Valentino: The Last Emperor
I get to see the Valentino doc at TIFF. This is gonna be so amazing.
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Language: English, Italian, French
Runtime: 96 minutes
Format: Colour/35mm
Rating: GProduction Company: Acolyte Films
Executive Producer: Carter Burden
Producer: Matt Kapp
Cinematographer: Tom Hurwitz
Editor: Bob Eisenhardt
Sound: Peter Miller
Principal Cast: Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti
International Sales Agent: UTA/Submarine EntertainmentHe stands vindicated as one of the great arbiters of twentieth-century design. His forty-five-year career spans the dizzying innovations and financial explosion of post-war global fashion, from his start in the French ateliers where he studied, through the meteoric rise of his line in the sixties, when Italian fashion houses came to dominate the international marketplace, and on to today, as he departs, elegant as ever. A master technician, Valentino never forgot to keep women and men beautiful in his clothes. He works free from the waves and trends of the fashion world, adhering to a more Orphic, timeless relationship between fabric, body and form. He also, not incidentally, created an entirely new interpretation of the colour red.
This documentary, spanning the period between Valentino’s seventieth birthday and his final couture show, is of course concerned with showing his contributions to his field. But the film actually aims not for the head, but the heart. At the centre is a love story: the fifty-year relationship between Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, his business partner, lover, best friend and confidante. Older gay European couples are not exactly known for their tell-all personalities, so this careful lifting of the veil gives us a sense of the unusual strength and courage these remarkable men needed to navigate the brutal world of egos and high finance – and to do so together. Their moments onscreen are touching, joyous and heartbreaking. Their five dogs (all pugs! chic!) are a constant delight.
This emotionally rich backbone contextualizes Valentino’s relationship with fame. There is no shortage of high-wattage celebrities floating through the film. It has ever been thus with him; Jackie O. herself married Onassis in a Valentino gown. But the filmmakers are careful to note that the glitterati deal with Valentino as an artist and as part of a relationship. It renders their crazy world – his house in the United Kingdom and its staff are not to be believed – that much more human and intimate.
It is perhaps such a balance that makes Valentino’s couture so treasured. His pieces are objects of glamour, to be sure, yet possess an attention to detail and delicacy that speaks to a gentle, loving soul behind the scenes.
Thom Powers
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Loading ...del.icio.us fashion links for September 4, 2008
del.icio.us fashion links for September 4, 2008:
- Sparks sure to fly in New York runway debut
Tonight, Toronto menswear designer Philip Sparks is making his New York runway debut.To him, who is sensitive and serious, it represents "a new set of eyes judging my work." Last week, as he prepared to take Manhattan, he admitted to feeling "very nervous." - Tags: none
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...69 Vintage Cowgirl Clothing Swap
69 Vintage Cowgirl Clothing Swap
Thursday, September 11, 2008
6:00pm - 9:00pm
69 Buy-the-Pound
1234 Bloor St W
Toronto, ON
Ladies and Gents, it’s time to clean out your closet!!! Bring us your faded frocks, well-loved socks and ABSOLUTELY NO CROCS!!! That’s right, we’re throwing an old-fashioned cowgirl clothing swap and we want YOU to make off like a bandit with other people’s clothes!!! Bring a maximum of 5 pieces of good quality, previously loved clothing and then grab what you can before it’s all gone!
Starts at 6pm on Sept 11th (yes it’s on THAT day!) at
69 Vintage Buy the Pound
1234 Bloor St W, just west of Dufferin
And it’s BYOB (That’s Bring Your Own BAG…)
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Twenty-four piece thin carved bangle set in copper. MJ was nice enough to give this to me. They are so noisy but it’s a pleasant sound.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...del.icio.us fashion links for September 4, 2008
del.icio.us fashion links for September 4, 2008:
- Allegra Hicks pulls out of LFW
London Fashion Week designer Allegra Hicks has pulled out of this month's event after its sponsors withdrew support for its catwalk sho - Tags: none - Yves Saint Laurent: And God created Yves - Telegraph
If it wasn't for the late, great Yves Saint Laurent there would be no safari suit, no trenchcoat, no trousers for women. A new book showcasing his remarkable legacy reminds Vicki Woods of the debt all of us, rich and poor, owe him - Tags: none - In tough economy, designers slaves to Fashion Week - AOL Lifestyle Canada
Fashion - as any manufacturer or retailer will tell you - is an industry that's among the first to be affected by the economy's roller-coaster ride. Yet in this downturn, there are a record number of shows planned for New York Fashion Week, which starts Friday.Up-and-coming designers consider a splashy runway show an investment in the future, with a price tag easily topping $100,000. To get to the catwalk, many are using volunteer models, staging shows outside the Bryant Park tents or soliciting unconventional sponsors, like faucet makers. - Tags: none
- Macy's to debut exclusive deal with Tommy Hilfiger - Yahoo! News
CINCINNATI - Macy's stores across the country are renovating their Tommy Hilfiger shops and expanding how much of the designer's sportswear they carry. But fans of the brand soon won't be seeing those items at other department stores.
ADVERTISEMENTStarting next week, Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A. will have an exclusive alliance with Macy's that leaves it as the only U.S. department store operator offering the company's men's and women's sportswear - Tags: none
- Armani designs villas at $1.8 billion Egyptian resort - Yahoo! News
MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Giorgio Armani will design his first villas for a $1.85 billion gated community development in Egypt that is just two hours' drive from Cairo, the Italian fashion designer said on Wednesday. - Tags: none - Sears seeks to be synonymous with chic - Yahoo! News
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - The adjectives hip, chic and fashionable are not usually used when speaking of Sears, an American retailer better known for selling practical items like power tools and appliances, sturdy jeans and boxy shirts.
ADVERTISEMENTBut the discount retailer is looking to New York's upcoming September fashion week to cultivate a hipper image. - Tags: none
- Jerry Ford, 83, Man Behind the Models, Dies - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com
Jerry Ford, who with his wife, Eileen, established one of the most recognizable modeling agencies in the world, turning a profession regarded as practically a hobby in the 1940s into one dominated by well-paid supermodels in the 1980s, died on Sunday in Morristown, N.J.. He was 83 and lived in Oldwick, N.J. - Tags: none - It's Over… Rank and Philo… Shock Therapy… - WWD.com
RANK AND PHILO: While most of the French fashion industry is on its annual August vacation, the Paris rumor mill is still churning about one subject: Celine. Speculation is rife the fashion house, part of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is zeroing in on a deal to bring in former Chloé designer Phoebe Philo, with an announcement possible as early as September. According to sources, Philo could be in place to present her first Celine collection in March 2009. - Tags: none
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del.icio.us fashion links for September 3, 2008:
- Shoppers’ beauty stores raise eyebrows
TORONTO — Beauty has a new name at Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. - "Murale."The largest drug store chain in Canada has unveiled the name of its newest store concept, whose first stores will open in Ottawa and Montreal in November. - Tags: none
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Vackay during TIFF
Should be interesting.
I’ll hit up some parties and see some movies I think. 
Then Montreal for 2.5 days!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...why are boyfriend jeans and dhoti pants only good when Yohji is making it.
via the Fashion Spot - Y’s Yohji Yamamoto F/W 08.09 lookbook
images: same source
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Top 20 search terms
These search terms brought people to I want - I got according to Google.
Here is the same data but from a Canadian perspective.
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