fashionologie

Peter Lindbergh Goes Light on Retouching Again, This Time with Supermodels for Harper's Bazaar

fashionologie — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:30:51 PDT

>> Peter Lindbergh seems to be quite taken with this no-makeup, minimal-to-no retouching concept: In April, he captured Eva Herzigova, Ines de la Fressange, and a slew of European actresses without makeup or retouching for French Elle. A month after, he told the New York Times that he was tired of subjects in fashion magazines looking like overly-Photoshopped “objects from Mars": “My feeling is that for years now it has taken a much too big part in how women are being visually defined today. Heartless retouching should not be the chosen tool to represent women in the beginning of this century.”

Lindbergh continues to lead the charge against excessive retouching, this time by capturing supermodels Amber Valletta, Nadja Auermann, Helena Christensen, Shalom Harlow, Claudia Schiffer, Tatjana Patitz, Cindy Crawford, and Kristen McMenamy without makeup or excessive retouching for Harper's Bazaar's September 2009 issue.

View Slideshow ›

Chanel's Cruise 2010 Show Lands on the Boardwalk at Sunset in Venice

fashionologie — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:05:33 PDT

>> Yesterday was all fittings and a dinner party - which host Karl Lagerfeld and his entourage were a full two hours late for (blame it on the fittings and Lady Amanda Harlech's mosquito-stung eye) - but the Chanel Cruise 2010 was this evening at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Lido Resort in Venice.

Siri Tollerod, Heidi Mount, Liu Wen, Charlotte di Calypso, and Denisa Dvorakova were all in town to walk, powwowing with Lagerfeld for their fittings yesterday; add to that list Inguna Butane and Snejana Onopka, who sent photographic evidence of their arrival, plus Lara Stone and Tatjana Patitz, who walked the finale with Karl.

Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt were spotted lounging in the sun on the Hotel Europa's terrace pre-show, and at the Excelsior Lido, white tents were set up on the beach and the pier lit up. The catwalk was a boardwalk and the front row a line of deck chairs, with editors left to deal with their heels sinking into the sand.

Last night, Lagerfeld hinted that the clothes would be reminiscent of Peggy Guggenheim, the patron whose palazzo now houses Italy’s most important collection of twentieth-century art, and inspired by Venetian high-society of the '30s, with fabrics sourced from "the rich reds of the Renaissance, Fortuny's prints, and the chiaroscuro technique of the great Italian masters."

The show happened at sunset - Karl made everyone wait two hours because he wanted to start then - with the girls wearing Marchesa Casati-inspired wigs and makeup, the opening "sailor girl-inspired cream and navy knits" and a finale of metallic lace cocktail dresses. Guests brought home a Chanel beach towel as souvenir.

More photos of the collection here.

View Slideshow ›

Trippy Shoes: Models Fear Next Step at Alexander McQueen, Tatjana Patitz Wobbles at Hermes

fashionologie — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:35:15 PDT

>> No one fainted this time around at Alexander McQueen, but the show could win this season's Prada award for torturous shoes - even over Nina Ricci. Numerous inches were added to the festishistic heels, and the girls took every step with care - some even broke their runway stare to glance down momentarily, and Sigrid Agren looked around like she's frightened of the next step. Karlie Kloss, below, had to stop and fix her dress to keep from tripping over it. Suzy Menkes was discomfited by the display: "the models were tortured into dresses that hobbled their feet, making each runway step treacherous and giving a discomforting misogynist feel to the show."

Meanwhile, this morning at Hermes, another painful scene: supermodel Tatjana Patitz seemed to be out of practice on the runway. She almost tripped and fell three times, including when she closed the show. When Jean Paul Gaultier came out for his bow, he gave her a hug, and apparently she looked like she was about to cry.
*image: source

View Slideshow ›

Alaia Wasn't Good Enough for Dior, But Naomi Campbell Lived With Him

fashionologie — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:13:53 PST

>> He may be one of the lesser knowns of a design generation that includes Valentino Garavani, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, and Giorgio Armani, but at 68, Azzedine Alaia has carved out a niche of his own. Like Armani, Alaia owns his business, allowing him to design his way - as Stephanie Seymour, who spoke with the designer for March 2009 Interview puts it - "usually very late at night with an old film playing in the background." More elusive than Marc Jacobs but more forthcoming than Martin Margiela, a window into Alaia's world is always a treat; More from Seymour and the man she refers to as "Papa":

Alaia was fired from Christian Dior after five days.

I met my best friend, Leila, whose mother had connections to clients of Christian Dior in Paris, and eventually someone asked if I could come work there. I got the job. But when I arrived, it was the end of the Algerian War [1962]. After five days there they said to me, "You can't work here any longer. You're a foreigner."

"I have such fond memories . . ." »