THE FASH PACK

Anna Wintour Will 'Chase Down Everything' On The Tennis Court

Naomi Mdudu — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:00:00 BST

Anna Wintour's never shied away from demonstrating her love of tennis. Over the years she's become a permanent fixture in the crowd at the US Open and Wimbledon and has become Rodger Federer's number one fan, even leaving Jason Wu's show early to watch him win the French Open.

So considering her relationship with the best in the tennis world (remember when she turned up at the Michael Kors shows with Serena Williams?), it's comes as no surprise that the Vogue editor is a dab hand with a tennis racket herself. The New York Times recently ran a piece on piece on the link between fashion and tennis, in which Wintour's instructor explained just how good she is. 'She's like a retriever,' he told the title. 'She's so fast. She'll chase down everything.' Can't say I'm surprised.

Amanda Brooks Finally Talks About Why She Left Barneys

Naomi Mdudu — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:00:00 BST

Aside from confirming that she plans to relocate to England 'in the interest of pursuing other opportunities' and blogging, not much has been said about the reason behind Amanda Brooks' shock departure from the Barneys.

Speculation about the real reason behind her decision to leave ranged from her simply losing interest in the role to the move being a way to support her brother-and-sister-in-law, Charlie and Rebekah Brooks, who were recently charged with perverting the course of justice. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Brooks' decided to shed more light more about her decision.

'It was because of Ree Drummond's blog, The Pioneer Woman," said Ms. Brooks, who has recently returned to a blog, ILoveYourStyle.com, that she started after publishing the 2009 book, which had the same name. Reading a New Yorker profile last year of Ms. Drummond, a mother of four who lives on a cattle ranch outside Pawhuska, Okla., and posts prolifically on subjects like how to make cornmeal pancakes (using catchphrases like "yahoo, yippety") "got me really fired up," Ms. Brooks went on. "It's the idea of having a career on your own terms, anywhere.'

In the piece Brooks hints that the demanding nature of the job had a part to play too resulting in her losing a lot of weight due to the '14-hour days and then all the travelling.' Despite trying to scale back, she's still keeping busy and has a second book in the works, 'which will focus on stories of inspiration and influence over her 20-plus years in the fashion industry,' Bee-Shyuan Chang wrote. 'I've spent my entire career devoted to the vision of others,' Brooks said. 'This year is for introspection. For myself.'

Simon Spur Finally Talks About His Departure From His Brand

Naomi Mdudu — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:00:00 BST

Simon Spurr's departure from his eponymous line was a shock. The announcement came only a few days after he was nominated for the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year award and things became even more awkward when his former co-partner Judd Nydes confirmed that the brand will continue without him.

Despite all of the speculation surrounding the news, both parties remained tight lipped about the cause of the split besides wishing each other well in a piece ran by WWD, but this week they decided to shed more light on the decision to the New York Times' Eric Wilson.

According to the Times, the disagreements centred around a concern about making the label more commercially viable, which is something that Spurr hinted in his interview with WWD. Their diffusion line, Spurr, had not been performing particularly well and going accessible wasn't a route that Spurr wanted to go. His decision to leave appears to have been part an 'ultimatum to the investors that he would not risk cheapening the brand [by making it cheaper and more accessible], since many retailers have said they will not carry the line without him.'

Oscar De La Renta Experiments With A New Social Media Platform For Resort

Naomi Mdudu — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:00:00 BST

Image via Style.com

Yesterday I wrote about the PPR group working on an e-commerce venture with Yoox SpA and now it looks like other big luxury brands are also embracing innovative online platforms. Last week the New York Times noticed that within 24 hours of images of the Oscar de la Renta resort show being placed on TheFancy.com, a green and white sequin silk baseball-style sweater had 500 people endorse it. While that may not sound impressive, the fact that the site had received several advance orders for the sweater, which is priced at $2,490 might get your attention.

'Selling five of those baseball tees is not going to change our lives,' Alex Bolen, chief executive of Oscar de la Renta said, 'but I have got to say, I was surprised.' For me, the news doesn't come as a surprise. Recent research has unearthed the reality that these new social media platforms are having a serious impact on sales beyond simply redirecting traffic. Take Pinterest for example. Despite being the newbie on the scene, results released last week shows that people are 10% more likely to purchase something they see on the platform.

Images Of Angelina Jolie's Jewellery Collection Are Out, Hits Stores In September

Naomi Mdudu — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:00:00 BST

Recently I reported that Angelina Jolie is working on a jewellery collection with Robert Procop and now, the images of the small collection are out and feature emerald and citrine pieces mounted in gold. Like their 2010 partnership, the collection is completely for charity. 'We're designing things she would wear, that she really truly loves,' Procop told the New York Times, 'then we sell them and give 100 percent to charity.'

All of the prceeds will go to the actress' charitable foundation, which has already paid for a girls school to be built in Afghanistan and as of September, you'll be able to buy pieces from the collection and support the cause. Rather than being sold by private appointment, the Style by Jolie collection will be available for the first time in select boutiques in China, Turkey, Russia and the U.S. by September.

BREAKING: Raf Simons Is The New Creative Director Of Dior

Naomi Mdudu — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:45:32 BST

The speculation and ongoing rumours about who will replace John Galliano as the creative director of Dior is the story that has kept on giving. Every time we thought a candidate was a dead cert to bag the big job, another name was thrown into the hat but thankfully that all came to an end yesterday. The New York Times confirmed that Raf Simons has been appointed as his successor.

'The first time I heard about the Dior position, I thought, 'This feels right,'' he told Cathy Horyn. 'It is one of the ultimate challenges, and a dream to go to a place like Dior, which stands for absolute elegance, incredible femininity and utter luxury.' Although the news about his appointment is everywhere, Horyn and Suzy Menkes have said that the official announcement will not come until at least Tuesday.

In the meantime, though, the response to the news has been good. As you'll recall, Simons departure from Jil Sander last month was emotionally charged as the fashion industry waved him farewell with a long standing ovation at his last show for the house. The news of his return and at a house as big as Dior is exciting with many calling his appointment the start of a new era.

Do you think Simons is the right man for the big job?

Tom Ford Says Denies Offering Stella McCartney The Gucci Job

Naomi Mdudu — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:00:35 GMT

Last week the New York Times ran a great piece on Stella McCartney, in which she revealed that Tom Ford had offered her the role of creative director of Gucci back in 2011 when she left Chloé. Ford has since refuted the claims telling the paper that there had been a misunderstanding. 'It was never a conversation about taking over at Gucci,' he said. 'I think she might have interpreted that at a certain point' but he 'just never corrected her'.

But McCartney is sticking to her statement. 'He's a lying, cheating... what?' she said when she heard Ford's denial. "That's the weirdest thing. Why would he take me into an office and show me every dead animal? Oops!"

A Lower Priced Line Is On The Cards For Missoni After Huge Success With Target

Naomi Mdudu — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:47:47 GMT

When asked why they decided to work with Target on a low priced collection back in August, Angela Missoni was frank telling the New York Times that it was all about increasing the brand's visibility in America. “As Missoni, we have a big name but we are not a huge company, so there’s not much product around” but that was, of course, before their partnership with the retailer collection hit stores.

If you didn't know the Missoni brand before the Target collection, you definitely do now. The partnership was the retailer's biggest to date and the line was so sought after that it caused their website to crash, shelves were empty on the first day and eBay was full of resales of the pieces going for ridiculously high prices. "Honestly, we didn't expect it," Angela Missoni told the LA Times of the Sept. 13 frenzy. "I kept getting calls from friends all over America saying, 'Do you know what's happening here? There are lines outside the store. The shelves are empty!'"

See more after the jump

Quote Me: Fashion No Longer Excites Chloe Sevigny

Naomi Mdudu — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:00:00 BST

“

I’m just not as excited by it. I don’t know if it is a reflection of what they are producing, or just my feelings toward it. I bought a pair of Birkenstocks today - let’s be real. I wanted a chunky sandal that was functional. That should tell you where I am at as far as fashion.

”She told NYT

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana May Face Prosecution

Naomi Mdudu — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:29:29 GMT

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are in the press again but not for the right reason. Yesterday the New York Times revealed that tomorrow the designers will find out whether prosecutors have gathered enough evidence to push for a full blown criminal trial against them for alleged tax evasion and fraud. According to reports last year, the pair are said to have not paid taxes on more than $1 billion of their income.

The newspaper indicated that if a criminal trial was pursued at the pair were found guilty of fraud, a maximum sentence of five to seven years could be imposed.