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subscribe to style file blog via RSSLegendary Lensman Arthur Elgort
On His Life In Fashion Photography
June 6, 2011
Arthur Elgort—who, tonight, will receive the CFDA Board of Directors’ Special Tribute award—is an industry legend. Over the course of a 40-year career, Elgort has shot for everyone from Vogue and Vanity Fair to Valentino and Karl Lagerfeld. After a stroke last year left him unable to move his limbs, Elgort’s career very nearly ended, but following frustrating months of recovery, the photographer beat the odds and regained movement in his hands and arms. He’s back at work in his large, sunny studio in Soho and recently shot a spread for Vogue’s April issue with his close friend Grace Coddington, who will present him with his tribute at tonight’s CFDA Awards ceremony.
Here, Elgort speaks with Style.com about the changing style of fashion photography, models versus ballerinas, and the new Madonna—his fellow CFDA honoree.
How did you react when you found out about your CFDA award?
I was listening to a Tchaikovsky piece, I think it was Trio no. 7 or something, and they told me Diane von Furstenberg was on the phone. When they said that, I said, “What is she calling about? I don’t think she wants to give me a job, so maybe she’s got an award for me.”
Your recovery from your recent stroke is an incredible story of perseverance. What was it like to learn your craft all over again?
Terrible, obviously. You know, I couldn’t even hold a camera. I had to start all over again. I shoot differently now. I still take pictures all the time, but it’s not exactly the same. That’s the way it is—I could be dead, so this is a lot better than that.
What would you say makes a great fashion photo?
Well, it can last [a] long ]time] and it’s still good. Would I wear the clothes myself? No. But something about it is nice.
Your candid, “snapshot” style helped to transform the genre.
Well, so they say, yes. I think there were other people there too but they weren’t as lucky as me. I didn’t do it alone, really. I was at the right place at the right time. Continue reading ›
tags: Arthur Elgort, Azzedine Alaia, CFDA, Christy Turlington, Grace Coddington, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell
Alejandro Ingelmo Heads Online
June 6, 2011
These shoes—towering heels notwithstanding—were made for walking. So when Alejandro Ingelmo, the New York-based footwear designer (and CFDA Swarovski Award nominee for accessories) set out to make a short film about his work, he didn’t want get bogged down in plotting or character development. He just showed his wares doing what his wares do best: strutting on the pavement.
The video, premiering here on Style.com, will soon go live on Ingelmo’s relaunched Web site. That’s not the site’s only draw. With it, Ingelmo is launching e-commerce, offering his most celebrated styles, including his heels to those who can’t hoof it to his Wooster Street store. “E-commerce was something I wanted to do for a long time, but I felt it needed to be interactive and personal,” Ingelmo told Style.com. “The timing is right now as we have seen an increase amount of demand in places where we do not have distribution.” Keep reading for the exclusive video.
tags: Accessories, Alejandro Ingelmo, CFDA, E-commerce
L’Wren Scott Introduces Lula, Her First Full-Sized Bag
June 6, 2011
For L’Wren Scott, the old saying is true. Mother knows best—at least where handbags are concerned.
The stylist-turned-designer debuts her first full-sized handbag, the Lula, this week, a ladylike structured bag inspired, she tells Style.com, by the bag her mother carried when she was a girl. “I didn’t really base it around anything other than my mom’s handbag that she always carried,” she says. “She had this very structured bag that you always heard open and close when she was coming or going. That was a specific feeling for me.”
It’s not quite the Proustian madeleine, but it did make an impression. When Scott set out to design the bag—after the success of the mini pochette she debuted last season—she wanted to make a functional, comfortable carry-all. “You had to be able to carry it on your arm, or it could fit on your shoulder, even if you were wearing shoulder pads,” she explains. “When you sit down, you hear it sit down on the table, [too]. When it opens and closes, you hear the whoosh—I love the sound of a bag.”
Available exclusively at Barneys, the Lula comes in three sizes—a small, a large, and a weekender—in calfskin, python, and crocodile. (Prices range from $2,300 for the small up to $20,500 for the large in croc.) The Italian-made bags sport gunmetal hardware (the hardest part to perfect, Scott says) and come in purple, black, and a rich brown called Bordeaux, as well as a special mauve python skin. Each features compartments for iPads and cell phones (and, exotic-skin versions come with a smaller pochette inside). But whatever you pack, Scott promises one thing.
“It closes!” she laughs. “You can fit everything in it—and it still closes. It’s deceiving, because you can fit so much in it, even the small one. That’s super-exciting for a girl.” Just like Mom always knew.
tags: Barneys, L'Wren Scott
Postcard From Venice: Laure Heriard Dubreuil Reports From The Biennale
June 3, 2011
The Webster co-founder Laure Heriard Dubreuil and her boyfriend, artist Aaron Young, hit Venice this week for the legendary Biennale di Venezia. For those farther than a vaporetto away from the action, she’s sending back updates on the sights and the sounds (and a few parties, too).
Thursday was another beautiful day in Venice, and we went to see all of the countries’ pavilions at the Giardini. Even before seeing the art, I was blown away by the very intense smell of jasmine, my favorite fragrance and the one I wear. The entire fence surrounding the garden is covered by blossoming jasmine flowers. Continue reading ›
tags: Laure Heriard Dubreuil, Riccardo Tisci, The Webster, Venice Biennale
This School House Rocks, More Stars At The CFDAs, Freja The Bard, And More…
June 3, 2011
John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton, and Christopher Kane are just few of the famous alumni schooled on London’s Charing Cross Road, Central Saint Martins’ HQ for 72 years (not to mention, the venue for the first Sex Pistols show ever). To celebrate the building’s storied halls before moving to new digs on Kings Cross, the school has created a film tribute that debuted at their student fashion show earlier this week. [Racked]
More stars align for the CFDA: Sofia Coppola, Kirsten Dunst, Liv Tyler, and Chloë Sevigny are all slated to attend and present at Monday’s fashion Oscars—the CFDA Fashion Awards. [WWD]
Lindsey Wixson wants to be a chef-slash-chanteuse. Freja Beha Erichsen wants to be…a poet? [Vogue U.K.]
tags: Alexander McQueen, Chloe Sevigny, Christopher Kane, Freja Beha Erichsen, John Galliano, Kirsten Dunst, Liv Tyler, Sarah Burton, Sofia Coppola
Jason Wu Launches E-Commerce
June 3, 2011
Jason Wu is headed online in a big way. Weeks ago, the New York-based designer made his Twitter debut—via an emissary of sorts, his cartoon owl mascot, Miss Wu, who tweets her own 140-character thoughts from a roost in the Wu atelier. Now, Wu is set to re-launch his Web site with a new e-commerce section. This Monday, the new JasonWuStudio.com goes live, offering the designer’s Spring and pre-fall bags.
That’s not all it’ll boast. To celebrate the new site, Wu called on Tommy Ton to shoot model Tati Cotliar testing out the Fall ‘11 collection on the streets of New York. “It’s actually my favorite collection of his, so I’m very honored to be shooting this particular collection in the way that I do, on a girl like Tati who wears clothes so well,” Ton said. “I think that’s what amazing—when the clothes are right and then you have a girl who looks like she’s wearing the clothes and they aren’t wearing her. It’s very refreshing. She turns heads—I’ll tell you that.”
tags: Jason Wu, Tati Cotliar, Tommy Ton
Lindsey Wixson, La Femme Libre
June 2, 2011
Lindsey Wixson’s not abdicating her top-model throne any time soon, but the Wichita-born model revealed last night she’s definitely interested in spreading her wings a bit. In a recent interview with British Vogue, Wixson floated the idea of a singing career. Last night at the Yves Saint Laurent dinner celebrating the brand’s new fragrance, L’Homme Libre, Wixson elaborated on her (many) ambitions beyond the runway.
“I have been listening to a lot of Frank Sinatra lately,” the model told Style.com before dinner at Indochine. “I’m just trying to get my voice to open up because it’s in tune, but I need to project more and I want to work on it.” Practice makes perfect—and no better time than the long hours spent in the makeup chair backstage at shows and shoots. “When I am sitting and getting my makeup done, I will hum and then someone else will starting humming along with me. Then I’m like, ‘Look what I started!’ “
Other projects she’s looking to start: “I also want to learn how to fly a plane,” Wixson said, “and be a pastry chef at some point. I remember my grandma teaching me how to make a pie and how to make fudge—pecan pie is very Kansas. Maybe I’ll do a cooking show? I’ll be like, ‘Bam!’ “
tags: Lindsey Wixson, YSL
On Our Radar: Aiko
June 2, 2011
The sweatshirt enjoyed a new renaissance a few years back, when designers like Isabel Marant and Dries Van Noten rescued it from the bottom of the dresser drawer and sent the slubby staple marching down the runways. But they weren’t the only ones to revive the look. Inspired by her own favorite sweatshirt, Aiko designer Cynthia Mittweg built her entire label on tweaks and twists on the theme. After founding her line quietly in Spring 2010, Mittweg built up her presence in stores like Barneys Co-Op, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, and Shopbop, all of which she counts among her stockists.
Like her inspiration, Norma Kamali, Mittweg focuses on affordable materials and casual chic. But she’s grown her line from a sweatshirt range into a full-scale contemporary collection, with knits, silks (newly introduced for Fall 2011), skins, fur, and more. (Not bad for a woman with no formal design training; Mittweg honed her chops designing her own pieces for the stage while fronting an experimental band, Ich Bin Aiko, the line’s namesake.) Sweatshirts still figure into the new Resort collection, but so do silk palazzo pants, sweaters knit with the names of vacations spots like St. Bart’s, ikat skirts, and pintucked sweaters. “I like to call her a beautiful mess—her house isn’t tidy,” the designer tells Style.com of the woman she has in mind. Her new model, social fixture Lily Kwong, may be more beautiful than messy, but the point stands.
tags: Aiko, Cynthia Mittweg, Lily Kwong
Yves By Hedi, A Woman On Top At The
Gray Lady, Florence Welch Takes On Buddy Holly, And More…
June 2, 2011
Hedi Slimane takes a break from shooting young punks and skaters to serve up a tantalizing new group of shots on his Fashion Diary: a series of pictures from Yves Saint Laurent’s farewell-to-fashion show in 2002 (above). [Hedi Slimane]
Despite rumors of a big change at Harper’s Bazaar, there’s been no motion on that front yet. But at another storied publication, The New York Times, a big change will be announced today: Jill Abramson will be named the paper’s executive editor, the first woman to hold the post in its entire history. [WWD]
Marni for less? Seems too good to be true—but it’s exactly what you’ll get when Consuelo Castiglioni debuts a lower-priced collection, called Foulard, this June. [Harper’s Bazaar via Racked]
Crime may not pay, but beauty sure does. Gisele Bündchen, the world’s most successful model, is apparently well on her way to billionaire-dom. As if we needed another reason to envy her. [Vogue U.K.]
And today on Nowness, Florence Welch debuts a new video—a tribute to her longtime musical idol and admitted crush, Buddy Holly. [Nowness]
tags: Buddy Holly, Consuelo Castiglioni, Florence Welch, Foulard, Gisele Bundchen, Hedi Slimane, Jill Abramson, Marni, New York Times, Yves Saint Laurent
Postcard From Venice: Laure Heriard Dubreuil Reports From The Biennale
June 2, 2011
The Webster co-founder Laure Heriard Dubreuil and her boyfriend, artist Aaron Young, hit Venice this week for the legendary Biennale di Venezia. For those farther than a vaporetto away from the action, she’s sending back updates on the sights and the sounds (and a few parties, too).
Today, Aaron and I went to the opening at the Palazzo Grassi, the art-filled manse owned by the Pinault family. I met Shala Monroque in front of Joana Vasconcelos’ sculpture Contamination, a patchwork sprawl of brightly colored forms that invades every nook and cranny of the Palazzo (above). Contamination is huge, and it’s growing—Vasconcelos uses materials she either makes or finds, and she adds new elements each time she installs it. It really spreads like a virus, taking over the whole Palazzo. She makes a strong case for so-called “female” crafts like sewing, knitting, and crocheting being valid means of artistic expression—not just artisan craftwork.
Later, I stopped in at the shop of my favorite Venetian jewelry designer, Antonia Miletto, who is doing little cocktail parties every day to offer some festival relief. Couldn’t resist trying a few pieces on. I loved her thick chain ring in sterling silver with a tiny peridot (left), as well as diamond-encrusted bracelets in yellow gold and skull pendants in gold and sapphire—very Venetian.
After dinner with friends—where I discovered a new (but very old in Venice) drink, the Sgroppino, vodka with Prosecco and lemon sorbet!—we headed to the Maurizio Cattelan party for his magazine, Toilet Paper, at the military fortress San Sereolo. Everybody was wondering if Maurizio is going to continue working after his joke that he’d quit—but it doesn’t seem to be true. He installed a series of sculptures called Tourists all around the city—they’re pigeons, just like the real ones that wander all through Venice (below). Continue reading ›
tags: Aaron Young, Antonia Miletto, Doreen Remen, Joana Vasconcelos, Laure Heriard Dubreuil, Marina Abramovic, Olivier Zahm, Riccardo Tisci, Shala Monroque, Venice Biennale, Yvonne Force Villareal
