raf simons

william eustace photographed by pierre debusschere & styled by marieke van dongen & matthieu blazy (@raf simons) using archived and current raf simons for vogue hommes japan.

covet-able

"gio" lounge chair with frame in jacaranda & ulpholstered seat by sergio rodrigues, brazil, 1958

ceramic coffee pot designed by kenji fujita for freeman lederman, japan, 1950s

plastic "grillo" phone by marco zanuso, italy, 1965

revolutionary blazer

anna selezneva photographed by sølve sundsbø & styled by marie chaix for vogue china.

basic instinct

kate moss photographed by willy vanderperre & styled by miranda almond for vogue u.k.

shark alley house

shark alley house, great barrier island, new zealand by fearon hay architects.

gone but not forgotten - pola negri

pola negri was born barbara apolonia chalupec in lipno, poland on january 3, 1897 to a life of extreme poverty. by WWI she had established herself as a popular stage actress in warsaw. in 1917 she moved to berlin where she appeared in films with directors max reinhardt & ernst lubitsch that proved to be successful throughout the world. in 1922 she was offered a contract with hollywood studios. her exotic style made her popular and she would become one of the richest women in hollywood, modeling her home after the white house.

unfortunately her popularity quickly faded....she had affairs with charlie chaplin and supposedly had a feud with gloria swanson but it was her hysterical scene stealing dramatics at the 1926 funeral of her lover rudolph valentino that bothered most people. she declared that they were planning to marry and had floral arrangements that spelled out her name placed next to his coffin. most of valentino's close friends denied that they were to marry and dismissed her actions as a publicity stunt.

her acting style went out of vogue and once the talkies came her heavy polish accent basically ended her career in the u.s. in 1929 she lost most of her fortune in the wall street crash and returned to europe. her career was spotty at best but in 1950 billy wilder approached her to appear as norma desmond in sunset boulevard. she threw a tantrum at the mere thought of playing a has-been and the role would go to gloria swanson.

in the 60s she moved to san antonio, texas and lived with her companion, texan heiress & composer, margaret west. she was often compared to norma desmond, the role she had famously turned down. she died august 1, 1987 of pneumonia at the age of 90.

légion d'honneur

karl lagerfeld is set to receive the légion d'honneur, the highest decoration in france, from french president nicolas sarkozy.

the nomad of the golden sand

alejandro rodriguez photographed by mariano vivanco & styled by nicola formichetti for vogue hommes japan.

j'adore, j'taime, je, je, je.....

at dior

in milan/in paris/with daughter françoise at karl lagerfeld

with karl/with carine at lanvin/with david sims (le sigh!!!!) at balmain

at chanel/at ysl/with mario sorrenti at john galliano

almost better than the shows themselves is emmanuelle watching! she always looks so flawless. love her!

louis vuitton fall 2010

louis vuitton 2010

christian dior, "new look" 1947, 1953 & 1955

so....i am a huge vintage fan - i own tons of it and i covet most of it. but....copying something straight out is so....ABS? seriously? WHO is going to wear this? they should have kept the little jackets and changed the rest of the silhouette into - i don't know - something more modern?

purple fashion

iris strubegger photographed by glen luchford & styled by camille bidault waddington for purple fashion.

it all makes sense now!

it is reported that pierre-yves roussel, chief executive of LVHM's fashion division traveled to london every other week for nearly a year to persuade phoebe philo to come on board to celine. after they agreed to build her a design studio in london she signed on. they then destroyed all the inventory in stores before her first collection, closed all but one store in the u.s. and cut ties to exclusive retailers such as bloomingdale's & net-a-porter. now i know why i can't find my coveted celine sunglasses!!

hermès fall 2010