Weekend Reading List: Fashion

“There’s only one thing in life and that’s the continual renewal of inspiration.” - Diana VreelandI forgot to say before that just before Christmas I recieved a couple of books that I wanted but never got down to buying; I guess I didn't want them badly enough. One was Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel. I spent a very pleasant afternoon looking over every page with BG on his sofa, feeling excited and inspired. After that we went outside and repotted a cactus, and pruned back his passion fruit vine. Reading and gardening: I can't think of a more agreeable way to spend a Sunday afternoon - unless it's to work on a painting or drawing, but that's just me.
Lots of you would rather hit the gym, I'm sure, or trawl a 'sauna', but different strokes for different folks, as they say (I'm quite sure it should be 'folk' not 'folks', by the way).Anyway this book made me look at Carine Roitfeld's Irreverant with a bit more perspective - not that Irreverant isn't a splendid overview of Ms Roitfeld's work so far. It is, and much of it is excellent and definitive, and I'm her fan. Also, I like the personal bits of information, and the archival photos of her family. The thing I object to is the title, as well as the sense the book projects that her work, or her attitude actually pushes the moral or aesthetic envelope in some extreme, innovative fashion. You must be very short-sighted to not see that what she does had already been done half a century ago at least. Her ouevre is but an echo of the truly shocking (and yes, irreverant) path scorched by Helmut Newton, Chris Von Wangenheim (see below), Guy Bourdin and Robert Mapplethorpe. So accomplished, yes, irreverant, hardly.And can someone tell me how someone as immaculately stylish as Ms Roitfeld begot a daughter who looks so common? In Julia Restoin Roitfeld's every slutty outfit, one can see that Carine's style really isn't for everyone.
I'm also struggling with the magazine Industrie (the one with Franca Sozzani, the editor of Vogue Italia, on the cover) and also Love (Kristen Mcmenamy). Poor Ms Sozzani is striving, isn't she, to fill Ms Roitfeld's heels, to be the queen of fashion? The grizzled one wants to be irreverant too! But she succeeds only in being disagreeable and frankly repugnant - the interview amply illustrates the reason why fashion people have such a negative vibe, and why they should remain behind the masthead and not appear on the cover. Plus she looks like Madonna with all the filler vacuumed out of her. Oh, and Industrie has a story on Glen O'Brien.
Does anyone even need to know one thing about Mr O'Brien?
As for Love, the less said the better. A quick flip shows that the magazine has no direction whatsoever. Since I'm way behind in my reading, I'll struggle with Love no longer - into the bin it goes! Ms Mcmenamy's 1992 Vogue Italia cover (Steven Meisel) directly 'inspired' the 2010 Vogue Paris cover.

Year of the Dragon: Ariane Koizumi

This is Ariane Koizumi, in a 1989 photo by Peter Lindbergh.
Ms Koizumi, a native New Yorker of Dutch and Japanese parentage, was discovered by Steven Meisel (Meisel's picture of her below) and was a supermodel, before the term was coined, and joined the long list of models who never quite made a successful transition to films. She starred in one movie, Year of the Dragon, which came out in 1985, at the height of her fame as a model. Directed by Michael Cimino, starring Mickey Rourke and John Lone, the Chinese Mafia film didn't exactly break racial stereotypes. The screenplay was written by Cimino and Oliver Stone. In the movie Ms Ariane played a Chinese-American television reporter, Tracy Tzu.
There was Sayoko, Tina Chow and then Ariane.
Ms Koizumi made Jenny Shimizu possible.

Jon Jon Linda Turlington

And let me tell you this: Jon Jon is Linda and Christy in drag. There was always something completely asexual about Jon Jon's beauty for me - but you see, it was the same sort of androgyny as Linda's and Christy's beauty. Jon Jon is the final flower of Peter Lindbergh's vision of beauty from the 1990s. We love you Mr Lindbergh! How I miss your early, early days at Vogue Italia.Linda!Christy!

Dazzling

Not the 1960s Again!!!

How many times have they revived the 1960s since 1990? Having said that, I quite like the vulgarity of this cover... bad taste can be so energizing.

Allure 2011

Cute Vogue Italia cover for the new year with sweet Laduree colours. I heart!

Brunette Bombshell

Kate as a brunette bombshell in Vogue Italia. By Nick Knight,styled by Edward Enninful. The story leaves me cold; Mr Knight's photos often has that effect on me, however accomplished they are.

Giselle

O Linda!

Iris Strubegger in a story in Vogue Paris, shot by Mert & Marcus, styled by Carine Roitfeld. It really does recall those spreads of Linda Evangelista shot be Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia in the early 1990s.

He Said She Said

"The real question is: would a real celebrity sell more copies of Vogue? In general it doesn't change much. When we tried with Madonna or Eva Mendes the numbers didn't change a lot. Today the tendency is more concentrated on stars because they create more curiosity and there are some who are very pretty and talented. Models nowadays are less recognizable and less star material. The few that are out there are already on the pages of Vogue and this makes the difference. The quality of the person is what makes the difference. For Vogue that is essential, the person has to be outstanding. The possibilities get automatically cut down and it gets difficult to make choices. The model of the moment is herself a star and is appealing to the reader." - Franca Sozzani
Actually, I have to confess that I think this is gibberish.

High Style

October's offerings.

Khaki and Beige and Camel

This is the colour of the earthy moment in fashion. Heart.Cabat Bag: I've come to associate Bottega Veneta with this taupe-khaki. It has a rumpled, un-glitzy luxury.Celine Boot: Many labels sent out all-beige collections for fall, including my favourite Chloe.Vogue Italia September: Prada coat of course (with matching dog). Another picture to add to the unfortunately titled book Dogs In Vogue. I'm sure the humour is completely unintended.Chanel Nail Colour in Particuliere, which is like a mushroom soup colour - this kills me. I can't bear to feature the trio of khaki varnishes (yes, they are so nice) they launched for Fashion Night Out because they are for Fashion Night Out!Daria: In fast fashion khaki.Beige: There is a 2008 perfume in their Les Exclusif line but the original (which the new one in no way resembles) was from 1940. Of course Chanel was there first, as always!

BP Oil Disaster As Fashion Statement

So this is where all the crude went?
Now I've really seen it all (and it's usually in Vogue Italia)! I must say I don't really see Kristen McMenamy as Mother Nature, but she makes a pretty convincing dead seal (spread 4). Bet the old girl had fun playing dead.

Shades Of Grey

"You can get older and still be rock 'n' roll. I thought all that gray hair would make a beautiful picture. You've got to keep moving forward." - Kristen McMenamy, 45.
"I'm perpetually lonely. I'm lonely when I'm in relationships. It's my condition as an artist. I'm drawn to bad romances. And my song [Bad Romance] is about whether I go after those [sort of relationships] or if they find me. I'm quite celibate now; I don't really get time to meet anyone." - Lady Gaga

Christy

"I remember doing a shoot for Herb Ritts, hanging off the Eiffel Tower – that wasn't your usual day at the office. It was terrifying and in the end you couldn't really tell how high I was because the photographer was scared of heights so he was quite far away from me. It only happened rarely, but sometimes you did feel that you were contributing to a piece of art.""Getting older is baggage for so many people but I don't spend time on things I can't control. Wrinkles don't scare me; they're a part of life and I will and do embrace them, but I look at surgery and that scares me. Actually, I think there are more pressures on actresses these days than models – we're being celebrated for being older at the moment. I get asked to do campaigns all the time that aren't designed for a 41-year-old and I feel good about accepting those jobs.""The make-up, lighting and photographer turn you into a different person: I could never prefer that person, because that would be dangerous.""I had been a smoker in my teens and early twenties, but I wanted people to know what it was like to see someone you love die of lung cancer."When I was 18, and my looks were what I was – and all that I was – it did feel very limiting. It got to the point where I wondered what I was doing. But modelling gave me the kind of confidence that a lot of girls in their teenage years don't have. In the end, I think that the industry saved me from having to be self-conscious.""There's nothing rewarding about modelling. It was a fun opportunity that allowed me to see the world but spiritually and intellectually there is nothing rewarding about the profession at all. A lot more positive things than negative came out of it and I'm proud that I'm still working now, whenever it makes sense. (The supermodels) were this oddity that occurred in pop culture at that time. But I don't think we created anything; I think we just happened to be there at that moment. And look at Kate: I met her when I was 18. Her father worked for Pan Am and so did mine, so we had that in common. She was always funnier than everyone else, and savvy. What has kept her going all this time is the fact that nothing takes her over; it's she who takes over.""Because I'm not very glamorous it didn't feel true to me. I relate far more to the fashion of today than the Chanel miniskirts and Versace jackets of that time. Plus, having to wear all that make-upe_SLps what a waste! Cindy was much more that kind of persona; I don't think the 'sexy girl' thing is my image at all – I get more attention from females."
(The Steven Meisel pictures are from Vogue Italia August. The quotes are from the Telegraph interview by Celia Walden)