Happy Birthday, Marpessa Hennink!

Anyone who remembers the glory days of Supermodel-dom (late 80s, early 90s) will remember the face of Marpessa Hennink. She was everywhere and she was fabulous, standing out as an exotic beauty in a Caucasian dominated industry. Muse to Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Karl Lagerfeld and countless other designers, Marpessa paved the way for the next generation of models of color such as Yasmeen Ghauri, Nadege, Veronica Webb, Brandi and many more.

In 1987 Marpessa won the Fashion Oscar (Oscar de la Mode) in Paris for Best Runway Model and earned the nickname "Catwalk Contessa". Living a dream life in Ibiza as an Interior Designer/Photo Production entrepreneur/Mother, Marpessa still acts as model and muse today.

Happy Birthday, Marpessa!  To celebrate, here are some of my favorite Marpessa moments:

Marpessa and Linda Evangelista in Chanel, 1988

wink, wink

Marpessa with Karl Lagerfeld

Marpessa closes the show with baby-faced designers Dolce & Gabbana in the 80s

Marpessa (top left) with Versace girls Yasmeen Ghauri, Carla Bruni, Nadege, and Naomi Campbell. (1992)

Backstage at Versace (bottom left corner)

Marpessa in a Valentino Ad, 1989

Marpessa (left) with Gianni Versace, Christy Turlington and Gail Elliot 

Marpessa in 2009

Marpessa in 2011

Marpessa on the Runway at Alberta Ferretti, Fall 2011 collection

You can and should follow Marpessa on facebook here
and on instagram here

In Defense of Kim/Kanye for Vogue

I have been reading American fashion magazines since I was a child.  I made my own fashion magazine with my sister when we were around nine years old and living in Connecticut in the 80s called "Toque", an obvious homage to Vogue. I can't pinpoint the exact moment I realized I loved fashion but for some reason fashion both fascinated and resonated with me.

In High School my friends and acquaintances mocked my interest in fashion, positing my interest as vanity and shallowness. But I understood that although fashion is functional it is one of the greatest methods of self expression, and therefore fashion is art.  I looked to Vogue (among other great sources) to quench my thirst for more inspiration and knowledge of fashion design and its history. I learned about silhouettes, textures, fabrics, the most influential designers and their significance to the world of design; I got to see an inside look at the fashion industry - the models,  the designer's homes and work methods ... I loved it all.

Vogue was great and then something happened in the late 90s that really irked me: they started placing more and more celebrities on the covers. Before the late 90s there was only an occasional celebrity on the cover, then suddenly this changed. No longer were inspirational models or perhaps an opportunity for models of color to make the cover - no, Vogue and all of the other fashion magazines decided to employ celebrity covers and content as a way to increase readership. And I'm sure it helps. In the very least it supplies the internet with plenty of troll fodder.

Which finally leads me to the point of this post:
Why do people care so much WHO is on the cover of Vogue, anyway? Not that many people even read the magazine. American Vogue is the 54th most circulated magazine in the United States with a circulation of under 1.28 million issues per month (this is not how many magazines are sold, but rather are distributed to subscribers and vendors). Some magazine called Family Fun has a circulation over over 2.16 million, but I don't hear anyone talking about it. You can see magazine rankings and circulation statistics at Find The Best. 

For April 2014, Vogue has put Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on the cover and the internet exploded. It seems many don't find KIMYE 'good enough' to grace the cover of vogue. But why not KIMYE when Vogue sold its soul to celebrity long ago and presented the likes of Britney Spears, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Hudson, Sienna Miller, Sandra Bullock, Kristen Stewart, Kate Hudson, Carey Mulligan and countless others on the cover?

Madeleine Davies from Jezebel made a case for KIMYE in yesterday's post: "7 People Who Deserved Vogue Covers Less Than Kim and Kanye" . Her point and mine being that there are so many celebrities on the covers of fashion magazines that even Kim Kardashian is more plausible a cover star than many. That says a lot.

When all of these celebrities took over the fashion magazine industry I must admit that I personally felt betrayed. Gone were the magical moments with great models, stylists and photographers. Gone was the connection communicated between designer and muse. Now covers and most editorials (and ads) are mainly vehicles for stars to promote their films or records. You can almost feel their managers counting money from behind the lens. The reality of our society now is unfortunately one of gross celebrity obsession and consumption. Let's face it, celebrity sells and they are going to be on the cover of Vogue for a long time. Its honestly an event for a model to be on the cover of American Vogue.

I don't buy Vogue too often now and I've made a point  not to purchase a magazine with a celebrity I strongly dislike on the cover. I don't consider myself celebrity obsessed but I do find the internet outbreak of the April 2014 cover to be hilariously ridiculous. All this banter over a magazine that is read by roughly .004% of Americans.

the April 2014 cover

some recent Vogue covers:

Fall 2014: Déjà vu, Balenciaga

Fall 2014 has been an interesting season thus far, and for me this is primarily due to the apparent 'references' from a variety of designers' past collections. In this post I will focus on the 2014 obsession with the house of Balenciaga under the tutelage of director Nicolas Ghesquiere.

It started in New York with Prabal Gurung's collection. See the boldly draped black and white capped sleeved tops and the tight grey knit, long sleeved jerseys paired with gathered skirts from Gurung; there is no denying 'inspiration' from Balenciaga's Fall 2008 collection.

Yesterday in Milan, Fay presented a bold collection which I believe pays more than just homage to Balenciaga's Fall 2011 collection. What fashionita could forget Balenciaga's super large hounds-tooth jackets? Well, in case we did, Fay is reminding us (?). Fay even mimicked the styling of the oxford shoes as well as the black & white  AND black & grey hounds-tooth print  jackets with black sleeves displayed in the Balenciaga collection.

Not that Nicolas Ghesquiere isn't cut from the same cloth, so to speak, as far as  taking inspiration to the extreme. In his Spring 2002 show he did admit to lifting a key look from Kaisik Wong, a brilliant costume designer of the 70s.

vest by Kaisik Wong

And Ghesquiere did it again in his 2010 resort collection where he clearly must have loved the groovy "parrot jacket" by East West Musical Instruments:

Is there a difference between "taking inspiration" and flat-out copying? When do references become almost criminal? Yves Saint Laurent won a lawsuit against Ralph Lauren in 1994 for 'stealing' the design of YSL's famous tuxedo dress from 1966 (Read more from the New York Times here).

We all seem to recognize the wrongfulness of mass-manufactured fakes in the fashion world such as handbags, sunglasses, perfumes and shoes - but somehow high fashion designers seem to get away with letting their 'inspiration get the best of them'.

Julien Macdonald Fall 2014

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On day 2 of London Fashion week, Julien Macdonald unleashed a fury of sexy, red-carpet ready dresses for his Fall 2014 collection. Although I found this collection questionably reminiscent of the work of Mark Fast (his skin-tight knitted outfits) and Zuhair Murad (Murad's penchant for transparent gowns adorned with detailed embroidery, sequins and bead work), I loved it anyway.

Photos: style.com

Clover Canyon Fall 2014

Clover Canyon is known for its prints and for designer Rozae Nichols, the fall 2014 collection certainly didn't stray from his colorful reputation. Flowers, stained glass and plaid all played their part this time around.

When I think of  graphic, hyper colored, brilliantly executed prints designed perfectly to fit every curve and contour of the female body, I think of Mary Katrantzou, Peter Pilotto and Clover Canyon. Seems I just can't get enough of these designers or their aesthetic.

photos from style.com

Rodarte's Star Wars

It's New York Fashion week and Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte took once again to cinematic inspiration for their Fall 2014 RTW collection, this time around with the film Star Wars.

In 2011, Rodarte presented a stunning collection with inspiration from the Film "Days of Heaven" (you can see my blog post here) symbolized mainly with the film's beautiful art direction focused in the sun-drenched hues of rural vistas. They combined the color story from the film with some prints from Vincent van Gogh and the effect was remarkable.

For  Fall 2014, the Star Wars reference is more of a "hey look everyone, its Star Wars!" than a reference. It doesn't seem that Star Wars was the general theme of this collection in terms of color palette or silhouette - in fact, the huge prints of Luke Skywalker, Yoda, the Deathstar, C-3PO  and the double suns of Tatooine were presented as the last pieces down the runway. I love Star Wars and always enjoy a good reference or pun, but I am left wondering what these pieces held in common with the rest of the collection.

Rodarte Fall 2014 below:

Getty images

Lena Dunham and Hamish Bowles Vogue

Indie darling Lena Dunham of Tiny Furniture and HBO's Girls fame stars as Vogue's cover girl for February 2014. Do I personally think of Ms. Dunham as a beacon of style synonymous with high fashion? No.  But the quirky and affable writer/director/actor does speak for a generation of intellectually angst ridden young women and Vogue certainly didn't take a risk by featuring Lena Dunham on its cover.

What really delighted me most about Dunham's turn in Vogue is its adorable video, "Cover Girl" with Vogue contributing editor Hamish Bowles teaching Dunham how to pose like fashion's most legendary models - in dance. It is charming for me to see Hamish Bowles participate in this as I've only been able to admire him through his witty writing. Let's face it, he'll never get to perform a cute skit with Jimmy Fallon or dance on air with Ellen Degeneres; he's fashion famous, not "famous-famous" (although for me he's as famous as it gets!).

Forget about Madonna- think of this as the real "Vogue-ing".

Click image below for Vogue video:

Hamish Bowles and Lena Dunham in  Vogues "Cover Girl"

... and here's the February Vogue cover:

Kate Moss for McQueen Spring/Summer 2014

The incomparable Kate Moss stars as label Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 2014 heroine (or should I say, 'victim'?). The photographs by Steven Klein feature Kate Moss with her creepy doppelganger doll.

The ad campaign, inspired by the film "Peeping Tom" (1960), offers some hauntingly beautiful photographs with a very sinister undertone. The original film tells the story of a voyeur who secretly films a prostitute, follows her into her home where he keeps the film rolling as he murders her. The whole scene is depicted through the lens of his camera's viewfinder; Klein pays homage to this very scene in the McQueen promotional video. You can see the Alexander McQueen video here

Left: Still from "Peeping Tom"; Right: Kate Moss stars in  Klein's ad for McQueen

I admit, I first saw the photos from the campaign and instantly loved them. Now understanding the tribute Klein and the McQueen brand made to this disturbing film, I am left disappointed. Why are there so many fashion editorials and ads featuring women as victims of sexual abuse, violence and specifically in this case, prostitution and murder? Although I don't view these disgusting cliches in the print campaign I am nonetheless dismayed at the sensationalism presented in the fashion video. Some of the best minds and talent in the fashion world collaborated on this project and this is the best idea they came up with to sell clothing and accessories? It all makes we want to scream.

I could go on an epic rant about the perpetual display of women in fashion as the rape-murder-hostage-victim, but frankly I am too tired today. Instead, I am choosing for a brief moment to share the photographs I at first innocently mistook as a loose homage to Bowie in "The Man who fell to Earth"/ Pris from "Blade Runner" vibe that made me smile.