Anna Chapman: Russia's new fashion tsar

She is one of the most famous spies of post-Soviet Russia, but now Anna Chapman has a new career – as a clothes designer. Her range of dresses and handbags, under a label that will bear her name, was launched at a fashion show in Turkey earlier this month and will soon go on sale in Russia.

Chapman, who was deported from the US to Russia in 2010 after a long-term Russian intelligence operation of so-called sleeper agents was uncovered by the FBI, claims her new mission is imbued with the same values as the old one, and is inspired by Russian patriotism.

"I find it very sad that we managed to send people to space, but we couldn't organise a proper textiles industry in our country," said Chapman, in a response to written questions from the Guardian. "If we want to stay independent from everyone who is trying to influence us, then we need to produce our own things, then we need to give work to our own people and learn together."

Some of the handbags in the range feature the covers of Russian literary and revolutionary classics, such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky's What Is to Be Done?

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Aside from the traditional winter garb of fur coats and hats that are still worn by many of the older generation, Russians tend to look west for their clothes, whether it is the super-rich purchasing the most expensive European designer labels, or Moscow's new middle class shopping at H&M and Zara.

But Chapman says she feels many Russians are unhappy with this.

"We have a significant group of people who don't like wearing clothes that bear a different ideology, and have a design that is oriented more to the west than to our own culture," she said. "I was inspired by Russian culture, particularly of the Tsarist period. I wanted to make something that was part old-Russian, part modern."

Chapman, who once lived in London and takes her surname from the Briton to whom she was previously married, was one of 10 Russian sleeper agents deported from the US. On their return from America, the expelled agents met the president, Vladimir Putin, and reportedly sang patriotic songs together. Many of them were then given lucrative advisory positions in state companies, and Chapman herself was made an adviser to the CEO of a Russian bank.

While the other former spies have disappeared into the shadows since their return, Chapman has become a public figure, and has positioned herself as a patriotic role model. She linked up with pro-Kremlin youth movements and has her own television series, devoted to the pseudo-scientific debunking of mysteries.

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She has used her "Bond girl" image to take part in photoshoots for men's magazines, and last year tweeted a marriage proposal to the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who was granted asylum in Russia. When asked whether the proposal was a joke during a television interview, she walked out.

She says the fashion line is her main project now, but she continues with her television series and is also doing "social work for young scientists".

Her clothing range is based on what she feels is the ideal image of a woman, who should have "a strong enough will that she can crush empires, but at the same time is tender and caring".

She says she does not know why she wanted to draw from Russian literature in the collection, saying it was an intuitive decision: "Why am I inspired by Russian literature or Russian culture? It's not in my mind but in my heart. Can I explain it? No, I just feel it. It's similar to the feeling I have about my mum."

That is so fetch! Mean Girls-inspired jewellery released

Every so often a film comes along that instantly become a cult classic and Mean Girls was most certainly one of those. The 2004 teen comedy set the bar for all the teen comedies that followed; full of sarcasm, great clothes and an abundance of relatable characters, the noughties answer to Clueless was a certified hit.

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Now in 2014, to celebrate the movie’s tenth birthday, jewellery company Stella and Bow will be unleashing an amazing collection of Mean Girls-inspired pieces to make your own.

Stella and Bow is a cool and quirky accessories company based in L.A and run by natives of Los Angeles Lauren Brokaw and Lindsey Lerman. Since starting out in 2011 the two ladies have gained worldwide recognition and have been featured in numerous magazines including Nylon, InStyle, Glamour and Teen Vogue. They have also gained celebrity fans and famous followers in the form of actress Amber Heard and TV reality star turned fashion designer Whitney Port.

Lauren and Lindsey already have some seriously stunning jewellery to offer, that ranges from simple yet stylish gold and silver rings to beautifully intricate statement necklaces.

But come February when the Mean Girls-based designs go on sale we are sure the ladies’ sales will sky-rocket with every fan of Cady and her crew grabbing themselves a piece of the action.

The collection is made up of bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings and there is even a hair clip that reads “Full of Secrets”. Each piece is named after a character from the film including a rose gold “Janis” bangle that simply reads “Wednesday” and a “Regina” cuff available in either silver or gold that reads “You Can’t Sit With Us”.

What is fabulous about the collection is that you just know every member of The Plastics would have owned at least one piece of the range had it been available to them.

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How to Layer Fragrances: The Art of Creating a Whole New Perfume

Last year, as a friend and I were getting ready for a party, we found ourselves gazing discontentedly at our collective perfumes. It wasn’t that the scents were in any way distasteful. It was that — well, we were bored. We wanted the night to be memorable, unique, and none of our fragrances seemed up to the task. As she turned over a bottle of INeKE Poet’s Jasmine and I lazily considered my go-to, Fresh Citron de Vigne, it suddenly hit us: why not just wear both?

Scent mixing. The art of layering fragrances. A mathematical conundrum, wherein scent plus scent does not equal two scents, but rather, a single, transcendental fragrance (or a powerfully disastrous odor, if you do it wrong). In the Middle East, layering fragrances is a revered ritual that can involve as many disparate elements as oils, perfumes, rose water, and infusing one’s hair and clothing with scented smoke from bakhoor.

It’s an elegant way to smell like an individual, rather than a walking perfume company billboard. But you have to do it with care. A few things to keep in mind:

1. Opposites do attract

Spice and citrus. Florals and wood. Vanilla and wood. Florals and spice. Musk and citrus. Apply the heavier scent first, then finish up with the lighter one. Jo Malone has a fantastic fragrance combining guide that you can use to figure out which scents play well together (and you don’t necessarily have to use Jo Malone’s).

2. But keep something in common

When both your fragrances share a common interest — a note of rose, perhaps — it’s more likely that the combination will be a match made in heaven.

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3. Use a light hand

Remember, you don’t need to apply twice as much scent as normal for this whole mixing thing to work.

4. Any scented product is fair game

Body lotions, hand creams, colognes, body sprays, and even deodorants can all provide an extra dimension to your signature scent.

5. Keep a ray of light

Debbie Wild, lifestyle director for Jo Malone London, says that the key to mixing scents is to always have a “shot of light.” Don’t go pairing that heavy Musk Magic with an overpowering Wood ‘n’ Oud scent unless you want to bring the whole room down with you.

6. Not everything has to go on the skin

Dab perfume on your wrists and then walk through a mist of cologne. Spray one scent in your hair and another on your lingerie. Moisturize well with a floral-scented cream, then top it off with a spicier fragrance (perfume lingers longer on moisturized skin, anyway). Your entire outfit is your palette.

7. Test, test, test

Layer those scents on test strips, or spray your preferred duo into a room and see how you like the room’s aura a few minutes later. Try out different combinations on weekend mornings when you don’t have to be anywhere. And try not to pair two new scents before something important, like your wedding day.

8. But above all, go crazy

After all, isn’t the goal here to find something that’s quintessentially you?

And the combination my friend and I dreamed up? Poet’s Jasmine is dark and romantic, studded with jasime, star anise, rosemary, and absinthe. Citron de Vigne is light and citrusy, inspired by champagne. And together? A heady, sparkling romance of a scent — the perfect ingredient for a memorable night.

Calvin Klein's sweet scent of success goes back to the future

Guests at the Calvin Klein autumn/winter menswear collection in Milan on Sunday arrived to find bottles of Obsession on their seats, the designer's perfume first released in 1986. It was a hint of what to expect on the catwalk.

Sweatshirts appeared throughout the show emblazoned with the Obsession logo and that of the brand's other era-defining smell, Escape, from 1988.

While an older Klein customer will appreciate the military influence of an army surplus colour palette and tasteful classics like double-breasted overcoats and pin-sharp suits, creative director Italo Zucchelli is increasingly courting a younger, cooler customer. Enter that sweatshirt. Currently the key shape in fashion, Zucchelli combined it with the retro cool of an era – the late 80s and early 90s - when Klein reigned supreme. It was a clever move.

Klein's refound cool factor under Zucchelli has been slow but it's now burning bright. If his womenswear counterpart Francisco Costa has stayed faithful to the minimalism DNA, Zucchelli's mark is now enmeshed with the menswear. The Italian designer has been at the helm for 10 years but has only really developed his signature aesthetic in the past three.

"It's been really strong over the last couple of seasons,' says Caroline Issa, fashion director of Tank magazine. "Malcolm Gladwell says it takes around 10 years to become an expert at something, so maybe Zucchelli is having his tipping point now.'

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The front row at this show was notable. Along with a who's who of editors taste makers like the singer Ciara and her fiancé, hip hop producer Future, were present. The brand is becoming notably present in the music world. The singer Drake wore cloud print T-shirts from the spring/summer show for his recent tour. Klein has clearly noticed the success Givenchy – the house that dresses Kanye West and Frank Ocean – has had by courting the new generation of fashion-hungry rappers and r'n'b singers, and is following suit.

The key is opening the brand up to a different consumer without losing the loyal customer base. While that sweatshirt is the Instagram-ready design, quieter pieces included sports jackets, cable knit jumpers and overcoats. The balance looks to be a successful formula. Turnover for the past quarter of 2013 was up 150% from the previous year's and pre-tax profits for the same year increased by 56%.

Vivienne Westwood yesterday showed cartoon kittens on T-shirts, hiking boots, and the long john shape that is fast becoming a trend. Westwood , who appeared on the catwalk in a pinstripe head wrap and matching suit as ever, also showed her political side. Notes on seats at the show proclaimed fracking to be "the big fight … we must think before we rush into further action to fracture the earth."

Hussein Chalayan on His “Unobvious,” “Intelligent-Sexy” Vision for Vionnet

On the surface, Madeleine Vionnet—the 1920s and thirties revolutionary known for inventing the bias cut and creating elegant, sculptural, corset-free looks—and Hussein Chalayan—the conceptual daredevil responsible for the bubble dress, wearable furniture, and, most recently, his Spring ’14 hat-umbrella hybrids—don’t appear to have much in common. However, upon further inspection, the grandmother of modern dress and the cerebral Cyprian designer are remarkably similar—namely in their obsessive attention to detail, forward-thinking attitudes toward femininity, and refusal to be slaves to the past. Perhaps that’s why Goga Ashkenazi, who acquired Vionnet in 2012, tapped Chalayan to design the storied house’s demi-couture range. “I can kind of see why they asked me, because of my, let’s say, architectural approach and my interest in geometry,” said Chalayan, whose first Vionnet collection will hit the runway on January 21 during the Couture shows in Paris. “I like to do work that looks new rather than referential. So I think it’s a good collaboration, to be honest.”

Since the announcement of Chalayan’s appointment last week, his forthcoming take on Vionnet’s philosophy has been hotly anticipated. And it will be interesting to see how his presence at the house affects its stature. After laying dormant for more than sixty years, Vionnet was awakened in 2006, and saw a veritable revolving door of designers—some of whom, to put it nicely, didn’t do its namesake justice. Since buying the struggling brand, Ashkenazi (who, in addition to serving as its chairman, is the creative director of the label’s ready-to-wear line) has made a noble effort to restore Vionnet to its former glory. Could Chalayan’s twenty-plus years of boundary-breaking experience be the ticket back to the top? Here, Chalayan talks about his debut Vionnet outing; making couture more accessible (if only a little); and why, despite his artistic approach, he’s not just a conceptual designer.

How did Goga Ashkenazi approach you about this project?

Davide Dallomo, who works with Goga, reached out to make the introduction. Then I met Goga in Milan just after the summer. We had a few conversations, and we signed a month before Christmas. Goga liked my initial sketches. We got along right from day one, and I was happy that I was able to realize a lot of my ideas with a few of Goga’s suggestions and changes. We had our first fitting before Christmas, and I’m pretty pleased.

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Why did you say yes to Vionnet? Did you have any reservations?

I had to think about it, of course. But when I met Goga, she’s honestly such a life force. She’s got this amazing creative energy. She’s a great entrepreneur, and I thought, “My God, you’re only 33.” Also, she talks about how we’re all honoring Vionnet here. It’s not [Goga's] personal line. Vionnet is such an establishment. It’s got an undisputable heritage, so I thought it might be an exciting thing to do.

Vionnet was a revolutionary in the twenties and thirties, and her work has been inspiring designers for almost a century now. Is it intimidating to design clothes that bear her name?

No, because it’s not old Vionnet. This is a modern interpretation of Vionnet, and the whole idea is to keep her name going. I don’t think there’s pressure because we’re not trying to replicate what she did. We’re trying to work through her spirit. We live in different times. I’d like to think that she’d be pleased with it. It shouldn’t be seen as intimidating. I like to be positive about it rather than to think, “Oh, my God, how am I going to manage?”

In the last decade, several heritage houses have been revived to varying degrees of success. As a designer with a distinct point of view, what do you think it takes to respectfully work for and thrive at a heritage brand?

The whole idea is to look at what Vionnet would have done if she were living in this place and time. We are genuinely looking at the principles and the worldview that Vionnet had, and thinking about how that could be interpreted for now. There are already parallels in my work because of my interest in graphicism and sculptural forms and their relationship to the body. But it’s about honoring the brand. It’s not about my brand. It’s a different kind of responsibility from doing your own thing. The whole project is surrounded by a big sense of responsibility to do the right thing, and to respect Vionnet. Of course, my name will be associated with it, but honestly, it’s an honorary project.

While haute couture can soar into the six-figure price range, demi-couture sticks at a still daunting—but more accessible—five figures. Why is that? And can you speak to the difference between the two practices?

It has nothing to do with the nature or the preciousness of the garments. It’s to do with the number of fittings that the client gets. The fittings are what really raise the cost, so we will do one fitting only, as opposed to ten fittings.

What is the relevance of couture today, whether it be demi-couture or haute couture? How do you think it fits into the fashion landscape in this economic climate?

Goga is the director of Vionnet, and its owner, but she’s also a couture customer. So one thing she was saying is that you spend endless amounts of money on the fittings, and that’s why she wants to do demi-couture. In this economic landscape, it’s a very good way of looking at couture—you are still offering highly refined garments, but customers are saving on the costs because of the reduced number of fittings. That’s quite a good move on her part.

Do you have a sense of who your Vionnet demi-couture client will be?

I think it’s a woman who has a very individual sense of style and who doesn’t want to wear typical couture dresses. She wants to stand out. She doesn’t want to wear that nipped-in waist, big-skirt thing. It’s someone who doesn’t want to be feminine in that obvious way. The collection is feminine in a very different, more unusual way, and the clothes are really sexy, but they’re intelligent-sexy, rather than silly-sexy.

What can we expect from the forthcoming collection?

There will definitely be a couple of different characters in there. It’s a really tight, fifteen-to-twenty-piece collection. We have a sculptural part that’s about form, and it’s more slouchy. Then we have a much more flowy part that’s feminine but very layered. Then we have a drapey part that’s still quite body conscious, and then we have a part that’s super-graphic. I’ve got these mini groups that are related but different. I’m interested in a couple of different types of women. There are also accessories that are part of the garment.

Vionnet has had a tumultuous few years, with a revolving door of designers. How do you think that your demi-couture appointment will help Ashkenazi to restore the Vionnet name?

Well, I’m only working on demi-couture, so my role is for a very specific part of Vionnet. I would like to think that I’ve worked with integrity for many years now. I don’t plagiarize. I work within my own pool. I try to push boundaries, so I’d like to think that we can do the same for Vionnet within the realms of what Vionnet’s about. I can’t really comment on what happened before except that I’m aware that other designers have taken on this role, and I’m aware of the result. But it’s best just to be positive. Goga has breathed new life into the house and into the ready-to-wear, and I think it’s on a really good track. They have a couple hundred [retail] accounts all over the world, so the ready-to-wear is doing well. It’s on a good setting as a brand.

You mentioned the importance of pushing boundaries. Do you think that Madeleine Vionnet would have been on board with the conceptual designs that you’ve put forth during your career?

I don’t consider myself a conceptual designer, even though people call me conceptual. I just think that we’ve made really nice, interesting clothes that have mostly been wearable. The press has another image because they only look at my showpieces. I spend hours trying to eliminate seams in coats and dresses—and for me, that kind of work is really challenging and exciting. If you buy anything from me, you’ll see that we try to get rid of seams, we try to cut [the garment] out of one piece, we try to do so many things that are more subtle, and that takes up a lot of my time. I think if Vionnet looked at my clothes that are quieter, she’d be more interested in them than in all the more obvious things that you would associate with me.

What are your goals for the demi-couture line, and what do you hope people take away from this first collection—other than one of your designs?

There’s definitely a very strong design language that I’m hoping people will find inspiring. It’s a very contemporary woman, and I think it’s an unobvious woman. But I don’t know what people will get out of it. I do what inspires me, and that’s the only way you can think. I always do what excites me—in my own work, as well—and try to share that with people. If you start projecting onto yourself what people ought to think, you go crazy. So I’m doing my best. Definitely.

Touting the ‘femininity’ of Radiant Orchid, Pantone Color Institute’s hue of 2014, is borderline offensive

Have you had a peek yet at the colour of the year for 2014? According to the folks at the Pantone Color Institute, who have the single best job out there aside from the lucky people who get to name paint colours for a living, it’s a strange, mottled purplish hue they have the audacity to call Radiant Orchid.

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director at Pantone, calls it “an invitation to innovation” that “encourages expanded creativity and originality.” (This is clearly how you get the dream job: you can pluck a meaningful sounding line from thin air). Citing Michelle Obama, who is apparently so ahead of the fashion curve she is already an early adopter of Radiant Orchid before we had even ever heard of it, Eiseman concludes that the colour “inspires confidence and emanates great joy, love and health” (or was that Michelle Obama?). Anyhow, gazing deeply into her rainbow magic crystal ball for 2014, Eiseman advises us to look forward to a year of “warm feminine undertones in purple, pink and fuchsia.”

I don’t know about you, but I am not taking a lot of comfort in that prediction. To me, the colour looks a bit like the centre of an old bruise, or the muddy hue kids in art class come up with when they decide to smush every primary colour in their paint box all together. Just because it’s a kind of weird hue, neither pink, nor purple, with an unsettling reddish undertone of vibrancy underneath it does not, at least to my mind, indicate that its use on everything from bottle openers and pillow cushions to designer garments will see an outpouring of creativity and innovation the like of which hasn’t been observed in human history since the days of Ancient Greece.

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The idea that we are supposed to take comfort in the colour of the year’s “femininity” (largely meaning no straight guy would be caught dead either wearing it or putting it on his bedroom wall) is also vaguely annoying. It’s the same kind of borderline offensive thinking behind such bumper sticker thoughts as “if women were running the world, the world would be a better place.” Which might well be true, but it’s just about as silly as assuming that colours have any gender. And that if they did, the predominance of more “girlie” ones would generate a more peaceful, contented world. Clearly, those who believe such things have never been to high school, let alone an all-girl’s one. But then those girls would probably still be wearing 2013’s Colour of the Year, Emerald, in their school’s polyester uniform.

As to the idea of Radiant Orchid promoting what we call “wellness,” sure, Michelle Obama wears it and she always glows with such health and vigour it’s almost frightening. I would argue that the real reason she always wears it is because she is a fan of contemporary Asian American designers such as Jason Wu, Philip Lim and Derek Lam, and appropriate to the literal roots of its floral association, Radiant Orchid is a distinctly Asian/fusion hue. In this, the Pantone predictors are right on: there is an Asian wave afoot on the fashion front. Whether or not this is a direct play to the emerging buying power in Asian markets, in 2014 the big names in fashion will be of Asian descent, from Alexander Wang newly anointed at the helm of Balenciaga to the street-chic duo Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Opening Ceremony.

If a colour can be global, I suppose I would nominate Radiant Orchid. Global of course, is good (unless you are shopping at a local farmers’ market or hoping to support Canadian manufacturers by buying Canadian Olympic swag). When it comes to colour here in this part of the world in January however, thinking local is rather limiting, like a daily diet of winter cabbage and potatoes. And one which is fairly guaranteed not to impart the healthy glow of Michelle Obama in 2014’s Colour of the Year.