Courtesy Hennes & Mauritz

As Tweeted by us earlier in the week, fashion icon Iris Apfel has turned 100—and guess who is the next H&M collaborator?
   On Thursday, during New York Fashion Week, the Swedish retail giant will celebrate Apfel’s 100th birthday and launch the Iris Apfel × H&M collection, which will hit stores on- and offline in early 2022.
   The new collection features eclectic dresses, coordinating sets, floral suits, tiered ruffle dresses, printed dresses, jewellery and accessories, celebrating Apfel’s own æsthetic of bright colours and layers, and feeling good. All materials are recycled or sustainably sourced, and every item has been made with circularity in mind, says H&M.
   ‘With this collaboration, we are celebrating a unique and extraordinary woman and her creative and audacious style. She shows that style is ageless and keeps encouraging people to show who they are with fashion—and to have fun at the same time,’ said Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s creative adviser. ‘Iris epitomizes personal style—a style that is both beautifully flamboyant and eclectic as well as being totally ageless. She shows what fashion is all about—a means to express yourself, who you are or want to be and having fun at the same time—a true inspirer!’
   ‘The collection is playful, opulent and rich with vibrant colours, vivid prints and opulent fabric choices. The look is indulgent with a more-is-more attitude and crowned by over-the-top jewellery, which is very much a signum for Iris.’
   Apfel says, ‘Style is not about spending a lot of money. It’s not about what or who you wear, but how you feel when wearing something. Style is about self-expression and, above all, attitude.’
   She adds, ‘I think that H&M is a fabulous outfit worldwide and absolute pioneers in their field—which I love! I love doing high style at affordable prices, which H&M has mastered!’

Influencer and blogger Chiara Ferragni is the new ambassador for Hublot, joining Pelé, Novak Djoković, Dina Asher-Smith, Usain Bolt, and three Michelin-star chef Clare Smyth.
   Ferragni came to prominence 12 years ago with her blog, The Blonde Salad, and became one of the most influential fashion bloggers in the world. She created a fashion label off the back of her first venture in 2013, with international pop-up stores three years later, and flagship stores in major cities in 2017. She can boast nearly 25 million Instagram followers.
   In July 2020, Ferragni wore the limited-edition Hublot Big Bang Millennial Pink watch on Instagram, ultimately getting over a quarter of a million likes. That formed the genesis of the two parties’ cooperation, with the watchmaker saying that they ‘simply understood that there were many similarities between their worlds.’
   In a release, Ferragni said, ‘Everything I do, I do to share. The things I love, the people I love, the things I experience, my daily life, my children, my work: I put my heart into everything to inspire others, to believe in themselves and their dreams. I found my ikigai in 2009. I managed to combine my passion with my talent in response to a need and now it has become my business. By opening the door to who I am and what I experience, I am also hoping to inspire the women of today not to choose between being a wife, a mother or an entrepreneur. All these roles complete me, just as they complete each other. Beauty drives everything I do. Not only inner beauty, but everything I see around me. That is reflected in my collaborations, my words, my charity work and my daily life.
   ‘Why Hublot? Because Hublot is not like any other watch brand, it follows its own distinctive path, with determination: it follows its dreams of innovation, while respecting traditions; it seeks beauty both inside and out, by showcasing much more than athletic performance or the success of a family member, it celebrates the reasons for this performance and success, in other words, the ability to be first, different and unique. Hublot’s messages and values speak to me, that’s why I have chosen to join this family today. A fusion of passion and determination has shaped who I am, across all my roles, and forged the businesswoman I have become. This same fusion has also made Hublot the company it is today.’
   Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe added, ‘Who does not know Chiara Ferragni? Her extraordinary destiny is not down to luck, this visionary and determined woman is someone who learnt how to grow and evolve with her time. By portraying and sharing who she is and what she loves, she has realized her dream, inspiring the men and women of her generation to believe that anything is possible. As someone who is both authentic and spontaneous, she has turned her happy, positive and generous nature into her trademark. As a visionary and pioneer, she has been able to move with the times by dominating the digital platforms and turning her passion into a real business. Her passion became her job, and her natural talent transformed into a success that is seemingly within everyone’s reach. Her inspiring journey proves that anything is possible; it’s the stuff of dreams, while being very real. Who wouldn’t want to live and realize their dreams like Chiara Ferragni? At Hublot, we love inspiring women and men who believe in their dreams and move heaven and earth to fulfil them, who assert their distinctive personality, are willing to go out on a limb, who are not afraid of what people will say and who follow their path with authenticity and passion. That’s why Chiara fits so well into our family.’
   Ferragni will front Hublot’s upcoming global campaign.
   Earlier this year, Ferragni became GHD’s first global brand ambassador.

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Actress and activist Pamela Anderson is lending her voice to Antarctica2020, a group calling for the protection of the Southern Ocean and its wilderness.
   She joins other luminaries such as Philippe Cousteau, Sylvia Earle, Slava Fetisov, José Maria Figueres, Geneviève Pons, Ashlan Gorse Cousteau, and others, who are already members of the group.
   ‘The world is warming, and the polar regions are warming the fastest. The Southern Ocean—which has buffered humanity from the full extent of climate change—is reaching a tipping point. Thousands of the world’s leading scientists overwhelmingly conclude that if we don’t take immediate action to tackle the nature and climate crises, ice melt will accelerate, and sea water will rise and warm to terrifying levels. This will have disastrous and irreversible impacts on ocean life and threaten human existence,’ said the group in a release.
   Anderson added, ‘I have been an activist for more than two decades and see more and more how important it is to radically rethink our relation towards nature and animals. The state of our planet affects all our lives. Many people don’t realize that even Antarctica, one of the remotest parts of the world, plays a major role in how our planet functions. We need to do everything we can to safeguard it, which is why I have joined this campaign.
   ‘The climate crisis is melting Antarctica’s ice much faster than predicted. This is already having disastrous impacts on its amazing wildlife such as penguins, seals and whales, all of which are struggling to keep alive amid all these rapid changes to their home. It is absolutely terrifying, as we are speeding towards a number of tipping points, that are the point of no return for the region and the planet.
   ‘We really need world leaders to step up their game and show real political leadership. They can make history this year by protecting these areas in Antarctica and securing the greatest act of ocean protection ever. We must fight for action for ourselves and future generations because there’s too much to lose if we don’t.’
   The ocean current around Antarctica regulates the entire planet’s climate system, keeping it cool and liveable.
   Antarctica2020 works with Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), the Pew Charitable Trusts, Ocean Unite, Sea Legacy and Only One, among others, to protect the Southern Ocean. They have proposals to protect areas in the East Antarctic, Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula, covering 4,000,000 km², or 1 per cent of the ocean.

There’s been a tremendous amount of interest in Diana, Princess of Wales of late—especially around the time of what would have been her 40th wedding anniversary to HRH Prince Charles. The Crown has added to interest in the People’s Princess, and the latest encroachment on her memory is Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, a biopic with Kristen Stewart in the role of Diana. Larraín had made Jackie (with Natalie Portman) and Neruda, both released in 2016.
   In Spencer’s poster, Stewart, a Chanel ambassador, wears a beige organza evening gown embellished with gold and silver round, oval or leaf-shaped sequins forming floral branches from the Chanel spring–summer 1988 haute couture collection. It was re-created entirely by hand for the movie by Chanel, requiring 1,034 hours of work (700 hours for embroideries) by five full-time seamstresses.
   Chanel notes: ‘This strapless, boned dress has a straight neckline trimmed with a delicate pleated tulle ruffle and a frieze composed of ovum and florets, an appliquéd satin belt with a bow at the front, a skirt fitted down to the hips then gathered and longer at the back, as well as multiple tulle flounces mounted on an organza petticoat. Embroidery by Lesage and Pleating by Lognon.’
   Spencer premières in competition at the Biennale di Venezia, the Venice Film Festival, on September 3.

Totally Plastic mightn’t be the ideal name for a beauty line in the 2020s, but what Iggy Azalea and BH Cosmetics are getting at are the retro-2000s glossy shades in shadow palettes, lip glosses, and more in their new collaboration.
   The capsule collection between the Australian pop star and BH Cosmetics—which creates cruelty-free, vegan and sustainable cosmetics—launches on August 29 at bhcosmetics.com and at Ulta, both online and in store.
   There are 13 pieces in the collection priced from US$7 to US$29:

• Totally 2000s: nine colour shadow palettes in three sets, Blue Fur, Purple Platforms and Pink Sunglasses;
• Oral Fixation: high-shine lip gloss named I’m Psychic, That Was Sexual, Sex Sells and Is It 2004 Yet?;
• Totally Snatched, a six-colour face palette;
• Too Good 4 U full-length false lashes;
• the Total Package: eight-piece face and eye brush set with wrap;
• Stay Pressed: a beauty sponge with case;
• Where U Been Biatch travel case;
• 99% Devil hand mirror.

   ‘I really wanted to work with BH Cosmetics because from the beginning, they were totally open to me having 100 per cent creative control, and if I don’t have creative control with a brand I’m just not going to put my name on it,’ said Azalea. ‘I’m very passionate about having a concept and bringing it to life and I’m so specific about the way that I want things to be. I love that BH Cosmetics has an accessible price point for everyone but still has very good-quality product[s]. That stuck out to me because I rarely see actual high-quality eyeshadow for the price point that they have. I love that because when I’m thinking about things that I’m making for people, I want them to be accessible to everyone.’
   ‘We have always viewed Iggy Azalea as an influential icon across the fashion and beauty spaces. We are huge fans of her trendsetting looks on the red carpet, music videos and across all of her creative frontiers. Iggy was involved in all areas of this exciting collaboration, and is in every bit and piece of this collection. We are so humbled to be the first brand to collaborate with her on a beauty line and are eager to launch this amazing collection full of unique formulations and throwback-inspired designs, all while celebrating Iggy and her influential style,’ said Fabrice Gilbert-Darras, CMO and general manager of BH Cosmetics.

It does seem the sun is setting, after 25 years, on Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei on RTL.
   Last Thursday, the network released three episodes from 8.15 p.m., and to heck with the low ratings of the last episode which would be far too late for younger viewers. They’re doing the same this week, and finishing up the season next week with the two last ones made.
   It’s no secret that the viewer numbers have been falling year after year, especially after the departure of Tom Beck, and the long-running actioner costs a lot to make—too much for a show that now nets around the 2 million mark each week, with increased competition from other networks and forms of entertainment.
   Last year, the show was revamped again, but unlike previous efforts, this was a very bumpy and massive reset. Shows don’t always do well after this, especially a revamp that was bigger than Martial Law abandoning most of its original cast in season 2 as well as not resolving the season 1 cliffhanger. Or each of the incarnations of Blackadder.
   Cobra 11 survived most earlier revamps, such as the seasons with Vinzenz Kiefer, because it maintained some continuity. We didn’t mind the anachronisms and the inconsistencies as long as the heart of the show was there. Over the first two decades, there was a humanity to the show, regardless of how much haters think it was a shallow actioner, and by that I refer to the home life of the main character, Semir Gerkhan, portrayed by Erdoğan Atalay.
   Viewers invested a lot into Semir and Andrea, and even with the 2014–15 seasons, we could count on that behind the emotional core of the series. It didn’t matter that the bright, cheerful years of Beck had become a sombre-keyed drama, with the happy couple’s marriage on the rocks, Semir sporting a full beard and not his goatee, and a major story arc.
   It was a return to the action–comedy tradition in 2016 with Daniel Roesner taking over from Kiefer, who I was surprised to see later in Bulletproof.

Semir and Andrea: the emotional heart of Alarm für Cobra 11.

   With Roesner’s departure, producers sought to get rid of everyone else on the show, wrapping up their storylines, so that 2020 would begin with only Atalay and Gizem Emre, who joined the cast in 2014, reprising their roles. We can deal with Semir pairing up with a female partner for the first time in 24 years (Vicky Reisinger, played by Pia Stutzenstein), having a new boss (a disabled character played by an able-bodied actor, Patrick Kalupa; and since we never had an episode about how the character became disabled, it seems a slap in the face to not cast a disabled actor), and an irritatingly dark set. But Andrea and the kids have been written out, not mentioned again; enter Semir’s estranged mother, who only became estranged a couple of seasons ago, since the character said previously that he called her every Christmas. To all intents and purposes, this was a new show with little connection to the old. And I think they may have gone one step too far in their efforts to present something new to viewers.
   There is a slight return to the structures of the older scripts in this second block of season 25, with an emphasis on the stories over the action (as there had been at the start). There are moments where you even recognize the show. But if the first half of the season had put you off, you never would have found out, especially since RTL hasn’t even bothered to show the action scenes in many of the press photos.
   The scheduling is exactly what you’d expect a network to do in order to kill a show, to say that the average viewer numbers had dropped again, too far to be viable. It’s the sort of show that might have a TV movie or two later on, but for now, I’m not that surprised there are statements that this 25th season (28th, if you believe the network) is the last ‘sein wird’ (for now). Another retooling for the 26th so it could return? Or time to wrap it all up?
   I don’t think it bodes well for us fans, unless they can tap into the Zeitgeist again for something that modern viewers are going to love.—Jack Yan, Founder and Publisher