karl lagerfeld spotted in manhattan

O.K. I am running the risk of a Karl Lagerfeld overdose! On my blog??! Jeez! Well, screw it, I've got to post this one, it's Karl Lagerfeld shooting the new Chanel campaign in Manhattan of all places! I thought he was a French designer??! So is he moving to Manhattan? Is he going to move his business to the Big Apple? Now?! I guess NYC has gotten bourgeois enough for him by now!?

Anyway I could not believe my eyes walking through the LES... You can see Karl yielding his camera atop an industrial lifter!



The question that poses itself automatically is: "Is he wearing his glasses while shooting?" "Yes, he is." Goodness I am still in shock! But, frankly, it's just another photography job lost in the city's fashion industry!!

karl lagerfeld quotes in case you care...

Here is a little treat for you in the midst of the afternoon, may it lighten you up a bit! Karl Lagerfeld's recent quotes! He's hilarious as ever. He doesn't stop. It's like he goes against what everybody else says and thinks as a principle. No BS. Gotta love it!

by YM Ousley

At this point, we’re not sure Kaiser Karl could say anything that would shock us. He famously chided curvy women looking for some representation in fashion as fat mothers sitting with bags of chips in front of the television, then went on to surprise everyone by shooting the curvy burlesque star Miss Dirty Martini for V’s size issue.

Karl Lagerfeld and Bruce LaBruce

In Lagerfeld’s latest interview we find out who still sends faxes (Karl and Anna!), why he doesn’t believe in gay marriage, his own personal burka and other gems that could only come from one person. Our picks for the most interesting excerpts:

on his omnipresent glasses

BLB: I like that you make it clear that you don’t want to be photographed or filmed without your sunglasses on. I don’t either. Who would?
KL: They’re my burka.

BLB: Exactly. A burka for the eyes.
KL: A burka for a man. I’m a little shortsighted, and people, when they’re shortsighted, they remove their glasses and then they look like cute little dogs who want to be adopted.

speaking of adoption

KL: I don’t like the idea of taking people out of their lives and their contexts. If there were a child I wanted to adopt, I would try to find the family of the child and give them the money for an education in his life and his context. [Don't look for Christmas cards from Angelina or Madonna in his mailbox]

on being judgmental

KL: I have not one prejudice. I don’t judge things. [ed. note: really?]

on legalizing gay marriage and taking up the cause of gay rights

BLB: You are against the idea of gay marriage. I totally agree with you on that.
KL: Yes, I’m against it for a very simple reason: In the 60s they all said we had the right to the difference. And now, suddenly, they want a bourgeois life.
…
For me it’s difficult to imagine—one of the papas at work and the other at home with the baby. How would that be for the baby? I don’t know. I see more lesbians married with babies than I see boys married with babies. And I also believe more in the relationship between mother and child than in that between father and child.

KL: I’m in fashion. Politics is not my job. I don’t vote in France even though foreigners here can. I will never vote in my life.

on porn

KL: I admire porn. And I personally only like high-class escorts. I don’t like sleeping with people I really love. I don’t want to sleep with them because sex cannot last, but affection can last forever. I think this is healthy. And for the way the rich live, this is possible. But the other world, I think they need porn. I also think it’s much more difficult to perform in porn than to fake some emotion on the face as an actor.

on fur

KL: That’s why I always say, when people talk about not using fur, “Are you rich enough to make an income for the people in the north who live from hunting? What do you want them to live off of when there’s nothing else to do?” It is farmers who are nice to the cows and the pigs and then kill them. It’s even more hypocritical than hunters. At least the hunters don’t flatter the animals.

on modern communications

KL: …I hate telephones. I prefer faxes because I like to write. People I’m really friendly with have faxes. Anna Wintour has one. We speak via fax. And in Paris I send letters to people. I have somebody to deliver letters all over every day.

He's so old school!

the runaways

It's true, The Runaways inspired woman of all ages in the 1970's and beyond! They were pioneers in many ways and left a deep impression on me as a young girl. I adored their rocker looks and style. Now the movie is coming out, so treat yourself to some female trouble this weekend!

which oh which skirt to give away next?

Please, I need a hand on deciding which skirt to give away in our next sweepstakes!

Please go to IdilViceFashionRocks.com's Skirt Category and see which of the skirts should be in the next Give-Away! Then come back and leave your pick in a comment below this post. That way you'll get a chance to win your favorite! Let's go!

it's on - gaultier vs idilvice...

This one's gonna be fun you know it. This should have been posted way sooner but it's been crazy lately. NY Fashion Week was on and with that the best parties in the world! Plus I've been busy designing new clothes and there was no time to write. As of late, I am additionally experiencing the corporate backlash of taking control of the internet. All sorts of companies trying to get a piece of IdilViceFashionRocks and all... I'll be talking about this a bit later. But now, on a slightly lighter note, I finally made it to put this one down. I planned it weeks ago, when I first saw the JPG men's show in Paris. Ironically both JPG and I were featured in the same TV program earlier this year.

I used to intern at Jean Paul Gaultier. Many years ago. I adore this man. Does he adore me? Yes he does. Look, it's a fact that designers cross each others ways frequently, in a mental way. Creatives think alike. And of course we are all inspired by what we see. We are also pressed to come up with smashing ideas at least twice a year, a pace that can be deadly, especially for creatives who usually need time to "listen" to themselves and "marinate" thoughts, before they can take shape. So with this incredible time line chasing us, it is no secret that we can't always be original and if it happens that ideas get translated, transformed and reissued it should not be taken personally. That of course is not always easy to do, as we know that there's usually more to it than just a simple mind cross when established high end designers - which we "intern" with - dish out concepts from independent ones such as myself. But again, it's a fact we've got to live with for the rest of our lives. Check out JPG fashion presentation for Fall 2010. A similar theme originally staged by me in 1997 - almost 13 years ago - in Zürich at Kaufleuten. The name of the show: Vice Troop Body Culture S/S 1997.

So you think you get the real deal all the time? You probably don't. Not always. The interpretation of Jean Paul's "Body Culture" - or "Coutorture" - was of course as always impeccable and so I can't stay critical any longer. One thing though: I look better in the bath robe ;-) what do you think?

IdilVice in her brand new velvetine French terry two-tone colored Troop Vice embroidered cropped and top stitched bathrobe shown in her fashion show presentation in Zurich in 1997, left. And Jean Paul Gaultier in an old lumpy no name bathrobe... not sure where he got it from...at his men's fashion presentation 2010 in Paris.

Well, whatever you might think, stay with me and let's look at some other parts of the shows and compare them, if you will.

Left: JPG men's fashion 2010 hoods with towel around the neck and on the right: IdilVice photo shoot with hoods and towel around the neck in boxing position 1997.

Tough IdilVice Troop Body Culture boys with embroidered belted French terry bathrobe coats and suede leather shorts, in 1997.

...tough JPG boys with coats and boxer shorts, 2010.

Left: IdilVice Body Culture trompe l'oeil printed woman's body suit, 1997 and right: JPG men's trompe l'oeil printed body suit, 2010. I must state here that JPG is one of the pioneers of trompe l'oeil.


Classic black & white elements such as stripes and plaid mixed in with sportswear at IdilVice 1997, left and right: JPG, 2010.


Left: baggy shorts and wrist bands at IdilVice 1997 and right: baggy shorts and wrist bands at JPG in 2010.


From head to toe in sporty white at IdilVice Body Culture 1997.


From head to toe in sporty white at JPG in 2010.


Plus we even both put our men in wrap skirts...


But only IdilVice put her man in a bikini top ;-) .....


... and only IdilVice had piercings in her body suits ;-)

Thanks goodness Jean Paul overlooked some details!

spring is in the air

Spring hasn't arrived yet, but it sure is in the air - Finally!

I'm enjoying the warm sun outside the office... wewh! Shakin' off that Winter blues! I hope you do the same :)

earth walk 2010

Remember the snow man I made a few weeks ago? Well, that was not the only time I have been playing in the blizzard. This photographer Carl Posey just posted an incredibly beautiful story on his blog called "Earth Walk Twenty Ten" featuring me in it (you might not recognize me). The pictures are amazing! The story lives up to it's title. Check it out!