Fantastic interview from The Talks  with Pierre Bergé. Some great excerpts:

Are you sad that you don’t work in fashion anymore? Do you miss the business aspect since you retired together with Yves Saint Laurent?

No. Probably because the fashion industry was not exactly the same in the past. I am not nostalgic – I hate nostalgia – but I am happy that I don’t work in the fashion business today. I am sorry to tell you, but it is not very easy to work with fashion magazines now.

Why is that?

With Saint Laurent, we never talked money, we never traded a front cover against advertising, we never talked about that. Never. Let me tell you something: we opened the Couture House in ’62 and in 1963 we were already on the front covers with full pages inside. Do you think that is possible today? Even with a new Saint Laurent?

Would Yves Saint Laurent hate the fashion industry of today?

Of course! Yves retired at the right time and he died at the right time. I am sorry to tell you that, but it is very difficult for me to understand what has happened to the fashion business. It is all a question of money and marketing. We never talk about talent – it’s not the point. We only talk about sales. Yves Saint Laurent would have hated that.

See the full article here.

Alexander Wang Pre Fall. See full collection here.

Pringle of Scotland is definitely having its moment under Alistair Carr. The designer, who was head of show collections for four years at Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière, is shaking things up at the nearly 200 year old brand (founded in 1815). Famous for its luxury knitwear worn by the British royal family, the latest collections under Carr have been edgy enough to be worn by a new generation of shoppers, while still maintaining the tradition of the company to please the likes of Queen Elizabeth and her posse. The pre-fall collection for 2012 features some fantastic orange and green graffiti print on skinny pants and dresses. The boots have chunky heals and abstract paneling. In many pieces, the seams and the sweaters are literally twisted. “I looked at the classic knit pieces in the archives and wanted to twist things up a bit,” stated the designer.

From WWD:

“For pre-fall, Pringle of Scotland’s design director, Alistair Carr, riffed on motifs from the house’s history while still giving the looks a modern twist. His take on the famed twinset, for instance, was a wine-colored cardigan that fastens diagonally across the body, with diamanté buttons designed to resemble one Carr discovered in Pringle’s archives. Elsewhere, the firm’s Fair Isle knit technique was used to create graphic patterns on a chunky wool sweater. Pops of color came on green-and-orange-graffiti-printed pants and dresses, the image taken from photos Carr snapped of the street art during a visit to Paris. For men, there were chunky knits, silk polo shirts and coats in herringbone wool.”

See full collection here.

Band of Outsiders under Scott Sternberg has become the biggest little fashion company in New York City. Constantly coming out with collections that are insanely wearable, the brand launched their pre-fall collection last week. It brings to mind visions of what Ivy League students would be wearing if they were both fashionable and preppy, not just preppy.

From Vogue: “Before moving to California, Sternberg called Ohio home, and as young man growing up in the Midwest, the prep schools and Ivy League colleges of the Northeast were something of a fantasyland for him. Indeed, the new collection was conceived as an idealized vision of that milieu. Which is why some of the sartorial tropes Sternberg has cherished in his own wardrobe for years—varsity jackets and vintage tie prints—found their way into these clothes, like double-breasted woolen coats with leather elbow patches, and khaki pants that nip at the ankle with ribbed cuffs.” See the full collection here.