15 posts tagged "Cathy Horyn"
The Couture World And The Real World
The Haute Couture shows, which wrapped in Paris this week, are the summa of impossible luxury in the world of fashion. Whatever you can do with clothes (and much of what you think you can’t) gets done. Put plainly, couture is a fantasy. But it doesn’t take much prodding to wonder about the reality, given that couture looks—those actually purchased, not lent to celebrities for red-carpet occasions—cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that those on the sidelines have been bewailing the death of couture since the midcentury. Especially in times of economic downturn, a question looms over the proceedings: Does anyone buy?
On her blog today, Cathy Horyn put the question to a few houses and came back with an answer: yes. Sidney Toledano, Dior’s president, has said that the sales of Raf Simons’ first couture collection improved on that of prior ones, to the tune of double-digit growth. Even the more untraditional designs—a three-piece suit, for example—find clients. “We have more orders than our capacity,” Toledano said. Karl Lagerfeld confirmed buyers for his Chanel Couture, too. Horyn hints that they’re largely Russian, as well as Chinese and Middle Eastern. “Lately I’ve heard some incredible stories,” she teases, dropping only that one Russian Chanel client bought twenty outfits in a span of two hours. In the absence of journalistic muckraking, the world can only await the arrival of a headline-grabbing memoir called Confessions of a Couture Client. Here’s hoping some free-spending Muscovite can be convinced to step up.
Mad (For) Max
In the waning hours of 2012, New York Times critic Cathy Horyn took to her blog to weigh in on her favorites of the year and the bright spots of the year to come. Among the winners were likely choices such as Dior and Céline, but more unusual was La Horyn’s calling out of a few key Spring ad campaigns. Two of her three picks—Inez and Vinoodh’s for Miu Miu and Steven Meisel’s for Prada—you’ve already seen on Style File. The third is Mario Sorrenti’s for Max Mara: “The approach is reductive and strong,” she wrote. “You suspect he said, ‘Let’s just make something that is beautiful.’ ” In the service of displaying and promoting the beautiful, here it is.
Celebrating Fashion’s Critics
The critic’s role is a tough one, and any good critic is bound to ruffle feathers now and again. Fashion’s critics are no different—just ask Cathy Horyn, who today found herself on the receiving end of an open letter from Oscar de la Renta, taking her to task for calling him a “hot dog” in a review of his Spring ’13 collection. (His retort included the suggestion that she might be a “3-day old stale hamburger.”) But the critic’s role is an important one, and one that Interview chose to pay tribute to in its latest issue. Patrick Demarchelier shot critics including Suzy Menkes, Virginie Mouzat, Horyn, and Style.com’s own Tim Blanks (left) for its roundup of fashion’s most distinguished observers. We’re proud that Tim’s reviews (and runway reels) are a mainstay of our fashion week coverage. Follow along all season here at Style.com.
At Long Last: Dior’s New Designer, Raf Simons
According to the New York Times, the long-vacant (well, semi-vacant) head job at Dior has been filled: by former Jil Sander creative director Raf Simons. (“Semi-vacant” because since the departure of John Galliano last March, Dior’s collections have been designed by his longtime studio head, Bill Gaytten, who also designs Galliano’s namesake collection; Gaytten’s future at Dior is not known.) Simons had been mentioned many times over the past months as a leading candidate for the job, but until recently was ensconced at Jil Sander. His dramatic departure from the house, announced three days before his triumphant final collection, may have paved the way to the new role. “The first time I heard about the Dior position,” Simons told the Times‘ Cathy Horyn, “I thought, ‘This feels right.’ ” Many will no doubt agree—including, perhaps, Galliano himself. According to Horyn’s sources, the former Dior designer expressed admiration for Simons’ Fall ’12 Jil Sander show.
Horsewomen On The Horizon, Stella On Shopping, The Latest Dior Rumor, And More…
The equestrian parade continues. The day after Givenchy’s horsey Fall collection, Gucci has announced that Monégasque princess Charlotte Casiraghi (above, at the Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge earlier this year) will be the face of its forthcoming equestrian-themed Forever Now campaign by photographer Peter Lindbergh. [Vogue U.K.]
In a candid moment, Stella McCartney acknowledged that she still finds the fashion industry “intimidating.” “I don’t go into shops much now, but I used to find it really daunting,” the designer said. McCartney has a shop of her own opening later this week: a second London outpost. [Vogue U.K.]
The cogitating around Raf Simons’ departure continues. In a new piece, the Times‘ Cathy Horyn considers the diminishing role of designers. “[You] sense that designers, their talents apart, are being used in a dreary chess game of brand power,” she writes. [NYT]
Speaking of designer change-ups, Maxime Simoens is reportedly leaving his position at Leonard. While the French designer retains his own namesake label, he is rumored to be in contact with Dior executives. [WWD]