You've probably heard the news by now but, as you can imagine, it's too good not to comment. Carine Roitfeld has officially signed on as the new global fashion director of Harper's Bazaar. Aside from the fact that it means that we can expect to see a lot more Roitfeld-styled shoots (hurrah!), the move is a big middle finger to Condé Nast, who haven't shied away from criticising the former Vogue Paris editor recently.
According to a press release, Roifeld will work with Harper's creative director Stephen Gan (who she also works with on CR Fashion Book) on several fashion stories each year, which will appear acroess the 26 intentional editions of the magazine. 'This collaboration marks the first time anything like this has been done and we're very excited about what Carine will bring to Bazaar editions around the world,' Hearst CEO and president Duncan Edwards said in a statement. 'She is a visionary in the fashion world and we are so happy to be working with her.'
There's been talks of Vanity Fair getting a French edition and the move makes sense. After all, the big advertisers are there and on the whole, the French magazine industry is doing pretty well. What has everyone talking, then, is the timing of the confirmation of the news.
Condé Nast, the publisher's behind the title, have only just confirmed that the launch will take place and as a result, many believe that the announcement was a deliberate attempt to try and steal the limelight from the launch of Carine Roitfeld's new magazine, CR Fashion Book. 'The French Vanity Fair is not a response to Carine Roitfeld, but her magazine was surely a trigger for the decision to announce it now,' a French journalist told the New York Times.
As expected, a spokesperson from the publishing house dismissed the reports claiming that any ill-feeling against Roitfeld remains firmly in 'the past'. 'Brands are stronger than people,' Condé Nast France president Xavier Romatet told the title. 'Carine has her new life. Vogue has its new life and that's it.'
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.'
To say that the launch of Carine Roitfeld's new magazine CR Fashion Book has been highly anticipated would be a serious understatement. The last few months have been full of speculation about what we can expect along with controversy surrounding those reports about Condé Nast banning their stylists and photographers from contributing to the publication. Now the wait is over because the cover has been revealed and the issue is set to drop on September 13.
Kate Upton was shot by Bruce Weber for the cover carrying five chicks, in line with the issue's rebirth theme, and her appearance doesn't come as a surprise. Back in June reports began to emerge that Roitfeld had snapped her up particularly after she booked the Sports Illustrated model to walk in that amfAR fashion show in Cannes. And besides, we know that Carine likes models a good curvy blonde (hello Lara Stone) and Upton is just that.
'Maybe people will be surprised that she was my first cover, but you know, I always like to surprise people,' she told The Daily Beast. 'I wanted someone with a sensual body, someone who could be a mother of all these babies. Honestly, from the first time I worked with her - I saw in Sports Illustrated some pictures she did with Terry Richards. I would not say she's a controversial model, but she's not a classic model, and I like that.'
You're probably getting tired of hearing me say this but Carine Roitfeld is truly on a roll and I say it for good reason. Next month will see her launch the debut issue of her highly anticipated new magazine, CR Fashion Book, along with the magazine's website and a whole host of other exciting projects. While we still have a way to go to get our hands on the issue, one thing we don't have to wait for is to see the fruits of her work with MAC.
Yesterday the beauty giant released this fun behind-the-scenes video from her campaign shoot, where Roitfeld talks about everything from wanting to emphasis her eyes to the fact that she sees her star stencils on her face as 'good luck' beauty marks. Aside from that, everything else is what we expected. The collection is all about the brows and recreating her signature smokey eyes look, with some foundations and nude lip colours thrown in too.
The collection is set to hit stores on Fashion Night Out on September 6, which has me thinking. Since Azealia Banks' collection for MAC is being released on the same day and sees her performing at their Soho store, surely that means Roitfeld will be on hand too. How good would a duet be? I mean, it's not like she's afraid of singing in public after that karaoke party she hosted last September. Can someone please make this happen?
Carine Roitfeld has been pretty quiet on the New York social scene over the last few months, which is hardly surprising considering that there's only a month to go before her highly anticipated magazine, CR Fashon Book, is official unveiled. But it's not only the print side of the magazine that she's been working on because this week it emerged that she's working on giving it a strong online presence too.
The former Vogue editor recently teamed up with the team at Tumblr to host an intimate event with fashion bloggers using Tumblr to talk about what she has planned. Interestingly, she used the event to announce that the magazine's website will be on Tumblr. The site is already live but is only a landing page/preview but will officially launch before fashion week.
The excitement for the launch of Carine Roitfeld's magazine, CR Fashion Book, is high. Aside from Katie Grand's LOVE, I can't remember the last time the launch of a publication was so highly anticipated. Over the past few months she's teased us with a video from the preview issue, which came amid rumours that Kate Upton will cover the first issue and today the excitement went up a notch.
This morning WWD released this image from, which is set to appear in the magazine's debut issue. In the image, model Juliet Ingelby walks through a cemetery covered by a purple veil, which instantly brings back memories of that shot of Crystal Renn, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Eniko Mihalik in 'Pussy Wet' shot by Terry Richardson for Vogue Paris. In other words, it's very Carine.
Like her or not, Kate Upton isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The model, who is rarely out of a bikini and off of Terry Richardson's blog, recently bagged that feature in US Vogue and of course, that editorial in Harper's Bazaar too and her mission to crack the fashion scene is on getting better.
Yesterday rumours began to circulate that Carine Roitfeld has shot her for the cover of the debut issue of her new magazine, CR Fashion Book. According to sources, Roitfeld sees Upton as the new Lara Stone in the sense that they both look different from all of the other girls and have curvier bodies.
With less than three months to go before Carine's Roitfeld's new biannual magazine, CR Fashion Book, drops, anticipation is high. But just because she knows that we can't wait that long the former Vogue editor has created 'The Youthquake Issue', which will come inside the the next issue of V magazine, which hits newsstands on July 5.
The premise of the 'Issue 0', as it's been named, is to introduce readers to what we can expect from the title. To aid the excitment, the magazine has also released this video showing behind-the-scenes of a shoot styled by Roitfeld and shot by Sebastian Faena. Clearly he hasn't been deterred by the allegedly Condé Nast ban then.
With only a few months to go before CarineRoitfeld launches her new magazine, CR Fashion Book, the industry is abuzz with excitment but if recent reports from Page Six are anything to go by, you can cross the powers that be from Condé Nast off that list.
According to the column, Condé’s chairman Jonathan Newhouse 'sent word to photographers including Mario Testino, Craig McDean, David Sims and the Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott team 'remininding' them of their exclusivity with Condé Nast to shoot for its titles including Vogue, W, Glamour, Vanity Fair and Allure.' Even those without exclusivity contracts have reportedly been discouraged from working with Roitfeld on the new venture.
