AnOther Mag Marks A Decade With Style

For its tenth anniversary issue, AnOther Magazine has taken on an ambitious project to explore style over the past decade by pairing 28 style icons from the past ten years with some of the world's top designers. Featured on the four covers are Kate Moss in John Galliano, Natalie Portman in Lanvin, Vanessa Paradis in Chanel and Katie Holmes wearing Azzedine Alaia.

Other notable women to be featured in the issue include Carine Roitfield, Chloë Sevigny, Christina Ricci, and Courtney Love, among others. They willl each be paired with a designer from a list as varied as Calvin Klein, Viktor & Rolf, Ralph Lauren, Hussein Chalayan Christopher Kane, to name a few.

For the entire list of pairings, check DazedDigital.com

AnOther Magazine’s special collector’s edition will be on-sale exclusively at Liberty from September 10 and then available elsewhere from September 17.

September is Almost Here

I had a sneak peek at "September Issue," the new behind-the-scenes documentary about US Vogue that will be in select theaters at the end of the month, and I absolutely loved it! Despite having an obvious interest in fashion, "September Issue" is an entertaining and engaging movie for anyone which is most notable for its revealing look at Anna Wintour's silent hand in everything in the fashion industry from what wool Prada will use in its Fall/Winter collection, to what designer Gap will select to feature in stores for its CFDA collaboration.


The surprise star of the film is Grace Coddington, who's wit and obvious love for her work is at once both humorous and heart-breaking. A definite must-see.

Roland Mouret on Fashion & Technology

Technology tends to be double-edged sword; for every advantage, there's a disadvantage. For instance Net-a-porter's a great platform for you because you're a young brand and it allows you to by-pass traditional distribution of your goods and get it into the hands of the customer directly. On the other hand, in a matter of hours of you're sending new looks down the runway and the pictures travel around the world. So, how as a designer do you protect your designs? How do you protect your hard work, your labor from the seedier side of technology which allows people to reproduce your work?


Roland Mouret:

I think the great thing about it is it push you to think outside of the box. I know what the problem of copying and information traveling even before the event happened. What I'm interested now in my way to work is to arrive to a certain point to deliver the collection straight away after the show, because I think we're not in a time any more where you want to wait six months for a collection arrive. You see it online, you want it now. Especially with the kind of things happening around us; there is no more season. That mean it's about the product and it's about an emotion you have with that product. My work at the moment is to deliver closer to my show. The next show I'm going to present in October, end of September/beginning of October. We will starting to deliver it in November, in stores. It's not magic, it's just a way to organize yourself and to sell it in advance, and to be ready there. And the show has to be closer to the delivery and like that it can't be copied.



This is an excerpt from a talk given by Natalie Massenet and Roland Mouret at the Apple store in London on fashion and technology. You can download the entire podcast on iTunes.

Hussein Chalayan: Digital Apparel

Hussein Chalayan is a master at  incorporating technology into fashion design. In this clip, he explains how small lasers are used to add an intense sparkle effect to a dress from his S/S 2008 collection.

Talking Fashion and Technology with Agnieszka Kij: Links a la Mode

Portrait of Agnieszka Kij by Ray Chang

Agnieszka Kij of Net-a-Porter spoke to Style Gourmand about Net-a-Porter's new iPhone app, and about where fashion and technology meet.


A couple weeks ago Natalie Massenet, NAP founder, and designer Roland Mouret appeared at the Apple store in London to discuss fashion and technology. Although fashion and technology seem like two disparate areas, they both attract creative passionate people, just with very different ways of expressing their ideas: how much do you think fashion is influencing technology and vice versa?

The brilliant thing is that no matter where you live, technology enables you to see, interact and get inspired by fashion. More and more designers are realising this and are looking to see how they can harness technology to deliver something new. I love designers who constantly push boundaries (Hussein Chalayan is a great example), but it’s no longer just about creating a beautiful product, it’s also about how creative you can be in getting it to your customer. I think the dialogue between fashion and technology is only just beginning and that we will continue to be surprised by the results.

So Natalie and Roland were also discussing the new Net-a-Porter shopping app that launched this week. Can you tell us a little bit about it? What kinds of features does it have and how is it different from other fashion apps?

It’s the first app where you can actually purchase the latest fashion via a streamlined purchase path. Most apps take you out of the APP and into a separate browser to make a payment. With the NET-APP, you stay within the application throughout the entire payment process. I also am particularly proud of the level of product details we provide for all the ‘what’s new products.’ There are 5 images per product all taken from different angles and zoom functionality so that our customers can see everything from the fabric texture to the smallest stitch! This means you can really shop and access luxury fashion wherever you are – last week I was sitting on the beach in California browsing NET-A-PORTER’s ‘what’s new’ section and magazine - what else does a girl need?

Since your work requires you to be both a techie and a fashionista at the same time, who in the worlds of fashion and technology do you find most inspiring?

There are many people I find inspiring in technology such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Steve Jobs but I find I am mostly inspired by the people I work with at NET-A-PORTER. There is nothing more exciting than coming up with an idea, then speaking about it with my colleagues, fine-tuning it and then working on delivering it. Fashion inspirations are harder to pinpoint. Living in London and working in fashion company I constantly see brilliant things. I can be inspired by anything from a teenager crossing the street in east London to a model coming into our offices for a casting.

How did you get into the fashion industry?

It was actually quite by accident. I came to London from Poland about 5 years ago and applied for a job at NET-A-PORTER…and instantly fell in love!

Have you always had an interest in fashion or is it just an occupational hazard?

I have always had interest in design and aesthetics and fashion definitely falls within these categories.

Your hands-down favorite items in your closet:

I have 3 - a stripy white and navy blue top which goes with everything, some Eley Kishimoto ballerinas and I always have a pair of classic white Converse in my closet.

The coolest thing you've seen lately:

I went on a road trip across the US recently and fell in love with old American cars all over again…but then I saw the old cruise bikes in New Orleans and think they are even cooler!

Complete the sentence: You're always naked without comfortable shoes

What one gadget can you not live without?

iPhone, iPhone, iPhone

What new gadget have we never heard of, but in the future won't be able to live without?

3D technology – imagine 3D touch screens computer where you can design a chair for example and then instantly print it on your 3D printer.