Monthly Archives: August 2012

Mitt Romney’s image flip-flop

August 31, 2012 12:46 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Despite having displayed an admirable consistency during the campaign thus far, dress if not policy-wise, yesterday night Mitt Romney gave up the sartorial fight, and switched sides. Yes, like so many of his winning predecessors before him, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W Bush (once), for his speech accepting the Republican party nomination for President, he wore…a red tie. Why do we care?
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Posted in Menswear, Politics, US election |

The good things about Paul Ryan’s bad suits

August 30, 2012 12:38 pm by Vanessa Friedman

A number of questions were answered about Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s VP pick, during his speech last night at the Republican Convention last night. Would he come out fighting? Check. Would he address the Medicare issue? Kind of. Would he make winning jokes about his new boss? Check. Would his famously ill-fitting, too baggy suits, which Esquire likened to a trash bag, be given a Sarah-Palin-type makeover? Nope. Now the question is: why not?
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Posted in Menswear, Politics, US election |

Ann Romney brings Oscar de la Renta in from the political cold

August 29, 2012 12:54 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Oscar de la Renta, the designer who was for decades the bipartisan go-to man for first ladies from Nancy Reagan to Hillary Clinton to Laura Bush (he even made Jenna Bush’s wedding dress), but who has been somewhat sidelined during the Obama years, stepped back onto centre stage last night in Tampa — metaphorically speaking — thanks to Ann Romney, whose brilliant, very Republican red, belted dress came from the brand. It was a meaningful choice, alluding to Washington tradition as well as the LA-NY-DC financial/social nexus, for whom Mr De La Renta is a go-to name. And it put Mrs Romney in pretty stark opposition to Michelle Obama. Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Politics, Ready-to-wear, US election |

Obama’s Glamour interview

August 28, 2012 1:11 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Ok, well, those political pundits had to talk about something when the first day of the Republican convention got cancelled. So on what have they focused their searing analytical eyes? The news that Glamour magazine, the elephant (yes, the Republicans have a creeping influence on our linguistic sub-conscious) in the Conde Nast stable, has snagged an interview with President Obama. The general reaction: Glamour ergo fluff. But is this fair? Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Marketing, Politics, US election |

The brand is more important than the editor, Prada’s £2,500 perfume, and more

August 27, 2012 5:38 pm by Vanessa Friedman

What’s been happening over the last two weeks? What’s the news we can use? Here are my top three recent titbits — the ones that at first glance don’t seem so important, but on second look have outsize implications, from NY Fashion Week’s first casuality to Prada’s new super-expensive perfume, and the rise of the magazine brand as star.
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Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Ready-to-wear, Shows |

FT column: Tied to the election

August 25, 2012 3:43 am by Vanessa Friedman

Is it possible to call an election based on clothes? This is the kind of question that occupies my mind as I sit idly by the pool on vacation in the weird fallow period before the next big political event begins in the US: the presidential race.

Weird, I know. Some people watch clouds and see ice-cream cones and bunnies; I watch clouds and see donkeys and elephants. But I know I’m not the only one. Read more

Posted in Fashion, US election |
From FT.com August 25, 2012

What are we to make of the fashion industry’s focus on ageing women?

First came the book Advanced Style by photographer Ari Seth Cohen, a visual ode to the beauty of the over-60s. Then came the revelation that the Parisian brand Lanvin was featuring Jacquie ‘Tajah’ Murdock, an 82-year-old model, in its autumn/winter campaign. Read more

Posted in Fashion |
From FT.com August 17, 2012

Isabella Rossellini, model, actress, film-maker, daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, and a woman who has lived most of her life in the public eye, does not like being observed.

She does not like being judged. She does not like having to explain herself. She does not like the red carpet. She does not like (of course she does not) being interviewed. She does like, however, animals, bugs and their reproductive weirdnesses, which can make for an unlikely conversational stew. Read more

Posted in Fashion |
From FT.com August 11, 2012

I tried to avoid it as long as possible. I stuck my head in Olympic hoo-ha and refused to pull it out. I thought Lycra, Lycra, Lycra instead of lust, lust, lust. Even when the news hit that Fifty Shades of Grey , the tripartite saga of smut and spanking in Seattle that has become a publishing phenomenon, had surpassed Harry Potter as the bestselling book of all time on Amazon UK, I rolled my eyes and shrugged: nothing to do with me. This book is about getting rid of clothes, not analysing them.

How wrong I was. If any proof were needed that a blockbuster bestseller equals a sartorial spin-off waiting to happen, this is it. Read more

Posted in Fashion |

Google and Microsoft follow fashion

August 10, 2012 2:09 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Reading my newspaper over coffee this morning, I almost fell out of my chair while perusing a tech story on Google, Amazon et al, which ended with the following observation: “Google, Microsoft and Amazon all have the potential to adopt Apple’s vertical model of combining software, services and hardware to gain complete control over the design and function of future mobile devices.” Because the thing is, dear reader, it’s not “Apple’s approach” exactly – or it is, but Apple got it from somewhere else first. And where would that be? Fashion, of course.
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Posted in Fashion, Financial results, Internet, Luxury goods, Marketing |
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