Dress For Wedding

A Highly Subjective Ranking of All the Looks That Rihanna Wore to the VMAs

In the words of Drake during his somewhat cringe-y awards speech, Rihanna “makes fashion and style seem so effortless.” (Yes, even when she’s carrying a wine glass on the street.) Considering she had three performances to carry out and one award to accept, we knew we’d be seeing a lot of creative Rih outfits masterminded by the fashionable pop star and her stylist Mel Ottenberg. And she did not disappoint. Here’s how her four fashion statements stack up:

1.) The millennial pink Hood by Air ensemble that included a logo baby tee. It felt young and fun, while simultaneously being high-concept. (Corset over cutout pants? Yes, this is the avant-garde Rih we came for.)

2.) The award-accepting outfit that perfectly matched her Moonman was like a Rihanna take on a fancy evening gown Helen Mirren would wear.

3.) There’s a lot going on here, but creativity points are due for the feather bra, T-shirt worn as a hoodie, and peekaboo fishnets. It’s athleisure on acid, which, having seen the Fenty show, we know is kind of her Thing.

4.) A leotard and over-the-knee boots, even if they are from Vetements’ collab with Manolo Blahnik, is a familiar silhouette and less boundary-pushing than the rest of her performance outfits. The purple fur stole is a nice touch, though.

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Sonia Rykiel, French Designer Known for Knitwear, Dies at 86

PARIS ― Sonia Rykiel, a French designer dubbed the "queen of knitwear" whose relaxed sweaters in berry-colored stripes and eye-popping motifs helped liberate women from stuffy suits, has died. She was 86.

President Francois Hollande's office announced her death Thursday in a statement, praising her as "a pioneer" who "offered women freedom of movement." His office didn't provide further details, and the Sonia Rykiel fashion house in Paris wouldn't comment. The New York Times reports that she died from Parkinson's disease.

For the generation of women who came of age in the heady 1960s and '70s, Rykiel, with her hallmark bright orange hair, came to symbolize the new era of freedom.

She also penned several novels ― including one about a dress and its various incarnations ― and figured in director Robert Altman's satirical 1994 look at the fashion industry, Pret-a-Porter.

Designers, fashionistas and French cultural figures offered tributes to her and her influence Thursday, including in multilingual posts on her house's Facebook page.

Rykiel got her start by designing knit maternity dresses for herself. She became a fixture of Paris' fashion scene starting in 1968 when she opened her first ready-to-wear shop on the Left Bank at a time when student riots were challenging France's bourgeoisie establishment. The designer's empire grew to include menswear and children's lines as well as accessories, perfumes and home goods, sold in the label's stores on four continents.

Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve and Lauren Bacall were among Rykiel's fans.

Her daughter, Nathalie Rykiel, who as a young woman used to model her mother's garments on the catwalk, has long helped manage the fashion house. The business was among France's last major family-owned labels until it was sold to a Hong Kong investment fund in 2012.

Rykiel's star pieces include the "poor boy" sweater ― often in black with jewel tone stripes or emblazoned with messages or graphic motifs like oversized red lips ― knit tops with embroidered roses and funky, rhinestone-studded berets. She developed new techniques like inside-out stitching and no-hem finishings that embodied the freewheeling spirit of the times.

Rykiel, whose maiden name was Flis, was born in Paris on May 25, 1930. She married Sam Rykiel, the owner of a Paris boutique, and had Nathalie at 25.

It was motherhood that put her path of fashion design. After designing maternity outfits, she went on to create knit garments for her husband's boutique, called Laura. By 1970, the fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily had dubbed Rykiel the "queen of knitwear."

Still, early on in her career, Rykiel was wracked by doubts.

"When I started in fashion, for the first 10 years, I said to myself every day, 'I'm going to quit tomorrow. People are going to figure out that I don't know anything,'" she told the Le Nouvel Observateur in a 2005 interview. "I always thought I'd be discredited in the end."

Instead, she went on to produce decades of collections and became a prominent figure on the Paris cultural scene.

In 2008, Rykiel celebrated her 40 years in business with a star-studded gala and fashion show where her fellow designers ― including Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan and Karl Lagerfeld ― sent out Rykiel-inspired outfits. Belgian designer Martin Margiela sent out a long red-fringed coat in homage to Rykiel's frizzy red bob.

The French government honored her years of service to fashion, making her an officer in the Legion of Honor in 2013.

An avid foodie, Rykiel belonged to the "Chocolate Munchers' Club" and contributed to a cookbook called The Savoir-Vivre of Chocolate.

Her fashion house's website describes her philosophy as "rykielism," a concept that "extols the liberation of women through sensuality, intelligence and irreverence. Rykielism is about having the freedom to be oneself."

Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay praised Rykiel as "a committed feminist" and "exceptional entrepreneur" who "created a style and work that endure."

Rykiel stepped down from her own eponymous label in 2009, and it wasn't until May 2014 that Julie de Libran was appointed the fashion house's new artistic director. Under Libran's helm, the label is being discovered by a new generation of women, including models Miranda Kerr, Kendall Jenner, Lizzie Jagger and Georgia May Jagger, who all walked Rykiel's spring 2015 runway. The French brand also opened a new Madison Avenue flagship in February.

Rykiel's death comes as France is deep in a debate over what many see as a regression in women's fashion and freedom, centered around full-body burkini swimsuits worn by some Muslim women. Some mayors have banned them, and leading politicians say they oppress women ― but critics say banning burkinis is simply a new way to dictate what women wear.

Rykiel is survived by Nathalie and son Jean-Philippe. No information about a memorial ceremony was immediately available.

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While London’s Savile Row remains the steadfast protector of luxury tailored menswear, it struggles to right itself in the face of brands who can provide well-tailored garments at a lower cost. The frontrunner in this new guard of tailored suiting is J.Hilburn, which recently held its annual conference in Dallas, Texas. The three days are filled with training demonstrations, new product releases, and a runway show celebration where I quickly learned that rather than the gentlemanly whiskey, Chardonnay is the drink of choice.

What began in June 2007 as a small custom shirting business started by former mergers and acquisitions analyst Veeral Rathod has grown into a lifestyle brand selling more than just shirts. A walk through a temporary showroom setup at the conference center in Dallas included several new additions to the suite of custom and ready-to-wear looks like water resistant cashmere outerwear and new luxury shirting options made in partnership with a handful of Italian mills also responsible for garments sold by larger (and more expensive) fashion houses.

There are certainly other businesses making similar products, but what makes J.Hilburn particularly fascinating is its direct selling model in which “stylists“ are sent out into their local field to advise, measure, and ultimately sell to the brand’s 100,000+ active customers. Unlike Savile Row, which is dominated by male tailors, the 2,700 stylists working for J.Hilburn are often women between their late 30s and early 50s. They live in suburban communities where access to tailored garments is admittedly limited, making it easier for them to hold a position of authority when it comes to men’s style. Among the top sellers are former fashion executive Annette Dresser, who touted her over $1 million sales record over four years, and Jill Kennedy, who leads her own team of 247 stylists. “Be proud of yourself, and what we’ve built,” she told the crowd as she accepted her award for embodying the “spirit of J. Hilburn.” Much of the conference time is used to award the stylists for their soaring sales, of which they take varying percentage based on how long they have worked for the brand.

Numbers like these reinforce the visible trend of increased spending in men’s wear, which rocketed 13 percent over EuroMonitor’s 2010-2015 review period. However, it flies in the face of the newly popular notion that men are buying for themselves. Instead, J.Hilburn’s overarching purpose is to play into the $40 billion direct selling industry by providing guidance―something that several larger department stores have shied away from by offering standalone men’s wear stores where male shoppers are left to their own devices. In J.Hilburn’s case, there is a particular attention paid to each customer, all tracked in a digital “Little Black Book.” It includes each client’s sizing, their fabric preferences, a catalog of items they already own, and special events they have in their personal calendars that might warrant a new purchase. This all works toward an objective to normalize high-quality, personalized garments by making them easily accessible. After all, the tailor, and all of their wares, arrive at your front door.

“You shouldn’t have to be rich and famous to have your own stylist,” the brand’s creative director, Robert Milam, said in a flashy video montage announcing the season’s key looks inspired by Manhattan and, in particular, John F. Kennedy Jr. A look at the mood board for the collection includes several photos of the debonair Mr. Kennedy with his wife, Carolyn Bessette, who both died tragically in a plane crash while en route to Martha’s Vineyard. At first glance it might seem like a curious choice, but to both the stylists selling the garments, and the men buying them, it’s a logical play. Their visits to Manhattan are few and far between enough that the city maintains its intrigue, and JFK Jr. still holds a place as the most recent symbol of a monied but modest man with New York roots. “A lot of our guys are traveling, and a lot of them are going to New York City,” Rathod added when speaking to the crowd. “There is just an energy about that city that you cannot recreate in any other place.” Though, it seemed clear that the best way to recreate it might be with a new wardrobe care of J.Hilburn.

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A new book, set to be released in Sweden next week, asserts that the factories in Myanmar under contract with fast-fashion retailer H&M hired employees as young as 14 and had them work 12-hour days. According to The Guardian, Modeslavar ("fashion slaves" in Swedish) authors Moa Kärnstrand and Tobias Andersson Akerblom met with 15-year-old girls who said they were made to work 12-hour days for the lowest minimum wage in the world (about $3 a day).

Their hours are in breach of Myanmar's laws, as well as the International Labour Organization, which sets the minimum age at 14 in countries "where the economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed." Sweden-based H&M stands by this law and took action against the factories when it discovered overtime work happening with teens.

"When 14- to 18-year-olds are working it is therefore not a case of child labour, according to international labour laws," the company said in a statement to The Guardian. "ILO instead stresses the importance of not excluding this age group from work in Myanmar. H&M does of course not tolerate child labour in any form."

After conducting a study in Myanmar, which has experienced a recent boom in clothing manufacturing, Oxfam recently reported that garment workers do not earn enough money to cover basic living costs, despite working long hours. 43% of those surveyed said they went into debt to support themselves.

"Almost one in four workers reported doing forced overtime and several reported doing unpaid overtime," states the briefing, titled Made in Myanmar. "A number of respondents reported working through lunch breaks and into the night to meet high production targets."

Oxfam called on international businesses to take responsibility to ensure that fair wages were paid and to set delivery times that would not require excessive overtime. H&M's statement implies the company is willing to take action.

"It is of utmost importance to us that our products are made under good working conditions and with consideration to safety, health, and the environment," the statement said. "We have therefore taken action regarding two suppliers in Myanmar which have had problems with ID-cards and overtime...any overtime must be in accordance with legislation as well as our own demands, this is particularly important when it comes to the age group 14-18. If a supplier doesn’t live up to our standards or national legislation we ― in accordance with our routines ― demand that the supplier immediately establishes an action plan, which has been done also in this case. One of the measures concerning the two suppliers in question is improved recruitment routines, which has resulted in improved handling of ID-cards."

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Everything We Know About Simone Biles' "Brazilian Boyfriend"

Zac Efron isn't the only one who likes to give Simone Biles kisses ― Brazilian gymnast Arthur Nory Oyakawa Mariano is all for giving her smooches too.

Shortly after the Neighbors 2 actor made his move on Biles, Mariano teased on Instagram: "Hey @zacefron I saw her first... She is my girl." Despite a previous post in which Biles called him her "brazilian boyfriend," the U.S. gold medalist told Us Weekly that they're just friends.

"We joke that we're like international boyfriend and girlfriend because we see each other at these international meets," said the Rio Olympic champion. Though Mariano caught some flack last year for making racist remarks to fellow gymnast Angelo Assumpcao, he's since been forgiven and adored by those at this year's summer games.

Aside from being a Brazilian booty call, so to speak, here's what you need to know about the Brazilian-Portuguese-Japanese athlete.

1. He's an Olympic bronze medalist.

Mariano cried tears of joy after it was confirmed that he had placed third in the men's floor-exercise final, earning him the bronze medal. His fellow teammate, Diego Hypolito, came in second.

2. He's got a 6-pack (or maybe a 12-pack) you can't ignore.

Mariano's Instagram account is filled with photos of his abs of steel and muscular arms. (Not that we mind.) As he's captioned before, "No pain, No gain!"

3. He has a little sister.

Her name is Rebeca Yori Karabourniotis, and from what we can tell, they have a strong sibling bond and mutual admiration for each other.

4. You can find him on Snapchat.

Should you want to see what the Brazilian hunk is up to behind the scenes, his Snapchat account is @arthurnory.

5. Like Michael Phelps, he's into cupping.

Whatever will help him get back on the floor, right?

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