“Come on, Vogue” All Hail the Queen of POP

When we think of the halftime show, we expect to be entertained, but the legendary Madonna, not only entertained millions of fans – she did it the only way she knows how to – in style.

Madonna began her 12-minute performance singing her world-renowned hit song “Vogue.” She appeared on stage in a Givenchy gold-sequined cape that was floor-length and seemed to pay homage to Cleopatra. She soon took the cape off, revealing the next Givenchy piece: a black knee-length dress with an added cape, and studded leather plackets attached to a belt. And we can’t forget that headpiece, fit for the one and only Queen of Pop. What initially seemed like an ensemble inspired by gladiators and warriors was essentially Madonna’s theatricality at its best.

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Vogue editors come together in Tokyo, November 2011. Photo Credit: Frederic Aranda for Vogue via WWD

Last week for the first time ever, Vogue editors from around the world all gathered together in Tokyo to celebrate Japan’s first ever Fashion’s Night Out. The evening began with cocktails and a gala dinner, during which Vogue’s top editors all sat for a rare “family portrait”. These group portraits have become quite popular in Vogue and other fashion publications, so we thought that in today’s edition of Monday Morning Photos,  we’d take a look at some of the most iconic portraits from years past. Almost like a fashion-centric holiday card, no?

In 1947, Vogue asked Iriving Penn to do a group portrait of the most photographed models of the decade in clothes from American designers. Photo Credit: Irving Penn/Condé Nast Publications

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Photo Credit: Wist Thorpe

In April 2007, Loulou de la Falaise visited the School of Fashion. She spoke to fashion students, reviewed portfolios and sat front row at the Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony where she was honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters for her contribution to the world of art and design from Academy of Art University president Dr. Elisa Stephens.

She gave students valuable advice on a panel discussion for the fashion students with Robin Givhan, fashion editor of The Washington Post, Titti Matteoni, editor-in-chief of Fashion magazine in Italy, Ceslie Armstrong, award-winning editor, TV host and editor-in-chief of ceslie.com, Elizabeth Varnell, style director of San Francisco magazine, Charlotte Lurot, director of Bacchus PR in London, and fashion designer Zac Posen.

Loulou de la Falaise was a close friend, muse and designer of Yves Saint Laurent for nearly 30 years. She began as a model for Vogue, designed prints for Halston, and worked on Saint Laurent’s couture and RTW collections building her reputation as a designer. She was born into a highly aristocratic family that would predispose her to a life directed by fashion and art. She was considered one of the best-dressed women in the world. After a thirty-year partnership, Yves Saint Laurent retired and she began her own label in February 2003. Her boutique at 21 rue Cambon was a fanfare of color and rich materials, reflecting her passion for her flower-filled country garden and her travels to far-flung destinations. She created collections of jewelry, ready-to-wear, accessories and decorative objects for the home. Her collections were carried in boutiques and department stores in Tokyo, New York, Casablanca, Toronto, Hong Kong, Brussels, London, Berlin, Geneva, and Zurich. In California, her jewelry retailed at the home store of ‘At Home at Sweet Things’ in Tiburon.

Rest in peace dear friend. You will be missed.

Anna Wintour with her right hand Grace Coddington.

(Photo Credit: FuschiaWoman)

Famed Vogue editor Anna Wintour recently landed at No. 69 on the Forbes list of the world’s 100 Most Powerful Women. People may have their various opinions about this editrix, but there is no denying her intelligence and influence. In an interview with Forbes, she talks about being a powerful woman, what they’re looking for at Vogue, and offers some advice for the next generation of women of influence.

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The world is about to have a moment with the fashion icon by the name of Diana Vreeland. Actually, the world is about to get three moments.

For one, her granddaughter-in-law, Lisa Immordino Vreeland will soon be releasing an in-depth documentary about the editor’s life titled “Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel”. The film is set to bow at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3. The film includes interviews and appearances by a mile-long list of people including Richard Avedon, Anjelica Huston, Diane Sawyer, Andy Warhol, Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Hubert de Givenchy and Diane von Furstenberg — just to name a few.

To go with that, an accompanying coffee-table book is set to hit the shelves of bookstores on Oct. 1. Third, there will be a traveling exhibition that starts at the Fortuny Museum in Venice come March.

That’s a lot of Vreeland — but we’re not complaining. The trifecta of events will cover lots of ground in terms of the legendary fashion editor’s life which includes her time at Harper’s Bazaar (1937-1962), Vogue (1962-1971) and her position as the special consultant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

Are you excited?

[Source: WWD]

It looks like print isn’t dead — not totally.

Magazines haven’t been flying off newsstands as of late, but Vogue is the exception — thanks to the March issue (which featured Lady Gaga). That particular issue boosted sales more than 100,000 copies from the previous year and, overall, the sales of the mag are up 12.7 percent from last year

Sounds pretty good.

Want to know how some of your other fave fashion mags are doing? Check out the stats below:

• Marie Claire – down 21.5 percent; average sales of 198,752.
• Glamour – down 17.5 percent; average sales of 453,707 copies.
• Harper’s Bazaar – down 14.3 percent; average sales of 137,117 copies.
• People StyleWatch – down 11.8 percent
• W – down 11.8 percent
• Elle – down 9 percent; average sales of 250,056 copies.
• Lucky – down 9 percent; average sales of 150,271 copies.
• InStyle – down 8 percent; average sales of 570,272 copies.
• Vogue – up 12.7 percent; average sales of 360,400 copies.

What are your thoughts on magazine sales? What magazines do you buy every month?

[Sources: WWD, The Cut]

Designer Franco Sarto will be at Nordstrom at the San Francisco Centre from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursday March 31 to present his Spring Collection. See the flyer for details:

Kate Betts and I go back a long way when we were foot soldiers at the Collections, circa 3rd row.

Kate was at Vogue and strongly tipped to succeed Anna Wintour, should she ever step aside.

Kate didn’t wait (will it ever happen?) and became Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar and — timing is not everything — a new mother at the same time.

She arrived in Milan for the Italian Collections, in tears, not glory, because at Kennedy Airport she discovered that even new babies need a passport, or at least be on their mother’s passport.

Fast forward.

Today, she works for Time magazine, The Daily Beast, NPR, Sirius, and CNN.

Kate really knows the world of fashion, where all the bodies are buried: some dead, some alive…

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Buenos días mis amigos!

I’m in New York for the preview of the Balenciaga Exhibition at Queen Sofía Spanish Institute tomorrow evening. It will be open to the public November 19 – February 19.

The exhibition was conceived by Oscar de la Renta, our Guest of Honour in 2000, and curated by Hamish Bowles of Vogue.

Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972), a Spaniard, had been a successful couturier in his own country.

He left in wake of the Spanish Civil War and went to London where he couldn’t find any work (really?) In 1937 he moved to Paris where his first collection was a huge success (surprise!).

Diana Vreeland once asked what he thought of a woman who bought clothes from different designers. Balenciaga replied, “I wouldn’t dress her because it shows she is merely interested in clothes and doesn’t understand fashion.”

Clearly, Americans including Pauline de Rothschild (née Potter), Mona von Bismarck (née Strader), Thelma Chrysler Foy and Doris Duke understood fashion.

Mona von Bismarck’s red dress to die for

The Texan Claudia Heard de Osborne wished to be buried in Balenciaga because “If my dear Cristóbal is waiting for me wherever we go when we die, he’ll be so pleased to see me in his dress and coat.”

You may enjoy pictures from two earlier Balenciaga exhibitions in Paris in 2006, at the Mona Bismarck Foundation in March; and at the Musée de la Mode at du Textile of the Louvre in July:

The New York exhibition will come to the de Young Museum in San Francisco from March 26 to July 4 2011. Before that, watch out for Balenciaga-mania at New York Fashion Week in February.

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

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Anna Wintour, the Editor in Chief of American Vogue, turned 61 on November 3, 2010.

“I think my father really decided for me that I should work in fashion,” said Wintour in The September Issue. The popular fashion documentary has almost everything you need to know about Wintour. Her father arranged her first job for her. What a lucky little girl. She worked for Biba boutique — one of the most influential fashion houses in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Philip Washington wrote about how Wintour worked for Viva Magazine — a ’70s softcore porn publication for women — in the Fall 2010 issue of 180 Magazine. Wintour went from Biba to softcore porn to being fired from Harper’s Bazaar to firing many women (and arguably some gay men) at American Vogue. She transformed from a semi-emo teen girl to a sunglasses-wearing editrix. There is no doubt this Scorpio lady has made herself one of the most powerful women today. Wintour had made some remarkable quotes in past. Let’s have a look.

Anna Wintour in her semi-emo days

She once said at the Teen Vogue annual Fashion University: “I worked for American Harper’s Bazaar — they fired me. I recommend that you all get fired, it’s a great learning experience.” I honestly cannot tell if Anna Wintour was being funny, sarcastic or if she was telling the truth? Or was it a “ha-ha, I got the last laugh” to Harper’s Bazaar?

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