>> Lara Stone readily admits that she can't walk in heels, and she wasn't kidding. Although she handled them just fine for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, she appeared at the after-party wearing flips flops, her ankle wrapped, which seems to verify the rumors last week that she had trouble wearing the Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte heels at an editorial shoot and had to go to the emergency room because of an accident.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Speaking of awards, Rodarte won double honors — 100,000 euros for the Swiss Textiles Award, the first American designers to ever do so — last night. The prize, which Laura and Kate Mulleavy snatched over fellow nominees Richard Nicoll, Louise Goldin, and Jean-Pierre Braganza, is to be used to fund international development of the brand. Last year's winner was Marios Schwab. [Style File, WWD]
>> The CFDA has been busy lately, discussing the possibility of sponsoring sample sales for designers who don't have enough resources to do it on their own, commissioning books — including a fashion-related cookbook, and announcing an upcoming three-year partnership with Mattel. But Monday night, we'll learn which of the 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund nominees will take home top honors, $200,000, and business advice, who will score one of the two runners-up titles and the $50,000 that comes with them, and who will try again next year.
The first award was given in 2004, with top honors going to Proenza Schouler; since then, Trovata (2005), Doo.Ri (2006), and Rogan (2007) have taken the top prize, and the likes of 3.1 Phillip Lim, Philip Crangi, Rodarte, Thakoon, Derek Lam, and Thom Browne have all been runners-up. Without doubt, the winner generally has name recognition — and is in favor at Vogue — but tends to not be the biggest name in the group (i.e. Rogan over Phillip Lim last year).
>> When Natalie Portman comes to the show, Keira Knightley hits up the after party, and Anna Wintour brings Bee — who usually only goes to Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler — along, you know Rodarte is really starting to make it big. Even Vogue Italia's editor-in-chief, Franca Sozzani, had a little trouble getting in — apparently, she tried to follow Anna and Bee through the velvet rope, but the PR staff wouldn't allow it.
Onto the clothes: They followed the same thought process as the Fall 2008 collection, but with a few key changes — the colors, the shoes (those treacherous shoes, made by Nicholas Kirkwood instead of Christian Louboutin this season), and the leggings, which were leather instead of knit, and although they looked laser cut, were entirely handmade. Some think the look veered into Balenciaga territory, but me? I'm just enjoying the view.
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>> THE MODELIZER —Those super vertiginous Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte heels can be treacherous, as Abbey Lee Kershaw learned earlier today. She looked a little wobbly all along the Rodarte Spring 2009 runway, but finally — in the style of Jessica Stam at Chloe a couple of years back — her ankles buckled, and she ate it, poor thing. The model behind her didn't give Abbey a second look, but it looks like someone in the front row gave her a hand. Abbey's runway tour and fall can be seen on video from approximately 6:00-7:00 minutes here. [Style File]
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>> INSIDER WIRE — Designers like Rogan Gregory for Rogan and Miguel Adrover for Hess Natur have long since embraced going green, and now the creatives behind Rodarte, Alexander Wang, 3.1 Phillip Lim, and Preen are getting in on the fun. For the upcoming Fashion Week, the latter four burgeoning talents have pledged to serve tap water instead of bottled water backstage at their shows, eliminate fur in their collections, print all invitations and programs on post-consumer recycled paper, and serve organic, locally-sourced food backstage, provided by their partner Aveda. [FWD]
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>> INSIDER WIRE —The tents are already going up at Bryant Park, and fashion week is only a week away — so what is there to look forward to for Spring 2009? Rodarte switching from Christian Louboutin to Nicholas Kirkwood for their runway heels, Alexander Wang flying Alice Dellal in to co-host his after-party, Colette's pop-up store by Gap, a potential Ana Claudia Michels comeback, plus a whole bevy of new designers — including a ten year Alaia alum. [Style.com]
»Gareth Pugh was asked to do a range for Topshop, but turned it down because he "hate[s] the idea of being in Grazia" [Dazed Digital]
»Roberto Cavalli compares models to "pieces of wood" [The Cut]
»Vanessa Traina appears out and about in Balmain boots with Nicole Richie [PopSugar]
»Karl Lagerfeld, dressed in white with blue striped bib, and Amanda Harlech, spotted in Saint Tropez [Jezebel]
»Did Ralph Lauren's Olympic opening ceremony uniforms embarrass America? [Gawker]
»A recent Bill Blass alum is about to go solo [Style File]
»Anna Selezneva is the Spring 2009 girl to watch [TI]
»Charlotte Ronson, re-imagined as Eli Cash from The Royal Tenenbaums [FabSugar]
»Rodarte among finalists for prestigious Swiss Textiles Award [FWD]
»According to Richie Rich, Heatherette is just taking a breather [The Cut]
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>> Along with the annual International Best-Dressed List, the September 2008 Vanity Fair features a spread dubbed "America's New Fashion Guard," featuring up-and-coming designers, including a few designing duos like Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte, Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock of Vena Cava.
Marchesa was also spotlighted, but as Chic Report so astutely pointed out, only one half of the brand's designing duo is pictured: Georgina Chapman, with no Keren Craig in sight.
Interesting, in light of the rumors back in May suggesting that Keren was being phased out as a co-designer; the photographic evidence here definitely lends credence to that possibility. Or maybe, as Chic Report suggested, Keren was just on her honeymoon when the picture was taken.
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