Vanity
Fair's 2006 International Best-Dressed List
They may have always thought of themselves as extremely fashionable,
but now Kanye West and Gwen Stefani have empirical proof that they're
style leaders — the pair have been named to Vanity Fair's 2006
International Best-Dressed List for
the first time.
Stefani,
whose funky L.A.M.B. line has snagged many a teen's allowance since
its inception two years ago, shares her honor with Oprah Winfrey, Condoleezza
Rice, Selma Blair, Sofia Coppola and Renee Zellweger. West is the only
musician/producer among the best-dressed men, who also include David
Beckham, George Clooney, news anchor Anderson Cooper, gossip columnist
Richard Johnson and Count Manfredi Della Gherardesca.
"Gwen
and Kanye are big-time style leaders," said Amy Fine Collins, social
correspondent for Vanity Fair. "They both have such distinct, strong
styles and are completely visible and influential.
"[Gwen]
is fearless," Collins continued. "She can go drop-dead glamorous
and pull it off better than anyone else. She goes to extremes of glamour,
partly by channeling old-time movie stars like Jean Harlow and by looking
to artists for inspiration like Frida Kahlo, who she named her as one
of her style influences. She is not afraid of looking like someone else,
being glamorous in an elegant way and sexy and risqué without
looking trashy. She understands fashion from the inside out because
she's a designer too. She's also in touch with her masculine side and
gets inspiration from her husband's [Gavin Rossdale] closet. She experiments
and she succeeds."
West was
chosen for his "fresh," "poetic" and "cutting-edge"
style, and for being "outspoken, not only in his beliefs, but also
in his style," noted Collins.
"I
love what he does with color," she said. "He loves pale pastels
and nice sugary colors. He has a beautiful way with language, but also
with appearance. There's no one else that's doing what he's doing. He
goes far in new directions and is very watched, imitated and admired.
He feels good about himself and it shows. Kanye is a college boy. He
knows about the Lacoste preppy collegiate look, but he's not going to
leave it at that. Instead, he takes elements of that and almost makes
inside jokes on it. He never looks like a slob, even if he's in jeans."
This year
marks the 67th anniversary of Vanity Fair's best-dressed list (the list
appears in the September issue, which hits newsstands on August 8).
The verdicts are made by more than 1,000 fashion insiders who send ballots
with their selections to the magazine. Landing on the list is a huge
honor in the fashion world and a badge of glory that usually nets invitations
to the most luxurious events in the world.
An individual
must be on the best-dressed list four times in order to be inducted
into the hall of fame, which includes Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Tina
Turner, Bianca Jagger, Iman, Sophia Lauren and Queen Noor of Jordan,
along with Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, David Bowie, Fred Astaire
and Bryan Ferry. This year Kate Moss joins the hall of fame and appears
on the cover of the magazine wearing only patent-leather stiletto boots
and white gloves.
Surprisingly,
Gwen beat out Madonna this year, who has been on the best-dressed list
before. Collins said starlets like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Nicole
Richie are far from making the best-dressed list because they are way
too "overstyled."
"You
have a sense that someone is dressing them like they are a paper doll,"
she said. "We look for people whose personality is coming through
in their clothes. You can see inside their soul with what they wear."
—
Farrah Weinstein
