Amber Heard Dives Straight Into Aquaman Press Tour

There are myriad of amphibious metaphors that can best describe Amber Heard’s look at the London premiere of Aquaman last night. But, the swimming cap itself speaks a thousand words.

Heard, who plays underwater queen Mera in the DC Comics adaptation, made a splash in London’s Leicester Square wearing Valentino couture autumn/winter 2019. Sea-green with swirling silver and gold embroidery, it was as if Pierpaolo Piccioli had made the gown and accompanying headpiece specifically for this moment.

Heard, steely with concentration, accessorised the head-to-toe ornate craftsmanship with a single bejewelled earring, gold neck chain and gargantuan gold Brian Atwood platforms that seemed to reflect her status as a self-professed “bad ass” of the ocean.

With a plethora of brilliant couture and evening wear – and brand endorsement deals to adhere to – it’s rare that an actor looks directly to the theme of a film to dictate a promo tour wardrobe (Blake Lively on the trail for A Simple Favor and Keira Knightly fulfilling her Nutcracker press dutiesare recent exceptions). When it happens, however, it’s a rather magnificent thing. As Piccioli told Vogue about the power of couture after the presentation of this particular gown: “It's fantasy, intimacy, emotions altogether…" Perfect for riding the red-carpet wave of an extraordinary franchise in.

What We Can Expect From Victoria Beckham's YouTube Channel

Perhaps Victoria Beckham got a taste for viral videos after her British Vogue “Decade of Elegance” short in celebration of her brand’s 10th anniversary. Perchance the designer needed a distraction from the endless Spice Girls tour announcements. Or, maybe she just couldn’t say no to YouTube fashion and beauty director Derek Blasberg. Whatever the reasoning behind her decision to launch her own YouTube channel, there’s plenty to get excited about.

The channel “will be full of styling tutorials, lots of stuff from me and apparently you naked,” Beckham tells Blasberg in an Instagram clip announcing the news. “Apparently people want it. It’s what they want, what they really really want. And it’s coming to my channel.”

Beckham’s page on the video platform has so far attracted over 20,000 subscribers, who can enjoy previous catwalk shows, insights into her company and beauty tutorials including "Red Carpet Ready Eyes", "Festive Sparkle" and "Victoria Beckham's Take On Pink".

“This is a new chapter right now. I can put my foot on the gas and do everything that I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time,” Beckham continues, before Blasberg queries her driving skills. “Have you not seen Spice World?” Beckham laughs. “Did you see how bad I am?"

Rei Kawakubo Enlists Gucci And Burberry For Comme Des Garçons’ Holiday Capsule

Comme des Garçons’ Christmas campaign is all about inclusivity and “how people can come together and work together,” according to Adrian Joffe, president of Comme des Garçons International and chief executive at Dover Street Market.

Of course, when you're Joffe and Rei Kawakubo – the husband and wife duo behind the brand empire – the list of collaborators to call on is perhaps lengthier than most. And so, Kawakubo enlisted Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, Burberry’s Riccardo Tisci, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Simone Rocha, Craig Green, Marine Serre, Walter Van Beirendonck and Stüssy to help conceive the Comme holiday capsule.

The brief for each creative was to supply an “iconic” piece of clothing, an accessory or design fragment that would enable Kawakubo to develop a holiday item from it. Within the nine-piece festive offering, Burberry’s signature check scarf becomes a charged neck tie that reads “My Energy Comes From My Freedom”; Jean Paul Gaultier’s Breton stripes are splashed with red polka dots; and Stüssy’s surfer logo is distorted to bold effect. The redesign of Maison Margiela’s Aids charity T-shirt, meanwhile, is the first time the brand has ever collaborated with another fashion label.

“We have always enjoyed the synergies of CDG-style collaborations, which is not about brainstorming and back-and-forth with the other party, but about trust and respect,” Joffe told WWD about the process. “Rei does not enjoy two captains on a ship. So, we either leave it to them or ask that they leave it to her. The nine brands were very happy to leave it to her this time.”

The edit, which is priced from £195-£390, continues two decades of unique Christmas capsules from the brand. In the past, Kawakubo has looked to Disney’s Frozen and seasonal film favourite The Grinch for inspiration, as well as creating sell-out garments in the dotty motifs and bold colour schemes that are synonymous with the label. The displays that feature in Kawakubo’s boutiques in Japan, and that will be rolled out to Comme des Garçons' and Dover Street Market stores from December 6, are also decidedly less Yuletide, and in line with Kawakubo and Joffe's own vision.

Miuccia Prada To Receive Outstanding Achievement Award At Fashion Awards 2018

Miuccia Prada will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award at The Fashion Awards 2018 in partnership with Swarovski.

Since joining the family business in 1978, Mrs Prada has spearheaded the evolution of the Prada group from a family business to a global brand and tastemaker. Her first line of accessories at the creative helm – the now-iconic black nylon backpacks she conceived as an antidote to the classic, ladylike bags that she hated – became the benchmark of what the brand stands for: to challenge "the traditional, conservative idea of luxury", she told Vogue earlier this year. Since that agenda-setting nylon, she has continued to use fashion as a voice, to create uniforms for women and men who don’t tread the same path as anyone else, and "to go against the rules, the cliché".

“Mrs Prada is the most revered, most inspirational and probably the most copied designer of her generation,” Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful commented. “She’s bold and she’s not scared to break rules or go into new territory. She has made us look at body shape differently. She has made us look at what is ugly and what is beautiful. She has trained people’s eyes to a new way of dressing, one that is not based on the classic idea of the female form. She’s a genius!”

In accepting the award at the December 10 ceremony held in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Mrs Prada joins honourees Donatella Versace, Ralph Lauren KBE, Karl Lagerfeld and Manolo Blahnik CBE, to name a few, who have previously been recognised for their contribution to fashion.

Richard Malone On His Plans To Democratise Fashion, Starting With His New Exhibition

Richard Malone has long been one of London’s most exciting young designers – not only for the fact that he is resolutely resourceful in his approach to creating clothes, or that his pieces are so curiously cut that they fall into fluid sculptures, but that they are designed with an intimate understanding of the women who wear them. Malone built his business through the patronage of women so enamoured by his work that they would custom-order garments – and, besides the financial support that offered him, it equally gave him an insight into the lives they lived, the pockets they needed, the washing machines they used. Accordingly, his brand is imbued not only with avant-garde aesthetics but practicality.

It’s rare to find a swirling concertina cape that springs into shape when you pull it out of a suitcase, or a wipe-clean skirt made with both sustainable fabric and meticulous finesse, but through endless experimentation, Malone has managed to create such pieces. Equally, by elevating the aesthetic signifiers of his Wexford roots (think: Argos uniforms and scaffolding signage) into fabulous fashion, he is determined to dismantle the class barriers that can appear so obstructive within the industry and make efforts at democratising its mystique.

His new exhibition, held at Greenwich’s NOW Gallery, hopes to invite its audience into his world and engage them with the processes he uses to design: his conversations with his clients, the fabrics he experiments with, the toiles he manipulates. “There’s a real conversation around the elitism of fashion that I wanted to highlight,” he explains. “How with art you can experience it without being able to afford it, but with fashion those opportunities are quite rare so we need to work on making it more egalitarian and inviting." Below, he explains in his own, brilliantly blunt words where he found inspiration, and what he hopes for in holding his first solo art show.

Why is the show titled Rinse, Repeat?

It refers to the cyclical nature of fashion, to the actual process of making these huge collections. I want to remove the wall between the viewer or wearer and the artwork or garment, and be super open with how you get from scribbles and ideas to a finalised piece. I guess the title is also a nod to the shitty laundrettes I grew up surrounded by – one particular example, Marlowe’s Cleaners in Wexford, comes to mind. I love the language in those types of environments: totally functional and clear.

Can you explain the concept behind the exhibition? Why did you want to do it?

We kind of accept fashion now as small images on our phone screens that last little more than a few seconds, and the actual process can be totally overlooked. But the idea of experimenting, or making for making’s sake, is really critical to me, because I do all of the pattern cutting and fabric design myself. The reason I do what I do is down to the excitement and love of making something new – I never intended to be a product designer. This exhibition allows me to have a blank canvas to work within, and that’s super refreshing when my schedule is quite regimented due to the fashion show system. It’s almost been like giving myself a breather, and some really vital time for reflection. I always like to check myself and make sure I'm doing what I love, because I’m not a fan of a lot of the fashion industry and I don’t want to get drawn into a toxic cycle – or at least, want to resist it as much as I can.

How would you explain your approach to designing clothes? How would you define the Richard Malone brand?

It’s a mixture of being informed by actual clothing – from the sorts I grew up around, like building site clothing and Argos uniforms, to research into into centuries-old tailoring techniques and cutting. I suppose its a way of elevating aesthetics that are slightly nostalgic to me, that are really vested with meaning and memory but, instead of appropriating those codes, trying to push them into a newer territory.

You built your early business by selling to private clients. Why did you want to include them in the show? How have your conversations and interactions with them informed what you do?

I have a really close relationship with all of my customers, and I value the conversations we have around clothes and the general state of this industry immensely. These women have been buying fashion for many years, and have incredible personal archives that are truly enriched by the stories and memories they have attached to them. Each woman is completely different, and I've always tried to avoid creating an “ideal” of this customer through bullet points or terms, which in turn allows me the freedom to avoid creating collections for a specific demographic or purely for commerce, which for me would be very painful. I’ve also learned a tonne of practical things by making clothes for these women – things like how often babies get sick and ruin good clothes, and the practical pressures of being one of these amazing women with a whole life to run outside of their work.

Sustainability is an incredibly important part of your brand. How is that reflected in the exhibition?

All of the pieces in the exhibition are made from ex-stock and repurposed knitting yarn destined for landfill, which has been left in a warehouse ever since school uniform manufacturing moved overseas. I’ve re-knitted it into recognisable rib fabrics, and then patchworked them together using every bit of waste. The cutting technique is circular, so everything fits almost ergonomically around the body, and shapes can be remade or altered for all body types. Excess fabric is re-patchworked into the next shape - so there’s a fluidity and relationship between each piece – a rinse, repeat effect.

Your work explores your personal roots – how has coming from a working class background informed your designs? 

I think that your upbringing is an inevitable influence on your designs or creative output. Initially I was quite self conscious because, in art school, especially here, the majority of students are from upper middle class backgrounds or private schools. But I soon realised it was a strong point of difference to have, and to embrace it. It’s really important to have someone from that background represented and vocal, as most people from my background now just couldn't go to university: finding the fees is simply not possible.

My own cousins, who might see where I’ve gotten to and want to pursue something similar, realistically can’t. That breaks my heart. There is a section of the exhibition that is about sentimentality, of ways of designing or drawing that are directly linked to my home and family, particularly my grandmother. She only got as far as primary school education, but has been drawing and making her whole life. I find that love of making, and also that hunger for learning, incredibly inspiring because the odds of it happening were stacked against her since the beginning but she did it for her own enjoyment and curiosity. It’s the same with my parents, who really didn’t have a chance at second or third level education, but they really pushed their children to pursue what we were passionate about. I was working two part time jobs at Central Saint Martins just to get in the door, but it gave me a tunnel vision and a resilience that I can apply to anything.

What are you particularly proud of in the exhibition?

That it’s democratic – the performance aspect of it is literally projected onto the outside of the building, so everybody can be involved. Underpinning it all is a sense of freedom, joy and of resistance: it takes a lot to be creative in these times, to ask questions and to expose why or how you're making, but its really very critical. Also including some of my grandmother Nellie's work in the exhibition makes me really proud: I have such massive respect and admiration for her, and she's super excited about it. A part of the exhibition is maybe a love letter to a lot of the people I really admire, who are mostly incredibly strong women, and showing how they have inspired my process.

Fashion's Biggest Cheerleader Marc Jacobs Tries On Balenciaga's Much-Memed Coat For Size

The happiest coat of all,” decreed Marc Jacobs of his new XXL Balenciaga coat. The designer posted a video of himself wearing the souped-up outerwear as he bundled himself and three dogs into the back of his car, which looked comedically small for his canine entourage.

Jacobs had been a keen buyer of his Balenciaga. After stealing a front-row look at the multi-layered, multi-functional coat at the autumn/winter 2018 show, he put in his pre-order for look 67 just days later. “Demna, you outdid yourself! Literally, figuratively, and with all the layers to prove it!” he enthused about his purchase via Instagram, followed by a resounding stream of hashtags: “#gratefulnothateful #Ilovefashion #bringonthecoldweather #I’msoready”. Keep scrolling down his feed, and you'll spy another (slightly less padded) Demna Gvasalia AW18 jacket design, too.

Followers of Jacobs’s career will know that he has always been a cheerleader of fellow brands. During that same Paris show season, he applauded the presentations of Miu Miu and Chanel, as well as Balenciaga, from the sidelines. And weeks later, he supported Jeremy Scott, who interned for Jacobs at the start of his career, by keeping the front row of his Moschino x H&M show in New York warm.

Jacobs’s most memorable looks of the past, meanwhile, have been purchased from what many would deem as competitors. The much-lauded lace dress he wore to the 2012 Met Gala? A spring/summer 2012 Commes des Garçons confection that he shrugged off as “just a lace dress" while paying homage to the two heroes behind the Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations exhibition.

"I think Miuccia Prada is such a celebration of the unconventional and so it felt like, appropriate, somehow,” he told the evening's red-carpet compere Elettra Wiedemann. “They are two women [Schiaparelli and Prada] who I have always loved the work of; I mean Schiaparelli is one of my all-time heroes and Miuccia Prada continues to be a hero of mine.”

From sheer dresses to Joey Tribbiani coats, Jacobs, the poster boy for everything that is brilliant about the industry, is, as he said himself that night, "never boring".

Sophie Turner Teams Up With Louis Vuitton To Help Children At Risk

Louis Vuitton has enlisted Sophie Turner to raise awareness and maximise the outreach of its #makeapromise campaign in collaboration with Unicef.

For the last three years, the brand has sold silver Lockit bracelets to aid Unicef’s mission to help children in vulnerable situations, such as the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. With Unicef's assistance, the Bangladeshi government has been able to vaccinate 900,000 children and adults against cholera and save over 263,000 children from malnutrition. The £100 from each £175 bracelet sold only bolsters these numbers.

In comparison to last year’s fluorescent jewellery, the silver Lockit from Sophie Turner is braided with red and white cord and comprises a rabbit charm inspired by her most recent tattoo. "Sophie put so much time and thought into the distinctive design," Mark Devlin, chief operating officer for Unicef UK, said about the actor's adaptation of the Lockit, which was inspired by the the tumbler lock invented by Georges Vuitton in 1890 to protect his clients’ belongings.

“The idea of the #makeapromise campaign comes from children,” Michael Burke, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, told Vogue of its philanthropic project. “When they make a promise, they mean it, and they seal it with a pinky promise. Children show us a simple way to change the world. It’s all about joining forces worldwide to raise funds and awareness for children. We believe in the word of mouth. Our goal is to reach as many people as possible and to make a real difference.”

Since the launch of the silver Lockit in 2016, the partnership has raised over five US million dollars for Unicef. So, if you're still plotting out your Christmas gift list for family and friends, consider Turner's trinket – it'll go a long way