Britney’s Comeback on VMA’s

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlrZJ9V71Y8]

Confirmed: Marc Jacobs did get “married” in Paris to Brazilian boyfriend Lorenzo

According to inside sources close to the sensationalist designer, Marc Jacobs and his boytoy Brazilian boyfriend Lorenzo Martone really did “tie the knot” in Paris a few weeks back. How shocking!

Now, just to be clear, the two are not officially married per se, given that the French government, like the U.S. of A., does not recognize gay marriages (just not yet at least).

Instead, Marc and Lorenzo got “PAX-ed”, e.g. engaged in a civil union. But here’s the real twist in the story and which is exclusive to Fashioniseme.com:

Because France does not allow non-French citizens to get PAX-ed, MJ had to call in a few favours, namely Bernard Arnault, president and owner of LVMH. But of course, Bernard can’t change the law either….well actually, he sorta can. You see, rumor has it that Bernard Arnault called in a favour from his Carla Bruni-loving buddy and French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, to override French laws and allow the PAX-ing of Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo to proceed. Suffice it to say, MJ leapt through enough red tape to make a long jump Olympian proud. With the French President backing the PAX, Marc Jacobs not only broke the status quo, but sealed his love for his LoLo.

Now this begs the question: what went so wrong with Jason Preston that led Marc Jacobs to commit to a guy he seems to have barely known longer than a NY minute? Seems Jason is all mum these days (unless of course you talk smack about him on the ‘Nets: then he’s all about calling you in the middle of the night, yelling your ear off about how he Googled his name and saw all the nastiness said about him, yadda yadda yadda…)

Listen Jason: if you’re reading this, contact me. I’d love to hear your side of the story. I’ll even have the interview room ready with a tissue box for you and have “Everytime” by Britney Spears playing in the background.

And Marc and Lorenzo: if you’re reading this from Ibiza, I am sending you many many Hollywood air kisses and wish you as much success in your new relationship as you’ve seen in your delicious wonderful designs.

Kayne West – Fashion icon or just a “Poser” in Chic Clothing

While we all know that Kayne West is a multi talented star, few realize his penchant for fashion. For those not in the know, take a look at any number of runway shows from the Paris, Milan, and London Fashion weeks, and you’ll most likely see Mr. West at more than several of them.

Kayne not only brings a sense of the hip hop world to the catwalk, with his pinosh style and over the top exhiberant personality as a formidable performer, he also brings with it his ego. Yes, his ego. In fact, his is so large, he should have a runway seat reserved for it: right in between him and Anna Wintour.

Granted, he has good reason to be ego-centric. He sells more albums than Wendy Williams dishes gossip. Nevertheless, there comes a point when one asks: is it for real or is it for show?

Fashion icon or not, I am starting to believe that the world that Kayne seeks to join is not of fashion. No it’s of “Kayne” and just Kayne. And Kayne now wants you to be like “Kayne”.

Because of course, as if his launching his own line of shoes chez Louis Vuitton wasn’t enough now he wants you to become him. Don’t believe me? See his latest NYC subway ad and decide for yourself.

Erin Wasson Cuts Loose From Wang, Launches…Herself

 

Next up on the roster of catwalkers turning to other careers: Erin Wasson.

The model-stylist-skating enthusiast has added clothing designer to her résumé, hammering out a three-year deal to design Erin Wasson for Rvca, the spring 2009 collection of which has been snapped up by Opening Ceremony.

It was, fittingly, at the beach that Wasson first came onto the radar of Rvca founder and pooh-bah of all things Orange County — that would be surfing, skating and tagging — Pat “PM” Tenore. Two years ago, Tenore’s teenage son was participating in a shoot for Australian Vogue at Bondi Beach, where Wasson was the hired model and the main attraction. “He came home and said, ‘Dad, I met the raddest girl!’” says Tenore, who founded the surf- and skate-inspired clothing company out of his Costa Mesa, Calif., garage nearly seven years ago. “I had met her at Rvca parties, so I called her up to see what she was working on, and she had all these amazing ideas. She has a very strong view on what she likes, and she’s a natural at design.” 

Amid fashion circles, beyond gracing campaigns from H&M to Balenciaga, Wasson, 26, is perhaps best known for her collaboration with Alexander Wang, whose last two shows she styled and for whom she has served as a sort of in-house muse (Wasson met Wang when he moved into an apartment two floors below hers in Manhattan’s East Village). “Tomboy chic” is what Wasson deems their shared aesthetic — scrawny tanks, lots of denim. “We have the same thought about what a girl should look like,” she says. “Strong girls who are really confident.” Wasson’s jewelry line, Low Luv, was also featured in Wang’s fall 2008 show, though she recently came under fire in the blogosphere for the line’s similarities to designer Bliss Lau’s body chains. “I have the utmost respect for Bliss Lau,” says Wasson. “I admire and appreciate what she has done for the jewelry industry.”

Though they remain good friends, Wasson and Wang are no longer professionally tied, which has freed her to craft a collection that pretty much mirrors her daily uniform and will most likely speak to exactly the kind of woman Wasson is: active and unafraid to show a little skin. For spring, there are Pima cotton tank tops and denim cutoffs, a wool miniskirt and a silk button-down emblazoned with tiny thunderbolts, even a jaunty blazer with an unexpected zipper running up the back.

 

 

“I think the problem with surf and skate companies is that the girls’ stuff tends to be a lot of pinks and blues, and [they] just assume that that’s what girls want to wear,” says Wasson. “So I’d buy from the men’s section in the skate shops.”

To be sure, there are no girlish pinks or baby blues in Wasson’s line; the blacks, grays, and whites are hues you’d find upon opening Wasson’s own closet doors (she recalls that as a child growing up in Irving, Tex., her mother “fought to get me into a dress”). A flowered shift is the only piece that could be considered truly feminine (Wasson says she’d toughen it up with combat boots or Vans), though there’s no shortage of sex appeal. The tanks, which retail for $55, are cut low, and the frayed denim shorts, $230, skim the upper thigh.

No doubt the photo-shoot set will find Wasson’s wares perfect additions to a wardrobe suited for nights at the Beatrice Inn, but that was the last thing on the model’s mind when she and Tenore joined forces. “I’m going to get my rocks off seeing girls in California skating around wearing my clothes more than I think I will seeing it in the fashion world,” admits Wasson. All of this is not to say, however, that her posing days are anywhere over. “Oh, no, honey,” she says with a laugh. “You don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

Courtesy: Nylon+TV, WWD

Alexander Wang Steps Up His A-ccessories Game with Shoes and a Diffusion Line

Alexander Wang ups the ante with new launches and a fresh vision for spring. Swing by Alexander Wang’s new downtown studio and you might focus on any number of things. Perhaps it’s the custom-made black goat hair sofa chair. Or the receptionist’s desk with giant shipyard chain-link legs. The Thirties brass theater lights. Maybe it’s even the colossal space itself; this TriBeCa office is nearly four times the size of his previous 2,000-square-foot Flatiron studio — not bad for a designer who, just four years ago, was pitching his debut collection from his apartment. The most telling of pieces here, however, Wang has hidden away on his office wall. It’s a large Juergen Teller photograph of a playful Kate Moss — with tousled pink hair — peeking out from under all-white bed covers. Wang, as anyone familiar with the designer knows, has been hooked on Moss-as-muse since his launch lineup of intarsia cashmere sweaters in fall 2005. And perhaps even more famously, he’s introduced to industry vernacular the term M.O.D. or model-off-duty. “It’s that sense of ease and being confident,” he explains, “like you just rolled out of bed and threw something on.” In other words, nothing too perfect or matchy-matchy.

 

And that formula — mining often unpretty elements that somehow end up looking nonchalantly stylish and chic — has created quite a successful niche for this 24-year-old San Francisco native. On the accolade front, just this year, Wang has garnered an Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award, a CFDA Swarovski Award nomination for Womenswear and, most recently, nabbed a top 10 finalist spot for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Business-wise, meanwhile, things are snowballing — and those new, improved digs are just one indication. Take, for instance, the company figures. Spring sales jumped 40 percent from 2007 to 2008 and fall sales, 60 percent. So far, wholesale numbers this year have totaled $8 million, with 2009 projections running in the $10 million to $15 million range. This month, moreover, Wang gets his first shop-in-shop at Barneys New York flagships nationwide. “When we saw his fall collection, we were blown away,” says Terence Bogan, vice president of women’s Co-op at Barneys New York. “Our budget [for his collection] doubled from the previous season. We needed to resonate that with the customer so we expanded his space.” And, indeed, his February fashion show was a high-octane extravaganza, in which the designer let rip his vision of a grungy street-chic girl — torn denim, oversize blazers, shredded hosiery and beanies. “[Fall] was the season where people really recognized us,” says Wang. “We’re under a microscope now. We have to watch our moves and make sure everything we do is right.” That means keeping the momentum rolling for spring 2009.

In an exclusive preview with WWD, Wang revealed two new product launches for the season. He will present his first shoe collection, and he’s dipping into the diffusion arena with a lower-priced label. But the latter isn’t just a cheaper version of his main line; this new collection is all about cotton basics. “I’m not taking away from what I’m selling, and confusing the customer. I realized there were no T-shirts that spoke to my aesthetic,” he says. “You have those L.A. brands and then you have the $200, $300 shirts from The Row and Rick Owens.” T by Alexander Wang will feature 12 styles — from tanks ($28 wholesale) to T-shirt dresses ($40) — all cut in the designer’s signature languid style, with colors ranging from simple whites and heather grays to lavender, chartreuse and cerulean. “Necklines are stretched and armholes are strategically lowered so that it looks worn in,” he explains. “It’s like sleeping in a T-shirt and then wearing it the next day. It’s not this crisp little T out of the dryer. It’s draped and kind of wilted.” Wang’s footwear, on the other hand, is aggressively sexy. There are five styles, each a variation on the platform sandal. “Everyone’s been doing an open-toe,” says Wang. “I added the thong to give a fresh perspective and make it more provocative. The thong between your toes, it draws your attention to that area.” Priced at $125 to $250 wholesale, the collection ranges from a perforated leather bootie to a heel topped with fringe. Wang even tossed in a few tough-chic fetish references, courtesy of actual body-piercing rings he’s used as hardware. The inspiration here? The shoes were designed as a contrast to his upcoming spring lineup, which he promises will be a marked departure from past collections. Instead of a grungy attitude and a focus on separates, there will be lots of color and dresses, underscored by an athletic-meets-“Miami Vice” vibe influenced by two recent trips to the sunny city. Another sign of change for the designer: a new stylist.

 

He’s hired Alastair McKimm to fill in friend Erin Wasson’s shoes. Of course, you can bet there will be plenty of Wang’s offbeat counterpoints throughout. His spring lace patterns, for instance, are inspired by sweat stains, and the runway hats by milliner Albertus Swanepoel will be, as Wang describes them, half swim caps, half “corseted do-rags.” With all these new categories in the works, though, one wonders if it’s all too much too soon, especially considering the downbeat economy. “It’s a very risky move at a time like this,” admits the designer. “But we do take that into account. You have to deliver on the product, and I think I’ve proven that on the sales side.” Wang adds that he’s not recklessly pushing ahead. He plans to conservatively launch the new shoe line, for example, in his top five stores before diving into full distribution for fall 2009. “It’s just an evolution now,” he remarks. “People are either going to love [the changes] or hate [them], but they’ll recognize you for it. You have to show that the brand can evolve and that there’s a future for it.”

Courtesy: WWD

Fresh Designers Pushing the Accessories Envelope Quickly

 

 

Tried and true, meet fresh and exciting. The next generation of innovative handbag firms might have started in ready-to-wear, but now labels such as 3.1 Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang and Twenty8Twelve are moving at full speed into the accessories world. Wang’s black and cobalt clutches and totes retain the designer’s rock ’n’ roll vibe, while Lim’s two-toned hobos and satchels complement his smart and chic collection. And Twenty8Twelve already has a celebrity connection to flaunt its canvas and embossed leather bags: Sienna Miller is the label’s co-designer, with her sister, Savannah Miller.