Well, rumour has it that the next H&M collaboration is going to be with Lanvin. Although it is not confirmed, I was having dinner with some fashion insiders last night (Lisa Tant and Imran Amed) and they both seemed to think Lanvin was the one, although it won’t be officially announced until September 9th. H&M deserve mega-credit for their teaser videos, launched two days ago on Youtube. First of all, they are amazing to watch. Secondly, they get us thinking… who could it be? Before Lanvin, rumours were flying around about Bottega Veneta and Carolina Herrera, amongst others. I’ve posted two of the videos here, check them out. Apparently the quotes sound very “Alber Elbaz”, although I am sure it could be someone else as well.

I had a discussion with my students today about H&M’s designer collaborations, and we all seemed to agree that H&M had far more credibility than other “collaborative” fast fashion brands, because they work primarily with great fashion designers, rather than celebrities (Madonna and Kylie Minogue being the two exceptions.) The only other brand that I can think of who has managed this is Target, who have also done some great collaborations, and more recently, gained increased exposure because by selling their product through Gilt Groupe and in Colette.

A Kate Moss for Topshop dress, which does not look very "Kate Moss" and which is quite overpriced at approx. $250.

Which brings me to think, are we beginning to see the end of the celebrity collaborations? (Please God say it’s true!) Kate Moss has ended her relationship with Topshop this week, apparently on bad terms, and I am guessing it is because the clothes were never that interesting in the first place. They were being greedy rolling out 6 collections a year, and charging high prices, for something that wasn’t even properly designed by her. Luxury brands have been distancing themselves from celebrity collaborations (I hope we won’t need to see any more Kanye + Louis Vuitton crap), and I think the consumer is getting sick of it. Now that designers like Alber Elbaz and Phoebe Philo are practically household names, why do we need a celebrity to give kudos to a fashion brand, when a top designer can do the same thing?

Anyway, back to H&M. What are your thoughts? I’d love it to be Lanvin, but only if I manage to get my hands on it without having to wait in line. I was a bit scared that it might be Tomas Maier from Bottega Veneta, simply because I want the brand to remain secret (well, it is obviously not a secret, but it clearly doesn’t have much exposure) because I haven’t managed to buy anything from them yet. Until I can own some Bottega Veneta, I don’t want it going mainstream. It is sort of like the way you feel about bands when you are a teenager, you never want anyone else to know about your favourite bands, because then they are uncool. On the other hand, it is not likely I’ll become a Bottega Veneta customer anytime soon, because their clothing is VERY expensive, and is not available anywhere in Canada. Regardless of who the H&M designer is, there is no doubt it is going to be exciting!

P.S. One of the things that was brought up last night while we were gushing about the greatness of Bottega Veneta, was the fact that their collections are not at all branded. Imran explained that as a result of this, the brand was something you buy “for you.” And what a lovely way to think about a luxury brand. It is not about flashing labels and monograms, buying luxury should be always for yourself, not the people who are going to recognize the logo.

**** UPDATE ****

It has been confirmed, the collaboration with Lanvin will come out in stores on November 23rd. Here is a quote from Alber Elbaz.

“H&M approached us to collaborate, and see if we could translate the dream we created at Lanvin to a wider audience, not just a dress for less. I have said in the past that I would never do a mass-market collection, but what intrigued me was the idea of H&M going luxury rather than Lanvin going public. This has been an exceptional exercise, where two companies at opposite poles can work together because we share the same philosophy of bringing joy and beauty to men and women around the world.”

The key word for this Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2011 collection seems to be layering. Layering of garments, layering of textures, and layering of colours. Some of it works, but most of it looks like an attempt at cool styling gone wrong. However, as individual pieces, the collection looks very strong.

I love…

great summer knitwear.

I loathe…

the shape of those baggy trousers, especially in a light, flowing fabric.

awkward layering.

a great white suit ruined by a pair of sandals.

oversized on men. It only looks good on women.

logo-printed trousers.

See the rest of my menswear spring summer 2011 coverage here.

All images from Style.com.

Todd Selby, the photographer behind the blog The Selby is in your place (known for its photography of beautiful homes and apartments) visited the Louis Vuitton family home and the Louis Vuitton bag workshop in Asnières. Here are some of the images, to see the rest of them, check out his blog. I love getting an insider look into these traditional companies’ workspaces, and I am guessing this is a great time for Louis Vuitton to show off the craftsmanship of their goods, considering the complaints over their last advertising campaign.

See more Pretty Pictures:
Richard Avedon
David LaChapelle
Makeover Madness by Steve Meisel

This is a great resort collection. Full of lovely dresses, beautiful jackets and coats, perfect light suiting, and great patterns and colours, this collection is the perfect spring summer transition collection. (And also good for hot holidays, although not too hot.) I really love what Marc Jacobs has done for this Louis Vuitton collection.

I love…

beautiful prints, beautiful colours, and gloves!

the ideal picnic or casual summer wedding dress.

retro suits with all the right accessories: gloves, scarf around the neck, and a lovely little sandal.

weird colour combinations that look awesome together.

Read the rest of my resort 2011 collection reviews:

Balenciaga
Calvin Klein
Stella McCartney
Oscar de la Renta
Marc by Marc Jacobs
Carolina Herrera
Narciso Rodriguez
Donna Karan
Yves Saint Laurent
Michael Kors
Burberry Prorsum
Alexander Wang
Bottega Veneta
Christian Dior
Chanel

All images from Style.com.

STOP, one of Walter Cessna's magazines.

I was first introduced to Walt Cessna (well, introduced in the phone/email sense, since we have never met in person) through an American brand development agency, Lambesis. We were both doing trend reports for them (and Mandana Towhidy was our editor, read more about her here.) Then I noticed he contributed to Diane Pernet’s blog, A Shaded View on Fashion, which is pretty much one of the best insider fashion blogs out there. So thanks to Mandana, I was able to set up an interview with him for Fashion Chat, and it wasn’t until then that I realized that Walter Cessna is a GEM. His stories are insane. Read on, and enjoy.

Here’s the deal with the Fashion Chat interviews: they are done on Skype or Gmail using the chat function. I do edit them down a bit, but try and keep the general flow of the conversation. And I definitely sort out the spelling mistakes, since I am guilty of very bad writing when I’m chatting and typing very quickly.

Alexandra Suhner Isenberg: How was your day?

Walter Cessna: ok. I’m in Florida taking care of my mom till Thursday and booking my summer schedule- I’m in 5 shows this summer and trying to do about 50 portraits before September. Also, I just started a new short story cause I write quite a bit when not shooting.

ASI: All photography shows? What cities?

WC: All NYC. Just had a one man show in Feb to coincide with the release of my first photo book, FUKT 2 START WIT.

ASI: Where can we buy the book? (see image below)

WC: http://www.blurb.com/books/1183261

ASI: The bio on your website is SUPER impressive. I was particularly excited by the fact that you were working as a fashion designer in your teens, and that you managed to sell your anti-fashion zine, THE KEY, to a major publisher at the age of 17. With the help of fashion designer Norma Kamali. How the hell did you manage that? Tell us the story.

WC: Ok, I was very lucky to be friended by the late make-up artist Way Bandy, who gave my zines to the late Stephen Sprouse, who I did a bit of modeling for. Between him & Norma I was introduced to a publisher and that became my first of 4 independent publications.

ASI: You were SO young. I started in the industry young (although not as young as you, I was on the design team at Sonia Rykiel when I was 20) Are there any disadvantages to starting off so young?

WC: I started at 12 on 7th ave as an assistant at Jack Mulqueen. Went back to school, ran away to Hollywood, got arrested, convinced my folks to emancipate me and started working full time at 15 for Fenn Wright & Manson, then Carol Horn, then a string of India-based junior sportswear companies. I stopped once I sold my zine.

Then I started writing & styling full time for mags like Elle, The Village Voice & Interview, but at the same time I published 3 more mags- The Form, STOP & CSNA (which I was sued by Louis Vuitton for.) I was obsessed with fashion as a child and my mom taught me to sketch fashion illustrations.

ASI: Wow, you have been in the industry a long time, but started at such a young age, that you are still young. What do you love about all the changes that have taken place in fashion and media over the past 10-20 years? Does anything scare you about the way the industry has changed?

WC: I dropped out of the biz in 2006 after working as an editor at PAPER. My last shoot was with Mike Ruiz and I was sick of being an editorial stylist considered too edgy for advertising so I was always broke. Plus, pardon the expression, I was sick of cunty, pretentious, bitchy fashion trolls and the whole luxury/celebrity thing. BORING

As for disadvantages starting young, I really didn’t have a childhood, was given way too many drugs at a young age by adults who treated me like I was one, and was going out to clubs every night from the age of 14. Mudd, Danceteria, Area, Palladium. Plus I worked at all of them producing fashion shows.

Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, styled by Walter Cessna.

ASI: The stylist thing leads to my next question. You’ve styled some pretty amazing stars, like Trent Reznor and The Beastie Boys, any fun/crazy/interesting stories you can tell us?

WC: I was friends with the Beasties until they kicked Kate Schellenbach out of the band so they could go more rap and she was my best friend and assistant at the time. As for Trent, I styled the Downward Spiral tour and CD and was the first stylist he ever worked with. I had (Stephen) Sprouse do him for the cover of STOP in 90 and by 93 I was working with him. He was cool, but paranoid about the fact that it might get out he was working with a stylist.

After that I did Milla (Jovovich) for the cover of High Times and then worked on her CD. My last band was The Crystal Method – nice boys, but too much speed.

ASI: Yeah, The Crystal Method and speed probably go hand in hand.

Milla Jovovich for High Times, styled by Walter Cessna.

WC: The Beasties used to hang out at my apartment and eat Smurfberry Crunch. Trent was rather cool and I used all the money from that to start my own line called Dom Casual, which was carried in Patricia Field & Macy’s until I was sued by American Airlines, for stealing their blankets and turning them into mini dresses.

ASI: Amazing! I thought everyone stole airline blankets from time to time. I guess we don’t all sell them as dresses though…

WC: (Harper’s) Bazaar shot one and the president saw it and sued me. But I called The New York Times and turned it into great press which helped me finance a series of short films based on a series of short stories I had been writing for Paper, most notably CHILDREN OF THE RAVE & THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY. This is like a year before Kids (the movie directed by Larry Clark.)

ASI: Fuck, you are so on the ball!

WC: I also had a model agency at the time called The Top, where my kids included Chloe Sevigny, Glenn Fitzgerald & Julianne Nicholson.

ASI: So, speaking of bitchy fashion trolls and the whole luxury/celebrity thing, what do you think about the celebrity stylist that exists today, the Rachel Zoes and Patricia Fields of this world. How has that changed for other stylists? I mean, they suck, but are they necessary, in a way? or just a total waste of space.

WC: I actually like Rachel Zoe because when she does style editorial she turns it out, but she’s no Grace Coddington. Now that’s a genius. Celebrities are necessary but overrated, that’s why it’s nice to see Lara Stone, Karen Elson and Karly Kloss. I think people like Andre Leon Talley, Hamish Bowles and all those Vogue trolls should be shot.

ASI: Agree, I was just getting annoyed today about the fact that Anna Wintour decided there needs to be more resort catwalk shows, and therefore everyone is doing it. I don’t get how the hell she manages to force everyone to do MORE work, like they aren’t busy enough with their 18 collections a year, fast fashion collaborations, Twitter, posing nude (Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs), whatever…

WC: The era of Anna shall soon be over, but I have a feeling she will be replaced by something even more evil. Marc was actually a very good friend of mine back in the day, but when I got sued by LV for putting a converted LV bag turned into a bondage mask on the cover of my mag CSNA, he wouldn’t even take my calls. I guess if I had that body I’d show it off too, but maybe a bit less obviously.

The cover of CSNA magazine featuring the bondage mask made out of a Louis Vuitton monogram bag.

ASI: Yes, I have met him before and he is really cool, I just think the naked perfume ads are lame.

WC: I did it (the Louis Vuitton bondage mask) originally for PAPER but Kim (Hastreiter, editor & publisher of PAPER) pussied out because they advertise. Plus she has got to be the biggest poser ever. She pays no-one but buys $8000 bags. GROSS

ASI: Don’t hate me for asking this, but I am sure you’ll have something fun to add to my collection of anti-SATC2 quotes. Sex and the City 2….what are your thoughts? Do you give a shit? Love to hate? Or were you at opening night?

WC: SO over it. Pat Field has become the worst excuse for a fashion insider. The show was great cause it always had a bit of a lesson at the end. The movies are an exercise in over aged style masturbation masquerading as some kind of mid life fulfillment with too many accessories and really obvious product placement – Hello, Sarah Jessica Parker & Halston…TACKY

ASI: The Halston thing makes me want to cry, cause I love him. His stuff, and Helmut Newton, are my go-to’s when I need inspiration. Now the brand is going to be ruined. It’s depressing.

WC: Me too!

The Get Christy project.

ASI: Tell us about the Get Christy project. The photos look amazing.

WC: My father was dying of cancer and I was stuck in Pennsylvania caring for him. My boyfriend saw my sketches and said I should make them 3D, so I got a black Barbie (cause the blonde is so tired) and started creating all these mini felt dresses. Then I got a digital old skool floppy disc camera and realized if I shot them solarized they looked almost alive. So in 3 years I made 500 dresses, took 5000 photos and had a very personal relationship with over 20 dolls that I customized and redid. MAC saw the pictures and sponsored my show in San Francisco. I lied and said the make-up was MAC. It was all Sharpies.

ASI: Sharpies are the best. My dad gives me mini ones that attach to a key chain.

WC: I got more emotion out of those dolls than I ever did with some of the biggest models I’ve worked with, and I’ve worked with them ALL. I’m going to do a book on the whole thing after my next one. It’s called THY WILL BE DONE and documents a 3-year relationship with my ex, Will. Very Nan Goldin meets Larry Clark with better lighting.

More images from the Get Christy project.

ASI: Nice. I lecture a lot of fashion students (and there are WAY more of them today then compared to 10 years ago.) What would you say to people trying to break into the industry now?

WC: GO FOR IT! If you’re looking to make $ though, give up your soul because it just doesn’t work that way anymore.

ASI: Yup, too true.

Cover of STOP magazine.

WC: This is the best time ever for new fashion. Just check out Diane Pernet’s site. She proves it every day.

ASI: I was going to ask you about her, but I am running out of time. I love her blog.

WC: I contribute to her blog.

ASI: I know!

WC: She is my HERO!

ASI: I love her too. So, aside from you and Diane, who else is doing amazing things at the moment? Anyone we should be checking out?

Walter Cessna, self portrait.

WC: I live for the performance art scene in NYC which hasn’t been this exciting since the 80’s. LEA PECKRE is my favorite designer right now. PERIOD. I still live for Isabel Toledo and there will never be another Sprouse or McQueen.

ASI: RIP

WC: Ditto. And Beth Ditto is my fashion icon.

ASI: I’d like to chat to her, I’m curious.

WC: Me too!

ASI: That’s it! Thanks SO much.

Check out Walter Cessna’s website and Facebook page.

Read other Fashion Chat posts:

Fashion Chat: Mademoiselle Robot

Fashion Chat: Nixxi

Fashion Chat: Mandana Towhidy

Fashion Chat: Bon Bon Bodywear

I watched this very interesting TED talk last week, it is Johanna Blakley talking about “copyright law’s grip on film, music and software barely touches the fashion industry … and (how) fashion benefits in both innovation and sales.” The video is 15 minutes long, but defintiely worth watching, and it also raises some intersting points about copyright protection in the fashion industry.

The video looks at how the fashion industry had fewer regulations than other creative industries, and how fashion ideas are very difficult to protect. The first example she discusses is that of Miuccia Prada, when out shopping, buys a vintage Balenciaga jacket, in order to copy the idea and put it into her own collection. My readers in the fashion industry will be aware of this type of activity, it is called research. Essentially, part of the process of finding ideas for a collection is to take other designer’s clothing, and translate it for your own collection. As the TED talk points out, in some industries this might be considered copyright infringement. In the case of fashion, it is just how we get our ideas.

Left, Steve Madden shoe, right, Balenciaga shoe.

Is this wrong? Sometimes, yes. It is wrong when Steve Madden takes Balenciaga’s shoe design,  makes a few minor changes to it, and sells it as his own. It is wrong when Topshop copies Chloé’s dress design (and they had to destroy over a 1000 dresses when Chloé protested over the design.) But top designers don’t do that, they are much smarter and much more imaginative. And they don’t want to copy other designer’s work, they just want to be inspired by it.

Left, See by Chloé dress, right, Topshop dress.

The design research process involves many sources of inspiration, including travel abroad, books, artwork, and culture. Designers also buy clothing for inspiration, which can include very vintage pieces, old costumes, traditional dress found on their trips around the world, and other pieces of old clothing. Sometimes they take inspiration from other designer’s work, usually old work, but sometimes newer work, although it is almost never direct copies of recent designer’s work. I am sure Miuccia would take the aforementioned vintage Balenciaga jacket, and transform it into her own design, making serious modifications ot the original piece.

When I was at Sonia Rykiel, we used to have a guy, (who had the best job in the entire world) whose role it was to travel to flea markets around the world, and buy items of clothing and accessories that he felt we could use as inspiration for our collections. (Don’t ask me how to get into this line of work, if I knew, that is what I would be doing.) One season he brought us a whole bunch of bags, which I assumed were all vintage pieces. At the end of the season, we got rid of the ones that hadn’t been used, so I was allowed to take two home.

A few weeks later, I discovered that one of the bags was sold in a Paris shop, located quite close to our design studios. I also realized that the bag was a design from a new brand, and was being sold as part of the current season. Soon after, I noticed that the second bag was also from a young designer’s current collection. Basically, the items we were using for ideas for our future collection were not only old vintage pieces, but also the work of unknown young designers trying to break into the industry.

At the time, it came as a surprise to me. Then I learnt that this was commonplace in the industry. The young designers were coming up with great ideas, and we were considering stealing them. Those two particular bags never influenced our collections, although I am sure that we had at some point copied other designer’s work.

Left, Marc by Marc Jacobs, right, Wallis.

There are few laws that really protect garment designs, but the ones that exist are set up to protect large companies, and rarely small designers. When Steve Madden copied Alexander McQueen’s boot, they sued him. But when a small designer gets copied by a larger brand, there isn’t much that they can do. Big brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci have to deal with thousands of counterfeits, therefore they need to rely on the strength of their brands and the quality of their product, to convince customers that the cheap knockoff at a fraction of the price is not worth buying. But small companies, who don’t have powerful brand identities and legal teams, struggle to protect their designs and brand identities.

Left, Alexander McQueen, right, Steve Madden.

What can we do about this? Nothing really. It is the reality of the industry, which is cut throat for nearly everyone in it. Not all big brands copy from young designers, but many do. Fast fashion brands often steal ideas from designer brands, and they are rarely caught out, because copyright laws make it very difficult for designers to protect their ideas.

Sucks, doesn’t it? If you are a small brand, and patenting, trademarking, and even registering design ideas is too expensive for you, there are a few ways you can protect yourself. Keep records of everything you do. If your design is copied, you can use items like press clippings, documents from factories/printers/photographers, etc… as evidence that you designed the idea before the other company. The old fashioned way of sending yourself a copy of all your designs, before they go out into the public domain, can also help. A postdated, stamped, sealed envelope can be used as evidence in court, just make sure not to open the envelope!

Read other Fashion 101 posts:

Fashion 101: How Magazines Cover Trends

Fashion 101: Where do Fashion Trends Come From?

Fashion 101: Designers with Two Jobs

Fashion 101: How Haute Couture Works

Fashion 101: Magazines and their Advertisers

Image sources:
Alexander McQueen and Steve Madden shoe.
Chloé and Topshop yellow dresses.
Steve Madden and Balenciaga lego shoes.
Marc by Marc Jacobs and Wallis floral dresses.

If you want to see more, Fashionista’s Adventures in Copyrights posts a lot of the high street copies.

Roger Vivier: one of the few brands that makes couture shoes.

The term Generation Y scares me, not because it is the term that is used to describe my generation (I am on the cusp, but still considered Generation Y) but because people born in the 90’s are also considered Generation Y. Which puts me in the same generation as an 18 year old, and I DO NOT feel I have much in common with an 18 year old. I didn’t grow up with a computer instead of a pen, and I didn’t buy Marc by Marc Jacobs when I was 15. In fact, it would have been impossible to buy Marc Jacobs then, since he didn’t even have his own brand.

An $11 ring by Marc by Marc Jacobs. Cool, yes. Prestige, no.

So I am a bit confused when I see the brands in the first annual L2 Gen Y Prestige Brand Rankings, “the largest study-of-its-kind measuring the affinity for 105 iconic brands among the next generation of prestige consumers.”

Gen Y Females:
1. Chanel
2. Ritz-Carlton
3. Four Seasons
4. Marc Jacobs
5. Cartier
6. BMW
7. Mercedes-Benz
8. W Hotels
9. Prada
10. Audi

Bottega Veneta: known for creating high end luxury products without distinctive branding.

OK, I can get Chanel, Prada, and Marc Jacobs. They deserve to be on that list, so does Cartier. I can’t understand why Ritz Carton is on there, that’s an old money, old person’s luxury hotel. Four Seasons is nothing special either… although W Hotels makes sense. I can’t believe Hermès is not on the list, although maybe it is too exclusive for Generation Y (which is why I can’t possible be Generation Y.) Louis Vuitton must be very disappointed not to be on there, but I guess the over saturation of the LV monogram has destroyed their exclusivity.

Pierre Hermé macarons: the Caramel and Fleur de Sel macaron is TO DIE FOR.

Here’s what I would add to this list: Hermès, Bottega Veneta, Roger Vivier, Lanvin, Loro Piana, Pierre Hardy, Pierre Hermé, The Fat Duck (I don’t care what people say, it might be gimmicky, but I have been there, and it was one of the best experiences in my ENTIRE life), Piaget, Pétrus, Krug (rappers drink Cristal, so it has lost a lot of its prestige), Frette, etc.. I could go on for hours. But Audi is defiently not on there, nor is Marc Jacobs. If a brand sells rings for 11 dollars, it is not a prestige brand.

Prestige: A Piaget watch with over 500 diamonds. Price available upon request.

The males list just makes me laugh.

Gen Y Males:
1. BMW
2. Ferrari
3. Porsche
4. Lamborghini
5. Audi
6. Aston Martin
7. Four Seasons
8. Mercedes-Benz
9. Ralph Lauren
10. Ritz-Carlton

I could never take someone seriously if they owned a Ferrari, or a Lamborghini, unless they were more than 25 years old (the car, not the driver.) Old Ferraris are very cool, new ones are not. Ferraris and Lamborghinis are terrible cars, they aren’t made well, don’t last long, and need expensive repairs all the time. And they say one of three things: “I am new money, just got rich really quick, and this car is going to make me look cool”, “I am losing my hair and need a cool sports car to make me feel young”, or “I am a show off.” Aston Martin says “I want to be James Bond.” Basically this list sums up exactly why the word “douchebag” was coined to describe Generation Y guys. Guys, get some taste please!

This image, from Dave WIlliams' Blog, was entitled "King of All Douchebags."

Image credits: Roger Vivier shoe, Marc by Marc Jacobs ring, Bottega Veneta bag, Pierre Hermé macarons, Piaget watch, and Douchebag with Ferrari.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit took place last night. You would think that in this day and age, there would be someone, at least ONE person, who was actually wearing something dramatically interesting on the red carpet, rather than boring evening wear. (I am not a big fan of evening wear, its the most overrated fashion product.) I am not saying there wasn’t anything nice on the red carpet, there was, but it’s all the same repetive, boring tat.

I Love…

Anne Hathaway's fairytale Valentino dress. Yes, she looks a bit psychotic in this photo, and possibly too thin, but if you are going to wear a puffy, strapless, shiny evening dress, this is the way to do it.

Bee Shaffer in this Balenciaga dress. It is classic and flattering. But who the hell is Bee Shaffer? Has she done anything other than BE Anna Wintour's daughter?

Blake Lively in Marchesa. I was a bit torn on this one, but she looks great tanned with her hair slicked back, and she can get away with crazy dresses like this.

Carey Mulligan in Miu Miu. She always looks good, and it is really nice to see a young actress dressing appropriately young.

Chloe Sevigny in Proenza Schouler. It's a bit stuffy, and a bit weird, but at least she is making a statement that is not just "boring evening gown."

Diane Kruger in Calvin Klein. Fantastic, beautiful, and she is the best dressed of the evening.

January Jones in Yves Saint Laurent. OK, her hair and makeup look weird, and why is she standing like a robot? But at least the dress is beautiful

Jessica Alba in Sophie Theallet for Gap. I don't understand how this is very Sophie Theallet, or Gap, but it is a beautiful evening gown.

Jessica Biel in Ralph Lauren. Another classic one that looks good.

Oprah Winfrey in Oscar de la Renta. Only Oprah and her bust can get away with this OTT dress.

Sarah Jessica Parker in Halston. I am not a fan of SJP, but she looks naturally beautiful in this dress, with her lovely tan and the flower in her hair.

I Loathe…

Andre Leon Talley and Whoopi Goldberg. This is just bad, and are those women's shoes he is wearing?

Anna Wintour in Chanel Haute Couture. This looks a bit trashy, but also too "mature" (in this case, "mature" is a bad word.)

Coco Rocha in Zac Posen. A hideous gown, and as a model, shouldn't she know how to pose nicely for the camera?

Donatella Versace in Versace. Predictable. Wouldn't it be amazing one day if she wore Prada?

Emma Roberts in Burberry. The slit is WAY too high.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen in Alexander Wang. Even though she is back in shape, it just seems a bit trashy that she is wearing this tight, fringed dress.

Karolina Kurkova in Altuzarra. An apron dress gone wrong.

Kirsten Dunst in Rodarte for Gap. How is this Rodarte, or Gap? And it makes her look 20 years older.

Kristen Stewart in Chanel. Gosh, it's Chanel does goth, really badly.

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Louis Vuitton. Meringue dresses are evil unless you are acting in The Wedding Singer.

All images from Coutorture.

Madonna for Dolce & Gabanna, Spring Summer 2010.

I wrote earlier this week about the fact that the fashion industry seems to be changing, and that was in reference to the new silhouette and the use of the curvy models on the Fall Winter 2010 catwalks. But I also read some very interesting articles this week about how models seems to be back “in fashion.”

Vogue Paris almost always puts models on their cover.

I have always been quite anti-celebrity when it comes to the fashion industry. Basically, they’ve ruined it, and made it super mainstream. One of the things I mention when I lecture on fashion promotion is the concept of celebrities within the industry, and an interesting example I use is that a fashion magazine now sells more copies with a celebrity on the cover, rather than a model. (The only exception here is Kate Moss, but she’s a model and a celebrity.) Well, it looks like those days may be coming to an end (Hallelujah!)

Victoria Beckham on the cover of Vogue UK, April 2008. Apparently they lost 40% of their subscribers after this cover, the readers were not impressed.

WWD posted an article on Wednesday about the fact that most designers are using models for their Fall Winter 2010 advertising campaigns, rather than celebrities. Hopefully the magazines will soon do the same. This list, complied by The Cut, shows that most brands will be working with models (aside from Dolce & Gabanna.)

• Yves St. Laurent: Daria Werbowy
• Gucci: Raquel Zimmermann
• Chanel: Freja Beha Erichsen, Abbey Lee Kershaw, and Brad Kroenig
• Fendi: Anja Rubik and Baptiste Giabiconi
• Louis Vuitton: Christy Turlington, Karen Elson, and Natalia Vodianova (though these names are rumored, not confirmed)
• Balenciaga: a cast of ten models, including Elson and Stella Tennant
• Roberto Cavalli: Gisele Bündchen
• Dior: Karlie Kloss
• Dolce & Gabanna: Madonna

Lindsay Lohan for Miu Miu, Spring Summer 2007.

To be honest, the ironic or interesting use of a celebrity in a fashion campaign doesn’t bother me too much, like Lindsay Lohan for Miu Miu (which looked nothing like her) or Madonna for Dolce & Gabanna. But in general, I am thrilled about this news.

Kate Moss has been shot for MANY Vogue UK covers.

In the WWD article, “Lagerfeld notes there are “not so many” celebrities around from which to choose. What’s more, their “overexposure in ‘people’ magazines also makes it that one may be a little tired of celebrities and the red carpet.”

I think “a little tired of celebrities” is an understatement. I am bored to death of celebrities meddling in the fashion industry, especially when they have no business being there. So for fun, I’ve compiled a list of most annoying celebrity/fashion situations. This is by no means exhaustive, and I’ve only spent a few minutes on it, so I am sure there are tons of juicy, ridiculous examples I’ve forgotten. Feel free to suggest more!

Lindsay Lohan for Ungaro Spring Summer 2010: calling it a disaster is an understatement.

1. Lindsay Lohan for Ungaro: painful, embarrassing, and nearly ruined the brand.
2. Sarah Jessica Parker for Halston Heritage: she herself said  ”they’d be bludgeoned for it” and I hope they are.
3. Kanye West for Louis Vuitton: Does Kanye actually make any music, or does he just go to fashion shows and pretend he knows stuff about fashion.
4. “Diavolo So Sexy” by Antonio Banderas: The name says it all.
5. Lauren Conrad’s clothing collection: Lauren, you suck.

Kanye West's trainers for Louis Vuitton. Boring.

Thanks Dal for helping me brainstorm on the above.

A Spring Summer 2010 trend feature from online retailer Asos.com.

I’d like to do a Fashion 101 post about fashion trends and forecasting, since it’s an area that I work in, and find quite fascinating. In fact, I am going to write two posts on fashion trends, the first one will focus on how trends come about, and the second one about how magazines present trends. I feel bad for being so mean to the magazines, and revealing their dirty tricks, but in this day of absolute transparency (thanks to the internet), I think its only fair that the readers know how things work. But first, let’s talk about where fashion trends come from.

One of the questions I often get asked is “Why do designers have the same ideas at the same time?” and by answering this, I am sort of answering the question “Where do trends come from?”

A Spring Summer 2010 trend feature from luxury online retailer Net-A-Porter.com.

Designers don’t all have the same ideas at the same time, as we saw on the Fall Winter 2010 catwalks, not everyone was doing the same thing. But there were certainly a few things that repeated: there were a lot more curvy, feminine silhouettes, lots of designers were reviving 90’s minimalism, and there was a lot of sheepskin. So how does this happen? Do they all have a chat and decide what they are going to do? No, in fact its the opposite, designers are very secretive about what they do, until after their catwalk show. They have the same ideas at the same time because they are exposed to similar influences and they are looking for inspiration at the same time.

A Spring Summer 2010 trend feature from Topshop.com.

The fashion industry is small, and whether you are living in Paris, London, or New York, you are going to be exposed to similar inspirational influences as other designers. Firstly, everyone starts their research process after the shows, so in March while most of us were digesting the Fall Winter shows and wondering what we were going to buy come September when the collections were arriving in store, designers are off researching their Spring Summer 2011 collections. They will be looking at similar things, like art exhibitions, new creative work (design, architecture, fine art), new bands or other performance artists, interesting films, new books that have come out (and I don’t mean paperbacks, I mean visual books with creative work, like retrospective books or photography books), etc… Some designers will go off to foreign countries to get inspired, but they may have also been inspired by their last holiday, which was probably to some trendy holiday hotspot that many other designers went to as well. Everyone is exposed to similar ideas, and because designers have often been trained in the same ways, they just tend to move in the same directions. They “feel” things at the same time.

The images from the book Vacant inspired collections by Luella (punk styling), Sonia Rykiel (studs on shoes and knitwear), and Emanuel Ungaro (punk-style clothing.)

I hope this isn’t to vague, but I can give some examples. When I was in Paris in 2000, a book called Vacant: A Diary of the Punk Years 1976-1979 came out. It was full of photos from the punk years, and I remember quite a lot of designers bought it. At the time, studs weren’t that commonplace in fashion (not like today) but there were quite a few designers who were influenced by this book. At Sonia Rykiel, we added these fantastic studded shoes to our collection, inspired by the book. We also stuck studs to our knitwear. At Emanuel Ungaro, they featured punk and rockabilly looks on their catwalk, and blasted Billy Idol during the show. Luella named her collection “Daddy, who were The Clash.” So that punk trend was probably kicked started by the fact that everyone bought that same book.

The next step would be for the magazines to pick up on the “punk” inspiration, and they present it to their readers as the newest trend. I’ll explain more about that part of the process in the next Fashion 101.

Babyshambles and other London indie rock bands inspired Dior Homme.

Was it a coincidence that Sonia Rykiel and Emanuel Ungaro had similar inspirations, when in fact the design teams were friends? No. There is no doubt in my mind that the sharing of ideas between different designers contributes to the fact that there are similarities between collections, even if it is completely unintentional. I remember one season at Sonia Rykiel when we had put a very bright, brash yellow into our collection. we we were worried the the colour was bordering on tacky. Three days before the show, one of our fabric suppliers accidentally delivered a role of fabric to us, which was meant to be going to Louis Vuitton (whose design team, at the time, were very friendly with the designers over at Sonia Rykiel.) Louis Vuitton’s fabric was in the exact shade of yellow that we had put into our collection. The fabric suppliers begged us to return it immediately and not breathe a word about it, which we did. But we also breathed a huge sigh of relief that we weren’t off the mark with our bizarre yellow, because if Louis Vuitton were doing it, then it was definitely going to be cool.

To the left, Sonia Rykiel, other images, Louis Vuitton. All Spring Summer 2000. The yellow looked a lot more garish in real life, in these photos it looks a lot milder.

It is really interesting to track trends through fashion, because you can usually tie trends to something visually exciting that impacted the designers at the time of their research: The Memoirs of a Geisha film came out before Dior did their spectacular Spring Summer 2007 couture show, which was heavily inspired by traditional Japanese kimonos. Chloe’s 2001 horses collection came out shortly after the publication of a book called Rodeo Girl, which featured photographs of cowgirls. In 2005, Hedi Slimane was inspired by the sleazy indie rock bands of Camden Town, like Pete Dogherty and Babyshambles, for his Dior Homme collections.

The Rodeo Girl book inspired this Chloe collection, with images of horses.

So that’s why I tell people who are interested in getting into trend forecasting to be on the ball about…everything. Especially things that are visually interesting. You never know who or what is going to inspire the next major fashion trend.

Memoirs of a Geisha inspired Christian Dior Haute Couture.

One important issue I didn’t explain is the role of the trend forecasters, who generally tend to be inspired in the same ways as designers do. It is rare that a luxury brand designer will get their trends from a forecaster, high end brands have their own ideas, and those ideas will in turn affect the fast fashion trends. Trend forecasters usually sell fashion trend concepts to fast fashion brands, or companies who don’t have strong enough design teams, although some luxury brands will use trend forecasters for ideas on colour and fabric.

All catwalk images from Style.com.

Read other Fashion 101 posts:

Fashion 101: Designers with Two Jobs

Fashion 101: How Haute Couture Works

Fashion 101: Magazines and their Advertisers