No Galliano At John Galliano

John Galliano has been officially let go at his eponymous label. The firm's board decided to eject the disgraced designer and let the design team at John Galliano produce forthcoming collections. Christian Dior, which owns 91 percent of John Galliano, has received expressions of interest in the label from its Italian licensing partner Ittierre, as well as a Chinese group and a firm from the Middle East; however, a sale of the company is reportedly not now considered. Mr Galliano was recently spotted at the Los Angeles airport after recently completing an "intensive" one-month treatment at an Arizona rehab center and is now in extended "aftercare." A date for his impending trial — which will determine whether he faces months in prison and a fine of 22,500 euros on account of public insult — is expected to be announced on May 12.

Galliano Suspended from Dior

Dior designer John Galliano, 50, has been suspended by the couture house following allegations of a drunken racist rant in a Paris bar in the Marais. He had been drinking at La Perle, a bar along the Rue Vielle du Temple last Thursday. Mr Galliano is alleged to have drunkenly told a woman sitting at a table beside him: "Dirty Jew, you should be dead. Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead.” He called her a “whore” and “ugly”" then ranted to an Asian man sitting with her: "Fucking Asian bastard, I’m going to kill you."
Witnesses called police during the incident, said to have taken place in front of dozens of astonished revellers. Police arrived quickly (9pm) and broke up the disturbance. Mr Galliano was briefly arrested and then released pending charges for assault.
Anti-semitic remarks are punishable by up to six months in prison in France, but Mr Galliano has not yet been charged with an offence. His lawyer, Stephane Zerbib, ‘formally denied’ that his client had made racist comments.
Dior's chief executive Sidney Toledano said: "Dior affirms with the utmost conviction its policy of zero tolerance towards any anti-semitic or racist words or behaviour. Pending the results of the inquiry, Christian Dior has suspended John Galliano from his responsibilities."
Mr Galliano was facing criminal charges and would appear in court on a date to be fixed.
Mr Galliano has been chief designer at Dior since 1996.
Born in Gibraltar and brought up in South London, he is often seen enjoying himself in the bars and café of the Marais, the historic centre of the city’s Jewish community. The Dior fall collection is scheduled to be shown next Friday, March 4, at the Rodin Museum.

He Said She Said

"The Dior customer differs worldwide. It doesn’t matter the city really, I mean what’s interesting to me is the take on Dior and how she is inspired by it and how she puts it together, and I think that’s the inspiring thing. As one can see, in New York, they are groomed and glossy and as tall as the skyscrapers — which I love." - John Galliano

Ladurée and Moi

John Galliano is creating limited edition macarons (macarons are by definition limited, because they disappear instantly when they get within my reach) with the iconic Ladurée.These macarons will come in a Galliano-designed box timed to celebrate the launch of his new perfume Parlez-moi d’Amour (translated as: "speak to me of love" - for me, it would be "speak to me of macarons"). The macarons will be pink coloured and taste of rose and ginger. They will be sold starting November in Ladurée stores world wide.
The perfume, a fruity-floral chypre will smell of bergamot, blueberries, ginger, rose, jasmine, cypress, patchouli and musk. The perfume ads are shot by Ellen von Unworth.

New Yuck Fashion Week: Snooze 2011

The just-concluded New York Fashion Week (Amen!) unveiled some very patchy collections. Very copy and paste, I mean. And I'm not talking patchwork here, even though there was a lot of patchwork going on. Designers of every strata got busy clicking and pasting. Most unapologetically, Marc Jacobs paid an obvious tribute to Yves Saint Laurent, Halston, and Sonia Rykiel, with bales of Missoni’s signature patterned knits thrown in (pictured). So literal was this 'copying' even his champions like Cathy Horyn and Suzy Menkes scrambled for polite metaphors to defend his 'work' (this was fun to read, I must say). We can just about forget about objective fashion reporting. No such thing.
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler (can you imagine having to type this long list of names? Some one spell check this!) was 'inspired' by Prada and Chanel, right? And further down (much further down) the food chain, Marchesa a patchwork of the Dior’s greatest hits by John Galliano. There's much more. And if I'm very good, I shall put it up although I shudder at the thought of having to trawl through those pictures again. Today’s “copy and paste” click click click culture, enabled by the readily available fashion archive on the internet, the readiness and abundance of information, engenders a new generation of lazy, uninspired fashion practitioners.Instead of leading to design breakthroughs and originality, the fashion information overload, the endless and immediate availability of this and every other fashion collection simply leads to a fashion maze where every tired idea is recycled in ever quicker succession. Endlessly. It makes for mind-numbing, brain dead fashion that is New Yuck Fashion Week. It's thankfully over.
(A much longer version of this rant will be in Saturday's Business Times)

Christy!

“There’s not really any way to adjust completely to this kind of life. I mean, it’s okay because it moves really fast, and you’re with people, and you’re laughing and you’re having a good time, but, it’s very, what’s the word, you just — sometimes you wanna just stay in one place for a very long time and never have to move around and see anyone.” - Christy Turlington

After watching this 1996 fashion docu (it's not dated at all!) Catwalk I've decided that Christy Turlington has to be the most beautiful woman ever, living or dead. I think she's even more beautiful than Audrey Hepburn, or Marilyn Monroe or Greta Garbo. Who do we have today? Giselle? Sasha? Daria? Natalia? Natalia's pretty but not a patch on Christy! Not even close... Now if you think anyone's beautiful, you only need to conjure up what Christy looked like here. You don't even need to imagine her shocking beauty (actually you can't); just click and watch all 9 parts, a must for any fashion junkie. Little explanation is required as to why the 1990s were the era of the supermodels - I don't think there have been any since. The supermodel is indeed dead, but that’s what makes this documentary so special. Ms Turlington glows as the camera follows her on the fashion show circuit of Milan, Paris and New York; a young, sweet Naomi Campbell (see it to believe it), a baby Kate Moss; Carla Bruni; Yasmin with her Birkin; and many, many cameos: An inspired Galliano, a fat Lagerfeld, Versace (Gianni, not Donatella), Francesco Clemente, a thin Gaultier, and Isaac Mizrahi (alive! believe!). Worth your time, I repeat.

Fall Haute Couture Schedule

Monday, 5 July
2.30 pm CHRISTIAN DIOR

Tuesday, 6 July
11 am GIORGIO ARMANI PRIVÉ
Espace Vendôme - 7 place Vendôme
4 pm GIVENCHY
8 pm CHANEL
Grand Palais - Avenue Winston Churchill

Wednesday, 7 July
2.30 JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
325 rue Saint-Martin

Top 10 Minus 5 or 6

Well, who are your top 10 fashion gods? In celebration of a decade since its launch, 10 magazine featured ten "fashion gods" for ten separate covers — each photographed by the lensman of the designer's choice. Helmut Lang used a passport photo; Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana commissioned Terry Richardson; Vivienne Westwood had Juergen Teller; Ralph Lauren was snapped by Bruce Weber; And Karl Lagerfeld used a self-portrait. Although these covers look really exciting and all, I think, when it comes to making a splashy statement like this, extra care really ought to be taken to choose quite the right 'gods' to honour. I don't see how someone like Miuccia Prada can be omitted when Donatella Versace is featured. And fashion at this point in time really is about Raf Simons and Nicholas Ghesqueire, isn't it? And what about Rei Kawakubo and Phoebe Philo? As for me, I would put Christopher Bailey right up there for consistent, dogged brilliance. Still, one must be grateful for small mercies: I'm pleased to note that Marc Jacobs isn't on the cover - one small victory in the long slow march of fashion?

Spring Couture 2010: Dior

Can you not love it? (I guess you can...)

After what seems ages of dreary uninspired tedium, John Galliano seems to be getting back to his old form. If it seems familiar ground, it is. But what glorious grounds to be cantering back and forth over - and isn't this what couture is all about? It is the romance of clothes and a way of life long past, revisited in vivid clothes. The Cecil Beaton photo of the group of Charles James dresses is an obvious starting point, but the genteel ladies are truly gone, in their stead, female impersonators camping it up with zest! Very drag, I like

Slim Keith (one of Truman Capote's 'swans') wearing Charles James, a deadringer for these Dior looks, down to the 'riding' reference. At the same time, it isn't drag, because there is no ironic distance.

Men's Fall 2010: Paris

I'm way behind in my men's season coverage and Spring Couture has already broken, and nipping at my heel. So here's a quick recap of the Paris season: Altogether, Paris was a lot more refined and ideas-driven, compared to Milan. In fact, there seemed to be a concerted attempt to break away from what is classic menswear and a steady embrace on the one hand the reinvention of sportswear (Raf Simons, Lanvin) and on the other, women's wear (Dior Homme, Rick Owens). Both are exciting developements.
FAVES:
Lanvin Lucas Ossendrijver is like Louis Vuitton's Paul Helbers. He has invented for Lanvin a male identity which is seperate from it's women's, with a distinct voice: This collection is no less beautiful than his spring one, if a great deal less flashy. The military theme is given such a treatment as to make it a completely new without falling into the "costume" department. It's still belted and peplum-ed, and the easier fit is not excessive nor sloppy, and such interesting colours!
Rick Owens While I must note that it does go on and on and would benefit from a tighter edit, the continuation of the theme 'savage grace' carves this as Mr Owens's own. I love it chiefly for the Paul Poiret (see below) proportions, and the complete disregard of what is traditionally deemed masculine. Some of the items look like belle epoque dresses. The rest is from the Star Wars series - if only Lucasfilms had Mr Owens to dress the movies!

Raf Simons Briskly modern, this collection had all the vision and excitement that his Jil Sander collection lacked and restores all faith in him.
Dior Homme Twenty looks too many but I loved that it is as much about flow and draping as it is about tailoring. There seems to be a new vocabularly being invented for Dior Homme, one which reads so much clearer and sharper than Kris Van Assche's eponymous collection which is flabby in comparison.

Hermes What can I say? For me, this is right up there along with Paul Helbers's work. This is a luxe rive gauche idea, contemporary masculinity, sexy, graceful and elegant without being effete, achieved effortlessly by Veronique Nichianian.

John Galliano The styling is inspired and inspiring as usual. Love the Oriental splashes.

THE REST:Dries Van Noten Disappointing, incomplete but not as bad as some reviews will have you believe, just not fully formed nor entirely new (but then so few things are!). Yves Saint Laurent Besides the laughable Bruce Weber film shown (how irrelevant can it get?) Stefano Pilati seems to have painted himself into a corner; In truth, the coats and jackets with the interesting volume and proportion are beautiful and new classics, the rest is challenging to say the least. Comme Des Garcons Gimmicky and LOL, if it wasn't so deadly serious. Jean Paul Gaultier Seems designed specifically for Mr and Mrs Marc Jacobs to wear.

Another Kate

The September issue of Another Magazine features Kate Moss wearing 2003 John Galliano.  

"Fashion kind of went from a cottage industry, to something more full-on that was defined by corporate culture" Jefferson Hack, Editor of Another Magazine 

John Galliano

John Galliano has such nice ads this season, with Simon Nessman and Linda E!