FASHION Magazine

If you’ve always dreamed of bike rides along the Seine, wearing Breton stripes, but meanwhile find yourself locked in your room with Vivre sa Vie and Serge Gainsbourg on repeat (is that just us?), you’re probably wary of books claiming to be guides to the Parisian lifestyle. Leave it to the ultimate Parisian It girl, Inès de la Fressange, to pen a guide to French style that is not only quite readable but useful too! Former muse to Karl Lagerfeld, de la Fressange has long been an icon in our eyes… and here are our 10 favourites from her many pearls of wisdom:

What economy? Designer Giambattista Valli to show his first ever couture collection this summer. [Bazaar Blog]

With the band: Abbey Lee Kershaw, and her group, Our Mountain, have released their first single. [AnOther Magazine]

By Laura deCarufel

It was always going to be major, the kind of major that connotes italics and inspires emails with the subject line “OMG”—or, more accurately, “Oh mon Dieu.” Last night’s Chanel Cruise 2012 show was a heavenly—and très French—affair.

For starters, the location: The fabled Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, perched on a cliff in the south of France, has the vibe of a continental Gatsby mansion, complete with cream hue, palm trees, and a pathway-cum-runway leading from the terraced steps down to a rock wall overlooking an infinity pool.

Tables with striped umbrellas were set up along the runway so that everyone had a front row seat. Waiting for the show to begin, I sipped chilled Perrier-Jouet and watched the other guests smoke and double-kiss. Most of them were wearing Chanel, and all of them were wearing it differently. A French reporter dressed up a pair of jeans with a black lace dress accessorized only with a cigarette. Princess Caroline of Monaco chose a monochromatic ivory look (satin blouse and trousers), while screen stars Anna Mouglalis and Vanessa Paradis were chic in classic black.

It seems we can’t go a week without a changing of the guard at a major fashion label, and this morning that honour belonged to Chloé. With two consecutive tweets heard round the fashion world, the venerated French label announced that, after months of hushed murmurs, creative director Hannah MacGibbon was leaving the company.

We’re barely halfway into 2011 and the fashion world has already seen our fair share of industry shake-ups: the Galliano scandal, Carine Roitfeld’s exit at Vogue Paris, Christophe Decarnin’s mysterious mental illness/ousting at Balmain, and now Patrick Robinson has been booted from the Gap.

While most of the recent switch ups seem to make sense⎯Galliano’s anti-Semitic outburst couldn’t very well go un-reprehended and Decarnin’s health issues were clearly in need of medical attention⎯we found ourselves puzzled upon hearing the news that Robinson had been presented with a pink slip due to lackluster sales in the first quarter of this year. We’ve seen many a powerhouse figure reinstate retail dinosaurs (Bonnie Brooks at The Bay , Jenna Lyons at J.Crew), so why not Robinson at the Gap?

Corinne Perez-Abergel, Gillian Pryor and Renee Reardin

Socialite Lauren Santo Domingo just gave birth to a baby boy. We’re not sure how her body ever housed another body but in any case, congratulations! [Nypost]

By Corinne Perez-Abergel

Arizona Muse and her baby boy, Nikko, are taking the fashion world by the storm! The duo first appeared in a Vogue editorial a couple months ago, and now they are now starring in new the J Crew Catalogue.  [Fashionologie]

Will Kate be a fashion icon in the same way Diana was? Some of the biggest names in fashion⎯including Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, and Valentino⎯give their take. So who loves her, who wants to dress her, and who is bored to tears of her?

Designers Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi are both out at Gianfranco Ferre. [Fashionologie]

By Renee Reardin

Christian Louboutin sues YSL for copying his signature red sole. We guess Louboutin’s mother never told him that imitation is the best form of flattery. [Telegraph]

Looking to indulge in some appropriately festive high tea? Try this Ka’tea’ & William set from Donkey Products, ($7, donkey-products.com) the same people who brought you tea bags bearing the likenesses of Karl, Grace Coddington and Anna Wintour⎯ and let the future king and queen steep in your mug. There are teas featuring the Queen Mum, too!