"Hail to McQueen!" Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at The MET

Last week I received and e-mail from my big brother Troy. I was so moved by his words on the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty collection, I said I must see the exhibit immediately. So, on Saturday my godson Noah and I spent the day at The Met and I must say “Hail to McQueen!”

There is no way back for me now. I am going to take

you on journeys you’ve never dreamed were possible.

—Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
Dates: May 4, 2011–July 31, 2011
Location: Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall, 2nd floor

So my play brother Robert phones me yesterday and invites me to the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I said great let’s meet on the steps at 09.30hrs. I fall out of bed, out of sugar so no sugar for my coffee--so only one cup. I get there on time and he’s not there. I phone him and he says, “Didn’t you get my message?” No I did not. By now there is a bee in my beehive despite extra Final Net. Roberts with the fashion house Escada here in NYC, and due to a client meeting could not make our museum get-together. It is raining and like that wet cat named Cat in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, I’m ready to go hide until Audrey Hepburn comes in a taxicab to collect me. At first I say forget it I’m going back home and brood, feeling slightly wilted.

Then, the spirit says to me go in and see the exhibit. Well, I did and let me tell you, my dear friends, I’ve never cried and laughed at anything the way I did this morning. Fashion is not my bag, but that Alexander McQueen was a genius and the show truly has more to do with art than just fashion haute couture. The show is huge, but some things are worth mentioning. It begins with the ostrich feature dress done up to make you holler for mercy. Then there’s the razor clam shell dress. The Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims collection is an event in cutting that will never be matched by any cutting room floor. The Hieronymus Bosch collection is awesome. Dress Horn of Plenty from the Dante collection had me on my knees. Widows of Culloden collection made me marvel. Then, there’s this white cotton muslin dress spray painted black and yellow, under skirt of white synthetic tulle. The dress is beautiful, but the monitor above the dress plays the fashion show where the model is center stage wearing the dress flanked by two robotic arms, the kind used in automobile manufacturing. The model takes a narrative dramatic pose frightened by the machines, and the robotic arms go to work spray painting the dress in a space-age performance that brings the audience at the actual show to its knees and the audience in the museum exhibit applauding. I cried and then I laughed and then I cried some more at all the over-the-top creations.

The grand finally of the exhibit is Pepper’s Ghost. It is a genuine hologram of supermodel Kate Moss wearing a white dress that is truly indescribable. It is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. She’s not wearing the dress, the dress is wearing her as she does this awesome, uniquely haunting movement (dance of the spirit) that captures pure motion. I do not remember seeing her face, only the dress billowing like sea foam. The gallery space is made to resemble the Palace at Versailles but in dramaticized Gothic ambiance. The monitors above each collection of haute couture plays scenes from various fashion shows where you see the clothes in action, but there is no simple models working the runways sweetie, and this is where Alexander McQueen proves his artistic vision goes far beyond fashion. His shows are narrative dramatic Conceptual art where models act or give this Cirque du Soleil kind of performance that is awe-inspiring. Words cannot explain what I saw today, really it goes beyond description. Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty will haunt you and set you free. Most important it will make you glad you saw something that is so special you can have faith in the wonders of the imagination.

Let’s keep Robert in our thoughts and prayers as he leaves for his second mission to Haiti this Saturday. Robert, Bon Voyage! And thanks for Alexander McQueen. It’s just what I needed.

Best,

Troy

INTERVIEW: SHOES THAT ARE ALIVE

By Robert Cordero

JC Report | Inside Global Fashion Trends

ALIVESHOES is part store, part philosophical community. The company produces Italian-made, environmentally sound shoes, while mastermind Luca Botticelli also seeks to create an online network comprised of people who are interested in interactive art, philanthropy and statement-making footwear. Self-titled “the world’s first shoe-gaming community,” the website is now complemented by a pop up store in Amsterdam, with more locations to follow. JC Report caught up with Botticelli to discuss eco-minded fashion, artistic collaborations and what he means by “fashion 2.0.”

JC Report: What are your main ideas behind being ecologically friendly?

Luca Botticelli: Eco-friendly means that you research new process and materials in order to pollute less, and to make more intelligent products and services. Less is more is a big guide into this.

JCR: The inside tab of the limited edition shoes are designed by contemporary artists. How do you choose who you want to collaborate with?

LB: I gave [New York artist Steven Siegel] 500 pairs of shoes and told him to just create what he wanted. He made Blocks. The inside tabs reflect the installations [artists] make with shoes. It’s their sketches. We collaborate with curators to choose artists. We look for artists that have an open minded approach and are passionate about breaking the rules of art itself (i.e. going away from the museums).

JCR: Where do you see the future of shoes and shoe valley in Italy?

LB: I see the future of the shoe valley in the internet in www.aliveshoes.com. That means that the shoe business must convert to the digital world and must become eco. We are providing IT instruments for that, and research for sustainability to the valley. We are building a big headquarters open to the public in the middle of the valley to stimulate awareness from the core. “Made in Italy” must shift its awareness from total tradition to half tradition/half research and future. We are there for that.

JCR: What is the idea behind fashion 2.0?

LB: Fashion 2.0 goes away from aesthetic, and welcomes games and social interactions. Fashion 2.0 puts an end to the era of designers and stylists, and starts the era of gaming. Fashion 2.0 uses the internet as the medium and doesn’t relate to print press. Fashion 2.0 creates containers that leave space for people to express, and it uses pull communication and interactivity to make people active and entertained.

History, Fashion & The Birth of the BLACK Fashion Model

Black Models Celebrated As Runway Revolutionaries

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Ron Galella/WireImage

Designer Roy Halston Frowick, known best by his middle name only, with model Pat Cleveland at a party following the Coty Awards in 1972. Halston frequently used Cleveland to showcase his fluid, body-hugging designs.

It was the fashion equivalent of a first-class prize fight — the Thrilla in Manila, only with high heels, not boxing gloves. In one corner, the titans of French haute couture: the houses of
Yves St. Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Emanuel Ungaro and Pierre Cardin. Designers known for being elegant, traditional, proper. And in the other corner, some of America's best and brightest: Anne Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Halston and a swiftly rising star, Stephen Burrows.

The audience at the Palace of Versailles that November of 1973 was star-studded, too: plenty of American socialites, one of the richest women in France, and the former Grace Kelly, now Princess Grace of Monaco. But as important as those ladies were, the event was transformed by the presence of several African-American models. According to Harold Koda, curator in charge of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, at the evening's end, fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert, who'd dreamed up the event, described it this way: "It was as if, on this cold night, all the windows of Versailles had been blown open."

Bethann Hardison (left) with Daniela Morera and designer Stephen Burrows. After she stopped modeling, Hardison went on to found her own agency. After two successful decades, she sold it and started the Black Girls' Coalition, an advocacy and support organization for black models, with Iman.

Around 200 people will gather Monday at the Costume Institute to celebrate these black models whose work that night made American fashion a contender on the world stage.

Koda says many people he interviewed who were at Versailles said the event nearly 40 years ago was special. "And what made the presentation of the Americans so riveting, magical and overwhelmed the presentation of the French was the presence of African-American models," he says.

Sandi Bass began her European modeling career the same year as the Versailles event, and remembers how excited she was to hear about black models triumphing in the cradle of the French fashion establishment.

"There was a certain kind of walk that we had at the time, and I'm just going to say it was pretty much the 'black girls' walk,'" she says. "We were free, we were spirited, we would smile. ... It was like a little trot down the runway." Bass, who worked for Givenchy for several years, says that after Versailles, a number of French designers turned to black girls as models and as inspiration. Many of the models served as both muse and sounding boards to the designers with whom they worked closely; the old don't-speak-unless-the-coutourier-addresses-you protocol was swept aside, Bass says. "We had no holds barred, the personalities just flourished and opened, and this created an excitement for the designers as well as the audience," she says.

Fashion historian Barbara Summers enjoyed a 17-year career with Ford, one of America's top modeling agencies. She says the models at Versailles caught the world's attention, in part because of their numbers. There had been black models before, but they were considered exotic rarities. "At Versailles they had never seen so many flagrantly beautiful black women at one time, so that was a revolution," she says. The turning-heads kind of revolution, not the chopping-heads kind. Summers says the Versailles audience was used to the chilly remoteness of the models who showcased European couture. "Black girls changed all that; they plugged fashion into what was happening now and that meant R&B, rock 'n' roll, dancing, music, popular culture," she says. "They brought the electricity of popular culture into fashion."

Koda says Versailles came at the moment the world was changing: It was getting younger, there was lots of social upheaval and people were ready for change.

Summers believes the black models who presented at Versailles were pioneers in overturning an outmoded aesthetic.

"They weren't planning on being revolutionaries, but they happened to be at the right place at the right time," she says. "And for a revolution to take place at Versailles, let me tell you, for these little black girls to be running around, kicking up a fuss, showing off, it had to be absolutely thrilling."

Many of the models served as both muse and sounding boards to the designers with whom they worked closely; the old don't-speak-unless-the-coutourier-addresses-you protocol has been swept aside, Bass says. "We had no holds barred, the personalities just flourished and opened, and this created an excitement for the designers as well as the audience," she says.

Fashion’s Tribute to the Greats: NYC Celebrates the BLACK Models of Versailles 1973

On Monday, January 24, 2011, New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art was brooding with fashion alum for the tribute to the Models of Versailles 1973. Hosted by esteemed designer Oscar de la Renta and fashion great Stephen Burrows, the event brought out the likes of Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Sui, June Ambrose, Estelle, Sam Fine, Veronica Webb, Bethann Hardison, Michaela Angela Davis, Cicely Tyson and a bevy of others. Pat Cleveland, Billie Blair and Norma Jean Darden were just some of the models that were honored. The models of Versailles 1973 altered society's perception of American fashion's presentation almost 40 years ago.

Click here to see more photos of the event:

Jonesmag.com

Lady Gaga to develop namesake fragrance with Coty

Gaga Likes It RAW

Lady Gaga's meat dress, which she wore at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, still may be causing a stir, but there's another Gaga-related buzz hitting the newswires: her fragrance deal with Coty.

Coty has not yet issued a formal announcement detailing the specifics of the launch, but the company did state in a comment: "Coty is excited to be partnering with Lady Gaga to develop her first-ever signature fragrance. We will be unveiling additional information regarding our dynamic partnership at a later date."

According to published reports, the fragrance will launch during spring 2012 and will be released under Gaga's name.

During Sunday's awards event, Gaga won eight awards.

Anna Wintour Is A Doll in September Issue

By Alex Alvarez


Anna Wintour has been immortalized in doll form. The editor of American Vogue -- as well as her right hand lady, style director Grace Coddington -- were made into hand-sewn dolls by artist Andrew Yang to celebrate on Fashion's Night Out on Sept. 10th.


The couture-clad (based on the artist's original designs) dolls could be yours, too. They're up for auction at charitybuzz.com beginning August 31. Proceeds will benefit The New York City Aids Fund.

Fashion Night Out 2010

IT's A GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF FASHION

To build up even more hype around the second annual Fashion's Night Out, the powers that be behind the big event have released an enthusiastic campaign featuring a bevy of top models.

Directed by iconic fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh, the video shows 14 models in neighborhoods across New York City encouraging folks to shop Sept. 10 and support the fashion industry.

Vogue contributing editor Tabitha Simmons pulled fall's hottest looks and pieces from the Fashion's Night Out official apparel collection for the group, which includes Victoria's Secret stunners Miranda Kerr (who just announced her pregnancy), Karolina Kurkova, Doutzen Kroes, and Chanel Iman, as well as Lara Stone, Liya Kebede, Karlie Kloss, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Stella Tennant, Lily Donaldson, Jourdan Dunn, Sasha Pivovarova, Joan Smalls, and Caroline Trentini.

The PSA will be plastered all over New York -- in taxi cabs, television commercials, and online -- leading up to the event.

Fit For Consumption: Fashion’s Branded Future

By Sarah Fones

JCReport.com

With the imminent launch of Belvedere’s Pink Grapefruit flavor, the vodka purveyor is set to open a 6,000-square-foot pop-up shop across the street from Matthew Williamson’s Meatpacking District boutique. The temporary space is slated to house a series of promotional events for the launch, including a partnership with Williamson on a $1,540 limited-edition kaftan, which will be unveiled when the store opens on on May 12th. The designer claims that the piece was inspired “by the vitality of sultry high-summer evenings,” a description that could also apply to any number of the his Ibiza-themed wares from past seasons. Given the proliferation of branded partnerships these days—of which Williamson and Belvedere’s is but one of many—”fashion” has now become fit for consumption off the rack, on the screen and in the bottle.

Like Belvedere, SKYY vodka has gotten in on the game in a high profile way, enlisting Sex and The City 2 costume designer Pat Field to create a movie-themed bottle. Whereas Williamson has paired with model/DJ Leigh Lezark to promote the current collaboration (Belvedere did likewise with designer Jonathan Kelsey and Estelle last year), SKYY has four ready-made muses. Anyone familiar with SJP’s cosmo-swilling penchants might consider this a savvy bit of marketing, especially given the fact that consumers who purchase the limited edition bottle will also receive a discount on tickets to the movie sequel. From a fiscal standpoint too, investing in a bottle of booze is infinitely less expensive than dropping serious money on a pair of Louboutins, which, even as the economy improves, still isn’t the purview of most moviegoers.

While film’s influence on fashion has arguably waned, the medium still holds tremendous appeal when it comes to product placement and promotional tie-ins. 2002’s Die Another Day—also dubbed Buy Another Day—is widely regarded as having kickstarted the film-as-infomercial trend with cameos from Bollinger, Omega, Samsonite and BMW. For its part, SATC 2 promises brand star-turns from Lipton Tea, Moët & Chandon, Swarovski and Hewlett-Packard, among others. Anyone surprised by Carrie’s decision to ditch Apple for a PC this go-round will be less taken aback by the Halston dress she dons in the film’s posters. Parker is, after all, Halston Heritage’s new designer, and an equity stake holder in the company.

Disney, meanwhile, invested big money earlier this year in partnerships with labels such as Stella McCartney, Furla, Tom Binns and Sue Wong to promote Alice in Wonderland. The goods understandably received a great deal of editorial attention, so, provided grown-ups still want a pricey piece of the fairy tale, we can expect similar branding trends to continue. On the flipside, Avatar reportedly inspired Jean Paul Gaultier and Donatella Versace for fall—albeit more subtly than Marc Jacobs’ Marie Antoinette-edged runway flourishes in 2007.

The same cannot be said for television and video, where many believe fashion’s influence will ultimately be most readily felt, primarily via in-your-face product placement (see Gossip Girl, 30 Rock and most notably, Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video). Heavily branded, female-centric films like SATC 2 may prove this theory wrong, but many consumers are also now infinitely more discerning when it comes to pulling out their credit cards—something we know Carrie never worried about on HBO.

Fashion Fridays - Vivienne Westwood

Riddle me this, Riddle me that,
By Deshawn Moody

Have u ever danced with the devil in the pale of the moonlight?

This season, Vivienne Westwood, the Fashion pump Diva better known for intricate high-steppers, shows us that she has a DARK side when it comes to Men’s attire. Her Spring/Summer 2010 collection pays homage to the late great Heath Ledger with edge and a little class.

A few of the looks were infused by women’s wear but with a suttle twist made it the perfect juxtaposition. With all the different variations, it makes it so much easier to be prepared for any and every occasion. Whether you’re on the way to a Spring destination or a out on the town with friends, this line is sure to be top of the list.

“If I was a rich boy, Nananananahx4,
See I’d have all the items in the line, iF I was a wealthy boyohohoy



“Clean out Vivienne Westwood in my fancy London town”