Chloe Sevigny – Style Icon

Since her screen debut in 1995’s gritty indie flick “Kids”, something about Sevigny has made the public sit up and pay attention. By the time she was recognised for her Oscar nominated performance in 1999’s “Boys Don’t Cry”, she was a fully fledged star, and the fashion industry could not get enough of her. But the one time wannabe-designer’s inimitable style had been picked up long before she was embraced by the who’s who of Hollywood. Before her acting career took off, Sevigny was featured in a 7 page feature in New Yorker magazine on Hip Manhattan Street culture, which led to a covetable modelling career including a Miu Miu campaign, and her being featured in a string of music videos including one for the Lemonheads. Her sense of style, it seems, has always come as second nature, and was by no means manufactured by a Hollywood career.

In fact, the actress is known to pay no mind to trends, stylists, or the fashion world in general. Her style is completely her own. As Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere put it: “Whether she wears designer clothes or vintage clothes, they always look like Chloe Sevigny clothes”.

Indeed, it is this blend of thrift shop bargains and designer brand pieces that seem to epitomise Sevigny’s distinctive look – the industry dubbed “vintage-chic”; a look that has whipped the fashion conscious into a frenzy of late, as they struggle to mimic the actresses innate style. But Sevigny is far from fond of her iconic status: “For some reason the public has embraced me as a fashion icon, and I feel like it has diminished me as an actress, or I don’t get as much recognition as an actress”, complained the star, “and that upsets me”.

But it is just this apparent indifference and effortlessness to her style of dress that has the fashion industry in awe, and that makes it so difficult to achieve for fashion followers. Sevigny, it appears, will always be at least two, or three, or even four steps ahead of the fashion pack: “Every time I see a photo of myself from the past month I think, ‘what was I thinking?’” confessed the actress in a recent interview. Her crazes are fleeting and her look changes as quickly as most of us change our underwear, making her maddeningly, yet endearingly inimitable.

Sevigny is a red carpet favourite, appearing at all the events to be seen at in beautiful designer dresses, but always with her own signature twist. At the recent Cartier Santos Night party, she coupled a flowy, white Balenciaga knee length dress with brown ankle boots. Her yellow Louis Vuitton (incidentally one of her favourite designers) dress she wore for the M A C Viva Glam benefit, for whom she is a spokeswoman, featured a bikini-esque revealing top, which dropped into a figure hugging pencil skirt style from the waist. But Sevigny insists that the glossy, designer look we see on the red carpet is not at all her own. Instead, the actress insists her wardrobe is stocked almost entirely from thrift and vintage stores, with the occasional conventional separate thrown in for good measure.

Unlike most Hollywood starlets, you won’t find Sevigny meandering down Rodeo Drive on her shopping sprees. You are more likely to spot the independent actress in quirky stores such as C Madeline’s Showroom; a vintage store in Miami that stocks almost 100 years worth of the finest vintage clothing from all the greats, such as Gucci, Bill Blass, Halston and even designers dating back to Victorian times!

Throughout her impressive young career, Sevigny has also lent her expertise to the hugely successful clothing label “Imitation of Christ” (which counts Scarlett Johansson as one of it’s biggest fans), which has received widespread acclaim from the industry, and has appropriately been referred to as “the fashion industry’s answer to independent film”. Another feather in the cap of the woman who has repeatedly been placed in the much coveted ‘best dressed’ lists of all the big industry bibles, Vogue and Bazaar to name but two; and we’re talking top three here, at least. Pretty impressive from the girl who admits she always wore short shorts to divert attention away from her face.

It’s this fascinating mix of modesty and incredibly self-assured strength and confidence in what she does, and more importantly, what she wears, that makes Chloe Sevigny one of today’s most impressive fashion icons. Although her look is one that may never translate directly to the high street (I don’t see myself wearing a wedding dress over a leopard print leotard any time soon), let it at least inspire us to inject that little bit of different into our Autumn ’05 wardrobes!

Protege to New York designer has the "eye," blogs about his ideas

With an eye out for the next great find, New York designer and blogger Nick Olsen browses at Billy's Antiques & Props.

Nick Olsen moved recently into a new studio apartment in midtown Manhattan that looks, he says charitably, like a "crack den." It's got one window, cheap wooden cabinets and a fridge looming alone along the kitchen wall. With moving boxes still unpacked, he says he can already picture the whole place finished -- sleek and serene -- and has set about transforming it.

Those who reside in the realm of the young and style-obsessed know of Olsen as something of a wunderkind: a walking-talking-blogging personification of urbane cool. He's a protege of New York status designer Miles Redd, had his previous apartment featured on the cover of Domino magazine and writes a buzz-generating blog for the shelter mag.

In addition to his early accomplishments, Olsen, 25, possesses that elusive, enviable quality called "eye" or "knack" or perhaps "flair": an innate sense of style so many of us aspire to and so few seem blessed with. Olsen acknowledges that much of his approach to design comes down to instinct. But part is pure fearlessness: a passionate interest and willingness to take chances. Nothing is irrevocable, he says; anything is fair game. An ugly fridge in a rental apartment? Olsen wallpapered his.

"I wish people would think of decorating their home in the same way they think about fashion, because they're willing to take more chances with that," he says. "Because decorating is a lot of troubleshooting."

With a degree in architecture from Columbia University, Olsen saw a spread in W magazine about Redd, a high-profile designer for moneyed clients and chic hot spots who had recently been named creative director of Oscar de la Renta's home line.

"It made such an impression on me, like nothing before or since," Olsen says. Hired to be Redd's assistant, Olsen learned and grew creatively. Experimenting with a first apartment, he knew he couldn't afford the high-end pieces chosen by the clients he was working for, but he could seek out the look from thrift shops and fabric stores and do it himself.

Even before moving in he knew he wanted assertively vivid wall color, and he picked out a vibrant olive-green paint. He was determined to reclaim quirky flea-market finds, such as the faux-bamboo side table, enameled starfish and '70s-era ashtrays he'd been collecting for a decade.

"My whole inspiration for the apartment was a cartoony version of Miles' place," Olsen says. "I wanted it to have a sense of humor; to be whimsical, yet stylish."

There was plenty of trial and error, but when Redd saw the place at Olsen's housewarming party, he was impressed enough to mention it to Deborah Needleman, editor in chief of Domino. Magazine scouts showed up two days later, and the apartment landed on the November '06 cover.

Needleman and her staff were so taken with Olsen that they thought of him for a "Deal Hunter" blog they had in the works, which launched in January.

"We knew we wanted someone who could do this `Domino on a dime' thing, and it was important to me to find someone who knew how to translate design," Needleman says. "You can feel good about being on a budget, because it comes from a refined sensibility."

That sensibility is critical when working with Redd's million-dollar clients. It also comes in handy when designing on the cheap. "I want really high style, right?" Olsen says. "But I'm not kidding myself: That costs a lot of money, and I don't have it, so how do I get it, or at least fake it?"

Fake-it-till-you-make-it tactics are the backbone of Olsen's blog for Domino (www.dominomag.com). There he suggests framing old science magazine covers as art; transforming an Ikea credenza by sanding and painting it with high-gloss paint or covering it with contact paper that looks like faux marble or stainless steel; knocking off your favorite abstract painting by making one with a store-bought canvas and paint; and making your own ikat fabric by saturating ordinary broadcloth cotton with a paint-covered sponge.

A Fashion Week Bicycle Thief

Stylist snags Rowley’s wheels.
* By Jada Yuan
(Photo: Thomas Concordia/WireImage )

Designer Cynthia Rowley’s Fashion Week show ended with models biking down the runway, but one bike never came back. “I know who stole it, but I can’t say,” Rowley told us later in the week. “Okay, my stylist, Sally White, stole the bike.” White was an obvious suspect. The inspiration for Rowley’s bike-themed collection, she’s “almost six feet tall, and she rides her bike all around town wearing giant platform heels and little short chiffon dresses,” Rowley says. Since then, “she’s been all over town with it,” according to Rowley, appearing at Marc Jacobs’s and Ralph Lauren’s shows. White, reached by phone while—what else?—riding her new bike, was aghast. “What does she mean? Like I just stole it? Lies!” White says her old bike broke down and Rowley told her she could take one after the show. (She grants she may not have had proper clearance that night; she rode off while Rowley was doing interviews.) White proudly lists other shows the bike attended: Bill Blass, Narciso Rodriguez, Anna Sui. And Rowley is willing to let go. “Oh, Sally can have the bike,” she says. “She did a good job.”

Alexander McQueen and Puma Team up to Design Footwear

The German activewear company Puma has teamed up with designer Alexander McQueen in launching a new range of men’s and women’s footwear by the next spring.

The new clothing line, which still has no name, is going to first appear in London, during the women’s fashion week this September. Then, the clothing line will take its place on the shelves of boutiques only in spring 2006, wwd.com reports.

Jochen Zeitz, the chairman and chief executive officer of Puma, explained in a statement the union of provocative fashion designer and sportswear company: "Alexander McQueen is one of the most creative minds in fashion, and his collaboration with Puma will make his work accessible to a broader customer."

Top British designer said, quoted by mysan.de: "I have always had a great passion for trainers, so I am very excited about this collaboration with Puma. I am confident that my design philosophy, combined with PUMA’s excellence in the field, will result in a totally unique product. I believe that this partnership will be a great success."

Designer Anand Jon faces new rape charges

Thu Oct 4, 3:35 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California officials unsealed new rape charges against celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon on Thursday, bringing the number of women he is accused of raping or sexually assaulting to 20.

Jon, 33, who once appeared on television show "America's Next Top Model," is accused of luring women back to Los Angeles to work as models and then attacking them. He has been charged with 59 counts of raping or sexually assaulting women between the ages of 14 and 27.

In June, the celebrity designer faced 46 counts involving 18 women. The new charges came after a September grand jury hearing that involved 23 witnesses, the Los Angeles County District Attorney said in a statement.

Jon is being held in a Los Angeles jail, and the District Attorney's office said it will ask for a bail amount of $5.1 million at an arraignment scheduled for October 25.

Defense attorney Anthony Brooklier said he believed the alleged victims had collaborated against Jon.

"We think that there was collusion," Brooklier said. "We think this is made up whole-cloth, the entire case."

Jon also is under investigation in Dallas and Houston, Texas, as well as New York and Massachusetts.

California prosecutors claim the Indian-born designer is a serial rapist, and charges against him include forcible rape, sexual battery, sexual penetration by a foreign object and sodomy by use of force, among numerous others.

Prosecutors say the attacks occurred between November 2002 and March 2007.

Jon has dressed celebrities like Paris Hilton and Janet Jackson and had planned to launch of new line of jeans.

Designer indicted on sex assault charges

By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 4, 6:09 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - Celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander was indicted on 59 counts of sexual assault in a move prosecutors said Thursday would keep his accusers from having to testify at a preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors previously charged Alexander with more than 40 felony and misdemeanor counts involving 18 victims that included rape, sexual battery and committing a lewd act on a child. He pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday, added two more alleged victims to the original case, bringing the total number to 20. Alexander targeted the women and girls, ages 15 to 27, between November 2002 and March 2007, prosecutors contend.

"One of the reasons in seeking the indictment is that it speeds up the process and avoids a preliminary hearing," said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. "The nature of the charges allows victims not to testify twice."

Alexander, 33, has made the rounds of parties and fashion events, working with celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Michelle Rodriguez and Mary J. Blige. He also was a profiled designer on the TV show "America's Next Top Model" in 2003 and was among 20 people profiled by Newsweek as up-and-coming players in various industries.

Alexander is suspected of meeting women on the Internet and assaulting them when they visited with him about modeling opportunities.

His defense has claimed some of the women made the allegations to seek fame. Alexander's lawyer, Anthony Brooklier, said in some of the cases, the victims either kept in contact or met with the fashion designer after the crimes supposedly occurred.

"We think this is made up of whole cloth, the entire case," Brooklier said Thursday outside court.

Alexander was arrested in March at his Beverly Hills apartment. Bail was set at $1.3 million but Alexander remained in custody.

He was in court Thursday when Superior Court Judge David Wesley ordered him held without bail pending an Oct. 25 hearing. Prosecutors had asked for bail to be reset at $5.1 million.

A grand jury in Houston charged Alexander on July 30 with felony sexual assault of a child between ages 14 and 16, assistant district attorney Brian Rose said. Houston police have an open warrant for his arrest. Investigations also are under way in New York and Massachusetts.

Alexander came to the United States from India as a teen with his sister and mother. He graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York in 1998 and began designing jewelry and clothing.

If convicted of all counts, he faces up to life in prison.