>> At this rate, the whole twelve minute-long profile of Anna Wintour on this Sunday's 60 Minutes is going to be spoiled — yesterday, they released the first 45 second clip, featuring Anna talking shop and holding court in her offices; this morning, they released a quote with her explaining her penchant for sunglasses; and now, there's another clip: Anna is asked about her put-together look, "not a hair out of place" — "It's very important to me that I look good when I go out publicly," she responds. "I like looking at my clothes rack in the morning and deciding what to pick out." Apparently, Sunday's segment will feature interviews with Andre Leon Talley, Grace Coddington, Bernard Arnault, Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, and Nicholas Ghesquiere.
Nicholas Ghesquiere
Another Anna Wintour 60 Minutes Preview: "I Enjoy Fashion, Morley"
Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2009: A Taste of What's To Come
>> With most pre-collections, hints of what to come from the designer are there, but with Nicholas Ghesquiere, it's especially prevalent — the woven leather gladiator boots and a black-and-white floral print hit Resort 2008 before going full-fledged in the Spring 2008 Balenciaga collection, and very similar black-and-white dresses appeared in the Pre-Fall 2008 collection before hitting the runway for Fall 2008. Ghesquiere confirmed yesterday that the new Pre-Fall 2009 collection was a good indication of the direction he was talking for Fall 2009, but for now, we can only guess on which elements will reappear: the zip skirts? The slouchy pencil pants? The fur mittens?
*image: source
Nicholas Bags It for Balenciaga Spring 2009
>> The same heart-shaped motif from Versace showed up at Balenciaga — but treated in a whole different way. Nicholas Ghesquiere continued his ode to futurism with shrink-wrapped tops, strapped-in dresses, shiny structured jackets, and even a little surprise in the form of menswear, which was added for promotional purposes. Most intriguing in this show about absorbing and reflecting light were the shoes — or the non-shoes, rather — tights pulled over platform soles; Instead of introducing a new round of "it" shoes like the Balenciaga runway usually does, Nicholas turned the attention to bags, showing them on the runway for the first time: "The collection is a bit out there, so I wanted to bring it down to something women would really wear."
Under him, the company invested cannily in young designers, including Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen. Though Ford insists he takes "absolutely no credit" for the success those three have had since, Ghesquière nearly welled up when I asked about Ford and said the designer "taught me everything".
”Change, Charlotte in the Air at Balenciaga
>> Is Nicholas Ghesquiere getting starstruck? For the second season in a row, he's chosen to go celebrity: Jennifer Connelly for Spring, and now Charlotte Gainsbourg for Fall.
Granted, both women embody the Ghesquiere girl — Charlotte is well-known to be his muse, and Jennifer a good friend — but to hear him describe the reasoning behind his choice is striking, considering that he has built Balenciaga to be a true blue fashion-for-the-sake-of-fashion label, rather than a fashion label devoted to upping its star wattage. Behold, he sounds smitten with actresses:
They are used to playing characters and go deeper into the image. There's definitely a celebrity effect when you shoot an actress. There's a real frisson.
The Spring 2009 campaign cast will tell us all — three makes a trend. Until then, enjoy the first look at the Fall 2008 Balenciaga campaign, shot by David Sims and featuring an archly posed Charlotte Gainsbourg, with the new Balenciaga store in LA forming the backdrop.
*image: source
Nicholas Ghesquiere Goes Soft for Balenciaga Resort 2009
>> Rather than giving us a hint of what's to come for Spring 2009 like most designers do with their resort collections, Nicholas Ghesquiere reworked his hard-edged Fall 2008 Balenciaga collection, softening the ideas up with pale pastels. The result is similar, but not the same as Fall, and stays true to the sculptural shapes that have come to define Nicholas at Balenciaga.
For a few more pictures of the collection, go here.
*images: source
Anna Wintour Says "Fashionista" with a Twirl of Her Fingers; Plus, More From the CFDA Awards Videos
>> We covered most of the highlights from Monday's night CFDA Awards yesterday, but today come the videos shown to the audience.
First up? The Mike Figgis-directed tribute video to Style.com's executive fashion director Candy Pratts Price, which contains such gems as Kate Moss, dubbed over with a man's voice, saying (what I assume is a quote from Candy): "You haven't got a Birkin, oh my god, you have to have one, we're going straight back to Hermes now." Also, Anna Wintour, describing Candy: "She is a fashion character . . . a fashion . . . nista." A word which I never imagined to come out of Anna's mouth, but it does, and she simultaneously twirls her fingers for emphasis:
Then, the Douglas Keeve-directed spoof of HBO's In Treatment, which was used to introduce the Menswear Designer of the Year nominees — Tom Ford, Thom Browne, and Michael Bastian. Only Tom Ford's clip is to be found, but Tom sobs, sips a martini, and vents to therapist Gabriel Byrne with all the gusto you would expect from Tom Ford. It's like a peek at the Hollywood Tom Ford, when he left fashion to direct films, which never really happened . . .
Blumarine
Temperley London
DKNY