- Victoria Beckham got an 18-page spread in the new German Vogue. [FGR]
- Tara Subkoff, now recovered from her brain tumor, says, “I’ve decided to bring back Imitation Of Christ in its most basic incarnation: easy-to-wear staples with an edge.” [Harper’sBazaar]
- Erin Fetherston is set to take on design responsibilities at Juicy Couture until the end of 2011. The line’s founders, Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, gave up their creative roles at the company this year. Fetherston’s first pieces for Juicy Couture will hit the sales floor in late 2010. Fetherston will continue designing her main line. [WWD]
- Model/designer/thinker Erin Wasson, on Britney Spears: “I’d love to pull out her hair extensions and fake lashes and get her in her own skin for once — something raw and beautiful. Call me up, Britney.” [Teen Vogue]
- The Brooklyn District Attorney, Charles Hynes, wanted to send 125,000 tonnes of seized knock-off clothing to Haiti to help with the post-earthquake relief effort. (Confiscated knock-offs are normally destroyed after the trials of their makers.) Hynes had to convince the brands involved — Ralph Lauren, Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier, and Diesel among them — to let him give the clothes to charity, but eventually they agreed. World Vision volunteered to remove the infringing trademarks and labels. H&M? This is how you do it. Of course, we’d point out that what Haiti needs as much as, if not more than, imported charity bedazzled t-shirts is help rebuilding its own domestic garment industry. [Gothamist]
- Johnny Weir: “I definitely want to get a clothing line off the ground, but I need a lot of leg work. You don’t want to be somebody that has someone else make them a line of clothing and put their name on it. I want to be sewing buttons and putting fur trim on things myself…I really admire Gareth Pugh, Viktor & Rolf, Karl Lagerfeld — avant-garde designers but still sort of mainstream. I wouldn’t be that person that has a Wonderbra with leather cones coming off the shoulder with boobies selling at Patricia Field in New York. I want to have mass appeal.” Weir also carries a turquoise Balenciaga purse as a workout bag, a gift of his agent. [LATimes]
- Two more employees have joined former Prada manager Rena Bovrisse‘s suit against the company in Japan. Bovrisse, who worked for LVMH and other luxury companies in New York for ten years before joining Prada, alleges that she was directed to fire employees on the basis of their age, looks, and size, and that she herself was pushed out for being “old.” After she declined an offer of ¥10 million, or around $107,000, in severance during court-mandated pretrial mediation, Bovrisse’s lawsuit will go to trial in May. [StyleList]
- Amy Odell at New York‘s The Cut says “A source also told us she was thisclose to landing a job with Prada Japan, but never did because someone in the office didn’t like the way she dressed and did her makeup.” [The Cut]
- Got Kelly Cutrone withdrawal? She launched a YouTube channel. [YouTube]
- Vera Wang announced she will start designing a line of under-$1,500 wedding dresses, to be sold only at David’s Bridal starting next Spring. [Racked]
- Since Gap is sponsoring this year’s Met Ball, does that mean some of the high-profile guests will be wearing it on the red carpet? Magic 8 Ball says no, unless, as rumored, Patrick Robinson makes some custom gowns. [Fashionista]
- However, Oscar de la Renta will be dressing Oprah. [WWD]
- Four PETA members and one dummy skinned fox protested outside Anna Wintour‘s lecture at Pratt Institute the other night. “We scoured photo agencies for the shot that most accurately reflects Wintour’s selfish, cruel nature, and although there were many candidates, this one summed it up best. Wintour is the perfect poster girl for one of the most hideous industries on the planet,” said spokeswoman Tracy Reiman. [Gothamist]
- Julianne Moore, Jeff Koons, Pharrell Williams, and pro surfer Malia Jones each designed a new label for some $26 Kiehl’s product with açai berries in it. (Apparently they put the little buggers in everything now!) 100% of the proceeds from each will benefit the Rainforest Alliance. David LaChapelle shot each star looking kind of surprised, in a rainforest, holding his or her bottle of Kiehl’s. [People]
- Steven Alan is collaborating with Keds. The result: $68 sneakers. [Fashionista]
- The Independent points to Rose Cordero‘s Vogue Paris cover, Liu Wen‘s status as both the first Asian model to walk for Victoria’s Secret and the just-announced first Asian face of Estée Lauder, and French Elle‘s “Spécial Rondes” issue as evidence that fashion is diversifying. While these are all welcome steps, the fact that Cordero was the first black woman to get a solo cover of French Vogue in eight years, and that Liu had to be “first” in VS’s 33-year history and in Estée Lauder’s 64-year history, mean that we’re not going to judge so hastily. [Independent]
- Meanwhile, W‘s Editors Blog interviews Liu. For future reference, “Do you have any brothers and sisters?” might not be the most perceptive question to ask someone from China. [W]
- Cintra Wilson takes a gander at the new Isabel Marant store in SoHo. “What I figured to be platonically ideal Isabel Marant customers were milling around in full force: tall, willowy blondes wearing big mod Army jackets and chunky high heels. I was wearing a boy’s plaid rodeo shirt with snap buttons (eBay, $12), a charcoal-gray Hanes zipper hoodie (Wal-Mart, $12), skinny-legged Levi’s I bought at one of those loud discount places on lower Broadway (under $40) and an old wool Army jacket (eBay, under $20). Coincidentally enough, I looked, in texture, shape and substance, more or less like I got dressed right in the store. One of the iconic blondes, wearing what I reckoned was head-to-toe Isabel Marant, was dressed more or less like I was: military jacket, high clog boots, skinny pants. Only the grand total of my outfit cost approximately what she might have paid for parking while buying hers.” [NYTimes]
- We totally want to (re/)watch everything on this list of the 25 most stylish films, mostly because it does not include Sex And The City. [ToL]
- Feeling so jealous of Jason Wu‘s Uruguayan horse-riding romantic getaway spring break right now. [WWD]
- Did we really need a “graphologist” to tell us that John Galliano is “a man of passion…extremely inventive”? Whatever, this feature is cute. [AnOther Mag]
- Massimo Trumbatore is leaving his position as artistic director of women’s wear for Iceberg. He held the job for six months, and presented one collection. [WWD]
- Belair Scott, a director of Urban Outfitters, sold $7.6 million worth of stock in the company. [The Street]
- The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by Costco against the watch brand Omega, which has sought to use copyright law to protect itself from the retailer’s discounting. When brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Omega have overstock, they sometimes sell it at vast discounts to third parties. Costco sometimes buys it from those third parties, and passes on some of the discount to consumers. We certainly hope the right of a retailer to undercut a luxury brand’s absurd pricing is upheld, but stranger things have happened. [Seattle Times]
- Meanwhile, the European Commission has issued new regulations that will allow luxury companies to effectively block their products from being sold by any retailer that lacks brick-and-mortar stores — ie the whole of the Internet. [NYTimes]
- By the way, in case you haven’t noticed: the discount party is over. In fact, not only have stores kicked out the guests, they’re done picking crumbled chips out of the cushions and have already put a load of glassware in to wash. Full priced goods are back, and inventory has been streamlined. We might have to wait as long as — gasp! — July or August before we see summer stock on sale. [BlackBookMag]
- “Retailing is a contact sport. You have to take it away from someone else,” says Myron “Mike” Ullman III, C.E.O. of J.C. Penney. [WWD]
- Christian Louboutin‘s fairytale new ad campaign really has to be seen to be believed. [Luxuo]
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