Archive for Ilmie Dharmaratna
By Ilmie Dharmaratna | May 17th, 2012 | 3:00 pm
Left: Photography Erin Seaman. Right: Photography by Peter Stigter.
Granny-chic is quite a feat and we adore the girlish reflective flower motifs, flower-appliquéd organza and shimmery pastels of Christopher Kane’s spring collection. And here’s the secret added bonus: they’re comfortable too. To emulate the style, we picked a pair of sport sandals over at Sport Chek and transformed them in four simple steps.
By Ilmie Dharmaratna | May 10th, 2012 | 11:00 am
Left: Photography by Peter Stigter. Right: Photography by Erin Seaman.
In honour of Miuccia Prada‘s birthday (it’s today!) and her retrospective at the Met, we’re getting into our second Prada DIY of the season (check out our flower earring DIY). This time around, we’re fashioning our own fiery accessory inspired by the stylized fifties flames that were shown throughout her Spring 2012 collection.
By Ilmie Dharmaratna | May 4th, 2012 | 5:30 pm
In a strange but beautiful move, Kanye West has teamed up with fashion film icon Ruth Hogben (who’s worked with everyone from Gareth Pugh to Louis Vuitton) to produce a music video for “Lost in the World”—a single off his long-ago released album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
The black and white video (a signature of Hogben’s style) opens up with a warning that “strobe effects are used in this video,” a.k.a. things are about to get crazy… and do they ever. A group of dancing models gyrate around while dressed in sheer shirts (how very Kanye)—basically the video looks like a ‘90s Gap commercial on acid. Read more »
By Ilmie Dharmaratna | May 3rd, 2012 | 10:00 am
Left: Photography by Erin Seaman. Right: Photography by Peter Stigter
Just about every designer seemed to have the London Olympics in mind, as athletic-gone-couture was a reoccurring trend in many spring collections. From Kenzo’s colour-block anoraks to Vera Wang’s pristine sporty dresses, athletic chic certainly made the finals for one of the must-have looks of the season. Alexander Wang, perhaps the star player of the trend, showed perforated materials and mesh galore in the form of jackets and dresses. But the collection’s statement-worthy oversized mesh pockets had us inspiration-struck. We add a bit of florescent flash to the look in 7 simple steps.
By Ilmie Dharmaratna | May 1st, 2012 | 5:30 pm
What has seemed like the longest celebrity pregnancy in the history of the world is finally over. No more false alarms, Jessica Simpson has finally given birth to a…baby (and not a llama, as one Toronto boldface may have suggested). The fashion mogul and her fiancé, NFL star Eric Johnson, welcomed a baby girl and they’ve given her a somewhat normal name: Maxwell Drew Johnson (a tribute to the couple’s families: Maxwell is the maiden name of Johnson’s mother, and Drew is Simpson’s mother’s maiden name.)
Despite the long-running jokes about it being a never-ending pregnancy, Simpson proves that she is in fact human, giving birth in just under nine months to the 9 lbs., 13 ounces bundle.
Simpson, who remained in the public eye throughout (since her pregnancy announcement via Twitter last Halloween), released a statement on her website saying “This has been the greatest experience of our lives!! […] We are so grateful for all of the love, support and prayers we have received.”
The mogul reportedly has said that she wanted to start clothing lines for kids and babies, and perhaps now she has her feature model! Hmm, could little Maxwell be giving Blue Ivy a run for her money?
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By Ilmie Dharmaratna | April 27th, 2012 | 5:00 pm
Photography by Peter Stigter
Betsey Johnson’s company sent the fashion world into a tizzy on Thursday, having filed for bankruptcy. But not to fret—the party is far from over for the legendarily perky designer. Despite having to close 63 freestanding stores, Johnson will stay on as creative director for the brand focusing on sportswear and her moderately priced line, among other projects.
Well, we wish we could say we didn’t see this coming, but the company was in deep water after a $48 million loan evasion that resulted in a bail out by Steve Madden (Steve Madden Ltd. owns intellectual property rights to the company). The Wall Street Journal explains that the brand’s luxe prices are simply not affordable to its younger demographic and could not compete with lower-priced retailers (H&M, Topshop) targeting the same customer base. Read more »
By Ilmie Dharmaratna | April 26th, 2012 | 5:00 pm
Photography by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for The Weinstein Company
We’re betting Calvin Klein has got his legendary knickers in a knot. On-again/off-again boyfriend Nick Gruber’s facing serious legal woes: the 22-year-old was arrested Tuesday for resisting arrest, misdemeanor assault against pal Calvin Swift and possession of cocaine.
Gruber (for unknown reasons) decided to brawl with his friend Swift at his West Village penthouse around 4:20 a.m. When cops arrived at the scene, he thrashed his arms to avoid being cuffed, shoving his hands down his pants in an attempt to conceal cocaine in his (CK?) underwear.
Gruber, a former erotic model, planned to move West to pursue… well… a somewhat more clothed career in reality TV (according to the New York Daily News he was auditioning for Big Brother earlier this month, but didn’t receive a callback). But looks like the only reality show he may be scoring is Celebrity Rehab.
Swift declined to press charges against his buddy and said Gruber is “lost” in the melodrama that is his relationship to the much-older and much-wealthier Klein. Nursing a bruised eye and a bruised ego Swift mockingly added, “Nick’s got plans, you know, I have dreams, too. I want to be the mayor of New Jersey when I grow up.”
Hmm, we wonder what Gruber’s famous (former?) beau thinks of all this. Perhaps as punishment, Gruber will have to wave au revoir to his swanky apartment that Klein bought for him.
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By Ilmie Dharmaratna | April 24th, 2012 | 5:00 pm
Photography by Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images
Paris’s longtime queen of knitwear Sonia Rykiel revealed today that she has been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for the past 15 years. The reveal comes direct from Rykiel’s just-released-in-France book N’Oubliez Pas Que Je Joue (translation: Don’t Forget It’s a Game) co-authored by French journalist Judith Perrignon. Rykiel had decided to speak out because she could no longer mask the symptoms of the degenerative disorder.
In the book, Rykiel assigns the code ”P de P” (“Putain de Parkinson” or “bitch of Parkinson’s” in English) to the disease, amidst frank writing about living with it. She reveals that for years, her colleagues at her fashion house (which her daughter Nathalie took helm of in 1995) helped keep the secret by attempting to prevent photographs from being taken of her using her walking cane. “I don’t want to show my pain. I resisted, I hesitated, I tried to be invisible, to pretend that nothing was wrong. It’s impossible; it’s not like me,” she writes.
Whether it was done to hide her pain or an attempt to protect her resilient image, the sad secret couldn’t have been easy to keep. We applaud Rykiel’s bravery and hope her story will help raise awareness to the importance of finding a cure to make Parkinson’s a thing of the past.
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