Fashion

Heavy metal and Halloween, make room for haute couture. “What used to be a symbol for borderline-sociopathic tough guys with weird design fetishes—Hells Angels, pirates, Nazis—has become a trope de luxe,” writes Stephen Marche in Esquire . The skull, a symbol of death with deep religious significance, “has suddenly become hypermodern, totally in and of the moment.” More »

A French court sided today with couturier Louis Vuitton in a suit against eBay, ruling the auctioneer must pay $63.1 million in damages for fake goods sold on its site—a ruling the Wall Street Journal says will force eBay to step up anti-counterfeiting protections. EBay says it will appeal the judgment, its second recent defeat in French courts. More »

In what could be a frightening nod to the '80s, more and more boys are growing their hair out. And while most deny pop culture inspired the barber boycott, long locks can be spotted on everyone from the Jonas Brothers to celebrity tots. Despite sometimes being mistaken for girls, notes the Chicago Tribune in a look at the trend, most wouldn't trade their tresses. More »

A Kazakh model was found dead after falling from her ninth-floor Manhattan apartment in an apparent suicide, the New York Post reports. Twenty-year old Ruslana Korshunova had appeared on the covers of French Elle and Russian Vogue , and starred in ads for Christian Dior and Vera Wang. She had just returned from a modeling stint in Paris and looked to be "on top of the world," said a friend. More »

The deep V-neck T-shirt, that "misguided ode to the male sternum," has taken the classic, plain, white version to a place so fashion forward many are hoping it gets lost there, Kate Radway writes in Radar . "I see them on the street and I am almost sick of it," says a rep for American Apparel, identified as the key trend culprit. More »

Black women spend $20 billion a year on clothes, but the fashion world still harbors a racial prejudice that keeps women of color out of the big glossies. Now noted photographer Steven Meisel has teamed with Italian Vogue to produce a special issue, in which all the models are black and all the articles address black women in the arts. The New York Times reports on the issue's genesis. More »

Heads up, summer interns. Vogue passes along advice from fashion publishing, design, and PR insiders for making a shining impression (hint: It's not about you): Think creatively, dress conservatively: Leave the flip-flops at home. Don't play it too safe; a little flair shows the boss you have a sense of style. More »

American men have been ditching their business-attire neckwear for a decade; now even tie-makers are getting in on the open-collars revolution, reports the Wall Street Journal . The industry association for US tiemakers, hit by the double-whammy of foreign competition and casual Mondays through Fridays, is calling it quits this week. And tie-makers aren't wearing their own wares, even in public. More »

NERD frontman Pharrell Williams has lent his Midas touch to more than just hip-hop, Erica Kennedy writes in a Paper profile. The multi-tasking taste-maker boasts luxe clothing and jewelry lines, and friendships and collaborations with assorted style icons. "Pharrell doesn't buy something because it's fashionable," says one comrade in charms. "Pharrell makes fashion." More »

Twentieth-century fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent died today at his home in Paris, AFP reports. The reclusive designer, who was battling illness, said when he retired in 2002 that he had “always given the highest importance of all to respect for this craft, which is not exactly an art, but which needs an artist to exist.” More »

Flamboyant "Project Runway" winner Christian Siriano—he of the "bi-level fashion hawk" updo—describes himself as a "musical theater kid who loved costumes." For his next challenge he'll be right at home, then, designing Whoopi Goldberg's outfits when she hosts the Tony Awards next month in New York City, reports E! Online. More »

Gwyneth Paltrow's choice to wear Pacini heels as high as 6, 7 or, gasp!, 8 inches while traveling the world to promote her turn as Pepper Potts in Iron Man has spiked sales of the heels in Britain's trendier shops, the Independent reports. Credit crunch, begone: The "Gwyneth-effect" is pushing $2,000 sky-high models off the shelves at Harvey Nichols; Selfridges reported a 35% boost in its sales. More »

Don't say fashion and politics don't mix—Donatella Versace thinks one way Hillary Clinton can revive what's left of her campaign for president is to soften her look, the New York Post reports. "She could dress a little more feminine. She doesn't have to wear pants to show she is strong. She can wear a dress," the fashionista says. More »

A growing number of youthful romantics, disenchanted with the coldness of contemporary culture, are turning back the clock to a quasi-Victorian age in a movement known as Steampunk, the New York Times reports. Followers of the trend, which one designer calls “the intersection of technology and romance,” celebrate a bygone sense of wonder by dressing in waistcoats and corsets and collecting gramophones and diving bells. More »

Just because they have tons of money and access to the hautest of couture doesn't mean they actually have to take advantage of it. Nerve highlights richie-riches who refuse to advertise their wealth with high-class duds. (Or sometimes showers.) Amy Winehouse: Even smokes crack "just to keep it real." Courtney Love: Takes grunge a little too far. More »

New online shops are hooking up high-end customers with discount flash sales on luxury goods such as designer bags and shoes. Alerting members via text message, the members-only sites sell items in private sales that often begin immediately and can last just hours. The created frenzy works: Customers of one site buy on average within just 45 seconds of logging on, reports the Wall Street Journal . More »

Just about every week seems to bring another entry into the field of celebrity fragrances, but the news that architect Zaha Hadid has her own scent moved I.D. Magazine to ask industrial designers how they'd approach the process. Hold your nose for this sampling: France's Inga Sempé gets equine with an unnamed "blend of horse dung, gasoline, milled iron, and parma ham"—in a bottle strung with animal hair. More »

The women’s clothes from the Texas polygamist compound call to mind both Little House on the Prairie and prison garb. Yet there’s something elaborate, or even flamboyant, in the carefully crafted styles that set these women so distinctly at odds with modern culture, writes Robin Givhan in the Washington Post. In a sect that uses cell phones and sneakers, why not jeans and zippers? More »

Eyeglasses are no longer just for the optically challenged: Fashionistas everywhere see them as the latest must-have (eye)piece and are stocking up on non-prescription glasses to match every outfit, the Wall Street Journal says. Seeing wasn’t believing for one man who underwent Lasik surgery but continues to sport his specs. “It’s a fashion statement,” he said. “It’s my signature.” More »

A proposed ban on saggy pants didn’t fly in Louisiana, where a Senate panel rejected the legislation as a violation of freedom of speech, reports the Times-Picayune . “This is a situation that is disgusting and needs state attention,” insisted the state senator pushing the bill. “I have the right to walk down the street and not see your dirty drawers.” More »