The launch of Carine Roitfeld's new magazine, CR Fashion Book, hasn't been without its controversies. As you will know, Condé Nast reportedly banned several photographers, models and stylists from collaborating with the former Vogue Paris editor but despite all of that, Roitfeld is flying high. The preview of the issue has gone down well and this weekend, just about everyone turned up to congratulate her at the party she hosted to celebrate the debut issue.
'It's very different from my last party,' she told The Cut, having a look at the guests in the marble-floored atrium of the Frick Museum. Around the same time last year Roitfeld through a karaoke party to celebrate her Barneys campaign at a strip club on the West Side Highway so basically the polar opposite of this year's swanky 'do. 'I want to do something different, more classic,' she said about the formal Mercedez Benz-sponsored black tie event. 'After all, I am a grandma now.'
As regular readers will know, I'm an avid supporter of the use of models on the cover of fashion magazines. The current obssession for celebrities has taken on a whole new dimension making it rare to the big titles champion models on their covers, especially at a time where many are struggling to secure those big ad pages and circulation figures. Harper's Bazaar UK, on the other hand, have done the opposite with their October issue.
Rather than opting for a celebrity the magazine offers two cover options; one starring Laetitia Casta and another fronted by Joan Smalls and to accompany it, both women have a full-on features too. In the respective interviews Casta talks about her experiences working with Yves Saint Laurent and her thoughts on the future of the house; while Derek Blasberg spoke to Smalls about being rejected by casting agents before getting snapped up by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy.
Aside from the fact that both covers are beautiful, the casting also works because of their ages. Smalls very much represents today's new breed of supermodels so it was nice to balance that with Casta who, while still young in the grand scheme of things, at 34 year-old represents an older generation of supermodels.
As today's crop of top models go, Joan Smalls is one of my favourites and she's clearly struck a chord with Karl Lagerfeld too. As you'll remember, the designer booked the Puerto Rican model to appear in the S/S12 Chanel campaign alongside Saskia De Brauw and this season he's booked her for Fendi.
'I said to myself backstage during the show, 'It’s her and her alone. No other girl — or boy — no child, only her'. She had this incredible golden, glowing skin that made her look like some Etruscan beauty,' he told WWD. 'She is also a great girl to work with, and we had great fun.'
I know I’m representing a group—black, Latin, whatever you want to put me with—and I want to show that they are beautiful the way they are. I think that’s really important for our youth to see.
Back in March Chanel unveiled the images from their latest book, 'The Little Black Jacket', in Tokyo and last night they brought the travelling exhibition to New York with everyone from Pharrell Williams and Zoe Kravitz to regulars like Dree Hemingway and Poppy Delevigne in attendance.
Just as a refresher, the exhibition includes a selection of over 100 black and white photographs of models and celebrities shot by Karl Lagerfeld. Each star sports the brand's classic black tweed jacket styled in different ways by Carine Roitfeld.
The exhibition opens tomorrow until June 15 over at 18 Wooster Street.
Last night the CFDA Awards, the Oscars of the fashion world, took place and in New York at Alice Tully Hall and the winners are in. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen took away the big womenswear designer of the year award for The Row, Joseph Altuzarra won the Swarovski Award for womenswear and Phillip Lim for menswear and Tommy Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award.
Simon Spurr didn't end up winning the menswear designer of the year award, which was just as well considering all of the controversy surrounding his departure from his namesake line.
Just about every major designer and model has descended on New York last night ahead of the Met Gala on Monday but ahead of the event, Balmain's Olivier Rousteing threw a big party last night at Chelsea's Hotel Americano. At the event the designer spoke about the launch of the brand's new Twitter and Facebook accounts that became live this week, revealing that he plans to get in on the Twitter action himself. 'It's a good way to understand what [customers[ feel about the collection, about the clothes and they can see the details, and they can be more a part of my soul,' he told The Cut at the event. 'I hope they will 'like us' and enjoy what we enjoyed to create.'
Aside from that, what was more interesting was his revelation that Joan Smalls is his guest at Monday's event. The partnership definitely works. Smalls looks good in everything but it will be interesting to see how she looks in a piece that showcases the new direction that the young designer is taking the brand.
That wasn't the only Met Gala confirmation from last night. Karlie Kloss will accompany Jason Wu, Anja Rubik is going with Anthony Vaccarello and Constance Jablonski will attend with Haider Ackermann. New in today is that Arizona Muse is teaming up with Erdem, Thakoon with Christina Ricci and Doutzen Kroes with Roland Mouret. The most interesting confirmation is that Karolina Kurkova will attend with Rachel Zoe, cementing her as a designer to be reckoned with.
See images from the Balmain party in the slideshow.
When Isabel Marant does something, it catches on and her wedges sneakers are a case in point. Since appearing on the runway the style has become a firm favourite amongst celebrities off-duty like Beyonce and Miranda Kerr. Even more interesting is the fact that many editors have swapped their Louboutin's and incredibly high heels for comfortable variations on the style to attend the shows too and it's clear why.
I have never been a big trainers girl - despite being inspired by Taylor Tomasi Hill to buy a pair - but this is something that I have decided to invest in. Like the pyjama trend that I wrote about recently, the Marant style wedged trainer signals a move even further towards the current concern for functionality and comfort in fashion, which many brands are tapping into at the moment.
While they do have a heel there is no denying that the subtle wedge straddles the perfect balance between an informal trainer and easy to wear wedge and besides, they're perfect for those busy days pounding the pavement. What more could you need?
I've always been a fan of the international titles. While Elle has always been my favourite British magazine, for as long as I can remember French and Italian Vogue have been amongst my montly magazine purchases but now my attention is turning to the the Australian editions. The April issue of Vogue Australia explains why.
It's really taken for granted today but it's so refreshing to see a fashion publication focus on using models on their covers rather than the current obssession with celebrities. Vogue Australia have also been a bit slow on embracing ethnically diverse models so it's great to see that Joan Smalls is being embraced on that side of the pond too. It's interesting to see the April issue take special attention to young designers, especially since fresh Australian brands like Dion Lee are starting to gain traction.
Chanel is really spoiling us. Last week they released a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot of their upcoming book, 'The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's Classic Revisited' and now this video has dropped.
Anyone on Twitter will know that the House travelled to Tokyo last week on a special trip and if you were not amongst the luck few to be invited, the short video allows you to see what happened over the three day trip. The first section sees everyone from Sarah Jessica Parker to Carine Roitfeld attend the exhibition for the upcoming book followed by the brand restaging their recent couture show with that spectacular aeroplane set. But that's not all. The final sequence sees them host a big party at their pop-up shop and if you pay attention you'll see Lindsey Wixson breaking into her best dance moves and Cara Delevigne rapping every word to Azealia Banks' songs as she performed at the event.
