Helmut Lang was born in Vienna in 1956. Having originally been trained for a financial career, Lang only decided to move into fashion after he failed to find the perfect jacket and T-shirt in the shops and was forced to make his own. “I wanted to be an artist but I was so in awe,” he later explained to Vogue in September 1998. “I had a Catholic education, which leaves you with a great big helping of guilt and unworthiness that I went to business school instead.”…
The soccer star, who is married to Posh Spice Victoria, has been taking tips from top fashion designer Julien Macdonald for inspiration.
The rest of the band – Mel B, Emma Bunton, Mel C and Geri Halliwell – are said to be behind the idea as they think it will be great fun to wear his designs.
A source said: “David has been helping out a lot ahead of the Spice Girls tour, which starts in December and has offered to give them fashion advice.
“He has been looking at pictures of Julien Macdonald’s collection on the internet and has also studied other designer collections.
“He is drawing different strengths from various fashion designers, but obviously Victoria will have the final say.”
David – who is renowned for his fashion sense – has decided the outfits will all be black with different themes to match each of the girls’ personality.
David has also been helping Victoria practice her dance routines for the upcoming tour.
The band’s show choreographer, Jamie King, has told the girls to ask their men to help them learn the moves.
A source said: “Victoria has got David dancing away to Spice Up Your Life and all their hits – he’s loving being a Spice Boy!”
The hotly-anticipated tour starts on December 7 in Los Angeles.
David and Victoria Beckham are the most overrated people in the world, a magazine poll has found.
The celebrity couple, who recently relocated to the US, topped a list of pointless stars voted for by the readers of Radar magazine.
L.A. Galaxy player David was labelled an “overpaid soccer star”, while his Spice Girls star wife was called a “pointless collection of body parts”.
Others who made the list include: chat show queen Oprah Winfrey, actor Brad Pitt and God-wannabe Bono from U2.
Matthew Williamson is known as “the king of boho”, so it was entirely appropriate the rock-maestro, Prince, lent his unique support to the court of the young designer when he staged his comeback show at London Fashion Week yesterday. (Wednesday)
Prince’s new girlfriend, the model, Chelsea Rodgers, is a big fan of Williamson’s clothes and it is believed she was behind the singer’s decision to turn the designer’s catwalk into a frock ‘n’ roll fest.
Prince, who had snuck, virtually incognito, into a front row seat, erupted into song as his Australian dancers, The Twinz, gyrated on the catwalk in “Purple Rain” micro-dresses cinched with silver corset-belts, from the new Williamson spring/summer 2008 collection.
The clothes were a perfect demonstration of the eclectic-ethnic style which is Williamson’s signature and which has won him a legion of A-list clients including Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley, Kate Hudson, Madonna and Demi Moore.
Williamson described his collection as the story of a global fashion-gipsy, who picks up souvenirs to add to her wardrobe as she travels the world.
This meant a fabulous clash of print, colour and embroidery, interweaving Aztec and Mayan symbols, Indonesian batik prints, Indian tie-dye and tribal beading from the Yemen and the Sahara.
Williamson spliced his heavily-beaded tops with khaki chiffon combat-shorts and cropped ‘harem’-trousers. He mixed hologram sequins with wool-fringing and multi-coloured sequins with mustard and brown striped trousers. He restored cheesecloth – that 60’s hippie staple – to the style forefront.
And he underscored the mood of the “New Romantic”, which is pervading this London Fashion Week, with ruffled and flounced dresses, both mini-short and maxi-long, in butterfly and mandala-printed chiffons.
Williamson decamped to New York Fashion Week in 2002 to turn his label into a global brand.
But London was the only place to be as he celebrated the tenth anniversary of founding his fashion company in 1997 soon after he graduated from Central Saint Martins Fashion College.
“It’s great to be home,” Williamson said backstage. “This is where it all began,” he added as he recalled his LFW catwalk debut in which Kate Moss and Jade Jagger were models.
At the British heritage label, Aquascutum, the design duo of Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler, based their collection on an unraveling of the company’s archives, showing curvy trench-coats in silk jacquard, military embroideries executed in old-fashioned hook-and-eye fastenings and jackets and dresses, hand-painted in extravagant paisleys.
GILES
Giles Deacon offered a fabulous glimpse of updated debutante style in his show at a Victorian schoolhouse in London’s East End last night (Wednesday).
Inspired by Dior’s New Look of 1947 and The Golden Age of Couture exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Deacon delivered delicious ball gowns with visible boning and zippered bodices, over huge tulle skirts, panniered at the hips or covered with Latex flowers cut out with pinking shears.
The collection in nude, pastels, black and white or exploded computer graphics, was a romantic nod to the debutante of the 1950s, who would now be more likely to be found in clubs rather than at Court.
It seems that Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams are in talks for performing at the next year’s Brit awards scheduled for February.
Apparently, Minogue has already agreed for the event and Williams in talks for the show.
Minogue turned the offer to co-host this years’ Brit awards, but she feels that it is the right time because of her comeback single 2 Hearts and her new album in November.
A source said that the Oz star is a huge coup who is capable of stealing the show.
“Kylie is a huge coup. She always steals the show, gives a dazzling performance and the viewers at home love her. The idea for Robbie to turn up and rise out of a coffin is not a done deal yet,” the Sun quoted the source, as saying.
Rumours are rife that the awards will also have the reunited Brit girl band Spice Girls.
Reports also claim that the show’s bosses are thinking of replacing the International Male and International Female categories with one big International Artist category.
The V&A’s couture gala drew one of the best red carpet line-ups ever seen in London. It also provided some incongruous sights, such as Kate Moss talking to David Cameron.
Moss wore a 1930s cream satin gown. Jemima Khan was locked into a metallic goddess gown by Dolce and Gabana with a ten inch metal ‘chastity’ corset for which she had lost the key.
Vogue Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Emma Thompson, Lily Cole, Patsy Kensit and Sherazade Goldsmith all looked stunning in Prada, whilst music legend Prince attended with two unknown guests.
Kevin Spacey, Mario Testino, and Courtney Love were also present, plus a whole pile of models including Lily Cole, Erin O’Connor, Jessica Stam, Stella Tennant and ‘model of the moment’ Agyness Deyn.
Katherine Jenkins the soprano looked sultry in Julien MacDonald, whilst Claudia Schiffer dazzled in Chanel.
Among the array of designers were Alice Temperly, Philip Treacy, Bella Freud, Lulu Guinness, Camilla Al Fayed, Nadja Swarovsk and Steven Jones, whilst past and present Topshop New Generation designers to also attend the evening included Christopher Kane, Henry Holland and Gareth Pugh.
Other guests included Elizabeth Hurley, Quentin Tarantino, John Galliano, Jade Jagger, Vivienne Westwood, Brian Ferry, and the leader of the opposition David Cameron, with his wife Samantha, who wore a stunning red Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti gown.
The V&A exhibition, ‘The Golden Age of Couture’, celebrates haute couture design in Paris and London between 1947, when Christian Dior launched the New Look and 1957 when he died.
Last night’s event was one of the highlights of London Fashion Week which finishes Thursday with the first ever catwalk show by the Beatles daughter Stella McCartney and a charity show in aid of the flood victims organised by the supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Kellwood Co. said in a statement late Tuesday that it received “an unsolicited letter from Sun Capital Securities Group LLC, indicating Sun Capital’s interest in pursuing an acquisition of all of Kellwood’s outstanding shares at a price of $21 in cash per share.” The price tag would be about $543 million. Shares of Kellwood have been trading around $15, near their 52-week low.
Kellwood said its board of directors will “carefully evaluate the Sun Capital proposal, and other alternatives available to the company, taking into account the potential benefits that may be realized through the company’s previously announced long-term strategic plan.”
At the bell this morning, the stock soared over 34 percent from the prior close to $20.44.
London’s fashion crowd turned out it force Tuesday night for the gala dinner to kick off The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957 at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition pays tribute to Christian Dior and his colleagues of the post-war period, and dinner hosts included John Galliano, Daphne Guinness and British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman. “It’s fantastic for me to be back in London,” said Galliano.
PARIS HILTON has a new boyfriend after falling for a Swedish tourist to Los Angeles. The Simple Life star, whose past lovers have included heirs to shipping fortunes, fellow socialites and celebrities, is now dating Alex Vaggo. A source tells In Touch Weekly magazine, “He’s travelling through town, and one of Paris’ friends met him and introduced them. He’s really shy. “Alex is obviously smitten with Paris and is clearly falling for her.” Hilton reportedly took her new man, 20, with her to a photo shoot on 16 September (07). The insider adds, “Paris thinks he’s really sweet and gorgeous.” The news comes a week after Hilton denied rumours she was dating Entourage star Adrian Grenier.
Jeff Kwatinetz, chief executive officer of management company The Firm, announced he would no longer be representing the troubled singer on Monday, citing “current circumstances” for his decision.
A statement released by The Firm said: “It saddens us to confirm media reports that we have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears.
“We have represented Britney for the past month. We believe Britney is enormously talented, and has made a terrific record. But current circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job.
“We wish Britney the best.”
Britney – who split from her long-term manger Larry Rudolph in April this year following her stint in rehab – hired Kwatinetz to help engineer her career comeback.
However, despite initially receiving favourable feedback about her new single ‘Gimme More’, she failed to impress critics with her disastrous lip-synched performance at the MTV Video Music Awards two weekends ago.
Kwatinetz – who previously represented Kelly Clarkson – was the second person to leave Britney’s team on Monday.
Hours earlier, the singer’s lawyer Laura Wasser announced she was quitting following a custody hearing concerning Britney’s children with husband Kevin Federline, Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James.
