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Fashion News We’re Reading Now: Dec. 17

The British Fashion Council has announced the shortlist of nominees for the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund 2013 prize. Roksanda Ilincic, Mary Katrantzou, Nicholas Kirkwood, Peter Pilotto and Emilia Wickstead are up for the £200,000 grant and strong yearlong mentoring program.

In her conversation with The Telegraph, Grace Coddington talks about a possible comeback from John Galliano.

Kate Moss is the face of the Stuart Weitzman’s spring 2013 campaign photographed by Mario Testino. Here’s a video teaser.

Not only is the HBO show “Girls” getting a soundtrack album, the manicurist to the stars, Deborah Lippman, announced a nail polish collection inspired by the four stars from the show, which returns Jan. 13 for a second season.

Riccardo Tisci recruited some of his pals, including Ms. Moss and Marina Abramovic, to appear in the Givenchy spring 2013 campaign, styled by Carine Roitfeld.

Fashion Island gunman fired 50 rounds, motive unclear, police say

A gunman fired at least 50 rounds in the crowded parking lot of the Fashion Island shopping mall, but Newport Beach police are unclear about a motive.

The gunfire sent shoppers scrambling for cover. A shopper in the parking lot recorded a video capturing the gunfire and posted it on YouTube.

Marcos Gurrola, 42, of Garden Grove was arrested in the parking lot near the Macy’s department store shortly after firing the shots about 4:30 p.m., said Kathy Lowe, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department. Officers on bike patrol apprehended the man.

Police searched the mall but did not find anyone who had been struck by the gunfire. The shots were apparently fired either in the air or at the ground.

More than 50 rounds were recovered at the scene, Deputy Chief David McGill said. A handgun was recovered at the scene, but police did not reveal any more details about the weapon.

The mall was crowded with holiday shoppers at the time of the shooting.

Shopper Dena Nassef said she and another person were walking toward Macy’s when people started yelling and running.

“With what happened in Connecticut, we were freaking out,” she said. “It was like crazy, people leaving stores.”

Ann Butcher, an employee at Macy’s, said she was on the patio at Whole Foods when people started running and screaming. She said some women left their purses and fled.

“That was very scary,” she said.

Shopper Eric Widmer said he was at the Barnes & Noble bookstore when he saw a mother and daughter rush in crying. He said he heard someone scream, “Shooter!”

He said he managed to exit the bookstore and head to Macy’s. Once there, he was not allowed to leave.

“I thought, ‘Great, I get to be scared twice,’” he said. “Lightning strikes twice.”

Fashion Faceoff: Holly Madison vs. Sofia Vergara

Today's Fashion Faceoff contenders chose the perfect maternity dress to show off their baby bumps! The odd thing is that only one of them is actually pregnant. Expectant reality star Holly Madison, 32, and Sofia Vergara, 40, whose "Modern Family" character just gave birth, are going head-to-head in the latest edition of Fashion Faceoff where we decide ... who wore it best?!

What they wore: A Pea in the Pod's green and black houndstooth faux-wrap dress, currently on sale for $99.99.

When they wore it: Madison wore hers while stocking up her kitchen at Whole Foods in her hometown of Las Vegas in October, while Vergara donned the dress on the set of her sitcom the same month.
How they styled it: Madison went for a casual chic look, wearing a side braid and sunglasses, black peep-toe wedges, sparkly jewelry, and groceries. Her opponent, Vergara, opted for a dressier vibe, and added black tights and black platform heels.

Judge's scorecard: Props to Madison, who looks fabulous while actually being pregnant. The former "Holly's World" star really knows how to glam up for a trip to the grocery store! Still, Vergara is stiff competition for anyone, and this garment really accentuates her curves, even though some of them are fake. So who do you think is the winner? Vote now!

Lady Gaga's Little Sister, Natali Germanotta, Gets Fashion Debut

Fashion must run in the Germanotta family because Lady Gaga's little sister, 20-year-old Natali, shined in her fashion debut.

Lady Gaga's little sister, 20-year-old Natali Germanotta, shined in her fashion photo spread for ViralFashion.com.

Germanotta, a student at Parsons The New School for Design, posed for the digital fashion website wearing Alaia, J Mendel, and Proenza Schouler. Gaga's sister, who rarely steps into the public eye, struck a pose in her family's New York City restaurant, Joanne Trattoria, along with some friends.

Natali admitted that she juggles her fashion studies at Parson along with playing an active role at the family eatery, which received harsh reviews earlier this year. (The New York Daily News called it "the worst thing since herpes.)

"I do a little bit of everything and adore my family," Germanotta told the fashion site.

The fashion shoot "Buon Natali" shot by photographer Marvin Joseph shows Gaga's little sister in demure, high fashion poses. However the dramatic details, like a high chignon and flashy jewels inspired by 1950's Italian cinema, was meant to be a juxtaposition to her big sister's over-the-top audacious style.

"Everything about the shoot was over the top from the oversized meatballs and the 20 pound fish on the table to the big hair and jewelry," ViralFashion.com's creative director, Christian Fleres, said. "We had drama in mind the whole time, for that day everyone was playing the superhero version of themselves."

While she is much a stranger to the public eye, Natali Germanotta has accompanied her sister Gaga to events before. In 2010, the younger Germanotta starred in Lady Gaga's music video for "Telephone" and, most recently, walked the red carpet with her sister at the 2011 CFDA Fashion Awards.

According to Contact Music, Germanotta has also posed for Teen Vogue and Interview magazine before the ViralFashion shoot.

Kevin Arpino Plays to a Silent Audience

TALL and tan with a wrist full of jangly silver bracelets, Kevin Arpino shouted into his cellphone in a room full of fashion models.

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“We need black pipin’,” he said, his profundo basso voice twisted by Dunhill Internationals and a strong North London accent. “Pipin’!” he repeated.

His assistant on the other end didn’t understand. “Piping,” he added with urgency, stressing the “g.” “For the pillows.”

“Such is the price of being English,” he said, but the models didn’t crack a smile. They couldn’t. They were fiberglass.

Mr. Arpino, 60, was standing in the disarrayed showroom of Rootstein Display Mannequins in Chelsea, where he is the creative director. It was the eve of the Retail Design Collective, a three-day event in early December known informally as Mannequin Fashion Week. Showrooms across Manhattan parade new hands, torsos and life-size figures. And though these models can’t use Twitter or Instagram, there is glamour nonetheless.

The hot ticket was the unveiling of Mr. Arpino’s newest collections, which he presents every year in Rootstein’s showroom on West 19th Street. “This year, it’s going to be all black and white,” he said, his dark eyes glittering. “Just like a photograph.”

Brash and particular, Mr. Arpino, who wears only black and white year-round, is a polarizing and powerful figure in the land of plastic people. Some call him the emperor of the windows. His collections (he usually releases two a year) are bellwethers for the small, tight-knit industry.

Though few outside the industry know Mr. Arpino’s name, his work is seen at all retail levels, from high-end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Hermès, Lanvin, Chanel and Ralph Lauren, to mass brands like Zara, Juicy Couture and H & M.

Starting at $1,300, Rootstein mannequins aren’t cheap. The company manufactures 10,000 mannequins a year in factories in Tokyo, London and New York. “I refuse to manufacture in China,” Mr. Arpino said.

Rootstein was founded in 1959 by a South African window dresser living in London named Adel Rootstein. Her innovation wasn’t to cast celebrities as mannequins (Mary Brosnan had made mannequins of Babe Paley in the 1940s) but to use youthful models. Her 1966 mannequin of Twiggy remains a milestone.

Under Mr. Arpino’s stewardship, Rootstein’s collections have been theatrical and occasionally controversial. Previous collections have been devoted to sadomasochism, vegetables and “The Great Gatsby.” In 2010, Mr. Arpino came under fire for his Young and Restless collection, which featured hobbledehoys with 27-inch waists. The Guardian ran a piece headlined, “Skinny Male Mannequins Raise Eating Disorder Fears.”

Mr. Arpino remains unabashed. “If you want to blame someone, blame the designers,” he said, before adding, without apology, “Unfortunately, clothing looks better on tall and skinny people.”

For many shoppers, mannequins are the 50-something women of the fashion world: invisible in plain sight. But for Mr. Arpino, each is a person with a story. “I know all of these girls,” said Mr. Arpino, gently popping off the arm of a mannequin named Tamara. “She’s only 19. She was the runner-up for Miss Russia beauty pageant.”

The process of transforming a living model into a fiberglass mannequin takes a year and a half. Mr. Arpino not only oversees the highly technical production, but also the stylistic direction. It requires one to be finely attuned to seasonal trends — skinny jeans call for skinnier legs, higher heels for more relevéd feet.

Mr. Arpino typically holds castings during London Fashion Week in September. Models sit for hours in little more than a bikini over a three-week period at Rootstein’s studios in West Kensington. “Models are essentially just breathing mannequins,” he said. “So it’s not terribly difficult.”

There they are sculptured into life-size clay models as Mr. Arpino tweaks the poses. The clay models are then made into a mold and cast in fiberglass. “Look at these things,” Mr. Arpino said, knocking one of them hard on the sternum. “They last forever.”

The same could almost be said of Mr. Arpino, who has been in the business for 30 years. “One reason Adel picked me,” he said, “is because I knew who the good girls were because I had worked with them.”

Under his direction, mannequins have been made from Yasmin Le Bon, Dianne deWitt and Pat Cleveland. Recent models have included Agyness Deyn, Coco Rocha and Erin O’Connor. “If they can sell fashion in magazine, they can sell fashion in a store,” he said.

This had been an unusually busy season. Mr. Arpino unveiled three collections this month, which were displayed in various tableaus in his Chelsea showroom.

“These are from the collection Sojourners,” he said, pronouncing it as if it were French. The languid mannequins swanned in repose. “Models are the new Gypsies, you know. These girls are from Poland, Russia, Lithuania.”

The other collections were an abstract line, Lift, and another realistic one called Street Boys. The latter, homeless-seeming, were skinnier than the Sojourners and had scruffy stubble.

Mr. Arpino has shown a knack for identifying emerging beauty and capturing its ascent. But to stroll through the showroom is to acknowledge how fleeting that beauty is. ‘“That’s Irie. That’s Dianne. That’s Joe,” Mr. Arpino said, the mannequins looking as youthful as the day they were cast.

There’s one mannequin that Mr. Arpino has vowed never to make: of himself. “Years ago Adel asked,” he said. “But I’d prefer not. It’s just a little too Dorian Gray for my taste.”

Fashion becomes art at Basel preview

Art and fashion intertwined at Art Basel Miami Beach this week, each serving as a backdrop and inspiration for the other.

That artistic juxtaposition was evident at the VIP preview, as silky dresses swirled down the aisles, boldly printed jackets summoned attention and sparkly jewelry caught the light.

For many patrons, wearing art to see art was de rigueur.

Clara Naman of New York, who previously worked in an art museum in Paris, dressed for Art Basel in a kaleidoscopic Vera Wang dress, accessorized with orange Balenciaga heels and a Prada purse.

“I really think it’s a piece of art in itself,” Naman, 28, said of her dress. “So when I see art I want to be colorful and feel like a piece of art, myself.”

Dina Reis, an art collector from New York who said she considers herself a chameleon, chose a black Dolce & Gabbana skirt, white Ralph Lauren blouse and Roberto Cavalli sweater with Giuseppe Zanotti shoes. Her jewelry glowed: vintage Chanel earrings and a sparkling K.C. Signatures bracelet.

“For me, fashion is art, and I think it’s a real expression of self,” she said.

Brightly colored apparel stood out — and fit in, simultaneously — amid the eye-popping paintings and sculptures.

“I wanted something happy,” said Miami interior designer Diane Sepler, who wore bright gold, with ring lizard Manolo Blahnik pumps and a vintage Fendi baguette purse made of fox fur and shirred chinchilla. “I wear a lot of black, gray and brown, and I thought today I would be happy,” she said.

Mother and daughter duo Sorri Naffis and Nina Miguel of Miami Beach selected their designer outfits to blend together, in an artistic way. Miguel chose a muted gray Valentino lacy, ruffled sweater dress and paired it with a Louis Vuitton purse. Her mother opted for a white and black Prada dress and a Chanel purse. Both wore Gucci boots.

“We like to put ourselves together when we go someplace, always,” Naffis said.

Joseph Paul Davis, an interior designer who lives in Palm Beach, looked animated in a pink and orange Lilly Pulitzer jacket, with an orange Etro belt and orange Prada shoes he bought in Italy, combined with jeans he got at Kmart for $19.

“It’s not about showing off, it’s just about having fun,” he said.

Indeed, for many, enjoying the parade of fashions was as delightful as viewing the art installations.

Irina Protopopescu, who owns a gallery in Brooklyn, floated down the aisles in a long, pleated Chloé dress, with pinkish-red Brian Atwood heels and a green Louis Vuitton bag.

“I wake up, I look in my closet and I just make a composite myself,” she said of her head-turning ensemble. “Usually it’s whatever pleases me.”

Italian designer fashions ruled for many arts patrons. Ondine de Rothschild, a collector who lives in Paris and New York, wore a Missoni skirt and sweater she bought in Venice.

Laura Ricci, from Boulder, Colo., wore a dress by Belgian designer Dries van Noten, with Celine shoes.

“I love fashion and art, and the two go together, for sure,” she said.

Some patrons even wore fashions they designed themselves.

Emma Berg, a Minneapolis clothing designer, wore a slinky asymmetrical gray skirt she designed, with a partly open-backed Yumi Kim blouse, a patent leather Kate Spade purse and Dsquared shoes.

Reina Chau, a designer from Hong Kong, wore a red jersey jumpsuit of her own design, accessorized with a Tracy Watts hat from New York and Chanel slippers.

“Comfort is key,” said Chau. “We’re walking around all day.”

Others chose their outfits for their levity.

“I like to wear funny clothes, not to be boring,” said Juan de Dios Ramirez, 53, of Mexico City, who wore matching green H&M walking shorts and sport jacket, with Prada golf shoes.

Diamonds and other baubles complemented the designer fashions and vintage finds swaying through the halls.

Marie-France Bloch of Miami Beach dripped in jewels, including a Chanel watch — one of a limited edition of 10 — and an Italian delicately handmade bracelet.

Mexico City jewelry designer Xanath Lammoglia’s polyurethane bracelet was also a limited edition piece, one of 20.

And Adriana Santiago’s bracelets from Mali were shiny, wearable art.

At floor level, footwear also caught plenty of eyes.

Artist Elias Maamari, who lives in Montreal, Paris and Beirut, donned multicolored Asics sneakers.

And Fiona Biberstein, who works at the famed Acquavella Galleries of New York, wore black-and-white striped Pierre Hardy wedges that stood out among the gorgeous Picassos, Thebauds and Calders.

She was nonplussed when asked to pose for a photo of her feet, saying it was the fifth time that day.

“I was standing next to Mr. Acquavella,” she said, laughing, “and someone was taking a picture of my shoes.”