2010 Fashionings of note (that makes no sense but I didn’t want to say milestones or high points coz I’m throwing in low points and I thought I’d combine fashion and musings into one word. You feelin’ my genius right now? Probs not.

Firstly I hope you had a great new years. I sprawled out on my friends couch in my Kate Moss t-shirt and drank booze till the wee hours. The next day I hid in my flat until sundown then made a hasty trip to McDonalds veiled by darkness. The shame.

This is my year end round up of things that were of note for 2010. A little book-end to a year of blogging if you will.

Alexander McQueen commits suicide. A true fashion genius gone.

Sarah Burton debuts at McQueen. She did a resort collection that was well received but Spring Summer 2011 was her first fully fledged collection. Everyone heaved a huge sigh of relief that the house of McQueen has been left in capable hands. Burton wants to move away from McQueen's theatrics and her designs will be softer, with less angst. Take that as you will.

Gareth Pugh opens first store in Hong Kong. Not a major news item but a great indicator of how far Pugh has come in such a short time. Interesting that Hong Kong was chosen over Shanghai or Beijing. Everyone in luxury fashion is all about the mainland right now. Maybe in a few years time?

Carine Roitfeld resigns/got fired/was asked to leave French Vogue. After 10 years of pushing boundaries Roitfeld’s image is tarnished by being banned from all Balenciaga shows and rumours of consulting for Max Mara. Apparently she lent out Balenciaga clothes to Max Mara. That's so not fashion C-Roit.

Also, Russian Vogue's Aliona Doletskaya steps down as editor in chief, Sally Singer runs from American Vogue and becomes editor-in-chief of T Magazine and Stefano Tonchi leaves T Magazine for W.

Aliona

Singer

Tonchi

Tom Ford is back. 

Mary Katrantzou. Getting rave reviews for her stunning Home and Garden printed dresses.

Photographer Corrine Day passes away. 

The bride wore Givenchy. Lara Stone got married. Aww.

But I much prefer what she wore to the reception. Super short and shiny Givenchy.

So roll on 2011. And while you're at it, make some resolutions like Chloe Seven-yee

Magazine Drop

Unicef made their monthly magazine drop across Australia the other day. Hipsters, art freaks and those stylish old women with shorn grey hair who only wear black Japanese avant garde gathered in a field and brutally fought over this months September issues.

I managed to get British Vogue, Harper's Bazaar Australia (ugh) and a new publication Industrie.

Yes, that's Anna Wintour on the front of Industrie!!! There's an article about how editors are the new cover stars of the fashion industry which is so true. I think that bloggers are the catalyst for it too. In a way we've got our own little slice of the publishing pie making our own content (or brazenly stealing it from others) and deciding what is fashionable. And I think because we so badly want to be in the fashion industry working for a big magazine that we idolise the editors, stylists, fashion directors etc and turned the camera away from the models and onto them.

Above: Lara Stone. When was the last time you saw breasts like that in a fashion magazine?

Above: Jamie Bochert shot by Hedi Slimane. Love this shoot from British Vogue.
Below: Great accessories shoot in British Vogue. Punchy, vivid shots. I love the purple gaffer tape on that big shiny leaf.

Harper's Bazaar Australia was pretty shit. It was just crammed with LV and Prada. Booooring.

LARA + VERSUS = TOTES AMAZE

The fragrance was originally released in 1992 but has been updated. I love that Versus is getting a makeover and who better to do it than Christopher Kane right?

Givenchy Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2010 Review

Upon first looking at Ricardo Tisci's spring couture collection for Givenchy I was disappointed. I whipped up a review almost imediately after viewing it but left it and went to work. I mulled over it during the day and looked over it again and I take back most of what I said.
Initially it mostly failed to muster any drama, a key element to Tisci's work. Something was missing. If you look at his 2010 pre-fall collection it's a shining example of what he does best; sharp brooding meets soft romanticism. It's in all his work and many of his trademarks were in this collection: the graphic lacework, the military coat, the organic coral-like embellishment and the nude tones. What he failed to do was whip it into shape and really make the whole collection sing.
What I'd missed the first time round was Tisci delving into the archives and looking back at the 70's. He admitted it was something he'd always been too afraid to do. It seems rather stupid that I'd missed the references to the 70's and Saint Laurent but Tisci's never done this before.

Some of the looks were too busy and the clothes were jostling for attention weighed down with extravagant beads and pailettes then topped off with wide lace hats.

I've studied look two repeatedly as if maybe I'd missed something but I cannot make sense of it. A black satin corset skirt with puckering seams, a cut-out bra which appeared to be clamping the model's breasts making them look short and saggy, a tulle net top and a grim looking hat. Maybe it was shot from a bad angle? Maybe it was just fucking ugly.

Above: Hideous you guys!

Lara Stone looked soigne in a fluffy pink bowed top with cuffed shorts and thigh-hugging suede boots. Other standouts included a gorgeous top with ruffles peeling away from the decolletage. The ruffles also appeared in a black feather-trimmed dress arching out from the elbows displaying Tisci's knack for silhouette.

Despite the mis-steps some of these clothes are truly special and I have huge respect for Tisci and the vision he brings to haute couture.

LARA LARA LARA

Above: The lovely Lara Stone

I recently saw a headline in a paper that said Vogue to use curvier models and the first thing I sarcastically blurted out was who, Lara Stone? Yes, Lara Stone apparently. Stone is featured in the January 2010 issue of American Vogue and I don’t think she’s curvy. I’m sure upon closer inspection compared with other models she is but I really don’t see it. Wintour said "Vogue has always been supportive of healthy models and will continue to be so in the future. And I hope that Lara’s success as a model, even though her image does not fit into the existing norm, will inspire the industry to rethink its current preferences.”

This is quite the coup for Wintour, reinforcing her influence over the fashion industry despite being in it for what many consider to be too long.

I suppose from a healthy image point of view this is a good thing and it’s easy to see both sides of the debate about too-skinny models. I have to admit it has become quite a trend over the past decade, particularly in the last five years where emaciated girls have become the norm in high fashion advertising and fashion spreads. The truth of the matter is, clothes look better on skinny people. That will never change but I think there’s going to be some changes over the next decade in what is perceived as an acceptable weight for a model.

It may not occur to many people but as well as there being trends for clothes there are trends for models too. The end of the 90’s and the early 2000’s saw a slew of peculiar looking models such as Devon Aoki, Hannelore Knuts and An Oost strutting their stuff. This was a reaction against years of classic, bombshell beauties like Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista etc.

Above: Devon Aoki

Above: Hannelore Knuts

Above: An Oost

Above: Some of the unstoppable supers

The last decade has not just been too-skinny it’s also been too white. There was a preponderance of white skinned, blonde haired waifs mostly from Eastern Europe with Sasha Pivovarova being the prime example. The back-lash has been interesting to see. Italian Vogue had an entire issue featuring black models such as Sessilee Lopez and Chanel Iman. The July issue was a success and a reprint was done to keep up with the demand. The sad part is that in this day and age a magazine is causing a stir and considered edgy by using black models. It really isn’t an issue, it’s just nervous executives with the belief that white people sell more product.

Above: Queen of the skinny bitches, Sasha Pivovarova

Above: Sessilee Lopez. Amaze

As well as white girls used as a premium marketing tool you’ve also got the ‘supers’ from the 90’s being trotted out of the stable and back onto the circuit in the hope that a recognizable face will draw customers to part with their cash. Christy Turlington recently did Escada and YSL, Claudia Schiffer also did YSL and a double whammy at Dsqared with Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell in elegant bondage (if there is such a thing) battling it out in a sexually aggressive campaign.Even the cougarlicious Jerry Hall starred in the Chanel bag campaign this year. At 52 she looked hot but heavily air-brushed, much like the Louis Vuitton Fall 09 campaign that starred Madonna.

Above: Naomi & Linda for Dsquared Spring 09

Above: Cougar Mommy Jerry Hall for Chanel

The use of Lara for Vogue is an incremental step towards a new era of models who will hopefully not be as bland and cadaverous as what we’ve seen in the last few years.

Below: Lara Stone for Givenchy. Curvy? Where?