, how does the CFDA ever expect to make any headway when no one's ready to make a change?
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Anna Wintour Teary-Eyed, Andre Leon Talley Insulted: Highlights from the 2008 CFDA Awards
»Anna Wintour was "teary-eyed" as she delivered the Eugenia Sheppard Award to Candy Pratts Price [Style.com]
»During his introduction of the International Award for Dries Van Noten, Simon Doonan made a joke about Andre Leon Talley's turban being "borrowed," which apparently "didn't immediately seem to amuse" ALT [Style.com]
»Diane von Furstenburg, in her opening thoughts, joked that Yves Saint Laurent had "legaliz[ed] opium" [Style.com]
»Eva Mendes let out a "whoop" when it was announced that Francisco Costa had won Womenswear Designer of the Year, while Victoria Beckham visibly pouted by her side that Marc Jacobs had lost [Style.com, NY Times]
»Emcee Fran Lebowitz deadpanned during the young designer awards: "I'm sure we would all agree the fashion industry's obsession with middle age has gotten entirely out of hand. If you're a day under 40, you can't get a second glance in this crowd." [NY Times]
»Mayor Bloomberg, who was recently the subject of fashion critiques, noted "my skinny jeans are at the cleaners, and my gladiator sandals are being resoled" [NY Times]
»On the red carpet, Tina Fey was posing for photographers, when she got a panic-stricken look on her face. "Anna's coming!" she mouthed silently to the photographers while pointing frantically to the street, before she sprinted out of the way [Vogue UK]
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Despite a Death in the Family, the CFDA Awards March On
As expected, models and designers turned out in droves — Erin Wasson, still in leg cast, was by Alexander Wang's side, and Francisco Costa celebrated his Womenswear win by hugging Eva Mendes tight.
For more of the comings and goings, be sure to check out the gallery below.
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