Posts tagged wall street journal

I need to be issued with a late pass: how could I have missed this wonderfulness? Chanel Iman covers the December edition of WSJ magazine looking like … just… I have no words:

Pics via.

The glorious Dame Vivienne Westwood turned 70 last Friday … Happy belated birthday!

The doyenne of British fashion gave a wonderful, insightful interview in Wall Street Journal and I honestly wish I could be this cool by the time I hit her age.

In the morning, I practice 15 minutes of yoga. 

I very rarely watch my own fashion shows, but the makeup for my Fall 2011 show was just brilliant. Andreas [husband & creative director] went to the makeup artist and told her, “Make them look like horses.” They looked like they came from another planet, it was like this amazing parallel universe.

 I call 1970 “The Beginning of the Age of Nostalgia.” The hippie movement politicized my generation. When it ended, we all started looking back at our own history, looking, in my case, for motives of rebellion. So Malcolm McLaren and I invented this urban guerilla look. One of Malcolm’s slogans was “Rubber Wear for the Office.” It really was alternative at the time to take S&M and pornography and turn it into fashion. You can’t do that anymore. But, when I look back, it was only a look, and it was just a marketing opportunity.

 My beauty secret is absolutely no sun.

 Now, I don’t put any faith in youth. I do to the extent they’re always idealistic, but the last lot of them have been brought up to be heavy consumers.

 I think men are much more insecure than women. In history, women had an awful lot more power and influence, from Greek prostitutes to the women who ran the salons right up until the first World War. I think that feminists have definitely underestimated the role that women have had historically. I think I would be insecure if I were to be a man; there’s so much pressure on you.

 We would like to live in Paris. We’d love to get a little apartment; it’s quicker to go to Paris from London these days than to go to Oxford.

 The signature dish I make at home is beef Wellington.

 The best way to get exercise is cycling.

 The secret to a good marriage is tolerance. Don’t expect anything. I’m quite secure in my marriage. I could be wrong; if I am, I don’t really care, actually, because I am so committed to this relationship.

The editor as cover girl: Anna Wintour (shot by Mario Testino) covers the April 2011 edition of Wall Street Journal magazine, with the accompanying article investigating Ms Wintour’s power in the fashion industry.  

‘She’s a really powerful figure in America … someone whose power extends beyond what she does,’ WSJ editor Deborah Needleman told the Associated Press.

One person who’s benefitted from her influence is Marc Jacobs - she suggested his name to LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault when he was looking for a designer to take over Louis Vuitton in 1997.

Of course this isn’t always a good thing. Marc’s quoted in the WSJ article as saying because of this, there’s no way he can ever turn down any of her requests. ’If I get a request for something, there aren’t two possible answers. First I get an email, then a phone call from someone at Vogue, and now I don’t even bother to say no — I know the next call is from her.’

Pic via.

From Alexander McQueen’s final collection.

Cindy Rachofsky in her McQueen.

One of the most common fashion questions asked by Fashion Week novices or hetero men is: Who wears those clothes?

The Wall Street Journal answers this by taking us into the walk-in wardrobes of some of the most unlikely (well, they’re not exactly the Sex and the City cast brought to life) fashionistas.

These are the women who order items from the designers, fresh off the runway or have personal shoppers and reps from Neiman Marcus and Saks doing their bidding. They often wait around 3 months for their items to be custom made and pay that runway price without flinching. McQueen, Balmain, D&G all over the charity gala and catillion scene… I mean, really?

There’s Ana Pettus (42), a mom and wife to a construction company owner who lives in Dallas, Texas, who bought a gold Balmain minidress (and three other pieces!) straight off the runway at last year’s autumn/ winter Paris Fashion Week. Price tag: $74 000. But that’s nothing for a woman with FOUR WARDROBES that contain pieces from Yves Saint Laurent and McQueen. ‘I buy what I love. They are beautiful pieces. They’re not mass produced. You pay for that,’ she says.

Then there’s Cindy Rachofsky (54), a Dallas, Texas philathropist who sees her collection as art. ‘I hope someday someone will find it important and significant,’ she says. She has a bit of a McQueen habit going - she bought a $12 000 gown from Lee’s final collection and has bought 14 (yes, 14) pieces in the last six months. Death!

And there’s Bree Laughrun (26), a Charlotte, North Carolina-based attorney who wears Balmain to court. ‘I try to get as close to a suit, without wearing a suit, as humanly possible.’ Her parents fund her designer habit, so I feel a bit smug about this. But still. Sigh.