Archive for the FR Media Category

“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” was always just a matter of time – n’est pas? Casting seems to have begun about a year ago, but now it’s official: Paris Hilton’s two aunts will be on the new Bravo reality show show, Kim and Kyle Richards. They’re Paris and Nicky’s mom Kathy Hilton’s young sisters, and what could be more Bev Hills than that! They’ve both been actresses, but Kim is 45 and twice divorced, and Kyle is 41, married –

Since the sudden announcement this week that W Magazine’s longtime editor in chief Patrick McCarthy will step down at the end of 2010 – after many many years in that position – since Conde Nast will now reinvent W as kind of more sophisticated In Style – there’s a ton of speculation in NY fashion/media circles about who will be the new editor in chief of W. And apparently, the search is already on. Big publishing houses like Conde Nast don’t dispense with superstar editors without at least really pondering who their next hire will be. The names being bandied about are Linda Wells, the longtime editor of Allure Magazine (at Conde Nast), Joe Zee (the Creative Director of Elle Magazine, who was a big editor at W until a few years ago), and Stefano Tonchi, the editor of the T fashion magazines from the New York Times. Our money is on Joe Zee, because if Conde Nast wants a celebrity fashion magazine, he’s the guy for the job. He already acts as a stylist to Julia Roberts, Justin Timberlake, and many other celebrities.

Women’s Wear Daily was started about a hundred years ago by the Fairchild family in NY, as a trade publication to the retail and production businesses of clothing. When American fashion started to explode in the sixties and seventies (Halston, etc), WWD under John Fairchild became NY’s fashion bible – and the bible of fashion people: models, aristocrats, party people, artists and anyone who loved and wore great clothes. Years later, WWD spun off a monthly broadsheet for consumers called “W,” a bi-monthly glossy colorful newspaper format. In 1993, W became a monthly magazine with a bound cover, and ran stories on fashion designers, rich Europeans, decorators, celebrities, and society restaurants. It was really in its height in the mid to late nineties, and around 2000, it was purchased by Conde Nast.

Despite the fact that we saw stars like Mo’Nique, Vera Farmiga, Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Anna Kendrick, and even director Kathryn Bigelow (she’s sure a star NOW!!!) on red carpets from the Golden Globes to the SAGS to the Critic Awards and for a zillion other occasions, the Academy Awards on ABC got a 23.3 million home rating on tv in its time slot, number one for the week of March 1 to March 7 – up a great deal from five years and every one since. So clearly, having ten nominated pictures worked for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Oscar’s Red Carpet

It’s a big deal to make the cover of Vogue – it’s that “you know you’ve made it, even in the fashion world” moment. EVEN for TIna Fey, whose done the cover of Vanity Fair and other mags. But Vogue is the big mama of female prowess and achievement in America – and March Vogue makes it a bigger deal. September and March are the two biggest selling issues of the year, with the most amount of clothes and ads and readers. March is literally “the power issue.” In a candid conversation with journalist Jonathan Van Meter, Fey describes herself as a celebrity flying the flag for “normal.” However, as Anna Wintour notes in her editor’s letter, “there is nothing ordinary about her brilliance, her perceptiveness, or her beauty. Mario Testino and Tonne Goodman’s portfolio of the star captures a woman who fully understands the power of style to elevate the everyday.”

Highlights from the Article

Going Rogue: Ever since her devastatingly funny Sarah Palin impressions, she has for the first time in her life attracted unwanted attention—and hate mail. “People started projecting politics onto me,” she says. “There are people who hate me now because of that.”

Normal Girls: “I feel like I represent normalcy in some way. What are your choices today in entertainment? People either represent youth, power, or sexuality. And then there’s me, carrying normalcy.” Pause. “Me and Rachel Ray.”

The Skinny: “People will say, ‘Oh, fashion magazines are so bad, they’re giving girls a negative message’—but we’re also the fattest country in the world, so it’s not like we’re all looking at fashion magazines and not eating. Maybe it just starts a shame cycle: I’m never going to look like that model, so… Chicken McNuggets it is! And conversely, I don’t look at models who are crazy skinny and think I want to look like that, because a lot of them are gigantic, with giant hands and giant feet.”

The Power of Clothes: “I think women dress for other women to let them know what their deal is. Because if women were only dressing for men, there would be nothing but Victoria’s Secret. There would be no Dior.”

Hand-Me-Downs: When she was in grade school, a cousin gave her some hand-me-downs that included a “colonial-lady” Halloween costume. “It consisted of a bonnet,” says Fey, “and a burlap apron and a long skirt. And I would just wear it sometimes after school. As an outfit… It was the Bicentennial! People were excited!”

The VOGUE Cover: “I was posing for [Mario Testino] and he was talking from behind the camera and he was like, ‘You have to fliiiirt, darleeeng. You have to bee-leeve you are wuuuurthy to on the cover’ And then at one point he said very quietly, ‘Lift your chin, darling. You are not eighteen.’ And I was like, ‘You probably say that to all the 23-year olds.’”

Kim Kardashian had more reason than most to be excited about the Superbowl – her man Reggie Bush plays for The Saints. She even had her nails done to cheer on the New Orleans team – and it seems to have worked! She may single-handedly bring back nail art. Meanwhile, Katie Holmes – with husband Tom Cruise and his new co-star Cameron Diaz from “Knight and Day” – is always uncannily fashion forward. At a CAA pre-Superbowl party, she wore a flight style leather jacket and army green, the hot new – well, that really THAT new – for spring. Get ready for army jackets and khaki to make a giant comeback.

A few years ago – maybe even a year ago – this could NEVER happen! Vogue’s editor at large, and wildly dressed paragon of avant garde fashion and outspokenness, Andre Leon Talley, will take over Miss J Alexander’s role as judge on the CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” on season 14. This could be a ratings move – we’re not sure. It could be credibility move. There’s nothing like having Vogue magazine involved with your tv show. Miss J says he wants to be a mentor for the models and teach them, instead of judge them. Hmmmm . . . we wonder. In the meantime, Andre Leon Talley a few years ago would have sniffed and turned up his nose at a mainstream cable tv gig like this – and we’re shocked Anna Wintour is letting him do it! However, it will only help Vogue’s circulation now, and every magazine is desperate these days for bigger numbers, as they erode to the internet. America’s Next Top Model’s fourteenth season will premiere on Wednesday, March 10 at 8PM ET/PT after the network originally announced it would debut on March 3.
Guest judges will include famed hairdresser Sally Hershberger, fashion designer Rachel Roy, Wilhelmina Models president Sean Patterson, CoverGirl representative Dania Ramirez, historic supermodel Patricia Cleveland, Seventeen editor-in-chief Ann Shoket, The City star Whitney Port, 62 Models owner Sara Tetro, actress Sara McLeod and Top Model photo shoot director Jay Manuel.

We already posted here on Fashionrules.com that tomorrow, Friday Feb 5 is the American Heart Association’s National Go Red for women day. And guys, you’re welcome to join us! Wear red and show the world that you know about the threat of heart disease and want to bring attention to it. It’s as easy as throwing on a red sweater tomorrow – or a red dress. But there’s another option: red lipstick or nailpolish. We got a press release from Tractenberg in NY, the biggest beauty pr company, recommending the bright red lip of Rimmel London’s new Moisture Renew Lip Colour in Red Alert, Rose Passion, or Rosette. They have also have a great red nail with the new Lasting Finish Pro Nail Enamel in Stiletto. These are in the drugstore and cost very little, and if you’ve been thinking about a red lip for spring or red nails or toes, tomorrow is the day to do it. It will be fun just to see how many ladies will be sporting red tomorrow. In LA, we’ll be peeping into car windows to see!

Armani Exchange takes you to a surfside utopia filled with effortless style and relaxed sophistication this spring. Their “Utopia” campaign is an intoxicating fantasy with images that capture escapism and indulgence. Amazing the amount of creativity that can go into promoting such low-priced clothes! Armani’s “Utopia” will launch in February 2010 with a series of color images that break in major national media—print, outdoor ads, direct mail, and online. The in-book media program will consist of spreads and single page magazine ads that will be featured in magazines including GQ, ELLE, Details, Teen Vogue, Out, In-Style, Men’s Health, Lucky, Glamour, and Nylon. Significant spending will be allo-cated to impact outdoor units in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago and online in video banners on fashion and lifestyle websites. And it was shot on location in Myrtle Beach – not Italy!