fashionologie

Watch Loic Prigent's New Carine Roitfeld Documentary Film, Feted Last Night

fashionologie — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:44:11 PST

>> Last night, Stefano Tonchi and Carine Roitfeld unveiled "The Client," a 13-minute documentary focusing on Roitfeld, at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The film was produced after director Loic Prigent followed Roitfeld around the most recent Paris couture week - to the shows, couture fittings with everyone from Azzedine Alaia to Jean Paul Gaultier, and then finally at a W shoot for which she models the couture looks she chose.

Watch the full film - in which Roitfeld jokes that couture models are "fat" compared to her and then calls up Karl Lagerfeld to help her decide which Chanel dress to wear for the shoot - below.

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Lori Goldstein Named W Style Editor at Large

fashionologie — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:35:53 PDT

>> Just six weeks after Edward Enninful joined W as fashion and style director, his former colleague at Vogue Italia, Lori Goldstein, has joined the magazine as style editor at large. Goldstein has been a free agent for years, and noted that taking a masthead title and “being more of a part of a magazine, which is something I’ve never done, is very exciting to me.”

She continued: “What’s so great about what I’m doing in being style editor at large it’s kind of like I get to encompass everything I love to do. I’ve always been one of those people that goes back and forth in this business in different ways, so I get to really do great fashion stories with Edward and I’m also going to be working with [editor at large] Lynn Hirschberg and bringing fashion into the element of the actors that we shoot and kind of being the thread through all the different areas.”

Goldstein will work exclusively for W and can't work for competitors (ie other American fashion monthlies) but can work for non-direct competitors like Vogue Italia if given approval by W editor Stefano Tonchi. Tonchi said in a statement: “I have an incredible amount of respect for Lori, and admire her imagination and impeccable taste. Even on a freelance basis, Lori has been an integral part of the new W. She has styled some of our best covers, including Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, Mia Wasikowska, and January Jones. Given the recent expansion of W’s fashion team, I thought it was the perfect moment in time to formalize this relationship."

With Goldstein now in the W fold, is it possible that her frequent collaborator Steven Meisel might also become a regular contributor to the magazine? “We will see,” she replied coyly.

Fashion Descends on Venice for the 2011 Biennale

fashionologie — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:16:29 PDT

>> Every two years, the fashion flock meets the art world in Venice for a series of parties and power buys. This year, Hogan, Prada, and Missoni have been among the Venice Biennale event hosts, bringing out guests like Anna Wintour (who was spotted yesterday riding around the city's Grand Canal), Dasha Zhukova, and Naomi Campbell. While some have already come and gone - Anna Wintour, Francois-Henri Pinault, and Salma Hayek Pinault were already spotted attending the French Open in Paris today - we've the fleeting moments of the last couple of days' festivities captured in our slideshow at left.

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Horacio Silva Exits T Magazine

fashionologie — Fri, 13 May 2011 08:44:42 PDT

>> T's online director Horacio Silva, who has been working at the New York Times's fashion magazines for just over ten years now, has stepped down. "It's no secret I've been toying with the idea," he said. Silva was reportedly vying to replace Stefano Tonchi as T editor a year ago, a position which eventually went to Sally Singer. Silva noticeably doesn't mention Singer when saying he's grateful for the people he's worked with: "I have had the privilege of working with some amazing people, including three of the best editors T has gone through. Amy Spindler, Stefano Tonchi, and Andy Port." As for Silva's future plans, he says he has a number of brand clients lined up for consulting work. "It's an interesting time right now as the lines between editorial and advertising are becoming more and more nebulous, it'll be interesting to be in the forefront there," he explained. "I've also been threatening to write a book for some time." [The Cut]

W Fashion and Style Director Alex White Steps Down, Replaced by Edward Enninful

fashionologie — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:23:02 PDT

>> W fashion and style director Alex White, one of the last vestiges of the old guard at the magazine, is to be replaced by Edward Enninful, effective May 1. White, who held the position for 16 years, decided to step down to pursue a range of fashion and lifestyle projects in both digital and social media.

According to W editor Stefano Tonchi, the decision for White to leave was mutual: “Alex is a fantastic stylist and has done incredible work over the years. Everyone at W is grateful to Alex for creating such memorable fashion portfolios, and for the significant mark she has left on the magazine . . . She’s thinking very much about her own brand - the Alex White brand - and at a certain point that’s no longer what W is about.”

White agreed that they were "totally on the same page": “My 16 years at W have been thrilling. I’ve worked with wildly talented people and helped produce a gorgeous magazine. I was delighted to stay and help Stefano through his first, transitional year, and am looking forward new beginnings . . . I helped with getting over the hump. Now it’s time for me to continue my freelance and explore the other things I’m working on, including digital projects." Tonchi indicated that White is thinking about starting her own magazine, possibly online. White had recently been experimenting with her own column online, Alex White Edits, on W's website.

Tonchi and Enninful, meanwhile, hit it off while seated next to each other at a Balenciaga dinner during Paris Fashion Week a couple of months ago, Tonchi says: “I didn’t really think about hiring him, I just thought he was incredibly joyful.” They began discussing a job at W earlier this month and moved quickly from there.

"This is the beginning of a new era at W, and I couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of it,” said Enninful. And Tonchi added: "I'm thrilled that Edward is joining our team, and am confident that he will bring a great deal of creativity, professionalism, and industry knowledge with him."

Enninful, who has been a contributing fashion editor at Vogue since 2005 and at Vogue Italia since 1998, is ending those engagements. “Now I’m going to be focusing my editorial prowess on W,” he explained. “Whenever a relationship ends it’s very sad."

W Trumps Vogue in 2011 ASME Nominations

fashionologie — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:33:10 PDT

>> Stefano Tonchi's take on W has received its share of mixed reactions, but the magazine's March 2011 issue had newsstand sales of 28,000 copies, up 5.4 percent from last March (the same month Tonchi was named W editor), and it received more nominations than any other fashion magazine this morning for the 2011 National Magazine Awards, announced by the American Society of Magazine Editors. Tonchi's first three issues - September, October, and November 2010 - are up for the Photography prize (notably the three issues Jody Quon worked on as creative director before she left the magazine); Tim Walker's fashion portfolio “The East Enders,” which ran in the September 2010 W relaunch, is up in the Feature Photography category; and W is also nominated alongside Vogue (that magazine's sole nod) in the Fashion, Service and Lifestyle “women’s interest” category. [WWD]

Industry Players on Who They Want to See at Christian Dior; A Decision Isn't Expected for Some Time

fashionologie — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:56:09 PST

>> There's been plenty a rumor about who might succeed John Galliano at Christian Dior, and in the video above, insiders give their two cents on who they think will take the role. While the Vogue contingent won't comment, Fabien Baron suggests Riccardo Tisci or Haider Ackermann, Stefano Tonchi offers up Peter Dundas's name, and Cathy Horyn opines, "People talk about Riccardo Tisci, [but he's] too gloomy for Dior," saying she'd instead like to see Tom Ford, Raf Simons, or Alber Elbaz.

Despite all the speculation, Dior is apparently in no hurry to name a successor; it's also not legally able, under French employment regulations, to do so until the process to terminate Galliano - which can take several weeks - has been completed. “There won’t be any choice for quite a while,” according to one source familiar with LVMH. “They’re receiving offers.”

Among the candidates Bernard Arnault's advisers have been pitching, according to WWD sources: Haider Ackermann, Hedi Slimane and Riccardo Tisci. Delphine Arnault, deputy managing director at Dior and Bernard Arnault's daughter, is said to be partial to Tisci. And overtures were apparently recently made to Ackermann as a possible candidate for Dior, or to succeed Tisci at Givenchy if he moves to Dior.

Stefano Tonchi on W Creative Director Jody Quon's Exit

fashionologie — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:25:56 PDT

>> W is not looking to fill the creative director position that creative director Jody Quon left empty after only three full issues and six months at the magazine. While Quon couldn't be reached for comment, editor Stefano Tonchi shed some light on why Quon might have exited her position: "I really came back 10 days ago [from the fashion shows in Europe] and there was a lot of tension in the office, much more than before."

He added that he was "very sad, very sad" to see her go, and that Quon's reasons for leaving were "very much that she didn't feel comfortable anymore and kind of agreed that it was maybe not the best match." When asked to elaborate on whether the tension resulted from a culture clash or a personality clash, Tonchi said he couldn't speak for Quon, but surmised: "Probably both." He continued: "From my side, I was very happy with what she has done with the magazine, and I appreciate her professionally, and, more than that, her elegance . . . I respect her decision. I accepted it."

As The Daily points out, "Quon had to contend with Baron & Baron wunderkind Joseph Logan, a skilled design director who appears to favor the austere aesthetic pioneered by Fabien Baron. (He's bringing on a new art director from Baron & Baron in the next few weeks to replace Nathalie Kirsheh, who recently decamped to Details.) And the third party to consider: fashion director Alex White, whose relationships with photographers like Mert & Marcus and Inez & Vinoodh are a valuable asset that Tonchi doesn't take lightly. Widely considered to be among the best stylists in the business, White is not known to take a backseat role in creative decision-making."

W Creative Director Jody Quon Has Exited the Magazine After Three Full Issues

fashionologie — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:37:59 PDT

>> W's new creative director Jody Quon has resigned after three full issues and six months at the magazine. "It was a mutual decision, and her position won't be filled," confirmed a W spokesperson. Quon's exit leaves design director Joseph Logan as editor Stefano Tonchi's top creative. "Everyone's position will be staying the same," the spokesperson added. Previously, Quon spent six years as New York's photo director, where she was known for her eye-catching covers with newsstand appeal; as The Daily noted, all four of Tonchi's covers so far have been served up on gray backgrounds. [DFR]

Juergen Teller Captures Anna Dello Russo, Who Has 4,000 Pairs of Shoes, For W's November 2010 Issue

fashionologie — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:40:18 PDT

>> Anna Dello Russo's appearance in the November 2010 issue of W likely explains why she was spotted at the magazine's offices in July - which at the time spurred rumors that she might be joining Stefano Tonchi's team. The 47-year-old street style star is captured by Juergen Teller in a six-page spread at her Milan home, which consists of two adjacent one-bedroom apartments, one for Dello Russo and one for her clothes. The latter includes a green marble bathroom: "You never know when the clothes might need a bath," Dello Russo quips.

Dello Russo's devotion to clothing goes without saying: she has 4,000 pairs of shoes and 250 black tuxedo jackets. Her first major shopping spree was at 13; she bought a Fendi handbag, umbrella, tissue holder, wallet, and key chain that she wore all together. "It never rains in Bari [where Dello Russo grew up], so my friends asked, 'What are you doing with the umbrella?'" she recalled. "And I said, 'How should I know? It's part of the look!'"

In high school, she once wore a pair of yellow shoes that her cat had used as a litter box the night before - they were part of her all-yellow planned outfit, so she just rinsed them out. "But it got hot in the classroom, and there was this terrible stink of cat pee," she remembers. "I had to confess because I didn't want anyone thinking I had peed in my pants. They all screamed, 'Couldn't you have changed your shoes?'"

Her attitude hasn't changed with age. Now, at the end of every season, Dello Russo clears everything out of her closet (except the furs, which apparently don't have expiration dates in her mind) to make way for new things. "I hate vintage clothes," she tells W, referring even to last year's Prada. "I love the smell of a new store, not an old dress."

As seriously as she takes her dressing, Dello Russo is self-deprecating. She recently told The Daily Beast about combining a Vogue Nippon photo shoot of Alessandra Ambrosio with one of herself for Ten: "There is this beautiful young thing [Ambrosio]. And then me in some of the same clothes. And in my pictures I look like transvestite. Why not?"

And she has had to make sacrifices for the sake of her clothes. "I had to choose between a kitchen and more closets, so I took the closets," Dello Russo says, as W observes her kitchen, described as "the size of a drinks cabinet" with "fingerprint-less cupboards" revealing only sunflower seeds and San Pellegrino. "Anna would eat clothes if she could," says Sophie Djerlal, a colleague from Dello Russo's days at Vogue Italia in the '90s.

She also chose clothes over her former husband, whom she wed in 1996 in a dress with a 60-foot train designed by his best man, Stefano Gabbana. "It barely lasted," Dello Russo said of the marriage. "He said, 'Isn't there some closet space for me?' And I said, 'No.'" She told The Daily Beast that she opted for a black Balenciaga two-piece on the day of her divorce. "Because I was feeling really, really desperate. Balenciaga, Balenciaga! The perfect divorce outfit. Perfect! I looked like the sad, grieving, [widow]. At that time I was not laughing at all. Now? I am laughing every day. Each day is filled with laughter."

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