What could be more fantastical and fashionable than waking up on Christmas morning to find a Giles Deacon, limited edition fashion fairytale Threads book in that seasonal stocking of yours? Threads, by Sophia Bennett is available online at Amazon and in stores from this week, and features not only a beautiful front cover - courtesy of Giles Deacon - but also raises money for Save The Children, too. Magical and charitable at the same time, the book tells the tale of three girls and how their fashion dreams come true, a fashion Cinderella rags to riches with an intelligent, humanitarian spin.
Nonie, Edie and Jenny are best friends. Nonie's passion is fashion. Humanitarian Edie wants to save the world. And budding actress Jenny has just landed a small part in a Hollywood blockbuster. But when these three friends meet a young African refugee girl called Crow sketching a dress at the Victoria and Albert Museum, they get the chance to pool their talents and do something truly wonderful.
The tale is funny, endearing and thought provoking, perfect for the fashionistas of all ages as a complete feel-good and fabulous read, and at only £9.99, perfect for stocking fillers or just a little treat to sit and read. With £1 from every book sold being donated to Save The Children, its a treat not to feel guilty about. And just look how beautiful it will look on your coffee table, too...
Back in 1986 when I was photographing a very young Naomi and she was dancing to Prince in a bright red Yohji Yamamoto coat inspired by the collections of Christian Dior, I thought it was just so thrilling. It was a piece of contemporary theatre and it was seen by no more than around seven people. Fashion is such a fascinating world and if one could show the research that goes into a John Galliano collection, for example ... It's missed. Fashion is presented as something for the ladies or as trade. It's both scandalised and trivialised and it's a lot more interesting than that
Some designers have a way of never choosing a bad project. Case in point: Stuart Stockdale. The current design director for Jaeger, Stockdale trained under John Galliano while studying at Central St Martins, and from there, went on to work with big names like Jasper Conran and J Crew. When he took over at Pringle of Scotland from 2000 to 2005, the label took on a sexy factor, largely credited to Mr Stockdale himself.
The designer's Jaeger days started just last year, and after three seasons showing his collections at London Fashion Week, Stockdale has the fashion community wrapped around his little finger again. Affordable luxury that looks endlessly expensive? He's got plenty of it, thanks.
This week, Stockdale chatted with The Fash Pack about his need for Kings of Leon and keeping himself creative. Hint: at the weekend, you can find him at the museums.
In addition to its existing location at Clifford St, Louis Vuitton has announced it is opening a temporary Christmas store at Selfridges London from November 2nd 2009 to January 10th 2010. The store, which will contain a 19-metre wall displaying 200 small leather goods and a window space with Louis Vuitton's "Holidazzle" animations, will wrap all gifts in unique clash-coloured ribbons, exclusive to Selfridges.
Focusing on a wide range of gift items from the Louis Vuitton portfolio, the temporary space will feature leather goods, sunglasses, belts, textiles, jewellery and city guides, as well as dog accessories, including collars, bags and leads in new colours and styles, which can be personalised by hot stamping. One of the highlights of the store will be an exclusive dog motif T-shirt designed by Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director, Marc Jacobs. The T-shirts will be available in a wide range of colours; perfect for that must-have present this Christmas.
Christian Lacroix will no doubt be waiting anxiously to hear the results of endless bidding sessions today as the fate of his eponymous brand will be decided. The designer admitted that whilst the current owner of the Falic Group submitted a bid amongst other financial sources, he put his support behind the Sheikh of Ajman, who we reported earlier this month has plans to expand the Lacroix empire into a luxurious lifestyle brand.
"The idea is not to focus on fashion by itself. We are discussing different activities in leisure... private jets, hotels, high-quality yachts, palaces and interior decoration. We will focus on very exclusive areas and don’t want to sell his name cheap in the market. Christian Lacroix is one of the lords of fashion design in the world... but, on another side, as a businessman he has a lot of problems. We will run it better commercially."
Whatever the decision, it is sure to be a relief to Lacroix, who has been concentrating on theatre, hotel decorating and exhibitions to name a few ventures, while the ordeal has been happening - "many things I have been passionate for since my childhood", he explains. "The Chapter 11 forbid us to provide [goods for customers] until the end of the process. So whatever the news on Tuesday it will be a relief."
Richard Avedon's minimalist black and white photos were revolutionary in that he did not simply photograph clothes but was interested in the model's state of mind coming across in his images. Having worked for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and The New Yorker, Avedon has photographed a number of celebrities, where he used his talent of getting the stars emotion to translate to his photos, sometimes even asking them uncomfortable or indecent questions in order to provoke a reaction. This often resulted in his subjects looking out of character, Marilyn Monroe distracted, Elizabeth Taylor sombre, an individual quality unmatched by any other photographer at the time.
"A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth." he said. Portraying more than just the clothes, and provoking reactions from the models is something that later photographers have taken form his work, most notably Mario Testino.
Martin Margiela was only confirmed to be stepping into retirement recently after much speculation but the brand are already looking for his replacement.
As we previously reported, Haider Ackermann and Raf Simons are the most likely candidates to take the post. However, it looks like we won't have to speculate for much longer. T magazine's Horacio Silva recently let slip: 'Just had a chat with Diesel’s Renzo Rosso who says he is this close to naming a new designer at Martin Margiela.'
'90210' star AnnaLynne McCord and fellow actress Kate Beckinsale both opted for black dresses at the 13th annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel last night.
