hamish bowles

>> Instead of shuttering Style.com, as many speculated would happen after Vogue.com's big relaunch — which comes right after Labor Day — Drew Schutte, SVP and chief revenue officer for Conde Nast Digital, is ready for the two to take over the web together: “In my mind, why not have two of the leading brands in the online space? There’s lots of competition coming up, so instead of letting someone else become the number-two competitor, I’d like to make one ourselves and have the number one and two in the space.”

Style.com was once the online home of both W and Vogue, but all three are now entirely separate — no pooling of resources. Style.com will send its own reviewers (Tim Blanks, Nicole Phelps, Meenal Mistry) to the upcoming fashion shows, as will Vogue.com (Jessica Kerwin, former Style contributor Sarah Mower, as well as Vogue senior staffers Mark Holgate, Hamish Bowles, and others).

There's good reason to keep Style around »

>> Hamish Bowles, Lauren Santo Domingo to Appear on Gossip Girl —Not only is Fashion's Night Out getting a one-hour special on CBS (airing Sept. 14 at 10 pm EST), it will now also be a plot point in two episodes of Gossip Girl, also airing in September.  Yesterday, Hamish Bowles and Lauren Santo Domingo both filmed cameos for the show, in which they prepare for Fashion's Night Out. [NY Post]

>> Video: RJ Cutler's "The Met Ball" Short Film —Vogue posted a short video on the planning of this year's American Woman-themed Costume Institute Gala, but if you're looking for a more in-depth peek behind the scenes, The September Issue's director RJ Cutler produced a short film, The Met Ball, leading up to and covering the 2007 Paul Poiret-themed event, which was just posted online in its entirety. Among the highlights, Hamish Bowles trying on a robe at Tom Ford, which he calls "a bit too queeny for me," and Sally Singer summing up the event as such: "It's one of those evenings where there's no real inherent value to the meal -— it's a fashion dinner so there's never an inherent value to the meal; the whole point is to go to the bathroom a lot to keep looking at people as you go in and out of the bathroom, and see who's in the bathroom." [Part 1, Part 2]

>> Stefano Tonchi seems to have emerged as the frontrunner for the W editor-in-chief position — one "highly placed source" at The New York Times confirmed to WWD that Tonchi had been speaking with Conde Nast, but had not made a decision regarding the W job as of Friday. Over at Conde Nast, several sources told WWD that Tonchi had already signed a deal, but the official word from a Conde spokeswoman is that a decision had not yet been made, although there “will be an announcement possibly early next [this] week.”

Meanwhile, over the weekend, Bryanboy noticed that Andre Leon Talley was moved from editor-at-large to contributing editor on the April 2010 Vogue masthead. The move could have to do with his new position as America's Next Top Model judge, and Fashionista noted that during New York Fashion Week, ALT kept a distance "from the rest of the Vogue team–we didn’t spot him with the rest of the editorial staff even once, and on the last day of the week he attended one Ralph Lauren show while the rest of the Vogue-ettes attended another . . . His pages, however, three on general goings on about town or it-girls of the moment, remain the same." Racked cites sources saying that Grace Coddington and Hamish Bowles, too, may be "experiencing changes" in upcoming months.

UPDATE: A Vogue spokesman notes of the change: "There’s no more to the story than a title change," adding, "That’s just because he wanted to do more freelance projects . . . He’ll be just as big a presence at Vogue." Talley's column and blog are expected to remain intact. [The Cut]

>> Hamish Bowles Is a Former Fashion Show Crasher —In the Guardian's weekend article highlighting Central Saint Martins' Louise Wilson — who is responsible for cultivating talents like Gareth Pugh and Christopher Kane — Hamish Bowles recalls his time at the school: "When I started, John Galliano was in his graduating year, and he had an incredibly potent effect on myself and all my contemporaries. The denizens of the fashion department always had, I'd say, something of a superior attitude. It was also a great time for clubs. Cha Cha's was there; Leigh Bowery was emerging on the scene. Saint Martins students were heavily involved in that. You'd stay up all night creating the latest look for Taboo, not eat for days, then have a cake at Patisserie Valerie. You'd go to Paris Fashion Week and see how many shows you could get into. Pretend to be the make-up artist. That was actually a class project!" [Guardian]

>> Donatella Versace presented her latest Atelier Versace collection during Paris couture this week, all red carpet-ready gowns adorned with "chunks of Swarovski crystal, swags of fine silvery chains, and hologram discs to give a Paco Rabanne-esque edge," as Hamish Bowles reported.  But the behind-the-scenes situation at the company isn't quite as glamorous.

Versace just announced that it will eliminate 350 of its 1,360 jobs, representing 26 percent of its workforce, worldwide starting in March and ending in June — part of a plan to return to profitability in 2011.

Donatella is also launching a new collection — Versace Collection — under her creative direction, which will be priced 30 to 40 percent below the house's signature collection.  The Fall entree abides by the Versace codes of color, sexiness, prints, and glamour and includes 230 pieces, among them egg-shaped coats in oatmeal, cocktail dresses with lace and tulle insets, and degrade fitted jackets.

>> Yesterday in between couture shows, Anna Wintour, Carine Roitfeld, and Hamish Bowles sat down with French industry minister Christian Estrosi for a half hour meeting Wintour requested. She told Estrosi that France doesn't do enough to support fashion and encouraged more support for young designers.

"She's right," Estrosi admitted during a press conference afterwards — for which Wintour wasn't present. "Everyone knows the role Anna plays in making New York a great fashion capital. My objective was to benefit from her experience."

So what's the solution? »

Last night, Oscar de la Renta's LA boutique was transformed into a book signing extravaganza. More than 150 people gathered to get a signed copy of The World in Vogue: People, Parties, Places ($48) by European editor-at-large for Vogue, Hamish Bowles.

It features more than 300 photographs of models, actors, artists, first ladies, and socialites who have graced the pages of the mag. Some of the shots have never been published before. Gisele and Tom, Keira Knightley, Iman and David Bowie, and John Galliano are just some famous faces you can expect to see.

Fab reads make great gifts — here's a bunch of recommendations!