fashionologie

Rodolfo Paglialunga Exits Vionnet

fashionologie — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:29:42 PDT

>> Just a few short days after showing his Spring 2012 collection for Vionnet, Rodolfo Paglialunga has left the brand. “Rudy is a talented designer who has allowed us to restart a sleeping brand,” co-owner Matteo Marzotto said, noting that the decision was consensual. Marzotto added that he has big plans to further grow Vionnet and extend its product offering. Italian twin sisters Barbara and Lucia Croce have been tapped to replace Paglialunga, who joined Vionnet in February 2009. [WWD]

Marc Jacobs on His "Great Talent" and Trying to Top the Last Louis Vuitton Show

fashionologie — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:54:00 PDT

>> In anticipation of his Lifetime Achievement Award, which he will receive during the CFDA Awards Monday, Marc Jacobs (who notes of the award, "It’s not my achievement, number one. It is Marc Jacobs as a company") sat down with WWD to wax philosophical on everything from Alexander Wang to Twitter to whether he considers himself a "great talent."

Highlights from the interview, below.

On what he did for Memorial Day: “Memorial Day? I don’t think I’ve had a Memorial Day off in 30 years. We’re all here [at the office]. The design team’s here, working through Saturday, Sunday, Monday. I’ll go to the gym every morning, but I’ll be here after the gym. It’s resort.”

On his success and being recognized in public and approached by fans: "I can’t help but remember the days when Robert [Duffy, his business partner] and I were interviewed for 48 Hours [in 1988]. Robert was building a runway. I’m vomiting in the bathroom because we hadn’t slept in three days and we were delirious and hallucinating. So none of that ever goes away."

On whether he's a "great talent": "No. I still wouldn’t say I am ... I don’t mind if you say it but I’m not going to say it myself."

On winning this year's CFDA Lifetime Achievement award: "I haven’t even sat down to write the [CFDA] speech yet but I’ve been thinking a lot about it, about what does this mean to me and what does this mean to us. I just turned 48 but I don’t feel 48. I still feel like a young person but I really see the difference in the work. I’m trying to understand what all of that means and how I feel about it."

On younger designers: "People ask me about the younger designers, Alex Wang and all of them, I think they’re great. I couldn’t do what they do. It’s not what I do. But just like in pop music and in the art world, people always want new work from the artist that they like but they also want new artists. I don’t think one changes the other. There’s always room for new designers, new musicians, new artists, new writers. Madonna, I don’t think is showing any signs of slowing down, but that doesn’t mean Lady Gaga isn’t taking over the world."

On the most recent Louis Vuitton show: "I loved the Vuitton show. I think as a show it was probably my favorite presentation we’ve ever done of a collection. I really loved it ... I’ve spent the past two weeks, which is superpremature, thinking that I don’t know what we’re going to do to top that last Vuitton show. I thought it was the most beautiful presentation. I think, 'Why am I doing this to myself?' but it’s inevitable. When I get back to Paris two weeks from now, I’m just going to be like, 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?' The answer won’t come right away."

On designers he admires: "I think the greatest contributors to fashion are women. Chanel, Vionnet. I think Vivienne Westwood; I think Miuccia Prada; Schiaparelli, Rei Kawakubo ... The one that I probably feel the most strongly about is Miuccia, because of the aesthetic and the mood. There’s something so shocking and so tender about it, and it’s also very real ... There’s an eccentricity but there’s also a chic old world sophistication, but it’s so new. It’s young but never vulgar. There’s a sex appeal that’s kind of naïve. It’s all the things I love."

On his debt to Tom Ford: "I felt that [being hired for Vuitton] was all born from Tom [Ford’s] success at Gucci. I believe Mr. Arnault was aware of that and said, 'We can do that with Vuitton.'"

On working for Bernard Arnault: "I meet with Mr. Arnault every time I’m in Paris. He’s such a hands-on sort of guy. He goes to every store in every country and he discusses things with me ... He was thrilled with the last [Vuitton] show. He felt that one and the one around the fountain were how he would like women to see Vuitton’s image as a fashion brand. He’s very up front and honest with me about what he likes and what he doesn’t like, what he thinks works and also what he thinks works in other places. Not that he’s asking me to do what someone else does, but to look at the success of certain things."

On the resources available to him at Louis Vuitton: "If you look at our first Vuitton show, we wanted to send out a nice collection of simple clothes with all the logos on the inside and one single bag on Kirsten Owen. It has evolved into, ‘OK, this is Paris. Let’s have three elevators.’ I asked for six; I got three. So we’re like, ‘Let’s get Kate Moss, Naomi [Campbell]. Let’s fly in Stella [Tennant]. Let’s fly in Carolyn [Murphy] and Amber [Valletta].’ You want a show? Okay guys, I’ll give you a show."

On critics: "You are dealing with a whole lot of highly sensitive people who [will react] depending on their mood and how they’re feeling that day or what they did or didn’t eat for lunch. I have no problem going on record with this and probably have gone on record with this before, there aren’t that many people who I respect. There just aren’t. I think journalists have the right to their opinions but I think their opinions should be based on history and what they see, not what they feel, how long they’ve been waiting or whether it’s raining or it’s snowing or whatever."

On whether traditional media matters anymore: "I’m not sure it does as much as it used to, and I’m not sure how much it ever did ... [But] I feel like it affects the energy of all of us. In fashion we all gossip about it because within our community it’s extremely important. I think it breaks momentum or a sort of energy when there’s harsh criticism, and I think when the critique is positive, we all feel quite robust and we’re out there. In that way, it has an effect. But in another, I think a woman’s going to go into a shop to find a coat or a jacket and I just don’t think she’s not going to go into a shop because of a bad review she probably didn’t even read."

On joining Twitter: "I’ve got better things to do. I don’t need to talk to like schoolteachers from New Jersey about what was valid [in a collection] and what was invalid and what was derivative and what was referencing. I mean, I’ve just got work to do. I really don’t care to argue with you."

Fash's 20 Favorite Looks of the Year!

Chi Diem Chau — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:16:39 PST

>> Before we bid adieu to 2010, check out our 20 favorite looks of the year. Top highlights include Vanessa Traina in a red hot Givenchy ensemble, Carey Mulligan in graphic Vionnet, Kate Bosworth in Jil Sander, Shala Monroque in Chanel . . . and even more eye candy in the slideshow.

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Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley Rock Spring 2011 Rodarte and Vionnet, Plus Chanel and Proenza Schouler, All in the Span of a Day

Chi Diem Chau — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 11:04:12 PDT

>> Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley are a red carpet dream: the two have been taking the London Film Festival circuit by storm while promoting their new movie, Never Let Me Go. Yesterday alone, the duo stepped out in Chanel, Proenza Schouler, Vionnet, and Rodarte.

For their photo call, Mulligan donned a mustard yellow Pre-Spring 2011 Proenza Schouler dress paired with black Yves Saint Laurent pumps, while Knightley opted to wear Rodarte - marking the designers' first Spring 2011 piece to hit the red carpet - complemented with brown Christian Louboutin pumps. Later in the evening at the movie's premiere, Mulligan, a Vionnet fan in the past, chose a head-to-toe Spring 2011 look from the label - finishing it off with Giuseppe Zanotti for Vionnet gold wedges - while Knightley, a current Chanel face, picked a pearly Fall 2010 Chanel couture dress and chunky black pumps.

Vionnet Presents Resort 2011 Along With Giuseppe Zanotti Footwear Collection

coutorture — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:30:21 PDT

Vionnet creative director Rodolfo Paglialunga presented his fifth collection designing for Madeline Vionnet's namesake house, pairing his distinct shapes with some of the bias cut draping for which the French label is known. Paglialunga, who spent years at Prada before being snatched up by Mateo Marzotto-Vionnet's owner since early 2009-designed a collection of rounded hemmed and asymmetric dresses, some with sheer panels and cutouts at the shoulders. Having recently collaborated on a shoe collection with Giuseppe Zanotti and dressed a number of starlets for award seasons, Vionnet is poised to officially make her comeback, after years of trying, this fall.

Fashion in 50 Seconds 06/21/10 Givenchy Ends Couture Shows, Giuseppe Zanotti For Vionnet

coutorture — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:31:00 PDT

Givenchy is ending its couture runway shows. Riccardo Tisci will present a collection of 10 haute couture looks by appointment this July.

Nicholas Hoult, whom Tom Ford directed in A Single Man, will appear as the face of Ford's fall campaign along with Freja Beha Erichsen.

Giuseppe Zanotti is designing the new footwear collection by Vionnet.

The Telegraph reports that 22-year-old model Tom Nicon's tragic death during the Milan menswear shows was a suicide.

Source: Getty

fashionologie — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:39:06 PST

>> Christian Lacroix Shows Up on Golden Globes Red Carpet -Christian Lacroix's business may be reduced to licensing at this point in time, but it's a testament that without any new collections being produced, he's still scoring red carpet coups - to wit, his Spring 2009 couture at last night's Golden Globes on the much-watched Diane Kruger. On the other side of the spectrum, houses recently kickstarted under new creative direction also found their footing at the Golden Globes: Nicole Kidman and Carey Mulligan wore Peter Copping's Nina Ricci from Spring 2010, Ginnifer Goodwin was in Spring 2010 Vionnet by Rodolfo Paglialunga, and Chloe Sevigny took home her award in Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's Spring 2010 Valentino.

fashionologie — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:08:01 PST

>> French Buyers Were Not Enthused When Matteo Marzotto Took Over Vionnet -Matteo Marzotto, who was president of Valentino from 2002 to 2008, chats about his newest venture, the relaunch of French house Vionnet under the design capabilities of Prada alum Rodolfo Paglialunga: "One of the hardest things I have had to do since my business partner Gianni Castiglione [husband of Marni's Consuelo Castiglione] and I bought Vionnet in 2008 was calling stores and saying, 'Hi, do you remember me? I have bought this brand and it is going to be very glamorous. I would like you to come and see it.' I sent an average of 25 e-mails to each buyer, and wrote them letters explaining why we were doing it, and reminding them of my track record. I made it very personal. Even then, in the beginning, almost no French buyers came." [Financial Times]

Vionnet Resort 2010

coutorture — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:00 PDT

The Vionnet Resort 2010 collection was the breakout offering from creative director Rodolfo Paglialunga. A modern take on Vionnet's way with draping the collection features hit after hit--each look is rich with color and sensationally draped. Paglialunga hails from Prada, where he was Miuccia Prada's assistant for thirteen years. We're looking forward to seeing his offering for Spring 2010, which will be revealed during Paris Fashion Week in late September.

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Fashion in 50 Seconds 07/13/09 Wu's Valley of the Dolls, Moss Turns Supermogul

FabSugar — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:59:29 PDT

Jason Wu's limited edition Colette doll.

Target unsure about being associated with the risque Gossip Girl.

Chic vegan shoes on the rise.

Madeleine Vionnet influence at the haute couture shows.

Kate Moss on the rise - the super takes on the world of music.