New York Magazine

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Amy Winehouse Is Actually Doing a Fashion Collection
3/11/10 at 11:25 AM

Many months ago, rumors would surface periodically about Amy Winehouse doing a fashion line. Turns out they are TRUE — she IS. The line is for Fred Perry, will hit stores in October, and is contracted to go for four seasons. From WWD:
In a palette of mostly black and pink, the 17-piece collection includes a girlish twinset; slim, thigh-skimming pencil skirts; capri pants, a mini bowling dress, and Fred Perry’s signature polo shirts (“collars are most definitely raised,” the press release effused).

Wholesale prices range from $32 to $150. Fred Perry's marketing director, Richard Martin, spoke to WWD at length about the collection, but WiHo isn't quoted in the story at all. Did she have anything to do with the clothes? If she didn't, it wouldn't be great big news in the world of celebrity designers, whose creative process usually mostly involves telling real designers something like, "This ashtray inspired me. Go make my line now." But they normally pretend like they were heavily involved. Apparently Amy went to three meetings:
“We had three major design meetings where she was closely involved in product style selection and the application of fabric, color and styling details,” said Martin. He added that pieces such as gingham shirts and the Heritage jacket, another label classic, are the foundation of the lineup. On those items, “Amy gave crucial input on proportion, color and fit,” Martin said. “The range clearly has Amy’s handwriting.”

We're glad Amy's coming back, if only for the excuse to link to this; and the popped collars are fine for now, but it would be really great if she made, you know, another CD.

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So boring! Probably even the pope will do his own collection soon!

Posts: 33056 Location: Congo

keke
A couple years too late to be honest! She needs to make more muzik!

Posts: 18534

^ ikr- ummm remember your amazing musical talent Amy?

Posts: 32341 Location: Ibuprofen Palace / Glasgow

i don't see why she shouldn't, from the looks of this season 80% of the designers are on crack anyway.

Posts: 29998

Rumors About Alber Elbaz Replacing Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel Resurface
3/15/10 at 11:15 AM

Last summer, rumors surfaced that Karl Lagerfeld did not renew his contract at Chanel and that Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz would take his place. Both Chanel and Lanvin quickly denied the rumor, but it came back over the weekend on grazia.com.au, which became alarmed after fashion blogger Tommy Ton tweeted he was sitting on some news that will "SHAKE the fashion world":
We at grazia.com.au think we might know what this earth-shattering news might be — with rumours circulating that Karl Lagerfeld’s tenure at Chanel is coming to an end and none other than Alber Elbaz will be announced as his successor. There’s no doubt the talented Lanvin designer is more than capable of filling Big Karl’s CC-logoed shoes.

Grazia.com.au expects an announcement to come "very, very soon." In July of last year Karl promised to "die with his boots on" and then said in November, "Retirement is not one of the topics with which I deal." However impervious to human things such as physical ailments and death Karl may actually be, sources said in December that Chanel must be thinking about his retirement, because he is 76 and it would be foolish not to. The only reason they might not admit they are is to prevent their new designer from being poached by another house. Also, it's better marketing-wise for people to know exactly where their $8,000 quilted bags are coming from. Furthermore, fashion labels love keeping secrets and getting to tell them first. So these rumors may not be confirmed, but perhaps there's something to say for their repeat performance. Or perhaps Tommy Ton just got excited over a really — really — pretty new pair of shoes.

Posts: 33056 Location: Congo

I heard that tweet was just some lame prank between him and Riccardo Tisci.

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Meet Fashion’s New Teen Dream
3/14/10 at 8:19 PM

Photo: Courtesy of Marcio Madeira/KCD

Last week, as Paris Fashion Week was under way, a name started making the rounds in whispers, Facebook posts, "Did you hear?" e-mails. Fashion, it seems, has a new wunderkind. Pedro Lourenço, at just 19 years old, has managed to draw comparisons to the Greats (we dare not even say their names).
Lourenço's show, styled by Brana Wolf and produced by powerhouse KCD, was quite the "debut" for the Brazilian designer. But it was far from his first collection. He has been designing since he was 8 years old. His first proper showing was presented in 2003, when he was 12, at São Paulo Fashion Week.
His fall 2010 collection, a study of leathers that offers a sense of the romantic past combined with the look of a not-too-distant future, achieves something few others have: a feeling of wonderment. Lourenço loves working with leathers, and has recently been dabbling in plastic. "Some pieces I have details made by hand, some very natural, as leather, and some very technological, as the plastic," he explains. "All those mixes I find very important, because I don't want to be futuristic. Some people find my work to be futuristic but I find it is today, is my generation."
If his collection is looking both forward and back, then it makes sense that his sartorial philosophy does as well. His two biggest influences? Madeline Vionnet, whose highly crafted, very architectural work celebrated the natural female form; and Mario — as in Super Mario Brothers from Nintendo. ("Like two years ago, I used to play video games — I still play video games when I can, so I'm like the digital generation. I'm always like the Nintendo, I love Mario.")

That's not to say Lourenço doesn't have other influences. There are of, course, his parents, themselves designers, who gathered together industry friends to view Pedro's collection at 8. Plus, "the early Comme des Garçons's old fashion shows when I was small was a very big influence for me," he offers. "Actually the one where he had changed the shapes of the models — he made some giant shoulder pads with his hands, so it was this completely crazy new silhouette." But Pedro’s small no longer, as he makes clear discussing another inspiration: the Picasso show at the Grand Palais, where he learned of Picasso’s confession that he had worked his whole life to be free like a child. Pedro sniffs at this revelation. “I feel I was free like a child when I was creating when I was small,” he explains.
As for what's next for the teen sensation (yes, we know), he's hard at work producing his line. Wynn Las Vegas has reportedly expressed interest in his collection, and Pedro's already thinking of spring. "Also the next book I¹m going to read."

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Are Argentinians on Their Way to Modeling World Domination?
3/12/10 at 4:25 PM

Once the sexy Brazilians ruled the modeling world, with their breasts and butts and tans and remarkable compatibility with body grease. Then the thinner, pale Russians rose to prominence with their blonde hair and sallow cheeks. Now modeling seems to be having a Dutch moment, with models such as Lara Stone, Patricia Van Der Vliet, and Lisanne de Jong bringing a more athletic figure into fashion. Models.com predicts the next craze will be models from Argentina, as many Argentinian faces landed top spots in big shows for fall 2010. Here you see three rising Argentinian stars: Carla Gebhart at Prada, Tati Cotliar opening Marc Jacobs, and Antonella Graef at Givenchy. When will America spark a model craze? Eh, maybe not anytime soon, but at least this nation produced Karlie Kloss, who rules.
The Argentinian Wave [Models.com]

Posts: 32341 Location: Ibuprofen Palace / Glasgow

diorelle wrote:

I heard that tweet was just some lame prank between him and Riccardo Tisci.

or Chanel, the house where designers go to loose weight Laughing

i hope he does tbph ... then he put different people in charge of choosing models other than himself and we have a win win situation Laughing