Emma Watson and Mario Testino on Vogue UK shoot

You have seen Emma Watson's December cover for British Vogue, now here a special behind-the-scenes peek at the making of that cover. Photographed by Mario Testino in Paris, here the pair palling around as Emma has the final touches made to her hair and make-up. She also reveals that Testino wanted to shoot her two or three years ago, before Testino quips "[when] we had the same haircuts." Cute clip.

BFC/c Fashion Fund 2010 shortlist - revealed!

The shortlist for this year's BFC/Vogue Fund has been announced. The nominees include Charlotte Olympia, Christopher Kane, E. Tautz, Jonathan Saunders, Nicholas Kirkwood, Osman, Peter Pilotto and Richard Nicoll.



They are all in the running for taking away a prize of £200,000 and a bespoke mentoring programme. The seven runners-up will also each receive mentoring through the Fund.


"The high level of financial support and the mentoring package will play a pivotal role in developing the winning designer business on an international platform. We're very proud to be able to offer our promising designers this support and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our funders," said Harold Tillman.


"It is very exciting to be in our second year of the Fashion Fund and to be providing such tangible help to this extremely impressive shortlist of British designers," Vogue's Alexandra Shulman said today. Last year's Fashion Fund was awarded to Erdem.

Lara Stone for French Vogue

We reported on the Stéphanie de Monaco issue of French Vogue recently and now the Gallic team have named their latest muse, Dutch-born model Lara Stone. A regular face in French Vogue she won't be writing or contributing, but there's no doubt she is well loved by the magazine as they told Fashionista: "Have you ever met Lara Stone? If you met her, you would know. She's an amazing person."Looks like my subscription will be worth every euro! if you need me I'll be peering out my letterbox for the next month until the issue lands in my hallway.
[Fashionista, Image: TFS]

Cheryl Cole's Vogue shoot turns sour after clashing with stylist

Cheryl Cole's dreams of a Vogue cover turned into a nightmare, after she reportedly stormed off the shoot following a clash with stylist, Bay Garnett.

As I mentioned last month, the X Factor judge is all set to star on the cover of British Vogue's February issue, but her moment in front of the lens didn't go to plan when she felt ignored by Garnett.

An insider told Heat magazine: "Cheryl arrived really excited about the whole thing, as anyone would be, but things soon turned a bit sour. The main problem on the shoot was Cheryl's chemistry with the stylist Bay Garnett after the pair failed to click."

The source added: "Bay is a super stylist, really well known in the fashion world, so it was a real coup that she was styling Cheryl. Bay had the baby daughter with her and spent a lot of time with her during the shoot, which meant that the assistants had to do most or the styling. Cheryl didn't take too kindly to this and felt ignored."

It is believed that by 3pm, Cheryl was over it and left the shoot.

"The photographer had his shots by then, so it wasn't like Cheryl was being unprofessional by leaving, but she wasn't going to stay somewhere she felt uncomfortable."

The February cover is said to feature the Girls Aloud singer dressed in gold and showing off her trademark smokey-eyed look. Although whether we'll actually get to see the photos now remains uncertain.

[Source / Photo: Rex Features]

Vogue cops backlash over Victoria Beckham cover

Hindsight is a often a wonderful thing, although perhaps not for the staff over at British Vogue right now.

According to the Daily Star, Vogue readers are still reeling over the mag's decision to feature Victoria Beckham on the cover of its April '08 issue.

The style bible has been criticised for choosing the Spice Girl on this month's cover, with readers complaining that it turns the publication into a gossip rag.

"Normally Vogue is all about what's hip and what's not and features a stunning amazon of a woman on the cover who is associated with cutting edge fashion," commented one fashion fan. "Instead we get a modestly talented dancer who likes clothes and who was lucky enough to engineer her way into one of the biggest girl groups in the world."

Ouch!

If that wasn't bad enough, Beckham has also been panned by comedian Joan Rivers, who branded her "arrogant."

I am guessing then that poor Vic doesn't want to hear what some folks are saying about her latest Marc Jacobs campaign shots, like the one above. Thumb-sucking anyone?

[Source]

Natalia Vodianova lands the May 2008 cover of Vogue UK

Russian beauty Natalia Vodianova has landed the cover of the May '08 issue of British Vogue.

It's the latest coup for the model who was recently named in the ad line-up for Versace's fall campaign, along with Isabeli Fontana.

It is also the third time that Vodianova has appeared on the May cover of Vogue UK, last year she appeared beside Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell for the May '07 cover. For this latest issue, she was photographed by Mario Testino in her native Moscow.

The May issue of British Vogue goes on sale this week.

What do you think of Natalia's cover? Leave your thoughts and comments below.

Sasha Pivovarova on Vogue China and Vogue Australia - which looks better?

Vogue China recently had Mario Sorrenti photograph Sasha Pivovarova for the cover of their March 2008 issue. Now Vogue Australia have made the most of being in the Conde Nast International family and used the image on their May 2008 issue. While there were no drastic changes, I like the Chinese cover better. The "Spring Colours" cover line brings a nice fresh flavour to a spring cover, while pink isn't exactly a colour that is meant to inspire fashionable women in Australia as they go into Autumn.

Which cover do you prefer?

US magazine round-up: W and Vogue, March '08 issues

It's that time of the month when we check out what's going on state side in the glossy world of magazines. After yesterday's surprising Lindsay Lohan/Marilyn Monroe cover for New York magazine, I was a little scared to see who'd made the covers for US Vogue and W magazines.

However... breathe a sigh of relief folks, for it's a few of our favourite leading ladies, for a change.

Currently doing the publicity rounds for their new film The Other Boleyn Girl, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman hit the cover for March's issue of W. Shot by Steven Klein, both ladies are wearing Miu Miu, but I'm confused as to why a miniature dog is featured? Did Paris Hilton crash the set or something?

Moving onto March's issue of US Vogue, which stars the delightful Drew Barrymore. Always a welcomed choice, I did have to look closely at the picture, which gives a whole new meaning to the term 'fresh faced' - click image to enlarge.

I don't know about you, but I sense a little (or a lot) of touching up has gone on here... she doesn't quite look herself. Nevertheless, I can't wait for her new film Grey Gardens to hit screens later this year.

Tell us what you think. Do you like/dislike these March covers?

Why we love Kate Moss..?

If asked “Which model can successfully take you through the ages of fashion without fading?” one would hopefully answer “Kate Moss.”

I mean, as if anyone would ask that question - but when I think about it, she’s the only model who can transform from season-to-season and year-to-year without being left behind and replaced with someone new, i.e. Janice Dickinson.

And Kate Moss is featuring on the cover of Vogue’s coming March issue, making it her 25th Vogue cover.

Click here to see the 25 covers from 1993 to 2008.

French Vogue Feb '08 issue: stars Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse...?

The latest issue of French Vogue sees two of our favourite supermodels, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, reunited for the cover. But that isn't what has really sparked our interest... It's the mag's editorial shoot featuring model Isabeli Fontana as Amy Winehouse (complete with former bee-hive) that has tickled our fancy. With Karl Lagerfeld recently declaring the troubled singer inspiration for his pre-fall show ("she is the dark Brigitte Bardot), I'm wondering - how much influence does Wino actually have on the fashion biz these days. Or has she done her dash now that she's sans beehive?

[Images]

Kate Bosworth poses for Vogue US

Hollywood starlet Kate Bosworth is busy promoting her latest movie '21' which tells the story of a group of students who win loads of money in Las Vegas playing Blackjack. At the same time, the young actress who is favoured by design houses such as Fendi and Marc Jacobs, appears on the cover of US Vogue in a feature shot by world renowned photographer Mario Testino.

Bosworth talks to Vogue about her previous relationship with Orlando Bloom and her sudden weight loss. She explains that her and Bloom were very young when they first met and "regrets that it was too intense for both of us."

She blames the sudden weight loss, which saw her lose 12 pounds, was down to stress owing to an illness within the family. "Whenever anything happens that's very painful or stressful, we all lose weight — my mother, my aunt, my grandmother. ... I honestly thought something was wrong with me. ... I was concerned for my health and my fans, the public. I would have said, don't look at this as the standard of some kind of beauty and health. [It was] a very dark time in my life."

[Source:Pagesix]

British Vogue's January 2008 issue as introduced by the editors

British Vogue just added a new clip to their collection on YouTube, with this one being one of their most revealing yet. It takes you through the halls of the Vogue office, then into a discussion between editor-in-chief, Alexandra Schulman and Vogue's Creative Director. Watch as they discuss why they chose the Eva Green cover image that they did, and listen as Pippa Holt talks about her fashion pick me up spread, then watch as Lucinda Chambers talks about how they use British models like Lily Cole, Agyness Deyn and Lily Donaldson in their January 2008 issue.

MySpace Fashion: Vogue or Waste of Time?

While other social networking sites, and especially MySpace's biggest competitor, Facebook, are trying to expand into the professional networking space, the social networking leader is moving in a different direction. Do they know something the others don't or are they just sadly misguided? Let's find out.

With the professional networking space heating up as more and more professionals head online to connect with their co-workers and others in their fields, you would expect the leader in social networking to make similar moves (if not be the one to initiate the moves) to capitalize on the expanding market and further secure its lead. But when MySpace decides that instead it will release a revamped version of its fashion community, you can't simply write it off. If MySpace's history is any indication, their move into fashion networking over professional networking makes sense.


When MySpace was launched in 2003, it was popularized as a platform for budding artists to upload, share, and essentially market their music for free. The site's beginnings and their current foray into fashion sheds light on MySpace's strategy, which BusinessWeek points out as one of 'identifying the communities of interest that have grown organically and the building official member communities around them, turning once-grassroots groups into content platforms for old-media companies and consumer brands'.

Opting for niche communities over fast-maturing areas is risky but if successful, will be far more rewarding. By choosing to focus on these under-served communities, MySpace can foster loyalty and become a monopoly player with absolutely no competition, while leaving the competition to fight over areas like business networking. Furthermore, this brings diversity to the MySpace portfolio (for marketers) and allows MySpace to hedge their bets against competition from Facebook and other rivals.

Steve O'Hear explains this phenomenon clearly,
Whilst many of us have applauded Facebook's clean design and focus on communication, it's hard to imagine that the site will eat into MySpace's strong communities around musicians, film makers, and now fashion enthusiasts -- as user profiles and community pages can't be heavily branded or customized...

Get Vogue Paris-inspired leopard print on sale now at Net-a-porter!

Is it just me or does this month's cover of Vogue Paris instantly remind you of Shania Twain in her 1997 music video for "That Don't Impress Me Much"? In head-to-toe leopard print it was a pretty unforgettable outfit. Flash forward ten years (wow, has it really been a decade?) and the September cover of Vogue Paris features model Natasha Poly covered in leopard print from Givenchy's fall/winter '07 couture collection - check out the helmet!

While I was never much of an animal print kind of gal, on some people it can make quite a statement. An example is Penny Lancaster, Rod Stewart's new wife, who always seems to carry off this trend well. Sienna Miller was also recently seen on the beaches of Ibiza wearing a leopard print sarong that she also doubled as a scarf back in July.

If, like Penny and Sienna, you're a bit of a fan of the whole leopard print trend then don't I have some good news for you. Net-a-porter currently has up to 75% off in its end-of-year clearance sale and there are some definite bargains on offer.

First up is this Diane Von Furstenberg leopard print wrap dress massively reduced from £272 to just £68 (yes, really!) Also on sale is this velvet leopard print skirt by Marc Jacobs for £592.50 (reduced from £1,185).

And finally, if you're a little more hesitant about trying out this trend then marked down from £290 to £174 are these leopard print t-bar heels by Fendi. Match it simple black trousers, a skirt or LBD.

[Images: TFS]

Naomi Campbell slams Vogue's preference for white models

Naomi Campbell has slammed magazines like Vogue for sidelining black models by giving preference to fair-skinned women.

The stroppy supermodel said that ‘it is a pity that people don’t appreciate black beauty’.
The 37-year-old admitted that she herself finds it difficult to get a chance to appear in the cover page of the London issue of Vogue magazine.

“Black models are being sidelined by the major modeling agencies. It is a pity that people don’t appreciate black beauty,” Times Online quoted Campbell, as saying.

“Even myself, I get a raw deal from my own country in England. For example, I hardly come on the front pages of the London Vogue magazine. Only white models, some of whom are not as prominent as I am, are put on splash pages. I don’t want to quit modeling until I find that black models get equal prominence and recognition by the world media and information instruments.”

“I believe there are pretty girls from your lovely country who can grace the international catwalk and the front pages of fashion magazines with proper strategies.”

Campbell is now planning to start her own modeling agency in Kenya to look for African faces.
However, she agreed that it would take time to being the change in the industry.

“You can look through all the big magazines and see hundreds of models and not see a single black one. So anything which increases the pool of African talent is a good thing, but it will be a while before we see a big change in the industry,” she said.

For Leona, Fashion Week's just not in vogue

Glynis Traill-Nash

SYDNEY'S loss is New York's gain. Leona Edmiston has joined other leading designers in announcing she will skip Australian Fashion Week in favour of an event in New York.

Edmiston, who has shown her trademark jersey dresses and long-line silk gowns in Sydney for the past five years, is concentrating on the overseas market.

She joins a number of designers who will show at New York Fashion Week at the expense of the Sydney event, which starts on April 30. High-profile labels Maticevski and Aurelio Costarella are also focusing solely on New York, as Willow and sass & bide have done for the past few seasons.

"Our aim was to lay all our foundations solidly before we did too much anywhere else," Edmiston said. "But we've always had our feelers out. Now I think we can grow there.

"I think all Australian designers need an export market because our market is a small one. We need it to sustain a good healthy business - we need domestic and export."

Edmiston said she was looking forward to the American show. "They love our product, so you go where they like you."Source: The Sun-Herald