Fab Blab

UPDATE: Chloë has teamed up with Opening Ceremony to create a footwear collection with Bass Weejuns, a brand she used to sport back in the day.

Chloë Sevigny has a serious shoe addiction. "I have hundreds of pairs. I keep them in a stairwell in clear plastic boxes, labeled," she dished in a recent interview. Aside from her Opening Ceremony footwear collection, the actress is open to more collaborations. What would her dream footwear collaboration be? "Hermès, maybe?" she said jokingly, then followed up with: "Actually, NaNa would be a great collaboration!" Currently, Chloë's favorite shoes are a pair of NaNa cowboy boots she purchased from a flea market in Austin, TX, and she also owns a pair of combat boots from the label. If your feet are not familiar with NaNa, it's never too late to get them acquainted. Let's hope Chloë's dream comes true . . .

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I can't live without my bags. After all, it's where I store my daily necessities, and in the case of clutches, my bare necessities. But you don't have to take my word for it.

In a recent interview, French actress and Dior face Marion Cotillard dished about the most important thing in her handbag. “I have this little black book that I write things in. It’s sometimes dangerous things you have in your mind that you put in your little black book and it’s not as dangerous anymore,” said Cotillard. Sounds tantalizing, can we have a peek?

John Galliano's take on handbags is equally sassy, stating, “It is part of their charm, their secret weapon. Who knows what’s in there — keys, wallet, phone. That is all to be expected. Who’s to say what door that spare key opens; why she has her passport tucked in when she’s only going up the road and whose phone number she has scrawled on the back of an envelope . . . I love the unknown — and the what might be.”

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No doubt, we live in a nonstop world where some people claim that in fashion, one day you're in and the next day you're out. What do you think? When AAU's Gladys Perint Palmer touched the topic of longevity in the fashion industry with Suzy Menkes in San Francisco, we were pleasantly surprised to hear speak so passionately about sustainability, fast fashion, and luxury. When asked how she felt about fast fashion, Menkes stated, "Fast fashion has become too fast, too violent," explaining that people are buying disposable clothes not realizing the impact it has on our environment.

This takes us to the topic of sustainability where Suzy disapprovingly says, "The food industry has beat the fashion industry in sustainability." However, she believes change for a more environmentally conscious fashion industry will happen, slowly but surely. In case you missed it, Suzy took action on that belief and participated at the Sustainable Luxury Conference in New Delhi in March. She also will be hosting a TechoFashion Summit in Berlin, November 2009, where she will be talking about the future of fashion.

When asked about the power of luxury, Menkes proudly proclaimed, "Luxury is a deep, important part of fashion," explaining there's something magical about putting on a garment and feeling an unexplainable sensation. We hear you, Suzy.

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When we heard International Herald Tribune fashion writer Suzy Menkes was going to speak at the Academy of Art University San Francisco, we decided we must get ourselves there, even though technically we're not students. But really — isn't one always a student of fashion? I think so . . . We really wanted to get to know Ms. 32,000-words-per-year Suzy in a more personal way. Not only did we make small talk (she reads Fab!), we discovered her sense of humor and grew more impressed with her every word. During the discussion, Suzy touched on the green movement, luxury, Karl Lagerfeld, and reminisced about the past. More to come on those, but first I want to share her thoughts about fashion revivals and Marc Jacobs.

On the subject of referencing other designers or the past, Suzy said she's "tired of revivals." For example, she has no aesthetic problem with big shoulders — a la Balmain — but to her they're forced because they don't stand for anything like they did in the past, when women donned big shoulders to let men know that they were shoulder to shoulder with them. To make matters juicier, Suzy was forthright about her disapproval of Marc Jacobs when he created an entire collection based on a 1991 Bruce Weber photograph. Ouch, but we all know Suzy and Marc are no strangers to quarrels. Do you agree with her that revivals are lame or is she being overly critical?

We all agree Stephanie Seymour has a perfect bod, and OK, I don't hate her, but did you know she can write too? She interviewed Lanvin's Alber Elbaz for Interview magazine — whom I happen to be intrigued by, he's so discrete yet so opinionated — and you can see what I mean by their chat over soup. I suggest you print this one out, there's lots of juicy bits . . .

For instance, have you ever noticed Lanvin's logo? In the spirit of Mother's Day, I'd like to point out it's a mother and daughter holding hands — original Lanvin designer Jeanne Lanvin and her daughter. When Elbaz took the helm at the house in 2001, he did not change the emblem. Elbaz explains, "I love and respect women. I work mostly with women. And you know, our logo for Lanvin is a mother and a daughter. I've always said, 'It's not a lion, and it's not a horse. It's a mother and a daughter.' I find the logo very emotional."

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