>> With new Chloe designer Clare Waight Keller's debut not slated until October for Spring 2012, the house's design team took over where former designer Hannah MacGibbon left off for the interim Resort season. Their focus lay heavily on reworking Chloe classics: wide-leg pants, airy trapeze dresses, pussy-bow blouses, and multi-buckled shoes, all put on show by Jacquelyn Jablonski.
>> Alber Elbaz and the Lanvin team descended on New York's Pierre Hotel Thursday evening, transforming it with palm fronds, caged parakeets, models in French maid outfits, and little old men offering up champagne, scotch, crustless tea sandwiches, and macaroons, to show off their H&M collaboration.
At the runway's entrance, a rose-filled arch set with "Lanvin Hearts H&M" in fluorescent lights; to the side of that, a salsa band played live music. And above the runway, there were 20 crystal chandeliers. The venue was packed, to say the least — Sofia Coppola, Patrick Demarchelier, Shala Monroque, Sally Singer, and Grace Coddington were all there, plus more than a handful of other designers sitting front row: Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang, Anna Sui.
Katie Grand styled the show — and the models were told to engage with the audience — so Siri Tollerod, as veiled bride, tossed her bouquet; Pixie Geldof strutted down in her gender-bending suit; Anna Dello Russo, walked with a gray standard poodle at her side; and Julia Frakes made her runway debut. The clothes were couture riffs on the Lanvin for H&M collection — on sale to benefit Unicef now — but afterward, there was a frenzy for the Lanvin for H&M collection pop-up shop set up downstairs. Many editors walked away with multiple bags, Coppola bought the tulle jacket, and even Wang did a little shopping of his own.
A video of the show can be seen here.
>> Last night, the 2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners were announced, but before they could be named during the dinner gala at New York's Skylight Studios, the results were leaked on WWD's Twitter: Billy Reid won outright, and Prabal Gurung and Eddie Borgo were both named runners-up.
Style.com's Nicole Phelps wrote that the results were a bit of a surprise: "Many in the audience had pegged Gurung and Joseph Altuzarra as the front-runners." But nevermind: the prizes were even bigger this year, with Reid granted $300,000 (up from $200,000), and Borgo and Gurung each taking $100,000 (up from $50,000). "The main prize is the mentoring we provide," CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg noted of the increase, "but a little cash never hurts."
The rest of this year's finalists — Christian Cota, Robert Geller, Oliver Helden and Paul Marlow of Loden Dager, Pamela Love of Pamela Love Jewelry, Moss Lipow and Gregory Parkinson — were treated to a keynote speech by Karl Lagerfeld, who talked about how much fun Yves Saint Laurent was "before Pierre Berge" and advised: "Young goes. But good? If you're good, it may all last."
>> Victoria's Secret models are all over fashion editorials and campaigns these days — Models.com suspects Candice Swanepoel might be next to cross over — and no wonder, with 10 and Harper's Bazaar editor Sophia Neophitou as show stylist. As Neophitou told Style.com of casting the show: “It’s such an editorial level . . . We looked at girls we love to shoot editorially; that’s what great. I think there’s a perception before you get here of what will work. But the reality is, it’s about the girl, it’s about the woman, what she brings as a human being to it, rather than has she got a size 34C cup. No, it’s not about that at all. That’s what they’ve got the miracle bras for.”
Brazilians were heavily favored as usual this year, with Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Isabeli Fontana, Izabel Goulart, Flavia Oliveira, Lais Ribeiro, Fabiana Semprebom, Emanuela de Paula, Gracie Carvalho, and Martha Streck all representing; 10 Brazilians out of the 33 total models. Check them out, plus Jessica Stam, Lily Donaldson, and more — at the show's after-party at Lavo last night.
>> Anne Vyalitsyna peeked out in a pink robe and waved at the crowd gathering at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York, where the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was taped this evening in front of an audience that included Carine Roitfeld, Giovanna Battaglia, Alexander Wang, Zac Posen and his boyfriend Christopher Niquet, Kate Lanphear, and Julia Restoin Roitfeld. Then, an announcer came on, asking that cell phones be stowed: "Frankly, if you need to use those devices at a show like this, you've got other problems."
Lais Ribeiro, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Lily Donaldson, and Heloise Guerin all walked for Victoria's Secret for the first time today, but it was Angel Adriana Lima who opened the show, riding a twirling carousel to make her debut in the first, "Tough Love"-themed segment (She and Karolina Kurkova both made their return after skipping last year's show while pregnant.). It was the first of many minor obstacles the 33 models had to maneuver through during the show, all while smiling and waving to the crowd. In the sporty "Game On" segment, while twirling her ribbon stick, Izabel Goulart, got the ribbon stuck around her neck and had to untangle herself; Candice Swanepoel estimated her "Heavenly Bodies" wings weighed half of her body weight — "It’s like driving a car because they’re so far away from my body. I have to turn them before I turn my body. It’s an honor to get them. I told my trainer, ‘You better prepare me for this! We’ve been doing some extra push ups!’”; Anja Rubik, too, had expansive wings in the "Heavenly Bodies" — turning at the end of the runway with all those streamers deserved applause in itself; and in the final, "Pink Planet" segment, mylar balloon rained the runway from above, causing Maryna Linchuk and Jacquelyn Jablonski to have to kick them out of the way to get down the runway.
But there was plenty of fun to be had — Isabeli Fontana, who closed out the "Game On" segment, hammed it up for the cameras with her dumbbell prop, and Lily Aldridge had the support of her fiance Caleb Followill and the rest of Kings of Leon, front row. In the next section over, Anne V's boyfriend Adam Levine and the rest of Maroon 5 gave her a standing ovation as she made her first runway appearance — which Anne rewarded with a blown kiss.
Akon and Katy Perry both performed — him appropriately singing "Angel," and her singing "Teenage Dream" for the younger, Victoria's Secret Pink-themed segment. And Chanel Iman closed the show in bubble wings with a bubble-squirting gun. The final cut airs Nov. 30 on CBS.
>> When it comes to Alber Elbaz's mantra at Lanvin, he sums it up as thus: “Editors can hate me; women — no." On that note, the prevalence of flat shoes on Lanvin's Spring 2011 runway could be interpreted as a nod to comfort, but Elbaz says it was actually a last minute decision backstage, and that all of the models were originally wearing vertiginous titanium heels.
“It was a nightmare,” recalls Elbaz. “We did the rehearsal and all of a sudden I saw the girls couldn’t walk. I saw the agony in their faces. They were shaking; they looked like alcoholic girls. Only 10 or 12 [of the models] said they could walk in the heels. But the ones that couldn’t were, like, 37 of them. I got very emotional — not that I got mad at them — but I got very emotional that they didn’t complain. You know what? Damn it with image. You can be stubborn and go after an image, but I’m not an image-maker; I’m a dressmaker. If you don’t feel good in something, you don’t look good with it.” And that's how the flat sandals from the label's Spring 2011 commercial collection were switched out for the heels.
Jacquelyn Jablonski, one of the few who wore the heels for the show, told Models.com: "One of my most memorable moments of fashion week was at the Lanvin show. Every time a girl came back after walking, they were out of breath and practically limping because the heels were super high (but gorgeous) and the runway was so long!"
But the heels will still be produced, Elbaz says: “We are rethinking the whole construction. I always say fashion for me is almost like contemporary art. When does the painter know the painting is finished? It’s not a house you built and say, ‘OK, is done.’”
Frida Gustavsson, Ginta Lapina, Lindsey Wixson, Ai Tominaga, Jacquelyn Jablonski — do these names ring a bell yet? If not, they will after today. These ladies are just a few of the latest It models to know. Why? Because turn any fashion magazine page and you will most likely see them staring back at you. From major ad campaigns to high-fashion catwalks to amazing editorials, these ladies are claiming their place next to the veterans. Enter to see them do their thing.
We showed you how to wear Fall's green trend — now it's time for some camel love. It's a hot hue right now, as exemplified by the latest fashion spreads. Camel, like nude, can be tricky because there's a fine line between bold and blah. To get the former, pair your camel long-sleeve tee with a textured skirt, a la this Harper's Bazaar spread featuring model Jacquelyn Jablonski. If you loathe fur, tweed or feathers are good alternatives. Finish the look off with a snazzy wide belt and cool lace-up shoes. Posh camel at its finest.
>> Last week, rumors of a major shift in the New York modeling agency setup floated around; eventually, it came out that Paul Rowland, the founder of Women Management and its Supreme offshoot, was leaving Supreme to head up the women's division at Ford.
According to Page Six's industry insider, Rowland, who sold the company which he founded in 1988 a few years ago, "had a huge salary there, but wasn't really getting along with management. So basically, he just left." Ford "cleaned house and canned everyone," says another source, to make way for Rowland and the agents he was bringing with him.
Caroline Poznanski, meanwhile, who ran Ford's women's division until Rowland's arrival, has been chosen by Supreme to take Rowland's old job. "It's one big game of musical chairs," reports the source. "There were rumors around that Supreme was just going to close, but instead they hired Poznanski and absorbed some other people who had been let go from Ford."
One booker notes: "The models at these places are in a tailspin. A lot, including [Ford girls] Chanel Iman and Jacquelyn Jablonski, don't know if they're staying or going. There will likely be a spate of lawsuits because both Paul and Caroline are trying to bring their girls over, but they have noncompetes in their contracts."
