- Not only does George Clooney not have a clothing line, he is so offended by the notion that he would have one that he’s testifying against three guys who claimed that he was launching a line called “GC Exclusive.”
- “I came here because I believe in the judicial system and because there were people using my name to take advantage of people,” the actor told the court, after several women were ejected by the judge for taking his picture. Clooney says that pictures purporting to show him with the defendants, and copies of contracts bearing his signature, are forgeries. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him,” Clooney said of one defendant, “so I’d like to say, ‘Hello, nice to meet you.'” Pointing to a picture he says was altered, he explained, “Here, for instance, I don’t smoke and I don’t wear that watch. I also don’t wear long jean shorts.” [WWD]
- One celeb who’s not embarrassed to be pimping his name for fashion: Liam Gallagher, who is still making his astonishingly boring clothing line, Pretty Green. “We’re not like all them fashion designers,” the musician says. “These are just for lads on the street.” [Vogue UK]
- Courtney Love‘s amazing style blog is written by herself, a girl named T (“a third- or fourth-row junior Tavi“), a fashion magazine employee named L, and a guy named X whose identity even Love doesn’t know. Love provides the pictures, they mostly do the commentary. “I haven’t been offended once in the past two days. I trust them not to screw me,” says Love. “The only thing I can think of is that it will make me do my hair more.” [WWD]
- “Calvin Klein originally started the whole waif moment and not much has been done since then,” says Francisco Costa. “My clothes look better on a more diverse casting — to represent the women who actually buy them. They can be 35 or 25 but they need to be worn on intelligent, experienced women. [Our decision to use older models] was very natural. We have succeeded so far and we hope to continue with that.” Costa says Lara Stone, the current face of the house, is “very current, very beautiful, and very womanly.” Translation: She’s skinny but she has boobs. [Vogue UK]
- Lakshmi Menon says that leaving India four years ago kick-started a modeling career that had been comparatively lackluster in her native land. “Back home very few people wanted to hire me. It became clear to me that my skin colour was not in demand,” says Menon. “I didn’t have much of a career apart from the odd editorial or campaign and the fact is that fairer-skinned models have found more success in India.” Skin-lightening creams — many of which contain hazardous chemicals — out-sell Coke in India. Strangely, the Indian fashion industry seems in some ways to be more accepting of darker-skinned models than Bollywood, which overwhelmingly features lighter-skinned actresses. [Guardian]
- Nicholas Ghesquière, Superstar: The Fashion Group International is naming Balenciaga designer Ghesquière a “Superstar” at its annual awards show this year. [WWD]
- Dita von Teese‘s beauty routine is simple and quick, yo! “I have a lot of friends that have a very natural look and it takes just as long,” says von Teese. “They straighten their hair, wear all that bronzer and beige lipstick and apply 50 coats of mascara to make themselves look natural. I’m doing the same thing just with different colours. I set my hair which is actually quicker than a blow dry. I get ready just as quick as any other woman I know.” [Vogue UK]
- Victoria’s Secret used bedbug-sniffing dogs to deal with a small infestation that closed its Lexington Avenue store last week. [The Cut]
- Hickey Freeman, the men’s clothier that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, is trying to update its offerings. [WSJ]
- Hermès, Oscar de la Renta, Missoni, Van Cleef & Arpels, Christian Louboutin, and Louis Vuitton are among the luxury companies expanding in the Middle East. One Italian industry group projects 6.6% market growth this year. [WWD]
- Meanwhile, Versace is doing the interiors for a 30-storey tower in Beirut. [WWD]
- “There was olive-green happening. There was twill happening…I don’t think you need to write 800 words about lace. Just say it works in accessories and apparel and move on.” Trend forecasting sure seems like a cushy gig. [WSJ]
- Burberry has bought back its own retail operations in China from its Hong Kong-based former franchisee for a cool $107.8 million. It now owns and operates all of its stores in the emerging markets of China, the Middle East, and Brazil. [WWD]
- Marc Jacobs‘ Tokyo flagship doesn’t even open until November, but the building has already won an architecture award. [WWD]
- Opening Ceremony‘s newest collaboration with Timberland has resulted in neon neoprene boat shoes. That cost $95. [The Cut]
- Norma Kamali‘s Wal-Mart line is adding a range of sleepwear in sizes up to 3XL. “I realized that I never thought I was designing for plus-size women when I was designing the collection. But then I noticed that the XLs were selling and I thought, I need to focus on plus sizes because this woman likes what I’m doing,” said the designer. [WWD]
- Wal-Mart has been given an extension on the deadline to appeal a ruling on a pending discrimination lawsuit to the Supreme Court. In 2001, Betty Dukes and a group of other women employees of the world’s largest retailer filed a suit alleging persistent sex discrimination, and in 2004, a judge ruled the suit could go class-action. A subsequent appeal by Wal-Mart reduced the size of the class, but in April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit should go to trial. It is that last ruling which Wal-Mart now has extra time to appeal. [WWD]
- Julien MacDonald: “The 80s were the glory days of fashion. I wish I’d been a designer then: Dynasty, Joan Collins, shoulder pads, Gianni Versace. Women were curvaceous — all hips, tits, thighs and heels — reeking of perfume and wearing loads of make-up.” [Guardian]
- Rent the Runway, the website that allows users to pay for short-term rentals of clothing and accessories, has 500,000 members, 9,000 square foot TriBeCa headquarters, and $15 million in fresh venture capital. And people look after the goods, too: “Out of over 15,000 dresses that we have rented out, literally only one has come back in a state where we couldn’t use it again,” said co-founder Jennifer Hyman. [WWD]
- Apparently someone has been designing couture under the legendary Worth brand since 2003? The company is planning to sell a Charles Frederick Worth perfume, and to launch a ready-to-wear line. [Telegraph]
- Jewelry designer Eddie Borgo picked Elle editor Kate Lanphear to star in his latest campaign. [Fashionologie]
- Retailers are asking suppliers to complete smaller stock orders on tighter deadlines. Fashion has long had cushy, 6-month production lead times, but the recession pretty much put paid to that. Still, suppliers don’t like the new, scattershot approach of whipping up small order after small order. [WSJ]
- Some police officers in the U.K. are upset at a memo they were given on dressing appropriately for work. It included handy tips like tucking in one’s uniform shirt, and tying one’s shoelaces. The memos were given out when the police service updated its uniforms in May. [Metro]
- A Paris-based makeup artist whose mock-up covers of Vogue Africa have become an Internet sensation asked the head of Condé Nast France if it would be possible to buy Vogue‘s African license, and actually launch the title. The head of Condé Nast France apparently said no. But it’s not clear that he made the approach through the correct channels, or even that Condé Nast France has the authority to accept or veto the idea. [FashionBombDaily]
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