She may have made some enemies on The City and earned herself a reputation as a snooty cow but there is no doubting Olivia Palermo's star quality. Her distinctive style has made her the toast of New York and glossy magazines galore and her feisty attitude appealed to many including me. So no surprise to hear that Madame Palermo has landed herself her own reality series which will show her life as a socialite fashionista about town and follows her launching her own fashion label. The show is in the very early stages so has not been picked up by a TV network. The gig is very similar to the one that Lauren Conrad has; the former start from The Hills is set to appear in a one-off reality show that features the launch of her fashion label called Paper Crown. The programme will be in the same mode of The September Issue and will be aired on MTV. The details of Olivia's own show are yet to be released and she only dropped the news last week during an interview in Vogue Espana and not surprisingly blogsphere and the rest of the media went into overdrive.
I am kind of over celebs launching fashion lines so the fashion projects by Palermo and Conrad do not really interest me but what I am into it is the reality shows themselves that depict the glam lives of these IT girls who appear to have it all. Looks, wonderful careers, great wardrobes and apartments and lots of fabulous friends. I mean who wouldn't want to live that sumptuous life? I loved watching Whitney in The City and other shows such as The Rachel Zoe Project and Kell on Earth are my 'not' guilty pleasures. So I cannot wait to see both Palermo and Conrad juggle working on a fashion line along with their personal lives in New York and LA respectively.
While I was researching the projects by Olivia and Lauren I came across this fantastic illustration in Bloomberg Business Week that looks at the pivotal points in Lauren's career. The model is created by Frazer Harrison and you can have a proper look at it here.
Watching The Hills and The City over those years gave me an insight into what PR maverick, Kelly Cutrone did for a living but it never really showed how she did it and why. Ms Cutrone reps for 46 fashion brands and is responsible for producing back to back shows every season for her clients at New York and London Fashion Weeks. Every February and September is crazy as hell for Kelly and her team at People's Revolution what with recruiting models for shows, putting together seating charts and sending out invites to shows and after parties. Dressed head to toe in black (what else?) Ms Cutrone resembles a raven who would devour you relentlessly if you ever tried to hurt her loved ones. In the anticipation for the launch of the show I was expecting a reality show which focussed totally on Kelly�s very snarky personality; you know those shows which feature the protagonist reflecting in their deep thoughts. Instead we have a very entertaining programme which reflects the buzzy, ever so manic but exhilarating nature of the fashion business. We also get to see another side of Kelly as mother to seven year old Ava who is as cute as a button. The scenes between the two are quite endearing but what impressed me about Kelly was her attitude to motherhood. Her business and home is based in her four level block in Manhattan and she created this haven so her world can centre around her daughter. This kicks ass to the myth that women cannot succeed in business and bring up babies at the same time or that they have to sacrifice one for the other.
In Kell on Earthwe meet the real players of People�s Revolution ie the ones who did the real work while Whitney and Roxy waltzed around all day gossiping about their trivial problems. There is Robyn Berkely who is Kelly�s right hand and a partner at the company. She lives and breathes fashion so much that she forgot to find somewhere to live when the lease for her apartment expired and now inhabits a room one of the floors in the People�s Revolution building. Like Kelly, Robyn has very high demands and will not tolerate mistakes. The pert, Emily Bungert is also a partner at the firm and is a feisty madam from the Midwest who tells it like it is. Stefanie Skinner, is Kelly�s former PA who has just been promoted to junior executive and is struggling to stay above water to meet the demands of her bosses. She is a tough cookie though and is not frightened to fight her corner even against the mighty Kelly. Then there is Andrew Mukamal, Kelly�s new PA and the only male in a room full of strong and opinionated women. His love of fashion and goth like dress style makes him a big hit with all members of staff who he can be seen lending a listening ear to.
I find it very interesting watching Kelly at work because then I think of Rachel Zoe and how very different they both are. Rachel is very girly girly and Kelly is not, Rachel is also quite touchy feely with her staff and something tells me that Kelly would collapse into a big heap of black lycra if anyone tried to hug her. However what the two women have in common is their passion for fashion, obsessive eye for details and demands for perfection. In a nutshell, the reality show was surprisingly good; pacey enough so you can get caught up in the drama but not too over melodramatic that you lose touch with it. While shows like The Hills and The City have presented a fairytale look at working in fashion, Kell on Earth knocks that tooth right on the head. Kelly�s book, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You was released this week much to her dismay which she described as hell on earth. The book is aimed at women who choose not to have the conventional lifestyle ie getting a degree, getting a great job, getting married and having a baby and yes in that exact order. It acts as an empowerment tool for women who are just a little bit different.
Kell on Earth airs on Mondays on Bravo TV at 10.00pm.
The sixth series of The Hills hits the screen in the UK on 18th October and we will see how the pack are coping without Lauren Conrad. As we all know, Lauren's nemesis, Kristin Cavallari was brought in to replace her and to add some drama to the show. I never got into Laguna Beach but one thing that I noticed about Kristin was that she seemed to catch drama like some people catch a cold so it will be interesting to see what happens. Also returning is The City which stars from Whitney Port who was also in The Hills not too long ago. After major boy drama the second series sees Whitney putting her head down and concentrating on her career. She is no longer at DVF and now works for the prickly Kelly Cutrone at People's Revolution. She also has a blast from the past in the form of Roxy Olin (daughter of Ken Olin and Patricia Wettig), an old friend from way back who also works for Kelly but it seems that Roxy may not have Whitney's best interests at heart. Meanwhile Whitney's former co-worker, Olivia Palermo (who I love) has nabbed a cool job in PR at Elle magazine but she bumps heads with her colleagues. Oh it all looks so exciting. Last year it was all about The Hills with me and The City was just a show that I watched when I got a spare moment but if the trailer is anything to go by, the second series of The City looks amazing. The new series of The Hills really pales in comparison.
Vogue (both UK and US) have received a bit of a bashing over the last few months. UK Vogue has been accused of going over to the dark side and being all bland, boring and predictable by draping its cover with generic stars such as Cheryl Cole and Victoria Beckham. Whilst US Vogue has been criticised for losing its edge and replacing its wonderful creative fashion spreads with dull and lifeless shoots. Fellow Blogger, Chloe Tejada aka Fashion Journalist in the Cityponders the stance of US Voguehere while Michele Obi from myfashionlife discusses the dilemma of the British counterpart in this fascinatingpiece. This combined with ever growing rumours that Chief whippersnapper, Anna Wintour is hanging up her heels and sunglasses means that life is pretty full on at CondeNast towers. It is ever so mind boggling that they even entertained the idea of having cameras in the Vogue offices to make a fly on the wall documentary about the magazine. Unlimited access was given to director, R. J. Cutler to make, The September Issue which is a reality film that focuses on the production of the largest edition of Vogue which was published in September 2007. The film was shot over nine months and captured behind scenes at fashion weeks, staff meetings, photo shoots as well as moments with Anna and her family and close friends. The movie also shows the relationship that Anna holds with Grace Coddington, a dynamic redhead who is Vogue's Creative Director and according to Time; the most influential Fashion Editor. I will be honest and admit that I have never heard of the lady but 20 minutes of research later and I can tell that Ms Coddington seems as formidable of icy Wintour herself. Christ how interesting would it be to see those two at work? The September Issue made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival yesterday and the rights for the film have been snapped up. I have not read the review for it so I am not sure how it was received but those who were after a real life The Devil Wears Prada have been granted their wish.
Check out the trailer for the film below and tell me what you think? Compelling or just another reality film?
