In this rare and exclusive conversation, Manolo Blahnik discusses his incredible career redefining the role of the shoe in fashion.

Read more: Elizabeth Taylor, Platform Shoes, Laura Linney, Manolo Blahnik, Patricia Field, Baruch Shemtov, Stilettos, Carrie Bradshaw, Angelina Jolie, Sex and the City, Fashion, Shoes, Christian Louboutin, Fashion Trends, Hollywood, Sarah Jessica Parker, Manolo Blahnik Interview, Video, Style News

Have fun this Super Bowl Sunday, Fug Nation! Even if you don’t like football, surely you enjoy chips and dip! While I’m stuffing my face with queso, please enjoy: –  I have read this sentence five times and the words are still both GLORIOUS, and make no sense in this order: ‘he highlight for me Read More ...

   I can’t believe Hellcats didn’t work. How did a cheerleading soap opera on the CW not work? One Tree Hill has been on for NINE SEASONS, and nobody is even showing their abs anymore. Hellcats was ALL abs. Well, except when it was boring law student stuff and Aly Michalka doing acoustic jams in a Read More ...

   Here’s the thing: If I were ever to become famous, I would somehow create a contract wherein Madame Tussaud’s was legally prohibited from making a waxwork in my image. Because they never make waxworks in anyone’s actual, accurate image — they look like they’re based on grainy photocopied images of a person who may or Read More ...

 Dear Lana Del Rey, Considering all the PR DRAMZ over how weird and terrible you were on SNL a couple of weeks ago, and maybe now is not the time to so vigorously advertize that you are completely open to corporate sponsorship. Read More ...

   Here’s my issue with this show, which the same issue I have with Pretty Little Liars (which I also really enjoy): I have seriously no idea what’s happening, exactly, ever. All the I HAVE SECRETS and WE DON’T KNOW and WE AGREED NOT TO TALK ABOUT THAT EVER and I’D SAY MORE BUT NO are Read More ...

If you were worried that Tavi had given up on the fashion world entirely, so much that she might not even be coming to Fashion Week at all, then fear not! Tavi will be in New York next week, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but instead of doing normal, banal things like sitting front row at Rodarte or meeting Anna Wintour (although don't rule those possibilities out quite yet), she'll sing a live cover of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" at the Standard Hotel in the East Village on February 12. Her performance will coincide with a late-night screening of Cadaver, a new animated movie in which she has a role (and in which she also covers Neil Young). Whether or not she'll do anything Fashion Week–related while she's in town remains a mystery; she did make a brief appearance last season to host a party with Advanced Style blogger Ari Seth Cohen, but kept a low-profile on the show circuit. Either way, it feels right that she's coming, doesn't it? She's become one of those staples — like themed cupcakes, and fascinators — that Fashion Week just isn't quite complete without.

Read more posts by Charlotte Cowles

Filed Under: tavi gevinson ,tavi ,neil young ,cadaver ,kids these days ,rookie

 Leaving aside the fact that you can see her bra here — a tactical error, but surely not an intentional one — is it crazy that I kind of love this? I feel like she’s ten minutes away from walking on screen in an old black and white movie, carelessly tossing her clutch onto a Read More ...

SALES
STARTING TOMORROW
• Jackets are $150 to $400, suits are $200 to $800, sweaters are $60 to $160, and pants are $80 to $120 at the Seize sur Vingt sale. 78 Greene St., nr. Spring St.; daily (11–6), through 2/12.

• All jewelry is 50 to 75 percent off at the Kara Ackerman sample sale. 389 E. 89th St., nr. First Ave.; Sa (10-5).

• Find fall-winter items for $100 or less at the JF & Son sample sale. Jack Chiles Gallery, 208 Bowery; Sa-Su (noon-8).

ENDING TOMORROW
• Shoes from the fall-winter collection are 70 percent off at United Nude. The Pin Belt booties are $124.50 (originally $415), the Helix Hi boots are $75 (originally $250), and the Step Mobius Velcro Hi boots are $178.50 (originally $595). 25 Bond St., nr. Lafayette St. (212-420-6000); M-F (11-8), Sa (11-7), Su (noon-6); through 2/4.

• Pieces from multiple seasons, including holiday 2011, are up to 90 percent off at Gary Graham. 176 Franklin St., nr. Hudson St. (212-274-8940); Th-Sa (11-7).

ENDING SUNDAY
• Womenswear and accessories from Jerome Dreyfuss, Isabel Marant, Acne, A.P.C., and more are 30 to 90 percent off at Stuart & Wright. 85 Lafayette Ave., nr. South Portland Ave., Fort Greene (718-797-0011); Th–S (10–8), Su (10–6); through 2/5.

ONGOING
• Get 50 percent off the fall-winter collection at DIGS in-store and online. The wool-blend pea coat is $105 (originally $210), the military-style wool blend coat is $112 (originally $225), and the lurex cardigan with gold-stripe back is $75 (originally $150). 284 Lafayette St.; M-W (11-7), Th-Sa (11-8), Su (noon-6); 1054 Third Ave., at 62nd St. (212-226-3363); daily, 11-8. Through 2/28.

• The fall-winter collection is 70 to 80 percent off at Morgane Le Fay. Dresses start at $125 (originally $640) and coats are $750 (originally $2500). 601 W. 26th St., nr. Eleventh Ave., Ste. 1507; F-Sa, M (10:30-6), Su-T (11-4), through 2/7.

• Get 70 percent off clothing, shoes, jewelry, and children's clothes at Kisan. A Ports 1961 blouse is $135 (originally $450) and a Sonia Rykiel bag is $165 (originally $330). 125 Greene St., nr. Houston St. (212-475-2470); M-Sa (11-7), Su (noon-6), through 2/6.

• Dresses, sweaters, and accessories by Byron Lars, Hutch, Motif 56, and more are 40 to 60 percent off at the Juniper Galaxy winter sale. 82 Bond St., nr. Atlantic Ave., Boerum Hill (718-643-6867); T-Su (noon-7), through 2/9.

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Filed Under: fashion calendar ,shopping ,sales ,events

Following widespread confusion over Lana Del Rey landing British Vogue's March cover, Alexandra Shulman defended their choice in her editor's letter. "I am many of the thousands of people enraptured by the throaty, seductive voice of Lana Del Rey ... Once I had seen Lana play at a small event in London, I was convinced that she would be a great Vogue cover girl, even though she is probably one of the newest stars in her field that the magazine has ever had on the cover." Earlier: Lana Del Rey Did Land the Cover of British Vogue

Read more posts by Charlotte Cowles

Filed Under: lana del rey ,cover girls ,british vogue ,alexandra shulman

 After we fugged Cate Blanchett’s pettitunic, a savvy reader pointed out that Reese wore something from the same Louis Vuitton collection to a premiere for This Means War — which, parenthetically, if her sitcom hasn’t proved Chelsea Handler should call off the acting career, then the sliver of her in the previews for this movie Read More ...

The beginning of February is a particularly depressing time of winter — we start pinning our hopes on groundhogs, for Pete's sake — that cheerful, shiny things like Stockholm Streetstyle's photo of Anja Rubik in gold pants are practically essential for making it through a dreary Friday morning. Also worth a look: Easy Fashion Paris's picture of Barbara in a lovely red coat (shown), Altamira's shot of Edie Campbell in gold-patterned trousers, and an assortment of warm furry hats. Enjoy!

Related: Slideshow: The Week in Style Blogs, January 27

Read more posts by Charlotte Cowles

Filed Under: street comber ,slideshow ,edie campbell ,anja rubik ,sara blomqvist ,model tracker ,street style

Rachel Zoe may be ubiquitous, but she's not necessarily the epitome of high-fashion styling. Many stylists don't dress celebrities for award shows; instead, they lend their creativity to high-fashion work where the goal is to challenge our notions of what outfits can be, rather than playing it safe. Former British Harper's Bazaar bookings editor Katie Baron interviews many of those people for her forthcoming book, Stylists: New Fashion Visionaries (Laurence King, 2012). Included among the 25 stylists featured in the beautifully bound book is Balenciaga's longtime stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé, Harper's Bazaar's Melanie Ward, and W magazine's Edward Enninful. We spoke to Baron about the book, how the role of a stylist has changed in recent years, Rachel Zoe, and more.

What was the concept behind the book?
For me, the only stylists that were really getting a lot of attention were celebrity stylists. Styling celebrities is a really, really big skill, but the truth is, putting a really great dress on somebody on a catwalk is not the same as doing something in the fashion editorial world, which will then have ramifications across popular culture. Someone like Marie-Amélie [Sauvé] will create these unique shapes when she’s styling, which then, two years later, will actually start dribbling down into mass culture. There are amazing books about photographers and architects, so I thought I'd do something similar about the pantheon of people who are some of the greatest minds in fashion.

How did you select the stylists you included in the book?
I wanted to include a range of styles, from more grassroots fashion to high-end American Vogue fashion; by grassroots, I mean the punkier, edgier, dirtier stuff that you see in i-D magazine. I also wanted to make sure it had a global flavor because it’s all about different languages. Each of the 25 people in the book had something to say about the language of fashion that was very different from one another. 

I noticed key stylists like Grace Coddington and Karl Templer were not included in the roundup.
Grace Coddington is quite incredible but she’s been so well represented elsewhere, so I wanted to make sure that there were some people who weren’t crossing over too much. I would have loved to interview Karl.

In the foreword, photographer Nick Knight suggests that stylists may be more important than designers in reflecting what society thinks is beautiful. Do you agree?
I think what Nick is talking about is that a stylist can take a designer’s look — something that started with a particular collection with a particular idea behind it — and then subvert that. So a stylist has this quiet, slippery sort of power.

Fashion is tricky at the moment because a vast majority of the designers are designing sample-sized clays, and we’re in a Western world where beauty is still in a quite narrow focus. Although society's views of beauty are changing, they haven't been pushed a very long way yet. There are certain people — Nick Knight is definitely one of them — who are trying to forge ahead with that kind of change. The vast majority of people will look at a piece of clothing and understand how it works, traditionally and conventionally, but a good stylist has a different approach where there is not normal. 

The book touches on the idea that stylists have long been unsung heroes. Can you explain? 
I think people like Katie Grand are really coming to the floor. Part of the reason why stylists are getting more attention these days is that their job encompasses so many roles now. I think it’s also part of the digital revolution. All of a sudden people are filming fashion shoots and broadcasting things online. If you love looking at fashion magazines, then the next thing you’re going to do is go on the website, and then people want to see behind the scenes, they want to see the extras, they want to look at fashion films. And once people got to see behind the scenes, all of a sudden that’s when they became more aware of who was actually creating these things. If you think back to years ago, fashion shows used to be this secretive, magical world that only a few had access to. But now, the bloggers, the street-style photographers, and the arrival of the Internet really blew away the exclusivity of fashion.

But don't you think this higher awareness has also made the field of aspiring stylists oversaturated? It's a bit overwhelming the amount of "stylists" one meets nowadays.
I think it probably really is, but I think it’s just like any profession. I think that happens once people realize there’s a job there that they didn’t know existed. You know, photography has probably been oversaturated for a long time, and graphic design, or illustration. In the creative world, people do tend to cling to titles and job descriptions, because it’s difficult if you don’t know what you are. But I’m sure there are a lot of bad stylists out there, just as there are a lot of bad photographers and other things. So yes, I imagine it’s saturated but it’s probably not any more saturated than anything else.

It's also a lot more difficult than people think. 
Isn’t it? I think people coming into the industry don't realize that, especially at magazines, you’ve got small budgets, you’ve got one day to get twelve shots, and you have to think on your feet if things aren’t working. So the organization and creativity required is just phenomenal.

What about the whole celebrity-stylists phenomena, like Rachel Zoe?
Rachel is brilliant at what she does. Rachel has a strong sense of her clients and a strong sensibility, but what makes me not quite as excited to write about Rachel Zoe is that she’s working with real people, and trying to make them look better, but she's not really making a statement or telling a story. She's catering to that person, so to an extent she's working within safer parameters. Whereas if you’re a stylist in fashion terms, like the people in this book, you've got a blank canvas instead of a client. Rachel Zoe will be remembered for being exceptionally skilled at her job, but there's never going to be any fashion images where you look and think, "Oh my God, that’s Rachel Zoe."

Read more posts by James Lim

Filed Under: first looks ,laurence king publishing ,katie baron ,stylists ,slideshow ,patti wilson ,melanie ward ,tabitha simmons ,marie-amelie sauve ,katie grand ,nicola formichetti ,edward enninful ,anna dello russo

   Only three outfits this week, but one of them got to go to Paris — yes, actual Paris, not just Backlot Paris, or Paris Hilton’s house — and do a lot of jogging. Lucky outfit. Well, it’d have been luckier without the jogging, but still. This brings our outfit count to 42 for the series, Read More ...

Kelly Cutrone is joining me LIVE on Mondays with Marlo to answer all of your questions - tune in here on Monday at 12:30 pm ET!
I’m giving away fre...

Read more: Marlo Thomas, Video, Kell on Earth, Style, Bravo TV, Mondays With Marlo, Kelly Cutrone, Parenting, MTV the Hills, Fashion, Business, Entrepreneurship, Women News

• Sources tell Fashionista that Karlie Kloss and My Week With Marilyn actor Eddie Redmayne began dating after shooting an editorial together for Vogue. [Fashionista]

• Gap stock prices rose 11 percent to $21.52 after the brand forecasted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. [NYP]

• Helena Christensen fronts a new campaign for Reebok. [Telegraph UK]

• WWD asked some Parisian designers to sketch outfits for Rooney Mara to wear to the Super Bowl. Because she comes from a football family, you see. [WWD]

• Bar Refaeli posted a picture of her new lingerie collection on Twitter. It doesn't offer many clues about the line's offerings, but does show off her butt. [Telegraph UK]

• Wendy Williams says she saved up and waited for three months for her first pair of Louboutins, and then they didn't even fit her. She kept them anyway. [Page Six/NYP]

• Christian Lacroix collectibles will be showcased this weekend at the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show. [NYT]

• American Express card members can buy their way into New York Fashion Week thanks to a partnership with Tommy Hilfiger. Tickets to his show cost $95. [Shine]

• Rachel Roy is collaborating with doctor–life healer Deepak Chopra on a T-shirt collection, which will feature many of Chopra's inspirational quotes. [InStyle]

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Filed Under: loose threads ,models ,model tracker ,karlie kloss ,eddie redmayne ,the dating game ,stacy keibler ,new york fashion week ,reebok ,helena christensen ,katie grand ,love magazine ,rachel zoe ,bar refaeli ,gap ,wendy williams ,rooney mara ,superbowl ,christian lacroix ,american express ,tommy hilfiger ,rachel roy ,deepak chopra

In the new issue of Love, Linda Evangelista talks some more about that scandalous lawsuit she filed last year against PPR chief François-Henri Pinault, in which she alleged that Pinault never gave her any money for their 5-year-old son Augustin. She also demanded that Pinault pay $46,000 a month in child support. (Pinault, who's now married and has a 4-year-old daughter with Salma Hayek, affirmed that he is Augustin's father but denied that he never paid child support or refused to acknowledge his paternity.) Anyway! It appears that legal proceedings are ongoing, but Evangelista insists that she never wanted to drag her son into something like this. "I need to protect him," she told Love. "I never, ever used my son for publicity. He'll have his say one day if he wants it. He'll have the last word. He has time to defend himself." The latter point is certainly true, seeing as he's barely out of diapers.

On a lighter note, Katie Grand said that Linda's new Love cover — a screen print — "cost a fortune," and that getting Rachel Zoe to dress up as a vampire for the issue was really not difficult at all. "She was really game," Grand told Grazia. "Complete with fake teeth and everything. I phoned her and said, 'do you mind?' and she said, 'of course not —  but can I look beautiful?'" Which should be a standard response to all requests, really.

Read more posts by Charlotte Cowles

Filed Under: francois-henri pinault ,salma hayek ,linda evangelista ,rachel zoe ,katie grand ,cover girls ,ppr ,love makes the world go round

Project Runway's All Star cast lost the first of its menfolk last night. Sadly, it was the wonderful Anthony Williams who took the fall. We spoke with the delightfully upbeat designer this afternoon about his experiences on the show, sneaking out of the contestants' house for mussels at Cafeteria, and which of the new judges looks like Casper the Friendly Ghost.

You seemed very prepared for bad news on the runway last night. Were you expecting to be auf'ed?

Yes. Not necessarily [before the runway show], but as soon as I saw all the girls leave the runway, I was like, “Mmm, that’s a little too television for me.” It was quite obvious. After that many girls went home in a row, we knew the next person was gonna be a guy.

Did that increase the pressure?

No, the reality is, whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. I thought in the end, the judges’ decision was fair according to what they said. You just get over it.

Did you feel their assessment of your look's found fabric/new fabric percentage breakdown was fair?

One thing I've said is that the whole challenge was inconsistent. At the beginning of the challenge, we were told to create a look, fifty percent of which had to be from things you got from someone on the street. Then, on the runway, it turned into “fifty percent of your fabric.” When [the producers] delivered the rules, it wasn’t all on camera. I’m not saying that the producers did anything wrong, but there was a lot of room for miscommunication. That’s when I started becoming a little flustered, because I was like, “Wait a minute, my design was going in one direction, now it’s going in this direction.” It’s just, like, "ugh." Where’s a cocktail when you need it?

While clothes hunting in Union Square, it seemed like a lot of the designers found one person for their muse and stopped there, but you collected garments from lots of people —mainly cute guys. Did that become a problem, having too much fabric to work with?

The fact is, the producers encouraged us to get [clothes] from a lot of people. It was to see if you could get someone to get naked. But you can’t rationalize irrational decisions — and, more importantly, this isn’t my game. It was never in my cards to win Project Runway All-Stars. I’m not saying that to sound like a loser. I’m saying that what I went on the show for, I was able to do. I wanted to make sure I could handle my own on television, I wanted to see growth in my work, I wanted to make sure I didn’t sacrifice my character. And I will admit,  once I'd been eliminated, I had the summer of my life in New York City. I was sneaking out and going every-damn-where. I was going to Cafeteria every night. The guy who worked the door used to work at Mood. We didn’t have to wait on a table, he just got us in. I was eating mussels and macaroni and cheese and getting drunk every night.

So you're not currently based in New York?

No, I live in Atlanta. But I’m planning a move, and this move will probably be the equivalent of Madonna dropping an album: I’m moving to L.A. It’s gonna be a huge deal.

Why Los Angeles?

Because you can’t get struck by lightning if you don’t stand in the rain. I love fashion design, but I’m designed for television. I was made for it. I think I bring something very refreshing, something very unique and natural and organic to the experience, and I want to continue to pursue that. I get so many offers and so many producers pitching shows and things of that nature, but they all think that I live in L.A. And guess what? They’re not gonna come to Atlanta to find the next great talent. I gotta go to L.A. and say, “Hello! I’m the next great talent.”

Let's talk about showcasing that talent of yours. Did you have reservations about doing All-Stars?

Most definitely. But after careful consideration I thought it was an honest competition, and I just moved past it and started having fun.

Was there anyone you expected to see in the lineup who wasn't there?

I thought Nick Verreos was coming back, but I think when you get to a place where he is in his career, it may not have been a good look for him. But I would have been glad to meet him, because I’m one of his fans. I didn’t know who was gonna be on the show, but they sent an inexperienced wrangler to get me from my friend’s house in New York City and [I could see] he had the list of everyone he was gonna pick up from the airport. And, you know, people think I’m just funny, but they don’t know that I’m very clever. Honey, I knew everybody on the damn show by the time we made it to the second stop light in the cab ride to the studio. [laughs] I wasn’t expecting Mila. And I can honestly say I don’t know who I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting her to be on the show. At all. In any capacity.

Why Mila in particular?

I’m not gonna attack her design aesthetic, but watching her last night and the way she and Michael Costello kind of partnered together to talk behind someone's back...that’s a world I don’t live in. I don’t discuss anything that isn’t my business, but I can tell that’s a part of who she is naturally. I think it comes across on television that she’s very smug, she’s a backbiter. She’s probably a wonderful woman, but I think given this opportunity she could have worked harder to project a sweeter part of who she is. But I guess if there’s no sweet part, then that’s that.

But did you get along with all the designers, for the most part?

I did. Rami, Kara, and myself, we were like the Kardashians. Let me give you the thought process behind that: not because we wanted to be the Kardashians, but we felt that if we just added the last name Kardashian, we could be any damn thing we wanted to be. Otherwise, I’ll tell you this, if you wanted to figure out, not necessarily the hierarchy, but who was friends with who, look at the gelato challenge. When it was time to pick who went next to pick their gelato, I’m telling you, the writing was on the wall, and it was ugly.

So you'll be rooting for Rami and Kara then?

I’ll be rooting for Rami, Kara, and Austin. I think that they are individuals who came with absolutely no agenda but to win. I think they are healthy competitors; you don’t seem them ripping people apart. I most definitely think that all of them deserve to win.

If Project Runway offered you a third chance for the win, would you go back?

Sure, I would go back. It's too easy to get caught up in your ego over being booted off the show – how dare I be upset because I got eliminated? No one is immune from the process. It was me this week, but it was somebody else last week and it’ll be somebody else this upcoming Thursday. So how dare I feel that someone owes me something, or that I was done wrong because it didn’t work out in my favor? I plan on going shopping in about an hour, and I guarantee you there will not be a size 36 in the pants I’m looking for. The difficulty of last night will have nothing to do with the difficulty of today.

Would you want a whole new set of judges again, or to keep the panel as is now — or as it was?

Well, I didn’t know who Angela Lindvall was when we started, and I still have no idea about her character to be perfectly honest; I just know they need to get her some shoes she can walk in. I was a little disappointed in…what’s his name? Isaac Mizrahi. I was really upset with a comment he made last evening —  he described me as lazy, when clearly for the last 24 hours we’d worked like dogs on the challenge, only for [him] to sit [his] ass in the chair and critique what we’ve done? No, sweetie. Look in the mirror. You’re the example of lazy, not me. All you have to do is let somebody throw some Casper the White Ghost makeup on your face and sit in that stool and be entertained by what we present and what we say. You can say what I made was awful, but to say that I was lazy, that means you’re saying something about my character. And I didn’t like that.

For the first time this season, the judges did seem to get a little snarky last night.

Well, they’re never gonna edit the judges to look other than wonderful and amazing. They don’t send makeup artists to do our makeup, but they get a whole damn beauty team. I’m like, “No! We worked like dogs! Send someone over to put some powder on me!” I’m personally very grateful for the L’Oreal Paris Makeup Room. I went in there and did my own makeup. Make sure you put that in!

Read more posts by Alex Rees

Filed Under: project runway all stars ,project runway ,sounding auf ,designers ,make it work ,anthony williams

Eyeliner is a fickle thing — most of us find a brand that works and stick with it. Clinique’s new Quickliner for Eyes Intense is a worthy challenger to high-end liners. The Intense sticks are more richly pigmented than the original Quickliner, with a color-saturated effect akin to a liquid liner. Though the consistency is creamy, the water-resistant formula doesn’t smear like liquid or melt away like dry pencils. The texture enables even, fine lines with a swipe, but the stick also comes with a smudger tip for creating a smoky eye.

Clinique Quickliner for Eyes Intense, $15 online.

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Filed Under: best bets ,beauty

Last night, Ohne Titel designers Flora Gill and Alexa Adams celebrated their label's fifth anniversary with a party hosted by Esteé Lauder president John Demsey at the Waverly Inn. "I can wear an outfit by [Ohne Titel] to work and then go out to a beautiful party and then go dancing afterwards," gushed Visionaire editor Cecilia Dean. She added quickly, "I’m not going dancing afterwards – but I could." 

Read more posts by Charlotte Cowles

Filed Under: party lines ,ohne titel ,flora gill ,alexa adams ,mary alice stephenson ,slideshow ,michelle harper ,anne slowey ,julie gilhart ,valerie steele ,alina cho ,kim hastreiter ,taylor tomasi-hill