Posts Tagged ‘Valentino’

We are so wrong, and we can’t believe it. Our favorite fashion movie of all time, “Valentino: The Last Emperor” did NOT
get an Oscar nomination today (Feb 2, 2010), and we were SO sure it would. What happened? We’re sure the producers campaigned like crazy to get one. Here are the films that DID not Documentary Feature nods from The Academy:

• Burma VJ
• The Cove
• Food, Inc.
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
• Which Way Home

Which means Mr. Valentino Garavani will probably NOT be at the Oscars this year, and the Oscars will be a lot less glamourous as a result!

Fashionrules.com has been wondering when it comes to Valentino gowns for this year’s Golden Globes and Oscars – what will the offerings be? After all, ever since Julia Roberts wore her divine black and white vintage Valentino when she picked up her Oscar for “Erin Brockovich” – and couturier Valentino retired and then appears in the movie “Valentino: The Last Emperor” – gowns actually made by Valentino (who stopped designing about 3 years ago) are MUCH more desirable. There’s no actress or stylist who wouldn’t want to get their hands on an original Valentino. But unless they buy them at a vintage store like Decades, that won’t be possible this year. Carlos Souza, who is dressing celebs for Valentino again this year (after decades in the job), has couture Valentino’s from the spring 2009 collection, by former Valentino accessories designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who are now designing both Valentino ready to wear and Valentino couture. These gowns are amazing, and we’re sure some celebs will be wearing them – but they were not made by the master!

One of the not-great things about Gwyneth Paltrow’s having had two children is that we don’t see her at that many events – or even in that many movies – anymore. She’s currently shooting “Iron Man II,” but we’ll have to wait a while for that. But we did get a look at her from last night, when she appeared at a cocktail party in New York co-hosted by VBH’s Bruce Hoeksema (the handbag designer) for Valentino, Giancarlo Giammetti and Matt Tyrnauer, the trio behind “Valentino: The Last Emperor.” Here’s the low down on her amazing glittery look: that’s a Roland Mouret dress, Christian Louboutin cage heels (that look like the YSL ones from last spring), a VBH square compact bag, an a VBH diamond bracelet. We admit to complete and utter jealousy. Of the outfit, yes – but of her body, her face, her husband, and her whole life. It’s not fair!!! – Merle Ginsberg

Now that IMG is out of Fashion Week in L.A., what do we have left? Well, it’s gone a bit grass roots – and that’s not bad. Sue Wong, one of Los Angeles’ most successful designers, is having a showing of her spring 2010 collection in the most exhalted amazing space we know of her – her own Los Feliz home, The Cedars. Her home is very nineteen twenties boudoir chic, with a touch of Paris and Morocco meeting the Spanish architecture – and it’s the best setting for her twenties inspired dresses. That will happen on October 8 during the day, and it’s invitation only. Then the Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA, will host two different events as part of the ongoing Downtown Fashion Week, is the spot for The Battalion Show by Chrys Wong, on Thursday Oct. 15 at 5pm. DJ Kelly Cole will be spinning, and Chrys’s clothes are extremely cool and well priced. Also, that night at MOCA, Downtown Los Angeles Fashion Week will host a Valentino Vintage Runway Show presented by Elizabeth Mason of the vintage store, The Paper Bag Princess. The clothes should be simply spectacular, and actress Maria Bello will receive the L.A. Spirit Award, which will award a fashion student $2500 dollars in scholarship. The runway show will be produced by Elizabeth Mason, and since it’s been the year of Valentino (the doc “The Last Emperor” is no doubt going to be Oscar nominated), she could not have made a more timely choice. Tickets for that are available to the public at Downtownlafashionweek.com – and no tickets will be sold at the door. The Hammer Museum in Westwood isn’t doing a fashion event per se, but they’ve got an amazing event going on on Saturday October 10. It’s already sold out, so don’t bother attempting it – but we thought we’d let you know what you’re missing. The Hammer Gala will honor artist Kara Walker and writer Dave Eggers (who’s a well-known novelist, and who wrote the script for the upcoming “Where the Wild Things Are” for director Spike Jonze. Salmon Rushdie will present to Kara Walker, and Catherine Keener will present to Dave Eggers – that’s MAJOR talent, people. Diane Keaton is an honorary co-chair, and Jessica Alba, J.J. Abrams, Eli Broad, Dana Delany, Linda Evangelista, Jane Fonda, Werner Herzog, Jenni Kayne, kd lang, Rashida Jones, Ed Moses, Joe Roth, Guinevere van Seenus, Chloe Sevigny, Darren Star, Ben Stiller and Jamie Tisch will all be there.
The Fashion Group International will host an evening on Monday October 12 at the downtown Standard Hotel from 6:30 to 9:30, called “Meet the Designers.” It’s about designers and their muses, and we are in the process of finding out which designers will in fact be there. You can get more details and ticket info – it’s open to the public – at FGILA.org. There are more DowtownLAFashionWeek events, and we are going to post a list of them. And Sigerson Morrison shoes on Third Street will be having an in-store shopping event on October 20th, invite only.

That’s not bad for L.A. Fashion Week – and it actually has more prestige than usual.

 

 

While everyone else is reveling in their summer, I am dreaming of fall. This happens every year, right after the mid summer mark of July 15th. I am now officially wearing dark colored clothes again, new nail colors, have switched my lipstick from coral to plum, and my nail color from OPI’s Over the Taupe or You Don’t Know Jacques, a deeper taupey grey.

Which means, like clockwork, I went online this morning, in search of cute fall shoes one could wear NOW, and fall bags you could wear NOW. I’m not saying I’m going to necessarily purchase them – it’s just “girl porn” if you will – my wishlist of fall items, now coming into the stores, that I would buy and wear if I could. 

On Neimans.com, I crave the low heeled Christian Louboutins in black lace with peep toes – they look dreamily comfortable ($825), and they would make all your black dresses look new. It does seem like accessory shopping is the way to go. A black skirt, after all, is not going to change your look much. You probably have five of them.

We also like the red Valentino “Vertigo” bag (tres Hitchcock), with beautiful leather pleating ($1995) and the Fendi Fovever canvas multi tone satchel called Bauletto – a steal at $755.  Okay, so it IS canvas, but it’s Fendi – so it almost doesn’t matter.

Both bags add fall hues to your basics and can actually make a whole outfit, they have so much detail.

Okay, now back to 89 degrees and reality. – Merle Ginsberg

The Paris spring 2010 couture shows are just around the corner – starting on Monday July 6th and ending Wedneday July 8th, 2009. We have a feeling less Hollywood stylists will be attending than usual this summer season, given the economy. But here at Fashionrules.com, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the gowns and clothes from couture that are relevant to a Hollywood red carpet. We doubt too many of these couture looks from Chanel, Dior or Valentino will end up at the Emmys (Sept 20, the next major red carpet) – but that all depends on WHO is going to the Emmys. (If it’s Sarah Jessica Parker or Drew Barrymore, a couture gown COULD show up. Particularly an Armani or a Versace or an Elie Saab).

But in the meantime, here’s what we know, for you internet fashion voyeurs:

Monday July 6 – two shows by Christian Dior Tuesday July 7 – LaCroix, Givenchy, Chanel Wednesday July 8 – Elie Saab, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino

Maison Martin Margiela will also do a special presentation on July 7 and 8th – is this couture? Or ready to wear?.

You can check out the full schedule online at:

http://www.modeaparis.com/va/collections/2009hahc/index.html

All the press contacts are here, too. What we’re curious about it – there is NO mention of a Versace couture show on this official French calendar. Hmmm . . .

The big news at Valentino is that longtime Valentino pr man, and jewelry designer and NY man about town Carlos Souza, who left 18 months ago when Valentino retired, is back in the hot seat of vp of U.S. pr. Souza – one of the most social and well connected pr gents in the biz – has the job of getting the U.S. press and celebrities to go to the couture show on July 8th. Having dressed many a major star in Val for the Oscars (Gwyneth, Julia, Halle, Reese), if anybody can get famous butts in those Parisian chairs, it’s him! Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli are creative directors of the line now, but the last couture show – without master Valentino Garavani – was not well reviewed. But celebrities in the front row is almost as good as good reviews.

Okay, we are COUNTING the days till July 10, when Sacha Baran Cohen’s “Bruno” opens in theaters – now that “Valentino: The Last Emperor” proved that fashion can make an incredible big screen treat – “Bruno” will put the icing on the dessert! The comedic star of “Borat” plays Bruno, an overly over the top gay Austrian fashionista – with hair so white blond and triple processed, he might be a member of a boy band! With assymetrical blond locks in his face, you’d never assume this was the same dark-haired London comedian who was Ali G and Borat. You can view a hysterical new trailer at www.brunoredhot.com, with Bruno sitting around a campfire with three macho redneck dudes he’s met (real people who don’t know he’s playing a character and mocking them – who might wind up suing him later) – asking these tough guys which “Sex and the City” character they relate to!
Universal Pictures also created something with “Bruno” called www.meinspace.com – an Austrian joke on “myspace,” and if you google it, the description reads, “Watch the Bruno Movie trailer starring Sacha Baron Cohen in ze most important documentary about a hot vhite guy since Passion of Ze Christ.”

Hilarious!!!!!!! Irreverent. And guaranteed to piss somebody off. We love that in a fashion movie. – Merle Ginsberg

We’ve been writing a lot about the great fashion doc “Valentino: The Last Emperor” – and with good reason. It might be the single best fashion documentary of all time. People have been comparing it lately to “Unzipped,” the great nineties doc with Isaac Mizrahi – but Valentino is a master designer, couturier, and he’s the most elegant and exotic subject. The movie was only meant to have a ten day run at the Laemmle Sunset Five at Crescent Heights and Sunset – but five weeks later, the movie’s still going strong, packing in the audiences! Now it’s expanding all over the U.S. – but in Southern California, it will open tomorrow, Friday May 16th, at the Crest in Westwood – one of the great old theaters of L.A. – and at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, and the Muvico Thousand Oaks 14 in Thousand Oaks. Okay, so “Angels and Demons” is opening this weekend – it will probably be sold out, so go see “Valentino” instead. Even non-fashion audiences are loving it – and we’re even hearing buzz on a possible documentary Oscar nomination. – MG

Anne Hathaway was clad in vintage Valentino (what we call “real Valentino”), a floral red and red coat by the master himself, before he retired, when he received the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style lifetime achievement award. Anne is turning into quite a fashionista since her Oscar outing this year – we hear she’s recently become very tight with Marc Jacobs, as she is a New Yorker – and that Jacobs has asked her to play the role of “his muse.” This can mean she wears his clothes out and about, but it can also mean she poses in his next ad campaign, which he is seriously considering – bumping Victoria Beckham out of the picture. Anne will start shooting her big musical on the life of Judy Garland soon – and we have an idea that designers are anticipating another Oscar campaign.