>> There's no need to spend a ton of money this holiday season — there are plenty of affordable options right at your fingertips. Jewelry aficionados will swoon over this Urban Outfitters love bunnies ring holder, and as for the music lover . . . well, click on for more amazing gifts under $100!
>> As Marion Cotillard's Lady Dior saga is coming to a close — her final installment of ads, "Lady Grey," just debuted with a short film directed by John Cameron Mitchell — Natalie Portman's own Dior saga is just beginning. Portman's upcoming Miss Dior Cherie campaign was just announced and will break on TV and in print in March. Tim Walker and Sofia Coppola, the team who worked on the launch of former Miss Dior Cherie face Maryna Linchuk back in 2008, are back to do the print and TV ads, respectively, with Portman. Of her co-star in the TV ads, Portman said: "I felt like a big old cougar. He's, like, 20."
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>> Karl Lagerfeld almost hosted this year's Paris-Byzance-themed Chanel Pre-Fall 2011 show in Istanbul, but instead settled on transforming the house's Rue Cambon couture salons in Paris with pillows and stained glass tables to put the focus on the clothes and for something more intimate. Besides, the show, which aims to highlight the abilities of Chanel's couture ateliers (some of the heavily embellished pieces can run $20,000 to $40,000), which will be reprised next Spring in Istanbul, anyway.
The theme was inspired by Gabrielle Chanel's Byzantine cross-adorned cuffs and the Byzantine empress Theodora: "Theodora was a circus artist who became empress, like Chanel, who was a little singer and became a fashion empress." He continued: “I like the idea of these two strong women,” before adding with a wink: “You know, there’s Chanel everywhere . . . I take a little idea and I make a collection.”
After the show, Lagerfeld and co. were headed to Berlin by private jet, where he was set to photograph a Volkswagen campaign.
>> At last night's British Fashion Awards, Nick Knight debuted his short film tribute to Alexander McQueen, who was honored posthumously for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design. The film was hauntingly scored by Bjork, styled by Edward Enninful, and features solely black models in the best of McQueen's archives. "This film is my way of speaking about a very unique and important person who changed my life," Knight noted. "My desire was to speak in some way about the dark and the light contained within Lee, and within us all." [SHOWstudio]
>> The modern mom has seen all kinds of presents float her way, but we have some gift ideas that will really wow her this holiday season. Play into her sophisticated senses with Thierry Mugler's Womanity eau de parfum made out of fig and cavier — we promise it won't smell like fish. If that's too risque for your taste, check out more picks from J.Crew, Michael Michael Kors, Opening Ceremony and Club Monaco for some enlightened ideas.
