When and how did your line begin?

I launched my accessories line in the Fall of 2010 with a concept design of epaulets.  I created a small collection in different styles and they ended up in the hands of some fashion influentials. I’ve since introduced earrings, bangles and eyewear.

What inspires your work?

I watch a lot of nature documentaries. I’m in love with the beluga whale. I watch the same documentaries over and over.. I’ve seen the Blue Planet series over a hundred times and I now watch Microcosmos fanatically. Have you ever seen ladybugs make love? It’s a fascinating and a gentle experience.

Where do you finding the amazing leathers and animal skins that you use on your accessories?

I buy my leather at the same place that Helmut Lang, Diane Von Furstenberg and Oscar De La Renta buy from. Its expensive and the best in the city. Libra Leather. I work with Sam Jones, The Leather Queen. She has great taste and instincts when it comes to leather. Libra Leather has been pioneering leather trends in New York for decades. They provide the selection designers conceptualize their entire leather collection from. They are best in the biz.

The Feather Spray Earrings seem like a big deviation from some of your previous designs. What was the inspiration behind those?

When I launched my line in October 2009 I used feathers in the fabrication of many of those epaulet designs. The feather was lying on my desk at a certain angle and it came to me.. that should be attached to an ear. I guess it’s all the nature videos I watch.

What celebrities have you worked with?

I grew up in NYC so Mary J Blige, Lauryn Hill and Beyonce were the soundtrack of my life. I attended borderline ruff schools and their music was uplifting and their voices strong, I adored them. Now as an adult, this entire experience as a designer has been transcendental for me. I often can’t believe who I’ve turned out to be. Just three years ago I was the most unhappiest girl in the world. I’ve designed for all them. I’ve also created custom accessories for Lil Wayne’s and Prince’s musical tours.. I used to make out with posters of Prince. I’ve designed for Alicia Keys’ Freedom tour.  Lauryn Hill just bought my entire collection for her European tour.

What’s your favorite part about being a designer?

The actual design process is probably my favorite part of being a designer. I often struggle between concept and application.. I’ll think about a construction for months before I even attempt to piece it together.. My own thoughts intimidate me. There is an element of anxiety I experience and I know that I’ll figure it out eventually. There are some designs I’ve constructed, not many, that I will never share with the world. I hoard special pieces.

What are the biggest challenges as a designer?

Figuring out which tradeshows to do make me pretty dizzy.

Three must haves to have in your wardrobe?

Combat boots, a black fur and a balaclava.

What is your best moment that you’ve experienced in your career?

All of them have been extraordinary. Getting picked up by Nordstrom, a tour order from Alicia Keys, selling at Patricia Field and having my mom and dad say that they’re proud of me.

What advice do you have for aspiring designers?

Organize yourself. Have a decent website, take good pictures, get a press list, don’t get tired, get motivated.  Surround yourself with good people that want good for you.  Love yourself and visualize yourself in the place you want to be.

How would you describe your personal style?

My look changes drastically, often. Recently my style is Le Femme Nikita.. assassin chic.

What is the inspiration behind “in love and good fashion” and “good taste must be shared”?

I tend to curate everything. My friends, my wardrobe and words.. I love language and assembling words together.. In Love and Good Fashion fell into place in the first weeks of creating my first collection.. it represents the head set I was in at the time..

Good Taste Must Be Shared is a personal philosophy.. Good taste crosses over into all aspects of living.. food, clothing, jewelry, travel and all of earths spoils.. Everything that is good about anything should be shared and enjoyed.

What’s currently on your iPod?

I don’t have an Ipod but I have been listening to Amy Winehouse, Wu Tang Clan, Florence and The Machine and Lauryn Hill recently.

Describe Mary Had A little Scam and the other short films you are working on based on your line?

I decided to make a short film when the concepts in my head began to move and could only be expressed through video. I’ve watched enough documentaries and films to understand the shooting style I like.  I titled the film Mary Had  A Little Scam to represent the duality between innocence and  a calculated menace. I wanted to create a sexy film that captures the private moments strong women experience when alone.. the awkwardness, paranoia, struggle, uncertainty and ultimate perseverance.  The character Mary in the short film Mary Had A Little Scam has a public persona of  a fierce rebel leader with the American Accessories Coalition for Good Taste (AACGT). Her mission is to collect rare jewelry from around the world, sharing good taste with the masses.

What are you currently working on for your line right now?

I’m preparing a trip to Paris, meetings, meetings, meetings!

Where do you see Seville Michelle Anastos 5 years from now?

I’m excited for the future.  Nothing I’ve done has been planned, my line has swept me off my feet!

You can follow Seville Michelle’s line and updates on twitter too @SevilleMAnastos

It’s been a tough year for women’s fashion magazines across the board, except for Vogue, which has managed to increase its ad pages by 9% and its newsstand sales by 13%, thus earning it the title of Ad Age‘s Magazine of the Year. Conversely, Glamour‘s ad pages and newsstand sales are down – by 7% and 17%, respectively. As Condé Nast‘s biggest seller, it’s imperative that Glamour turn a strong profit for their publishing parent; and so to ensure that, Leive is planning a redesign and overhaul of the mag.

The new Glamour will launch in March with new columns and contributors and an increased focus on pop culture. Michael Angelo, Nylon‘s former art director has also been brought on to assist with the redesign. “The format of many women’s magazines — Glamour included! — hasn’t changed much for a decade,” Leive told WWD, ”but young women are consuming media in totally different ways now. Our team is creating a new Glamour and glamour.com for this new generation of readers….”

Hopefully someone informed Ms. Leive that this  new generation of readers doesn’t actually read. [WWD]

I’ll be honest this is the best we’ve seen Rihanna since she’s decided to go for the Kool-Aid red look. Hopefully this is a precursor to her Vogue and Esquire covers also coming out soon.

Keep reading for more shots

Photo: Socialite Life

Glamour is Condé Nast‘s top newsstand seller, averaging 550,900 copies per month last year, though this year that number is down to 459,000. Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive, however, is keeping a cool head for these numbers, claiming that it’s “no secret” sales have been falling off:

“It’s the classic thing. A girl has 1.7 seconds at the newsstand to make her decision about your magazine. Are we using that 1.7 seconds as well as we should? If we need to do that more ferociously and with different people and different topics, then we will.”

Glamour‘s array of different people this year have included Reese Witherspoon, Kim Kardashian, Diane Kruger, Kate Winslet, Emma Stone and Olivia Wilde with Blake Lively covering July’s issue. Leive hopes Lively will turn things around, especially in light of recent alleged events:

“My top seller this year is Kim Kardashian. Although I have hopes that Blake Lively’s nude picture scandal will put her over the edge. Just kidding, Blake.”

Totes kids…but honestly, Blake, if you could leak some other “fake” nudes, Glamour would seriously appreciate it. [WWD]

Here are some great quotes from her interview:

On being heavy when she was younger…

“I will tell you that when I was heavy, people would say to me—and it was such a backhanded compliment—they would say, ‘You’ve got such a beautiful face,’ in the way of, like, ‘Oh, isn’t it a shame that from the neck down you’re questionable.’ ”

On whether or not she’s had plastic surgery or wants to change anything about her body…

“No, I have never tried any of that stuff…. I don’t have parts of my body that I hate or would like to trade for somebody else’s or wish I could surgically adjust into some fantasy version of what they are.”

On what she thinks her life will be like in five years…

“I don’t want to know. As long as my kids are OK, I think it is really good for me not to have the answers.”

To see the full list of the 50 Most Glam, click here. The April issue will be available on newsstands nationwide and digitally (on the iPad and the Barnes & Noble NookColor) March 8.

View more of this sassy classy on LOOKBOOKS

Belly Friendly

• Blueberries-linked to less fat
• Asparagus- Natural diuretic that helps get rid of water weight.
• Salmon-Foods high in omega-3 fats promote digestion.
• Watermelon- one of nature’s water-weight nixers
• Citrus fruit- add lemon in your water to aid with digestion

Bloat Causing

• Alcohol-heavier drinks add more belly fat
• Soy sauce-salt increases water weight
• Canned soups-high in sodium
• Popcorn-airy foods pooch out the stomach
• Dried fruit-high in fiber, but loaded with sugar

Source

LINK LOVE:Beauty Bubble: Foods for a Flatter Tummy

Become a FashionIndie.com contributor. Subscribe to Envy.

Actress Jessica Biel, 28, is a very private person. Known to not answer questions about love or relationships, she opens up to Glamour about her dreams and past regrets. Before she dies, Jessica would like to  “scuba dive a sunken ship, I would like to sail around some part of the world and live on a boat. I have a love of Egyptology. I would like to go there and see the pyramids. [As a kid I wanted] to be Indiana Jones and dig for bones and find mummies….” Click through for more photos.

Check out the entire interview on Glamour.com

“If there is anything worth getting up at 6:30am for, it’s the Christian Louboutin sample sale!” – Via Glamour Magazine’s Twitter update this morning…

Leighton Meester wears Blugirl, Zoe Saldana in Dsquared2, and Amanda Seyfried sparkles in Jasper Conran on the cover/s of the April issue of Glamour Magazine, on stands March 9.

Read more: Just Jared

Posh channels her inner Madonna circa Dolce & Gabbana by pretending to cook, clean, carry groceries, and decorate! Spread shot by Ellen von Unwerth.


Find more photos like this on ENVY. THE FASHION NETWORK

Images via Glamour

We’ve got two new images from the Glamour Magazine shoot featuring Victoria Beckham. The first is just her holding the puppy from the cover to her face which is just kind of weird to look at and the second is Victoria doing the unthinkable. Find out what after the jump.

BUYING GROCERIES!!! For shame Victoria, for shame. We all know you don’t eat.

Victoria Beckham looks like she had a puppy photoshopped onto her neck to make her look passable for a caring human being. Any second I feel she’s gonna attempt to skin it or eat Marley. Yeah, she’s a totally hot Cruella de Ville style villainess in my Armani induced fantasies.

Seriously though, why does this photo look so unnatural.

Sidenote: Major congrats to Wildfox Couture for hitting the cover. We’ve been following them for a while and this is truly major.

Kristen Bells’s complicated updo looks straight off the runway.

Via Glamour

Thick chicks get naked. again. in Glamour Magazine. So it’s official folks. Fat is the New Black.

LINK LOVE: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nymag/fashion/~3/kjxhUl4T7UI/glamour_delivers_more_plus-siz.html

Image via Just Jared

What do designer Diane von Furstenberg, actress Susan Sarandon and model Petra Nemcova all have in common? Sure, they are all multi-millionaires in the public’s eye, but these three stars, along with several others, are teaming up in Beverly Hills to host a benefit for the Somaly Mam Foundation. 

The Somaly Mam Foundation is an organization dedicated to rescuing, providing therapy for and socially assimilating victims of the sex slave trade in Southeast Asian brothels. Founded by Cambodian activist Somaly Mam, a survivor of sexual slavery, the non-profit charity strives to achieve its ultimate vision: a world where human trafficking is non-existant.

“I’ve committed my life to fighting this horrible scourge on humanity. Seeing innocent young women and children whose lives have been forever scarred leaves no doubt that they need a champion who is willing to invest all their time and energy towards eradicating the shameful practice of human trafficking.” -Somaly Mam

Tuesday night’s fundraiser, sponsored by big names like Tiffany Co, Glamour Magazine and Ed Hardy, will help raise money and awareness for this often overlooked, yet pressing issue. Thanks to Hollywood’s fashion and film cream de la cream, we may finally have a band of champions necessary to bring us one step closer to a world without slavery! 

For more information, please visit the Somaly Mam Foundation!

VALENCIA, SPAIN - JUNE 23: Fashion model Petra Nemkova watches the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match by Louis Vuitton on June 22, 2007 in Valencia, Spain. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Petra Nemkova