Fragrances Boutique

Paris RTW Fall 2010 Trend: Coat Call

For fall, Paris designers conjured up a beautiful group of clean-lined coats.

Something Blue: Selma Blair Shops Gap Store Preview on Robertson

Gap’s 1969 Jeans line is making itself at home in a new location on Robertson Boulevard.

Lily Cole and Tricky Turn Out for Dazed & Confused Party

The vodka flowed at a Dazed & Confused party in Paris Wednesday night, feting Spike Jonze’s short film collaboration with Absolut.

The Fashion System: Neiman Marcus’ Karen Katz and Ken Downing

Company president Karen Katz and senior vp and fashion director Ken Downing discuss the customer’s buying preferences.

The Fashion System: Donna Karan

The designer shares her thoughts on changing the fashion seasons to reflect a “buy-now, wear-now” attitude.

Elie Saab

Elie Saab scored some major red-carpet coups at the Oscars on Sunday, putting nominee Anna Kendrick in a blush pink gown and Rachel McAdams in a pastel floral number—both dresses from his January couture collection and both unapologetically pretty. For Fall, he took a much darker view, focusing primarily on black, with hits of burgundy, teal, and midnight blue for evening. His message would’ve been more powerful and effective had he edited down the 60-look show and eliminated the clingy tree-motif jerseys, but his sleek hourglass sheaths and flirty, full-skirted pieced lace cocktail dresses will appeal to more than just Hollywood starlets.

Zeroing in on real-world clothes rather than his usual event-dress-heavy lineup was a prescient move in a season when designers en masse have been rediscovering the power of plain. You couldn’t call all of his eveningwear restrained, though: There were some see-through ombré net and peekaboo lace styles that, as any celebrity stylist could tell you, will never fly with the fashion police. But when Saab tamped down the excess in favor of understated goddess gowns and just-revealing-enough jewel-tone sequined columns, it was easy to picture the results on a red carpet sometime soon.
—Nicole Phelps

Hermès

Lily Cole as a black-leather catsuit-ed Emma Peel in the Hermès remake of the sixties British TV series The Avengers. Pourquoi? Actually, in a tongue-in-cheek way, it made a kind of sense for this bastion of French values. First, it gave Jean Paul Gaultier the license to hook in a spoofy power-woman stereotype for the season (a character fashion’s toying with now). Second, it brought in masculine tailoring by way of Savile Row (the bowler hats and furled umbrellas were clearly the accoutrements of Peel’s partner-in-sleuthing John Steed, or the Whitehall Spymaster out of James Bond). This apparent Anglophilia might have been expected to cause an international incident, given the Franco-British rivalry that’s existed since Agincourt. Somehow, though, Gaultier managed to swing the whole thing around to end up as a pretty effective demonstration of classic Hermès values.

Having established his references, clever old Gaultier was, first of all, able to make sly fun of the kinky-fetish aspects of so much black leather-wearing—something that has indeed crossed the mind as a slight issue of taste in many a show this season. When Gaultier sets about using napa leather at Hermès, however, his real concern is to cut a regular and discreet jacket or coat, the likes of which is one of the foundations of the house ready-to-wear. The saddlelike epaulets with dangling vestigial stirrups may be discounted as a prank—get past them and the bowlers and the umbrellas, and what you begin to see is impeccable tailoring, with no egregious extras as far as trendiness is concerned.

That settled, Gaultier was free to use the remainder of the collection to sneak in such fare as casual-deluxe duffels, parkas, and sporty vests, along with the superb knitwear of the house. Still, he was stumped on eveningwear. He’s not alone in that, this being the season of the comeback of day. But fringed mohair blankets arranged in tiers, as evening skirts? That was a joke that was just a joke.
—Sarah Mower

Miu Miu’s Regal Pop (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily – It was 1960s modernism meets Louis XIV at the latest collection of Miu Miu, the final show of Paris fashion week that ended Wednesday evening, March 10.

BoF Daily Digest | Olivier’s originality, Abercrombie keeps discounting, Burberry sues TJX, Céline’s clean slate, Vuitton’s décolleté

Olivier Zahm by Terry Richardson | Source: purple DIARY

The Future Of Fashion: Olivier Zahm (Style.com)
“The French editor and founder of the twice-yearly independent publication Purple Fashion has many other passions… but in an increasingly conformist world, Zahm offers an original, entertaining, and astute voice.”

Abercrombie Will Keep Discounting (WSJ)
“Abercrombie & Fitch said… it will continue its uncharacteristically high levels of discounting through the spring in order to boost store sales… it is willing to sacrifice margins if necessary to improve sales.”

Burberry accuses TJX of selling counterfeit goods (Reuters)
“Burberry Group… has sued TJX, accusing the operator of the off-price TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods stores of selling counterfeit goods.”

Céline starts from clean slate (Wealth Bulletin)
“After struggling for years to forge an identity, the label is finding influential retailers including Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman are clamoring to carry its collection, even as they cut back their portfolios to focus on best sellers.”

Paris: A Rounder Season (NY Times)
“Louis Vuitton seemed to provide the perfect bookend to the Milan-Paris ready-to-wear season… Between Miuccia Prada in Milan and Marc Jacobs at Vuitton we saw the return of the lush, full-hipped woman, her breasts served up like ripe fruit.”

Digital mirror: fashion brands convey glamour online (Reuters)

Reuters – With videos of catwalk shows, pictures of glamorous models and a catalog of chic products, luxury brands are creating “digital mirrors” online as they turn to the internet to tap into growing e-commerce demand.

Williamson to Design Accessories for Bulgari

Capsule collection of handbags will be unveiled in Milan in September.

After “Avatar,” Japan fashion show to go 3D (Reuters)

Reuters – Move over, Na’vis: some of Japan’s top models will strut down the catwalk in a 3D fashion event this weekend, highlighting the increasing dazzle of the third dimension beyond the movie industry.

Yohji Yamamoto to Show Men’s in Tokyo

The one-off show will take place April 1.

Madonna’s Fashion Venture Expected to Build Slowly

Madonna may be big, but analysts don’t expect her fashion collaboration to create a significant financial return for at least a few years.

A Dinner for Badgley and Mischka… Carrie Underwood on Stage…

Mark Badgley and James Mischka celebrated their American Glamour Badgley Mischka line over dinner. Also, Carrie Underwood’s tour outfits glitter.

Maria Pinto Plots Next Chapter

Maria Pinto, who gained national recognition for dressing Michelle Obama on the presidential campaign trial, is down but not out.

Amy Winehouse Teams With Fred Perry on Fashion Line

Amy Winehouse is launching a clothing collection in collaboration with British label Fred Perry.

Night Owls: A Private Dinner for the YSL Retrospective

Pierre Bergé’s private dinner for the opening of the massive Yves Saint Laurent retrospective at the Petit Palais was a who’s-who of a certain fashion era.

“We’re Off the Clock Now”

To say that everyone at Giambattista Valli’s dinner at Caviar Kaspia was excited to finally let their hair down after a month of shows would be an understatement. During dinner—co-hosted by Moncler, where he designs the Gamme Rouge collection—Valli found himself dancing on tables, tossing cherry vodka shots down the banquettes to his friends, and asking his girls to shuffle their legs to let other dinner guests crawl under the table. “Ah, but c’mon, now is the time to celebrate,” Valli smiled, as he projected his face on the wall via a customized lighter with a flashlight on the bottom. “I have about one night to celebrate before it’s back to work.”

He wasn’t kidding: Sitting directly across from him was Charlotte Dellal, the shoe designer for whom Valli is designing a summer wedding dress—and with whom he had scheduled a fitting the next day. “But Giamba, let’s not do a fitting tomorrow. I’ve eaten too much,” Dellal protested, looking at a baked potato that had been strip-mined for its caviar. Not that all the toasting was fashion-related; next to Dellal was Elettra Wiedemann, who had just finished her master’s thesis on vertical farming. “What’s that?” Valli asked. But before Wiedemann could fully explain her idea to build farms in metropolitan centers, it was time for another shot: “To vertical farming!”

Over at the Pavillion Ledoyen, meanwhile, Spike Jonze screened one of his newest shorts for Jefferson Hack’s Dazed & Confused party. With so many obligations, much of the fashion flock got there on the late side, effectively forfeiting their moments with the filmmaker and the English publisher (they disappeared early, never to be seen again!). Not that this did anything to discourage lingering: “I’m going to have a cocktail,” Leigh Lezark said. “We’re off the clock now.” She was right: With all the models, editors, DJs, and other fashion professionals done for the season, not to mention the rest of Parisian youth up for a good night, the Dazed party was loud and it was good: In fact, it ended at a sunrise-scary 5 a.m. “See you next season!” Lou Doillon, who had hustled a group into her caravan, cried out into the Paris night.

—Derek Blasberg

Louis Vuitton’s womanhood celebration closes Paris (AP)

AP – After a week of shows dominated by the rail-thin teens who are ubiquitous on today’s catwalks, Paris fall-winter ready-to-wear 2010-11 displays concluded Wednesday with a sensual celebration of women in all their curvaceous glory at Louis Vuitton.

Cerruti

Cerruti, the French tailoring label, hasn’t had much of a profile in womenswear for several seasons, but on October 1 last year, the company signed the London-based Australian designer Richard Nicoll to revive its credibility. In the short time he’s been there (while shuttling to and fro on Eurostar), Nicoll has identified the house strength in daywear and set about recasting it for a modern woman’s working life. One of the ways he does that is through tonal color, matching cranberry shades in a single look, then grays; moving into a strong passage of petrol, teal blue, and navy; and then into unconventional pastel tones of apricot and beige-pink.


Yet being allocated the last-but-one slot in four weeks of shows didn’t do the management any favors. While scores of editors were streaming home after Hermès, or struggling in traffic across town to make Miu Miu, Cerruti had chosen to show in the bleak, out-of-town cluster of abandoned warehouses the Chambre Syndicale of Paris has christened “Halle Freyssinet”—and which some international fashion professionals have taken to calling “Hell.”


Overall, there was not enough here to make a fair evaluation of the soundness of Nicoll’s ideas about dressing working women. His mohair knits certainly have a fluffy appeal, as does the windowpane check tailoring, but notions like pants in see-through perforated fabric and latex skirts and leggings aren’t going to fly. Next season, Cerruti would be better off taking their presentation back home to their classy, light-filled showroom in the center of Paris, walking distance from where their customers live, work, and stay on business.
—Sarah Mower

Trends: Collared

Maybe a round, buttoned collar reminds you of your fourth-grade teacher, but you can expect to see more of it for fall.

Emma Peel and Her Sisters

For the finale at Hermes today, Jean Paul Gaultier sent out all the models in a union of bowler hats, fantastic leathers and umbrellas.

Paris: A Rounder Season

Louis Vuitton seemed to provide the perfect bookend to the Milan-Paris ready-to-wear season, which ended tonight.

Requiem

The last several seasons have been challenging for small brands like Raffaele Borriello’s Requiem. But according to the designer, business is picking up. Credit that to his timely introduction of lower-priced elements like embellished knits, coupled, on the other side of the coin, with a stubborn refusal to skimp on luxe fabrics or his preferred way of piecing them together into one frock. Predictable little black dresses aren’t Borriello’s cup of tea. Instead, a Fall cocktail number might come with gazar sleeves, a charmeuse bodice overlaid with mesh, and a skirt made from a leather look-alike wool. Other designers may be editing out long evening dresses from their shows, but not Borriello, who describes his label as “an end of the afternoon-into-evening collection.” His most charming floor-grazer was a feminine take on the tuxedo.
—Nicole Phelps