fashionologie

This Week's Best Dressed

fashionologie — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:29:34 PST

>> Slits, cut-outs, and head-to-toe print looks - courtesy of the Resort collections - all got major play this week. See who went there - and who got two nods apiece - in the slideshow.

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Eddie Borgo Welcomes Giovanna Battaglia to New York with Celebratory Dinner

fashionologie — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:27:02 PDT

>> Giovanna Battaglia, who moved four weeks ago to New York and has started working more with W, was thrown a welcoming dinner last night at The Upstairs at Cipriani Downtown by Eddie Borgo and his boyfriend, stylist Keegan Singh. Battaglia wore an “I Heart New York” t-shirt studded all across the front by Borgo (left), and celebrated with the likes of Gaia Repossi, Vladimir and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, and Joseph Altuzarra. W's Joseph Logan designed t-shirts that were passed out, proclaiming “New York Loves Gio,” one of which Altuzarra then customized for Battaglia with a pair of scissors. [W]

2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Winners Billy Reid, Prabal Gurung, and Eddie Borgo Come Home with Newly-Increased Cash Prizes

fashionologie — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:39:46 PST

>> Last night, the 2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners were announced, but before they could be named during the dinner gala at New York's Skylight Studios, the results were leaked on WWD's Twitter: Billy Reid won outright, and Prabal Gurung and Eddie Borgo were both named runners-up.

Style.com's Nicole Phelps wrote that the results were a bit of a surprise: "Many in the audience had pegged Gurung and Joseph Altuzarra as the front-runners." But nevermind: the prizes were even bigger this year, with Reid granted $300,000 (up from $200,000), and Borgo and Gurung each taking $100,000 (up from $50,000). "The main prize is the mentoring we provide," CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg noted of the increase, "but a little cash never hurts."

The rest of this year's finalists - Christian Cota, Robert Geller, Oliver Helden and Paul Marlow of Loden Dager, Pamela Love of Pamela Love Jewelry, Moss Lipow and Gregory Parkinson - were treated to a keynote speech by Karl Lagerfeld, who talked about how much fun Yves Saint Laurent was "before Pierre Berge" and advised: "Young goes. But good? If you're good, it may all last."

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Vanessa Traina Talks Joseph Altuzarra, Alexander Wang, and Her Boyfriend in Intermission's Second Issue

fashionologie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:22:05 PDT

>> The second installment of Swedish magazine Intermission is jam-packed with interviews: Gaia Repossi, Isabel Marant, Joseph Altuzarra, Tabitha Simmons, Waris Ahluwalia, Victoire de Castellane, and Vogue Paris art director Johan Svensson among them - and all are translated from Swedish into English at the back of the issue.

John Scarisbrick photographed and Keegan Singh styled the two covers - one with Hanne Gaby Odiele, and the other Vanessa Traina, who inside talks to Stephanie LaCava about going to high school with Alexander Wang ("He used to cut up these vintage jeans and make us denim skirts. I still have them - and he’d make us T-shirts. We used to place orders every season with him."), consulting for Joseph Altuzarra ("Our relationship is different than most because Joseph and I are so close. As friends, we hang out at least four times a week."), and her boyfriend, Chad Muska ("I was with some girlfriends and he was with a friend of one of my girlfriends and we met at a restaurant one night in LA. That was eight years ago and it slowly evolved into a relationship. He’s a street skater. We live together in the West Village, but he also has a studio in Union Square. He’s always been into photography, but he’s been playing around with it a little more and doing some large-scale work, a mix of photographer and painting. I have his pictures hanging in our bedroom. It’s a photo series he did of Kate Moss manipulated and painted different shades of pink.").

A peek at the issue, out this week at Opening Ceremony and Colette, below.

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Alexander Wang Fall 2010: Wall Street, Wang-Style

fashionologie — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:57:13 PST

>> Despite the vast concrete-floored warehouse space waiting inside Pier 94 to house Alexander Wang's guests, they all had to pass through a single set of double doors at the entrance yesterday, causing quite the crush, particularly because a burly security guard took up a large part of the entryway, allowing VIPs like Dasha Zhukova and Fabien Baron pass on his right, while everyone else had to go to his left.

The crowd buzzed with excitement; after all, Wang has come a long way in a few short seasons - to the point that a major magazine's accessories editor had to ask stylists to stop using one of his shoes, the lace-up sandal boot from Spring 2010, which had become ubiquitous, in all of their shoots.

Tavi Gavinson emerged from backstage, Fashion Television camera crew in tow, and took to laughing with and interviewing Lauren Santo Domingo, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, and Derek Blasberg. She took her front row seat, and the stadium-style lights went down and then up, revealing opener (and closer) Natalia Vodianova, hair shellacked over one eye, as she walked along the long black background, giving the audience a prolonged view in profile, before turning to give them a closer look.

Wang, like fellow young designer Jason Wu, felt the need for a turning point in his brand this season, hence a focus on a more tailored silhouette in the form of deconstructed pinstripe suits: Wall Street, Wang-style. But there was also a strong element of late-'90s goth: the models wore black backpacks with fluttery floor-length tails, 5-inch high chunky-heeled mid-calf boots in velvet or brown with burnished yellow toes (which they had trouble turning in), pleated mini-skirts with tuxedo tails in back, and mid-thigh leggings which belled out over their shoes. There was even some chenille and a black leather trench thrown into the mix.

Big on collaborations, Wang worked with stylist Karl Templer and Linda Farrow sunglasses each for the second time, the latter producing bug-eyed shades worn over the models' hair, and Gaia Repossi for jewelry. In addition to Natalia, Freja Beha Erichsen and Snejana Onopka made their runway debut for the week; Agyness Deyn and Jessica Miller, ready for a comeback, also took a turn. The designer's CFDA-appointed mentor Diane von Furstenberg was front row, smiling during the finale, along with her CEO Paula Sutter, whose appearance raised a few questions about investment potential (DVF has a stake in Nathan Jensen's line).

Wang decided to forgo an after-party this season after last season's gas station-set rager, but fret not; last night, he told WWD with a grin: "We're planning something big for September."

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Alexander Wang Launches First Ad Campaign, To Collaborate with Gaia Repossi on Jewelry

fashionologie — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:14:45 PST

>> On Monday, Alexander Wang is launching his first ad campaign - but it won't be found in magazines. Instead, posters featuring Hannah Holman photographed by Daniel Jackson and celebrating Wang's Spring 2010 T collection, which hits his e-commerce site that day, will be plastered all over downtown Manhattan. They will be replenished once a week for four weeks. “The [images] were originally only supposed to be posters we were going to send to editors and stores,” said Wang. “But I felt the energy was much more appropriate for something like guerrilla marketing than anything too proper or formal. Because T is really the core foundation of what Alexander Wang stands for, I thought it should be something that could be much more democratic.”

He's also got a jewelry collaboration in the works »

Natalia Vodianova Shows Off Her Lingerie Pour Etam

fashionologie — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:29:49 PST

>> Natalia Vodianova has been chatting up her collaboration with Etam for a while - and last night, the French lingerie company shelled out for their newly-signed three year ambassador, staging a full-blown show at the Ritz in Paris that drew the likes of Eva Herzigova, Emmanuelle Alt, and Charlotte Casiraghi in the front row and Edita Vilkeviciute, Sigrid Agren, Flavia Oliveira, and Sessilee Lopez on the runway. Natalia pour Etam, which encompasses swimwear and lingerie, including a silk nightgown inspired by one in Natalia's own wardrobe, runs $20-$80 and hits stores in April. The line will be reoccurring, with Natalia designing a new collection every season over the period of her ambassadorship.
*image: source, source

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Joseph Altuzarra On the Similarities Between His and Alexander Wang's Fall 2011 Collections and Having His Mom for a Boss

fashionologie — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:04:29 PDT

>> Fresh off the announcement of his CFDA nomination for the second year running in the Swarovski Award for Womenswear category - this time he's up against Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's The Row and Prabal Gurung - Joseph Altuzarra hit up Barneys to host a trunk show for his parka and slinky silk-dress-filled Fall 2011 collection. We grabbed him for a few minutes to chat about how competitive it is among young designers in New York, the fact that he and close friend Alexander Wang turned out Fall 2011 collections with a number of similarities, and who he'd like to collaborate with next.

Congratulations on your CFDA Award nomination! Did you do anything to celebrate?

I didn't, actually. I'm drawing pre-collection, so I drew [afterwards]. I went to the [announcement cocktails] thing, and it was great to be there. I actually didn't go last season - I was in Paris, so I wasn't able to make it. But it was really fun to go [this year], it was a nice atmosphere. And what's fun about the nomination that I got is that it's usually very similar generations. So it doesn't feel as competitive, it feels way friendlier. I mean, obviously, Prabal I know, and we're very friendly. Mary-Kate and Ashley, as well.

It feels like there's this whole group of young burgeoning designers rising up together in New York right now - for the most part, the big classic American designers were shut out from the nominations this year.

No it's true, there is I think this kind of mass effect of young designers. And I think we genuinely don't feel all that competitive. Of course you have the, "Why was he featured and I wasn't?" type of things, but overall, I think we're all really friendly - like we talk to each other about business and about what we're doing. It's very open - which is nice, I think it's how it should be.

Speaking of, do you and Alexander Wang ever talk about your collections together? Because for Fall 2011, you had a lot of similarities - you guys both played the same Prodigy song during your shows, and you had a similar quilted poncho cape that Cathy Horyn pointed out.

We hadn't, actually. And this is really the truth - when I saw his show [which happened a few hours before Altuzarra's], I was like, "Oh my God, we're going to get panned." But I think also what people discount is that we're the same age, and we hang out a lot, and even if we don't talk about our collections, we see similar things. I mean, we also have very similar reference points in time, because we're the same age. So, honestly, I think it's more funny than anything. But it's true, there were similarities - the fur shoes . . . I mean, it's kind of crazy when you think about how much - the Prodigy, and that cape thing, and it was kind of '90s, also . . . It was really, really eerie. But funny. And I hope people see it as more funny than anything.

Did you guys talk about it afterwards?

Yeah, I think he sent me a text. He came to my show and he sent me a text like, "That is ridiculous," or something. Or I think he said like, "I think we need to stop hanging out so much." I was like, "Yeah."

But you guys are still obviously hanging out.

Yeah, yeah, it's not like . . . I think we think it's more funny.

Last year you turned a profit for the first time. What do you credit with being able to achieve that?

I think starting during a recession has made a really big difference in the way we run the company - we thought we were going to grow the structure a lot faster than we decided to. And we've really kept it bare bones. I think most people would be shocked to know how small it still is. Our overhead costs and cost of running the company are fairly low because we're just not a lot of people and still in a fairly small space. Also, the great thing about being in New York is that you have so many of these amazing sponsorship programs - MAC at Milk, also the Tents with Maybelline - which really doesn't exist anywhere else at this level. So I do credit it in part to that. And also, I am the designer, but I'm also very aware of the business. I know how much things cost, so I know I'm shooting myself in the foot if I use a lot of crocodile or very expensive embroidery. And I know it's just not the time to do it.

So you do think about what sells when you're designing.

Oh yeah, for sure. I'm lucky to have a team around me that keeps me grounded. The bulk of my work is very creative, but there's also a side to it that's just making sure I'm doing something that can actually sell and translate to a retail floor.

What do you find sells well for you, in general, season over season?

Definitely tailoring always does very well, whether it's the Spring's more peak-shouldered jackets or the Fall's parkas. And we're also starting to see a more popular category in pants. And dresses have always sold very, very well for us.

It felt like for Fall 2011 you went more wearable than you have in the past - was that a conscious decision?

It was a conscious decision but it actually wasn't a commercial decision - it was a stylistic decision. I was feeling something that was a lot more day, just in the proportion and in the ease of things. And that kind of stylistic decision helped make the whole thing look a lot easier and more wearable.

And you're still working with both Melanie Huynh and Vanessa Traina?

Yeah, I mean they come in from different perspectives. Calling Vanessa a muse is so cliche and I wish there was another word for it, but I see Vanessa almost every day, so there is this side to our relationship that is very inspiring, just because of the way she is and how she dresses. And she obviously does a lot of consulting as well. And then Melanie definitely does a lot of consulting, but she comes in more towards the show, in terms of the styling.

Vanessa usually walks in your shows, but she didn't for Fall 2011.

She was actually not in town - I would have loved for her to walk, because this collection was very Vanessa, and it really came from how she was dressing at the time that I was drawing. I was really, really inspired by her.

Your mom is the CEO of your company - how does that work?

Yeah, she's my boss. You know, in a way, it's an ideal situation, because she lives in Paris, and it helps to have this kind of two-legged foundation, because everything is produced in Italy. In terms of time difference, it's just easier to have someone who's on that side of the Atlantic. But I obviously trust her implicitly, and we're able to have very honest conversations about business. I think we're both very good at divorcing our personal relationship from the business.

You have a strong history of collaborations - Gianvito Rossi for shoes, Gaia Repossi for jewelry, Current/Elliott for denim - is there anyone else you'd really like to work with?

No, not really. I'm trying to think . . . No, but I really do want to start developing more things under my name, so it might be enough collaborations for a little bit.

So you're trying to go in-house with accessories?

Yeah, I think maybe by next year we'll start developing accessories. I think it's important for us and for the development of the brand. We'll be at four years, which I think is a good time to start introducing more in-house things.

After everything that's happened with John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, and Christophe Decarnin, there's been a lot of talk that the current pace of the industry is driving designers to unhealthy places. Do you feel that at all?

I think you need a really, really, really good support system, both within your company but also just outside. I'm really lucky that I have the family and friends that I have - a lot of them don't necessarily work in fashion, and that's really helpful for me professionally, and just for my own sanity. I definitely feel it very bodily - like stomachaches. Yes, everything goes really fast, and now it feels like it's going faster even, mainly because of the Internet. And there's this immediacy and access to information and products, which makes everything you do feel old much sooner than it would have before. So you're constantly trying to bring something different and new to the table as fast as you can.

Is there any particular way you're trying to address that need for the new?

Adding collections for sure is the more classic way of doing it, but I think you also have to be very careful about the press that you do, and not be overexposed. The reality today is that there is a customer who will buy a $4,000 jacket because it's in Vogue, but there's also a customer who will not buy it because it's been in Vogue for six months. So you have to find that balance where you're enticing the customer but you're not revealing everything and you're not overselling it.

Final question: Now that the whirlwind of Fashion Month is over and things are calming down a little bit, do you have any plans to relax or vacation? Or are you just going straight into pre-collection?

No, [I'm going] straight into pre-collection . . . we actually started before the [Fall 2011] show. I am going on a long weekend soon, though, which will be nice.

Lane Crawford's Sarah Rutson Not Taking Barneys Fashion Director Gig; British Fashion Awards to Honor Alexander McQueen

fashionologie — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:26:17 PST

Vogue's Virginia Smith turned down the Barneys fashion director position last week, and now the other front-runner, Lane Crawford fashion director Sarah Rutson, has too. “I have no intention or plans to leave Lane Crawford,” Rutson said over the weekend [WWD]
Tomorrow's British Fashion Awards will honor Alexander McQueen posthumously for Outstanding Achievement; McQueen's frequent collaborator Nick Knight made a short film of the designer's archives for the occasion, scored by Bjork: “It is being styled by Edward Enninful and will feature black models only” [Style File]
The first image of Dolce & Gabbana's Spring 2011 campaign, which features Izabel Goulart, Alessandra Ambrosio, Maryna Linchuk, and Isabeli Fontana captured by Steven Klein, has leaked (pictured) [TFS]

Giorgio Armani and Lady Gaga, who have a multimillion dollar partnership, finally met for the first time last night; Anna Dello Russo also met Gaga and brought her a doll [Styleite]
See the Ann Taylor-inspired looks the 2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists created as part of this year's competition [Fashionista]
Hairstylist Didier Malige on Terry Richardson's childhood: "Now I see Terry as an adult, and at the time I knew him as three or four years old. His upbringing was totally liberal compared to a French kid of his age. They had a Fiat 500, which is a tiny little car, and he always had to share it with a huge poodle, like a royal poodle. And he always had to sit in the back with the poodle." [Into The Gloss]
Juicy Couture co-founders Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, who favor vintage pieces, furry vests, black leather pants, and vertiginous heels, plan to launch a new label next year, and they're dropping hints: “It will reflect the way we dress now. We have outgrown our track suits and grown up” [WWD]
Sasha Pivovarova, who likes to make dolls, opens up her Brooklyn loft for T's cameras [T]
Watch the music video for a young Jean Paul Gaultier's 1988 single, "How To Do That," featuring Naomi Campbell [Jezebel]
23-year-old Central St Martins graduate Thomas Tait only does private orders so far, but he's already got fans in Giles Deacon, Daphne Guinness, Stephen Jones, and Manolo Blahnik [T]
Intermission Magazine's website just launched, featuring interviews with the likes of Gaia Repossi and Hanne-Gaby Odiele [Intermission]

Joseph Altuzarra Was Ready to Take Some Risks for Spring 2011

fashionologie — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 05:47:31 PDT

>> Joseph Altuzarra's front row is always like a veritable who's who - Alexander Wang, Jenna Lyons, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Gaia Repossi, Victoria Traina, Philip Crangi, Carine Roitfeld, his cousin Lily Kwong among the guests - but backstage, the designer was talking references - or lack thereof this season.
Altuzarra said he didn't want any clear references for Spring 2011: “I like the idea of cross-referencing very disparate ideas - sixties shapes, tribal motifs, and techno ravers.” He continued: “The idea stemmed from the Internet and how you can see so many sources in a single click. It’s about that kind of freedom and image consumption.”

Altuzarra also "didn’t want to do safe" this season. Which mean skirts with haphazardly cut slits, dresses with patchworked python triangles or silver metallic rectangles, and lots of pointy bra cups (which will apparently go by the wayside in production).

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