Fashion model talks shop at Stephens event

Fashion is fantasy. At 18, model Karlie Kloss has touched more of that fantasy than most of us ever will.

Since she was discovered at a charity runway show in St. Louis four years ago, Kloss has worked with the biggest names in fashion. For an hour yesterday afternoon, Kloss shared her experiences during an informal Q-and-A at the Firestone Baars Chapel at Stephens College.

Thirty minutes before the talk was set to start, fashion fans started trickling in. Alfred Cox, a sophomore journalism major from the University of Missouri, was one of the first. “I love fashion. It’s one of my main interests. When I heard Karlie Kloss was coming I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s amazing,’ ” Cox said.

Sarah McKay, a sophomore textile and apparel management major from MU, wanted to learn more about how Kloss got to where she is today. “I want to hear about her life and how she got started. I see her in every magazine,” McKay said.

A few minutes passed and Kloss walked in, following Stephens fashion communication students Kaitlin Heberer and Kristine Kloss, her older sister.

Fresh off the Paris Fashion Week runways, where she wore couture for John Galliano’s last show with Dior, Kloss is in town this weekend as part of the School of Design & Fashion’s jury of selections, during which a panel of fashion industry experts, including fashion designers, merchandisers and editors review each garment constructed by fashion design students and select the best to appear in the annual Stephens College Designer Fashion Show.

Kloss also gave a talk, called “A Model Life, From Runway to Cover,” which she described as a give-and-take situation.

“More than anything, I’m excited to share my experience and opportunities I’ve had working with these incredible icons and influences in the industry,” she said.

But she also said she wanted to learn from the students: “The future of the industry is sitting in this room,” Kloss said.

When the program started, Kloss perched on a wooden table, her long legs crossed in front of her, and started taking questions from the approximately 130 people gathered in the chapel. The wanted to know about the big names, but if they were hoping to hear dirt they were probably disappointed. Kloss had only nice things to say.

On her favorite new designers: “Do you guys know Jason Wu? He’s really sweet. We go bowling. Thakoon is really sweet. Prabal is really nice.”

On the infamously icy editor-in-chief at Vogue magazine: “Anna Wintour? She’s just a normal person. … She’s such an incredible woman who I respect so much, but at the end of the day she’s just a normal person.”

And she had kind words for the young designers in the room: “I’m sure I’ll be seeing some of you in New York in the future.”

She also shared little nuggets of her own personal life. “I just like to bake. I have an apartment in New York. One of the first things I bought was a Kitchen-Aid mixer,” she said. Her creations — mostly cookies — are taken to shoots and fittings.

When one student asked whether she faces any pressure to stay thin, Kloss attributed her slim figure to a fast metabolism. “I definitely find time to eat. Eat healthy? I’m not so good at that,” Kloss said.

The former ballerina also makes a point to take her running shoes with her wherever she goes but said she doesn’t have much of a workout routine beyond that.

Though the model is what our eyes are trained on, she is quick to point out the talents of the others working behind the scenes: the designers, seamstresses, makeup artists, makeup artists, hair stylists, stylists and photographers.

“The fashion industry gives off such an illusion. It creates these fantasies through clothes, this beautiful fantasy world that everybody thinks of. But there’s a lot of hard work there. … It’s not as glamorous or easy, breezy, beautiful as they might think,” Kloss said.

As for her role in the fantasy, Kloss likens it to acting.

“I get to take on the role of the woman who’s actually going to be wearing those clothes. Sometimes I look at those pictures and say ‘That’s not me,’ ” Kloss said.

Who she is, or at least how she defines herself, tends to be pretty simple.

“I’m just a normal Midwestern girl,” Kloss said.

“OK,” scoffed a voice from the audience.

“I’m a little taller than most,” Kloss conceded.

Sydney label Song for the Mute hits right note for fashion win

A SYDNEY fashion label yesterday won the Melbourne Fashion Festival's most prestigious prize when Song for the Mute snared the $20,000 MFF Designer Award.

Song for the Mute designers Melvin Tanaya and Lyna Ty walked away with a prize that included $10,000 cash and a trip to attend either the Premiere Vision trade fair in Paris or Pitti Filati in Milan after impressing the judges with their autumn-winter range, titled Milieu. Inspired by Ty's late grandmother, the menswear collection fused masculine and feminine elements to create an androgynous feel featuring plenty of draping and cocoon shapes.

"All the garments have a cocoon shape and the seams twisting from the back to front," Ty said. "I wanted to capture that feeling of losing someone and needing to feel cocooned."

The duo are both just 25 but already have a strong focus on using quality fabrics, often with innovative treatments; the collection they showed yesterday comprised 80 per cent merino wool."We always start with the fabric," said Tanaya. "It's the process of merging pure construction and new shapes to heighten the natural qualities of the fabric."

Long-line coats and fitted wool jackets with upright collars were worn on the runway with leggings, baggy trousers or harem-style shorts, in a palette of mostly black with flashes of oatmeal and cream.

The pair's triumph over seven other finalists was all the sweeter considering their original autumn-winter collection was lost in January in Paris after a freight mix-up.

They had just four days to remake it from scratch to present it to the awards.

"We were very close to giving up because it was so very much work to get done," Tanaya said.

The MFF Designer Award judging panel included Vogue editor-in-chief Kirstie Clements, representatives from David Jones and Myer, and MFF creative director Grant Pearce.

The pair's efforts drew high praise from Mr Pearce. "I've just returned from the shows in Milan and Paris and their collection stood up completely in terms of quality and innovation," he said.

Japan Cancels Fall Fashion Week

Four days after Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami, organizers have canceled the 12th annual Japan Fashion Week. The event was to feature 140 designers, with runway shows scheduled to begin on Monday.
Before JFW was canceled, many brands had already canceled or postponed their shows. As per a press release, organizers are attempting to put together an exhibition of sorts, and will also post pictures of the collections online.
The release reads:
Due to the multiple concerns regarding current electricity shortages, unreliable transportation, and general safety concerns, the “Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo” that was scheduled to take place this week and next week has been cancelled.
Consequently, the Tokyo Collection Week that was scheduled to take place next week has also been cancelled. Fashion companies work hard to maintain and expand their business connections, and JFW considers it its duty to support their efforts. Since conditions in each of their source areas vary greatly so does their rate of production. However, despite these difficult times, we will continue to try our best to obtain the products we can so that we may put together exhibitions to showcase them.
JFW will take these necessary measures and organize exhibitions by communicating closely with each company to determine a concrete support strategy that may be put it into effect. Regarding the contents of the collection, we also intend to make the collection available on the web as a means to not only provide more opportunities for business connections but also so that it may act as a source for information. For more details, please check our JFW’s official website.

Katie Holmes' Fashion Line Photo Shoot

She's immersed herself in the world of fashion, and Katie Holmes was busy partaking in a morning photo shoot in New York City on Tuesday (March 15).

Looking gorgeous in a black buttondown sweater, white top, black leather pants and towering heels, the "Mad Money" actress carried a Barneys New York bag as she hopped into an awaiting car alongside her fashion line partner, Jeanne Yang.

On the family end of things, Miss Holmes' rep recently spoke out to dismiss tabloid reports claiming that she and husband Tom Cruise's daughter Suri has a personal assistant.

The spokesperson told Gossip Cop that the assistant claims are completely untrue after HollywoodLife reported that a security staffer of Katie's was actually a sole errand runner for little Suri.

Fashion trend: masculine suits

Step away from the party dress! The only way to make a style statement this Christmas is to invest in a masculine trouser suit.

Compiled by Olivia Bergin
November 30, 2010 can officially go down in fashion history as 'suit night'. In Japan, actress Olivia Wilde attended the premiere of her new film, 'Tron: Legacy', wearing this sharp ensemble. We're accustomed to seeing Wilde in frothy and sparkly gowns on the red carpet, but she looks great in this contrasting style.

Over in New York on the same night, actress Jessica Alba wore a Dolce & Gabbana two-piece to an awards ceremony, completing her look with studded Christian Louboutin pumps.

It's still the evening of November 30, and Winona Ryder donned an all-black Givenchy look to the 'Black Swan' premiere in New York.

Over in Australia on the 30th, model Lara Bingle made an entrance at the GQ Awards in this Dion Lee jacket, customising her look with a black ribbon around the collar of her white shirt.

Only the day before the 'red carpet suit takeover', on November 29, Leighton Meester was almost unrecognisable at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, in a charcoal coloured design by Thom Browne.

Supermodel Karolina Kurkova stepped out in a shocking-red Givenchy trouser-suit back in November...

...The Givency by Riccardo Tisci autumn/winter 2010 collection featured cropped trousers and oversized, but super-sleek, tailored jackets.

Design duo Dolce & Gabbana made tailoring the focus of their autumn/winter 2010 collection, producing a diverse plethora of nipped-in jackets and slouchy blazers.

Back in October, Eva Longoria left her itsy-bitsy dresses at home, and went for the renowned craftsmanship of an Yves Saint Laurent suit.

Halle Berry as the poster girl for how to not wear a suit... this brocade Balmain creation might have looked fun on the catwalk, but in real life it looks like Berry was the victim of a full-on 'gold-attack'.

Gisele Bundchen stars as Balenciaga’s androgynous poster girl

Brazilian supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, is the star of the Balenciaga spring/summer 2011 campaign.

Her curvaceous frame of Amazonian proportions might have earned her the nickname: 'The Boobs from Brazil', but Gisele Bunchen's starring role in Balenciaga's spring/summer 2011 advertising campaign confirms her as the new face of

Jean Paul Gaultier autumn/winter 2011 at Paris Fashion Week

How to look young without Botox, as Jean Paul Gautier offers ageless Parisian chic… and not a corset in sight.

His autumn/winter 2011 collection was a witty take on age, which he called "how to look young - without Botox."

In pictures: Jean Paul Gaultier autumn/winter 2011
All the models had grey wigs which were teased into exaggerated French pleat hairstyles; save for the gender-bender catwalk star, 19-year-old Serbian-Australian, Andrej Pejic, whose blonde hair was all his own.
They all looked the epitome of Parisian chic in belted trench-coats, smart tweed jackets and skirts, and tailored, pinstripe trouser-suits with pussy-cat bow blouses, and all the right accessories. One model appeared in a mink and tweed coat, another in a silver brocade tunic and ski-pants, trimmed with fur, and both pulling matching shopping trolleys along behind them. Supermarket chic de luxe!

Andrej Pejic: fashion blurs gender boundaries
The collection worked all the clichés of well-off dressing-up, with tongue-in-cheek humour and superb tailoring, which has always been Gaultier's strongest suit, referencing everything from Catherine Deneuve in 'Belle de Jour" to the original "Stepford Wives", with a touch of "Mad Men". But although there was this retro mood, it was modern and fun.
Some models flung off their coats and jackets - leaving a pile of discarded clothing at the end of the runway - to reveal Lurex jumpsuits or beaded bomber-jackets and leggings. Others came on in scissor-sharp suiting, the double-breasted jacket open to show a string of pearls and a printed silk blouse, which continued as a "slip" visible beneath the double-buttoned, split skirt.
Apart from the absence of corsetry, the show was remarkably accessible in that it was staged on the carpeted floor of Gaultier's headquarters, rather than the two-foot high catwalk we have come to expect; and many of the shoes were kitten-heeled, rather than his customary skyscraper-spikes.
The French comedienne, Valerie Lemercier, 46, who opened the show, also closed it, with her own version of a striptease, which included producing a tiny lace-trimmed thong from an invisible pocket in her shimmering, long-sleeved cat-suit. Her carefree attitude perfectly epitomized the joie de vivre with which this covetable, wearable collection was conceived.