Lily Allen to launch Lucy in Disguise fashion collection

via The Telegraph

The pop singer turned fashion retailer and her sister are producing their own range of vintage-inspired pieces.

 

Sarah Owen (left) with Lily Allen Photo: ANDREW CROWLEY

 

Six months on from opening their vintage shopping emporium, Lucy in Disguise, Lily Allen and her business partner sister Sarah Owen are adding another string to their fashionable bow with a ready-to-wear collection.

Working with a design team, the first 18-piece collection - comprising mainly of vintage-inspired dresses - will go on sale in June. As well as being available online and in the Lucy in Disguise store in London's Covent Garden, the designs will go 'global', dropping in luxury stores worldwide such as Le Bon Marché in France, Shopbop.com in the U.S, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, and Harvey Nichols in London.

Lily Allen to get married in Chanel wedding dress

Those who have been following the sisters' foray into the world of vintage retail in the Channel 4 documentary Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags, will know that offering affordable price points had been a bone of contention for the business's start-up model. The ready-to-wear collection will be priced from £95 to £350, and features a '40s-style rayon crepe tea dress with a lily-of-the-valley print and a black sequinned and beaded tulle flapper-style dress.

Allen told WWD that the collection was inspired by the fictional character Lucy, "a time-travelling fashionista who's inviting you to explore her wardrobe... It's a great opportunity to play with the character".

Arizona Muse models Yves Saint Laurent's spring 2011 collection in Morocco.

Watch Arizona Muse modelling Yves Saint Laurent's spring/summer 2011 collection in Marrakech.

Shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin under the creative direction of Stefano Pilati, this styilsh campaign video features model Arizona Muse in the gardens of the 1930s Villa Bled Roknine in Marrakech's Palmeraie.

Britney Spears is sweet for Dolce & Gabbana

via The Telegraph

And vice versa, as designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana profess their love for Spears's new songs.

 

It's fair to say that one doesn't always associate Britney Spears with high fashion. She is certainly no Kate-I-just-popped-to-Starbucks-in-this-Calvin-Klein-shift-Bosworth, or Elle-got-to-do-the-school-run-dressed-like-a-Gucci-clad-minx-Macpherson, so it's a relief to see that Spears has called upon Dolce & Gabbana for a little help with her pop-comeback.

Promotional images for Spears's new album, Femme Fatale , see the the 29-year-old mother of two pictured wearing a selection of pieces by the celebrated Italian design duo. 

Dolce & Gabbana spring/summer 2011

A polka dot print body helps accentuate Britney's newly trim physique (let's just ignore the airbrushing row raging over in tabloid-land), while a lemon-hued gown lends a couture feel.

"We love Britney and we love to dance to her new songs! We can't wait to hear the whole album!" confess Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. "She has always been among our favourite artists" they continue, "because she has been able to remain true to herself and to her style throughout the years. With her music she influenced and inspired generations of people for more than 10 years, always staying at the top, and we can't but congratulate her for this new, important achievement."

Wow. Last week Kylie, this week Britney. Looks like the Dolce duo have cornered the market in pop princesses.

Video: Kylie Minogue gets fitted by Dolce & Gabbana

Band of Insiders

via GQ

Florence—the spiritual home of rakish, older Italian dudes with thick knots and mile-wide lapels—is about to be invaded by the skinny-tie revolution. Earlier today, it was announced that Band of Outsiders designer Scott Sternberg has been selected as the guest designer at Pitti Uomo, also known as the mother of all men's fashion weeks. The L.A.-based designer's latest collection of slim-cut, reinvigorated American classics is set to headline the next edition of Pitti this June. Expect trim-fitting suits, two-inch repp ties, and several outraged Italian tailors screaming, "Troppo piccolo! Troppo piccolo!"

Read More www.gq.com/style/blogs

Rick Owens Talks Lou Reed, Fascism & Homophobic Father

The Independent recently caught up with one of the darker designers to have dressed Michelle Obama, Rick Owens. To be clear, although the First Lady lived in his pale green jacket two summers ago, we're absolutely sure she's never sat down with him to discuss, well, any of the below. Obviously.
Here are some of the more interesting portions from the interview.
On his method:

"I try to make clothes the way Lou Reed does music, with minimal chord changes. It's about giving everything I make a worn, softened feel. It's about an elegance being tinged with the barbaric, the luxury of not caring." "I like classicism. I like historic reference. I like something new with something almost ancient. I like [legendary costume designer] Adrian; Hollywood in the Twenties and Thirties. I like discipline and the idea of restraint. I was always anti the whole moving-and-manipulating-the-body-around. It's like telling someone that their body isn't right and needs to be redone. When I make clothes it's about using bias cut, jersey and drape around the body. It has always been important to me that the clothes are somehow affectionate."

On his childhood:

"I have a conflicted relationship with my parents. They're great -- my mother is a walking hug. But it's complicated. Dad's very homophobic. He can be very racist. He is anti-abortionist. And he's active politically in all of these things. I am an obvious reaction to that. Obviously. Spectacularly. But there's also this side of him that is very gentle. He's a very loving spirit. It's difficult to figure him out because you're thinking, 'You're a Nazi but you're so sweet'. I resented it as I was growing up, resented my dad for too much control, but he turned me into this. I advocate any kind of sexuality. I'm liberal. I'm anti-conventional. And, to keep me in his life, he has turned a blind eye to all of that."

On working with his wife Michele Lamy:

"It's kind of like asking a gypsy to organise a war with a fascist. She's so generous and flexible with deadlines and I'm not."

Read the rest of the fascinating discussion at the Independent.