Hilary Alexander

Fashion in 50 Seconds 06/28/10 Lanvin Expands Online, Opening Ceremony Focuses on France
Lanvin

Fashion in 50 Seconds 06/28/10 Lanvin Expands Online, Opening Ceremony Focuses on France

Lanvin is expanding its website next month.
by coutorture

Lanvin is expanding its website next month. The site will make its debut with an animated feature about the making of the women’s fall fashion campaign, shot by Steven Meisel.

Max Schneider, who appears with Madonna in the new Dolce & Gabbana campaign, is a 17-year-old performing arts school senior.

Opening Ceremony's country of focus this season is France. The retailer is offering colorful, custom sandals from K. Jacques and Jean Paul Gaultier Breton-striped Pataugas sneakers.

Hilary Alexander live tweets England's World Cup loss sharing her approval of David Beckham's waistcoat and disappointment with the English players.

London Fashion Week

>> Giles Deacon Returning to London Fashion Week?
by

>> Giles Deacon Returning to London Fashion Week? —Giles Deacon, who moved his signature collection show from London to Paris for the past two seasons after winning the ANDAM Award, may be returning to London Fashion Week for Spring 2011. Hilary Alexander Tweets: "Giles Deacon may return to show his own collection at London fashion week in September as he shows his 1st collection for Ungaro in Paris." Deacon was named the new creative director for Emanuel Ungaro last month. [@HilaryAlexander]

Gareth Pugh

>> Gareth Pugh Reportedly Plans to Open First Store Next Month —With nine runway shows under his belt and an ANDAM prize which allowed him to start showing at Paris Fashion Week in 2008, Gareth Pugh is taking the next step in building his brand.
by

>> Gareth Pugh Reportedly Plans to Open First Store Next Month —With nine runway shows under his belt and an ANDAM prize which allowed him to start showing at Paris Fashion Week in 2008, Gareth Pugh is taking the next step in building his brand. Hilary Alexander reports via Twitter that Pugh will open his first brick-and-mortar store — not in London, Paris, or Tokyo, but in Hong Kong next month. [@HilaryAlexander]

ANDAM Jury, Presided Over by Carine Roitfeld, Names 2010 Prize Nominees
alber elbaz

ANDAM Jury, Presided Over by Carine Roitfeld, Names 2010 Prize Nominees

>> The ANDAM prize of €220,000 (approx.
by

>> The ANDAM prize of €220,000 (approx. $279,000) has in the past two years enabled winners Gareth Pugh and Giles Deacon to move their runway shows to Paris Fashion Week and raise their international visibility. Who will be next?

This morning, the ANDAM jury, presided over this year by Carine Roitfeld and including Alber Elbaz, Hilary Alexander, Colette's Sarah Lerfel, Jefferson Hack, and Opening Ceremony's Humberto Leon, named six nominees for the 2010 prize. Among them are: Mark Fast, known for casting "plus-size" models in his body-conscious knit dresses; couturier and Thierry Mugler alum Alexandre Vauthier; Turkish designer Hakaan Tildirim, whose last show attracted Kate Moss and Roitfeld in the audience and Lara Stone and Natalia Vodianova on the runway; Francesco Scognamiglio, whose oversized Fall 2010 fish belt was worn by Anna Dello Russo straight off the runway; Balenciaga and Christian Lacroix alum Bouchra Jarrar; and Calla Haynes, who worked with Olivier Theyskens for five years at Rochas and Nina Ricci.

The 2010 winner will be announced at the end of next month.

Peter Copping's First Nina Ricci Collection for Spring 2010: The Reviews Are In
Nina Ricci

Peter Copping's First Nina Ricci Collection for Spring 2010: The Reviews Are In

>> To an audience of only 75, Peter Copping sent out his first runway show at Nina Ricci in the salon above the brand's Paris store.  Copping, who spent the past twelve years at Louis Vuitton, took Ricci to a much more feminine, commercial place than previous Ricci designer Olivier Theyskens.
by

>> To an audience of only 75, Peter Copping sent out his first runway show at Nina Ricci in the salon above the brand's Paris store.  Copping, who spent the past twelve years at Louis Vuitton, took Ricci to a much more feminine, commercial place than previous Ricci designer Olivier Theyskens. “I like wearable clothes,” he told WWD. “I’m not necessarily into being too avant-garde . . . whenever we did more feminine-based collections [at Vuitton], the sales were always incredible in the stores as opposed to the more austere or hard-edged things."

The Spring 2010 show was about all about the house’s “signature codes”  — bows, lingerie, lace — Copping said, and he's keen to add capsule lines of lingerie and wedding dresses soon. So what's his verdict? Hilary Alexander called the collection "charming," T staffers were fans — Anne Christensen deemed it "very pretty" and Armand Limnander "lovely" — and Elle's Joe Zee, too, was won over: "I'm not usually a fan of romance (clothes that is) but Peter Copping's Ricci debut was a slamdunk in romance. Sweet but not saccharin."

Some, however, seemed more hung up on the switch to commerciality: Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore noted, "Olivier Theyskens' Nina Ricci was all vision; Peter Copping's is all saleable product."  Suzy Menkes commented: "[It] is not necessarily a bad thing for a house [to be very commercial] . . . but Mr. Copping, having staked out his pretty girl territory, needs to take her to a newer place." And Style.com's Sarah Mower is holding judgment: "At first sight Ricci is now in a safe pair of hands but the jury's still out till next season."

View 46 Photos
Valentino: Still Lacking Direction for Fall 2009
Valentino

Valentino: Still Lacking Direction for Fall 2009

>> While Valentino Garavani is preparing to tape an episode of The Martha Stewart Show to promote Valentino: The Last Emperor next week, his proteges Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out their second try at his legacy this morning.  Their first collection for the brand in January was deemed too close to the designer's own style — perhaps done out of fear of having the same fate as Alessandra Facchinetti — so for this second collection, they needed to move the brand forward.
by

>> While Valentino Garavani is preparing to tape an episode of The Martha Stewart Show to promote Valentino: The Last Emperor next week, his proteges Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out their second try at his legacy this morning.  Their first collection for the brand in January was deemed too close to the designer's own style — perhaps done out of fear of having the same fate as Alessandra Facchinetti — so for this second collection, they needed to move the brand forward.

Unfortunately, they seem to have earned more rave reviews for their choice of venue — the Galerie des Moulages, with open windows to the Eiffel Tower — than for the clothes.  Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore deemed the collection the "same coat with fur trim a dozen different ways, yawn." Hilary Alexander thought "the clothes were just too much of a blast from the past," and Suzy Menkes was left wishing for Alessandra Facchinetti.  Curiously, with all the archival inspiration, there was not a single "Valentino red" dress in the bunch.
*image: source

View 41 Photos
A Different Type of Christopher Kane for Fall 2009
christopher kane

A Different Type of Christopher Kane for Fall 2009

>> Easily the hottest ticket at London Fashion Week, Christopher Kane brought out the masses earlier today.
by
A Different Type of Christopher Kane for Fall 2009

>> Easily the hottest ticket at London Fashion Week, Christopher Kane brought out the masses earlier today. But those expecting a colorful outings like seasons past are in for a surprise — as guests were served carrot and coriander soup, Kane sent out pieces in largely black and neutral shades — Hilary Alexander likened the geometric patterns to the stroke of a black marker on a white sheet of paper.  Men's brogues covered feet — that or crushed purple and gold velvet high heels that models were warned about before the show — apparently the heels were fragile.  All in all, definitely a toned down version of classics compared to what Kane has done in the past, but still impressive enough to keep the critics happy; as Suzy Menkes put it, "Everything was subtle, sensitive and just right, showing Kane as a fast-growing talent."
*image: source, source

View 32 Photos