By Drew Grant 5/07 11:30am

Met Costume Gala

44 Photos

Costume Institute Gala Benefit "PUNK: Chaos to Couture"

Last Night’s Met Costume Gala: A Disaster in Theme

Photos courtesy of Patrick McMullan

Last night’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit will probably be–in the long run–lost to the annals of time, indistinguishable from last years, or the years before, or any year since Anna Wintour took over, actually. But for us who were there on the sidelines, waving frantically at a very pregnant Kim Kardashian and an actively dismissive Kanye West, screaming for just a moment of Lena Dunham or Kate Beckinsale time while pressed up against the barriers of the press pen like poor animals on the way to the slaughterhouse, listening to the woman next to us ask every female celebrity the same questions–”Did you eat anything today? What did you eat? How long did it take you to get into the dress?”–the irony of the night’s theme was not lost on us. Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 3/13 8:16am

Magazines

Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour Gets Promoted to a Position Created Just for Her

Anna Wintour will add the newly created role of artistic director of Condé Nast to her existing duties as Vogue editor and editorial director of Teen Vogue, the Times reports.  The position was created in part to keep Ms. Wintour at Condé Nast, and should put an end the persistent (and persistently debunked) speculation that the Obama-supporting editrix could decamp for a plum ambassador gig. Condé is expected to make the announcement today.  Read More

By Jenna Sauers 11/27/12 8:36pm

books

Grace Coddington with Anna Wintour.

Out of Vogue: Grace Coddington’s Meandering Memoir Ditches Fashion Mags for an Army of Ex-Husbands, Cats

Although long familiar and widely revered in fashion-industry circles, Grace Coddington, the creative director of Vogue, burst into the wider public consciousness as the cussing, henna-haired breakout star of The September Issue, the 2009 R.J. Cutler documentary about the production of the Sept. 2007 issue of American Vogue. An 840-page monument to pre-recessionary tastes that included a Roman travel diary in which Sienna Miller wore a lot of feathers and a Dolce & Gabbana dress that cost $61,000, it was at the time the largest monthly issue of any American magazine ever published. (The Sept. 2012 Vogue finally eclipsed it in overall page count—but in its number of advertising pages, it has never been surpassed.) The movie made much of the relationship between Ms. Coddington and Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Ms. Wintour is chilly and superior—one of the documentary’s most entertaining moments comes when a startled assistant jumps out of her way like a vole before an owl—while Ms. Coddington is warm and generous to peers and underlings alike. Colleagues shrink and wither under Ms. Wintour’s judgments, but Ms. Coddington challenges the boss like an equal.

After the film came out, Ms. Coddington writes in her new memoir, Grace (Random House, 416 pp., $35), she started getting recognized on the street. Her newfound popular appeal was judged to be such that Random House paid a reported $1.2 million to acquire the memoir. But was this acclaim earned? It is no great task to seem warm-hearted next to Anna Wintour, and the creative director is hardly bold. In one sequence in the film that is, in retrospect, a bit of a reach, the camera lingers as Ms. Coddington surveys the palace of Versailles while sharing insights like, “It’s sort of strange to think how old it is.” Let that $1.2 million sink in. Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 10/18/12 2:17pm

Magazines

Anna Wintour and Sally Singer: together again.

Sally Singer, Back in Vogue

Sally Singer is heading back to Vogue in the newly created role of digital creative director, The Fix reports.

Ms. Singer left Condé Nast, where she was Vogue’s fashion news and features director,  in 2010 to become the editor in chief of T. But her two-year stint at the Times came to an abrupt end this past in August. WSJ. editor Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 10/11/12 2:22pm

Magazines

Carine Roitfeld and Anna Wintour in friendlier times.

Carine Roitfeld Heads to Hearst

Hearst Magazines has named Carine Roitfeld  the global fashion director for Harper’s Bazaar.  This move ramps up the rivalry between the former editrix of French Vogue and Condé Nast. Ms. Roitfeld, who was once seen as a possible successor to Anna Wintour, abruptly left Condé Nast in 2010.

Ms. Roitfeld introduced her new magazine, CR Fashion Book, just Read More

By Drew Grant 10/09/12 7:08pm

Digital Designers

The offices of Code and Theory

The Media Whisperer: Code and Theory’s Brandon Ralph is the Digital Designer Du Jour

“God, have you ever walked into a meeting and thought, This is not going to go well?” Code and Theory founder and creative director Brandon Ralph moaned. “That’s what it was like when we went to pitch to The Daily Beast.”

Sitting with him in his 5th floor SoHo offices, it was easy to imagine what the handsome and lanky 33-year-old was talking about. The Observer had come in to meet with the man who had been hand-picked by Tina Brown, Anna Wintour, Peter Brant, and Jason Binn to create their online platforms. With long, dark, wavy hair; leather bracelets; and a penchant for John Varvatos; Mr. Ralph looked more the part of a hip New York restaurateur. Read More

By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay 9/14/12 6:20pm

Ralph Lauren's richness of España that is long gone these days, was le look du jour in New York. (GETTY)

Ryan Lochte Should Stick to Swimming, and André Leon Talley Lays It on Thick at Ralph Lauren

There is something organized and memorable about the last day of fashion week. Despite the grueling pace, late nights, early mornings and simply divine personalities we endure, there is an orderly sense of energy at the Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein Collection shows. Publicists are graceful and polite, photo check-in is straightforward, seating disasters are delicately avoided and celebs are accessible, or, if not, polite about it.

Such was the case yesterday morning in West Soho when Mr. Lauren held his 80th runway presentation. His front row of stars dressed in his premium line included Jessica Alba, Olivia Wilde and most of the members of the Ralph Lauren Royal Family.

For spring 2013, Mr. Lauren progressed from something South American to ornate looks that were undeniably Catalan and Castilian, with tomato suede jackets, amethyst silk marocaine trousers, cotton ruffle shirting in white and beautiful scarlet dresses. There were black calf woven totes and hats. The styling seemed a bit overwrought, but the majority of this overload was eliminated when the evening wear flowed in.

Incredible brocade and beaded boleros influenced by los toreros of Spain, black double-faced wool jackets and dresses, a stunning, full-length beaded tulle skirt, and scarlet dresses with embroidery and beading. It was wearable and eternally elegant. Read More

By Drew Grant 9/13/12 12:25pm

Fundraising

Jay-Z and Beyonce (Getty Images)

Can Jay-Z and Beyoncé Top Anna Wintour in Obama Fundraising?

Probably not, seeing as the Vogue editor in chief was just announced as being the fourth-biggest fund-raiser for Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in a document released to The New York Times. But this was due in no small part to the $40,000-dollar-a-plate dinner she held over at Sarah Jessica Parker’s house back in June: that event raised approximately $2,000,000 on that night alone.

Now the president and first lady of hip-hop want to give the editrix a run for her money. Read More