|
|
In case you haven’t been paying attention, at all, in the past few months Kate Middleton aka The Duchess of Cambridge, is the fashion world’s newest favorite style icon. Here at Promgirl News we’ve certainly done our part to keep you abreast of any and all developments surrounding the Duchess’s many, and seemingly effortless, contributions to the world of style including recent rumors that none other than Anna Wintour and Mario Testino had teamed up with the goal of getting Kate on the cover of US Vogue.
Unfortunately it seems that we will just have to buy a copy of Photoshop if we want to see a royal Vogue cover, as the Duchess herself has no interest in posing for either the US or UK editions of the mag. According to official palace statements Kate and her new hubby want to focus on charity work instead. However an anonymous palace source told Women’s Wear Daily that Kate’s ‘no thank you’ to Anna Wintour and Co may have more to do with her new grandmother-in-law then with her charitable pursuits.
According to the source “Kate is keenly conscious that her new grandmother-in-law may not chide her for appearing on a Vogue cover. But she would definitely not be amused, and Her Majesty is a real genius at making people squirm with simply a look or a ‘tut, tut.'”
How’s that for a change of pace? A fashion story with Anna Wintour where she is NOT the one making somebody squirm. While it must certainly be nice to be Vogue’s most powerful editor, apparently when it comes to subtly wielding influence even the queen of Vogue can’t compete with with the Queen of England!
Forget competing designers, next year’s spring fashion shows are shaping up to be a competition between the fashion capitals of the world! With Paris fashion week over and all the spring 2012 styles having already had their 15 minutes of runway fame talk is moving on to the Spring 2013 collections, however it is the schedule, not the styles that have been generating all the buzz.
For years the spring fashion shows, which are held in September of the year before, have gone in a particular order: New York fashion week goes first, then London, then Milan and finally Paris fashion week finishes the cycle. However next fall the fashion weeks featuring the Spring 2013 collections have begun overlapping each other and with none of the organizers showing any signs of compromising we have quiet the showdown shaping up.
The conflict began earlier in the month when the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), the organizers behind New York fashion week, announced that they would be pushing back their runway shows until September 13th through the 20th to avoid conflicts with the Labor Day holiday which falls later than usual in 2012. In response the British Fashion Council (the CFDA’s English counterpart) announced that London Fashion week would be held from September 21st until the 25th. The problem is that the Camera Nazionle della Moda (Italy’s version of the CFDA) had announced that the Milan Fashion Show would be scheduled from September 19th to the 25th and according to reports from Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) and The Guardian, Mario Boselli, head of the Milan Chamber of Fashion is adamant that Milan will not move back their dates. Now Paris has confirmed that their shows will begin on September 25th and fighting words have already been exchanged!
Both the CFDA and the British Fashion Council are crying foul saying that Milan is violating a 2008 agreement between the four cities to ensure that their fashion shows are scheduled sequentially, but the Camera Nazionle della Moda and the French Chambre syndicale argue that the agreement was only set to last for three years and is therefore no longer in effect. With designers and editors facing a serious bind as to which shows they will choose to attend certain fashion publications have already weighed in with Jonathan Newhouse chairman of the Conde Nast corporation, which publishes both Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily telling WWD “[all Vogue editors] will not under any circumstances abandon the London or New York shows if the Milan shows are moved earlier.”
Meanwhile Mario Boselli has told WWD that Milan has heard and decided to deny the requests coming out of New York and London, saying that if the fashion shows compete then “Let the best one win.” An anonymous source in London told the Telegraph “If we have to go head to head, then we will.”
Just when you thought the Kardashians couldn’t get into anymore markets or possibly do more than they are already doing, they go ahead and prove us wrong. In case you forgot, the Kardashians have another half as well, the Jenner’s. Younger sisters to the Kardashian trio, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, has been making her way into modeling and after landing gigs with prom gown companies and walking in New York Fashion Week for Avril Lavigne. Despite the controversy over models walking for New York Fashion Week under the age of 16, Kendall and Kylie are both under 16, Kylie walked for punk princess Avril Lavigne who is not a part of the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America), and so it didn’t become a huge issue.
Now Kendall is on to skimpier and brighter things…a swimwear photo shoot with White Sands. Of course, the Kardashian siblings and Kendall’s little sis, Kylie Jenner was all over the White Sands shoot, taking their own photos for each of their personal blog sites. Some of Kendall’s photos began to stir up some controversy, and as all of her sisters posted the photos before the campaign was launched, I am sure you have seen them. If not you can check them out at Eonline.com, the Kardashian homeland. Back to the issue; Kendall, mentioned about a thousand times, is only 15 years old and looking at one of the photos in a certain brown bathing suit, you may be taken aback. Most of the photos from her photo shoot are very cute and have even been described as demure. They are vintage type looks; high waist 2-pieces and bathing suits that are reminiscent of 1980’s swimwear. However, the infamous brown bathing suit has a dramatic plunging neckline, and even though it’s a tankini (a 2-piece suit covering the midriff), it seemed a little bit risqué for a 15 year old to be flaunting. White Sands is known for being a glamour swim suit company as well as making those Brazilian bikinis, but I still think certain swimsuit could have been left for an 18 year old model to wear, especially in light of the issue age has been causing in fashion these days.
Katy Perry is the colorful pop-singer known for singing the current decades’ teen theme songs, such as Last Friday Night. In the upcoming weeks however, Katy will be getting publicity for her scent, not her voice. Katy Perry is in the process of releasing her newest fragrance, which is yet to be named. Just about a year ago Katy began the sale of her very first perfume Purr. Purr is sold at Nordstrom’s worldwide; recently reporting sales in 54 countries. Purr received great reviews when it was first released in November 2010. It is available in 30, 50, and 100 ml sizes and the bottle…well; the bottle is a little harajuku looking cat. The cat/bottle is in shades of purple and has little jewels for the eyes. Not to mention the little cat has a collar with its name engraved reading, Purr, in a pretty font. When Purr made its premier, Katy introduced the scent on Twitter has a new member of her and husband, Russell Brand’s family. I suppose we should congratulate them on welcoming yet another member to their family with the arrival of this new perfume, which still doesn’t have a name. And funny thing about the new name, Katy is running a little contest on Twitter for fans to guess the new name. The only hints we have received, and really the only news on the new fragrance, is that it will be a sister perfume to Purr and Katy came up with the idea while on her world tour, California Dreams. Katy traveled all over the world, stopping in Japan, Australia, Europe – home land of her hubby Russell Brand – and of course, North America. The tour started back in February, so imagine all the inspiration Katy must have taken in since then – it makes it hard to guess what her muse could be. If you want to play along and guess, log-in to Twitter and tweet away, but don’t forget your guessing won’t go unrewarded, (reported by WWD) “The winners will then be selected at random to receive various prizes, including bottles of perfume, and the potential to meet Perry at a launch event in December.”
Any guesses on the next perfume name?
With Paris fashion week winding down we’ve seen a lot of interesting and exciting haute couture come down the runways of the world’s fashion capitals over the past month; but in a world that is still in the grips of a recession and where even the most powerful economies have doubts about the future, many have been wondering: Who exactly is buying all these expensive couture pieces? Well according to a pair of reports from Reuters and The Telegraph the answer, surprising as it may sound, lies with the women of the Arab world.
While many westerners immediately conjure up images of burqas and hijabs when asked to picture Arabic women’s fashion, according to the executives of couture powerhouses such as Hermes and Ungaro, nothing could be further from the truth. As Hermes CEO Patrick Thomas recently told Reuters “For us, with China, the Middle East is the market that is growing the fastest these markets for a long time preferred a more ostentatious type of luxury and now want a more refined and discreet style.”
Obviously it is still the more well-to-do elements within Arab society, such as the various royal families and wives of oil tycoons, who are the ones found sporting couture looks from across the globe, but nevertheless this trend is an indication of changing views and sentiments in a traditionally conservative part of the world. A young woman from Kazakhstan told the Telegraph, “If I’m going to a wedding, I don’t want to bump into someone wearing the same. In Kazakhstan, women love beautiful clothes. Our husbands don’t have any say in what we buy. We feel these clothes are empowering.”
Yesterday Advertising Age, the world’s leading marketing and media publication announced the winners for their 2011 Magazine, Editor and Publisher of the Year awards and of all the glossies out there it was Vogue that walked away with Magazine of the Year. The awards, which are given to the top spot on each Top 10 list that the magazine publishes every October are to recognize Editors, Publishers and Magazines “that have excelled on one front or many — meeting a challenge, turning things around, building new businesses or just setting a consistent editorial and business example one more time”.
The entirety of the statement Explaining Ad Age’s choice read:
“It’s easier to grow when you’re new and relatively small, but when you’re this established and you grow anyway, you’re doing more than a few things right. Vogue increased its January-to-October ad pages more than 9% — to 2,125, fewer only than Brides and People — and boosted its big newsstand component almost 13% over the first half of last year, partly but not entirely on the strength of a great Lady Gaga cover in March. Its September issue killed again with 584 ad pages. And Vogue’s role off the page — most recently with the latest installment of Fashion’s Night Out — keeps expanding as well. Vogue is our Magazine of the Year.”
Other magazines that helped Vogue round out the top ten included Vanity Fair and industry newcomer Monocle. Publisher of the year was awared to Kim Keller worldwide publisher for Time magazine and Editor of the year went to Monocle‘s Tyler Brule.
Many industry insiders are pointing to Vogue‘s sponsorship of Anna Wintour’s Fashion’s Night Out as the single element that really tipped the scales in their favor, but in a world where print media loses ground daily to digital media found across the internet the fact that Vogue was able to reclaim some of their past glory after the recession reduced sales numbers for every magazine in the fashion industry, it in itself a very impressive feat.
Spring is starting to feel out of reach, but the bees are certainly buzzing and one little bird is singing. Jewelry designer Alexis Bittar has released some statements regarding his designs being (cheaply) copied by one of his now former clients, Mrs. Kim (Kardashian) Humphries. Unbeknownst to me, Kim Kardashian has a jewelry line outside of the jewelry collection included in their Kardashian Kollection for Sears. This jewelry collection is called, Belle Noel, and it is sold at none other than Dash – The three Kardashian girls’ boutique. Well, Mr. Bittar happened to take a stroll around good ole’ NYC the other afternoon, and as he passed by the Dash store’s Broadway location something caught his eye. Alexis Bittar noticed the jewelry and instantly recognized aspects of the designs he has only seen in his own jewelry collection. Instantly, Alexis Bittar reminisced to all the times Kim was sent pieces of his jewelry to wear and instantly put an end to that. Mr. Bittar seems disappointed, but later goes on to say Kim most likely has nothing to do with the design process so he should be mad at the people who produce her jewelry. Statements form Mr. Bittar and Kim’s people is slightly entertaining;
“In the reality TV world, there are so many people coming out with lines to capitalize on their TV shows. They are not designers and they are just stealing. I passed the Dash pop up store on Broadway, and I saw that Kim’s pieces were very similar to mine, and she definitely has been taking note (of my designs). The tricky thing is that we have sent pieces to Kim in the past to wear, so now I have told my staff we cannot send anything to her. She was definitely influenced by my designs without a doubt… You have to be very careful to pick and choose your battles. I haven’t talked to Kim about it, the truth is she might not even know. She might be so far removed from it (the design process), and her designers just go shopping and knock things off. But we are definitely not lending to Kim any more, she has been barred.”
Seems pretty harsh, but when $200 is on the cheap side and your competitor’s average price is around $20, it can cause some concern. It can also be argued that the two companies would never see an overlap in customer due to the price difference…so let’s hear Kim’s side.
Kim’s people clarified, “Kim is constantly inspired by her travels which she incorporates into her designs. She hasn’t ever noted any inspiration from Alexis Bittar’s pieces so any similarity in design is purely coincidental.”
What do you think? Want to see the jewelry in comparison? Check out fashionista.com to see photos.
On Monday afternoon 21-year old British Supermodel Jourdan Dunn, apparently fed up with some unnamed stylist at Paris fashion week tweeted “I swear some people need to learn how to do black hair/skin”. While the tweet itself was born more out of frustration then a need to raise industry awareness on the issue it has done just that with multiple fashion news outlets seizing on the statement as an example of how much further diversity needs to go in the fashion industry.
Ms. Dunn, who three years ago was the first Black model to walk a Prada runway in over a decade and has since been the face of Burberry and a Victoria’s Secret Angel, walked in both the Emanuel Ungaro and Giambattista Valli shows. While she looked absolutely stunning on both runways, her tweet makes it obvious that her prep was not a smooth process and highlights an issue that many recent campaigners for runway diversity may have overlooked. While it is encouraging to see more and more non-Caucasian models walking the runways with each passing year, complaints that hair stylists and makeup artists don’t have the proper materials or experience to accommodate black models has been an issue since Naomi Campbell, the first black supermodel, hit the cover of British Elle back in 1986.
While there are celebrated black hair stylists and makeup artists such as Pat McGrath, they are a very small portion of the massive ranks of stylists, artists and other support staff whose behind the scenes work keeps the fashion industry’s runway shows humming. Perhaps Ms. Dunn’s tweet will raise awareness of the fact that while there are more non-white faces coming down the runways with each passing year, the fashion industry will not be truly diverse until ethnic diversity becomes widespread on both sides of the runway curtain.
Zooey Deschanel, you know, the New Girl. Zooey’s show has just begun its first season on Fox network and by the looks of things this new girl will be a good pal, and probably stay on FOX network for a couple of seasons. Zooey Deschanel’s role in the New Girl is as Jess, an off-beat, slightly eccentric American girl who needs some new friends and an apartment. So why would a girl need these two essential things – a life and somewhere to live. Well, Jess was surprising her boyfriend and the surprise turned around on her when Jess found her boyfriend with another woman! Outside of Zooey’s role as Jess, the new girl, Zooey is also dealing with some partnership issues. Zooey signed on to a collaboration with Steve Madden, popular shoe designer to fashionistas worldwide. As the terms of the collaboration, Steve Madden would market shoes and accessories using Zooey Deschanel’s name, i.e. the Zooey shoe or the Zooey clutch. Evidentially, Madden’s agreement was originally for a sum of $2 million plus any royalties and such. The contract was renegotiated due to lack of interest from other retailers and knocked down to $1.5 million, still not a bad deal. However, Steve Madden has supposedly not paid Deschanel anything and furthermore the shoe designer has been selling the Zooey shoes and accessories in his stores as well as at Kohl’s department stores (this is how Zooey would have received royalties from the deal). The topper to the story is that Zooey turned down numerous other offers solely because of the agreement she and Madden had. The report form Women’s Wear Daily reads as follows; “The lawsuit alleged that Madden balked at the agreement to move forward with the brand in October and refused to compensate Deschanel. About three months before, the court documents allege that Madden approved a $2 million up-front payment to Deschanel in order to use her name and likeness, plus a 5 percent domestic royalty fee and a 4.5 percent international royalty fee, before reducing the up-front amount to $1.5 million with her consent.
So far there’s no comment from Madden’s camp. The shoe company has worked with some other celebs including the Olsen twins with their Elizabeth and James line, also the reasonably-priced Olsenboye line.”
As with any lawsuit, this sounds like a mess, but we hope Zooey luck and that she gets what is owed to her.
File this one under the ‘say it ain’t so’ category because according to new photographic evidence not even timeless Hollywood beauty Audrey Hepburn was spared from the editor’s air brush (grease pencil actually) when filming the romantic and melancholy masterpiece Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The New York Post broke the story earlier in the week when the release of a new coffee table book commemorating the film’s 50th anniversary revealed never before published photographs of Hepburn. Photographs on which a very picky editor highlighted ‘imperfections’ on the then 32 year old actress’s face that were then removed with a grease pencil, the lesser known mother of the airbrush and grandmother to today’s Photoshop.
The coffee table book, published by author Sarah Gristwood, adds a new layer to the debate on photo retouching which is becoming an increasingly common and lamented procedure that has recently seen ads featuring stars such as Julia Roberts pulled from the airwaves in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The new images prove that while many airbrushing and Photoshop naysayers are decrying these practices as modern perversions of the concept of traditional beauty, even back in 1961 a gorgeous Hollywood icon like Hepburn was considered ‘not good enough’ for at least one editor.
The image is one of the most well known promo shots for the film and the corrections made by the editor include nearly imperceptible crows feet and the tiniest of lines beneath the actress’s eyes. Hepburn played the roll of New York City call girl Holly Golightly in the 60’s classic despite author Truman Capote originally pushing for the part to go to Marylin Monroe. Many consider Breakfast at Tiffany’s to be the film that established Audrey Hepburn as both a movie and fashion icon.
|
|
