While some people have pointed out that you don’t see so much of Agyness on the catwalk these days, (she didn’t even grace the runway for old pal Henry Holland’s show on Saturday) maybe this explains pourquoi… she’s been making a film!

Yep, Agyness’ face might be her fortune but it turns out she has more talents than a basic ‘Blue Steel’. Grazia Daily would like to point out, only a teeny bit smugly, that we have been predicting that she would go into acting next and it seems we were correct. Furthermore – we are delighted to say this morning, – she’s rather good at it too.

PARIS—The sudden death of Alexander McQueen leaves Gucci Group, the parent company of the British designer’s eponymous fashion house, to decide whether it can chart a future for a brand that was inextricably linked to its creator. Mr. McQueen was due to present his fashion collection on Paris’ runway in less than a month.
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While the Alexander McQueen fashion house was lauded for its daring designs, its financial performance was less successful. Gucci Group, part of French retail-to-luxury group PPR SA, spent years pushing it to make money, and the company only turned a profit in 2007, seven years after Gucci bought a majority stake in it.

Alexander McQueen store in Los Angeles WireImage/Getty Images

British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead after taking his own life.

The 40-year-old committed suicide just three years after his close friend, Isabella Blow – who plucked him from obscurity and helped him become a star – killed herself.

A source at McQueen’s office this afternoon confirmed his death, saying: ‘It is a tragic loss. We are not making a comment at this time out of respect for the McQueen family.’

His death comes just days before the start of London Fashion Week and weeks before he was due to unveil his new collection at Paris Fashion Week on March 9.

PARIS—In between fashion shows Monday, Anna Wintour, the influential editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, told French officials that the country doesn’t do enough to support its fashion sector, industry minister Christian Estrosi said.

Ms. Wintour encouraged the French government to provide more backing for young designers, according to Mr. Estrosi.

“She’s right” that France falls short in backing its fashion industry, Mr. Estrosi said during a press conference at which Ms. Wintour rescinded her presence. “Everyone knows the role Anna plays in making New York a great fashion capital. My objective was to benefit from her experience.”

Anna Wintour_ Image Property of Jak and Jill

(NEW YORK) What do Marc Jacobs and Nathalie Rykiel have in common, besides the whole designer thing? Today, both were awarded with the medal of Arts and Letters by the French government. Translation? They are now officially knights in France’s Order of Arts and Letters.

Culture minister Francois Mitterand bestowed upon Jacobs and Rykiel this afternoon at the French culture ministry in Paris. According to the AP, he reffered to Jacobs as “an iconic designer, a gifted person, but also a hard worker.” Jacobs wrote–and delivered–his speech in French.

Marc Jacobs , Nathalie Rykiel, Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, Frederic Mitterrand and Sonia RykielMarc Jacobs , Nathalie Rykiel, Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, Frederic Mitterrand and Sonia Rykiel

MILAN — The opening day of the Milan menswear shows underscored an overall message: Love that heritage!

Designers went back to their roots for the autumn/winter 2010 season — and instead of seeming like they were churning out old ideas, there was an authenticity to the clothes that created slivers of emotion.

The one exception to the roots rule was Bottega Veneta, where the designer Tomas Maier gave a rebel yell to his restrained elegance, with a playful take on rockabilly style — quiffed hair, string tie and all.

“Sicilian, sartorial, sensual,” chorused Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana about their new menswear collection. The designers were talking about focusing on their kind of basics: masculine bodies rippling with machismo as they took louche strides down the runway. Behind them, projected on a screen, smoldered the Sicily of an earlier era in “Baarìa,” the Giuseppe Tornatore film that is up for best foreign movie at the 2010 Golden Globes.

Dolce & Gabbana Menswear Fall/Winter 2010

When Jil Sander was first tapped to design a line for high-street giant Uniqlo, no-one could’ve predicted the madness that was about to ensue. +J for Uniqlo, with its sleek tailoring and minimalistic elegance, had a huge build-up (not least by Grazia Daily, ehem) but this was far surpassed on the launch day. On October 1st from 8am, a mahoosive queue was meandering its way down Oxford Street. The day’s sales targets were made five times over by the close of play, and the Uniqlo website nearly crashed as sales increased by an incredible 1,750%. A second drop of the collection even had to be done just a week after the first to meet demand. Wowsers!

It’s Joseph Altuzarra’s first time in Florida. The Paris-born, New York-based designer moved to the States when he was eighteen to study art and art history at Swarthmore. These are all key facts in our story: Altuzarra’s virgin voyage to Art Basel and Design Miami, a trip that will end tomorrow when he hosts a cocktail at the Webster to pre-shop his spring 2010 collection. Until then, though, there’s time for a little exploration of this new landscape, palm trees included. “It feels like you’re very far away,” Altuzarra says of South Beach.

We’re having breakfast at the Delano (scrambled eggs and bacon) before heading to the design district to see the show. “Miami tends to be very stylized in the movies or on television, very sunny and colorful. It’s more human scale than I thought it would be.” ……Continue Reading

IT is a wonder that Tom Ford, the former creative director of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent who turned louche sexuality into high fashion in the 1990s, didn’t try his hand at directing a movie sooner.

On a recent Wednesday, Mr. Ford walked across a courtyard at the Beverly Hills Hotel to meet a guest for lunch. His stride was deliberate, arms slightly bent to frame his rigid torso. As he approached the table, he removed his tea-colored sunglasses. He smelled like vanilla bean. Slipping into his seat, Mr. Ford tipped his chin to his left shoulder — a conscious gesture to highlight his best side, he later volunteered. He purred hello….Continue Reading

At the Artcurial auction house’s sale of vintage Hermès this week, an assistant balanced a chocolate-brown crocodile Birkin bag on his white-gloved fingertips as he paraded it around the room.

Bidding opened at €15,000 (about $22,500), and two clients calling in by phone furiously one-upped each other. Within less than a minute the price of the few-years-old bag had jumped to €25,000, shooting €5,000 past the high estimate and far more than the bag’s retail price.

The appetite for Hermès, vintage or new, has strongly resisted the slump in luxury….Continue Reading

Vintage Tri-Color Hermes Kelly 32 in Croc