Fashion One invites you to take a look at the Hervé Léger by Max Azria fall collection for 2015 at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. Enjoy a close up look at the runway show and our exclusive interviews with creative director Luboz Azria and CEO Max Azria himself.

The new designs were inspired by Luboz Azria’s trip to Barcelona where she visited the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, the still unfinished Roman Catholic church designed by Antoni Gaudi which has been under construction since 1882. The building is famous in particular for its spectacular three grand façades which were the basis for the collection. Firstly the Nativity, meaning birth and sees the tree of life, nature and birds represented in the garments and embellished with 3D beading, secondly the Passion, which is all about stud work and a cool gothic rock and roll look and finally the Glory bursting with art nouveau references.

Max Azria spoke about a big change for the label, for the first time the collection featured short dresses in a variety of fabrics with wrapped and woven paneled sections. The pieces included jacquard dresses on tightly wrapped forms and patterns taken directly from digitized photographs of the church. There were also sophisticated bomber jackets and boleros as well as heaps of intricate sequin detailing giving some exotic ecclesiastical grandeur.

Fashion One takes you backstage and to the runway for Christopher Raeburn’s spring/summer 2015 showcase at the opening day of London Fashion Week. Our London correspondent Stefanie Rycraft Jones takes you through the presentation and chats with the key players.

Mark Trinder, head hair stylist from the Charles Worthington team, talks us through their ‘tousled luxe’ concept, creating effortless chic with natural gentle waves and focusing more on technique than products. He also reveals the best technique for applying elixir oil to get a flawless result every time. Whilst head make up artist Debbie Finnegan, from the Mac pro team, created a fresh, cool, streamlined look based on the collection’s concept of lightness and ‘freedom in flight’ utilizing a spring color palette.

We chat to Liberty’s head of fashion, Stephen Ayres, fresh off the plane from New York, who was excited about the show and looking forward to seeing the use of fabrics and technology as well as expecting some trademark utilitarian twists. Journalist Hilary Alexander also had a lot to say about technology and the growth of e-commerce in the industry. She described Christopher Raeburn as the epitome of the fashion and technology mix.

The garments featured chic utility wear with subtle use of print on eye catching pieces in pastel pinks, powdery blues and grays with several sheer fabrics used. A modern collection for a stylish city girl.

Fashion One takes you behind the scenes of the Ports 1961 spring/summer 2015 presentation at Milan Fashion Week. We have an exclusive interview with label’s creative director and hear her inspirations and thoughts regarding the new collection.

First we have a sneak peek at the models undergoing hair and make up backstage where the look was natural beauty with bold brows, nude lips and gently tousled hair.

Creative director Fiona Cibani was inspired by the Greek goddess Artemis who was both a huntress and a symbol of virginity and womanhood. Cibani describes Artemis as soft and feminine, as well as strong and powerful, and the collection was designed with a deity like this in mind.

There were no prints included in this season’s garments but the creative director spoke enthusiastically about the fabrics which featured a range of soft but solid colors in rose pink, black, creams and pearls. The pieces combine tough armour like double cotton, leather and python skin with delicate pleated silk and flowing, floaty fabrics giving a sensual feel as well as some cashmere knits. Accessories were also a key point with towering high shoes adding amazonian impact and bags with fringed leather tassel detailing. Jewelry and rings were symbolic for the power of the warrior woman as well as offering her protection.

We bring you a recap of the very best of Paris Fashion Week for the spring/summer 2015 season.
Paris was the final destination of four weeks of collections following on from New York, London and Milan and featured 90 shows held over nine days. The city reinforced itself as the fashion capital of the world.

The Grand Rex was the venue for the iconic designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s final ready-to-wear collection after 38 years in fashion and more farewells were seen at Hermès where Chistophe Lemaire showed his last designs for the house after four successful years. After the Carven presentation, designer Guillaume Henry announced his departure to Nina Ricci and there were also changes and fresh starts for Mugler and Sonia Rykiel.

Karl Lagerfeld surprised the crowds yet again with his parade of fashionable protesters marching down the specially constructed Chanel Boulevard and another stunning presentation was held by Louis Vuitton at the newly built Louis Vuitton Foundation building. The past and present collided with Christian Dior’s reimagining of 18th century riding coats whilst Lanvin celebrated its 125 year anniversary and still looked as relevant and modern as ever.

The trends for the season included jeans, the 70s, mix and match volumes, khaki, navy blue and transparent fabrics.

Italian born designer Riccardo Tisci is famed for revitalizing the Givenchy brand. Known for his gothic sensibilities influenced by his strict catholic upbringing, his hard edged minimalism and his referencing of American subcultures; a designer who has forged a particular niche in the luxury fashion world for creating edgy aggressive, but street-ready garments equally suited to a superstar rapper on stage as kid of the streets of Los Angeles. For Givenchy’s fall/winter collection, the gothic touch was not a subtle or ghostly one but rather a visceral theatrical horror fashion extravaganza with references to 1990s horror film figure Freddy Krueger and dried blood amongst the copious horror tropes, thrusting the viewer into a dark and dramatic world.

Whereas the monastic catholic atmosphere had enthused some previous collections this was the flip-side; an embrace of the darkness. The atmosphere of an infernal black mass was the order or the day in a venue filled with atmospheric spooky antiques sourced from the shadowy corners of the American hinterland. Assembled press and buyers were seated around a maze-like ruby red glitter covered runway; a bloody vein threading through the waiting masses. When the models emerged from the darkness there could be no doubt as to their sinister intention: faces made to reference fearsome African masks were fused with a demonic presence, with faces eerily obscured, lips stitched together or festooned with beads looking more like an infection then ornamentation. The razor sharp tailored garments came in darkest of black suits outlined in red, tough gangster pinstripe suits were subverted by knee length skirts, while delicate semi sheer t-shirts were cleverly layered to reveal images of hollow eyed skulls and dried blood. A devilish depiction that showed Riccardo Tisci’s ability to cleverly mine his own personal obsession to find new covetable goods for his dark-eyed acolytes.

Iconic actor Al Pacino is one of the modern era’s most beloved film actors. Internationally famous for his role as Michael Corleone in the Godfather films, Tony Montana in Scarface and his Academy award winning turn in Scent Of A Woman the actor has deftly navigated a course of interesting challenging roles. In addition to his work as screen actor he has enjoyed a successful career on stage and in recent years turned his hand to directing. Fashion One was in attendance at the British Film Institute at the SouthBank complex in London for a special event that saw Al Pacino’s films Salome and Wilde Salome, productions based on Oscar Wilde’s plays, screened back to back, followed by a Q&A hosted by the playwrights admirer British actor Stephen Fry.

Salome is Oscar Wilde’s most controversial work, a tale of lust, greed and revenge that tells the story of King Herod and his desire for his youthful stepdaughter Salome. Salome, which stars Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain, is a filmed version of the play while Wilde Salome is a documentary that captures the trials and challenges Al Pacino faced when performing in the play and simultaneously directing the two features. The event was a suitably glamorous affair, with Al Pacino cutting a rakish figure in his dark suit while Salome co-star actress Jessica Chastain turned heads in a yellow lace Erdem dress and Rupert Sanderson hydra pumps.

56th Grammy Awards

The hottest names in music descended on the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, a celebration to honor outstanding achievement in the American music industry. French electronic Daft Punk were the big winners of the night, with the robotic electro duo scoring a whopping five awards including Album Of The Year. Other big winners of the night were Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, the legendary Paul McCartney and hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Matthew McConaughey Hits Rome

Actor Matthew McConaughey looking dapper in a Dolce & Gabbana suit together with his wife Camila Alves was all smiles to promote his new film Dallas Buyers Club at the film’s premiere at the Cinema Barberini in Rome. The biographical picture about Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose life was turned upside down in 1985 when he was diagnosed HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. Speaking to Fashion One, he emphasised the film was not about death but about the triumph of living against the odds.

Not So Invisible

At the Odeon Kensington cinema in London, actress’s Felicity Jones and Kristin Scott Thomas joined their co-star and the films director Ralph Fiennes to walk the red carpet at the premiere of The Invisible Woman. The film concerns the hidden love affair between author Charles Dickens and a young women who becomes his mistress until his death.

China: Through the Looking Glass

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York has announced at a preview exhibition in Beijing the new spring exhibition «China: Through the Looking Glass». The exhibition, running from May 7th to August 16th 2015, will feature 130 fashion pieces combined with traditional art works in jade and porcelain alongside some film works, which will include famed Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai. Among the items at the preview in Beijing was a Chinese porcelain inspired dress created by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel in 1985 and a Tom Ford creation for Yves Saint Laurent that was inspired by the last Chinese Emperor Puyi’s dragon robe.

Tom Ford Expands

American designer Tom Ford has announced an aggressive expansion with the designer planning to have a total of 104 stores, including 46 freestanding locations and 58 shops-in-shop, by the end of the year. New stores are set to open in Dubai and Jeddah in March, Houston in September, with Miami and Atlanta to follow later in the year. Speaking about the growth Tom Ford said that some stores in China would be closed whilst others would be opened in better locations, noting that the company was in a stronger position in terms of sale and brand recognition to more successfully work in Asia.

Martin No More

Maison Martin Margiela is no more, with the brand now known as Maison Margiela, dropping the first name of its eponymous founder and now retired designer. A spokesman for Maison Margiela speaking to the New York Times said the name reflected the ‘…evolution of the house’ and applied to the brand as a whole. The name change coincided with John Galliano’s debut couture collection for the house, and in keeping with the obscure nature of the brand made no official announcement was made.

Plus more fashion entertainment and lifestyle news from Fashion Frontline team…

Amazon’s Wearable Tech Store

Pioneering internet goods giant Amazon has launched through their UK site a store devoted to the emerging field of wearable technology devices. The store sells a host of cutting edge devices including smart watches, activity trackers, smart glasses, wearable cameras and more, so with over 100 products already listed it has become the world’s largest vendor of wearable technology devices. Alongside the items there is comprehensive device compatibility information and user reviews, as well as a ‘coming soon’ section which highlights new devices.

Biggest Elle Magazine Ever!

American multinational media group Hearst has announced the September issue of Elle will be its largest ever in terms of both page numbers and ad revenue, with the magazine featuring 425 pages of advertising, a 5 percent increase from the previous year.

Style Thief App

American actress and model Kate Bosworth is partnering with Sam Russ, the co-owner of speciality retail chain American Rag Cie, in a new fashion technology app called Style Thief. The app allows users to take a photograph or reference a photo online which it then searches for and allows the user to purchase in a hassle free manner. The app hopes to tap into the popularity of phone based street snap photography and fuse it to the growing importance of mobile fashion commerce.

Mango’s Revised Forecast

Spanish high street behemoth Mango has cut its revenue forecasts after launching new clothing lines. The company now said it expected to generate 3.27 billion euro or 2.60 billion pounds in 2017, 34 percent less than the 4.97 billion euro forecast in the previous year’s report. CEO Enric Casi, speaking about the revised figures, said that the previous figures had been optimistic and acknowledged that the new lines would take a couple of years to reach the sales figures of its more established offerings.

Plus more fashion entertainment and lifestyle news from Fashion Frontline team …

Join us for another edition of Celebs of File as we bring you the latest in news and fashion from across the globe.

Johnny Depp brings UK fans to tears at the Moertdecai premiere and talks about cracking up on set with co-star Paul Bettany. Richard Linkletter’s Boyhood received the London Critics’ Circle award for Film of the Year and gives his thoughts on the film and its extremely personal nature.

Back in LA we visit the premiere of Black or White, where stars in attendance included Kevin Costner accompanied by his wife and daughter. Over in New York we check out the press conference for New Kids on the Block’s upcoming tour with TLC and Jennifer Lopez visiting the Wendy Williams show, Anne Hathaway on the Today Show and Jennifer Aniston appearing on Good Morning America.

We catch up with Jude Law at the premiere of Black Sea then to the first annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards. Presenters at the awards including big names like Miley Cyrus, Kanye West and Drew Barrymore and we had a chat with Scandal star Kerry Washington about the importance of shoes.

At the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford had some serious words to say about freedom of expression, meanwhile celebrity life in New York keeps lighthearted with appearances from the Flying Elvis’ and Tony Danza.