>> Awards season is in full swing, and his coup scoring the most dresses at the Golden Globes, it's clear from what Giorgio Armani served up on the Prive runway that he has one thing on his mind: the red carpet. With a crescent moon backdrop and Anne Hathaway — who wore Prive to the Oscars last year — front row, he sent out gown after gown — simple and shimmering. It won't be surprising to see a couple of the lunar looks again soon in a different, more star-studded arena.
>> Couture kicked off in Paris today, but back in New York plans are being laid for ready-to-wear fashion week — just two and a half weeks away. Supreme Management released their show package for New York Fashion Week today, with the likes of Alana Zimmer, Hanne-Gaby Odiele, and promising newcomer Reina Montero captured in darkly balletic portraits by agency founder and photography dabbler Paul Rowland. Missing from the lineup are Cecilia Mendez, Flo Gennaro (who just walked Dior couture runway today), and last seaons' Prada closer Kate Kosushkina, but perhaps they'll pop up anyway. Full show package at Models.com.
>> Antonio Berardi On Working with John Galliano In Early '90s —As a Central Saint Martins student, Antonio Berardi started working for John Galliano. “I would make tea, I would unblock the toilet, whatever needed doing.” And in the early 1990s, when Galliano went bust and then moved from London to Paris after finding a French backer, Berardi went, too: “We lived in an amazing house that was full of antiques, but when everything got smashed, we were kicked out. We lived hand-to-mouth. John would get money, but he’d go out and lose his purse, so we would wait for someone to invite us out for dinner. When we didn’t have any money, I would buy flour and some oil and make bread.” [Times UK]
>> Josephus Thimister, Balenciaga's designer in the '90s, pre-Nicolas Ghesquiere, is back designing after an eight year hiatus from fashion. The designer, who a decade ago was classed among then-up-and-comers like Hedi Slimane and Veronique Branquinho, lost commercial favor and designship at Balenciaga in 1997.
Now poised for a comeback at 47, he "poured all [his] savings" into a collection inspired by "the military and Russian influence — 1915 was a time of bloodshed and opulence, and I’m convinced that all of today’s problems are the conclusion of that period." And he was invited to help fill the hole in couture week left by Christian Lacroix.
Today, "like someone who has woken up from a nine-year-long beauty sleep," as he put it, Josephus showed that collection, which has been runway-ready since October. Suzy Menkes approved: "[Thimister] made a good job of this comeback because he used his cutting skills to make ... the clothes look convincing — as fashion, if not couture." As did Cathy Horyn: "Fascinating Thimister show, quite clear in military shapes and broken elegance." But WWD, no so much: "The finale frocks . . . rang a little poor in terms of substance." Does Thimister plan to continue? "One never knows," he told Horyn.
>> Olivier Theyskens Now Modeling —First he worked on a book, and now he's working in front of a camera. Paris-based magazine Paris, LA invited Olivier Theyskens to pose for an editorial in their latest issue, and thus he appears in a spread by Michael Hemy, one shot, left, with another showing him in a sheer top and a third shirtless with a fur Rick Owens bandana around his neck. [WWD]
