The FiFi Report 170

The latest news from WWD…

  • The finals in the Louis Vuitton Cup races in Spain are taking place to determine the boat that will challenge the Swiss team, Alinghi, for the America’s Cup. It’s between Prada’s Luna Rossa team and Emirates Team New Zealand. The sailing set is taking the connection seriously, upping the design quotient at every opportunity. Prada drafted legendary Italian architect Renzo Piano to design its shorefront boathouse and headquarters for its Luna Rossa team, while the Veles e Vents (or "sails and winds" in English) building, home of a VIP roof lounge for its weather-beaten crew, was designed by the British architect David Chipperfield. This year marks a particularly significant occasion for the Cup since it hasn’t been held in Europe since 1851. To fete the return, Vuitton transformed the ruins of La Cartuja into an enchanted palace.
  • Valentino will show his 45th anniversary couture show in Rome on July 7, and John Galliano will show at Versailles for Christian Dior’s 60th anniversary festivities on July 2 - the Orangerie, to be exact.
  • For the 2007 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York, photographer Nick Knight created a short film for the Womenswear Designer of the Year with model Agyness Deyn wearing one look each from nominees Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler. He filmed the sequence on a Webcam to live feed it to his Web site Showstudio.com.
  • She was the first fashion type to take the stage at the annual Hay Festival of Literature in Wales - and boy did Dame Vivienne Westwood give her listeners an earful. Much to the packed audience’s dismay, the punk princess turned political activist didn’t want to talk fashion at all. Instead, she laid out a “cultural manifesto” weaving together elements from “Alice in Wonderland”, “Pinocchio” and Greek philosophy into a diatribe about what art is - or maybe isn’t. Whatever it was, it was hard to follow - even for an audience used to sitting through some heavy-duty political, scientific and cultural debate.
  • Tony Blair, whose days as British prime minister are numbered, has been pilloried by the British press this week for his five-day trip to Africa - with Men’s Vogue in tow. Officially, Blair and his lawyer wife, Cherie Booth, are on a "farewell visit" to the continent to mark the end of his tenure. The Daily Mail ran a mock cover of Men’s Vogue featuring the Blair’s alongside the headline "Vanity Blair".
  • Gucci has tapped Marcus Piggot to shoot its first-ever ad campaign solely dedicated to the season’s must-have accessory. For fall, it’s the Indy bag, a rigid frame style with a strap inspired by the steering wheels of old racing cars, hence its name and shot with model Natasha Poly. Craig McDean will continue to shoot the brand’s ready-to-wear campaigns. For fall, he shot on a Cinecittà set, painted in deep hues that complement Giannini’s Lee Miller-inspired fall clothes.
  • Aquascutum has drafted Gisele Bündchen and Irish actor Jamie Dornan for its latest global ad campaign, which was shot by Mario Sorrenti at one of Britain’s most notorious stately homes Cliveden.
  • Jeff Bridges will play Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter, renamed Clayton Harding, in the film adaptation of onetime Vanity Fair contributor Toby Young’s book, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.". Simon Pegg will play Young, starring alongside Kirsten Dunst, Gillian Anderson and Danny Huston.
  • In Paris? see Jane Birkin’s daughter Lou Doillon read love letters at the Theatre de la Madeleine. "We’ll soon be taking the gig on tour around Europe and hopefully the United States" said Doillon.Jane Birkin, also just back from Cannes premiered her first directing effort, "Boxes" loosely based on her family history.