fashionologie

Royal Mail Releases Great British Fashion Stamps

Justin Fenner — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:23:27 PDT

Britain's post offices are about to get a lot more chic. The Royal Mail today released a collection of 10 stamps in honor of the country's biggest fashion influencers.

Photographer Solve Sundsbo shot images of clothes from Alexander McQueen, Zandra Rhodes, Vivienne Westwood, and other designers and retailers for the series of first-class stamps. The stamps will surely lend style to any envelopes they're stuck on, but they also carry an important message about Britain's place in fashion history. Sir Norman Hartnell, for example, designed clothes for Queen Elizabeth II that helped inspire Christian Dior's New Look, and the influential boutique Granny Takes a Trip counted The Beatles and the Rolling Stones among its first customers.

A look at the entire series of stamps in the gallery.

Photos Courtesy of the Royal Mail.

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See All the Models and Designers on the 9 Summer Covers of i-D Magazine

fashionologie — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 06:50:32 PDT

>> Talk about fashion royalty. Everyone from designers Karl Lagerfeld to Georgia May Jagger got shot for the Spring issue of i-D magazine. Its theme is Fashion Royalty, and when it hits newsstands today, buyers will have nine cover options to choose from.

Lagerfeld's straightforward and direct cover is simple and shows the designer wearing an eyepatch, while covers featuring Shalom Harlow, Guinevere van Seenus, and Carolyn Murphy capture the ethereal beauty of Daniele Duella and Iango Henzi's team photography. There's even a slightly overexposed photo of Vivienne Westwood removing a false eyelash. This collection of covers has something for everyone.

Take a look at all of them here.

Photos Courtesy of i-D Magazine

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Vivienne Westwood Fall 2012

fashionologie — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:39:39 PST

>> In a dizzying show that included a ghostly bride, a model on a bicycle, and a rather interesting take on Sherlock Holmes, Vivienne Westwood reminds us she doesn't play by the rules. Fall 2012 was intended as an ode to London, not in its current state, but its rich, sometimes seedy past. There was the requisite tartan, but rendered in oversized floor-skimming blanket coats or tightly structured blazers. There were punk tees over maxi skirts, and plenty of tulle, brocade, and crinoline to please a princess, but done here with gigantic platforms and ripped tights. Look by look, the show can seem overwhelming and a bit disjointed, but then again, that's a Westwood strategy to upset the balance a bit - and it's clear the 70 year-old designer is still having a rollicking good time.

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Vivienne Westwood Red Label Fall 2012

fashionologie — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:43:30 PST

>> One can't go wrong with school girl classics like pleated tartan skirts, button-up blouses, and plaid blazers - especially when there's a bit of African print thrown into the mix. Who else but Vivienne Westwood could make it work together so joyfully? However, this season's wild mixing felt slightly more subdued than usual, with sparkling space-dyed cardis and slogan tees tempered by sharply tailored suits and curve-hugging sheaths.

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Vivienne Westwood Spring 2012

fashionologie — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:03:32 PDT

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Vivienne Westwood Red Label Spring 2012

fashionologie — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:36:47 PDT

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Kate Moss's Wedding Ceremony Is Under Way

fashionologie — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 08:48:11 PDT

>> Kate Moss's wedding ceremony is about to get under way - at 3:30 pm GMT at St Margaret's Parish Church near her Cotswalds home. Pictures of the wedding may be few and far between - Vogue has the exclusive for their September 2011 issue, with Mario Testino on camera duty - and the events are under security lockdown, with both neighboring villages of Southrop and Little Faringdon closed down. In fact, wedding guests and locals had to be issued permits to allow them to pass through roadblocks. However, PopSugar has a look at Kate on her way to the ceremony this afternoon in her veil.

Last night, Moss and Hince gave paparazzi a rare treat, posing for photographs outside The Swan pub in Southrop before their rehearsal dinner. Moss, in a vintage dress and blue Tabitha Simmons boots, looked visibly ecstatic, and apparently told the Daily Mail: "I was so nervous when I was practising signing the register. I've been so stressed out. My hands were shaking like an old woman's!" As for Hince, the couple's friend, Primal Scream bassist Mani said: "He's all right, he's marrying a supermodel. What's there to be nervous about?"

Moss is apparently set to wear a custom John Galliano gown to the ceremony, with Christian Louboutin shoes. Jamie Hince and his "best man," Kills bandmate Alison Mosshart, are confirmed to wear Yves Saint Laurent, while maid of honor Trish Simonon will sport Erdem. The newly-wedded couple and their 300 guests (including Naomi Campbell, Vivienne Westwood, Stefano Pilati, Stella McCartney, Sir Philip Green, and Edward Enninful) will then retreat to the model's home for the first of a three-day, reportedly £500,000 ($800,000) celebration.

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Vivienne Westwood's New Ethical Bags Are Now Online

Christina Perez — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:58:06 PDT

>> Today, at Pitti Immagine in Florence, Vivienne Westwood launched a new series of bags for her Ethical Fashion Africa Project. Handmade by men and women in Nairobi from recycled materials - electrical wiring, tent canvas, aluminum, plastic bags - the accessories are not only environmentally friendly, they're also community-sustaining. "It's not charity, it's work," Westwood says of the project's aim to create jobs in impoverished communities by teaching workers real skills. Ranging in price from $83 to $339, the collection is a colorful melange of chic prints, interesting textures and easy-to-wear shapes. The pieces are available online at yoox.com, with a special video shot by her campaign photographer, Juergen Teller. Click through the slideshow to see our favorites from the collection.

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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."

The Royal Wedding Arrivals Have Started!

fashionologie — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:52:26 PDT

>> A little over an hour and we might get a first glimpse at Kate Middleton's wedding gown, but in the meantime, the guest arrivals have started. Among them so far: David Beckham in Ralph Lauren Purple Label (and top hat!) and a pregnant Victoria Beckham in a midnight blue dress of her own design with a Philip Treacy hat - speaking of, Treacy is outfitting 36 guests in total; official engagement portrait photographer Mario Testino - who reportedly had his camera confiscated; and Prince Harry's on/off girlfriend Chelsy Davy in a boatnecked emerald Alberta Ferretti dress. Expect to see lots of hats, fascinators and dresses with sleeves - exposing shoulders and heads in a sacred house of worship like Westminster Abbey, where the wedding ceremony is taking place, is considered improper.

The gallery will be updated as photos come in.

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