Roitfelds At New York Fashion Week: Wild, Tough, Money

I have so many tidbits about the Roitfelds at New York Fashion Week for you! First, clearly, we see Carine Roitfeld enjoying her freedom from the bonds of Vogue Paris, errr, dancing in her booth at Indochine following her son Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld's New York premier of RETNA. Carine is joined by makeup artist Tom Pecheux, not sure who they are beckoning to join them sur la banquette... lucky soul...

Next up, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld walks us through a week from his wardrobe by way of "SoHo Gallery? Black, of Course" in The New York Times. He certainly does wear a lot of black and like his mother he tends to repeat the same pieces. Poor Vlad had an unlucky week — in a mere seven days, he ruined a pair of black Dior jeans while meeting with artist José Parlá and then fell ill with a sinus infection just in time for his mother's amfAR gala benefit and his own RETNA opening the following day. But Vladimir is a trooper and he was there to make sure the show went on despite his illness. He even managed to hold down a booth at Indochine afterwards. Only to meet with another stroke of bad luck: Vlad mentioned to Swide Magazine that he and Giovanna Battaglia could not be together for their second Valentine's Day as a couple, "Her grandmother is very sick at the moment so she has to stay with her family." At least RETNA's works are selling at upwards of $30,000 apiece, hang tough, Vlad!

Both Vladimir and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld attended the party that V Man held to celebrate their Kanye West cover at which it literally rained money. Approximately $5,000 in real money and untold amounts of fake cash showered party guests on the dance floor of new hot spot Mondrian Soho including Kanye West, Keri Hilson, Alexander Wang, Harley Viera-Newton, Bryanboy, Vera Wang, Sean Lennon, Sean Avery, Zoe Kravitz, Prabal Gurung, Leigh Lezark, Brad Goreski, and Richard Chai. I hope the Roitfeld duo got lucky and picked up legit bills. View more party photos at wwd.com.

Carine Roitfeld photograph courtesy of refinery29.com, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld photograph © 2011 The New York Times Company, V Man party photos courtesy of stylecaster.com, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photograph courtesy of daylife.com.

Carine Roitfeld's First Vogue Paris Cover

I am proud to feature the first article contributed by Milla Msa, our newly appointed editor-at-large in Paris — a very special review in which she reflects on her memorable first encounter with not only Carine Roitfeld, but her personal favorite (as well as Carine's), Kate Moss in the editorial "Noir Blanc"...

Carine Roitfeld's First Vogue Paris Cover
By Milla Msa 

Back in February 2001, when I was just 19 years old, a platinum blonde Kate Moss peeked out at me from the cover of Vogue Paris and there at the newsagents in Victoria station, I was hooked. All of those years ago, I was oblivious to Carine Roitfeld's name and status but what I knew, even in my state of fashion ignorance, was that Vogue Paris was different, and by different I mean better. Way better.

If you have followed Carine's personal style, you will see that this editorial, featured in her very first issue of Vogue Paris and titled 'Noir Blanc,' epitomises her minimalist Parisian chic and sets the tone for the magazine over the next decade. Wearing the likes of Balenciaga, Dior, Gucci, and Jean Paul Gaultier, Carine introduces a short-haired Kate Moss to Vogue Paris readers with her trademark 'understated luxe.' The dream team pairing of Kate modelling, Carine styling, and Mario Testino behind the lens perfectly captures the coolness of La Roitfeld, then new editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, and boldly hints at the provocation to come.

As to what Carine does next, who knows? One thing is for sure: her timeless first issue will never go out of style.

Read more of Milla's incisive insights on fashion (and life!) at Not Just Another Milla.

Vogue Paris editorial images © 2001 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Vogue Paris March 2011: Saskia de Brauw

Carine Roitfeld's last cover for Vogue Paris... that is all I have to say right now, I have no words. To learn more about Carine's choice of models for her farewell cover, Saskia de Brauw, follow her blog. Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott photographed Saskia in a gown from the Givenchy Spring/Summer 2011 collection for the March issue of Vogue Paris. What do you think of Carine's last cover?

Vogue Paris March 2011 issue cover image © 2011 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Carine Roitfeld: Album Of A Woman Of Fashion Update

Carine Roitfeld and Alex Wiederin at Buero New YorkYou may remember that I mentioned a forthcoming book titled Carine Roitfeld: Album of a Woman of Fashion and edited by Olivier Zahm; Purple Magazine even stopped by last summer to issue an invitation to all of us to send in our questions for Carine for consideration for publication. When Carine met with style.com last week, she discussed progress on her book: "And I have to finish my book for Rizzoli. I’m very late, so it’s my last days to finish it. It’s supposed to come out September or maybe October of this year... It’s a bit like that [a retrospective of my career]. I never like to go back, so to go back to a picture you did 20 years ago, it’s almost like going to a shrink. It’s a lot of emotion… Most of the pictures are the ones I did with Mario Testino… It’s mostly dedicated to Mario, that book."

Carine's book is being designed by Mitra Farahmand of Buero New York, a boutique design agency headed by creative director Alex Wiederin that provides creative direction for clients such as AnOther Magazine and Italian Glamour. Other books designed by Buero New York include Mario Sorrenti's The Machine, Jeff Burton's Dreamland, Michel Comte's Charlie Chaplin: A Photo Diary, and Terry Richardson's Terryworld.

Monsieur Zahm describes the 300 page hardcover volume as almost like a "'scrapbook' of all things Carine," what a fabulous idea! Then OZ gives us the really great news: "It's a biography... We just went into her apartment and took everything that happened — every kind of little element about her life, her style, her obsessions. It will be nice." Nice! It will be very, very nice, quite possibly the nicest fashion book of all time!

Carine Roitfeld and Mitra Farahmand at Buero New YorkOh yes, here are the questions that I submitted to Purple last summer hoping for an answer from Carine herself... Note that I managed to limit myself to ten, more or less [wink]...

1. Can you give us an example of the foods and beverages that you consume regularly, particularly those that you consider staples?
2. Do you practice Pilates at home or with a group? How regularly and for what duration do you practice?
3. What advice would you give to an aspiring writer? Stylist? Editor-in-chief?
4. What beauty products do you use faithfully?
5. What questions do you have for your readers?
6. What do you want for your birthday?
7. Describe for us a moment that you remember in a breathtaking natural setting: how did it feel, look, smell? What were you wearing?
8. What are your ten (or so) favorite albums? Films? Books?
9. If you were to change your name, what would it become?
10. Do you know how much your fans love you? Keep up your brilliant work!!

Okay so I got more than a little carried away but did you try it? What were your questions for Carine? I'd love to know...

Carine Roitfeld et al photographs © 2011 Purple Fashion magazine. All Rights Reserved.

Update on dimanche 6 mars 2011 by kellina

The book is now titled Carine Roitfeld: Irreverent and is scheduled to publish 4 October 2011.

Carine Roitfeld: Tango Des Passions

Happy Valentine's Day from all of us at I Want To Be A Roitfeld! The new editorial team came together to offer our different perspectives on "Tango des Passions" from the February 2006 issue of Vogue Paris; below are our thoughts. The editorial was clearly styled by Carine Roitfeld, photographed by Mario Testino, and included the models Mariacarla Boscono, Patricia Schmid, Milagros Schmoll, and Marta Berzkalna among others. What do you think of "Tango des Passions"?

KATE: I like the futuristic, floral vibe of this editorial. The models somehow look like pretty flowers even when they are not wearing a floral print. They are beautiful images but what is the story line here? Something about a girl who danced so hard that now she needs crutches. All I know is that those pink boots are hot.

KELLINA: Those boots are hot! I especially love that Carine contrasted them with the mint green wall for even greater effect. This is highly styled hedonism, Kellina likey! Wait a second though, isn't anyone going to mention the black rubber hoses worn by the women in the opening shot? What does Carine say about this one... "Démesure nouveau continent et influences europénnes, Buenos Aires s'offre en théâtre de mode, où le souffle du style de la plus parisienne des villes argentines se mêle aux ambiguïtés du désir et des corps." or in English, "New continent excessiveness and Europen influences, Buenos Aires offers a theater of fashion, where the breath of the style of the most Parisian of Argentine cities mingles with the ambiguities of desire and the body." C'mon, Carine, the tango has a great beat but it's so heteronormative — where is the excess, the ambiguity? The boots though, C! Those boots are hot!

MILLA: The sheer debauchery makes my life seem incredibly dull; I want to pose on the mantelpiece and do kung-fu in a ball gown. Who doesn't?! The illusional submissiveness as the women are tied up, arrested, and told off intrigues me, as they attempt to cast a spell over the viewer. This is very Carine! This editorial actually reminds me of when Giovanna Battaglia broke her toe and she, unlike you and I who would stay home with painkillers, went for cocktails in London! Now that's a woman who loves a party!

For more hearty Valentine's Day fun, check out "Girl Meets Boy" as styled by Emmanuelle Alt on I Want To Be An Alt or "Valentine's Day Treatise" on Everyday Glamour.

Vogue Paris editorial images © 2006 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.