Today is a very sad day. An hour ago news broke that famed hair stylist Vidal Sassoon has died. The 84 year-old was found dead in his Mulholland Drive home. At present little information has been released but what we do know is that he died of an unspecified illness and was with his family at the time.
H&M has been on a roll recently, especially with the launch of their red carpet worthy pieces and last year Topshop forayed into dressing celebrities for the red carpet too. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jessica Szohr have sported the brand's red carpet looks in the past and on Monday both Dree Heningway and Jamie King wore Topshop to the Met Gala.
‘We feel incredibly honoured to have had the opportunity to dress these two amazing girls with such differing style,’ Emma Farrow, Topshop's Head of Design, told ELLE UK. ‘The antique gold sequin and distressed mesh shift dress came straight off the catwalk and was simply lengthened to Dree's requirements—it was important to retain a simple modern feel.’ For Jamie the approach was different. 'We wanted to keep with her ‘30s siren glamour so worked along more traditional vintage lines with bold silk satin devore in a beautiful rich crimson that came from our original AW palette.’
Last week it emerged that just about all of the key players at Elle.com have jumped ship and moved on. It has long been one of the best magazines sites so I did wonder how they would be able to make up for the major losses but it looks like they will be okay after all.
Today WWD confirms that Amina Akhtar is their first big appointment and will replace Keith Pollock as editor. Securing Akhtar is a major step in maintaining the success of the site. After all, she was the person responsible for launching The Cut (I love The Cut) and has since served as the editor of Fashionetc.com.
I’ve made the mistake in years gone by of showing up a little late to the event, right when the Beyoncés and J. Los of the world are having their moment — then you have photographers screaming for you to get out of the way! So this year I came nice and early.
”She told People
Chloë Moretz is a big fan of Stella McCartney so it came as no surprise that the British label was the brand of choice for her to wear at the premiere of her new movie, 'Dark Shadow'. The 15 year-old paired the blue jacquard dress from the brand's Fall 2012 collection with a pair of Jimmy Choo 'Lance' heels.
Are you a fan of her look?
Just about everyone and anyone has a fashion line these days and the latest joining the list is Giuliana Rancic. WWD confirmed that the E! presenter will follow in the footsteps of Mariah Carey and Iris Apfel by creating a collection, called G by Giuliana, for Home Shopping Network.
Rancic has always been a favourite of mine when it comes to red carpet reporting but I think it's safe to say that the current penchant for TV stars turning their hand to design is a trend that we can do without.
Will you buy pieces of the collection when it drops on May 29?
The last time I wrote about Esteban Cortazar he was in the midst of a messy separation from Emanuel Ungaro as a result of him disagreeing with bosses about bringing Lindsay Lohan on board in a creative capacity. As we all thought at the time, he was right and after her appointment was made, the brand lost big stockists like Neiman Marcus and Net-A-Porter. Now it looks like the online retailer is partnering with the designer on a new project.
Yesterday WWD reported that the designer has teamed up with the site on a 17-piece 'sensual and sculptural' line. When asked, Cortazar said that the collaboration is 'a good first step' suggesting that a full line can be expected in the near future. Prices range between $270 and $2,760 and the collection will drop online on July 11.
If you didn't follow my advice recently and sign up for this year's Fashion Fringe, sadly you're too late. Last night Christopher Bailey, the initiative's new chair, announced the ten semi-finalists that are in the running to be part of the final three who will show their collections at London Fashion Week in September.
'It has been truly inspiring to review the work of these incredibly bright and creative entrants – each and every one of them with such a strong expression and point of view,' Bailey said. 'The submissions that we have seen today reinforce the amazing talent, energy and creativity that run through the UK and I am so proud to be able to help nurture the next generation of visionaries who will be shaping the world of design in the future.'
Camilla Belle
The Met Gala is known for delivering strong red carpet looks and Monday night's event was no different. It wasn't only about the clothes though because the beauty looks were equally as strong.
While there were a handful of questionable looks (sorry, Rachel Zoe and Christina Ricci), the majority were flawless. With both hair and make-up it was all about contrasts. Hair looks were either really severe and straight and generally tied back or came in Veronica Lake style waves and make-up was either really natural or dark and vampy.
Have a look through the gallery for my favourite looks.
Jeff Bezos
When Amazon announced they it would sponsor this year's Met Gala, it became instantly clear that the company has its sights set on exploring fashion projects further. The online giant, which already owns e-commerce companies like ShopBop and Zappos, has confirmed that they will be working with a lot more high end brands in future. The Times reports:
Amazon's decision to go after high fashion is about plain economics. Because Amazon's costs are about the same whether it is shipping a $10 book or a $1,000 skirt, "gross profit dollars per unit will be much higher on a fashion item," [CEO Jeff Bezos] said, and it already makes money on fashion. While its MyHabit site, started last year, uses a flash-sale model to compete with Gilt Groupe, Mr. Bezos says the company's new effort is not about selling clothes at deep discounts but at prices that ensure that "the designer brands are happy."
I'm not quite sure how that is going to work. The main reason that people go to Amazon is for the unbeatably low prices so how Bezos plans not to alienate these customers with the changes will be interesting to see.
