FASHION Magazine

By Laura deCarufel

Michel Gaubert has a laugh that makes you want to get him alone with a gin and tonic and a confidentiality vow, and ask him to dish about his three decades in the fashion world. Rarely in the spotlight but always in the vanguard (and on the guest list), Gaubert is an insider’s insider, the style set’s most trusted DJ. He’s partied with Thierry Mugler and Jerry Hall, collaborated with Longchamp, and created runway soundtracks for power houses such as Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten and—most notably and consistently—for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel.

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 »

Fashion peeps never play by the rules. Just because the calendar says fall doesn’t mean you can’t get a jumpstart on your spring wardrobe. Here’s your shopping short list. Game on!

1. Fringe, fringe, and more fringe. Barbara Bui showed shaggy cropped jackets with row upon row of the swingy stuff.

2. Midnight blue. No, it’s not navy, people. It’s midnight blue and it looks fabulous paired with black à Nina Ricci.

Balenciaga’s SS 2012 show is all over Twitter and fashion news sites this morning, but not for the reasons you would expect. The headlines were enough to make any fashion editor cringe with sympathy: “Broken Benches Send Editors and Buyers Crashing to the Floor at Balenciaga Show” and “Balenciagea Attendees Forced to Stand Throughout the Show Because of Faulty Benches”. No one was hurt, thank God, but standing during a runway show? How terribly gauche!

Thanks to live Tweeting, we get to experience the event almost as if we were there. Runway show veterans the Traina sisters were the first to hear the bench creaking, and jumped up seconds before it came crashing to the floor. (Kate Lanphear and Eric Wilson weren’t so lucky!) But despite the surprise of a standing-room-only presentation (and difficulty for the shorter members of the audience), the show did go on. Everyone present, including the likes of Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Salma Hayek, and François-Henri Pinault, stood like champs, and watched the show as though the models were brides heading down the aisle. We can’t even imagine how horrible it would have been had Anna Wintour been one to fall on the floor.

Word: Ostalgie

Meaning: A hybrid term derived from “Ost” (German for east) and “Nostalgie” (duh), meant to describe a nostalgic and/or ironic love of Old East German ways of life

Usage: “Ostalgie is not for the totalitarian government but for the clarity that emerges from the knowledge that great minds risked the gulag, the madhouse, the blindfold, and the rifle with every act of artistic creation.” —Paris Review

This week, we’re exploring the Yves Saint Laurent tote belonging to Caitlin Agnew, assistant editor/research. Her assortment of unusual yet completely essential goodies from as far away as Paris (plaid-covered lint remover, anyone?) denote an attention to detail that she puts to the test in her sleuth-like job here at FASHION.

Let’s explore! »

This week, we take you inside the zipped croc Marc by Marc Jacobs purse belonging to our lovely beauty editor, Sarah Daniel. She claims that the bag was her first foray into grownup shopping, but we find that hard to believe, given her assortment of beautiful and hard-to-find products, like a sample bottle of perfume that’s got its creator’s handwritten labelling. Oh, and that book she’s reading? The recommendation came from India Hicks. No biggie.

Let’s explore! »

Back in March, Carine Roitfeld was unveiled as Barneys New York guest editor and stylist for the Fall 2011 campaign. As could have been expected, shots of said campaign leaked this week. As was not expected, they featured Roitfeld as the model. What’s more? The images released by WWD yesterday show Roitfeld’s children, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld. Now, it makes sense that the campaign is titled “Carine’s World” (as if it wasn’t already).

Even the Queen knows she can’t rule without her subjects, so, naturally the campaign will also feature her stylish subjects: Marie-Amelié Sauvé in Balenciaga, Victoire de Castellane in Azzedine Alaïa, and Dasha Zhukova in Proenza Schouler. Everything was shot by Mario Sorrenti and the images will appear in Barneys’ windows as well as inside the stores and on the website as of September 2.

Yesterday there was also a campaign image released for an I.N.C project that Vogue Nippon editor-at-large, Anna Dello Russo is working on, and—surprise!—it features her as the model. Starting this fall, Dello Russso will act as editor-at-large for I.N.C, an in-house brand of Macy’s. We wonder which editor set the trend and who followed… Either way, it looks like Roitfeld and Dello Russo are on board for Operation Vogue Editors Dominating the World.

This week, we take you into the sophisticated looking Balenciaga Papier tote that belongs to our online editor, Randi Bergman. Inside, you’ll find a mixed bag (literally) of odd trinkets like a harmonica, a ridiculously oversized ring, and a super-bright lipstick she swears was made just for her.

Let’s explore! »

From celebrity stylists to models, this chic group of Canadian expats is painting the big apple red (and white).

See these women and read about their fashion careers, their favourite New York haunts, and what they miss the most about Canada »

We’re kvelling over here. Belleville-born beauty and five-time FASHION cover girl Liisa Winkler has landed one of our favourite new campaigns: the Steven Meisel–photo’d Balenciaga Fall 2011 shots. Featuring Winkler alongside fellow model Julia Nobis swathed in the season’s angular colour-blocked pieces, the shots juxtapose the setting of the Gothic arches of a Harlem church with sterile black-and-white bathroom tiles. “I met with Nicolas in New York and he booked me ‘exclusive’ for his show in Paris. Soon after, I shot the campaign in New York with Steven,” says Winkler. “It was so nice to work with such a great team again. After being out of the industry for the past few years raising my kids, I feel more solid in my own skin and more able to fully appreciate and understand all the creative direction that goes into a shoot like this.”

To boot, she is also featured in the just-released behind-the-scenes video of the shoot filmed by model Karen Elson and is seen in many of the, like, zillion photos that are included on the relaunched Balenciaga website. You go, homegirl!

View our favourite moments from the Fall 2011 Paris collections now »