FASHION Magazine

Designer duo Dolce & Gabbana has just confirmed reports that they’ll be showing their first-ever couture collection in a hush-hush presentation on July 9. Continuing their ode to Sicily (you might remember their Sicilian street casting for their latest menswear collection), the designers will be unveiling the collection in their home base instead of in Paris, where all other couture collections are shown.

Press is completely banned from the presentation with the exception of three news outlets, and instead of the fashion house’s usual high profile, celeb-packed front row, the couture presentation will be clients-only (in other words: big spenders).

The designers are said to have been mulling over a couture collection for a while, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering the well-received one-off pieces they’ve created for celebrities like Scarlett Johansson this past year. However, the designers said they are only using the pared-down presentation as a potential lead-in to couture, as opposed to diving into the couture world head-on.

After folding their less-expensive line D&G last year with their signature RTW line, it seems like the Italian pair have their sights set on a brand repositioning, turning their focus to the high-luxury side of the market instead of the lower end. It might be a wise move considering current consumers’ insatiable appetite for luxury goods.

Though income earners in the lower bracket were pinching pennies post-2008, those towards the top seemed drawn to luxury goods more than ever, helping conglomerate LVMH pull in profits far exceeding their forecasts last year. In fact, Dolce & Gabbana aren’t the only designers who seem to recognize the value in the luxury market either: Versace returned to the couture world after an eight-year hiatus last season.

Though we won’t hold our breath for any images of the collection thanks to the secrecy surrounding the Sicilian debut, we expect the Italian duo will pull off high-luxury with aplomb.

We already knew Scott Sternberg was a bit of a genius, but his latest stunt for Band of Outsiders is particularly so. The perennially cool brand has taken the spectatorship of fashion shows to a whole new level, putting one dapper and evidently cooperative model into a “small compartment built from cardboard boxes and wood […]

The post 60 hours of male model goodness! We’re livestreaming Band of Outsiders’ “Longest Show Ever” appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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.

By Sven Schumann

Staunch fans of fashion photography view Paolo Roversi as a one-man revolution. One of the early adopters of the Polaroid, the Italian-born, Paris-based photographer saw the potential in the camera in the ’70s, years before many of his contemporaries did. Using the Polaroid’s filter and frame to accentuate fashion’s most immediate and delicate moments, Roversi’s style of shooting spawned a legion of admirers, including Carine Roitfeld and the late Herb Ritts. After working under Harper’s Bazaar lensman Laurence Sackman during his salad days, Roversi developed his own POV and began to shoot solo for Elle and Dépêche Mode. His work created such a domino effect in fashion photography that his style became the new industry standard in the ’80s and ’90s. Scrolling through paoloroversi.com offers a taste of his influential commercial campaigns for the houses of Giorgio Armani and Romeo Gigli, as well as his contributions to Paris, British and Italian editions of Vogue. Hot on the heels of launching his most recent book of photographs, Paolo Roversi (Thames & Hudson), the 64-year-old visionary sat down at the Camera Work Gallery in Berlin and spoke to FASHION about his iconic visions—past and present.

Read our interview »
View the photos »

Strategic cut-outs, thigh-high slits and body-con shapes: Sébastien Peigné and Nicola Formichetti of Mugler are bringing sexy back.

Reviving Mugler is a monster task. After designer Thierry Mugler took his final runway bow at his couture show in July 2000, this kinky house of cool (remember Demi Moore’s bondage-style dress in 1993’s Indecent Proposal?) started flatlining. Ten years later, the resuscitation began. In 2010, following months of speculation, Nicola Formichetti (Lady Gaga’s stylist) was tapped to lead the revival of the French house known for its over-the-top theatricality and sex appeal. Besides outfitting Mother Monster, this 34-year-old half-Italian, half-Japanese, techno-savvy superstar is also the fashion director for Vogue Hommes Japan and global retailer Uniqlo. His debut Mugler womenswear show during Fall 2011 Paris Fashion Week had the twitterverse buzzing about its latex-dipped leggings, body-stocking dresses and the catwalk pièce de résistance: Gaga, smoking in every sense of the word.

Read the interview »
See the slideshow »

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

Its February 1 and love is officially in the air! And who better to kick off a month of sweetness than actress and style-icon-come-jewellery-designer Kate Bosworth. In this film, launching exclusively on fashionmagazine.com in Canada, Bosworth wanders around Paris wearing her latest JewelMint collection, Love Letters, which is available beginning today. From those long red […]

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From Prada’s flame shoes to Marc Jacobs flapper girls, we’re giving you a sneak peek at what’s hot for Spring 2012. NEW YORK LONDON MILAN PARIS

The post Spring preview: What our editors loved most from New York, London, Milan, and Paris appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

The final city of FASHION’s spring preview, Paris! We round up the highlights from fashion week in the city of love.

View our editor’s picks »

See photos of Jenna’s style picks »

What was your first job at J.Crew?
“I started 20 years ago. I was an assistant to an assistant.”

Are you bringing back company loyalty?
[Laughs] “I never in a million years dreamed that I would be at the same [place]. I spend more time at my job than I do with my family, so my job does feel like a family.”

What’s your secret to becoming a fashion powerhouse? What advice would you give to someone starting out?
“Love what you do. The people who I see as successful [are those who] stay in the moment and try and do the best they can. Those are the people you want to promote. They’re the ones who are thinking about new ideas and trying to do their job better.”

Karen Ashbee travels to Paris for a history lesson on the Hermès carré.

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Michael Kors on celebrating his 30th anniversary, staying plugged in and becoming an adjective.

All-American. Spirited. Jetsetter. You can spot Michael Kors from a mile away. Over the course of his 30 years in the fashion industry, the man and the brand have become one and the same, morphing into a mega-empire that, as rumour has it, hit a billion dollars in sales this year. Not bad for a boy from Long Island, New York. Adored by Hollywood A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez, soccer moms and First Ladies alike (Michelle Obama wore Kors for her first official White House portrait), his rise to fashion royalty took off in 1981, when he launched his eponymous womenswear line.