FASHION Magazine

See John Galliano’s first Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal collection » What better way to proclaim “the king is back!” than by opening your first show in four years with a feather crown, tilted to one side, enfant terrible steez clearly intact? It’s just how John Galliano made his return to the fashion world in London […]

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See the British Fashion Awards 2013 red carpet »

Last night, Britain’s most fashionably influential took over the London Coliseum for the British Fashion Awards 2013. A red carpet of elite wearing elite can only be expected at such an affair, but Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow’s looks got our style radar beeping.

The ageless Moss, who was honoured with the Special Recognition award for 25 years in the industry, wore a Spring 2014 Alexander McQueen leather dress with a fur coat. The perforated effect and pleats added texture to the look that was accessorized with a studded clutch, red pout and black Louboutin heels.

Making an appearance to present the International Designer of the Year honour to Miuccia Prada, it’s no surprise that Paltrow chose from the designer’s collection. The dress, a plum and soft pink bodice with a black pleated skirt, was paired with strappy sandals that added to her signature long legs. Side-parted pin straight hair and a rosy lip made for her low-key beauty look.

View the Anna Dello Russo for H&M party photos »

Most 51-year-olds would not attempt a minidress with side cut-outs, or at least they shouldn’t. But then most 51-year-olds are not Anna Dello Russo, fashion director at large for Vogue Nippon come street style megastar.

Fashion’s best-known dress-up enthusiast arrived at the Paradis Latin nightclub for the party celebrating her upcoming collaborative accessory collection with H&M, which launches on October 4, in fitting style: descending from the ceiling on a throne of giant fake pink roses, Marilyn Monroe style. Her aqua minidress radiated crystal and gold sunbursts, while golden alligators, which were affixed to her ADR for H&M sunglasses, spanned her brows. One of the best performers in the biz, Anna Dello Russo treated the crowd to a performance alongside fellow European editor and style star Giovanna Battaglia, who had accessorized to the nines in Anna Dello Russo’s H&M collection and even a butterfly-adorned golden headpiece.

To say that Raf Simons had a mountain of pressure weighing down on him for his couture collection for Dior would be an understatement. And yet somehow, Simons managed to pull off the impossible: his stunning 56-piece collection was a reverent nod to Dior’s heritage fused with Simon’s signature modernity. Even more impressive than the collection itself is the outpouring of approval from the tough-to-please fashion crowd, including Simons’ peers. Here are some of the reactions to the collection so far:

Christopher Kane at Christian Dior? The prince of neon was placed into the Galliano-replacement ring earlier this week by Suzy Menkes, who claimed, in her International Herald Tribune column, that the 29-year-old designer was set to take a seat on the dizzying designer merry-go-round—but alas, he’s already put the rumour to rest. Kane says, “I […]

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It’s a Beckham takeover out there! Yesterday, we reported that Victoria Beckham’s newest line was selling out of Harvey Nichols. Now it’s David Beckham’s turn, with his bodywear collection hitting H&M stores worldwide today. The soccer legend celebrated in London last night with an in-store launch party and an après-bash at a custom-made pop-up gentleman’s club. And with a campaign shot like this, it’s no wonder ladies like Bianca Jagger, Charlotte Dellal, and Emma Bunton (a.k.a. Baby Spice) showed up to support cop a feel. Last time things got this Beckham crazy, it was the future, and we were in a space ship.

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Ice cream, pink lemonade, and nearly 2,000 balloon animals aren’t typical ways to start a Sunday morning—but then we only get to start our day off with a Mulberry fashion show but twice a year. This show is always a big ticket of LFW, for its prime guest list (um, today’s show included Kristen Stewart AND Kate Moss, who wore a Canadian tuxedo and a brown hat!), super-luxe venue (the upscale Claridges Hotel in the tony Mayfair neighbourhood), dogs on the runway (this season: miniature schnauzers), and, obviously, the fact that the brand is one of the fastest-growing luxury brands out there. Another way to start the day: sequins, and yet another sorbet palette of yellow, green, and pink.

Yesterday marked the start of Fall 2011’s Paris Couture Week. Though couture is often luxe and intricate, one house stands apart from the rest in boldness and charisma: Christian Dior. But as the cloud of former Dior designer John Galliano’s ongoing trial still looms over the industry, critics suspected the collection would be different due to his absence of direction. To our surprise, “different” turned to out mean shocking, and frankly disappointing.

The collection was what can only be described as an overzealous attempt to rework what is known as Dior. It seems to be of widespread opinion that from the patterns to the cuts, the ensembles simply did not belong in a couture collection. Overall, there was a vast lack of direction and vision, with colours and materials clashing all over the runway.

At the end of the show, creative director Bill Gaytten took a bow, accompanied by his first studio assistant, Susanna Venegas. He seemed elated to be at the head of the runway, but that’s probably because he didn’t see the giant elephant in the room with the “It Wasn’t Galliano” sign around its neck. Gaytten is already set to take over Galliano’s self-titled label, and though there were suspicions that he’d be taking over for the estranged designer at Dior, those can probably be put to rest. Is Gaytten going straight to the guillotine?

“So pleased.” That was how Jean Paul Gaultier summed up his feelings about his retrospective Monday night at the VIP party held at Montreal’s Musée des Beaux-Arts. “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk” opened Monday night with an intimate gathering that mixed Gaultier’s inner circle with Quebec designers and celebs. Male muse Tanel Bedrossiantz in skirt and mohawk, bald and tattooed Ève Salvail, Francisco Randez, star of Gaultier Le Male fragrance ads and doll-like French singer Arielle, in body-hugging tulle, joined musician Melissa Auf der Maur, International Herald Tribune critic Suzy Menkes, Newsweek’s Robin Givhan, and hairstylist Odile Gilbert in touring the show. An ebullient Gaultier, who initially had not been keen on the notion of a retrospective—“it can be like a funeral,” he told me back in January—was clearly enjoying himself, wandering the rooms and amiably chatting and posing for photos.

As is the case with virtually any news story these days, the developments in the John Galliano story⎯the designer being accused of hurling anti-Semitic insults at an (incidentally non-Jewish) couple while drinking at the Paris café, Le Perle⎯can be measured in tweets, quotes and snippets. Given the proliferated speed at which these bits are published and publicized, it’s amazing to witness how quickly the industry’s reaction has gone from appalled to forgiving to looking forward to the designer’s imminent replacement at Dior. Given the industry’s propensity for forgetfulness⎯history has made fools of those who once condemned Coco Chanel for her involvement with the Nazis or Kate Moss for being caught with cocaine⎯we have no doubt that Galliano will be back at the top in no time. All references to the frankly horrifying severity of his remarks will vanish and whereas Chanel’s and Moss’s actions took years to do the same, Galliano’s have almost done so in a matter of 14 days. Meanwhile, as rumours swirl for a possible replacement by Riccardo Tisci, Alber Elbaz and Marc Jacobs, we take a look back at the quickest judgment turnarounds in fashion history.

The Diane von Furstenberg show at New York fashion week will be Nathan Jenden‘s last turn as the company’s creative director. Jenden is leaving the label to focus on his own line in London. [Grazia]

First Neiman Marcus, then Net-a-Porter dropped Emanuel Ungaro for Spring 2010, and word is that now the Ungaro boutique on Madison Avenue is shutting its doors. The shop is reportedly calling customers with the news that they’re closing down shop and are having a liquidation sale. An employee at the shop confirmed the sale, but not the closure. [The Cut]