Cannes Film Festival 2012 65th Opening Ceremony

The American director Wes Anderson and the whole team of Moonrise Kingdom, the first film to be screened in Competition, opened the 65th Festival de Cannes this Wednesday 16 May in the presence of the Italian President of the Jury, Nanni Moretti, and the eight jury members.

“It is a great privilege and a greatresponsibility for me to preside over the jury of the most important film festival in the world. I would like to thank my jury members for their competence and their good nature. Thanks also to the Festival de Cannes and to France, a country that always reserves a special place in society for cinema,” the filmmaker declared.

Prior to his words, Bérénice Béjo, gave an emotional introduction of each of the Jury members. The French actress, who played opposite Jean Dujardin in The Artist, referred to the silent film epic made by Michel Hazanavicius.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Festival de Cannes, where it all started for me. It’s wonderful, all these people around the world  who loved this film without spoken words,” she said.

To close the ceremony, Beth Ditto, from the American group The Gossip, performedCandle in The Wind, the song Elton John composed in 1973 as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. An allusion to this icon, who is featured on the official poster of this 65th edition, blowing out a candle on a birthday cake… An allusion also to the anniversary of the Festival de Cannes.

Bérénice Béjo, wore a Louis Vuitton gown. The gown is made of bright red silk mousseline. It has a pleated front and a multi layered, red degrade, organza and silk mousseline train. The train is attached by a large red bow at the back of the gown. This unique creation took more than 90 meters of fabric and expresses the savoir-faire of the Rare and Exceptional Atelier.

Freida Pinto wore Louis Vuitton pumps and a lizard minaudiere embroidered with sequins

Jessica Chastain, wore a bracelet and earrings from the Louis Vuitton high jewellery collection. The cuff, in white gold and Louis Vuitton cut diamonds is 19.08 carats and is from the Louis Vuitton Les Ardentes collection.

The earrings, in white gold and Louis Vuitton cut diamonds are from the Louis Vuitton Les Ardentes collection as well.

Actress Kara Hayward, the female lead in Wes Anderson’s movie Moonrise Kingdom, also wore a Louis Vuitton gown, shoes and a Louis Vuitton high jewellery headband. The gown is made of a yellow silk satin and covered by organza. The headband is white gold and Louis Vuitton Cut diamonds from the Louis Vuitton Les Ardentes collection.

See all the photos below:

Photos Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Chanel Cruise 2013 Collection

Monday May 14th, 2012 – Chateau de Versailles

“This is not about reality, this is a fantasy, we need to dream and this is what we are doing today” pointed out Karl Lagerfeld as he gazed upon the splendor of the Trois Fontaines gardens in idyllic Versailles, the venue for his latest Cruise collection. For this off-season show, the Kaiser decided to invite press from all over the world to the chateau of chateaux, that of Louis XVI, to showcase his “Marie Antoinette-meets-manga”  collection. And the location could not have been more ideal: on a perfectly clear, blue sky day, journalists were whisked to a royal castle on the outskirts of Paris, one whose opulence and grandeur is in perfect proportion to its infinitely long gardens and canals.

Guests arriving at the Blvd. des Reines entrance were greeted to a row of Nattier blue and gold cabanas, with its 3 row seating, flanking parallel to a centerpiece fountain. And like a scene out of Inception, the intimacy of the locale felt very much like a dream within a dream, whose narrative would be told through Karl’s interpretation of the fantastical and imaginary.

 But given the location, there was an undercurrent risk that a literal interpretation of French royal-wear could be considered kitschy. Many a designer have traveled down similar paths only to be told their collections were too costumey and not made for the real consumer. But were others have failed, those that have gone onto success have done so by way of whimsy. By attrition of exquisite detail and styling, KL delivered a playfully whimsical collection that made us re-imagine Mrs. Antoinette as a  contemporary fashion neophyte.

For next Cruise season, Chanel took us to the lands of the Aristo-punk. Girls were bursting with freshness and ingenuity in their puffed microshorts that crumbled like baskets of lace ruffles, which was sometimes paired with small denim jackets in Marquis sky blue or white leather. Manga-styled hair bobs, sans rollers, were done in pink or black raven tones and placed atop a subtle pony-tail. Pastel eye shadows, blush-red cheeks skewing toward soft pink, assorted jewelry made of molten glass and milky plastic camellias in marshmallow hues completed the looks. “What counts is the spirit of this court, not the reality,” said again Karl Lagerfeld, who always filters the ‘establishment’ through the  sieve of his own liberal interpretations.

 But Karl offered counterpoint to the excesses of ruffles and royal connotations by styling the girls to be relaxed, not constrained. Whether the girls looked like Mrs. Fontanges in fragile ivory chiffon, or a more serious version of Madame  Montespan, or even a Mademoiselle Maintenon in a youthful tweed number, there was this inescapable boyish-girl quality that was sublimely fresh. One by one, they descended on the pebbled path, appearing like an army of candy shop punkettes, either in knickers or black leather  jeans, in jackets with multicolored, foam-shaped PVC details, strolling in sneakers, and dare one say even, creepers. The new versions of the “Boy” bag, a hit for the house, helped bridge the divergent concepts.

 Seeing this level of high-low contrast conjured up thoughts of Gabrielle Chanel, who once exclaimed that “Luxury is not democratic.” Strangely that day, it was. In its own way, at least.

Visit Chanel.com

Chanel Cruise 2013 Backstage Video

See all the photos below:

Photos and Video Courtesy of Chanel

Proenza Schouler Spring 2012 Private Sale

 

Starting May 16th Proenza Schouler will offer a preview of the Spring 2012 sale to proenzaschouler.com email subscribers. An email blast with unique sale codes will be sent to all of our subscribers offering them a 30% discount to be applied to seasonal merchandise at checkout.

Anyone who is not currently a subscriber can sign up for Proenza Schouler‘s email updates between May 16 and June 7th for access to the private sale.

Below are links to a few of the sale highlights:

Raffia PS1 Pochette, Floral PS1 Pochette, Floral PS1 Medium, Floral PS1 Shopping Tote more on proenzaschouler.com

See all the styles below:

Courtesy of Proenza Schouler

Chanel Cruise 2013 Making Of Press Kit

Another Chanel collection, another trip into unexpected territory. As always, before any of his runway shows, Karl shot the collection’s look book at his Studio 7L in Paris. The lucky model chosen to appear is none other than the ever playful and charismatic Cara Delevigne, the 20 year old beauty who also happened to open Cruise 2013 show in Versailles yesterday. And whether or not you’re into the “Marie Antoinette-meets-Manga” look, you can best be assured that you’re going to want this CC makeup velvet “mouche” (beauty-mark) created by Peter Philips.

Embroideries by Lesage for Chanel
Hair accessories by Maison Michel for Chanel
Shoes by Massaro for Chanel
Jewelry by Desrues for Chanel

Makeup by Peter Philips
Hair by Sam McKnight

See the photos below:

Photos by Olivier Saillant Courtesy of Chanel 

 

Pierre Balmain Fall Winter 2012 Collection

Balmain’s secondary line, Pierre Balmain, proved once again that it can stand in its own and if anything, compliments the house’s primary line. For Fall 2012, the mood is dark, poetic  with reinvented basics such as blacks paired with whites, grey and midnight blues.

 Classics are sensually modernized as seen on a black double breasted suit worn with an half open men’s white shirt. The multi-zippered leather biker jacket is worn loose, and an appealing 3/4 coat features a trompe l’oeil studded bolero. The chiffon blouse is embellished by animal prints while an all-over studs tank top is worn over a black t-shirt with laminated trousers.

 To illustrate the collection, the brand tapped Martial Scheltz to create a black and white film inspired by late fifties, early sixties French and Italian films. The film features models Melissa Stasiuk and Adrien Sahores embodying  the “Pierre Balmain” persona, looking at each other and being narrative  without saying a word. But you don’t need any dialogue to know that this latest collection will speak volumes to consumers.

Shop Pierre Balmain via Net-A-Porter.com

Visit  pierrebalmain.com

Pierre Balmain Fall Winter 2012 Film by Martial Scheltz

Photos Courtesy of Pierre Balmain
Video realisation: Martial Schmeltz
Artistic Direction: Atelier Frank Durand
Hair by Laurent Philippon
Makeup by Christelle Cocquet

Jimmy Choo Stylemakers 247 Launch

Jimmy Choo announces the launch of ‘Choo 24:7 Stylemakers’, an interactive microsite at www.choo247.com and accessible via www.jimmychoo.com that brings to life the personality of Choo 24:7, the brand’s ‘perfect shoe wardrobe’ of iconic Jimmy Choo styles. Mirroring the creative concept for the brand’s advertising campaign, the site celebrates street style photographic reportage with an image gallery showcasing fans wearing Jimmy Choo across time zones, day to evening, 24:7. The site invites fans and photographers to participate by submitting their own street style images illustrating their personal style. A selection of the best images are uploaded onto the site and shared with fans internationally, reflecting the global personality of Jimmy Choo.

The site responds to the growing interest in street style photography and the social aspect of sharing fashion and style imagery. Users will be able to create their own Stylemaker photo galleries on the microsite and post images direct from Facebook or from personal digital photo albums. Stylemaker photo galleries on the Choo247.com microsite may then be shared via social media. Photos tagged on Instagram with #choo247 will also feed to the site.

To launch the program, Jimmy Choo has collaborated with renowned street style photographer, Eddie Newton, best known for his fashion blog www.mrnewton.net. Newton has photographed headline Stylemakers exclusively for the choo247.com site – his subjects for Jimmy Choo are frequent personalities of street style photography – Caroline Issa in London and Jessica Joffe in New York. New headline Stylemakers will be added each season in different cities around the globe throughout 2012/13. Next stop: Milan, Antwerp, Paris, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

The site also features curated content with archive images of celebrities, ad campaigns and Jimmy Choo events. The gallery of pictures may be filtered by time of day and city.

Visit www.choo247.com

See the photos below:

Photos Courtesy of Jimmy Choo

Dior 3 Book Set: Fashion, Fine Jewelry and Perfume

The house of Dior has just released an exciting three retrospective volumes presented in a collectible slipcase. Written by former editor in chief of L’Officiel de la Mode, Caroline Bongrand and journalist Jerome Hanover, the books retrace Dior’s most iconic images from each decade of the brand’s rich history.
Immortalizing Dior Fashion, Jewelry, and Perfume, this addition to Assouline’s Mémoire series presents an objet as chic as its subject.

The Diorslipcase set will be published in May 2012 and will be available at
Assouline boutiques worldwide and through www.assouline.com.

See the photos below:

Photos Courtesy of Dior

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