THE WEEK IN FASHION 8/8-12/8

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Happy Friday and welcome to our round-up of the week's fashion news. Our aim is to provide you with some relatively light relief from the horrid stories making the headlines this week.

First of all, can I remind you to support our campaign to #bringmcqueenexhibitionhome. Please sign the petition, comment on the blog about why you want to see Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty brought to London and use the hashtag to spread the word on Twitter.

    Petitions by iPetitions.com | Get Widget

Christian Louboutin have lost their case against YSL. The Judge decided that a colour cannot be monopolized as a trademark by a single brand, especially in an industry like fashion which depends on the freedom to use colour innovatively. Of course, most people who see a red-soled shoe now automatically associate this with the Louboutin brand. Thus we wonder if any designer now choosing to use a red sole will not confuse the customer anyway, or engender an immediate link with the Louboutin branding. Although you might expect to go a high street shop and buy red soled shoes to imitate the Louboutin look, what would be the motivation to buy a red soled YSL?

Balanciaga's red soles for men (Image from oo0oo.blogspot.com)

The fashion musical chairs saga continues. Now Marc Jacobs' name has been thrown in the hat as a possible contender for the Dior job. The mutterings began after Brazialian site Glamurama claimed that Jacobs has been in talks with Bernard Arnault for a while now and that he may be set to make a choice between his current position at Vuitton and the Dior job. Watch this space... (we wonder when we'll be able to stop saying that?!)

If he moves to Dior, he'll have to scrub that Louis body art right off! (Image from www.johnnyikon.com)

It was worth the wait. The pictures of Kate Moss' wedding are finally in and they are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you haven't seen them for yourself yet then we suggest that you get a a cup of tea and set aside ten minutes to pore through the ultimate wedding album and read Hamish Bowles' report. According to the interview, it was watching 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' which finally inspired Kate to say Yes to Jamie. We're hoping that the happy couple might make a cameo appearence in the next series!

Kate with her gaggle of flower girls. The new issue of American Vogue contains even more images

Kate and Jamie do Mick and Bianca (Images from Vogue.com)

The latest issue of LOVE magazine features an absolutely breathtaking shoot entitled 'What Lies Beneath', which is by far the highlight of the issue. The setting is a dark and eerie lake. The ensemble of models Lara Stone, Mariacarla Boscono, Saskia De Brauw, Kristen McMenamy, Paul Boche, Anais Pouliot, Jed Texas, Guinevere Van Seenus, Xiao Wen Ju and Angus Whitehead pose amphibiously in and around the water world styled by Katie Grand. It has come to our attention that the shoot bears more than a passing resemblance to art photograher Jeff Bark's WoodPecker series. While the LOVE shoot features more acid colours, the shoots share their use of cars and birds as props for their scantily clad models to entwine themselves around. Bark's photos feel more classical and ethereal but the similarities between the two shoots are undeniable. Not sure whether Katie, and the photographers Mert & Marcus intended it as an homage to Barks work, or not. As was asked on beautifully-invisible.com is this inspiration or plagiarism? We're plumping with the former.

LOVE magazine's editorial, shot by Mert and Marcus (Images from www.touchpuppet.com)

A shot from Jeff Bark's Woodpecker series. See more of his work at www.jeffbark.com (Image from dreamersofthedream.blogspot.com)

A car comparison-  the Mert and Marcus shot

Jeff Bark's use of the car/ woodland dichotomy (Image from spreadartculture.com)

Yesterday, the Fash Ed and I popped over to Soho to have a peek at Sarah and Lily Allen's new Lucy In Disguise shop on Lexington Street. Sarah and her Mum, Alison were working their socks off to get everything ready in time for today's opening. The shop has its own hair salon and private shopping area for a more exclusive vintage and Lucy In Disguise own-collection experience. We heartily recommend that you pop down for a browse. You can't miss it as the front is covered in gold sequins so shiny that you really don't need to be a magpie to be drawn in!

Sarah and Lily are embarking on a new era in their Lucy in Disguise project (Image from wardrobemag.wordpress.com)

 We have been highly entertained by the Twitter account @condeelevator this week which delivers delicious snippets from inside the offices of Conde Nast magazines, notably American Vogue. Highlights include-

'Vogue Asst &; AW in packed elevator. VA: Blah blah Duke & Duchess of Windsor-- AW: Cambridge. Duke & Duchess of CAMBRIDGE. VA: I'm sorry.'

'[silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] Summer Intern: "Was that...?" Intern #2: "Yeah" #annawintour'

[SILENCE] [SILENCE] [SILENCE]  (Image from www.matthewstasoff.com)

The account gained a whopping 66,400 followers after just 36 tweets and five days. However, we are devastated to report that the account is already no more. Despite the writer's clear amusement at the goings on in the Conde Nast New York elevator, the Tweeter still 'loves their job' and so decided to stop tweeting. Devastating yes, but understandable given that the powers at Conde Nast were on the hunt for -and closing in on - the culprit.

NEWS JUST IN: Kate Bosworth is starring in Vanessa Bruno's beautiful new campaign video. I'm not sure whether Kate, the clothes or the horses are more stunning. The FashEd is a big fan of director Stefanie di Gusto.

LØV from Vanessa Bruno on Vimeo.

Have wonderful weekends and don't forget to spread the word about Fashion Editor at Large's campaign to #bringmcqueenexhibitionhome.

Share the petition on your own websites, and pass it on.

MODEL MOMENT: SASKIA DE BRAUW

Saskia de Brauw in her own words: ‘a sensitive, worrisome, strong and observant thinker’.

Every season, one girl stands out among the sea of new faces. And this time around, that face isn't that new at all - in fact, this is girl of the moment, Saskia de Brauw's second innings as a professional model. The hauntingly androgynous 29 year old (yep, that's 29) first started modelling aged 16 in Europe, before quitting and returning home to Amsterdam to study visual arts.

After graduating and making ends meet with waitressing, an old modelling pal convinced her to give fashion another go.On reflection, that was probably a pretty smart decision, given that de Brauw is currently enchanting the fashion world with her striking looks and equally fascinating personality (more on that below.)

Shot by Dancian for i:D

 Firstly, her star is currently burning bright in the world of fashion editorials. She is a muse of Nicholas Ghesquiere and a close friend of Riccardo Tisci (they bonded over their mutual love of art). Carine Roitfeld selected de Brauw for her last ever cover at Vogue Paris - and roped in Mert & Marcus to produce the surprising camera-still shot.

Because, y'know, one Vogue cover a month isn't enough for some people, de Brauw also appeared on the cover of the Vogue Italia March edition - shot by Steven Meisel, and looking completely different. This girl is something of a chameleon.

Then of course, there are the stunning campaigns; she looks incredibly strong in the shots for Givenchy SS11, and replaced Lara Stone as the face of Eres.

Shot by Mert and Marcus

Shot by Viviane Sassen

Saskia stands out; not only for her statuesque, unusual appearance, but because this model has an awful lot going on upstairs. Her creativity and knowledge of the visual arts informs her work, and when she is not posing for the world's greatest photographers, she is producing artwork with her documentary photographer boyfriend, Vincent van de Wijngaard. The Cut blog asked her to describe her artistic process:

"I do not work in one particular medium. My work is in its base conceptual. I use different media depending on the project I work on. My work is about the way people move through space and the traces they leave behind while doing so. These traces are often invisible. I like to make these invisible traces visible through my work. [For example] I did a work on daily routes of people in a certain neighborhood. I was curious where random people's routes would cross. These were invisible encounters to me. Everyday they would meet without knowing. I wanted to show these meetings to other people as well"


She also writes a beautifully poetic blog, documenting her art, and observations of the people and cities her work exposes her to. A small snippet, referring to Café de la Mairie in Paris:

"People keep coming in and going out. Waiters wear their classical black and white outfits. Lovers kiss softly. A grandmother a daughter and a granddaughter enter the cafe. Outside the light is slowly disappearing and the streetlights appear. People outside are smoking cigarettes and are lit by a reddish light coming from the upper floor of the café.

We finish our glass of wine and decide to have dinner here tomorrow."

Read more at http://sdebrauw.blogspot.com/  and keep your eye on this lady; she's on course to be the face of the year.

Images: DNA models. iD, Vogue Paris, Vogue Italia, Givenchy, Eres

MADONNA AND GEORGE

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large



Rather love this Miu Miu AW10 campiagn film above. The "girls in a photo-booth" fashion film was apparently directed by Madonna who "just popped into the studio" [Grazia Daily] and took over the proceedings from the photographers of the campiagn, Mert & Marcus.. Sounds like her to take over. But could it really have happened like that?? Mert & Marcus like to be in control as much as she does... I smell a publicity conspiracy! And a good one at that! The film is cute and good too.

 

ANYWAY. What I enjoyed as much, if not more that the Miu Miu film is the soundtrack to it. The music is a remix of Boy George's brilliant Generations of Love track from his 1990 album The Martyr Mantra. In fact Madonna has cited this album in several interviews, saying she loves it.

Being a life-long Boy George fan I have to say Madonna is spot on. This song and the album it came from is one of his finest hours. And just look how beautiful he was in 1990.
http://www.graziadaily.com/