FASHION Magazine

Judging from the long line-ups at the Gelato stands I whizzed by today, Paris is doing Summer: Part Deux. While the temperatures continue to soar, the PFWers continue to get creative with the contents of their luggage in an attempt to beat the heat: Knits are paired with shorts and summer dresses with suede knee-high boots; open-toed flat sandals are back; hair has gone the way of the top knot and makeup is down to a slash of bright lipstick. Bags run the gamut from leather to straw to skins to canvas. And sunglasses? If you don’t have a pair that’s brightly coloured/aviator/dark and oversized/white, you might as well stay in your hotel room and catch up on the Jackson Trial. Luckily, I brought two pairs that fit the bill (David Yurman and Marc Jacobs) so I spent Saturday dodging French doggie doo on the streets in between shows and presentations. Here’s the highlight reel of my day:

Judging from the selection of chunky cable knits, Fair Isle patterns, and fisherman sweaters spotted this fall, designers like Sonia Rykiel and Jil Sander’s Raf Simons are ready for an alpine escapade. Channel the cabin-fever craze with a Nordic knit, like this one by Mac & Jac ($80, at Sears), paired with stovepipe trousers and chunky boots.

We’ve feared the permanent death of couture for quite some time now. Since being eschewed for the faster world of ready-to-wear in the ’70s, the art form seems to be shrinking in significance ever so slightly year after year. So it’s exciting to see new talent taking an interest in the techniques of old master couturiers. Take Dawid Tomaszewski, the Berlin-based designer whose decadent pieces display timeless elegance and attention to detail, establishing a “new couture.”

By Randi Bergman and Jordan Porter

We’ve made it pretty clear that we’re all about Kate this week, right? Right? We’re especially into her sailor-inspired Alexander McQueen dress worn yesterday in Prince Edward Island, so much so that we’ve gone shopping in the name of the future Queen. God save her and her style sense, really. Ahoy mate!

Shop the guide now! »

Name: Lauren Berntzen

Agency: Sutherland Models

Where you’ve seen her: Lauren, who recently moved to Toronto from British Columbia, shot a look book for eco-fashion label Thieves earlier this fall, and appears in our holiday Style Studio video series.

Bernadette Morra caught up with Irina Lazareanu at the Sonia Rykiel show in Paris on Sunday. Irina talks about her off-the-runway experience at fashion week, her upcoming album with Sean Lennon and how she lost her voice screaming at the TV during the Olympic gold medal hockey game. Read all of our coverage of Paris […]

The post Video: Irina Lazareanu lost her voice watching Olympic hockey appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Nathalie Rykiel explained the reason for the Sonia Rykiel collab with H&M: they copied her! In an interview, the creative director revealed that she told the chain that if they wanted “[their] girls to wear Sonia Rykiel from H&M, let’s let them have the real thing!” [Nylon via Fashionologie]

Valentino partner Giancarlo Giammetti has learned just how far Facebook networking stretches, especially when it involves negative press. After watching the Valentino spring 2010 show in Paris, Giammetti took to his FB page and changed his status to read “not sad … just surprised. … We have always supported the new designers and we love them, but this time we have to distance ourselves from this ridiculous circus.” After a flood of comments, Giammetti deleted his status, “…because it was becoming [too] heavy.” [The Cut]

Not surprisingly, Sonia Rykiel‘s clothing line for H&M, which hits stores on February 20, has a lot of stripes. The French designer’s signature look is all over this making-of video in classic Breton black and white, wide stripes of yellow, pink and purple, and even sequinned pink and black. The majority of the collection in Rykiel’s stock-in-trade knitwear–dresses, sweaters, jumpsuits–but there are also candy-coloured bangles, diamante brooches and spangled berets and patent belts. Though we’re not sure if it’s going to be for sale, what we really want is the little Sonia doll, decked out in stripes, big red hair blazing. Tell us in the comments which pieces you love!

Video after the jump.

Do the shoes on the left look familiar? An intrepid commenter on Fashionista has uncovered the secret source of Alexander McQueen’s alien footwear—a video for ’70s rock band The Tubes’ “White Punks on Dope.” [Fashionista]

André Leon Talley smack talks Golden Globes style: “When you start watching red-carpet shows at 6:00 p.m. and don’t see a stunning dress until 9:00 p.m. — Julianna Margulies’s ruby paillette crepe robe de style with cutouts, by Narciso Rodriguez — it’s sad what passes for style in Hollywood.” [Vogue, via The Cut]

We know we harp on a little bit about the daily barrage of fast-fashion designer collaborations, but we are quite excited for the Sonia Rykiel for H&M lingerie line that hits stores tomorrow (see hm.com for locations). Like, be at the store when it opens excited. Cute, affordable lingerie can be tough to find in a world filled with over-padded bras and bedazzled thongs, but the Rykiel pieces are so pretty and so French that we almost can’t stand it. Really, we dare you not to buy the sheer rosette bras, adorable multi-coloured stripes and blush pink silks.

See some of our favourite pieces after the jump.

The Sonia Rykiel lingerie line for H&M was presented at The Grand Palais in a runway show parade that included girls on bicycles, a flock of geese and a famed Croatian marching band. The models, outfitted in pale pink vintage-inspired bras, panties and garter belts, jived atop moving floats.

Karl Lagerfeld gave a SpongeBob SquarePants doll a makeover for a Paris fundraiser for the World Wildlife Fund. The figurine was outfitted in the image of his maker, with Uncle Karl’s signature dark shades and fingerless gloves. [WWD]

Christian Lacroix is in dire straights again. The Ajman sheikh Hassan Bin Ali al-Naimi, who was set to buy the bankrupt fashion house, failed to close the deal in time. The court will decide how to move forward tomorrow—either accepting the current owner Falic group’s restructuring plan or extending the deadline to allow for potential billionaire buyers to pop up. [The Cut]