Changing of the guards
MANILA, Philippines - By the time Hedi Slimane’s spring 2013 collection hits stores the world over, Yves Saint Laurent will have officially dropped the “Yves” and be known as Saint Laurent Paris from now on. Pierre Bergé, Saint Laurent’s long-time personal and business partner, has fully thrown his support behind Slimane. In a similar vein, master milliner Stephen Jones has been singing praises for Raf Simons’ debut couture collection for Christian Dior. “Exciting, beautiful, and new,” said Jones about one of the most long-awaited collection of the year.
Love is in the air right now in the fashion world. Fashion heir Margherita Missoni got married earlier this week, but that’s not why people are talking — apparently a rumor spread that she wore Giambattista Valli down the aisle instead of Missoni, a rumor she vehemently denied. While the gown was made with Valli’s “couture counseling,” she maintained on Twitter that “it is not a valli (sic) gown. It was made by the women who saw me growing up. This is driving me nuts.” And to round things off nicely in the fashionable matrimony department, apparently Brit it-girl Agyness Deyn married Giovanni Ribisi last weekend. Please raise your hand if you knew that they were dating in the first place.
For the longest time, Blake Lively was Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite muse, having been the official ambassador of the Chanel Mademoiselle handbag collection and being dressed in Chanel from head to toe at nearly all her red carpet events. So it’s a little curious that Gucci creative director Fridi Gianni announced that she would be the new face of their new fragrance, Première, which comes out next month. The commercial will be directed by Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn and will debut on Sept. 1 at the Venice Film Festival. Oh, and in case anyone still cares about her, rumors are going around the Lana del Rey recently signed on to become the face of Swiss retail brand H&M. Yawn.
In Manila, everyone is abuzz with excitement over Havaianas and Missoni’s second collaboration, which is distributed exclusively in Adora department store. Available in limited quantities, the collection is available in two styles (Slim and Top) and every pair is packaged in a Missoni knit bag made of recycled materials. If you happen to be taking a trip to Hong Kong, Singapore, or Tokyo this month, be sure to stop by one of the Louis Vuitton pop-up stores where the luxury brand will be celebrating its latest collaboration with artist Yayoi Kusama. These temporary stores will be open for about four to eight weeks and sell products from the limited-edition Kusama collection including trench coats, silk pajamas and polka-dot purses. Don’t have those plane tickets? Don’t worry. All 463 Louis Vuitton stores will also sell the Kusama collection with a second wave of products dedicated to the 83-year-old Japanese artist’s “nerves” motif on Oct. 1.
Looks like online shopping just juicer. If you can’t be bothered to deal with traffic, parking, and crowds, try visiting retail brand Tomato’s online store. Have first dibs on reptile-patterned handbags, Tomato flats in various colors and designs, even Tomato Timepieces for men and women. In addition to women’s apparel, men will find a variety of fashionable options on the site like the cool selection of Tomato graphic tees. Check out Tomato’s latest merch by visiting www.tomato.ph/online-store.