FASHION Magazine

Just three days after the Raf for Jil swap, Yves Saint Laurent has announced that creative director Stefano Pilati will leave the company’s helm following the collection’s Fall show later this week in Paris.

Pilati’s ride at YSL has been a bit of a bumpy one with critically inconsistent collections. But despite a lack of support from YSL heavyweights (Yves Saint-Laurent himself once told WWD, “Some of what he does is good. Some of it is not so good.”), Pilati has rocketed the house towards considerable commercial success (though not quite at Gucci-era Tom Ford levels) with his conception of hit accessories like the Muse bag and Tribute shoe. More than a feat in these financial times, right?

It’s in-and-out at Jil Sander camp this week after the German fashion house announced this morning that Raf Simons will be presenting his last collection as creative director this Saturday. The announcement comes amid (double!) speculation that Simons and founder Jil Sander will be making big moves in the near future. Simons has long been […]

The post Raf Simons is out, while the real Jil might be back in at Jil Sander! What does this mean for Dior? And for our Sander addiction? appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

By Lesa Hannah and Sarah Daniel

Liquid liner hasn’t lost its momentum, but makeup artists left last season’s ’60s mod influence behind and moved back a decade to the ’50s, with inspirations like Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor. At Jonathan Saunders, artiste Lucia Pieroni gave models a Stepford streak, inspired by a mid-century Miami housewife who likes her Valium, she says. At Marni, makeup artist Tom Pecheux applied a cinnamon-coloured flick instead of the standard noir, which was inspired by a terracotta clutch in the collection and brought “a sophisticated finish to the face,” he says. Hair-stylists also mined the past for ideas—from the ’20s to the ’70s, and every decade in between. At Diane von Furstenberg, teased ’60s French twists were “textured so it’s rustic and earthy, and quite simple in shape,” says coiffeur Orlando Pita. But at Jean Paul Gaultier, it was an old photograph that led to the loose wartime rolls that hair guru Guido Palau fastened to the top of the head. Our favourite was the sterile-looking ’50s faux bob at Jil Sander, in all its vacuum-sealed nurse practitioner perfection.

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Call an exorcist, quick! Kate Moss looks like you’ve never seen her before in a hair-raising portrayal of “good and evil” on two covers of W magazine, and we’ve been in an endless loop of scared yet captivated since seeing them.

Shot by Steven Klein and styled by Edward Enniful, W’s Will Self describes “Evil Moss,” who dons black leather and devil horns (potential Halloween costume idea?) as having lips that are “no rosebud but a crushed carnation, her cheekbones somehow performing the alien accomplishment of curving down to below its petals.”  Uh, sexy?

By David Livingstone

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Louis Vuitton show for Spring 2012 opened with the tinkling of a music box and the rising of a scrim to reveal a carousel carrying girls in pale dresses on cream-coloured ponies. It might have seemed a saccharine set-up, but such a response could just be a bad case of not getting it. The news of the season is gentle news. That’s what Marc Jacobs got so right at Louis Vuitton. All the white and those whitened pastels—a key colour trend, favoured by both traditionalists such as Ralph Lauren and more experimental types such as Christopher Kane and Hussein Chalayan—might have appeared to be borrowed from a bag of miniature marshmallows. But the candied palette was not there simply to satisfy a sweet tooth. It also appeals to a Bluetooth appetite when dished out in fabrics that are marvels of modern technology—things like foam organza, silk cellophane and laser-cut leatherette. For the theory-minded, it’s tempting to conclude from the fact that we live in times when you see toddlers dressed in skull patterns and infants swaddled in camo-print blankets that it’s only logical their moms should start playing with pink and baby blue.

From ladylike lace to colourful clashing prints, we present your complete guide to Spring 2012’s freshest new runway looks.

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VIEW BY TREND: SUGAR HIGH | WATER WORLD | GOOD SPORT | FULL BLOOM | CONCRETE JUNGLE | MIX MASTER | GRAPHIC CONTENT | ORANGE CRUSH | WAISTLAND | FINISHING TOUCHES

We round up the best in show, best finale and top invitation designs of Milan fashion week.

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Prior to the recent reports that Jil Sander creative director Raf Simons is the latest frontrunner to replace John Galliano at Dior, it was almost certain that Marc Jacobs would be the designer to succeed Galliano. However, after reports that money issues brought talks to an end, those rumours bit the dust. Throughout this whole ordeal, Jacobs has been quiet, leaving us all wondering if there was ever any truth to these reports.

Which brings us to today: Jacobs is finally setting the record straight about whether or not he was as serious about moving to Dior as we were all led to believe. In an interview with Vogue, he says that while he did talk about Dior, he didn’t have serious intentions of moving to the iconic French house. But not because of money: he’s just not that into… couture? “The idea of couture doesn’t hold that thing for me. It’s archaic—in my opinion. I mean, I am really interested in the craftsmanship behind couture. But I can explore all that in ready-to-wear.”

While Jacobs’ statement about couture is debatable (with good reason) at least the Dior rumour can finally be put to rest and we can all move on.

The fashion community is starting to weigh in on the reports that Raf Simons will be Dior’s new creative director, and we’re not surprised to hear both positive and negative expectations. Dior is widely known for its decorative, romantic, and ladylike style, and Galliano’s over-the-top vision fit the brand perfectly. Simons is known for a much more minimalist style, but has been showing different sides of himself in the last few Jil Sander collections.

Is Dior eschewing ladylike in favour of bold restraint? After a virtual explosion of excited rumours on Twitter last night, WWD is now reporting that Jil Sander creative director Raf Simons is closing in on a deal to become John Galliano’s replacement at Dior. Known for his brightly hued and minimalist/maximalist designs, Simons might not be the first designer you’d associate with Dior’s aesthetic, but in his recent collections he’s shown an interest in couture techniques— he has even incorporated ball gowns and bridal looks, all of which have garnered rave reviews from critics.

Thanks to designers like Mary Katrantzou and Jil Sander’s Raf Simons, floral prints bloom on the runways year-round. Carry these bold botanicals over from your wardrobe to your workspace with a Rifle Paper Co. vintage-wallpaper-inspired notebook (shown, $16 for three, drakegeneralstore.ca). Perfect for jotting down New Year’s resolutions.

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Word: Floration

Usage: “[Kehinde Wiley‘s] models are photorealistic and the backgrounds are primarily images of what he calls “floration,” stylistic representations from designs that are Islamic, Baroque, and Rococo in origin.” — from the Columbus Museum of Art’s description of painter Wiley’s 2006 show

Meaning: See above. (Wiley made up the word himself.)