On stereotypes:  I love stereotypes, sweeping generalizations and everything that is un-PC. Stereotypes are fun to goof around with and, in a way, you sort of diffuse them if you throw them around.

On gay food versus straight food:  People have the silly notion that there are four food groups. There is really only gay food and straight food. I’m advocating a balance of the two. An oversized beef burrito is basically a phallic symbol, it’s obviously so straight. The gayest food has got to be macaroons, in all pastels and shades. If you lived on them you would explode into a nuclear cloud of gayness. Sushi is also a gay food. You’re taking a big sloppy fish and making it into little bon bons. That seems really gay to me.

On bringing the word “naff” to America:  The word naff is a very useful term, you use it to describe something that is just really tragic and dreary and doesn’t have any style, a lack of panache. There is no American word for that.

On female inspiration:  Suzanne Bartsch was a woman I found to be really inspirational and funny.

On his message to the masses:  I want everyone to be less self-critical and feel less self-conscious, that’s my mission in life.

On his favorite designers:  Alexander Wang – he’s incredible, has such energy, he’s really groovy. Azzedine Alaia – it’s fun to go into his boutique and turn the dresses inside out, the construction and level of design is amazing. Paul Poiret – who did all the exotic stuff at the early turn of the 20th century. Also Christian Lacroix, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto.

On International Gays: The gays in London tend to be very mod, they wear their Fred Perry’s.  In Japan its crazy, the level of flamboyance, style, and experimentation is incredible. In Paris people are so dressed up its great. There are lots of cocktail hats, lots of transgendered things but not in a drag way, more like a tweed cape and Birkin bag, but in a man way.

On Straight Man Fashion:  If you’re in America and you put a lot of attention on how you look and dress, in US context you’re going to be perceived as gay. If you do that elsewhere it may not. I have a chapter on men’s style and what I’m advocating is that gay men and straight men should dress the same but they have to pick from three looks: the perverse prep (Thom Browne, Band of Outsiders, comes from workwear) or the heritage henry (Carhartt, Levis, heritage brands) or the douchebag look (Jersey Shore, Ed Hardy, Abercrombie) it works. It’s all about juxtapositions in the world of fashion, it’s a jigsaw puzzle. It doesn’t work individually, it works as a whole.

On Fads:  There’s absolutely nothing in the fashion scene I would like to see go. I love all of it. I don’t have the ability to say “oh yes she looks terrible” because it’s all subjective — as long as she’s happy and having a good time I don’t have that need to kick her to the curb.  Probably because I’ve been so involved in fashion history I see it as a landscape. It is not about you, it is about fitting into the social landscape.

On Having Your Own Look:
You’ve got to have your own look, it’s all about self expression. Even if that is objectively kind of demented. Marc Jacobs once said fashion isn’t about trends any more, but it is about having your own look. Self expression is the key to everything. Even if you have a mullet at least you look like yourself. Good. Go buy two mullets.

Doonan muses on the staying power of the greats, "What is strange to me is that as much fashion is about change, velocity and evolution, it's amazing the number of people like Alaïa, Manolo, Louboutin. Nobody has bumped them off their pedestal yet. But I think those men are brilliant people."

He’s incredible. He has such energy! He’s really groovy.

It's fun to go into his boutique and turn the dresses inside out. The construction and level of design is amazing.

Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones began as a collaboration between the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Stephen Jones, legendary milliner who has collaborated with Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs and Comme des Garçons among others.  The exhibition had over 350,000 visitors in London and Australia and now travels to the Bard Graduate Center in New York for its first U.S. presentation.

Designs by Philip Treacy, Chanel and Yohji Yamamoto are displayed, as well as hats worn by Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna and Mick Jagger, and avid collectors like Isabella Blow. The exhibition includes Jones’ curated collection of couture headwear along with special loans found only in the U.S., including Babe Ruth’s baseball cap and a top hat worn by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Diane von Furstenberg

Yoko Ono

Jonathan Adler

Freedman turned to a wide variety of artists, architects and interior designers, including Rafael de Cárdenas, Joe Grillo, Peter Shelton and Lee F. Mindel of Shelton, Mindel & Associates and Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, giving them carte blanche to create their own environments: “I said, ‘Here’s your space. That’s your room. Within that room I really want you to let your imagination fly,’” he explained.

Housed in those environments are looks by  Stella McCartney, Givenchy, Rick Owens, Holms + Yang, Azzedine Alaïa, Chloé and Céline.

Since his first installation – when Daphne Guinness turned the Barneys windows into her personal dressing room before the Met Gala — Freedman has tried “to bring in different kinds of talent to do projects and make something new and fresh.” Whereas Doonan’s windows were often whimsical and heavy on the kitsch, Freedman said he hopes to “have a dialogue between fashion and [other disciplines such as] art, design, music and architecture.”

So I guess that means no ball gowns made of recycled coffee cans? [WWD]

- Noted girly mag aficionado, Simon Doonan, along with a smattering of other fashion people, pick their favorite photos from Playboy‘s storied history to celebrate the launch of their new iPlayboy app, The Playboy Commission. [Nowness]

- Kate Moss had to cut her globetrotting honeymoon short — no thanks to inconsiderate natural disasters — but at least she has a pair of fuck me — and you! — pumps to console her soles. [Fashionologie]

- If you’re walking by Houston and McDougal, 14th and University or 14th and 8th Avenue tonight around 9 p.m., you might catch Raquel Zimmermann being gritty for Alexander Wang. [Fashionista]

- Modelina, doing god’s work, has assembled a “dedicated model Twitter list,” so now you can #follow @Jess_Stam and @itsmeChanelIman to the ends of the Twitterverse. [Modelina]

A buffy Duffy body double?

- Speaking of altruistic endeavors, Styleite has delved balls-deep into the “Robert Duffy YouTube Stock Room Strip Down Incident” — Duffy’s-Undiesgate, if you will —  to reveal that it was all probably just a joke that no one got. Their smoking gun: Duffy’s allegedly buff guns. Styleite‘s not calling him fat, or anything, but…okay, they kind of are. [Styleite]

Sadove joins a long and prestigious list of Superstar honorees including Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford, Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan and Valentino Garavani.

FGI will also honor some Stars who aren’t quite as Super such as Raf Simons, recent haute couture hero Giambattista Valli and Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte in the fashion category and Jules Moore will get her dues in the entertainment category. Guinness, meanwhile, will receive the Fashion Provocateur award.

Loveable mo Simon Doonan will host the event at Cipriani on Wall Street and Ruben Toledo will handle the award artwork. [WWD]

- Take a peek inside the hoe of the world’s gayest and perhaps greatest couple, Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler. [The Coveteur]

- Lady Gaga has a Tumblr. Little Monsters follow accordingly.  [Amen Fashion]

- Pierre Cardin is surprisingly — and ironically — cognizant of his impending…incognizance: “I am almost 89, you know. I might be alert for another two, three years, but after that, I’ll be a little bit senile.” [WWD]

- Somebody get this kid a copy of Kelly Cutrone‘s If You Have to Cry, Go Outside if he wants to save his budding career. [The Cut]

- The Fashion Spot did some serious research to come up with the top models in the world, based on their print work, runway appearances, social media following and Google search. I hold 5 pictures in my hand, but only one can go on to be…the World’s. Top. Model. Anja Rubik. Eat your billion-dollar heart out, Gisele. [The Fashion Spot]

Hillary Clinton getting the big picture in Rick Owens.

Fierce Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama telling it like it is in Proenza Schouler. What, no McQueen this time?

Doonan decided former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko needed more Dior Haute Couture in her life. As does everyone.

Susie Bubble wants Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, bubbling up in Versus.

Though she hardly needs the help, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy gets reworked in Stella McCartney. Only gripe, where’s the goddamn heel?

Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, looking felicitous in Felicity Brown.

Former French Presidential candidate Segolene Royal going to werq in Dries Van Noten.

Nicola Formichetti threw First Lady of Cameroon and all-around fabulous black lady Chantal Biya in some Mugler. That heel is presumably also 24 inches.

Queen Rania of Jordan gets short and flirty in Erdem. Meanwhile, she’s a queen, for Elizabeth II‘s sake, not a starlet going commando at a film premiere.

Last, and certainly least, Sarah Palin, looking chic on her way to ruin what’s left of America in Christopher Kane. I can hear her cackling even through this illustration.

What do you think of these politically-charged high fashion makeovers? Personally, I think Hillary looks the best out of all of them —  giving goddess realness while sacrificing none of the power she’s been harnessing in those pantsuits over the last decade or so.

Link Love: Vogue UK

- Simon Doonan continues to be in the running for “World’s Best Person” with his advice to FIT grads: ”Make sure you have at least one drag queen in your life.” They’re very “life-affirming.” That’s the kind of real-world advice I like to hear. [Racked]

-Remember that time that Michelle Obama met Kate Middleton and I literally collapsed on the floor in a fit of screams and panting from all the fierceness. Because all of that happened. [The Cut]

- Behold new comedy duo Lady Gaga and David Letterman. They’re like an old Vaudeville act, if Vaudeville was full of ironic, egg-incubating popstars eating paper in nothing but a Viktor & Rolf jacket. Which it was. [Refinery29]

- A look back on the style of the romance of the century also known as Oprah and Gayle Stedman. [Fashionista]

- And of course, today is the last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. I haven’t seen it yet, but I can imagine when I do I will openly weep for hours until I eventually just turn into a pillar of salt. At least we still have OWN.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 24: US First Lady Michelle Obama (R) meets with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace on May 24, 2011 in London, England. The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, and his wife Michelle are in the UK for a two day State Visit at the invitation of HM Queen Elizabeth II. During the trip they will attend a state banquet at Buckingham Palace and the President will address both houses of parliament at Westminster Hall. (Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Like clothing, your makeup choices “reveal not just where you are from but where you are headed,” Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York says in the forward. “…François reminds us that makeup is also about narratives, fantasy and imagination. Makeup is about unleashing a cinematic range of possibilities. …François Nars is all about optimism.”

Nars chose not to learn about his subjects’ professions before applying their makeup, as he didn’t want to be limited by what he knew. “Instead, I looked at each person as objectively as possible and went about creating a look based on her or his individual features,” he said.

All of the subjects in the book sat on the same stool in front of the same neutral background with the same lighting and their hair pulled back. They all made indifferent expressions as not to distract from the before and after looks. To use the book to its full advantage, both Nars and I suggest studying the before and afters closely before using the transparent overlays to see what makeup was used where.

“No matter what age or stage you’re in, banish the word ‘shouldn’t’ from your makeup vocabulary,” Nars says. “As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t apply. Find your own way, have an open spirit and believe in your own beauty.”

What owning this book says about you: I am fabulous, just the way I am, and I will be for the rest of my life.

What your dinner guests will say upon seeing this book on your coffee table: What a helpful set of makeup tools. I must buy this immediately!

How this book will make your fashion brain grow: By trying different faces of makeup showcased in this book, not just those applied to the subjects that look most similar to you, you will expand your beauty horizons and find the bravery to test looks you never would have in the past.

If you like this, you’ll love: Bobbi Brown Beauty Evolution by Bobbi Brown

Doonan is being replaced by W‘s former Creative Director (and certified hottie) Dennis Freedman. Freedman left W last April after  Stefano Tonchi left T (the New York Times Style Magazine) to edit W in some weird fashion equivalent of an alphabetic game of dominoes.

Though his title is different, and funny-sounding, Doonan “will continue to be a key media spokesperson for the company, will continue to contribute to special window projects, will host special events with customers and media, and will serve as roving ambassador with links to all creative and communication areas including social media.”

Meanwhile, Freedman “will be responsible for the overall creative direction of Barneys New York, including the Co-Op and Barneys.com, providing leadership in the areas of all photographic and video images, graphic design, store design and image, and visual merchandising… [and will] also serve as creative curator of the Barneys New York windows, engaging various artists, designers, and creative collaborators including Simon Doonan for a constantly evolving mix of style influencers.”

Out of all of that mumbjo-jumbo, I got that Dennis Freedman is in but Simon Doonan, refusing to go quietly into that good night, bitch-slapped anyone  and everyone at Barneys who tried to get rid of him until they made up a position to keep him quietly content.

Go head, Lady Ambassador!

Link Love: NY Mag

Iman is ridiculous and she knows it. The supermodel will debut as a TV host tonight on the revamped The Fashion Show on Bravo. To commemorate the occasion, she shot with Mark Seliger for December’s Harper’s Bazaar and sat down with Barneys Creative Director, Simon Doonan for an interview that reads something like an old-school comedy routine between Paul Lynde and Phyllis Diller.

And if you know who those people are, who taught you to use one of these newfangled computer boxes?

Simon: How many times a day do you Google yourself?

Iman: Every five minutes. I simply can’t take my eyes off myself. Kidding! I would rather Google other people than Google myself.

Simon: Who takes more time to get ready?

Iman: David takes five minutes. Me? I don’t do anything by myself. I have a whole crew to get me ready every day.

Simon: You seem like an optimist and a positive force, but you must have done something appalling in your past.

Iman: I was once very rude to a young model. Just before I retired from modeling, I was at this shoot. The photographer said he was reading a biography of Marie Antoinette. The young model asked us, “What agency is she with?” [Shrieks of derisive laughter] We made fun of her, of course! When we were leaving, she said to me, “I hope I look as good as you when I’m your age,” and I said, “Don’t worry, darling, you won’t.” And then later I felt bad.

I feel like I’ve learned so much from Iman. My favorite tidbit, though, is perhaps the time that Oprah sat Iman with Michelle Obama because O thought that they would have “something to discuss” since Iman majored in political science before modeling.

My head just exploded writing that.

The above display was crafted entirely out of recycled Illycafè cans, bags, cups and tins and features the divine “Miss Illy.” She was originally named “Contessa Caffeina,” but according to Doonan, “we decided she’s no Italian aristocrat, she’s a nice Jersey girl.”

Of course this Jersey girl is a Barneys girl as well, so in addition to the Espresso machine headdress, Miss Illy is also wearing Christian Louboutin pumps and giant sunglasses by The Row.

Barneys new windows will be unveiled on November 16th and will also feature homages to Julia Child in addition to 70 other cultivators of the gastronomic arts.

If all this talk of food seems out of place for a Barneys window display, Doonan, who claimed to know “nothing about food,” explains that he was “interested in the dissonance between fashion and food.” He went on to add, “Whenever we do an event, the fashion people say, ‘No food please. Let’s just serve vodka.’”

Well, vodka’s an important part of any balanced breakfast, no? And though I haven’t looked at one recently, I’m pretty sure it’s at the top of the food pyramid. Right above marijauna, Mexican diet pills, cocaine, fruits and vegetables.

LINK LOVE: T Magazine

A major blow to old media, a major gain for new media.

Who’s excited about reading Doonan’s first story on Slate.com?

Barneys New York creative director Simon Doonan will design “sophisticated” Halloween costumes for Target.  Doonan's birthday coincidentally falls on Halloween so it's a huge celebration for him.  He intends to put the chicness back into Halloween with fun costumes. According to WWD:

“People on reality TV get to be exhibitionists,” Doonan said. “I thought of The Situation and those boys from ‘Jersey Shore’ when I did the T-shirt for the Pumpkin Punk Rocker costume.”

His and Hers costumes — Meatballs for him and Spaghetti for her — feature red-and-white plaid tablecloth fabric, with yarn noodles cascading from the shoulders of the woman’s tunic. A pillbox hat topped with a heaping helping of pasta and meatballs completes the look. There’s a matching costume for dogs replete with a hat that says “Ciao! Chow!” Kids costumes are $25; adults, $30, and dogs, $9.99. 

The collection launches in Target stores on Sept. 12 and on target.com on Aug. 22.

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