Celebrity Stylist Cher Coulter on What It’s Like to Dress an A-lister for a Massive, Global Press Tour
Summer is almost here, and for major movie stars, that means one thing: Blockbuster season.
While we line up at the box office to see movies like The Great Gatsby or Star Trek: Into Darkness, starlets run a worldwide marathon of premieres, interviews, and even film festivals like Cannes, each one requiring a different outfit. It is undoubtedly glamorous–but it’s also a lot of hard work for their stylist.
We wanted to know just what kind of work goes into planning a celebrity’s wardrobe for a media tour, so we caught up with Cher Coulter–stylist to Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Kate Bosworth and Sienna Miller, just to name a few–to get all the behind-the-scenes details on press prep.
Fashionista: What kind of work goes into planning for a major press tour?
Coulter: A lot of planning goes into a major press tour. First of all, a stylist has to consider the movie–Who is the audience? Where will it be showing? If the movie is a huge blockbuster, your client’s styling needs to be palatable and appealing to a larger audience, while still remaining true to their own personality.
Courtshop’s Nicole Tondre and Lisa Fuller on Launching Their Hit Denim Line and Being ‘Decidedly Non-Fashion’
Nicole Tondre and Lisa Fuller of Courtshop definitely embody their brand: unpretentious and totally cool, which can be a tough combo to find in downtown Manhattan. They opened the doors of their Nolita boutique in 2008 and it quickly became a favorite destination for hip girls looking for understated wardrobe staples at reasonable prices. The one thing that they felt was missing was great denim that fit the same bill, so they launched their own in-house line in 2011.
Courtshop denim specializes in clean, simple jeans in classic washes that have an emphasis on great fit, specifically higher waisted styles. Nothing the girls do is focused on branding or fads, and you won’t hear them wax philosophical about collection inspirations. Instead they talk constantly about their girls, meaning the loyal shoppers who dictate what designs they come up with next.
I met Nicole and Lisa at their brand new Mott St. location (they moved last week from around the corner). The shiny new retail space is evidence of the major growth the brand has experienced in the last year. No longer an under-the-radar cult fave, Courtshop is now stocked in 100 stores including Stevan Alan, Shopbop.com and Bonadrag.com, not to mention worn by the likes of Drew Barrymore and Michelle Williams. After scooping up a pair of high waisted summer shorts (this column is actually a cover for my shopping addiction), we popped around the corner to sip sangria and chat about denim, dogs (Lisa has a naughty Boston Terrier and Nicole has an American Eskimo mix) and how they built their brand.
So About that Suri Cruise Clothing Line…
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Well this sure is disappointing. After a report in always-credible UK news outlet The Sun basically confirmed that Suri Cruise, the stylish seven-year-old daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, had a clothing line in the works, a spokesperson for Holmes has gone and denied the report/shattered our dreams.
It’s pretty surprising because the original report cited so many well-placed sources and sounded so believable. For one, they knew the name of the line: Suri, which they couldn’t possibly have come up with out of thin air.
They also knew other details like that it would be “for young girls” and launch “in a New York department store,” and that, “If successful, the Suri brand will be rolled out in shops across North America next year.” They even got the scoop on how the line came about:
Betsey Johnson’s Feeling a Bit Like a Queen
Betsey Johnson was riding the wave of success dressing celebrities like Katy Perry, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj when she had to file for bankruptcy in 2012 and close all of her stores. So begins her reality show on the Style network, which is set to air this Sunday. The show, XOX Betsey Johnson, features the cartwheeling designer and her daughter, Lulu, 38, mixing fashion with family.
“I’m feeling a bit like a queen because of what the reality show has done for me… the press, and the exposure,” Johnson said. “We really went through a tough year, and had a tough time, and working in a big corporate situation and not being in a little family business. We’re doing really well now.”
The show also explores Betsey and Lulu’s relationship—apparently it isn’t all cartwheels and roses. Lulu just moved into her mother’s apartment, and is newly divorced. “As Lulu says in the show, ‘We can’t live with each other,’” said Betsey. “And we can’t live without each other.”
Vogue Nabs Top Honors at National Magazine Awards
Vogue may have gotten snubbed at last year’s National Magazine awards–but this year the mag took home top honors.
Anna Wintour picked up the award–dubbed an Ellie and presented to her by Girls‘ Alison Williams–for General Excellence in Print in the Service and Fashion category. The magazine’s 2012 March, September and December issues won the award.
It’s quite the turnaround from last year when the glossy failed to even get nominated for General Excellence. Part of the reason for the about-face has to do with how the category was framed–last year it was simply Women’s Magazines (O, The Oprah Magazine won) and this year it’s been narrowed down slightly to Fashion and Service magazines.
Other notable wins this year include New York for Magazine of the Year–kind of like winning Best Picture at the Oscars–and Steven Klein’s Kate Moss shoot for W which won for General Excellence in Feature Photography.
Ex-Kiki de Montparnesse and Victoria’s Secret Designer Jennifer Zuccarini on Why She Started Her Own Line
Jennifer Zuccarini’s resume was already ridiculously impressive before launching her own line last year. The ambitious designer cofounded the uber-seductive Kiki de Montparnasse before becoming design director at Victoria’s Secret—talk about lingerie street cred. But developing a line all her own was always the goal, and in 2012 she did just that with the launch of Fleur du Mal. More than just another lingerie line, Zuccarini’s vision was to create an experience that celebrates both getting dressed and undressing, and everything that surrounds it.
Her unique e-commerce site creates a totally shoppable experience—you can literally hover over the wallpaper or rug and click to buy. As far as her designs go, it’s an exciting mix of all-occasion lingerie and sensual-yet-wearable pieces like buttery leather skirts, chiffon blouses and silky jumpsuits. There’s also no shortage of interesting collaborations and projects, like her current Graphic Panty featuring original images printed on the back of chiffon panties ($ 45)—sort of her take on the graphic tee. The whole experience is perfectly curated, reflecting Zuccarini’s taste.
Speaking of taste, we met in her former apartment turned Fleur du Mal HQ in Soho. She may not live here anymore, but it totally feels like home–like a Parisian home even–with plush furniture, art and chic coffee table books strewn about. It’s so comfy I practically wanted to open one of the bottles of wine on her kitchen counter. (I didn’t, don’t worry.) Instead I settled in to find out how the savvy designer went from a little girl sketching dresses in Canada to an bonafied lingerie maven…
A Call to Action Following the Garment Factory Collapse in Bangladesh: Ours is a Hand-Me-Down World
The garment industry of my motherland, Bangladesh, is burning, collapsing and struggling to stay afloat in the world economy.
The worst part?
All goods belong to the lowest bidder. No safety regulations, no living wage and no respect for the health, bodies and wellbeing of workers. As the Bangladeshi government scrambles in the face of another “accident,” thousands are protesting against abhorrent conditions in Bangladesh’s Savar Industrial Zone.
The names of the retailers’ tags discovered in the rubble: Mango, Joe Fresh and United Colors of Benetton. I can’t help but lament the irony of these names—evocative of the tropical, the colorful and alive, much like the verdant landscape of Bangladesh. The same sickening feeling I had on November 24, 2012, when a factory fire killed 112 Bangladeshi workers. Post-Thanksgiving meal, I jumped to sweep up Black Friday deals. More ironic names: Faded Glory. Gap.
Dormspiration: Jenna Lyons’ Brooklyn Townhouse
All photos courtesy of Sotheby’s
Whether you’re a diehard lover of all things preppy or a thrift-shop aficionado, there’s no denying that Jenna Lyons, J. Crew’s executive creative director, has forever changed the way we perceive all-American style. Michelle Obama even dressed herself and her daughter Malia in J. Crew for the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, and Lyons has been hailed by the New York Times as the “Woman Who Dresses America.”
In 2011, Lyons’ Brooklyn townhouse was put on the market, causing quite a buzz in countless interior design magazines, who rushed to photograph the extensively re-decorated and re-furnished home. Like many of the outfits and accessories that Lyons designs, she incorporated clean, classic lines in her decor, peppered here and there with a quirky accent or two.