Marie-Amélie Sauvé, longtime Balenciaga stylist (and muse) and W’s new senior fashion editor, is as precise as a military sergeant when it comes to her wardrobe. Here, she shares her love of black, her favorite home store in Paris and her yearning for an Italian vacation.

Marie-Amélie Sauvé

Define your style in three words: Black, sharp, fitted.

Daily uniform: I like to wear a lot of black and quite fitted clothes.

Greatest hits: Balenciaga coat, Azzedine Alaia leather skirt, Balenciaga leather pants.

Preferred footwear: Balenciaga spring/summer 2011 boots, Balenciaga spring/summer 2012 “Éclair” tall boots.

Finishing touches: Balenciaga watch.

Nighttime look: I wear the same from day to night, but I will add a fur coat for night.

Best recent discovery: Tumblr.

Favorite stores: Shoppe: Au Bain Marie, Paris.

Style pet peeve: Shiny stretch.

Style icons: I do not have any.

Last purchase: Housewares from Au Bain Marie for my apartment in Paris.

Lusting after: Jeff Wall painting or Irving Penn “Guedras.”

Favorite haunts: My vacation in Italy every August.

If Hitchcock created fashion films, this would be it. One plus One, Giorgio Armani's suspenseful new three-minute film showcases the Spring Summer 2012 collection on three models locked in a love triangle of hot pursuit. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, director of 2009's I Am Love, the vertigo-inducing shots of the Italian cities of Mantua and Cremona serve as backdrops to signature sleek black suits and the collection's opalescent quality. "Today, fashion needs to open itself to new languages," says Giorgio Armani. "Cinema is the form of expression I have always felt the closest to."

Film producer Cécile Winckler is clearly decisive—and succinct—about matters of the wardrobe. The New York dweller by way of Belgium prefers casual duds and leather pieces worn in with care. Here our February It Girl, who divides her time between Manhattan and Paris, offers up her favorite cafes on both continents and how she’ll be battling lingering chilly temps.

Define your style in three words: Casual, tomboy, chic.

Daily uniform: Skinny jeans, t-shirt.

A selection of vintage t-shirts.

Greatest hits: Old leather jacket I've been wearing for the past 10 years, Alexander Wang white dress, my collection of vintage t-shirts.

Finishing touches: A necklace.

Preferred footwear: My worn out Doc Martens.

Above: Doc Maartens meet Dracula. Below: an everyday necklace.

Nighttime look: Black.

Best recent discovery: Great Jones spa.

Favorite stores: Deyrolles or La Grande Epicerie in Paris.

Style icons: Jane Birkin, Jean Seberg, Audrey Hepburn.

A favorite Canon camera.

Last purchase: New camera.

Lusting after: A good adventure.

Favorite haunts: Cafe Select, Cafe de Flore.

Winckler’s pet dog.

Favorite haunts: Cafe Select, Cafe de Flore.

Winter survival strategy: Embryolisse every morning.

Colorful Maui sunsets now have some stiff competition from two new Missoni-designed cabanas at Four Seasons Maui, Hawaii. (fourseasons.com/maui) The design house’s signature vibrant prints deck two graciously sized rooms at the resort’s adult-only Serenity Pool—rattan sofas, plush terry towels, and graphic pillows fill out the spaces—part of a collaboration between Seaside Luxe and MissoniHome.

A room at Four Seasons Maui, Hawaii

And if the direct view of the Pacific, the pool, and the loud patterns aren’t enough stimulation, the rooms come standard with an espresso machine, flat screen TV, WiFi, and Veuve Cliquot.

W's Associate Beauty Editor, Christina Han, is backstage for at all the major shows during New York Fashion Week, sharing tips and tricks from the beauty professionals who are busy creating next season's looks. In this installment, Han visits Ralph Lauren and L'Wren Scott.

Ralph Lauren:

Tom Pecheux’s classic Ralph Lauren lady has impossibly good skin (perfected with Estée Lauder’s Double-Wear Light foundation), a touch of powder across the T-zone, a flick of mascara, perhaps a touch of lip balm, and that’s usually as good as it gets. This year however, Pecheux was able to coax the designer into adding straight lines of black eyeliner to lids for what Pecheux calls “elegant subtlety.”


L'Wren Scott:

In homage to the original “vamp,” American silent-film actress Theda Bara (best known for her risqué costumes and smoky eyes), makeup artist Aaron de Mey rimmed models’ eyes in Lancôme’s Garment, an inky blue shadow. A dot of Juicy Tubes gloss in Clear on lids keeps the look according to de Mey, “believable and not too costume-y.”


L’Wren Scott collaborated with manicurist Yuna Park in a custom deep indigo polish Scott named, “Midnight Blues.”

W's Associate Beauty Editor, Christina Han, is backstage for at all the major shows during New York Fashion Week, sharing tips and tricks from the beauty professionals who are busy creating next season's looks. In this installment, Han visits Michael Kors, Anna Sui and Proenza Schouler.

Michael Kors:

A page from Shiseido makeup artist Dick Page’s personal sketch book and the windblown, frost bitten look he conceptualized come to life on model Ming Xi (right).


Anna Sui:

Bold blue, Sixties-inspired lids with tiny dots placed under the lower lash (seen here on model Xiao Wen) for what makeup artist Pat McGrath calls, “a touch of playfulness,” were the main attraction at Anna Sui. McGrath’s go-to for those perfectly drawn winged eyes is none other than Covergirl’s Liquidline Blast Eyeliner in Blue Boom. 


Inspired by Jean Shrimpton, hair maven Garren (the man behind my very own cropped cut) paired his “kitten crown” (a teased out bump) along with a low ponytail for a polished balance against Anna Sui’s swirling-Sixties prints.


Proenza Schouler:

Argentina’s Melissa Stasiuk (above) was the inspiration for the beauty look and claimed the coveted exclusive at Proenza Schouler. If it seems like she just woke up, that’s the point. Models’ hair was immediately washed with Fekkai’s Apple Cider Shampoo upon arrival, treated with the brand’s anti-frizz serum, then air dried for that I-partied-hard-last-night-but-still-managed-to-wash-my-hair-this-morning look. MAC’s Diane Kendal then blended a brown contour cream into eyelids with a dab of balm for lips. Appearing perfectly disheveled takes work.

Most Fashion Week-goers have been making dizzying rounds at Le Baron, Acme, Indochine and the Boom Boom Room for their nighttime revelry. Tuesday evening, W Magazine and P&G’s Joanna Crewes lured them to more civilized grounds—the Upper East Side—for the mesmerizing premiere of “The Ever-Changing Face of Beauty,” a film created by Sølve Sundsbø (and stills from which appear in the magazine’s March issue). Guests entered the cathedral-like New York Armory space whose appropriately hushed atmosphere, save for a moody soundtrack, helped train all eyes to two, fifty-foot high, dramatically curtained off-screens, showcasing the film, which has Lara Stone and a very chiseled male mannequin morphing through a variety of scenarios, combined with flora, fauna and natural elements. The sight proved a relief to some. “It’s so calming,” purred Ann Dexter-Jones as she gazed up. Perhaps that’s why so many celebrities sought relief there from the more cramped environs of other fashion parties: Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller, Evan Rachel Wood (who arrived with fellow Gucci fragrance campaign star Chris Evans), Felicity Jones and a runway’s worth of models like Bianca Balti, Shalom Harlow (recently on the catwalk for Alexander Wang) and Constance Jablonski all seemed happy to stare at the screens like kids in front of the TV. If only children watched such highfalutin fare. Afterwards, a select group repaired to the nearby Mark Hotel for an intimate candlelit dinner.

Click here to see photos from the event.

W's Associate Beauty Editor, Christina Han, is backstage for at all the major shows during New York Fashion Week, sharing tips and tricks from the beauty professionals who are busy creating next season's looks. In this installment, Han visits Vera Wang, Rodarte, Oscar de la Renta and Narciso Rodriguez.

Vera Wang:

Hairstylist Paul Hanlon’s wind-swept, aerodynamic look at Vera Wang. Now if we only all could like that chic after getting caught in a gust.


I live for great brow products (mine are sparse, unwilling to grow), so when I spotted nothing but shimmering skin—thanks to Cle de Peau’s gold Luminizing Face Enhancer—and a bold brow by makeup artist Lucia Pieroni, the countdown immediately began for the brand’s new brow pencil launching this September.


Rodarte:

Kate and Laura Mulleavy were inspired by Australia’s Outback. Makeup artist James Kaliardos brought on some serious bronzer (NARS’s Laguna) for a “caught in a dust storm” look. Also, it must be said that Rodarte consistently has the most covetable hair accessories each season, this year’s is a spray of gilded stars.


Oscar de la Renta:

Model Cara Delevigne in Orlando Pita’s voluminous ‘do and Oscar de la Renta’s bejeweled ribbon headband. That’s all her own hair by the way, no extensions necessary since Pita’s team teased out models’ hair to Adele-like heights. Does Johnson + Johnson still make their trusted detangling spray? Because these girls are going to need it.


Manicurist Yuna Park painted nails in shades from Oscar de la Renta’s forthcoming polish line debuting later this fall. Essential Larimar (left) is inspired by a blue gem only found in the Dominican Republic, where de la Renta calls home. Others include Essential Carnation (a brilliant red) and Essential Aubergine (right) on model Cara Delevigne, whose silver bracelet is by one of her favored London-based jewelry designers, ManiaMania.


According to makeup artist Gucci Westman, the look for Oscar de la Renta is meant to take “10 minutes, max.” A quick sweep of eyeliner (applied ultra-thin like Westman’s muse, fashion stylist Camilla Nickerson), a dab of sweet, pinky blush (Revlon’s Cream Blush in Pinched and Flushed, available in May), a nude lip (Revlon’s Lip Butter in Crème Brulée), and a sweep of mascara finishes the look.


Model Kelsey Rogers rocks one of Oscar de la Renta’s jeweled headbands, princess-style, backstage.


Narciso Rodriguez:

For spring, Eugene Souleiman created helmet-like ‘dos spray painted in green, white, and purple for Narciso Rodriguez’s show. This season Souleiman decides to push the envelope with a row of pins dangerously jutting out of the rocker-style, slicked back hair. Rooney Mara, take note.


The only way to keep Shiseido makeup artist Dick Page in line with who gets what—each catwalker will wear one of five very different looks—is this very organized model chart.


Dick Page’s painterly palette is dotted with lip and eye shades from Shiseido’s fall collection.

Is it the woman who makes the dress or the dress that makes the woman? Regardless of where your answer falls, your interest will be piqued by “The Woman Dress,” a new short film, the third in Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales series, which will premiere at an exclusive party tonight. The brand enlisted Italian director Giada Colagrande, whose recent work “A Woman” starred Wilem Dafoe, to create a movie taking inspiration from its designs and showcasing exclusively female talents (the first two films in the series were directed by Zoe Cassavetes and Lucrecia Martel).

A still from "The Woman Dress"

Colagrande seemed slightly taken with the macabre, turning first to catacombs in Palermo, Italy as a jumping off point for her bewitching tale.

“It’s five centuries old and all of the bodies are divided based on their jobs and wearing the dress of their category, like a priest or a lawyer,” explains Colagrande. “When you look at their corpses, you can’t see their faces, but because they’re dressed in different ways, you associate a different identity with them. It shows how even a dress can give an image of you as strong as a personal identity.”

With that in mind, Colagrande crafted a fantastical storyline in which a glamorous woman (played by actress Maya Sansa) enters a mysterious coven of witches (the Williamsburg-based pop group, Au Revoir Simone, who also provided the soundtrack), asking them to create a dress for her. Once she is submerged in a tub of water, laced with her own blood, the witches perform a spell, and she is transformed into a blood red colored dress (naturally of Miu Miu make).

Besides wearing Miu Miu ready-to-wear, the four female leads also sport lens from the label’s new Culte sunglasses line, whose octagonal frames Colagrande found perfect to express the mad scientists air of the witches’ ritual. (The glasses hit stores in May.)

The whole experience proved a welcome challenge for Colagrande, who is more accustomed to making wardrobe decisions after fully realizing her characters.

“I like the idea that they were proposing we start with the dress rather than the opposite which we normally do when you’re making a movie, you think of a character and then anything that makes the character is what they wear,” she says. “In this case I had to invent the characters inspired by the dresses. So the dresses really became my lead characters.”

Click below to view the film in full:



Photos: courtesy of miumiu.com

W's Associate Beauty Editor,Christina Han, is backstage for at all the major shows during New York Fashion Week, sharing tips and tricks from the beauty professionals who are busy creating next season's looks. In this installment, Han visits Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan, Philip Lim and Marc Jacobs.

Carolina Herrera:

Siri Tollerod models Orlando Pita's gravity defying, puffed up and teased out 'do. In this case, size does matter.


Essie's Not Just A Pretty Face, an opaque dusty rose, finished off the lady-like look. According to nail queen Essie Weingarten, the flattering shade makes nails appear longer and more elegant. To nail biters everywhere--stock up.


Donna Karan:

Another twist on the french manicure, this time with a sexy bordeaux tip in Deborah Lippmann's Single Ladies.


Hairstylist Eugene Souleiman delicately rolled models' hair up into head-hugging twists on one side, the other would flaunt a topsy-turvy tailored hat.


Makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury (above) loves to talk beauty and why wouldn't she? Her go-to's include volumizing spritzes of Oribe's dry shampoo at the roots (for that bombshell Brigite Bardot look), layers of eyeliner by MAC (gel) and Dior (pencil) with a final sweep of black mascara from Tom Ford.


Tilbury decided to flip things upside down by applying a cherry-chocolatey blend of lipsticks (MAC's Diva and Partyline) to models lids.


Philip Lim:

NARS Makeup artist Francelle Daly is turbo talented. This is the face chart she hand painted for Phillip Lim.


That's 15, yes 15, coats of NARS Larger Than Life mascara on sets of faux lashes. More is MORE.


In line with Phillip Lim's Japanese comic book superhero inspiration, nails were painted in black (Essie's Licorice) with layers of white (Blanc) and grey (Chinchilly) for a 3-D shadow effect--it's elegant yet decidedly badass.


Marc Jacobs:

A floppy, fuzzy oversized hat from Marc Jacobs's fall collection. Somewhere Jamiroquai is missing a hat or two.


Tucked under those hats were two milk maid-esque braided knots.


Francois Nars channeled the eccentric Italian heiress Marchesa Luisa Casati's kohl-rimmed eyes for models subtly smoky gaze.