fashionologie

Jeremy Laing, Anthony Vaccarello Among 2011 ANDAM Prize Nominees

fashionologie — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:32:01 PDT

>> In recent years, Hakaan, Giles Deacon, and Gareth Pugh have all been awarded the ANDAM Prize - the largest international fashion prize of its kind - and as a result moved their fashion shows to Paris. Who will be next? The 2011 nominees have just been announced, and include Adam Kimmel, Anthony Vaccarello, Commuun, Jeremy Laing, Matthew Harding, and Yiqing Yin. The 22 jury members - which this year include Pierre Berge, Delfine Arnault, Emmanuelle Alt, Humberto Leon, Sarah Lerfel, and Hilary Alexander, will meet on June 28 to select the 2011 prize winner, who will receive 200,000 euros (approx. $282,000); a donation of 10,000 euros ($14,100) worth of Swarovski crystals for their Spring 2012 collection; and mentorship by former Chloe CEO Ralph Toledano for two seasons on creative and commercial development. [Filep Motwary]

The Daily Telegraph's Hilary Alexander Retiring in June

fashionologie — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:00:43 PDT

>> Hilary Alexander confirmed over the weekend that she is retiring as fashion director at The Daily Telegraph come the end of June. She will be replaced by two fashion writers from The Times UK, Lisa Armstrong and Luke Leitch. But she's not retiring full stop, she tweets: "It's retirement not disappearance!" At the end of June, she will continue doing freelance for a year, with one page in the Telegraph UK a month. And: "I will keep on tweeting; I . . . am hoping [sic] to go to Uni next year and study archaeology! Think of the clothes!"

[@HilaryAlexander, @HilaryAlexander, @HilaryAlexander, Daily Front Row]

Alexander McQueen's White Fall 2011 Finale Gowns - A Preview of Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress?

fashionologie — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:14:30 PST

>> Sarah Burton's Fall 2011 Alexander McQueen collection was inspired by "The Ice Queen and her court," a theme that easily feeds into all the rumors that soon-to-be Princess Kate Middleton has chosen Burton to do her wedding dress. Particularly when the collection includes a small selection of decadent white gowns - which by the finale, had the fashion flock convinced that British designer Burton should be doing Middleton's gown (if she's not already). A selection of their post-show tweets:

Telegraph UK's Hilary Alexander: "Alexander McQueen.. Fit for.a Queen!"
Fashion Television's Jeanne Beker: "Seems that everyone here is convinced Kate Middleton's choice SHOULD be McQueen!!"
Elle's Joe Zee: "Kate Middleton, I love you but if you don't have Sarah Burton design your wedding dress, you're making a big mistake. HUGE."
Style.com's Meenal Mistry: "Honestly, I don't really understand why Sarah Burton at McQueen making Kate Middleton's dress isn't a foregone conclusion."
Elle UK: "Phenomenal McQueen show! Those final looks will do nothing to dispel the Kate bridal rumours..."
InStyle's Ariel Foxman: "Stunning at McQueen. Preview of Kate's big day dress?"
Elle's Anne Slowey: "LIFT OFF AT McQUEEN!!!! Kate Middleton: HELLOOOOO!!!!"
Observer UK's Helen Seamons: "McQueen - Just incredible. If Kate Middleton is wearing them she is a very lucky girl &if she isn't she should be"

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Industry Players on Who They Want to See at Christian Dior; A Decision Isn't Expected for Some Time

fashionologie — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:56:09 PST

>> There's been plenty a rumor about who might succeed John Galliano at Christian Dior, and in the video above, insiders give their two cents on who they think will take the role. While the Vogue contingent won't comment, Fabien Baron suggests Riccardo Tisci or Haider Ackermann, Stefano Tonchi offers up Peter Dundas's name, and Cathy Horyn opines, "People talk about Riccardo Tisci, [but he's] too gloomy for Dior," saying she'd instead like to see Tom Ford, Raf Simons, or Alber Elbaz.

Despite all the speculation, Dior is apparently in no hurry to name a successor; it's also not legally able, under French employment regulations, to do so until the process to terminate Galliano - which can take several weeks - has been completed. “There won’t be any choice for quite a while,” according to one source familiar with LVMH. “They’re receiving offers.”

Among the candidates Bernard Arnault's advisers have been pitching, according to WWD sources: Haider Ackermann, Hedi Slimane and Riccardo Tisci. Delphine Arnault, deputy managing director at Dior and Bernard Arnault's daughter, is said to be partial to Tisci. And overtures were apparently recently made to Ackermann as a possible candidate for Dior, or to succeed Tisci at Givenchy if he moves to Dior.

Galliano Aftermath - Will Anyone Stick By the Designer? The Industry (and Natalie Portman) Comment on John Galliano's Scandal

fashionologie — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:54:05 PST

>> The Christian Dior show will go on, but who will be there to see it? Hilary Alexander reports: "Many international buyers and press feel uneasy about attending the show, leaving Dior in the double predicament of being without a creative director, and the strong possibility of disappointing sales of a collection which many feel is now tainted by the scandal."

So is Galliano's scandal a career destroyer? Kate Moss's cocaine scandal in 2005 did not have any longterm effects on her career, her agent said last year - in fact, her earnings doubled in the five years after. Of course, Moss's scandal and Galliano's scandal broach two vastly different subjects - drugs versus racism and/or anti-Semitism. But as The New Yorker's Judith Thurman wrote yesterday: "Galliano seems to have disgraced himself (and perhaps ended his career) by delivering a drunken, anti-Semitic rant to several fellow patrons at a Paris restaurant . . . But Chanel liked Nazis, too."

So will Moss, who is said to have enlisted Galliano to do her wedding dress, stand by the designer? What about any of the rest of the industry?

We know where Christian Dior face Natalie Portman stands - last night, before Galliano was let go, she released a statement: "I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano's comments that surfaced today. In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way. I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful."

After Galliano's dismissal, British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman said: "I think Galliano made a terrible mistake and such offensive behaviour could not be ignored. It is all the same true that he has a huge talent and has contributed enormously to the resurrection of the house of Dior. Who can predict what the future will bring?"

Jessica Stam tweeted: "I'll miss you John, you're so talented. I love the Jews and what he said is awful, but also sad to watch him leave Dior." And Chanel Iman said this morning: "I love John Galliano. I’ve been working with him for years and he is one of the most amazing, genius men in this business. He is one of the most creative, genius designers that I’ve worked with and he’s so open to all types of people. He’s loving and he’s caring and I wish him all the best."

But before this morning's announcement that Galliano was fired, many other industry folk spoke out on the scandal.

Stefano Gabbana tweeted last Saturday (pre video release): "I'm so sorry for John Galliano!!!"

Franca Sozzani, said on camera last Friday (pre video release): "I'm so against anyone who could say something anti-Semitic or against any religion. I understand that [Galliano] was drunk. I can understand, for sure, because he's not a bad guy. But I do not accept that anyone can touch the religion of someone else . . . either you fire or you keep [him], I don't see anything in between . . . [Dior without Galliano] would be a real pity . . . I wasn't there, you weren't there, nobody was there, so who knows the truth. But you know . . . it's John Galliano, it's very easy to say he said something like that, because it's doing a big mess. If he was no one, nobody could tell about him, so we are to be suspicious about that. If it's really true, if it really went as they're describing, it's terrible news for [not only Galliano but] the human being."

Roberto Cavalli, on camera last Saturday (pre video release): "I don't believe [it]. Because I know John since many years, he's such a wonderful person. I can't believe that he makes some racist [comments] toward somebody, because he's so international . . . I think that somebody wants to try to be bad with him. I think la Maison Dior should make [for] him [a] big red carpet because he helped Maison Dior to be what it is today. I don't want to judge anybody, but I love John and John, I am with you."

Giorgio Armani, on camera Monday: "I'm very very sorry for him. It's obviously a difficult time for him. I am also very sorry that they videotaped him without him knowing."

Olivier Zahm wrote last Saturday (pre video release): "I know that you [Galliano] are not at all racist -whatever you said, drunk or not, to them! Your multi-ethnic shows, celebrating the beauty of nomadic worlds, and looking into visual languages of forgotten minorities (from everywhere on this planet), has brilliantly proved it to everyone from collection to collection since years. We are living in a dark world where the fashion system can celebrate talented people like you, use them as long as they want and fire them from a day to the next - exploiting an unfortunate private incident (and thusfar unproved anti-Semitic allegations), to get rid of an artist. Letting the international media suspect that you could be a racist, is not acceptable!"

And Hilary Alexander wrote yesterday: "What devils possessed Galliano we may never know. What private hell he is living through is equally unknowable. But one thing is certain: he needs help. I am not for a moment excusing his behaviour. There will come a time when he must confront the viper in his breast. But, right now, this is a moment in his life when he needs support and love from the industry he has given his life to."

Emmanuelle Alt - Vogue Paris "Will Be the Same, But Different"

fashionologie — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 07:31:31 PST

>> Hilary Alexander caught up with Emmanuelle Alt after the Chanel couture show yesterday, marking Alt's first interview since her appointment as Vogue Paris editor. Alt revealed that she plans to attend London Fashion Week this season (which former Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld rarely did), and that she hadn't dreamed of being Vogue Paris editor before the opportunity was presented to her: "I never thought about my future. I'm not somebody looking at tomorrow, I really live like today. So I never thought about it, but it was like - why not? It's great news!"

And despite her personal leanings toward rock and roll style, Alt maintains, "The magazine is not going to be like that - only rock and roll. French Vogue today is a successful magazine and it has a strong identity, so it will probably stay along the same lines. But, I mean, some things will change of course, because we have a different eye - It will be the same, but different!"

A Video Preview of Chanel's Spring 2011 Couture Collection, Debuting Tomorrow

fashionologie — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:25:45 PST

>> Hilary Alexander interviewed Karl Lagerfeld on video in the Chanel atelier, and as they discuss why Lagerfeld is perpetually late and why he prefers to wear navy on camera, there are glimpses of Daphne Groeneveld, Magdalena Frackowiak, and Siri Tollerod having their fittings for tomorrow's showing of Chanel's Spring 2011 Couture collection. It looks like black chokers and black patent flats are Lagerfeld's preferred accessories for the collection.

Carine Roitfeld Finds It "More and More Difficult" To Keep an "Un-Politically Correct" Attitude About Vogue Paris

fashionologie — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:25:54 PDT

>> Vogue Paris is celebrating its 90th Anniversary issue with a masquerade ball tonight in Paris - an marquee event of the week - but also garnering attention: Terry Richardson's editorial, "Festin," styled by Carine Roitfeld, in the issue, of Crystal Renn stuffing an entire squid in her mouth in one photo and dribbling herself in steak juice in another.

Roitfeld said the shoot was inspired by the 1973 movie "La Grande Bouffe," about a group of men who retire to a villa to eat themselves to death, and that she thinks it's the job of fashion magazines to continue to push boundaries and provoke, even in the face of attacks on their judgment: "In 90 years, we haven’t changed the mood of the magazine. It’s still very audacious. It’s still about beauty. It’s still about excess. It’s still very avant-garde . . . We try to be sophisticated, while a little on the edge all the time."

She continues: "What I can see is that now, the censoring is bigger than it was 20, 30, or 40 years ago. I think we have less freedom. Today some pictures [from past issues of Vogue Paris] would not even be publishable. It’s not just about the nudity, but when you talk about things politically, the military, kids, it would all be politically incorrect and not publishable today. We have to fight to keep this un-politically correct attitude of French Vogue, but it’s more and more difficult to be able do that. You cannot smoke, you cannot show arms, you cannot show little girls, because everyone now is very anxious not to have problems with the law. Everything we do now is like walking in high heels on the ice, but we keep trying to do it."

On a more personal note, Roitfeld did a video with Hilary Alexander in which she talks about designing her silk shirt with Charvet and exclaims, "F*ck yoga, it makes me crazy!"

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A Look at Jil Sander's Third +J Collection for Uniqlo, Out October 7

fashionologie — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:35:52 PDT

>> Jil Sander's third and most comprehensive +J collection for Uniqlo - 169 pieces - hits stores on Oct. 7, one year to the day after the premiere collection's launch.

Sander, who has signed on to do the collection through 2013, introduced her Fall 2010 offering to Hilary Alexander. The palette runs black, navy, white, silver-grey, beige, and all shades of blue - "Storm to sky," Sander says. There's a silvery down jacket with little leggings ("almost couture," Sander notes); a midnight felt coat, with detachable gilet and hood ("the most expensive felt, and real buttons, NOT plastic, which we hate"); a black wool and cashmere jacket ("very Jil Sander"); duffle coats in pewter wool, tight-fitted, and high-waisted ("they could be £2,000 at designer level"). The collection ranges from $15.90 for cut-and-sewn to $229.90 for outerwear.

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Fashion in 50 Seconds 06/28/10 Lanvin Expands Online, Opening Ceremony Focuses on France

coutorture — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:47:35 PDT

Lanvin is expanding its website next month. The site will make its debut with an animated feature about the making of the women’s fall fashion campaign, shot by Steven Meisel.

Max Schneider, who appears with Madonna in the new Dolce & Gabbana campaign, is a 17-year-old performing arts school senior.

Opening Ceremony's country of focus this season is France. The retailer is offering colorful, custom sandals from K. Jacques and Jean Paul Gaultier Breton-striped Pataugas sneakers.

Hilary Alexander live tweets England's World Cup loss sharing her approval of David Beckham's waistcoat and disappointment with the English players.