FASHION Magazine

Who says all trends come from the street or runway? Ever since Diana Vreeland invented the blockbuster fashion exhibition during her tenure as a special consultant to the Met’s Costume Institute, curators has kept the fashion-as-art conversation going with the re-discovery of forgotten designers or historical eras. “I try to curate shows that have a relevance to what’s happening in contemporary culture,” explained Andrew Bolton, curator of the Met’s newly renamed Anna Wintour Costume Center, to Another Magazine. “The power of fashion lies in its power to transform identity. So I try to fit in ideas with the zeitgeist.”

This year, fashion curators are pulling together a number of different zeitgeist threads. The Met, for instance, will be swapping the safety pins and Vivienne Westwood bondage gear from last year’s “Punk” exhibition for a retrospective devoted to Charles James, one of the first American couturiers who was, according to the late Cristobal Balenciaga, “the world’s best and only dressmaker who has raised it from an applied art to a pure art form.” Known as a difficult genius who made clients wait for their orders—or become so attached to his pieces that he’d refuse to hand them over at all—the designer was a blueprint for some of today’s best talents.

With the rise of Spring 2014’s art-inspired runway trend, what better time to learn about five game-changing fashion curators as well as a hint at some of the 2014 fashion exhibitions that may lead style conversations this year.

See the ’90s Supermodels look on the 2013 runways »

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

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Dsquared Spring 2013

Dsquared Spring 2013

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Saint Laurent Fall 2013

Saint Laurent Fall 2013

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Lanvin Fall 2013

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Versace Fall 2013

Versace Fall 2013

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Chanel Fall 2013

Chanel Fall 2013

Fierceness, thy name is Naomi. And Linda. And Cindy. Recognized in fashion circles by their first names alone, ’90s supermodels are the latest icons to ride the decade’s wave of nostalgia into our already punk-, grunge- and angst-heavy wardrobes.

Known now as the Supers, the larger-than-life model pack fronted by Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer and Christy Turlington ruled not only the runway but the cultural zeitgeist as well. They were everywhere, starring in George Michael’s epic “Freedom 90” music video, appearing in a Time Magazine cover story, even launching a chain of Fashion Cafes. And while they wore everything from skin-tight Alaïa bandage dresses to Versace scarf print leggings, their look was ultimately defined by a 1991 photo shoot that captured the high-impact collision between the supermodel phenomenon and the moto trend. Lensed by Peter Lindbergh for Vogue, it featured a Marlon Brando-meets-Madonna blend of hardware-heavy motorcycle jackets, ball skirts and pleated minis with embellished leather caps and Chanel pearls.

Following in the footsteps of Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier, Narciso Rodriguez and Elie Saab, Azzedine Alaïa has signed a fragrance and cosmetics license with Beauté Prestige International, reports WWD.

Alaïa has been designing fashion for more than 50 years, but this is his first foray into cosmetics and fragrance. “Beauté Prestige International corresponds perfectly to the spirit of the Alaïa house,” said Alaïa. “I am delighted to work with them in launching this new project. I have total confidence in Beauté Prestige International to accompany me in creating a perfume that interprets my work and my world.”

Alaïa is notorious for his continued success while remaining outside the mainstream fashion fray, opting to present collections on his own schedule and within the privacy of his own studio space. However, we suspect that BPI won’t let the launch of Alaïa’s forthcoming fragrance be an off-the-grid affair.

See Jerome LaMaar’s illustrations »

Fashion illustration has long made our hearts skip several beats and luckily the blogosphere is full of talented artists who love to take the latest runway looks and turn them into beautifully rendered imaginative hand sketches (giving our eyes a fashionable feast). But with the recent rise in this art form’s popularity, it can be difficult to find sketches that really stand out among the many. Which is why we’re loving the work of a Mr. Jerome LaMaar, whom we discovered this morning reinterprets classic cartoon characters in the coolest looks from the Spring 2013 collections.

Everyone’s favourite Sailor Moon girls don labels like Balmain, Céline, Prada, Givenchy and Dries Van Noten’s grunge couture; Betty Boop flirts it up in Alaia; Jem (of The Holograms) gets attention-grabbing Balenciaga and Daria trades her usual green jacket and brown pleated skirt for colourful Marni prints. And that’s just naming a few. Alexander Wang, Chloé and Roberto Cavalli all get mentions as well.

Go inside the Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style Exhibition »

Fifty years is just enough time to coin some classic cinematic phrases. We all know “shaken not stirred” and “Bond, James Bond,” no matter if you’ve seen one or all 22 (23, now that Skyfall has been released) films, everyone knows something about James Bond. But today in Toronto at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style opens and lets film lovers into the world of Bond.

For us, it’s about the costumes and design sketches. Bond is known for taking a tuxedo and making it timeless yet modernized with every new film. From suits that were worn by Pierce Brosnan to the Tom Ford tailored suit Daniel Craig wore in 2008 in Quantum of Solace, the exhibition shows off how the costuming and tailoring has advanced as time goes on.

As for the Bond Women (we were corrected after calling them Bond Girls), Bronwyn Cosgrave, guest curator of the exhibition sad it best, “They [Bond Women] have always had to epitomize beauty and style and consistently they’ve done that.” And that’s precisely what Designing 007 shows. Instead of making the Bond Women play a supporting role in the exhibit, the women’s costumes are mixed in with all of James’ gear and suits. But let’s be honest, it’s their outfits that really steal the show. The dresses span from an Oscar De La Renta in a classic ODR crimson red to a hooded Alaïa (who’s a totally important designer) that was worn by a super villain, May Day (played by Grace Jones) in A View To Kill. And the added bonus, the Bond Women’s diamonds, which really make the casino looks, are on display to be ogled.

Princess Diary
By Dennis Hensley

Lily Collins embarks on a thoroughly modern fairy tale with her first starring role,
as a sword-fighting, prince-saving Snow White.

When Lily Collins arrived for her first costume fitting as Snow White on the Montreal set of Mirror Mirror, she assumed the most fabulous getups would go to her co-star Julia Roberts, who plays the evil queen. “I saw all these dramatic, colourful, amazing outfits and I thought, ‘Wow, Julia’s so lucky,’” says the 23-year-old British-born actress who’s best known for playing Sandra Bullock’s daughter in The Blind Side. “And then they started bringing them in, and I said, ‘Is this for me?’ The first outfit took 25 minutes to get into, and when I looked in the mirror I got teary-eyed.” Then there were the elaborate sets; she describes a giant indoor forest and 40 tons of salt for snow. “I was sprinting through this huge room of trees, in my ball gown, sword-fighting, going up cliffs,” she marvels. “When the crew brought their kids onto set, they would see me and start crying. They were like, ‘Blanche Neige!’”

View Lily Collins’ wardrobe picks »
Read the interview with Lily Collins »

From ready-to-wear to footwear—check out the four designers that are on our radar.

CHLOÉ COMME PARRIS | CHRISSIE MORRIS | JOOMI LIM |
J.W. ANDERSON

View the designers now »
View the photo gallery »

Last night, Holt Renfrew fêted Erin Kleinberg, Stephanie Mark, and Jake Rosenberg, the home-grown trio behind voyeuristic style site The Coveteur. Held in the the shoe department of the Bloor Street flagship store, the soiree debuted a new photo exhibit previewing the store’s fall footwear collections, as well as the closets of Canadian taste-makers Dee Dee Taylor Eustace, Gabor Jurina (whose closet was guest-edited by our very own Susie Sheffman), Sylvia Mantella, and Lynda Latner. The three Coveteurs (get it?) looked as chic as the venue, with Kleinberg in a flowing DVF and Céline choker, Mark in Alaïa, and Rosenberg in Hugo Boss. Natch.

View the photo gallery »