Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
There are times when it is difficult to justify covering a "good" fashion story when that story has lots of stories around it which mean that you might not really want to bring too much attention to the fashion element. A good example of this was US Vogue's feature about Asma al-Assad- the good fashion story was that she was a stylish, beautiful woman married to the President of Syria, which is all well and good if they had really been the do-gooding, progressives the feature had made them out to be. But then when the President is actually a violent, murderous war criminal, the fashion story becomes very bad taste.
It does feel important, however, to talk for a blog post about Peng Liyuan, the new first lady of China. After all, she is following in the footsteps of the likes of Michelle Obama, the Duchess of Cambridge, Carla Bruni and Samantha Cameron. Famous wives are big news, and therefore big money for brands- especially when they are beautiful, well-dressed and so the mere act of them wearing an item generates lots of extra sales and sets trends. The glamorous, former popstar wife of the President of China is bound to feature in the global fashion conversation for some time to come, especially when we consider the increasing power of the Chinese fashion industry- Vogue and Elle's Chinese editions attract so much advertising that they often have to split into two issues per month.
Peng Liyuan arrives in Tanzania (image via telegraoh.co.uk)
Liyuan is the major topic of water cooler conversation (or the equivalent?) and blogger hype in China right now, after she accompanied her husband, Xi Jinping, on his first international tour as Chinese president. The deputy editor of a Hong Kong newspaper wrote on Weibo "Now is the end of our quest for a graceful first lady", a message which clearly indicates the transformative effect which Peng Liyuan might have. Apparently the chic black trenchcoat she wore in Moscow has been copied already, which isn't exactly difficult. Thus far, her look is nowhere near as interesting as MO's- there's no signature buffed body part, high/low combinations or print/ pattern mix. Instead, she looks like the kind of lady who shops at Dior and Bottega Veneta, which she probably does, as well as having more traditional silk outftits made for her. Her knotted neckscarf, however, could be a styling detail stolen from a Celine lookbook and the bouffed chignon could become a thing but is also quietly faithful to the classic way Chinese women arrange their hair.
Peng Liyuan in Moscow wearing the black coat which Chinese women are now clamouring to own (image via wantchinatimes.com)
Given that Chinese leaders have traditionally hidden their wives away, perhaps Jinping's PR advisors reckon that it is time for the People's Republic to produce their own variation on appealingly glamourous, front-page worthy first lady? Obviously it helps that Peng Liyuan was much more famous than her husband until not so long ago as a much adored singer who would perform for troops. She also holds the equivalent of Major General status in China's People's Liberation Army. All in all a good Chinese girl. There are major blots on China's rep including human rights abuses, the rich/poor divide, persecution of the regime's critics, zero free speech, underrepresentation of women in politics... the list goes on. But like it or not, this won't be the last we see of Peng Liyuan.
Peng Liyuan in her former life as a much loved Chinese singer....
I'm back from NYC, full of election obsession. Every TV channel and bill board stateside is plastered with promises, agendas and jibes but the race is so monumental that news stories have spilt beyond the political. In fact, the Obama/ Romney run-off has so many facets that I have managed to compile almost an entire news post with fashion-related election news. Of course, other stuff did happen this week so there's a round-up of the best of the rest at the end.
FIRST LADY FASH-OFF
Image from nymag.com
Michelle Obama has done a lot for "first lady fashion" with her championing of younger, non- establishment designers and often daring choices. That means, of course, that us fashion pundits have a keen eye on how Ann Romney- until recently her style could be summed up as "country club Mom"- deals with the situation. The wives have been most prominent at the TV debates, the last of which took place on Monday night. It looks like Ann has gone down a copy cat route. Mrs Obama wore a neat-waisted, full skirted knee length Thom Browne dress which she's been seen in previously, at the Democrat conference. Meanwhile, Ann Romney chose an identical silhouette which featured a cute, girlish floral print skirt which contrasted which MObama's dark flocked detail. The Cut have helpfully awarded points to the respective outfits chosen by the contender's wives.
Notably, Ann Romney's dress came from Oscar de la Renta who has a track record for dressing the political elite- Hilary Clinton is a big fan. De la Renta's political ties are in fact so strong that a retrospective of his work is set to go on show at William J Clinton library in Arkansas. There are plans for the exhibition to travel to the George W Bush library in Texas and the Reagan Library in California. It's a sign that the designer, who hails from the Dominican Republic, has built huge cross party trust and respect.
Many observers have noted that while Thom Browne was excited to tell Twitter that the First Lady was wearing their dress, Oscar de la Renta's camp (@OscarPRgirl) remained tight lipped about Ann Romney's choice.
Why? Rumour has it that Anna Wintour is yielding her considerable influence to ensure that Mrs Romney doesn't get any support from designers. Wintour is one of Obama's biggest fundraisers and supporters. American press have noted that while they receive plenty of information and cooperation from designers chosen by Michelle Obama, no brand has yet come forward to admit to dressing Romney. Furthermore, Diane Von Furstensberg went so far as to disclose that they did not know where the Republican candidate's wife had got hold of one of their dresses (the shop, maybe?).
What could next week bring in the first-lady fashion race? Will Michelle find a sartorial response to Ann's floral bathing suit?
Image from dailymail.co.uk
KATY PERRY'S BALLOT DRESS
Can you guess who Katy Perry plans to vote for? She wore her choice on a rubber dress when she performed at an Obama rally in Vegas. I'd love to see Anna Wintour or SJP- both big Obama fans- show their support in this number.
Katy Perry chooses Obama (via www.getitwrighthere.com)
ELECTION BARBIE
One of my big NY finds was in mahoosive toy store F.A.O Schwartz. The perfect way to commemorate the 2012 Presidential race is , of course, Election Barbie. Get yours here.
YOU DON'T OWN ME
Fashion favourites including Alexa Chung and Tavi Gevinson star in an anti-Romney version of Lesley Gore's 1964 classic "You Don't Own Me" aimed at condemning the Republican's views on women's issues. It's pretty awesome.
THE BEST OF THE REST...
You knew Chanel was coming to Scotland for its upcoming metier d'arts show on December 4th but a little birdie tells us that the exact location will be Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary I, Queen of Scots. A very British, fabulously wintry alternative to Versailles, where the Resort collection was showcased. Speaking of Chanel, Business of Fashion's interview with Bruno Pavlovsky, the company's CEO is well worth a read for its insight into the mechanics of one of the world's recognisable brands.
Edinburgh's Linlithgow Palace, location of Chanel's upcoming show (image from flickr)
Grunge was a key trend at the SS13 shows, with Phillip Lim and Dries Van Noten both showing 90s influenced collection. So it's perhaps the perfect moment- if there ever was one- for Courtney Love to launch her fashion range. She posted several pictures of the pieces from a photo shoot on her twitter (@courtney) earlier this week. It's called "Never The Bride" and Love told Huffinton Post that "In the hem of all the dresses there’s a ruby and it says c***...This is the stuff that I would wear if I was young enough to not look like Bette Davis in 'Whatever Happened After Baby Jane?'." The clothes will land "soon" at Net-a-Porter.
Never The Bride by Courtney Love (via @courtney twitter)
Courtney says "poiret piece going going drooling i dont want to let this gooooo"
Following her somewhat controversial exit from T magazine in August, Sally Singer is heading back to American Vogue on Monday as Digital Creative Director. Despite praise from Jill Abramson, editor at NY Times of which T is a part, rumours abounded that that Singer had failed to pull in sufficient ad revenue. Whatever the truth, it looks like Singer has ladned herself a plum new role.
THIS WEEKEND, why not drop into London College of Fashion's pop up shop in Kingly Court, off Carnaby Street. Open until 1st November.
Michael van der Ham x Brora beanie £180 (image from vogue.co.uk)
Michael van der Ham x Brora scarf £275 (image from vogue.co.uk)
You thought handbags were safe as houses? Think again. Mulberry issued a profit warning this week, with forecasters expecting that profits would be £31m (£5m down on last year) rather than the £41m initially expected. Reduced orders from department stores and a decision to reduce the number of smaller stockists were reasons given for the disappointing news.
Grace Coddington by Norman Parkinson (vogue.com)
If you enjoyed The September Issue then you will love the news that American Vogue has made a new documentary to mark the magazine's 120th anniversary. The programme will be called The Editor's Eye and will look at how a big shoot comes together. There's a book of the same name being released this month. Grace Coddington will be among the stars of the show, which airs on December 6th. There's a great excerpt from her memoirs in this month's US Vogue, as well as a rather touching tribute from Anna Wintour in her editor's letter.
The Week in Fashion is back from its fashion month break and ready to bring you, our lovely readers their end of week fashion news round-up. Following the marathon of catwalk shows you'd think people of the fashion world might have spent the week collapsed on the sofa in the recovery position, however I'm pleased to say that there's plenty to tell you about...
Samantha Cameron, in Alessandra Rich, and Michelle Obama, in Marchesa, at Wedesnday's State Dinner (image from dailymail.co.uk)
Just in case you hadn't noticed, Dave and Sam Cam dropped into the White House for a few days this week to visit the Obamas. Instead of your average bunch of flowers or bottle of wine, the Brit contingent came bearing gifts of a ping pong table and a Jonathan Saunders scarf. There was a State Dinner attended by politicians, celebrities and other powerful people like Anna Wintour. The US Vogue editor picked a Chanel couture gown which she had already, shock horror, worn once before back in 2009.
Anna Wintour at the Met Gala in 2009. She wore the same dress to Wednesday night's state dinner (image from www.nymag.com)
Michelle and Samantha naturally did us all proud on the fashion front. Alessandra Rich dressed the PM's wife in a floor-length, high neck blue lace gown from her Spring/ Summer collection. The style reflects the new covered up fashion mood we're feeling for AW12. It has been said that the dress was Sam Cam's own way of bringing a bit of real-life Downton Abbey to Americans who are going crazy for the series. Meanwhile, Mrs Obama went for her tried and tested State Dinner look- knockout dress and chunky necklace. Her outfit was by Marchesa; luckily Georgina Chapman, the woman behind the label, was at the dinner to see her good work in action. During the visit, Sam Cam also wore a few of her favourite London designers including Emilia Wickstead, Burberry and the gorgeous Roksanda Ilincic.
SamCam in Roksanda Ilincic with Michelle O in Zac Posen (image from in style.co.uk)
Huge congratulations to Lucy Yeomans, currently Editor-in-Chief at Harper's Bazaar, who will be moving to Net-a-Porter to head up their editorial offering from September. The move is another indicator of the way retail and editorial are becoming ever more intertwined. DisneyRoller Girl has written about what this means for the fashion industry. Jenny Dickinson, currently at Elle, will become Acting Editor at Harper's Bazaar. We look forward to seeing Net-a-Porter with the Lucy Yeomans touch.
In more moving-about news, Barney's Ney York Vice President and Fashion Director, Amanda Brooks, resigned this week and announced plans to move to the UK. We wonder if we'll be seeing her take up a big job in London sometime soon?
Nicholas Sarkozy awards Franca Sozzani with France's highest honour (image from fashionologie.com)
Congratulations are also in order for Vogue Italia editor, Franca Sozzani who was awarded France's highest honour, the Knight of the Legion of Honour, in Paris this week. Many of the great and good from Italian and French fashion were there, including Raf Simons, Karl Lagerfeld, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, indeed Franca was wearing straight-off-the-catwalk Dolce and Gabbana for the occasion. Franca is the world's most accessible Vogue editor, with over 80,000 Twitter followers and a daily blog on the Vogue Italia site. She posted Conde Nast's Chairman Jonathan Newhouse's speech the day after the ceremony, it's a great read.
Sparks flying: Arizona and Freja for Chloe (image from telegraph.co.uk)
My own personal number one model, Arizona Muse, has this week been announced as the new face of Estee Lauder. The beauty giant's Creative Director, Richard Ferretti, told WWD that "Arizona is warm, engaging and smart. She has an innate graciousness that we believe will translate to whatever advertising we choose to do with her." Apparently, Muse's first Lauder ads will be out "within a year". We can already enjoy Arizona in ads for Fendi, Massimo Dutti and Chloe, in which she appears with Freja Erichsen, her sometime girlfriend. Arizona has said that she is a big fan of Estee Lauder's Re-Nutriv- we're adding that to our shopping list this weekend then.
House of Holland SS12 (from catwalking.com)
If you're planning a spot of shopping this weekend then may we suggest that you head to Harrods where the new House of Holland collection drops today? We've had a sneak peek and love the Miami pastel shades and over blown animal prints. Our favourite piece might just be the pastel panel shirt (above). Harrods have also made the lovely Mr Holland their designer of the month. They've given FEAL this little video in which Henry talks about how he started off working on magazines before moving into design- his big break came when Gareth Pugh and Giles Deacon wore his tees to take their bows in 2006. Check out the full interview below and on the Harrods site
Else Schiaparelli, the Surrealist designers whose label Galliano was said to be in talks to reinvent this week.
There is still plenty of designer musical chairs action going on. And it's only increased this week with news that Derek Lam is leaving Tod's after six years designing for the classic Italian label. There have also been rumours that John Galliano is set to make a return. Vogue and WWD reported this week that he may have been set to reinvent Schiaparelli, which is now owned by the Tod's group. However, Galliano's spokesman claimed they were 'rumours and nothing more'.
Alexa Chung in Holly Fulton, one of the designers who'll be up for grabs at the British Designers Collective (image from Vogue via catwalkqueen.tv)
If you're a regular reader, then you'll know that we're getting prepped to visit the British Designers Collective at Bicester Village which launches next Wednesday. So, we were very happy to hear this week that one of Britain's best fashion ambassadors, Alexa Chung, is the spokesperson for the initiative. She'll be there on Wednesday and so will FEAL so look out for updates on what Miss Chung loves about the fact we get to buy pieces from the hottest Brit designers at Bicester Village's reduced prices.
Avenue 32 is a new web shopping site which gives each designer their own space- the aim is to make it a personalised experience, more like popping into a designer's own boutique than scrolling through web pages which group many brands together. Just a few of the designers who have areas on the site include Giles, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Preen and Emilio de la Morena. We like!
Now Avenue 32 have created a film 'What are you gonna wear?' which showcases the new designers landing for SS12. To celebrate, they are also offering anyone savvy enough to enter the chance to win a £4,000 Spring/Summer wardrobe. You can find out more details and enter here- what are you waiting for?
Mary and the team in their knicker factory (image from dailymirror.co.uk)
Finally, we hope you were all enjoyed Mary's new show 'Mary's Bottom Line' on Channel 4 last night. It's a three-part series in which Mary dusts off the sewing machines at an old textile factory in Middleton and employs eight young people from the area to launch her Made in Britain "Kinky Knickers". It's pretty emotional but also a really interesting exploration of how the decline in manufacturing has affected whole towns in the UK. And the knickers, I can personally vouch, are lovely. Get them now at Liberty, in-store and online. Our favourites are the pink and peach.
It's cold outside, here's some fashion news to warm you up...
Jonathan Saunders SS12
Congratulations to the super wonderful Jonathan Saunders who has won the BFC/ Vogue Fashion Fund Award. He'll get £200,000 and specific mentoring to help his business grow. It's clear to me that Saunders 'gets' something about what women want from their clothes which is why his sales have skyrocketed by 118% in the past year; for the London shows, every other front rower was wearing a piece of Saunders. We're really pleased for you Jonathan! Let's not forget the runners-up who must have made the panel's decision pretty tough; Peter Pilotto, Mary Katrantzou, Roksanda Ilincic, Richard Nicoll, Zoe Jordan, Nicholas Kirkwood, Marios Schwab and Meadham Kirchhoff.
When Jonathan's win was announced, Lulu Kennedy (who supported Jonathan through her Fashion East scheme early in his career) tweeted a picture of Natalia Vodianova wearing a Saunder's dress on the cover of Vogue in 2004. I thought it'd be nice to share- thanks Lulu!
Jonathan Saunders covers Vogue in 2004- image from Lulu kennedy's twitter
A look from Stine Riis' collection (from wwd.com)
The first winner of the H&M Design Award was announced at Stockholm Fashion Week yesterday. Stine Riis is originally from Denmark but recently graduated from London College of Fashion. She wins 50,000 euros as well as the opportunity to have pieces from her collection sold in H&M stores in the Autumn. Check out the video below for all the action from the final...
Talking of LCF, the FashEd and I had a brilliant and inspiring time on Tuesday night at the college's MA exhibition. We heard lots of great stories and saw some beautiful work. Look out for our full report next week.
Last year, Robin Derrick left British Vogue to work on the re-launch of the US edition of Harper's Bazaar. The fruits of his challenge to revamp the title were revealed this week with a stark monochrome cover starring Gwyneth Paltrow. According to our favourite New York tweeter @jimshi809 the 'Redesigned Harper's Bazaar US is one-inch bigger w/ thicker paper & new fonts & every new section starts w/ the world "the."' Now we know!
One of the many brilliant personalities in the Cunningham film, Shail Upadhya, a Nepalese UN representative and one of Bill's regular subjects.
This week, I spent an amazing evening at the UK premiere of 'Bill Cunningham New York', Richard Press's new documentary about the 80 year-old New York Times photographer. The event was sponsored by Grazia, and afterwards Paula Reed hosted a Q&A with Chris Moore, legendary catwalk photographer and owner of catwalking.com. His is a completely unique career which has seen him chart 'true' trends from the past half century. As well as paying attention to what's happening on the catwalks, Bill tirelessly scours the streets of NYC to discover what people are REALLY wearing and how they're wearing it. Many call him the original street style photographer. Although I think that's true, there's definitely much more to it than that which is why I am very happy to see the film's blurb describe him as a 'cultural anthropologist'. His observations are sharp and his knowledge of fashion and trends is encyclopaedic. His comparison of the work of Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garcons in the 80s with the style of the bag women living on the streets of New York at the time is still playing on my mind, and shows the unique position he is in to marry the pavement and the catwalk. The film is a must-see, even if fashion is not your thing. It's out at selected cinemas in March.
Cunningham's fab picture of Isabella Blow (from lightbox.time.com)
Another month, another round of magazine covers. Elle and Vogue have both gone with Louis Vuitton's sugar sweet broderie anglaise for their fronts covers. Lana del Rey is Vogue's new cover girl demostrating the astonishing speed of her rise from unknown to virtually notorious; her newly released album has not received the best reviews yet she is number one in multiple countries. But if Vogue puts her on the cover then it confirms that there is something of the zeitgeist about her. Given that Love magazine editor Katie Grand also consults for Louis Vuitton, we thought ice cream girly prettiness was a given for the publication's latest edition. How wrong we were. The cover line reads 'The End of Elegance' which seems a direct challenge to the ladylike loveliness which is clearly the prevailing mood. Does this mean pastels might be as fleeting an obsession as Lana del Rey?
Lana (by Mario Testino) prettified for Vogue (image from www.vogue.co.uk)
Linda Evangelista covers Love, shot by Mert and Marcus(image from @thelovemagazine)
Fragile: Linda Evangelista in Giles (image from @thelovemagazine)
FEAL is mostly about womenswear but that doesn't mean we don't appreciate a well-dressed man. Both of us think Tinie Tempah is a rather fab dresser so we are happy to see that he has been named Britains' Best Dressed Man by GQ. In other news from the list, Prince William didn't make it into the top 50 despite that bright red Irish guards wedding outfit. Wills, if you're upset at GQ's decision we suggest ditching the flat caps and 'cashmere jumper round shoulders' as starting points for sartorial transformation in time for next year, or ask your Dad who scraped in at no. 50.
Tinie does bow ties and monochrome (image from telegraph.co.uk)
After revelations about extravagant mid-recession halloween parties, we'd have thought the Obamas would be keen to avoid any more big spending sprees- not such great publicity in election year. So the story that Michelle paid a visit to the Madison Avenue branch of Agent Provocatuer and picked up $50,000 worth of goodies- lucky Barack- seems very unfortunate. She was apparently accompanying Sheikha Mozah, the Queen of Qatar, during her trip to the US last year. However, Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary, strongly denied the story telling WWD:
'In this case, it’s utterly false, and it’s irresponsible of an American news organization to repeat the story, even allowing that it could be true. So it’s wrong.'
Apparently The White House was unable to provide 'evidence' that the First Lady had not visited the purveyors of sexy underwear- the mind boggles. While Michelle cannot be too pleased about the story, Agent Provocateur say the 'unexpected famous names' who patronise the business have contributed to its continued growth.
The Obamas are joined by Tim burton at their halloween do in 2009 (image from chicksontheright.com)
Belgian designer A.Knackfuss is set to be a highlight of the showcase (image from mussola.style.it)
Finally, while we thought the images for Prada's SS12 campaign were a bit boring but the accompanying video, released this week, adds a bit more attitude to the concept, don't you think?
The world of fashion is racing ahead at full throttle right now; menswear and couture are just done and February is just around the corner which means we're on countdown to the big four fashion weeks. And that all means there's plenty of fashion news to let you know about...
E.Tautz- one to watch at the menswear shows (image from sharpened lead.com)
News from the British Fashion Council: London is to have its very own mini menswear fashion week. The June dates precede the established shows in Milan and Paris. The change also makes commercial sense because it ties into the calendar for buyers. We're glad to see menswear getting its own moment in the spotlight rather than seeming like an afterthought to womenswear (until now, London Fashion Week had a men's day tagged on the end). It makes perfect sense too; London being the home of Savile Row- the ultimate menswear shopping destination.
Michelle Obama at this week's State of the Union address (image from guardian.co,uk)
At this week's State of the Union address, Michelle Obama continued her rather impressive track record on occasion appropriate dressing with a Barbara Tfank sapphire blue dress. However, one blogger on the French Elle website took the opportunity to write an article which argued that the Obamas have enabled black style to move from 'street wear' to 'chic'. Naturally, a row ensued which quite understandably accused the publication of racist leanings. Apparently, the article, which has now been taken down, was 'misinterpreted'. We would just like to point out that Michelle Obama is not the world's first chic black woman. See below, The Supremes, as a starting point.
image from www.sweetlyrics.com
LVMH announced this week that the Celine AW12 show will be scaled back due to Phoebe Philo's pregnancy- she'll be eight months gone by the time of the show on March 4th. Instead, there will probably be a presentation at the same time which is deemed a more manageable task than the full-blown runway affair. Vanessa Friedman at the FT sees this decision as emblematic of a new attitude to designers; 'the Celine move marks a conscious decision to choose the designer over possible marketing returns from the runway pictures'. In a post-Galliano age, designers might finally be recognised as human beings, as well as talented makers of profit earning collections.
Philo's Mum and Dad were at her SS12 show (image from catwalking.com)
Sienna and Savannah Miller have called it a day on their roles as Creative Directors at twenty8twelve, the label they started six years ago and which is named after Sienna's birthday. It looks like the sisters probably haven't had too much to do with the design process for some time, even though Savannah is highly qualified, having studied at Central St. Martins. Nish Soneji, the Pepe Managing Director which owns the label, told Drapers 'We never intended to be a celebrity brand and we remain confident of our DNA'. Don't expect much change at the London show in a few weeks then.
Sienna and Savannah (www.dirklinder.com)
OUTFIT OF THE WEEK: Miss Piggy in Giles at last night's premiere of the new Muppets film. Giles commented 'She's the biggest diva we've ever worked with'.
Fab! (image from graziadaily.co.uk)
We've noticed some particularly deep and meaningful (ahem, not) comments from the mouths of models this week.. SH*T MODELS SAY
Alice Dellal on Karl Lagerfeld: 'He's so nice. It was nice to be able to talk to him' Dellal on being in a Chanel shoot: 'It made me feel like a lady'
And the biggest gems from Laura Craik's satirical interview with Kate Moss. On Mango's clothes 'The cut and they’re kind of ... you know ... really well made, and the jeans are ... you know, they’re really well made and the cut, you can wear them a lot ... '
Kate Moss on the Daily Mail's obsession with her: 'I don’t know. ’Cos it’s the Daily Mail? They just get on everyone’s tits, don’t they? I don’t know'
Lady Amanda Harlech (from www.justin-teodoro.blogspot.com)
If you haven't read it already, then can we heartily recommend to you Alex Fury's interview with Lady Amanda Harlech, Creative Consultant at Chanel a.k.a Lagerfeld's right hand woman? It's a brilliant lid lifting on the real role of the 'muse' as Harlech is so often called as well as her quite extraordinary life. Particularly apt for couture week.
The Haute Couture shows are over for another season, not that it matters much for those us not buying. While we can, and do, admire the artisanship, these are collections which only a few of the super-super rich will think about it in an "I want that now" kind of way.
It's easy to feel left out, especially when most of our realities involve the very possible threat of a double dip recession. We shouldn't feel left out. The sad truth is today's Haute Couture is aimed squarely at markets in China and Russia where there is a boom-time economy and fashion is going through a wealth flaunting bling stage. So that yellow shiny long, thigh split dress will never see the light of day again in Europe. In Russia on the other hand....
It is a fact of life that designers now need to straddle all the potential markets from affordable to outrageously expensive. Karl Lagerfeld did that rather nicely this week; he began on Tuesday with his couture show, the next day he launched his affordable, online only collection- available exclusively at Net-a-Porter. Launch events were hosted in London and New York and judging by the huge queues, Karl's mega straddle paid off- they came flocking. Oh, and Chanel have also produced a nail polish in the same clear sky blue which underpinned the couture. Chanel know better than any other brand how to tickle the fancy of all their critics and fans from uppity newspaper fashion editors to young bloggers, and this is what makes it the world's best fashion brand.
Image courtesy of @jimshi809
This is how Karl celebrated, with a party at his place in Paris. Azealia Banks was performing, can you spy Karl? he is filming the whole thing with one of his many iPads. Looks like the indoor smoking ban is NOT being respected at Karl's place.
Whaaat did she say? (from derekblasberg.com)
In other couture news, Jean Paul Gaultier has offended Amy Winehouse's family by staging a 'bad taste' tribute to the singer to showcase his collection. Barber shop singers performed Winehouse tracks and models wore beehives and smoked cigarettes. Mitch Winehouse said that the show 'glamorises some of the more upsetting times of her life'. We agree that the donning of mourning veils at the end of the show was probably a step too far, but then JPG has never been one to play safe. Jean Paul was a huge fan of Amys and recently told FashEd he was devastated when she died, so the homage was done with good intentions. Perhaps just a bit too soon for the Winehouse family. What do you think?
JPG's couture tribute to Amy Winehouse (image from catwalking.com)
After an eight year absence, Versace made a return to the couture schedule, albeit in a scaled down presentation. This is another label which is doing the 'straddle', only last week Donatella's second Versace collection for H&M sold out. Watch Suzy Menkes' interview to get the lowdown on everything Versace...
A few special looks to sum up couture...
Elegant New Look references at Christian Dior by Bill Gaytten
Livening up the clothes with mohicans at Chanel (this will be big in China)
Pastel overdose at Elie Saab
Beautiful Valentino
One for the Russian crowd at Versace (all images from catwalking.com)
Michelle Obama in Preen AW11, looking sensational.
The original catwalk look Preen AW11
Next up, SamCam continued to wave the flag for British fashion as she welcomed the Obamas to Number 10 in a beautiful - and borrowed - Peter Pilotto SS11 number (some of you will remember Paula Reed carrying out her royal fashion correspondent duty for the Beeb in this very same style). It's a fabulous dress, managing to be unusual and elegant at the same time.
Samantha Cameron in Peter Pilotto SS11
Peter Pilotto SS11
Of course, it wouldn't be a British fashion parade without the now uber-tanned K-Mid, freshly returned from her royal honeymoon and creating yet another high street mania in the 'Shola' dress from Reiss. No doubt the £175 number has already sold out, it looked great on her, with her waist still waspish post-wedding and the neutral colour set off her tan wonderfully.
K-Mid - Sorry, the Duchess of Cambridge, in the Reiss 'Shola' bandage dress. She's creating her own trend bubble.
Back at Number 10, SamCam showed that you can accessorise Jonathan Saunders with salad tongs as she served up potato salad at a barbecue for servicemen. The dress was the perfect choice for an almost-summer sunny afternoon.
That's one garden party we would have liked to have been at. Pass the ketchup!
Jonathan Saunders SS11
Finally, it was only a matter of time before one of the First Ladies busted out some McQueen, and Michelle Obama chose the suitably dramatic setting of Oxford University to wear her Sarah Burton-designed outfit.
All in all, British designers did us proud this week, and it was fantastic to see their incredible designs being worn by suitably inspiring people. Images: Daily Mail, Catwalking, Style.com, Getty
