Posts for January 24th 2013

Dolce and Gabbana Welcome John Galliano Back to Fashion
Oscar De La Renta

Dolce, Gabbana Wish Galliano Good Luck on Fashion Comeback

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have joined the chorus of voices backing John Galliano's return to working in the industry.
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Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have joined the chorus of voices backing John Galliano's return to working in the industry.

"We wish John the best of luck with his return to fashion," the two said in a post on their online magazine Swide. "We've always been admirers of his flamboyant talent. He has been missed from the fashion scene these two years and we can't wait to see the collection with Oscar de la Renta."

Just last week, de la Renta shocked the fashion community when he announced that he would welcome Galliano, who was let go from his position at Dior for making anti-Semitic comments in 2010, at his studio for a three-week residency. "Everyone in life deserves a second chance, especially someone as talented as John," de la Renta said at the time. "I think that life is about forgiving and helping people."

Chanel Couture Spring 2013 Behind-the-Scenes Video
Chanel

Watch: The Mesmerizing Making of Chanel's Spring 2013 Couture Gowns

Chanel's Spring 2013 Couture collection was beautiful, but watching the pieces come to life in the hands of Chanel's artisans is almost as beautiful as the garments themselves.
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Chanel's Spring 2013 Couture collection was beautiful, but watching the pieces come to life in the hands of Chanel's artisans is almost as beautiful as the garments themselves.

The house offers a closer look at how its one-of-a-kind creations are made in a new video called "Le Savoire Faire." In it, workers in Chanel's Couture ateliers are seen creating gowns with components from the embroidery studio Maison Lesage and from the feather and floral applique masters at Maison Lemarié. It's as mesmerizing to watch countless thousands of beads, silk flowers, crystals, and other embellishments come together as it is to watch the show itself. A look at the process in the video below.

British Vogue to Launch Miss Vogue in May 2013
Natalie Portman

Vogue UK's Little Sis, Loewe's New Bag Line, and Vanity Fair's New List

All the bits fit to print here, in our daily news roundup.
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    All the bits fit to print here, in our daily news roundup.

  • British Vogue editor, Francesca Burns, revealed via Twitter that the magazine will launch a teen edition, Miss Vogue, this May. [Racked]

  • Meanwhile, Hearst Magazines International will debut Elle in Australia this October. [Fashionologie Inbox]

  • Artist Julie Verhoeven — who has previously collaborated with Mulberry, Louis Vuitton, and Versace — has designed an exclusive print (above) for the Investec Derby to appear on cashmere picnic blankets. [Vogue UK]

  • Now's your chance to show off your style chops — Vanity Fair is now accepting pictures of its readers for possible inclusion in its annual International Best Dressed list. [The New York Times]

  • David Koma, Holly Fulton, and Michael van der Ham have all received the British Fashion Council's Fashion Forward sponsorship for 2013. [Vogue UK]

  • Mark your calendars: the Barneys New York warehouse sale will start on Valentine's Day. It is yet to be confirmed whether or not the sale will also be online. [The Shophound]

  • Chiara Ferragni and Susie Lau are just a few of the bloggers who will be revealing Loewe's collection of handbags for Moda Operandi, which is now available online, on their websites. [Moda Operandi]

  • Ford Models has shuttered its kids division after restructuring its New York office. [Page Six]

  • Morgans Hotel Group will partner with Scoop NYC to style its guests for New York Fashion Week. [She Finds]

  • Will Natalie Portman soon be wearing a beret? Her husband, Benjamin Millepied, the former principal at New York City Ballet, has just been named the director of dance at the Paris Opera ballet. [The New York Times]
Karl Lagerfeld Cassina Furniture | Behind-the-Scenes Video
Karl Lagerfeld

Behind the Scenes With Karl Lagerfeld on His "Mysterious and Unusual" New Project

In case anyone had forgotten about Karl Lagerfeld's legion of side projects — remember the helicopters?
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In case anyone had forgotten about Karl Lagerfeld's legion of side projects — remember the helicopters? — there's now a behind-the-scenes video featuring The Kaiser hard at work on his latest one: a photo series for Italian furniture company Cassina.

The company announced that Lagerfeld would photograph some of its iconic designs in November, and the images he created will be on display at Cassina's Paris showroom from Jan. 31 to March 10.

In the video, Lagerfeld says his goal was to make the furniture appear "both mysterious and unusual while remaining a piece of furniture." A look at him doing just that in the video below.

Floral Prints and Pink Color Trend For Spring 2013
Shopping

The New Online Arrivals We're Coveting This Week

With this week's Valentino, Chanel, and Dior couture shows all pushing variations on a garden theme, it's no wonder that suddenly we've been propelled into a very Spring-like mood — despite the current subzero temperatures where we live.
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Floral Prints and Pink Color Trend For Spring 2013

With this week's Valentino, Chanel, and Dior couture shows all pushing variations on a garden theme, it's no wonder that suddenly we've been propelled into a very Spring-like mood — despite the current subzero temperatures where we live. Petal prints, rosy hues, floral brocades, and latticework are just a few of the park-inspired details topping our wish list, and thankfully, those are the very things that are trickling into our favorite stores. Even though the frigid weather will most likely keep us from donning any of these pieces soon, one thing is certainly true: When the warm weather does come, these are the pieces we'll definitely be reaching for.

Valentino MiniMarket Golden Goose Carven Emilio Pucci 3.1 Phillip Lim Jack Vartanian
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Kate Upton Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl Commercial Video
Poll

Should Kate Upton's Newest Commercial Be Banned?

Though Kate Upton has modeled no shortage of skin-baring ensembles, her most controversial assignment yet seems to be the teaser for Mercedes-Benz's upcoming Super Bowl commercial.
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Though Kate Upton has modeled no shortage of skin-baring ensembles, her most controversial assignment yet seems to be the teaser for Mercedes-Benz's upcoming Super Bowl commercial.

But it's not what Upton wears in the commercial that's causing a stir, it's what she's doing. The teaser, titled "Kate Upton Washes the All-New Mercedes-Benz CLA in Slow Motion," primarily features the model flirtatiously playing with her hair, then ambling over to a group of men to inform them that they've missed a spot on the vehicle.

The Parents Television Council has complained that the ad "isn't selling cars, it's selling sexual objectification." But is the commercial really all that sexual? A look at the teaser below.


Maison Martin Margiela Couture Spring 2013 | Runway
Couture

Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal Spring 2013

If some of the pieces in Maison Martin Margiela's Spring 2013 Couture collection look like they were made from candy wrappers, that's because they were.
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If some of the pieces in Maison Martin Margiela's Spring 2013 Couture collection look like they were made from candy wrappers, that's because they were. The house tweeted that the last three looks from Wednesday's show "were inspired by artist Félix González-Torres's 'Candy Floors.'" To mimic the installation of thousands of pieces of candy covering the floors at New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Margiela atelier spent a reported 70 hours embroidering metallic wrappers onto silk.

Maison Martin Margiela Couture Maison Martin Margiela Couture Maison Martin Margiela Couture Maison Martin Margiela Couture Maison Martin Margiela Couture Maison Martin Margiela Couture Maison Martin Margiela Couture
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H&M Paris Fashion Week Show
Poll

What Does H&M's Paris Fashion Week Show Mean For the Industry?

While Peter Som and Cacharel are skipping Fashion Week for one reason or another, H&M plans to return to the runway with a show at Paris's Rodin Museum this February.
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While Peter Som and Cacharel are skipping Fashion Week for one reason or another, H&M plans to return to the runway with a show at Paris's Rodin Museum this February.

The Swedish retailer is following in some big footsteps: Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior once showed their designs at the Rodin Museum too. But other than the shows H&M staged for its collaborations with Lanvin and Versace, this will be the first time the brand's main collection has appeared on the runway in eight years.

But other mass-market retailers have come to the runway in recent years too: Topshop Unique has been on the London Fashion Week calendar since 2005 and sponsors the venue where Peter Pilotto, J.W.Anderson, and Louise Gray show, and there's no question that J.Crew's Lincoln Center debut in Spring 2012 was one of the most talked-about of that season. Now it's one of the most anticipated — and well-attended — presentations on the New York calendar.

But what does it mean when mass-market labels are staging the kinds of shows once reserved for brands that deal in four-figure price points? It could be a simple matter of cost. In 2009, Forbes reported that the price of a runway show "can easily hit $75,000," and last September The Independent found that designers were "often running up bills in the hundreds of thousands" during Fashion Week. It may simply be easier for a big company like H&M to foot the bill than it is for smaller operations like Chris Benz and Betsey Johnson — both of whom have canceled their shows in New York next month.

"We felt excited about the collection, and we really wanted to show it," H&M spokesman Hacan Andersson told WWD. If H&M is proud enough of its own wares to put them up against the likes of Chanel and Sonia Rykiel, then that excitement makes sense. Will other brands like H&M be emboldened to do the same?

Valentino Couture Spring 2013 | Pictures
Couture

Valentino Couture Spring 2013

Other couturiers have built small parks with real trees and bushes to display their Spring 2013 Couture collections, but Valentino's Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli used garden elements in their actual garments.
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Other couturiers have built small parks with real trees and bushes to display their Spring 2013 Couture collections, but Valentino's Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli used garden elements in their actual garments.

Curlicues made from tubes of red, white, or black fabric decorated everything from dresses to suits and even shoes, echoing the wrought-iron gates and fences used to tame nature in public parks. One gray dress covered in embroidered birds was paired with a black cape made from the tubing, making the model wearing it look like a mobile birdcage. Black lace was arranged on one A-line skirt to look like a garden maze, and a procession of shimmering green leaves snaked up a sheer ruffled dress.

And while every other look carried a floral embellishment or appliqué of some kind, this collection was lightweight and even breezy in some instances. That feeling owed to Chiuri and Piccioli's use of sheer fabrics and light colors. With the exception of Valentino red, the collection primarily featured whites, cream, gray, pale pink, and black. A few sleek dresses without decoration and jackets with an off-the-shoulder cut helped the offering feel modern.

Valentino Couture Valentino Couture Valentino Couture Valentino Couture Valentino Couture Valentino Couture Valentino Couture
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