Working Woman

Source: Voque.co.uk


PREEN girls like Gwyneth Paltrow, Thandie Newton, Kate Bosworth and Cindy Crawford know exactly what to wear to a party - thanks to the label's form-flattering, colour-pop dresses - but what to wear to a business meeting has always been trickier, until now.

"We wanted it to be masculine with a feminine twist, we thought it was about time we gave our Preen girl something to wear to work," Preen designers Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi explained. "We have developed great cocktail dresses, great Sunday knits, cool summer silks - but had never really ventured into cool workwear. We thought about it in terms of 'husband' jackets, that chic yet traditional city man."

In order to achieve the workwear look they wanted at the first attempt, the duo collaborated with English tailoring firm Gieves & Hawkes, borrowing their sharp masculine aesthetic and adding fun, feminising details. And it seems their celebrity following has embraced the new range already.

"It's been very popular," Bregazzi confessed. "Rachel Billson just wore the tailoring inspired Petal Dress (look 38), and we expect to see Demi Moore in the suit soon (look 5)."

Caring Carey

BAFTA Award-winning actress, Carey Mulligan has donated the Vionnet dress she wore this year to accept her Best Actress award to Oxfam, to raise money for the charity's women's projects. She joins a list of other famous names - including Elle Macpherson and Alexa Chung - in raiding her wardrobe for the cause.

"I'm honored to be able to donate my Bafta dress to support Oxfam's work helping women living in extreme poverty across the world," Mulligan said.

The dress will have a starting bid of £50 and will be auctioned alongside other items from 10am onwards on Thursday 13 May at www.oxfam.org.uk/curiosityshop. The pieces will be displayed in Selfridges as part of the week long Oxfam Curiosity Shop event from Friday 14 to Thursday 20 May, where shoppers will be helped by a group of high-profile women headed by singer Annie Lennox.

Funds raised from the sale of the dress will go to Oxfam's women's projects across the world including Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, West Africa and South Africa. These projects protect, support and empower vulnerable women: campaigning against violence, empowering them to fight HIV and AIDS and offering the poorest girls the chance of education.

Desert Queens

Safari chic was the mood of clothing at key spring/summer shows such as Burberry, Alexander Wang and Celine, and the same desert-inspired colours were a mainstay for make-up, too. At Catherine Malandrino the collection was inspired by 'women of the world', with Tom Pecheux and his make-up team creating four different looks inspired by different deserts across the globe, with 'sweated-through' smudged mascara and bronzed cheeks. Lisa Eldridge created a rather beautiful 'post-apocalyptic' beauty look at Todd Lynn, where the girls' skin was sand-blasted with mineral powders and dusky brown eyes to make it seem as though they had 'been in the desert for days on end'. So, for this season, the must have products comprise a very wearable palette of burnt oranges, dusky corals and warm bronzes - try Max Factor's Miracle Touch Crème Blush in Soft Copper, £7, for sun-weathered cheeks, Estee Lauder's Michael Kors Eyeshadow Duo in Blonde Mink, £22 and for a truly authentic desert glow use Soleil Tan de Chanel Moisturising Bronzing Powder in Desert Bronze, £40, whose powder is actually shaped like a sand dune. Gives a whole new meaning to burying one's head in the sand.

Gucci's Film Foundation

CONTINUING its commitment to the world of cinema, Gucci has extended its five-year partnership with Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation, having made a donation of $900,000 US dollars for the restoration of two Italian cinema classics: Il Gattopardo (1963) and La Dolce Vita (1960).

"Gucci has a long history with film dating back to the late Forties, and we are proud to support the work of Martin Scorsese and The Film Foundation to keep these vibrant, timeless films alive. Through preservation, the legacy of visionary filmmakers like Luchino Visconti and Federico Fellini can continue to inspire us, as well as future generations," says Gucci creative director Frida Giannini of the longstanding partnership which, to date, has seen Gucci donate a total of $1.5 million to The Film Foundation in its restoration of six iconic film titles.

Scorsese adds: "Gucci deserves our deepest gratitude for its ongoing commitment to the restoration of works like Il Gattopardo and La Dolce Vita. Visconti and Fellini are filmmakers whose impact on cinema has been enormous, and both these films are as powerful today as when they were first released."

Italian Vogue breaks fashion’s color line in new issue

“Black is beautiful” has been around as a catchphrase since the 1960s, but a lot of aspiring models are still waiting for the arbiters of fashion to catch on to it. That’s why there’s so much buzz over Vogue magazine’s decision to devote its current Italian issue entirely to models who are women of color.

“Do black models sell?” was the rhetorical question Jerri DeVard, a black woman as well as a marketing expert, put to TODAY’s Hoda Kotb Monday. “It’s about myth-busting,” she said. “There’s this myth out there that they don’t. And that’s just not true.”

Veronica Webb, a black model and host of Bravo’s “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style,” agreed, and sees the pioneering Vogue issue as a vehicle that can begin to get people to change their thinking.

“We’re all conditioned to see beauty,” Webb said, and the magazine, filled with photos of glamorous black models, “helps to condition people’s eyes. When you look at page after page after page of beautiful, gorgeous dark girls, you go, ‘Wow! Wow! Wow! I want some of that. How can I do it?’ ”

Webb noted that advertising in the special issue is up 30 percent over a normal edition. But, to underline the problem the industry has with diversity, nearly every one of the ads features white models.

Still, Webb said, the editorial content is what will drive people to the ads, and if those ads end up selling products, other editors and fashion directors may realize that black is not only beautiful — it’s profitable, too.

Winds of change
“When people start to vote with their dollars, that will initiate more change than probably anything,” observed Neal Hamil, the North American director of the Elite modeling agency. Hamil claims that his agency is the most ethnically diverse in the business. He also says that he knows of other agencies — he did not name names — that have one token woman of color but remain adamantly white. “It’s one of the great disparities that exists in fashion,” he said. “It’s hard for me to comprehend.”

The time certainly seems right for change, said Webb, pointing to the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, and the box office success of Will Smith, whose superhero saga “Hancock” earned $66 million over its opening July 4 weekend.

“Things are changing,” Webb told Kotb. “Obama is running for president. To my kids, that’s normal. It’s normal that Will Smith is saving the world. I think what’s going to happen is that if this sells well, then people start to buy things from looking at this magazine. Once there’s a trend, the trend happens again, like the miniskirt. If it sells, it comes back again and again.”

“Veronica mentioned Barack Obama,” DeVard added. “I think it’s also about Michelle Obama in terms of being a style arbiter.” Last month, the candidate’s wife showed up on “The View” in a black-and-white print frock, triggering a buying frenzy.

Battling barriers
Webb is used to fighting through barriers, and, she said, it’s not just in the fashion industry. “You can plug that into lawyer, doctor, Indian chief. In any office, any profession, there’s always going to be a lack of diversity,” she said.

Hamil claimed it’s not the agencies but those who hire the models who are to blame for the lack of diversity in the industry.

“Designers, photographers, casting people, these are the people that hire us.

Webb agreed, saying, “You need more people who are power brokers. You need more black photographers. There aren’t many. I can count them on my hand. You need more black editors. You need more black hairstylists, makeup people. The more people there are in the industry, behind the scenes, making decisions, the change will come.”

Anniversary Exhibits

FORTY iconic portraits to celebrate forty years of discovering and recognising new talent - the birthday celebrations continue apace at Browns which, next month, will host an exhibition to mark the special occasion.

Paolo Roversi has photographed 40 Browns ambassadors - including models, actors and musicians - for the exhibition, which also includes film footage of iconic catwalk shows. Meanwhile, acclaimed set designer Simon Costin has curated it.

The exhibition will open the official Browns 40th anniversary dinner party on May 12, and will then go on to be open to the public from May 13 to 30 at The Regent Penthouses and Lofts, The Courtyard, 16-18 Marshall Street off Broadwick Street W1.

On His First Trip to Los Angeles, Jeremy Laing Learned A Few Things

“I was expecting to love it,” said Jeremy Laing, “and I did.” Take a first-time trip to Los Angeles for a successful trunk show, throw in a little Coachella and some sightseeing, and what’s not to like? The young, Toronto-based designer was in Southern California last week to meet his L.A. fans at Zainab, the Melrose Avenue jewel-box boutique that is the exclusive source for his clothes in the city (alongside labels like Azzedine Alaïa, Proenza Schouler, and Ohne Titel). Laing sold pieces from spring/summer and took orders from fall/winter. “It’s always nice to meet clients,” he said. “In L.A., they’re similar to those in other cities. My customer is usually interested in the arts, maybe she works in a gallery—or doesn’t work,” he said, laughing.

Gallerists and curators did turn up at the trunk show, along with mother-daughter duos. What they bought: easy dresses for spring, the shorter moss-print frocks from fall. “Pieces from the current season that they’ll wear tomorrow—and forever,” Laing said. “And from fall, more structured and embellished, more special pieces.” And, almost surprisingly, some of Laing’s superchic fall eco furs. “The L.A. ladies don’t own coats, but they do travel a lot. They need something to wear when it’s chilly in Paris,” he said. Looks like Laing, after just one visit to Los Angeles, really gets how its women shop. No doubt, a glimpse into the L.A. lifestyle gave him a leg up; when Laing wasn’t helping his clients choose looks from his collection at Zainab, he was checking out some of the places they might wear them.