Fall Winter 2010: A very thin model at Hervé Léger.

A few days into New York fashion week, and the models are looking scarily thin. I always felt that this was something we saw more of in New York, and so I really hope there will be some meatier flesh in London, Milan, and Paris. Model’s weight has been a major discussion point recently, and I am pretty torn on the subject. Although I feel that the whole size zero debate is blown out of proportion, and that the media should focus more on obesity, there are clearly some very scarily thin girls on the catwalks.

There’s been some really interesting points made in the press recently, starting with this quote featured in a VERY interesting The Daily Beast article about models and size. A former successful model was quoted as saying:

“Sure, we had to be skinny. I lived on Diet Coke and apples for two years. For the couture, we had to get up at 4 am to be sewn into the clothes and there was huge pressure to be thin. But I made a million dollars by the time I was 20, I bought a town house in Manhattan and put myself through Columbia. Does that make me a victim?”

This was a really interesting quote, putting a totally new perspective on starving models.

According to Fashionologie, Australian model Abbie Lee Kershaw “seems to feel similarly when asked what she thinks about the pressure to be ultra-thin: ‘That’s like asking a bodybuilder how they feel about the pressures to be incredibly muscly. An elite performer is always put under some sort of extreme pressure that the rest of society can argue, might not quite understand.’”

Fall Winter 2010: another very thin model at Victoria Beckham.

So after considering these two interesting quotes, how important do you think the size zero issue is? Are models to blame, or is Hollywood worse? I feel that celebrities have much more of an impact on young people than models do, as they tend to be much more in the public eye. Later on in the Daily Beast article, they explain that according to “Clinical Knowledge Summaries 2009, the statistics department of the British National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, says that 19 out of one million women are diagnosed as anorexic, as opposed to 240,000 per million for obesity.” That statistic really confirmed my thoughts that under-eating is much smaller a problem than over-eating.

On the other hand, there was a really upsetting article in Page Six Magazine about Gemma Ward, another Australian model, who has recently put on 30 pounds and has been shunned by the industry. Apparently there are many teenage models, who are discarded once they experience the natural weight gain women go through when they grow breasts and hips.

Gemma Ward at the height of her fame.

I really don’t know where I stand on this subject. I do know that when I worked in Paris, samples sizes were in 4 and 6, never size 0. But I also worked with a lot of the Brazilian models, who were very curvy. I always thought a curvy size 4 model looks better than a stick thin size zero. I feel it is sad that some models feel such a pressure to stay thin, but at the same time, I believe it is part of the job. I was watching a program about skiers competing in moguls this weekend, and apparently their quads are four times the size of a normal person, and the damage they do to their knees is irreversible. They are guaranteed serious problems later in life, so how is that any different from starving yourself for a few years to make some money?

A more recent photo of Gemma Ward.

Forbes has a list of the top fifteen highest earning models, and many of them are curvy lingerie models (Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio are all Victoria’s Secret models, and they make up the top five with Kate Moss and Heidi Klum.) It goes to show that a hot, healthy body is going to earn you more millions than protruding hip bones.

One thing I would like to see is more models and celebrities endorsing fitness, which is beneficial for both the underweights and the overweights. I’d also like to see less deathly thin models on the catwalk, and more Gisele types. And, how about the media reduces their attacks on famous women for being too thin or too fat. That would be a good start.

Gemma Ward images source. Catwalk images from Style.com.

Hervé Léger and Max Azria deserve each other. Hervé Léger trained with Azzedine Alaïa, then started his own brand, which was basically a copy of everything Alaïa did. Can I just clarify that Azzedine Alaïa, NOT Hervé Léger, was considered the “King of Cling” and it is Alaïa who pretty much invented the body con dress. Alaïa also did the bandage dress first! Now, the Hervé Léger brand is living off the bandage dress, probably because Max Azria is a fast fashion designer (see BCBG) not luxury. Maybe Victoria Beckham and Hervé Léger can merge into one brand, make a tight dress, and sell that one same dress every season, over and over again.

I Love…

the sleeve details on this jacket.

the fins on this skirt, the bodice seams and the sleeve. If you are going to make a tight dress over and over again, may as well do something with it.

I Loathe…

that this knit detail is signature Alaia, yet Herve Leger is still blatantly copying him on the catwalk.

the bandage dress. SO over. Can we please move on?

All images from Style.com.

I’ll be blunt. I have no respect for Victoria Beckham and her pathetic attempts at being a fashion designer. She makes the same dresses every season: extremely tight, knee length, short sleeve or sleeveless, cocktail dresses. She has no formal design training, and it shows, quite blatantly. Her collections are filled with copies of Roland Mouret dresses, but at least he had some skill in design. It really depresses me that people buy this stuff, as it means she is being encouraged. The only good thing about Victoria Beckham is her husband’s body. And that’s not about her, its about him. Which means she is basically…a waste of space. Go away!

I Love…

this dress. Even thought it is another knee length, tight dress, at least the neckline and sleeve length look considered. And you might just be able to get away with this if you are larger than a size 2, which is more than I can say for the rest of her collection.

I Loathe…

the fact that I have seen her show this dress MANY times. Its boring, get a new idea!

desperately boring evening wear.

this dress shape. Again. And again. And Again.

the same dress shape. Again. But this time in a disgusting fabric.

All images from Style.com.

Let’s face it, nowadays, the only reason why you watch an awards ceremony is to see what people wear on the red carpet, and who markes an arse of themselves during their acceptance speech. Thanks to the internet, we don’t have to sit through four hour awards ceremonies anymore, we can just look at the outfits online the next day. And that is what I did for the Golden Globes. I must say, I was very unimpressed with the red carpet dresses this year.

Cameron Diaz looks amazing here in Alexander McQueen. I haven’t seen a photo of the dress from the front, but from this angle, she gets my best dressed award.

Chloe Sevigny is supposed to have such great style, so how come she is wearing this fluffy Valentino dress?

I don’t like Courtney Cox, I hate Friends, and I DETEST Victoria Beckham, but Courtney actually looks pretty good here in one of Victoria Beckham’s dresses. It’s not much of a design, but it looks good on the red carpet.

Drew Barrymore is another Golden Globe disappointment. What are those puffy cushions on her shoulder and hip? A silly Atelier Versace creation.

I can’t bring myself to say anything bad about Glenn Close because I loved her so much as Patti Hewes in Damages. So I am relieved that she looks great in this Oscar de la Renta dress.

Heather Graham is supposed to be cool…isn’t she? So why is she wearing this boring Elie Saab evening gown that makes her boobs look pointy?

January Jones in Lanvin. Fabulous.

Julia Roberts in vintage Yves Saint Laurent. She looks effortless, relaxed and comfortable, three qualities you rarely find in a formal outfit, so well done to her.

Marion Cotillard has a very tight relationship with Dior, and they always dress her, and they usually dress her very well. Except last night, when she wore this dress.

I hate to say bad things about Bottega Veneta, as they are one of my favourite brands, but this iridescent, cheap prom dress that Sandra Bullock is wearing is just not working.

When I first saw this photo, I couldn’t belie that Sophia Loren had so many tattoos on her arms. Then I realised, its those nude, embellished sleeves that figure skaters wear. She does look great in this Armani Prive dress, but the sleeves are naff.

These images came from Women’s Wear Daily.

Here is Part 3 of my summary of the last decade. Click for Part 1 and Part 2.

Building BRIC Countries. Brazil, Russia, India, and China have become new industry superpowers. Luxury brands are opening shop in these newly wealthy countries. China is reveling in its manufacturing powers and looking to bank in on creativity as well. Russian oligarchs own…almost everything. High street brands are opening all over India, with an estimated 700 million Indians living in cities by 2050 (Goldman Sachs.) And Brazil has the world’s 5th biggest population and a huge amount of natural resources.

Louis Vuitton’s Shanghai store under construction.

Too Fat and Too Thin are the words used at some point to describe almost all of the celebrities in the past ten years. With obesity rates rising globally, the blame shifted to the thin people, in particular the fashion industry.

Another distorted fashion image.

Socialising Change. How has society shifted in the past ten years?

A new language is born.

The Axis of Evil. Image source.

Twitter, tweets, tweeting, retweet, etc…

Swine Flu, Bird Flu, H1N1, the flu had many new names.

Image source.

There has been many goodbyes in the past ten years,including the Yellow Pages and the fax machine.

Green is the New Black, certainly when it comes to lifestyle. The words fairtrade, ethical, sustainable, and organic have become a part of our everyday vocabulary. How green are you?

Eating Locally

The Electric Car. Image source.

We all understand what this sign means now.

How many of you grow your own? with the help of your compost…of course.

And the garbage gets smaller as our waste gets redirected to compost and recycling. Image source.

Of course we all carry around reusable bags for our groceries… Image source.

And lets not forget, no trend is a real trend unless a giant American company manages to profit in some way. Here’s to the king of organic food.

When Fame Meant Talent. Our obsession with celebrities intensified in the past ten years, and fame became more achievable. Celebrities don’t just sing songs for us and act in our movies, they design our clothes, the model clothes in our magazines, they make perfumes, yoga clothes, hotels, and nightclubs. And anyone can be famous, land yourself a gig on a reality TV show, and you too can be the next big thing.

Big Brother: the source of way too many useless celebrities.

Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. One of the few celebrity collections that has a teeny bit of credibility. But not much.

According to UK Vogue, putting a celebrity on your cover guarantees way more sales than using a model, The only exception being Kate Moss, who seems to be an exception to a lot of things.

Poor Paris. She is just…so uncool.

The Hills: I can proudly say I have never watch a whole episode of these ditzes and their boring life. Would it be possible to do a reality show about some people who are interesting, intelligent, AND talented? Or does that defeat the purpose?

The i-Generation. Remember when a blackberry was a fruit? Phones were used for calling people? Maps were used for finding your way? And you used a CD player to listen to music?

And… A few more people to sum up the decade.

Politicians these days have to ride bikes. Image source.

Celebrity chefs: some were cool, some made good good, and other were *?@*&%€ !!!! Above, Jamie Oliver.

“shoes, sex! cocktails, shoes, men, Manolo, shoes, sex! dildo, New York, shoes, Manhattan, shoes, sex! orgasm, shoes, shopping, dress, shoes, New York. And sex!” The Sex and the City girls (or should I say ladies?) certainly liberated the plus forty single woman.

No many artists can go mainstream and still be cool. Banksy = an exception.

Remember when Karl Lagerfeld was fat and carried a fan? Photo from Vogue France.

Not many celebrities can be filmed doing cocaine, not make any statements to the media, and then double their fees.

Three really annoying guys who were generally a nuisance to everyone.

Sex Wizards sells. Image source.

Best Looking Couple. Oops! That award goes to Brangelina. The Beckhams get the Most Annoying Couple.

Let’s also take a moment to think of the many tragedies suffered in the past ten years, particularly the tsunami victims, Hurricane Katrina victims, and everyone else killed in wars, terrorist attack, or from starvation. There was FAR too much of that in the past ten years.

Happy New Year everyone and here’s to a prosperous 2010!

All images from the brand’s or person’s website, except all catwalk images from style.com, unless otherwise noted.

Thanks to the Grahams for their help on this list!

I had a really interesting conversation with my friends on Saturday night, about fashion and brands. The subject turned to Hermes, which I believe is an untouchable brand, despite the fact that it has become a lot more mainstream in recent years. We then disucssed the fact that many brands have been “ruined” when they hit the mainstream. As far as I am concerned, when Victoria Beckham wears it, or when it is mentioned in a rap song, the brand is over. Hermes is an exception.

Even Victoria Beckham can't ruin Hermes (images from www.pursepage.com)

Why is this? How has Hermes managed to maintain this powerful brand position? They have superior quality, longevity, classic pieces, and waiting lists, but so do many other brands. On the other hand, Balmain (ruined by the “Russians” apparently), Jimmy Choo, Herve Leger, and Christian Louboutin have been tainted by over exposure on celebrities.

Another thing we discussed is the power of the handbag. For some ridiculous, unexplainable reason I always feel I need to buy a handbag from a well-known luxury brand, however, I am happy to spend fortunes on clothing or shoes from smaller luxury brands that are not very mainstream at all (Finsk being my main example.) I don’t understand why I feel that way… Maybe because I use a handbag everyday for two years, whereas I don’t wear the same shoes more than once a week. Maybe because a great luxury handbag can make a 20 dollar outfit look like a 2000 dollar outfit.

I don’t have the answers, but here are some of the Hermes pieces I wouldn’t mind finding underneath my Christmas tree (hint hint husband.)

Images from www.hermes.com