FASHION Magazine

See the Spring 2014 images »

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

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Lanvin Spring 2014

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Chalayan Spring 2014

Chalayan Spring 2014

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Isabel Marant Spring 2014

Isabel Marant Spring 2014

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Dior Spring 2014

Dior Spring 2014

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Dior Spring 2014

Dior Spring 2014

Without actually going into the showroom and touching the fabrics it’s hard to know what you are looking at sometimes here at Paris Fashion Week Spring 2014.

Some of the shiny fabrics that designer Alber Elbaz showed for Lanvin on Thursday night looked crispy and light, like a glittery silk but that’s just hoping. I had the same issue at Hussein Chalayan with velourish-looking towel dresses, and molded gowns that were fuzzy at the bodice but melded into a smooth surface everywhere else.

On the other hand, Isabel Marant’s materials were a no-brainer. There were miles of ruffled cotton for peasant tops and zippered jackets with flouncy shoulders; frayed cotton denims with raised diamond patterns, and lace mini-dresses and bra tops. Where Marant’s collection had a natural, earthy realness almost everything Elbaz did shimmered and gleamed in the most unnatural way. Paris is in the throws of a passionate love affair with reflective fabrics.

One of my favourite Paris Fashion Week pastimes is watching the Showstudio live panel discussions. What stood out during the one on Dior was how the participants kept comparing Raf Simons’ Dior to John Galliano’s Dior. Interesting that Monsieur Christian Dior was barely mentioned

See the full fall beauty trends gallery »

Jump to: TEXTURED LIPS | RED MAKEUP | CROPPED HAIR | MATTE SKIN | GLITTER AND JEWELS | SLICK HAIR AND SKIN | BIG HAIR | MUST-HAVE PRODUCTS

Spring’s bright lips, clean skin and dainty hair accessories were fun, but the Fall 2013 beauty trends give us much to be excited about. From ombré lips to decadent glitter, designers are embracing individuality with fall makeup, giving artists free reigns to experiment with the extremes. Lipgloss was layered on eyelids instead of lips, jewels adorned ears as well as eyes and sleek wigs were cropped into edgy bobs. Click through to see the best hair and makeup trends from the Fall 2013 runways as well as all the products you need to achieve the look.

John Galliano is back on the map after a two-year hiatus. The Gibraltar-born British fashion designer, who not so long ago held the reins to one of the biggest fashion houses in the industry, has been the subject of much dispute since his 2011 firing from Dior. Galliano spottings over the past couple of years have been scarce, leaving questions about a possible comeback unanswered. With a new Vanity Fair interview on the stands and a televised one just released online, Galliano seems to be straying from the low profile he’s been keeping contributing to suspicions of a rebound on the horizon. From internships at his designer pal’s atelier to facing blackout drinking, were taking a look at recent developments in John Galliano’s slow but sure return.

See the Fashion Smurfs images » When photos surfaced of Karl Lagerfeld sporting the now famous “Karl Who” tote by French label Naco Paris, we knew the fashion parody trend was one that was here to stay. It wasn’t long before fashion’s fresh young things were spotted lingering outside NYFW shows in “Ballinciaga” tees by […]

The post Smurfashion! Illustrator Alexsandro Palombo transforms Karl, Anna and Marc into our favourite cartoon forest dwellers appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

View the Fall 2013 colour moments »

Fall 2013 is on the agenda, but here at Paris Fashion Week, spring is in the air. It’s been deliciously sunny over the past few days with fashion warriors shedding winter for bright spring outfits. If Carine Roitfeld can do head-to-toe cream and caramel, bare legs and open-toe shoes (as seen at Hôtel de Crillon), then the rest of us can too. Black, however, is still a dominant hue on the catwalk and the sidewalk, but every now and again a flash of brightness taps you on the shoulder and says, “regarde-moi.”

Here are Paris Fashion Week’s top four colour moments for Fall 2013.

Less than a week since being stripped of his French Legion of Honour, it’s being reported that John Galliano might be fighting back against Dior, reportedly seeking $18.8 million dollars in damages from his former employer. According to the Daily Telegraph, Galliano filed papers that relate to an employee-employer dispute with the Paris industrial tribunal, […]

The post John Galliano to sue Dior appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Just when you thought you’d heard the end of it, it seems that there was one last blow to be dealt to John Galliano. WWD is reporting that the disgraced designer has been stripped of his title as Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, a designation he received in 2010. The orders came from President […]

The post John Galliano has been stripped of his Legion of Honour appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Fashion’s favourite season is finally here and we’ve got the chock-a-block trend report to prove it, complete with 138 of the top looks that take you from Fall’s dark fantasies into Winter’s light and feminine pastels. Go on, get clicking!

See all of the trends »

JUMP TO A TREND:
NIGHT VISION | EMBELLISH THE STORY | PANTS | GREAT OUTDOORS | FINE CHINA | MISS ‘60s | JEWEL TONES | SUGAR RUSH | SPECIAL FX | SIZE MATTERS | PEPLUMANIA | KNIT PICK

After John Galliano’s infamous anti-Semitic rant in Paris last April, many wondered how his sudden departure from Dior would affect the French fashion house.

According to the Financial Times, not only did Galliano’s departure leave the company relatively unscathed, but they actually ended up with their highest earnings per annum ever, hitting $1 billion in 2011. “I never considered that,” Sidney Toledano, the president of Dior said. “I always thought we absolutely needed an artistic director.”

It makes you wonder: how important is a charismatic designer to a fashion house? Is it worth the potential risk that sometimes accompanies a more flamboyant style of creative genius?

Toledano seems to think so. Though he admitted that Dior still fared well financially without Galliano, he did stress how important he felt designers were for shaping a label’s identity, likening designers to “a shorthand to help consumers understand the brand, and to embody it.”

Does that mean someone like the more demure Raf Simons, who is taking over Galliano’s post for Dior, might not have the same capacity to “embody” the brand? According to Toledano, it all comes down to the individual.

“If [charisma] works for the designer, then fine . . . but if not, it can be counterproductive, and it is better to avoid it. In the end, luxury is judged not by whether a designer’s face is on X number of posters, but by their work.”

Our bet is that if Simons’ tenure at Jil Sander was anything to go by, his work will more than speak for itself.

More than 50 years after its shuttering (and almost 40 years after the death of its brilliant founder), the house of Schiaparelli is set to relaunch just as its name once again reaches the prominence it had in the pre-war years.

To coincide with the opening of the Met Costume Institute’s retrospective exhibit Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, Italian business tycoon Diego Della Valle announced the official relaunch earlier this week. Though the brand has remained dormant, even since being acquired by the titan in 2006, Della Valle plans on giving the old house a contemporary update, saying that it “doesn’t have to get involved in the frenetic world of numbers, accounts and dimensions, but it just has to express itself at its best.”

See our vintage-inspired slideshow »

By Samantha Shephard

It’s a sunny Saturday morning in West Hollywood and Rita Ryack, the Oscar-nominated costume designer known for her work on Casino and A Beautiful Mind, is on a hunt for sequined dresses. Production on the film Rock of Ages is wrapping and she needs one more piece for Catherine Zeta-Jones’ character. Judging by the racks she’s browsing, which are filled with this season’s hottest labels and trends—Versace print T-shirts, heavily embellished Moschino jackets, sweeping red carpet–worthy gowns—you’d think she were shopping at an upscale department store. Think again. She’s at The Way We Wore, a vintage-clothing mecca that attracts A-list clients like Angelina Jolie, Dita Von Teese and Katy Perry. The shop is full of high-end designer pieces, like little black dresses from Chanel, elegant Christian Dior gowns, Pauline Trigère party dresses and Pucci pyjama pants, all dating from the 1930s to the early 1990s.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Colombian-born and Paris-based designer Haider Ackermann drops two very Dior-sounding hints. The first, in relation to potentially wanting to work for the house, he says: “There are two houses I would be interested in. Two where I feel there is shared sensibility, and I could bring something […]

The post Quotable: Haider Ackermann drops not one, but two Dior hints! appeared first on FASHION Magazine.