Special Tribute to Liz Tilberis

Harper’s Bazaar, July 1999 issue. Tom Cruise’s cover was the last cover approved by Liz before her death just 3 months prior. All ad revenue went to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Models, photographers, stylists, make-ups artists, etc., donated their time for free. There are no editorials. It is the one issue which features the solidarity of the fashion industry for an icon.

Illustrations by Karl Lagerfeld

Obituary by Cartier

Christy Turlington photographed by Patrick Demarchelier

Guinevere Van Seenus photographed by Craig McDean, clothes by Yohji Yamamoto

Naomi Campbell photographed by David Bailey clothes by Versace

Left: Linda Evangelista illustrated by Mats Gustafsson; Guinevere Van Seenus photographed by Richard Burbridge

Nikki Uberti photographed by Terry Richardson, clothes by Dolce and Gabbana

Anne Catherine Lacroix photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadinanne, clothes by Balenciaga

Erin O’Connor photographed by Patrick Demarchelier., clothes by Calvin Klein

Natalie Portman photographed by Robert Bromann, clothes by Moschino; Cindy Crawford photographed by Mary Ellen Mark, clothes by Malo; Rita Wilson photographed by Sante D’Orazio; Milla Jovovich photographed by Cliff Watts, clothes by Tommy Hilfiger

Jun 3

The Most-Sought-After Title of the Nineties

Linda Evangelista. Art Direction: Fabien Baron. Photo by Patrick Demarchelier. It was the first issue from Liz Tilberis at Harper’s Bazaar. September 1992

Sex and design, not that long ago, were total strangers—at least in magazines. You could have sex and fashion, as Helmut Newton had memorably proved in Vogue, and you could have fashion and design, as Alexey Brodovitch, Harper’s Bazaar’s legendary art director from 1934 to 1958, had shown. But Fabien Baron’s remarkable 1992 redesign of Bazaar, under editor Liz Tilberis, brought them together under one elegant, sensuous roof. Baron also introduced art-world and European photographers (Mario Testino, David Sims, Cindy Sherman, Craig McDean, Mario Sorrenti, Raymond Meier, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin) to the fashion world for the first time, permanently altering our perception of what a fashion photographer does.

Baron grew up in Paris, the son of a magazine art director. He came to New York at 23; his first magazine job was at GQ, in 1982, where Bruce Weber was making his name. By the late eighties, he was multitasking prodigiously, producing Barneys’ famous ads with Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell, and working on Franca Sozzani’s Italian Vogue and Ingrid Sischy’s Interview, all at the same time. By 1992, when he landed at Bazaar, he was a ubiquitous design star.

And a new kind of star at that: a “creative director,” which in short order became the most-sought-after (and then clichéd) title of the nineties. “I was the first person to have that title,” he says. “I didn’t want to be just the art director!”

Jun 1

Channeling Avedon’s Muse

Fei Fei Sun made history as the first Asian model to grace the cover of Vogue Italia (January 2013 issue) and fittingly the fashion team lead by photographer Steven Meisel used legendary model China Machado as inspiration for the editorial. China was the first non-Caucasian model to grace the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in 1958.

Leading model Fei Fei Sun enchants in retro-inspired looks, channeling Avedon’s muse. Fashion editor Lori Goldstein did choose a selection of sumptuous pieces from the likes of Valentino, Miu Miu, Gucci and Giorgio Armani for the Chinese beauty to wear. Guido created elegant coifs while makeup artist Pat McGrath was responsible for the brunette’s dramatic eyes.

Franca Sozzani told: “We put Fan Bingbing on the cover of L’Uomo Vogue and we dedicated an entire issue to China. In the past, we’ve done many shoots with Asian girls, with photographers like Peter Lindbergh or Steven Meisel or Craig McDean.” She called this cover by Meisel “extravagant, eccentric, and elegant … showing a new chic mood in fashion and how the Asian girls have a classy and special beauty.”

Apr 20

Cross and Fiction

Soutenez la Croix Rouge (Support the Red cross). Photo by Erwin Blumenfeld

Blumenfeld’s photo on the cover of Vogue US, March 1945

Marilyn Monroe. Contact sheet from The Last Sitting photo shoot, by Bert Stern, 1962

Kate Moss wearing a Louis Vuitton outfit inspired by Richard Prince. Photo by Craig McDean, Vogue UK 2008

Mar 30

Fashionable Bunnies

Dorian Leigh in a hat by Paulette. Harper’s Bazaar, October, 1949

Halston black velvet dress with mink trim, 1966. Collection Museum of The City of New York

Alber Elbaz

Stella Tenant and Charles Guislain, photographed by Tim Walker, Tim Walker

Candice Bergen at Truman Capote’s Black-and-White Ball. The Plaza Hotel, New York. November 28, 1966

Liza Minnelli, Truman Capote and Studio 54 owner, Steve Rubell

Andy Warhol and Eddie Sedgwick

Elsa Peretti in a Halston-designed Bunny costume, photographed by Helmut Newton in New York City, 1975

Lauren Hutton

Playboy-inspired logo bathing suit

Yasmin Le Bon for Ralph Lauren Fall 1985 “Rabbit Hole” ad campaign

Betsey Johnson

Reese Whiterspoon in a still from Legally Blonde (Robert Luketic, 2001)

Hilary Swank. Photo: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, 2007

Marc Jacobs. Photo: Craig McDean for the CFDA

Madonna. Louis Vuitton, 2009 Fall-Winter ad campaign photographed by Steven Meisel.

Lady Gaga in the cover of Neo2 Magazine. September 2009 issue. Photo: Olivier Rauh

Dita Von Teese

Beth Ditto

Emma Watson for Elle UK. November 2011. Photo: Rankin

Ewan McGregor. Photo: Alexi Lubomirski

Helena Bonham Carter. The Sunday Times, April 2012

Carolina Herrera’s Bunny Print dress 2013 Resort Collection

Mar 16

Keep Your Pants On

Braces may have been employed since the end of the eighteen century to hold up men’s buckskin breeches but in the 1990s we no longer boast buck on our bums and we no longer use the word braces. Its mere utterance conjures up those pimply days of puberty and all of its embarrassments: corn kernels wedged in tinsel teeth, locked lips on a first kiss, rubber bands that smacked your valentine right between her eyes. The British say “braces”. Americans say “suspenders”.

Ok, we have learned what they’re called, so now we should learn what to avoid wearing. Beware of elaborately floral, shocking pink or insignia-imprinted designs. Because suspenders are most often worn with ties, the potential for clashing is high. Solid and subtly patterned suspenders are easier to match. Even for a punk or a hipster.

However, because fashion now is about being democratic, if you opt for a patterned pair, make sure the pattern is woven into the fabric and not ironed (or silk-screened) on. It’s classier.

Considering wearing a belt with your suspenders? Please, don’t.

Once upon a time, before the steamy factory days driven by mass production, a man could have his braces custom-made. Brass levers (as they were never anything but brassy) would rest comfortably in the personal hollow of a man’s chest. If they were set too high (above the bottom half of the chest), the levers’ double layer of material would pad the chest and the buckles would sneak up toward the face. In today’s world suspenders are a one-size-fits-all-deal. And so, as the bias stands, if you are going to brace yourself you’d better be tall. A kind tailor might customize a pair for you. A kind shoe repairman might as well.

A word on placement: The front buttons should be sewn securely inside the waistband and aligned with that clean pleat closest to the bone. This prevents our pants from fanning when we stand; it also defines the trouser’s creases and weights their depth. A button set too far to the side of the trousers relaxes the tension on the strap, permitting it to slip, like a woman’s bra might, coquettishly from the shoulder. Not flirty. Not sexy. Not cute.

Suspenders date to the French court of Louis XVI, when aristocrats began to use strips of ribbon to support their trousers. Long considered underwear — exposing them was against the law on Long Island as recently as 1938.

Here are few more historical facts about suspenders:

It’s been said that Benjamin Franklin invented them.
Claude Debussy wore floral ones.
Napoleon Bonaparte flaunted his bee insignia on his.
Victorian sweethearts would woo their suitors with hand-embroidered ones.

Clark Gable

Gary Cooper

Marlon Brando

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Jude Law. Still from Cold Mountain (Anthony Minghella, 2003)

Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)

Maxwell

Raoul Bova accompanied by Monica Belluci

David Bowie

Suspenders. Photography by Leon Levinstein, 1955

Joe Strummer

Haircut 100

A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

Alexander McQueen Menswear

Diesel ad campaign

Fun. Carry On music video (Anthony Mandler, 2012)

Nicole Kidman photographed by Craig Mcdean

Charlotte Rampling in a promotional picture for Il Portiere di Notte / The Night Porter (Liliana Cavani, 1974)

Madonna. Erotica music video (Fabien Baron, 1992)

Jeffrey Costello & Robert Tagliapietra

Several kind of suspenders had been shown in Ralph Lauren collections whether for women or for men and for children as well

Jan 30

Birds of Passage

McQueen haven’t released an Ad Campaign from 2003. Craig McDean was the photographer of his 2008-2009 Autumn/Winter Collection, Tabita Simmons was the stylist and Alice McGibb was the model.