Fri, 11/14/08 — 12:00:47 PM

>> INSIDER WIRE —The results are in and, as expected, it's not looking pretty.  A number of fashion magazines saw their ad pages drop by double-digits in 2008: W lost 12.7 percent, Teen Vogue is down 10.2 percent, and Vogue, which had a record-breaking year in 2007, declined 9.6 percent.  For the latter, the results burn even more, as Elle gained 3.2 percent over 2007, and Harper's Bazaar only lost 0.3%. 

Granted, in overall numbers, Vogue (2,893 ad pages for 2008), still trumps Elle (2,578) and Harper's Bazaar (2,067), but the losing trend can't be good — maybe the rumored Michelle Obama and Blake Lively covers will give them the boost they need in 2009? [WWD]

Tue, 10/14/08 — 02:05:31 PM

At some point Bill said to me, "You've got to go to Paris. Every kid your age who wants to do something in fashion has to go to Paris." So I went to live in Paris for nine months, and I would run into Bill at the shows. He would help me sneak into shows by giving me his invitations. Once, as I was leaving a show, I felt something in my pocket. It was a $50 bill. He had slipped it into my pocket.

— Stephen Gan, now creative director at Harper's Bazaar and editor of V, on meeting Bill Cunningham when he was first starting out

Karl Lagerfeld, Stephen Gan Make Up Label, Poupou Lapin

Mon, 10/06/08 — 11:55:38 AM

>> Bruno wasn't the only one pulling antics during Paris Fashion Week — Karl Lagerfeld and Harper's Bazaar creative director Stephen Gan had a few tricks up their sleeves as well.

During the Fall 2008 season, the designer and editor remarked at how many unfamiliar names were on the Paris Fashion Week schedule.  "There was Fifi this and Foufou that," Gan explained — so for Spring 2009, they added a fictitious label to the Paris Fashion Week List — Poupou Lapin.  They gave the label a design brief, a gimmick in the form of a fur bikini, and started putting the word out that Poupou was "the one to watch." They even invented a more affordable line for the label: Poupou Lapin-au-Chocolat.

Apparently, "a certain number of people" fell for the story — and when Stephen mentioned the Poupou show to "a certain editor famed for being at the leading edge of every trend," she stamped her foot and replied, "Damn! I just threw that invitation out!”  Silly.
*image: source

Princess Donatella, Elbaz, Alber Elbaz, and More Live Out Their Fantasies for Harper's Bazaar September 2008

Wed, 08/27/08 — 10:26:18 AM

>> Designers spend an awful lot of time projecting their fantasies onto others, so the good people at Harper's Bazaar decided it was time to turn the tables for their September 2008 issue by asking ten designers to dress up as a fantasy character.  How else would you know that Karl Lagerfeld loves rap, Alber Elbaz wants to produce a James Bond spinoff movie called "Jane Bomb," and Donatella Versace wants to wake up as a princess?  Well, you might have guessed about that last one . . .
*image: source

Karl Lagerfeld Wishes He Could Be a Rapper

Wed, 08/13/08 — 04:52:32 PM

»September 2008 Harper's Bazaar features designers dressed up and photographed in their fantasies — and Karl Lagerfeld picked to be a rapper [FWD]

»Ralph Lauren likely had to pay to design the US Olympic opening ceremony uniforms, but at least he's making money off of it now [The Cut]

»A first look at Samantha Pleet's "goth-and-lollipops" Rapscallion collection for Urban Outfitters [The Pipeline]

»Bergdorf Goodman is hosting a Bill Cunningham retrospective during New York Fashion Week [Fashionista]

»Behati Prinsloo and model boyfriend Jamie Strachan: still going strong [Chic Report]

»Hearst is launching a competitor to Conde Nast's Fashion Rocks in September called 30 Days of Fashion [WWD]

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