resort 2010: yves saint laurent.

with chanel's blockbuster show in venice earlier this month, resort season has officially kicked off. after spending the last few seasons looking forward with more futuristic shows, stefano pilati reached into the archives, creating a collection rich in the colors saint laurent was famous for. the looks included loose palazzo pants, pleated waist skirts with uneven hems, high waist pleated pants, balloon sleeve bolero, and chiffon print dresses--all accented with mother-of-pearl or agate jewelry. it was a welcome return to the pilati collections i have loved, and i'm hoping he has now emerged from the dark side.

pics from wwd

cuts you up.

in the world of fashion campaigns, as with most things, sticking with the same thing too long can get stale. such is the case with givenchy, where designer riccardo tisci changed photographer duos (from inez and vinoodh to mert and marcus), swapped out some models (keeping muse maria carla boscono and adding leonor scherrer, daughter of jean-louis scherrer and androgynous models iris strubegger and ranya mordanova) and ditched the white background. the result? one of the best givenchy campaigns in years, full of dark women, seductively staring at you so intently that they may burn a hole through you. the final (happy) twist to the ads is adriana lima--her appearance on tisci's runway last march sparked chatter that she was returning to the high fashion world. in her aggressive lunge, she proves that she can do more than show off a bikini.

more pics below (click to view larger)...



pics from wwd

not business casual.

although the turnaround hasn't been as swift as some would like, things are definitely looking up at the gap. patrick robinson's recent collections for spring and fall have been well received, and they have responded quickly to the economy and the need to have promos or marked down merchandise. that fact, however, doesn't mean that gap has abandoned the fashion end of things. as they have done for the past two summers, gap is readying for their collaboration with the cfda to rework the gap standard. not only have they picked a fabric that tends to get a bad rap (khaki), they've tapped two of the cfda's biggest stars at the moment to do the design. as robinson said recently of the collection: “it’s pretty utilitarian...but when you give it to such talent…it’s such a blank canvas.”



lisa mayock & sophie buhai of vena cava have a reputation for creating vintage inspired clothing with unique details. they have quietly built up a fan base of starlets and editors without compromising their work. their khaki looks have cool tribal screenprinting which looks great on the hem of a zip front shift, around the leg of a pair of trousers, or forming a "collar" at the neck of an elastic waist dress.



meanwhile, in most circles, alexander wang can do no wrong...he's on par with balmain as the most hyped and replicated designer out there, and he won the cfda/vogue fashion fund award for 2008. when i first heard he was one of the designers, i was quite interested to see what he would do. short khaki minis? khaki leggings? no, on both counts. his pieces include a motorcycle jacket, three quarter sleeve "peacoat," pleated shorts, and jodhpur pants. the wangs are pretty much guaranteed to fly off shelves, especially since all of the pieces will retail under $100.

as part of the launch, gap will unveil an ad campaign featuring arlenis sosa, anna j., coco rocha and raquel zimmerman (three of four appeared in vogue's may issue). the ads, shot by craig mcdean, could be pretty blah considering the khaki clothes and the khaki backdrop, but the styling keeps things simple and the girls' smiles lights up the layouts. look for the ads and the collection in mid-june at flagship gap locations (like powell street in san francisco) and at gap.com. and check out more detailed pics of the clothes over at racked.

pics from the gap

more met fabulosity.

i waded through shots of roadkill to find more gems from the costume institute gala last night. first up, a bevy of supers killing it! amber (vintage james galanos), shalom, stella (vintage helmut lang), natalia (vintage fortuny), and nadja (lanvin) look amazing as usual, each in her own muse-worthy style.




angela lindvall took a page from shalom's book in f/w 09.10 jil sander. again she balanced the dramaticism of the dress with sleek hair and bold makeup. another victoria's secret regular miranda kerr also chose sander (s/s 09). the fringe and cutout could have been too much on someone else, but kerr looks gorgeous and the dress shows off her great body.



finally, a full length shot of ashley olsen's gown from the row. so minimal yet so stunning.

pics of supers, miranda, and ashley olsen from wireimage; all others from style.com

bizarro world.

tonight is the costume institute gala at the met, in honor of their "model as muse" exhibit. after seeing preview images from the gala, reading through may's vogue (with their models of the moment cover) and fashionweekdaily's runthrough of what everyone is wearing, i couldn't have been more excited. tonight should be a fashion lover's dream...instead it's more like a nightmare.

too much fake tan. too much cleavage and leg all together. too much 80s hair. too many people pretending to be someone else. overall, too much fug. i'm not even going to bother with that list...let's just say it's long.




let's focus on the positive. since the night is all about models, it's only appropriate to start there. jessica stam glowed in a short rodarte that she delicately accessorized with small earrings and a bolder coral cuff. gisele and diane kruger brought out the big guns (and hot legs) in the form of versace and chanel respectively, and their hunky better halves (tom and joshua).





a few models did go long...like chanel iman (in zac posen), claudia schiffer (atelier versace), and iman (donna karan). the three, from three different modeling generations, all showing how to make a long gown feel young and fresh or modern and sophisticated.




after hearing that many models were boycotting the red carpet because of azzedine alaia's omission from the exhibit, i wondered if we would get a true model moment on the red carpet. and then i saw shalom harlow. she was a vision in a black ruffled taffeta coat, slicked back hair and kohl rimmed eyes. on this evening, she was truly the model as muse.





celeb-wise, there were few highlights. my picks were kate bosworth (stella mccartney) and ashley olsen (the row), mainly because they looked appropriate based on the theme and let their own personal style shine through. i also like that both took a bit of a risk compared to past met gala ensembles.

fashionologie and the cut have more met coverage (and images), and of course style.com will have their slideshow up soon.


pics from celebutopia, daylife and wireimage

mogul in the making.

one designer that i have been loving of late is rachel roy. her fall collection was alot edgier than her previous outings, and that vibe seems to have spilled over into her new diffusion line for macy's called rachel rachel roy. roy hosted a preview at her showroom on wednesday night, and a twitter press conference yesterday, answering questions (in 140 characters or less) from other users.




rachel rachel roy will be a complete fashion brand right from the launch. the collection of clothing, accessories and footwear includes studded chain handle bags, slouchy oversized blazers and cardigans, colorblock cocktail dresses, tie dyed jeans (a la balmain) and flirty paint splatter skirts. shoe styles include jeweled flats, bright leather heeled gladiators, and snakeprint open toe booties, while jewelry includes punkish safety pin and chain bracelets and snake wraparound rings.




keeping in step with other mid-range lines (like michael michael kors and nine west),the line will retail from $59 to $299 for sportswear, $79 to $199 for footwear, $40 to $195 for jewelry and $69 to $109 for handbags.

in the press conference, roy talked about her influences (strong creative women who chart their own path), who the rachel rachel roy girl is (edgy, individual and super smart...one foot uptown, one foot downtown), and her favorite beauty picks (bobbi brown blush lipshine and burt's bees baby apricot baby oil). so what's in the future for the line? personal appearances at macy's this fall, possibly a plus size version, and maybe a global lifestyle brand like vera wang with housewares, etc.

check out coutorture for more pics from the preview night, and become a fan of rachel's on facebook for behind the scenes pics and updates on store appearances.

pics from coutorture