fashionologie

Fall 2009 Couture Bits: Christian Lacroix Paid Models 50 Euros, Cathy Horyn Warns Valentino Might Give Wearers "A Rash"

fashionologie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:11:13 -0700

Models fees are required in France, so Christian Lacroix chipped in to pay his 10 models 50 euros apiece. Normal couture fees are said to be around 1300 euros per show for new faces - every year of experience earns a "raise" of about 1000 more euros. [Imaginary Socialite]

Jean Paul Gaultier had a 12-lb dress, Chanel had three seamstresses working on the bride look, and Maison Martin Margiela used 2,000 pen caps for a jacket: it's Fall 2009 couture by the numbers. [The Cut]

Cathy Horyn yearns for Alessandra Facchinett's Valentino; Of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's couture, she says: "Frankly I’d be worried about getting too close to one of those prickly, encrusted numbers. You might get a rash." [On the Runway]

Couture clients, a video of Chanel couture in the making »

Valentino Goes "Radical" in Black for Fall 2009 Couture

fashionologie — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:46:52 -0700

>> Just as editors privy to a preview hinted yesterday, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's second couture outing - for Fall 2009 - was heavy on the black, lace, feathers, and gothic look - "radical," in a word, for Valentino. As Elle's Joe Zee put it, "Not one piece of red in sight. It's a new day at Valentino. Hell, there was barely any long. Just wisps of fabric with bows and frills."

The show took place in an old convent, with the runway featuring moving images of smoke projected on screens. Philip Treacy contributed shredded veils especially for the collection, and though reception to the designers has been tepid in the past, initial reaction seems positive. Says Style.com's Derek Blasberg: "Ok, it was good. But so black! . . . Methinks [Valentino] would be proud." And Joe Zee: "Attention Hollywood starlets: Please wear short to your next red carpet. And please call Valentino for it. Short has never looked so chic."

fashionologie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:11:40 -0700

>> Valentino Fall 2009 Couture Said to Be "Radical" -Valentino has made some major personnel changes recently in hopes of reinvigorating the brand under the direction of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, and the designer's third effort - their Fall 2009 couture show tomorrow - is to be "shrouded in black," according to TIME Style & Design's Kate Betts. Meanwhile, a Times UK editor who attended a collection preview says it's "incredible. It's Valentino meets gothic. Radical." [Kate Betts Twitter, Times UK Twitter]

Iris Strubegger Gives V#60 "A Touch of Class"

fashionologie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:31:44 -0700

>> Iris Strubegger is finding traction more traction than ever - Fall 2009 Givenchy and Valentino ads, an entire article in July 2009 Vogue dedicated to her cropped cut making her career. She told the magazine: "My hair makes me look more interesting, and it has given me more confidence." The confidence comes across in her new editorial in the upcoming July/August 2009 V#60, "A Touch of Class." The magazine isn't out until July 7, but a preview of the editorial, styled by Olivier Rizzo and photographed by Willy Vanderperre, shows Iris working the usual designer duds with a twist: a pair of fishnets worn on top. The V#60 cover features Cameron Diaz by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, and inside are portraits by David Sims and a shoot with Lady Gaga.

So where is Iris's newfound confidence taking her next? She told Vogue she plans on spending her summer vacation camping in Croatia with Wolfgang, her boyfriend of seven years and a financier from her hometown in Austria.

fashionologie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:47:19 -0700

>> Dior To Show Twice at Couture, Lacroix's Early Collection Reviews "Glowing"-Despite Vogue only sending a "very small" team and Elle sending two people - creative director Joe Zee and executive accessories editor Kate Davidson Hudson - John Galliano is planning to show his Fall 2009 Dior couture collection twice because he's using a smaller location this year. Meanwhile, Carlos Souza is inaugurating his return to Valentino with a big bash post-show, and early reports of Christian Lacroix's "fightback" couture collection are "pretty glowing." [FWD]

Valentino Brings Back Carlos Souza In Hopes to Reinvigorate the Brand

fashionologie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:11:00 -0700

>> Former Valentino vice president of worldwide public relations and the designer's right-hand man Carlos Souza, who exited the company where he worked for over twenty years after his contract ran out in January 2008, is back in place.

Souza, who left the house after Valentino's farewall couture show in January 2008 before Alessandra Facchinetti took the reins, is widely credited with growing the brand's devoted clientele and celebrity fan base and producing the runway and party spectaculars that took the brand to the global level. Between Facchinetti and current Valentino designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, the house has struggled to define itself post-Valentino - the latter designers have received unenthusiastic reviews for both collections they've presented.

Just in time for their third effort - the Fall 2009 Couture show in July - Souza has quietly been brought back to head up public relations in the US, a move many insiders consider to be in efforts to get the brand back on track - re-attracting the strayed celebrity ambassadors, included.

Marc Jacobs's New Muse, Possible Costume Institute Gala Date

fashionologie — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:55:37 -0700

>> Anne Hathaway has been tied to Valentino Garavani recently - she sat next to him at the New York premiere of Valentino: The Last Emperor, where he spilled red wine all over her white dress, and last week she presented him with a Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award.

While Valentino is not using a celebrity for its upcoming Fall 2009 campaign, it sounds like Anne might have a chance with another designer. Apparently, she's recently become close to Marc Jacobs - likely through Rachel Zoe, who dresses Anne and is close to Marc - and he promised to dress her for high-profile events. According to one of her friends, "Marc and Anne have forged a fast but very intense friendship and they’re going to start doing public appearances together soon. Anne hasn’t signed up to do any advertising yet but . . . if it works well, Anne would be happy to model for some of Marc’s campaigns."

Maybe one of those upcoming public appearances they're doing together is the Costume Institute Gala in a month? Because although Marc is known for choosing quirky and unexpected faces for his campaigns, Anne doesn't really seem the right face for his neon, '80s-centric Fall 2009 collection.
*image: source

The Emperor Valentino Reigns at New York Premiere

fashionologie — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:00:14 -0700

>> Last night, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti were in New York to fete the opening of Valentino: The Last Emperor - arguably their biggest Manhattan party ever, between the screening and the dinner for 200 of fashion's finest (including Anna Wintour, Anja Rubik, Jason Wu, and Chanel Iman) at the Plaza's Oak Room. The designer's six pugs Molly, Milton, Monty, Margot, Maude, and Maggie, who director Matt Tyrnauer has dubbed "the costars of the film," weren't present - according to Valentino, "they're getting some time away from me in Italy" - but maybe that's a good thing: Karolina Kurkova admitted, “they’re really not nice to everybody” and Gwyneth Paltrow agreed, calling the pugs "kind of mean."

When Giancarlo Giammetti was asked about his comment on film that the designer looked too tan, he was quick to explain, "We'd come from the beach, and we were about to show summer suits, and he just . . . it just seemed like too much. But it was one time, and one time only." And as for those rumors that he was back to helping out at Valentino for Fall 2009, Garavani denied having any hand in it, "No, not at all. Very far from the truth. I don’t think about it. I wish my assistants to do the best. It’s a big job, though, and to know my name goes on the designs, I want them to do the best.”

Meanwhile, the film seems to have already inspired at least one person - Zac Posen. "I wouldn't mind being followed around too for two years. It's all about having the right collaborators."
*image: source, source, filmmagic

Valentino: The Last Emperor Hits US Theaters

fashionologie — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:55:12 -0700

>> Valentino Garavani may have retired from fashion - or maybe not, there are rumors that he had a hand in the Fall 2009 Valentino collection - but either way, he's been a busy man promoting the impending US premiere of Valentino: The Last Emperor tomorrow, March 18, in New York. He does, however, say he's "extremely happy to have quit from fashion. All of the designers are doing the eighties. I hate the eighties. I did it, and I hate it. When I go to see my dresses of the eighties, I vomit.” Instead, he's appearing on Oprah, The Martha Stewart Show, receiving a Rodeo Drive Walk of Style award, and contemplating designing for opera and ballet.

As for the movie, Matt Tyrnauer, the documentary's director, promises "one explosion after the other. Valentino is very impatient. He’s a Taurus. He loves the drama. There are divo moments and there are tantrums, and a lot of them are directed at the camera. It’s sort of like a cross between a hurricane and a cyclone." Which made it interesting when he first showed Valentino and his partner Giancarlo Giammetti the director's cut: "It was not easy. To tell you the truth, they kind of freaked out. We had some healthy discussions and multiple screenings over the course of several months. And they have come to accept it."

You've probably seen the pug-filled trailer by now, but another clip is below, featuring Karl Lagerfeld telling Valentino after his show, "That's the way it should be done. Compared to us, the rest are making rags." After the movie hits New York, it travels to Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles - information here.

The clip! »

Marios Schwab to Halston? Brands Increasingly Looking For One-Label Designers

fashionologie — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:05:42 -0700

>> An in-house team has produced the last two Halston collection since Marco Zanini left, but the search is still on for a creative director. Sources say that young London talent Marios Schwab might be the man - he's apparently been in talks with the brand - but Bonnie Takhar, Halston CEO, wouldn't confirm anything. “We have been looking at all options in the market, but we have made no decisions.”

If Schwab were to take the job, would he be required to shutter his eponymous label? Increasingly, brands are looking for devoted creative directors who don't have to split time between labels; in fact, a lot of brands are digging up designers who have never helmed a label before: Vionnet just hired Prada alum Rodolfo Paglialunga, Nina Ricci is supposedly going with Louis Vuitton-trained Peter Copping, Valentino recently promoted accessory designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, and Chloe decided on alum Hannah MacGibbon.

Hiring designers: it's not what it used to be »