Hello!
Booth Moore here, the new Editor-at-Large of WrapStyle.
During my two-plus decade career in journalism as a Los Angeles-based reporter, editor and critic, I logged thousands of miles covering fashion runways in New York and Europe and interviewed the designers of nearly ever brand from Armani to Zimmerman.
Closer to home, I have documented the ascendence of L.A. as a fashion capital, writing about the rise of Hollywood stylists, celebrities becoming designers, costume designers becoming influencers, talent agencies launching fashion divisions and luxury brands getting into filmmaking.
In this weekly newsletter, I will be writing about all that, as well as interesting happenings at the intersection of fashion, beauty, art, lifestyle and entertainment, brand collaborations, retail openings, shopping obsessions and more.
I hope you’ll join me.
Venice Fashionpalooza
Jonathan Anderson’s Dior haute couture debut! Dario Vitale’s first Versace venture – and celeb twinning moment! Armani vintage, Miu Miu and Tom Ford parties galore!
Fashion was officially back in session at the Venice Film Festival, where the world’s top luxury brands competed for attention on red carpets.
There is a lot riding on the creative director overhaul that has installed new designers at nearly every fashion house in recent months in hopes that they can jumpstart the slumping luxury industry. And many of those creative directors will be showing their first women’s ready-to-wear collections on the runways in Milan and Paris is the next few weeks. But they offered a taste of what’s to come on the stars in Venice.
The strategy of teasing new designer runway collections on the red carpet really caught fire last year when Timothée Chalamet debuted looks from the new designers at both Givenchy and Tom Ford during awards season. It does generate attention, but not always the right attention.
Backed by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, new Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson was given the biggest boost, at least in sheer number of dressing credits, starting with debuting his first women’s haute couture look on “Three Goodbyes” actress Alba Rohrwacher. While the sapphire gown with a bustle back was in keeping with the designer’s recent exploration of 18th century historicism in his first men’s Dior runway collection shown in June, to the fashion chorus of the Internet it was a dud.
The less edgy, more elegant sleeveless black drop waist gown with a subtle bow worn by Monica Barbaro was easier to digest, as was the draped brown slip dress Mia Goth debuted at the premiere of “Frankenstein,” though neither seemed particularly Dior or Jonathan Anderson. Greta Lee’s dramatic plunge-front, cape-back Dior minidress was on the money though, and very J.A. in a good way.
In a fun Hollywood-fashion tie-in, Anderson superfan and “After the Hunt” director Luca Guadagnino turned up at a photo call in a cheeky “No Dior No Dietrich” T-shirt. (Anderson designed costumes for Guadagnino’s film “Challengers,” including the “I Told Ya” T-shirt that went viral.)
The slogan refers to Marlene Dietrich’s ultimatum to Alfred Hitchcock and Warner Bros. during her contract negotiations for the 1950 film “Stage Fright,” that Christian Dior create her costumes or else. (They caved.) The shirt was clever, immediately endearing to film insiders, and yes, it will be sold.
Another debut came courtesy of Julia Roberts who wore a custom Atelier Versace gown by Dario Vitale, who took over as creative director after Donatella Versace stepped down in April. The crepe de chine gown featuring black and navy embroidery in a diamond motif took 300 hours of work, according to the brand.
Styled by Elizabeth Stewart, Roberts also wore Vitale’s first daytime look for the brand, a tailored navy blazer, yellow striped shirt and jeans. In a cute touch, Stewart’s client Amanda Seyfried asked to borrow the outfit and rewore it during a photocall for her film, “The Testament of Ann Lee,” hashtagging her photo on Instagram #Sustainable #ShareYourLooks.
First impression? A very understated Versace, but more luxe than what was being produced when the brand was owned by Capri Holdings, before being acquired by Prada in April. And the rewearing was social media gold.
Shailene Woodley wore a look straight off the runway from Celine’s new creative director Michael Rider at a daytime photocall for 1970s-set action thriller “Motor City.” The white draped dress and chubby fur seemed more appropriate for Motor City in February than the Lido in August, but I’m guessing method dressing was the point.
Elsewhere in the Venice fashion universe, LVMH-backed Tiffany & Co. went all in on its new Bird on a Rock collection, bejeweling a famous flock including Goth, Seyfried and more. Giorgio Armani unveiled its 50-year anniversary archive project Armani Archivio with some very well-dressed guests, including Cate Blanchett. The project rolled out online cataloguing 57 looks, and will culminate in a capsule collection of recreations first arriving in select stores in Europe, and then debuting in the U.S. in L.A. on Oct. 18 at the Academy Museum Gala.
Miu Miu threw a party where Emma Corrin, Alexa Chung and others wore the fall collection’s headlining bullet bras, and Tom Ford’s new creative director Haider Ackermann staged a very cinematic-looking soiree with his muse and the new face of the brand’s Black Orchid Reserve fragrance, Tilda Swinton, wearing the fall 2025 runway collection’s best dress with silvery scales. Diane Von Furstenberg hosted her 16th annual DVF Awards honoring extraordinary women, with Kim Kardashian making fashion news in an ethereal gray jumpsuit not by DVF, but by Glenn Martens, straight off his first Maison Margiela couture runway in July.
And that was all before the premiere of Sofia Coppola’s new Marc Jacobs documentary, “Marc by Sofia,” and the happy news that the incredibly talented Diotima designer Rachel Scott is taking the helm at the New York brand Proenza Schouler now that designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are heading up design at Loewe. It’s going to be a long month!
Vogue’s Insider Pick
Ending months of speculation, Chloe Malle was tapped as the new Vogue U.S. head of editorial content on Tuesday.
The choice makes a lot of sense. A proud “nepo baby,” as she told The New York Times, Malle is the daughter of the late French film director Louis Malle and beloved “Murphy Brown” made-for-TV journalist Candice Bergen. She grew up in Beverly Hills and New York City, and is at home in the Hollywood scene, which is essential for any editor of a modern glossy, particularly Vogue as it plans to bring mega event Vogue World to L.A. in October.
She’s equally as comfortable in the halls of power in New York, where she’s worked for the magazine since 2011, helping to juice online traffic and the weddings section at Vogue.com, and penning this summer’s feature on the Bezos-Sanchez extravaganza.
Last year, Malle also launched the amusing Dogue by Vogue. The digital magazine devoted to fabulous canines brought a much needed sense of humor to the hallowed fashion institution, and it’s that spirit of irreverence I hope we see more of under Malle’s leadership. Fashion needs it.
She’s already planning changes, including moving from a monthly publication model to one centered around special events and cultural moments, in the hope that future print copies of Vogue will become collector’s items akin to The World of Interiors. But Anna Wintour, of course, is going nowhere; she’ll be just down the hall continuing to oversee Malle and all the Vogue titles globally.
Attention Aspiring Venice Filmmakers
Kaitlyn Dever, Meghann Fahy, Allison Janney, Issa Rae, Jenny Slate and Cannes Grand Prix winner Payal Kapadia will lead the jury for the 10th edition of Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program, Sept. 16–18 in New York.
The program gives U.S.-based women and nonbinary filmmakers funding, support and development opportunities. The event brings together emerging talent and industry pros for three days of workshops and conversations covering script development, directing, music composition and costume design. (Warner Bros. CEO Pamela Abdy, actor/producer Lucy Liu and costume designer Colleen Atwood are on tap.)
As part of the process, the filmmakers work on refining their projects before delivering a live pitch to the jury, and one team is awarded full financing to produce a short film with support from Tribeca Studios, while four additional teams receive development grants.
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