J. Crew’s Jenna Lyons and her girlfriend, jewelry executive Courtney Crangi, posed for a photo together in V. Although Crangi and Lyons have been going to more events together recently — including the Vanity Fair Oscar party — this is their first portrait for a magazine. V writes that they behaved on set like “two teenagers in love.” Lyons, whose marriage to artist Vincent Mazeau ended in divorce last year, says of Crangi, “For me the best thing is knowing that someone really has your back. Like no matter what happens she has my best interests at heart. I think there are a few moments in life where that actually happens, and that feels, like, completely true and real.” [V]
Apparently, Anne Hathaway changed her dress at the last minute before the Oscars because she learned that Amanda Seyfried was going to wear an Alexander McQueen dress that was similar-looking to Hathaway’s chosen Valentino. According to a “source,” Hathaway “freaked out” when she saw Seyfried’s dress and had stylist Rachel Zoe call in “a bunch of different dresses hours before the show.” The Valentino dress that Anne Hathaway did not wear, if you care, might have been a version of one from the brand’s spring, 2012, couture collection, which indeed is made from a fabric that resembles Seyfried’s. [Fashionista]
Alexa Chung says that when she posed for the Little Black Jacket Chanel photo book, Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld tried to give her a beard. “Karl came up with the idea,” Chung explains. “I thought ‘ok’, and I sat down and [makeup artist] Peter [Philips] said, ‘So. We’re going to make the brow stronger, and we were thinking stubble for the face.’ And I was like: ‘Can we all STOP thinking stubble for the face?’ But they decided to give it a go. I looked like Oliver Twist…They thought I’d be down for it, they thought I’d think it was funny, but I was like ‘not if Dakota Fanning is being Marilyn Monroe.'” [Vogue UK]
Here’s a new ad for Dior’s Miss Dior perfume starring Natalie Portman and directed by Sofia Coppola. [YouTube]
- Macy’s head Terry Lundgren delivered fiery testimony yesterday in his company’s lawsuit against J.C. Penney and Martha Stewart over Stewart’s decision to begin selling the homewares line she developed in partnership with Macy’s in 2006 via Martha Stewart concessions inside J.C. Penney stores. Contractually, the line was to be exclusively sold either at Macy’s, or at a Martha Stewart-branded retail chain (should she have founded one). Macy’s is arguing that the J.C. Penney store-within-a-store model doesn’t pass the smell test.
- “We were, we were, we were friends,” stuttered Lundgren, in response to whether he still had a friendship with Stewart. “I told my team to prioritize her business…Martha Stewart is our single largest vendor in the home part of our business. We built it from scratch since 2007. It’s been successful.”
- Lundgren also testified about the December, 2011, phonecall from Stewart that informed him of the J.C. Penney deal:
- “I was completely shocked and blown away by what she was saying to me,” he said. “It was so far from anything I could have imagined. I was so shocked. I said to her, ‘Why wouldn’t you bring this to me?’ I said to Martha, ‘We are friends and business partners.'”
- On the call, Lundgren said, Stewart explained she couldn’t tell him about the deal due to confidentiality issues. Lundgren said it “seemed” Stewart was “reading a document” that sounded like it was “prepared by lawyers.”
- When Stewart told him the deal “would be good for Macy’s,” that was it, Lundgren said, explaining he had never hung up the phone on anyone before that.
- “That’s when I hung up,” the ceo said. “The thought that it would be good for Macy’s is so far from anything I could comprehend. I’m upset right now talking about it.”
- J.C. Penney’s lawyer pressed Lundgren on his company’s allegation that Stewart shared confidential and proprietary information with Penneys, such as the thread counts of Martha Stewart-branded sheets. The lawyer showed Lundgren that the thread counts were published on Macy’s own public Web site. “Anything between Macy’s and Martha Stewart should be considered confidential,” said Lundgren. Developing. [WWD]
- Inditex, the parent company of Zara, and the U.K. chain New Look have paid $13,300 in compensation to the families of the eight garment workers who were killed in a factory fire in Bangladesh in January. “Representatives for Inditex and New Look could not be reached for comment,” notes Women’s Wear Daily. [WWD]
- In case you were wondering, yes, Helen Hunt was paid to wear that H&M dress to the Oscars. “We had an agreement, and both parties were satisfied, but as a business matter we will not give details,” says H&M designer Ann-Sofie Johansson. [On The Runway]
- Nick Gruber, the porn star who once dated Calvin Klein, is no longer writing his memoir. Which means now the world’s coffee tables will never be ironically graced by anything bearing the title What Came Between Me And My Calvin. [TMZ]
- The Council of Fashion Designers of America inked a partnership with Shangpin.com, a Chinese online retailer of designer goods. Some CFDA member designers will reportedly be selling on Shangpin by the end of this year. [WWD]
- Cara Delevingne wants to act. Actually, she was already in Anna Karenina — she played the princess Vronsky falls for, and if she said a single line in the whole film, we missed it — but she wants to act, you know, like Charlize Theron. [Vogue UK]
- Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid went ahead this week even as the Spanish economy continues to suffer 26% unemployment and the government enacts austerity measures. “In general, the domestic market is asphyxiating,” says the spokesperson for the Spanish fashion designers’ industry group. All the designers who showed were chasing foreign buyers. [WWD]
- A$AP Rocky loves fashion, but he says he has no plans to start a line of his own:
- “I don’t want to. It would be disrespectful to take my stardom and bully my way into the fashion industry, because I didn’t go to [fashion] school to learn about design, sketching and fabrics. I just enjoy it; I’m a consumer.”
- [Mr Porter]
- Ruffian is launching a nail polish line by putting five color swatches on its Facebook page and holding a vote. In September, the three winning shades will be distributed via the subscription cosmetics service Birchbox. Sounds…complicated? [WWD]
- MADE, which organizes New York fashion week shows at Milk Studios (as opposed to the shows at Lincoln Center), is doing a pop-up at Paris Fashion Week with the blessing of the Fédération Française de la Couture. [BoF]
- Zero + Maria Cornejo is closing its Meatpacking District store. [WWD]
- J. Crew’s Mickey Drexler and American Express are now investors in the online eyewear retailer Warby Parker. Warby Parker is positioning itself as a “lifestyle brand” and not an online retailer, which is apparently more exciting. [Dealbook]
- Neiman Marcus’ profits were essentially flat during the quarter just ended, compared with the same period last year. The company made $40.4 million. [WWD]
- Macy’s had a solid but unspectacular quarter, by Wall Street standards. Same-store sales rose by 3.7%, year-on-year, and net income grew to $1.34 billion, from $1.26 billion. [WWD]
- Saks Inc.’s profits were down during the quarter, which the company blamed on the impact of Hurricane Sandy. Net income fell year-on-year by 44.7%, to $20.4 million. [WWD]
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