Swimsuits for summer 2008 (1)

I am a huge fan of black and so I wear it all the time - even in the summer. That's why I understand women who put on black swimsuits even if it's like 40C outside. It just looks so sexy even if you're melting underneath of it and matches high heels so well. Some propositions from the runways:

Celine, Gucci, Diane von Furstenberg, Adidas by Stella Mccartney

And from various on-line stores:

Oli, Oli, Melissa Odebash

Elizabeth Hurley, Elizabeth Hurley, Anna & Boy

American Eagle, Aeropostale, American Eagle

And from Urban Outfitters:

Billabong, Betsey Johnson, Damsel

Lux, Lux, Salinas

But if you're sure, you won't be using your swimsuit for actual swimming, but to impress the others, Dsquared2 is definitely a brand you should look at.

Du Juan for Giorgio Armani

We don't get to see Du as often as we did last year, so I'm glad she got this ad. Looks so classy and so 90's! I love the blur, unfortunately, you can't see the clothes (but that's not the point, is it?:)). And I wonder, who's the photographer. To my mind - the best pre-fall ad so far.

YSL

"Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it."

Yves Saint-Laurent

Anna Maria Jagodzinska

A Polish model, who debuted in 2003. She used to be the face of Moschino and H&M, appeared in two Italian Vogue eds and landed on L'Officiel, German Vogue and Australian Vogue covers. She quit modeling in 2006 to finish off her school, now she's back more polished than ever. For the up-coming season she's got three campaigns: Alberta Ferretti, ck Jeans and Gianfranco Ferre.
In her homeland she's known the most to be the face of a Polish brand Re-reserved. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Playboy France

I wanted to choose my favorite cover of June for the blog. So I looked though the FashionSpot forum listings, but I couldn't find anything that I'd really like. Except that one. The cover comes from the French edition of Playboy. And in the picture - Anouck Lepere - a Belgian model, that we all remember from, for example, this year's Jimmy Choo ads. You can find her ed here. I think she's stunning and perfect for Playboy, but above all of that - looks so confident with her body.

I'm so positively surprised with everything I hear about the French edition of Playboy. Last year they managed to nab Karl Lagerfeld to shoot Vahina Giocante. Furthermore, this March they featured Lou Doillon. It looks like Playboy France is becoming less Hefner-like, more fashionable-like, even if it doesn't show almost any clothes at all.

Miu Miu clutch

I usually don't enjoy fantastical theme in fashion, but obviously Miuccia has a different opinion. Today's item, Miu Miu's multicolored leather clutch, is a perfect way to finish an evening look. I like the way different textures and colors are combined here to make this fantastic dragonfly. The clutch comes with a gold handle on the back. You can get it at Net-a-porter for €950.

Carolina Herrera

I'm madly in love with this woman's style. And I totally agree with some of her quotes:

• "Mystery is one of the most important qualities a woman can posses, a woman who is an open book is boring."
• "I love the idea of elegance and intricacy, but whether it is in a piece of clothing or a fragrance, the intricacy must appear as simplicity."
• "You get sick of things that are too avant-garde, you take it out of the closet six months later and wonder what you were thinking." (Everybody loves slow fashion;))
• "Many women are afraid of being called glamorous today, because they don’t want to be called old-fashioned. Women connect glamorous with being old-fashioned, and would prefer to be called modern and chic."
  

More vintage pictures of Carolina here.

Vogue Paris June 2008

Oh, well... It seems like the idea of putting black people on the cover has dominated some editors' minds. We already had LeBron in US Vogue and the "all black issue" of Vogue Italia recently. OK, I get the idea. The readers are not all white blond blue-eyed girls, so I guess there should some variety also on the covers. If so, what about Asians, Latinos and all those biracial models? Think about the most popular Brazilian girls: Raquel Zimmerman, Caroline Trentini, Gisele Bundchen... They're all blonds of European descent, but coming from multiracial society. And how many Asians do we have on the runways? Just a couple of them: Hye Park, Du Juan, Ai Tominaga, maybe a few more.

So why am I writing all of this stuff? Because it seems to me that Carine Roitfeld organized a little competition - which cover is going to sell better - the one with Noemie Lenoir or the one with Laetitia Casta? They're almost the same age, both French, both actresses and models, wearing the same Chanel dress, standing in the same pose, having the same make-up. The only difference (except the hairstyle) is the skin color, of course. Pictures taken by Mario Testino.

The next thing - "Ca, c'est Paris" editorial. I'm honestly so disappointed. The pictures were taken by Peter Lindbergh and I was hoping he'll do a better job. Maybe it's because I'm tired of all this "strong woman" and "women love women" image. Or maybe because the snap from the bottom reminds me too much of that and comparing Sasha, Natasha, Lily, Doutzen and Catherine to Naomi, Linda, Tatjana, Cindy and Christy is just ridiculous (how would you call them - post-supermodels?). Or maybe because the editorial is just bad. Or maybe because I don't like the entire issue. Too bad.

Source: fashionspot

Devi Kroell clutches

I absolutely love Devi Kroell's clutches. She makes wood such a fresh material and the combination of rich brown/black and multi-color crystal embellishments is just a perfection. Devi describes her style as "simple shapes in luxurious materials" and it's so true. I don't mind her other pieces such as leather bags or shoes, but I'm always anxious to see her new clutches. The pictures come from Devi's official website - it's a preview of the spring/summer collection.

Sneak at H&M’s FW 2008/09

Yesterday H&M published some pictures of their fall/winter collection. And it looks so refreshing, don't you think? I love the knitwear and the coats, and some of the skirts are just awesome. Unfortunately, the H&M clothes never look nearly as good as they do in the pictures. Besides some of the pieces are so much like designers' collections (for example this "Prada inspired" set). Model: Heather Marks (glad not to see Anja again).