When Victoria Beckham recently tweeted that she was being fitted by Giles Deacon shortly after posting an image of a microphone, people naturally assumed that the fitting was for The Spice Girls' opening ceremony outfits. It looks like we were all wrong, or at least that's what Mel B's stylist Stephanie Kradjian wants us to think.
Today the stylist took to twitter to respond to the rumours, saying that the reports are false. '@Fashion_Critic_ As @OfficialMelB Stylist I can assure this information is absolutely not true...' she tweeted but that doesn't mean that we should dismiss the reports altogether. After all, this wouldn't be the first time I stylist tried to throw us off the scent.
Do you want to see the girls wear Giles on the weekend?
For the last few months there's been talk about the Spice Girls performing at the Olympics closing ceremony and the speculation was pretty much confirmed last week when Victoria Beckham tweeted a picture of a diamanté-encrusted microphone. Now, with the closing ceremony less than a week away, the big question has now switched to what the brand will wear.
Victoria recently tweeted a photo of Katie Grand's pet rabbit along with the caption: 'Morning fitting with @gilesgilesgiles, cuddle with @kegrand bunny!! X vb.' As yet no confirmations have been made and even if he is dressing Victoria, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's dressing the whole band. If he did, it would make sense. Victoria is hardly ever spotted wearing anything other than her own designs so it's hard to think what else Deacon would be fitting her for and besides, Giles is one of Britain's biggest designers right now so who better to dress the country's biggest girl group on what will undoubtedly be an event to remember?
This month British designers Julien Macdonald, Giles Deacon and Zandra Rhodes are joining forces for a good cause. All three have signed up to redesign the classic red telephone box to help mark the 25th anniversary of Childline. To save you from running around London trying to spot them, Harvey Nichols will display all three telephone boxes in the widow's of their Knightsbridge store.
They aren't the only ones lending a helping hand to the good cause. Corrie Nielson, Phillip Treacy, Lily Cole and architect Zaha Hadid have also contributed to the open-air art exhibition that is set to launch to mark the occasion. A selection of their design efforts will be auctioned off at the National Portrait Gallery on July 18 with all of the proceeds going to Childline.
From Esteban Cortazar's dramatic depature from the brand, Lindsay Lohan's infmaously terrible collection to Giles Deacon's swift exit after only a year, Emanuel Ungaro hasn't had the best last few years. Unfortunately things are only getting worse as WWD have confirmed that thir new CEO, Jeffrey Aronsson, has left along with the majority of their advisory committee.
Arronsson, who has had successful stints at Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs, was brought on board to turn the company around but has reportedly left the company to focus on his investment and consulting firm after working at the brand for only 6 months. And his departure couldn't come at a worse time. Ungaro continues to experience considerable losses each year and with the constant in and out of employees, that fate doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon.
The Emanuel Ungaro collection this season was interesting, what with the experimentation of prints in a different way from what we've seen this season and the movement away from overt sex appeal, but the recent changes distracted away from that fact. The past few years have seen the house in the midst of changes after changes from Esteban Cotezar leaving due to the brand's new interest in celebrity endorsement and Lindsay Lohan's infamously terrible collection to Giles Deacon's recent departure after only two seasons as creative director. So the big question this week was who would take the bow after the show and of course, how would the collection fair as result of all the recent upheaval?
Jeanne Labib-Lamour emerged as the brand's new designer, unveiling herself at the end of the show but emphasising the collection was a team effort. And in light of the goings on, the team did a good job. Inspired by NASA aerial images, the show was dominated with interesting prints that appeared on dresses with subtle pleats, slinky jumpsuits with draping details and belted dresses and printed skirts. Although the silhouettes were often simple, the use of the prints felt interesting and definitely worth a closer look and were different from what we've seen elsewhere. The colour palette remained focused on aquatic tones but as the show progressed, Labib-Lamour introduced red into the prints, as well as on block coloured pieces like a plunge necked dress.
The collection worked but failed to excite me like the sexy looks that Deacon sent downt the runway during his short time at the house and a result of the changeover, the collection felt completely out of sync with the sexed up aesthetic that the British designer had been championing.
Earlier on this month Alexander Wang spoke to Harper's Bazaar about his ambitions of turning his family run business into a global lifestyle brand, following in the footsteps for Ralph Lauren, and it looks like that's exactly what he's doing.
Not content with producing menswear, diffusion and accessories collections in addition to his mainline, Wang is now dipping his toe into the beauty world by collaborating with Sally Hensen. Like Giles Deacon, the designer has decided to launch his very own nail colour collection which will debit at his S/S12 show during New York Fashion Week next month.
The Kardashians aren't the only ones that are launching a nail polish line. This week Giles Deacon let slip to Grazia that he is abut to launch into the world of nail lacquers too. So what can we expect? ,”You’re getting a good cross-section – not too classic, but quite fashion, and definitely things you’re going to get noticed with,” he told the magazine.
Talking about designers venturing into the world of beauty, anticipation continues to build in the run up to the release of Gareth Pugh's collaboration with MAC. This week the cosmetics giant hosted a party for the designer preparing for the big November release. Although both parties have been tight lipped about the collection, Pugh did reveal some minor details to Fashionista at the event. “If I was going to do something with MAC I wanted it to be something special, and quite specific,” he explained. “The collection is very all-encompassing and versatile. It has the scope to go to the extreme with it. You can really play around with it. I’d rather people do that than copy what we’ve done for the ad images.”
Last month it was revealed that Sophie Theallet and Giles Deacon would design a shoe collection for Nine West and last night saw Theallet unveil her collection - set to hit stores in May - to press in New York's meatpacking district.
The theme of the collection is 'Sophie From Paris Takes a Trip to NYC' and features heeled espadrils in different shades of pink stripes with bows which is exactly what "a French girl would wear on the Riviera with rolled up blue jeans and a little T-shirt," the designer explained.
I think it was a good start. There are so many things that you consider when you go into a house like Ungaro that has such a history. You just want to start slow and do something that you’re comfortable and confident with. We didn’t want to do a big show. We wanted to take it slowly. There’s been numerous designers at that house over a short amount of time, and you just want to try and create a clean slate that people respond to in a positive way.
