FASHION Magazine

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, born on Aug. 19, 1883, was a true Leo. Bronze and marble lions litter the interior of 31 Rue Cambon, where she spent her life; in Lausanne, where she now lies, five lions sit etched on her tombstone. Beginning in the 1920s, the buttons of her soft tweed suits often bore symbols, including lion’s heads, and, as befits her leonine birthright, those suits won her king-sized fame. And yet, in the ’30s, Chanel found herself eclipsed by a Virgo.

Elsa Schiaparelli, born on Sept. 10, 1890, spent her childhood surveying the heavens. Her uncle, Giovanni, was a well-known astronomer, and it was he who pointed out that the moles on her face formed the constellation Ursa Major. In Schiaparelli’s 1938 Zodiac collection, the constellation glitters over the left shoulder of a blue velvet jacket that’s as lushly bizarre as Chanel tweeds are classic. Together, she and Chanel set up fashion’s organizing dichotomy—high art or expensive habit?—and they remain the century’s most important couturiers.

They loathed each other. Schiaparelli referred to commercial, streetwise Chanel as “that milliner,” while Chanel called the surreally cool Schiap “that Italian artist who makes clothes.” In fact, besides talent and mutual disdain, the only thing these two had in common was a belief in the very system that best explains their differences.

Vogue Nippon editor-at-large Anna Dello Russo made a music video about fashion. And it is absolutely killing us. [Annadellorusso]

UK retailer Harvey Nichols holiday commercial features adorable dogs being bought and sold as accessories. That sounds about right. [Elle UK]

Ben Mulroney will be teaming up with necktie manufacturer Braemore Neckwear to design a line of pocket squares. Toronto Life has a greatest hits gallery from the TV host’s own wardrobe.  [Toronto Life]

The New York Times has declared the red carpet to be stylish again. Thank god. [NYT]

Karl Lagerfeld isn’t the only mega-designer to sign up for a collaboration with Macy’s. Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein, Costume National and Versace will also be putting out capsule collections for the American department store. [WWD]

Barney’s creative director Simon Doonan has some wedding style advice for princess-to-be Kate Middleton: cut your hair short and wear a Victoria Beckham-designed wedding dress. [Slate]

Cue the chorus: In the video above, shot during a photoshoot for Canadian mag The Block, Crystal Renn dances around in a nude leotard, looking pretty darn slim. [Dossier Journal, via Racked]

Lady Gaga‘s alter ego, a Sicilian mechanic named Jo Calderone will grace the cover of Japanese Vogue Hommes. An excerpt from the interview with “Jo” implies the two slept together: “WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO LADY GAGA?  I met her at a shoot Nick Knight was doing. She’s fuckin beautiful, and funny, and interesting. I was a little nervous for Nick to start shooting. She said, “Don’t be baby, you were “born this way.” I took her out after. The rest is private ;)”.  [The Cut]

What’s fringed, flat, studded with stars and costs US$795? It could only be the new Jimmy Choo Uggs. [Racked]

Did Kate Moss secretly marry musician Jamie Hince? The pair have been spotted recently with slim bands on their respective wedding finger, but friends say they’re not hitched yet. [Daily Mail]

Grace Coddington, Vogue’s creative director, is currently penning a memoir, though we’ve already read her book The Catwalk Cats, so we’re not sure what else there is to add. (Kidding! We can’t wait.) [WWD]

We were sort of hoping to see Don Draper peeking out from behind the beehives and a crooning Angela Lindvall in Prada‘s fall commercial. [YouTube]

Are people really so gullible when it comes to spam? If Alexander McQueen left you £7,000,000 in his will, wouldn’t you think you’d know who he was without a Wikipedia link? [Jezebel]

T’was tweeted: Kelly Cutrone has just sealed the deal to write her second book. How does “Bitch – Babe in Total Control of Herself” sound for a title? [Twitter]

Crystal Renn’s curves have been the  subject of much praise lately for diversifying the model landscape. So imagine everyone’s surprise (not to mention her own) when those admired curves appeared to be missing. In a recent batch of photos of Renn posing in Fashion for Passion‘s  latest tees, the model appears to be a few sizes smaller, creating an outburst in the blogosphere and causing her agent to immediately assert that she is still “a solid size ten.” Renn herself has just commented  on the images in a recent interview:

The Jean Paul Gaultier fall campaign has recently surfaced on the web. Shot by Inez and Vinoodh, the colourful photo features Crystal Renn, Chinese model Ping Hue and French model Kelly Moirera. [Fashionista]

Expect the British Olympic athletes of 2012 to be especially well-dressed. Stella McCartney has been appointed the creative director of Adidas’ 2012 Olympic Team GB uniforms. “As a British fashion designer it is an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be creative director of Team GB as the hosting nation of the London 2012 Olympic Games,” she says. [Vogue UK]

Check out the behind the scenes of the Louis Vuitton Fall ad campaign. [Youtube]

After being in the news for looking surprisingly thin in recent photos, Crystal Renn‘s agent asserted she was still a “solid size 10.” She’s been hiking a lot lately, perhaps explaining why she looks so toned. [The Cut] Read our interview with Crystal Renn from the August issue.

With frequent email and twitter updates, we’ve been (jealously) following acting editor-in-chief Bernadette Morra play petanque with Diane Kruger, see Crystal Renn strut in Chanel’s 2011 Cruise collection and watch the debut of Karl Lagerfeld‘s Remember Now – all in St-Tropez. In her latest installation she’s moved on to the town of Grasse in the […]

The post FASHION editor frolics in the Chanel No. 5 meadows appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

It’s a good day for Canadian fashion, The Bay has just announced its place as a partner in the National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts (ANDAM) Fashion award. “Partnering with ANDAM is a huge stride for Canada as a fashion authority and resource,” said The Bay’s fashion director, Suzanne Timmins. The ANDAM Fashion award is the world’s largest international fashion prize. Two of this year’s finalists include Canadians Mark Fast and Calla Haynes. The competition is open to fashion designers of any nationality under the age of 40 who plan to show and develop their collections in France.

According to Forbes’ Highest Paid Model list, Brazilian beauty Gisele Bündchen rakes in more cash than any other model. Interestingly, the order of this year’s list is identical to last year’s. Coincidence or copy and paste? [The Cut]