fashionologie

Sophie Theallet Takes Home 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Win

fashionologie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:48:45 -0800

>> Last night, with the help of keynote speaker Alber Elbaz, who doled out gems on the perils of success - "It's like a bottle of perfume. You smell it, you don't sniff it or drink it" - Alaia veteran and Michelle Obama favorite Sophie Theallet took home the 2009 Vogue/Fashion Fund prize of $200,000 and a year of mentoring. Fellow nominees Patrik Ervell and Monique Pean were named runners-up, and received $50,000 each plus a business mentor.

In her speech, Anna Wintour said that in addition to the US, Italy, and the UK - which just started a similar talent-nurturing program - she just met with the French minister of culture about mirroring the contest there. "And Brazil, India, Russia, and China aren't far behind."

Theallet Tweeted of her win: "my american dream comes true tonight thanks and much love to all of you!xox." Cathy Horyn, too, weighed in on the choice:

"The money and the mentoring will help Ms. Theallet because she needs to be able to offer more range in her collection, as well as expand her production options. She has such a distinctly feminine eye, and the skills, that I’ve often wondered why a big retailer doesn’t ask Ms. Theallet to design some blouses and summer dresses for them, using the store’s resources and manufacturing connections."

Videos of the nominees going through the competition and the awards ceremony last night can be seen here and here, respectively.

fashionologie — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:21:24 -0700

>> Low-to-No-Heels (Even the Kitten Heel) Getting Nods from Stylish Key Editors, Marc Jacobs for Spring 2010 -Various editors at Vogue have been rooting for less heel, more flat shoes since resort season, and this past week, at least two editors who love their heels have been going lower: Meredith Melling Burke pulled on knee-high black boots with maybe a half-inch heel, and Giovanna Battaglia chose, of all things, the kitten heel. Marc Jacobs, at both his mainline and Marc by Marc Jacobs (left), had no heels. Instead, both shows had flats with a slight platform. [Style.com, Style.com]

Alexander Wang Takes His Spring 2010 After Party to a Gas Station

fashionologie — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:09:29 -0700

>> Alexander Wang may have changed up his collection's look for Spring 2010, but he's not about to lose his street cred. He partnered with Katie Grand and LOVE, rented out a Mobil gas station last night, and brought a crowd - which included Trish Goff, Daphne Guinness, L'Wren Scott, Erin Wasson, Vanessa Traina, plus fellow designers Esteban Cortazar and Gareth Pugh.

Despite the fact that the station's gas tanks were drained yesterday afternoon and the venue drenched with nonflammable suds, cigarettes were verboten; nicotine-dependent guests were constantly reminded with "Please stop smoking!" announcements. To take their minds off those forbidden cigarette, there were performances by both Courtney Love, who told the audience she received (ironically) a carton of cigarettes and a pair of shoes to play, and Santigold; plus guests had a free run of anything in the station's convenience store: Bee Shaffer took advantage of the candy aisle.

Alexander, for his part, seemed to be enjoying himself - he chatted up Lily Donaldson and Frankie Rayder, got down with Hanne Gaby Odiele (below), and jumped onstage and into Courtney Love's arms during her performance.

Prabal Gurung Definitely On the Verge with His Spring 2010 Collection

fashionologie — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:38:04 -0700

>> Prabal Gurung is on the verge: Glenda Bailey stopped by this afternoon at his sunlit Flag Art Foundation presentation, Harper's Bazaar posse in tow, to schmooze with the designer; Meredith Melling Burke - in cropped Fashion's Night Out tee, natch - got a personal tour of the collection by the designer; fan Rachel Zoe - who recently dressed Demi Moore in Prabal - stopped by with assistant Brad Goreski, causing the usually imperturbable fashion crowd to collectively gawk; and Cathy Horyn stepped out of the elevator as I was leaving.

For his second eponymous collection, the Bill Blass alum, inspired by "Maggie Betts, Zoe Saldana, and Indre Rockefeller," as listed in his show notes, stuck largely to what he does best: cocktail dresses, all in a palette of cobalt, white, and black. The piece de resistance? A stunningly simple electric blue gown.

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 »

Boy and Band of Outsiders Fall 2009 Full of Insiders

fashionologie — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:37:31 -0800

>> After two seasons of videos, Scott Sternberg decided to take his Boy and Band of Outsiders show live, creating tableaux vivants of models in classroom, by a lamppost, resting on a park bench, or reading a book on a bed - "I want to use the groupings, or vignettes, to create microcosms within this vast space." Props to the man for being one of the first, if not the first this week to rent a space big enough to hold his presentation and all the guests invited comfortably. Kanye West hit up this show too, and Jason Wu, who shares the same stylist with Sternberg, Tina Chai.

The sportwear label clearly has some major fans - Meredith Melling Burke was running around, camera out - which I've never seen her do - and got up close and personal with the brightly-colored, ankle-tied high heel bowling shoes that Boy collaborated with Manolo Blahnik on; they did look outstanding against the contrasting tights with color-tipped toes.
*image: source

Mini Meredith Melling Burke

fashionologie — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:00:16 -0700

>> Since she's not in London for Fashion Week, Vogue's Meredith Melling Burke showed up last night at Rag & Bone's store opening in New York, her two-year-old daughter Eloise Honor Burke in tow. Who's betting we'll see this little girl listed as a Teen Vogue contributing editor in ten years time, Bee Shaffer-style? She's getting in her fashion training already.
*image: source

Meredith Melling Burke, Her Voguette in the Making

fashionologie — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:21:29 -0700

With her daughter Eloise, Theory Icon Project Presents Music from Hair; New York, July 9.
*image: source

Gap Goes With Models, Awkward Photoshopping

fashionologie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:58:17 -0700

»A Spring 2008 Gap ad features Chanel Iman, Julia Stegner, Coco Rocha, Du Juan, Vlada Roslyakova, Anja Rubik . . . and a shoddy Photoshop job [ONTD_FF]

»Is Lily Cole edging Kate Moss out at Rimmel? [The Cut]

»An unnamed male designer had a face-lift gone wrong last year [Page Six]

»Models had to practice walking on a simulated dirt runway before doing Givenchy Fall 2008 couture [Style.com]

»A first look at Heidi Mount in Bally's Fall 2008 campaign [FWD]

»Meredith Melling Burke wears a mustache! [Fashionista]

»The full Richard Chai for Target collection [FabSugar]

»Roberto Cavalli: Taking his company off the market [The Cut]

»Calvin Klein may be using Kirsten Owen, Guinevere van Seenus, and Agyness Deyn in a new CK One campaign [Fashionista]

»Full Givenchy and Loewe Resort 2009 collections [Style.com, Style.com]

Meredith Melling Burke Smiles, Commits Vogue Treachery

fashionologie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:19:04 -0700

Reading Vogue Italia before the Badgley Mischka Resort 2009 show; New York, June 10.

*images: source