Media is abuzz with news of John Galliano’s return to fashion. Womenswear Daily (WWD) reported that Oscar de la Renta has invited the disgraced designer to “spend some time with him in his studio over the next three weeks to the run-up of to the New York Fashion Week.” It is believed that Anna Wintour had a hand in brokering this highly unorthodox “in residence” agreement. However Oscar made it clear this was in no way a succession plan. “Am I retiring? Is John going to replace me?” de la Renta posed, unsolicited. “Certainly not. I hope to be around for a long time.”
However what grabbed my eyes was the attire Galliano posed in. He has draped a cotton sari with ornate border over his boxers and paired it with a shirt and a jacket. Not clear what he has done with the palla. Seems like he has wrapped it around the sling of his satchel bag. And yes, don’t miss out on the anklet on his right foot!
Yet another blow to Galliano. John Galliano, decorated as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor at the Élysée Palace in 2010, has been stripped of the merit award. On Jun 23, 2010, John Galliano was awarded one of France’s highest honors: he was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. And just over two years later, he’s been stripped of his award.
Following Galliano’s conviction last year for making racist and anti-Semitic slurs, President Francois Hollande, who serves as the grand master of the Order, revoked the decoration. Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Nicole Farhi and Sonia Rykiel are all recipients of the prestigious award and Anna Wintour was the most recent fashion marquis to receive the Legion of Honor.
What makes the stripping of Legion of Honor award a big news is that it’s a rare occurrence. In fact the infamous Panamanian dictator – Manuel Noreiga still hold on to his Legion of Honor.
I simply love Meryl Streep’s comments! They are so damn unpretentious an cool. A few days back at the Women In Film 2012 Crystal + Lucy Awards when a reporter asked Streep, “So, Devil Wears Prada 2, are we going to see it?” Streep was flabbergasted. She didn’t even know there was a sequel in the works. “Yeah…no, no, is there one? I’ve never heard about it,” she said. “But, sure, I mean I’d have to lose the fuuucking weight, but I would do that, yeah.” Watch the video below (be patient – the Devil Wears Prada question comes at 3:35):
Nearly 10 years after Lauren Weisberger penned her bestselling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, she’s giving it a sequel. Weisberger is in the process of writing Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, to be published by Simon & Schuster in April 2013.
The new book catches up with former Runway assistant-to-the-editrix Andy eight years after she’s parted ways with her demanding boss Miranda Priestly. Though Andy is now the editor of a bridal mag, she’s still “haunted” by ‘Ice Queen’ Priestly– famously inspired by Vogue’s EIC, Anna Wintour to whom Weisberger was once a real-life assistant.
There’s no film sequel in the works just yet but the buzz in Hollywood is rather strong that the sequel will be made.
Now this is something that is unthinkable in India – A Fashion Editrix hosting a Fundraising Dinner for the Country’s Premier. In fact the very concept of ‘Fundraising’ is alien in Indian politics. Here the political parties still resort to huge under the table donations by Corporate Houses and Individuals to fund their election campaigns. The infamous Reddy Brothers of Mining-gate funded the BJP in their election campaign. Obviously they were rewarded with cabinet berths and lot more.
Anna Wintour of Vogue and Harvey Weinstein and his wife Georgina Chapman (better known as the designer of Marchesa) hosted an exclusive Fundraising Dinner for President Obama at Weinstein’ house in the West Village, New York. Flattering his audience with the line, “This is a pretty good looking crowd,” President Obama made time for a few remarks, some serious (talk of the debt and the global economy) and others less so — he quipped that the 2012 election is different than 2008′s because voters are now thinking, “Obama is gray haired, he doesn’t seem as cool.”
The gathering was glamourous and small with the ticket’s costing as high as $35,800 per person. But it ensured real high-profile attendees. There was Gwyneth Paltrow, Vera Wang, Alicia Keys and Tory Burch amongst the 50 guests at the Weinstein House Fundraising Dinner.
I won’t be surprised if in future I see Anna Wintour running for Mayor of New York!
It’s probably never been said by any fashion designer in an interview – “Who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion? No one.” Nor would you have heard or read a fashion designer stating in clear terms, “Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life.” But then there is always this one guy with ‘balls’ and the designer I am talking about is none other than the designer par excellence Azzedine Alaïa. Alaïa’s no-holds-barred interview appeared in a fashion mag – Virgine.
Could you ever dream of any of our Indian designers speaking out their mind about a fashion editor to Press? But I personally feel that at times our designers should speak out as there are many floating around as Fashion Critic or Fashion Scribe who can’t tell the difference between the Warp and the Weft and thinks Bias-Cut is a cut when the designer is Biased towards a person or trend!
Well Azzedine Alaïa is in a different league. As long as he knows that women love his clothes, he cares a damn about what magazines write. He shows when he wants and when he is ready — not when there’s a fashion week. He does the same with his seasonal deliveries. Michelle Obama is a fan of Alaïa’s designs and he is probably one of America’s best-selling designer.
Now here’s what Alaïa said about Anna Wintour, Editor of the American Vogue: “She runs the business [of Vogue] very well, but not the fashion part. When I see how she is dressed, I don’t believe in her tastes one second. I can say it loudly! She hasn’t photographed my work in years even if I am a best seller in the U.S. and I have 140 square meters at Barneys. American women love me; I don’t need her support at all. Anna Wintour doesn’t deal with pictures; she is just doing PR and business, and she scares everybody. But when she sees me, she is the scared one. Other people think like me, but don’t say it because they are afraid that Vogue won’t photograph them. Anyway, who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion? No one. Take Diana Vreeland, she is remembered because she was so chic. What she did with the magazine was great.”
About Karl Lagerfeld, Azzedine Alaïa had this to say, “I don’t like his fashion, his spirit, his attitude. It’s too much caricature. Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life. That doesn’t mean that he’s not great, but he’s part of another system. He has capacity. One day he does photography, the next he does advertisements for Coca-Cola. I would rather die than see my face in a car advertisement. We don’t do the same work.“