Since leaving French Vogue Carine Roitfeld hasn't been out of the press. From her styling gig for Barney's to her work on the latestChanel and Jean Paul Gaultier campaign, the fashion world have all been watching with bated breath to see what her next move will be. The latest rumour is that stylist is in the midst of launching a new magazine geared around new creative talent.
Roitfeld has spoken openly in the past months about the restrictions she experienced at Condé Nast so according to sources, the new magazine will be independently published to avoid those same problems. If true, it's definitely a good move. Roitfeld will be afforded the creative freedom that we're all desperate to see and will still be able to collaborate with brands on styling gigs, which she was inhibited from doing in her former role.
Karl Lagerfeld isn't running back to Paris from Cannes any time soon after showing his resort collection for Chanel earlier on this month. Vogue UK reports that the designer has remained in Cannes as he prepares to exhibit his photographs later this week in aid of amfAR.
Largerfeld has brought on long time amfAR supporter Carine Roitfeld to co-curate the exhibition which will feature at the gala set to be held on Thursday with designers like Riccardo Tisci, Peter Dundas and Jean Paul Gaultier in attendance.
Get ready to think of fairytales in a whole new way. This Thursday, Imagine Fashion is launching a new fashion-does-folklore video that will reinvent Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Red Shoes and Pinocchio for the 'Twilight' generation. In other words, Vanity Fair is celebrating fantasy fashion in an editorial homage to the strange and fabulous characters of children's storybooks.
With Imagine Fashion's new short narrative film, 'Matchstick Girl', we see the dark side of Hans Christian Anderson's classic story through enchanting and unsettling beauty. Siri Tollerod stars as the Little Match Girl, wearing (naturally) street-urchin chic by Chanel, Celine, Jil Sander, Jean Paul Gaultier and Prada. Even better? If you spot a piece you like, you can just click through and buy. We give it up for the film's stylist, Antje Winter, who just made fables all that more fashionable.
Puig, the Spanish perfume maker, is currently the front-runner to buy control of the Jean-Paul Gaultier brand, now that Hermes has been trying to sell a 45-percent share in the company. Gaultier now owns a 55-percent share, but reportedly is looking to sell part of his stake in order to develop business in Asia, Reuters reports.
The Chinese company Li & Fung has already backed out of the deal, now that the desired price for the shares is 100 million euros or more. The company Interparfums is still in the running, however. Jean-Paul Gaultier is still reporting financial losses, but it boosted its revenues from 23 million euros in 2009 to 26 million euros in 2010.
New Hermes designer Christophe Lemaire, who came to the label from his former post as creative director of Lacoste, says he's going to handle fashion week in a fairly simple setting when he shows his first collection in March. Rather than putting on a runway extravaganza like former Hermes designer Jean Paul Gaultier, Lemaire says an intimate approach is just fine.
The designer told WWD: "I think that it’s time to go back to a more honest vision of fashion, and that there is room for a simpler, more pared-down wardrobe that is better suited to everyday life. I have always campaigned to bring quality and, if possible, poetry to everyday life. You don’t change your wardrobe every six months. You build it up over time."
He continued to say that he'll be more like Martin Margiela, who designed for Hermes from 1998 to 2003, than Gaultier. And as for rumours of tension with his previous management at Lacoste, the designer explained: "I think I succeeded in projecting a certain vision of the brand [at Lacoste]. The problem with a brand is that if the designer has a vision and the management does not have the same vision, or does not understand that vision, then there is obviously a disconnect. So I think that is being addressed, but it was definitely an issue for me."
Followers of our twitter will know that Joan Smalls has everything to smile about. Last week Estée Lauder announced that the Puerto Rican model has signed on to be the new face of their cosmetics and skincare line and is will appear in a global campaign set to launch in May.
After years of working as a commercial model, Smalls has made a big splash in the world of high fashion over the past year. 2010 has seen her bag a Givenchy campaign, open for Yves Saint Laurent, close for Dior and Gaultier and bag an i-D cover.
“For me, Estée Lauder represents real beauty,” Smalls explained. “It speaks to every ethnicity and age group." Smalls wants to use her role at the brand to create a be a positive role model for women she told WWD. “I plan to bring [women] confidence, so they accept themselves the way they are,” said Smalls. “I am looking forward to creating beautiful images and empowering women.”
Smalls is the third new face to be signed up by the brand, joiningConstance Jablonski and Liu Wen.
