Australian designer Aurelio Costarella has died at age 60 after a recent diagnosis with Creutzfeldt Jakob.Western Australia’s most successful designer, Perth-born a stalwart of the Australian Fashion Week schedule for a number of years.
At his peak he was selling to Barneys New York, Harvey Nichols, Henri Bendel and Villa Moda, with 100 stockists in Australia, including the David Jones department store chain.
His designs were worn by names including Queen Mary of Denmark, Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron, Rihanna, Geri Halliwell and Dita Von Teese.In 2017, citing the difficult retail economy and mental health struggles, he shuttered his business to focus on art.
Oyé oyé braves gens, listen to the news that has just broken, crisper than a lukewarm croissant on a Sunday morning! You see, our fashion mogul, the lord of the Arnaults himself, has decided to play fashion journalist, but with an announcement that’s… shall we say… unexpected!
Shudder fashionistas, Duran Lantink has just been crowned Jean Paul Gaultier’s new creative director. Yes, Lantink, the king of improbable cuts and recycled looks with the swag of an eco-fashion designer. And guess what? He’s become the very first official successor to Jean Paul himself. It’s a bit as if Gaultier had handed him the keys to the family dressing room and said: “Go on, son, have fun!
When the rich cough, the stock market catches a cold. Black Monday on the Champs-Élysées of the CAC 40: luxury giants stumbled on their crocodile moccasins. A blow for caviar lovers and six-figure watch wearers: the group owned by the lord emperor of overpriced bags and inaccessible champagnes has announced a drop in sales.
Welcome to the luxury western. It’s in Texas that the lord has set down his suitcases, or how to mess up a leather goods show with panache. So, fasten your seatbelts (made of cowhide vaguely tanned with plastic), because the “made in USA” luxury rodeo is in full collapse. The famous luxury house, apparently the empire of French refinement, had decided to plant its golden pumps… in the heart of the state near the Rio Grande. The result? A factory that looks more like a Monty Python sketch than a high-end craft workshop.
Attention, overworked New Yorkers, dehydrated models, and globe-trotting CEOs in desperate need of spiritual realignment: your salvation has arrived. And it smells like lavender hand-picked by aromatherapy-certified elves. This summer, Guerlain is gracing us with the grand opening of its largest spa ever inside the legendary (and recently zhuzhed-up) Waldorf Astoria New York. Yes, you read that right: a 30,000-square-foot wellness cathedral dedicated to inner glow, outer glow, and deep post-brunch hydration.
We know L.V as the luxury behemoth, capable of absorbing houses like a trophy collector. But this time, while everyone was waiting for The lord to pull off another coup, it was Prada that stole the show by buying Versace for the modest sum of 1.25 billion euros. A deal conducted with the finesse of a Milanese tailor, while LV, perhaps distracted by a vineyard acquisition or yet another flagship store on the Champs-Elysées, looked elsewhere.
Breaking news in the fashion world: Alexandre Vauthier, the maestro of glamour, has slammed the door on his own couture house! Just seven months after Revolve, the Californian online shopping giant, got its hands on his brand, the designer decided he’d had enough. Clearly, art and algorithms don’t mix well.
After raking in $4 billion with Skims (no big surprise), Kim Kardashian decided to relaunch her beauty empire because, of course, world domination wouldn’t be complete without a little contouring and a signature scent.
Chanel recruits friends of friends, and Matthieu Blazy is no exception. Freshly arrived as Chanel’s artistic director on April 1 (I thought it was an April fool’s joke?), he is already starting to set up his little kingdom. And as in any good fashion monarchy, you don’t choose your allies at random.
Not content with just your bag or wallet, the brand is now taking over your living room, too. From the iconic Louis Vuitton 1885 Bed Trunk (because who doesn’t need a fancy trunk to sleep on?) to the Hemingway Library Trunk designed by Gaston-Louis Vuitton in 1927 (because Ernest Hemingway obviously needed a portable library for his really long trips), the French luxury brand has been cozying up to the design world for quite some time. And now, they’re ready to turn your home into a monument to expensive taste.
It’s always the same story with the ‘Boring Karda’; a story as old as her own reflection in her vanity mirror. So there she is, decked out in sparkles worthy of a Mughal treasure (Mongolian suits her so well), criss-crossing Mumbai like an Instagram maharani to attend the wedding of a billionaire who pays the guests at the height of the Bimbo’s hips. Suddenly, disaster! A diamond vanishes into the crowd, and there she is in panic, what a tragedy! What a tragedy! Don’t diamonds last forever?
British tennis player Jack Draper has gone from being a friend of Burberry to an official member of its global family. In short, he’s moved from the couch to the living room.
Forget glass skin, the fad of yesteryear that made women’s faces look like freshly polished windscreens. Now it’s time for ‘butter skin’. an innovative concept that combines glamour with the essential need to look delicately buttery at any time of day.
Unfortunately, these monarchs in patent leather shoes don’t stop there. If your murderous pen bothers them, they’ll attack the most precious thing you have: your children. Yes, these virtuous merchants of dreams are turning into modern-day inquisitors, blacklisting your descendants from all the headhunting agencies and companies in their group. Guilty by descent, heretics by birth, condemned to professional exile even before their first CV.
The rotor vibrates and its shudder, like a steel wing, beckons you to travel, and already the wind is caressing the cabin with the warm breath of early spring. The ground fades away in a whisper, leaving the weight of everyday life to crumble away. The helicopter rises, a sylph of the air, a mechanical bird gliding towards the immense blue, towards the eternity of an endless sky as far as the forest of Brocéliande.
The ‘Tonneau’ bag is a leather goods classic, and an iconic piece that captivates with its elongated, cylindrical shape. Its design is both chic and practical, making it a coveted accessory for fashion lovers and leading luxury brands.
Luxury in China: When Brands Step Down from Their Pedestal (But with Style). Once upon a time, luxury in China was a playground for capricious billionaires and eager nouveau riche, ready to raid a Chanel boutique like others fill their shopping carts at Lidl on discount day. But that was before. Today, in times of austerity and economic restrictions, major fashion houses have had to readjust their strategy. Gone are the diamond feasts and private fashion shows that looked like G7 summits now it’s all about democratizing glamour!
Earthquake at Loewe: Proenza Schouler arrives, Anderson evaporates and Dior trembles. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the turbulent brains behind Proenza Schouler, are taking over the reins at Loewe. Yes, you read that right. The New York duo, accustomed to graphic cuts and asymmetric jackets that raise bankers’ eyebrows, are set to inject a dose of Brooklyn into the century-old Spanish fashion house.