Who says the fashion industry isn’t responsive to the social issues of the day? As the U.K. suffers with widespread civil unrest and looting following the police shooting of a father of four, Harper’s Bazaar‘s September issue includes a Terry Richardson editorial where Georgia May Jagger, styled to look like someone’s idea of Margaret Thatcher, goes about her daily life — fighting punkers, nervously peering over the tops of tanks, chatting on her red telephone. Pity really there’s no good way to represent “union-busting” in a fashion spread. Let’s just point out Brassed Off covered this territory a lot better 20 years ago. [CQ]
Rioting in the U.K. continued last night. Although London was quieter, with the presence of 18,000 police officers, violence intensified in northern and central England, with Manchester and Birmingham seeing renewed unrest. Although most of the luxury retailers on London’s Bond St. removed their stock from the front of their stores and nailed boards over their windows, rioters managed to break into a Louis Vuitton store in Birmingham. [WWD]
American Apparel is now selling a “Teenagers Do It Better” t-shirt. Which is funny, because if there’s one area where teenagers have proven proficient, it’s suing Dov Charney for sexual harassment. [Styleite]
In other news of ill-advised t-shirts, a U.K. retailer thought it would be cool to sell kids tees with Kate Moss‘s favorite motivational phrase: “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” The Advertising Standards Authority thought otherwise, and censured the retailer. [Metro]
Circulation numbers for the first six months of 2011 are in, and for the ladymags, they are not good. Only Vogue experienced a year-on-year rise in readership. It was up by 12.7%, buoyed largely by its popular Lady Gaga cover. Allure was flat. Every other magazine saw its readership shrink. InStyle by 8%, Marie Claire by 21.5%, Glamour by 17.5%, Harper’s Bazaar was down 14.3%, and Lucky and Elle were each down 9%. Harper’s Bazaar says its worst-selling cover of the period was Julianna Margulies. “We took some risks this year and tried stars that were a little outside of the norm for us, and they didn’t always translate into newsstand sales,” says Glenda Bailey. Either readers didn’t reward your edgy, edgy risk-taking, Glenda, or readers are really tired of seeing a celebrity in a white dress and the words “Fashion!” and “BEST BAGS AND SHOES” on every. single. issue. [WWD]
Prabal Gurung isn’t doing an ad campaign — but he did want to create some “branding images” to remind people about his fall collection. It was inspired by Great Expectations. “It’s a book that I was given when I was probably 6 or 7 years old,” says the designer. (Karl Lagerfeld read Buddenbrooks when he was 8; maybe Prabal and Karl should have a book club for precocious kid grown-ups.) “At that time I was kind of unclear about who [Miss Havisham] was — she’s a crazy old lady, that’s what I thought. As I got older and kept going back to it, [I found that] there’s something extremely, extremely sad, but all of us can somehow relate to her. There’s something beautifully melancholic and romantic about giving everything up for love, giving so much.” Julia Saner is featured in the ads. [Style.com]
- Revlon announced two big new contracts today: actors Emma Stone and Olivia Wilde. No word yet on what they were paid. [USAToday]
- Lara Stone says she doesn’t think Lady Gaga is particularly sexy — because there’s more to being sexy than walking around in tiny bits of very unusual clothing and whispering to your shoes. Nigella Lawson is Stone’s idea of a sexy lady. “I think she is just the most gorgeous person ever. Her skin practically makes me drool. I’d love to be like her.” [Telegraph]
- Anne Vyalitsyna, who has appeared in Sports Illustrated‘s Swimsuit Edition seven times, says she feels pressured by the magazine to gain weight. “There is a certain weight I feel comfortable in,” she says. “The thing is, with Sports Illustrated, they want the whole voluptuous, soft body. Sometimes I’m not comfortable with that.” [People]
- Blind item! Which “very, VERY well-known model” got carried out of Kenmare last night unconscious? [@AdrianBrinkley]
- Andy Hilfiger is starting a new clothing line called Andrew Charles. It’ll feature a rotating lineup of celebrity faces to “inspire” the collections, and then promote the goods. The first up? Noted asshole Steven Tyler. Andrew Charles is made mostly in India and marketed at Millenials. Possible licensing opportunities include amps and guitars. Tyler, who wasn’t interviewed for this piece, has apparently promised some product-placement on American Idol. [WWD]
- Here is an article about how and where Muslim women shop when it’s really hot outside, and the stores are full of short-shorts and tank tops. (Specialty stores and online, duh.) “Women of all ages should be liberated by choosing clothing that makes them feel secure, respected, comfortable and modest, not constantly on display for others to judge,” says Zeena Altalib, who runs a site called PrimoModa. Kelly Alsharif runs a store called Alsharifa. “As a Muslim woman, I wear clothes that are flattering, yet don’t show the details of my figure.” [WaPo]
- Sometime Michelle Obama stylist Ikram Goldman‘s newly relocated Ikram boutique doesn’t even have a sign: the whole exterior of 15 Huron St. is painted bright red, and apparently that’s signifier enough of what’s inside. With 16,000 square feet, Goldman added a café. [WWD]
- Zac Posen is planning to open the first store dedicated to his lower-priced Z Spoke line in New York City’s Meatpacking district later this month. [WWD]
- For $500, you can now buy an iPad case made from a piece of Bernie Madoff’s pants. [Style.com]
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