>> Sun protection is key during the Spring and Summer months, so we rounded up our favorite toppers that will surely keep your face free from harmful UV rays. This season's freshest crop boasts a wide variety of shapes and colors: a reddish coral straw floppy hat from Urban Outfitters, femme bow cloche from Topshop, crisp and streamlined fedora from Lacoste . . . and more of our favorites in the slideshow. Feeling shady never looked so good.
St. Patrick's Day will be here on Thursday, and soon we'll all be awash in green beer and holographic shamrock glitter. The holiday doesn't necessitate throwing on a leprechaun hat, though. You can get into the St. Pat's Day spirit in lots of ways, many of them quite pretty and even (gasp!) nonalcoholic. So check a few picks for going green the fashionable way, whether you're hitting up a parade or just going for a couple of chartreuse cocktails after work.
Photo courtesy CND
Designers would kill to dress Heidi Klum, but while she was growing up, the model didn't always have access to runway fashions. In an interview with the host of Project Runway and the soon-to-air Seriously Funny Kids, the mom of four — Leni, 6, Henry, 5, Johan, 4, and Lou, 1 — divulged how she kept up with her classmates when it came to name brands. Fond of the Lacoste apparel her friends wore, Klum said, "When my parents went to Thailand they bought a whole bag of Lacoste crocodiles and my mom and I would sew them on my clothes." Klum's daughter Leni doesn't have to worry about what she wears to school since she has a uniform.
>> Christophe Lemaire, who shows his first Hermes collection in March, says that instead of channeling former Hermes designer Jean Paul Gaultier's runway extravaganzas, he expects to display his collections in a more intimate setting.
The decision reflects his vision for the brand as a whole, he tells WWD: “I think that it’s time to go back to a more honest vision of fashion, and that there is room for a simpler, more pared-down wardrobe that is better suited to everyday life. I have always campaigned to bring quality and, if possible, poetry to everyday life. You don’t change your wardrobe every six months. You build it up over time.”
He added that he is imaging his Hermes to be more in line with Martin Margiela's — who designed for Hermes between 1998 and 2003 — rather than Gaultier's: “I think I will be walking in the footsteps of Margiela more than Gaultier, even if I have a lot of respect for Jean Paul Gaultier and his virtuosity."
Lemaire, who left his position as Lacoste creative director to join Hermes, alluded to tensions with his previous management: “It’s as if the moment had finally arrived for me to show what I’m capable of. For various reasons, I have always lacked either the maturity or the means to develop my own brand, and at Lacoste, I was working under constraints that meant that, even though I think I did a good job, I was never able to unleash my full potential. So I hope to be able to do that at Hermès.” He continued: “I think I succeeded in projecting a certain vision of the brand [at Lacoste]. The problem with a brand is that if the designer has a vision and the management does not have the same vision, or does not understand that vision, then there is obviously a disconnect. So I think that is being addressed, but it was definitely an issue for me.”
>> Lacoste has ditched its five-year-old tagline, "Un Peu d'Air Sur Terre," for a new theme dubbed, "Unconventional Chic". "After five years it was time for a change," said Christophe Chenut, CEO of Lacoste SA. "The previous ads were very product-focused and we felt we needed a campaign that was an affirmation of the brand statement as a whole.” Instead of featuring a group of models like the brand has done in the past, the new campaign highlights individual shots of Liya Kebede, Anja Rubik, Jon Kortajarena, and Noah Mills wearing polo shirts over fancy evening gowns. “We’re showing that you can be chic in a different way, not just when you are dressed up for a party or for the office,” explained Chenut.
In an effort to revamp its image, Lacoste is launching a new 2011 ad campaign featuring Liya Kebede and Anja Rubik, among others, topping their eveningwear with the label's iconic polo. As Lacoste's Chief Executive Officer Christophe Chenut explained, the new ads are part of the company's attempt to embody the brand's statement: "We're showing that you can be chic in a different way, not just when you are dressed up for a party or for the office." Sure, they've got some hot models working the look, but I want to know, does this "different" kind of chic speak to you?
>> Felipe Oliveira Baptista Named New Creative Director at Lacoste —Felipe Oliveira Baptista is succeeding Christophe Lemaire (leaving to take over from Jean Paul Gaultier at Hermes) as Lacoste's artistic director. Though Oliveira Baptista starts at Lacoste today, his first collection for the brand won't debut until September 2011 during New York Fashion Week. He already has a direction in mind, however: “I will associate the main values and DNA of the brand with a more transversal women’s wardrobe, something which appeals to a younger woman and which is feminine and unique. I also plan to do extensive research in fabrics and experiment with colors in order to create an effortlessly chic aesthetic.” [WWD]
Karl Lagerfeld's new campaign for Fendi depicts an “Italian couple in downtown New York,” according to Lagerfeld, who cast Anja Rubik and Baptiste Giabiconi for the occasion.
Visionaire 58 Spirit, A Tribute to Lee Alexander McQueen is now available for pre-order. The limited edition book includes images inspired by McQueen, each one printed on paper embedded with wildflower seeds.
Lacoste is teaming up with Catherine Malandrino on a capsule collection.
Mario Testino photographed Lily Donaldson, Nina Porter and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for Burberry's first cosmetics campaign.
