FASHION Magazine

Word: Ectype

Meaning: An exact copy. Also, the externalization of an idea, like an archetype, which—when repeated sufficiently—becomes a stereotype.

Usage: To paraphrase the Beastie Boys, “She’s crafty, and she’s just my ectype.”

Word: Orientalism

Meaning: The falsely glam-ified depiction of Eastern people and culture by Western image makers.

Usage: “Orientalism tend fatally towards the systematic accumulation of human beings and territories.” — Edward Said, author of (ta-da!) Orientalism

In our second last batch of Paris photos, we spotted top models Karlie Kloss, Joan Smalls, and Eniko Mihalik leaving the Chanel show, as well as these curiously veiled ladies kicking it outside the Tuileries. Check em out.

View the photo gallery »

It’s no surprise that Kanye West’s debut ready-to-wear collection in Paris on Saturday received mixed reviews. We’re also not surprised that the rapper-come-designer obnoxiously responded to his critics before any reviews of his show were actually published. It’s just his… thing, we guess.

Delivered to partygoers including Karlie Kloss, Lindsay Lohan, and Olivier Theyskens, West whined about the amount of hard labour he had put into his line, and how he’s “different” then other celebrity designers (different i.e. better?). To boot, he mentioned a hope that critics would be “easy” on him, considering it was his first shot out of the gate. “I took out motherf—ing loans to get the best models, to get the best designers, to get the best venue. I gave you everything that I had,” he reportedly added. Can we LOL now, or later?

Miu Miu’s muse: Take a look at the first shot from Hailee Steinfeld’s fall ad campaign for the label. [Fashionista]

John Galliano’s court date draws closer. The ex-Dior designer will be going on trial this Wednesday. [Vogue UK]

The usually reclusive Azzedine Alaïa has announced that he plans on showing a collection during the upcoming Paris couture week. [Fashionologie]

By Lauren Chan and Emma Freed

14-year-old Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld is the Fall face of Miu Miu! We couldn’t think of a more impossibly perfect pairing. [Nymag]

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.

The Olsens are adding another facet to their fashion empire⎯with an e-commerce styling service. [Vogue UK]

As is the case with virtually any news story these days, the developments in the John Galliano story⎯the designer being accused of hurling anti-Semitic insults at an (incidentally non-Jewish) couple while drinking at the Paris café, Le Perle⎯can be measured in tweets, quotes and snippets. Given the proliferated speed at which these bits are published and publicized, it’s amazing to witness how quickly the industry’s reaction has gone from appalled to forgiving to looking forward to the designer’s imminent replacement at Dior. Given the industry’s propensity for forgetfulness⎯history has made fools of those who once condemned Coco Chanel for her involvement with the Nazis or Kate Moss for being caught with cocaine⎯we have no doubt that Galliano will be back at the top in no time. All references to the frankly horrifying severity of his remarks will vanish and whereas Chanel’s and Moss’s actions took years to do the same, Galliano’s have almost done so in a matter of 14 days. Meanwhile, as rumours swirl for a possible replacement by Riccardo Tisci, Alber Elbaz and Marc Jacobs, we take a look back at the quickest judgment turnarounds in fashion history.