Checking out some of the new Spring 2008 ad campaigns today…I’ve been waiting to see what Marc Jacobs and Juergen Teller were going to do with Vicky Beckham, having read that she would be the star of the upcoming MJ campaign…and I have to say…the concept for this shoot rocks…love it! The image above - which is already running in a few mags - is probably the coolest MJ ad ever. Poshers in a giant Marc Jacobs bag with her legs splayed, the new no heel/reverse heel/insane heel shoes on her feet the only visible product. (I love these shoes FYI - my jaw was on the ground when I saw them on the runway at Marc’s New York show last September.) Dedicated followers of fashion will notice more than a hint of the legendary photographer Guy Bourdin’s influence on this campaign - the above shot in fact comes much closer to a rip-off than an influence. The unnatural positioning of the legs is a key component of some of Bourdin’s best work. Bourdin’s ad work for Charles Jourdan often featured staged “crime scenes”, where the models appeared dead, their fantastic taste in footwear the only visible sign of the glamorous lives they once led. Carine Roitfeld - in an interview in the current Self Service magazine - casually mentions that she thinks there have only been a few originals in fashion photography, and that everyone else is just imitating. She says this not in a hyper-critical manner, merely as a statement of dry fact. Two of the originals she credits are Newton and Bourdin. I see Marc Jacobs and Juergen Teller not really as imitators…instead I think they are simply men with good taste and a strong knowledge of fashion history. Right?

Stylesight’s global correspondents have just turned in another boatload of street style pics, so of course I had to check them out to see what everybody was wearing (I’m helpless against the power of thousands of great outfits). What did I find this time? Men around the world getting a jump on one of next spring’s footwear trends: slightly feminine, slightly foreign-looking slip-ons in a variety of colors and materials. I fell in love with these on the runways at Dries van Noten, and super hope these bad nuggets actually catch on as an alternative to tired old Vans or even loafers. If you’re eager to slip into something a little more comfortable before Spring ‘08, head on over to the charity-driven tomsshoes.com, where you can snag a pair/feel all warm and gooey inside.

London (more…)

After the genius selections of Karl Lagerfield, Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf, this is a bit of a let down. H&M has announced that Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, best known for back-baring gowns favored by folks like Beyoncé, will be designing a one-off collection for the Swedish high-street chain. Set to make its worldwide debut on November 8th, the collection will be comprised of 20 items for gents and 25 for the ladies, as well as lingerie and accessories. If anything, I’m thrilled that H&M has finally chosen a designer I don’t worship (or even like), so that when everything is gone within minutes, I won’t be left clutching a size ten dress and swearing under my breath at the injustice of it all. What to look for? I’m guessing this will be a fancy affair, full of eveningwear meant to be worn on the holiday party circuit. Cavalli has even issued this statement/threat concerning his H&M collection: “I will add a dash of festivity and dreams.” Ooh, festivity and dreams! That’s exactly what I want from my knock-offs! Stylesight makes it easy for us to check out Cavalli’s 2007 Fall/Winter show for a peek of the festivity and dreams that might be in store for us come November.

As a firm supporter of menswear for women, I want to like this. But a satin bathrobe with shoulder pads and a bowtie? Lord no.

Sometimes I think Roberto Cavali has never left the ‘90s. Horrible coats like this only serve as a reinforcement of that idea.

Well, now I understand at least one reason why Jessica Simpson looked so very trashy in this dress: it’s a trashy dress. Who knew she was wearing it correctly! (more…)

Gucci Spring/Summer 2007

Today, Women’s Wear Daily took years off my life with the news that David Lynch will be directing the TV campaign for Gucci’s next fragrance. I’ll say it again, and maybe this time I’ll believe it: Gucci has hired the world’s most bizarre director for their eponymous new scent, tentatively set to debut this fall. A statement from Proctor & Gamble Prestige Products (Gucci’s beauty licensee) reads as follows: “Lynch was selected for his holistic ability as an artist, his professional experience and knowledge, his never-ending research for beautiful images, his use of music and his modernity.” Good people at Gucci, please allow me to congratulate you on your daring choice. David Lynch is brilliant (if deranged) and I’m giddy with excitement at where he chooses to take this campaign. My guess? An isolated dark place in a small town, complete with flickering lights, a tragic heroine who leads a double-life and an unsettlingly beautiful soundtrack. As for Lynch’s trademark use of deformities and realistic violence, I’m guessing that Gucci will politely decline their use in perfume ads, but who really knows? With Lynch at the helm, anything can happen.

Gucci Fall/Winter 2007

I’ve always been fascinated/disturbed by secret societies, but this time I’m simply disgusted. Yesterday’s WWD contained a horrifying article about Nike’s latest attempt to ruin the world, this time through an invitation only series of fitness classes called Project: Classified, held here in New York. It sounds innocuous enough, until their marketing people open their mouths and vomit up things like “Our reputation precedes us. To be asked is to want to participate” and compare Project: Classified with “a place on a Birkin bag wait list or reservations at the Waverly Inn.” Really? Launched in April of 2006 with the “Gotham Workout” class, each fitness event is held in a “raw space” with an esoteric idea behind it (the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank as a metaphor for “the levels of access and security that conceal something valuable”). There’s a warehouse party rip-off vibe about the whole thing: “Project: Classified swarms in, permeates a space and then leaves. The venues are unexpected, readapted, overtaken.” Well I’m overtaken with nausea. I don’t do faux-cool marketing initiatives, so Nike, if any of your be-suited gentlemen arrive at my apartment bearing one of your cardboard (“a material often used to hide or protect”) invitations bearing Project: Classified’s cicada (“heard but rarely seen”) logo, you can be sure that your reputation does indeed precede you, but that to be asked isn’t necessarily to want to participate.