Campaign season is in full swing and the brands are rolling out campaigns heavy on the star power. From top tier models to Hollywood royalty, the season’s stars are bigger and brighter than ever.

SAINT LAURENT

Hedi Slimane and Freja Beha Erichsen is a match made in heaven. Who better to embody the rock n’roll obsessed designer’s laid back vision for Saint Laurent than fashion’s queen of cool. No wonder she’s fronting the line’s permanent collection, a seasonless set of bestsellers guaranteed to be around for years. Sporting the androgynous wardrobe of skinny pants and leather jackets designed by Slimane, Freja looks every inch the rockstar.

DONNA KARAN

The erotic undercurrent of Karan’s urbane fall collection is brought to the forefront in steamy ads starring the dream team of Catherine McNeil and Andres Velencoso Segura. The images depicting an encounter between artist and muse were shot by Mikael Jansson and the campaign’s sumptuous, cinematic feel that leaves us hoping there will be an accompanying film.

CHANEL

From the moment Chanel staged a show in Linlithgow, Tilda Swinton seemed like the obvious choice for the campaign. The Scottish actress wears Lagerfeld’s highland inspired collection with flair and provides yet another fashion moment for the record books.

Nicolas Ghesquiere by Steven Meisel

We were shocked and a bit saddened today to hear of Nicolas Ghesquiere‘s departure from Balenciaga. After 15 years at the legendary house, Ghesquiere is parting ways with the luxury powerhouse, a label he helped become one of the most influential and respected in the business. Though we know this is likely the start of an exciting new beginning (let the rumors begin) we can’t help but look back at a few of our absolute favorite Balenciaga moments, from the very first collection to those infamous leggings. Take a look at our favorites and let us know yours in the comments.

THE REVIVAL

In 2012 it seems like there are new designers shuffling in to breathe life into old houses every few months, that wasn’t so much the case back in 1997. At 25 after assisting designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and paying his dues behind the scenes at several brands, Ghesquière came to Balenciaga to design for the brand’s Japanese licensing partner. Hardly the most glamourous gig – but his talent was evident and soon he found himself creative director of a brand that had yet to rediscover its footing. His first show back in S/S 98 changed all that, with a darkly chic update on the brand’s identity that made the fashion press stand up and take notice. View the collection in full for yourself at Balenciaga.com.

THE BAG

Seasonal styles of the popular Balenciaga bags

It bags come and go, but modern classics are very rare indeed. Ghesquière knocked the ball out of the park when he launched Balenciaga’s Lariat bag in 2000, the oft imitated but never duplicated style has been seen on the arm of everyone from Mary-Kate Olsen to Carine Roitfeld and is still going strong.

THE GAINSBOURG CONNECTION

Nicolas Ghesquiere and Charlotte Gainsbourg by Jean Paul Goude for Harper’s Bazaar

Twilight cutie Kristen Stewart may be the latest actress to catch Ghesquière’s eye, but the original Balenciaga-fille has got to be Charlotte Gainsbourg, a woman whose idiosyncratic beauty and avant-garde career choices mirror the spirit of Ghesquière’s boundary breaking aesthetic. Serving as both muse and face of the line’s signature fragrances, Gainsbourg is a fixture in the Balenciaga front row and in the brand’s iconography.

THE FLOWERS

Jennifer Connolly for Balenciaga S/S 08 by David Sims

It is hard to go back through Ghesquière’s 15 years at Balenciaga and pick the most memorable collections, each collection has its own merits but there are a few that take on special significance. S/S 2008′s floral explosion remains one of the most daring and influential, just when we thought we knew what to expect we got hit with a strong dose of flower power. Reactions to the collection may have been divisive, but it jumpstarted the current craze for bold, head-to-toe print and has been replicated by everyone from H&M to Celine.

THE ARCHIVES

Cristobal Balenciaga Cape, 1963 – Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquiere F/W 2006 cape on Coco Rocha

Every designer working at a storied house has access to a wealth of archival inspiration, but only a select few put it to good use. Ghesquière was always adept at taking Cristobal’s shapes and points of reference, then modernizing them, either with subtle changes or grand re imaginings. Take a look at how Cristóbal’s 1963 cape compared to the oversized brocade cape from the F/W 06 show.

MOD MOMENTUM

Freja Beha Erichsen for Balenciaga F/W 05 by David Sims

Sixties style mod looks often found a place on Ghesquière’s runways and made for some of the most memorable looks; who can forget the mod touches in the F/W 05 and F/W 06 collections?

MARIE AMELIE

Marie Amelie’s interpretation of Balenciaga in Strict Elegance from Interview – Ph. Craig McDean

As much as we love Nicolas’ work, all the credit for Balenciaga’s longstanding cultural impact can’t rest solely on his shoulders. As the brand’s stylist, muse and loyal supporter, Marie-Amélie Sauvé has shaped the Balenciaga look for years on the runway and in numerous editorials. Some of our favorite Balenciaga moments occurred while looking at her artful and creative interpretations of that look in the pages of magazines like Interview and Vogue Paris.

i-ROBOT

Kate Moss by Sølve Sundsbø for Numero Tokyo‘s inaugural issue.

Perhaps the singularly most infamous pair of leggings in history and certainly one of the most iconic Balenciaga pieces of all time. How many leggings find their way onto the bodies of Terence Koh, Kate Moss and Beyoncé Knowles? Not to mention the omnipresent place these leggings held in fashion edits for nearly a year. We love it when Balenciaga goes on a sci-fi streak!

THE GIRLS 

Balenciaga S/S 2002 by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

Every season we’ve looked forward to see which beauties would be featured in the Balenciaga campaign and to date we’ve yet to be disappointed. Whether it is a bonafide supermodel like Gisele Bundchen, or Christy Turlington or a fresh crop of brand new faces, Balenciaga always goes for the unexpected and remains one of the few brands whose campaigns can really launch a compelling face.

THE COPYCATS

The one thing we’ll miss most about Ghesquire at Balenciaga is his ability to kickstart a design trend. There are whole websites devoted to looks cribbed from Balenciaga and while all designers get inspired by each other every now and then it was always amusing to see who was drawing inspiration from Ghesquire.

THE EDITORIALS

There were and are so many great editorial images that involved Balenciaga, but we’ll end on this great shot of Gemma Ward by Nick Knight for Pop Magazine.

Mo & CO Freja Beha from models.com on Vimeo.

Sometimes it’s all about the ease, Freja Beha Erichsen brings her trademark nonchalance to the F/W ads for MO&Co. de Paris, fronting the Karim Sadli helmed campaign in a series of looks that play up her androgynous charm and infinite skills in front of the camera. Clad in casual fur coats, slouchy suiting, leather skirts and adorable deer ears for a touch of whimsy, Freja brings the season’s look to life. Check her out in the campaign and its corresponding film.

Freja by Karim Sadli – images courtesy of MO & Co.

Obvious fake ad is obviously fake 

Like everyone else on earth when we heard the news that Hollywood star Brad Pitt was going to be fronting the latest Chanel No. 5 campaign we were surprised. While we like Pitt well enough, we’d rather see him headlining a blockbuster than waxing poetic about fragrance. Unless of course he’s wearing the Chanel No. 5 scent himself – that we’d like to hear about. Celebrities have a long history with Chanel No. 5, with everyone from Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet and Nicole Kidman fronting the campaign, but we’re of the mindset that no one does it better than a model.

Granted, we understand that a having a mega-popular superstar in an ad will probably get a brand more attention than they know what to do with and all publicity is good publicity, but we can’t help but ponder which models would have been just as good when it comes to posing. Here are 5 Karl approved alternative who could fill Brad’s shoes – just in case they decide to go in another direction next time…

THE OTHER BRAD – Brad Kroenig

Wouldn’t it be nice to see Karl’s favorite blonde Brad snatch up a high profile campaign like Chanel No. 5? It could be cute – imagine little Hudson sneaking into every picture!

THE MODEL TURNED MUSICIAN – Baptiste Giabiconi

Think of the accompanying campaign music video complete with Katy Perry cameo! Think of the general online outrage it would spark! Think of the gifs!

THE GIRLS – Saskia de Brauw, Jac Jagaciak, Coco Rocha, Freja Beha Erichsen, Heidi Mount - the list goes on!

Who says the new campaign has to be fronted by a guy? Forget the gimmicks and go with a group of models who have the star power, personality and presence to pull off anything. Saskia is already in Chanel’s latest ads, Jac Jagaciak is already the face of Chanel beauty and Coco is a perennial Lagerfeld fave who gets bonus points for tweeting her contention with the Pitt appointment. Feisty! We like it!

THE ACTRESSES – Mélanie Laurent, Mylène Jampanoï or Anna Mouglalis

If it absolutely has to be a celebrity, couldn’t the honor go to one of the gorgeous stars of French cinema? Sure Nicolas Ghesquiere has already got his claws in Charlotte Gainsbourg and Léa Seydoux is still representing Prada, but what of the superb, Mylène Jampanoï or Karl muse Anna Mouglalis? Granted, neither of them have the name recognition of Pitt, but what they lack in international attention they more than make up for in chic.

THE META MOVE – Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld shot by Karl Lagerfeld dressed in Chanel designs by Karl Lagerfeld, with creative direction by Karl Lagerfeld and special thanks to Karl Lagerfeld. This could work.

All this said, we’re still curious about just what the Chanel / Pitt collaboration will look like. We secretly loved that ridiculous (and ridiculously beautiful) Nicole Kidman No. 5 short film.

Now that the months of Dior speculation are over and Raf Simons is confirmed for the job, there is a lot to look forward to. Sure we will all miss the bombastic, over the top spectacle of John Galliano’s now legendary collections, but there is no doubt that the house is in capable hands with Simons.

Raf’s Dior debut doesn’t happen until July, but there are more than a few trends from Simons’ days at Jil Sander that we wouldn’t mind seeing on the runways again. Take a look at four Raf fashion statements that wouldn’t look out of place at Dior.

F/W 09 – SCULPTURAL GOWNS

Years before the Dior opportunity was even a prospect, Simons was already using couture techniques in his designs. We could easily see one of the graceful shapes from F/W 09 show resurfacing in his work for Dior.

Freja Beha Erichsen by Patrick Demarchelier for British Vogue August 2009

F/W 11 – BOLD FLORALS

Though he’s associated with minimalism, Simons has never been print-phobic – he’s especially partial to floral patterns in his designs for men and women. Given how ladylike Dior’s image has been lately, it wouldn’t surprise us at all to see Raf show a few of those flowers come couture.

Raquel Zimmermann by Steven Klein for American Vogue

S/S 08 – TRANSPARENCY

Simply put, no one plays with transparency better than Raf does. Whether he’s using swaths of see through tulle, or resurrecting fringe from its country-western trappings, Raf is a master of showing skin with subtlety.

Kasia Struss by Willy Vanderperre for Jil Sander S/S 08

S/S 12 – RETRO MODERNISM

Though Dior has been led by a series of very different men in the years since Christian Dior’s death, each of his successors has been adept at translating the master’s celebrated New Look into something modern. If Simon’s last two collections for Sander showcase anything, it is his ability to cull from vintage source material, while keeping things current.

Natasha Poly by Willy Vanderperre for Jil Sander S/S 12

Vogue Italia knows that nothing grabs your attention better than a striking fresh face, no wonder they’ve enlisted the gorgeous Corinna Ingenleuf for a gorgeous edit by Richard Burbridge. With her sleek look and steely gaze, Corrina is the perfect choice for a hard edged story with loads of black leather. We love how effortlessly cool girls like Corrina, Freja Beha Erichsen, and Saskia de Brauw are creating an androgynous model moment. In addition to the gothic pieces, the story syled by Robbie Spencer, the story features a selection of in your face wristwatches from the likes of Cartier & Rolex.

Marina Abramovic.
Freja Beha Erichsen.
Pop Magazine.

An inventive cover image that leaves us wanting more.

Has Freja Beha Erichsen graduated from star model to full fledged fashion icon? Vogue China seems to think so, enlisting Tao Okamoto to recreate Freja’s signature tomboy-chic look in Lachlan Bailey‘s beauty story. Styled by Clare Richardson and featuring leather and denim duds from Chanel and Calvin Klein, the story does a good job recreating Freja’s quintessential model off duty style. Always fun to see one model pay tribute to another, perhaps next month we can have the tables turned with Freja sporting Tao’s memorable bowl cut.

HAIR STYLIST Rudi Lewis MAKEUP Sally Branka MANICURE Kelly B

Scan Credit | Aja Mok @ tFS