Bill Blass Fires Entire Design Staff (Again), Cancels Spring 2013 Show Even Though It’s ’90 Percent’ Complete

Photo: Getty

With all the designer musical chairs going on in the fashion industry latetly, we’ve gotten pretty used to company-wide upheavals–but the latest shake-up to go down, this time at Bill Blass, is truly a doozy.

According to WWD, Bill Blass Limited (owned since 2008 by Peacock International Holdings) dismissed women’s designer Jeffrey Monteiro last Thursday, and then proceeded to fire all of Monteiro’s nine-person design team.

Apparently, Scott Patti, president of the Bill Blass Group, first told staffers that the upcoming fashion show, slated to take place during New York fashion week as usual, would be canceled and the womenswear collection would not go forward. Then, according to one former Blass employee, Patti handed out pink slips one by one and told employees they were “free to go.” He did not offer an explanation or mention if there would be a severance package. So, basically, it sounds like every employees’ worst nightmare.

While there were some warning signs–WWD reports that the company had recently hired a consultant to look at the business’ viability, and recently they opted to not to invest in new fabric to refill orders instead working with what they already had–the lay offs come as quite a shock. Especially since, according to a former employee, the spring 2013 collection was 90% finished with $250,000 worth of Italian fabrics in the company’s Fifth Avenue offices, and the stylist for the Spring 2013 show, Japanese Vogue fashion director George Cortina, had already been paid in full.

Here’s the thing though: Bill Blass has been here before. After Peter Som left the company in 2008, reportedly because the label’s former owner NexCen couldn’t financially support the label in the way he envisioned, the company laid off 60-plus employees without severance. Shortly afterward the company was bought by Peacock Holdings, but they were forced to file for bankruptcy due to the debt incurred by the previous owner. Ouch.

While the company eventually got back on its feet, hiring Monteiro as creative director, the future has clearly always been shaky. We bet the Bill Blass execs are getting a serious (and unwelcome) case of deja vu.

We’ve reached out to Bill Blass’s PR company for comment and will update when we hear back.

Day 363

The Mixing of Neutrals

We got a last minute dinner invite from friends today which was totally awesome because I was in no mood to cook and hadn’t taken anything out of the freezer yet. Score 1 for being lazy! The best part of the holidays is catching up with everyone and having dinners and spending time. It was such a lovely evening.

I went with a very ‘blah’ colour palate today, but I love the colours none the less. Something you need a bit of the ‘non-exciting’.

White T + Taupe Kersh Sweater (so friggin comfortable!) + Grey Mavi Denim Leggings + Black Boots + Silver Beaded Necklace from Plum

I love the way this looks put together. I was a little uneasy about the way it might look, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Sometimes neutrals can be your best friends

Alicia Keys And Swizz Beats In Fender Bender

It’s never a good sign when celebs are involved with fender benders. They usually lead to claims of injuries by other parties and lawsuits in the future. Hopefully, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats won’t have to face that, as they were involved in a little fender bender themselves yesterday in New York City.

According to MSN, Alicia and Swizz were riding down Madison Avenue in a vintage Morgan Aero coupe when the collision happened. No word on who was at fault but onlookers did notice that Swizz took down the information of the other driver before leaving the scene. It definitely wouldn’t surprise me if there’s some kind of injury lawsuit in the next few days though…Similar Posts:

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Carrie Underwood And Brad Paisley To Host CMA Awards For Fifth Time

If Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley ever decide to retire from country music, they know they’ve always got a gig at the Country Music Awards. The duo will return to host the 46th Annual CMA Awards, airing live from Nashville Thursday, November 1 on ABC. This will be their fifth time hosting the awards show together.

The “Blown Away” artist kicked off the rumors that she and Paisley would return for another go-around, tweeting on August 1, “Hanging out with @bradpaisley today. Just caught him in my make up chair. #suchadiva.” An even better, more mysterious tweet followed: “Ask @bradpaisley why he just lost $100 to me!”

Last year, the singers teamed up for a live performance of their single, “Remind Me”, though we think their best moment came from their memorable bit with The Muppets star Miss Piggy.

Pretty Plaits: Get Summer's Sweetest Side Braids

Popular for the red floor and the runway, braids are all the fashion right now. If the intricate crowns and conch shell-inspired patterns (like individuals at Valentino's Spg show) absolutely are a little also complicated for you personally, opt for a loose, bohemian-inspired style. Females like Freida Pinto, Elizabeth reaser and Lea Michele have featured an informal side plait on the crimson carpet, leaving taught up-dos powering. To achieve the fantastic beach-worthy braid, Isabel Guillen, stylist in addition to braiding specialist from John Barrett's Braid Salon with New York City, recommends prepping a lock with Sara Barrett Be Carry to eliminate fly-aways and frizz, in addition to teasing a person's crown before starting on your braid ( blank ) the extra peak will help steadiness your face. To the perfect beachy effect, use your hands and fingers rather than a comb to easy your locks, and move on the ends or 4 corners of your braid so that you can loosen the item. To finish, aerosol with a light and portable hairspray, such as Shu Uemura Large Lacquer, for a carry that will previous all day long.

Not-So-Prim Pencil Skirts: 3 Celeb Looks to Try

Want any to take the frump beyond a put in writing skirt? Pair it again with an of-the-moment plant top prefer Glee celebrity Naya Rivera at the North park Comic-Con. She shade blocked by having a blue compose skirt from H&M and a chic short-sleeved cropped shell with Razan Alazzouli, and inserted a appear of color with her brilliant yellow Guiseppe Zanotti heels.When we generally think of pad skirts, we of business blah at the worst along with sexy librarian on the best-re-envision the pencil skirt with the help Marion Cotillard, Naya Rivera, and Zoe Kravitz. Natural leather, crop tops, and metal accents put a fresh whirl on this armoire staple.Coop skirts are even absorbing the pink carpet-Marion Cotillard wore some sort of pencil skirt illusion dress by Raf Simons’ Dior variety to the Batman: The Dark Knight Soars premiere. You can recreate that look lacking shelling out for a designer dress by combining an important houndstooth pencil skirt (always in any doing business girl’s wardrobe) having a corset top in a complementary low pattern and adding the glam reach with a luxe stainless steel belt. Reproduce Cotillard and accentuate the black skirt with bright reds as well as mustard yellows.

Meet Seven of America’s Olympians

In one working day the outlet Marriage ceremony with the Olympics is going to be kept in Manchester as the planet gets ready to help you perk concerning about 12,500 triathletes through over 250 nations around the world. Despite the fact tens of thousands athletes across the globe will probably be contending to create place platinum meant for the U.S., the majority of Us residents may be hard-pressed to acknowledge greater than couple of Yankee Olympians with a selection. To treat this, today‘s report delivers to be a disruption by American-made trend to target a number of America most beneficial levels of competition. These reasoning better sports stars happen to be targeted for being among the the U.S. best celebrities about the planet?ˉs leading stage while in the getting years.