Carine Roitfeld's Five Favorite Fashion Editorials

Carine Roitfeld sat for an interview with The Gentlewoman for their fourth issue, Autumn & Winter 2011, and I was fascinated by the list of Carine's top five fashion editorials, her very favorites among her impressive body of work. Of course she chose the stunners, provocation at its chicest outer limit. My favorite line from the interview: "Even if the socks are bad, it's not a problem." Visit The Gentlewoman to see more of the issue, available on newsstands now.

1. “The Butcher” 

The Face, 1997
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Model: Eva Herzigova
Photographer: Mario Testino

“Shot during the meat crisis in Britain, this much-copied story was a turning point in my career. And I don’t even like meat!”

2. "Chic"

Visionaire #22, 1997
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Model: Kim Iglinsky
Photographer: Mario Testino

“I’d been in a car accident and had to wear a neck brace, so Mario suggested that we use it in the shoot. We had the model on a beautiful bicycle because I think a girl on a bike is very sexy. She was in Gucci heels, a shirt, a short skirt and the neck brace with some jewelry over it — very chic.” Note also that Mario Testino served as guest editor for this issue.

3. “Corps & Lames”

Vogue Paris, February 2005
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Model: Gemma Ward
Photographer: Mario Testino

“We had Gemma Ward playing with scissors and cutting the hair of a Barbie doll. This is something I used to do as a child — all little girls like to cut their Barbies’ hair, no?” The model turns the scissors on her own lashes as well; in marring our ideal of the perfect long lashes, her act seems quite perverse.

4. “Naughty Parisian Maid” 

The Face, December 1997
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Model: Ehrinn Cummings
Photographer: Mario Testino

“I love the contrast between the model’s very chic look and her manic behavior. We had her under a glass table, polishing it with a Louis Vuitton scarf and even cleaning the stove with a cotton bud while wearing Saint Laurent."

5. “Festin”

Vogue Paris, October 2010
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Model: Crystal Renn
Photographer: Terry Richardson

“A very provocative shoot, this was inspired by one of my favorite films, La Grande Bouffe. The smell of the squid was so strong the hairdresser fainted.”

Carine Roitfeld in The Gentlewoman image courtesy of lesmads.de. Editorial images © 2005, 2010 Condé Nast; © 1997 Visionaire Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The Allure Of Marisa Berenson

The Allure of Marisa Berenson
By Bernie Rothschild

Legendary fashion icon Marisa Berenson recently released her book A Life in Pictures as published by Rizzoli which showcases her successful career in modeling and film as well as her personal photos. Marisa, the eternally chic, ultra fabulous, and super fantastic It Girl of her generation, was once declared by Harper's Bazaar as a seismograph, "registering the latest tremors — the newest trends, places to go, ways to look." Born and raised with great wealth and privilege, Marisa was educated at the most exclusive boarding school in the world and became fluent in the languages of Italian, French, German, and English. Her mother was the aristocrat Gogo Schiaparelli, or the titled Marchesa Cacciapuoti di Giugliano, and let us forget neither her grandmother, the legendary designer — the shocking, the surreal, the great Elsa Schiaparelli — nor her other illustrious relatives such as the art historian, Bernard Berenson; one of the great athletes of our time, Senda Berenson; and a great-uncle who discovered the canals of Mars, Giovanni Schiaparelli — what a remarkable ancestry!

Diana Vreeland and Marisa Berenson

La Berenson began her modeling career at a very early age because her baptism was covered by Vogue, how fabulous was that? They don't do this anymore unless you are somebody from the society. Trained by Gene Kelly to dance and rejected by Eileen Ford as a model, Marisa Berenson was then discovered by family friend Diana Vreeland and became one of the most successful and highly paid models of her time. She appeared every month in the magazine and her swanlike neck and perfect figure were photographed by Avedon, Penn, Bailey, and Bourdin, showcasing the best trends of the seasons in the exotic locations of Greece, Sardinia, Turkey, Spain, Mauritius, and so forth. Who would forget her iconic shot by Henry Clarke bringing the blue chiffon Halston dress to life atop an Iranian mosque. She is the last person who ever did that, and she has said that if you did this nowadays, you would be shot dead. She was also the go-to nude model of Vogue during the Sixties.

Marisa Berenson lives in the world of fashion, art, and society, and she was once dubbed the girl who has everything. A jet setter, she dominated the parties of the last century. She was one of the lucky 540 guests at the Black and White Ball hosted by Truman Capote, the society gathering of 1966, and dressed as the Marchesa Luisa Casati for Marie-Hélène de Rothschild's Bal Proust for which she was photographed by Cecil Beaton. After the end of the youthquake Swinging Sixties, her star continued to spark during the whole Seventies as the queen of the scene. A regular fixture at Studio 54, she was one of the important icons of that era. Her friend, Andy Warhol, photographed her every move and angle. She became known as one of the best dressed woman in the world and always wanted to be dressed by Halston, Valentino, and Yves Saint Laurent; Salvador Dali wanted to paint her nude. Hollywood also hired her services, showcasing her acting skills in the movie Cabaret and in her legendary performance in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. Still a great beauty at 64, Marisa continues to fascinate the fashion scene: Tom Ford asked her to walk in his first womenswear presentation wearing the blue-body hugging dress reminiscent of her former modeling days and proving that age is nothing but a number with optimism and strong faith. There could only be one Marisa Berenson.

Carine Roitfeld and Marisa Berenson

Marisa Berenson and Carine Roitfeld photographs courtesy of Condé Nast and Rizzoli. All Rights Reserved.

Carine Roitfeld At Chanel Paris-Bombay Show

On Tuesday, Chanel previewed their Paris-Bombay pre-autumn/winter 2012-13 collection at the Grand Palais in Paris and Carine Roitfeld was seated front row, bien sûr. Taking inspiration from clothes designed by Coco Chanel in the Fifties and Sixties, Karl Lagerfeld's latest collection heavily references traditional Indian menswear. Lagerfeld explained his approach to WWD: "It's all about refinement. It's the Paris version of the idea of India. She [Coco Chanel] designed several Indian-inspired outfits — and that was enough. Most of the inspiration is from Indian men's clothes rather than women's clothes. They're easier to wear." Models for the show included Amber and Yasmin Le Bon, Arizona Muse, and Stella Tennant. Among the guests that turned out to view the collection were Virginie Ledoyen, Anna Mouglalis, Freida Pinto, and Cat Power.

Photos of the Chanel Paris-Bombay pre-autumn/winter 2012-13 collection

Video of the Chanel Paris-Bombay pre-autumn/winter 2012-13 collection

Carine Roitfeld photographs © 2011 Condé Nast and Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld For Kiki De Montparnasse

Next week Julia Restoin-Roitfeld launches another design collaboration, this time with luxurious lingerie label Kiki de Montparnasse. When asked by ELLE about the design process, Julia explained: "I had quite a strong idea of what I wanted to achieve but had absolutely no knowledge of lingerie design. Lingerie design is very specific—it’s not just about looking good, it’s really about the fit and every detail counts. I had many meetings with the team at Kiki, submitted my sketches, and then it was about seeing what was doable, the fabrics we could play with, etc. I knew what I wanted, but I couldn’t have done it so well without their expertise." The pieces by Julia will be available in Kiki de Montparnasse stores beginning Wednesday, 14 December. Visit the photo gallery to see more...

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photographs © 2011 Kiki de Montparnasse. All Rights Reserved.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld For Me & City

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld has collaborated with fashion label Me & City to design a winter collection of twenty pieces with the dominant characteristics being leather, lace, and animal prints. I love the sexy and carefree vibe of the clothing, très Julia. Not content merely to design her first collection, Mademoiselle Restoin-Roitfeld looks gorgeous modeling the pieces for the lookbook as well, as photographed by Mei Yuan Gui.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photographs © 2011 Me & City. All Rights Reserved.