»karl«

First there was Karl, then there was Stella and now I just read that there will be Miuccia following - eventually. That means: PRADA for all of us.

Update 31.03.06:
I've just started to google the web for some further information. On "Manolo's Prada Blog!" I found some hints: Though unconfirmed, word came late Wednesday (which already was mid feb) that H&M and Prada are said to have had initial discussions about the possibility of collaborating on a capsule collection of clothing and accessories. A Prada spokesperson had no comment on the matter. [...] According to company sources, Prada is undergoing several internal corporate changes. The company recently announced that it would be moving its Miu Miu show from Milan to Paris, perhaps in a strategic attempt to distinguish it from the Prada collection, but also to afford itself a path should a possible partnership with H&M solidify.
read full article on fashionweekdaily.com

In an interview on vogue.co.uk Miuccia Prada answered an interesting question:
Q: Would you ever consider doing a line for H&M in the same way as Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney have?
A: "I have talked about it as they did ask me. I think it is an interesting concept and I would love to work on an entire collection using inexpensive materials. What I don't like is the idea of copying the main collection straight out. I think it should be treated as a whole new innovation."

That would not only be terribly exciting, but also and more importantly, one more milestones in the continuing democratization of the fashion.

Boys around me are still mourning about boring clothes at H&M and at elsewhere effordable places. But if I just mention the magic words DIOR HOMME the boy's eyes will get watery and dreamy. No they are definitely not gay.
I always thought and still kind of think that male fashion is a hard thing to do. And I also agree with my dear friends that most of the things you can easily purchase are way too boring and simple.
The funny thing with this is this newborn interest some boys show concerning designer fashion. Yes the times are changing. I think I for myself have to stop thinking in this oldfashioned stereotype categories. And thats exactly what's happening with a lot of boys outside. They are fed up with what the industrie wants them to wear. They want the same freedom and creativity in clothing like us.
It's not just a retail problem it also became a true couture problem. And in the end it's them who set the course. The "New Yorker" wrote two days ago: "Men’s fashion in Paris was moribund, but then Hedi Slimane came along."
But who is Hedi? Hedi Slimane came to Dior in 2002 to design their menswear collection. It is often said that he transformed the male silhouette.
Born in Paris, France in 1968 with a Tunisian father, an Italian mother and a Brazilian grandmother. His mother dressed all her kids in self-sewn clothes. And it was her who'd taught Little-Hedi his first sewing lessons. He once said in an interview that he always was lonesome cowboy, especially as a child he was the odd one.
The aforementioned "New Yorker" described a quite funny scene in Hedis childhood concerning his influences reflected in his designs. Six-year-old Hedi sits on the floor in his room mooning over an album cover. It's 1974. He just got a birthday gift from a friend of his older sister: David Bowie "David Live". "The friend, Véronique, likes to put on a blue jumpsuit and imitate Bowie. She does a good Mick Jagger, too. Slimane is captivated by her. He is also captivated by the album cover, which features a photograph of Bowie onstage, dressed in a powder-blue double-breasted suit: the jacket is cut short, with narrow but square shoulders, and the pants, although pleated and billowy in the legs, are tight at the crotch. Bowie looks bloodless and emaciated, well on his way to his 'Thin White Duke' phase, during which he subsisted, as he later said, on 'peppers, cocaine, and milk.'"
But 30 years later Slimane claims that he has no influences at all, he declares, "I have no nostalgia". Yeah, but sorry, taste has to come from somewhere...well...
Hedi actually studied art history and started his career at stylist José Lévy's. 1997 Yves Saint Laurent enganged the then 28-year-old Slimane as artistic director for his menswear. His creations were and still are revolutionary. He is famous for his slim silhouettes.
Oh that's funny: Slimane is famous for the slim. Well, I'm probably not the first one exploring this.
In 1999, as YSL is snapped up by the Gucci-Group, Slimane changed to Dior Homme becoming their Creative Director and Chefdesigner (what's this in English?). Three years later he became Designer of the Year.
And now he's famous and makes fabulous clothes a lot of boys make goo-goo eyes with. And then they cry because either they can't efford them or they are not skinny enough. Just look at Karl Lagerfeld. There are rumors about his turbo diet a few years ago. That he was just nearly starving to death to fit in slimanes slim outfit. Karl started with a tie, half a year later he fitted in a jacked and another half year later he could finally wear the famous slim Slimane pants.