MGM/Columbia/Sony and Tom Ford take product placement to a new level at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony

machdwallpapers.com via skyfall official/sony pictures

The pièce de résistance of the just-wrapped, Danny Boyle-directed London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony was undoubtedly the pre-taped scene in which British actor Daniel Craig, in character as James Bond 007, got to live out his 'On her Majesty's secret service' mandate by meeting real-life Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. After a few corgi cameos, the  duo then embarked on an amusing, mocked-up chopper ride and paraglider "drop" into the Olympic stadium. This time, of course, it wasn't quite so secret, with the ceremony watched by an estimated one billion. Craig looked ultra sharp, in an impeccably–tailored tuxedo (below) that would have been a fabulous plug for one of Britain's greatest sartorial exports – bespoke Savile Row tailoring. But was it British tailoring – or American?

When Abbey met Tom

Shots of Australian supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw in Tom Ford's new eyewear campaign are all over the net. But who knew she was also in his first womenswear campaign? Behold a supersite billboard of Kershaw not just in a sequined sheath from Ford's debut womenswear collection, but locked in a staged passionate embrace with Ford himself, that has just gone up in Beverly Hills, California, coincidentally a few days ahead of the 2011 Golden Globes. According to Kershaw's US agent, Next, it's part of the womenswear campaign. More images to come presumably. Kershaw was among the very select cast of Ford's intimate runway presentation at New York Fashion Week in September last year.

Tom Ford's eyes-only debut womenswear collection is now on YouTube

Well Tom Ford certainly got off to a cracking start in 2011, uploading images of his new eyewear campaign which co-stars Abbey Lee Kershaw. Evidently Ford is another client who didn’t mind Kershaw’s new platinum blonde do – even apparently adding hair extensions. Now (via Homotography) comes a video of that top-secret debut Tom Ford womenswear show which was presented to a tightly-edited throng of just 100 at New York Fashion Week in September, with highly restricted camera access. Ford has spent a lot of time talking down the new digital news domain, telling US Vogue, "I do not understand everyone's need to see everything online the day after the show". Now that it’s crunch time for Ford's collection to hit stores, frockwriter has little doubt he is thrilled that social media is spreading the buzz. 

A Merry Marc, Anna, Carine, Tom and Tavi Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the fashion house, not a creature was stirring….. Wait, that can't be right. Carine’s out of a job. It could be Tom’s fault. Anna is so worried about hers, she’s been reduced to Christmas shopping in Brooklyn flea markets. Marc’s pissed because some rat bastard leaked his Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2011 campaign casting deets. And Tavi still wants to know why he gave her third row at the main line show in September. Like everyone else we imagine, frockwriter has received and seen more than our fair share of animated JibJab Elf Yourself Christmas e-cards over the past couple of years. This season the JibJabbing seems to be in overdrive, so we thought we might as well add to it. Here with a Christmas medley, we give you fashion's latest superband, Botox: Marc on vocals, Anna on drums, with Carine, Tom and Tavi on rhythm, lead and bass guitars. One can only imagine what their hotel room looked like after the gig. Merry Christmas and happy holidays guys. Thanks for your company this year. It's been an honour dishing it up for you. Rock out with your frock out in 2011.  

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld interviews Tom Ford for V Magazine

These shots were just slipped to frockwriter (and no doubt many other blogs, but at this stage we think it may be a first look). It's a preview of V Magazine's issue #69, a spread starring Julia Restoin-Roitfeld modelling Tom Ford's debut womenswear collection - described as "self portraits" so we have to assume she took the shots. And an excerpt from an interview conducted with Ford, by Restoin-Roitfeld, the face of Ford's Black Orchid fragrance campaign. This would have been in the pipeline for some time, but interesting that it falls hot on the heels of last Friday's abrupt resignation by Restoin-Roitfeld's mother, Carine Roitfeld, from Vogue Paris after a 10 year tenure. The official version is that Roitfeld wants to pursue "personal projects". In reality, however, noone leaves a position like that with several weeks notice. Few, if any, have voluntarily resigned from Vogue. There has been much speculation that Roitfeld was pushed by Condé Nast after problems vis-à-vis her ongoing consulting to fashion brands. Yes fashion editors (even in Australia) do paid work on outside ad campaigns and that's bad enough. It is verging on the ludicrous for an editor-in-chief to do so. There has also been speculation that the December issue of Vogue Paris, as edited by Ford, was poorly received by some Vogue advertisers and may have proven the final straw.

Pretty babies

sharif hamza for vogue paris via sharif hamza

So after editorial spreads showcasing cosmetic surgery, loved up old folks and Ali McGraw et al, what other subjects did Tom Ford explore during his editorial stewardship of the Christmas edition of Vogue Paris? Tarted-up six year-olds. Photographed by Sharif Hamza and styled by Melanie Huynh, the 15-page 'Cadeaux' gift spread features a gaggle of little girls kitted out in designer gear. Yes, most kids love playing dressups and some images are no different to spreads you might find in childrens' fashion magazines such as Vogue Bambini, Vogue Enfants or our Studio Bambini. Save for the fact, of course, that the latter are all childrens' fashion magazines, marketing childrens' clothing to parents. As distinct from an adult's fashion magazine that is using children to advertise grownup merchandise to adults - and which happens to include several simulated sex scenes elsewhere in the edition. However the inclusion of several shots of heavily made-up children draped seductively over chairs, daybeds and an animal skin rug, with their legs and décolletages bared, like child prostitutes in a brothel, illustrates just how untouchable Ford and Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld believe themselves to be. Ditto the alarmingly ambiguous image of the child brushing her teeth. ***UPDATE 18/12/10: Today's surprise announcement that Roitfeld will be leaving Vogue Paris in January after 10 years at the magazine's helm, to pursue "personal projects", will no doubt prompt some speculation that she might not have been quite as untouchable as she thought.***

Vogue means never having to say you're seventy

tom ford for vogue paris via fashion_screen

Ah the Tom Ford issue of Vogue Paris. It just keeps on giving. Following the 'Forever Young' editorial in which a blinged-up grey-haired couple is caught by Ford's camera in flagrante delicto - and Ford's proclamation that he has had it with the cult of youth, the stigmatization of wrinkles and all those who "cheat" time - comes an editorial spread starring some of the women who modelled the new Tom Ford womenswear collection at his exclusive media launch at New York Fashion Week in September. And a couple of ringins, including Ali McGraw. (In order below) Betty Catroux, Marisa Berenson and Lauren Hutton look like ultra glamorous 60+ women - although any thinner and Berenson would have been at grave risk of being mistaken for a light stand in Vogue's studio. The Love Story star, however, doesn't look a day over 45. Which is fascinating, since McGraw is in fact 72. Granted, she has been practicing yoga for the past 20 years, but considering that this is what McGraw looked like in 2006 and here she is in an interview with Oprah Winfrey several months ago - looking absolutely fantastic, we must say - is it just a question of good lighting or has she in fact been Photoshopped by Vogue to within an inch of her life? Given Ford's vigorous stance on ageing in the 'Forever Young' editorial, the latter scenario would seem more than a little inconsistent.

Old spice: Not even age shall weary Tom Ford's fashion porn stars

 

Following the Crystal Renn editorial in which the world's most famous plus size model receives a gamut of cosmetic surgery procedures - and some oral pleasure - yet more images of the Tom Ford-edited December 2010 edition of Vogue Paris have surfaced. In an editorial spread entitled 'Forever Love', this time Ford tackles the subject of old age, shooting two apparently septuaganarian models groping each other while showcasing the latest in fine jewellery. In a post-script, Ford, who also photographed the editorial, notes: “I am tired of the cult of youth. The cultural rejection of old age, the stigmatization of wrinkles, grey hair, of bodies furrowed by the years. I am fascinated by Diana Vreeland, Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Bourgeois, women who have let time embrace them without ever cheating. Society today condems this, me, I celebrate it. For this session of fine jewellery, I imagined a man and a woman who had been together for a long time, faithful to each other and always incandescent with desire”.

Tom Ford recommends a head job with that boob job

tom ford for vogue paris via fashion_screen

In the much-hyped, Tom Ford-edited December 2010 edition of Vogue Paris, which is out tomorrow, Ford tackles the subject of cosmetic surgery with an eight page editorial called La Panthère ose (which translates as “the panther dares” - a play on the French version of the film title The Pink Panther). Starring the world’s most high profile plus size model Crystal Renn, the editorial was shot by Ford and styled by editor in chief Carine Roitfeld. Yes, cosmetic surgery makes an interesting editorial backdrop for any fashion magazine, considering that such magazines stand accused of only ever showcasing unrealistic – and frequently digitally enhanced – images of female “perfection” that prompt feelings of inadequacy in “normal” women and lead them to eating disorders and cosmetic surgery. But it is not the first time this has been done. The July 2005 edition of Vogue Italia featured an 80-page cover story by Steven Meisel called Makeover Madness. Shot inside a medical equipment rental facility and a suite at the St Regis, the story depicted Linda Evangelista and eight other models before, "during" and after staged procedures (complete with fake blood). It's interesting to compare the two editorials. 

A breast man: Tom Ford on "becoming post-human" and "hard" beauty

steven klein for w/tfs

On Tuesday, Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man, was released on DVD. Although critically-acclaimed, the film made just US$9million at the domestic box office – and, seemed virtually impossible to find on download at the time of release, due to an apparent lack of geek interest. Miramax hopes it will now find its audience. To celebrate the DVD launch, yesterday NPR radio re-broadcast an interview Ford did with NPR’s Fresh Air host Terry Gross back on December 14 last year. Perhaps the original became subsumed by the deluge of publicity Ford did at the time of the film's theatrical release, because this iv does not appear to have travelled far afield. Below is an MP3 of the full 20 minute interview.

Rod Blagojevich, fashion icon?

tom ford via wwd.com


Ah yes Tom Ford has done a Karl Lagerfeld/Hedi Slimane by lensing his own advertising campaign. Yesterday WWD got the scoop on the SS09 campaign for Ford’s menswear line, which bows in March issues, stars Jon Kortajarena and Karen Elson and was shot by Ford. Ford told WWD, “I wanted to create clean, straightforward shots of a handsome man in beautifully cut clothes. Simple, clear, and fresh.” There was no mention by Ford of any specific inspiration and frockwriter cannot help thinking that the outlets which have since picked up the story may have overlooked the elephant in the room. Is frockwriter the only one to notice that Kortajarena’s scenester coiffure seems uncannily reminiscent of one Rod Blagojevich? Blagojevich being of course the recently ousted Illinois governor who is facing federal corruption charges, including accusations of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. It’s not like Blago’s hair has not been in the US news of late.



getty images via the cut

In an earlier WWD story on December 11, the flamboyant chestnut 'do with bangs prompted the following comments from the hair styling industry.

Calvin Klein’s hairstylist Roberto Nova:

“Ugh....there’s no name for that”

Jennifer Anniston’s coiffeur Chris McMillan:

“Jack Lord from ‘Hawaii 5-0’ called. He wants his look back.”

And hair stylist to Meg Ryan, Courtney Love and Hillary Clinton, Sally Hershberger:

“It’s very dated. And it looks like a wig.”

And Womens Wear Daily is by no means the only US news outlet to discuss Blagojevich's hair.

From a cartoon competition in The Washington Post to identify the best Blagojevich hair caricature, to a score of stories and headlines, the controversial 'do has evidently been, well, front of mind for not just Blago.

The Dallas News called Blagojevich:

“The politician with America's Most Important Hair“

In a story entitled "Big hair, big head, big bozo: That's Gov. Blagojevich", The New York Daily News noted:

“Now we know why Blago has such big hair. It's to cover his great big empty head”

During a studio interview with Blagojevich, The View co-host Joy Behar could not resist touching the merchandise, telling her co-hosts:

"Where do I get the chutzpah to touch this guy's hair? It's like I have this little kid inside me that just wants to do it."

Meanwhile, The Chicago Sun Times dedicated quite some space to an analysis of the coiffure, asking the probing question, “Is Blago's hair a sign of sickness?”.

The Times interviewed several psychologists, who concurred that the trademark "glossy locks...perfectly sculpted in rain or snow" may be a sign of a narcissistic personality disorder.

Clinical psychologist Scott Ambers told the paper:

"It's all part of managing his image, managing his image of being without a blemish, without a flaw.... This grandiose sense of self . . . doesn't carry the implication that [Blagojevich] is a raving lunatic, crazy and out of touch with reality, but it does suggest he has a really overinflated view of his own importance".

When the corruption issues are dealt with, needless to say, Blago would be infinitely better suited to a gig in the fashion industry.