FASHION Magazine

Looks like all those years of fedoras and pirate hats have finally paid off for Johnny Depp, who was announced last night as the winner of the CFDA’s Fashion Icon Award. Depp is the first man to win the award, which will be presented in June.

While the actor’s style has always been questionable entertaining, he seems a bit of a peculiar choice compared to the more obvious past winners like Lady Gaga, Sarah Jessica Parker, Iman and Kate Moss. We do love Depp’s penchant for headwear (and oh how trendy it is this season, ahem, Marc Jacobs), but has he ever made a mary-jane Manolo fly off the shelves? We didn’t think so.

As for the serious fashion nods, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen received a much-deserved nomination for The Row as Womenswear Designer of the Year. Of course, the twin designers face some serious competition with Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler both vying for the same award. While the rest of the list of nominees and honorees makes sense, we’ve got to ask: Is it Johnny’s sex appeal that helped him make the cut?

To those who thought Uggie the dog, of The Artist fame, would have upstaged last night’s Academy Awards, it seems that you’ve underestimated the power of Angelina Jolie. And her right leg. The movie star repeatedly—and that’s an emphatic repeatedly—showed off her gam through the up-to-there slit in her strategically-fitting Atelier Versace velour gown à la Wonder Woman (read: hand on hip, right leg far, far, far out). The superhero stance had people everywhere asking, “Doesn’t she have a million six children (not to mention a stylist) to tell her to close her legs?”

Alas, there was nobody to coerce the leg into a friendly retreat as it popped out again and again and finally made its way onto the internet and became a meme. Before the end of the show, there were 3,339 tweets per minute about the “Angeleg,” a bona fide Twitter account with 12,500 followers, and a do-it-yourself ‘Legbombing’ tool. Even the forward-thinking screenwriters of The Descendants popped an exaggerated Jolie pose during their acceptance speech (which, dare we say, was hands down the best of the night).

We’re hoping that “Angelegging” won’t become the red-carpet equivalent of the famous Claudia Schiffer runway walk. But hey, anything to liven up a somewhat predictable red carpet, right?

What do you get for the girl who has everything? Well if you’re Kim Kardashian and the girl in question is Kate Middleton, you get her a pair of shoes that you a stylist made.

Kardashian has taken it upon herself (or her members-only shoe site, ShoeDazzle) to create a personalized pump “just for Kate” in honour of Kate’s 30^th birthday.

The Duchess pump, as it is so uncleverly named, is inspired by Kate’s timeless style. According to Kim, the “classic quilting and graceful silhouette” make this the perfect shoe for a princess.

Graceful silhouette? General consensus is that Kate wouldn’t dare put her ladylike feet in these hidden platforms. Instead, she tends to favour sleeker pumps with sensible heels.

This all begs the question: did Kim really design these with Kate in mind or was this just a PR move to garner some attention for her site? Hmmmm.

Never far from controversy, clothing company American Apparel is in the news again after a plus-size-model search gone awry. Recently, they launched a contest to find “booty-ful,” “XLent” girls 18+ “with a little extra wiggle room where it counts” to model their new, larger sizes in basic styles. Nancy Upton, being “super ooged out by American Apparel in the past,” decided to poke a little fun at the company, and sent in pictures that she thought were equally as condescending and mocking as the search itself.

These pictures include Upton in the following scenarios: posing naked, in the position of a pig on a spit, with an apple in her mouth; bathing in ranch dressing; splayed on the kitchen floor, guzzling chocolate syrup; and fully clothed, old Hollywood—glamour style, in a pool, shoving a roasted chicken into her mouth.

Upton won the contest by an overwhelmingly popular vote but received a letter yesterday from creative director of American Apparel Iris Alonso, scolding her for her pictures and her attitude. Alonso, for some reason, also sent her snippy letter to various media sources, essentially giving the press another reason to prey on the company’s practices.

It’s a shame that your project attempts to discredit the positive intentions of our challenge based on your personal distaste for our use of light-hearted language, and that “bootylicous” was too much for you to handle. While we may be a bit TOO inspired by Beyoncé, and do have a tendency to occasionally go pun-crazy, we try not to take ourselves too seriously around here. I wonder if you had taken just a moment to imagine that this campaign could actually be well intentioned, and that my team and I are not out to offend and insult women, would you have still behaved in the same way, mocking the confident and excited participants who put themselves out there?

Turns out that although she won the contest, Upton will not be used to model the clothes, which doesn’t seem like something she wanted to do anyway. After reading extensively on this story we are hungry and exhausted, and even more weary of AA’s business practices.

Missoni for Target, the latest designer collaboration with the American retailer launched yesterday online and at all Target locations and no one, not even Target, expected such a high demand for the line.

Shortly after launching online at 6:00 a.m. EST the Target site crashed leaving shoppers frantic for ways to try to buy the coveted clothes. The site was back up later that morning but continued to crash throughout the day with customers resorting Target’s mobile site or calling customer service. Blogs like Racked and Fashionista gave shoppers a play by play of the site’s status.

Now it’s reported that most stores are sold out of the collection—but fear not—a few items are left online and currently, if you search “Missoni for Target” on Ebay, 22,220 results are found. Happy bidding.

An ad campaign that an Edmonton salon released last year is under fire after a New York blogger accused its creators of promoting domestic violence only a few days ago. Soon to be known locally as the cause of the Fluid Hair Fiasco for weeks to come (at least), the image in question shows a gorgeous albeit battered woman with a black eye sitting below her presumed lover with a highly stylized coif, beside the tagline, “Look good in all you do…”

It looks a little Mad Men–ish, perhaps a commentary on the way things were. The only problem is that domestic violence is still, unfortunately, the way things are: the Canadian Women’s Foundation states that on any given day in Canada, more than 3,000 women, along with their 2,500 children, are living in an emergency shelter to escape domestic violence. A massive online backlash from those who believe the ad sends a horrific message (like, you may be getting beaten, but at least you have good hair), has been prodding Fluid Hair owner Sarah Cameron and campaign producer Tiffany Jackson for answers.

Ever since the Met Costume Institute’s record-breaking Alexander McQueen exhibit closed, we’ve been itching to know what its successor would be. Well hear ye, ladies of quirk: Miuccia Prada and the legendary Elsa Schiaparelli are the next in line to be celebrated. While an official release from the museum has yet to be released, we’re thinking that WWD is a pretty credible source.

Both women brought Italian fashion into the spotlight but are known for very different styles. Schiaparelli was a close friend and collaborator of Salvador Dalí and repeatedly plucked from his surrealist inspirations. In fact, she is most known for her lobster dress of 1937, which was created in collaboration with Dalí (and once worn by Wallis Simpson). Prada, on the other hand, might need less of an introduction. Her titanic influence on the industry has been solidly felt across the world (as if spring’s infamous stripes didn’t say it on their own).

Curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton no doubt have some surprises up their sleeves, and we are dying to see what they have in store. Are they as excited as we are?

Remember when Abercrombie & Fitch was selling graphic tees that read “The Fitchuation”? Well, apparently, neither do they. In fact, they have recently offered pay Jersey Shore’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino to stop wearing their clothes. Seriously.

The official statement voiced the company’s concern that by wearing A&F clothing, Sitch was undeniably hurting their image. They even went as far as saying that this association with the label is contrary to the nature of their brand. We don’t understand how they forgot about every single shirtless-boy-in-jeans-with-an-eight-pack ad campaign they’ve ever released. The best part? The statement was titled “A Win-Win Situation.”

We understand the concern of being associated with Jersey Shore–esque behaviour, but there’s something fishy about A&F’s request. It came just in time for the company to report a 64.4 per cent rise in second-quarter net income during their quarterly earnings call this morning. It sure doesn’t seem like the Sitch is actually that bad for business!

This week, we take you into the sophisticated looking Balenciaga Papier tote that belongs to our online editor, Randi Bergman. Inside, you’ll find a mixed bag (literally) of odd trinkets like a harmonica, a ridiculously oversized ring, and a super-bright lipstick she swears was made just for her.

Let’s explore! »

The media just can’t get enough of John Galliano. Last month Cathy Horyn speculated that he would be reappointed to his signature label, claims that were soon proven untrue after Bill Gaytten got the job as creative director (and let’s see how long that lasts). Today, new rumours have surfaced that the former Dior designer has a new gig.

After designing Kate Moss’s wedding dress and making an unexpected appearance at the nuptials last week, Vogue UK reported that Galliano was in talks with Topshop CEO Sir Philip Green regarding a possible collaboration with the high-street megastore. According to the magazine’s website, a collection similar to the one Moss did a few years back was possibly brought up in conversation between Green and Galliano at the supermodel’s wedding.

So, is there any truth to the rumours? All signs are pointing to no. Both Green and Topshop denied any negotiations, and even though Galliano fans would still jump at the chance to own his designs at an affordable price point, it seems an alignment with the designer now still feels too risky. So, what’s everyone saying?

What’s the one event that’s sure to draw throngs of artists, social busybodies and high rollers alike? The annual Power Ball, held in support of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, is the one stop on Toronto’s gala circuit that you really don’t want to miss.

The theme of this year’s fest was The 13th Floor, described by the organizers as, “A place you’ve never been before. A party untouched by time and cloaked in intrigue. Hidden surprises, altered realities, a playground for the imagination.” And what a playground it was. Held in the labyrinthine lakefront gallery, the party was attended by more than 1,700 people in what felt like 13 different rooms, each with its own theme and soundtrack.