The 3 Movies You Must See in January (Trust Us)

Hitting theaters this month, stories of love and violence: Tim Burton resurrects 1960s Americana, an immigrant confronts the gangs of New York, and a masterful jailbreak features our favorite Australian heartthrob. Pause Netflix—you won't want to miss these blockbusters.
One-Woman Sweat Shop: Big Eyes

Photo: The Weinstein Company

In early-1960s America, cheesy renderings of sad waifs with huge black peepers were everywhere. In Big Eyes, Tim Burton restages the stranger-than-fiction saga of how a sociopath (Christoph Waltz) conned a naive divorcée (Amy Adams) into churning out these works under his signature. It’s a droll and gorgeous saga, even if it doesn’t end up going very deep.


If You Can Make It There: A Most Violent Year

Photo: Courtesy of the production company

In A Most Violent Year, J. C. Chandor (Margin Call, All Is Lost) once again vividly pits man against chaos. Oscar Isaac plays a Latin American immigrant in 1981 New York City who’s trying to parlay his gangster father-in-law’s heating-oil company into a legitimate business—but he may not have a firm bead on the real agenda of his complicated American wife (Jessica Chastain).


A Perilous Match: Son of a Gun

Photo: Courtesy of the production company

Yet another dark Aussie delight set in a criminal demimonde, Julius Avery’s noir debut, Son of a Gun, is a grabber. Violence abounds, especially in prison, where a mastermind (Ewan McGregor) persuades a smart 19-year-old newbie to launch a jailbreak. Once the pair is out, a mega-heist is in the offing—but so is a complicating romance, courtesy of rising star Brenton Thwaites and a terrific Alicia Vikander.

5 Trends That Need to Die in 2015

First, the disclaimer: Not every trend on this list is inherently "bad." Some of them I actually really like, it's just that in the past year, everyone—from celebs to street style stars to the chick ahead of me in the juice bar line—has been wearing them. I'd like to see people wear something else for a change, but for that to happen, we're gonna need to put a moratorium on these things for a little while. (Just a little while. Like a year?)
1. AGGRESSIVE EAR JEWELRY.
Statement necklaces were the Cool Accessory Look five years ago, then it was arm parties, followed by fistfuls of dainty rings that girls slipped on faster than they could say “Catbird."This year, the most popular accessory was the ear cuff, something that felt very subversive when girls first started sliding them over their lobes, like a hybrid earring/jail cell when they were metal or an explosion of sparklyness when they were the jeweled kind. But then they started showing up everywhere, and now they feel about as rebellious as a second hole in your earlobe.
2. VERY BASIC, VERY EXPENSIVE SNEAKERS.
I'm not saying sneakers shouldn't cost money. I get why people shell out for gold hardware-decked Buscemis or python Céline slip-ons. The breed of sneaker I'm talking about is different. They're the sneakers that are just simple white leather lace-ups or black leather slides with a rubber sole, which seemed to be everywhhhereee in 2014. So many of these shoes are essentially Adidas' Stan Smiths or Vans' slip-ons but with marginally better materials, and an astronomically more expensive price tag. Why?
3. HEAD-TO-TOE NORMCORE.
I can understand the appeal of a Birkenstock or a pair of Levi's 501s, but when you wear all the normcore staples together—carbon-copying Jerry Seinfeld's look—it isn't inspired, it's lazy. Why not break up your white T-shirt, mini backpack, and acid wash denim with some stuff that shows you're part of the iPhone generation, not the flip phone one?
4. CULOTTES.
I embraced them, really. Truly. I got past the whole "These are basically high fashion gaucho pants" confusion. My problem with culottes is more that they're like, really, really popular. They're such a striking, recognizable silhouette, and they're everywhere. I legitimately just found FOURTY-FOUR pairs of culottes on Net-a-porter.com when I searched, which is crazy when you consider there were probably only four pairs on sale there last year.
5. THE (NEW) KARDASHIAN SIGNATURE LOOK.
It's the same almost every time: a crop top & pencil skirt combo or a skin-tight midi dress, a strappy stiletto or pointy toe pump, topped by a calf-grazing coat if it's cold—but always, always, everything in the same color, which is firmly planted in the "putty" family. (Though, to be fair, it may stray as far as "clay" or "camel.") Yep, it's a polished look and it photographs well! But at this point, it kind of feels like watching the same episode of KUWTK every.single.day.

Cara Delevingne to Star in a Film With Jared Leto and Will Smith

Photo: Getty Images
Cara Delevingne is officially an actrice. From fairy tale Chanel films with Pharrell to snagging lead roles in Paper Towns and Pan, Cara's already added some plum theatrical gigs to her resume. Now, she’s breaking into action, starring in a big-time movie alongside Jared Leto and Will Smith.
Delevingne has been cast in The Suicide Squad, a Warner Brothers adaptation of the DC supervillains-turned-government-agents comic book, according to E! Online. Delevingne will play the Enchantress, whose alter ego, June Moone, is a freelance artist.
Leto will play the Joker while Smith has been cast as Deadshot. Also in the film is Tom Hardy (swoon who will play Rick Flagg), Jai Courtney (Boomerang), and Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend).
Executives are reportedly still looking to cast Amanda Waller, who oversees the Suicide Squad, and have their eyes on Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, or Oprah. Any of these actresses would certainly be incredible in the role, but the possibility of Cara Delevingne Instagrams with OPRAH? Mind-blowing.
Production for the film starts in April, with the film slated to come out August 5, 2016.

Mulberry Appoints Johnny Coca

MULBERRY has appointed former Céline accessories design director Johnny Coca as its new creative director. He will be responsible for all of Mulberry's collections, including ready-to-wear, reporting to Godfrey Davis, chairman and CEO.
"I very much look forward to joining Mulberry as its new creative director and to leading a new design direction at one of the very best British brands," the designer said today.
    Johnny will ensure that Mulberry continues its tradition of encouraging new young talent as he helps to build the next generation at Mulberry
So what do we know about Mulberry's new man? He hails from Seville and studied art, architecture and design at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Ecole Boulle in Paris. Roles at Bally and Louis Vuitton honed his skills as an accessories specialist and led to his role at Céline. Fluent in four languages, Coca brings an international flair to the British brand - but also has a strong foundation in London. He has tutored students at Central Saint Martins and intends, the brand says, "to ensure that Mulberry continues its tradition of encouraging new young talent as he helps to build the next generation at Mulberry".
"We are delighted that Johnny is joining us," Godfrey Davis added. "He has a wealth of international luxury and fashion experience that will help us bring new energy and innovation to Mulberry."
Coca was just one of the talents linked with the job in recent months, and comes to the role more than a year after the previous creative director Emma Hill's departure. His tenure at Mulberry will begin on July 8, 2015.

Exclusive: Olivia Jean Steps Out of Jack White's Shadow

Photo: Courtesy of Fresh and Clean Media

Alternative. Unconventional. Different. These are the words Olivia Jean uses to describe herself. "I hope I inspire other female artists who have similar tastes to not be afraid to be themselves. Not everyone fits the cookie cutter mold of what popular music has become these days," says Jack White's protégé whose debut album, Bathtub Love Killings, was released last month.
Having cut her teeth playing in bands for White, Karen Elson, and Wanda Jackson, the no-frills brunette has finally struck out on her own. Her debut LP is dashed with bluesy licks, spooky organs, and girl-group harmonies. "It’s helped me in a lot of ways," the multi-instrumentalist says of touring and recording with such acclaimed talents. "They’ve given me advice when it comes to songwriting, live performance, basically everything that it takes to be in the public eye." While Jean (whose new music video for "Merry Widow" premieres exclusively below) is decidedly in control of her image ("I don't have a wardrobe stylist or anything like that. I do all my own hair and makeup") and draws inspiration from vintage design and '60s makeup," she’s the first to admit her onstage persona is still a work in progress.
"I’m still kind of getting the hang of it even though I’ve been doing it for a long time," Jean, who is diagnosed with social phobia, explains of performing. "I’m very shy so it’s difficult for me to perform. But I really enjoy doing it. Having social anxiety makes it a lot different than for the majority of musicians out there. So every show is an accomplishment."
Signed to White’s Third Man Records label, Jean, who previously played in the girl group Black Belles, received particular motivation and support from her label boss. "Jack really allowed me to take the reins and have full creative control of how everything turned out," she says. "He’s very encouraging to whoever is working in his studio to just create how they would create anywhere else."

It Brit Designer Simone Rocha Debuts Clique-Inspired Denim

Photo: Benjamin McMahon

This article appears in the November 2014 issue of ELLE magazine.
Denim isn't the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of Irish designer Simone Rocha—she of the Perspex platforms and faux-prim fluorescent guipure frocks spotted on fashion darlings Alexa Chung and Chloë Grace Moretz. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a pair of trousers in her namesake collection—all the more reason why her latest collaboration, with denim label J Brand (available in mid-November at Dover Street Market), will thrill her ardent fans.
The 28-year-old Rocha, who founded her line in 2011, was first approached by the L.A.-based denim maker earlier this year, shortly after the highly praised presentation of her pearl-studded, Elizabethan-inspired fall collection. Given that J Brand has collaborated with critics' favorites in the past—Proenza Schouler, Hussein Chalayan, Christopher Kane—you could say Rocha is following in fairly big footsteps. But J Brand is lucky to have the young talent onboard given all the industry whispers regarding LVMH's intentions for her label. Rocha admits switching gears was a new challenge. "I'd never worked with denim before. It was a bit tricky, but interesting to see how it could be manipulated," she says. And these are no basic five-pocket numbers. "I really wanted to introduce volume into the skirts, dresses, and jackets. I felt that was the best new way of working with the existing silhouettes," she explains. The result: The designer has melded her feminine aesthetic and voluminous shapes with that most proletarian of textiles, producing full, ruffle-trimmed skirts and dresses that can be easily worn over the line's (also frilled) cropped skinnies.
Rocha envisioned the collection as a sort of urban uniform, but one that doesn't feel at all restrictive. "I really wanted the collection to seem youthful and fun," she says. "I was thinking of girls in uniforms in a gang and how everyone is part of that uniform but in their own way. I saw these girls outside my studio in East London mucking about, so the colors came from nature. I was attracted to how each style in a different color felt like a different personality."
In addition to the aforementioned eye-popping lace, the bold use of color—butter-yellow python or bubble-gum-pink neoprene, for example—is one of Rocha's hallmark. So while the J Brand collection will introduce a new customer to her designs, existing fans will likely be pleased to pair the off-duty styles (prices range from $250 for jeans to $590 for a dress) with their fresh-from-the-runway pieces. And just who is that customer? Rocha describes her as "a bit of a free spirit, cool and real," not unlike the teenage Rocha, who "used to just hang out down by the canal" in her favorite jean skort. With her newfound affinity for denim, will Rocha be unearthing that vintage skort anytime soon? "I think I'll stick to my new collection," she says with a laugh.

Celebrity Red Carpet Style: Get the Look With These Bridal Fashion Week Wedding Dresses

If you loved Taylor Swift’s crop top moment at the American Country Music Awards or Kendall Jenner’s legs-for-days look at the MuchMusic Video Awards this year, you can steal their red carpet style for your wedding day! We saw lots of wedding dresses at Bridal Fashion Week that looked like some of our favorite celebrity gowns of 2014 — with some of the most of-the-moment trends. Crop tops, fringe and sexy silhouettes, anyone?
See five of our favorite looks below:

Maria Valentino / MCV Photo; Getty Images

Taylor Swift wore a J. Mendel crop top and skirt combo to the 2014 American Country Music Awards and totally rocked the sexy look.
Wedding dress by Reem Acra

Maria Valentino / MCV Photo; Getty Images

Kendall Jenner turned heads in a daring (and hip-baring) Fausto Puglisi gown at the 2014 MuchMusic Video Awards.
Wedding dress by Inbal Dror

Maria Valentino / MCV Photo; Getty Images

Heidi Klum had lots of fringed fun at the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy Awards in a twirl-worthy dress made by Project Runway contestant Sean Kelly.
Wedding dress by Theia

Getty Images

Jennifer Lawrence‘s cinched Dior Haute Couture gown at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards was romantic and modern.
Wedding dress by Badgley Mischka

Maria Valentino / MCV Photo; Getty Images