Is Moschino’s logo belt the most faked accessory?

Vintage experts suggest that more than three-quarters of the cult belts in circulation are bootleg. Would our writer’s treasured vintage piece pass the test?

Moschino belt. Photograph: Timur Emek/Getty Images

SCREAMING GOLD CAPITALS, a 2in-wide calf-skin leather belt and zero holding-up power. To some, it’s just a belt. To others, it’s daft. Either way, as accessories go, Moschino’s logo belt pulls no aesthetic punches, which explains why the belt – one the most covetable accessories of the past 25 years – is now reportedly one of the most faked accessories too, with vintage experts suggesting more than three-quarters of belts in circulation are counterfeit.

Adam Skeleton, who sells 1990s Moschino pieces through his site Nothing-special, reckons 80% of eBay’s 150-odd belts are fakes. He has accidentally bought two and recently wrote a firm blogpost about how to spot one, including “letters that slide along the belt”. Gabrielle Roberts, the co-founder of vintage streetwear site Wavey Garms, thinks it is closer to 90%. She has sold more than 100 in the past 18 months, but such is the increase in fakes, she has had to implement a vetting system. “Real ones have Redwall, Made in Italy and the serial number embossed on the back,” she explains from her HQ in south London. “That and the letters are elongated or the holes are the wrong size [on the fakes].”

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Of course, in an age of discreet branding, the belt isn’t for everyone. But it is for me, and I can safely say what my (vintage) one lacks in functionality, it makes up for in kudos. When I wear it, “hilarious” friends might ask me where it’s from, but I have since learned this reaction is rooted in bitter jealousy because the real ones are almost impossible to find. The prospect of it being fake is pretty devastating.



Miley Cyrus wearing a Moschino belt. Photograph: Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic
The belt’s ascent can be neatly linked with the rise of Jeremy Scott. A label known for its GSOH, last autumn Moschino hired the American designer as creative director. Wit and overt branding have been Moschino’s stock-in-trade for more than 30 years – much of the belt’s success comes via “advertising itself through the logo,” says a spokesperson – but Scott took it to the next level with his AW14 catwalk, which teemed with fast food branding and grinning models, and the SS15 collection in Milan last week, in which models actually rollerbooted down the catwalk.

The vibe worked, and reported sales under Scott are “up in triple and quadruple digits”, according to a spokesperson. Interest in the belt has never really diminished (it’s a “consistent bestseller”), but it doesn’t hurt that celebrity wallflowers Miley Cyrus and two-thirds of the Kardashians have just started wearing theirs. Prior to this counterfeiting era, Wavey Garms got £200 a piece; 18 months later, the ubiquity of fakes means that is more likely to be £100. The most desirable one is white, says Roberts, who can’t find one for love nor money.


Following Roberts’s advice, I check mine. The letters don’t move, the holes are precise and it has a serial number. Relax, Fashion – it’s real.

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Alice Fisher on style: fluffy fashion

I’ve worked at lots of different fashion magazines. Cutting-edge style bibles, women’s glossies and biannual luxury guides: I’ve done ’em all. Despite a common goal of selling style, fantasies and clothes, these magazines differed enormously on one key factor: fun.

At some titles, there was palpable fear that they weren’t taking fashion seriously enough. I’ve sat in long meetings and discussed glittery tops, shiny shoes, pop stars and models with furrowed brow and serious nods. At one place staff weren’t allowed to eat lunch at their desks because lunch breaks should be used for lunch meetings. At another we weren’t allowed food in the office at all. Every so often, though, when the important people were out at important meetings, we’d run up and down the corridors wearing diamonds and fancy shoes out of the fashion cupboard. It was really cathartic.

I thought about this fear of fun as I read the new season trend reports. Most are descriptive and accurate – words like utilitarian, folklore and suiting are bandied about – but I felt sad that so many reports referred to the “texture” trend. This is such a serious word for the fuzzy-wuzzy, cuddlesome fluffy delights that came down the catwalk this season. [Louis Vuitton Bags]

The clothes were undeniably fun. How can you look at shearling coats in cartoon colours, furball jumpers and faux-fur wraps and scarves and simply write “texture” in your notebook? Everyone from Gucci and Marni to Calvin Klein and Chanel sent something you’d want to hug down the catwalk. Texture? Pah.

If you want to buy something frivolous that makes you smile, there are two British designers you should try. Helen Moore’s accessories company is 30 years old and she sources faux fur for her cute little collars, scarves and shawls from a local company in Devon. Hannah Weiland’s label, Shrimps, is brand new but already a big fashion hit. The colours are zingy and her coats, bags and bag charms are very strokable. Whichever you go for Cheap Designer Bags, you’ll enjoy wearing them.

If you want your “texture” to be versatile, this trend doesn’t just come in eye-stinging brights nor only in faux fur. Topshop and Asos have all manner of fuzzy jumpers and cardigans. I particularly like this one from Topshop. It’s super-soft and comes in soothing grey. Grey is a big colour for autumn and I like ticking off two trends with one cheap purchase.

You can invest in fuzzy clothes, too, though. I don’t like spending too much money on clothes that won’t travel well from season to season, but in the right colour and shape, there are fuzzy delights here that you could cuddle for years to come. Lots of high-street brands have great “teddy bear” coats in for autumn. Some look and feel as if they have been fashioned from cuddly toys, but others are soft, subtle and elegant. This coat from & Other Stories is smart enough to see you through any occasion, while these hairy Jérôme Dreyfuss trainers are functional as well as decorative.

However much money you decide to spend on these shaggy, fuzzy clothes, please enjoy them. Give yourself a snuggle when you’re wearing them, grin when you take them out of the cupboard. And whatever you do, don’t refer to them as textured.Fashion & Style

“Just Say No:” The Binx Walton School of Modeling

In the chaos of Paris Fashion Week, there’s nothing like a homegrown model to really put you at ease. Tennessee native Binx Walton is serene, but also straightforward—a refreshing change from the air-kissing (and ass-kissing) that sometimes happens when the style elite cram into the Grand Palais.

“What’s funny to me about modeling is the difference between how people perceive it and how it really is. They think it’s dramatic and glamorous and crazy. But it takes a lot of patience and a certain, I don’t know, zen? Because you never actually know where you’re going to be in a week. Actually, I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow. We get calls hours before we have a job, especially during the shows. You have to just go with it—this job is like a ride, and you’re not really in the driver’s seat… I don’t know where I’m going to be a week from now. But I do know that eventually, I’m going to see my brother in Hawaii.”

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One of her brothers, that is. “Other people think I have a huge family,” she says, “But to me, it’s just family. I’m the youngest of five. There’s two girls and two boys, including me, plus one half-sister and one-half brother… And I have one nephew, baby Charles. He’s super cute. He has green eyes and curly-ass hair. Everyone’s in love with his hair.”

I ask if she’ll start taking him to Baby Gap castings. “That’s kind of how I got started,” she laughs. “My sister wanted to be a model, but the scout asked my mom if I wanted to try it. I was only nine, so I was like, ‘no thank you, no way.’ Then when I was 13, I figured I’d give it a try. And here I am,” she says with a wink, gesturing to her makeup chair as if it’s a throne. “My sister didn’t end up being a model,” she continues. “She’s a chef now, and she feels… well, she’s half-and-half about me being a model. But you know, it’s important to do your own thing.”



Is it easy to do your own thing when other people are constantly dressing you? “You can say ‘no’ to things,” she explains. “You should say ‘no’ to things, if they’re bad for you or they make you uncomfortable or upset.” Case in point: Frying her hair. “My rule for keeping my hair healthy is, I tell people, please don’t put hairspray in it. And definitely don’t straighten it after you put hairspray in it—and people backstage or at the salon will lie to you. They’ll be like, ‘This doesn’t burn your hair!’ But it does—you can hear it sizzling. Don’t let anyone do something messed up to your hair, because you’re the one who has to live with it. That’s where a lot of girls go wrong.”

She’s also got a strong philosophy on international luggage. “Just pack what you need before you go on a big trip,” she instructs. “Don’t pack any shit you’re not actually going to wear. Don’t pack something you’ve never worn before, because you won’t wear it just because you’re in Paris, or wherever. Unless you’re going somewhere really remote, you can buy clothes there—you probably will, anyway! So my packing advice, I guess, is 'Don’t kid yourself.'”

Casting director Michelle Lee calls “Binx!” across the room, and I ask if it’s her real name. “My real-real name is Leona Binx Anastasia Walton,” the model says, grinning. “But nobody ever calls me that! Like, if you yelled ‘Leona’ across the room, I don’t know if I’d look up.”

Lee swoops next to the 18-year-old and examines her glowy skin. “Great,” she says, making a note on her clipboard, “You’ve been through makeup.”

“Wait, no I haven’t!” Walton calls back. “I haven’t,” she shrugs with a laugh. “I swear!”


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Abercrombie & Fitch Taken To Court

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC] that accuses Abercrombie & Fitch of refusing to hire a Muslim woman for wearing a headscarf.

The case backdates to 2008 when prospective employee, Samantha Elauf, interviewed for a position at a branch in  Tulsa, Oklahoma and was given a "high-score" by the interviewer,  Heather Cooke, reports The Guardian. This high score was then dropped after points were deducted in the "appearance and sense of style" category, when Cooke spoke to her district manager, who reportedly enquired specifically about Elauf's headscarf.



In its defence, the company argue that wearing a headscarf would conflict with its "look policy" and, despite Cooke explaining that she assumed Elauf wore the headscarf for religious reasons, top christmas gifts for 2014 as Elauf didn't request an official exemption from the policy, they didn't need to facilitate it.

"It is undisputed that Samantha Elauf did not inform Abercrombie that her religious beliefs required her to wear a headscarf when she was at work," the company's legal representation argued. "It is axiomatic that an employer must have actual notice that an applicant's mandatory religious practices conflict with an employment requirement."

The EEOC has countered this defence, saying that it creates a loophole for religious discrimination.  This is the second time that the EEOC have brought the case. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma originally found in favour of the EEOC, before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling in favour of Abercrombie & Fitch.

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"By holding that an employer may discriminate against a job applicant or employee based on practices that the employer correctly believes to be religious, so long as the employer does not have 'actual knowledge' of the need for religious accommodation … opened a safe harbour for religious discrimination," said lawyers for the EEOC, referring to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruling.

Kristen Stewart Is Involved in a New 'Twilight' Movie

Twihards, prepare yourselves.

In a move that will please vampire lovers, women, and vampire-loving women everywhere, Kristen Stewart is becoming a mentor in a project to revive theTwilight film franchise and support women directors.

Must have Michael Kors Bags, check here to get amazing discount! Facebook, Women In Film, Tongal, Lionsgate, and series author Stephenie Meyer are partnering to release a series of short films based on Twilight characters (does this mean that we'll finally find out what happens to Charlie? Renesmee?!) in a campaign titled, “The Storytellers–New Creative Voices of The Twilight Saga.” Each will be directed by an aspiring female filmmaker, who will produce the film under the guidance of a panel of big-time female actors that include Kristen Stewart, Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer, and Julie Bowen, as well as Meyer, Frozendirector Jennifer Lee, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, and Women in Film president Cathy Schulman, which basically makes it an industry powerhouse.Cheap Designer Bags

The women will select five winning shorts to appear on Facebook next year. Fans then will vote for the best film, and that female director will receive a cash prize and career opportunities, according to Lionsgate’s press release for the project. In an industry where the majority of directors are male, the initiative is one "dedicated to giving more women a chance to be heard creatively," Meyer said in a statement. "The female voice is something that has become more and more important to me as I've worked in the film industry." And to the rest of us, too. We’ll have our popcorn ready for the girl-powered vampire extravaganza.

Wake up to the fashion pack's favourite new label, A.W.A.K.E

Kim Kardashian was seen kitted out in A.W.A.K.E twice during her Paris Fashion Week parade and the brand was also the focus of the first Buro 24/7 Fashion Global Initiative event last week. The label has been simmering away for the past two years appearing in numerous magazines globally and worn by the street style pack, but this week it seems set to become a household name. Here's what you need to know about the brand...

A.W.A.K.E is a London-based label founded by Natalia Alaverdian - a Russian-born, Belgium-raised, half-Armenian fashion director, stylist, photographer and designer. Alaverdian served as fashion director at Harper's Bazaar Russia for five years before switching to a more photography and art direction-based role at the magazine, where she then also began her label in 2012.

A.W.A.K.E is an acronym for All Wonderful Adventures Kindle Enthusiasm, which, the designer explained in an interview with the New York Times in 2012, is basically her way of saying, strike while the iron is hot.

Natalia Alaverdian with an A.W.A.K.E design Photo: Instagram: awake_uk

After creating her first collection Alaverdian, 32, told Style.com: "I've wanted to design since I was about 10 years old, but I was scared of the technical aspect of it, so I went into styling. My boyfriend convinced me to take the leap. Life's too short."

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Striking while the iron was hot, the designer created her label, which is heavily influenced by Japanese art and culture. Each season, she also takes inspiration from a different creature - from a giraffe to a rooster and this season, a dragonfly - her focus is on statement pieces that highlight the female form using rich materials, lavish textures and inventive silhouettes. Perfect, you might think, for someone with Kim Kardashian's body.

Explaining how important her past experience has been to her design, Alaverdian told the New York Times, "I know how clothes are supposed to fit, and I have a very precise idea of what I want."

Natalie Joos, Caroline Issa and Miroslava Duma all wearing A.W.A.K.E. Photos: Rex/Instagram: awake_uk

The label was quickly picked up by numerous fashion magazines, with the clothes appearing in features for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle, among others. The statement pieces also became popular with the fashion pack - with Miroslava Duma, Natalie Joos and Caroline Issa frequently choosing the label for their show-going attire.

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Reality star Kim Kardashian discovered the label earlier this year, first wearing a structured pink dress in March and, last week, plumping for the designer twice over her fashion marathon in Paris Fashion Week, and once in London. Kardashian explained that it was her husband, Kanye West who introduced her to the flourishing label.

Kim Kardashian in two A.W.A.K.E designs during Paris Fashion Week. Photos: Rex

Speaking to WWD , she said: "He researches everything and he loves to find new talent, Cheap Designer Bags and he introduced me to her and told me she's part Armenian, and so am I."

Kardashian in March this year and last week wearing A.W.A.K.E designs.Photos: Rex/Instagram: awake_uk

If Kardashian's influence wasn't enough to make the label one to watch (which it no doubt will be), Miroslava Duma, founder of Buro247.com and street style favourite, has picked A.W.A.K.E to be the first brand celebrated in the site's new global Fashion Forward Initiative, which supports young and up-and-coming design talent. The event, which will now be held annually, celebrated Alaverdian in star-studded, cocktail party style, Micheal Kors bags attended by the likes of Giambattista Valli, David Koma and Mario Testino, as was co-hosted by Duma, Kardashian, Melvin Chua and Caroline de Maigret.

So watch this space because A.W.A.K.E looks set to take the world by storm in the coming months. And if you fancy shopping the collection now, the line is carried at both Browns and Avenue 32 .

Kim Kardashian's Paris Fashion Week marathon: the outfits

Kim Kardashian at Balmain's spring/summer 2015 show Photo: Getty

GIVENCHY'S LACE SIREN
Gracing designer friend Riccardo Tisci's spring/summer 2015 show was always going to be Kim's biggest style spectacle. And disappoint the preened, primped reality TV star did not. Clad in a bespoke black lace Givenchy jumpsuit with tighter-than-tight bustier and biker jacket draped over her shoulders, Kim managed to keep her assets in and her leather on while navigating baby North West into the venue. The 18-month-old was, incidentally, wearing a child-friendly replica of Kim's luxe lady of the night garb, with kiddie's Dr. Martens.

IN THE NUDE

"She's a nude operator..." Sade almost once sang. A befitting theme tune for Kim, whose outfit colour spectrum mostly varies between black and nude. A master of the fleshy palette, KK stepped out for a spot of Paris shopping in a triumvirate of beige.

Unsurprisingly, Kanye is also a fan of Kim's figure-hugging fashion.

Photo: Instagram/kimkardashian

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THE FLEDGLING BRAND CHAMPION
As well as being a poster girl for the bespoke services of doting designers Riccardo Tisci and Olivier Rousteing (the brain behind Balmain) Kim has been heralding emerging label A.W.A.K.E. And guess what? She has her fashion-conscious husband, Mr. West to thank for the introduction.

"He researches everything and he loves to find new talent; he introduced me to her and told me she's part Armenian, and so am I,'" Kim told WWD. "I'm all about empowering other women to be successful and it's really important to me to support designers that I believe in and friends that I believe in that are hardworking." KK paired this origami embellished LBD with a pair of trusty Hermès heels.

A SPOT OF SELF-PROMOTION
Wondering where Kim gets her slightly sheeny bodysuits from? Not Marks and Sparks, but Maison Martin Margiela, no less. The aspiring designer also took the opportunity to show Paris one of the Kardashian Kollection skirts, paired with a Josh Goot coat, of higher price pioints.

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KO-ORDINATING CLEAVAGE
Who knew Kanye had such sculpted pectorals? The couple caused much titillation on the Lanvin front row as they both flashed the gifts that God gave them.

Kim's feather-embellished outfit statement came just hours after the star was attacked outside the Balmain presentation by Ukrainian prankster Vitalii Sediu. [Louis Vuitton Bags]

NUDE ROUND TWO
Newcomers to Kim's wardrobe have already learnt of the lady's penchant for nude, and will most probably have gathered that her clothes come in just one size: extra tight. So, when Kim's leggings also take on the skin hue something really special is born. Luckily we didn't have time to dwell on whether Kim was wearing a smooth groove with her Alaïa tights, as we were enraptured with the beaded Balmain confection hanging off her shoulders. Doesn't Kanye look miffed that he doesn't have one too?

Photo: Getty

BALMANIA
A true Balmain pin-up, Kim plumped for a heavily patterned white dress from Olivier Rousteing's Resort 2015 collection, paired with lace-up booties, a choker and cuff from the spring/summer 2015 collection.

BALENCIAGA BABY
Possibly our favourite Kim-does-PFW look was the kovered-up black Balenciaga ensemble she slipped into to support Alexander Wang at his spring 2015 showcase. And Yeezus did little North put on a good show for her front row debut.

A.W.A.K.E ambassador
So passionate about newfound brand A.W.A.K.E (All Wonderful Adventures Kindle Enthusiasm), Kim agreed to co-host Buro 24/7 Fashion Forward Initiative party in honour of designer Natalia Alaverdian. The label's top fan opted for another architectural dress by Alaverdian for the celebration. Prepare to see A.W.A.K.E make waves after this.