FASHION Magazine

Just as Prince Harry’s nude photo ordeal is simmering down, the Royal Family is faced with yet another scandal. The victim this time around? None other than the cherubic Kate Middleton.

French tabloid magazine, Closer published a series of photos today of the Duchess of Cambridge and husband, Prince William while on a mini-vacation at a private chateau in the south of France. The various shots depict Kate Middleton sunbathing topless on a balcony, evidently shot with a long-focus lens. “Harry started the fashion: these days the Windsors take their clothes off,” the magazine remarked alongside the published images.

According to the BBC, Prince William and Kate are furious. A statement released by The St. James Palace earlier today described the invasion of privacy as “grotesque” and “totally unjustifiable” and within hours, it was announced that the Royal Family had filed a lawsuit, alleging violation of privacy.

“Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner. The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to The Duke and Duchess for being so.”

The royal couple is currently on a tour of Southeast Asia scheduled to come to an end this weekend. With a legal suit already in the works, we hope the duo’s visit resumes without incident.

Last night, the trio behind The Coveteur (along with the industry fans who love them) descended upon the private abode of a one miss Natasha Koifman to celebrate RW&CO’s new e-commerce website (coming soon) as well as to unofficially kick off the two-week countdown to TIFF. With the site’s founders, Erin Kleinberg, Stephanie Mark and Jake Rosenberg all head-to-toed in RW&CO’s fall collection, the soiree served as a stylish farewell to summer. However, the team at NKPR was surely not ready to give it up just yet, with an ice cream truck parked outside, Tiny Tom Donuts, Food Dudes nachos and Kernel’s popcorn served inside. To boot, TIFF-ified Skyy Vodka cocktails inspired by several of this year’s A-listers (ahem, Knightley, Gosling and Paltrow) with old-fashioned paper straws. Not to mention, the entire event took place in and around Koifman’s pool and waterfall hot tub. No big deal.

See the photos »

Miuccia Prada isn’t exactly known for being all that press-friendly, and a rare interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica may shed some light on why the legendary designer hasn’t warmed to the media in the same way chatterboxes Karl Lagerfeld and Roberto Cavalli have.

In a translation by WWD, Prada’s feature in La Repubblica details all her concerns about the flagging Italian fashion industry. More than any other nation, Italy has the most family-owned luxury fashion houses: Prada, Gucci, Missoni and Fendi are just a few brands that still have an active voice from the founding designers’ families. But with more and more Italian fashion houses looking to sell (Valentino sold to Qatar’s royal family for over $850 million) or to expand by going public with IPOs, Prada is worried Italian fashion may become “second league.”

“[…] If our brands cross our borders, the credit, glamour, fame and decision making is in the hands of others, and we are abandoned, downgraded,” she cautioned.

Prada doesn’t fault the designers themselves; after all, she shows Miu Miu in Paris because of the city’s “attraction that is called glamour,” and Raf Simons’ move from Jil Sander (which shows in Milan) to Parisian fashion house Dior will mean “his value will further be emphasized.”

According to Prada, the real culprits are the Italian media and left-leaning intellectuals. Journalists’ treatment of their nation’s fashion industry as “frivolous” instead of a relevant industry contributes to the view that Italy is seen as a place with “less resources, culture, protagonists, ideas, vitality and money,” meaning that like Simons, “fashion goes elsewhere, looking for the best.”

See all the party pictures! »

Toronto’s party circuit came full circle last night with a toast to the 60 lads and ladies who made this year’s Worthy 30. The list, curated by society scribe Shinan Govani, is part who’s-who of the city (there are also Worthy 30 lists for Montreal and Vancouver) and part singles directory, with the clause that anyone nominated cannot be married, engaged or living with a significant other. Meaning: after a few rounds of sponsored Grey Goose cocktails, the mingling almost veered into matchmaking. As for the Worthy in attendance, the men, including Simon Wilkinson, proved that cut-off shorts can look just as stylish as a three-piece suit. (Though respect to Braden Rosner for braving all those layers in the extreme heat!) Lacy details, on the other hand, proved popular with the Worthy women, with Jen Kirch, Courtne Smith, Lauren O’Nizzle and our own online editor Randi Bergman all wearing items with cut-out details. Hopeful jokes were made that perhaps Chloë Grace Moretz or Jake Gyllenhaal would make an appearance, given that both made it onto the “Side Dish” section of the list and are currently filming separate projects in Toronto. Alas, unless they were hiding inside one of the oversized Dedon nest-shaped loungers, we didn’t see them.

The Russian fashion elite (also known as the “Russian Fashion Pack”) are having a moment right now, one that may have culminated yesterday in street-style-star-turned-designer Ulyana Sergeenko’s debut couture collection.

Rolling out right in between Chanel and Armani Privé’s shows, the couture collector’s first-ever collection was an ode to her country’s folklore and heritage, complete with babushkas, hand-carved wooden shoes and fur-lined military coats. Grace Coddington and Carine Roitfeld sat front row, which if anything, is a testament to Sergeenko and the rest of the Russian Fashion Pack’s appeal right now.

“America has Jackie O, and the world has Audrey Hepburn, but Russia never had a fashion icon of the moment,” Anya Ziourova, the fashion director of the Russian version of Tatler, told the New York Times in a feature titled “The Czarinas Are Back.” “Maybe that is what is happening: the modern Russian icons are being born.”

If street style blogs are any indication of style, then the Russian fash-pack has it in spades. Something about their individually distinct aesthetics and sartorial risk-taking has caught heavy-hitting and influential photographers’ eyes, turning them into fashion stars overnight.

Take designer Vika Gazinskaya, for example: the Russian gamine quickly gained visibility online, thanks to heavily circulated photographs of her by Garance Doré, Scott Schuman and Tommy Ton across the blogosphere. In a strategic move, she wore her own designs to the fashion show circuit, and thanks to the blogosphere pics, the move worked out: her pieces are now carried at Colette in Paris and Fivestory in New York.

There’s also Miroslava (or Mira) Duma, the daughter of a Russian senator and the former editor of Russia’s Harper’s Bazaar, who has become as known (if not more so) for her quirky, colourful style as her popular fashion website Buro 24/7.

And then, of course, there’s Sergeenko, arguably the leader of the pack: like her couture collection on Tuesday, the former model’s signatures are full, ‘50s-esque skirts paired with tight wool sweaters, dramatic Russian touches like babushkas and stunning makeup that hearkens back to another time.

The leading ladies of the Russian Fashion Pack may have some deep pockets (Sergeenko’s husband is an insurance billionaire), but their inimitable style and work is what’s really distinguishing them among their peers.

Though yesterday’s news about Yves Saint Laurent’s name change was met with a torrent of outrage, one person is actually happy with the new direction of the legendary fashion house. Pierre Bergé, the late designer’s long-term business and life partner, is giving his blessing to newly appointed creative director Hedi Slimane’s brand revamp.

Bergé told WWD that Slimane called him several weeks before the announcement yesterday to give him a heads up about the name change from “Yves Saint Laurent” to “Saint Laurent Paris” (though to much of the fashion world’s relief, the YSL logo will remain the same).

“I’m very happy. Anything that makes the house more Saint Laurent is welcome,” he said. “I am happy that Stefano Pilati is gone, just as I was happy when Tom Ford left.”

As we reported yesterday, Slimane’s decision to change the name of the fashion house was an effort to recapture the original spirit of Saint Laurent’s first foray into ready-to-wear in 1966.

Bergé is even standing behind Slimane’s decision to move the quintessentially French line’s creative studio from Paris to Los Angeles, another move that has had some fashion folk foaming at the mouth.

“The creative studio is in a designer’s head, it resides within the person,” said Bergé. “Hedi lives in Los Angeles. He should be left to do fashion in a city he likes.”

While we had mixed feelings about Slimane’s decision to change YSL’s trademark moniker, a stamp of approval from someone who knew Saint Laurent better than anyone should count for something. Who knows—maybe this heralds a new era for the brand and will bring back some of the excitement of ’60s Saint Laurent.

Despite sticking behind the design, Adidas pulled the plug on a pair of outlandish sneakers Jeremy Scott had created for them following a torrent of public outrage. The orange, purple and grey Roundouse Mid “Handcuffs” kicks were topped with orange plastic shackles, the doomed addition that ended up causing an uproar about the shoes’ alleged racist connotations.

A sneak peek of the sneakers was uploaded onto Adidas’ Facebook page with a playful tag line that read “Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?” The pic was almost immediately greeted by a wave of backlash, the comment count quickly climbing into the thousands. “Jeremy Scott is renowned as a designer whose style is quirky and lighthearted,” a spokesperson for Adidas insisted in a statement. “The design . . . is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott’s outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery.”

Scott spoke out about the design as well, tweeting in all caps “MY WORK HAS ALWAYS BEEN INSPIRED BY CARTOONS, TOYS & MY CHILDHOOD…” and linking to a picture of…My Pet Monster? So, the shoes everyone was up in arms about were actually inspired by a plush toy popular in the ‘80s? For those who aren’t familiar with him, the exceptionally colourful Mr. Monster had his own pair of orange plastic handcuffs, which makes Scott’s reference point pretty clear.

Adidas decided to pull the design from its market release date in August anyway, presumably to do some damage control. What’s your take on the Jeremy Scott x Adidas “Handcuffs” debacle? Were Adidas and Jeremy Scott not being careful enough about minimizing offence or are people simply overreacting?

Love her or hate her, Lana Del Rey’s meteoric rise to fame is showing no signs of flagging. After critics harshly panned the plush-lipped singer’s Saturday Night Live performance in January, it seemed like for a moment there, Del Rey’s star appeal was beginning to wane. However, one fashion accolade, a trip to Cannes’ red carpet and news of a big film industry opportunity later, and Del Rey is back on top.

First, there was the creation of her eponymous Mulberry bag, which was first announced in February. Its sales are fast approaching that of another famous Mulberry bag: the Alexa, named after Alexa Chung. “We wanted it to be functional with an uptown twist as Lana is such a wonderful uptown girl herself,” said Mulberry’s creative director Emma Hill.

The fashion world aside, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was reportedly overheard at the Cannes Film Festival telling the “Video Games” singer that the “camera loves her.”

Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax, is said to think Del Rey has all the makings of a movie star, from her stage presence to her stunning features to her gritty-meets-chic sense of style. The man obviously knows the movie biz inside and out (The Artist and The King’s Speech are two heavy-hitters that he’s responsible for), so if he is giving Del Rey the stamp of approval, other movie industry types will probably follow suit.

Whether or not she ends up on the big screen anytime soon, one thing’s for certain: this “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra” has an It factor that is opening doors for her in every direction.

Those still in doubt about the legitimacy of the blogging business may be whistling a new tune after hearing today’s news. Fairchild Fashion Media, a subdivision of Condé Nast that owns Women’s Wear Daily and Style.com (among other publications), just acquired the style-blog-driven media company Fashion Networks International.

FNI is best known for NowManifest, a curated blog platform that brings in 1.2 million unique visitors each month. The platform has a roster of A-list bloggers including Elin Kling, BryanBoy, Anna Dello Russo, Derek Blasberg and Rumi Neely (the site also hosts Industrie Magazine and Diesel).

Though there is still some resistance from traditional media purists who see bloggers as would-be journalists, the bloggers who make up the NowManifest clan are proving that blogging can mean big dollars and big exposure.

Perhaps the best example of a blogger-turned-brand is Elin Kling, who co-founded FNI along with business partner Christian Remröd. Kling has used Style by Kling, her personal style blog, as a launchpad for successful business ventures that most media personalities could only dream of.

Aside from running her blog and FNI, the lithe, blonde Swede also launched her magazine STYLEBY, collaborated with H&M on a well-received collection, designed the edgy minimalist label Nowhere and managed to squeeze in a big campaign for Net-a-Porter shot by none other than Patrick Demarchelier.

So what does this move by FFM mean for media as a whole? As Fashionista.com says, online media is obviously coming into its own more and more each day, and companies such as FFM are wising up to bloggers’ ability to drive this influx of traffic.

“FNI . . . is a great example of a new media company that fundamentally ‘gets’ the Internet,” wrote Hayley Phelan. “No doubt it’s this expertise (and ability to drive traffic) that FFM, a media company with a more traditional background, wants to harness.”

Though FFM’s acquisition of FNI definitely marks a new day in media, BryanBoy and Rumi Neely of Fashiontoast have both recently revealed that they found out about the deal less than 24 hours before it was announced. It seems odd that BryanBoy, Neely et al were not consulted about the negotiations (especially since NowManifest’s success is largely thanks to the contributing bloggers’ involvement), but both stressed that their content would remain solely their own.

Two FASHION editors will be camping this weekend. In the desert. Shocking, yes. But also, true. Come Friday, ginger-haired photo editor Nicole Stafford and I will be hitting Indio, California for the second weekend of Coachella festivities. Opting for the near death full experience, we’re going for broke (not) in a tent during a weekend that’s promising highs of nearly 40° Celsius. We might die, but before we do, we’re bringing you a special peek into not one, but both of our travel bags. While high SPFs are a no brainer, we’ve also thought about other essentials. You know, like culturally relevant graphic tees and designer sunglasses.

See Nicole’s bag »
See Randi’s bag »

Stop the presses! Kim Kardashian has officially moved on from professional sports players to polymath rappers. The mono-high pitch-toned reality star has been dating hip-hop mogul Kanye West for—get this—a whole two weeks. You know it’s serious because that’s like the length of her entire marriage to Kris Humphries.

The media got wind of the now highly publicized “showmance” after Kim was spotted leaving Kanye’s apartment the morning after their Hunger Games movie date in last night’s leather pants and a hickey. Later that day, Yeezy had the entire piano floor of FAO Schwarz roped off so Kim and him could get a lesson on how to play “Chopsticks” Big-stylez. Okay, that’s kind of cute extravagant.

In fact, a source told Us Weekly that Kanye thinks Kim is “his Beyoncé.” Next we’ll be hearing him say he wants a baby named Red Lichen. Come on. This cheapens the deep love that is Jay-Z and Beyoncé (have you seen her Tumblr? We teared up).

All right, all right. Maybe it’s true love. After all, Kim and Kanye do have some really important things in common: 1. Their names both begin with K! 2. They love the spotlight more than they love themselves! 3. They both have really bad fashion lines/collaborations (see this and this)!

Hmmm, we smell something fishy and it’s definitely not Kim’s fragrance line. For starters, West is no stranger to the odd publicity stunt. In 2007, the rapper faked a feud with 50 Cent when their competing albums were released on the same day, and later admitted to it.

Not to mention convenient timing: West just previewed his new track “Theraflu” in which he raps that he “fell in love with Kim.” Every story on the pair mentions the new single, leading people to YouTube the song (guilty). And listen to it (guilty). And maybe even put it on their iTunes wishlist (guilty). As for Kim, well, it’s obvious she could use a little positive press after her 72-day-long marriage.

He said he was leaving Milan forever, but he never said anything about Paris. Yes, the longest-running game of Guess Who? the fashion world has ever seen is finally over. And cue the welcome party, because we couldn’t be happier.

Cathy Horyn broke the news today that Raf Simons will be taking over (effective immediately) as artistic director at Dior. His first collection with the house will be for the haute couture shows in July—somewhat fitting considering the colour-loving minimalist took a decidedly haute hand to his recent Jil Sander “Couture Trilogy” (before getting the boot, that is).

The news comes after over a year of headhunting on Dior’s part. The house famously went after Marc Jacobs last year (the two parties couldn’t agree on salary) and reportedly later Lanvin honcho Alber Elbaz (he turned down the offer). Simons’ name started popping up in late December and the rumour mill began churning like nobody’s business.

The juiciest part in all this? Yves Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane has been a longtime menswear rival of Simons’. And now the two get to face off in the womenswear arena. Does this mean Dior versus YSL walk-offs are in our future?

Whether he was their first choice or not, he was most definitely ours. We’re still having dreams about his last Jil Sander collection. Those reds! Those pinks! This really couldn’t have turned out better.