WATERSHED MOMENT: Kim Kardashian Is Finally On The Cover Of Vogue

Look at it this way: Now people can finally stop accusing Kanye West of lobbying Anna Wintour to get his fiancé, Kim Kardashian on the cover of Vogue. Apparently he has succeeded. See above, the April 2014 issue cover which hits newsstands on March 24th.
There will, inevitably, be a great deal of hand wringing over whether or not Kim Kardashian is worthy of such an honor in the fashion world. Should she be included among such celebrated figures as Oprah, Hilary Clinton, Michele Obama and Meryl Streep? We tend to take a longer view, and remind ourselves that past cover qualification has included being married to or divorced from Donald Trump, which worked for Ivana (May 1990) and Melania (February 2005) —so you know, perspective. For her part, Kim does look very pretty, and of course, Kanye is there too, as well as the big diamond ring. Fittingly, this is actually the annual "Shape" issue. If Kim is known for anything, it's her shape, which is decidedly un-fashion model-like, and therefore refresing to see on the cover of Vogue. There's, a couple of other things she's famous for too, but let's not ruin her moment. The cover also includes a 27-character hashtag, #worldsmosttalkedaboutcouple, which is perhaps not the most practical hashtag they could have dreamed up for what should have seemed to be obvious reasons. Presumably, The Internet will have a lot to say about this startling event, so let this be your warning to hunt down those websites that foster such heated discussions, or, better yet avoid them altogether.

THIS WEEK IN PHILANTHROPY: Anna Wintour Gets Her Name On The New Costume Institute Space

Now that she has raised about $125 million over the past 20 years or so, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has named the newly renovated space that holds The Costume Institute after Condé Nast Creative Director, Vogue Editor-in-Chief and famous bob-wearer Anna Wintour (pictured left). After a two-year renovation, the section of the museum that houses the department will be renamed the Anna Wintour Costume Center, and the new name will appear above the staircase leading to the department when it reopens this Spring with the exhibition, Charles james: Beyond Fashion. While the name of the curatorial department itself will remain The Costume Institute, Ms. Wintour's name will grace nearly all of its facilities including the newly expanded 4,2000 square foot main showcase, the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery, the Carl and Iris Barrel Apfel Gallery, The Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library, and newly upgraded conservation laboratory and storage facility that holds the recently combined costume collections of the Met and the Brooklyn Museum —so her name will be an umbrella of sorts under which some other important patron's names will fall as well.

Having co-chaired 15 of the museum's annual Costume Institute benefits since 1995, and turned an already highly prominent fundraiser into one of the most glamorous and widely covered (as well as lucrative) media events anywhere, Ms. Wintour has more than earned a permanent tribute from the museum where she has been a trustee since 1999. The famously controversial editor has helped connect the Costume Institute with sponsors for special exhibition and funding for many projects like the recent renovations, and now joins the ranks of other patrons whose names are indelibly etched on the walls of one of the world's greatest art institutions. Much will likely be made of this development in May by Ms. Wintour's admirers and detractors when the next gala takes place this May, but whatever your opinion of her as a fashion and media figure may be, it's tough to argue that she hasn't had a lasting and beneficial effect on the museum.

FASHION WEEK POP-UP Nordstrom's Treasure & Bond Spotlights CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Nominees

Last Fashion Week, SoHo's Treasure & Bond teamed up with GQ to present a specially curated men's store, and this time around the CFDA/Vogue Fashion fund is getting its chance to present the most recent roster of nominees in their own pop-up shop starting today. Featured labels include grand prize winner, The Elder Statesman, as well as Suno, A.L.C., Tabitha Simmons, Assembly New York, Giulietta, Illesteva, Jennifer Fisher Jewelry, Jennifer Meyer and Wes Gordon. As always, 100% of the profits from Treasure & Bond will go to charities benefiting children in New York City. Pop-up shops will also be installed in five of Treasure & Bond's owner Nordstrom's flagship locations in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas. While the pop-ups are scheduled to be in stores through May, Nordstrom execs told WWD that they expect them to sell out well before then. Either way, New Yorkers can now head to SoHo to get more familiar with the latest crop of CFDA-anointed up-and-comers.

Treasure & Bond 350 West Broadway between Broome & Grand Streets, SoHo
Nordstrom Links With CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund (WWD)

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: Anna Dello Russo Makes Her Retail Debut This Fall With H&M

The tireless folks at H&M have just announced its first Fashion Editor collaboration collection with the sparkly, walking Christmas Tree known as Anna Dello Russo (pictured at right). The Fashion Director at Large and Creative Consultant at Vogue Nippon (Japan) will launch a line of accessories (pictured above) this October 4th which apears to include everything from shoes to handbags to jewelry and sunglasses, none of it minimalist in any sense. In the press release, Dello Russo says, "I wanted to create precious accessories that are impossible to find," and the line will be available in only 140 of H&M's stores worldwide. So far, there's no price range announced, but, it's H&M, so we expect things to be generally affordable.

The chain released a promotional video (embedded below), and it's worth watching if only for the glimpse into Dello Russo's meticulously organized pantyhose drawer, as well as the rest of her house, which basically appears to be one giant closet. Watch her say "Everything precious. Everything sparkly," and while holding up a clanking charm bracelet, "They make-a sound bling bling." It's kind of hilarious, but it changed The Shophound's opinion of her from tiresome costumed attention-hog to generally loopy eccentric (that's an upgrade). We have to give her some kind of credit for specifically identifying herself a fashion victim, not a fashion icon.
Points for self awareness.

BELATED PREVIEWS: VOGUE.com Has The First REAL Photos Of Tom Ford's Women's Collection

Have you been waiting like crazy to see what Tom Ford's women's collection looks like? No, we don't mean some sneaky editor's blurry iPhone pics, but real studio shots of the complete outfits. Wait no longer. Vogue.com has revealed the results of its Steven Meisel shoot of the highly protected collection. Sadly, there's no Beyoncé, Daphne Guinness or Lauren Hutton, but there's Karen Elson, Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy, Joan Smalls, Stella Tennant and others who participated in the first New York fashion show to generate real excitement in God only knows how long.

Vogue has four images online, and presumably more in the upcoming December issue along with the obligatory profile of Ford. As for seeing the collection on red carpets, the designer has promised to wait to see who gets nominated for an Oscar and offer to dress a single nominee of his choosing (so if Julianne Moore gets nominated for "The Kids Are Alright' —a distinct possibility— then we know how that's going to go).

We can't really argue with Ford's desire to slow the breakneck pace of the fashion media, even if it makes our job harder. To make matters even more frustrating, he promises to continue showing the women's line in the same way each season —but in London. The clothes are slated to start arriving in his stores sometime in December which is why they have been embargoed until this point. The photos snapped by Terry Richardson at Ford's presentation should hit the designer's revamped website at around the same time. Everything looks beautiful. It's not an earthshattering collection from these pictures. He's not reinventing the evening gown, but the line just looks appealing, rich looking and chic.

The man knows his customer.

Click the image to go to Vogue's story and slideshow for full-sized images.

Mr. Ford Returns by Sarah Mower (VOGUE.com VIA The Cut)

TV TALE: Anna Wintour Remains The Boss On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Some of you may have caught Anna Wintour and Marc Jacobs visit on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night. If you couldn't stay up past midnight, this clip shows an impatient Vogue Editor-in-Chief steering the conversation towards Fashion's Night Out. Of course they were actually talking about something more entertaining than FNO (which, we are sorry to say, we are already sick to death of hearing about), but damned if La Wintour was going to veer from her primary agenda! She's all business that one, but clearly unaware that when appearing on a late night talk show, the worst possible thing to do is to try and hijack the interview away from the host. Fallon, for his part handled it gracefully, but once again, Wintour proved herself to be a fully charm-free interview subject.

As of to balance out all the fashion talk, Fallon also packed the show with counter-programming including a spit-take competition and bulky WWE wrestler John Cena.

You can watch the full show on Hulu HERE.

Anna Goes To The Outer Boroughs: Fashion's Night Out Takes Shape

Fashion's Night Out, the CFDA/Vogue/NYC&Co. initiative to stimulate shopping scheduled for September 10^th has unveiled its own website and an ever growing schedule of events which will apparently include Anna Wintour's appearance at Macy's.
In QUEENS!.
Talk about going out of your way.
Wintour's appearance will also include a visit with Michael Kors and a performance by the cast of Hair. We think it will probably be worth going just to see them drag La Wintour into their signature sing-a-long of "Let The Sun Shine". We doubt Kors will need any prodding.
Her friend Andre Leon Talley will be staying closer to home at Bergdorf Goodman where he is scheduled lead a fashion gameshow whose contestants are reported to include Donna Karan, Linda Fargo and Robert Verdi, and these are just a few of the events planned for the one night (that's right, one night) when stores will be open until at least 11 PM.
Every retailer, designer and editor in the city appears to be brimming with enthusiasm about the event, so we wouldn't dream of  questioning what happens a week or a month after an entire industry has focused its efforts to revive business on one single all-or-nothing night in September.
We're just trying to figure out how we are going to cover even a fraction of the goings on after we've been through what is usually a busy first day of Fashion Week.
Fashion's Night Out (Official Site)
Fashion's Night Out Gains Steam (WWD)

The Weekend Spree: Vintage Wintour and Other Stories

A model swans through the supermarket dressed to the nines in an Oscar de la Renta LBD. Classic Vogue, no?
No.
The picture above is from an extensive gallery compiled by the industrious folks at Fashionologie featuring many of the editorial stories created by Anna Wintour when she was the fashion editor of New York Magazine in the early 1980s. It's a trip down memory lane (the hair! the shoulders!) for those of us who remember the days when NYMag would publish a fashion story every few weeks, and for those who were only a glint in someone's eye at the time, it's an illuminating look at the early days of a bona fide icon. As pre-release publicity for The September Issue ramps up, the gallery features work with some Wintour favorites like photographer Peter Lindbergh, and appearances by some of the top models of the day like Ines de la Fressange, Ariane and Kathy Ireland. Yes, Kathy Ireland. (Fashionologie)
In other news,

• Speaking of the '80s, are you still unsure about the revival of Dr. Marten's boots? Would a Raf Simons collaboration convince you? Works for us. (Hypebeast)
• And speaking of shoes and revivals, J. Press creative director (who knew they had one?) Mark McNairy is creating a buzz for himself with a collaboration (yes, another one) that may will make Bass Weejuns the Top-Siders of 2010. (The Moment)
• Bad press magnet American Apparel is denying that it has ordered store managers to re-evaluate their staffs based on their looks à la Abercrombie/Hollister.
Sure.
We believe them.
They are way too classy for that kind of move. (The Cut)
•Donna Karan has launched her own iPhone application found HERE for those of you who are missing her Woman to Woman magazine. How useful is it? We have no idea, but designers are jumping on this left and right. (Shophound Inbox)
• Joining the online designer sale craze, popular contemporary web retailer Revolve Clothing has launched Rewind, its own members only clearance/off-price offshoot featuring limited sales on the type of labels you can expect to find on the upcoming GILT Fuse site. A preemptive strike? Perhaps, but the real showdown will come next week. (RACKED)
•Maison Martin Margiela has launched a home collection for those of you who long to bring home the creepy whitewashed aesthetic of his Greenwich street boutiques. Continuing brand extensions suggest that the reclusive designer has little to do with the day-to-day goings on at his label. (Know & Tell)
• Cynthia Rowley's popular sample sale begins on August 13^th through the 16^th at her store, 376 Bleecker Street.
• Escada's sample sale runs through Sunday the 9^th at the Altman Building, 135 West 18^th Street.
• And should you choose to stay home instead of braving the crowds, here's what you can look forward to on GILT Groupe this week:
 Click away over the weekend and into next week for invite-only sales on Rag & Bone for Women and Men, Yohji Yamamoto , Freeze 24▪7 , Carolina Herrera , Lutz & Patmos , Nice Collective , Band of Outsiders , Sergio Rossi Women's , and linens from Yves Delorme Paris among others. Click HERE for your exclusive invitation if you don't already belong.

The September Issue: Director Spills At Apple Store Appearance

In advance of tonight's sold-out preview screening at 92YTribeca, filmmaker R.J.Cutler made a special appearance yesterday to discuss and promote his documentary The September Issue at the Apple Store in SoHo. The film, as you probably know by now, profiles Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour and chronicles the creation of the September 2007 issue, the largest single issue of a magazine ever published.
A few rumors were debunked including most obviously the myth that Anna Wintour is controlling the promotion of the film with an iron fist. There was absolutely no Vogue presence at the Apple Store. This was actually a good thing as it allowed the director to talk about Wintour freely. In fact, the event was very low key, as Apple does little more to promote its events beyond publishing a calendar on its website and distributing pamphlets in-store. This talk was geared more towards film than fashion folk, as Cutler made sure to note that the movie was edited with Apple's Final Cut Pro software. The discussion will be made available shortly in podcast form as part of iTunes' Meet The Filmmakers series.
Here are a few of the interesting tidbits about the film that Cutler dropped yesterday:

• The reason why he was allowed access to film Wintour and Vogue at all may simply have been because he had the guts to ask. Most people would have been too intimidated to even bother.
• Wintour agreed to Cutler's having final cut out of respect for him as a journalist and as the daughter of a journalist —a decision she may have regretted at times. After seeing a rough cut of the film, she responded with praise and a long list of "suggestions".
• The process of boiling down the enormous amount of footage was so complicated that one late-stage cut of the film actually eliminated Editor At Large André Leon Talley entirely! Clearly a huge mistake, Talley was abundantly re-inserted into the next cut.
• Cutler immediately knew he wanted to make a movie about Wintour not because of her own personality but because of the way other people reacted to her. She has a command of her environment and, according to him, the ability to change the temperature in a room with her mood.
• Ultimately, the film is less about Wintour herself than it is about her relationship with Vogue's Creative Director Grace Coddington, who was initially so disinterested in the project that she refused to allow herself to be filmed at all until four months into the nine-month shooting schedule, and had to be practically begged to participate.
• The two are apparently Vogue's Yin and Yang with Wintour's office described as a "freezer of efficiency" and Coddington's as an "incubator of creativity". He also had great admiration for the rest of the magazine's staff including Tonne Goodman, Sally Singer and Phyllis Posnick among others whom he described as an all-star team of editors.

Cutler was careful to remind his audience that despite all the attention the movie was drawing in the fashion press, it is still an independent documentary with an independent documentary's promotional budget, meaning a tiny one, so he implored everyone to please go see the movie, which is already scheduled for release in major U.S. cities.
The September Issue opens in New York on August 28th and in other cities on September 11th.
Our calendar is marked.

Fashion Tech: The September Issue To Hit The Apple Store

The Shophound always keeps a keen eye on the schedule of events at the Apple Store in SoHo because you never know who might show up to do a little bit of plugging. Earlier this year, we caught Stars from Watchmen, as well as Dollhouse and Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon along with the show's alluring star Eliza Dushku in a surprise appearance.
Thursday evening, the store will filmmaker R.J. Cutler, the director behind The September Issue, the much talked about documentary about Anna Wintour and the creation of Vogue's biggest issue ever.
Presumably, he'll be talking about entering a rarefied  part of the fashion world to make the film.
Will La Wintour make a surprise appearance for the computer geeks? Oh, to see the bobbed one answer questions from the audience would be a rare treat. We will see tomorrow at 5 PM. We can't promise anything, but stranger things have been known to happen.
R.J. Cutler at The Apple Store SoHo, July 30^th at 5 PM, 103 Prince Street at Greene Street, SoHo