>> THE MODELIZER —After Azzedine Alaia asked her not to wear the dress he made for the occasion, Stephanie Seymour is joining Naomi Campbell in sitting out the Costume Institute Gala tonight. “Azzedine has made my dress for every single ball. I had a fitting in Paris. But then he called me over the weekend and asked me not to wear the dress. I will still make my donation to the Met, but I won’t be going.” [On the Runway]
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>> Anna Wintour received criticism yesterday for co-opting the Met's reputation for her own means, but new Costume Institute Gala-related developments snuff out those complaints in a second. Seven models — including Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, and Linda Evangelista — were to wear Azzedine Alaia creations to the gala tonight, but the designer has asked them not to wear the dresses because his work, though strongly tied to a number of the supermodels' careers, has no place in this year's exhibit, save for one photograph.
As a result, Naomi Campbell — as rumored — plus some of the other (unnamed) models will not be attending tonight in a gesture to the designer. A spokeswoman for Campbell confirmed this afternoon: “As Naomi has been the muse of Azzedine Alaia for 23 years, she feels she doesn’t want to attend unless she can represent his work.” No word on whether Seymour and Evangelista will do the same.
>> INSIDER WIRE —Olivier Theyskens has been spotted around New York — earlier today he even went in for a manicure — but details are still swirling about where he'll land professionally. Will it be Schiaparelli? Will it be Halston? Will he end up with his own line? The latest is that Anna Wintour wants him in New York — to keep him close under her watchful eye, no doubt — and Halston seems to be her placement of choice. The brand has also looked at Narciso Rodriguez and Marios Schwab for the creative director position. [WWD]
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>> Marc Jacobs has been on the spot quite often in the past two days: this morning, he opened the Costume Institute "Model as Muse" exhibit press preview with an impromptu introductory speech, and yesterday at the New York Times-sponsored TimesTalks, he fielded questions from T magazine editor Stefano Tonchi about everything from what he'll be wearing to his wedding ("not white") to social networking (he canceled his MySpace account and doesn't have a Facebook profile). In fact, regarding the social front, he admitted that he's "a bit socially uncomfortable, but a very good spectator." And he "[does]n't want to rule the world or anything."
But he is very passionate about getting married, The Cut reports.
"I don't want to get all political, but I don't ever want to be told who to love or how to love. Marriage is not just a heterosexual institution. Lorenzo and I are getting married. We’re buying a house together, we want to have children. There needs to be some protection in place in case something should happen to one of us. It’s not all rice throwing and a bouquet."
>> THE MODELIZER —A bottle of peroxide has been splashed heavily among the model ranks lately — Iekeliene Stange, Ana Claudia Michels, Daul Kim have all been doused — and the most recent head to be hit by the bleached blonde is that of Raquel Zimmermann, who showed up last night at a pre-Met cocktail party "feel[ing] like a different person." She says she'll be accompanying Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCullough in Proenza Schouler to the Costume Institute Gala tonight. [Style File]
UPDATE: And while we're on the topic of the Met gala, Anna Maria Jagodzinska is to accompany Joseph Altuzarra, wearing a red silk dress and red fur-trimmed sandals, all by the designer.
>> This year's Costume Institute Gala is upon us in just a few short hours, and while we kept getting spurts of who's attending and who's not all last week, more details keep rolling in. While Kate Moss spent the weekend before the big day in Monaco on Sir Philip Green's yacht, rumors surfaced that none of the supermodel trinity — who along with Kate and the rest of the models of their time are supposed to be the focus of the event — are planning on showing, prompting some to wonder if they're upset Moss was chosen as co-chair over them.
Christy Turlington, who attended last year, confirmed that she is not attending today: "I would have been there with absolute pleasure, but I am out of the country filming a documentary about maternal health. I have regularly attended this event . . . and would have loved to have been there this year, especially because Kate was hosting." No word from Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell to deny the reports, and no designer has confirmed either as their guest, although last week rumors circulated that Naomi was aiming to blow everyone at the event away, and she was supposedly in New York over the weekend for a housewarming party.
This morning we attended a press conference for the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute 2009 exhibition entitled, "The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion". We'll be bringing you red carpet photos from tonight's gala but check out our first look inside the exhibition itself. As stated by The Costume Institute, the exhibition "explores the reciprocal relationship between high fashion and evolving ideas of beauty, focusing on iconic fashion models in the latter half of the 20th century and their roles in projecting, and sometimes inspiring, the fashion of their respective eras.".
Although the high street no-name options are plentiful and tempting, we believe in spending a little more for a nice pair of summer sandals. Nice shoes not only make a good impression but they can make an otherwise plain outfit look fashion forward. To that end (and in the spirit of stimulating the economy) here are 50 pairs of sandals from 50 different designers and brands. They might cost a little more but we think there are many reasons you might find them worth the money.
Peter Som signed on to work with Milan based clothing manufacturer, Margon, showroom ADC, and public relations firm KCD.
In addition to Alexander Wang, CFDA winners Vena Cava have also designed exclusive pieces for Gap this summer.
Rumors have resurfaced that Oliver Theyskens is a contender for the creative director position at Halston.
Tom Binns might be interested in expanding his company by taking on a financial backer and partnering with Target.
