Monday, June 08, 2015

From Startups to Mass Retailers, It's a Tough Time for Fashion

From Startups to Mass Retailers, It's a Tough Time for Fashion:

Band of Outsiders founder Scott Sternberg in 2014. The label recently cancelled all of its fall orders and closed its New York flagship. Photo: Joe Scarnici/Stringer/Getty Images
Band of Outsiders founder Scott Sternberg in 2014. The label recently cancelled all of its fall orders and closed its New York flagship. Photo: Joe Scarnici/Stringer/Getty Images
I went out to eat on Saturday night, my third visit to a restaurant that opened about six months ago. I initially booked a reservation there because I’m attracted to novelty. It’s in a popular neighborhood, but more than a few blocks away from the cliché parts, and its chef has worked at some very hip eateries. The menu, from the raw bar to the cocktails, is appealing. The proprietors have also done a good job with branding: nice logo, beautiful interiors, inventive cocktail names.

My first meal at Restaurant X was a success: The atmosphere was gently buzzing and the food was good, if not holy-shit great. On the next visit, my husband and I invited some friends along, and they seemed to like it, too. But this weekend was different. All of the things I had originally appreciated about it had begun to wear on me. While the out-of-the-way location was initially an attraction, on Saturday night it resulted in a lot of empty tables, while more mediocre restaurants closer to the action were bustling. The slick branding and pricey menu still seemed to be bringing in first-timers — especially group diners who probably had trouble booking such a big party elsewhere — but not repeat customers dedicated to filling up those seats. Those atmospheric letdowns could be ignored if the food was worthy of its price tag — dinner for two, plus drinks, is about $120. It’s good, but maybe not that good. As I surveyed the room, I couldn’t help thinking, “This place isn’t going to last, even if I’m rooting for it.”

I’ve had that feeling plenty of times while eating at restaurants, and plenty of times while looking at fashion. The posit that there are “more brands than ever” is true. In 2003, 154 designers were listed on the official New York Fashion Week calendar. In 2014, that number more than doubled to 324, thanks to an interesting mix of circumstances. There are the young-designer competitions — from the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund to the International Woolmark Prize — which promise money but also much-needed mentorship. There are more investors, from angels to private equity firms, interested in putting money into fashion. And there are more promises of a big exit, à la Michael Kors’s billion-dollar IPO.

However, what might be the most important — and overlooked — factor is that, in modern society, entrepreneurship is considered hugely admirable. It’s thought that the most ambitious people live to work, right? If you’ve devoted your life to one company, why shouldn’t that company have your name on it? It’s no longer sexy to earn well into the six figures at a corporate job. It’s sexy to pay yourself nothing and gamble that your multi-million dollar payout will come.

But the majority of restaurants fail, as do most startups. Screenplays never get made, and artwork never gets seen. Fashion, of course, is not immune to this unwritten law, and this year has proved a particularly difficult one for the industry. In just the past month, Band of Outsiders halted operations, Honor closed down its ready-to-wear business to focus on custom orders and Dior Homme designer Kris van Assche announced the shuttering of his namesake ready-to-wear brand.

Others have chosen to reorganize. Peter Som took a season off. Marc Jacobs announced that it would fold Marc by Marc Jacobs into the main collection, following the lead of Dolce & Gabbana, which did away with D&G in 2011. And there are rumors of other brands taking a similar approach.

It’s been a transformative time at the mass level, too. J.Crew, a global tastemaker for the past decade, can’t seem to get its assortment right and has therefore seen sales drop. Long-suffering Gap continues with its struggle to pick the right colors. Ann Taylor’s profits shrunk in 2014, and its sales were down, too. (Fortunately for shareholders, Ann Inc. was recently sold to a larger retail group for more than $2 billion, or $47 a share, about a 20 percent premium on the stock.)

All this bad news can feel a bit end of the world-ish, and the shakeout will undoubtedly continue. The aftermath may even cause investors to turn away from fashion, and young designers to return to the presumed security of a corporate gig.

Which, I should say, may not be a bad thing. Unless you hate clothes (and I’m sure that a few fashion journalists do), it’s impossible to cover this business and not want people to succeed. Talent and vision should be rewarded, right? But the reality is that talent gets you nowhere. Savvy only a little further. Money helps. But luck? Fate? Providence? Whatever you want to call it, being in the right place at the right time with the right people surrounding you is what leads to success.

Consider the past recipients of CFDA Awards. For every Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein, there’s a Jhane Barnes, Andrew Fezz and Gordon Henderson, gifted designers whose businesses just never took off in the same way. As difficult as it is to accept that even the labels with the greatest potential might not succeed, there’s nothing to do but move on.

Fashion people like to lament that the changes the business has undergone in the past 20 years have not been for the better. That it’s all about branding and profit margins now. That real artists aren’t given the room, or time, to grow. I’m not sure if I agree with that wholeheartedly, but let’s just say that it’s true. Then do something about it! If you’re a magazine editor, find a teensy little more room in your pages for the designers you believe in, not just the ones with advertising dollars. If you’re a department store, work more closely with young talent to ensure they can actually fulfill the orders you’re placing — and negotiate terms that won’t leave them bankrupt. And if you’re a designer, learn something about this business before jumping in head first. Even if you have all the family money in the world, 99.9 percent of the time it’s not enough to keep a fashion brand going for more than a few years.

That’s all easier to say than do, but it’s not impossible. Instead of mourning the brands we’ve lost, the industry needs to focus on what’s working and what’s not, and how it can be better next time around. After all, we simply don’t know what’s next for any of these designers. Who would have thought in 1993 that a bankrupt Michael Kors would be a billionaire? Surely not many. But it happened.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 9:35 AM
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'Game of Thrones' Costume Designer Michele Clapton Tells Us All About the Season 5 Looks

'Game of Thrones' Costume Designer Michele Clapton Tells Us All About the Season 5 Looks:

Scenes from season five of "Game of Thrones." Photos: HBO
Scenes from season five of "Game of Thrones." Photos: HBO
There is only one more week until the "Game of Thrones" season five finale airs, which will mark a total of 50 episodes — and countless naked breasts, bloody puddles and disastrous weddings that we've sat through (and that I have lovingly chronicled via fashion recaps).

Since the beginning, Emmy-winning costume designer Michele Clapton has been in charge of dressing the characters — a challenging task, to say the least — and season five is, sadly, her last. Clapton told me the news during a Skype call from France, where she is working on a new project. "I feel like we’ve covered all bases now. It was really important to me, knowing that I was going to leave, to actually design the costumes for each [geographic] area  so it’s complete," Clapton says. "In my head anyway it’s a complete look that I left."

Let's take a closer examination of the look that Clapton developed in season five.

Daenerys the Untouchable

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
Every season Daenerys's appearance has changed to reflect her station in life. First it was the ethereal virgin, then the Dothraki queen, then a homage to the outfits the slaves wore in the various lands she freed. Now a new Dany has emerged. Until last season, she was still wearing a lot of blue, which Clapton says was in memory of her beloved Khal Drogo, because it's a Dothraki color. This season she wears a lot of white and dove grey. "Now she’s got this sense of power and also a sense of immortality," Clapton says. "I wanted to give this rather untouchable [quality] to her. The idea behind the white and pale grey is the sense of removal, a removal from reality."

There's a secret underneath all those gowns, too. "I still always put trousers underneath because in her psyche anything might go wrong and [she's always thinking], 'I might need to run away,'" Clapton says. "Even with the longest, most beautiful gowns, she always wears a pair of boots and trousers. I like that sense of, 'I can play this [queen] but underneath, I can run.'"

Finally, a stylistic theme has emerged in the necklines of her gowns, which are often split into a v-shape, then fastened together at the top. Same with the long, slashed sleeves. "It’s almost like it’s revealing, but at the last minute it’s not. It’s held together. She wants to be attractive and appealing, but at the same time she wants to be in control," Clapton says.

Daenerys's Armor-Like Jewelry

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
Speaking of Daenerys's necklines, her statement jewelry has been next-level this season. As the season progressed, Clapton wanted to make her more aggressive, and give an almost armor-like quality to her adornments. The show's in-house armorer made the dragon piece, but Clapton commissioned London jewelers Yunus & Eliza to make the wraparound silver piece seen in Sunday night's episode nine. (Look for it to be featured in a well-known fashion magazine soon.)

Arya's Transformation

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
Actress Maisie Williams, who plays Arya, has had to wear dirty boy-clothes for the last several seasons, but she finally got to change outfits after leaving the Hound for dead and making her way to the House of Black and White this season. Not surprisingly, Williams was thrilled. "Maisie was very, very keen to get rid of that last costume. She said, 'Please can I burn it?'" Clapton says. Though Arya is shown throwing the outfit into the river, the outfit still exists in the archives. In fact, there are several versions, created as Williams grew.

Arya's clothing choices aren't her own, though. "Unlike Sansa, who chooses to change and express herself, Arya just adopts costumes to the situation or place that she’s in," Clapton explains. "It’s not about Arya, it’s about the person she’s playing." As the a girl selling oysters, Arya wears an outfit inspired a bit by Russian costumes with fabric made to look like filigreed copper.

Black Sansa

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
After Sansa escaped from King's Landing, she dyed her hair black and went goth for a bit. The black Maleficent-style dress she wore last season is reprised here, albeit with some heavy cloaks thrown over it. It's made clear in the show that Sansa can sew, and Clapton says Sansa consciously made this choice to be darker, as if to prove she wasn't going to be a victim anymore. There's some symbolism in that long circular necklace, too. "The necklace was based on the idea that Arya had Needle. At the end of the necklace there’s a point, a spike, which is like Sansa’s smaller version of Needle. It’s a jewelry idea of Needle. She’s finally taking them on," Clapton explains. Well, at least until she marries Ramsay, ugh.

Sansa's Second Wedding Dress

Photo: HBO
Photo: HBO
Despite the horrific circumstances surrounding Sansa's marriage to Ramsay, this is one of my favorite dresses in the entire series, and one of Clapton's favorites as well. It is loaded with symbolism, too. "It’s Sansa trying to respect everyone that’s been before her. She finally feels like she can make Winterfell a family home again. So I wanted to incorporate pieces that represented her family." To that end, the feather collar represents the fur pieces that her brothers and father used to wear when they went into battle or off hunting. The shape of the dress was inspired by her mother and the fish clasps on the front are signifiers of the Tullys, her mother's family house. The shape was also engineered to look a bit like the statues in the crypt at Winterfell.

The dress caused a bit of an issue on set, though. "The funniest thing was on the day of the rehearsal, they had set up this snowy path. [Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa,] walked up the path in the dress and it was like a snow plow. It cleared the whole path because it was so big and heavy. They had to reset the snow every take," Clapton laughs.

Finally, the wedding dress was specially engineered for that controversial wedding night rape scene. Clapton says it was sewn with cotton thread, which is quite easy to rip, then re-sewn after each take. Clapton wasn't present when that particular scene was shot, but estimates that it probably took three or four takes to shoot.

Margaery Becomes a Queen

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
Margaery married King Tommen without incident this season, finally earning the title of "Queen" without her husband dying immediately. Her clothing this season has definitely been heavier and less bare than in past seasons, and this is by design. "It’s funny, I wanted her to be a bit more like Cersei, with the metal armor look," Clapton says. "Margaery doesn’t need to play the, 'Oh, I’ve hardly got anything on and I’m so young!' game. She can actually say, 'I’m queen now.'" Welp, at least until she gets stripped and tossed into a dungeon.

Assless-Dress "Daenerys"

Photo: HBO
Photo: HBO
The whorehouse scene featuring prostitute "Daenerys" was one of my favorite moments in the whole season. The dress started out as a joke. "I wanted to shock [showrunners] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], because they always ask me to do outrageous things. I just thought, 'Fine, I’m going to do a costume with no ass! And they were like, 'What were you thinking, Clapton?'" the designer says. In the end, the dress made it into the show. "The whole essence of Dany is there... [there] are always circles cut in and bits missing in her dress so I thought it would be really funny. Some people said, 'Well, how would they know what she looked like?'" Clapton continues. "She’s this iconic woman so of course people talk and gossip and know what people look like! It was meant to be amusing." Mission definitely accomplished.

Myrcella in Dorne

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
Cersei's daughter is all grown up and wearing the sexy outfits of her sex-obsessed adopted home, Dorne. "The dresses were beautifully embroidered by my embroiderer Michele [Carragher] as usual, but I wanted it to look like one little pull of a strap and it would just drop to the ground," Clapton says. "There was nothing to them. Just clouds." Clapton also wanted to set the scene for Jaime to be slightly "horrified" when he encounters his daughter/niece in this state of almost-undress.

Trystane's outfit has a definite Indian inspiration. The fabrics actually came from India and the costume design team dyed them the vibrant colors seen here. The large leather belt and chain come from Clapton's personal collection.

Sexy Sand Snakes

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
Oberyn's various bastard daughters band together to take revenge on the folks in King's Landing, wearing a mix of hard and soft. Not all the critics have been kind about these outfits, according to Clapton. "They’re sexy, it’s hot weather, it’s a very liberal society. [People have said] it looks too B-movie, but it’s supposed to be this rather free place," she says. "It’s hot and it’s practical to wear light clothing. I just like the movement. Again, they wear suede trousers underneath and boots and I just liked that contrast of very light flowy dresses with really tough bits. When you need to fight you put the tough armor over." Oh, yeah, and about that armor...

Nipplegate

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
This armor caused a bit of a ruckus when the first pictures were revealed prior to the season premiere, prompting what was immediately dubbed "Nipplegate," because the breastplate looked a bit, uh, aroused. When you're watching the show in real time, you can't really see the nipples, but Clapton is still annoyed by the whole thing, though she was laughing while relating this story. The armor really did have nipples at first. "When I first saw it I said, 'I hate the nipples. Get rid of those fucking nipples!' My armorer went, 'Yeah, yeah, I’ll get rid of it.' And he did," she says. "I have this absolute phobia about that armor. It’s the worst thing on earth. It’s sort of funny, because I was cross about it because  it’s such a faux pas, but I don't think it registers on film as much as it does in those pictures." She still gives major props to her armorer, who shapes leather over molds and hand stamps the designs on it.

Dornish Armor (Sans Nipples)

Photos: HBO
Photos: HBO
I was really drawn to this other version of Dornish armor, too, even without any nipples. Clapton saw some padded velvet armor in Florence years ago that she loved, and it provided the inspiration for this look. "It’s built on leather and padding and velvet, and we decided each stud would be a sunburst on a leather piece, studded through," she explains. "It was a nightmare. I just decided it would be a lovely, sensual way of wearing armor. They were very solid actually. They were very protective." The team had to make more than 25 pieces.

And with that, kudos to Clapton on an amazing five seasons on this incredible show.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 9:34 AM
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Saturday, June 06, 2015

CANDICE SWANEPOEL HD WALLPAPER QUEEN OF VICTORIA'S SECRET BIOGRAPHY

CANDICE SWANEPOEL HD WALLPAPER QUEEN OF VICTORIA'S SECRET :

Candice Swanepoel Born October 20, 1988 (age 24) Mooi River, Natal Province, South Africa Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Hair color Dark blonde Eye color Blue Measurements (US) 33-23-34.5 (EU) 84-59-88 Dress size (US) 0-2 ; (EU) 32-34 ; (UK) 4-6 Manager Ice Model Management IMG Models Why Not Model Agency Modelwerk Website Official web site : www.candiceswanepoel.com Candice Swanepoel (born 20 October 1988) is a South African model best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. In 2012, she came in 10th on the Forbes top-earning models list. Career Candice Swanepoel was spotted by a model scout in a Durban flea market at age 15. Swanepoel's resume includes covers for Australian, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese and Italian Vogue, Brazilian, German and South African ELLE, British, South African, Romanian, Mexican and Chinese GQ, Turkish, Spanish, Russian, Czech and Argentinian Harper's Bazaar, i-D, Lush and Ocean Drive (U.S.) and advertisements for Nike, Diesel, Guess?, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford, Prabal Gurung, Swarovski, Colcci, True Religion, Ralph Lauren, Miu Miu, Juicy Couture and Versace. Swanepoel has walked the runway for Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce and Gabbana, Michael Kors, Donna Karan, Giambattista Valli, Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung, Rag & Bone, Oscar de la Renta, Fendi, Chanel, Elie Saab, Diane von Fürstenberg, Sportmax, Betsey Johnson, Stella McCartney, Viktor and Rolf, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior, Blumarine and numerous other designers, as well as for Victoria's Secret since 2007. In addition to appearing in the lingerie brand's commercials, she was a featured model in the 2010 "SWIM" catalog, along with Lindsay Ellingson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Behati Prinsloo and Erin Heatherton.In 2010, Swanepoel became a Victoria's Secret Angel. Swanepoel modeled for the Kardashians' 2010 swimwear line. On 12 August 2010 Swanepoel officially opened the first Victoria's Secret retail store in Canada, at West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton. In 2013, Swanepoel was named the cover model of the coveted Victoria's Secret Swim Catalogue. Popularity Swanepoel was voted #61 in 2010 and #62 in 2011 in FHM's annual "100 Sexiest Women in the World" poll and #31 in 2012 Maxim's "Hot 100 List". Wealth Swanepoel made her debut at No. 10 on Forbes' The World's Top-Earning Models list, with estimated earnings of $3 million between 2010 and 2011. Personal life Swanepoel was born and raised in a small town called Mooi River in Natal Province, South Africa. She is fluent in Afrikaans and Portuguese, which she learned from her boyfriend, Hermann Nicoli, a Brazilian male model. She has been dating him since she met him in Paris when she was 17. Candice Swanepoel is close friends with fellow African and Victoria's Secret Angel Behati Prinsloo and British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. References a b c d e f g Profile at Fashion Model Directory Solomon, Brian (14 June 2012). "The World's Highest Paid Models". Forbes.com. Forbes.com LLC. Retrieved 2012-06-20. "Mooiriver magic". Carte Blanche. 2005-05-29. Retrieved 2008-01-06. Go Behind the Scenes of the Victoria's Secret Swim Catalog! ETonline.com. Supermodel to open Edmonton Victoria’s Secret edmontonjournal.com Candice Swanepoel at FHM.com, 2011-02-04. http://www.maxim.com/hot-100/2012 and Steven Bertoni, Keren Blankfeld (5 May 2011). "The World's Top-Earning Models". forbes. Retrieved 11 May 2011. Born (New York Magazine) and raised (Daily Mail) "'Pretendo morar no Brasil', conta a angel Candice Swanepoel.Confira!" (in Portuguese). 180graus. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011. "?Candice Swanepoel para WLM??". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-07-03. "GQ South Africa". Img208.imagevenue.com. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
CANDICE SWANEPOEL HD WALLPAPER QUEEN OF VICTORIA'S SECRET

 Candice Swanepoel

 Born October 20, 1988 (age 24)
Mooi River, Natal Province, South Africa
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Hair color Dark blonde
Eye color Blue
Measurements (US) 33-23-34.5
(EU) 84-59-88
Dress size (US) 0-2 ; (EU) 32-34 ; (UK) 4-6
Manager Ice Model Management
IMG Models
Why Not Model Agency
Modelwerk
Website Official web site : www.candiceswanepoel.com
Candice Swanepoel (born 20 October 1988) is a South African model best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. In 2012, she came in 10th on the Forbes top-earning models list.

 Career 

 Candice Swanepoel was spotted by a model scout in a Durban flea market at age 15.
Swanepoel's resume includes covers for Australian, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese and Italian Vogue, Brazilian, German and South African ELLE, British, South African, Romanian, Mexican and Chinese GQ, Turkish, Spanish, Russian, Czech and Argentinian Harper's Bazaar, i-D, Lush and Ocean Drive (U.S.) and advertisements for Nike, Diesel, Guess?, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford, Prabal Gurung, Swarovski, Colcci, True Religion, Ralph Lauren, Miu Miu, Juicy Couture and Versace. Swanepoel has walked the runway for Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce and Gabbana, Michael Kors, Donna Karan, Giambattista Valli, Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung, Rag & Bone, Oscar de la Renta, Fendi, Chanel, Elie Saab, Diane von Fürstenberg, Sportmax, Betsey Johnson, Stella McCartney, Viktor and Rolf, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior, Blumarine and numerous other designers, as well as for Victoria's Secret since 2007. In addition to appearing in the lingerie brand's commercials, she was a featured model in the 2010 "SWIM" catalog, along with Lindsay Ellingson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Behati Prinsloo and Erin Heatherton.In 2010, Swanepoel became a Victoria's Secret Angel. Swanepoel modeled for the Kardashians' 2010 swimwear line. On 12 August 2010 Swanepoel officially opened the first Victoria's Secret retail store in Canada, at West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton. In 2013, Swanepoel was named the cover model of the coveted Victoria's Secret Swim Catalogue.

 Popularity 
Swanepoel was voted #61 in 2010 and #62 in 2011 in FHM's annual "100 Sexiest Women in the World" poll and #31 in 2012 Maxim's "Hot 100 List".

 Wealth 
Swanepoel made her debut at No. 10 on Forbes' The World's Top-Earning Models list, with estimated earnings of $3 million between 2010 and 2011.

 Personal life 

 Swanepoel was born and raised in a small town called Mooi River in Natal Province, South Africa. She is fluent in Afrikaans and Portuguese, which she learned from her boyfriend, Hermann Nicoli, a Brazilian male model. She has been dating him since she met him in Paris when she was 17.
Candice Swanepoel is close friends with fellow African and Victoria's Secret Angel Behati Prinsloo and British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

 References 

  a b c d e f g Profile at Fashion Model Directory
 Solomon, Brian (14 June 2012). "The World's Highest Paid Models". Forbes.com. Forbes.com LLC. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
 "Mooiriver magic". Carte Blanche. 2005-05-29. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
 Go Behind the Scenes of the Victoria's Secret Swim Catalog! ETonline.com.
 Supermodel to open Edmonton Victoria’s Secret edmontonjournal.com
 Candice Swanepoel at FHM.com, 2011-02-04.
 http://www.maxim.com/hot-100/2012
 and Steven Bertoni, Keren Blankfeld (5 May 2011). "The World's Top-Earning Models". forbes. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
 Born (New York Magazine) and raised (Daily Mail)
 "'Pretendo morar no Brasil', conta a angel Candice Swanepoel.Confira!" (in Portuguese). 180graus. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
 "?Candice Swanepoel para WLM??". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-07-03.

 "GQ South Africa". Img208.imagevenue.com. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
Posted by Nelio Inacio at 10:35 AM
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Friday, June 05, 2015

Here's How Those Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner Ads Have Worked Out for Calvin Klein

Here's How Those Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner Ads Have Worked Out for Calvin Klein:

Kendall Jenner's Calvin Klein campaign. Photo: Calvin Klein
Kendall Jenner's Calvin Klein campaign. Photo: Calvin Klein
If you're looking for virality and buzz, Calvin Klein's marketing department has certainly done a bang-up job this year. First came Justin Bieber's much-spoofed, probably Photoshopped underwear ads in early January, garnering the brand millions of new followers, and March brought even more thanks to a denim campaign featuring Kendall Jenner.

So, has shooting straight for the heart of youth city brought about real business gains?

Execs at PVH Corp, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, said on a Tuesday morning webcast that they "believe [they're] beginning to connect with a younger customer." That's good. Men's underwear gained some market share during the first quarter of the year, which wrapped May 3, and the very manly-sounding "Intense Power" style the Biebs wore in his campaign has been selling well. But denim, the focus of Jenner's ads, is tricky: Calvin Klein has lost 50 percent of the market share it had four or five years ago, and the men's jeans business is turning around faster than women's, improvements in which the team describes as "flat-ish" at this point.

"It's better than it's been, but I wouldn't categorize jeans and denim as a hot category at this point," says CEO Emanuel Chirico.

To be fair, Jenner's ads were only live for a little over a month before the quarter wrapped. While we're sure she inspired some young lasses to snap up the limited edition denim collection she was shilling, perhaps the next quarter's results will show more of a lift.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:17 AM
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Maya Thurman-Hawke Is Fashion's Latest Celebrity Offspring to Watch

Maya Thurman-Hawke Is Fashion's Latest Celebrity Offspring to Watch:

Maya Thurman-Hawke in Zac Posen at the CFDA Awards. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Maya Thurman-Hawke in Zac Posen at the CFDA Awards. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
It wasn't long ago that the fashion world collectively swooned when Lily-Rose Depp, the 16-year-old daughter of Jonny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, made her red carpet debut at the Chanel Métiers d’Art show in New York City, dressed in a couture look from the French house. At Monday night's CFDA Awards, a similar situation occurred, and the fashion crowd was introduced to the latest celebrity offspring with "It" girl potential.

Maya Thurman-Hawke, the 16-year-old daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, arrived on the red carpet wearing a resort 2016 gown by Zac Posen, who doubled as her date for the evening. Posen is clearly smitten with the teen beauty, as he posted plenty of photos of her on Instagram before and during the event.

While she may prove to be Posen's new muse, she's not exactly a stranger to the fashion circuit, as she's attended movie premieres with both of her parents as well as the Miu Miu resort show with her mother in Paris last July. Now that Thurman-Hawke is all grown up and flying solo, we're calling it: she is definitely one to watch.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:16 AM
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John Galliano Has a New Look

John Galliano Has a New Look:

A look from John Galliano's fall/winter 2015 womenswear collection. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
A look from John Galliano's fall/winter 2015 womenswear collection. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Maison John Galliano is moving on.

Four years after the brand fired its namesake designer for going on an anti-Semitic rant in a Paris cafe, it has rebranded and taken on a fresh logo created by the creative agency Atelier Franck Durand. According to a release from the company, it's replaced the gothic lettering with a typeface based on an 18th century wood engraving: All upper case, rather even keeled and very much in line with other high fashion brands' logos — Lanvin, for instance, comes to mind.

The new look of John Galliano. Photo: John Galliano
The new look of John Galliano. Photo: John Galliano
Later in the year, the fashion house will release a campaign shot on the streets of London — to "evoke the brand's beginnings" — that bears the new visuals.

And while Galliano the brand is carving out a new identity for itself, Galliano the man is busy doing the same. The designer, who returned to the runway as the creative director of Maison Margiela in January, spoke at a London synagogue over the weekend, apologizing for his actions in 2011 and explaining that he's taken responsibility for his alcoholism. While the damage Galliano did runs deep, he certainly seems committed to proving himself to the world again.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:16 AM
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Watch Mickey Drexler in Action at J.Crew, Unhappy Employees Sue Victoria's Secret

News Brief: Watch Mickey Drexler in Action at J.Crew, Unhappy Employees Sue Victoria's Secret:

Mickey Drexler receives the CFDA Founders Award

At Monday night's CFDA Awards, J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler — who also rebuilt Gap before landing in his current position — received the Founders Award. Watch Drexler take the CFDA inside a meeting at J.Crew headquarters, go out for a meal with the designers of Public School and back to his own grade school in the Bronx. {YouTube}

Victoria's Secret allegedly keeps employees on-call without pay

Employees have banded together to file a suit against Victoria's Secret for its on-call scheduling policies: Workers allegedly do not find out if they're needed for a shift until an hour before, and are not paid unless they are called in — even though they're expected to be available at a moment's notice, not allowing them to make other plans or work other jobs. This reportedly helps Victoria's Secret minimize labor costs, while wreaking havoc on employees' personal lives and paychecks. {Buzzfeed}

Maison Galliano gets a new lookFour years after John Galliano was ousted from his namesake label for graphic anti-Semitic slurs, his namesake fashion house is reshaping its image. This year, Creative Director Bill Gaytten is turning the Galliano logo into something more modern and fitting for the brand’s new direction. {Fashionista}

Instagram tests out a new ad featureAs Instagram continues to expand, the photo sharing platform will test out a new feature that allows users to shop for products directly from brands' sponsored posts. “Shop Now” links at the bottom right corner of the picture guide users to buy items that they see in their newsfeeds. This additional advertising feature comes a few years after the company launched its sponsored posts, and is not the only tactic the site plans to roll out in the near future. {Fashionista}

Charming Charlie opens first New York City FlagshipHouston-based accessories and apparel brand Charming Charlie will open its first Manhattan flagship location this Wednesday, June 3. The three-story location on Fifth Avenue will carry products exclusive to New York City starting this fall. {WWD}



Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:15 AM
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Rose Byrne Looks Classy in Cut-Outs

Rose Byrne Looks Classy in Cut-Outs:

Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Rose "Perfect Posture" Byrne looked classy as usual at the New York City premiere of her new movie, "Spy," also featuring her "Bridesmaids" co-star Melissa McCarthy. Tasteful, but also interesting, thanks to the very cutout-heavy Osman dress she was wearing. Not a bad metaphor for an actress who's able to combine icy elegance and humor in the same role.

To be fair, the dress doesn't have cutouts so much as it is a network of beaded circles that create negative space. Though it wasn't styled with a slip on the runway, Byrne's (stylist's) choice to toss one under the dress for propriety's sake actually doesn't ruin the effect. And while the chunky platforms were maybe not the best choice, the top portion of the dress on point. The fit is excellent, and the dress's updated '90s neckline looks clean and easy paired with a red lip.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:14 AM
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Kate Foley: How I Shop

Kate Foley: How I Shop:

Kate Foley. Photo: Mark Iantosca/Vestiaire 
Kate Foley. Photo: Mark Iantosca/Vestiaire 
We all buy clothes, but no two people shop the same. It can be a social experience, and a deeply personal one; at times, it can be impulsive and entertaining, at others, purpose-driven, a chore. Where do you shop? When do you shop? How do you decide what you need, how much to spend, and what's "you"? These are some of the questions we're putting to prominent figures in the fashion industry with our column, "How I Shop."

It should come as no surprise that Kate Foley has a bit of a shopping obsession. The creative consultant and stylist is a favorite subject of street style photographers, and though she's often found wearing the latest "it" accessory or up and coming designer, Foley always stays true to her distinct personal aesthetic.  After being introduced to —and becoming a highly active user of — Vestiaire Collective a year ago, Foley has assumed a new role as contributing fashion director of the European-based fashion consignment site. We spoke with Foley about cleaning our her closet, waking up in the middle of the night thinking about a recent purchase and packing for fashion week.

"Because I work in fashion, I’m constantly looking at sites and stopping by stores and looking at collections. It's kind of always on my mind — not in a crazy way, but as I come across something I love, I'll buy it. If there's something I’ve seen in a collection that I've been lusting after, and as soon as it hits the stores I know. I'll get 18 emails from different sites and I'll run there and buy it as soon as it comes up. There's no rhyme or reason, it's as I see things I fall in love with. I get obsessed with things.

I usually have an idea of what I’m looking for, like, 'Oh, I really want a blah blah sandal from 'x' designer.' A lot of times what I do is type it into Google and a million different options come up in Google Shopping or Polyvore or Shopstyle or something like that. And then I'll kind of go from there and it's the start of a journey and it leads on and on. It sucks you in and suddenly an hour has gone by. I'll go on these crazy searches for old things, usually runway items that didn’t really make it to many stores or maybe a couple did but they got snapped up straight away. I'll go on a hunt and that's why online is amazing, because it can bring up everything. I'll go through hundreds and hundreds of pairs of Prada shoes and hopefully find them.

There's still so many things that I've been searching for, for years, that still haven’t come up. But every now and then I'll still Google and be like, 'Please!' I can’t remember what collection it was but there was a metallic Miu Miu leather jacket and it had stars, it was gold and green and silver — all these different crazy tones and literally every single look in the show had these jackets on. That is something that I have searched for for years basically, ever since that season. I actually have to say I just found that on Vestiaire. It's almost overwhelming when you find it in the end. That's why something like Vestiaire has totally changed my life because weirdly a lot of things like that have popped up. There's another one which is not even that old from Prada. In that collection where they had the fox fur stoles in the multicolors and the funky shoes, that sort of Josephine Baker-inspired collection. There was this amazing really simple strap dress with embroidered monkeys on it. It was white with green and these little sort of beads hanging off the bottom. I don’t even know if it's something that would look nice on me but I’ve been really obsessed with that. That's something I’m still searching for.

Now that I’m working with [Vestiaire Collective], I’m on the site a lot more than I was and I was already on the site a lot. It's kind of dangerous. I had to put together picks and was looking at my list and thought, 'Actually, I really like those shoes, I’m going to get them.'

I have managed to accumulate a lot of shoes and bags just because I love bags. I love New York City and there's not so much space and I take a lot of things to my country house — maybe things that I'll keep for another how many years or haven’t worn recently or it's not the right season.

But then there's always tons of stuff that maybe I bought and I loved and I wore for two weeks and then I realized that actually it doesn’t really fit into my lifestyle or I saw a picture of myself and it's not so flattering.

I used to use Ebay long ago and I used to list things. It got to be too much. I don’t have time, I can barely post a letter. A friend said to me, 'You don’t even use Vestiaire?' I hadn’t heard of it before. She introduced me to Caroline who has the VIP program there. In a couple of days I had gone through my whole wardrobe and taken everything out. It is literally the easiest process in the whole entire world. I just don’t do anything, I give my things to Caroline, she takes them back to the office, she prices them, she researches online. You just sit there and I use the app on my phone and approve offers and do things but it's kind of genius because I’m just sitting there and little bits of money are getting transferred to me. I’ve become really good at editing my wardrobe now which I never did before.

I’m almost happier to part with something than to keep hold of it. I have to watch out that I don’t get rid of everything. I feel like since I’m buying things on there and I’m also selling things, it's a nice little community. It's almost like everyone else is sharing. I finally feel like I’m in a better place in my wardrobe. I can see things, I don’t feel overwhelmed anymore.

I don’t really have kind of a set style — I’m not really someone who wears jeans everyday — but I do know pretty well what kind of shape and things work for my body and what I feel comfortable in. I always wear a longish skirt, over the knee, that has a smaller waist. That's my pair of jeans. I can look smart and I can be comfortable.

I used to wear a pair of leather pants nearly every day. I can’t even imagine ever wearing it now. I feel so much more comfortable in this. I’m always buying printed, beautiful skirts. One of the actual stores I go into is Marni. It's the right length, it has interesting variations on the oversized relatively long skirt. And now I normally keep my top pretty simple — either a nice black and white top or a nicely made t-shirt and always earrings. I have an addiction to cool art teacher earrings. They're kind of interesting, funky, creative — like a Marni kind of earring. Not super traditional but big and funky. That's something I definitely buy constantly. Actually I have a really great ones from Tory Burch from their spring/summer collection last year.

I think with accessories, I have a lot more fun. I have fun with it all but I probably spend more money on accessories, fun bags in interesting and beautiful colors. Mark Cross bags — I have a weird thing. It's the perfect bag for me. I love bags that are in rich jewel tones with gold hardware. I just look at it and I think, 'I have to have that one.' So I have tons of those and then shoes as well. I’m crazy about Prada shoes, Miu Miu shoes, lots of shoes. I’m constantly buying Prada shoes partly because they are really comfortable and partly because they look amazing.

I used to be a heels person and I don't know if its because of my lifestyle now that I’m freelance, I’m running around a lot more so flats are just more comfortable. Now I really only wear heels in the evening. I'll wear a brogue in the day in the wintertime, a Marni brogue or those big crazy Stella McCartney lace shoes — I have two pairs of those, you look totally crazy and people give you really weird looks. But that's my kind of daywear and then in the summer I'll just wear sandals, like Céline. I still buy heels like crazy. I went through a stage of wearing big chunky Prada ones which I feel like I’m coming back into now.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking about how a couple of weeks ago I bought these Céline sandals and they’re kind of crazy and they have huge gold buckles on them. I’ve been wearing them most days but I thought about it last night and I was like I don’t think they look very nice on me and they aren’t very flattering and it really limits what I can wear them with and they were expensive. I thought, why on earth did I buy that? I think I was searching for a sandal that was a little bit smarter and yes, I went crazy. Fashion took over and clouded my vision. They might be popping up in Vestiaire soon.

I think I’m really lucky in that a lot of the time for a bigger occasion like a big fashion event or something, I normally get to borrow things from designers which is amazing. I get to wear something super special for the night and then send it back. Weddings I’ve never been able to figure out. I have my own wedding coming up sometime next year and I have no idea what I’m going to wear for that.

I feel like I’m so confident — I can think of an outfit for most things, I can piece it together in my head with accessories and everything like that. But for some reason, just because I’ve never been one of those girls that's dreamt of her wedding her whole life, I just totally have nothing. My head is empty and it's kind of scary. I don’t really feel like I want to wear anything traditional. I think I'll probably have it made by Suno, that makes sense.

Other things like fashion week are a huge challenge because immediately after New York I fly to London and then I’m in Europe for the rest of the time, so that's a really difficult one. I borrow things and that definitely saves me. I’m not going to try on outfits before I go. I just wing it. I see other people who are so organized and must have figured it out before and laid it out and tried it on. I just physically can’t. How do you know what you’re going to be feeling that today? How I get dressed every day is an emotional thing."

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:14 AM
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Johnny Depp Lands His First Fragrance Campaign

Johnny Depp Lands His First Fragrance Campaign:

Johnny Depp. Photo: Dior
Johnny Depp. Photo: Dior
One member of the Depp family — 16-year-old Lily-Rose, to be specific — is currently enjoying a bit of a "moment" within the fashion industry. Not only did her appearance at the Chanel Métiers d'Art show in New York this spring make her an instant subject of Internet chatter, she also scored an editorial in Oyster magazine and was spotted partying at Jeremy Scott's Moschino party in Palm Springs during Coachella. However, one of her more famous parents might be about to steal the spotlight.

On Wednesday, Johnny Depp was announced as the face of an upcoming men's fragrance for Dior, which is set to be released on Sept. 1. It's the first time that Depp has fronted a fragrance, but he's no stranger to the modeling game: he's posed for brands like H&M and Montblanc in the past, and appeared on the covers of Vanity Fair, Interview and GQ. While very little info about Depp's campaign exists — including the name of the fragrance — the release will coincide with the 51-year-old actor's next film, Scott Cooper's "Black Mass," which is also due out this September.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:13 AM
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Saint Laurent Ad Starring 'Unhealthily Thin' Model Banned in the UK

Saint Laurent Ad Starring 'Unhealthily Thin' Model Banned in the UK:

Model Kiki Willems in the spring 2015 Saint Laurent campaign. Photo: Hedi Slimane
Model Kiki Willems in the spring 2015 Saint Laurent campaign. Photo: Hedi Slimane
When you think about Hedi Slimane's signature "look" throughout his design and photography careers — dark, rock 'n roll chic that's inspired by youth and rebellion, and an affinity for androgynous, ultra-hip (and ultra thin) models — the campaigns he's shot for Saint Laurent since he became creative director in 2012 are anything but shocking. However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK feels differently about the French label's most recent ad campaign, and following complaints, it has banned images that feature an "unhealthily thin" model in the country.

The ad in question, featuring 18-year-old model Kiki Willems, was brought to the ASA's attention after appearing in an issue of Elle UK. According to the filing, the Saint Laurent campaign became a concern because of the "particular focus to the model’s chest, where her rib cage was visible and appeared prominent," as well as her legs, since "her thighs and knees appeared a similar width." This thinness is emphasized further by her chunky platform shoes, and after consideration of these factors together, the ASA ruled that Willems appears "unhealthily underweight" in the ads, therefore making them irresponsible.

This ruling comes on the heels of a number of international measures to protect models from unhealthy body standards. In April, France banned models under a certain BMI from being cast (following similar bans in Italy and Spain in previous years), and both agents and brands that hire them are subject to fines or jail time. In the U.S., the CFDA's long-running Health Initiative aims to educate models about proper nutrition, as well as about the early signs of eating disorders. But considering that these images are a prime example of Slimane's long-established aesthetic, we don't anticipate him drastically changing his casting choices anytime soon.

Model Kiki Willems in the spring 2015 Saint Laurent campaign. Photo: Hedi Slimane
Model Kiki Willems in the spring 2015 Saint Laurent campaign. Photo: Hedi Slimane
Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:13 AM
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How 'Paper Towns' Turned Cara Delevingne into the All-American Girl Next Door

How 'Paper Towns' Turned Cara Delevingne into the All-American Girl Next Door:

Nat Wolff as Quentin Jacobson and Cara Delevingne as Margo Roth Spiegelman in "Paper Towns." Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Nat Wolff as Quentin Jacobson and Cara Delevingne as Margo Roth Spiegelman in "Paper Towns." Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
When the big screen adaptation of John Green's young-adult novel "Paper Towns" hits theaters July 24, critics will for the first time have occasion to comment on how model Cara Delevingne is emoting, as opposed to what she's wearing. Or will they?

Veteran costume designer Mary Claire Hannan is used to working with some of the biggest thespians Hollywood, including Shailene Woodley and Ansel Algort in Green's tearjerker "The Fault in Our Stars," and Julianne Moore in "The Kids are All Right." But while the aforementioned stars may boast serious red carpet cred (and even posed for a few high-fashion campaigns), they don't necessarily have the intimidating supermodel bullet point on their resumés that 22-year-old Delevingne has.

"Paper Towns" is the British model's first major movie role. She plays the pivotal Margo Roth Spiegelman, the elusive crush of the adorkable main character, Quentin "Q" Jacobson (Nat Wolff).  Set in a faux subdivision, "Paper Towns" follows Quentin and his friends as they search for Margo, who goes missing toward the end of their senior year. It's essentially a coming of age story with a central mystery, love, friendships and quintessential high school movie wardrobes.

Hannan took a break from her current project, the fourth "Alvin and the Chipmunks," to talk to Fashionista about developing Delevingne's character through costume, their working relationship and where she found inspiration to dress the rest of the movie's young cast (spoiler: really good '80s high school movies).

What was your inspiration in dressing the high school age characters for the movie?

I started watching movies from the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Actually it might have been earlier than that. Any movies, high school movies, from "Footloose" to "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" to just a plethora of successful films from when I was growing up like the "Breakfast Club." It was also important to me to make it look very realistic, like high school is now. So the inspiration came directly from going down to high schools and hanging out with these kids.

How did you convey the mysterious allure of Cara Delevingne's Margo Roth Spiegelman through costume?

First of all, I was dealing with the character, but I was also dealing with the actor/model. So that was another element to be considered because no matter what you’re going to put [Delevingne] in, she’s probably already worn it. So that brought me to a place where I just started creating costumes for her, if it wasn’t a classic timeless piece, like a pair of jeans or a pair of Converse. I started going into thrift stores and cutting up clothes.

I found I wanted to describe her inner self through her outer clothes, so what I tried to do was create masculine and feminine, like the yin and the yang, the soft and the hard. So, for instance, there was one outfit that I went into a thrift store and I found some silver jeans and I cut them off and I made them shorts and I thought that they were kind of disco and I liked that. That’s how old I am, right?

And then I went into another thrift store down the road and I said to them, 'Do you have anything Victorian by any chance?' [Delevingne] hasn’t worn anything that old, right? I found bloomers with a camisole. They’re not rompers, but an early American undergarment where the bloomer is attached to the camisole so you step into the whole thing. So I bought it and I cut the bloomer part off, so now you just had the top petticoat undergarment — the camisole top — and I put that with the silver jeans that were cut off and I threw a punk belt around her waist.

So you had soft and you had hard and you had a little bit of a risk-taker disco girl, runaway-edgy and a little bit of rock 'n roll in there. The punk belt was hard and the petticoat little camisole top was soft and feminine and then I stuck a burgundy bra on underneath just to give it a little bit of color and a little bit of sensuality which was also part of her. So it was important to me that we saw this inner turmoil in her, like this runaway kid. It’s almost like a boyish quality in her, how aggressive she could be, but yet [show] the vulnerability inside.

"Wait, so Karl Lagerfeld is the creative director for Chanel AND Fendi?" Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
"Wait, so Karl Lagerfeld is the creative director for Chanel AND Fendi?" Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
That actually sounds like something Cara Delevingne would wear in real life. The skinny jeans and hoodie outfit in the trailer also looks like something she would wear. Did Delevingne have much say in her outfits?

Oh yeah, that’s so important to me, because [Delevingne's] the one that carries it. She’s the one that’s in front of the camera. So I got to know her a little bit. You get a feel for somebody really in the first five minutes, so I could see that boyish quality in her. So I knew that I could do a sports bra — it didn’t have to be a girly bra.

She just loved, she really loved this stuff. She was, with her British accent, going, 'This is sick! I just love this, this is it, we’ve got it!' and she’d run out of the trailer. Because she had never seen this stuff before. She sees me cutting up early American petticoat bloomers and me going, 'Put this on with this burgundy bra.' It was fantastic for her [for me to be] creating stuff and cutting up stuff and finding stuff for her.

What was it like working with someone with a modeling background?

I have to really approach whomever I’m dressing as a person. So she wasn’t going to be a supermodel in my room. She was going to be Cara, the actor. I lived in Paris for many years and worked with models and that was a very different thing. They stood there, they really didn’t have anything to say. You put clothes on them and it was all about the clothing. Whereas when you’re working with the actor, it’s about the actor. The clothing is second. So when I was in the room with Cara, she would just talk to me about who she thought the girl was and you have racks of clothes in there and you just start pulling thing down off the racks and start cutting stuff up. And you’re listening to her and you’re talking to her, you know? And before you know it, you’re makin’ soup! You’re makin’ pie!

"Is that vamp?" Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
"Is that vamp?" Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Delevingne is also known to be kind of a jokester. Were there any funny pranks or moments in the costume room?

Oh, there were lots of those. She’s really got an edge and she’s a really, I mean, she was the character on many levels because she really is a risk-taker, she’s really creative and innovative. She’s not just a pretty face and she’s really, really smart and she’s also a very polite, well-bred English girl. When she’s gone too far and she’s kind of exhausted your patience, she’ll turn around and go, ‘Oh, sorry, I’m just having a good fun. Let’s get back to work.'

I think she’s really got quite an acting career ahead of her. She was beautiful. If I had come from the place of, 'Oh my god, I’m dressing a supermodel. She’s seen it all, she hangs out with Karl Lagerfeld, I’m just me, I can’t do this, I’m not that fashionista person' — if I went into that space — it would have never happened. It’s better for me to just go, look, it’s much more profound, it’s not just surface, we’re taking it from the inside. I’m a costume designer, we’re — me and you — in a room having a conversation. And you have to forget about all the stuff you hear or read or whatever.

Lookin' good, Quentin. Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Lookin' good, Quentin. Photo: TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Where did you find inspiration to costume the lead character, Quentin (Nat Wolff), and his friends?

It basically comes from a vision at first. It arrives in my head and you get that just by talking to the actors that they’ve cast. Like with Nat Wolff, I thought about who’s really, really smart but who’s really low key about it. And you think of that person that you know and I went from there and I said, 'He wears these kind of shirts.' Once you have that idea in your head, then you go out shopping. I was at Ben Sherman a lot, I was at Rag & Bone and James Perse. Bloomingdale’s carries a lot of really good lines of clothes, like Joe’s Jeans or Hudson Jeans. One character was very trendy so I ended up going down to Topshop and getting inspired by that.

So Halston Sage, who plays Margo's best frenemy, Lacey. I feel like she’s a star on the rise. How was it costuming her character?

She’s amazing. She’s got this rockin’, hot, sexy body. We wanted to show that off, so we did little tanks and little shorts. But we wanted to show that she wasn’t cheesy. We didn’t start putting her in lots of hot pink or baby blue. Because at some point, she says she’s going to Dartmouth, so I wanted her to be a hottie, but in a smart, classic kind of way. She wore a lot of Rag & Bone booties, t-shirts, shorts. Her tank tops weren’t hot pink, they were grey or off white. She is definitely on the rise. She was really cinematic and she played a marvelous character.

And how different was it creating costumes for this movie than "The Fault In Our Stars?"

Well, I mean, the character Quentin has a wanderlust for this girl, so we were doing things that spark. In doing "The Fault in Our Stars," I was coming from a place, from a girl, who didn’t feel good. So the whole approach was actually sad clothing, clothing that is even more sad that just a t-shirt. So sad that today you think you’re going outside for a walk and you have to go home and throw up and go back to bed.

And then Ansel Algort, the main lead guy, he was like the iconic leading man in the leather jacket, very James Dean to me, with the cigarette in his mouth or Marlon Brando. The jeans and the leather jacket were very different from Nat Wolff  — I wanted [Wolff] to look just simply classic and understated and not like the leading man. Like the guy who doesn’t actually get the leading girl. He and his buddies are all in the background and they’re all talking about girls they’ll never get to have. So even though they were the stars and supposed to be in the front of the camera, I created them as though they were in the back. Like atmosphere.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:11 AM
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Margiela Sales Are Already Up 20 Percent Under John Galliano

Margiela Sales Are Already Up 20 Percent Under John Galliano:

A look from Maison Margiela's fall 2015 collection. Photo: Imaxtree
A look from Maison Margiela's fall 2015 collection. Photo: Imaxtree
John Galliano's comeback is going swimmingly, not just for the once-disgraced designer, but also for Maison Margiela, the French fashion house he joined last year.

While Margiela parent company Only the Brave (OTB) doesn't typically disclose sales figures for its individual brands (it also owns Diesel, a not-yet-profitable Marni and Viktor & Rolf), a spokesperson told us the brand's sales have increased by "at least 20 percent" since Galliano's appointment, clarifying a statement chairman Renzo Rosso made to Reuters.

The sales jump is a better indication of how Margiela customers feel about Galliano than the salability of his actual designs, since most of his work has yet to hit the sales floor. So far, he's presented a spring 2015 couture collection and a fall 2015 ready-to-wear collection.

The brand's fortunes were already on the rise before Galliano's arrival. The label became profitable in 2013, 10 years after its inception, and sales currently exceed €100 million (about $113 million). If Galliano's clothes and accessories look as good in stores as they did at a re-see for the collection I attended recently, the brand can only continue to benefit from his appointment, especially if shoppers are ready to forgive him. Perhaps going public with all the repenting and self-improvement he's done is paying off.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:10 AM
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Luxury Brands Eye Africa, Why We're Not Wearing 3-D-Printed Shoes

News Brief: Luxury Brands Eye Africa, Why We're Not Wearing 3-D-Printed Shoes:

Johnny Depp is serious about fragrance. Photo: Dior
Johnny Depp is serious about fragrance. Photo: Dior
These are the stories making headlines in fashion early this afternoon.

Johnny Depp to front Dior fragranceJohnny Depp has been cast as the face of a yet-to-be-named men's fragrance from Dior. It is the first time that Depp has fronted a scent, though he's previously appeared in campaigns for brands such as H&M and Montblanc. The fragrance's release on Sept. 1 will coincide with Depp's next film release. {Fashionista}

In the luxury retail market, is Africa the next China?According to a new report by A.T. Kearney, a global strategy and management consulting firm, there is huge retail potential in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria and Angola have two of the fastest-growing middle classes in the world and a shopping mall in Angola’s capital, Luanda, will open soon with Gucci and Prada stores. {Quartz}

Adam Lippes designs capsule for Target

Adam Lippes has gone mad for plaid. The New York designer will debut a 50-piece collection inspired by buffalo plaid this fall, with apparel prices ranging from $19.99 to $129.99. {Fashionista}

Saint Laurent banned in the UK

Hedi Slimane likes long, lean models — perhaps too much, according to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, which banned an ad that highlighted model Kiki Willem's bony ribcage and narrow thighs. {Fashionista}

Why 3-d printed shoes aren't mainstream yet

3-D printing has revolutionized some industries, like medical equipment, but not footwear. Simply put, it's still cheaper — both in terms of time and materials — to mass-produce full shoes the traditional way rather than through 3-D printing. But as materials get better and less expensive, and printing patents established in the '80s continue to expire, we might start seeing commercial runs of shoes with 3-D-printed elements, such as insoles or cleats. {Fast Company}

Front page photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 6:10 AM
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