Carine Roitfeld, editor of Vogue Paris, wearing a Balenciaga jacket.

The latest Paris fashion week gossip is that Carine Roitfeld and the entire Vogue Paris team have been blacklisted from the Balenciaga show. They were not at the latest runway show, and Carine told WWD “We’re blacklisted. It’s too bad, it’s a beautiful house and it’s French. I hope that it’s not forever.”

Normally I’d presume that the magazine or editor were unfair in some way, and therefore deserve the snub, but I somehow doubt this is the case with Carine. She’s certainly not a “down to earth kinda gal”, but is also not a horribly pretentious, wicked woman, and I always remember her to be quite decent to work with when she was styling the Sonia Rykiel shows. She stuck me as the type that is very professional, and cares about the industry a lot, and this is also very evident throughout the CNN documentary about her, which you can watch here. (Although I have to say some of the things she says about her daughter, and the fact that they are “not in competition with each other” weirds me out. I’d hate to have one of the most stylish women in the world as my mother.)

Balenciaga has yet to comment on the situation, but its only a matter of time before the reason why they have done this leaks to the press. They are also cutting all advertising with Vogue Paris, and not lending the magazine any samples. That is pretty much cutting off your nose to spite your face, so I’m guessing the reason is going to be pretty interesting.

Image source.

What a psycho.

There’s been yet another report of Naomi’s Campbell’s insane rage fits. Apparently she attacked her driver over some ridiculous incident. Honestly, I don’t know why he isn’t pressing charges (probably because he doesn’t want to lose his job) but I really think this woman should be jailed. Yes, she does a lot for charity, and yes, she clearly has major mental problems, but why does she get away with this bullshit? I also think that most of it is probably a way to get herself back into the press, which is why the incidents are evenly spread apart. The amount of exposure she got when she had to do the street cleaning in New York City, as part of her community service, was insane. Paris Hilton also used her jail term to get huge amounts of press exposure, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was headed for another jail sentence soon so that she too can get herself back onto the front pages.

When it comes to celebrities, I have a real disgust for crappy role models. If you are going to put yourself in the limelight (and there is no denying that stars do put themselves out there) then at least have some consideration for the people who are going to look up to you. It’s one thing to be photographed stumbling out of a nightclub, but another if you are smeared in blood, high on drugs, and fall into your car whilst exposing to the world you are not wearing underwear. That is why I love Beyoncé, here’s a woman who has been with the same guy for several years, has a butt, and her Mom makes her clothes. She is exactly the type of woman young girls should be looking up to, unlike Naomi Campbell or Lindsay Lohan. That also why I love the Single Ladies video, because none of the girls dancing are size zeros, in fact, they all have bums and things and curves. And they look awesome.

Naomi Campbell image source.

When I heard that Anna Wintour tried to have Milan Fashion Week cut down to three days so that it wouldn’t interfere with her Oscar plans, I wasn’t surprised. The fashion world seems to behave as though Anna Wintour is the queen of the world, so why not act like it? What shocked me is that Milan Fashion Week actually considered her request, and shifted the show schedule so that she would see as many as possible during her short trip there. I don’t understand why one person can command this.

US Vogue needs the advertising revenue from Armani, Prada, and co. more than the brands needs to woo her for magazine coverage. US Vogue has no choice but to feature Prada in their magazine, not because of the advertising revenue the brand brings to the magazine, but simply because what sort of fashion magazine can be credible without talking about Prada? Or Armani?

Anyway, I read this New York Times article this morning about how Milan’s “Fashion Weekend” is unjust, and that the industry should pay more attention to the city. I agree with the article, and I am disgusted how the designers have had to bow down to the requests of the media and buyers in the past few years.

And then I got to think about Anna Wintour…and I realised I didn’t really have an opinion about her, until now. (I am embarrassed to say I haven’t seen The September Issue yet.) Yes, she is the editor of one of the most-read fashion magazines in the world, but really, she is under the thumb of the advertisers who pay her (high) salary. What has she actually done for the fashion industry that merits her position today? Is she really worthy of this fame? I don’t think so. I am not saying Anna doesn’t deserve any of the attention, she does have a tough job and she does it well, but really, when was the last time you read an issue of US Vogue and got excited about some of the content? She is not a stylist, she is not a great writer, she is certainly not a visionary, so I am guessing she must be a good manager, because you have to be good at something to be in a position like that.

I get bored about these untouchable, terrifying fashion stars that put on a pedestal by the fashion industry and fans of the world. Anna Wintour is boring, yes, we would all love for her to endorse us in some way, but would you want to sit down and have dinner with her? I wouldn’t. I’d prefer to have a meal with someone that would have some incredible stories to tell, and someone who has achieved great things in their life. Give me Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Piaggi, Suzy Menkes, or Mario Testino. Even Ralph Lauren would be more fun, at least he could tell you how he came to build an empire off a collection of ties. What does Anna Wintour have to say? Her fame is dependent on the fame of the designers and image makers that make the fashion industry what it is.

I think I need to write more about this subject sometime in the near future, perhaps a “Fashion Heroes” column about the people behind the scenes that really make the difference. Not the tight-assed, bob-haired, sunglasses-wearing, tennis-playing, fashion bully, meanies who earn 2 million dollars a year just for being a bitchy manager. Oops, sorry Anna. (If you are reading this I guess you deserve the last laugh, because at the end of the day, you dropped out of high school and you have a nice big bank account and a closet full of Chanel suits, and that’s more than most of us have.)

The new Alice in Wonderland movie directed by Tim Burton is bound to be a visual feast. It will come out on March 5th, and the stars include Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway. I looked up some of the visuals on the movie’s website, and they look amazing.

Now, with that in mind, maybe someone can explain this disastrous Alice in Wonderland themed window at Printemps.

A bit of background, Printemps is a big luxury department store in Paris. Powerful retailers, such as Printemps, sometimes ask brands to create special pieces for them, which can be exclusive limited edition collections or special display items, which will help the store to sell the brands.

Just looking at this photo reminds me of how much I miss shopping in Europe...

So, Printemps has asked designers like Ann Demeulemeester, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Chloé, Charles Anastase, and Haider Ackermann to design special pieces for their Alice in Wonderland-themed window displays. These are all designers that I respect and like, so I really cannot understand why the resulting window displays do not look very Alice in Wonderland, or fairy tale, or interesting at all. It basically looks like the designers, aside from Maison Martin Margiela and Nicholas Kirkwood, couldn’t be bothered to actually make something for the window, so they took an old piece from an old collection and made up an Alice “story” to go along with it.

Seriously, how is any of this related to Alice in Wonderland? (By the way, the images and quotes below come from an article on Style.com, you can read more about it here.)

Chloe says: "“Running around careless and free in a romantic dress, falling down the rabbit hole, chasing time in a dreamlike state of mind, meeting unexpected characters with many tales to tell—sounds like many a girl’s night out!” I say: boring navy blue dress worn best on a "fat day."

Charles Anastase says: "“I went to John Tenniel’s original illustration of Alice for inspiration. She’s seated at a table having tea, and her dress looks much more asymmetrical and theatrical than that boring Walt Disney version.” I say: A white and blue pouffy dress does not equal Alice in Wonderland.

Haider Ackermann says: "“My favorite character is the Duchess, who at first seems nearly as unpleasant as the Queen of Hearts. When I was designing this piece, I was seeing Alice running, escaping through the forest destroying her shiny dress." I say: This dress looks nothing like Alice in Wonderland, or the Duchess. In fact, that horrible rounded slit on the front makes the dress go from "interesting" to "scary."

Here are some of the better pieces.

Nicholas Kirkwood says: "“I think my favorite Alice character is the March Hare. You can see I’ve made his watch rather prominent. ...this time, I figured, why not just pile as much as I can on top?” I say: Nicholas Kirkwood has one shoe shape he has redone a million times, and its starting to get boring, but at least that one shoe is pretty cool. Especially with all that stuff piled onto it.

Maison Martin Margiela says: "“Alice’s silhouette is a blue upside-down dress with cage sleeve, as if she walked through the mirror and her dress completely reversed.” I say: This dress is beautiful, combining the fantasy of the fairy tale and the innovation of Maison Martin Margiela, and the colour is exactly the right shade of Alice blue.

Cartoon Alice image source.

Here’s an example of a fashion video that looks hot without making an attempt at being controversial, philosophical, or pornographic (unlike the YSL video by Bruce Weber that I recently trashed.) It just looks hot, its only 30 seconds long, and it helps that we all love Lara Stone.

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Clueless was on TV this weekend (actually, its been on TV quite a lot lately.) Sometimes people give me a funny face when they ask me about my favorite film, and I say Clueless. (I’m too embarrassed to say Lord of the Rings. But really, its a tie between the two.) Since I know all the words to the movie, and can recite Cher’s speeches by heart, when I see the film now, I tend to focus on the outfits. The outfits are simply amazing, and, its been long enough now that they are actually back in fashion. Here’s a couple of great outfits from the movie, and some quotes. I know most of these off by heart, but I also found this very handy website of great Clueless quotes.

I love Amber's outfits, she was definitely one of the best-dressed characters in the film.

Amber: “Was I the only one listening?I thought it reeked.”

Cher: “No I believe that’s your designer imposter perfume.”

I love Dionne's sweater with the oversized cuff and collars sticking out.

Josh: “Ooh, getting Marky Mark to take time out of his busy pants-dropping schedule to plant trees.”

The movie was filmed at the same high school as the original Beverly Hills 90210 was filmed.

Cher: “I’m surfing the crimson wave, I had to haul ass to the ladies.”

Mini skirts galore!

Dionne’s boyfriend, describing gays: “Disco-dancing, Oscar-Wilde reading, Streisand-ticket-holding, friend of Dorothy.”

I love that Dionne coordinates her hats to her outfits.

Heather: It’s just like Hamlet said, “To thine own self be true.”
Cher: Hamlet didn’t say that.
Heather: I think I remember Hamlet accurately.
Cher: Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn’t say that. That Polonius guy did.

The famous Alaia dress that got ruined when Cher was mugged. Thanks to Clueless I discovered Alaia.

Josh: You look like Pippi Longstocking.
Cher: Well you look like Forrest Gump. Who’s Pippi Longstocking?
Josh: Someone Mel Gibson never played.

I love the mini-skirts suits with tees and cardigans.

Cher: Do you prefer “fashion victim” or “ensembly challenged”?

The best-dressed gym class EVER.

Amber: Ms. Stoeger, my plastic surgeon doesn’t want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose.
Dionne: Well, there goes your social life.

Cher's "prim" look.

Dionne: Hello? There was a stop sign.
Cher: I totally paused.

I used to have a fluffy pen like that too. Inspired by Cher, of course.

Josh: You know maybe Marky Mark wants to use his popularity for a good cause, make a contribution. In case you’ve never heard of that, a contribution is…
Cher: Excuse me, but I have donated many expensive Italian outfits to Lucy, and as soon I get my license, I fully intend to brake for animals, and I have contributed many hours to helping two lonely teachers find romance.
Josh: Which I’ll bet serves your interests more than theirs. You know, If I ever saw you do anything that wasn’t ninety percent selfish, I’d die of shock.
Cher: Oh, that’d be reason enough for me.

Who wouldn't kill for her closet?

Cher: Let’s do a lap before we commit to a location.

If Clueless had been released in this day and age, the costume director or stylist would probably have become a celebrity too.

There’s been a lot in the press and blogosphere about the attention bloggers are getting, and whether bloggers have the right to be sitting front row at fashion shows and being recipients of free stuff.

It started off with an article in The Independent entitled “Fluff flies as fashion writers pick a cat fight with bloggers” which talked about the fact that many people in the industry can’t believe that bloggers are getting showered with free gifts, and that blogs “have turned into little more than mouthpieces for fashion brands, which are increasingly using bloggers to regurgitate their press releases.” (Read Kanye West’s hilarious and absolutely idiotic rant against bloggers here.)

Tavi’s hat that blocked everyone’s view. Image source.

Business of Fashion then wrote a good article about how the Independent interviewed many bloggers for the article, but failed to use any quotes from them and therefore the article was quite one-sided. There was also some other really good points made (as usual) by Imran Amed, editor of Business of Fashion, so I’d suggest you read both articles if you are at all interested in the subject. (Links here and here.) They also link to Grazia magazine’s outburst at Tavi, and her response. I don’t want to spend too much time on this but I’d like to have my say, so, here are some of my points.

Yes, there are bloggers that are not always professional and maybe they don’t all deserve the spotlight they have, but if the public support them by reading their blogs, whose exactly is judging that they “don’t deserve?” Also, there are many very interesting, intelligent, or beautiful blogs out there, and they DO deserve the attention they are getting.

Susie Bubble from Style Bubble, a well-respected fashion blog. Image source.

How can magazine criticize bloggers for getting free stuff? The whole concept of a magazine is based on advertisers, if you can’t afford to advertise on their expensive glossy pages, they won’t talk about you. 90% of Vogue’s content is covering advertisers’ product, so those are the brands that can afford $25K per page. And I can guarantee you, the magazine staff gets TONS of free stuff, it’s disgusting how much. Magazine staff generally gets paid quite poorly, but the perks are well worth the low salaries. So if editors are allowed free stuff, why aren’t bloggers?

Plum Sykes, another Vogue-employed boring socialite. Image source.

But the main point I’d like to make is that the fashion industry is extremely critical, brutally unethical, and totally elitist. And the way that people make it to the top is highly unfair. Will someone find me a major fashion industry player who WAS NOT born into a rich family, or has famous parents? Because seriously, nearly everyone (aside from designers) in the industry comes from money and fame, and that’s how they get their break. I like that bloggers don’t have to be socialites or from a rich family to get their voice out into the industry.

There are some exceptions of course, and particularly in Britain, you can come from nothing and make it as a designer, but if you look at who is making it big in the fashion industry, most of them come from money or fame.

Lou Doillon. Image source.

Take Lou Doillon as an example. Famous mom (Jane Birkin) meant she got the chance to be famous herself. I worked on one of the Sonia Rykiel shows that was her first catwalk show, and I had to teach the girl how to walk! She had no clue what the hell she as doing, but everyone loved her because her mom was famous. She is pretty, but I’m sorry to say it, never was model material. But who cares, famous mom = you are famous too.

How about Stella McCartney, Jade Jagger, Leah Wood. The Rolling Stones and The Beatles offspring make up a fair percentage of famous people at the moment.

Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue may have started as a model, but let’s not deny the fact that she is bourgeois through and through.

Tamara Mellon, CEO of Jimmy Choo, whom I respect, would have never gotten anywhere without Daddy’s£150K “loan” to start up a little company with her friend Jimmy Choo.

Nearly all the girls at Vogue have come from money, and you’re seriously looked down on if you aren’t.

I’m just flipping through January’s issue of US Vogue, and who is mentioned in the magazine? Sofia Coppola, talented, but would not have stood a chance without her last name. Vanessa Traina: famous for nothing except having Danielle Steel as a mother.

Check out Vogue’s masthead:

Anna Wintour: father was a newspaper editor, and rich.

Alexandra Kotur: grew up in a rich family and mother worked as an illustrator for Vogue.

Plum Sykes: came from a rich family in England.

Rosamond Bernier: Was friends with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse when she grew up.

Marina Rust: great great granddaughter of Chicago department store magnate Marshall Field.

Tonne Goodman: husband is a Gimbel of the Gimbel’s department story family and the stepson of director Sydney Lumet.

The list could go on…and it’s the same at nearly all of the major glossy magazines. They are almost all socialites or from money.

Now, you don’t go into the fashion industry because you think it will be ethical and fair and nice. I am used to it, and I’ve learned to accept I’ll never be an editor of Vogue because my Dad isn’t famous and my mother is not a socialite, and I wasn’t a model when I was growing up. But the thing that ANNOYS the hell out of me is that all of these elitist journalists are getting in a huff because there are bloggers that aren’t socialites from wealthy families are getting attention and free stuff. Well, if the growth and popularity of the fashion bloggers means that the socialites are going to get less front-row seats at shows, and less free stuff, I am all for it.

I LOVE the idea of public opinion and readership numbers being the reason why someone gets attention, not because they’re rich so they got a job at Vogue.

(One day I’ll tell you the story about a Vogue-ette I know who used to be completely normal and then suddenly developed a pout and a posh accent when she started working for Vogue. There are probably many stories like that…)

The collaboration we are all dreading: Jimmy Choo and Ugg.

There has been so many new product launch announcements in the past few weeks.

• Armani is doing a collaboration with Reebok
• and… Armani is making chocolate
• Diane Von Furstenberg is launching home decor
• Acne has launched furniture
• Paris Hilton is launching swimwear and lingerie
• Bebe is collaborating with Kim Kardashian (barf)
• Versace is launching a cell phone
• Tory Burch and Alexis Bittar are giving Barbie a makeover
• Gucci is launching couture
• Steve Madden is collaborating with Diana Ross

Great to hear these brands are doing so well that their allocating ressources to brand extensions, but isn’t it a bit strange that no one seems content to stick to what they do? Are these new products really going to expand profits or increase profiles, or are they just activities to get short bursts of media attention? I’m all for brands expanding into relevant product areas and interesting collaborations like Louis Vuitton’s artist series and H&M designer collections, but some of these brands are overdoing it, don’t you think?

Image source.

One of my finest teaching moments occurred last week when one of my students said “basically we’ve learnt that sex = money.” I felt very proud! If I had my way, I would have handed them their diploma in Fashion Marketing right there and then, as the whole premise of fashion marketing is “sex = money.”

A Bruce Weber photo for Calvin Klein Body. Calvin Klein has a history of using the strategy of Sex = Money. They are also quite good with Sex + Controversy = Money.

So here’s another blatant example of sex = money, and jumping on the fashion video bandwagon.

EVERYONE is doing fashion videos at the moment, because its the thing to do, but its getting boring. I had started a Youtube playlist of all the important fashion videos, but then it got impossible to stay up to date on things, so I have given up. When everyone is doing the same thing, its hard to stand out.

This is where photographer Bruce Weber and Yves Saint Laurent menswear come in. They decided to do a video together, and, since its hard to get people excited about fashion videos, since EVERYONE is doing them, they did what every brand does to grab attention: good-looking naked people.

A&F Quarterly cover. A soft porn "catalogue" for Abercrombie & Fitch.

A little bit of background on Bruce Weber and naked men. He is a great photographer, no question about it, and he perfected his skills as a “photographer of naked men” when he shot the A & F Quarterly. The Quarterly is basically a soft porn “catalogue” for Abercrombie & Fitch (a catalogue implies that there would be products in it, and since everyone is naked, its not really a catalogue because its not showing off the clothes) that causes a lot of controversy for the otherwise extremely boring brand Abercrombie & Fitch. The Christians get all worked up about pictures of naked young people frolicking outside, and Abercrombie gets called controversial by the media, and so more young people flock to their stores to buy boring college clothes. (I don’t blame them for having boring clothes, I interviewed for them once for a job on the design team. You HAVE to move to Columbus, Ohio, and work in their headquarters, aptly named The Campus. So they can’t really get many good designers, because no one wants to move there.)

Here’s some more images from the quarterly.

Still trying to figure out what clothes they are trying to sell here...

This totally happens to me when I go on a picnic.

More proof that you don't need clothes to sell clothes.

There are more images from the A&F Quarterly here. Tons of toned butts to be seen.

Anyway, the YSL “Ain’t Nothin’ Like The Real Thing” Bruce Weber Short Film looks like it could be an Abercrombie video, because there are naked boys jumping into the water. There are also some naked women (but very old video clips, which makes them less offensive, because they are “retro”), and naked babies. I could not last through the whole 7 minutes, it boring and pointless, and basically a big Bruce Weber ego trip. Here it is, you can fast forward through most of it, that is the only way it is bearable, unless you are just checking out the naked people, in which case, its worth watching, because they are all pretty hot.

And by the way, where does Yves Saint Laurent come into this video?

As a contrast, I would like to show you my favorite fashion video, by Sergio Rossi, which is a fabulous Italian luxury shoe brand. Watch this with the sound on if you can. You will laugh, guaranteed. If Sergio Rossi had a shop in Vancouver, I would go and buy a pair immediately, as a show of thanks for the many smiles I have had and caused when showing this video to people. (By the way, they also make fabulous shoes.)

Images Credits. A&F Quarterly images came from here.

American Apparel has just launched a range of nail polish, entitled American Apparel Nail Lacquer. It seems like a totally reasonable brand extension for them, since they are all about colour. But since there is no shortage of bright coloured nail polishes on the market at the moment, I am wondering why they bothered. Also, their choice of colours isn’t exactly ground-breaking. But I do love American Apparel, and since the price is very reasonable (6 USD a bottle), there is no reason why the product shouldn’t work.

I found their campaign images very interesting. No, there aren’t any naked girls or soft porn images, but what I found really strange was that the models nails are cut quite short. That is not usually the style of nail you see in nail polish advertising. I know there was this supposed “short black nail” trend in the noughties, but we aren’t all gonna sport the Avril Lavigne emo look. But the idea of short red nails, or short yellow nails is quite interesting. Its practical, and it easier to maintain. No more painful broken nails, or waiting weeks while they grow out. Now there’s a beauty trend that I like the sound of.

Yay to short nails!

Images from the American Apparel website.