Frédéric David/Chanel

Olivier Saillant/Chanel

Paris editor Lola Cristall will have her report from the Paris haute couture shows shortly in Lucire. Among them, Chanel showed its spring–summer 2015 collection beneath the dome at the Grand Palais, in one of the most memorable.
   By way of preview of Lucire’s upcoming piece, here are glimpses of a very delicate, light and airy collection from Karl Lagerfeld, shown in front of a celebrity audience that included Chanel ambassadors Kristen Stewart, Vanessa Paradis and Alice Dellal (who have all been chosen to be the faces of the Chanel handbags’ campaign to be released in April), Anna Mouglalis, Gaspard Ulliel, Clotilde Hesme, Alma Jodorowsky, Anne Berest, G-Dragon, Dylan Penn and Stacy Martin.
   The greenhouse setting was intentional as a bouquet appeared, with orange, red, pink, blue, yellow and green as Chanel’s colours for spring. Short tops, jackets and blouses, long coats, dropped waists, both full and pencil-cut skirts, wide brimmed hats and tweed jackets with three-quarter-length sleeves contribute to the vintage garden look. Embroidered flowers, tulle and sequins sparkle for the evening.

Olivier Saillant/Chanel

Stefanie Keenan

Christopher Polk

Kevin Mazur

While most eyes tend to be on the Oscars, the Screen Actors’ Guild Awards always present a wonderful glimpse at red-carpet looks as well as an insight as to who the favourites for Hollywood’s upcoming big night might be.
   There was plenty of colour this year on the red carpet with Keira Knightley in a purple Erdem Moralioglu gown, showing off her baby bump, and Camila Alves wore a similar shape with her Donna Karan gown.
   Plunging necklines were also spotted on the red carpet, as Sarah Hyland walked in her Vera Wang design, Emilia Clarke in Donna Karan, and Jennifer Aniston in a vintage John Galliano—showing you don’t need something from the last couple of seasons to make an impact.
   Rosamund Pike wore a ruffled blue Christian Dior, and Julianna Margulies wowed in blue, too, donning a design from Giambattista Valli Couture.
   Red still made a startling statement for Edie Falco in Randi Rahm, Kaley Cuoco in Romona Keveza, and Sofía Vergara in Donna Karan (complete with a sizeable engagement ring).
   Emma Stone wore a black tuxedo gown by Dior, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus belied her 54 years in a stunning Monique Lhuillier design.
   Showing that every colour was present, in green were Julianne Moore in Givenchy, Patricia Arquette in a draped, off-the-shoulder emerald dress, and Claire Danes in an olive Marc Jacobs number.
   Uzo Aduba contrasted with bright yellow, and Reese Witherspoon wore a white Giorgio Armani gown with sequin detailing. Maggie Gyllenhaal chose white, too, in a crêpe gown by Thakoon Panichgul, also with a plunging neckline.
   Finally, Tatiana Maslany, in Oscar de la Renta, and Lupita Nyong’o, in Elie Saab, showed that they weren’t afraid of stripes as they headed down the red carpet.
   Birdman was the winner of the night among the motion picture awards, taking the Outstanding Performance by a Cast award, while Eddie Redmayne won best actor for The Theory of Everything and Julianne Moore won best actress for Still Alice. Supporting wins went to J. K. Simmons for Whiplash and Patricia Arquette for Boyhood.
   In the television section, Downton Abbey won for drama, and Orange Is the New Black for comedy. Drama’s top acting awards went to Kevin Spacey for House of Cards and Viola Davis for How to Get Away with Murder; comedy’s best actor was William H. Macy for the US remake of Shameless and Uzo Aduba, giving an emotional speech, for Orange Is the New Black.
   In the TV movie and miniseries category, Mark Ruffalo was the best actor for his performance in The Normal Heart, while Frances McDormand was best actress for Olive Kitteridge.

Rich Polk, Kevin Mazur, Dimitrios Kambouris, Mark Davis, Kevin Winter, Stefanie Keenan, Christopher Polk, Theo Wargo

John Sciulli, Kevin Mazur, Dimitrios Kambouris, Christopher Polk, Kevin Winter

Michael Buckner, Theo Wargo, Charley Gallay, John Sciulli, Christopher Polk, Kevin Mazur, Kevin Winter, Dimitrios Kambouris, Stefanie Keenan

Tom Schirmacher

Karen Walker Eyewear has announced its summer 2015 collection, and, in the brand’s inimitable style, sees Toast, a King Charles cavalier spaniel, as the model.
   Brands all over the world want celebrities with strong social media followings, and Karen Walker is no exception. The rescued “it” dog has 154,000 Instagram followers and has already donned shades on her account. Now as the spokesdog for Karen Walker Eyewear, she’s expected to be wearing her new brand on the streets of New York.
   In a release, Walker cheekily says, ‘We were after a model for this campaign who could fit with our caramelly colour palette and also someone whose hair would work with our three wind machines hitting her from every angle to create a slightly ’70s vibe. Toast ticked every one of those boxes.’
   The new campaign, hashtagged #toastmeetskaren, has been photographed by Tom Schirmacher, and creative-directed by Mikhail Gherman. Grooming for Toast was by Hannah Raymond, and hair by Gavin Harwin.
   The collection has five new styles, featuring two-tone patchwork with gold trim, dusty colours, and CR39 lenses for UV protection. The eyewear is double-polished and cured for strength.
   The company can claim Beyoncé, Rihanna, Scarlett Johansson, Lena Dunham, Gwen Stefani, Alexa Chung, Lady Gaga, Lorde and Florence Welch among its wearers. The range hits stores in February 2015.

Tom Schirmacher

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Cara Delevingne’s status as one of the celebrities of our era is further confirmed with TAG Heuer selecting her to be one of its new ambassadors. Calling her ‘the most disruptive “it girl” of the moment’, TAG Heuer has tapped into the model’s social media following (9 million on Instagram, 2 million on Twitter, 1·7 million on Facebook) to promote its range to a new audience.
   She was welcomed into the TAG Heuer family at the Salle Melpomène at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, posing with a lion cub, in front of an audience of 150 VIPs and journalists. Tying in with the lion cub, the new TAG Heuer campaign will be hashtagged #Dont­Crack­UnderPressure.
   The lion is a symbol that Delevingne identifies with, and she had one tattooed on her right index finger in mid-2013.
   Delevingne wore a Karl Lagerfeld jacket at the event.
   Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer and President of LVMH Watches Worldwide, presented her with a TAG Heuer Formula One Steel and Black Ceramic Chronograph set with diamonds.
   Biver said, ‘The TAG Heuer family is not just an idea, it is a team, with true team spirit. We needed someone disruptive yet elegant like Cara to open our minds to the brashness and boldness of today’s youth. TAG Heuer has set its sights on “it-ness”, and Cara is just the person to help us get there.’
   The Daily Mail reported concern from Dr Neil D’Cruze of World Animal Protection, who told the newspaper, ‘Lion cubs are not photo props. Their health and well-being should not be compromised.
   ‘They belong in the wild, not draped over a celebrity just to sell a designer watch.’

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Above The home page of the Spark My Potential website.

Following on from its Spark Lab Fashion Month announcement, the New Zealand telco will support one New Zealander who wishes to start in the fashion industry.
   The successful applicant, to be announced on February 27 as Fashion Month concludes, will be supported through the crowd-funding initiative, Spark My Potential. They will receive access to coaching, publicity and top-up funding through the Spark Foundation, says the company.
   New Zealanders are invited to apply by emailing fashionmonth@spark.co.nz before February 20, 2015, detailing the project, goal, funding target and timeline.
   ‘Whether you want to create your own fashion line, you need help entering this year’s Fashion Week, or you want to do something completely outside the square, we’d like to hear from you,’ said Spark GM for Home, Mobile and Business Jason Paris in a release.

Chris Jackson

Harold Cunningham

IWC Schaffhausen, with its CEO Georges Kern playing host, celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Portugieser watch line at the SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) at the at the Palexpo in Genève on Tuesday, followed with its ‘Journey to the Stars’ gala dinner.
   Karolína Kurková and Adriana Lima sported their Portugieser watches and were the centre of attention for the events, both at the IWC Schaffhausen booth and at the gala dinner that evening.
   Eight hundred guests attended the events, including Emily Blunt, Spectre’s Christoph Waltz, Zhou Xun, Moritz Bleibtreu, film director Marc Forster, Ralf Möller, Dev Patel, Thomas Kretschmann, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Luís Figo and Helen Svedin, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, Aloe Blacc, Ronan Keating and Storm Uechtritz, Mick Hucknall, Ilya Stewart, Svetlana Ustinova, Galina Nemov, Alexei Nemov, Galina Nemov, Sergey Mazaev, Anna Drijver, Maya Jupiter, John Helliwell, Barbara Becker, James Marsden, Elvira and Günter Netzer, Jens and Conny Lehmann, Arsene Wenger, Clara Szalanzy and Oliver Bierhoff, Jose Maria Manzanares, DJ Jack-E, Sandra Bauknecht, Fabian Cancellara, Klara Szalantzy, Ronnie and Christina Schildknecht, and Rolf Sachs.
   IWC’s head designer Christian Knoop was also in attendance alongside Kern. Hucknall performed live at the dinner, following Marco Tempest’s animations.

Thomas Niedermueller, Chris Jackson, Harold Cunningham

Chris Jackson, David M. Benett

David Beckham has lent his name to another sub-brand for Hennes & Mauritz for spring, called Modern Essentials Selected by David Beckham.
   This time, the football star will choose his favourite H&M menswear pieces, complementing his original H&M Bodywear line. A new spring 2015 Bodywear line will also début on the same day, March 5, both in physical stores and online.
   The Modern Essentials Selected by David Beckham line features, among others, a linen pilot jacket, a chalk-washed denim jacket, a car coat, a linen blazer, a polo shirt, and a white poplin shirt, says H&M.
   The Bodywear range has new loungewear pieces, including Henley shirts, raglan-sleeved shirts, crewnecks and a sleeveless jersey shirt. Key colours are dark blue, grey and off-white, with orange–red accents; stripes also feature.
   The campaign kicks off with a promotional film directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace, World War Z).
   ‘I am thrilled to continue and extend my collaboration with H&M by selecting my favourites from this spring’s Modern Essentials collection,’ said Beckham in a release. ‘Each piece is a new wardrobe classic that will update every man’s spring wardrobe with great style. Marc Forster is one of my favourite directors—I can’t wait to reveal the new campaign with H&M.’

Spark, having rebranded from Telecom New Zealand, is giving itself a fresh start in 2015 by connecting to the world of fashion. Spark Lab will host 14 free events from the fashion industry in Britomart, Auckland, hosted by the likes of Zambesi, Levi’s, Juliette Hogan, Huffer, Crane Brothers, I Love Ugly, MAC, AUT and Showroom 22.
   Spark Lab’s intent is to share creative ideas with all New Zealanders, providing them with first-hand access to mentors.
   It is open to non-customers and follows on with its Music Month from November 2014. RSVPs are open now, and the full timetable can be seen at www.spark.co.nz/sparklab.