It hits newsstands April 15th – and we just got our hands on the Cynthia Rowley campaign that will grace its pages exclusively. Shot by Tim Barber, the art scene staple, it shows the wild florals that made Rowley’s spring runway leap. It’s a trip.

What has been your favorite stone as of late? 

Bismuth crystal.  We don’t technically get to work with it because it’s too brittle, but we take natural pieces of it, slice it up and refine it, cast it in brass and then plate it with PVD titanium that is hit with a laser to create the same multicolored, psychedelic feel that the natural stone has.  I’m officially obsessed.

Where’s the most fascinating place you’ve found your raw materials?

Arusha, Tanzania.  Rajasthan in India is a close second.

If you could accessorize 3 runway shows this coming Fashion Week, whose would they be?

Peter Som, rag & bone, Chris Benz. All totally different but would be so fun.

The collaboration with fellow CFDA incubatee Bibhu Mohapatra resulted in glorious iridescence.

“I thought [W] could be a very strong general-interest publication for our generation [ages 30 to 50], in the way that Vanity Fair is for a different generation.”

– Stefano Tonchi [Editor in Chief, W] on his vision for W, LA Times

In the book’s introduction, Sally Singer, editor of T Magazine, is quick to point out that this is not your typical behind the curtains tome. That’s owed primarily to the fact that Julien Claessens is not a fashion photographer. In fact he admits that he doesn’t really understand fashion, but he understands his friend Olivier’s work.

So it’s no surprise that his photos aren’t perfectly-posed, editorial-ready snapshots, but abstract portraits that offer a glimpse into a world of extremes: extreme beauty, extreme bodies and an almost otherworldly charm. The star of these portraits, however, are still Theyskens minutely-crafted work.

Like malleable sculptures, Theyskens clothes wrap and drape themselves over the skeletal  frames of Lily Donaldson, Hilary Rhoda, Gemma Ward, Olga Sherer, Lara Stone, Tanya Dziahileva, Catherine McNeil and Sasha Pivovarova, lending a strength, elegance and sophistication otherwise at odds with their prepubescent fragility.

The Other Side of the Picture chronicles Theyskens career chronologically, ending before he began his newest phase at Theory, but Nina Ricci’s Fall/Winter ’09 collection is a fitting denouement, both for the book and for Theyskens time at the brand. That particular collection is the peak of Theyskens craft and a comforting reminder that talent like his shall and will not be wasted. Also, I’m still not over these tranny heels:

Julien Claessens, without understanding fashion, is able to completely grasp the work of Olivier Theyskens. As Claessens says about his friend’s work, “There’s something here that is part of my universe.” His clothes speak, live and breathe through Claessens’ photos because Theyskens intended them to speak, live and breathe on the women he dresses. Claessens and Theyskens simply speak the same language.

What owning this book says about you: You’re a serious-minded fashionista who admires Olivier’s dark aesthetic and/or his dark hotness.

What your dinner guests will say upon seeing this book on your coffee table: “Oh, wow, someone’s pretentious. And fabulous.”

How this book will make your fashion brain grow: Though you’re not likely to gain much in the way of knowledge from The Other Side of the Picture, you’re heart will swell at its beauty.

If you like this, you’ll love: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. The book to the Met exhibit is on sale — having had a quick look at it this morning we can definitely say it is worth the 30 bucks (plus free shipping, y’all!)

Sally Singer‘s T Magazine declares that this “multistrapped mid-’80s fashion disaster beloved by Deadheads in dreads, is having a moment.” There are at least 5 things wrong with that sentence so would it be possible to end this moment before it even starts?

Apparently Lanvin (left Alber, what were you thinking?), Bottega Veneta (center) and Richard Chai (right) all showed them on their spring runways. So with the coming warm weather also comes the threat of seeing people’s gross feet on the subway…

The New York City subway…

In flip-flops…

Why not just walk barefoot through a pile of hypodermic needles? It’s the same experience. So, gentlemen, before subjecting your feet and the world to Teva torture, perhaps consider a slip-on? An espadrille? A casual man-heel?

Photos: GQ

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

LINK LOVE: Homotography

Gaspard is all grown up, looking sexy and contemplative in the new issue of T Magazine. After starring in movies such as Hannibal Rising and Paris, je t’aime, Gaspard’s latest film, The Vintner’s Luck, has been generating buzz in Cannes.

LINK LOVE: Just Jared

Julianne Moore is featured in the new edition of T Magazine, read the interview here.

Oh Dane, I know what you did. I know you let your “friends” die out there in that Open Water 2: Adrift. Now look at you on that cover of T. So smug. I hope the spirits of their dead acting careers still haunt you today.

Anyway, T magazine is online, so check it out.

LINKAGE: Now Online | Men’s Spring Fashion Issue

LINKAGE: glitter

Get ready for even less of T Magazine, that lovely little fashion rag that’s inserted into The Sunday New York Times.

They have reduced circulation to only 12 times a year. Not a horrible decline, but one that is surely going to continue dropping.

LINKAGE: Even Less Fashion for the Times

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