It's been four years...

Almost four years have already passed for Chinese Vogue under Angelica Cheung. I remember the news about the first issue... Gemma Ward was being at the very top of the modeling world and Du Juan was just starting to get international attention.

Du Juan, Gemma Ward, Wang Wenqin and three other models

Before the September issue launches, let's look at all the covers of the magazine (beauty supplements excluded).

Gisele Bundchen, October 2005

Hana Soukupova, November 2005

Nicole Kidman, December 2005

Kate Moss, January 2006

Du Juan, February 2006

Gemma Ward, March 2006

Daria Werbowy, April 2006

Lily Donaldson, May 2006

Freja Beha Erichsen, June 2006

Doutzen Kroes, July 2006

Mariacarla Boscono, August 2006

Du Juan, Gemma Ward, Sasha Pivovarova, September 2006

Maggie Cheung, October 2006

Lily Donaldson, November 2006

Gisele Bundchen, December 2006

Natalia Vodianova, January 2007

Du Juan, February 2007

Gisele Bundchen, March 2007

Shu Qi, April 2007

Lily Donaldson, May 2007

Wang Wen Qing, June 2007

Doutzen Kroes, July 2007

Lily Donaldson, August 2007

Stephanie Shiu, Du Juan, Mackenzie Hamilton, Pei Bei, September 2007

Mackenzie Hamilton, October 2007

Emma Pei, November 2007

Du Juan, December 2007

Lily Donaldson, January 2008

Du Juan, February 2008

Sasha Pivovarova, March 2008

Zhang Ziyi, April 2008

Zhou Xun, May 2008

Shu Qi, June 2008

Gisele Bundchen, July 2008

Maggie Cheung, August 2008

Raquel Zimmermann, September 2008

Du Juan, October 2008

Agyness Deyn, November 2008

Kate Moss, Maggie Cheung, December 2008

Naomi Campbell, January 2009

Wei Tang, February 2009

Anne Hathaway, March 2009

Lucy Liu, April 2009

Du Juan, May 2009

Lily Donaldson, June 2009

Anna Selezneva, July 2009

Sigrid Agren, August 2009

And then, some statistics (correct me if I'm wrong):

• There are 21 covers with Asian women, 29 with white women, 1 with black woman
• There are 12 covers with celebrities
• Du Juan appeared on 9 covers, Lily Donaldson on 6, Gisele Bundchen on 4
• So far 48 issues were published, one of them having two covers
• Out of the final 49 covers, only 2 are reprints
• 34 covers have completely white background

souce: many websites, but mainly tfs

Lifetime's fashion reality shows

Both the shows will premiere on August 20th, Thursday.

Project Runway

It's going to be the 6th season of the show - but for the first time aired on Lifetime and filmed in LA instead of NY. Everybody already knows the format - 12 contestants - non-professional fashion designers are competing in developing their own pieces of clothing.
The filming of the upcoming series took place last fall and the show was announced to begin airing in January 2009, but was delayed due to a lawsuit between the show's producers and NBC. Although it's been almost a year, the identities of the finalists and the winner are being well kept secret. But what we know for sure are the guest judges: Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria and Lindsay Lohan.

Models on the Runway

A new show, although the format is already known from f. ex. Make Me A Supermodel. As all the contestants in this one are female (16 ladies, to be exact), the producers promise more "drama, anxiety, joys, tears and frustrations" while models will be competing for $25,000 and a fashion spread in Marie Claire US.

Alasdair McLellan

I guess the guy is becoming Vogue Russia's favorite photographer. Three covers in half a year? Good job!

Dree Hemingway (August), Natalia Vodianova (June), Natasha Poly (March)

More of his work here.

Scarlett Johansson for Mango F/W 09/10

I know that objectively it's not the best campaign in the world, but I can't help it. I like Scarlett, I like her new haircut and I'm starting to like Mango more and more with every month I'm spending in Spain.

Brand: Mango
Season: F/W 09/10
Photographer: Mario Sorrenti
Model: Scarlett Johansson

source: tfs

Vivienne Westwood interview

Here is an interview with lovely Vivienne Westwood from last week's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (apparently BBC's version of those late US shows). Main topics: fashion, Pamela, environmental issues and Vivienne's life philosophy.




If you don't want to bother watching the entire interview, here is a short review:

• Westwood was wearing her own new design - huge cloak made out of seven meters of duchess satin + boxer shorts
• "Take the tablecloth if it’s beautiful, and even take towel if it’s good enough, or the curtains or anything — put things together yourself and take things from your husband or your boyfriend like boxer shorts or whatever" (I am so not a DIY person, but I love the concept. Sounds too radical in Vivienne's mouth, but it points out the right direction, I think.)
• "Buy less, but choose well (...) I think it's even better don't buy anything (...) Don't just keep buying for the sake of it" (definitely! after longer "shopping diet" one start appreciating both - new and old clothes in his/her wardrobe)
• "When I'm in the street, the only people I notice, are usually at least 70 years old, because they look really stylish."(look here)

Now that's my girl!

I must admit - Emma Watson is my second "it" girl of the moment (right after Beth Ditto). I know she's played only in one movie, but who cares? She's got such a nice, British style and seems to be...hm... how should I put it?... Normal? And here's an example - her statement regarding celebrities' fashion lines:

"I’m really not interested in doing it for my own ego. I’m not a designer. If someone asked me to do something that was beneficial to a cause, then maybe I’d consider it, but not just [to be able to say] ‘Look at me! I’ve got my own line!’[It’s] gotten so ridiculous. The idea of making my own perfume makes me want to vomit."

I might even consider buying the Elle UK.

(Plus I like Harry Potter. Or maybe I shouldn't be confessing that?)

source: wwd.com

Feeble means happy

"Of course it is fashionable to look fey and feeble, because this suggests you do not eat much, which suggests you are thin, which suggests you can fit into Chanel sample-size clothes, which is the most important thing in the universe. And even if you can't achieve this state of nirvana, if you pose in a manner that suggests feebleness — such as, say, folding your body in a pose that insinuates your bones have crumbled due to osteoporosis — you can fool onlookers into believing you are on the cusp of collapse. Malnutrition? Oh my God, like, such a good look."

Hadley Freeman, The Guardian's fashion journalist

found on NYmag, taken from Guardian

H&M F/W 09/10

This is only the beginning, but I'm already unhappy. I adore Sasha, I love Richardson and I like H&M, but the collaboration outcome is so unoriginal. Oh, well... Let's wait for more.


Brand: H&M
Season: F/W 09/10
Photographer: Terry Richardson
Model: Sasha Pivovarova, Eniko Mihalik (not sure whether it's full cast)

source: tfs

So this is the final "bye"

Although her agent claimed differently, Agyness Deyn finally confirmed her split up with the fashion world: "You know, even though I’m in fashion, I don’t, like, do fashion. Fashion isn’t me, even though I work in it. It’s just materialistic stuff. I just want to do whatever makes me happy."
Even if she changes her mind later on, I don't think there will be many designers willing to collaborate with Deyn after such a statement. Anyway, she'll be missed.

source: NYmag

Beth Ditto's collection launch - July 9th

In two days the Beth Ditto's collection for Evans is launching, so media is full of articles on Beth and interviews with her. I've just found two really interesting ones - in Guardian and Daily Telegraph.

Beth may be a singer (although not trained), but I hope she will do as good in fashion as she does in music. She's got designer's intuition and - contrary to "regular" designers - faces problem of shaping big body with clothes every day.

"The shapes for a fat person have to be different. Even stores for big girls get it wrong. With some of the designs, the people from Evans were skeptical but I was like: 'Trust me.' And then when the model put it on, they were like: 'Oh, I get it now.'"

And then on leggins:

"Leggings!" Beth trumpets, brandishing a pair that would house a bale of supermodels. "I'm proud of these! These are going to be life-changing." Life-changing because, according to Beth, they don't suffer from the two perennial problems for bigger women's footless tights. Which are, first, too much material at the bottom, so that they bag around the calf, and second, not enough material at the top. "See, if you're fat," she says, yanking up her vest to show me, "the waistband should come up over here, all the way up to under the breasts, so you feel secure and you get a smooth line. Not necessarily held in, but like nothing's going to be weirdly squeezed out."

Sounds like she knows what she's talking about, doesn't it?

Anyway, the collection is a result of several months lasting collaboration with Lisa Marie Peacock - Evans' head of design. Ladies were inspired by Blondie, The Slits, Grace Jones, Mama Cass of the Mamas and Papas, the Bauhaus and Art deco movements and drag queens. The clothes are going to range from funky-flashy style of the 80's to more functional pieces. The prices will vary from 18 to 65 pounds.

And that would never happen without Kate Moss' help. Kate, who's very good friends with Beth, introduced her to Philip Green, who now hosts the collection within his own label. Moss got it right again.


I love that dress!