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While the subtle sparkle of diamonds is often the finishing touch on a red-carpet look, a few of the best ensembles of the week were doused with glittering crystals. Elizabeth Banks continued to hit the sartorial nail on the head as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire tour came to a close in New York on Wednesday. She shimmered in a bedazzled black ensemble from Jenny Packham's Fall '13 runway. The same evening in Las Vegas, Kate Bosworth chose a scintillating Spring '14 Fendi frock completely covered in geometric Swarovski crystals for the premiere of her new film, Homefront.
Before finishing its whirlwind press tour in New York, Catching Fire held a star-studded premiere in Los Angeles on Monday, which brought out notables including Kiernan Shipka, Zoe Kravitz, and Sarah Hyland. Shipka charmed in a black silk sleeveless blouse and skirt embroidered with green and blue floral beading from Miu Miu's Spring '14 collection, and Kravitz opted for a Balenciaga Spring '14 LBD with a wide neckline and buttons up the side. The nod for best dressed of the evening goes to the film's leading lady, Jennifer Lawrence, in a daring sheer Dior Fall '13 Couture gown with a full skirt over a strapless black bodysuit. We appreciate that Katniss is as fearless on the red carpet as she is in the arena.
Here, more of this week's red-carpet highlights.
How would you like a little Coco Chanel for Christmas? Or a mini Mlle Lanvin? For its eleventh Les Frimousses initiative, UNICEF has tapped forty-two fashion houses—Chanel, Dior, Lanvin, and Anne Valerie Hash among them—to craft high fashion dolls, reports WWD. The toys will be exhibited at the Petit Palais in Paris from November 26 to December 1, before being put up for auction at the George V hotel on December 2. Last year, the bidding for each designer doll began at $647, which we know is a little steep. But considering the proceeds go to charity (and that, decked out in a Chanel suit and Lanvin's "Love"necklace, they're arguably better dressed than we are), the one-of-a-kind creations are worth the price tag.
Soho is officially experiencing an Aussie takeover. Last night, Zimmerman feted its new Mercer Street store, and today, Sass & Bide opened the doors to its first international flagship around the corner, at 480 Broome Street. According Heidi Middleton, who co-founded S&B with Sarah-Jane Clarke, "It was a feeling—or an energy—that really pulled us back to New York." (It's worth noting that, in September, the brand brought its show back to New York fashion week after a five-year stint on London's runways.) "We have strong sales in the U.S. and thought it was about time that New Yorkers got to experience the brand in a retail environment. We want our customers to really feel the spirit of the brand from the moment they walk in the store," Middleton continued. The S&B team worked with architect Kelvin Ho and Brooklyn-based design collective Guild to realize their ideas for the 2,000-square-foot space, which was previously an art gallery. "The concept was based on four key elements: beauty, strength, modernity, and spirit," Middleton said. They brought that vision to life by creating a tree-like sculpture that winds throughout the shop. It was inspired by the pieces of natural driftwood that Middleton collects, and was constructed from sheets of cloth dipped in resin that were mounted on fiberglass and then painted white. The sinuous sculpture ties together the stark room and provides an elegant backdrop for the racks of clothing (the label also developed several styles exclusive to New York) and cubbies stacked with jeans. "We've created a space that captures who we are," Middleton said.
At last night's fete for Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet's collaboration with artist David Choe, a heavily embellished ball gown hung from the ceiling. "I said I wanted the dress to be hanging up like a disco ball, because we needed to illuminate all the beading. And then I thought, Hey, let's have a disco party!" Bendet told cbamd.com.
The gown on display was covered with a Choe watercolor print depicting a woman and a monkey. A full midi skirt and shift dress bore the same print, sans beading. While Bendet and Choe seem an unlikely pair—she specializes in feminine party attire, he calls himself a "slob" and admits to wearing T-shirts people leave behind at his house—the collaboration was practically inevitable. "Everyone knows a lot of David's street art and graffiti, but he's also one of the most talented painters of our time," Bendet said. "Last year at Art Basel, he sent me this photo of a painting he did, and I literally thought he had seen the skirt I was wearing. The colors and pattern could have blended right into the print. I told him I thought he would make the most amazing prints for dresses. And he said, 'Let's do it.' "
"I've done all of the typical streetwear stuff," said Choe, noting that womenswear was a departure from his usual oeuvre. "I've worked with Upper Playground and several other brands. But I like to expand my horizons and try different things."
"He has this insane sense of color that's sort of feminine and cool at the same time," Bendet added. "And I love that his work has an element of humor, which is what I like in clothes."
Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet and David Choe pieces range from $396 to $998. From April, the skirt and shift dress will be available at Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet boutiques and global retailers; the beaded gown will be sold in select stores. For more information, visit www.cbamd.com.
It's been a big week for British ready-to-wear label Meadham Kirchhoff. Designed by Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff, the brand, which is best known for its highly intricate and deliciously eccentric looks, launched its first capsule for Topshop earlier this week. (To our disappointment, some of our favorite items are already sold out.) Today, it was announced that the designers will be the stars of the Victoria & Albert Museum's next Fashion in Motion event. Scheduled for December 6, the spectacular will offer four runway shows featuring the greatest hits from the brand's seven years on the womenswear circuit. Here's hoping that LED dance floor from the pair's Fall '12 disco collection (left) makes its way to the museum.
The Pirelli Calendar turns 50 in 2014. To celebrate, the tire company execs have decided not to create a new edition. Rather, they're releasing a previously unpublished version, originally slated for 1986, shot in Tuscany and Monte Carlo by none other than the prolific Helmut Newton.
First, some backstory: The calendar has become a mainstay marketing tool for a company that would otherwise have no real link to the uberglam sphere of fashion photography (think: Herb Ritts' 1991 edit, photographed in the Bahamas with the likes of Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss, or Norman Parkinson's 1985 datebook with Iman in Edinburgh).
It's with some irony, then, that Newton's commission was the first to feature direct Pirelli product placement. Prior to 1986, the only connection to the company's goods was vague (tire tracks seen in Uwe Ommer's 1984 calendar, for example). When tasked to feature Pirelli's wheels front and center, Newton eagerly embraced the challenge. The images are chock-full of horsepower.
Pirelli didn't stop there. The brand commissioned former Pirelli sharpshooters Peter Lindbergh and Patrick Demarchelier to snap a "celebratory" lineup of such models as Karolina Kurkova and Alek Wek, and organized a retrospective, which will be held in the company's HangarBicocca venue in Milan. The latter will showcase the work of the thirty-plus photographers who have contributed to the calendar over the years.
Count Lisa Perry among the score of Coca-Cola fans in fashion (Marc Jacobs—this year's Diet Coke creative director—sent Georgia May Jagger down his Spring runway sporting a sweatshirt embroidered with the wave found on a classic can of Coke, and the recognizable logo was also splashed onto sequined tanks and tees at Ashish). "I literally used to drink Coca-Cola for breakfast and with every meal after. I love the iconic nature of the brand and its presence in pop art," said Perry, who was recently tapped by Coca-Cola to work with LEITZES&CO on a limited-edition glass for the holidays. Other participants in this season's designer drinkwear series included Henry Holland, Garance Dore, and artists Qian Qian and Craig Redman. Perry initially approached the project wanting to do "a very recognizable 'Lisa Perry' image on the glass. We first drew up sketches of girls in my dresses, but as the collaboration moved on, we realized that one graphic word ("Enjoy") was going to be bolder and more universal," she told Style.com. "One thing we knew was that it had to be colorful!" The effervescent result is a perfectly collectible tumbler ($18) that would make for an ideal hostess gift. It will be available, beginning December 9, at Lisa Perry's Madison Avenue store and online. The sweetest part about the partnership? Coca-Cola made a donation to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Perry's behalf.
"I don't even get jet lag anymore," said Nicky Zimmermann during a private tour of Zimmermann's new Soho flagship at 55 Mercer Street. The Australia-based brand has recently stepped up its Stateside presence and officially joined the New York fashion week calendar in September, which means the designer has been hopping on more twenty-hour-plus flights than ever. The 3,800-square-foot store, which will officially open with a party tonight, is replacing Zimmermann's previous, smaller outpost up the block that opened about a year and a half ago. The contemporary label, known for its boldly feminine swimsuits and ready-to-wear, also maintains a boutique in Los Angeles and fifteen others Down Under. "We wanted a proper space that looked more like our stores in Australia. We like to keep the decor polished but still [maintain the] slightly raw feeling, so the more industrial elements like the floorboards, lights, and mirrored windows balance out the prettiness of the prints and color," Zimmermann told Style.com during a walk-through. "It's good for us to be able to fill out the picture of what Zimmermann is in the U.S. and be able to show the collections in their entirety." One difference she's noticed between shoppers in the Big Apple versus ones back home in Sydney or Paddington is that they're willing to take more fashion risks. Zimmermann pointed out a frilly black maillot suit in the corner and said they'd already sold two of the editorial style over the weekend, so they had to display the last press sample on the mannequin. "New Yorkers are more likely to go for our detailed show pieces, and we like that there's a market for more creativity here," she said.
Olivier Saillard—author, poet, star fashion curator—tends to prefer a contemplative moment over a grand event. He is also fond of saying that, had he ever studied fashion design, he would have done "just one dress" and then retired his tape measure.
Last night in Paris, he offered both. Eternity Dress, a fifty-one-minute performance starring Tilda Swinton, sponsored by Chloe, and staged at the ecole des Beaux-Arts this week as part of the city's fall festival, has been sold out for months. In it, Saillard and Swinton explore the art of dressmaking, starting with lines and measurements (waist: 28 inches, and so forth) working up through flat patterns and the beginnings of a dress, which Swinton took a moment to sew on herself. As the dress took form, Swinton recited a litany of collar styles in French and released a world of emotion in the turn of a sleeve, finally draping herself in rich-hued chiffon and velvet unfurled from bolts lined up on the floor.
Ultimately, The Dress—a black sheath with long sleeves and an open back—was a stand-in for a century of fashion history, from Paul Poiret to Comme des Garçons. One of the show's high points, as well as its biggest laugh, showed Swinton striking a series of emblematic poses for houses from Poiret to Yohji Yamamoto, by way of Chanel, Dior, Mugler, YSL, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Among a roomful of designers including Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Bouchra Jarrar, Martine Sitbon, and Clare Waight Keller, Haider Ackermann was first on his feet for the ovation. "It's absolutely a piece of my life," said Waight Keller. "They've taken everyday materials like tape and chalk and elevated them to an art form about designing a dress from scratch. It's about craft, measuring, and a considered approach. It's poetry."
"One of the things about Tilda is that she can do anything," noted Saillard after the performance. "She's not a ‘fashion girl,' so she can be a sculpture, an actress, a woman, a man, she can be 18 or 75 years old. It was like we were in a bubble, and the experience gave us lots of new ideas. Fashion has to be surprising."
At the small cocktail party held afterward at Laperouse, Swinton added, "Olivier is a playmate. We work and play together and come up with crackers ideas for some other time—it's wonderful to be able to play off of someone like that." Asked whether she realizes that she would be any designer's dream to work with, Swinton let loose a small bombshell: "Maybe it's because I know nothing about fashion!"
The Oxford Dictionaries, purveyor of the be-all and end-all reference, the Oxford English Dictionary, has spoken. The 2013 word of the year—though I confess I was rooting for obsessed—is selfie. The word, which at this point probably needs no definition, is, of course, a self-portrait by smartphone, usually intended for social media. But I was as interested in the runners-up list, which includes, among entrants like bitcoin and binge-watch this curious verb:
showrooming, noun: the practice of visiting a shop or shops in order to examine a product before buying it online at a lower price. [ORIGIN early 21st century: from SHOWROOM, "a room used to display goods for sale."]
The word, if not the practice, is new to me. Which makes me wonder: Has the world been labeling its online-comparison shopping all this time under my nose? Style File readers: Do you showroom?
