The Talent Photographer

CORINNE DAY has died. The legendary fashion photographer passed away on Friday August 27 following a battle with brain cancer.

Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman paid tribute to Day: “Corinne was a photographer of huge talent and integrity. Her work for British Vogue was entirely original and will always be remembered. She could capture raw beauty like few others.”

Born in 1965, Day was a self-taught photographer and is known for bringing a candid, documentary feel to fashion image making. One of her most renowned works includes her depiction of Kate Moss in the 3rd Summer of Love editorial for the FACE magazine in 1990.

Day has since worked for British, Italian and Japanese Vogue and her work has been exhibited in galleries around the world, including the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A, The Tate Modern and at The Andy Warhol exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York.

Moss And Topshop Ends

KATE MOSS and Topshop are ending their three-year design partnership. October will see Moss’ final full collection for the high street store, with a series of smaller capsule ranges going forward.

“We’ve honed it down to a smaller base,” says Arcadia boss Philip Green. “She’s [Moss] done brilliantly well, but to produce these collections takes time, real time. We thought it would be better to go forward with something smaller. That’s a better way forward.”

Topshop plans on re-launching a selection of Moss’ most popular design pieces from her first collection followed by smaller, capsule ranges comprising 12 – 15 items, two to three times a year.

“That will be easier for us, we’ll do something fun,” Green tells WWD.

Natasha Alam For The 6th annual DPA pre-Emmy gift suite

Natasha Alam Wearing her Cartier Watch attends the 6th annual DPA pre-Emmy gift suite day 1 at The Sunset Tower Hotel on August 26, 2010 in West Hollywood, California.

January Jones in Atelier Versace

Mad Men star January Jones is a rare bird: She’s one of precious few stars who opts not to use a stylist for red carpet events, instead choosing to contact designers directly for different appearances. Hence, Jones is more likely to take risks at awards shows, sometimes to her benefit.

At Sunday evening’s 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Jones stole the spotlight in a peacock blue Atelier Versace gown comprised entirely of irridescent blue petals. But, in an exercise in contrast, Jones chose to pair the elaborate gown with simple black Miu Miu pumps and an effortless, beachy bob.

Anne Hathaway’s Short Hair

Anne Hathaway fans may want to sit down for this one: the Devil Wears Prada star has pulled an Emma Watson and chopped off her long locks in favor of a side-parted pixie cut. She reportedly made the crop for her next movie, One Day, a romantic comedy that touches on love and loss with plenty of twists of fate in between. While it remains to be seen whether America will be lining up at theaters for that one, our feelings about Hathaway’s makeover are unwavering.

Ticket To Gucci

Gucci’s an old hand at e-commerce—the label’s been selling its wares online since 2002, years before many of its fellow luxury brands dipped a toe in the digital waters. So when it set out to revamp its Web site, it had to raise the already-high stakes. So while the digital flagship, as Frida Giannini and co. are calling the new site, has all of the online shopping features you’d expect—multiple views, on-message visuals, integration with its Facebook and Twitter accounts—it’s the all-new stuff that’s the real news. That includes Web-focused holographic window displays and iPad docking stations at select Gucci (bricks-and-mortar) flagships to bring the online world and the real world together, and gucciconnect.com (above), where you’ll be able to stream the brand’s runway shows—and attend, as a “virtual guest.” It’s Milan, now without the jet lag.

August’s The Best Of Beauty Counter

We’re sorry to see August go. No more weekends down the Jersey Shore or weeklong jaunts to Chicago by way of Japan (don’t ask) until next year. In case you were OOO more than we were, here’s a look back at the month that was, complete with breaking backstage beauty news (T minus 12 days to NYFW), our favorite product picks, and a couple of high-profile Q&As, too.

American Dream Woman

When you’ve been designing rock star-friendly jewelry for 20 or so years—the kind that even Karl Lagerfeld is known to wear—you pick up a few friends in high places. And if you’re really good, said friends in said places even take a turn in front of your camera, for the photography you’ve nurtured from a hobby to a professional advantage (when you can shoot your brand’s own campaign) to a full-on fine art side project. So it goes with Chrome Hearts’ Laurie Lynn Stark, who’s taking a weekend off from the jewelry beat to show her work at the St. Moritz Art Masters in Switzerland. (Not a bad venue for her second show ever.) Stark trained her lens on friends and fans like Lagerfeld, Steven Tyler, a few of the extant Sex Pistols, and Kate Hudson, who trusts her enough to be shot, ahem, on the commode. But our favorite, no offense to Kate, are Stark’s shots of Cindy Crawford (above). “Looking back at my body of work, I can see how important it was that this shoot happened later in my career,” Stark told Style.com. “Cindy is the utmost professional and working with her set a very high bar for me. It’s just beautiful to watch how she orchestrates her family, work, passion for living and loving—she is the American Dream Woman.”

Maria Sharapova Wants To Be Tall

Standing tall at 6 feet, 2 inches, Maria Sharapova isn’t afraid of a little height. “Being tall was always a good thing growing up—it’s good for your game. I think at some point, I was like, OK, I’m tall, this is how it’s going to be,” the tennis star laughed about her penchant for heels last night. Sharapova certainly stood out. Along with showing up in four-inch heels accompanied by another vertically gifted guest (her beau, L.A. Laker Sasha Vujacic), she was the main draw for the fête celebrating her latest fall 2010 footwear collection with Cole Haan, co-hosted by Interview in the New Museum’s Sky Room. Going a year strong, the ongoing design collaboration (skyscraper heels and sexed-up corset detailing this season) has Sharapova sketching in her downtime and turning to the Web for inspiration. “I’m a big fan of street-style sites,” she said. “I’ll have this idea and then go and see how somebody might wear it in Paris or London or somewhere else in the world.”

That kind of online trendsetting has served another Cole Haan contributor well: Todd Selby, who’s turned a zoom lens and a yen for interiors into The Selby, his must-visit creatives-in-their-houses photo site. (Street style off the street, as it were.) Selby shot the Cole Haan campaign, but it was his brushwork, not his prints, that was the star this evening; he had a few specially commissioned watercolors up for auction to benefit Common Cents, including one of Sharapova (pictured, with its subject), whom he met on a shoot for the brand. Though, when it comes to the tennis pro’s upcoming U.S. Open turn, he might not be the best to recount ad-ins or match points. “I’m not really a sports kind of guy,” he admitted. “Fashion’s my sport.”

Modern Milliners

WITH visionaries like Lady Gaga around, there’s a feeling that we should all be making more effort with our headgear – especially as the class of 2010 are redefining the art of millinery with wit, emotion and technical skill.

Harvy Santos danced with the Hong Kong ballet before beginning a course with the Queen Mother’s milliner. His balletic background plus a ragbag of influences (from steam-punk to archery) inform his elegantly energetic work. Meanwhile, Camille Roman of Tour de Force cites the bizarre ‘hair hats’ of avant-garde Japanese artist Nagi Noda as a major influence on her surreal designs.

Thinking of the surreal – if you spied a giant feather Mohawk bobbing about at one of this summer’s more stylish festivals (think Secret Garden or Kimberley), chances are it was by Tammi Willis, the chatelaine of West London club Ginglik and pal of model Olivia Inge.

Naturally vintage looks are major reference point too. Milliner Janine Basil found her beloved vintage hats were too fragile to wear – and contemporary efforts frankly dull – so she started making her own cartoony creations. Meanwhile, Feather Fancies’ Paula Eastman adores Forties styles. The former theatrical costumer names Paloma Faith as her dream client: “You watch a person wearing a hat and because they have made the effort they stand differently, their poise is more confident and they radiate a certain something.”

So, how to carry it off these bold creations? Prepare for stares and, Camille Roman advises, have “a sense of humour.” Tammi adds, “Hats are a great way to stand out and be extrovert at exactly the same time as giving you something to hide behind (or under!)” Just think: ‘What would Gaga do?’