Kohl's Banking On Lauren Conrad; Liya Thinks Fashion Feeling "Obama Effect"
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- Kohl‘s seems to think a Lauren Conrad fashion line will be a winner. And we had been so joyful when it seemed the Lauren Conrad Collection was taking a permanent vacation! [NY Times]
- Marc Jacobs: “If Naomi [Campbell] were very well behaved and always on time, and didn’t have her little tantrums, I don’t know that she’d still be around and traveling like Elizabeth Taylor with an entourage.” I suppose you just have to find what works for you, and do it. [Style.com]
- Interesting tidbit from the set of the Prada fall campaign shoot: Steven Meisel worked for four days at Pier 59 studios in New York City — last season, the campaign was shot by Meisel in Los Angeles, but then a studio’s a studio, more or less. And this season’s undertaking involved an actual live horse. Can’t wait to see how that turns out. [FWD]
- The New York Times finally got its Critical Shopper, Cintra Wilson, into Topshop (which, weeks after opening, still has a line outside and “bouncers” at the door — whether or not the shop is close to capacity). Wilson’s take? “Everything looks so sarcastic and right-this-second trendy as to be planning for a near-immediate obsolescence.” [NY Times]
- As had long been expected, Peter Copping was officially named Olivier Theyskens‘ successor at Nina Ricci in Paris. [WWD]
- New York asked Liya “Kibede” — May American Vogue cover girl, and the third black woman on the cover in as many months — to talk about fashion’s cautiously increasing diversity, which the Ethiopian supermodel attributes in main to Barack and Michelle Obama. “I think there’s a lot more black models working and I think that’s because of having Michelle and Barack out there,” says Kebede. “I mean there’s been this issue, raised last year — how there wasn’t enough black models on the runways — but I think Barack and Michelle have really helped us, hopefully forever, to get over this hurdle for black models.” Three covers with black women in a row for Vogue is better than the one cover every 2-3 years that had been the norm for the twenty years of Anna Wintour‘s tenure at the magazine — but Vogue‘s 117-year history still counts only a mere 16 covers with black women featured solo, and 5 covers where a black woman was pictured as part of a group. We hate to say it, but Kebede’s optimism may be premature. [The Cut]
- Tyra Banks announced that this season she was taking contestants on her watch-pretty-girls-cry TV show to Brazil by having a male model come on the set and offer her Brazil nuts in Portuguese. Unfortunately, that model’s name was Hugo Vieira. Vieira is from Portugal. Not Brazil. [MadeInBrazil]
- Meanwhile, in the upcoming season of Australia‘s Next Top Model, a 16-year-old contestant, who took the preparatory step of dropping out of high school to jump-start her modeling career, is ordered into anger management counseling after threatening to assault another contestant. Seriously, where do they find these people? [News.com.au]
- Polymath (ADD?) designer Isaac Mizrahi was happy to be a judge on Bravo’s Project Runway replacement, The Fashion Show (which premieres May 7). But not because it would lift his personal brand: “I respect people for doing that,” Mizrahi said, tactfully, “but I’m doing it because it’s really fun.” [Variety]
- Jason Wu, despite his quick rise to household name status after it became known that he designed Michelle Obama‘s inaugural ball dress, is nevertheless still doing his quirky bread-and-butter sideline project: designing dolls. His latest is inspired by Lana Turner. It’s for sale at FAO Schwartz, for $180. [FWD]
- Model-slash Daisy Lowe: “When I think of ‘It Girl,’ I think of someone who is privileged, someone who has everything given to them. My parents don’t have loads of money. I’ve been looking after myself, paying my own way since I was 17.” [Daily Beast]
- Patrick Robinson‘s quest to make the Gap cool (again? for the first time? can anyone remember? or is the Gap’s alleged hip is beyond a sartorial event horizon: no information about it can reach the wider world?) takes on the jeans. Robinson and his design team have spent two years rethinking the chain’s denim offerings, and come August there’ll be new offerings like boyfriend jeans, well-fitted drainpipes, and bell bottoms in a variety of lengths. All for $69. [Style.com]
- Penelope Cruz‘s Mango line’s summer collection looks pretty damn cute. As does Ms. Cruz herself. [Fabsugar]
- Yesterday, If we were to have ranked designers by their relative likelihood to launch homewares lines, Martin Margiela’s name would have been near the bottom. Shows how much we know! [WWD]
- Quoth the artistic director of Shu Uemura: “I have so many ideas that it can be overwhelming.” [The Cut]
- Four images from Shipley & Halmos’ Uniqlo line, launching May 7, have leaked. The clothes look a little…boring. [Nylon]
- Matthew Williamson for H&M launches tomorrow in select stores. [Times of London]
- Could a Missoni for H&M line be on the horizon? Angela Missoni, creative director of the venerable Italian knitwear house, says in a recent profile, “I would like to do something with H&M because I think it is a very powerful way to reach younger girls now.” Missoni is also frustrated by the format of modern runway shows, which she finds “cold and distant” and a distraction from the clothes. And she hates that more established models can command high runway fees: “I prefer to show my collections on fresh, young girls to capture that spirit. Having Naomi or Gisele in your show is really just about saying that you were able to get her.” But girls like Nimue Smit — who is in the spring Prada campaign — and Sara Blomqvist — who was launched to fame by a Prada exclusive in 2007 — both of whom walked in Missoni’s last show, aren’t exactly “unknowns”. [Telegraph]
- M by Missoni, the company’s diffusion line, experienced 25% annual growth last year — so it’s launching new accessories and denim collections. [WWD]
- H&M says it’s strongly positioned, despite the troubled economy and its recent lackluster sales figures. The company plans to open 225 more stores than it will have to close this year. [WSJ]
- Here is your fashion inanity of the day: “Designers always say, ‘Gray is the new black,’ and the next season say, ‘I can’t do one more gray piece.’ Where does it go? How come the loyalty vanishes? Why don’t you love gray every season?” Stephanie Seymour — never afraid to ask the tough questions. [Fashionista]