For a while now we've known that Kate Moss will take part in the closing ceremony alongside other big British models like Naomi Campbell and Stella Tennant but even now, it's still unclear what, or who, they will down the runway. The latest issue of Vogue might reveal a clue.
To mark the event and in collaboration with the British Fashion Council, Vogue commissioned Nick Knight to shoot all of the models involved wearing British designers, leading people to speculate that the girls will wear the same brands for the closing event as they wear in the shoot.
In the issue Moss appears wearing a gold encrusted dress by Sarah Burton, as does Campbell, while Stella Tennant appears in Christopher Kane, Lily Cole and Donaldson in Erdem and Vivienne Westwood respectively, Georgia May Jagger in Victoria Beckham and Jourdan Dunn in Jonathan Saunders. I think it's safe to assume that they won't wear the same things but I'm sure the brand choice will be the same.
This morning the list of the Queen's Birthday Honours list dropped and as many had expected, Sarah Burton was one of the names in the mix.
To say that she's done a great job since taking over the reigns at Alexander McQueen would be an understatement and of course, last year she became a household name across the world after designing Kate Middleton's wedding dress. If there was ever a person to receive the OBE (Order of the British Empire), it's her.
But she's not the only creative director receiving a big nod this year. Mulberry's Emma Hill also made the list, being awarded a CBE and the timing couldn't be better. Last week the brand announced that profits were up last year by 54% and ever since she joined the brand back in 2008, it had continued to go from strength to strength.
Speculation about who will take the reigns at Dior is the question that just won't go away, no matter how much we want it to. While Haider Ackermann's name was firmly amongst the front running candidates to begin with, he quickly slipped off the radar as new names like Sarah Burton and Marc Jacobs were thrown into the mix. In a recent interview with Vanessa Friedman, Ackermann suggested that we shouldn't rule him out completely.
'There are two houses I would be interested in…two where I feel there is shared sensibility, and I could bring something else of myself to the house, which isn’t expressed in my own line,' he told the Financial Times editor also touching on 'couture' in particular leading many to believe that he was taking about Dior. And the partnership would make sense. Ackermann continues to be a force to be reckoned with, with his own eponymous line so taking the reigns at a big house seems like the next sensible step.
Last night ELLE hosted their 15th annual ELLE Style Awards. The event, which took place in London's Savoy Hotel, saw Alexa Chung brought back to serve as host and guests were treated to a performance over dinner by Critics Choice Award winner, Emeli Sandéwho was joined on the stage Professor Green in the after-party.
Red carpet looks were strong, particularly from Tali Lennox in Julien Macdonald, Jessica Chastain in Alexander McQueen, Chung in Stella McCartney and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Antonio Berardi.
But outfits aside, the one thing you can always count on at the event is a good speech or two and last night was no different. Last year everyone was talking about Vivienne Westwood's 'interesting' confession that she didn't know who Emma Watson but this year was even more memorable. Johnny Johannsson, Acne's creative director, had us all impressed as he sang a Swedish celebratory song to pick up the award for Best Contemporary Brand but it was Cuba Goodings Jr who stole the show. Before presenting the Style Icon award to Huntington-Whiteley, he had the crowd taking shots of their drinks after saying that, "this is the first party I've been to where I feel I need to loose weight."
It's already that time again - the nominees for this year's British Fashion Awards are in and they're not too surprising. Despite being appointed as creative director of Alexander McQueen only 16 months ago, Sarah Burton has quickly proved herself as the perfect candidate to take over the house after McQueen's passing. Her collections for the brand continue to be met with critical acclaim and you can't forget the stellar job she did at designing the most famous dress this year - Kate Middleton's wedding dress. Her efforts have rightly been recognised by the BFC as she is in the running for the Designer of The Year Award, which was presented to Phoebe Philo for Celine last year.
Equally unsurprising is J.W. Anderson's two nominations this year in the category for Emerging Talent Menswear and Emerging Talent Ready-To-Wear. For Model of The Year, Georgia May Jagger is going head-to-head with model veterans more than twice her age as both Kristen McMenamy, 46, and Stella Tennant, 40, are both also nominated.
"This year's nominees demonstrate the breadth and creativity London has to offer," Harold Tilman said this morning at the announcement of the list. "The fashion brands and designers that are based here set the trends across the globe."
Just as the who-will-replace-Galliano-at-Dior speculation finally began to die down, latest rumours have already talking again. The latest name to be thrown into the hat? Marc Jacobs, it seems. This week WWD confirmed that Jacobs' contract at Louis Vuitton is coming to an end and he's allegedly been in "serious" talks with LVMH bosses about jumping ship leaving Phoebe Philo to reportedly take his place at Vuitton.
Although Alber Elbaz, Sarah Burton and Nicholas Ghesquière have confirmed that they're not leaving their jobs, Haider Ackermann and Riccardo Tisci are still in the list of potential replacements. Bill Gaytten - Galliano's former right hand mind - is said to still be in the running for the big job after making it very clear at the brand's couture show that he's gunning for the role. That said, the collection received terrible reviews making his appointment extremely unlikely.
Considering that Sarah Burton has just designed the most highly anticipated dress in decades, the PR at Alexander McQueen has been pretty quiet. With that said, it was nice to have press release hit our inbox shortly after the wedding where the creative director released a statement about working with the new Duchess of Cambridge on 'the' dress.
'It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with Catherine Middleton to create her wedding dress, and I have enjoyed every moment of it,' she explained. 'It was such an incredible honour to be asked, and I am so proud of what we and the Alexander McQueen team have created. I am delighted that the dress represents the best of British craftsmanship. Alexander McQueen’s designs are all about bringing contrasts together to create startling and beautiful clothes and I hope that by marrying traditional fabrics and lacework, with a modern structure and design we have created a beautiful dress for Catherine on her wedding day.'
It was the moment we have all been waiting for. Catherine Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge, stepped out in this beautiful Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen wedding dress at Westminster Abbey.
Bernard Arnault of LVMH has said that Dior won't be hasty naming John Galliano's replacement, WWD is reporting that advisers have compiled a list of suggested successors. Among them: Riccardo Tisci, Tom Ford, Hedi Slimane, Olivier Theyskens, Nicolas Ghesquiere, Alber Elbaz, Haider Ackermann, Prabal Gurung and Sarah Burton.
This comes after false rumours that Tisci had already accepted the position; he's supposedly the favorite of Delphine Arnault, Dior's deputy managing director and daughter of Bernard. As for Burton, WWD reports that if she dresses Kate Middleton for this month's royal wedding, her chances will shoot through the roof. WWD says: "According to a source, Bernard Arnault is transfixed by royalty, and would be keen to launch Dior alongside the next-generation couple, just as Princess Diana helped catapult the image of the brand in 1995 when she toted a Lady Dior bag and, a year later, donned a midnight-blue, bias-cut Dior gown by Galliano to attend the Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
Prior to showing her fall 2011 collection at Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton's name was already top of the list when it came to who will design Kate Middleton's dress next month so you can only imagine just how much rumours intensified when Burton presented a collection of showstopping white dresses earlier this month in Paris.
However, she continues to deny rumours backstage at the show, "No, she said with a quick laugh, McQueen is not making Kate Middleton’s wedding dress," Cathy Horyn reports.
