fashionologie

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 2012

fashionologie — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:27:19 PDT

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Tilda Swinton Works With a Creative Director for Her Red Carpet Looks Instead of a Stylist

fashionologie — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:11:00 PDT

>> Tilda Swinton has played muse for Viktor & Rolf and Haider Ackermann - she met both, as well as Alber Elbaz, Stefano Pilati, Phoebe Philo, and Raf Simons (who designed her wardrobe for the 2010 film I Am Love) - through her close friend Jerry Stafford, the creative director of a French production company, who she works with in place of a stylist. “He’s my playmate,” she says. “It’s a game, and we have great fun with it.”

Swinton cites David Bowie and her father, Major General Sir John Swinton, as her style icons, and says of working with friends on what she wears for the red carpet: “For someone to know what you need to make you comfortable, they need to know who you are. Having them make clothes for me is like being cooked for by someone who knows what you like to eat.”

For the one-sleeve black Lanvin sheath she wore to the 2008 Oscars, for instance, she told Elbaz she wanted “to attract as little attention as possible and to feel as comfortable as if I were wearing pajamas. Little did I know that the really simple, chic dress one might have worn in Paris or Berlin would stick out like a sore thumb in Los Angeles.”

Stafford also creative directed Swinton's cover story for the August 2011 issue of W (left) - together they created a mood board for the shoot.

Kate Moss's Wedding Ceremony Is Under Way

fashionologie — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 08:48:11 PDT

>> Kate Moss's wedding ceremony is about to get under way - at 3:30 pm GMT at St Margaret's Parish Church near her Cotswalds home. Pictures of the wedding may be few and far between - Vogue has the exclusive for their September 2011 issue, with Mario Testino on camera duty - and the events are under security lockdown, with both neighboring villages of Southrop and Little Faringdon closed down. In fact, wedding guests and locals had to be issued permits to allow them to pass through roadblocks. However, PopSugar has a look at Kate on her way to the ceremony this afternoon in her veil.

Last night, Moss and Hince gave paparazzi a rare treat, posing for photographs outside The Swan pub in Southrop before their rehearsal dinner. Moss, in a vintage dress and blue Tabitha Simmons boots, looked visibly ecstatic, and apparently told the Daily Mail: "I was so nervous when I was practising signing the register. I've been so stressed out. My hands were shaking like an old woman's!" As for Hince, the couple's friend, Primal Scream bassist Mani said: "He's all right, he's marrying a supermodel. What's there to be nervous about?"

Moss is apparently set to wear a custom John Galliano gown to the ceremony, with Christian Louboutin shoes. Jamie Hince and his "best man," Kills bandmate Alison Mosshart, are confirmed to wear Yves Saint Laurent, while maid of honor Trish Simonon will sport Erdem. The newly-wedded couple and their 300 guests (including Naomi Campbell, Vivienne Westwood, Stefano Pilati, Stella McCartney, Sir Philip Green, and Edward Enninful) will then retreat to the model's home for the first of a three-day, reportedly £500,000 ($800,000) celebration.

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Yves Saint Laurent Resort 2012

fashionologie — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:35:37 PDT

>> Yves Saint Laurent's Resort 2012 collection - which Stefano Pilati hopped the pond to show yesterday at Haunch of Venison art gallery in New York - started with a poppy motif pulled from a 1971 Saint Laurent collection. “There was a shoe with a poppy on the ankle,” Pilati explained. “I’ve always been kind of obsessed, but I thought I’d never use it for a fashion show. But then I had a book, which had a lot of poppies, and I went to the [Italian] countryside and there were a lot of poppies.”

Couple the floral prints with traditional cruise elements - starfish, gold buttons, ropes, and anchors - and you have the gist of the navy and red-filled collection. As Pilati put it: "You know, why not dress like I’m going on a yacht when, in fact, I’m going to the office?” But some pieces are primed for seaside wear, too - the giant rubber necklaces, for example, “can be worn swimming,” he explained.

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Carine Roitfeld Announces Her First Post-Vogue Paris Gig

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:36:04 PDT

>> Carine Roitfeld was spotted a couple of days ago in New York, and it will likely be happening more often in the next few months. Barneys New York has asked Roitfeld to act as a guest editor, muse, and stylist for a multifaceted Fall 2011 initiative.

Roitfeld will style and edit Barneys' Fall 2011 catalogue, campaign (to be shot by Mario Sorrenti), and mailers, as well as put her touch on the retailer's Madison Avenue windows, to be unveiled in September. “It’s very exciting,” Roitfeld said. “It’s a new kind of project for me. It’s good to have a new life, because now I can do projects that I never dreamed of before. For me, Barneys has always been the biggest name in luxury department stores, so to be able to participate in this project with them, and be visible during the next fashion week in New York, is my dream come true. To a French girl, it’s a big, big dream.”

The collaboration came up after a conversation with Barneys CEO Mark Lee after Roitfeld announced she was leaving Vogue Paris. Barneys creative director Dennis Freedman explained that the campaign will reflect “the woman that [Roitfeld] is and her personal style, which we feel is the perfect reflection of our customer. She is the ideal muse as well as editor. She has a unique and extraordinary personal style. She appeals to all ages. She is independent and strong, and yet she is completely feminine. She is a woman of the world, which we like to think our customer is, as well.” It remains unclear whether Roitfeld herself will appear in the ad campaign.

Sorrenti is also expected to shoot a short film in New York and Paris for Barneys, with Roitfeld as the focus. “I am hoping to capture something very personal, a portrait of her in a way,” Sorrenti said. “When Carine and I are together, it’s fun, and she is really cool and really herself, and it’s that intimacy that I want to capture. She has a great sense of humor, and she is very provocative and very free in the way that she doesn’t plan about who she is and what she is going to say. She is very natural, which is great.”

This is Roitfeld's first publicly announced project since leaving Vogue Paris, and it sounds like she plans to stay a free agent for the time being. She says of recent rumors: “Each day it’s changing. One day I am going to Dior with Riccardo Tisci, the next day I am going to Saint Laurent with Hedi Slimane. I don’t think it’s very nice for the designer at Saint Laurent, and it’s just rumors. What I know is that I now have my freedom and I will keep my freedom forever. I am very excited to have this freedom and to have projects like the one at Barneys.”

As for what her future might actually hold, she says: “I am sure that one day I will, even if it’s not my own magazine, do special stories for magazines and maybe something on the Internet. I have projects and opportunities coming on. The only sure thing I know is that I will keep my freedom. I can be a muse for a designer, I can do work for some magazines, and do advertising, and maybe something like Barneys, but still keep my freedom.”

Stefano Pilati Finds All the Yves Saint Laurent Rumors an "Infuriating Distraction"

fashionologie — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:44:23 PST

>> Stefano Pilati has numerous times over the years been plagued with reports of his imminent demise at Yves Saint Laurent. But despite the house's denial of the latest round of rumors, he says, “You know, it affects me . . . I am a creative person, so I am very vulnerable by nature. When you have the idea for a collection, you are really happy, and when you don’t have the idea, you are upset and down and grumpy. That is your daily life. And that vulnerability . . . it can also be fragility.”

Pilati adds that he has at times wondered if the rumors might be true, and that they have been "an infuriating distraction because he thought that they were driven by jealous colleagues or those who were seeking to unseat him," the New York Times reports.

“I don’t let it go,” he says. “What is it about? I should be here, thinking about how beautiful my job is, and come to the office every day and work with colors and fabrics. But no, you have something that undermines you.”

Yves Saint Laurent just recently posted its first significant profit - of about $15 million - after almost a decade of stunning losses; PPR chairman Francois-Henri Pinault credited Pilati as having played a key role in the turnaround. Nonetheless, Pilati has questioned his place in fashion and whether the pressures are worth it: “I have worked and worked and worked hard again. I have been a monk here [at Yves Saint Laurent].”

But he's staying in the game for now - his contract with the house runs through March 2012, he says, but he will likely start discussing a new contract this Spring - he wants to stay with the brand.

Rumor - Riccardo Tisci to Replace Galliano at Dior, Haider Ackermann to Givenchy, and Hedi Slimane to Yves Saint Laurent

fashionologie — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:42:33 PST

>> Riccardo Tisci is regarded as a favorite to succeed John Galliano at Dior - he already works for LVMH at Givenchy, and as a source told Racked, "Givenchy is a training ground for Dior, just like for Galliano in the '90s" (Galliano was creative director at Givenchy before joining Dior in 1996).

Now, Fashionista reports: "The latest gossip [at Paris Fashion Week] goes something like this: Riccardo Tisci will indeed replace Galliano at Christian Dior, Haider Ackermann will slip into Tisci’s spot at Givenchy, and despite YSL’s vehement denial otherwise, Hedi Slimane is about to take over for Stefano Pilati. Oh, and yes, Carine Roitfeld is coming along for the ride."

Vogue UK heard similarly regarding Pilati and Saint Laurent: "Fashion insiders close to the action in Paris suggest that a major fashion reshuffle could be set in to motion in the coming week - and may be sparked by the rumoured appointment of Hedi Slimane and Carine Roitfeld as the new creative team at the helm of YSL. Nothing has been confirmed by the brand, but our sources suggest that - despite YSL protestations to the contrary - Pilati may be replaced."

Armani Denies Plans to Hire Stefano Pilati; PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault Praises the Designer

fashionologie — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:04:48 PST

>> Yesterday, Yves Saint Laurent took to Twitter to dispel rumors of Stefano Pilati's imminent exit, and when reached for comment Thursday, PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault also firmly denied any plans to discharge the designer. In fact, he credited Pilati with helping Saint Laurent back to profitability in 2010, and just last week praised Pilati at PPR's results presentation for Saint Laurent's current momentum, and teasing him good-naturedly about filling all the upcoming new YSL stores with merchandise. As for the rumors of Pilati heading to Armani after Giorgio Armani's retirement, a house spokesperson replied: "The rumors are untrue." [WWD, Vogue UK]

Yves Saint Laurent Denies Rumors of Stefano Pilati Leaving

fashionologie — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:30:09 PST

>> After the latest round of Stefano Pilati-leaving-Yves Saint Laurent rumors were unleashed following house CEO Valerie Bermann's departure - these had Hedi Slimane set to replace Pilati in an imminent announcement - the house has taken to Twitter this afternoon to dispel the reports: "From YSL HQ in Paris… Pilati busy working on the next collection. All the rumors unfounded - he is here to stay." And there you have it. [@Y_S_L]

Will Hedi Slimane Be Announced Yves Saint Laurent's New Designer Around Paris Fashion Week?

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:53:06 PST

>> For the better part of a year now, Stefano Pilati's standing at Yves Saint Laurent has been under intense scrutiny. After reports circulated that he had renewed his contract at the house for three more years in October, the rumors of his imminent departure subsided - until Saint Laurent CEO Valerie Hermann, who with Pilati restored the house to profitability, announced last week she was stepping down to become CEO of Reed Krakoff on April 1. She helped recruit her successor at YSL, former Lanvin CEO Paul Deneve.

Then, a couple of days ago, someone tweeted under Kenzo's PR handle: "Just heard BIG news about this being a certain designer at an established French house's last season and being replaced by someone major!!" and "CEO has just left and now the designer replaced by someone who has moved away from design the last couple of yrs but stayed in fashion." The tweets - which seem to point to Pilati as the deposed and Hedi Slimane as the successor - have since been taken down (Note that YSL is under the PPR umbrella, whereas Kenzo is part of LVMH).

Now, Hint is reporting that according to sources, Hermann didn't leave her post last week, but rather was let go because of low sales volume. And Slimane - who designed for Saint Laurent before Dior Homme - has been chosen as Pilati's replacement, partially due to his friendship (read: ability to get along) with Pierre Berge. Word is, one way or another, the matter will be addressed by a spokesperson around Paris Fashion Week.

And in the aftermath? There's already been suggestions that Carine Roitfeld with consult for Slimane at the brand, and of course, there's the rumor that Pilati is set to take over at Giorgio Armani after the designer's retirement.