Ripped to shreds
A look back at the cattiest fights in fashion
By RAQUEL LANERI L AST week, a tell-all interview with fired British Vogue fashion director Lucinda Chambers, published in the academic journal Vestoj, left the fashion world reeling. Chambers — who had worked at Vogue for a quarter-century — said she hadn’t read the glossy “in years.” She lambasted shallow colleagues, deemed the clothes “irrelevant” and called a recent cover with Alexa Chung “crap.” Such score-settling is, deliciously, de
rigueur in la mode. Fashion folk may be in the beauty biz, but they’re certainly not afraid to pick fights, throw shade and undermine rivals, as these notorious feuds attest.
KARL LAGERFELD VS. YVES SAINT LAURENT
These two designers’ feud was so legendary, there’s a book about it (Alicia Drake’s “The Beautiful Fall”). It started in 1954, when Saint Laurent outshone frenemy Lagerfeld in a competition for the next great couturier. The two would socialize but also trade barbs in the press, force mutual friends to choose sides — and Saint Laurent even stole Lagerfeld’s boyfriend. The rivalry ended with Saint Laurent’s retirement in 2002 and death in 2008.
AZZEDINE ALAÏA VS. ANNA WINTOUR
Although Azzedine Alaïa is one of the world’s most respected couturiers, Vogue editrix Anna Wintour hasn’t put one of his outfits in her magazine for 20 years. Alaïa, who refuses to advertise, shrugged it off until 2009, when the Met Costume Institute exhibition “Model as Muse,” which Wintour had a big hand in, left out his contributions. “Who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion? No one,” he lashed out in a 2011 interview with Virgine magazine. Relations haven’t warmed: Last week, Wintour skipped Alaïa’s couture show in Paris — his first in six years.
GIORGIO ARMANI VS. DOLCE & GABBANA
The designers have been locked in a tiff since 2009 about who first showed quilted trousers on the runway — a rather dubious distinction to be fighting over.
COCO CHANEL VS. ELSA SCHIAPARELLI
Not only did Chanel consistently disparage the surrealist Italian designer Schiaparelli, she also tried to set her dress on fire, “accidentally” pushing Schiaparelli into a candelabra at a party.
NAOMI CAMPBELL VS. TYRA BANKS
According to Banks, Campbell bullied her early on in her career and even had her fired from jobs. In 2005, Banks invited her nemesis to appear on her talk show, where the two found “closure.” The détente didn’t last: In 2016, Banks told a Norwegian journalist that she was still “very scared” of the supe.