Kate Delivers a Male Heir and All Is Right in the World
There really is no question about it. The overwhelmingly dominant news today was, by a mile, the royal pop of an as-yet-unnamed baby boy, son of William and Catherine, third in line to the British throne.
This afternoon, royal gynecologists triumphantly emerged from St. Mary's Hospital in London, where Prince William was born 31 years ago, signaling the end of 12 hours of labor and the delivery of a healthy boy weighing 8 pounds and 6 ounces. Meanwhile, a "town crier," dressed in what looked like a pirate costume, clanged a large bell and shouted the news of the happy occasion, which officially took place at 4:24 pm, local time.
So, without searching for a fashion angle ("Who was K-Mid wearing at the time of crowning?" as someone in the world has surely asked), we'd simply like to congratulate the proud parents — and great-grandma, who no doubt waited anxiously in Buckingham Palace. We're joyous for another reason: America's attention has been diverted from its own freshly arrived royal spawn for a whole day, maybe two. Maybe her friend in the UK will be named South.
Armani Diapers for Russian Babies Do Not Exist
Those €23 Emporio Armani disposable diapers for Russian babies were indeed a hoax — a very elaborate, convincing, absorbent hoax.
Then we heard from the publicist of a Russian artist, Petro Wodkins, claiming to be behind the hoax, and asked if we wanted to interview him. Sure! If it's true that "No one knows it was Petro who did it and especially Armani are very eager to find out, since they want to shut the page down," as the publicist said, we have a responsibility to interview him. It's our doodie...
So, after convincing a lot of people that the diapers were real, do you think the project was a success?
I hope that I managed to get people to reflect on the topic of consumerism, that they got a chance to laugh, but also question why they actually believed in this. But basically, in my art, I'm happy if I can get people to just think, about something, not necessarily sharing my view on life.
Do you think any rich Russians saw the ad and called Armani because they wanted to buy some diapers?
Yes, people wanted to buy this. If they were rich Russians or someone else, I do not know. But I think there will be luxury diapers in the future for sure ... Armani says they are not going to do diapers. I think it was in Yahoo that they said it was a stupid idea. They will do whatever it takes, and diapers isn't that bad. I have a couple of diapers that some art dealers already said they wanted to buy, but they are a little dirty and one can't be sold at all, ever. Babies, you know.
What is the message you wanted to convey? We assume you are indicting crass commercialism and the Russian oligarchy?
The fashion industry is pushing the boundaries of modern consumerism. Nowhere else are the brands as strong and capitalizing as much on secondary products. I wanted to see what happened if I pushed the boundaries, to see if anyone would react. There's always been outside pressure on people to serve the community or society. People sacrifice and abandon what they deep down think is right for a higher purpose, to belong and to find shelter and comfort. Fashion magazines are the new religion. But mainly, I'm trying to make people see, not necessarily what I want them to see but at least to open their eyes. And maybe make people realize that what they wish for might come true. There's a cruel logic to the golden iPod with diamonds sold at Harrods for $1,000,000.
Dolce & Gabbana Stores "Closed for Indignation"
Ever the showmen, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have temporarily closed all their Milan stores, in a protest against the taxman.
Citing their recent guilty verdicts and jail sentences in a tax-evasion case lasting six years, the two closed their nine boutiques in Milan for three days over the weekend and put signs in the windows that said "Closed for Indignation." Their 250 employees in Milan will still be paid.
The pair, who'll appeal the decision and aren't expected to spend any time behind bars, explained their reasoning in a statement: "We are no longer willing to suffer undeservedly the accusations of the financial police and the income revenue authority, attacks from public ministers and the media pillory we have already been subjected to for years."
In a further show of resistance, Dolce & Gabbana also displayed a newspaper article that quoted a city council member who said the city should not allow the duo to show their collections in communal spaces during Milan Fashion Week in September.
Kanye West.....designer extraordinaire?
Frankly, it's getting a little tiring, this calling that Kanye West keeps hearing to be a fashion designer. Today — just as you might have been tempted to think, as we did, that the ridiculous aspiration of his was well behind us, buried under a mountain of bad press and worse clothes (we chose not to review his two disastrous "collections" in Paris) — Page Six reports that the rapper is "prepping a unisex collection of about 100 pieces," to be shown at the spring collections in September. It's like déjà vu all over again.
We get that he has both a god and a martyr complex, but here's the thing. In the way naming a baby "North" doesn't bestow one with any new direction in life, collaborating on a hoodie, a T-shirt and jeans with A.P.C. doesn't make one a fashion designer. Remember, this is the man who once rhetorically asked, "Have you heard of a little thing called Lindsay Lohan's Ungaro collection? That was like the 9/11 of fashion. It was game over for me after that as no one would take a celebrity trying to do fashion seriously.” Exactly.
P6 further says, "West worked in Milan for a week on [the] new collection" and he is "again being advised by a team of top designers from hip brands, including his pal Nicola Formichetti of Diesel." If ever there's a kiss of death, it's the word "hip." But besides that, there is the very obvious question: What does he hope to achieve? We mean that sincerely. Is it to be a style authority? Best to leave that to the trained professionals. Is it to carry out some preconceived notion of what a rap mogul does? The best rap moguls do their work invisibly, plus all that baggy Phat Farm gear happened in the 90s. To win a CFDA award? They're meaningless. To impress a girl? That girl has already given birth to a direction. Maybe not even Kanye knows why he does the things he does.
Queen Elizabeth and Vivienne Westwood, Together at Last
The Queen of England and Dame Vivienne Westwood may seem like strange bedfellows, yet they share a keen interest in British customs and costumes, and each is the monarch of her respective milieu — the United Kingdom and punk.
And so it is that Dame Viv has designed the seemingly vandalized cover of Her Majesty the Queen, as well as its mother-of-pearl clamshell case. The design, applied to the new Royal Edition of the Diamond Jubilee-timed book, is a reference to the Queen, Great Britain, and Vivienne’s own Gold Label, featuring a scrawled drawing of the Star of the Noble Order of the Garter hand-stitched with silver thread.
Inside are hundreds of images of HRH's remarkable six-decade reign by the likes of Cecil Beaton, Lord Snowdon, Dorothy Wilding, Patrick Lichfield, and contemporary photographers Wolfgang Tillmans, Rankin, and Annie Leibovitz. Indelible moments range from her marriage to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to her introduction to a busty Marilyn Monroe in deep décolletage.
$850 at Taschen (limited to 500), including a signed print by photographer Harry Benson
