fashionologie

Arizona Muse - The Next Big American Model in the Making? Anna Wintour Approves

fashionologie — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:13:03 PST

>> Arizona Muse's star has been rising at rocket speed - in the past month alone, her Spring 2011 Prada and Yves Saint Laurent ads have come out, she's been on the January 2011 cover of Vogue Italia with Freja Beha Erichsen, and had only-girl spreads in Vogue UK February 2011 and Vogue China February 2011. Now, Anna Wintour is touting Muse in her February 2011 editors' letter as "the breakout star at the Spring 2011 shows last Fall," adding: "When I look at Arizona, I see shades of Linda Evangelista and Natalia Vodianova, but most of all, I see her, a gorgeous, smart grown-up. And how could anyone resist someone with that name?" If Muse keeps this up, she, Lindsey Wixson, and Karlie Kloss could be bringing American models back in a big way. A selection of her aforementioned work in the gallery.

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What Did Anna Wintour Do For Thanksgiving?

fashionologie — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:58:23 PST

>> No Thanksgiving break for Anna Wintour: on Thanksgiving morning, she was spotted being shown around the Shanghai Museum. Wintour also made a stop by Vogue China's offices last week, and spoke with Vogue China's editor Angelica Cheung and Vogue's Mark Holgate and Sylvana Soto-Ward at a forum held at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

There, she noted: "China is becoming an increasingly important market. Everywhere you go there is this great drumroll that started five years ago of ‘what do you think about China?’ We decided it was time to make our own visit and to form our own opinions. In a way, American brands are a bit behind coming to China compared to the European brands, and I wanted to encourage them all to visit and open stores here."

On a Eastern influence-related note, Wintour recently told The Washington Post: "Right now, it seems as though we are experiencing a wave of Asian models, and while there is certainly a strong African American presence with Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn and Chanel Iman, sadly we don't see as many African American models as we could." (Though it's worth noting that Jourdan Dunn is British and Joan Smalls is Puerto Rican.)

And it sounds like at her Beijing talk, Wintour brought her sense of humor with - when an audience member asked her about The Devil Wears Prada, she apparently replied that she "found the movie highly entertaining and it’s true, of course, that I beat all my assistants, lock them in a cupboard and don’t pay them!”

The Rise of the Asian Model - A Moment or a Movement?

fashionologie — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:41:14 PST

>> Is the current rise of Asian models a moment or a movement? The latter, Kwok Chan, director of international scouting at Marilyn Agency (which represents Liu Wen), tells Vogue in its December 2010 issue. Curiously, of all the most in-demand Asian models currently, none of them are Asian-American. "The only way I can explain why there are no big Asian-American names is, why are photo shoots done in some exotic locale and it looks like you've shot in someone's backyard?" Chan says. "Fashion is fantasy; it's about perception."

Dick Page, creative director of Shiseido, chalks up Asian models' increased visibility to "most economics. Everybody in the fashion/beauty industry recognizes the importance of global markets, and currently, China, Taiwan, and South Korea are at the forefront. The upshot is that customers want to see some version of themselves represented." And Anita Bitton, a casting director who has worked on Alexander Wang's shows and Gap campaigns, says that an ease in travel restrictions could also be a contributor: "Some of these girls had trouble obtaining work visas."

Liu Wen herself has noted a change within the last two seasons: "The challenge for me, and for Asian models in general, has been convincing editors, stylists, and photographers that we can have mass appeal. "But Asian, especially Chinese, models have become a stronger presence. Just a season or two ago, there weren't many models for me to talk with backstage in my native Mandarin. Now I usually have no trouble finding someone at any show." Du Juan adds: "There still are brands or clients that would not consider using an Asian model, but things are changing dramatically and quickly. I am not so sure if being Asian was or is a hindrance. In fact, I think it is a plus."

Because of the shift, Angelica Cheung, editor in chief of Vogue China, has noticed a shift in the Chinese ideal of beauty: "Traditionally the Chinese favored a classic kind of beauty - big, round eyes, cute small mouth, a high nose, and very fair skin. The Chinese models who have made it internationally are not beauties in the traditional sense, so they are modernizing the concept of beauty in China. When I was growing up in the seventies, everyone wore a blue, gray, or green Mao suit - there was no chance for women to be glamorous or different. Now you see young Chinese trying to be radical by dyeing their hair blonde or blue, sporting tattoos. It is a combination of copying what they see is popular in the Western world and trying to stand out in a nation where almost all of the 1.3 billion population have straight black hair and brown eyes. I like to joke that in less than a decade, China has gone from Karl Marx to Karl Lagerfeld!”

fashionologie — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:56:26 PDT

>> BLOWING THE COVER —Vogue's online reality show Model.Live is debuting in just under a week, but one of the stars is already making waves: Cato Van Ee, who has recently shown up in editorials for Dazed & Confused and Vogue China, popped up today on the September 2008 cover of Dazed & Confused alongside Anna Gushina, Kori Richardson, and Pernille Moeller. [Of the Minute]

Du Juan Brings Fire to the Olympics

fashionologie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:12:56 PDT

>> There have been many firsts in Du Juan's career: She was the first Asian model to appear on a Vogue Paris cover and graced the first-ever cover of Vogue China. On Friday, she accomplished a big first outside the modeling world, becoming the first Chinese model to bear an Olympic torch by running one leg of the procession in Beijing. It may not hold a candle to the opening ceremony spectacle, but a big honor nonetheless.

Grace Coddington on Why She Once Quit While Working Under Anna Wintour

fashionologie — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:24:16 PDT

>> The skeleton details of Grace Coddington's CV are pretty well-established at this point: a long and lustrous tenure as Vogue creative director was achieved after a terrible car accident turned her modeling career into that of a stylist and fashion editor. But a profile of Coddington in The Economist's quarterly supplement More Intelligent Life - by one of Coddington's former assistants - gives us a few less-reported details.

Coddington says of her mentor, the photographer Norman Parkinson, in the '70s: “He taught me the art of travelling, which means never closing your eyes in case you miss something. We’d get up at five and drive round on recces to see what inspired us. The approach is so different now. Photographers don’t look out the window: they want to see a location book, and everything is done on computers.”

She turns 70 in April, and admits that she, too, has changed her approach: “I got really sick last time in Paris [during Fashion Week], and I was on antibiotics for two months. I push my body too hard, and do have to stop myself now from jumping on a plane. It used to be me who got sent to Russia and China while the older editors stayed behind, but I’m one of those older ones now.”

A few more things we learned:

She's lived with Didier Malige since the '80s, but she's also been married twice: The first time was in 1969 to Michael Chow, the owner of the Mr Chow restaurant chain. It lasted six months ("I was useless at being a restaurateur’s wife - much too shy to table-hop," Coddington says). And the second time was in 1976 to a "rangy, rock'n'roll" photographer, Willie Christie, who she mentored at British Vogue. They divorced in 1980 because, Coddington says, “It’s difficult to be employed by your wife.” In between the two marriages she dated Duc, a young, Paris-based Vietnamese photographer, with whom she was in love before, during, and after her first marriage.

Coddington - known for her long, red hair - was once a blonde: In 1980, after her second divorce, Coddington turned herself into "a business-suited, short-haired blonde - what she calls a 'Calvin person.'"

She once quit while working for Anna Wintour: Coddington had been at British Vogue since 1968, but after Anna Wintour joined as editor-in-chief in March 1986, Coddington resigned in December of that year: “Anna was much more into ‘sexy’ than I was.” She rejoined Wintour at Vogue two years later because she missed working at magazines (she had been working as Calvin Klein design director in the interim: "Excitement on 7th Avenue ends with the show. The next day it’s all marketing.").

Prada Sweeping Spring 2011 Cover Looks

fashionologie — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:43:45 PDT

>> After last Summer's repeat cover appearances by a singular style of Miu Miu dress and then the Fall's cover domination by one gold Balmain dress, it's Prada (followed somewhat by Dolce & Gabbana) that seems to be the Spring 2011 cover go-to. The striped Spring 2011 Prada collection has figured front-and-center into over 15 fashion magazine covers in the last few months, including Anna Wintour's WSJ. cover and Gisele Bundchen's February 2011 Vogue China cover; Fashionista has a comprehensive look. [Fashionista]

Prada the Latest Set to Show in China

fashionologie — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:44:15 PST

>> China is the fastest growing market for fashion and luxury - and the industry is definitely taking notice. Anna Wintour recently made her first trip to China over Thanksgiving, and later wrote that she hopes China will soon have its own Vogue Fashion Fund; Diane von Furstenberg visited earlier this month and said, "I’d like to sell every Chinese a T-shirt."

And now Prada, which has seen a 51 percent surge in revenue from the region in the first nine months of 2010, is planning to restage its Spring 2011 fashion show in Beijing on Jan. 22. Both Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada are expected to attend, and Prada plans on creating a series of new items specifically for the event.

fashionologie — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:55:55 PST

>> Karlie Kloss, Patrick Demarchelier Most Employed for 2009 Vogue Editorials Worldwide -Shrubrub, a contributor at the fashin LiveJournal took a tally of photographers and models whose work appeared in the 2009 issues of Vogue Australia, Vogue Brazil, Vogue China, Vogue Espana, Vogue Germany, Vogue Italia, Vogue Mexico, Vogue Nippon, Vogue Paris, Vogue Russia, Vogue UK, and Vogue, to see who was used the most. Apparently, Karlie Kloss and Patrick Demarchelier came out clearly on top - rounding out the top twelve models, respectively, were: Lara Stone, Sasha Pivovarova, Constance Jablonski, Raquel Zimmermann, Daria Werbowy, Anna Maria Jagodzinska, Eniko Mihalik, Jourdan Dunn, Lily Donaldson, Natasha Poly, and Iris Strubegger. [Fashin]

Cathy Horyn Hopes Fashion's Night Out "Doesn't Go On," Explains Alexander Wang Review Swipe

fashionologie — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:56:41 PDT

>> Cathy Horyn is known for her acerbic take on fashion - in her review of Alexander Wang's Spring 2011 collection, she set tongues wagging after pronouncing: "Mr. Wang is not a great designer, though he probably would be happy to accept any laurels that people want to toss him, but he is clearly a shrewd guy . . . The designs were cool, but they didn’t have to stand up to much scrutiny - hey, didn’t Marni do those pants last season? - so long as the stuff was widely and easily available. Mr. Wang doesn’t really have courage in the traditional sense of trying something new and difficult, but he does have China. Nearly all of his clothing is now produced there."

Horyn more recently spent time at Azzedine Alaia's boutique during Paris Fashion Week - Wang also happened to be there, although no word on whether there was any interaction - and she explained to The Daily Beast that her goal is to bring a critical eye to those admired uncritically: "With Alexander, he's a smart kid, I admire the business that he's built, but you have to be critical of what he's done. You can't just say 'Oh well, he's young and he's working hard, he's putting a product on the runway.' I found that show boring. I may not have found other shows boring, but I found that one boring."

She's also critical of Fashion's Night Out: "I hope it doesn't go on. I don't want it to continue . . . You know, we're a nation of shoppers. That's how people spend their time, shopping online, shopping in stores, acquiring. And I feel like we perpetuate that with Fashion's Night Out. What are you really celebrating? Not art or great books. You're celebrating shopping."

Horyn sums up her critical approach as thus: "[I] want people to be better. [I] have standards. [I] want people to be not just good but very good. And I can be tough on people, sometimes too tough, especially with the most creative. I once called one of Tom Ford's collections freakish and ugly."

For all of Horyn's words logged on designers, however, The Daily Beast had trouble getting anyone to speak about Horyn: "During Fashion Week, I went from show to show, and party to party, asking about Horyn. Almost everyone declined comment or claimed that they don't actually read her reviews." A few did speak, however. "I prefer to look at beautiful pictures in magazines like American Vogue and French Vogue by editors like Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfeld," Karl Lagerfeld said. "I don't think reviews really matter anymore," Carolina Herrera said. Donna Karan admitted, meanwhile, that getting swiped by Horyn "still hurts. You can agree or disagree with her, but it's definitely passionate. She's not neutered, let's put it that way."