45 posts tagged "Vera Wang"
Philip Crangi Shows Some Skin
For more than ten years, Philip Crangi has made wrought metal jewelry his signature look. Barring his many collaborative projects with the likes of Jason Wu and Vera Wang, the charmingly grizzled designer consistently sticks to industrial materials like gunmetal brass, silver, and leather, but Crangi has decided to dress things up. Today, he launches a four-piece collection ($2,170 to $4,390), made up of classic Crangi pieces (like the Archer and Visor bracelets) updated with 14-carat-gold hardware, and for the first time, he’s using exotic skins like ostrich and lizard.
“It has always been about combining unexpected materials in a luxurious way, so this seemed like a natural progression for the fine jewelry,” Crangi told Style.com of the collection, available exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman. “The exotic skins are tough but chic, plus I love working in color.”
Fashion’s Show
With designers Diane von Furstenberg, Prabal Gurung, Zac Posen, Vera Wang, and Milly’s Michelle Smith as the curators, most people who turned out for last night’s launch of The New York Times’ Fifty Photographs collection assumed they were at Bloomingdale’s to see fashion snaps. Instead, guests at the exhibition, for which the designers culled ten photos each from the Times archive for a sale benefiting the CFDA, faced a much richer assortment: a few fashion shots, yes (like those picked by Wang, who included two runway shots and a photo depicting an army of mannequins), but also images of natural landscapes, vintage and recent images of New York City, and historic moments.
“I wasn’t going to limit myself to selecting only fashion pictures. I chose the pictures that simply jumped out at me,” says Gurung. Of course, look a little deeper and you could still see the fashion designer within come out. Among his choices, Gurung picked the 1969 View of Astronaut’s Footprint in Lunar Soil (below) and a photo entitled Ballet Slippers (above left)—both, in a sense, footwear shots. (Though Gurung, revealing his romantic nature, said that it was the dancer’s “I Love You” ankle bracelet that sold him.) Smith went for the physical material of fashion, choosing an image of silk strands gathered into what appears to be an enormous ponytail. “I was so surprised that it was taken here, in New York, not that long ago,” she admitted of the 2004 shot. Surprised and pleased, that is. “They still weave silk here!” she added.
The Fifty Photographs collection ($169 to $699) is on sale at The New York Times store, with a percentage of the proceeds benefiting the CFDA, and can be viewed online at Fiftyphotos.com.
Models In The Aisles, Jane Again,
Ralph Lauren’s Return To TV, And More…
Is Naomi Campbell set to help Kate Moss down the aisle? In a new interview (with, admittedly, one of the U.K.’s most incorrigible tabloids), the supe won’t say she’s Kate’s bridesmaid—but she won’t say she’s not, either. Developing! [Vogue U.K.]
And speaking of weddings, model Lily Aldridge and Kings of Leon rocker Caleb Followill tied the knot last week. In case you missed it on Friday, here’s Lily’s custom Vera Wang gown. [@Styledotcom]
Jane Pratt—the eponymous Jane behind Jane and the founder of the much-beloved Sassy magazine—is back with a new Web site: xoJane.com. What’s in: Pepto-Bismol facials, nude bodysuits try-outs, and her usual blend of grabby headlines and measured snark. What’s out: Internet phenom Tavi, who was reportedly involved at an earlier stage in the site’s development. [xoJane.com]
The latest of SHOWstudio’s fashion films is now online. Ruth Hogben—the longtime SHOWstudio collaborator who’s made memorable films for the likes of Gareth Pugh—takes on Giles Deacon’s Fall ’11 Feral Lace collection for the house of Ungaro, with an assist from Katie Grand. [SHOWstudio]
Apparently, when Oprah calls, “no” is not an option. In the final days of her closing season, Winfrey will interview Ralph Lauren—despite the fact that he hasn’t given a TV interview in 20 years. [WWD]
If the Shoe Fits
Who will get the boot next on the Footwear News Shoe Star competition? That’s up to Vera Wang, who will serve as a judge for the reality web series’ Bridal Challenge. Four remaining contestants (out of the original six FIT students chosen for the show) will design a pair of wedding shoes for one of Wang’s bridal clients, Elizabeth Aguilar, who also contributes to the verdict, alongside FN editorial director Michael Atmore. “There’s such a specificity needed to be a shoe designer,” said Wang (a professed reality-TV diehard). “It isn’t only about your vision. You have to think about the client—they need to be able to dance the night away without worrying about their feet, so the shoe has to have function.” As far as her own tastes go, Wang likes anything that breaks a few rules. “You see so many young brides thinking outside the box now with gowns in charcoal gray, degrade or straight off the runway. The shoes should push that envelope, too.”
The Bridal Challenge webisode will air on www.fnshoestar.com in three installations, on April 18th, 25th, and May 2nd.
Shu, In
Forget London—these days, it’s China that’s calling. The rest of the Far East, too. Designers and fashion labels have been courting the region for years, but in the last season, we’ve seen them really up the ante. There was Marc Jacobs’ Asian-inspired Spring show for Louis Vuitton, to begin with. Then Miuccia Prada staged a version of her own Spring presentation in Beijing last week. But it’s not just those two. Our senior market editor, Marina Larroude, clocked an Asian influence in Spring shoes, bags, and jewels, which she’s rounded up for the latest In the Mood For: Asia Major.
The Asian inspiration has translated into a boom season for Asian models, too. This week, Riccardo Tisci went with an all-Asian casting for his Givenchy Haute Couture presentation. And Vera Wang chose a Chinese face for her latest campaign shots, debuting exclusively here: Next’s Shu Pei Qin, styled by Lori Goldstein and lensed by Carter Smith at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York.