French fashion

Hemingway's Great-Granddaughter Stars in Louis Vuitton Safari Campaign

Filed under: Apparel, Handbags, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Earlier this year we told you about model Dree Hemingway, 22, daughter of Mariel Hemingway and great-granddaughter of famous author Ernest Hemingway, who's making a name for herself among the fashion crowd. Now the willowy blonde is starring in a luxe new safari-themed ad campaign for Louis Vuitton (above). Reminiscent of Hemingway's African tales such as The Snows of Kilimanjaro, the casting choice is a fitting one as the author is often credited with introducing the Swahili word "safari" into common parlance.

The new Vuitton campaign, highlighting the famed French luxury goods house's handmade travel items, was shot on location in Africa. Photographed by Carter Smith, the ads feature Dree and a handsome young fellow enjoying the dramatic scenery of the African veldt. Items on display include bags, trunks, journals, watches, blankets, sunglasses, jewelry, clothing and even a few items of vintage Vuitton luggage. The campaign comes on the heels of Dree's selection as the face of Italian fashion house Gianfranco Ferré earlier this year, following appearances for Abercrombie & Fitch and DKNY.

[via JustLuxe]

Gallery: Dree Hemingway for Louis Vuitton

Tags: advertising, advertising campaign, Africa, celebrity, celebrity offspring, Dree Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway, French fashion, Gianfranco Ferré, Louis Vuitton, luggage, Mariel Hemingway, models, safari, sunglasses, travel, trunk

Martin Scorsese & The Rolling Stones Rock Chanel's New Men's Fragrance [video]

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cosmetics and Fragrance, Men's Style, Video

Famed French fashion and luxury goods house Chanel has brought on legendary director Martin Scorsese to help promote its new men's fragrance, Bleu de Chanel. Scorcese has made a sexy new commercial for the scent starring actor Gaspard Ulliel with a soundtrack by the Rolling Stones, firmly positioning it as a cologne for the young, cool, rich and beautiful – or those who think all that can be found in a perfume bottle in any case. Marked by notes of citrus, vetiver, pink pepper, grapefruit, dry cedar, labdanum, frankincense, ginger and sandalwood, Chanel says Bleu "embodies that greatness of a man when he chooses to be free". To be specific, it smells "enigmatically seductive", reeking of "bold masculinity" and an "untameable, rebellious spirit." The collaboration follows other high-profile director–fashion label matchups, including David Lynch for Dior, Frank Miller for Gucci and Zoe Cassavetes for Louis Vuitton.

Tags: Bleu de Chanel, Chanel, cologne, commercials, directors, fragrance, French fashion, Gaspard Ulliel, Martin Scorsese, mens style, Rolling Stones

Lagerfeld Photography Exhibition to Open in Paris

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Art

An exhibition of photographs by Chanel kingpin Karl Lagerfeld is opening in Paris this September in time for the city's Fashion Week. The show at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in the historic heart of Paris will feature a mix of fashion photos, portraits, landscapes, architectural images and personal shots, including several of his longtime muse, Claudia Schiffer. Lagerfeld, who shoots all of Chanel's ad campaigns himself, has published several books of his photographs, and has his own art book publishing imprint and book shop in Paris called 7L.

"What I admire most is the photographers who have gone down to posterity with a single image," the designer tells La Parisienne. "An image - I prefer this word to the word picture - which went down in the collective memory of the civilized world [... ]. Today the picture is part of my life. It closes the circle of my artistic and professional lives. I look at the fashion world with the eye of the camera. This gives my work a basic critical detachment that helps more than I would have suspected." The exhibition runs from September 10 to October 15.

Source

Tags: ad campaigns, Chanel, Claudia Schiffer, exhibition, fashion, Fashion Week, France, French fashion, Karl Lagerfeld, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, museum, Paris, photographer, photography, style

Backstage Dior, An Eye-Popping All-Access Pass

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Books

Renowned photographer Roxanne Lowit has been chronicling the fashion scene for the past 30 years; early on she staked out the backstage areas at fashion shows, where the really interesting action takes place, as her prime hunting ground for capturing the most beautiful people in their natural habitat. Now Lowit, whose work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum and others, has an incredible new book just published by teNeues, focusing on brilliant, flamboyant Dior deigner John Galliano's couture concoctions which she chronicled for over a decade. Backstage Dior, with a foreword by Galliano, mixes black-and-white and color images, candids and close-ups, delving into the fascinating details behind the scenes. The book is a must for any devotée of fashion, spectacle, photography, or all three.

Tags: Christian Dior, ChristianDior, Dior, fashion show, Fashion Week, FashionShow, FashionWeek, French fashion, FrenchFashion, John Galliano, JohnGalliano, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MetropolitanMuseumOfArt, models, photographer, photography, Roxanne Lowit, RoxanneLowit

Christian Lacroix Files for Bankruptcy

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Last month my colleague Deidre Woollard reported that French fashion house Christian Lacroix was looking for investors to shore up its business. Now the brand has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of an increasingly bleak financial picture. Lacroix, which is owned by duty free retailer the Falic Group and employs 125 people, has been hit hard by the faltering market for ultra-luxury goods like haute couture gowns. Lacroix chief executive Nicolas Topiol said the economic crisis had "considerably hurt our revenues," the London Times reports. Major retailers recently stopped buying new Lacroix merchandise and last month both Neiman Marcus and Saks reduced their orders for Lacroix apparel considerably. Sales of the Lacroix women's summer collection are down 35% this year; last year the company reported a $15 million loss.

Tags: Christian Lacroix, ChristianLacroix, French fashion, FrenchFashion, haute couture, HauteCouture, Neiman Marcus, NeimanMarcus

The Classicist: The Luxurious House of Longchamp

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Handbags, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Books, Men's Style, The Classicist

These days the celebrated French leathergoods company Longchamp is best known for its super-stylish handbags as seen in ad campaigns starring Kate Moss (above). Most people are unaware however that the company, which dates back to 1948, started off selling luxurious leather-covered pipes to Paris' bon ton. The rich heritage of the firm is celebrated in Longchamp, a gorgeous new illustrated history from Abrams by Marie-Claire Aucouturier with photographs by Philippe Carcia, published in celebration of the company's 60th anniversary.

Beginning with the deluxe pipes, which became a favorite of Elvis Presley (pictured smoking one in the book), the company built a brand as a bridge between the very social equestrian world and the world of luxury travel. Named after Paris' famed Longchamp racecourse where Napoleon III presided over the Royal Enclosure, the company adopted a horse and rider as its logo. The pipes were soon followed by cigarette cases and other leather accessories for smokers, then expansion into small leather goods in the 1950s, followed by the opening of the first Longchamp boutiques in the 1970s and '80s.

The first in a line of luxurious luggage soon followed. Longchamp thrived where many firms failed by catching on early to the importance of the Asian market. In the early 1970s, Philippe Cassegrain, Longchamp's founder, designed a line of bags called "LM," destined for the Japanese market, recently re-released for the anniversary. Its success gave Longchamp a solid reputation as a creator of women's handbags and enabled the company to expand further. In 1993 Cassegrain introduced the Le Pliage collection of foldable travel bags made of colorful vinyl with luxurious leather trim, an instant smash; two billion of them have been sold since.

Gallery: Longchamp Luxury

Tags: ad campaigns, AdCampaigns, Elvis Presley, ElvisPresley, equestrian, French fashion, FrenchFashion, Jeremy Scott, JeremyScott, Kate Moss, KateMoss, leather, leathergoods, Longchamp, luggage, Paris, pipes, smoking, supermodels, Tracey Emin, TraceyEmin

Continue reading “The Classicist: The Luxurious House of Longchamp”

Lagerfeld Debuts Mink-Covered iPod Helmets

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Gadgets, Luxury Cars & Autos

At his Paris fashion show on Sunday, the ever-entertaining Karl Lagerfeld debuted a new line of luxurious mink-covered scooter helmets with built-in iPod capability. The over-the-top accessories were created in collaboration with French luxury helmet maker Les Ateliers Ruby and Apple. They're road legal and feature full carbon fiber shells and ultra-soft burgundy nappa lambskin linings. The iPod hookup lets you pipe music directly to the earpieces.

Lagerfeld, who also heads up Chanel and Fendi, showed matching mink vests and other garments in the futuristic fashion show for his eponymous label. Apparently the haute helmets are Lagerfeld's comment on the recessed economy. "Now everyone is on scooters, even chic women, so we had to do the helmet," he explained. No word yet on when the helmets might be made available for sale or what their price would be, but safe to say they'll be extremely expensive.

Tags: Apple, Ateliers Ruby, AteliersRuby, Chanel, fashion show, FashionShow, French fashion, FrenchFashion, fur, helmet, iPod, Karl Lagerfeld, KarlLagerfeld, Les Ateliers Ruby, LesAteliersRuby, mink, motorcycle, Paris, Paris Fashion Week, ParisFashionWeek, Ruby, scooter

The $24,000 Herm�s Crocodile Chair

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

What do you sit in after taking off your $150,000 Hermès crocodile peacoat? A $24,000 Hermès crocodile chair, of course. The newest incarnation of the French luxury goods house's classic Pippa folding chair design is finished in the world's finest matte black crocodile skin, with an ebonized maple frame and nickel plated hardware. The limited edition crocodile Pippa is based on an original designed in pear wood and saddle leather 20 years ago by architect and designer Rena Dumas, wife of Hermès President Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermès. It has now expanded into a collection of elegant foldable indoor and outdoor furniture.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: Chair, Crocodile, French fashion, FrenchFashion, Furniture, Hermes, Hermes Pippa chair, HermesPippaChair, Leather

Kate Moss & Lookalike Star in New Longchamp Ads

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Handbags

Last summer we told you about Kate Moss' cinematic ads for French fashion luxury leathergoods house Longchamp. Now the supermodel is starring in Longchamp's newest campaign, alongside a sexy Russian lookalike named Sasha Pivovarova. That's Kate, above, on the left, and Sasha on the right, sporting matching hairdos and outfits from Longchamp's spring ready-to-wear line. The new ads were shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot in Los Angeles. In January, Longchamp will debut a video about the making of the ads on its website.

Tags: Ad campaign, AdCampaign, French fashion, FrenchFashion, Kate Moss, KateMoss, Longchamp, Sasha Pivovarova, SashaPivovarova, Supermodel

Mugler's $5 Million Revamp of World's Fastest Yacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

French designer Thierry Mugler, known for his fetishistic fashions, is giving the world's fastest yacht a $5 million makeover. The 112-ft. Gentry Eagle (above), designed by racing legend Tom Gentry, earned the World's Fastest title when it broke Virgin tycoon Richard Branson's record for the speediest transatlantic crossing in 1989. In 1992 the Gentry Eagle was rebuilt as a pleasure craft, and is now being revamped once more as a collaboration between British yacht broker Weyves Yachts and Agent de Luxe, a fashion-design agency run by Donald Potard, former president of Jean Paul Gaultier.

When completed by October of next year, the yacht is expected to fetch about $10 million. "Yacht owners are using their vessels as places to entertain, and they want to express their personal style," Potard tells the Robb Report. "Crystal, chandeliers, metals ? the interior will have a distinctly 'Mugler-esque' feel." He says the designer drew inspiration from futuristic films like Barbarella and Star Trek, as those are Tom Gentry's personal favorites.

Tags: French fashion, FrenchFashion, Gentry Eagle, GentryEagle, Richard Branson, RichardBranson, Thierry Mugler, ThierryMugler, Tom Gentry, TomGentry, Weyves Yachts, WeyvesYachts, Yacht

An Intimate Look at the Legendary Coco Chanel

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Books

In 1962, photographer Douglas Kirkland was sent to Paris on assignment for Look magazine to photograph the legendary couturier Coco Chanel. Kirkland, 27, ended up living with the elegant 79-year-old Chanel for three whole weeks, photographing her in public and private. The complete collection of never-before-seen photographs is being published this week in book form - Coco Chanel: Three Weeks / 1962 - by Glitterati to coincide with the 125th anniversary of Chanel's birth.

Included as well are Kirkland's reminiscences. He recalls for instance that as Chanel prepared for the show, omnipresent cigarette dangling from her lips, she snapped, "Fashion has become a joke. The designers have forgotten that there are women inside the dresses." In addition to the regular edition which costs $50, Glitterati will publish a deluxe limited edition of 100 in a slipcase with a signed and numbered Kirkland print for $500.

Tags: Chanel, Coco Chanel, CocoChanel, Douglas Kirkland, DouglasKirkland, Fashion photography, FashionPhotography, French fashion, FrenchFashion, Paris

Qatar's Royal Family to Buy Stake in Lanvin

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Famed French fashion house Lanvin of Paris is in talks to sell a major stake in the business to Qatar's royal family. Lanvin owner Shaw-Lan Wang, a Taiwanese media magnate, is said to be keen to exploit the brand's burgeoning success under current creative director Alber Elbaz, formerly of Yves Saint Laurent, Vogue UK reports.

While nothing is set in stone, the deal is said to be worth many millions. Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is ranked at No. 7 on Forbes' list of the world's richest royals with a fortune of $2 billion. Since Sheikh Hamad ramped up the development of Qatar's vast oil and natural gas reserves, the country now has the highest per-capita income in the world.

Tags: Alber Elbaz, AlberElbaz, French fashion, FrenchFashion, Lanvin, Paris, Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, SheikhHamadBinKhalifaAlThani

The $150,000 Herm�s Crocodile Peacoat

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Men's Style

This is without a doubt the most extravagant men's item we've come across for fall (or any other season, for that matter): a $150,000 peacoat from Hermès made entirely of crocodile skin. The ultra-luxe interpretation of a menswear classic, which originated with European navies some 250 years ago, was produced by Hermès men's designer Véronique Nichanian for the famed fashion house's Fall / Winter 2008-09 collection. The Hermès flagship store on Manhattan's Upper East Side just received two of them, in navy blue; other colors may be special ordered for delivery in 3-4 months.

[via Kempt]

Tags: Crocodile, French fashion, FrenchFashion, Hermes, Peacoat, Veronique Nichanian, VeroniqueNichanian

Carlyle Group Buys Stake in Luxe Sport Label Moncler

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

$80 billion private equity firm The Carlyle Group just announced plans to acquire a 48% stake in Moncler, the French luxury sport label founded in 1952 famed for its stylish down jackets. In fact, Moncler claims credit for inventing the down-filled ski jacket, which it has supplied to French Olympic teams for the winter games since the 1960s. The jackets have become extremely fashionable and can be seen on the slopes from Aspen to Gstaad. The company has collaborated with the likes of Balenciaga, Yohji Yamamoto and Fendi. It's high-end Gamme Rouge line is designed by Italian fashionista Giambattista Valli. "Moncler is a historic sport luxury garment brand that has returned to play a relevant and prestigious role in the market," Carlyle Group managing director Marco De Benedetti said in a statement, noting plans for expanding the company globally.

Gallery: Moncler Fall / Winter '08

Tags: Aspen, Balenciaga, Fendi, France, French fashion, FrenchFashion, Giambattista Valli, GiambattistaValli, Moncler, Olympics, Skiing, the carlyle group, TheCarlyleGroup

Kate Moss' Latest Starring Role

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

This is certainly turning out to be a banner season for Kate Moss; it seems every time we turn around she pops up in another fall ad campaign. And we might add that despite all Kate's been through, she's looking more gorgeous than ever. We already told you about her Just Cavalli and David Yurman campaigns, and she re-upped with Donna Karan as well; the latest is for French fashion house Longchamp, for whom she has modeled several seasons running. The cinematic black-and-white ads were shot by photo duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott at the famed Café de Flore in Paris. Kate's co-star is French actor Gaspard Ulliel, who appeared in the last Hannibal Lecter film. Kate's been busy elsewhere as well. She recently posed topless in W magazine and is launching a new fragrance.

Gallery: Kate Moss for Longchamp