FASHION Magazine

Big Sexy, a new three-part reality series based around the burgeoning careers of five plus-size models in New York City, premieres tonight on TLC. With the tagline “Once you go big, you don’t go twig,” the show is getting all kinds of positive attention as well as negative vibes. While supporters hail it as the perfect vehicle to give big women their due, others have accused the show of encouraging obesity. Either way, the plus-size topic is again making waves. To boot, American Apparel just launched a plus-size model search, The Next Big Thing, to find models for their newly expanded size range (the brand is only now offering its clothes in XL). Ironically, as most would attest, the brand’s notoriously teeny sizes favour a slender figure so therefore a XL hardly qualify as plus-size.

H&M has announced it will join forces with downtown mistress Leigh Lezark for the launch of an upcoming shop-in-shop inside London department store Selfridges. Instead of commissioning the Misshapes DJ/model to design a collection, though, the Swedish retailer has asked her to curate the collections inside their new location. If you’re wondering what exactly “curating” entails in this case, don’t feel lonely, because so are we. From what we can gather, Lezark will be selecting some of her favourite pieces from the collection as well as of course making a personal appearance when the shop opens its doors next Thursday.

The concept behind the shop-in-shop is to offer customers exclusive and limited-edition items with noteworthy curators stopping by regularly. It seems a little bit out of character for H&M, a company usually committed to bringing affordable goods to the masses on a global scale, to rent out space in a high-end department store and stock it with pieces of limited availability.

Still, the opening comes at a significant moment in British fashion. It seems that everyone’s eyes have been on London this year because of style icons such as the two Kates (Moss and Middleton) and Alexander McQueen. An American analytics group has just named the city this year’s number-one fashion capital based on web activity. If you also take into account the increasing number of promising young designers that it keeps on turning out, it’s easy to see why H&M would choose London as the setting for a more exclusive project.

Those of you who thought that Anna Wintour dubbing “geek” as “chic” at the Webbys was a one-time deal, think again: the cast of Glee will be featured during the third annual Fashion’s Night Out event on September 8.

Cast members including Canuck Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, and Darren Criss will make appearances at retail locations in New York and Los Angeles.  Bee Shaffer—Wintour’s daughter and currently an associate managing producer in Los Angeles for Ryan Murphy’s production company, which produces Glee—supposedly set up the appearances.

Previously at FNO, Sarah Jessica Parker and Bette Midler sang show tunes with Oscar de la Renta and Alexander Wang, and his supermodel clique danced in the windows of his store. Hopefully, the cast of Glee will prepare some original performances for FNO in lieu of repeating previously aired acts. Who wouldn’t love to see a little fashion-fuelled Gaga/Glee routine while shopping like an A-lister?

Can’t make it to New York City or Los Angeles in September? Fear not: American e-commerce sites including Net-a-Porter and Shopbop will participate in FNO for the first time this year. All you’ll need to get the full experience from home is a credit card and a Glee soundtrack.

Next up, we’re going inside the sizeable Michael Kors tote belonging to features editor, ex-Sydneysider and pleasantly accented Rani Sheen. Inside? A bike light, a curious-looking ball of balm and an eyelash curler. Naturally.

Let’s explore! »

Though it’s only been seven months since the all-powerful Carine Roitfeld left her post as the editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, we feel like we’ve been suffering from Roitfeld withdrawal for ages. On the upside, it looks like we’re going to get our fix in the near future. News officially broke that Roitfeld will be styling an Elizabeth Taylor–themed spread for V Magazine’s September Heroes Issue.

Between her freelance projects for Chanel, Barneys and W magazine, Roitfeld will be working with Mario Testino on the Taylor project. The feature, which is better described as a “fashion extravaganza,” will be a whopping 72 pages. Looks like she’s planning to make up for lost time.

The spread is sure to be a great precursor to Christie’s public exhibition of the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor in December. We can’t help but wonder if Roitfeld will manage to get her hands on some of Taylor’s prized possessions before they are put on display. What we do know is that, either way, these 72 pages are going to be Giant.

After seven years of marriage, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony announced on Friday that they were getting a divorce. The split came as a bit of a surprise: Lopez, Anthony and their three-year-old twins seemed to be the definition of a happy and meant-to-be family. For celeb fashion enthusiasts though, the end of the marriage brought up another concern: What would happen to the couple’s upcoming joint line for Kohl’s? After all, it isn’t everyday that a celebrity power couple collaborates on fashion for the masses.

Well, those who were anxiously awaiting the chance to make the cross-border trek can breathe a sigh of relief. The line will still go on despite the couple’s personal issues. In fact, Lopez and Anthony reportedly signed separate contracts with the retailer back in November when the project was announced (perhaps the relationship was on the rocks back then). All speculation aside, this means that when the lines hit Kohl’s stores, guys can pick up menswear by Anthony and ladies can get their hands on womenswear by Lopez. We’re just hoping she backs off of the python.

Sarah Jessica Parker is “out,” as Heidi Klum would say. Just a year and seven months after SJP signed on as the chief creative officer of Halston Heritage, the relationship has come to an end. Perhaps the recent departure has to do with Halston letting go its CEO, Bonnie Takhar, last November. According to British Vogue, upon hearing of the company’s sayonara to Takhar, Parker was in tears.

On a less dramatic note, it’s quite possible that the label needed a more practically experienced leader. Parker herself is more of a fashion enthusiast than an educated designer. Or maybe it was a question of commitment. In addition to working for Halston, Parker has been a busy woman: raising kids, producing reality shows, and filming and promoting movies. To quote her upcoming blockbuster, I Don’t Know How She Does It.

As the industry-wide game of musical chairs continues, we wonder who will take Parker’s place. Those are some pretty high heels to fill.

After 12 years of breeding the future stars of men’s soccer, Victoria and David Beckham finally have a little girl to call their own. Born Sunday at 7:55 a.m., Harper Seven had fans taking to Twitter to insta-congratulate as well as to comment on the bundle’s name. While the team at Harper’s Bazaar was all for the shared moniker, most poked fun at the name. Even British political journalist Yvonne Ridley chimed in, saying, “[It] sounds like a toilet detergent to me.”

We can only imagine what a life little Miss Beckham will grow up to have—with the genes of a superstar athlete and a fashion-designer/pop-star/all-around supermom, the possibilities are endless. Will she fall into her mom’s love of fashion? Take up pop music à la Spice Girls? Perhaps she’ll follow her namesake, To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee, into a writing career. All we can say is: Look out, Suri!

Couture Week in Paris came to a close today with Azzedine Alaïa showing his first presentation in ages. As we’ve been reporting, the past few days have been marked with highs (Givenchy) and lows (Dior). Regardless, the overall messages of unabashed luxury and attention to detail, inherent to haute dressing, were unanimously heard loud and clear from the handful of couturiers who showed.

It was a success story at Valentino, where designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli made a solid argument for the relevance of couture. The collection was inspired by the flight of the Russian aristocracy after the breakout of revolution, but it sometimes felt more like a medieval fantasy. Sheer, light fabrics, gilded ornamentation, and house signatures such as vibrant red, bows, and lace felt youthful not stuffy, proving that haute couture can still be fresh and exciting when modernized.

At Alaïa, things were more secretive. Showing during an organized fashion week isn’t usually the designer’s style, and today’s presentation wasn’t an occasion to attract endless media attention. Images of the clothing have yet to be released, however Jeanne Beker described strict lines, croc coats, and some pieces in Mongolian lamb. If the move towards exclusivity sounds strange in today’s world of democratized fast fashion, it does make sense in terms of couture’s traditional exclusive nature, only being accessible to a select few. Despite the scant media coverage, big names like Kanye West, Donatella Versace, and Sofia Coppola were in attendance. You can bet there were no members of Vogue present as Alaïa’s feud with Anna Wintour rages on.