Humor Chic - Giorgio Armani testimonial for the "Humor Chic anti copycat trap"

Talent, creativity, innovation, ideas... oh come on, not again! Do me a favour, it's only old stuff for stupid and nostalgic designers. Nowadays in fashion copying, or rather stealing other people's ideas is a very cool practice carried out by a number of uninspired designers. Of course it's flattering to have someone copy you if you are already a famous and well distributed brand, however when this practice penalizes a small name with a genuine talent then it's a different matter and can result in a catastrophe, damaging the brand's growth, development and the affirmation of its identity. Beware dear copycat friends, should you not lose this awful habit we'll have to set in motion an "anti copycat trap"! Our sincere thanks to dear grandpa Giorgio for kindly accepting to act as the face of this cause. Dear Humor Chic friends stay with us, we'll keep you posted should our trap catch anyone. Au revoir!

Humor Chic - Terry Richardson, a photographer you can trust

The photographer Terry Richardson accused of sexual harrassment...
What are we gonna do with him now?

Humor Chic - Carine Roitfeld, a new boutique

Do you love Balenciaga?
Go to the Carine Roitfeld's new boutique in Paris and Carine herself will be glad to satisfy you...

Humor Chic - Lindsay Lohan, after Ungaro

Lindsay Lohan's design career has ended after a single collection for Emanuel Ungaro...
Now we want to see her at Chanel! What do you think about Karl?

Humor Chic Exclusive Interview - Fatima Bhutto, the courage of speech. aleXsandro Palombo meets Fatima, the rebel soul of the Bhutto dynasty.

Karachi - A writer and poet of rare sensitivity, she believes in democracy, innovation and receptiveness to new ideas. She is always in the front line, ready to fight in defense of human rights and women and for her ideals when they are in danger, speaking aloud in a country where for this you can pay with your life. She does not believe in dynastic politics. It is not politics but a danger to democracy, she claims, intelligent, sensitive and courageous as only certain imaginary heroines can be. Her clear gaze, poetic and ethereal, would be perfect for a Renaissance portrait by Michelangelo. This is Fatima Bhutto, a life in mourning, surrounded by intrigues and power. Her father Murtaza Bhutto, the son of Pakistan's former President and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and an elected member of parliament, was killed by the police in 1996 in Karachi during the premiership of his sister, Benazir Bhutto, when he was contending for the political legacy of the People's Party founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. No one has ever been brought to justice for the mysterious assassination of her father, and Fatima has always struggled to shed light on this, accusing as the minds behind the killing her aunt Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Zardari, the latter in her opinion a corrupt and unscrupulous criminal. In 2007 Benhazir Bhutto, then prime Minister of Pakistan, was assassinated. At her death many pointed to Fatima Bhutto as her natural successor to lead the Pakistan People's Party, but the son of Benhazir and Asif Zardari, her cousin Bilawal, was elected the new Party Secretary, however he continued his studies at Oxford. Today her uncle Asif Zardari is President of Pakistan and Fatima continues her brave battle, accusing him of involvement in her father’s death and as the leader of a corrupt and criminal government that is leading the country astray. Millions of Pakistanis live in poverty, without hospitals or schools for children, and with no democratic judicial system but the sharia, the terrible Islamic law which Zardari's government recently introduced in the courts, thus giving more power to the Taliban who still control many tribal areas of the country. The move has alarmed the West, especially the Americans, who have passed millions of dollars to the government of Pakistan for the fight against the Taliban. Fatima has always strongly condemned Obama’s financial support for the government of Zardari because she points out this does nothing but foster corruption and strengthen the hegemony of the Pakistan People’s Party to exclude other movements. Millions of dollars still flow into the government’s coffers but they ultimately vanish in a country of 180,000,000 people, with a geopolitical position that makes it a key partner in the war on terrorism and an important base for the balance of the Middle East. Some tribal areas suffer from incessant American bombing of Taliban compounds. Over two million refugees have fled from Swat, Buner and Dir. “It’s in our own interest, not just America’s, to fight terrorism, but if it continues to bomb Pakistani territory, people will think that this is America's war against us, not our war on terrorism,” Fatima emphasized. She has chosen to serve her beloved country through writing, social activism and poetry, steering clear of parliamentary politics. She warns against the blood succession which has made the Pakistan People's Party a family business. The Bhuttos, like the Nehru-Gandhi family in India or the Kennedys in the United States, are one of the world’s great political dynasties.







AleXsandro Palombo: Dear Fatima, what’s your relationship with the Western culture?
Fatima Bhutto: Is there really such a thing as Western culture? I'm thinking of what Gandhi said about Western civilization...
AXP: Are you a dreamer, an idealist or a rebel?
FB: I think a rebel is usually all three.
AXP: Karachi has 16 million inhabitants and a great history. What’s your relationship with your city? Which city would you exchange yours for?
FB: It's a love affair, but one that I often need to make my space and independence from...I wouldn't exchange Karachi for anywhere, but I love cities by the sea - Beirut and Havana are two favorites. I love to travel.
AXP: What’s the future for Pakistan? Do you think there might be a future of true democracy?
FB: Yes of course - we are only 62 years old as a country. We have a long journey ahead of us but we will get there eventually. However, the longer the West supports corrupt and criminal governments like the ones we have had for the last twenty years…
AXP: What’s the role of women in Pakistan? How are women viewed?
FB: Like everywhere else in the world, it's complicated. We have very violent and oppressive laws against women called the Hudood Ordinance that say a woman can be stoned to death for committing adultery or engaging in premarital sex but on the other hand we have a very strong female population that is actively engaged in their communities, politics and the arts.
AXP: China and India are “running countries” and the West of the world is undergoing a deep economic crisis. Despite all this, the West is not yet ripe for a more humble approach to Oriental culture. Why?
FB: They're reluctant to let go of their hegemony. Empires ultimately become oppressive and narrow minded when threatened with the possibility of decline.
AXP: What do you think about Ahmadinejad’s policy and the role of women in Iran?
FB: I went to Iran last three years ago and found it fascinating, with powerful, strong and brave women in all spheres of life - writers, artists, photographers, journalists. As a woman, I felt safe and comfortable - more so than in my country - but many things have changed since I was last in Tehran so I'm not sure I can answer the question. Regarding women in Iran, I will say I've never met braver women anywhere else.
AXP: “West is democracy”, so why do the media consistently implement censorship against those who seek to bring to light many truths?
FB: Oh, I'm not sure the West is democracy at all....
AXP: What’s your relationship with aesthetics? What do you tell to those who think that beauty might change the world?
FB: I think we might need a lot more than just aesthetics.
AXP: Do you like art? Which kind?
FB: I do, I'm discovering Pakistani women artists recently who I find very powerful and subversive in their work. Sana Arjumand is a very young, very transgressive artist. Naiza Khan's sketches are also very strong and moving.
AXP: Why doesn’t anybody want to notice ugly things today?
FB: I think plenty of ugliness goes noticed! There's no end to the coverage of violence, terror, and Pakistan's President Zardari.
AXP: You are a great poetess, a sensitive author and writer. Do you think people prefer to seek depth or frivolity?
FB: I hope depth, but every once in a while frivolity is a nice escape.
AXP: What do you think about the Burqa and Niqab? Sarkozy wants to pass a law banning Muslim women from wearing the Burqa and Niqab in France. What do you think about it?
FB: I think they limit human contact and expression but that said I think that the burqa and the veil have become political symbols - not just religious ones. It has become a way of expressing dissatisfaction, a way of expressing dissent and political rebellion. I believe women have a right to wear them if they choose, just like I have the right not to wear them. Sarkozy's decision to ban them is the wrong choice - they will only separate women who wear the burqa or the veil even further. It is a decision that will ultimately remove them from society and from communities where women are free to dress differently and will further isolate these women. It's also a bad choice to ban them because it shows a very frightened intolerance.
AXP: Many First Ladies are obsessive about their look. What do you think about Carla Bruni?
FB: I like her music...
AXP: What do you think about Michelle Obama ?
FB: I don't particularly know much about Michelle Obama. I think perhaps we need more time to see what she chooses to focus on while in the White House
AXP: What do you think about Queen Rania of Jordan?
FB: She is a good voice for Middle Eastern Women, though I would like her to take stronger stands against the war on terror and the injustices carried out against the Palestinian people.
AXP: Do you trust Barack Obama?
FB: I don't trust any politicians!
AXP: What do you think about Italy and its anti- immigration policy?
FB: I love Italy, I have many very close and inspiring friends who are Italian women. But Berlusconi I find very frightening, don't you?
AXP: Your Aunt Benazir was murdered. You don’t appreciate her policies. What if Pakistan were to be lead by you in future? Do you think that might happen? Can we hope for a future Fatima Bhutto Prime Minister?
FB: No, my future is with words. I love my country, I just choose to serve it in a different way from parliamentary politics.

Biographical note:
Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul in 1982, Her father Murtaza Bhutto, son of Pakistan's former President and Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and an elected member of parliament, was killed by the police in 1996 in Karachi during the premiership of his sister, Benazir Bhutto.
Fatima graduated from Columbia University in 2004, majoring in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, and from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 2005 with a Masters in South Asian Government and Politics.
She is the author of two books: Whispers of the Desert, a volume of poetry, which was published in 1997 by Oxford University Press Pakistan when Fatima was 15 years old. 8.50 a.m. 8 October 2005, a collection of first-hand accounts from survivors of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, was published by OUP in 2006. Her third book, Songs of Blood and Sword, will be published worldwide in 2010.
Fatima wrote a weekly column for Jang - Pakistan's largest Urdu newspaper and its English sister publication The News – for two years. She covered the Israeli invasion and war with Lebanon from Lebanon in the summer of 2006 and also reported from Iran in January 2007 and Cuba in April 2008.
Fatima’s work has appeared in the New Statesman, Daily Beast, Guardian, and The Caravan Magazine.
Her third book, Songs of Blood and Sword, will be published in Italian and French in 2011 and in the UK by Jonathan Cape in April 2010 and by Nation Books in the US in the fall of 2010

Humor Chic - Barack Obama's Health Care Reform

Dr Barack Obama, Nurse Anna Wintour and patient Karl Lagerfeld...more health for the fashion?

Humor Chic - The Age of Dinosaurs

Ralph Lauren, 70 + Giorgio Armani, 75 + Karl Lagerfeld, 76 = 221...

Humor Chic society - An eternal conflict

Will the eternal Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever come to an end?

Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, fashion Kamikazes

The favorite sport of a number of wretched ex top models seems to be that of getting everyone to talk about them at all costs by doing all kinds of foolish actions. Naomi loves to beat up anyone that works with her just to make sure the press keeps her notoriety at a peak, while thanks to her snorting habit Kate has become the face of a growing number of fashion houses which are looking to lure a public made up of thick headed jerks what a great fashion scene...why don't you go blow yourselves up! But dear fashion victims, please do not emulate them, it could be very dangerous!

Humor Chic - Suzy Menkes and Anna Wintour, hairdresser's frolics

Humor Chic - Suzy Menkes and Anna Wintour, wig restoration

One of women's passions? Getting together at the hair salon for a makeover and to play with their locks and manes, just what our dear friend Suzy Tank Menkes and the sweet Anna have been doing; after a long and strenuous period of catwalk shows they found the time toget a good makeover. Homor Chic has been following them for you and tomorrow will present you some exclusive shots...

Humor Chic - Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, company mobbing with love

The former Director General of Prada in Japan, Rina Bovrisse, who has been sacked, decided to take legal action against the Italian company after she received instructions last May to sack 15 employees because they were "ugly, old, fat and not in line with the Prada style." The Prada group has issued a statement that "the Japanese court has rejected Ms Bovirsse's accusations and confirmed that Rina Bovrisse's dismissal is perfectly legal"...

Humor Chic fashion week grand finale - Anna Wintour fashion zoo dinner party

From New York, London, Milan and Paris, fashion week's long tour has finally come to an end, yet we have not as yet witnessed signals of any great upturn and fashion seems to be twisting and turning on itself like a boa constrictor without prey. However our darling Anna has brightened up our spirits and boosted everyone by organizing a fashion zoo dinner party in the hope that the market will soon pivk up again. The invitation was gladly accepted by editors and friends who turned up at the Mc HumorChic in uptown New York. The event saw Suzy Tank Menkes arrive with Anna, the unemployed designer Olivier Theyskens, the young photographer Bill Cunningham, the lovely journalist Robin Givhan of the Washington Post, the explosive journalist Kate Betts, together with the "anti slim" Alexandra Shulman, Vogue Uk fashion editor, and the gourmand lover Ikram Goldman (style advisor to Michelle Obama), as well as the still sensual Nina Garcia, journalist and jury member of Project Runaway together with the charming Robbie Myers editor-in-chief of Elle US, the intriguing Lucy Yeomans fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar Uk, the elegant journalist Glen O’Brien ( In his early years he was a member of Andy Warhol's factory), and to finish off the incredibly intelligent and adorable Perez Hilton, blogger and television personality. Well, what more can we say?... Where's fashion going now?

Humor Chic on a conflict of interest - fashion editors in Milan and highly paid consultancies, the clan of fashion thieves

Humor Chic will begin with this first post to reveal the disturbing phenomenon of the conflict of interest involving a number of fashion editors in Italy, a highly disturbing and very serious issue about which all too little is known. These professional journalists follow the fashion shows closely, they visit the showrooms or have the items sent directly to them at their editorial offices, not only for their own fashion magazines but also for some powerful designers and businesses, for whom they act as consultants. Their task is to use their flair to report promptly on the newest and most interesting products and trends and then supply valuable information, ideas and concepts to the powerful designers for whom they act as consultants and also have close ties of friendship with. By this appalling and unethical behavior they favour the powerful fashion houses to the detriment of many serious and unsuspecting companies and young emerging designers. Small firms and young designers take time and need support to affirm a style of their own. But they’re never given the necessary coverage by the powerful commercial networks to showcase their products. And then these fashion editors collect information, ideas and secrets, fresh and valuable concepts (even examples of the garments if they can) and pass them on to the competition.

In Milan this a regular practice and some big names have the power to disrupt business communications or insert new themes, ideas and pieces in the collections just 24 hours before a show begins, precisely because of these dangerous and overpaid fashion editors. An unethical and unhealthy mechanism that strengthens and shores up the hegemony of the usual suspects. Isn’t this a serious conflict of interest? Watch this space….

Humor Chic - Miuccia Prada and Valentino Garavani, a forced comeback

The long goodbye by which the creator Valentino left the fashion stage lasted almost a year and was accompanied by a multitude of events, fashion shows and rivers of tears. But if you belive all this has come to an end, you could well be wrong! After the last terrible and scandalous Valentino Haute Couture collection, yesterday Paris witnessed the new autumn/winter 2010/11 prêt à porter collection. And even this round failed to do justice to the wonderfully elegant and aristocratic imagery that had always distinguished the artistic sensibility of Monsieur Valentino. Yet another jumble of style, taste and creativity for this name, which in just a few seasons has lost its identity and begun inexorably to sail across a sea of cheap and desolating superficiality. And though the press may once more ignore this ridiculous circus of mediocrity, only in the hope of flogging off some advertising space, it will certainly be the reverse with buyers, who in the current crisis will think ten times before gambling on this product with a high rate of returns. Valentino? No, Valentino will never make the grade until the helm is placed firmly in the hands of a true master of style, authentic vision and original creativity. So keep praying and perhaps one day the dear and powerful Miuccia will bring it back to you!

Humor Chic Paris Fashion Week front row - Madame Maryvonne Pinault a guest of Stella McCartney, stylist and a absentminded animal rights advocate

Is Stella McCartney anti fur?
Those who have always followed the adorable gazelle-eyed stylist Stella McCartney, daughter of the famous Paul (ex-Beatles), will be well aware of her strong aversion to all fur and animal skin. A fundamentalist animal-rights advocate, a staunch supporter of PETA, one who has endorsed anti-fur campaigns in the media and has done voiceovers of horror-shock videos about the atrocities inflicted on livestock, and finally a convinced vegetarian capable of harassing anyone who dares to eat a steak in front of her eyes. In short, a perfect animal lover... But is it true?
In August 2007 there was a spat between her and father Paul (another animal lover), who attacked and denounced gazelle Stella for designing Adidas shoes, though she was a declared animalist, because she failed to observe that footwear bearing her signature was made out of real kangaroo skin. Great! And now what? Prominent in the front row at her autumn/winter 2010/11 catwalk show, among her many famous supporters, was the wonderful and charming Madame Maryvonne Pinault, wife of PPR Gucci Group owner François Pinault (and the owner of Stella McCartney). The lovely Madame Maryvonne was wearing a beautiful stole coat of luxurious fur...capable of sending shudders down the spine of even the hardiest animal lover. How come? And what about the militant anti-fur gazelle Stella? Apparently when it comes to self-interest she is very unobservant indeed! And you are right dear Stella: after all Madame Maryvonne just wanted to remind you who's the boss!

Humor Chic media alert - Made in Italy?

In 2008-2009 the Italian fashion system saw the closure of 1,900 textile companies and the proliferation of thousands of clandestine workshops.

How does the Italian fashion system keep going? With the proliferation of sweatshops, located in basements and garages run by labor bosses who employ slaves, mostly illegal immigrants paid not by the hour but so much per head. They sleep three hours a night, work, eat and live there all the time, and content themselves with next to nothing. They’re allowed out one hour a day, without vacations, and never stop work. Every province in Italy has them. They supply the big names in Italian fashion at slave-labor prices. "We’ll hunt down the Italian clients of illegal clandestine workshops. This is not ‘made in Italy’," promises Carmine Damiano, police chief of Treviso. Giancarlo De Bortoli (61), a recently bankrupt Italian garment manufacturer, declared: “It was the designers who strangled me, slowly but inexorably.” His factory turned out haute couture for women with labels like Gucci, Prada, Max Mara, Miu Miu, Etro, Sportmax, Jil Sander, Giorgio Armani... “I told the stylists, I can’t go on at these prices. Come and see for yourselves. Spend a day in the factory and teach me what economies of scale I can apply. Costs were cut to the bone. ‘So what?’ said one of them when he knew I was doomed. ‘For every workshop that closes another five open.’ Meaning immigrant labor.

Look at this order for a lined suit by Jil Sander, 2010 collection. Open seams, closed stitching, darts, folded hems, patched hems, overlocked hems, neckline, laps, lining, overlap stitching not visible on the right side, 14 pleats that run counterclockwise round the skirt... There must be about thirty operations. It took 96.5 minutes’ work for a garment like that. Know how much they paid me? Net of VAT, 40 euros. They even had the impudence to give me the tag with the retail price to attach to it: 890 euros. ”Outrageous." And this blouse? It took 97 minutes. I was paid 24 euros. In the store they'll sell it for 490 euros. Need I say more?”

Please don’t, Signor De Bortoli, no, we wouldn't want to throw up our lunch and risk dirtying this beautiful and fake Italian fashion system.

Humor Chic - The newspaper Metro Fashion Month covered by aleXsandro Palombo Humor Chic

Marc Jacobs, Alber Elbaz, Karl Lagerfeld and Donatella Versace, a rock fashion band?...

Humor Chic à Paris – Sonia Rykiel and Christian Lacroix, a special tandem

There’s a lot of bad blood between fashion designers. They’re self-centred by nature and disinclined to form friendships between colleagues… But we managed to belie this lousy rule by catching two exquisite creators, Sonia Rykiel and Christian Lacroix, busy in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in an original tour of fashionable conviviality.

Humor Chic – Michelle Obama, when fashion needs a pick-me-up

The ingredients for success? Talent, tenacity, hard work and if necessary a dose of good luck. Just like the break the stylist Jason Wu got by having an exceptional supporter in the captivating First Lady Michelle Obama.

Humor Chic à Paris - Vivienne Westwood and Karl Lagerfeld, Sonia Rykiel and Valentino Garavani, a chic rendez-vous for senior citizens

Paris fashion week is well on its way, as always opening the doors of the imagination and the utmost creativity. It seems that this new vanity waltz will present an array of interesting proposals, including an important trend which only we at Humor Chic have been able to present to you in an exclusive preview. We would therefore like to express a warm thank you to Grandpa Karl and Grandpa Valentino, Grandma Sonya and Grandma Vivienne...because without their great and loving dedication we would never have been able to reveal to you what we believe is the most fantastic trend for all senior citizens! However, should you also intend to organize your own entertaining "rendez-vous for the elderly" always remember to take all due precautions...we wouldn't want a Grandparent on our conscience!

Humor Chic's fashion criticism - Bernard Arnault: how to cancel a story called Pucci for good

In 2000 the French group LVMH guided by Monsieur Bernard Arnault acquired the Emilio Pucci griffe, founded by the Marquis Emilio Pucci of Barsento (a brilliant man with a passion for painting and extremely sensitive to color). The aim was to launch the firm on the international markets. Despite sizeable financial investments, the launch has never succeeded. A number of famous designers and renowned managing directors have followed each other at the helm of the firm, but without bringing success. No one has been able to capture, translate and modernize what have always been the roots of the Pucci dream. Now it appears that for the umpteenth time, Bernard Arnault, taking someone’s bad advice, has decided to change tack desperately and entrust the business to a staff of promising house painters, who are completely ravaging the identity of the Pucci fashion house. The collection presented in Milan was just an exercise with no style: it had nothing to do with the taste and history of the Florentine fashion house. On the contrary we have to say it out loud: it is only a poor copy of the Maison Balmain.

Dear Bernard, in fashion success only arrives when there is a true and original talent behind it, and someone with your abilities knows this... So why recruit the usual army of jugglers, PRs and conjurors! You mean to say it’s the same old compromise? But then it isn’t fashion any more, dear Bernard! and the end buyer knows it....

Humor Chic catwalk chronicle - Mega brawl at Armani Privè

Well yes, Humor Chic had already anticipated the tendency to physical combat launched at the couture shows by dear Giorgio Armani but it seems the phenomenon has soon been widely emulated and became a success at the Armani Privé, (the disco of Uncle Giorgio’s Milanese Cafè). A fine fiery start to the evenings of Milan fashion week. At dawn on February 26th in Uncle Giorgio’s disco a mega brawl broke out involving well-known figures in the fashion and business worlds, including a young Von Furstenberg, grandson of Clara Agnelli (a scion of the Italian FIAT industrial dynasty) and his more distant but elegant aunt the American stylist Diane Von Furstemberg. The cause of this embarrassing and boorish uproar? A compliment paid to a girl, with fists flying, kicking and punching sparking a panic and a general rush for the exits... The happy, carefree night ended with the arrival of doctors and carabinieri and saw the arrest of a fashion dealer and three charges being laid for bodily violence, one against the young Von Furstemberg. So dear Giorgio, you’re always saying you enjoy being with the young people of today... But see what happens when you set the boys a bad example! Wouldn't it be better if this meeting place of foolish youngsters shut down? For Milan it would be!