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Diametrically opposed forces are at work in Narciso Rodriguez’s Resort collection. Looking at couture references led him to round, sculptural shapes, as seen in the full, blossoming skirt of a polished cotton-nylon frock. On the other hand, a streamlined bra top and the graphic cut-outs on the back of a snug-fit dress seemed informed by the sporty athleticism of swimwear. Odd couple? Not in this pro’s hands. Rodriguez exerts such fine control that the billowing silhouettes and the body-con ones looked recognizably his own here. A steady palette of white and black, accented with greige-y pastels, helped to hold his disparate themes together. As visually inclined as Rodriguez is, a lot of this collection’s appeal was in its hand feel, a quality difficult to represent in photos. Terrific ribbed-knit heathered cashmeres in asymmetric cuts didn’t make the lookbook. Also tempting was a seamless dress in a superfine gauge technical knit, as well as a long-sleeved LBD with a twist and drape at the natural waist.
Walk into L.A.’s newest boutique fitness studio and you won’t find any weights, workout equipment, or barre. There are no inspirational slogans emblazoned across the walls, nor branded activewear for sale. Instead, in a bare and brightly lit room, rows of tables are set up with nothing but a mirror at each seat. Welcome to Skin Fit Gym, where you'll awaken dozens of new muscles without breaking a sweat. “There are 43 muscles in the face, but we only use 30 percent of them,” says Hokkaido-born founder and instructor Koko Hayashi of everyday facial movements like chewing, smiling or frowning. “Face training teaches you to use all of the muscles with over fifty different exercises that will lift and smooth the face.” Already big in Japan, face sculpting is fast becoming part of a growing global beauty trend—both FaceGym in London and FaceLove in New York City incorporate shiatsu-based massage techniques into their treatments, which increase blood flow and tone facial muscles. Skin Fit Gym in Los Angeles's DTLA neighborhood takes that idea to its logical conclusion: A standalone studio with exercise classes dedicated only to muscles in the face and neck. Similar to a spin class, group classes are set to energizing music; exercises like somewhat comical looking tongue thrusting, cheek puffing and eye squinting are performed in unison. For overachievers, private classes and streamed sessions via Skype are also available. The basic program focuses on combating common complaints like saggy necks, jowls and puffy eyes, while more advanced programs and customized routines focus on specific facial areas. “In Japan, the most common request is for more symmetrical eyes,” says Hayashi. Once devotees have mastered the moves, they can be performed anywhere, anytime. Hayashi recommends a quick practice in mirrored elevators, where the face is visible from all angles, and during bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic when your car has come to a grinding halt. Or try it as part of a daily skincare routine, leaving you with no excuse to skip face time at the gym.
Still not convinced that the fanny pack is back? Kendall Jenner stepped out yesterday wearing a monogrammed Louis Vuitton bum bag around her waist, adding a bit of retro cheek to her Kendall + Kylie rainbow trim bodysuit and Adidas Powerphase Calabasas sneakers.
But this isn't the first time the model has made a case for the elevated belt bag. Just the day before, she wore a classic quilted Chanel belt bag on her hip, and back in February, Jenner and rumored beau A$AP Rocky had some stellar twinning moments in which Rocky wore a red Balenciaga hands-free carryall and Jenner opted again for her go-to Chanel piece.
The accessory formerly associated with dorky tourists has been a hit on the runway for several seasons now, appearing at Chanel's Spring 2016 couture show and in Alexander Wang's pre-fall 2016 collection. And the latest example of the item’s geek-to-chic trajectory happened just a few days ago at the Gucci Resort 2018 show: A model in a natty green suit wore a white can't-miss-it fanny pack stamped with a large Gucci logo. It may be only a matter of time before Jenner adds it to her rotation.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are champions of a subtle and sophisticated aesthetic that works particularly well in New York City, and yesterday in Manhattan, the twins showed just how chic an urban working wardrobe can be.
Ashley took a menswear-inspired approach to dressing with slouchy trousers and a striped oxford shirt that was finished with a triple-barrel cuff. She completed the laid back look with a pair of Grecian-style sandals and added a pop of color via a minimal red tote.
Taking a more traditionally feminine tack was sister Mary-Kate in a cardi-coat and skirt. The belted topper was a nice fit for Olsen’s petite frame, while her crinkled, translucent frock was a compelling alternative to a ladylike day dress.
Heavy lace-up boots grounded the ensemble with grunge attitude, while oversized shades added a dose of rock star cool.
Tailoring is in the air: Victoria Beckham recently took to the streets of New York in a tweed suit, while on Monday, singer Beth Ditto made waves in Gucci’s custom printed pantsuit. But before those fashion plates appropriated the girlboss staple, Hillary Clinton made the pantsuit cool. The former Secretary of State and presidential candidate was in New York last night speaking at the Jacob Javits Convention Center at the BookExpo—her memoir is due out this September—but instead of the matchy-matchy styles she favored during the campaign, Clinton switched things up with an edgy spin on jacket dressing. Post-election, Clinton has tastefully pushed the fashion envelope in raspberry, leather, and riffs on tonal dressing. Last night’s ensemble was a study in muted refinement: the micro-check motif was nicely offset by a floral embellished placket and two-way zipper, while tailored trousers provided a leg-lengthening effect amped up by scallop-edged pumps. The overall effect was a bright spot on a news day that needed one.
In 2017, designers Instagram and Tweet about their social activism almost as much as they do about their red carpet coups, but it wasn’t always thus. When Kenneth Cole released his 1985 AIDS awareness campaign, lensed by Annie Leibowitz and starring Christie Brinkley and Paulina Porizkova, among other top models of the era, it was nothing short of radical. Remember, President Reagan didn’t even utter the word “AIDS” until 1987. The advertisement transformed Cole, he has said, “as an individual and as a brand.” Two years later he joined the board of amfAR, an organization that has invested over $450 million to fight AIDS through innovative research (he’s now Chair), and he has continued to combine fashion and philanthropy in the decades since. On June 5 at its annual awards ceremony, the CFDA is recognizing him with the first-ever Swarovski Award for Positive Change. Gabriela Hearst, who may share the Hammerstein Ballroom stage with Cole next Monday night—she’s one of five nominees for the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent—has blended activism and advocacy into her eponymous label since its founding in 2015. A recently launched sweater project will raise funds for Planned Parenthood ($50,000 is she sells all 100 sweaters); she co-chairs the annual Save the Children Illumination Gala; and last month she provided Chelsea Manning, the transgender woman and former Army Intelligence analyst convicted of a 2010 leak, with clothes upon her release from prison following Obama’s commuting of her sentence. Vogue brought Cole and Hearst together at Cole’s 11th Avenue offices to talk fashion and activism. The former was fresh off a plane from Cannes, where amfAR holds its biggest gala of the year, and the latter was on her way to a photo shoot in Brooklyn for her Resort collection. They discussed the importance of taking a strategic approach to service, the challenges of combatting the cynics (they’re out there!); and the not insignificant personal rewards of doing good. Highlights of their conversation are included here. Kenneth Cole: I continually remind all of us here that nobody in the world needs what we sell. If we stop selling it, nobody’s going to go barefoot for 15, 20 years. If every shoe store in America stops selling shoes, no one’s going to go barefoot for 15, 20 years. No one needs shoes, for the most part. We have shoes, our problem is what to do with them. I’ve always been a bit obsessed with trying to find meaning in what we do, and amfAR, this pursuit, has been part of it for me. Everybody here feels better about what we’re doing because it’s part of something that’s bigger than we are. It’s not always easy to find that. It needs to be organic and real. Often people ask me about getting involved in service and philanthropy, and my first advice is: Make sure it’s real and it’s transparent. People are very smart today. In the past the fact that you did philanthropy was in and of itself important. Today, it’s not that you do it as much as the impact that it makes. Gabriela Hearst: One of the things that resonates to me is that you’re so successful because it’s personal to you. For me, just starting, I don’t have a board of directors. I’m a free agent. Right now, I feel an obligation to illuminate subjects that are under are attack. [The question is] how to approach it in a strategic way. I care for so many things.
When it comes to defining the eternal allure of Old Hollywood bombshell glamour, no woman has made more of an impact than Marilyn Monroe. Though dozens of bright young actresses—Michelle Williams, Lindsay Lohan—have sported platinum pin curls and white dresses to play the iconic star, Monroe’s own beauty routine is the stuff of legend, scoured over by countless women who remain captivated by her fresh-faced yet sultry look. Of course, few people have shed more light on her beauty philosophies and rituals that Monroe herself—and research turns up more than a few well-conceived pieces of advice. Here, in honor of her birthday, we break down Monroe’s five best secrets, in her own words. Skip the Sun, Try Cold Cream Instead “Despite its great vogue in California, I don’t think suntanned skin is any more attractive . . . or any healthier, for that matter. I’m personally opposed to a deep tan because I like to feel blond all over.” To get her signature on-camera glow, Monroe would apply thick layers of Vaseline or white Nivea Creme under her makeup, while dermatologist Erno Laszlo kept her well stocked in his Phormula 3-9—a reparative botanical balm, specially created to heal a scar of hers—and Active Phelityl Cream, an all-purpose moisturizer. Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, Pond’s, lanolin, and olive oil were also purportedly slathered over her skin, which she deliberately kept out of the sun. Embrace Your Inner Blonde (and Dry Shampoo) “In Hollywood, a girl’s virtue is much less important than her hairdo.” “Pillow case white” was what Monroe dubbed her signature shade of platinum. A rotating team of hairstylists like Kenneth Battelle, Gladys Rasmussen, and Pearl Porterfield—the Hollywood hairdresser responsible for Jean Harlow’s own pale blonde—applied peroxide and bleach highlights every three weeks, according to author Pamela Keogh, and Monroe was said to have minimized washes by dabbing sifted Johnson’s Baby Powder on the roots. Count Out Exactly Five Drops of Chanel No. 5 “You know, they ask me questions. Just an example: What do I wear to bed? So I said, ‘Chanel No. 5,’ because it’s the truth!” Famously, Monroe wore five drops of Chanel No. 5 to sleep, but she was said to love the heady jasmine and Bulgarian rose perfume so much that she added pours of the fragrance to her ice baths, too. To wit, an iconic black-and-white photo by Ed Feingersh shows her clutching a crystal bottle and applying No. 5 with a smile. Take Your Beauty Sleep to the Next Level “I have never been able to wear pajamas or creepy nightgowns; they disturb my sleep.” After plunging her face in a bowl of hot water each night, according to Keogh, Monroe would grab anywhere from five to 10 hours of sleep in an extra-wide single bed, huddled beneath a heavy down comforter. “On Sunday, which is my one day of total leisure, I sometimes take two hours to wake up, luxuriating in every last moment of drowsiness," she told Pageant magazine of savoring her restorative weekend rest. Work Out Strategically—But Not Too Much “I don’t count rhythmically like the exercise people on the radio; I couldn’t stand exercise if I had to feel regimented about it.” Far from being a gym freak, low-key Monroe stuck to a “simple bust-firming routine,” as she also told Pageant: Two 5-pound weights, lifted above her head 15 times from a “spread-eagle arm position,” then a second set repeated with her arms above the head, and again at a 45-degree angle—all performed bedside every morning, “until I’m tired.”
In a year when the carousel of fashion shows is spinning at blur-speed, there’s breaking news that will stop the industry in its tracks today: Vetements is stepping off. “We are not going to show in the classical system any more,” Demna Gvasalia told Vogue. “I got bored. I think it needs to enter a new chapter. Fashion shows are not the best tool. We did the show in the sex club, the restaurant, the church. We brought forward the season, we showed men’s and women’s together. It’s become repetitive and exhausting. We will do something when there’s the time and the need for it. It will be more like a surprise.” Gvasalia delivered his news during a phone conversation from Zurich, Switzerland, where he and his brother Guram moved the Vetements studio and staff after the last show in Paris. “I completely changed the lifestyle. I stopped the clubby, Parisian way I’ve been living for the past few years. Zurich is a kind of nature paradise, and it’s probably the most boring place in Europe.” That’s great, he says, for thinking and slowing down the manic pace fashion people get trapped in, working in big cities. Nobody in fashion has gone as fast as Vetements in the past few years. Driving their brand head-on into the revved-up universe of social media, the Gvasalia brothers are poster boys for instant and direct communication, the people who have succeeded in engaging a whole generation of fanatical fans and converted establishment grownups while they’re at it. That they’re also the first ones to detach themselves from the over-stimulated, over-crowded, non-stop show system is less a renegade action than an epiphany, Gvasalia says. Rather than just being another stunt in Vetements’s four-year sprint of novelty interventions—as some might suspect—the brothers are putting on the brakes to prioritize intelligent business development and mental health. “It’s like we’re putting Vetements into an artificial coma,” Gvasalia chuckles. “It’s like we’ve got this big baby, and we’ve got to take care of it. In five years, it’s gone so fast, it started to become something else. I want to bring it back to where we started. No more oversize hoodies any more! We’re independent. We can do what we choose. That’s the beauty of Vetements.” Fast growth may be the ultimate dream goal of corporate fashion in the era of global consumption, but the Gvasalias—amongst rising numbers of others caught up in it—are increasingly questioning its machinery. For one thing, the costs of staging multiple shows every year have become ever more unsustainable for young designers. “For the first time last season, I was able to watch our own show from a balcony,” Gvasalia reflects. “I could see everybody filming it on their screens. I realized that 80 percent of the clothes we did were not really seen or understood. And it cost so much. You cannot put on a show for less than 25,000 euros. That one cost in the region of 100,000 euros, with the venue. And there are brands now putting on shows around the world which cost millions. I think it’s a complete waste.” Not that Vetements is withdrawing from producing collections. “Yes, there will be a collection every season, of course,” Gvaslia says. “At the end of June, we will have it in our showroom in Paris. I’m going to have a young band from Vienna playing at the opening event, but that’s it.” No doubt about it, the Vetements no-show will magnetize as much attention as a Vetements show-show. In the time of social media—and the Gvasalias are experts at it—low-cost viral publicity for a brand as hot as theirs makes itself. Back in Zurich, it sounds like the Vetements team are percolating long-term ideas which, eventually, might have the potential to rock the busy-busy, antiquated fashion world back on its heels. “I would like to work with people in Silicon Valley. I want to work with concepts. It’s high time for all that, in 2017. There is a project I am working on for next year. I don’t know when it will be ready, but when we do we will have an event.” Meantime, Gvasalia has arrived at a point where he’s feeling clearer and happier about what he’s doing than ever. “Maybe it’s Swiss optimism!” he says. “I have a very healthy lifestyle now in order to function and be lucid. I do spend a lot of time alone, and I meditate. I’ve started running, and ideas come. You can’t force the unconscious to perform. The most important thing is to stay sane and human. I keep saying that to Guram, the most important thing now is that we must enjoy what we do. Luckily, we’re independent. That’s the joy of Vetements.”
Los Angeles is known as much for its progressive environmental policies and clean air initiatives as it is for its navel gazing, high maintenance Hollywood stars. Now, a new hair salon has managed to combine all of these disparate elements into one stylish West Hollywood loft space.
Co-founded by A-list colorist Lorri Goddard, who is known for her blondes (the Olsens, Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, even Kim Kardashian West at one point) and stylist Cory Scott, who counts California Senator Kamala Harris among his clients, Loft 647 is a paean to left coast, eco-chic living…with the obligatory selfie station and valet parking, of course.
“The idea for the space was to bring the outside inside by the use of natural, raw materials that we sourced locally,” says Scott, who was inspired by The Eames House, a plant-filled landmark of mid-20th century modern architecture in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades when building. After consulting the NASA Study on Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement, the pair chose a mix of snake plants and rubber, dracaena and fiddle leaf trees, which help remove chemicals such as ammonia and formaldehyde from the air, to place strategically around the salon.
Furniture is a mix of pieces by George Nelson, Eames, and Saarinen plucked from Goddard’s personal collection, while new fittings and fixtures are eco-friendly, like the locally-sourced countertop made from reclaimed wood, and styling chairs upholstered in vegan leather.
Energy consumption is kept down with a combination of natural light from the space’s multiple skylights and low voltage LED bulbs, though Goddard uses professional lighting equipment at her dying station—so to stay in control of her incredibly precise shades of blonde.
Over at the shampoo bowls, hair is rinsed with electrically ionized, pH neutral water by Kangen Beauty, which Goddard claims to help with shine, and calm the scalp: “Especially after the harsh bleach and tones everyone is still asking for,” she says. And the styling products? Companies including Grown Alchemist, Kevin Murphy and cult French brand Christophe Robin have all been chosen with an eye for combining performance with natural and organic ingredients, not to mention a cruelty-free ethos.
Even the hair trimmings are put to good use, and donated to the Matter of Trust Clean Wave Program to help clean up oil spills. Something the pair is particularly proud of, however, are their gender-neutral bathrooms. “We are in the heart of West Hollywood, so it was imperative that there is no question for our community about where we stand on this,” she says. “This is a place where everyone is welcome.”
Back in October, Jen Atkin—in true power-stylist-of-the-people form—began a social crowdsourcing initiative to create a new game-changing curly hair product for Ouai, her hotly-coveted and innovative haircare line. “Through Facebook Lives, Instagram posts, and Snapchats, we figured out the hair concerns curly girls face, as well as what’s missing in their current products,” explains Atkin. With an airy, touchable texture top of mind, she formulated Ouai Curl Jelly, a lightweight, water-based gel blending silk proteins with nutrient-packed absinthium and moringa oils that lock in moisture while repairing damage. Depending on the density of your hair, you “work a quarter-sized amount or more between your palms,” instructs Atkin. “Then, apply it to clean, damp curls from the mid-section to the ends and work it in near the roots.” Struggling to tame the frizz of my own coiled blonde mane thanks to the balmy New York City humidity of late, I took it for a mid-week test drive. After gliding the velvety gel-oil hybrid through my post-shower strands one morning, I scrunched, ran out the door, and let the tepid gusts of the subway blast my spirals. Thirty minutes later, I arrived at the office with air-dried curls that were supernaturally smooth and springy—feeling ready to cosign on Atkin's verdict of weather-proof definition without the crunch. After a few quick fluffs, I had silky, shapely ringlets that could hold their own amidst the soaring temps. But the real reason Atkin's latest offering promises to find a permanent place in my beauty arsenal? It's made to evade second-day curl slump by reviving the natural pattern the next morning with just a few pumps on dry hair. A true feat.