The September Issue, R.J. Cutler’s documentary on Anna Wintour’s monarchy at Vogue, revealed an unlikely hero: the magazine’s creative director, Grace Coddington, who is portrayed as Wintour’s long-suffering right-hand woman. Wrote Maureen Dowd of Coddington in the film: “There is friction in the Mick Jagger-Keith Richards relationship between the 59-year-old Anna and her closest collaborator, the 68-year-old flame-haired creative director and former model Grace Coddington, who is the only one willing to tweak “the Pope,” as Anna is dubbed by a staffer. Or as Coddington told French Vogue, “We have a real mutual respect for each other, even though sometimes I feel like killing her.” Now that the world has seen their professional dynamic, Coddington joked: “I wish people would stop saying to me, “You were great in the movie”—as if I were acting! I wasn’t acting!”
Nick Harvey, WireImage / Getty Images
She’s not exactly zaftig, but Dutch model Lara Stone was featured in Vogue’s December issue to illustrate “the return of the curves.” In the article, Stone—who has walked the runway for designers such as Marc Jacobs and Balmain—described the difficulties of being two sizes larger than everyone else, although she’s 5’10’’ and wears a Size 4. She opened up about her battle to stay thin: “It’s depressing when the clothes don’t fit and you are always the odd one out,” she said. Stone confessed that she tried to lose weight: “I even tried pills, but they made my heart race,” she told the magazine, so she began drinking. After a period in rehab, Stone has emerged a strong, sober woman. “People still tell me I’m fat, but when I look in the mirror,” she says, “that’s not what I see.”
Patrick McMullan Company
It was the year of the fashion documentary—Anna Wintour welcomed the lens into her tightly guarded office in The September Issue, and the garment district unraveled in Shmattae—but no film captured the élan of haute couture quite as much as Valentino: The Last Emperor. The feature-length documentary about the life of Valentino Garavani recorded the highest opening-weekend gross of any documentary in the U.S. in 2009. The film, which followed Valentino over the course of two years as he prepared for his couture show in Paris and then a retrospective in Rome, captured his 50-year-love affair with his partner Giancarlo Giammetti, and the end of an era as his company was bought and Valentino was forced to retire. As the film’s director and producer, Matt Tyrnauer, wrote on The Daily Beast: “I showed my director’s cut to Valentino and Giancarlo for the first time in March 2008…‘Hate’ is really too light a word to describe their reaction.” But it all worked out in the end. Following the film’s premiere, at which he received a standing ovation, Valentino said: “There are many scenes in this movie I would have done very well to avoid if I had known what the movie was going to be. But I cannot complain, as you see me as I am, and I have to accept that.”
Joe Schildhorn, PartickMcMullen.com / Sipa
The recession wreaked havoc on the fashion industry this year, but it caused a little democracy as well. Longtime fashion editors from the industry’s most prestigious magazines were joined in front rows by a new crop of fashion bloggers. Tavi Gevinson, the 13-year-old author of the blog Style Rookie, became an industry demi-god as she attended numerous shows, befriended designers, and even wrote a review for Harper’s Bazaar. Bryan Boy, a 17-year-old blogger from the Philippines, also landed in the front row—and inspired Marc Jacobs to design an ostrich handbag, “the BB,” after him. Photos, too, spoke just as loud as words, with a pair of girlfriend-boyfriend photographers, Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist and Garcance Dore. “There has been a complete change this year,” fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone told The New York Times. “Do I think, as a publicist, that I now have to have my eye on some kid who’s writing a blog in Oklahoma as much as I do on an editor from Vogue? Absolutely.”
Courtesy Photos (3); Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images
No animal or mineral proved too strange for fashion’s bravest this year. Everything from balloons, alien hooves, and antlers made their way onto the streets this year, via fashion pioneers such as Lady Gaga, Daphne Guinness and Rihanna. Lady Gaga, with the help of her bevy of stylists (whom she calls the Haus of Gaga), defied expectations in one fashion extravaganza after another: hair bows, a balloon dress, and a headpiece as thick as a bird’s nest, to name a few. Daphne Guinness, meanwhile, brought the toast of Paris—Alexander McQueen’s alien-inspired shoes and dresses—out on the town. Rihanna rocked an architectural tuxedo to the Costume Institute Gala in May, and a cut-out ball gown to the American Music Awards—but changed into a skeleton-inspired bandage dress for her performance onstage.
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After an icy year for retail, September came back with a bang—a pitch-perfect bang, of course, carefully orchestrated by Anna Wintour. Fashion’s Night Out, on September 10, 2009, was “a global celebration of fashion”—also known as a stimulus plan for the retail industry—in which stores from New York to Milan hosted parties in the hopes of boosting their own sales. Sarah Jessica Parker and Barbara Walters browsed and Oscar de la Renta serenaded shoppers at his Madison Avenue store, the Olsen twins bartended at Barneys, André Leon Talley hosted an interactive fashion board game at Bergdorf Goodman, and everyone came out to shop. “She took lemons and made them into lemonade,” The Daily Beast’s Tina Brown wrote of Anna Wintour.
Jay Westcott / Getty Images for Theory
We lost Michael Jackson this year, but as his songs blanketed airwaves, so too did his signature looks blanket runways and shelves. Fall fashion lineups like that at Balmain showcased military jackets with epaulettes, and fedoras and flair spiced up this year’s collections. Jackson's singular sequined white glove was meant to go on the auction block for $200,000 this year—but due to legal issues, in the end didn’t go up for sale.
Samir Hussein / Getty Images; Paul Redmond, WireImage / Getty Images
When editor Cindi Leive published a small nude photo on page 194 of Glamour’s September issue, she never expected it to spark a plus-size revolution. The model was the beautiful 20-year-old Lizzi Miller, who, at 5’11 and 180 pounds, wears a size 12-14. Messages of support poured in from readers: “This beautiful woman has a real stomach and did I even see a few stretch marks,” one fan from Massachusetts wrote. “This is how my belly looks after giving birth to my two amazing kids! This photo made me want to shout from the rooftops.”
Walter Chin for Glamour
This year, several designers relatively unknown outside the fashion world received the official blessing of Michelle Obama. The First Lady of Fashion went where few White House spouses have gone before: away from the well-established fashion houses and toward the up-and-coming lines. On the day of the inauguration, Mrs. Obama wore a green designer dress and coat by designer Isabel Toledo. She swanned into the ball that night in a one-shouldered Jason Wu. Since then, her wardrobe has read like a who’s who of emerging designers, including a strapless gold gown by Indian-American Naeem Khan to the State Dinner in November. Toledo said she had no idea Obama would wear her design to the inauguration. “We were all up here watching the TV,” Isabel Toledo told The New York Times about the moment she laid eyes on Michelle in her dress. “It’s great. We were so happy… We’re all grateful for this opportunity, and we don’t even have a PR person!”
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Proving fashion isn’t just for the stick thin, The Gossip’s frontwoman Beth Ditto spent 2009 breaking boundaries when it came to beauty and style. Ditto sat front row during various shows at Paris Fashion Week, had Matthew Williamson, Alexander McQueen, and Stella McCartney competing to create red-carpet outfits for her, and launched her own plus-size line for Evans in the U.K. The edgy, electric line, which launched in July, proved that larger women don’t have to consider themselves style outcasts, fading into the background in drab garments. Full of sparkle and sequins, Ditto’s collection, for sizes 10 to 24, was “a dream come true,” she told The London Evening Star. “I wanted to make something special, just for us, something never seen before. I hope the clothes inspire you to think outside the box. After all, boxes are square and in more ways than one we are not.” Next year is already set to be another big year for the groundbreaking fashion and music industry star with the launch of her autobiography, Coal to Diamonds.
Charles Sykes / AP Photo
This year, Gucci’s former mastermind proved there is nothing he can’t do when he switched from fashion to a new medium—film. After launching a new fragrance, Bois Marocain, at Selfridges in London in June, Ford premiered his directorial and screenwriting debut, A Single Man, at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. Adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s novel of the same name, Ford financed his passion project, which was not without difficulty. “I knew where I stood for a fashion designer, but when you set out to make a film, you have to think, ‘Why? Who needs to see a Tom Ford film? Who cares?’” Ford told The Daily Beast’s Tina Brown of A Single Man, which has since earned Golden Globe nominations for its stars Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. “I wanted to make something that really meant something to me.”
Chris Pizzello / AP Photo
This year, the U.K.’s Topshop invaded Manhattan. Model Kate Moss first launched her line for Topshop in 2007, reportedly earning nearly $5 million to choose the 50 pieces and model them, and on April 2 fashion diehards lined up around the corner to get their hands on anything and everything from her line. “I’m not a designer. I’ve never been to school or been trained. I can’t draw a dress, really. But I know what I like,” Moss told New York magazine “It’s really just making things that I want.” Apparently, New York fashionistas wanted what Moss did—in the midst of a financial crisis, Topshop’s parent company saw a 2.7 percent increase in sales, according to WWD, with its owner saying the store had an “excellent” year.
Rick Maiman, Bloomberg News / Getty Images
In 2009, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen proved that their fashion lines, The Row, and Elizabeth and James, were here to stay. Their Fall 2010 collection for The Row featured their signature big knits, cocoon-coats, and layered outerwear. The pair launched a men’s line for The Row in February, an eyewear line for The Row in October, and Olsenboye, a tween-targeted line for J.C. Penney. Said Liz Sweney, J.C. Penney’s executive vice president, “It’s really important that Olsenboye serves lots of girls. It’s not just about girls size zero or one.”
George Pimentel, WireImage / Getty Images
L.A. may be home to the stars—but it’s certainly never been a true fashion capital. After all, Lindsay Lohan’s widely panned Ungaro collection was mocked for being “very Los Angeles.” But this year, all that changed. The Council of Fashion Designers of America named L.A.-based sisters, Rodarte’s Laura and Kate Mulleavy, the Womenswear Designers of the Year. (Menswear Designer of the Year went to L.A.’s Scott Sternberg, whose clothes draw inspiration from Southern California.) The Mulleavy sisters still live with their parents in Pasadena, and work in a sun-drenched studio not far from the Staples Center. “It really affected us, all those magical places where we grew up,” Kate told the Los Angeles Times, citing the area’s diverse architecture as inspiration for their line.
Jennifer Graylock / AP Photo (2)
This fall, Opening Ceremony, headquarters of New York-cool, planted a flag in Japan. Founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon opened an eight-level department store in Tokyo’s Shibuya district in September, which attracted everyone from Alexander Wang to Kirsten Dunst. And the good times kept on rolling: The line featured staples from its poster-child, Chloe Sevigny—including buckle wedges that sold like hot cakes. And Where the Wild Things Are director Spike Jonze collaborated with Opening Ceremony for a limited-edition collection inspired by the film. Monster suit, anyone?
Junko Kimura / Getty Images (2)
After a tumultuous move from Bravo to Lifetime and subsequently, New York to Los Angeles, many loyal Project Runway viewers said “auf Wiedersehen” to the fashion design show this year. By the time the legal issues had finally settled, many became uninterested in what former favorites Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, Nina Garcia, and Michael Kors had to say and what the 16 unknown designers had to show—perhaps due to its new home. “ Project Runway is Barneys; Lifetime is Kohl’s,” explained The New York Times. Besides the new network, one viewer told The Daily Beast’s Choire Sicha, “We’e watching a fashion reality-TV show to see these people tortured until the pressure cooker yields from their cold, stressed, bleeding hands something of aesthetic adequacy and import.” But as Sicha said of the disaster that was Season 6, “We got the torture but never its reward.”
Mike Yarish / Lifetime Networks
Unknown reality-TV wannabe Michaele Salahi etched herself in our memory this year when she decided to show up to the White House State Dinner—in a red sari. Tweeted New York Times fashion writer Meenal Mistry: “Not saying I told u so, Secret Service, but my rule is to be suspicious of any blonde in a sari. (Exception made for Jemima Khan.)”
Gerald Herbert / AP Photo
Taylor Jacobson, Rachel Zoe’s long-suffering assistant on The Rachel Zoe Project,/i>, announced she was leaving the company in Novembere—but the news came as somewhat of a relief. After all, Taylor spent most of her screen-time griping about her job. “After four amazing years at Rachel Zoe Corporation, I’m saddened and exhilarated at the same time to announce my departure,” Jacobson said of her decision. “After much thought and consideration, I have decided to take the challenging leap to go off and style on my own.” But then People and Us Weekly reported that Jacobson was fired.
Mark Von Holden, WireImage / Getty Images
As the economic downturn spread around the world, it wasn’t long until the axe started to fall at the couture houses. French designer Christian Lacroix, famous for his opulence, filed for the French equivalent of Chapter 11 in May. “Since the acquisition of Christian Lacroix SNC, we have been committed to the brand and to its high-end development,” Nicolas Topiol, Lacroix’s chief executive, said. “We will continue to do so, but the sharp downturn of the luxury market has significantly hurt our revenues.”
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They were, perhaps, the ugliest outfits of the year: Sacha Baron Cohen channeled Bruno, the flamboyant Austrian television reporter, for the movie’s international press tour. For the British premiere, Baron Cohen showed up in an immodest version of the Buckingham Palace guards uniform, complete with bearskin hat and very short shorts. In Spain, the British comedian showed up in a bull costume, complete with horns and hooves.
Jon Kopaloff, FilmMagic / Getty Images
Jay-Z may have rapped about him—but that doesn’t mean it was Martin Margiela’s year. The iconic Belgian designer—who got a mention in “Run This Town”—left his fashion house, Maison Martin Margiela, in early December. The company said it would continue to operate without its creative director—whose annual compensation was estimated to be €5 million—and that he would not be replaced. Margiela, who is famously reclusive and has almost never been photographed, reportedly departed quietly from his company. According to The New York Times, Margiela’s avant-garde touch had been absent from recent collections—a sign to insiders that he was long gone from his fashion house. Giovanni Pungetti, chief executive for Maison Martin Margiela, told the Times: “It would have been very simple to hire someone else, and we evaluated that option, but in the end, what is important is the taste of the designer.”
Nathalie Lagneau, Catwalking / Getty Images
Stop. Hammer time? Again? The parachute pants that were once the signature style of '80s rapper MC Hammer made a comeback this fall on the runways. Rechristened as "harem" pants, the makeover included a foray into high fashion, a gender crossover (harem pants are mostly the purview of women), and a sophisticated fabric uplift. Though the pants sold well in high-street retailers such as Zara, H&M, and Macy's, many found the saggy-to-tapered look abhorrent. Deemed antifashion by a Parsons School of Design fashion historian, the pants may be something only the avant-avant garde can pull off. Fashionistas suggest pairing the baggy pants with items such as a tailored blazer and heels, and beware of overaccessorizing—the pants alone are statement enough. Most unflattering trend of all time or fashion forward? Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour says, "To be honest, they are not my favorite."
Dave Hogan / Getty Images
When news hit in late December that Phi, a popular line of modern streetwear, would throw in the towel, the fashion world was stunned. After all, designer Andreas Melbostad had been a protégé of Calvin Klein and Donna Karan, and the linee\—bandage dresses, sleek black sheaths, and jeans—had always been utilitarian and well-received.
It seemed like the latest casualty in the luxury market, and one particularly unnerving for the fashion world. “The brand seemed to us a textbook case of how to build a modern fashion house,” Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-a-porter.com, told The New York Times. “The collections were always strong and directional, yet commercial and impeccably made. If a business like that can’t succeed, then I worry for so many other young brands.”
Just a few years ago, Lindsay Lohan drove her car into a tree. But now, in an effort to turn her life around, she debuted as Emanuel Ungaro’s “artistic adviser” during Paris Fashion Week. There was, of course, lots of hype: “I think the noise level around Lindsay will be very, very big,” Ungaro’s Chief Executive Mounir Moufarrige told WWD before the show. And what came down the runway was very, very LiLo: bubble-gum bandage dresses cut to you-know-where, bright pink jackets splaying open to reveal heart-shaped nipple-pasties, skin-colored, sparkling fabrics. And there was noise, indeed: “to be fair, there was something of a Mean Girls motif at play,” wrote WWD. “…as for the clothes, they looked cheesy and dated.” “ Pas possible,” Fabien Baron told The New York Times after the show. “Call the fashion police!” The cruel ending? Moufarrige—the man who recruited Lohan to the brand—resigned abruptly in December. Lohan, somehow, will stay on as the house’s artistic adviser.
Karl Prouse, Catwalking / Getty Images
