Polly Mellen

Polly Mellen remembered



Polly Mellen

Thoughts and prayers to all the fashion journalists this week. I’m not sure what’s up with the planets but it’s been a whirlwind of arrivals, departures and confirmations.

The happy news is that Chanel has confirmed Matthieu Blazy as its next artistic director (following his successful three years at Bottega Veneta) and Bottega has confirmed Louise Trotter as Blazy’s replacement. Yes, I’m delighted!

The sad news is that John Galliano (AKA Johnny G – cute!) is departing Maison Margiela after ten years. Not sure where he goes next.

But very sad is the news that the incredible stylist and one of my fashion idols Polly Allen Mellen has died at the age of 100. (more…)



Escapism



Richard Avedon Nastassja Kinski and the serpent

A must-watch film if you’ve never seen it, the 1996 Richard Avedon documentary, Darkness and Light is pure escapism.

If you only have five minutes, watch the scene at around 21 minutes where Polly Mellen describes the legendary Nastassja Kinski Vogue shoot (above) involving a serpent’s kiss. Her storytelling is almost as dramatic as the shoot itself. (more…)



Why duvet coats?



Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat

In case you hadn’t noticed, duvet coats, puffer* jackets, padded parkas, call them what you will, were all over the AW16 runways. Why duvet coats? The short answer; because it’s always bloody cold! The long answer; well, how long have you got?

Before the AW16 shows kicked off, supersized sleeping bag coats were already on my radar, having seen the above Norma Kamali example on Instagram (side note: do give Magazine_fan a follow if you’re a vintage fash-mag nut). And then the floodgates opened with outpourings of padded down goodness by everyone from Stuart Vevers at Coach to Alexander McQueen (a peachy satin butterfly-embroidered duvet coat fit for a princess), to the Stella McCartney one most likely to be copied by the high street.

padded jacket by Chen Peng in teen vogue (more…)



A Polly Mellen film?



I could have sworn I read somewhere last week that Douglas Keeve (Unzipped) is making a movie about esteemed fashion legend Polly Mellen. But can I find any reference to it online? No I bloody can’t! Either I have false memory syndrome or I am just too ahead of the curve. Anyone able to shed light on this for me?

Update 31/5/08
Ah! I fially found the article in The FT here (go to page 2) by Bronwyn Cosgrave. Of course, spelling Polly Mellen as ‘Polly Mellon’ didn’t help with matters of a Google nature:

“Meanwhile, Douglas Keeve, the documentarist behind Unzipped, the hit 1995 portrait of designer Isaac Mizrahi, as well as Hotel Gramercy Park, which just debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, is now turning his attention to the “Polly Mellon project.” For two years, Keeve filmed the exuberant former Allure magazine creative director and one-time Diana Vreeland protégé and recorded her phone calls.”