Model Hannelore Knuts, 32, has curated an exhibition, Fashion Testimony, to be shown at the Fashion Museum of Hasselt from March 27 to June 6, 2010.
   Knuts’s exhibition offers a glance at her 10-year career, which includes working the professional catwalk at Chanel, Gucci and other top European labels.
   Designers featured in the exhibition include Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermès, Christian Lacroix, Martin Margiela and Dries van Noten. Contributing photographers include Miles Aldridge, Steven Klein, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Michael Thompson and Ellen von Unwerth.
   The aim of the exhibition is to lift the veil on the fashion world. It features some of her favourite images from her first fashion show to today. Some artists have provided works that Knuts felt connected with her.
   Those artists include Marc Claes, Patricia Ghijsens Ezcurdia, Ugo Rondinone, Filip Vandingenen and Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven.
   The Museum states that the exhibition is not a retrospective or a homage to Knuts, but a look in to her world.
   Knuts had been studying photography and, at age 21, turned to professional modelling.
   The Museum is located at Gasthuisstraat 11, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium (near de Groene Boulevard, next to the Holiday Inn and Molenpoortplein).

Peter Ashworth/www.ashworth-photos.com

Above Milliner Stephen Jones in 2008 (image from the Victoria & Albert Museum).

The Queensland Art Gallery will present an exclusive-to-Australia exhibition, Hats: an Anthology by Stephen Jones, a collaboration between the Victoria & Albert Museum and milliner Stephen Jones, from March 27 to June 27, 2010.
   The exhibition features over 250 hats and headpieces. The Gallery notes there will be ‘a twelfth-century Egyptian fez, a wide-brimmed black silk tulle hat from Christian Dior’s first collection in 1948, Mary Quant’s c. 1968 navy blue béret, and Stephen Jones’s Wash and Go hat from spring 1993.
   ‘It also features hats worn by historical and cultural icons:­ Elsa Schiaparelli’s black felt beret worn by Marlene Dietrich in Witness for the Prosecution in 1957, Philip Treacy’s bridal headpiece created for Camilla Parker-Bowles’s marriage to the Prince of Wales in 2005, and Jones’s own creations such as Mick Jagger’s hat worn for the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang World Tour and Kylie Minogue’s visor headdress on her Showgirl tour.’

Designer Lee McQueen, better known by his label’s name of Alexander McQueen, has been found dead at his home, a victim of suicide.
   McQueen, 40, had found it difficult to come to terms with his mother’s passing on February 2. Her funeral was scheduled to take place tomorrow.
   His Twitter postings reflected his sombre mood after his February 3 announcement of his mother’s death.
   He was found hanged at his flat in Mayfair around 10.20 a.m. GMT today (February 11).
   The Metropolitan Police has said in a statement that McQueen’s death is not being treated as suspicious.
   His body was taken away from the flat before 5 p.m. GMT.
   His company’s website posted the message, ‘On behalf of Lee McQueen’s family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home.
   ‘At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee’s family.
   ‘Lee’s family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this.’
   One of McQueen’s earliest supporters, the magazine editor Isabella Blow, had taken her own life three years ago.
   The designer had come to most people’s attention after he succeeded John Galliano at Givenchy in 1996. He was later hired by the Gucci Group, joining the group in 2000. Gucci had bought a controlling stake in McQueen’s own label.
   McQueen had planned for a spectacular collection at Paris Fashion Week later this season.

Looks like it’s finally farewell to New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park, something that we’ve heard mooted for years. The spring 2011 shows will be at Lincoln Center.
   The Daily Front Row is doing a commemorative issue (above) to say au revoir to the venue, which has been the home to every New York Fashion Week this title has covered—would you believe it’s been 11 years for us?
   In September, the shows move to Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center.
   Lucire is having a low-key fall 2010 presence, but will gear up for a larger one for the spring shows.

Who can resist the possibility of time-travel into the intrigue and splendour of this legendary yearly celebration? Visions of masked, caped gentlemen and ladies drifting down mysterious, shadowy, lamp-lit and cobbled passageways of La Serenissima, in search of elegant salons and romantic assignations. Opulent late Renaissance costumes of incredible finery. Minuets and baroque melodies, counterposed with the traditional delicacies unique to the setting. For the truly impulsive, here’s a superior last-minute package deal which might just deliver such a magical and memorable feast for the senses. It’s a chance to get out of your iPhone and email, and head back to another era, into a world of decadence and splendour, set among the canals and palazzos.
   Next weekend experience the near-mythological, through a special promotion at the Luna Hotel Baglioni Venice. On Friday, February 12 you can be part of the ‘Ball of the Baglioni Counts’ and on Saturday the 13th attend the Great Carnival Ball, during a minimum two-night stay, which includes masked ball, buffet breakfast and an entry for two to the Casinò di Venezia overlooking the Canal Grande. The Marco Polo Salon, with its massive School of Tiepolo murals, has got to be the ideal setting for dinner and desserts, followed by a live performance of Puccini’s La bohème, sung by a troupe from La Fenice. Dance away the rest of the night to the sounds of a cool DJ. There’s even the possibility of modelling some vintage costumes, with cloak and mask. Or steal away to the casino and try your luck at cards or love.
   The Luna is perhaps my favourite hotel in Europe, ideally located just around the corner from Piazza San Marco. It boasts a classical and intimate atmosphere, superb canal view rooms and faultless service. It has the best concierge in the world, Antonio Massari. This special promotion has prices starting from €280 per night, an incredible offering, and one which could deliver some of those fantastical memories we cherish for a lifetime, the kind of thing we tell our grandchildren about. For more information, see www.baglionihotels.com.—Stanley Moss

Giorgio Armani has released its winter 2010 eyewear collection, all with a slight ’50s–’60s retro style, paying tribute to designs in its archives. The first collection comprises thirteen men’s and one women’s models. (Below are the men’s styles first, with the women’s style at bottom.)

Filmmaker Peter Jackson will receive a knighthood in HM the Queen’s New Year Honours’ List in New Zealand, according to sources.
   While administered by the Herald-at-Arms in New Zealand, the honours have the sanction of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
   Jackson may style himself Sir Peter Jackson if he chooses.
   Jackson is best known for his adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, for which he has been honoured with numerous Academy Awards, including Best Director in 2004.
   Instead of filming the big-budget blockbusters in Hollywood, Jackson insisted on making them on location in New Zealand, using local talent, in spite of earlier tensions with the New Zealand Film Commission. Weta Workshop, a New Zealand company based in Wellington, worked on the digital visual effects.
   While there were many notable filmmakers from New Zealand prior, Jackson and Weta virtually created the modern New Zealand film industry by bringing it to international recognition.
   Additionally, former prime minister Helen Clark was awarded the Order of New Zealand, the highest accolade in the country’s honours’ system.

Above Grace Kelly in a publicity shot for Rear Window.

The Victoria & Albert Museum will showcase Grace Kelly’s wardrobe with over 50 of her outfits on show, including hats and the original Hermès Kelly bag. Grace Kelly: Style Icon runs from April 17 to September 26 in room 40 of the Museum.
   Her dresses from films such as High Society and Rear Window are included, as well as the gown she wore to accept her Oscar in 1955. The dress she wore on the announcement of her engagement to HSH Prince Rainier will be on display, along with her lace wedding dress, which she wore in her marriage ceremony in 1956.
   As Princess Grace of Monaco, she had a selection of couture gowns from Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Yves St Laurent. Mainly from the 1960s and 1970s, 35 outfits will be shown.
   The exhibition will also include film footage, posters, family photographs and magazines.
   Kelly died in 1982 after a car accident, and would have turned 80 last month.
   An admission charge will apply.