The break-up
MANILA, Philippines - Three years after Nicola Formichetti was named the new creative director of Thierry Mugler, renamed the house to just Mugler, and introduced the brand to a new generation through his close relationship with Lady Gaga, his departure from the house has been announced by Joel Palix of the Clarins Group, which owns Mugler. “With his talent for communication and understanding of modern imagery and design, Nicola has been instrumental in attracting a new audience, which is undeniably crucial for the future strategy of the house. He will be a historical part of the Mugler legacy and known as the force that catapulted us forward,†Palix told WWD. The company bids farewell to Formichetti as Mugler “builds on its highly successful legacy in fragrance and its new momentum in fashion.â€
Soap stars
There’s definitely been a lot of drama going on in the blogging industry, spurred by Suzy Menkes’ piece “The Circus of Fashion†and Take My Picture, Garage magazine’s mini-documentary on bloggers. Now, Lookbook.nu, a popular platform for would-be fashion blogging superstars, decided to launch a scripted drama about the “seedy†nature of the industry entitled Lookbook: The Series. “I found that the relationship between a blogger and their photographer is really intimate, even if it hasn’t been consummated,†series co-creator Bernie Su told The Hollywood Reporter. “So we took that story and presented it in a narrative TV format then juxtaposed the competitiveness. They’re fighting for the same eyeballs. And there’s a seedy manipulation and sabotage between the bloggers.†He jokes, “We put Gossip Girl, Cruel Intentions and The Devil Wears Prada in a salad bowl and mixed it.†With plot twists like ill-gotten swag, closeted gay boyfriends and fashion blogger stalkers, it’s so bad, it actually might be good.
It started with Emma Watson’s cover for GQ, where she wore a dress pretty similar to the one that Julia Roberts wore to play a hooker in Pretty Woman. Shortly after that, brands like Tripp NYC, Urban Outfitters, ASOS and Nasty Gal started making reproductions of the same style, which people are actually buying. So why is this such a big deal? It has to do with the fact that Suzy Menkes penned an article called “A Modest Proposal†for the New York Times last March 19 where she concluded, “The truth is that it takes a certain courage and conviction to try simple, covered-up clothes. Whereas baring it all looks increasingly like yesterday’s trend.†And yet, with clothing like the Pretty Woman dress, it seems like plenty of young women aren’t quite ready to retire “slut style,†as T magazine editor Deborah Needleman puts it. And while it does take a while for the predictions of style seers like Needleman and Menkes to manifest, for now, it looks like they’ve made a big mistake. Big. Huge!
Grunge is back
After exhausting the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s for inspiration, designers are finally mining the ‘90s grunge era, with Hedi Slimane leading the pack for his spring/summer collection for Saint Laurent. And while we do take this to mean that the naughties are officially back, Slimane decided to bring it back literally, by asking Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love, X-Girl designer Kim Gordon, and rock stars Ariel Pink and Marilyn Manson to front YSL’s campaigns for this season. Kids who didn’t grow up in the ‘90s, consider yourselves schooled.
The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) announced the finalists for the 2013 National Magazine Awards. Known as the “Ellies†(for the Alexander Calder “elephants†given to each award winner) the National Magazine Awards will be presented on May 2 in New York. This year, 62 publications were nominated in 23 categories. W magazine was nominated twice: for the Photography award and for the Feature Photography award, for Steven Klein’s story “Good Kate, Bad Kate†in their March 2012 issue. Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar are both finalists for the general excellence award for service and fashion magazines, and Bullett is a finalist for the design award.