Raf Simons

All the bits fit to print here, in our daily news roundup.

• Louis Vuitton's iconic steamer gets digitized, animated, and deconstructed in the brand's newest video, Retracing the Trunk. [YouTube]
  

• Raf Simons will design the costumes for Sigourney Weaver and Isabelle Huppert in their upcoming film, Body Art. [Vogue UK]
  

• If you're thinking about investing in an Hermés Birkin or Kelly, act fast — prices at the luxury retailer are expected to rise seven percent to 10 percent by early February. [Purseblog]
  

• 3.1 Phillip Lim takes to the street in its first ever ad campaign. [Fashionologie Inbox]
  

• Victoria's Secret has pledged to stop using hazardous chemicals in the production of its clothing by 2020. [Telegraph]
  

• Speaking of Victoria's Secret, Angel Lindsay Ellingson will launch an ecommerce site for her handmade line of jewelry, Goldie Knots, this Spring. [Style.com]
  

• Jonathan Adler's signature prints now adorn makeup sets. [She Finds]
  

• Re/Create New York's auction to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief features a 60-second grab-and-dash shopping spree in the Net-A-Porter warehouse. [Recreate New York]
  

• Coach plans on expanding its offering of ready-to-wear, outerwear, and jewelry. [WWD]
  

• Juergen Teller's latest exhibition, Woo, which features images of Vivienne Westwood and Kate Moss, is now open at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. [Style.com]
  
  

All the bits fit to print here, in our daily news roundup.

• Matthew Williamson has teamed with heritage brand Ballantyne on a knitwear capsule for both men and women. [Vogue UK]
• Angela Missoni left her label's Fall 2013 men's show early to avoid the barrage of reporters waiting to ask about her brother's disappearance. [On the Runway]
• Fred Perry is celebrating its 60th anniversary by inviting 60 personalities — from designers like Raf Simons to publications like i-D Magazine — to create unique takes on Perry's iconic polo shirt. [Style.com]
• Even from an early age, Wren's Melissa Coker found inspiration in '60s style. [Fashionista]
• Speaking of retro fashion, Cameron Silver of Decades believes that buying vintage hones a collector's eye: "I love the idea that someone might be wearing something that is sixty years old and still look totally current," he said. "True vintage fans generally understand this and even learn to buy modern clothing much more intelligently." [AnotherMag]
• Swatch has acquired Harry Winston for $750 million. [WWD]
• Net-a-Porter's sales have risen 55 percent since last year. [Telegraph]
• Alexander Wang is mentioned in Justin Timberlake's new single, "Suit & Tie." [YouTube]

In a wide-ranging conversation with Fern Mallis on stage at the 92nd Street Y this week, Marc Jacobs said he discussed not taking over for John Galliano in sessions with his psychiatrist.

"It was actually my psychiatrist who said, 'How is this going to improve the quality of your life?' and I said, 'It's not.' I mean, two more shows — and after Galliano, what he has done — when am I going to live my life?" Jacobs asked.

The designer also talked about growing up in New York City, studying at Parsons, and being treated for substance abuse. A few highlights from the conversation below.

On going to college: "Every day was like a fashion parade. There was a little troop of us. It was me, a girl named Susan Martin, Chris Iles, and Tracy Reese. The four of us were inseparable. We were the overachievers. We would do five times what was required just because we really enjoyed it."

On the critics: "There are very few, and I don't mean this in a bitchy way, journalists who I respect. I don't think a lot of them know what they're looking at. . . . I'm fine with constructive criticism but I'm not so good with stupidity. It's one thing to say 'I like or I don't like' but to misread or mislabel something or to be out of sorts because it was raining, or a late show, or you were hungry. That just all feels not valid."

On his sobriety: "I wouldn't say I'm 100 percent sober. What I'm saying is perfection is not my deal. Yeah, maybe I have had a glass of wine or a couple of whiskeys. Maybe I've smoked a joint or something like that. Or other things, but I'm mostly sober."

On what he tells aspiring designers: "What's worked for me is not quitting, being more passionate about what I do, and not giving up. And when I don't believe in myself, turning to other people who believe in me."

Photo by Joyce Culver, courtesy of 92nd Street Y.

Raf Simons says he's working on turning Dior into a brand that everyone in the world will recognize as soon as they see it — sort of like Chanel.

"The Chanel woman? I don't even need to see, I smell her from round the corner, but I don't recognize the Dior woman," Simons said in an interview for the January issue of Vogue UK. "I want to work on that fast. Chanel has the deux-pièces with the pockets, or the bouclé, but what is it for Dior nowadays? I can't say."

Eventually, Simons wants Dior to be something that appeals to a wide variety of people.

"Dior's ultimate obsession is that he wanted [the public] to wear it. I want them to wear it on the street," he said. "If it doesn't relate to the outside, then it would be very theatrical for me."

That mission — to make serious and wearable clothing for Dior — has guided Simons's short tenure at the French fashion house, and even extends to his couture collections.

"I want to get away from couture just being done for a picture, or for a single moment on the red carpet," he said in an interview with Vogue Australia last month. "I want to try and convince women that couture can be worn in the day and that there's a reality and a relevance there, because that's what Mr. Christian Dior wanted. In my opinion, Christian Dior was never, ever theater."

Photo: Simons photographed by David Sims for the December issue of Vogue.

The exact circumstances under which Jil Sander replaced Raf Simons as the creative director of her eponymous fashion house were unclear until today.

According to a new profile in WSJ. Magazine's Winter issue, Sander wasn't called back to the house she founded in 1968 just because Simons was on his way to Dior. In fact, Sander entered talks with Onward Holdings Co., the Japanese private equity firm that owns the label, about coming back over six months prior to Simons's departure. Sander left her job designing the +J capsule collection for Uniqlo in September 2011, and it was announced that she would replace Simons at the end of February 2012.

Simons's departure, it seems, came before he officially accepted the Dior job — though when he left, he had already entered talks with LVMH about becoming the house's creative director. And while Simons's work at Jil Sander was a critical success, the profile notes that during his time there, "the company remained solidly in the red." To turn Jil Sander's fortunes around, the label's chairman Franco Pene said he wanted "to get back to the roots of the company — to its DNA. And there was no one more capable of doing this than the original designer."

Whatever the reasoning for her return to the label, where her first two collections have earned favorable reviews, Sander credits divine intervention with steering her back home.

"With all of my history, I feel it's been more like a journey, and driven by something up there," she says, pointing toward the heavens. "This is actually what it has to be. We learn to never go back, never try to repeat, only look to the future. But in this case, maybe this is an exception."

Photo courtesy of Jil Sander

Rihanna may have been on hand to switch on the Westfield Stratford City Christmas lights and spread holiday cheer in London, but it was her blue striped pantsuit that had us cheering. The trendsetter layered a blue and gray striped top and matching trousers from Acne's men's Spring 2013 collection over a crisp white button-down, then slid on a men's cobalt Raf Simons coat and gray suede pumps for extra texture. As if her borrowed-from-the-boys style wasn't chic enough, the brunette beauty completed her eye-catching look with brilliant blue cat-eye shades, a bevy of gold rings, and a bright red lip. Get inspired by Rihanna's fashion-forward style and pair a two-toned striped top with matching pants and neutral suede pumps for a night out with the girls.