THE WEEK IN FASHION: OCTOBER 17th-21st

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Welcome to another week of  news from the fashion world, brought to you by FEAL. Happy Weekend!

I'm going to start this week's news on a sort of business-y note as I've been a bit perplexed by a lot of the big money news which seems to have emerged over the past few days, despite the doom and gloom of the financial pages. I'm no economic whizz kid but I do find it baffling that while Europe is apparently in deep crisis, spending at the Frieze art fair was brisk and Marc Quinn's statue of Kate Moss in a rather tangled yoga pose was snapped up for a mere £577,250 at a Sotheby's sale; the lucky owner is apparently a private individual from Europe, lucky them!

Marc Quinn's 'Microcosmos' (Image from Vogue.co.uk)

A couple of big fashion houses have posted massive profits this week as well, and not just due to expansion in the East.  This week LVMH and Dior both reported rises of around 15%. Of course, Asia is where the greatest opportunity lies for luxury brands; LVMH saw a 27% increase in the last four months. That said, Europe and the US are not THAT far behind with profits rising by 7% and 18% respectively in those areas. One of the many brands under the LVMH umbrella is Celine, where Phoebe Philo is still being lauded for her game changing collections;  results were said to have been 'remarkable' there, perhaps showing that it is not just a catwalk phenomenon which Philo has masterminded. It's worth highlighting as well that Dior's lack of solid design direction doesn't seem to have done them much harm at all- clearly perfume and leather goods can ride even the most potent of media storms.

Everyone still wants a bit of Celine, according to LVMH results (Image from FashionGoneRogue.com)

The importance of the Asian market is underlined by the expansion which many brands are currently undertaking. The latest is Vivienne Westwood who opened her first Chinese store in Shanghai earlier this week. Dame Viv is in China to take part in lots of activities promoting the opening including being guest of honour at the opening of Shanghai Fashion Week. Never one to be seen and not heard, she's also promoting her concerns about the environment and sustainability by addressing the 'Can China survive the world green economy?' conference.

Dame Vivienne Westwood at the opening of her new Shanghai shop

Enough of the business chat and on to some excellent images by Steven Meisel for W magazine's annual art issue. He has employed the talents of various stars including Linda Evangelista, Karen Elson, Coco Rocha and Joan Rivers to create fake ads for imagined products dreamed up with a little help from the W team. Among them the predicatable next project of Petra Ecclestone and a retro spin on shampoo promotion. I've included some of the images below and somewhere in there is Anna Dello Russo, can you spot her? Hint: You have NEVER seen her quite like this before.

All images from nymag.com

When I read this next story, it made my skin crawl with its subtly anti-woman undertones. Christian Louboutin has been explaining why he thinks women love shoes so much. He says 'That's why women are happy to wear painful shoes. For some a little discomfort is balanced by something else, which has to do with desire. You feel yourself, empower yourself, know yourself. You are aware of your body. This little act of discomfort pays off in lots of other ways... There is an element of seduction in shoes that doesn't exist for men...The language starts with the shoe and radiates over the whole body. A woman can be sexy, charming, witty or shy with her shoes. Shoes for men are about elegance or wealth; they are not playing with the inner character''

Image from ftape.com

I'll let you make your own mind up about whether there's any element of truth in that account of why we wear heels, and we can't argue against the fact that Louboutin has had an epic effect on what we wear on our feet. In the interests of balance, I thought I'd post an extract from Caitlin Moran's amazing 'How to be a Woman'-
 'The unwearability of high heels is self-evidently all around us- coming to a head at the average wedding reception, a uniformly high-heeled occasion. In our minds we see it as an elegant and serene gathering of women in their finest. One of the big chances of the year to pretend you're at the Oscars, in your stilettos. In actuality, of course, it looks like the annual AGM of the Tina Turner Impressionist Union- women staggering around in unaccustomed verticality; foot flesh pouring out over tight, unkind satin, toes going numb for days afterwards''. 

Image from telegraph.co.uk

Miu Miu's decision to hire Hailee Steinfeld as the face of their AW11 campaign caused quite a stir with the debate divided between those who thought she was freakishly young and those who thought the images were charming and sweet (and lots in between). So, the Resort campaign starring 34- year old Guinevere Van Seenus represents something of a leap for Miu Miu. Guinevere was chosen by Erdem earlier in the year to model his Resort 2012 collection, inspired by Hitchcock leading ladies. In a matter of months, the Miu Miu woman has doubled in age and transformed from childish slip of a thing to assured lady, quite the genius move or confusing?

Erdem Resort 2012 (Image from fashionologie.com)

In an interview the FashEd did with Donatella Versace a while back, she told us that the Versace for H&M collection would revive lots of the prints which the label was famous for back in the nineties. True to her word, there is a wealth of fabulously flamboyant baroque references in the full lookbook for the collection which we got to see for the first time this week. It's so darn bellisima, bring on November 17th!

Versace for H&M- Image from telegraph.co.uk

Finally, we may not all be able to fork out the £60,000 paid for a Tracey Emin at Frieze but for a mere tenner you can get your hands on Emin engraved soap at Liberty's Beauty Hall. The project is part of Emin's support for Art Against Knives project which she is involved in 'Because I am against people stabbing each other. Full stop'. Each soap comes wrapped in a poem which Emin has composed especially for the collaboration. If you can't make it to Liberty then you can purchase yours here.

THE WEEK IN FASHION: SEPTEMBER 5th-9th

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Before we get on with the business of the day, I just need to tell you my own fashion news highlight of the week. Last night, at Vogue's Fashion Night Out, I spied the delectable David Gandy as I walked along Bruton Street. Of course, the moment I spied him my, erm, journalistic instincts kicked in and I chased after him to ask, rather blatheringly, for a photo. He kindly obliged. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm still not entirely familiar with the machinations of the FashEd's camera so my image is, to put it mildly, terrible. But hopefully you can just make out an Adonis-y silhouette.

Sorry David, I'm no Mario Testino. Things can only get better.

 I didn't manage to get around too many FNO events as I was attending a talk about another aspect of my work with the FashEd. However, I did poke my head into Liberty for a yummy Mahiki cocktail and then went on to Stella McCartney (via Bond Street which was madness). A little while ago I blogged about the polka dot, and in particular Stella's dress. So, I was thrilled to play at being Natalia Vodianova as well as having a little dance at the disco. I also thought Nicoletta who works as a supervisor at the store looked amazing in her sheer polka dress so couldn't resist sharing this photo with you.

So those are some snippets my VFNO. Now onto other stories making the news this week- it's been busy!

Yesterday, John Galliano was found guilty of making anti-Semitic remarks. He received a fine of 6,000 euros which he will have to pay only if he re-offends. He must also pay a nominal 1 euro to each of the victims of his crime. It's a shame that this saga has dragged on for so long now but we hope that a line has been drawn which mean Galliano can concentrate on getting himself well.

Vogue Italia never fails to disappoint and this month's cover is no exception. We are completely intrigued by their transformation of Stella Tennant which must surely have involved some photoshopping, don't you think? Her impossibly cinched waist  and brutal piercings are said to have been inspired by artist Ethel Granger who claimed to create the smallest waist ever at a mere 13ins.

Ethel Granger (image from chicquero.com)

Following on from Love magazine's What Lies Beneath shoot, we bring news of a rather unlikely case of fashion photography plagiarism. This time Steven Meisel seems to have done two very simailar editorials for Vogue Italia and W magazine, both featuring Raquel Zimmermann. Having shot every cover of Vogue Italia since 1988, Meisel is no stranger to working with the team there however this was his first time working with W. Each shoot is a kind of before and after sequence, showing models in natural, off-duty poses and then in more stylised, made-up looks. While self-plagiarising doesn't really hurt anyone (apart from making you samey), the real issue here may be the effect the discovery has on Meisel's relationship with the two publications, especially given the contrasting relationships he has with both. The fact they both belong to the same publishing house, Conde Nast, entangles the issue further.

On the top is the Vogue Italia shoot, On the bottom is the W one (Image from telegraph..co.uk)

The unbelivably successful young blogger Tavi launched her new online magazine Rookie and from my older eye it looks very cute yet savvy. Tavi is fitting in her editor-in-chief role around teenage mundanities such as school. If any of our younger readers have a point of view on the subject we'd love to hear it! We also love Tavi's recent attempt to recreate the Hailee Steinfeld for Miu Miu ads. More pictures over on Style Rookie.

Tavi does Miu Miu (image from stylerookie.com)

This week, Lisa Armstrong has begun her tenure as Fashion Editor at The Telegraph. She kicked off in the best way possible with a fabulous Tom Ford interview ahead of his showcase on Sunday of London Fashion Week. We learn that Mr Ford is partial to an episode or two of The Only Way is Essex, his cultural highlight of the year. Lisa and Tom debate whether the British sensationalist ways go back to Punch (Tom) or Chaucer (Lisa) and he divulges that a woman at her best is slim and limber. There's a bit of sex in there too.

Tom Ford gives the middle finger to TOWIE naysayers. (image from fashionindie.com)

Another wonderful interview in The Telegraph, this time Kate Finnigan talking to Katie Grand. Images of fashion brilliance are conjured with Grand's tale of drinking in Azzedine Alaia's apartment with Grace Jones while watching films of the designer's show. 'I die I die' Jones apparently exclaims. And that's just another day in the life of Katie Grand. Cool. Read the interview for amazing insight into Katie's role in honing the collections of the likes of Marc Jacobs, Ungaro and Jonathan Saunders.

Katie Grand (Image from oystermag.co.uk)

 Yesterday, Topshop Chicago opened its doors with a little help from Phillip Green, his daughter Chloe and Miley Cyrus. So, quite a different vibe from April 2009's New York launch with Kate Moss as the star attraction. It has long been speculated that Chloe is set to take on a bigger role at Arcadia but we wonder if her position so firmly at her Father's side is an indicator of his anointing her as his successor. Of course, it will be a while before that actually happens so in the mean time Chloe will be kept busy with her forthcoming appearances on Made in Chelsea.  And while Miley Cyrus may be the 4th richest person under the age of 30 in the world, the choice to have her open the store sends an entirely different message from the previous Moss affiliations.We wonder if Miley and Chloe had a who's-richer-off, and more to the point, who would win?!

Miley is flanked by the Greens outside Topshop Chicago (image from Topshop)

Finally, I have mentioned the Diana Vreeland book,film and exhibitions which are coming up before but this week we'd like to give a special mention the film 'Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel', which had its premiere at the Venice and Tulleride Film Festivals at the weekend. The FashEd proclaims herself to be Diana Vreeland's biggest fan and is already planning her trip to Venice to see the exhibition at Palazzo Fortuny.

Diana Vreeland ( image from brookspeters.com)

DO THE LANVIN DANCE!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

You've mastered the macarena, the YMCA et al, but really we wouldn't dare crack out those routines wearing Lanvin. Well, now the label's dance challenge positively encourages a little foray into cheesy moves. Alber Elbaz is letting us know about it in a fun-filled video which also just happens to showcase the capes and cocktail dresses which dominate the AW11 collection- a feast for the eyes and ears.

Raquel Zimmerman and Karen Elson (who loves a party- she even threw a joint one with her ex Jack White to celebrate their divorce) are joined by Lowell Tautchin and Milo Spijkers in this manifesto for having fun in your high fashion. Elbaz himself was obviously loving Steven Mielsel's shoot so much that he makes a cheeky cameo, can you spot him?

Never fear, the fun is not reserved for the lucky models. Those of you who will be in New York on September 8th (when Vogue's Fashion Night out is taking place) can bust a move at the Lanvin boutique in a bid to win prizes, surely the chicest dance contest ever? And if you're not in NY then any dancefloor/ bedroom will do.