stefano makes strong debut at zegna

stefano pilati debuted his first collection for ermenegildo zegna saturday in milan to unanimous positive reviews.  so happy for him to be back. i so loverly love him.

being let go from ysl was "beautiful"

making his first public comments since his final fashion show for yves saint laurent, stefano pilati spoke at the the french institute alliance française on tuesday evening.
he talked mostly about his career, from his move as a senior designer at prada & miu miu to his role at yves saint laurent, where he was hired by tom ford. there were no regrets, he said, and he could not even identify a low point working at YSL, even though his career was marked by several points of turbulence. (the name of his successor, hedi slimane, never came up.)
asked if designing for saint laurent was challenging, mr. pilati replied: "let's not go there. challenging is not the right word. it was dramatic. it was tragical." he went on to say: "tom has enough confidence for everybody around him, and i definitely got it from him. i question every single moment of my life, what i say, what i didn't say, so imagine someone who actually brings me there and gives me a lot of responsibility with an amazing relationship, it was interesting."
asked about his approach at saint laurent, mr. pilati said he was proud that he maintained his instinctive approach. "at least one thing i wanted to keep completely intact was the be spontaneous and instinctive," he said, "which is also what i think that mr. saint laurent taught us. i always went with the first ideas." and about the big question facing him now - what's next? - he said "i am pretty sure i have the energy and the knowledge at least to try to do something relevant, something that is part of what people need." he went on to say, "i started to work in fashion at a really early age, and somehow leaving saint laurent ended a chapter, a career i started almost 30 years ago," he said. "for some reason, i realized i haven't planned any move."
when asked how young people should approach working in fashion he said, "don't lose your passion, be true to yourself....go to work as soon as you can - do any job in fashion. no matter what. i've been a salesperson in a shop. i've been an assistant, a stylist, done internships....i knew that i wanted to work in fashion. that for me was the same thing, to be a fashion designer came up, but you have to try many things."

he's back!!

ysl & ppr have confirmed that hedi slimane will replace stefano pilati as creative director for the house.
a statement from ysl said that slimane has "total creative responsibility for the brand image and all of its collections." can. not. wait. hedi's back!!

confirmed: stefano pilati out at ysl

wwd is reporting that stefano pilati is out at ysl & will present his final collection on march 5th.  pilati said "[i am] incredibly proud of what i have accomplished with my teams over the past decade at saint laurent....i exit the house with fierce conviction in all that we have achieved and deep gratitude to those who have supported me along the way...i wish the maison yves saint laurent and its new creative director the very best for the future."

there have been problems between ysl executive pierre bergé & pilati for years - even saint laurent expressed dissatisfaction with pilati saying "some of what he does is good. some of it not so good."

regardless, pilati managed to turn the house around especially with bags & shoes.  ppr chairmain françois-henri pinault added, "i join paul deneve & the house of saint laurent in thanking stefano for his dedication and contribution to the story of yves saint laurent. i personally wish him all the best."

i'm just so on the fence because i have such a huge fashion crush on both pilati & slimane. i am super excited for slimane to return to fashion AND design for women but i will always have a soft spot for stefano pilati.  just recently, a friend & i were having a discussion about how 2012 has been the year of changes & it definitely seems to be true.  

there has been no confirmation regarding slimane's return but i can't imagine this rumour not to be true.  

kate + jamie

jamie hince & kate moss

terry richardson & carine roitfeld

mario sorrenti, david sims, giovanni testino & terry richardson

manolo blahnik and stefano pilati

daphne guinness

kelly osbourne & alison mosshart

gibby haynes, karen elson, jack white & nur khan

marc jacobs

kate moss & jamie hince after cutting the cake

all photographs by terry richardson.

see more here.

2011 met costume institute gala - alexander mcqueen: "savage beauty"

the actresses

leelee sobieski in alexander mcqueen

i LOVE this!

christina ricci in zac posen

she looks stunning

michelle williams in custom miu miu

sarah jessica parker in alexander mcqueen

liv tyler in givenchy haute couture

i still love this collection

hailee steinfeld

such a doorbell

dakota fanning in valentino

elle fanning in valentino

the cuteness is killing me - adorbable!!

mia wasikowska

emma roberts

the models

giselle bundchen in alexander mcqueen

crystal renn - so hot

karolina kurkova in jean paul gaultier

i think this was my second favorite look for the night

shalom harlow in marchesa

i know, it's marchesa...but i think she looks amazing & it's in the spirit of the event

(more on that later)

natalia vodianova in valentino with the designer

chanel iman in dolce & gabbana

raquel zimmermann

love her

liu wen in alexander mcqueen

hilary rhoda

karen elson

angela lindvall & karlie kloss

 the fashion crowd

anna wintour in chanel haute couture & bee shaffer in balenciaga

'

alexa chung & giovanna battaglia

(ignore alexa ... it's all about giovanna!)

daphne guinness in alexander mcqueen

ashley olsen in vintage christian dior haute couture

kinda loving this dress

mary kate olsen in vintage givenchy haute couture

quirky but her. also kinda love it

anna della russo in alexander mcqueen

margherita missoni in missoni

hamish bowles in alexander mcqueen

sarah burton in alexander mcqueen....

don't love this but i'm sure she was exhausted after the royal wedding and getting ready for this so i'm sure she just wanted to be comfortable. still love her!

swoon & swoon

florence welch in yves saint laurent and my husband stefano pilati.....

the couples

diane kruger in jason wu with joshua jackson 

such a beautiful couple

maggie gyllenhaal in stella mcartney & husband peter sarsgaard

beyonce in pucci with jay-z

livia giuggioli and husband colin firth

they are always so elegant

cara delevingne and douglas booth

what a cute couple!

surprisingly i liked

madonna in stella mcartney

while i don't love the dress so much it looks fab on her & the color is amazing

plus she doesn't look like she's wearing her daughters clothes!

jennifer lopez in gucci

again, the color is so amazing on her and i think she looks fantastic

so wrong

blake lively in chanel haute couture with karl lagerfeld.

wtf?? everything about her look is wrong

miranda kerr in marchesa

i just can't

iman in stella mccartney

okay, iman looks stunning but a gold sparkly jumpsuit?  no.

rihanna in stella mcartney

the mermaid hair, the mermaid dress, the shoes - it's all wrong for me.

naomi campbell in alexander mcqueen

this dress is amazing but the way she is wearing it is so wrong. the formal hair and jewelry ruined this for me. i also think this needed to be on someone much smaller.

frieda pinto in chanel

she's such a gorgeous girl but this is doing nothing for her.

my biggest complaint about going through all the photos from the event was that alot of the guests did not seem to get the theme of the night - savage beauty. i understand that alot of the mcqueen pieces were exhibited and unavailable but at least dress in the spirit of mcqueen.  so many of the celebrities just looked blah. safe and blah.  i wish they would just walk away from the stylists and choose something for themselves, i mean lea michele wore escada!  why?  such an opportunity to wear some fantastic creation.....so wasted. my favorites of the night were leelee sobieski, karolina kurkova, christina ricci & florence welch & ashley olsen. still it's fun to look at everyone all dressed up!