FASHION Magazine

It’s Paris. It’s raining. And the fashion cognoscenti are rethinking their footwear for Paris Fashion Week Spring 2013. Velvet slippers are out. And maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to leave the Hunter wellies at home. Here are some high and low lights from my first day in the city of light: Champagne with […]

The post Paris Fashion Week Spring 2013: See-through trousers at Dries Van Voten, peplum hems (and a bit of Gaga) at Mugler, champagne with Eddie Borgo and more appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

The new wave of head-to-toe black looks in slick leathers and decadent fabrics casts a dark shadow over the season.

See this trend on the runway »

Twilight has fallen over spring’s garden of flirty ’50s looks, light-as-air fabrics and sugar-dusted pastels. Fall 2012 takes fashion in a darker direction, more easily defined by a mood than a trend. Black, in all its textural incarnations (patent leather, velvet, wool, fur, satin) rolled over the runways from New York to Paris like an impending storm cloud, urging us to take cover. But are these dark clothes for dark times? We haven’t experienced this level of sartorial sobriety since Fall 2009, when austerity reigned supreme as the result of a volatile stock market. This season, coverage is king (again) but there’s an underlying strength and sexiness to it this time around. 

Call it the Rooney Mara effect: Gareth Pugh, Riccardo Tisci and Ann Demeulemeester channelled Stieg Larsson’s anti-heroine, Lisbeth Salander, with their strict, second-skin leather looks. No ink or piercings required, just confidence with a capital C. At Pugh, there were loads of skinny leather trousers; at Givenchy, a body-con turtleneck dress that flared below the hips looked like it was composed of latex; and at Demeulemeester, construction, shape and architecture leapt from the shadows into the spotlight. Part apocalyptic warrior, part goth, part badass hacker, this moody message also contains whispers of the erotic, as witnessed at Viktor & Rolf’s partial peep show. Jean Paul Gaultier brought street style to a dark place, pairing a deconstructed two-tone moto jacket with a razor-sharp pencil skirt. Donatella Versace resurrected the idea of protection with her lineup of crucifix-embellished coats and sweaters, chain-mail dresses and armour-like corsets. These sinfully good elements were reminiscent of her late brother’s final collection in 1996. Clearly, sex and religion never go out of style.

Fashion Television (RIP) was ahead of its time in several ways, and here is one of them: In 1985, when executive producer Jay Levine launched the program, he imagined it might become a channel for short narrative videos about clothing. Fashion films, now so inescapable a phenomenon, were then just a thought without a name: if music videos could revolutionize the way we consume pop, couldn’t a little cinematography do the same for clothing? The ’70s had seen then-living legends Guy Bourdin and Richard Avedon experiment with the moving image, and as film-recording cameras became less expensive, it seemed likely they’d land in the hands of younger, emerging lensmen. As MTV was to music videos, so might Fashion Television be to this new mode of image-making.

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British designer Gareth Pugh, who launched his collection of dark makeup for M.A.C earlier this month, is known just as much for his own makeup just as he is for his Gothic inspired designs. Pugh let the Guardian in on his own beauty routine: “I have a pallid complexion, I look tired, and if I […]

The post Quotable: Without a hairdryer, Gareth Pugh might look like Diana Ross appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Here are our first pics from Paris fashion week, from outside Gareth Pugh. Just as we’ve come to expect from the wonderful Lewis Mirrett, these shots are breathtaking. The French just know how to do it well.

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By Sarah Casselman and Susie Sheffman

From swinging ’60s to cowgirl chic, the hot looks
and perfect pieces you need for fall.

View the runway report now »

View by trend: Colour | Strict Rules | Tux Luxe | Flash Mob | Mod Squad
True Grit | Geometry Class | Accessories

When we left off last week, we’d been quickly caught up on what had been happening in Bon Temps while Sookie took her Fae sabbatical. Now that the fairy dust has settled, we start to see what this season will be about: Jason’s new animal urges, Eric and Sookie playing house, and a woo-ooh, witchy woman, who’s got the moon in her eyes.

Somebody’s Baby Tonight
-Eric and Sookie continue their not-yet-lovers quarrel about Eric’s landlord status—he asks nicely for her to be his so he can protect her, but she’s not biting and neither is he for now.
-Sookie heads to Bill’s to appeal to him for help and learns about his new royal rank from his guards.
-She interrupts Bill and Katerina, the sexed up spy-witch, finishing up from some post debriefing de-briefing. By this we mean that they were doing the deed, which makes it the second between-the-sheets scene for the season. Check!
-Bill is kind of noncommittal about helping Sookie and basically tells her to move on and move out. Out with the henleys, in with the ‘tude?

Sookie’s guide to what to wear to ask your ex for a favour
A chambray dress and mustard yellow cardie say: “I don’t want to seduce you, but you better still think I’m cute.” ($177, shopbop.com)

When we interviewed our August 2011 cover star, Lady Gaga, while she was on tour in Montreal, you can imagine she shared too many pearls to include on one page. Since there was too much Gaga goodness to share, we decided to feature it all here for you. Enjoy!

Click here to read our interview with Lady Gaga now »

Rihanna is implicated in racist allegations against Gucci. [Telegraph UK]

By Randi Bergman and Jordan Porter

There isn’t much else that can top a great pop song… except maybe the video. And the video for Beyoncé’s latest single, “Run The World (Girls)” has got us here at FASHION in a dance-infused tizzy. Forget working, we’re too busy trying to emulate the bangin’ choreography and the warrior-like costumes. While we’ll have to wait till never to get our hands on the Gareth Pugh, Emilio Pucci, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy Couture and Jean Paul Gaultier we’ve pulled together a list of readily available items to quench your Beyoncé thirst for the time being. WHO RUNS THIS MOTHER?

Shop the guide now! »

Congratulations are in order. Our own Jeremy Laing, who has been announced as one of six finalists for the 2011 ANDAM Prize. The organization (the National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts) is focused on assisting young designers internationally, the winner receiving €200,000 (about $280,000) as well as year long mentorship with Ralph Toledano, a former managing director at Chloé and Karl Lagerfeld.