Giovanna Battaglia For Eddie Borgo

Jewelry designer Eddie Borgo has developed an interesting concept to publicize his work; rather than relying on a traditional model for a lookbook, he selects an editor or stylist to model his line for a poster each season. For his Spring/Summer 2011 collection, Borgo has chosen Giovanna Battaglia as the face.

"Giovanna was very much in my head when I was designing the spring collection,” explained Borgo. “She loves jewelry and is not afraid to pile it on. She also, in her own way, is an example of high-end meets street.” Inspired by icons of fetishism, Borgo's latest collection artistically incorporates bondage cuffs, corsets, and padlocks in a manner that seems at once scary yet ladylike. Naturally Giovanna is also a fan of the collection: “Each piece is so amazingly done. You don’t even think about the dark side of it.”

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld provided art direction for the poster, Paul Maffi shot the exquisite black and white photographs, and Borgo's love interest, Keegan Singh, styled the shoot. Last season Borgo chose Kate Lanphear, style director for ELLE, to represent his line and previous collections have been modeled by Lauren Santo Domingo and Vanessa Traina.

Giovanna Battaglia photograph © 2011 Eddie Borgo. All Rights Reserved.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld: Born To It

Savoir Flair features an interview with Julia Restoin-Roitfeld titled "Born to It" in which she shares her love for art direction, Topshop, dolphins, Miu Miu shoes, Mark Fast, and Robert Konjic (he may be The One!); admits her embarrassment at her birthday debauchery; and confesses her weakness for croque madames and foie gras. Sadly none of the photographs of Julia that accompany the interview are new but it is definitely worth the read.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld image courtesy of savoirflair.com.

See Roitfeld In Private Tom Ford Show

At last we can watch Julia Restoin-Roitfeld work the runway in the secret preview that Tom Ford orchestrated in September for his women's Spring 2011 collection. Though her appearance in the video is altogether too brief, I love how Julia is dressed and styled for the occasion; she exudes confidence in black leather tailored to her measurements. The song playing in the video is "Pretty Babies" by model Karen Elson.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld video stills © 2010 Tom Ford. All Rights Reserved.

Merry Christmas Roitfeld Style

Thanks to WWD for thinking to check in with Julia Restoin-Roitfeld regarding her plans for the holidays. This will certainly be a memorable Christmas for the family and we are curious as to how they will spend their time together...

Roitfeld family traditions include a Christmas Eve cocktail hour with vodka and piroshkis in tribute to Carine's Russian heritage before moving on to dinner which typically includes "foie gras and my dad’s amazing turkey." Mademoiselle Restoin-Roitfeld plans to wear a brand new black lace dress from Givenchy especially for the occasion, "I love to play dress-up in the comfort of my own home," she confides.

Another special tradition for the Roitfelds is the opening of gifts on Christmas Eve. Each year Julia looks forward to exchanging presents with her family in Paris and she expresses her hopes for this year: "Something for the home is always one of my favorites. Right now I start to want to collect art or photo prints. Anything I can keep forever.” Maybe her very own Richard Hambleton is in order... Last year her brother Vladimir presented her with a lovely Chanel bag that had belonged to Catherine Deneuve, he needs to find something truly special to top that unique gift. Also, Carine mentioned buying a small work at the last Hambleton show, I assumed for her own collection but perhaps she intends it for someone else...

What will Julia be giving this year? Being a perfectionist like her mother, she has completed her Christmas shopping. Being a good French girl, she does not want to spoil the surprise. I wonder if she got maman her dream gift, a personal jet... Lucky for Julia, Carine says, "I prefer to give gifts than to receive," so no airplane required.

Prolonging the holidays, Julia and her beau, Robert Konjic, will travel to the Coqui Coqui resort in Tulum, Mexico at the end of January "to avoid the crowd and have the beach just for me and my boyfriend.” Sounds lovely! Joyeux Noël, Les Roitfelds ! Merry Christmas to all!

Richard Hambleton painting © 2010 Richard Hambleton. All Rights Reserved. Christmas cheer by Kellina de Boer.

Roitfeld Interviews Tom Ford

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld has shot some of the hottest photographs imaginable of herself. Yes, she created these stunning self-portraits in addition to interviewing Tom Ford for the January issue of V Magazine! Note that she is wearing Ford's new women's collection as well. Total hotness!

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld: What made you decide that this was the season to return to fashion?

Tom Ford: I told myself that I would not come back to women's fashion until I felt I had something new to say. I feel that fashion has become too serious and that the actual customer's needs have not really been addressed. Fashion needs to make one happy. It is a luxury and should enhance one's quality of life.

JRR: What inspired your collection?

TF: Real clothes for real women. I want to concentrate on my real customer. That's why I showed idealized versions of her — different women of different ages. It was about individuality, different body types, women who have their own style.

JRR: What do you think fashion needs more of right now?

TF: Spontaneity. Fashion needs to be more fun.

JRR: What personality traits does the Tom Ford woman possess?

TF: My customer has her own sense of style and knows herself well. My goal is to help women become the best version of themselves.

JRR: What is your favorite piece from the collection?

TF: I love every piece. That is like asking someone which one of their children is their favorite.

JRR: Outside fashion, what are you looking forward to this spring?

TF: I have to say more fashion. I love what I am doing right now and can't wait to start the next collection.

JRR: What was the last thing that made you laugh?

TF: I laugh a good bit so that is a hard question. I suppose a phone call I just had with Richard [Buckley] five minutes ago made me laugh pretty hard. He has a wicked sense of humor.

JRR: What's your New Year's resolution?

TF: I don't have one. I believe in living life the way that you want to live it every day, and if you do that you don't really need to have New Year's resolutions.

Photographs by Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and text © 2010 V Magazine, LLC. All Rights Reserved.