Pairings

the Kate Moss & Jamie Hince Wedding

We’ll start with some good news. Perennial supermodel Kate Moss married longtime rocker boyfriend Jamie Hince of The Kills in a 1920’s style unstructured John Galliano gown that’s drawn mixed reviews. The groom wore custom Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilatti, as did his best woman Alison Mosshat. Vogue UK reports that Galliano did attend, though he was understandably camera shy. We all remember what happened the last time cameras caught surprise revelations from the former Dior designer, so hopefully there was some non-alcoholic sparkling cider available for him to toast the couple with.

After the wedding, the bride changed into a white 3-piece Stella McCartney pants suit as she and the groom hopped on a helicopter to embark on their honeymoon. McCartney was also in attendance.

The festivities cost a reported £1 million (approximately $1.6 million), and the guest list also included fellow supermodel bestie Naomi Campbell, a bevy of Vogue editors past and present (Anna Wintour, Emanuelle Alt, Carine Roitfeld), newlyweds Lara Stone and David Walliams, Daphne Guiness, Marc Jacobs, Kelly Osbourne and Jude Law.

Sounds like the ultimate bridal fashion show.

the Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock Wedding

Then we get to the only wedding that could force Kate Moss to change her wedding date. A number of the fashionable guests for Moss’ wedding were also invited to the wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock (now, Princess Charlene).

The reported$65 million budget makes the Kate Moss affair seem positively low key, but considering the fact that the Prince and Wittstock actually had two weddings, and invited all 30,000+ of Monaco’s residents to take part in some part of the festivities, maybe it’s relatively reasonable. For the record, two weddings is actually common in France, where a civil ceremony is required before a religious ceremony is recognized.

In spite of rumors that Wittstock was considering becoming a runaway bride *three times* amid new paternity tests for Prince Albert (the groom already has two children out of wedlock, and is reported to have fathered two more while dating Wittstock), the couple made it through the official state marriage, and onto a balcony where they shared an awkward kiss.

They're definitely no William and Kate

For their civil ceremony, the bride wore a light blue Chanel suit, and for their church ceremony a custom made Armani Prive gown. The dress featured a 5-meter train, and was studded with crystals and pearls.

Guests included, um, all of Monaco (see previous note), Prince Albert’s ex-girlfriend Naomi Campbell (who had a wedding filled weekend), Karl Lagerfeld (who designed the blue Chanel suit), Giorgio Armani (who designed the wedding dress), French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni, as well as too many princes, princesses, kings and queens of various countries to mention individually. There’s no agreement on whether any of Prince Albert’s children or their mothers were in attendance. The palace says no, rumors say his daughter, Jazmin Grace, and Nicole Coste, mother of his son Alexandre, were somewhere amid the well-wishers.

Congratulations to all the happy couples, and good luck to any who aren’t so happy. No names.

Partings

Now for the partings. Because sometimes wedding diamonds aren’t always forever, for every spectacular celebrity wedding this weekend, we got two spectacular celebrity divorces.

the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver Divorce

The Monaco Royal wedding may take the crown for scandalous and excessive weddings, but leave it to Hollywood royalty to show ’em how it’d done when it comes to scandalous and excessive divorce! Maria Shriver officially decided to terminate her marriage to the Governator, and filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Which was kind, considering she could have cited messing around with the maid.

The couple will split an estimated $400 million, and custody of their minor children. In total, they have 4 children. If you’re trying to do the math, that’s enough for 1.5 royal weddings for each of them, should there be any eligible princes or princesses.

the Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds Divorce

After just 2 years of marriage, the ink is dry on the divorce papers for Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds. The split was reportedly amicable, with neither seeking spousal support. Probably not easy, but at least it was quick.

the Thomas Jane and Patricia Arquette Divorce

“Hung” star Thomas Jane and former “Medium” star Patricia Arquette also made it official, and sealed the deal on a divorce. There’s a joke about seeing this one coming somewhere in there. The couple will share custody of their 8-year-old daughter. Their marriage lasted approximately 3.5 years. In Hollywood marriage years (sort of like dog years), that’s almost 15 years.

the George Lopez and Ann Serrano Divorce

Then there’s late night comedian George Lopez and wife Ann Serrano, who are calling it quits after 17 years of marriage. They share one minor daughter, and thanks to a life saving donation from Serrano, they share the same kidneys as well (obviously, Serrano has one, Lopez has the other). Fortunately, the couple is trying to keep things amicable on both fronts.

Can you imagine how messy things would be if Serrano filed to get custody of her kidney back? Awwwkward.

Don't expect any Alaia/Lagerfeld collaborations any time soon

Azzedine Alaia‘s recent confirmation that he’d been offered (and rejected) the head job at Dior got people talking, but apparently the designer wasn’t done dishing. In an interview with Virginie magazine, the septuagenarian designer didn’t hold back on his opinions of fellow iconic designer Karl Lagerfeld or Anna Wintour, the reigning queen of fashion media.

On Karl Lagerfeld

“I donâ€t like his fashion, his spirit, his attitude. Itâ€s too much caricature. Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life. That doesnâ€t mean that heâ€s not great, but heâ€s part of another system. He has capacity. One day he does photography, the next he does advertisements for Coca-Cola. I would rather die than see my face in a car advertisement. We donâ€t do the same work. And I think that he is not doing a favor to young stylists who might think it works that way. Theyâ€re going to fall before they retire.”

On Anna Wintour

“I said it before. She runs the business (Vogue) very well, but not the fashion part. When I see how she is dressed, I donâ€t believe in her tastes one second. I can say it loudly! She hasnâ€t photographed my work in years even if I am a best seller in the U.S. and I have 140 square meters at Barneys. American women love me; I donâ€t need her support at all. Anna Wintour doesnâ€t deal with pictures; she is just doing PR and business, and she scares everybody. But when she sees me, she is the scared one. [Laughs.] Other people think like me, but donâ€t say it because they are afraid that Vogue wonâ€t photograph them. Anyway, who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion? No one. Take Diana Vreeland, she is remembered because she was so chic. What she did with the magazine was great, with Avedon and all the great photographers. Vogue remains while its fashion editors come and go.”

Well then, tell us how you really feel Mr. Alaia.

It seems like he wasn’t the only designer who felt like opening up; Giorgio Armani made comments to the Italian press about the recent Prada and Dolce & Gabbana men’s collections, calling them ridiculous looking and saying no man would ever actually wear them. Armani said “fashion today is in the hands of the banks and of the stock market and not of their owners,” in scolding the press for not being more critical of collections. He also took a thinly veiled swipe at the recently public Prada by saying his company won’t be going public anytime soon because it “is independent and doesnâ€t have debts, and that his clothes make men look more handsome and elegant.” {the Cut/NY Mag}

It’s worth noting that this is the same person who uninvited the New York Times’ Cathy Horyn from his Fall/Winter 2008 show for the tone of a review that he found to be too critical. While it’s refreshing to hear unvarnished perspectives in an industry where journalists who do actually try to practice journalism through criticism or investigation are uninvited from shows, and publications have advertising budgets threatened, we can’t see the quips making a huge difference.

It reads in part:

“However, I fully accept that the accusations made against me have greatly shocked and upset people.

I must take responsibility for the circumstances in which I found myself and for allowing myself to be seen to be behaving in the worst possible light.

I only have myself to blame and I know that I must face up to my own failures and that I must work hard to gain peopleâ€s understanding and compassion. To start this process I am seeking help and all I can hope for in time is to address the personal failure which led to these circumstances and try and earn peopleâ€s forgiveness.

I have fought my entire life against prejudice, intolerance and discrimination, having been subjected to it myself. In all my work my inspiration has been to unite people of every race, creed, religion and sexuality by celebrating their cultural and ethnic diversity through fashion. That remains my guiding light.

Anti-semitism and racism have no part in our society. I unreservedly apologise for my behaviour in causing any offence.”

via Fashionista

We promise, unless John Galliano personally invites us over for a drink, this is one of the last things we’ll mention about this story, but Vogue UK rounded up various quotes on Galliano and we happened upon this gem:

“I think Galliano needs to justify what he’s done,” Max Clifford, PR and damage-control expert, told WWD. “He needs two or three Jewish friends to come forward and tell the public that he is not remotely anti-Semitic in all the years they have known him. Or he has to say it was meant to be a funny rant, or that he was just trying to annoy to the people sitting next to him.”

What?!

As we predicted, a number of statements are so enamored with Galliano’s skill that they separate it from his social failings, but that particular piece of advice fails on so many levels that we can’t wonder how much Clifford was drinking before he offered it.

For starters, there are probably two things Galliano could offer to justify what appeared on that video: an evil twin or multiple personality disorder, with one personality being kind, genius fashion designer and the other being drunk Nazi admirer. Since we haven’t heard either of those tossed out as possibilities, there really isn’t any justifying the level of stupidity Galliano demonstrated.

Though he can say crazy things of his own, Karl Lagerfeld actually sums it up pretty well in his statement to WWD:

“I’m furious that it could happen. Because the question is no longer even whether he really said it. The image has gone around the world. It’s a horrible image for fashion, because they think that every designer and everything in fashion is like this. This is what makes me crazy in that story.

The thing is, we are a business world where, especially today, with the internet, one has to be more careful than ever, especially if you are a publicly known person. You cannot go in the street and be drunk – there are things you cannot do.”

This from the man who seems to confuse Facebook and the iPad.

Then we get to the other gems within this polished PR dropping: “he needs two or three Jewish friends.” Really? Galliano just needs a token Jew or two? Let’s find a black friend for David Duke to hang out with, that would totally change his image.

“Or he has to say it was meant to be a funny rant.” The only people who might find Galliano’s rant funny are other bigots, possibly bigots who encouraged him to play the role of a World War II era bigot. Unless the conversation immediately preceding that video rant is “okay John, just like we practiced, give us your best impression of a bigot!” it’s difficult to imagine anyone could find that video to be anything but sad on many, many levels.

“Or that he was just trying to annoy to the people sitting next to him.” Really? Really? Max, are you and Charlie Sheen on the same stuff? We hear he has a PR opening, so there might be an opportunity there, but back to this. You know what would be annoying? A designer telling someone she has an ugly bag and ugly eyebrows. We actually thought that was fairly funny, and it was probably annoying as well. Do you know what’s not annoying? Someone talking about loving Hitler and gassing people.

Annoying: “You have an ugly bag, ugly eyebrows, your shoes are cheap, your breath smells and you do look fat in that outfit.”

Bigoted: “I love Hitler. People like you would be gassed.”

See how that’s more hateful,  insulting and disgusting, than funny or annoying?

No? Well, take our word for it, there’s a difference. We haven’t been doing PR as long as you have, but allow us to take a stab in the dark here and revise your piece of advice.

Galliano should first of all acknowledge what he’s done. He should have two or three mental health or alcohol abuse professionals come forward and tell the public that they are helping him address his deep personal issues. Or, he has to say sincerely that there was no excuse or justification for the things that came out of his mouth, and the sheer level of stupidity that led him to drink to the point where he couldn’t conduct himself publicly in an acceptable way.

Fixed that for you.

“Her style is her big shoulders, long legs, tight jeans, sleeves up to the elbow, one hip out. I personally like her. Sheâ€s a handsome French woman. She has a style, but is it enough to make a whole magazine?” the designer queried. {Styleite} Lagerfeld said he would reserve judgement until after a few Alt-helmed issues of the magazine were released, but given the rarity of actual criticism in fashion it’s always kind of nice to have someone willing to say what others may be thinking.

It remains to be seen if Alt’s personal rock chic style means preferential treatment for brands (who are also clients) like Balmain, Isabel Marant and Gucci, or if she can broaden her focus to include a more diverse style range. Rumors around Roitfeld’s departure suggest that it was in part due to brand advertisers who felt they weren’t getting enough editorial love, and pay for play placement in the form of consulting and freelance gigs for those who did appear. {Fashionista}

So while some may have demanded change, will Alt simply be more of the same? For readers who liked the magazine under Roitfeld, that might not be a bad thing. For those who felt they weren’t getting a fair shake under Roitfeld, perhaps it’s not the change they were hoping for.

Americaâ€s Next Top Model

Among the things she said were that Karl Lagerfeldâ€s acceptance of plus-size models as the photographer for the plus issue of V is phony because he previously denounced full-figured women as irrelevant to fashion, and that plus-size models are not truly becoming a part of fashion just because a few select girls have been able to land a limited number of magazine covers and runway slots.

Fair enough, Whitney. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a plus-size model – or anyone for that matter – calling out fashion leaders for using full-figured girls as a spectacle and declaring plus-size is in when size 0 is still the norm.

Hereâ€s what weâ€re more concerned about. Check out this line she fed The Huffington Post:

“It’s infuriating because we have to be excited, we have to be thrilled that there’s one issue that has girls who eat.”

Not okay, Whitney. We understand that anorexia is a serious issue among many models and that poor health and body image among models is something of concern in the industry. That does not mean that every straight-size model does not eat. Some women are naturally very thin. They do not starve themselves or exercise obsessively or regurgitate everything they eat. That is just how their bodies are naturally formed, and it is beautiful and every bit as real as curves.

Standing up for equal treatment and inclusion for girls who are above a size 2 in the fashion industry is perfectly fine, but there is no need to put down women with those size 0-2 body types while you are doing it.

A fairly recent blog post over at the gloss could not have put this more perfectly. Check it out here. And think twice before declaring another woman unreal or unhealthy based on her body type, no matter what it is.

Karl Lagerfeld recently complied a collection of photos, ’20 years of Claudia Schiffer’ to be published in a German quarterly called Stern Fotographie. The photos are getting mixed reactions from the public as to whether or not they evoke racism.

Looking through the photos it is clear that she is transformed to look like many different ethnicities, but some people have gone as far to say the photo of Claudia in dark makeup and an afro is considered “blackface”. {Fashion Bomb Daily} There’s also the bob and eye makeup which are meant to transform her into an Asian version of herself.

We think that it is an artistic representation of the beauty and individuality of the things that make us different, ironically being portrayed all by one iconic supermodel. Considering that she poses as an Asian woman, an 18th century aristocrat and seemingly as a man, it seems to be more of a testament to Claudia’s malleable style than anything else.

Beyond that though, are we alone in thinking the photos are a bit… unoriginal? Sure, they’re bound to stir a bit of controversy, but how many times has fashion attempted to sum up Black women with an afro wig, or  Asian women with a dark bob and Chinese brocade top?

What do you think about Karl Lagerfeld’s fashion-inspired tribute to the German icon?

Disney's Beautiful Villains: Ursula (top left), Cruella de Vil (top right), Maleficent (bottom)

MAC announced it took inspiration from four Disney devils for its Venomous Villains collection, and that is just about all they are revealing about the line to debut late this September in all MAC locations. {WWD}

Lipstick, lip gloss, powder and blushes priced between $12 and $29.50 will be featured in this limited edition set, so weâ€re thinking the pink complexion of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland may have inspired blushes to appear alongside products thought of with the more obvious muse, Cruella De Vil (weâ€ll be shocked if sheâ€s not one of MACâ€s evil motivators).

Styleite is predicting Cruella red lipstick, but does anyone remember the scene in The Little Mermaid where Ursuala the malicious octopus applies red lipstick with a clam shell? Weâ€re hoping for a cool, Ursula-inspired clam shell compact with bright red shades. Judging by the power pouts on Disney’s evil leading ladies, some serious rouge shades are probably a safe bet.

And what else might we get? Since the villainous stare seem to come down to those extremely arched eyebrows, we’d love to see brow pencils, wax or other grooming tools make it into the collection alongside smokey mauve shadows to create the kind of gaze that can instill fear in puppies, mermaids and sleeping beauties.

Disney has been popping up all over the fashion scene lately. Disney Couture recently launched a Little Mermaid-inspired jewelry line, and collaborations to promote Spring 2010’s Alice in Wonderland included a ring design partnership with H. Stern and costume jewelry made by Stella McCartney and inspired by Alice. {Stylelist}

In addition, the April issue of Spanish Elle featured Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, John Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, Donnatella Versace and other fashion elite in cartoon, Disney-inspired form. Donnatella Versace appears in the likeness of Daisy Duck with Karl Lagerfeld channeling Goofy, while Alber Elbaz, also in Disney duck form, admires a red dress created for Minnie Mouse. {The Fashion Spot}

We bet the element of magic and fantasy is what draws fashion and Disney together. Whatever the common denominator, anything that encourages people to have fun with makeup is a winner in our book!

The first invitations to the site went out almost exactly one year ago, and in that time it’s gotten pretty popular – about 1.2 million people a month visit to answer personality questions. Hunch’s latest time killing, but fun, service is a Twitter followers analyzer that makes educated guesses about the people following you. The service only works with accounts that have more than 1000 followers right now, which means we couldn’t get anything back for our wonderful readers who follow @Signature9, but our hunch is that if you do you’re gorgeous, brilliant and charming. Gorgeous, brilliant and charming, but not following Signature9? You should click here, click follow and fix that!

Back to the original topic. There’s nothing earth shattering in the revelations – Gilt Groupe followers are likely to be female (we could have gotten that one), but some of them are fun. Here are a few of the odder hunches we found when running some of our favorite Tweetstars through.

The followers of fashion favorites @GiltGroupe @Sartorialist and @InsideDVF would rather ride a Vespa than a Harley.

@NetAPorter followers think alien abductions are real

@Fashionista_com and @GaranceDore followers have mailed a hand-written note, letter or card in the last 6 months

@Karl_Lagerfeld followers: prefer smaller portions of food that are arranged well, have dated or hooked up with someone they met online, choose the New York Times over the Wall Street Journal or USA Today as their free hotel paper of choice, can make reservations in 2 or 3 languages (only at restaurants that don’t overfeed you, of course), aren’t reading Vogue for the articles, think All-You-Can-Eat buffets are gross, are Mac people, and like celebrity gossip, reality TV and awards shows among other things.

Would you rather: George or Mario?

And who do these people consider most attractive out of a Nicole Kidman, Eva Longoria Parker, Mario Lopez, George Clooney lineup? The ladies who follow Lagerfeld love Clooney. @WomensWearDaily and @AmericanApparel followers agree, while @LouisVuitton_US followers prefer Mario Lopez.

Moving on to the foodies, @DavidLebovitz’s followers are also Clooney and Vespa people, frequent flossers, own a single piece of art valued at more than $2500, have something in their closet from Prada, Gucci, or Dolce & Gabbana and like opera.

@ClotildeNet (Clotilde of Chocolate & Zucchini) followers think crossword puzzles are more pleasure than pain, also like opera, and will take a meal prepared at home over one of those small, pretty restaurant dishes.

And what should we know about the people following the Tech Set? @TechCrunch followers will buy you birthday cake from an expensive bakery, gave flowers to someone not including mom, dad, grandma or grandpa in the last 6 months, can deal with roaches, spiders and snakes, but are creeped out by rats (we’re creeped out by all of them), are only reading Playboy for the articles, go for Eva Longoria Parker in the attractive multiple-choice category, and would share their $100+ bottle of wine with her.

@Mashable followers will also make sure you’re not stuck with a grocery store cake, also get the creeps from rats, support charities regularly, and they likely have a famous celebrity or politician on speed dial in their iPhone.

Karl Lagerfeld and Bruce LaBruce

Lagerfeld’s latest interview was with Vice magazine where we find out who still sends faxes (Karl and Anna!), why he doesn’t believe in gay marriage, his own personal burka and other gems that could only come from one person. Our picks for the most interesting excerpts:

on his omnipresent glasses

BLB: I like that you make it clear that you donâ€t want to be photographed or filmed without your sunglasses on. I donâ€t either. Who would?
KL: Theyâ€re my burka.

BLB: Exactly. A burka for the eyes.
KL: A burka for a man. Iâ€m a little shortsighted, and people, when theyâ€re shortsighted, they remove their glasses and then they look like cute little dogs who want to be adopted.

speaking of adoption

KL: I donâ€t like the idea of taking people out of their lives and their contexts. If there were a child I wanted to adopt, I would try to find the family of the child and give them the money for an education in his life and his context. [Don’t look for Christmas cards from Angelina or Madonna in his mailbox]

on being judgmental

KL: I have not one prejudice. I donâ€t judge things. [ed. note: really?]

on legalizing gay marriage and taking up the cause of gay rights

BLB: You are against the idea of gay marriage. I totally agree with you on that.
KL: Yes, Iâ€m against it for a very simple reason: In the 60s they all said we had the right to the difference. And now, suddenly, they want a bourgeois life.
…
For me itâ€s difficult to imagine—one of the papas at work and the other at home with the baby. How would that be for the baby? I donâ€t know. I see more lesbians married with babies than I see boys married with babies. And I also believe more in the relationship between mother and child than in that between father and child.

KL: Iâ€m in fashion. Politics is not my job. I donâ€t vote in France even though foreigners here can. I will never vote in my life.

on porn

KL: I admire porn. And I personally only like high-class escorts. I donâ€t like sleeping with people I really love. I donâ€t want to sleep with them because sex cannot last, but affection can last forever. I think this is healthy. And for the way the rich live, this is possible. But the other world, I think they need porn. I also think itâ€s much more difficult to perform in porn than to fake some emotion on the face as an actor.

on fur

KL: Thatâ€s why I always say, when people talk about not using fur, “Are you rich enough to make an income for the people in the north who live from hunting? What do you want them to live off of when thereâ€s nothing else to do?” It is farmers who are nice to the cows and the pigs and then kill them. Itâ€s even more hypocritical than hunters. At least the hunters donâ€t flatter the animals.

on modern communications

KL: …I hate telephones. I prefer faxes because I like to write. People Iâ€m really friendly with have faxes. Anna Wintour has one. We speak via fax. And in Paris I send letters to people. I have somebody to deliver letters all over every day.

Well, you certainly can’t accuse the man of not having a point of view.

Read the full 7-page Bruce LaBruce interview here for an interesting allusion to Lagerfeld’s relationships with models (that would probably be Baptiste at the moment) in comparison to artist Francis Bacon’s relationship with male prostitutes.

Sadly, McQueen’s suicide is not the first to shake the fashion world. Model Daul Kim took her own life in November, and Isabella Blow, who famously purchased McQueen’s entire graduate collection, also died as a result of suicide in 2007.

Thoughts from some of McQueen’s peers:

“We are devastated to learn of the death of Alexander McQueen, one of the greatest talents of his generation. He brought a uniquely British sense of daring and aesthetic fearlessness to the global stage of fashion. In such a short career, Alexander McQueen’s influence was astonishing—from street style, to music culture and the world’s museums. His passing marks an insurmountable loss.”

– Anna Wintour, Vogue

“I am truly devastated to lose my close friend. His talent had no boundaries and he was an inspiration to everyone who worked with him and knew him. This is a sad day to all who loved him around the world and my condolences are with his family. I will miss him so much, he will never be forgotten.”

– Naomi Campbell

“I found his work very interesting and never banal. There was always some attraction to death, his designs were sometimes dehumanized. Who knows, perhaps after flirting with death too often, death attracts you.”

– Karl Lagerfeld

via eOnline