Alexa Chung Unveils ‘Fantastic’ Collection in London

Home

COOL BRITANNIA: Alexa Chung channeled her love of music, humor and all things British into the launch event for her label’s third see-now-buy-now collection. The range, dubbed “Fantastic,” was inspired by Brit Pop, and Chung gathered a stylish group of friends at East London’s Moth Club to build the buzz around it.
“It’s an indie hot spot where new and existing bands perform and it’s got a good ambient vibe,” said Chung of the ex-servicemen’s members club. “We were trying to think of an appropriate venue, which reflected the musical element that inspired the collection. We also wanted to keep it quintessentially British and intimate and fun. This ticked all the boxes. It also has the potential for a riotous night.”
She added her own touches to the space in the form of a disco dance floor and plenty of gold tinsel. A secret room upstairs was transformed into a highly Instagrammable scene with bouncy balls and a bed covered with a British flag, where guests could lie down and have their photos taken — an homage to that famous Vanity Fair cover from the Nineties, featuring Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit.
Guests including Pixie Geldof, Henry Holland, Mary Charteris and Tallulah Harlech jumped

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

The Costume Institute’s ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’ to Be Previewed in Rome Next Month

WHEN IN ROME: The opening of the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute is still a few months away, but organizers will stage a press preview Feb. 26 in Rome. The Met’s deputy director Carrie Rebora Barratt, The Costume Institute’s curator in charge Andrew Bolton, Anna Wintour and His Eminence Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi will be on hand for the warm-up event at Galleria Colonna.
The location of the preview in Italy is a spectacle in itself. The Roman Baroque Galleria Colonna was commissioned in the mid-1600s by Cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew, Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna. It was inaugurated by Onofrio’s son, Philip II, in 1700. The architect Antonio del Grande handled the original project, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Paolo Schor and Carlo Fontana enhanced it in the last decade of the 1600s.
The Costume Institute’s main event bows to the public in New York on May 10 and will run through Oct. 8. “Heavenly Bodies” will be housed in two locations — The Met’s Fifth Avenue museum and the Met Cloisters. “Heavenly Bodies” will juxtapose fashion and masterworks of religious art so that patrons will consider fashion’s ongoing engagement with the

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

‘Model Squad’ to Be Presented on E!

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF MODELING: E! has greenlit a new one-hour, eight-episode docuseries called “Model Squad,” which follows several high-profile models within the fashion industry.
They include Daniela Braga, Olivia Culpo, Hannah Ferguson, Ping Hue, Nadine Leopold, Caroline Lowe, Ashley Moore, Shanina Shaik and Devon Windsor. The models, except for Braga and Culpo, are represented by IMG Models. Braga is represented by Next Model Management and Culpo is represented by Creative Artists Agency.
The models have appeared in such magazines as Sports Illustrated, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Vogue, walked in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show and landed campaigns for houses including Balmain, L’Oréal, Chanel, Tod’s and Givenchy.
The series is produced by Trooper Entertainment in association with Lionsgate TV and executive produced by IMG, with David Caplan, Will Staeger and Gennifer Gardiner serving as executive producers. The idea behind the series is to get an authentic view of the highs and lows of navigating the modeling world. The network will air a preview special, “Model Squad: Fashion Week,” on Feb. 12 at 10 p.m. ET with the series to launch later this year.
“The business of high fashion is competitive and cutthroat, but it provides unparalleled opportunities that so many dream of,” said Amy

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

International Talent Support Contest Returns for 16th Edition

ITS ON: Italy’s International Talent Support contest — also known as ITS — is back.
Following a one-year hiatus in 2017 due to a lack of funds, the Trieste-based design competition for emerging fashion, accessories and jewelry talents will return this June for its 16th edition.
Founded in 2002 by Barbara Franchin, the contest is back thanks to a new partnership with the Italian fashion chamber, Pitti Immagine and Altaroma, which will cooperate to provide continuity to ITS’ scouting activity and promotion of young designers.
Companies such as OTB Group, Swatch and Illy also resumed their partnership with the program. In particular, OTB’s president Renzo Rosso has been supporting the contest since its launch, first with Diesel and then with the brand’s parent company, which also controls the Maison Margiela, Marni, Viktor & Rolf and Paula Cademartori fashion labels.
“ITS has always been an incredible source of energy and inspiration,” Rosso said in a statement. “Many of its finalists work in the style offices of the most well-known fashion houses of the world, without mentioning our own.” The latest to join the group’s brands through an internship were the tied winners of the 2016 OTB Award, Niels Gundtoft Hansen and Anna Bornhold.
On renewing OTB’s collaboration with

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.