fashionologie

Scott Sternberg on the Power of Living in LA and the Expansion of His Women's Collection

coutorture — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:00:07 PDT

Scott Sternberg left his job as a Hollywood talent agent to start Band of Outsiders seven years ago, and in 2007 launched Boy., his menswear-inspired women's collection. The 35-year-old LA-based designer has no plans to stop growing - he aims to increase his business from $12 million to $40 million over the next few years through expanding Boy. (from two collections per year to four) and launching girl., a lower-priced, more feminine line.

Despite his fast rise through the fashion ranks (in 2009 he tied with Calvin Klein's Italo Zucchelli for the CFDA menswear designer of the year award), Sternberg is happy to skip out on New York's fashion scene in favor of living in Los Angeles, where he keeps out of the fray:

"If I was here in New York in this mix influenced by the same thing all these people are influenced by, the edge would be gone," he told the WSJ. "This [LA] bubble is vital to being able to do something that is not informed by fashion."

See the fall 2010 Band of Outsiders/Boy. collection images here.

Source: Getty

WSJ Goes Inside the House of Prada With Patrizio Bertelli's "Miuccia and Me"

coutorture — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:19:55 PST

The notoriously straight-shooting and often volatile chief executive of Prada, Patrizio Bertelli, is on the cover of the March issue of WSJ., out this Saturday. He is profiled along with wife Miuccia Prada in an article discussing among many things the couple's 30-year-long relationship, Prada's initial public offering, the company's debt build-up as a result of acquisitions in the 1990s, and the current household controversy over internet strategies and whether or not to dress celebrities.

The article opens with Bertelli shouting at Neiman Marcus' 72-year-old chairman, Burt Tansky, about how the Dallas-based department store displays its Prada merchandise. But thing really get interesting when the interviewer inquires about the brand's internet plans and brings up a recent U.S. newspaper article suggesting Prada was late to the online world compared with brands like Burberry. Miuccia Prada's reaction:

"I think it's bulls-. Why does showing a photo of someone wearing a trench coat online mean being open to the world? What's that got to do with anything?"

While Bertelli is trying to convince Prada to interact more online-both with bloggers and fans-she is adimentely opposed to Twitter and feels there something fundamentally wrong with the way other designers "throw random answers out there." Bertelli acknowledges hers is an "elitist response" to a "democratic" medium.

The article goes on to reveal another ongoing dispute over celebrity dressing: "He says that we are snobs and that we don't understand pop culture," Prada says.

When planning for the upcoming year, Bertelli's focus seems to be on store expansions and opening new boutiques in order to lessen Prada's dependance on U.S. wholesale businesses, like that of Mr. Tansky's. The complete article will be on newsstands March 13.

WSJ. Magazine Names Hilary Rhoda Contributor, Takes New Direction

fashionologie — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:54:10 PDT

>> Now that the Wall Street Journal has closed their fashion bureau and fashion blog to put more energy into their luxury magazine WSJ., it sounds like they're trying to up the ante on the magazine's fashion spreads, which have been mocked in the past.

For this Sunday's edition, they named Hilary Rhoda a contributor for just this issue - she has a swimsuit spread, shot in Miami (behind the scenes video) that looks like it could be a Mert and Marcus-lensed Louis Vuitton or Eres campaign - to recognize that "the work models put into photo shoots is so much more than just looking pretty and posing for a camera," according to a spokeswoman, who promises via email: "[Hilary's] role is a sign of the new direction WSJ. magazine is taking! Expect to see creative and new contributors like this in the future."
*image: source

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fashionologie — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:09:03 PDT

>> INSIDER WIRE -Is the Obama camp holding a grudge against Oscar de la Renta after his disparaging comments toward Michelle Obama a few weeks ago? During White House social secretary Desiree Rogers's cover shoot for this Sunday's WSJ. magazine, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs vetoed a shot of Rogers in an Oscar de la Renta ballgown in the First Lady’s garden. But doesn't seem to be a matter of branding sensitivity - the rest of the shoot features Rogers in the likes of Jil Sander, Viktor & Rolf, Prada, and Calvin Klein. [WWD, WSJ.]
*image: source

Le Monde Launches T Magazine-Inspired M with Audrey Marnay

fashionologie — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:07:03 PDT

>> New York Times T Magazine envy has now gone global. At the beginning of this month, Le Monde launched the creatively-named M, its version of a lifestyle magazine, which has apparently been under development for a year and will publish monthly, making it slightly less frequent than T, which publishes 15 times a year. Matthias Vriens photographed the first cover with Audrey Marnay, plus an accompanying model-filled editorial inside; so far, the look is much more on par with a fashion magazine than the other T-inspired spinoff: The Wall Street Journal's WSJ.

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LVMH Is In Shopping Mode

fashionologie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:13:01 PST

>> WSJ., The Wall Street Journal's glossy, is back this weekend with a fashion-centric March issue featuring LVMH chief Bernard Arnault. Inside, Arnault hints that LVMH might be in the market to acquire more companies. “We’re about to enter a market of buyers over the next six-to-eight months. There will be opportunities, and we will be looking at them.” According to WSJ., Arnault was “in talks to invest in a fashion company with ecological and ethical goals founded by a global celebrity” at the time the article was written - WWD is guessing Edun, Bono’s green clothing line.

But there are certainly a couple of other designers on LVMH's radar. Gareth Pugh is the obvious one - rumors have run rampant about him taking over at Dior Homme ever since LVMH heiress Delphine Arnault sat front row at his debut menswear show, and Bernard Arnault has already confirmed that LVMH has helped finance Pugh's shows. Talking acquisitions, however, Rodarte may be a more likely candidate - Pierre-Yves Roussel, CEO of LVMH's fashion division, was in attendance at the Fall 2009 show, and soon after, Katherine Ross, PR honcho for LVMH, hosted a poolside tea party at the Chateau Marmont in LA for the designing duo, so they're definitely on the radar.

Bernard Arnault confirmed in January that Gareth Pugh wasn't the only "new talent" LVMH supports - "LVMH does that with many talented people" - so a number of other brands may be being looked at. Especially now, when as Arnault points it, it's a buyer's market - young brands with plenty of talent may need that big-company backing to keep them going.
*image: source

Wall Street Journal Fashion Bureau: No Longer

fashionologie — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:26:17 PST

>> Even icons aren't safe anymore. In late December, Village Voice laid off 30-year veteran and fashion writer Lynn Yaeger - she's since been picked up to blog for New York magazine during Fashion Week - and now, the Wall Street Journal has dismissed 23-year veteran Teri Agins as part of a decision to close its fashion and retail bureau.

The number of staffers has been reduced from nine to five - currently retained are columnist Christina Binkley and editor Lisa Bannon; the seven other employees - including Teri Agins, Rachel Dodes, and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, who generally writes the newspaper's must-read Heard on the Runway blog - have all been let go effective at the end of March and asked to reapply for the three remaining positions in the bureau.

All WSJ.'s fault? »

Marc Jacobs Cast in Movie

fashionologie — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:28:19 PDT

>> Marc Jacobs has taken plenty of turns in front of the camera - most notably for the 2007 documentary Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton - but he's always been himself. Now, he has the opportunity to do otherwise, he said last night at the WSJ. Magazine Innovator of the Year Awards: "I got cast in a role in a movie. They're filming next week and I'm excited. I get to play a character that's not myself at all." No further details were revealed. [Style.com]

Si Newhouse on Ousting Anna Wintour From Vogue - "Never. I Hope She's Here 10 Years From Now"

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:27:14 PDT

>> Mario Testino photographed Anna Wintour for the April 2011 cover of WSJ. - likely at her request (he often shoots Vogue's covers). Because if there's one thing about Wintour, it's that she does things on her own terms.

Si Newhouse (chairman of Advance Publications, which owns Vogue) attests with an anecdote about a Fashion's Night Out meeting Wintour held in Paris, which had 30 international Vogue editors and publishers in attendance: "It was the first time anybody had gotten them all together. She didn't need my authority to do it - she has a remarkable ability to impose her will. If I had had reservations, she probably would have gone ahead anyway."

Marc Jacobs, too, confirms: "If I get a request for something I don't want to do, first I get an email, then a phone call from someone at Vogue, and now I don't even bother to say no - I know the next call is from her." And New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who Wintour has worked with on a number of initiatives - including Fashion's Night Out - says: "Behind all Anna's grace and poise is some pretty tough resolve. She's not a person you want to say no to."

Even the Costume Institute has bowed to Wintour's requests (she has raised a grand total of $75 million for the organization, after all). For last year's gala, she had a 30-foot hot-air balloon trucked in from South Dakota to float above the museum's Engelhard Court. "When we first saw it, we go, 'Never! We can't have gas in the museum!' " says Met president Emily Rafferty. "Anna's changed our attitude - she's brought us to new levels of thinking of what we can do, but without ever losing sight that we're working in a museum context here."

Needless to say, Wintour's reach extends much further than fashion. Harvey Weinstein, who has known Wintour for 15 years (and more recently married Marchesa's Georgina Chapman), notes: "I'm a streak player, but Anna's there, good or bad. When I wasn't doing so well, Anna would throw a party and put me next to Bernard Arnault." Although he declined to be specific, Weinstein said that he had several business deals come out of that party. And Baz Luhrmann, who just recently cast Wintour favorite Carey Mulligan to star in his upcoming film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, says: "I always talk to Anna about what I'm up to, and I always listen to what she has to say."

Within fashion, too, Wintour is more than just an editor. As Francois-Henri Pinault, head of PPR, says: "She tackles things that are really much bigger than what any other editors take on." Because of Wintour, Pinault is currently discussing how to financially support young designers with the French government. But Wintour never straight-out asks him to do something: "She's much more subtle than that."

She's also something of a matchmaker - whether it's designer to brand (in the case of placing John Galliano at Christian Dior back in 1996; Bernard Arnault - chairman of LVMH, which owns Dior - says of Wintour: "She pointed us towards unexpected choices. I speak very openly to her, and this was quite audacious - it was not about picking the big names of the moment. It took her to see that there was a stylistic closeness between John and Dior. She was the discoverer.") or brand to financier (in the case of Bottega Veneta and Gucci Group or Michael Kors and Sportswear Holdings). "She does this very discreetly, but she's really a kind of consigliere to the entire fashion and retail industry," one former colleague who worked closely with Wintour says. Another former colleague, who attended several corporate matchmaking meetings with Wintour, adds: "I came to realize that she's really the McKinsey of fashion." As for Wintour's word on the matter? "We can suggest," she says, "but in the end, everybody makes up their own minds."

It sounds like Wintour isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Vogue is Conde Nast's most profitable publication, Si Newhouse confirms, adding that he has no successor in mind: "Never. I hope she's here 10 years from now, 20 years from now." Wintour, for her part, says: "With all the new media outlets out there, with all the noise, a voice of authority and calm like Vogue becomes more important than ever. The more eyes on fashion, the more opinions about fashion, the more exploration of fashion around the world, the better it is for Vogue. Vogue is like Nike or Coca-Cola - this huge global brand. I want to enhance it, I want to protect it, and I want it to be part of the conversation."

A few more quotables from the WSJ. profile:

Marc Jacobs on Wintour's cold reputation: "She gets such a bad rap. She stands by the people she believes in, and if you're not one of those people, perhaps you take a different view."

Wintour's take on her reputation: "I care deeply about my friends and my family and they know it, but work is work."

Wintour on cover choice regrets: "I'm not terribly proud of putting the Spice Girls on the cover."

Wintour on the John Galliano scandal: "This is all so tragic."

Wintour on being criticized for using the same people in Vogue: "I try to remain open to new people, but obviously there's a stronger element of trust with people you've known for a long time. I think we have a Vogue vocabulary, and there are certain people we like to have as the backbone of the magazine - Vogue's signposts. We try very hard to integrate the familiar signatures with people we feel are new and up-and-coming, but I would rather err on the side of being a little more familiar than being too . . . What's the right word? . . . Edgy."

WSJ. on Wintour's morning habits: "When I met Wintour in her big, artfully tidy office at Vogue, she had been up since 5 am - her normal waking hour. On most days she goes off to play tennis at 6, but lately she's been nursing a sore elbow and can't play. Which didn't mean no tennis."

Raf Simons Pondering a Move to New York

fashionologie — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:47:58 PDT

>> Raf Simons lives alone in Antwerp - although he is obligated to spend almost 110 days a year in Milan, working on Jil Sander - but it sounds like he is considering a move. Berlin and New York are both prospects, with New York the frontrunner because of its art world connections and because he prefers it to Berlin, Simons says. "In this business, I know I could work somewhere else one day," he adds. "But I'll always keep this apartment [in Antwerp]." There were recently unconfirmed rumors that Simons may be collaborating with Kanye West on his impending line; no word as to whether such a collaboration - if the rumors are true - might prompt such a move. [WSJ]