>> A soundtrack of heavy breathing, a telephone ringing, a gun-shot, and then screaming ladies kicked off the film noir-themed Christian Dior show.  Silhouettes of gangsters holding machine guns were projected against a derelict warehouse set swirled with dry ice smoke as Karlie Kloss opened.

John Galliano told Hilary Alexander he was inspired by archive photographs of Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogary in the front row at Dior shows: “She was a regular client of M. Dior and I loved the idea of taking that 1940s Hollywood glamour and making it more contemporary. And I liked the idea of the link between film as an illusion and the illusion of undressed dresses.”

The models' hair was coiffed like Bacall's, the shoes still had platforms — estimated to be 7" high — and the peekaboo lingerie was actually built in to the dresses. Naomi Campbell was expected to attend, but never showed, and Tanya Dziahileva finally made her first appearance this season on the catwalk.  But the iconic moment, judging by Tweets, was John Galliano's finale strut down the runway in fedora and trench coat with metal collar, complete with dry ice and explosions.

>> Last night, Anna Wintour hosted a premiere of The September Issue (which opens Aug. 28 in NYC, Sept. 11 nationwide), and no one dared be late.  Arrivals were scheduled to start at 7 pm, but Anna appeared and was joined (despite all the digs about her appearance she receives in the film) by September 2007 cover girl Sienna Miller promptly at 6:45 pm.  Even Sean Combs and entourage, when realizing they were late, "sprinted across the lobby," the New York Observer reports.

Despite the general consensus that the film's true star is Grace Coddington, last night was all about Anna.  Grace and Andre Leon Talley both avoided being photographed on the red carpet, and it appears that Vogue staffers were required to wear t-shirts for Fashion's Night Out (Anna's pro-shopping pet project) to the event.  Grace did comment on her portrayal in the film, however:

I hate to say it, but true to life! A very annoying person. But it’s not really bickering. It’s a process you have to go through for the job we do and it just makes everything stronger. Whatever gets through is then very valid and very strong. I think they focused on me in the movie because I’m a bit more outspoken and because I don’t care about the cameras, I’ll say whatever I want to say and I won’t hold back.

Bee Shaffer, who attended in Proenza Schouler and reminded her mother to put on her sunglasses while on the red carpet (which Anna duly did), thought her own scene in the film was "so embarassing":

It’s funny because that was two years ago and I wanted to go to law school then and that’s basically all I’m talking about and now I don’t want to go to law school at all so . . . [I] still don’t want to work in fashion, that was never a possibility. Now I’d like to work in theater.

Marc Jacobs, who was apparently speaking with a French accent, had his own Anna tribute to share. "She’s a risk-taker unafraid of taking chances. She doesn’t suck up,” he said. “And she’s been very good to me on a personal level as well. When I was having some personal problems, Anna was always there for me. She’s very maternal and caring to people she cares about."

>> No one fainted this time around at Alexander McQueen, but the show could win this season's Prada award for torturous shoes — even over Nina Ricci.  Numerous inches were added to the festishistic heels, and the girls took every step with care — some even broke their runway stare to glance down momentarily, and Sigrid Agren looked around like she's frightened of the next step. Karlie Kloss, below, had to stop and fix her dress to keep from tripping over it.  Suzy Menkes was discomfited by the display: "the models were tortured into dresses that hobbled their feet, making each runway step treacherous and giving a discomforting misogynist feel to the show."

Meanwhile, this morning at Hermes, another painful scene: supermodel Tatjana Patitz seemed to be out of practice on the runway.  She almost tripped and fell three times, including when she closed the show.  When Jean Paul Gaultier came out for his bow, he gave her a hug, and apparently she looked like she was about to cry.
*image: source

>> Chadwick Tyler, preferred photographer of Alexander Wang and the burgeoning lensman who brought us Supreme's stunningly ethereal Spring 2009 show package, is holding his first gallery exhibition, Tiberius, starting Feb. 10 and running through March 12 at the Honey Space Gallery in New York.

The show revolves around "the model" — 52 models to be exact, ranging from Milagros Schmoll to Karlie Kloss to Imogen Morris-Clarke (full list).  "It was important to me to have a broad range of talent, from the most established of girls to those for whom this is a first show.  Most I have worked with before, others I have wanted to work with for some time," Tyler noted.  Inspired by his life as a "farm kid," Chadwick produced original black and white portraits remniscent of the Dust Bowl, but with a modern twist — "the juxtaposition of the meticulous and the disheveled."