Fashion Overload

Gotta Wear Shades

Oversized Aviators and giant, luxe label specs are taking a hike this summer as the trends all point to the resurgence of 80's old school Wayfarers as being the lenses to sport this season. For the last couple of months I've seen them on all of the cool kids and it's worked it's way out to a few celebs as well.

A few nights ago, I had a very TMZ evening. I was at Crown Bar where Samantha Ronson was spinning, Lindsay Lohan was also present, and Diddy walked into the room. Literally half of the folks there were sporting these stylish specs including Lilo and Ronson. Although it's nice to have a classic black framed set, the best designs to complement the bright and graphic trends of this season are bold, contrasting shades. Two of my favorite pair are the "Capetown" frames from Alex & Chloe in Red Woodgrain and Turqouise/Dusk. (click images to enlarge)

Disability Bitch

Britain's Missing Top Model is a six-part series selling itself on the catch-cry "Stylish, sassy, chic ... disabled?" The program has a disabled columnist as a part of their online offerings aptly titled "The Disability Bitch". DB is a bit cantankerous, and heard but never seen. When describing herself she offers these gems...

On exercise:

"I eat doughnuts and I hate exercise. Quite frankly, I don't see why disabled people should have to do exercise in the first place.."

On begging:

"For a small fee,  I will offer you a map of London with the begging hotspots marked clearly in highlighter pen, direct you to the places with the richest and most patronising residents most likely to drop a fiver at a cripple without you even having to ask."

Describing Stephen Hawking:

" I don't know what it is about you. Descriptions of you used in this week [are] a sycophantic romp through your theories of everything and your life as a celebrity cripple... they annoyed me. Yes, I HATE SMUG CRIPPLES, and you are no exception."

WOW! I can't wait for this trainwreck!

Top Model: Amputee Edition

I keep waiting for this to be announced as a hoax, but I have been told by several representatives that this program is authentic. The BBC has a new six part series "Britain's Missing Top Model" which features model hopefuls with a myriad of disabilities. The eight contestants hail from the UK, The Netherlands, and the US. From 19 to 27 years old, the contestants include a woman whose arm was severed in a bus crash, another who is profoundly deaf (which seems a bit like an unfair advantage to me) and an aspiring film director who suffers from a degenerative neuro-muscular disorder, which means she is largely confined to a wheelchair.

Marie Riordan, the UK Editor of Marie Claire serves as a judge on the program, she claims optimism about the experience thus far stating:

"...the program could help challenge our attitudes to disability. I want to see the winner shake up the fashion industry. These young women shouldn't be invisible to the fashion world just because they are disabled."

This reminds me of all those attempts we've had at putting "real women" on runways. Fashion marketers discovered that although consumers claim to support the idea, sales slump when you put fat chicks in your clothes.

Katy Perry The Carnie

Jeremy Scott, Katy Perry (in dress by Scott), and Perez Hilton

Earlier this month Capitol Records held a splashy and fun event for pop singer Katy Perry. I attended the "Katy Carnival" hosted by Perez Hilton (as ringleader) which celebrated the launch of the relatively new artists' debut CD; One of the Boys. Excited to see her perform, I was initially introduced to Perry's music last year when her label sent me a series of her singles including Ur So Gay. After that tune made the rounds with praise from a mixture of critics and performers (including Madonna) I was hooked. Not only did the Pepto Bismol pink lp feature Ms. Perry doing the splits with a bunny pinata atop her head, she had also crafted clever tongue-in-cheek lyrics and spot on retro styling. A few weeks later I popped into a So Cal hot spot where I was amazed to see her with an infamously fashionable mutual friend. We chatted for a bit and I noted the sweet frock she was wearing realizing quickly that her style was definitely a part of the package.

The turnout for Perry's fiesta had a range of characters. Among attendees were young fans, young Hollywood, tastemakers, and a handful of industry execs. The mood was festive, with her BFF and stylist Markus Molinari, designer Jeremy Scott, actor Andrew Garfield enjoying the catering from In-N-Out and tunes spun by DJ Skeet Skeet. The fact that these shots were even taken by Mark,  The Cobrasnake, just shows you that it was quite the affair. (click image to enlarge)

Bad Ass Bling

 

Jewelry designer Hannah Martin has created spectacular pieces for the Bad-Ass who has rather discriminating taste. She says her line is "meant to conjure an underworld of vice with its brutal beauty and darkly enigmatic glamour—a place full of gangsters, hellraisers and fallen rock stars." With sharp edges and dark, moody pearls the designs may straddle the fence of masculine and feminine, but they are always sharp and edgy. No wonder Vivienne Westwood and Burberry Creative Director, Christopher Bailey are fans of the St Martins grad who formerly worked at Givenchy and Cartier. Did I mention she's collaborated with London taxidermists McKinley & Son? (click images to enlarge)

My Fashion Catalog Event

Although it offers a distinctly different feel from its' eastern counterpart, the west coast fashion community has made quite the return in recent years. Established style bibles have beefed up their western offices, LA Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios grows every season, and it seems that we're continually finding industry newbies poised to shoot into the stratosphere. Quintessentially NYC publication, Paper Magazine recently devoted an entire issue to LA, touting infamously stylish  Angelenos Cory Kennedy, New High Mart boutique , Humberto Leon's Opening Ceremony, as well as designers Brian Lichtenberg and  Jeremy Scott among others.   

I'm curious to see who comes out for Jovy Janolo's inagural "My Fashion Catalog Mixer". This July 16th from 7pm - 10pm, one of my favorite WeHo spots, O Bar will be host the event for industry vets and newbies alike. Just before Fall Fashion print deadlines and a bit before MAGIC, I know I'll be looking for models, photographers and new designers to feature as well as new designs to dress clients in. Grab your Look Books and business cards, it'll be a festive affair.

Ruslana Korshunova, Dead at 20

Twenty year old IMG Model, Ruslana Korshunova, was found dead in Manhattan yesterday afternoon. She is thought to have jumped to her death. We referred to her as "Russian Rapunzel" because of her spectacularly long locks. She wowed casting agents and booked a slew of clients during her five years in the business. Korshunova worked for Marc Jacobs, Blumarine, Vera Wang, Paul Smith, DKNY and Moschino; she booked a cosmetics campaign for Clarins and starred in a Nina Ricci perfume ad. She shot with Mario Sorrenti, Patrick Demarchelier, and Paolo Roversi. She had covers for European editions of Vogue and Elle, she had pictures inside American, Japanese, and Italian Vogue. Her start in the field is a bit of a fairytale, she was discovered when her  modeling booker ,Debbie Jones, noticed her in an in-flight magazine article about Korushnova's hometown of Almaty. British Vogue hailed her as "a face to be excited about" in 2005.

Many models would have envied Korshunova's career; many women would have envied her beauty. But clearly, leaving home at 15 to travel the world under the often-lax in loco parentis care of a series of agencies, even when it culminates in a nice Craig McDean editorial and a Dior Beauté campaign or three, can take a devastating toll.

Road Work by Lagerfeld

Sigh.. Is there any medium, any place Kaiser Karl won't tackle? Seems the German designer and fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld's latest foray into print doesn't involve models or couture. Instead the designer dons the utilitarian reflective yellow safety vest worn by roadworkers and cyclists for a new French road safety campaign. I think the ad copy reads (my French can be criminally bad):

"It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't match anything, but it can save your life."

The vest and a reflective triangle will become mandatory for all drivers and cyclists on July 1. The number of traffic deaths in France jumped 10 percent May, the highest since the beginning of the year, according to the Ministry of Environment website. Two cyclists have died in Paris since the introduction of free municipal bicycles last year.

Timberlake Plays Well

Justin Timberlake appeared at the launch of Givenchy's latest fragrance"Play". The singer who appears in ads for the scent, was in Paris promoting the fragrance launch at one of my favorite Parisian stops, Mini Palais on the Champs Elysees. 

AMCQ N LA

  
The new Alexander McQueen flagship store in southern California is located on on the corner of Melrose Avenue and Melrose Place. The high end retailer mixes in well with its' neighbors Marc Jacobs, Moss, Theory, Diesel and Maxfield.  The store employs the interior design language created by William Russell and McQueen for the original three flagship stores in London, Milan and New York.

The design features a streamlined building in stucco and curved glass to the street with a large private courtyard in back. The interior showcases a large sculpture by Robert Bryce Muir. Visitors to the store are greeted by the ‘Angel of the Americas’, suspended through a skylight above the entrance.

(pictured above, Janet Jackson in McQueen at the LA Opening) Click images to enlarge: