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."
Although ever mysterious, it still came as a bit of a shock to us when it was officially announced that the reclusive Martin Margiela had left his eponymous house, Maison Martin Margiela. Interviews with the designer known for his experimentation with fashion were few and far between, and although his avant garde collections left him critically acclaimed, it became apparent that the celebrity scene was not to his taste.
Though his experimental designs were celebrated greatly in the time he designed for the label, Margeila fans mourning his departure have taken to collecting the original, and most unusual of his works. Katy Rodriguez, owner of vintage retailer Ressurection recently collected a range of over 1000 original pieces, all of which had been accumulated by a single collector, including the cloven-toed 'tabi' boots, and Margiela tunics made up of gloves, caps and wigs. Rodriguez's newly acquired collection will go on sale in store and online at 1stdibs.com, from the 11th of February.
As we bid farewell to the end of the year and 2010 is fast approaching we thought it would only be fair to share with you some of the biggest fashion moments from 2009.
January:
Michelle Obama's inauguration day outfits, designed by Isabel Toledo (day dress suit) and Jason Wu (evening gown), caught the attention of the fashion world. Obama has since donned a number of fashion-forward outfits, which has propelled her onto a number of best-dressed lists and has helped launch the career of Jason Wu.
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.'
It seems that the evergrowing trend of designers leaving their eponymous line is continuing, this time with the ever so mysterious Martin Margiela. Always known for being evidently reclusive, Margiela rarely gave interviews, and never took a catwalk bow for the label that ran under his own name. His face had been relatively unseen by the public until a photograph of the camera shy Belgian designer was published in an article for the New York Times last year.
Martin Margiela never has been the most forthcoming designer. His refusal to conduct in-person interviews is widely known, and a glimpse of the designer's face that ran with a New York Times story in October 2008 was the first that many, including industry insiders, had ever seen of his face since he doesn't so much as bow at the end of his runway shows.
So it should come as no surprise that the Wilson of fashion (excuse the lowbrow 'Tool Time' reference) has created another swirl of confusion about his presence at his eponymous fashion house. Last September, the industry thought he was leaving fashion for good. By the next fashion weeks, in March, critics contended that the designer was gone, despite confirmation of the opposite from company reps. Just a week ago, T suggested that Haider Ackermann could be the new designer in charge.
According to Hint: "While rumors are brewing that Haider Ackermann may be Martin Margiela's successor, sources close to the elusive Belgian insist that this is one of his elaborate hoaxes. Whatever the case, we hear the incognito king was at the Los Angeles boutique not long ago waiting on unsuspecting costumers."
Nicolas Ghesquiere based some of Balenciaga's Resort 2010 collection on the brand's archives - Cristobal Balenciaga designs from the '50s and '60s - but as for the bulk of his imagination, we got refreshing and new. Screw the economy; Ghesquiere was out to prove his creative prowess.
All we can say is that with skirts as short as he took them, we're glad we write about and dress models rather than walk the runway.
Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez achieved a major milestone this week by being named Accessory Designers of the Year at the 2009 CFDA Awards. Today, the Belgian publication A Magazine's ninth issue, which they guest edited, comes out. They're the first Americans to do the job, so not bad.
A different guest editor oversees A Magazine each season, and the Proenza boys aren't shy about pointing out their milestone. Martin Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto and Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy (all of whom show their collections in Paris) previously have edited, but never made an effort to represent their respective countries on the pages.
"When we were asked to do this, it happened to be during the election, when America was having, for lack of a better word, a revolutionary moment," says Hernandez. "It was so cool to be American." And cool is exactly the word we'd use to describe the Old Glory-esque Chloe Sevigny cover, plus features ranging from Bruce Weber to Abraham Lincoln.
