Chanel Girls

Chanel Girls

EDIE CAMPBELL was given one of the ultimate modelling accolades on Tuesday, when she closed the Chanel spring/summer 2012 couture show - but the experience was nearly all too much.

"Well I didn't really realise that it was a big deal until I was told by a few people just how important the wedding dress is," she told us. "And I wasn't nervous until about two minutes before I had to go on, at which point I nearly did a runner - but I'd probably be a bit obvious sprinting into the distance wearing a wedding dress."

The "bride" is typically thought to be the most important look of a couture show, and allows the designer to demonstrate their most intricate and impressive techniques - and Campbell fully understood the responsibility of wearing such a dress.

"I'm very flattered and a little confused," said Campbell of her role. "There were 25 people assigned to making that wedding dress and I had to try to animate all those hours of labour, so in that sense the model is important."

Currently represented by Viva London, Campbell was suitably impressed by Lagerfeld's latest Chanel offering, which took blue as its primary theme.

"I'd wear head-to-toe blue every day if it didn't make me look like a Smurf ,so yes, it's right up my street!" she laughed.

Another Chanel muse and the label's latest campaign star, Alice Dellal, also offered her praise for the iconic designer.

"He was so nice and so genuine," she said in an interview for Chanel. "I wasn't surprised by how genuine and cool he was because you can tell that, but to be able to talk to him and share the same opinions was really nice. [The campaign] was such a good experience - I'll remember it forever."

SEE CHANEL'S PAST AND PRESENT CHANEL AMBASSADORS

The British model fronts the house's new handbag line - previously modelled by Lily Allen, Vanessa Paradis and Blake Lively.

"It's so weird and so unexpected," Dellal explained said of her new role. "I'd never thought I'd so something like this. I don't want to compare myself to the other girls, who have done this, but they're all really different and so am I."

YOU SHOULD SEE: The latest Chanel couture collection....

YOU SHOULD SEE: Lagerfeld's debut collection for his new label...

Source: VOGUE – ELLA ALEXANDER 27 January 2012

Roll On Couture

Roll On Couture

MONDAY sees the return of Couture Fashion Week for spring/summer 2012, hot on the heels of the men's shows (see all the action here), and with them comes another couture return: Atelier Versace. Donatella hasn't showcased her bespoke wares anywhere but the red carpet since January 2004 - but what better season to show the brand's most expensive dresses than the one which debuted its least expensive ever: for H&M?

After Versace's opener, the day sees a mix of the old and new of the couture world take to the catwalk. Two of the fashion house's newest additions; Alexis Mabille and Giambattista Valli, show on Monday; as does one of couture's institutions - Christian Dior - still with Bill Gaytten at the helm. Only his second collection since taking over as creative director, it could scarcely receive a more robust critical panning than his first, but his ready-to-wear line in October fared much better, so perhaps summer is his season.

Tuesday brings out the big guns: Chanel, Givenchy and Giorgio Armani Privé - as well as couture's "Modern Knight", Stéphane Rolland, who promises his show's bride will be a surprise worth waiting for.

Valentino and Jean Paul Gaultier promise to thrill us on Wednesday: with fun, frivolity and fabulous models on one hand, and with almost-edible frothy dresses and make-up we'll want to copy on the other. One thing is for sure: when dresses that cost more than a house are worn by the world's most beautiful women - the pictures are always worth a look.

Click back on Monday for the latest fashion as it happens.

YOU SHOULD SEE: The latest menswear shows, just in...

YOU SHOULD SEE: Who is bringing couture to London...

YOU SHOULD SEE: What Stéphane Rolland told us about his next couture show...

Source: VOGUE - LAUREN MILLIGAN 20 January 2012

Kar's edit at the Metro Newspaper

Karl's Edit

KARL LAGERFELD is set to guest edit the Metro newspaper on February 7, following in the footsteps of fellow fashion innovator Lady Gaga, who oversaw an issue in May this year. The Chanel creative director will spend a day in the Paris newsroom, supplying illustrations and commentary for its The World According to Karl edition.

"I love daily papers and it's fun to be part of one of them just for the day," Lagerfeld toldWWD.  "Metro is on a worldwide scale and it's even more fun."

The special issue will kick off Metro'scoverage for Fashion Week and will run in 100 cities in 22 countries. The newspaper has a daily readership of more than 17 million people globally.

Lagerfeld is not the only fashion name to announce plans to turn his hand to journalism this week; Naomi Campbell has taken up a new role as editor-at-large for both the Russian and German versions of Interview magazine. 

YOU SHOULD SEE: Karl Lagerfeld's most outrageous quotes...

YOU SHOULD SEE:  Lagerfeld's style evolution...

Source: VOGUE - LAUREN MILLIGAN 24 November 2011

Forever Young.....

WORKING on Marc Jacobs' dance hall-themed show was unlike any Fashion Week experience model Codie Young has had before.

SEE YOUNG'S CATWALK LOOKS

"It wasn't like working on any other runway show because you're on that catwalk from start to finish," she said. "There was this real sense of excitement as the curtain went up and a sense of relief when it went down again. It was a performance more than a show. Marc is so passionate about his collection. He really takes time to choose the models he uses. For the fittings, each model had to pull a pose like in the show - it reminded me of the musical Chicago."

SEE THE MARC JACOBS SHOW

Australian-born Young made her catwalk debut last season at the autumn/winter 2011-12 shows and has since walked for Chanel, Marni, Rick Owens, Sonia Rykiel, Erdem, Peter Pilotto, Mulberry and Carven.

"This season was much easier than last, when I walked for 49 different shows," Young told us. "I was so tired by the end of it - this time round was much more enojoable. I knew what to expect, I'd made friends and there were less castings because designers knew me."

Now 18, Young was scouted in her local shopping centre just over a year ago but, despite her impressive career so far, she says art is where her heart lies.

"I love what I do, and how it gives me a way to travel - but it is just a job for me," she explained. "I love art, particularly painting - but it's difficult to carry around all my materials when I'm modelling, so I draw a lot at the moment. Before I was scouted, I was going to go to art school. I still want to one day - maybe in San Francisco. I like the idea of the arty vibe they have over there."

For the meantime Codie looks every inch the model, dressed in chunky military boots, a vintage shaggy jacket, skinny black jeans a faded T-shirt - a look she describes as "hippie-grunge".

"I love vintage shopping," she tells us. "London is so good for that. I'd much rather find a piece that's one of kind than head to Zara and buy something everyone else has."

Despite her ambitions to study art, Young still has her eye on some big labels for future modelling jobs.

"I'd love to work for Viktor & Rolf and McQueen," she said. "The creativity behind each of those labels is incredible. If I got to wear a pair of McQueen shoes I think I'd die. The thought behind the designs is amazing."

Source: VOGUE - ELLA ALEXANDER

Karl Lagerfeld is Mr Labelfeld...

Mr Labelfeld...

KARL LAGERFELD has come up with a new name for himself, based on his many collaborations - from Coca Cola to Magnum to Macy's.

"I'm a walking label no?" he said. "My name is Labelfeld not Lagerfeld. I have a sort of Alzheimer's for my own work, which I think is a very good thing. Today too many people remember what they did - just forget it all and start again."

When asked how he manages so effortlessly with his workload, at both Fendi and Chanel, his answer is simple.

"I have it in my blood," he told CNN. "When I was asked to Chanel, it was not trendy. I made something of it because I was given total freedom by the owner. What I do Coco would have hated. It's my job to keep Chanel updated."

Source: VOGUE ELLA ALEXANDER 14 October 2011