FASHION Magazine

Just when you thought you’d heard the end of it, it seems that there was one last blow to be dealt to John Galliano. WWD is reporting that the disgraced designer has been stripped of his title as Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, a designation he received in 2010. The orders came from President […]

The post John Galliano has been stripped of his Legion of Honour appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

To be perfectly honest, we kind of fell off the Glee wagon last season, mostly because Lea Michele’s character started to get just a tad too annoying. But after Ryan Murphy revealed earlier this month that none other than Sarah Jessica Parker would be guest starring on the show for its fourth season, we’re definitely back on board.

One of fashion’s most revered yet reclusive players has finally announced a return to the retail world after more than two decades of absence: Azzedine Alaïa, whose last store shuttered in New York City in 1992, will be settling into a new home at Rue de Marignan, right off of Avenue Montaigne (otherwise known as French luxury mecca).

Also known as the “King of Cling,” Alaïa’s heyday in the ‘80s had him dressing everyone from Grace Jones to Stephanie Seymour in his figure-flattering, body-con designs. Even Cher (not that Cher—the Clueless Cher) knew the gravity of Alaïa – remember the scene when she tells the armed robber who screams at her to get on the ground “Oh, no. You don’t understand, this is an Alaïa”?

After the death of his sister though, the Tunisian-born designer retreated from the industry for most of the ‘90s, only catering to a small group of clientele and presenting his collections (on his own time, of course) in his apartment/atelier/headquarters in the heart of the Marais district. In other words, Alaïa had the fashion world come to him: he didn’t advertise, he didn’t get online and he didn’t get sucked into what he called a “stressful” system. He didn’t even bother kissing up to Anna Wintour, even daring to say “who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion?” Unsurprisingly, she didn’t take well to that — the two have been engaged in a longstanding feud for years that’s seen Alaïa completely ousted from the pages of Vogue.

Even without Wintour’s backing, the past decade has been a period of revival for Alaïa’s eponymous brand, especially after partnering up with luxury goods group Richemont in 2007. For instance, last year Barneys doubled their Alaïa space, the designer showed his Fall 2011 couture collection to rave reviews (also marking his first time at Fashion Week in eight years) and as any Sofia Coppola fangirl knows, he designed her stunning lavender wedding dress.

The question now is, given the designer’s well-known skepticism of the business side of fashion, will he be able to make a return to the retail world without sacrificing his independence?

At long last, Anna Wintour has finally spoken out about the controversy surrounding Vogue’s glamourized portrayal of Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad last year, as well as addressed the atrocities that are ongoing in Syria today.

“Like many at that time, we were hopeful that the Assad regime would be open to a more progressive society. Subsequent to our interview, as the terrible events of the past year and a half unfolded in Syria, it became clear that its priorities and values were completely at odds with those of Vogue,” Wintour said in a statement Sunday.

The “Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert” feature, which was penned by former Paris Vogue editor-in-chief Joan Juliet Buck, described the beautiful, British-born al-Assad as “glamorous, young, and very chic—the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies.”

Almost immediately after the feature went live, news of the conflict and violence happening under her husband Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship became public, and the situation in Syria has only worsened over the past year and a half. In fact, yesterday the UN’s annual shame list on children and armed conflict was released, naming Syria as one of its worst offenders.

Buck herself spoke out about the feature in the wake of all its uproar.

“I think that Vogue is always on the lookout for good-looking first ladies because they’re a combination of power and beauty and elegance…that’s what Vogue is about. And here was this woman who had never given an interview, who was extremely thin and very well-dressed and therefore, qualified to be in Vogue. And they had — Vogue had been trying to get her for quite a long time,” she told NPR. Should have stopped at “lookout.”

In what must be a first, an invitation to dine with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is being viewed as inappropriate. The sponsored-by-Obama video invitation, which was released last Friday, shows Wintour in a Thakoon-designed Runway to Win scarf as she encourages Barack Obama supporters to enter for a chance to win seats at a Sarah Jessica Parker–hosted dinner, which Michelle Obama and Wintour will also be hosting.

So, what’s inappropriate about that? A report released on the same day as Wintour’s video detailed the dismal numbers of unemployed Americans. Unsurprisingly, the Republican Party was the first to point out the unfortunate timing, lampooning the Wintour video in a video called “Meanwhile.” As Wintour’s video plays in one corner of the screen, unemployment numbers before and after Obama’s presidency flash under the title “Meanwhile…” in the opposite corner.

“There couldn’t be a better demonstration of this president’s misplaced priorities than a glitzy fundraising video release on the same day that marked more unemployed Americans,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. “It’s more than obvious that this president just doesn’t get it.”

While it’s true that the Obama campaign’s timing wasn’t spot-on in this case, will this really affect voters’ confidence in their current president? It’s important to note that both the Democratic and Republican parties have their own sets of supporters, and both organize celebrity-run dinners to bring out voters. Mitt Romney’s campaign has been promoting the “Dine With the Donald” dinner, which gives supporters a chance to rub shoulders with the business tycoon. Before the Wintour-Parker-Obama trifecta, Democratic Party supporters had come together under George Clooney’s roof as the long-time Obama supporter hosted a campaign dinner.

Does the release date of Wintour’s video show that the president is out of touch with the average American, or is the Republican Party simply using this as a convenient opportunity to take a jab at their political opponent?

Nearly 10 years after penning her “fictional” book about geek-turned-chic assistant Andrea Sachs and ice-queen editrix Miranda Priestley (who is famously inspired by Anna Wintour, who the author was a personal assistant to), Lauren Weisberger has put pen to paper again to bring the characters back to life.

Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns takes place eight years after Andrea triumphantly left Miranda in Paris. Andrea has teamed up with her nemesis-turned-friend Emily to create The Plunge, their very own magazine, and is engaged to a “social media scion” called Max (poor Nate). Thanks to New York’s small media world, Andrea’s path once again crosses with Miranda’s and, of course, drama ensues.

In the world of ready-to-wear fashion, Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte could almost un-exaggeratedly be referred to as gods among designers. Artists. Outsiders. The real deal. Since their label’s launch in 2004, the sisters, 32 and 33 respectively, have been quite solidly staying a cut above the rest with their wise-beyond-their-years artistic references, their ability to seamlessly merge fashion and art and their knack for creating wearable masterpiece after wearable masterpiece with not a fashion degree between them. Between their Van Gogh–inspired spring collection, their somewhat controversial Australian Outback fall outing and their current collaboration with the L.A. Philharmonic, the designers hit Toronto earlier this week for a fête in their honour at The Room at the Bay. We were lucky enough to be let into their world for a little while.

Read the interview »

It’s only fitting that the last of our snaps from Paris should include so many queens of fashion—the queen of big screen fashion, Sarah Jessica Parker, the queen of fashion media, Anna Wintour, the queen of fashion pop, Katy Perry, the queen of the current front rowers, Virginie Courtin-Clarins, and the queen of vintage inspiration, Catherine Deneuve. Enjoy today’s visual feast, and be sure to come back next week when we share our snaps from Toronto.

View the style snaps »

Welcome to Paris, and welcome to another batch of stunning snaps courtesy of our snap star on the streets, Lewis Mirrett! Yesterday, outside Dries Van Noten‘s Fall 2012 show, Mirrett spotted a myriad of delights, from Anna Wintour‘s luxe-beyond-luxe red fur Prada coat, to Sarah Rutson‘s embroidered floral Celine pencil skirt, to Bette Franke‘s extreme orange lids, still in place post show. Brighten your morning with these glorious photos.

View the photo gallery »

With the first leg of Fall 2012 fashion month under our belt, we take one last pop behind the lens of Lewis Mirrett for a peek at what Dakota Fanning, alongisde some of our favourite style stars like Joanna Hillman, Kate Lanphear, Emmanuelle Alt, and of course Anna Wintour wore some of the last few shows. Thirsty for more? Have no fear, we’ll back on February 28 when the shows hit Paris.

View all the style snaps »

As I get ready to hand the reigns over to Rebecca Tay for her coverage of London Fashion Week, let’s take a moment to digest what went down this week in New York. From the top trends developing to some of the best moments, I attempt to break it down in an orderless top 10:

Read up on the week »

We’re just getting started! Day three of New York Fashion Week brings us a look at some incredible colour-blocked pants courtesy of Jenna Lyons, a beyond-textured outfit from Michelle Harper (wearing the designer at Prabal, of course), and a peek at Queen Anna’s signature bob. Come see what else we spotted outside Hervé Léger, Rag & Bone, and Prabal Gurung.

See all the pictures! »