fashionologie

"Pornographic" Calvin Klein Jeans Billboard Replaced, Doutzen Kroes Celebrates

fashionologie — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:01:33 -0700

>> Calvin Klein - no stranger to pornographic epithets when it comes to their advertising - stirred up a little scandal last week when a still from the steamy Spring 2009 Calvin Klein Jeans commercial shot by Steven Meisel - which has been banned from US television - appeared on a Soho billboard in New York.

The image depicts what could be interpreted as a threesome - but Francisco Costa didn't see anything wrong with it last week at the CFDA Awards: “Please! It’s so, like, old news. Don’t you think we should be a little ashamed for even having to discuss? I mean, it’s great for us. So if you want to talk about it, let’s talk about it. But there was no intention of making that controversial . . . It’s New York City! It’s the 21st century! Honey, we have to move on!"

Calvin Klein menswear designer Italo Zucchelli, too, agreed: "It's my favorite campaign ever!" But it appears that the two designers don't have the final word on their billboards: Yesterday, the image was replaced with a shot of Doutzen Kroes in a red bikini. At least one person was happy with the change - Doutzen went by the new billboard last night, took a picture of herself jumping in front of it, and posted it on Twitter: "BELIEVE IT!!!!!"

Are Designers, Editors Finally Ready to Give Up Their Towering Heels?

fashionologie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:29:50 -0700

>> Is fashion finally getting sick of the shoe silhouette that has so pervaded the last few years - the painfully high heel? Carine Roitfeld, notorious for her pro-heel stance, was snapped recently at a luncheon in Cannes wearing flats; Francisco Costa shod all of his Cruise 2010 models in brogues and flat boots, and Vogue's Mark Holgate noted at yesterday's Cruise 2010 Yves Saint Laurent presentation that even "the house that started the platform craze is coming down off them."

Today, Andre Leon Talley dedicated a whole Vogue Daily post to the phenomenon, observing that at a recent Alexander Wang Cruise 2010 appointment, "Meredith Melling Burke . . . walked in off the elevator in a beige 3.1 Phillip Lim chesterfield and beige trousers tucked into an impeccable black pair from Miu Miu - that were completely flat! A sign of things to come?"

He's not finished »

Francisco Costa Pushes the Idea of Resort 2010 with Sheer Dresses for Calvin Klein

fashionologie — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:54:53 -0700

>> Francisco Costa was busy playing host Monday night at Calvin Klein's joint party with Visionaire, but today he sent out the label's diaphanous Cruise 2010 collection, without a bikini or caftan in sight. The resort season has been noticeably growing in scope this time around, and though Cathy Horyn was a fan of Costa's semi-sheer fabrics, WWD cautioned:

A long-standing argument against such [formal runway] presentations for resort is that inevitably, some designers will crossover to the too-editorial side . . . Francisco Costa went too far with the clothes in a season endlessly touted as all about dressing for reality - nearly every piece was transparent . . . almost everything needed an underpinning, and anyone wanting to know what Calvin Klein resort will look like in the stores needs a trip to the showroom.

2009 Costume Institute Gala Arrivals Have Started!

fashionologie — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:10:20 -0700

>> It's official Costume Institute Gala time: Anna Wintour is already snubbing press in her black and white Chanel, Bee Shaffer has already had help navigating in her sheer navy chiffon Nina Ricci gown, and Andre Leon Talley who is wearing "20 pounds" of Roger Vivier jewelry, has already exclaimed "Goddess" upon sight of Kate Moss.

Gisele Bundchen has arrived in sequined Atelier Versace minidress - she says she picked it out herself and they had to make it two inches shorter for her. Meanwhile, Eva Mendes grabbed Amber Valletta's booty on the red carpet, and Shalom Harlow, Amber, Natalia Vodianova, Eva Herzigova, and Stella Tennant have made a red carpet block while they stop to exchange air kisses.

UPDATE: More designer and model pictures have been added to the gallery!
*image: source, source, WENN.com

Michelle Obama's Style: Unfairly Biased by Ikram Goldman?

fashionologie — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:25:10 -0800

>> The meteoric rise of Jason Wu - he has tripled his sales appointments for his sold out, yet-to-be-unveiled Fall 2009 collection - shows what an influence Michelle Obama can have on a designer. But Wu doesn't just have Obama to thank - he never actually interacted with the First Lady, but rather with Ikram Goldman, owner of Chicago boutique Ikram, and Obama's gatekeeper to the fashion industry.

In fact, none of the designers who have made clothes for the First Lady have had any direct contact with their White House client - all commissions, measurements, bills, and other directions have been mediated by Ikram, causing something of a controversy; the clothes that Obama has worn recently are predominantly from designers that Cathy Horyn points out, "Ikram sells and ultimately stands to benefit from" - Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Proenza Schouler, Thakoon, and Mario Cornejo.

Is Obama limiting herself? »

Anna Wintour Makes It Back for A Night of Stars

fashionologie — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:07:15 -0700

>> 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.
*image: source, source

Karl Lagerfeld's Influence in Olsen's Book: Models Who Don't Talk

fashionologie — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:39:32 -0700

>> 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 . . .
*image: source

New, New York, Talent: Julian Louie

fashionologie — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:28:44 -0700

>> 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.
*image: source

Christian Louboutin, Vanessa Bruno and Then Some Open Their Designer Homes for Domino September 2008

fashionologie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:51:10 -0700

>> 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 . . .

fashionologie — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:37:12 -0700

>> 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]
*image: source