• Word on the street is that the shoes for Kanye West‘s second runway show are super painful. Jourdan Dunn tweeted during a fitting for the show to gripe about the painful pumps: “Dont get me wrong, the shoes are sexy as f**k,” she mused, “but you can’t walk in them.” Model Leomie Anderson chimed in, saying “omg the model who fit for his clothes said the shoes were so bad and he was cussin her *cries*,” adding, “well she said he was like ‘grr walk. Why don’t [sic] you walk.’ and stuff! But true say her walk isn’t top notch in kitten heels.” (*taking a moment to chuckle at the shade Ms. Anderson just threw this anonymous model*). After Kanye watched one poor model trip several times during the Anthony Vaccarello show last week, you’d think he would at least make sure his shoes are, you know, walkable. But then again, this wouldn’t be the first time Mr. West has designed something ill-fitting. (Glamazons)
• The folks over at Leonard are behaving rather suspiciously over their soon-to-be ex-creative director Maxime Simoens‘s courtship with Dior. When asked about the deal, Nathalie Tribouillard-Chassaing, Leonard’s managing director said, “I don’t know what these rumors are about. This is not at all topical. We are doing the show, and we’ll see what happens afterward.” Maxime himself was less evasive, saying, “There is nothing to comment because we are in negotiations. For the moment, nothing is happening. So when something happens, we’ll talk about it.” At least it’s confirmed that he’s in talks with the label. We’ll see how this pans out! (WWD)
• If you’re a model, and you think you’re going to get paid to walk in Marc Jacobs‘s shows, think again. Yesterday, Jezebel ran a story about 17-year-old model Hailey Hasbrook, who mused on her tumblr about her experience working with Jacobs. Hasbrook said she worked several hours as a fit and runway model, sometimes until 4:30 in the morning, and was paid only in Marc Jacobs merchandise. Marc Jacobs took to twitter to defend himself, saying; “Models are paid in trade. If they don’t want to work w/ us, they don’t have to.” It is important to note that Jacobs’s practices are not only morally questionable, but are in direct violation of the CFDA guidelines, the same organization that recently granted the designer board membership. As for Hasbrook, she’s perfectly content getting paid in trade. She deleted the entries on her tumblr outlining her experience, and wrote a new post saying that she “actually preferred to be paid in trade. I love everything that I got, and it was well worth it. There was an entire room filled with clothes and shoes that I was asked to choose from. Everything was amazing.” I wonder if she’d be so enthusiastic about getting paid in clothes and accessories if she had actual bills to pay. (Jezebel)
• Well, I never thought I’d see the day: Taylor Swift is featured in a spread for Harper’s Bazaar Australia wearing a Maison Martin Margiela wrap– and a Kanye West top. I wonder if Taylor knew who she was wearing? (Styleite)
• Designer Nicole Farhi has revealed to the Telegraph that several design houses and PR companies shell out tens of thousands of dollars to pay for celebrities to appear at their fashion shows. For many years, there have been whispers around the industry about this practice, but it hasn’t been confirmed until now. Farhi outright condemns this behavior, which seems to be quite common at certain firms. Emma Whitehair, publicist at London’s White Smoke Communications says, “In other places it was completely the norm, part of what was called ‘talent wrangling’. I know for an absolute fact they would pay celebrities to sit on the front row. It’s unfair: some people secure talent because they have genuine friendships and the celebrity likes the brand. Others have paid.” (Telegraph)
~Jihan
March 6, 2012 7:23 am
Why am I not surprised about the shoes, only concerned with the look and not the practicality of it.
March 6, 2012 8:04 am
Why wouldn’t he see that the shoes worked all the way around, a lot of shoes are painful after a certain amount of time, but I wouldn’t want people to not buy my shoes because they couldn’t stand to even walk in them, he needs to tighten it up..
March 6, 2012 9:35 am
Kanye is going for fantasy, not function. He wants to put women in what he would want to see them in, no matter how rediculous. He could care less how the clothes make women feel. And that’s his biggest mistake as a “designer”..If I could capitalize quotations I would honey!!
March 6, 2012 9:54 am
Ooo, there might be a couple models tripping or slipping on the runway later on today.
Excited about seeing this second collection though!
Can’t wait for Claire’s tweets! :)
March 6, 2012 10:03 am
Ok my thing is this, Kanye needs to humble his little ass somewhere before he jumps into this field. Just because he is interning doesn’t mean he knows EVERYTHING, designing a womans shoe is about knowing what works, and knowing that even though heels aren’t the most comfortable he should have had some woman walk in the shoes first to make sure it was a decent design and if not then he should have went back to the drawing board. He is on of my favorite people artisically but he is really stubborn and cocky about this fashion. Even the people who just competed in the vouge fashion fund had years under their belt and aren’t fresh out of fashion school, they had to starve just to get to their dreams, and even with celebs wearing their clothes and having stores carry it still were scared and humbled just to enter this contest to recieve a mentor. I think because kanye already has money he thinks that makes a different, because he is using the best fabrics its automatically the best, thats not how it works these days! He has to know what it’s like to REALLY go for this, fight for it, and then his tail will realize that just because he mad it doesn’t mean it’s going to work. THis is exactly why he need to chill for a while and keep learning.
March 6, 2012 10:05 am
Also that Marc Jacons Story….only a 17 year old would except some clothes for working at 4 am in the am. Thats Pure BS, if she had some bills a shirt or a purse can’t keep the lights on, what a crock of bull they probably punked her into that apology.
March 6, 2012 11:27 am
Marc Jacobs need to pay this models properly. They’re basically getting free labor. As for Kanye, SMH, if the models are complaining and dont really want to wear your shoes for the walk, how are they going to translate into everyday wear?
March 6, 2012 11:34 am
What a juicy Bomb Breakdown!
I am continually more and more abhorred by Marc Jacobs.
March 6, 2012 11:41 am
She only changed her statement so she wouldnt be blackballed im the industry!MArc Jacobs is a powerhouse that could end her career!smh poor thing!!
March 6, 2012 12:19 pm
Is anyone else snickering over Taylor Swift wearing Kanye’s shirt??? I know that couldn’t have been an accident lol
March 6, 2012 12:36 pm
While we’re chastising Kanye’s shoe designs, let us not forget that Christian Louboutin freely admitted he designs for aesthetic, not utility.
Perhaps Kanye should send a more practical shoe down the runway, but he’s not the first designer(…) to shun comfort for appeal.
As for the Marc Jacobs debacle, plenty of under-18 women would adore being paid in free designer clothing. As would a few over the age of 18. I doubt that all of his models are paid in merch.
March 6, 2012 12:47 pm
Celebs getting paid to sit in the front row fashion shows is old news. This has been going on for over 10 yrs.
March 6, 2012 4:53 pm
Viola Davis’s hubby is sexy!!! I likes ‘em old(er)!!!!! LOL
March 7, 2012 3:41 pm
Why are you all so mad that Kanye’s shoes hurt? Beautiful shoes arent comfortable regardless the designer. Whether the designer is new or old they’re usually men who could care less about how these shoes feel to us. Cut him a break, the shoes are bomb, very impressive for his first design.
March 8, 2012 6:56 am
i think marc jacobs making this model, who is also a minor work for 30 hours straight is against labor laws. i think not paying models money for the work they do is exploitative. she should at LEAST get paid minimum wage. this is why sara ziff formed a models union to protect these underaged and impressionable models http://www.businessinsider.com/models-form-alliance-and-reveal-scary-industry-statistics-2012-1.
as for kanye, i wish he would put on some ridiculous and painful shoes and then try to walk. he’d probably change the design in a heartbeat.