>> Spring 2010 may be a "safe" campaign season in the making, but not all designers are afraid to change things up. Word is up-and-coming photographer Josh Olins has breached the usually ad-shooting group of Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Mario Testino, Mario Sorrenti, David Sims, Steven Meisel, and Steven Klein, nabbing the Spring 2010 Giorgio Armani campaign as his own. And it's rumored Juergen Teller won't just be exclusive to Marc Jacobs image-making this season: apparently he's helping Phoebe Philo curate the new Celine image by photographing newcomer Valerija Kelava and Carmen Kass for her first ads for the brand.
As for Stefano Pilati, it sounds like he's sticking to his winning supermodel-Inez and Vinoodh formula, going on six seasons strong. Natalia Vodianova, WWD reports, is said to be next up.
Natalia Vodianova
Spring 2010 Campaign Scuttlebutt: Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, and Celine
Louis Vuitton Spring 2010: All Clogs, Raccoon Tails, and Massive Fros
>> Louis Vuitton started exactly on time this afternoon, leaving more than a few editors shut out and half the front row empty; of those who did make it inside in time, some were still on the runway when the show commenced, leaving opener Patricia Van der Vliet to barge right through. Every single girl had on a sky-high afros, each made from five smaller wigs sewn together, which bobbed "up and down like big pom pom balls" as they walked; Grace Coddington apparently "whooped with delight" at the first sight of them.
A flurry of models were front row — Sophie Dahl and her fiance Jamie Cullum, Natalia Vodianova, Daisy Lowe — but Georgia May Jagger was a surprise on the catwalk. The show, inspired by the '80s and '90s New Age traveller and “street clothes, embracing the hippie-cyber, tribal-punk world,” according to Marc Jacobs, included everything from kitten-heeled clogs to bags with raccoon tails — straight from Williamsburg hipsters — to bike shorts and glitter anoraks. And Jacobs himself wore a pair of the furry clogs for the finale.
Christopher Kane Sends Out Gingham Girls for Spring 2010
>> A few days ago, Christopher Kane dropped an image of a doll he did over the summer as a hint at his Spring 2010 collection, adding that he channeled it "not in the literal sense, but more of a feeling." To a front row of Natalia Vodianova with Anna Wintour and Topshop's Sir Philip Green squeezed between Donatella Versace and Allegra Beck Versace, the end product came out all gauzy gingham in black and pastel colors, symmetrical front slits up to there, and Swarovski embellished floral brocade.
Jenny Shimizu walked in a tailored suit apparently made in collaboration with Savile Row tailors Norton & Sons; Lara Stone, who skipped New York Fashion Week altogether, made her first runway appearance of the day — her second was at Jaeger. And Kane, a self-professed fan of television, sent everyone home with a Gossip Girl season two DVD in their gift bags.
>> Vogue Runs Editorial in September 2009 Issue Strikingly Similar to August 2007 W Editorial —Vogue's September 2009 issue boasts an editorial called "Into the Woods," photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott; curiously enough, an editorial that ran in the August 2007 issue of W — by the same photographers — has a similar concept and the same name. Both editorials feature autumnal leafy backgrounds and the models — Natalia Vodianova for Vogue (right), Doutzen Kroes for W (left) — strike similar poses. [Fashionista, Comme Artiste]
September Issues: UK Fashion Mags Stick to Models (Save Elle), While US Mags Go with Actresses
>> The biggest issues of the year — for September — are trickling in, so who was chosen to be a big newsstand seller for each major fashion book? Both Harper's Bazaar UK and Vogue UK chose models — Natalia Vodianova by Paola Kudacki and Kate Moss by Mario Testino, respectively — while Harper's Bazaar and Vogue went with actresses — Leighton Meester by Terry Richardson and Charlize Theron (the latter of which is not yet out). American Vogue's choice of an actress is no surprise — in upcoming documentary The September Issue, the magazine's creative director Grace Coddington credits Anna Wintour with foreseeing the power of using celebrities on covers before anyone else — but the model/celebrity divide between the two countries is striking.
Meanwhile at Elle, both UK and US versions chose actresses: the former Lindsay Lohan by Rankin, the latter Jennifer Aniston (a well-known strong newsstand seller) by Alexei Hay.
>> Natalia Vodianova, Franca Sozzani Make Vanity Fair's 2009 International Best-Dressed List —Vanity Fair just released the contents of its annual International Best-Dressed List from its September issue, and there are fashion figures galore; a whole category was devoted to "Fashion Professionals," which Franca Sozzani, Georgina Chapman, Tory Burch, Style.com's Candy Pratts Price, Rachel Roy, Edun's Ali Hewson, Prada France's Mathilde Meyer-Agostinelli, David Lauren populate. Natalia Vodianova and Justin Portman are included in the "Couples" named; Bruce Weber and Peter Beard are listed under "Fashion Originals"; Matteo Marzotto, formerly of Valentino and currently of Vionnet, is on the Men's Best-Dressed List; and Lapo Elkann made the Hall of Fame. Anna Wintour wasn't included, but she did get a nod from Renee Zellweger, who listed her among her style icons. [Vanity Fair]
>> THE MODELIZER —Natalia Vodianova has a three-year contract to design lingerie seasonally for Etam, and now she's expanding her design repertoire for a guest stint at Lutz & Patmos for their Pre-Spring 2010 collection. As for Anne Vyalitsyna, her affair as a red-head was short-lived — she tweeted yesterday: "Goodbye [sic] my beautiful red! Going back to blonde! Sad so sad!" [WWD, Anne Vyalitsyna Twitter]
Venice Biennale Overflowing with Fashion Figures and Their Families
>> Where art goes, fashion is soon to follow, and with the contemporary arts Biennale going on in Venice right now, there are plenty of designers, editors, and even models in town. On Wednesday, Olympia Scarry’s installation brought out Patrick Demarchelier, Vogue Russia's Aliona Doletskaya, and POP's Dasha Zhukova, as well as Justin Portman and Natalia Vodianova, the latter whose face was reflected in a luminated, aged sketch on display called Dorian Gray, by artist Dasha Fursey.
Naomi Campbell and boyfriend Vladislav Doronin stopped by a lunch for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and popped up again yesterday at the opening of Francois Pinault's new museum, the Punta della Dogana. Stella McCartney was there with husband Alasdhair Willis to support her financier in his new endeavor, as were Franca Sozzani and Marc Jacobs, always the fan of contemporary art, who apparently kept exclaiming, "This place rocks."
Meanwhile, down the river, Angela Missoni held her annual party on boyfriend Bruno Ragazzi's yacht. It was quite the family and friends affair: Angela's daughters Margherita and Teresa, plus son Francesco were all mingling, Franca Sozzani brought son Francesco Carrozzini, and Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld arrived with Carine Roitfeld, who neglected to follow the rest in taking her lace-up shoes off: "It would just take too long to undo them." Bee Shaffer was sans Anna Wintour, but Jefferson Hack brought fiancee Anouck Lepere.
Even those who aren't in Venice in person are there in spirit — Mario Testino sent one of his art consultants to scout the exhibition.
Natalia Vodianova Credits Career Success to Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss
>> Natalia Vodianova made a splash last year when she hit the Paris runways three weeks after giving birth to her third child, Viktor, and now the June 2009 British Vogue cover girl tells CNN she credits the success of her career to her pregnancies:
My agency thought that I might never do shows because I was a bit shorter and not skinny enough, but when I gave birth to my first son I was 19 and I lost a lot of weight. I guess the stress on the body was extreme and I suddenly just turned into this stick — just the way designers love models. My career took off after Lucas was born because I opened a lot of shows on the runway and that's where a lot of stars are made in my industry.
CNN recently followed Natalia around Moscow for their twelve-minute segment My City_My Life, during which she introduces some of her favorite bars, boutiques, and even a banya (Russian sauna), where she goes to get "whipped with" a "branch" by two men. One such highlight — a stop in a market with her children Lucas and Neva, where she pronounces (as she eats it): "I'm buying some lard. It's fantastic on toast and something that in my culture we eat all the time."
>> INSIDER WIRE —After all the Alaia-related Costume Institute Gala drama yesterday, we wondered if anything would top it all at the actual event. Well, a drunken reveler managed to step on and ruin Natalia Vodianova's vintage Fortuny dress (a gift from husband Justin Portman seven years ago) at one after-party, and at another, it's rumored that Keifer Sutherland headbutted Proenza Schouler designer Jack McCullough, breaking his nose. Apparently, the actor was upset over Brooke Shields? It's all very hazy . . . [Guest of a Guest]
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