• Though her first collection was universally panned by critics during London Fashion Week, Rihanna is teaming with River Island for a second collaboration. Ms. Fenty took to instagram to announce the repeat partnership, posting a snap of her ‘working’ on the collection. The caption reads: “Me and my better half @adamselman in design mode!! We went to #WERK on the upcoming #RihannaForRIVERISLAND Autumn and Winter collections! No really, we took it there! Like its not fair that you could get this kinda sh*t at #RIHverIsland” Unfair indeed. (Rihanna Instagram)
• Several arrests were made this weekend in relation to the the horrific Rana plaza garment factory collapse. Building owner Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested on Sunday evening, and five others were taken into custody on Saturday, including bosses at a few of the factories in the building: Balzus Samad and Mahmudur Rahman Tapash of New Wave Apparels Ltd., Aminul Islam of Phantom Apparels Ltd., and two engineers who built the complex. Still, sadly, the death toll continues to rise with 370 people reported dead and another 900 workers still missing. Riots continue to flare up in the area, with vehicles (more than 100) and other garment factories being set ablaze, as well as demonstrations calling for more arrests taking place in Dhaka. Additionally, new information has come to light about the construction of Rana plaza, specifically, “that Sohel Rana had been aware of the cracks in the building on Tuesday, but workers were still sent in to work the next day.” Reuters received confirmation from chief engineer of the state-run Capital Development Authority (CDA) Emdadul Islam, “that the building had not received the proper construction consent, obtaining a permit for a five-story building from the local municipality, which did not have the authority to grant it, and that three floors had been added illegally.” The complex was also built on a weak foundation, an area that used to be a pond subsequently filled with dirt. (WWD)
• Nicolas Ghesquière sat down with System Magazine’s Jonathan Wingfield to talk about why he left Balenciaga so suddenly. It turns out, that like most people, his day job was sucking the life/creativity out of him, and he could no longer tolerate it: “I heard people saying, ‘Your style is so Balenciaga now, it’s no longer Nicolas Ghesquière, it’s Balenciaga’s style.’ It all became so dehumanised,” he said. “Everything became an asset for the brand, trying to make it ever more corporate – it was all about branding. I don’t have anything against that; actually, the thing that I’m most proud of is that Balenciaga has become a big financial entity and will continue to exist. But I began to feel as though I was being sucked dry, like they wanted to steal my identity while trying to homogenise things. It just wasn’t fulfilling anymore.” Creative directors… they’re just like us! (BOF)
• Another day, another Beyoncé news tidbit: Check out Mrs. Carter in this behind-the-scenes look at her H&M summer campaign commercial! (H&M Youtube)
• Here’s a first look at the Karl Lagerfeld-directed short film about Coco Chanel, starring Keira Knightley as Ms. Chanel, and Stella Tennant, Lindsey Wixon, Tallulah Harlech, Caroline de Maigret, and Brad and Hudson Koening. (Vogue UK)
• And now, for a dose of immaturity: Ray J‘s music video for ‘I Hit it First.’ Eh. At least the car is cool? (TMZ)
~Jihan
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