FASHION Magazine

Just weeks after news broke that Nicholas Ghesquière was leaving Balenciaga, Christopher Kane is doing the same with his role at Versus.

While busy designing his namesake line, Christopher Kane has been working at the helm of Versus, alongside Donatella Versace for the past six years. Today, the label announced a mutual separation agreement. Versus plans to slow down the production of its seasonal collections and focus more on the digital aspect of the brand, with Donatella Versace designing the label with help from young designers and stylists.

About his departure from Versus, Kane said, “the time has come to dedicate all my focus to the future of the Christopher Kane label.” Or could he mean Balenciaga?

Check out Rihanna’s looks from the 777 tour »

“Hello! This is 777. Let’s get drunk! I love you!” Rihanna announced into a Boeing 777 PA as the first leg of her tour promoting her newest album, “Unapologetic” took off. The tour, which consists of seven shows in seven countries in seven days, is a lot of performing to say the least. But Rihanna is up for the challenge.

She also told the 200 fans, journalists and her personal entourage, “It will be the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” We won’t disagree with that statement.

Kristen Stewart headed to London to take her place at the top of the throne, as the queen of the Twilight Breaking Dawn: Part Two red carpet. With many of the other vampires still in America, KStew shone even brighter in an equally scandalous outfit as Monday’s premiere.

Kristen Stewart went back to Zuhair Murad for yet another red carpet look (could she be shying away from Balenciaga?) and this time, she went for a one-piece catsuit. What KStew didn’t shy away from is showing some more skin. This walk on the red carpet was a less obvious example of how to show skin than yesterday, but still there were a lot of glimpses at the actress’ body. The Zuhair Murad catsuit had elaborate detailing from a cut out back to sheer lace overlay on the side of the pants and the top. The lace on the front was strategically placed to cover what would merit a wardrobe malfunction. Kristen Stewart left her bright pink lipstick in Los Angeles and went for a more natural look beauty wise—her hair was a well-styled case of bed head and she had a subtle smoky eye.

See all the Christmas gifts
for best friends »

Buying a Christmas gift for your best friend should come as one easy task. You know your best friend inside and out, and chances are that you have similar tastes and shopping habits. But for those out there that don’t have a clue where to start, we have many ideas for Christmas gifts for best friends (and sisters and girlfriends too!) included here in our 2012 gift guide.

Christmas is a season of giving, and why not choose a Christmas gift idea for your best friend who you’ll likely be spending some of the holidays with? The affordable gift ideas for best friends featured here are all under $100, so even if the Christmas season is draining your wallet there are still cute, but cheap options out there for your best friend.

We were given 24 hours to reflect upon the departure of Nicolas Ghesquière from Balenciaga before the rumour mill started up, and the rumours will only continue until the Parisian fashion house announces whom it has selected to take the reigns.

Chief executive officer, Isabelle Guichot, told WWD that they will announce the successor of Nicolas Ghesquière “as soon as we’re ready” but added that they “have a short list.”

Although she declined to delve into the short list, speculation has already been made about who will be stepping in. According to sources, American-based designers Alexander Wang and Joseph Altuzarra are rumoured to be candidates for the coveted role as well as London talents, Mary Katrantzou, J.W. Anderson, Thomas Tait and Christopher Kane.

Take a look back at Nicolas Ghesquière’s Balenciaga Top 10 »

As any entry-level fashion historian might know, clothing is as good a representation of what’s going on in the world as any. At a more micro level, its one of the best ways to chart changing aesthetics through time. What better proponent of so many of fashion’s most recent aesthetic shifts than Nicolas Ghesquière, creative director of Balenciaga, who announced today that after 15 years with the brand, he’d be stepping down. As someone who was so effected by Ghesquière’s genius while wading through my own fashion discovery (namely the one-two punch of Spring 2007 and Spring 2008), this news is real sucky. On the bright side, it’s a great time to look back at just how unbelievably influential Ghesquière was in starting so many recurring trends.

These boots may not be made for trekking. But we couldn’t resist pitting fall’s mighty coats, knits and leathers against the 420-million-year-old dolostone of the Bruce Trail, which turns 50 this year. Timely designs against a timeless backdrop. Happy anniversary to us all.

See the Bruce Trail photo shoot »
Go behind the scenes at the Bruce Trail »
Watch the Bruce Trail fashion film »

Rugged and rocky Canadian terrain may not be an ideal setting when combined with fall temperatures. But when paired with the latest Fall 2012 trends, the trek seems to look a lot more attractive. We put the best of fall’s coats, leather and knitwear to the test against the beautiful backdrop of the Bruce Trail, who like us here at FASHION are celebrating a big anniversary this year (they turn 50, we just turned 35). By layering modern pieces from the likes of Balenciaga, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, it made for a stark contrast against the 420-million-year-old dolostone that makes up Canada’s longest footpath. So while the boots in this shoot may not be made for hiking, the clothes sure fit beautifully against the timeless backdrop of the Bruce Trail.

Just following the success of his recent Spring 2013 show in Paris, it has been announced today that Nicolas Ghesquière is to leave Balenciaga. According to WWD, the designer, who has been creative director of the French brand for 15 years, confirmed today that they have made a “joint decision to end their working relationship”, […]

The post Nicolas Ghesquière to leave Balenciaga appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

See the biggest Spring 2013 fashion trends »
See all of our fashion month coverage »

It’s official, Spring 2013 fashion month is over. And after receiving a daily dose of street style photos and runway updates, it would be silly for us to ignore the trends that we saw day after day (after day, after day). It’s hard not to fall victim to sensory overload, but thankfully our street style photographer, Stefania Yarhi, made it easy for us to pick and choose which trends we know we’ll be seeing all spring long. With hundreds of photos from Paris, Milan, London, New York, and Toronto at our disposal, we just couldn’t ignore the countless graphic tops (a day without a Balenciaga sci-fi sweater sighting was a total shocker), exposed bellies, suits, and mixed prints—so we didn’t because we’re positive they will be huge come Spring 2013. We’ve selected 10 of the biggest fashion trends from the streets and the runways and put them together in one place, so gets to clickin’. The leaves may just be starting to fall, but it’s never too early to plan for spring, right? (RIGHT!)

View by trend: 1. CARTOON GRAPHICS | 2. BARE MIDRIFF | 3. FILING SUIT | 4. MIXED PRINTS | 5. MONOCHROMATIC | 6. OUT THERE ACCESSORIES | 7. PEEK A BOO | 8. SEEING RED | 9. SIXTIES | 10. STRUCTURE

Still craving more Kristen Stewart? Read our interview with her! »

The post EXCLUSIVE: Watch the Florabotanica Balenciaga interview with Kristen Stewart live at 3pm EST! appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

View the first batch of Toronto Fashion Week Spring 2013 street style »

Hopefully having a couple of weeks to relax and refresh after the end of Paris Fashion Week did you well, because Fashion Week Spring 2013 continues on. This time the shows are just mere steps from our front doors as Toronto Fashion Week gets underway.

Officially World MasterCard Fashion Week doesn’t start until next week, but that doesn’t mean Fashion Week is already in full swing. Our resident street style photographer Stefania Yarhi was out yesterday snapping all the fashionable Torontonians as they rushed from The Collections to The ShOws. And rush they did! Going from Chloe Comme Parris and Label at the Burroughs Building to Tanya Taylor and Jean-Pierre Braganza at Andrew Richards Design in a small amount of time is no easy feat, but the fashion crowd did their best to not miss these presentations.

It’s been a mind-bending year for actress Kristen Stewart. Sarah Daniel sits down with Balenciaga’s new fragrance face.

The 3 things we learned about Kristen Stewart during our interview »
Watch the behind-the-scenes video from the campaign shoot »

In the advertising campaign for Balenciaga Florabotanica (from $90, at department stores and thebay.com), Kristen Stewart, the face of the dark floral fragrance, stands amid a minefield of ominously beautiful botanicals, inspired by the same vintage Pierre Frey wallpaper that influenced Nicolas Ghesquière’s Fall 2011 collection. Hovering near a stoic Stewart is what appears to be a Venus flytrap, angling to chomp down on her head.

“I think he’s fucking amazing,” Stewart says of Ghesquière, the house’s creative director and the man who wooed her to front its latest fragrance, perhaps with the promise that she wouldn’t have to pose on satin sheets—or smile. Though, on set, she would have been willing to cooperate if that had been the order of the day. “I was like, ‘Do you want me to stand a certain way to show the curves of the dress? Do you want me to model it up?’ By default, you sort of learn these things over the years, but they were like, ‘No, no, no, just stuff your hands in your pockets and just stand there.’”