Happy National Cat Day! When it comes to domestic pets, kittens are clearly the fashion set’s best friends. For proof, look no further than Choupette Lagerfeld (who starred on her first German Vogue cover this summer and currently has over 34,000 Twitter followers) and the annual United Bamboo cat calendar. To boot, brands including Markus Lupfer, Miu Miu, and Vivienne Westwood expressed their feline appreciation for Spring ’14 by featuring novelty puss prints on shifts, coats, and sweatshirts, respectively. Warning: These pieces may cause a cute attack.
Nothing glams up an outfit like a little crystal. We saw plenty of bejeweled looks during the Spring '14 shows—at Prada, for instance, sporty dresses and sandals were studded with candy-colored stones, and Tom Ford whipped up minidresses and jumpsuits with flashy mosaics. For Fall, however, designers focused on simple, clear stones to add a hint of glimmer. A scattering of sparkle is just the thing to add a touch of opulence to your Fall wardrobe, but we wouldn't stop you from piling it on, either. Shop our favorite crystalized pieces from Valentino, Miu Miu, and more, below.
News broke late last week that photographer Deborah Turbeville died in Manhattan on Thursday from lung cancer at the age of 81. Having served as a fit model for Claire McCardell and an editor at Harper's Bazaar early in her career, Turbeville introduced a personal, heady, and refreshingly feminine aesthetic to the world of fashion photography when, with the support of Richard Avedon, she began seriously taking pictures in the 1970s. "My photographs are extremely feminine," she said in an interview with Style.com last year. "But it doesn't have to do with any kind of conviction on my part. It's all instinctive and spontaneous with me. There is a certain approach that women have. They do get into some kind of inner thing more than the male photographers do."
That approach landed her editorials in publications like Vogue, W, and The New York Times. She worked alongside icons such as Diane Arbus, Polly Mellen, and Isabella Blow and even got arrested with Bob Richardson during a shoot for Harper's Bazaar in Texas. Her legacy will live on through her moody, sometimes controversial images, which have been inspiring editors, stylists, and fellow photographers for decades. Here, a look back at the legendary lenswoman's most memorable shots.
Just when you thought that the peak season for air kisses and fashion chitchat had passed, wham!—along comes one of those New York City weeks that's chockablock with events. Time to get your nice clothes back from the cleaner, where they've been sitting since your return from Paris, and refresh ye olde manicure.
Monday-night festivities included a dinner on the terrace of the Gramercy Park Hotel celebrating Charlotte Ronson's collaboration with Vogue Eyewear, hosted by Eva Mendes.
Tuesday night found London-based Isa Arfen designer Serafina Sama throwing her first-ever Stateside bash at hot spot Omar's. She drew quite a photogenic crowd, including her stylist, Valentine Fillol-Cordier, who flew in for the occasion; model/activist Kyleigh Kuhn; and host Kate Foley. Later that evening, action moved to the Fat Radish, where Antwerp-based designer (and Woolmark Prize-winner) Christian Wijnants presided over a family-style meal of celery pot pie and monkfish curry. (Just the hearty thing for the start of a cold snap.)
Family-style was the name of the game again on Wednesday night, which saw Assembly New York serving up farro and roast chicken at the fantastic new restaurant Dimes, on Division Street. Assembly ringleader Greg Armas and dinner hosts Ana Kras and Devendra Banhart mixed it up with the crowd. Meanwhile, down the road on Canal Street, Sea designers Monica Paolini and Sean Monahan were hosting at home and had cooked dinner themselves. The potatoes were particularly delicious: onion, rosemary, and lots and lots butter did the trick, according to Paolini. Worth getting the clothes back from the cleaner for.
Last night in L.A., some of the biggest names in fashion, music, film, and food came together at the inaugural gala and auction for Wolfgang and Gelila Puck's Dream for Future Africa Foundation. Gelila, who was born in Ethiopia, founded the organization in 2010 in order to help the children of Africa. Indeed, it's a good cause—one that drew everyone from Karolina Kurkova, Angela Lindvall, and Dita Von Teese to Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson, and Reed Krakoff. "Tonight as I was getting ready, standing in my closet, this white gown called out to me,"the hostess said of her Deco dress. "I chose to wear white to represent our organic spirit in honor of our mission." As guests including Ali Larter, Maria Sharapova, Devon Aoki, and Rachel Zoe mingled, a newly engaged Kanye West and Kim Kardashian arrived just in time to greet the evening's honoree, Vogue Italia editor in chief Franca Sozzani. "I doubt Franca knows this, but my first modeling job was with Vogue Italia,"said Amber Valletta while introducing Sozzani to the crowd. She later added that the editor changed the course of her career. Taking the stage to accept her accolade, Sozzani coined the night's catchphrase: "Giving back is the new luxury."
From galas to premieres, the celebrity set had plenty of reasons to dress up this week. At the 2013 Whitney gala in New York on Wednesday, all-black Louis Vuitton frocks were a favorite, with Dianna Agron and Michelle Williams wearing crystal- or bow-embellished iterations, respectively. Earlier in the week, red-carpet regulars Marion Cotillard and Natalie Portman selected floral looks from Christian Dior’s Spring ’14 runway. The former wore a strapless silver jacquard number to Elle‘s 20th Annual Women in Hollywood celebration on Monday, while the latter paired a black cashmere top with a floor-grazing skirt for the world premiere of her film Thor: The Dark World on Tuesday in London.
On Friday evening, Lupita Nyong’o took to the red carpet in a black Resort ’14 Christopher Kane dress at premiere of her film 12 Years a Slave during the 57th BFI London Film Festival. A rising star (in the sartorial and silver-screen sense), Nyong’o has a commanding presence. And, judging by her recent sartorial winning streak (last week’s Miu Miu look was quite a stunner), we have a feeling that this newcomer will soon be a fixture on many a best-dressed list.
Here, more of this week’s red-carpet highlights.
When we first heard that Kate Moss and Johnny Depp would reunite for Sir Paul McCartney's music video for the single "Queenie Eye," we knew it was going to be something special. But the flick, which features McCartney jamming on the piano while wearing Birkenstocks, surprised us with a slew of star-studded cameos. Meryl Streep, Jude Law, Lily Cole, and even Tom Ford are just a few of the familiar names that rocked out to McCartney's new hit. Our only question is—where was our invite?
Having previously collaborated with Ralph Gibson, Collier Schorr, and Tina Barney, it's no surprise that Bottega Veneta designer Tomas Maier has tapped another famed portrait photographer, David Armstrong, to shoot both the men's and women's Resort '14 ad campaigns. Featuring Laura Love and Lucas Mascarini, Armstrong's naturally lit photos highlight the collections' ease, craftsmanship, and relaxed elegance. Take a first look at the snaps here, exclusively on Style.com.
Sex and streetwear aren't the most obvious bedfellows, but editor, stylist, and all-around provocateur Andrew Richardson has united them in his new store, Richardson. "I don't know if there is a logical connection between sex and streetwear, but I always thought that streetwear was sexy and cool," he mused between puffs on a cigarette. "There's always an attitude, and I think that's sexy—sexy confidence." That may be so, but his shop, which opens this Friday at 325 Broome Street in New York, sells swag that's arguably more perverse than confidence-boosting hoodies.
Best known for his cerebral, self-titled sex magazine, also called Richardson, Andrew is well versed in the streetwear subculture—he's even done a bevy of projects with cult label (or, as some would argue, lifestyle) Supreme. In his store, Andrew presents his liberated take on sex and bondage via clever T-shirts, bomber jackets, swim trunks, caps, and towels—many of which were created in collaboration with such artists as Christopher Wool, Bjarne Melgaard, and Aaron Bondaroff. Some highlights include a melting snowman shirt by Nate Lowman; a tee printed with a car that reads "Blow Jobs"; totes scribed with the store's ethos, "Work hard, play nice, communicate"; and a sweatsuit by artist Mario Gonzalez. Embellished with images of lady parts and a cowboy flaunting his impressive member, the latter is guaranteed to inspire stares.
Following her third comeback last year, designer Jil Sander is leaving her namesake brand. Her final collection for the house (which was helmed by Raf Simons from 2005 through 2012) was for Spring ’14. The Jil Sander Group announced today that the Fall'14 collection will be designed by an in-house team. No word yet on Sander’s successor.