Dua Lipa seems capable of pulling just about anything off—she can don a bold monochrome suit with just as much ease as she can a two-pieceVaquera set that looks like it was made from your grandmother’s curtains. If there’s one thing you can always expect from the British pop star’s wardrobe, though, it’s a chic crop top, whether she is taking in the New York City skyline or on stage in a ruffled miniskirt.
Lipa’s latest take on the youthful style finds her putting a ’90s-inspired spin on the contemporary cut. Lipa paired a Pretty Woman crop top—Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are essentially smizing from the tiny T-shirt—with some Y2K-era sunglasses. And while Lipa’s look is quite a throwback, she finished it all off with a timeless accessory: an adorable little dog that’s nestled on her shoulder. Roberts would undoubtedly approve.
Slipping into a skin-tight bodysuit can seem like a daunting task—now picture trying on a multicolor printed bodysuit. Such a feat may seem tricky indeed, but leave it to Dua Lipa to pull off the fashion impossible with ease. The singer just stepped out in New York City and chose to forgo her causal day wear, instead opting for a maximal ensemble by Versace that defies casual Fridays.
Wearing a hot-off-the-runway bodysuit from the Italian label’s Fall 2018 collection, Lipa hit the streets in the spandex design, which featured slightly accentuated shoulder pads and a high neck. It made the point that being completely covered can, yes, still be sexy in its own right. She styled the look with open-back mules that were finished in the same punchy print. She’s not the first celebrity to wear this ensemble, either—back at the 2018 CFDA awards, supermodel Gigi Hadid also stepped out on the red carpet in the Versace bodysuit, styling it relatively simple with classic pumps. (After all, the catsuit says it all.) As for who wore it best? It’s a strong tie.
Trying to find reasonably priced jewelry that suits your taste can sometimes feel like an endless hunt—that is, unless your go-to jewelry designer happens to be your mother. That’s the case for British singer Jorja Smith, as she revealed in an Instagram post earlier this week. Jorja thanked her mom, Jolene Smith, a jewelry designer who has been crafting rustic artisan pieces since 1984, for her new black diamond pendant, which she paired with a lilac mesh head wrap and earrings by Jiwinaia. “The black diamond necklace was to go with her black diamond ring that I made for her for Christmas,” Jolene says of the one-off piece. “Black diamonds are so underrated,” she adds, and Jorja clearly agrees—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Jolene went to jewelry school in Birmingham for three years and has been working full-time on her craft ever since (with the exception of a brief part-time period when she had children), making pieces primarily from silver. Her designs, which incorporate semiprecious stones, find a way to modernize ancient references. In addition to these handmade pieces, she takes old or broken jewelry and uses it for raw material; she also runs workshops for adults and children interested in trying their hand at the craft “to inspire people to create and immerse themselves in another world.”
Jorja is understandably a fan of her mom’s handiwork. “I love how my mom can make literally everything,” Jorja says. “She even made my friend Erin a shoe pendant because Erin makes shoes. My mom has always inspired me, as nothing seems impossible for her.” And while Jorja has made a few rings and bangles with her mom before, she claims that she doesn’t have the patience to really commit to the practice. She of course manages to don some of her mother’s pieces on tour. “I’m working on Jorja’s Lost & Found collection for Jorja’s Japan shows at the moment—hearts and keys chains,” Jolene says. Look out for more of her mom’s original work, coming soon.
Céline Dion is undisputedly an icon. The Québécoise singer has sold millions of albums, extended her successful Las Vegas residency, and recently taken the fashion world by storm, where she has become a front row fixture during Paris Fashion Week and even modelled some of the best couture looks of the season for Vogue. And her dramatic new fashion look—much credited to her stylist, Law Roach—is not going anywhere anytime soon. Kicking off her new headlining tour in Sydney, Australia, this weekend, her first time performing Down Under in 10 years, Dion proved her overall fabulousness is here to stay.
For the concert, Dion wore a theatrical interpretation of a classic suit, by Schiaparelli couture: The pant and jacket combo was done in a golden foil fabric, and covered in a subtle brocade print and glitzy embellishments. For every day, it may be a tad much—but for the stage, it was perfectly on point. She wore the suit with a simple white button-up, which had sheer lace paneling. Taking it just that extra step further, she also accessorized the ensemble with matching glitter boots—because more is more when you’re a global superstar.
When it comes to the business of being Katy Perry, over-the-top always trumps subtlety. And who could blame her? As a global pop star and continuous risk-taker on the Met Gala red carpet, her career has called for her to embrace fashion in a quirky, fun way, which only few can pull off with that much confidence. Therefore, one can only imagine how her personal style, say, heightens while performing for a huge crowd. Last night, the singer performed in Adelaide, Australia, for her Witness world tour, and she continued her theatrical aesthetic by choosing a cheeky ensemble that recalled one of her biggest smash singles to date.
Performing on stage with her backup singers in tow, Perry wore flowy checkered pants with a belted, ruffled waistline. But it was her futuristic top that was the real headliner—she wore a “T.G.I.F”-inspired crop top, which was illuminated by a flashing video screen. (Talk about high-tech fashion.) It was surely a nod to “Last Friday Night,” her hit single about Friday night debauchery. She accessorized the look with sporty white sneakers, which were perfect for maneuvering the stage.
In 2016, Kanye West took to his (then active) Instagram account and posted an image of his matte silver Mercedes-Maybach, and matching Rolls-Royce vehicles. While the post seemed to present the opulence of West’s lifestyle, it was a message in how the artist views fashion—and last night, the musician did it again with wife Kim Kardashian West, where he matched her wardrobe with his vehicles in Los Angeles. As the duo enjoyed a kids-free evening, Kardashian West matched their ride, the matte silver Rolls-Royce, like a futuristic Barbarella in a liquid silver skirt.
Kardashian West has often stepped out in sultry, futuristic ensembles—the blingy Balmain she wore to the 2016 Met Gala, or teasing out pieces from her husband’s Yeezy line in Calabasas and Tokyo—but last night’s approach married a directional touch with practical silhouettes. Kardashian West topped her ensemble with a pearlescent, body-skimming bodysuit for subtle shimmer, while the chainmail skirt (reminiscent of the Vetements dress she wore while twinning with daughter North in 2016) was a daring foil. Amping up the date night flavor was an Angelina Jolie-esque slit, while bi-color, ankle-strap stilettos grounded the look with a leg-lengthening effect. Exaggerated The Matrix-style shades finished it off with a fresh alternative to the micro sunglasses trend.
As for West? He was his own canvas and kept things simple in a dad T-shirt, which was offset by paint-splattered jeans. Combat boots of his own design finished the father of three’s outfit with a comfy and tactical approach to low-key date night style.
Angelenos are in luck: James Veloria, the one-year-old, once cult vintage shop turned New York fashion institution, is bringing its incredible selection of vintage to L.A. In April, Collin James Weber and Brandon Veloria Giordano staged a Jean Paul Gaultier pop-up at Opening Ceremony Soho, less than 15 minutes from the hole-in-the-wall shop they maintain in the East Broadway mall, followed two weeks later by a selection of Prada Sport and Miu Miu. It was, according to OC’s fashion director Carol Song, an unqualified success, and now the beloved duo will bring an expanded offering of all three brands to the West Hollywood store.
The pieces hail largely from the ’90s and include many carefully collected sets. Think a Prada Sport tank and matching calf-length skirt cut from a sheeny pink nylon, or a sweet powder blue jacket and baby duffel bag. There are of course plenty of JPG mesh tops, liquid stretch dresses, and a few statement belts. As per James Veloria’s MO, prices are quite reasonable—$150 for a nylon tank or frosted gray Prada sunglasses, $375 for a suede Miu Miu crossbody bag, $225 for a JPG mesh top—save for collector’s items like an ’80s Gaultier blazer with the iconic op art torso print ($1,250).
Photo: Ashley Abtahie and Mary Dickson
The month-long capsule will live in Opening Ceremony L.A.’s Little House, a clapboard cabin that showcases the store’s accessories—fitting, as Giordano notes that the bags take the forefront this time around. Indeed, there is a jaw-dropping assortment: A red gingham Miu Miu backpack that matches a perfect little red check dress, a black Prada Sport nylon tote backed with fur, and plenty of tiny nylon sacs to tuck over the shoulder. New Yorkers are no doubt gnashing their teeth in envy. Get it while you can.
Alexa de la Cruz may be the mysterious blunt-bobbed woman showing up on your favorite Instagram accounts, but this arresting face does much more than make cameos in her designer friends’ lookbooks. After taking online classes and enrolling in a design workshop, the 23-year-old launched an 11-piece line of strikingly simple jewelry this past spring: an asymmetrical donut-like pendant, baroque pearl and tiger bead drop earrings, and a bracelet strung with black agate spheres. If the less-is-more aesthetic feels at odds with the Mexico City native’s at-times frenetic surroundings, she insists they are connected: “Sometimes it’s very chaotic in this city, but then you just look around and everything is so elegant and beautiful with the light that falls.”
Her pieces take more than visual inspiration from the design capital, though, as they’re also made locally. With the help of her engineer husband, De la Cruz first molds her forms on a 3-D printer, before passing them off to a downtown craftsman (and De la Cruz’s mentor), who uses local silver and coral that De la Cruz handpicks on the Mexican coast. From there, she roams the streets, camera in hand, to shoot the objets on her close friends. “It’s more natural for me [than using models],” she says.
This sense of ease sits at the heart of her collection. These are not fussy, Instagram-bait accessories or ones that come with a four-digit price tag. Rather, they are the kind of weighty heirlooms that can be passed down from generation to generation—much like her grandfather’s signet ring. It inspired her first design, the Estalon, which is centered around a circlet of green jade. “It’s a very sentimental piece for me,” she says. “That’s what jewelry is: a treasure of yours.”
Queen Letizia of Spain was spotted earlier today in Majorca, enjoying a summer holiday with her husband King Felipe VI and daughters Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia. And just like Prince William and Kate Middleton did in the French Alps in March 2016, Her Majesty took the opportunity to get in an official photo session. To mark the occasion, Letizia fell back on a familiar name in her wardrobe, Hugo Boss—punctuated with the ultimate summer shoes.
The was completely in character for the monarch: earlier this month, she embraced the white skirt suit (by local designer Felipe Varela) for a military ceremony, while another occasion in July saw her slip into a body-skimming sheath in the same color, also by Boss, to take in audiences at the Palace.
Today’s A-line dress benefited from a built-in belt that enhanced the nipped-in silhouette, while neutral-tone espadrilles by Spanish label Mint & Rose offered a breezy, leg-lengthening finish at a sub-$150 price point.
Princesses Leonor and Sofia complemented their mother in eyelet-trimmed dresses in white and blue, making for a perfectly posh portrait.
Model Frank Nadolny first captured our hearts and Instagram feeds with his wild Y2K look, as well as posing for Zayn Malik’s merch and Alexander Wang. Now, the alt heartthrob can add designer to his résumé. Nadolny and his hometown friend Steve Crispin have launched the micro-label Poser. The pixel-fused tie-dye clothing is a peek into the duo’s hyperactive minds. The pieces come in leggings and shirt sets, in manic hues and prints like nuclear green with highlighter yellow blotches (“It’s a picture of the neurological pathways in the brain,” says Nadolny), while a mouthwash-blue shirt boasts what resembles an apocalyptic firestorm (“an explosion”), and a third shirt is an on-acid smattering of dots (“particles, cosmic particles”). All together, the three designs conjure up into one metaphysical meaning. “It is the events that lead to human life, like the big-bang theory, the particles in the air, and the spinning of planets,” says Nadolny
The launch of Poser came at the perfect time for Nadolny. He had met his design partner, Crispin, a little over three years ago just after graduating high school. According to Nadolny, the two gravitated toward one another being the only “weirdos” in their small desert town of Palmdale, California. “I went to this party and there was this dude with crazy hair and cowboy boots and I started talking to him,” says Nadolny of Crispin. A few months ago, the two were approached by the Los Angeles–based creative collective Other People’s Children (OPC). At the time, Nadolny had been sketching logos and designs on his own, as well as designing and tagging with Crispin. Impressed with their work, OPC helped launched what is now Poser.
Steve Crispin and Frank Nadolny
Photo: Courtesy of Gabbriette Bechtel for Poser
While the label certainly has more of an intergalactic-meets-Zen feel, the materials boast a hard edge. They are manufactured by Newaza, the same company that produces the high-quality gear for ripped fighters in mixed martial arts and jiujitsu, two sports where a flashy, self-expressive athletic uniform is the norm. Poser’s work with Newaza gave the label its first gig: Nadolny and Crispin have designed the uniforms for the U.S. team participating in the United World Wrestling 2018 Grappling World Cup in Kazakhstan that was held this past weekend. (For the uninitiated, the event is the Super Bowl of wrestling.) For Nadolny, while the sports are a bit foreign to him, he considers the fighters to be “just as much artists as anyone else.”
While Nadolny’s new age philosophy on style and his newly launched label is a bit poetic, it’s also poignant. “We believe that style is one of the best ways that people can express themselves. You just do it every single day and you are creating something for people to look at,” says Nadolny. “Every day, you wake up and you paint a picture on yourself with clothes.” Looks like Poser’s clothing might as well be worth a thousand words then.
.jpg)
