Whether you’re part of the millions of Swifties or not, undeniably this rock-pop star is a force to be reckoned with. And the V&A Museum in London pays homage to her star with a free exhibition kicking off this July.
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Lupita Nyong'o © Nick Barose
Four reasons to love Lupita Nyong'o, if you ever needed them
Reason one: she’s going to be Jury President of the Berlinale 2024.
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Gabrielle Chanel, 31 rue Cambon, Paris, 1937. Photo by Roger Schall
Gabrielle Chanel decoded: Fashion Manifesto opens at the V&A in London
While her name is known the world over, and her brand remains one of the most coveted in luxury wear year after year, not everyone knows the kind of divisive, at times downright problematic and extremely driven woman Gabrielle Chanel was. Now a fashion exhibition at the V&A sheds light on it all, no holds barred.
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The iconic Jane Birkin to be honored at upcoming El Gouna Film Festival
Hermès named a luxury handbag after her and she’s still dictating fashion do’s and don’t’s to “It” girls around the world. Now Egypt’s glamorous festival on the Red Sea pays homage to the late legend by presenting a selection of films that showcase her remarkable life and career.
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Stylish should be his middle name: Luca Guadagnino to receive SIAE Andrea Purgatori prize in Venice
From his latest collaboration with Spanish luxury house Loewe, to his latest film which features everyone’s favorite girl Zendaya, the Italian-Algerian filmmaker and fashionista has always proven that cinema and fashion go hand in hand.
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My ambivalence about Abel Ferrara, this year's Jaeger-LeCoultre Prize Winner at the Venice Film Festival
These days, there is much talk about Abel Ferrara and his collaboration with Saint Laurent. The American filmmaker’s latest is produced by the Maison and will world premiere Out of Competition at the 77th Venice Film Festival. There Ferrara will also receive the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker 2020 prize, an award “dedicated to a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema.”
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Illustrator Eduard Erlikh: What Fashion Dreams Are Made Of
Do you believe in magic? I do, because I have experienced it inside the home of master illustrator Eduard Erlikh.
On a particularly chilly NYC afternoon, I step into his building after the chaos of downtown, and then out of his private elevator. I'm instantaneously transported to another world: a minimalistic, fairy-tale land where things harmoniously sit where they belong, objects in different shades of pigment blend in creative and complimentary combinations and space does not appear to be at the typical premium it is in the Big Apple.
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Abel founder Frances Shoemack
Olfactory Miracle: A Journey Through Scent and Selection with Abel’s Frances Shoemack
At the moment, most of us find ourselves observing “Social Distancing”. But even at a yard from each other, don’t we wish to be remembered for how delicious we smelled, not how poorly?
So I’m revisiting this interview from 2017 with Frances Shoemack of Abel, a beautiful brand with a selection of delicious scents, you can find online here.
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There's something about Keanu
It’s undeniable that Keanu Reeves and fashion go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, you could say Reeves was born an icon, a closeted fashionista who could do no wrong, whether photographed with a scruffy beard, in his slim frame bare chested or sporting a suit.
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Lagerfeld inside the Pitti Palace, walking through his exhibit in June 2016
The day I met the late, great Karl Lagerfeld. Well, kinda...
I typically hate those standard obituaries on dailies and magazines that go something like this: “So and so was the inventor of this and that and is survived by his so and so relatives, spouses etc.” But you have to admit that when the great Karl Lagerfeld passed away, and his obituaries read that he was survived by his beloved cat Choupette, who also got the bulk of his inheritance, you had to give it to Lagerfeld. Once again, he made history. And created fashion headlines for years to come.
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Lady Melissa Percy wears the “Fonzie Jumper”
An Affair of Substance: Lady Melissa Percy and Mistamina
There is something about Lady Melissa Percy that reminds me of a young Katherine Hepburn. Aside from both being tall and slim, they don’t share actual physical traits as much as the ability to look glamorous and feminine in casual, sporty clothes. What both women of course do share is a love of the outdoors, sports and the similarities could continue beyond that.
Glamour to me has always been an affair of substance over style and it’s clear Lady Percy, Missy to her friends, embodies that wholeheartedly.
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Frida Kahlo: So much more than a muse, an artist and a beautiful woman
Finally, I made it by the skin of my teeth to the V & A exhibit “Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up.” It was an otherworldly experience and I highly recommend a prompt visit to every woman, and the men who love them, to catch the show. It is up in London’s loveliest museum until the 18th of November. After that, you’ll probably have to travel to Mexico, Coyoacán to be exact, to visit her Blue House, La Casa Azul where the Frida Kahlo Museum is located.
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Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick
The "Youthquaker" and her Mentor: Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol finally reunite in a retrospective of their collaboration at FIDMarseille
"I'm in love with everyone I've ever met in one way or another. I'm just a crazy, unhinged disaster of a human being." -- Edie Sedgwick
You can have your Kim Kardashians, your Gigi Hadids, your newly transformed princesses and Instagram sensations, I'll take Edie Sedgwick every day over any of them. In fact, nearly fifty years after her death, she remains for this child of the 70s a favorite fashion icon, an "It Girl" like no other and an example whose style and attitude I always keep in my consciousness.
So why has Sedgwick remained such a star, even though she could appear to have done little more than be born a socialite and die at age 28, of an overdose-slash-suicide after several stretches in mental institutions? Because she once met Andy Warhol, whom with his usual flair for discovering the broken yet utterly fascinating -- see Jean-Michel Basquiat and Candy Darling among many many more -- made of Sedgwick the original reality star. She is the predecessor of the Kardashians, only her reality was captured on film, by Warhol, a master artist of creation.
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Green Cedar, the latest fragrance from Abel
As Abel fragrances launch in the US this summer, I revisit a favorite interview with founder Frances Shoemack
Ever since last September, when I ran across Abel Odor, the Amsterdam-based fragrance company of New Zealander Frances Shoemack at Pitti Fragranze, I've been obsessed with these natural smelling olfactory creations. In my own philosophy of life, which includes great cinema, quality food and a generous helping of fashion, I find that perfume plays an integral part. It communicates who you are, in just a split second. And I always want my fragrance to say "intelligent, world-conscious and a bit wild" -- a message which Abel creations convey perfectly.
So to celebrate the fact that Abel products are now available in the US, both to order online from Abelodor.com and in select specialty stores, I revisit here my own journey through Abel scents and an interview with its founder -- a fragrance and personal favorite.
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© Guy Martin/nineteensixtyeight
From the Front Lines to Fashion’s Front Row: Photojournalist Guy Martin at Pitti Uomo
“I don’t want to be defined by it, by that thing.” Those wise words belong to photojournalist Guy Martin, when talking about the 2011 attack in Libya which injured him along with one other photographer, and left both Chris Hondros and documentarian Tim Hetherington dead. In a society that loves to place labels on people, for their achievements but most often for their misfortunes and mistakes, Martin is a perfect example of why such simplistic definitions are just plain wrong.
We are, and we become who we will be by constantly reshuffling and adding up all of our life experiences — the good and the bad, the brave and the scary, the deaths and the births. British-born and Middle East expert documentarian Guy Martin represents a wonderful specimen of the possibilities of humanity’s resilience, and grace under fire.
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Fashion’s Iconoclast: Six Questions for Teppei Fujita of Sulvam
Beloved street style photographer Bill Cunningham once said that “fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.” With that saying always in my back pocket, I watched Japanese designer Teppei Fujita’s latest collection for his brand Sulvam expecting to be shaken up by his looks.
What I didn’t expect was that the Nina who sat down for the Sulvam Fall 2017 show would not be the same woman who got up immediately after it. I was changed, exhilarated, inspired and in love.
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