Chanel's Mane Event. The Winter 2010-2011 Haute Couture Show.

The newest haute couture collection from CHANEL premiered July 6 at the Grand Palais in Paris. The collection was filled with rich brocades, luxurious sequins, ruched boots, new longer length dresses, some seriously puffy sleeves, tousled hair and lions. Yes, Lions.

One of Karl Lagerfeld's most sumptuous and elegant collections to date, the Chanel show and collection were punctuated with multiple appearances of the King of the Jungle.



The set in Paris, designed by Stéfan Lubrina, had an enormous statue (reported to weigh 8 tons) of a Lion through whose giant paws the models strutted Karl Lagerfeld's latest looks. You can view a video of the construction of the set here.




The set was based on this marble statue:


Lion heads adorned the invitation, the press kit, some of the jewelry, some of the gowns and even were embedded into some of the fabrics.

The invitation:

shooting the press kit:


A Chanel gown with sequined lions:


Chanel dresses with Lion head accents:


and on the jewelry:

Even the groom in the the finale donned a giant lion head:




A video of the fashion show:


To see the entire Chanel Winter 2010.2100 collection go to the Chanel site.

Tattoo Artist Scott Cambell Designs Bags & Inks Models For Louis Vuitton

Gucci has already introduced a Tattoo-inspired collection of handbags and Chanel introduced their temporary tattoos, so it's no surprise that luxury brand Louis Vuitton has jumped on the tattwagon.

The LVMH company has collaborated with artist and tattoo master Scott Campbell to design some men's bags for the Louis Vuitton 2011 Spring Summer Men's collection. In addition to the leather bags which feature tattoo-inspired images, Scott Campbell also decorated the runway models for the show with temporary tattoos in the form of LV logos and with the same dragon and flourishes he used as imagery on the bags.

The Bags:



detail:






detail:


The Louis Vuitton Tattoos
The tattoos that graced the model's necks, arms and legs are the same designs as Scott incorporated into the leather bags for Louis Vuitton:







Scott, who has received much online attention for his cut-up currency art, is personal friends with Marc Jacobs, the fashion designer and Creative Director for Louis Vuitton. Jacobs sports several of Scott's tatts (both Marc and Scott have his "Bros before Hos" tattoos), so it's no wonder he chose him to design a few pieces and ink the models for the show.


above: Marc Jacobs of Louis Vuitton and artist Scott Campbell backstage at the runway show

Louis Vuitton
images are courtesy of the artist, ilvoelv.com and, with runway photos by Monica Feudi and Gianni Pucci for Style.com.

Steven Klein Brings Out Madonna's Best For 2010 Dolce & Gabbana Ad Campaign

above: Madonna with Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce

We've seen the buffed bicepped cougar shilling for everything from Pepsi to Louis Vuitton.

But to see The Material Girl in the latest Dolce & Gabbana ads shot by well known fashion and editorial photographer Steven Klein is to see her in her most appropriate element yet. The newest campaign has the Italian singer exuding Sicilian sensuality, not unlike Italian film legends Sophia Loren, Monica Vitti and Gina Lollobrigida, to advertise their Spring/Summer 2010 collection.

She doesn't look overly styled or even overly sinewy, but instead very sexy and surprisingly beautiful as she does dishes in a kitchen that looks straight out of a small Italian village.

Exclusive in this week's Italian edition of Vanity Fair is the worldwide preview of the Dolce & Gabbanna new spring/summer 2010 campaign:





The following text is from Dolce & Gabanna's blog:
Madonna's private life is seldom out of the papers but this new Dolce & Gabbana campaign is unlike anything you have seen before. Exit the paparazzo, these shots by Steven Klein reveal much more than a grainy stolen picture, they showcase an intimate, real aspect to the ultimate icon's life.





In keeping with Dolce & Gabbana's Spring/Summer 2010 collection's emphasis on Mediterranean heritage and classic Italian sensuality, the mood isn't unlike a film from the days of Italian Neorealism. Madonna herself recalls the strong, raw sensuality of the iconic actress Anna Magnani - showcasing when soft sensuality meets bold authenticity.

More images from Steven Klein:





As Dolce & Gabbana's spring/summer 2010 collection returned to its Italian roots, evoking its strong heritage and revisiting iconic pieces such as the corset (the designer's finale was composed solely of corsets) it seemed only fitting that Madonna, who embodies both the strong sensuality of the brand and who shares an Italian heritage with the designers should be the one to showcase the Sicilian inspired collection.




above: the finale of the runway show was comprised of only corsets

In the stills below, from Italian films of the past, you can see the strong resemblance in mood and styling:

above: Italian film beauties Sofia Loren, Gina Lollabrigida and Anna Magnani

above: Monica Vitti is said to be Madonna's favorite actress

In the Vanity Fair Italy feature, Stefano Gabbana discusses the campaign and why Madonna was the perfect match: "She loved the collection," he says, "...she is passionate and impressively knowledgeable about Italian cinema," (Monica Vitti is her favourite actress and we see the resemblance)."

Photographer Steven Klein has worked with Madonna many, many times for editorial shoots, ad campaigns and personal projects. He even has a series of short films that feature her. Be sure to see those and more at his site here.

all Madonna images courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana, Steven Klein and Vanity Fair.