Alexander McQueen Commits Suicide!

Following the endless success of his fashion shows and creative designs, a news just broke out yesterday morning that Alexander McQueen killed himself. He was found dead at his flat in London, believed to have hung himself!


The fashion industry mourned the loss of the fashion designer who was looked upon as one of the greatest talent of his generation. Vogue editor Anna Wintour has issued a statement on his passing while other designers, editors, and models expressed their shock and sadness on Twitter.

Known for his Gothic sensibility and razor-sharp tailoring, Alexander McQueen's creations have always been dramatic, out-of-this-world, experimental and modern. His ability to envision what's next in fashion was rewarded with critical and financial success.

But beneath the genius craftsmanship, Alexander McQueen's life was sometimes gloomy and bizarre. Two of the closest women in his life have already died - his mother passed just last week while his mentor Isabella Blow died in 2007 from suicide. (Devastated by his mentor's death, the mourning fashion designer once told Isabella's husband that he'd been to his psychic who comforted him by saying that Isabella was doing just fine in the afterlife and was spending time with her fantastic cannibal grandmother.)


As the rest of the fashion world grieved for Alexander McQueen, editor of the New York Times style magazine Stefano Tonchi also pointed out that the fashion industry itself might be as responsible for the tragedy as any of McQueen's personal travails:

"I think it is just the tip of the iceberg. We all know that this is a very critical moment in fashion, and that basically he is the first victim of what is a conflict between creativity and business. Today to be a fashion designer, you have to be a superman or superwoman. You have to have nerves of steel. You have to be so strong. And if you are a little bit weak, if you have psychological problems or weakness, you end up like him.

"Do you remember how many people were getting killed by the job? The Marilyn Monroes, the James Deans. It was the same kind of self-destruction complex that brings you to kill yourself or do something so stupid as suicide.

"We cannot look at the poor Alexander McQueen, abused child or abuser of substance. I think you have to put it in a larger context in terms of the fashion system. He's just one of the little cogs that got squeezed."


The Alexander McQueen store in the Meatpacking District has been closed until Saturday. A white shade was drawn over the 14th Street windows, where mourners with roses have gathered.

The fashion designer's friends, family, and millions of admirers all over the world have just lost Lee Alexander McQueen — a great talent who has always been known to take the rapidly changing medium in stride, find inspiration in the tumult of technology, and create so much beauty in the midst of so much sadness.

Donatella Versace Wants Personality For Models To Be Super Again

Donatella Versace is not a believer in the natural look. She thinks it's time models should be super again. But amidst the sea of faceless models today, the Italian fashion designer cries, "There is not enough ego!"


"Now is a bad moment. Now we need something. We need a special personality. We need to feed the egos of these girls. Somebody like Kristen (McMenamy) who had a huge ego. Beautiful...," Donattela Versace says.

She misses the time when supermodels really become "supermodels" and recalls one occasion when her late brother Gianni Versace produced an autumn/winter show in 1991 that has become an era-defining moment in fashion.

"That moment when my brother put on the runway Christy, Linda, Cindy and Naomi together – they sang Freedom, and George Michael was in the audience – that was an iconic moment of fashion. That moment was when supermodels really became supermodels. It was the print girls' move to the runway, and that was something that felt new too – the print girls were not usually catwalk girls."

It was Donatella Versace who encouraged her brother to use attention-grabbing print girls for his show, contradicting the fashion industry's trend of staying away from notorious girls for fear that they might overshadow the clothes.

"It was a time when designers were afraid of models with fame. They were afraid that the clothes would be overtaken by the fame of the models. I said to Gianni, 'Do not be afraid like everybody else, because it is just stupid. Fame on fame means more fame! It does not take away anything; it adds.' It gave personality to the clothes, it gave things an edge that a runway show needs, otherwise it can be so borrring."

Being a hater of all things "borrring," Donatella Versace goes on to say that she does not like the neutral, pretentious look of models today.

"There is an idea of neutrality in models now. Little make-up, no expression, like a robot... That is very stupid. It is almost as if the models have to have the appearance of something serious, to give an intellectual base, but they themselves are rarely like that. And the roots of fashion are essentially fun. It is something that women wear to make themselves feel better, that shouldn't be forgotten. When you take the joy out of fashion, it is not fashion any more. If you are going to be very clever, too clever, be a scientist. I am not a scientist."

For Donatella Versace, what today's fashion models are lacking are personality. She remembers the time when the fashion industry was full of fun, crazy girls like the catfighting Linda Evangelista and Kristen McMemenamy, Amber Valetta, and the cigarette-puffing tiny girl - Kate Moss. These crazy girls have turned out to be iconic models.


"It was never about changing the girls, it was about defining who they were. I always respected the personality," Donnatella Versace explains.

"You should never be afraid in fashion. In this economic situation the worst thing you can be is afraid. You need to do something special, not safe."


The complete fashion manifest of Donnatella Versace is presented in the LOVE magazine's The Fashion Icons issue, out tomorrow.

Weird Runway Hairs At Rome Fashion Week

Rome Fashion Week featured runway models with hair sculptures yesterday at Lorenzo Riva fashion show.


The former Balenciaga designer paid homage to the 1970s heyday of actresses such as Monica Vitti with a collection that includes feminine skirt suits, gowns with big bows at the waist and lots of large, black-and-white patterns.

But the Lorenzo Riva fashion show was not memorable because of the dresses but because of the attention-grabbing runway hairs, which were actually hats.

One hair hat looked like a weeping willow tree:

Another hair hat was shaped like a flower pot:

Glamour supposed that these hair hats were meant as geometric artist statements that provide balance to the clothes.

For designer Lorenzo Riva, the hairstyles were just one element of his fashion show that calls for the return of elegance to Rome:

"Haute Couture must stay here. Now if only one 'big name' designer would return to Rome, the other Italian stylists would come home too."

Paris Spring-Summer Haute Couture Fashion Week

January 24-28 is the week of Spring-Summer 2010 haute couture fashion shows in Paris.

Let's take a look at some of the most extravagant and/or out-of-this world styles that top fashion designers and runway models presented for the spring-summer season:

Beauty In Horror on 24th

Dutch fashion designer Josephus Thimister opened the fashion week on January 24 with a fashion show that "searched for beauty in horror."

Equestrian Chic on 25th

For Christian Dior, it was a display of whinnying equestrian-themed collection as designer John Galliano presented his collection of nip-waisted jackets and flowing skirts inspired by 19th century horsewomen.

Aurora Borealis and Sweet Pastels on the 26th

Giorgio Armani Privé made a forward-to-the-future statement with a collection that referenced Art Deco but used high-tech futurist fabrics.

The fashion designer's favorite material in the collection was liquid metal while his favorite fabric effect was "aurora borealis," where the northern lights seemed almost impregnated into silk jacquard looks.

"Very futuristic? Maybe, but for today, for 2010," commented Armani when asked about the futurist elements in his Privé haute couture line.

No More Little Black Dress

Chanel made a ground-breaking moment when the fashion house presented a collection without a speck of black. Saying goodbye to its "little black dress," Karl Lagerfeld's haute couture for next summer were inspired by the patisserie counters.

Chanel models walked the runway in hairs elaborately coiffed into heart-shaped Sixties beehives with an adornment of bows and baubles. The models' hands have dinky fingerless silver mittens while their feet were shod in shiny silver ankle boots.

Karl Lagerfeld also decreed for next summer a collection of candy floss pink, apricot, almond green, lilac and primrose - anything but black!

Femme Fatale on the 27th

Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show resurrected the character of Ava Gardner from the film Avatar to play the femme fatale leading role in the fashion show.

"I saw 'Avatar' and, like everyone, found it extraordinary. And from there, I began thinking of nature and ecology, and the Latin American tropics and from there it was not very far to Mexico," explained Gaultier of his haute couture line.

Gaultier also concluded the haute couture Spring-summer 2010 displays with a piercing mariachi cry.

Union of Exquisite Clothes and Fine Jewellery on the 28th

The Paris haute couture week dedicated the 28th day to the craft of fine jewellery. The haute couture houses welcomed the haute joaillerie makers like Boucheron, uniting two of the city's most renowned and expensive hand-crafts.

Models Walk The Eco-Friendly Fashion In Copenhagen

Last Wednesday in Copenhagen, models walked the runway in organic cottons, polyesters made from recycled plastic bottles, and fabrics made from recycled agricultural or industrial waste. The runway show was out to prove that eco-friendly fashion can be just as fashionable as the traditional textiles.


Held at Copenhagen's Opera House, 20 designers from 5 Nordic countries and some representatives of big retailing companies like H&M and Barneys displayed the "green fashion." It was organized by the Danish Fashion Institute and highlighted the establishment of the Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical (NICE), a collaboration that aims to motivate and assist companies in the Nordic fashion industry to become more sustainable.

Each designers presented two looks from eco-friendly materials like organic cottons and silks, polyesters made from recycled plastic bottles, and new fabrics made from agricultural or industrial waste left over. It introduced the Crabion - a clothing material made from byproducts in the crab industry, Ingeo - an organic wool made out of corn scraps that mimics the smoothness of silk or the glossy sheen of PVC, and the Milkfiber - a material milled from the powder left over of boiled milk.

"It was an exercise to show that you can replace traditional textiles with innovative new ones that are being made in mills in Japan and Italy and that are less polluting," said Stine Hedegaard of the Danish Fashion Institute.

The eco-friendly runway show also doubled as a design contest for the prize of 50,000 kroner ($6,720), with a jury of fashion insiders to judged the show's 40 looks.

Saara Lepokorpi, a Finland-based fashion designer, took home the award after vowing the crowd with her asymmetrical cocktail dress woven from Ingeo and Milkfiber. "They were really nice materials to use and I intend to use them again," exclaimed Lepokorpi.

Awarding the prize, Denmark's Australian-born Crown Princess Mary said:

"The fashion industry is full of good ideas and creative people, people who are always ahead of time. It is an industry that picks up on and mirrors the developments in our society."

Sorry, Miuccia Prada Does Not Clothe Extras!

Miuccia Prada, the Italian fashion designer who turned Prada and Miu Miu into fashion powerhouses, is assigned to work on costumes for the Metropolitan Opera's upcoming spring production of "Attila" by Giuseppe Verdi.

But when she met the extras cast for the non-singing parts, she groaned at them and said, "I cannot clothe them! I need models!"


Poor extras. They will never be good enough for Miuccia Prada so they are being replaced. According to the opera company, the casting "is at the discretion of the creative team. Due to a change in concept, the Met is in the process of recasting" some of the extras.

The way it shows, the production is giving more importance to Prada's clothes and not to the actors who are supposed to give life to the story.

The non-singing extras (or supernumeraries, in theatrical terms) are women who have been cast months ago and have been probably preparing for their roles for quiet some time already.

One bad day, Miuccia Prada comes to visit Manhattan and when she takes a glance on the women extras, she realizes she hates their curvy figures. The extras are instantly deemed inappropriate - for the clothes, not for the roles.

Met is now reported to be hunting for models in an effort to recast some of the extras.

For all the drama, an observing source could only said, "Employing models is ridiculous. Being a supernumerary is about how you move, not how you look."

Why High-Fashion Designers Don't Make Larger Clothes? Donatella Versace Answers

Famous Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace graces Vogue website as the first designer to answer questions directly from the readers.

Amidst all the questioning, one stands out. A reader from Chicago has asked the iconic designer why high-fashion designers refuse to make plus-size clothes:

"Why do designers typically refuse to design for sizes above 10? This question is not meant to be confrontational; I've just always wondered about this. Is it simply a prejudice? Wouldn't it be a good business decision? I can understand not wanting to start a stand-alone plus-size line, but what about extending sizes to 14/16? We have money, too! "

Donatella Versace provides this answer:

"We do offer larger sizes at Versace, but I take your point. I certainly wouldn't want to do a plus-size line, as I have no problem with women of any size wearing my clothes. I guess some styles lend themselves to being scaled up, while some others just don't work. Sometimes it can depend on the specific piece."

Donatella Versace is the current Vice-President of the Versace Group and Chief Designer of the fashion line. She is the public relations giant of the Versace label, responsible for its spread throughout Europe and most of the United States. She designed the famous Versace Green Dress aka the Jungle Dress, worn by Jennifer Lopez at the 2000 Grammy Awards.