fashionologie

Riccardo Tisci Casts Only Asian Models to Show Japanese-Infused Spring 2011 Givenchy Couture Collection

fashionologie — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:35:19 PST

>> Now that Givenchy's couture presentations are intimate and without the hoopla of a fashion show, Riccardo Tisci has decreased the number of dresses per collection produced - this time, there were only ten. But that doesn't mean there's a lack of drama. Inspired by Japanese robot toys and Kazuo Ohno (the legendary Japanese Butoh dancer who Tisci met through a mutual friend), the collection is pastel in front with shocks of brighter color in the back - like with Pre-Fall, Tisci has left his usual black-based palette behind. One dress, with hand-dyed and hand-cut matte sequins, took 4,000 hours of handwork to assemble. And as for the model cast, Tisci went completely Asian, with Chinese (Ming Xi, Liu Wen, Shu Pei Qin, Sun Fei Fei, Du Juan, Jiang Xiao Yi), Japanese (Ai Tominaga, Tao Okamoto) and Korean (Hye Rim Park, So Young Kang) all represented.

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Watch the Lanvin for H&M Short Film!

fashionologie — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:37:53 PDT

>> Now that you've seen the entire Lanvin for H&M collection in still pictures, it's time to check it out in motion. Watch the collection's campaign girls Natasha Poly, Hannelore Knuts, Tatiana Cotliar, Jane Schmitt, and Garance Dumont; the collection's lookbook model Irina Lazareanu; plus Leigh Lezark, Milagros Schmoll, and Tao Okamoto in the whimsical vid styled by Camille Bidault Waddington - complete with thought bubbles and an Alber Elbaz cameo.

Paul Rowland's First Ford Show Package - For Spring 2011 - Highlights Tao Okamoto, Karmen Pedaru, and Dafne Cejas in Retro Style

fashionologie — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:15:16 PDT

>> Paul Rowland is heading into his first major show season as head of Ford's women's division. Though he recently said that as he aims to reinvigorate the 64-year-old agency, adding that his vision "is very different from [Ford co-founder] Eileen Ford’s," the first show package showcasing his stable of models - which gives a first visual idea of his brand presentation - does pay tribute to the Ford Model of yore. Teased wigs, retro twinsets, and pearls adorn the likes of Tao Okamoto, Karmen Pedaru, and Alana Zimmer. As Models.com points out, "Irony is the original Ford girls (sans the Rowland twist) looked something like this, all white gloved and be-hatted."

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Musical Chairs at Modeling Agencies As Supreme and Women Founder Paul Rowland Leaves for Ford

fashionologie — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:33:37 PDT

>> Last week, rumors of a major shift in the New York modeling agency setup floated around; eventually, it came out that Paul Rowland, the founder of Women Management and its Supreme offshoot, was leaving Supreme to head up the women's division at Ford.

According to Page Six's industry insider, Rowland, who sold the company which he founded in 1988 a few years ago, "had a huge salary there, but wasn't really getting along with management. So basically, he just left." Ford "cleaned house and canned everyone," says another source, to make way for Rowland and the agents he was bringing with him.

Caroline Poznanski, meanwhile, who ran Ford's women's division until Rowland's arrival, has been chosen by Supreme to take Rowland's old job. "It's one big game of musical chairs," reports the source. "There were rumors around that Supreme was just going to close, but instead they hired Poznanski and absorbed some other people who had been let go from Ford."

One booker notes: "The models at these places are in a tailspin. A lot, including [Ford girls] Chanel Iman and Jacquelyn Jablonski, don't know if they're staying or going. There will likely be a spate of lawsuits because both Paul and Caroline are trying to bring their girls over, but they have noncompetes in their contracts."

Some models have already switched »

fashionologie — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:51:34 PST

>> First Look: Zac Posen for Target - Zac Posen's Target collaboration doesn't come out until April 25, but Fashionista's got a full look at the wares. Available for the peeping? A mod yellow raincoat ($49.99), a very Posen-esque red ruffled party dress ($79.99), and the navy snap dress at left ($69.99). Now we're just waiting to see Posen's Spring 2010 ad campaign, styled by his boyfriend Christopher Niquet and featuring Tao Okamoto photographed by Ellen von Unwerth. [Fashionista, Christopher Niquet]

UPDATE: The Jean Paul Gaultier for Target lookbook is now available for the looking, too. [Refinery29]

Vogue Paris, Three Stylists Turn Out 65 Pages Worth of Models in Iconic Brand Looks

fashionologie — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:48:05 PDT

>> Some thought that Vogue Paris's August 2009 cover with Daria Werbowy all decked out in Burberry check looked too blatantly like an advertisement, but in the context of Inez van Lamweerde and Vinoodh Matadin's 65-page accompanying editorial inside - with a plethora of models, each embodying a different brand's identity - it all makes sense.

It's a few of the magazine's usual suspects - Anja Rubik doing Gucci's "glam star" in fauxhawk, Kamila Filipcikova striking an eyepopping McQueen silhouette - plus a few new faces like Regina Feoktistova and Ranya Mordanova in Gianfranco Ferre and Junya Watanabe, respectively. The trifecta of stylists that produced these images - Joe McKenna, Emmanuelle Alt, Carine Roitfeld - prove that there is creativity to be found within the bounds of a studio shoot, after all.

Full editorial here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; gallery below NSFW.

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Tao Okamoto Climbs Into the Major League with Ralph Lauren Fall 2009

fashionologie — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:31:07 PDT

>> Tao Okamoto was tapped as one of the top faces to watch after Fall 2009 runway season, and designers are clearly enamored. Phillip Lim recently named her his muse and had all models on his Fall 2009 runway wear wigs cropped just like her hair, and now Ralph Lauren has welcomed her into his stable alongside current mainstays Ubah Hassan (who recently talked about what her Ralph casting was like) and Valentina Zelyaeva for his Fall 2009 campaign.

A lot of attention has been placed on bringing more models of color into the mix, but with heavy prevalence placed on black models; Tao's appointment could open the gateway for Asian models in major campaigns. Her agency promises "this is just the beginning of things to come for Ms. Okamoto," and Ralph is a good place to start - the exclusive contract Valentina Zelyaeva has had with the brand since 2005 helped elevate her to Forbes' list of 15 top-earning models last year, ringing in at $2.3 million, and her agent touting a Ralph Lauren deal as "one of the greatest things you can have."
*image: source

Speculating on Fall 2009 Campaign Season

fashionologie — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:15:30 PDT

>> For Spring 2009 more than ever, brands stuck with campaign models who guarantee a sell - supermodels like Gisele Bundchen and Kate Moss for Versace or Claudia Schiffer for Yves Saint Laurent, Daria Werbowy for Roberto Cavalli - or the classic blonde hair-blue eye combination that Toni Garrn and Anna Maria Jagodzinska's campaign sweeps represented. Also of note for the season, Prada and Balenciaga's decisions to go with big groups of models - eight and ten, respectively.

With Fall 2009 campaign season under way, it sounds like at least a couple of brands have decided to break from that latter part of last season's formula - Wayne Sterling of The Imagist reports:

"It is too early to say and too tenuous to reveal who's holding/confirming what these days but rest assured it is the striking and the extreme that seem to be filtering into the next phase. Among the buzz I picked up by some art directors is a disenchantment with the 'multiples' ideal, that concept of an army of models rocking as many of the looks from the show as possible while waving as many possible it-bags as can be crammed into a double page. Two VERY big brands have already gone 'Only Girl.'"

The most likely candidate from that description of packing the models in seems to be Prada - so does that mean Prada is one of those already-decided brands, and Miuccia's current favorite exclusive Ymre Stiekema is going to finally get a main season campaign under her belt?

Who else is already being pinpointed? »

fashionologie — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:27:23 PDT

>> INSIDER WIRE - Do Kate Moss and Karl Lagerfeld have something behind-the-scenes going on? Kate only hit up the Chanel show, the Chanel party, and the Fendi party out of all the Fashion Week events while in town - and she even went shopping yesterday at Fendi. Maybe it's just one big coincidence, but it is the beginning of campaign season - Tao Okamoto already landed Akris Fall 2009 - is Kate sitting for one of Karl's Fall 2009 campaigns? Or did they just work out an appearance contract?

*image: bauer-griffin online

Phillip Lim's Model as Muse; Daul Kim's Thoughts on Madonna

fashionologie — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:24:11 PST

Tao Okamoto just met Phillip Lim two weeks ago and thought he was joking when he told her it would be "so great if all the girls at the show had your hairstyle" - he wasn't, and now she's his muse [Elle News Blog]
Backstage at VPL, Daul Kim was given a "face spa air treatment scrub session"; they told her Madonna does the treatment, and her response was: "OK, but I don't want to look like Madge!" [Papermag]
Coco Rocha has some dedicated man fans - one creepy man was searching the tents high and low for her, and a photographer at Zac Posen yelled "Now that's a woman" as Coco took her turn [Fashionista, WWD Twitter]

*image: source