luxury

Blazy takes flight of fancy with bird-themed Chanel show

BY ADAM PLOWRIGHT AND MARINE DO-VALE

  • Blazy, 41, said he intended to "probe and explore the heart of Chanel" with his Haute Couture creations following his highly acclaimed first ready-to-wear women's collection in the same space in October.
  • After reaching for the stars in his first show for Chanel, new chief designer Matthieu Blazy took a feathery flight of fancy for his debut Haute Couture collection on Tuesday inspired by birds and nature.
  • Blazy, 41, said he intended to "probe and explore the heart of Chanel" with his Haute Couture creations following his highly acclaimed first ready-to-wear women's collection in the same space in October.
After reaching for the stars in his first show for Chanel, new chief designer Matthieu Blazy took a feathery flight of fancy for his debut Haute Couture collection on Tuesday inspired by birds and nature.
The vast Grand Palais exhibition space in central Paris was transformed into an enchanted and psychedelic forest populated by giant mushrooms and pink weeping willows.
Blazy, 41, said he intended to "probe and explore the heart of Chanel" with his Haute Couture creations following his highly acclaimed first ready-to-wear women's collection in the same space in October.
That show was set against giant glowing planets that signalled his ambitions, while Tuesday's looks were rooted in earthly beauty, particularly the elegance of bird life.
With stars from Nicole Kidman to Dua Lipa looking on, the first outfits made abundant use of sheer silk muslin alongside Chanel tweeds before the arrival of more whimsical, avian-inspired styles.  
"The idea of the feather runs through the collection, though seldom in its natural form. All kinds of birds appear, as if by magic, from the most familiar to the rarest," Blazy wrote in his show notes.
The Franco-Belgian couturier referenced the extravagant plumage of a roseate spoonbill or the crested cockatoo alongside the humble crow, grey pigeon and magpie.
Even for Haute Couture dresses, typically worn at gala or red carpet events, Blazy told the WWD website that he had tried to strip back some of the excess to focus on the "essence of the house, which is clothes that women actually wear".

Creative overhaul

Blazy's debut show was one the most hotly anticipated moments of Haute Couture Week, alongside new Dior designer Jonathan Anderson’s first outing on Monday. 
Anderson, a 41-year-old Northern Irish designer, also honoured nature, but through highly floral silhouettes that were both sculptural and airy. 
The two contemporaries were promoted as part of a vast overhaul of creative director positions in the European luxury clothing sector in the last 12 months.
Seen as new generational talents, both have the daunting task of modernising some of the most venerable and profitable labels in fashion.
Blazy was poached from Italian leather goods brand Bottega Veneta in December 2024 and handed the task of turning the page on the era of Karl Lagerfeld, who reigned for more than three decades at Chanel.
"Chanel was everything that couture is supposed to be. It was experimentation, it was putting a highlight on the artisans, the textiles were unbelievable. It has a soul and meaning," renowned Paris-based fashion commentator Diane Pernet told AFP.
"If I'm comparing it to Dior, I don't feel the same at all.’
"The new man in arguably the biggest job in fashion proved once more that he is also inarguably the right man," The Times of London's fashion editor wrote of Blazy in a review of his show on Tuesday.
Anderson has had more mixed appraisals, with some critics seeing the risk-taking son of a former rugby player as still searching for a clear identity having now completed a full set of womenswear, menswear and Haute Couture. 
- Debuts - 
Among other highlights this week in Paris, Armani unveiled the Italian house's first Haute Couture collection without the oversight of its founder, Giorgio, who died in early September at the age of 91.
It was overseen by his niece Silvana, who had worked alongside him on women’s ready-to-wear. 
A first wardrobe that aimed to be "like classic Armani, but with a touch of originality" featured numerous fluid, satin trouser suits, sumptuous sparkling evening gowns, and blouses re-embroidered with pearls.
On Thursday, there will be a historic debut on Thursday by Phan Huy, who will become the youngest designer ever invited to Paris Haute Couture Week -- aged just 27 -- as well as the first Vietnamese couturier in the programme.
Only 13 fashion houses hold the official "Haute Couture" accreditation, which is a legally protected term in France, although France's FHCM fashion federation invites guest designers to join the programme.
The twice-yearly event is a celebrity magnet, with actor Jennifer Lawrence and singer Rihanna as well as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez spotted at the Dior show on Monday.  
mdv-adp/gv

entertainment

Judge reopens sexual assault case against goth rocker Marilyn Manson

  • The lawsuit was accepted by the same Los Angeles Superior Court judge who had dismissed it the month before.
  • A judge in Los Angeles has reinstated a lawsuit against shock rocker Marilyn Manson under a new law enabling old sexual assault cases to be heard in court.
  • The lawsuit was accepted by the same Los Angeles Superior Court judge who had dismissed it the month before.
A judge in Los Angeles has reinstated a lawsuit against shock rocker Marilyn Manson under a new law enabling old sexual assault cases to be heard in court.
The lawsuit, filed in May 2021 by a former assistant to the musician, had been dismissed in December because it exceeded the statute of limitations, a maximum time period for initiating legal proceedings after the related events took place. 
But plaintiff Ashley Walters asked the court to reconsider her case in January, when a new law mandated a two-year window for the consideration of sexual assault cases that had already expired under the statute. 
The lawsuit was accepted by the same Los Angeles Superior Court judge who had dismissed it the month before. "I looked at this closely," Judge Steve Cochran said at a hearing on Monday, according to media reports. "I do think the statute revives the claim." 
Walters alleges that the rocker sexually assaulted her when she worked for his Manson Records between 2010-2011.
She also claims that Manson, whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner, boasted about raping women and even showed her a video in which he was abusing a minor girl.
Manson's lawyer Howard King said the lawsuit would fail.
"While Ms. Walters made several now-irrelevant claims about so-called workplace harassment, she has no pending claims for sexual assault as defined in the penal code, as would be required under the new law, nor is she permitted under the ruling to add new claims," King said in a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday.
"The undeniable fact is that Mr. Warner never committed any sexual assault," he added.
Several women have accused Manson, 57, of sexual abuse and assault over the years, including actresses Esme Bianco ("Game of Thrones") and his former partner Evan Rachel Wood.
One of those cases, alleging sexual assault and domestic violence, was dismissed in January 2025, again because it fell outside of the statute of limitations.
pr/ksb/md

culture

Philip Glass pulls Kennedy Center premiere after Trump takeover

  • In a 2018 interview with AFP, he said he was never concerned about prizes -- of which he earned surprisingly few -- but was pleased to see his works challenge audiences at major venues.
  • Renowned US composer Philip Glass has become the latest artist to sever ties with Washington's Kennedy Center following its takeover by President Donald Trump, withdrawing a major new work from the institution as political controversy continues to engulf the once-nonpartisan venue.
  • In a 2018 interview with AFP, he said he was never concerned about prizes -- of which he earned surprisingly few -- but was pleased to see his works challenge audiences at major venues.
Renowned US composer Philip Glass has become the latest artist to sever ties with Washington's Kennedy Center following its takeover by President Donald Trump, withdrawing a major new work from the institution as political controversy continues to engulf the once-nonpartisan venue.
Glass announced he would pull "Symphony No. 15: 'Lincoln'" from a planned June world premiere by the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), a decision that adds weight to a growing artist backlash against changes made under Trump's leadership of the arts complex.
"After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my Symphony No. 15 'Lincoln' from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts," Glass wrote on social media.
"Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony. Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership."
Glass, 88, is seen as the greatest living US composer and perhaps the most influential in the post-World War II era, shattering long-held linear conceptions of classical music and enthusiastically incorporating non-Western forms.
He first made his name in the early 1970s as a minimalist, although he disliked the term.
Glass' groundbreaking moment came in 1976 when he premiered "Einstein on the Beach" -- a work that tore apart basic expectations of opera and marked a coming of age for the avant-garde.
In a 2018 interview with AFP, he said he was never concerned about prizes -- of which he earned surprisingly few -- but was pleased to see his works challenge audiences at major venues.
The composer, whose mother assisted Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Europe, is a lifelong advocate for Tibet, and has organized an annual concert at Carnegie Hall drawing top pop artists to benefit his Tibet House cultural center in New York.
Glass's decision lands amid a broader pullback by artists and performers, some reacting directly to Trump's name being added to the institution and its facade, others citing logistical or financial pressures. 
They include the musical Hamilton, actress and writer Issa Rae, banjo player Bela Fleck, opera soprano Renee Fleming, recital group Vocal Arts DC, The Brentano Quartet, Seattle Children's Theatre, The Martha Graham Dance Company, The Washington National Opera, and singer-songwriter Sonia De Los Santos.
Others are the composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, jazz musicians The Cookers and Chuck Redd, Doug Varone and Dancers, folk musicians Magpie, Kristy Lee and Rhiannon Giddens, Philadelphia rock and roll band Low Cut Connie and the Puerto Rican band Balun.
ft/dw

music

Amy Winehouse's friends 'took advantage' of father, UK court told

  • The court heard earlier that the two women sold 150 objects that had belonged to Winehouse.
  • Two friends of late British singer Amy Winehouse who sold items belonging to the star worth around £730,000 ($970,000) "took advantage" of her father's forgetfulness, a lawyer said Tuesday at London's High Court.
  • The court heard earlier that the two women sold 150 objects that had belonged to Winehouse.
Two friends of late British singer Amy Winehouse who sold items belonging to the star worth around £730,000 ($970,000) "took advantage" of her father's forgetfulness, a lawyer said Tuesday at London's High Court.
The singer's former stylist Naomi Parry and her friend Catriona Gourlay sold dozens of items, including a black Armani bag and dresses Winehouse wore on her last tour in June 2011.
Both deny acting dishonestly and say the items had been given or lent to them by the singer, even if there was no proof.
Amy's father, Mitch Winehouse, has brought a UK lawsuit against the pair, alleging they did not have the right to sell the items, which were sold between November 2021 and May 2023.
Henry Legge, representing for Winehouse, said it was claimed in an email to the late singer's father and his ex-wife Janis that the sale involved just a "few things", a description the lawyer said was "grossly misleading".
The court heard earlier that the two women sold 150 objects that had belonged to Winehouse.
Parry realised that Mitch Winehouse was in her words "lazy" about keeping tabs on such matters, Legge said.
"It is clear that they took advantage of his (Mitch Winehouse's) forgetfulness," he added.
The lawyer also hit back at suggestions he said came from the defendants' side that Mitch Winehouse was in some way "venal" or dishonest, and that the lawsuit was "motivated by that".
He described it as one of a number of "cheap shots".

'Gifts'

British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, who enjoyed meteoric global success, died in July 2011 from alcohol poisoning, aged just 27.
She was a distinctive figure with her beehive hairdo, heavy black eye makeup, multiple tattoos and smoky voice.
She shot to international fame with her Grammy Award-winning 2006 album "Back to Black", which included the track "Rehab", charting her battle with addiction.
According to court documents, her father believed that any sums collected from the sales organised by Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions would be due to him.
The auctioneers had also been told that a third of the proceeds would be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation -- a charity set up in the singer's name working with young people to foster hope and self-reliance.
However, Winehouse's team have accused the women of failing to donate the share of proceeds to the foundation.
Parry's lawyer Beth Grossman, rejecting the accusations, said she and Gourlay had different relationships with Amy.
Yet their accounts of the singer's "generosity" and how the items came to be in their possession were "very similar".
Ted Loveday, lawyer for Gourlay, argued at an earlier hearing that demanding proof of loaning or gifting was unrealistic in the circumstances.
"If a 19-year-old gives a scarf or a pair of earrings to their friends, no one signs a contract," he said.
A judgment in the case will be given at a later date.
har/aks/phz

film

BAFTAs nominees in main categories

  • American offbeat thriller "One Battle After Another" led the shortlist with 14 nominations, followed by the vampire period film "Sinners", which was nominated 13 times.
  • Here are the nominees that will compete in the main categories for Britain's BAFTA film awards to be held on Sunday 22 February in London -- three weeks before the Oscars in Hollywood.
  • American offbeat thriller "One Battle After Another" led the shortlist with 14 nominations, followed by the vampire period film "Sinners", which was nominated 13 times.
Here are the nominees that will compete in the main categories for Britain's BAFTA film awards to be held on Sunday 22 February in London -- three weeks before the Oscars in Hollywood.
American offbeat thriller "One Battle After Another" led the shortlist with 14 nominations, followed by the vampire period film "Sinners", which was nominated 13 times.

Best film

"Hamnet" 
"Marty Supreme" 
"One Battle After Another"
"Sentimental Value"
"Sinners" 

Best director

Yorgos Lanthimos, "Bugonia" 
Chloe Zhao, "Hamnet"
Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Joachim Trier, "Sentimental Value"
Ryan Coogler, "Sinners" 

Best leading actress

Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet" 
Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" 
Kate Hudson, "Song Sung Blue"
Chase Infiniti, "One Battle After Another"
Renate Reinsve, "Sentimental Value"
Emma Stone, "Bugonia" 

Best leading actor

Robert Aramayo, "I Swear" 
Timothee Chalamet, "Marty Supreme"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Battle After Another" 
Ethan Hawke, "Blue Moon" 
Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners" 
Jesse Plemons, "Bugonia" 
- Best supporting actress - 
Odessa A'zion, "Marty Supreme" 
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, "Sentimental Value"
Wunmi Mosaku, "Sinners" 
Carey Mulligan, "The Ballad of Wallis Island" 
Teyana Taylor, "One Battle After Another"
Emily Watson, "Hamnet" 

Best supporting actor

Benicio del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Jacob Elordi, "Frankenstein" 
Paul Mescal, "Hamnet" 
Peter Mullan, "I Swear" 
Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"
Stellan Skarsgard, "Sentimental Value" 

Outstanding British film

"28 Years Later"
"The Ballad of Wallis Island"
"Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy"
"Die My Love"
"H is for Hawk"
"Hamnet"
"I Swear"
"Mr Burton"
"Pillion"
"Steve"
- Film not in the English Language - 
"It Was Just an Accident" (France)
"The Secret Agent" (Brazil)
"Sentimental Value" (Norway)
"Sirat" (Spain)
"The Voice of Hind Rajab" (Tunisia)

Films with most nominations

"One Battle After Another", 14
"Sinners", 13 
"Marty Supreme", 11 
"Hamnet", 11 
"Frankenstein", 9 
"Sentimental Value", 9
cla/aks/jkb/rmb

influencer

American influencer shares 'another' Africa on tour

  • Subscribers to his channel have soaked up his African tour, with some black Americans posting emotional videos of their own saying IShowSpeed had opened their eyes to a completely different vision of the continent, far from TV cliches of endless poverty and violence.
  • IShowSpeed, a 21-year-old African American influencer, has raced a cheetah, leapt with Maasai warriors and drawn huge crowds in a month-long tour of Africa that has also busted cliches about the continent.
  • Subscribers to his channel have soaked up his African tour, with some black Americans posting emotional videos of their own saying IShowSpeed had opened their eyes to a completely different vision of the continent, far from TV cliches of endless poverty and violence.
IShowSpeed, a 21-year-old African American influencer, has raced a cheetah, leapt with Maasai warriors and drawn huge crowds in a month-long tour of Africa that has also busted cliches about the continent.
The YouTube and Twitch star's tour, which started on December 29, has taken him to 20 countries, showing his tens of millions of followers a different side of Africa as he visited a diamond mine in Botswana, discovered Ethiopia's rich cuisine and attended the Africa Cup of Nations football final in Morocco.
IShowSpeed -- born in Cincinnati, Ohio as Darren Jason Watkins Jr. -- is one of the most-followed influencers on the planet.
He hit 50 million YouTube subscribers this month, Rolling Stone magazine named him the Most Influential Creator of 2025 and Forbes estimates his net worth at $20 million.
Subscribers to his channel have soaked up his African tour, with some black Americans posting emotional videos of their own saying IShowSpeed had opened their eyes to a completely different vision of the continent, far from TV cliches of endless poverty and violence.
"He shows another Africa, an Africa on the move, modernising, eager to achieve great things. He goes to places with modern infrastructure," Qemal Affagnon from Internet Sans Frontieres (Internet without Borders) told AFP.
"At a time when the US executive can sometimes portray Africa in rather pejorative terms, he offers a different narrative. It’s something that has clearly resonated with his American audience," the social media expert said.
In Lagos, Nigeria's megacity of around 20 million inhabitants, the influencer celebrated his birthday as well as hitting 50 million subscribers on YouTube. 
In Angola's capital Luanda, he marvelled at the warmth of the reaction to his visit.
"I love the love in Africa. The energy here is crazy," he enthused. On stops in Kenya and Addis Ababa, he was smitten by the architecture.
He has, however, been careful not to broach the subject of politics during his visits, especially in countries reputed to be autocratic.
Living up to his nickname "Speed", he has applied the same formula as on other trips around the world -- being filmed live by his teams as he dashes around at a frantic pace, alternating cultural discoveries, interactions with vendors or street artists with various antics.

True image

The tour has netted him nearly four million new YouTube subscribers in a month. His broadcast from the final of the Africa Cup of Nations has already racked up 15 million views.
His popularity is not contained to YouTube -- he also has 45 million subscribers on Instagram and 47 million on TikTok.
For his fans, he is not setting out to present himself as the saviour of Africa but to show its true image.
"To be the first streamer from America to tour the entire Africa, it's something historical," Nigerian YouTuber Stephen Oluwafisayomi, 24, known as Stevosky, said.
"It's a very big edge he just unlocked in the streaming industry," he added.
The publicity may appeal to some governments keen to attract new visitors.
"There are countries that are currently reaching out to certain communities of people of African descent and it can serve as a link between these two worlds," Affagnon said.

Live from the pyramids

In Nairobi, he met Tourism Minister Rebecca Miano and received a warm welcome via a video message from President William Ruto, while in Egypt he received permission to film live inside the Great Pyramid of Giza.
IShowSpeed started out like many streamers by filming himself playing video games.
But the avid football, and in particular Cristiano Ronaldo fan was not content to just remain in his gaming chair and has previously travelled in Asia, Europe and South America.
He has won several top streaming awards in recent years. 
In 2023, he became eligible to return to Twitch following a two-year ban from the platform for "sexual coercion or intimidation".
In Africa, where he's donned the national football team's shirt in each country he has visited, he has at times also been targeted, either by over-enthusiastic fans or by hostile members of the public.
He had to break off a live broadcast in Algeria because football supporters were throwing bottles at him in a stadium during a match.
As his Africa tour draws to a close this week, the streamer plans to take a DNA test which he hopes will reveal his origins on the continent.
While in Liberia he met somebody with the same surname as him whose ancestors had left Ohio, IShowSpeed's home region. "He's really my ancestor," the YouTube star quipped.
bur-pid/bam/jhb-kjm/cw

luxury

Blazy takes flight of fancy with bird-themed Chanel show

BY MARINE DO-VALE

  • - Creative overhaul - Blazy's debut show was one the most hotly anticipated moments of Haute Couture Week, alongside new Dior designer Jonathan Anderson’s outing on Monday. 
  • After reaching for the stars in his first show for Chanel, new chief designer Matthieu Blazy took a feathery flight of fancy for his debut Haute Couture collection inspired by birds and nature on Tuesday.
  • - Creative overhaul - Blazy's debut show was one the most hotly anticipated moments of Haute Couture Week, alongside new Dior designer Jonathan Anderson’s outing on Monday. 
After reaching for the stars in his first show for Chanel, new chief designer Matthieu Blazy took a feathery flight of fancy for his debut Haute Couture collection inspired by birds and nature on Tuesday.
The vast Grand Palais exhibition space in central Paris was transformed into an enchanted forest populated by giant mushrooms and pink weeping willows as stars from Nicole Kidman to Dua Lipa looked on.
Blazy, 41, said he intended to "probe and explore the heart of Chanel" with his Haute Couture creations following his highly acclaimed first ready-to-wear women's collection in the same space in June.
That show was set against giant glowing planets that signalled his ambitions, while Tuesday's looks were rooted in more earthly beauty, particularly the elegance of bird life.
"The idea of the feather runs through the collection, though seldom in its natural form. All kinds of birds appear, as if by magic, from the most familiar to the rarest," Blazy wrote in his show notes.
The Franco-Belgian couturier referenced the extravagant plumage of a roseate spoonbill or the crested cockatoo alongside the humble crow, grey pigeon and magpie.

Creative overhaul

Blazy's debut show was one the most hotly anticipated moments of Haute Couture Week, alongside new Dior designer Jonathan Anderson’s outing on Monday. 
Anderson, a 41-year-old Northern Irish designer, also honoured nature, but through highly floral silhouettes that were both sculptural and airy. 
The two designers were promoted as part of a vast overhaul of creative director positions in the European luxury clothing sector in the last 12 months.
Blazy was poached from Italian leather goods brand Bottega Veneta in December 2024 and handed the task of turning the page on the era of Karl Lagerfeld, who reigned for more than three decades at Chanel.
Lagerfeld was replaced by his handpicked successor Virginie Viard upon his death in 2019 before she abruptly left in June 2024.
mdv-adp/rmb

fashion

Victoria Beckham honoured in Paris amid family rift

  • The Order of the Arts and Letters is reserved for figures judged to have contributed to France's cultural life and is separate to the more prestigious Legion of Honour ("Legion d'honneur"), the state's top award.
  • Victoria Beckham escaped the bitterness of a family feud with a trip to Paris on Monday to receive an award from the culture ministry for her contribution to the fashion and entertainment industries.
  • The Order of the Arts and Letters is reserved for figures judged to have contributed to France's cultural life and is separate to the more prestigious Legion of Honour ("Legion d'honneur"), the state's top award.
Victoria Beckham escaped the bitterness of a family feud with a trip to Paris on Monday to receive an award from the culture ministry for her contribution to the fashion and entertainment industries.
The former Spice Girl, after a weekend celebrating "Baby Spice" Emma Bunton's 50th birthday, headed to the French capital with husband David and her children -- except Brooklyn -- to be named an "Officer of the Order of the Arts and Letters."
The ceremony at the culture ministry was kept under wraps to avoid a scrum of journalists or onlookers after explosive claims about the Beckhams by eldest son Brooklyn last week.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati praised Beckham as "a global icon that holds a very special place in the hearts of French people". Dati paid tribute to the fashion designer's "meticulous, almost architectural" approach to clothing, according to a copy of the speech sent to AFP.
After starting with shows in London and New York, Beckham has been unveiling the new collections for her label in Paris since 2022.
"Through your journey, your work, and your commitment, you have woven a deep, sincere, and lasting bond with France," Dati told the 51-year-old singer-turned-designer.
Brooklyn Beckham deepened a rift with his parents after writing on social media last week that they had tried to "ruin" his relationship with his wife.
In a highly personal post that confirmed a long-rumoured falling out, Brooklyn claimed Victoria Beckham "hijacked" his first dance on his wedding day and danced "inappropriately on me".
Video of Monday's ceremony by Paris Match magazine showed David Beckham and the rest of his clan looking on and applauding, along with French fashion bosses Antoine Arnault and Francois-Henri Pinault.
The Order of the Arts and Letters is reserved for figures judged to have contributed to France's cultural life and is separate to the more prestigious Legion of Honour ("Legion d'honneur"), the state's top award.
President Emmanuel Macron decorated Louis Vuitton designer and rapper Pharrell Williams with a Legion of Honour last Friday at a private ceremony attended by US rappers Pusha T and Future.
Former England captain David Beckham received a knighthood from King Charles III in November in what he called his "proudest moment".
adp-mng/tw/jhb

film

'One Battle After Another' and 'Sinners' top BAFTA nods

BY CLARA LALANNE AND JOE JACKSON

  • "One Battle After Another" enters the Oscars best film race in second place after it garnered 13 nods in the Academy shortlist for the March 15 awards to be held in Hollywood.
  • "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners" led the shortlist Tuesday of films competing at Britain's BAFTA awards next month, ahead of the Oscars in mid-March in which both also dominate the nominations.
  • "One Battle After Another" enters the Oscars best film race in second place after it garnered 13 nods in the Academy shortlist for the March 15 awards to be held in Hollywood.
"One Battle After Another" and "Sinners" led the shortlist Tuesday of films competing at Britain's BAFTA awards next month, ahead of the Oscars in mid-March in which both also dominate the nominations.
"One Battle After Another", an offbeat thriller set against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists, earned 14 BAFTA nods, including for the coveted best film award.
Vampire period music-infused horror film "Sinners" followed close behind with 13 and will also vie for best film, less than a week after it smashed the all-time Oscars record for nominations with 16 selections.
"One Battle After Another" enters the Oscars best film race in second place after it garnered 13 nods in the Academy shortlist for the March 15 awards to be held in Hollywood.
The BAFTAs, the highlight of the annual British film calendar, will be held in London on February 22, three weeks before the Oscars.
This year's selection process stood out for "bold storytelling and unique takes" on everything from the geopolitical landscape to more personal stories, BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip, told AFP.
"A lot of filmmakers have not pulled their punches on quite big subjects," she said, noting in particular "Sinners", "One Battle After Another" and "Bugonia".
But she also commended "a group of really intimate, and personal films" including "Hamnet", "I Swear" and "Sentimental Value".
"Hamnet", a period drama in which William Shakespeare and his wife struggle to cope with the loss of their son in plague-ravaged Elizabethan England, secured 11 BAFTA nominations and will also compete for best film.
Timothee Chalamet's ping-pong drama "Marty Supreme" also snagged 11 nods, including in the best film category, while Norwegian dramedy "Sentimental Value" bagged eight nominations and is the final of the five BAFTA best film contenders.
Although "Sinners" topped the Oscars nominations, "One Battle" was still strongly favoured in this year's awards season, having won almost every precursor prize so far this awards season.
It reigned supreme at the Golden Globes earlier this month, winning best comedy, best director, best screenplay and best supporting actress, while "Hamnet" sprung a surprise by taking best drama film, beating out "Sinners".

'Really rich year'

At the BAFTAs, Yorgos Lanthimos ("Bugonia"), Chloe Zhao ("Hamnet"), Josh Safdie ("Marty Supreme"), Paul Thomas Anderson ("One Battle After Another"), Joachim Trier ("Sentimental Value") and Ryan Coogler ("Sinners") will compete for best director. 
The leading actor shortlist features Leonardo DiCaprio ("One Battle After Another"), Michael B. Jordan ("Sinners"), Chalamet ("Marty Supreme"), Ethan Hawke ("Blue Moon"), Jesse Plemons ("Bugonia") and Robert Aramayo ("I Swear"). 
As with the Oscars, Paul Mescal missed out on a nomination for his "Hamnet" performance.
Meanwhile, Oscar contender Jessie Buckley ("Hamnet"), Emma Stone ("Bugonia"), Chase Infiniti ("One Battle After Another"), Kate Hudson ("Song Sung Blue"), Renate Reinsve ("Sentimental Value") and Rose Byrne ("If I Had Legs I'd Kick You") will vie for the leading actress gong.
"I Swear" -- based on a true story about a Scottish man whose life was irrevocably changed by Tourette's syndrome -- was the most nominated British film, with five nods.
"It's a really rich year and a fantastic year for British talents too," Millichip said.
cla-jj/jkb/rmb

conflict

'American Doctor' tells of brutality in Israel-Hamas war

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • Israel rejects accusations its numerous strikes against Gaza hospitals amount to war crimes, saying it is targeting "terrorists" in these facilities and claims Hamas operatives are holed up in tunnels underneath the hospitals.
  • At the start of "American Doctor," a new documentary about US medics working in hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war, director Poh Si Teng initially declines to film pictures of dead Palestinian children that one of the doctors is trying to show her.
  • Israel rejects accusations its numerous strikes against Gaza hospitals amount to war crimes, saying it is targeting "terrorists" in these facilities and claims Hamas operatives are holed up in tunnels underneath the hospitals.
At the start of "American Doctor," a new documentary about US medics working in hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war, director Poh Si Teng initially declines to film pictures of dead Palestinian children that one of the doctors is trying to show her.
Teng worries that she will have to pixelate the gruesome scene to protect the dignity of the children.
"You're not dignifying them unless you let their memory, their bodies, tell the story of this trauma, of this genocide. You're not doing them a service by not showing them," Jewish-American doctor Mark Perlmutter tells her.
"This is what my tax dollars did. That's what your tax dollars did. That's what my neighbor's tax dollars did. They have the right to know the truth.
"You have the responsibility, as I do, to tell the truth. You pixelate this, that's journalistic malpractice."

Smuggling antibiotics

Teng's unflinching film follows Perlmutter and two other American doctors -- one Palestinian-American and the other a non-practicing Zoroastrian -- as they try to treat the results of the unspeakable brutality visited on a largely civilian population in Gaza since Israel launched its retaliation for Hamas's October 2023 attack.
Alongside the severed limbs and the open wounds the doctors labor on with their Palestinian colleagues, we also see the trio's attempts at advocacy -- in Washington's corridors of power and in Israeli and American media.
The documentary also depicts the practical difficulties they face -- the surgical scrubs and antibiotics they have to smuggle across the border to get around the Israeli blockade, and the last-minute refusals of Israeli authorities to let them in.
And we see the bravery of men voluntarily going to work in hospitals that are repeatedly hit by the Israeli army.
Israel rejects accusations its numerous strikes against Gaza hospitals amount to war crimes, saying it is targeting "terrorists" in these facilities and claims Hamas operatives are holed up in tunnels underneath the hospitals.
The attacks include the so-called "double tap" strike on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, South of the Strip, in August 2025 where the three men have worked.
Emergency responders and journalists who had rushed to the scene after a first projectile hit were killed when a second was fired at the same spot.

'Accessory to child murder'

Feroze Sidwha, perhaps the most eloquent of the three doctors, repeatedly makes the case throughout the film that he has never seen any tunnels and that in any case, even the presence of wounded fighters in a hospital does not make it a legitimate target.
"Americans deserve the opportunity to know what's going on, what their money is being used for, and you know, just to decide. 'Do you really want this being done?'," he told AFP at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film got its premiere on Friday.
"I’m pretty sure the answer is 'no'. I just want to keep speaking out and letting people know they don't have to be an accessory to child murder. But we all are, right now."
The film is dedicated to the around 1,700 healthcare workers who have been killed since Israel launched its invasion in October 2023.
UN investigators have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, a charge that Israel has denied as "distorted and false", while accusing the authors of antisemitism.
Despite a fragile ceasefire in place since October last year, there has been continued violence between Israeli forces and Hamas, which has seen Palestinian non-combatants killed, including dozens of children according to UNICEF.
Reporters Without Borders says nearly 220 journalists have died since the start of the war, making Israel the biggest killer of journalists worldwide for three years running.
The Sundance Film Festival runs until February 1.
hg/sla/cms

diplomacy

'Come more often!' Mexico leader urges K-pop stars BTS on sold-out tour

  • So moved was she by the disappointment of the unlucky many, she said she wrote to South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung to ask that he "bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often" to her country.
  • Around the world, hundreds of thousands of fans of K-pop megastars BTS are nursing disappointment after failing to secure a ticket for their highly-anticipated comeback tour.
  • So moved was she by the disappointment of the unlucky many, she said she wrote to South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung to ask that he "bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often" to her country.
Around the world, hundreds of thousands of fans of K-pop megastars BTS are nursing disappointment after failing to secure a ticket for their highly-anticipated comeback tour.
But only in one country -- Mexico -- has the dearth of tickets become a matter for the highest office in the land.
BTS will perform three dates in Mexico City in May.
The tickets, which went on sale last weekend, sold out in minutes, demonstrating the growing fervor among Mexicans for all aspects of South Korean culture, from television series to cuisine, to of course K-pop. 
The government has sought to cash in on the act.
When it was announced that BTS would perform in Mexico, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, a longtime fan, posted a video on TikTok in which he is seen greeting Jin, a member of the band.
Now, President Claudia Sheinbaum has gotten involved.
Addressing reporters on Monday, she declared that "nearly a million young people" had vied for one of the coveted 150,000 tickets to BTS's Mexican gigs.
So moved was she by the disappointment of the unlucky many, she said she wrote to South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung to ask that he "bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often" to her country.
Sheinbaum said she had also asked Ocesa, the promoter of the shows in Mexico, about the possibility of organizing more dates, but received a negative answer.
BTS have not toured or released music since 2022 as they underwent the national military service required of all South Korean men under age 30.
The band's label announced on New Year's Day they would release a new album in March before heading on a mega-tour the following month that will take in 34 cities.
ai/acc/cb/mlm

racism

Kanye West blames bipolar disorder amid outrage over antisemitic rants

  • West, who changed his name to Ye and struggled with bipolar disorder for years, said in an open letter published Monday in The Wall Street Journal that when bipolar people are in a manic phase they do not feel sick.
  • Rapper Kanye West on Monday denied being a Nazi and expressed regret over his antisemitic rants, blaming such behavior -- which included recording a song that celebrates Hitler -- on his bipolar disorder.
  • West, who changed his name to Ye and struggled with bipolar disorder for years, said in an open letter published Monday in The Wall Street Journal that when bipolar people are in a manic phase they do not feel sick.
Rapper Kanye West on Monday denied being a Nazi and expressed regret over his antisemitic rants, blaming such behavior -- which included recording a song that celebrates Hitler -- on his bipolar disorder.
The disgraced 48-year-old music star, who has lost fans and business deals in recent years because of his racist or antisemitic outbursts, released his song "Heil Hitler" last May to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The song has been banned on major music streaming platforms but is easy to find on the internet. Among other punishment it cost West his visa to travel to Australia.
West, who changed his name to Ye and struggled with bipolar disorder for years, said in an open letter published Monday in The Wall Street Journal that when bipolar people are in a manic phase they do not feel sick.
"You think everyone else is overreacting. You feel like you're seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality you're losing your grip entirely," said West, whose achievements include winning 24 Grammy awards.
In his letter entitled "To Those I've Hurt," he said he sometimes has "disconnected moments" that lead to poor judgment and reckless behavior, describing such instances as feeling like an out-of-body experience.
"I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change," West said.
"It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people."
In late 2023 West apologized to Jews for having said "I love Nazis."
In 2022 he caused outrage by wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "White Lives Matter," seen as a racist insult to the Black Lives Matter movement, and by attending a dinner with Donald Trump that included the white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes.
rh/pno/dw/mlm

luxury

Anderson channels nature in Dior Haute Couture debut

BY ADAM PLOWRIGHT AND MARINE DO-VALE

  • - Mixed men's - Last Wednesday, the former Loewe designer delivered his second menswear collection since his promotion to French luxury conglomerate LVMH's second-largest fashion brand in April last year.
  • Dior designer Jonathan Anderson drew inspiration from nature and his love of ceramics for his debut Haute Couture collection on Monday, just days after mixed reviews for his menswear.
  • - Mixed men's - Last Wednesday, the former Loewe designer delivered his second menswear collection since his promotion to French luxury conglomerate LVMH's second-largest fashion brand in April last year.
Dior designer Jonathan Anderson drew inspiration from nature and his love of ceramics for his debut Haute Couture collection on Monday, just days after mixed reviews for his menswear.
The 41-year-old has the daunting task of designing all three fashion lines at one of the world's biggest brands -- women's and men's ready-to-wear, plus Haute Couture -- the first person to do so since Christian Dior himself.
Just days after sending out dozens of new looks during Paris Men's Fashion Week in a show that some observers saw as daring but lacking coherence, the Northern Irish creative was back with his first Haute Couture collection.
It featured floral motifs on fabrics or as accessories, while sculptural bulbous dresses were inspired by the work of Kenya-born ceramicist Magdelene Odundo.
"When you copy nature, you always learn something," Anderson declared in his show notes, which compared Haute Couture to a living ecosystem that is "evolving, adapting, enduring".
Other noteworthy pieces included dresses with spherical birdcage-inspired silhouettes, while other models wore transparent vest tops with their dresses gathered around their waists.
A-list attendees at the show at the Rodin Museum included actors Jennifer Lawrence and singer Rihanna as well as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez. 
Before the show, Anderson admitted in an interview with the Business of Fashion website that he previously thought couture was "irrelevant", adding that he never really "understood the glamour behind it".
"Now, I feel like I'm doing a PhD in couture," he explained. 

Mixed men's

Last Wednesday, the former Loewe designer delivered his second menswear collection since his promotion to French luxury conglomerate LVMH's second-largest fashion brand in April last year.
Inspired by the idea of "today's aristocrats", it featured "angst and a kind of wrongness, engulfing wrong taste", Anderson told reporters, departing from his safer approach last year.
He radically redrew the Dior signature Bar jacket and sent out shirts adorned with rhinestone-fringed epaulettes while models donned yellow or spiked wigs.
Influential fashion website WWD said Anderson had gone "searching for thrills" in what amounted to a "fashion version of extreme mountaineering".
The New York Times said the man behind his own JW Anderson brand and considered one of his generation's leading lights was "thinking about many -- perhaps too many -- disparate ideas".
"He's taking Dior somewhere completely unprecedented. But I think he's exactly where he should be, since he's not there to rehash old ideas," Adrien Communier from GQ magazine in France told AFP.

Highlights

Elsewhere on Monday, Bezos and Sanchez joined Hollywood legend Demi Moore for a celeb-packed Schiaparelli show, while Indian designer Rahul Mishra dazzled with his latest collection.
On Tuesday, all eyes will be on Chanel designer Matthieu Blazy's debut Haute Couture show at the Grand Palais exhibition space. 
The 41-year-old Franco-Belgian, who was appointed in December 2024 after a highly regarded stint at Bottega Veneta, made a strong impression with his debut women's ready-to-wear collection.
He also demonstrated his command of the house's craftsmanship at a December show in the New York subway system.
Among other highlights, Armani will unveil the Italian house's first Haute Couture collection without the oversight of its founder, Giorgio, who died in early September at the age of 91.
adp-mdr/cc

film

Rushdie warns of political violence as he recounts his attack

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • "Violence is that thing, violence unleashed by the unscrupulous using the ignorant to attack... culture.
  • The horrific knife attack that almost killed Salman Rushdie was an example of violence unleashed by unscrupulous political leaders, the author said Sunday, warning that "everybody's in danger now" in the increasingly febrile United States. 
  • "Violence is that thing, violence unleashed by the unscrupulous using the ignorant to attack... culture.
The horrific knife attack that almost killed Salman Rushdie was an example of violence unleashed by unscrupulous political leaders, the author said Sunday, warning that "everybody's in danger now" in the increasingly febrile United States. 
Speaking at the premiere of the documentary "Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie," the writer pointed to events unfolding across the country, where a second protester was shot dead by federal agents 24 hours earlier.
"The idea of danger and violence is close to everyone now in this country," he told AFP at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
"I think everybody's in danger now." 
The film, directed by documentarian Alex Gibney, is the companion piece to Rushdie's "Knife," a memoir recounting the harrowing 2022 attack and its aftermath.
The British-American author was at an event in Chautauqua, New York when 24-year-old Hadi Matar leapt onto the stage and stabbed him 15 times.
The brutal assault left Rushdie with life-changing injuries, including the loss of his right eye.
The comments on political violence come as President Donald Trump has surged militarized immigration raids into American cities, notably Minneapolis where federal agents have shot dead two US citizens this month. 
A man was arrested at Sundance on Saturday after allegedly punching Congressman Maxwell Frost in the face and screaming that Trump was going to deport him, the Florida lawmaker said on X.

Fatwa

Gibney's film uses graphic video of the assault on Rushdie, shot by event organizers and attendees, as well as intimate footage filmed by his wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, over six weeks as the author lay in hospital grievously wounded.
It also mixes in archival news reports and interviews with Rushdie detailing the furor in the Islamic world that greeted the publication of his 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses."
The following year, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, telling Muslims worldwide it was their religious duty to kill Rushdie.
For over a decade the author lived in hiding, protected by the British government, until a deal was reached in which the fatwa was officially rescinded in exchange for Britain's granting diplomatic recognition to Tehran.
As the immediate risk appeared to recede, Rushdie re-emerged, becoming something of a celebrity and continuing to create successful literary fiction.
But the threat against him never vanished, and the animosity some bore him remained. 

'Authoritarian'

Hadi, who was sentenced last year to 25 years for attempted murder and assault, told a reporter before his trial that he believed Rushdie had "attacked Islam." 
He admitted he had only read two pages of "The Satanic Verses."
Rushdie said the brutal attack on him was an example of a "larger thing."
"Violence is that thing, violence unleashed by the unscrupulous using the ignorant to attack... culture.
"For the authoritarian, culture is the enemy. Whether that's journalism or universities or music or writing... the uncultured and ignorant, and the radical don't like it, and they take steps against it, which we see every day."
Rushdie's comments come in the wake of a crackdown Trump has launched on higher education, in an effort to stamp out what he claims is a "liberal bias" in university teaching.
Trump also routinely derides journalism and journalists, blasting any report he disagrees with as "fake news," while conservative US states increasingly ban books from school libraries.
The Booker-Prize winning author said the film as conceived was not intended as a commentary on the here and now.
"When you're making the film, you're making the film, and then the world does what it does, and sometimes the two things run into each other," he said.
"I'm now beginning to think that maybe the film is here at a kind of apposite moment, that maybe all of us now are feeling the risk of violence."
The Sundance Film Festival runs until February 1.
hg/ksb

fashion

Haute Couture Week begins in Paris

BY MARINE DO-VALE

  • – History - Haute Couture predates ready-to-wear fashion, which is industrially produced clothing in large quantities.
  • Four days of ultra-exclusive Haute Couture fashion shows get underway in Paris on Monday, but how is the calendar constructed and who gets to take part?
  • – History - Haute Couture predates ready-to-wear fashion, which is industrially produced clothing in large quantities.
Four days of ultra-exclusive Haute Couture fashion shows get underway in Paris on Monday, but how is the calendar constructed and who gets to take part? AFP has the answers.
– A restricted circle -
Only 13 houses hold the official "Haute Couture" accreditation, which is a legally protected term overseen by France's Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM).
These include luxury heavyweights Dior, Chanel and Givenchy, as well as Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Margiela, Alexis Mabille and Schiaparelli.
The designation is granted for one year only and must be renewed each season.
Some major French labels are not included, such as Saint Laurent and Hermes.
The former gave up Haute Couture in 2002 when founder Yves Saint Laurent left the house, while the latter plans to launch around 2027.
These houses are joined by seven "corresponding members", which have an activity considered similar to Haute Couture but are not based in France.
They include Italian brands Armani and Valentino, Lebanese designer Elie Saab and Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf.
The FHCM also invites several guest designers to show each season.
Syria's Rami Al Ali, France's Julie de Libran and Swiss designer Kevin Germanier are among the 28 houses showing through Thursday.
There will also be a debut by Phan Huy, who is the youngest designer ever invited to Paris Haute Couture Week by the FHCM -- aged just 26 -- and is the first Vietnamese couturier in the programme.
"What is interesting is both the presence of very large houses and young designers from abroad who bring new energy and a new vision," said Pierre Groppo, fashion and lifestyle editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair France.
– Criteria - 
Official Haute Couture houses must meet strict criteria to earn the label.
Designs must be original, made to measure and by hand, and created exclusively by the brand's permanent artistic director, in workshops based in France.
The house must also have two separate workshops: a "tailleur" workshop for structured, architectural garments such as jackets, coats and trousers, and a "flou" workshop for soft, fluid pieces such as dresses or blouses.
The FHCM monitoring committee also requires a workforce of at least 20 employees, as well as the presentation of two shows a year in Paris, in January and July.
In theory, houses are meant to present at least 25 looks combining daywear and eveningwear.
There is some flexibility for smaller houses, however. 
"If there are only 21 or 22 looks, we're not going to play the police," Pascal Morand, head of the FHCM, told AFP, adding that the rule of two shows per year had also recently been relaxed.
– History -
Haute Couture predates ready-to-wear fashion, which is industrially produced clothing in large quantities.
Designers cater to an extremely exclusive clientele able to purchase pieces for thousands of dollars intended for red carpets, galas, weddings or other public events.
It was born in Paris in the late 19th century, with figures such as Charles Frederick Worth, Jeanne Paquin and Paul Poiret, and has been legally protected and regulated since 1945 by the French industry ministry.
Morand called it a "laboratory" of craftsmanship and creativity that is a "symbol of French identity."
In December, it was added to France's intangible cultural heritage list, the first step towards earning world heritage status which is granted by the UN's UNESCO body.
mdv/adp/gv/mjw

fashion

Men's fashion goes low-risk in uncertain world

BY MARINE DO-VALE

  • According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
  • Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which wrapped up Sunday, saw designers opt for often pragmatic and timeless styling, reflecting a low-risk approach at an uncertain time for the industry, experts said. 
  • According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which wrapped up Sunday, saw designers opt for often pragmatic and timeless styling, reflecting a low-risk approach at an uncertain time for the industry, experts said. 
After a 2025 marked by sweeping turnover among creative directors and numerous debuts, this Fall/Winter 2026 edition was more measured, in substance as well as in style. 
"It’s been a fairly conservative season, without any incredible propositions," Matthieu Morge Zucconi, head of men’s fashion at France's Le Figaro newspaper, told AFP. 
"We’re in a period where we zero in on what's essential. You can feel it in the shows," added Astrid Faguer, fashion journalist at Les Echos newspaper. 
Against a backdrop of worrying international news and economic turbulence in the luxury sector, brands are looking to reassure customers rather than risk unsettling them, experts agree. 

Suits in force

The classic suit-and-tie duo stood out as one of the strongest markers on the runways.
The overall colour palette was fairly classic: black, gray, beige and brown, with a few brighter touches, like the purple seen from Dior to Vuitton, via Issey Miyake and Etudes Studio. 
The extravagant over-sized jackets with large shoulder pads of previous seasons have become more fitted -- still loosely tailored, but more traditional.
"I think that with age and the way my view of the world is evolving now, I wanted to create a silhouette that's ... a bit more fitted," head of Paris-based 3.Paradis, Emeric Tchatchoua, told AFP.
Louis Vuitton chief designer Pharrell Williams wrote that his fairly conventional collection was "designed to endure rather than expire, it is a timeless expression."
For Adrien Communier, head of fashion at GQ magazine in France, the restraint signals a return to basics. 
"There’s really a phenomenon of creating clothes for the now, that will be able to last and take on everyday life," he observes. 
According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
"It’s impossible not to see a reference to the international context. I think there’s something very responsive and pragmatic in relation to that," he told AFP. 
The unstable state of the world has weighed on luxury sales over the last few years, crimping profits at luxury groups which had enjoyed a post-Covid sales bonanza.  
- 'Normality' - 
It was not all sensible shapes and tasteful tailoring.
Dior designer Jonathan Anderson appeared keener than most to take some risks.
He said he didn't want "normality" as he reimagined modern-day aristocrats for his second men's collection, adding that his designs included some "angst and a kind of wrongness, engulfing wrong taste".
He sent out shirts with checks adorned with rhinestone-fringed epaulettes, while models wore yellow or spiked wigs.
The Bar jacket, a Dior signature item, was redesigned in a shrunken format
A grey cape-coat from Dries van Noten had tiny embedded jewels embedded in a gray cape-coat, while there were faux-fur coats for men at KidSuper and Willy Chavarria. 
Embroidery showed up in several shows, while floral prints and patchwork bomber jackets also featured.
Simon Longland, chief fashion buyer for London luxury store Harrod's, also said that the past week had been about designers "offering flexibility, comfort and longevity."
"Broadly, collections felt less driven by trend and more focused on creating pieces with purpose -- clothing intended to be worn, lived in and valued over multiple seasons rather than defined by the moment alone," he said.
mdr-adp/gv

film

Swinging to win: 'The Invite' delivers comedy gold at Sundance

  • "She kept sending us names of other people.
  • Most marriages have those moments: people are coming for dinner; one of you isn't really in the mood.
  • "She kept sending us names of other people.
Most marriages have those moments: people are coming for dinner; one of you isn't really in the mood. But not everyone finds out that their guests are into raucous group sex -- and want you to join them.
Olivia Wilde's blisteringly funny "The Invite" explores what happens when a husband and wife who have long since tired of each other find themselves sitting down with a couple very much in the throes of passion.
The film plunges Joe and Angela (Seth Rogen and Wilde) and Pina and Hawk (Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton) into a pressure cooker of awkward small talk, simmering anger, and sexual tension -- with comedic and relatable results.
"Anyone who's ever been in a relationship of any kind, I think will recognize some of these themes," Wilde told AFP at the Sundance Film Festival, where the movie had its premiere Saturday.
"We made this as a playful piece to allow people to laugh and get in touch with their feelings, maybe a little bit."
Joe, whose band had a minor hit two decades earlier, is now a ball of resentment over his life as a teacher in a second-rate music school. He's a curmudgeon whose back aches and who no longer touches the piano that once gave him so much joy.
Angela has an arts school degree but never did anything with it, directing her energy into decorating the San Francisco apartment they inherited from Joe's parents, and listening with envy to the earth-shaking orgasms her upstairs neighbor has.
When Pina and Hawk arrive for dinner, Angela is desperate to get along and determined to stop Joe from complaining to them about what he calls those "animal" sex noises.
But it's Pina and Hawk who broach the subject, on their way to offering what turns out to be the real invite of the film.

Improvisation

The blistering script by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones ("Celeste and Jesse Forever") is the framework on which an A-list cast wantonly improvises, delivering a rapid fire of provocative lines.
"We had this rehearsal period where the six of us sat in a soundstage and we just dug into it," said Wilde.
"Several of the greatest moments in the movie are written by the cast."
Then when it came to filming, the performers let rip, which made the editing process very tricky, she said.
"There was such an embarrassment of riches," Wilde told the audience. "I had to lose this gold every day."
Rogan, who told AFP he is "a big fan of Olivia's," said when he first signed on to do the movie, Wilde was only set to direct -- something he and Norton were adamant was not right.
"Me and Edward were texting each other. We're just, like, 'How... do we talk her into being in the movie?'" he told the audience.
"She kept sending us names of other people. I was, like, 'Why are you doing this? There's an obvious person who should do this.'
"Then once she decided to cast herself in this film... it really took off."
Norton said Wilde's third directorial project, after "Booksmart" and "Don't Worry Darling," had been a masterclass in keeping plates spinning.
"Seth and I both have directed films that we've been acting in as well," he told the audience.
"Inevitably, you come to moments where you say, 'This was a terrible decision.'"
But that never seemed to happen with "The Invite."
"It's hard for me to overstate the grace and wisdom with which Olivia gave that performance and directed us," he said.
The Sundance Film Festival runs until February 1.
hg/mlm

Canada

'Mercy' debuts atop N.America box office, dislodging 'Avatar'

  • "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third installment in James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series, came in second in the United States and Canada with another $7 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
  • Sci-fi thriller "Mercy" starring Chris Pratt debuted atop the North American box office with $11 million in ticket sales, ending the five-week reign of "Avatar: Fire and Ash," industry estimates showed Sunday.
  • "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third installment in James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series, came in second in the United States and Canada with another $7 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
Sci-fi thriller "Mercy" starring Chris Pratt debuted atop the North American box office with $11 million in ticket sales, ending the five-week reign of "Avatar: Fire and Ash," industry estimates showed Sunday.
Pratt plays a man on trial for murdering his wife in the Amazon MGM Studios film, with his fate in the hands of an artificial intelligence judge.
The brutal winter storm hitting a large swath of the United States cut into the weekend totals, according to David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
"Considering the extreme weather that's closing theaters across two-thirds of the US and keeping people home, it's a very good opening," Gross said of "Mercy."
"The final numbers may be lower on Monday after we see the effects of the cold and snow."
"Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third installment in James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series, came in second in the United States and Canada with another $7 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
That puts its domestic box office haul at $378.5 million, with an additional $1 billion overseas, according to Box Office Mojo.
Disney's Oscar-nominated animated film "Zootopia 2" churned along, remaining in third place at $5.7 million and crossing the $400 million mark in the US and Canada.
In fourth place at $4.2 million was Lionsgate's "The Housemaid," an adaptation of Freida McFadden's best-selling novel about a young woman who is hired by a wealthy couple with dark secrets.
In fifth place was "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," the fourth installment in the zombie horror series, at $3.6 million.
Rounding out the top 10 are:
"Marty Supreme" ($3.5 million)
"Return to Silent Hill" ($3.3 million)
"Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" ($2 million in re-release) 
"Hamnet" ($2 million)
"Primate" ($1.6 million)
bur-sst/des

shooting

Hollywood stars slam ICE after fatal Minneapolis shooting

  • Wilde's comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents.
  • Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to denounce the killing of an American protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.
  • Wilde's comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents.
Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to denounce the killing of an American protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.
Actress Olivia Wilde, who was in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of "The Invite," said the death of a second protester in just three weeks at the hands of federal agents was "unfathomable."
"I can't believe that we're watching people get murdered in the street," she told AFP.
"These brave Americans who have stepped out to protest the injustice of these ICE quote/unquote 'officers,' and watching them be murdered -- it's unfathomable. We cannot normalize it."
Wilde's comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents.
Pretti's death came weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car in the city.
Wilde, who wore an "ICE OUT" badge, said the US government violence against people exercising their right to free expression was "un-American."
"We may have a government that is somehow trying to make excuses for it and legitimize it, but we (Americans) don't."
Fellow actress Natalie Portman, who was promoting "The Gallerist," got emotional as she described her feelings over a "horrible day."
"What is happening in our country is just obscene," she told AFP in Park City.
"What (President Donald) Trump and (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and ICE are doing to our citizens and to undocumented people is outrageous and needs to end."
hg/lga/mtp

Bollywood

India's Bollywood bets big on 'event cinema'

BY SEEMA SINHA

  • - 'Propaganda' - Critics argue Bollywood is increasingly producing polarising films aligned with the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government, using cinema's unrivalled mass reach to shape public sentiment.
  • India's Bollywood is moving decisively towards a cinema of scale and confrontation -- where patriotism, spectacle, and ideological clarity increasingly trump nuance and narrative risk, industry insiders say.
  • - 'Propaganda' - Critics argue Bollywood is increasingly producing polarising films aligned with the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government, using cinema's unrivalled mass reach to shape public sentiment.
India's Bollywood is moving decisively towards a cinema of scale and confrontation -- where patriotism, spectacle, and ideological clarity increasingly trump nuance and narrative risk, industry insiders say.
The shift has fuelled what experts describe as "event cinema", as studios rely on big-budget spectacles and top-tier stars to lure audiences -- especially smartphone-loving Gen Z viewers -- back into theatres.
That strategy appears to be working. Akshaye Rathi, a prominent film exhibitor, predicted a 45–50 percent rise in net Hindi box-office collections and a 25 percent increase in young theatre-goers this year.
"The year looks poised for historic numbers," Rathi told AFP.
The industry's financial model was shaken during the Covid-19 pandemic, which coincided with the rapid rise of streaming platforms and a shift to home viewing.
But its 2026 upcoming slate, packed with patriotic war dramas, spy thrillers, mythological epics and nationalist narratives -- reflects not just a commercial recalibration, analysts say, but a broader change in creative priorities.

'Propaganda'

Critics argue Bollywood is increasingly producing polarising films aligned with the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government, using cinema's unrivalled mass reach to shape public sentiment.
"These days film themes also depend upon who is ruling at the centre -- Hindu wave, propaganda... all these are big factors that filmmakers cash in on," said movie business analyst Atul Mohan, editor of film trade magazine Complete Cinema. "But only one or two films work, not all 10 or 15."
He cited the success of 2022 blockbuster "The Kashmir Files", depicting in harrowing detail how several hundred thousand Hindus fled Muslim militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in 1989-90.
And he compared that with the 2025 film "The Bengal Files", on alleged political violence in eastern India, which he described as a commercial "disaster".
Films centred on geopolitical conflict, internal enemies, and heroic masculinity now dominate mainstream Hindi cinema, reflecting both the political mood and the economics of theatrical survival.
Last year's gory action thriller "Dhurandhar", meaning "formidable", leaned heavily on hyper-nationalist tropes of Indian agents confronting Pakistan-linked foes, and became one of 2025's highest-grossing films -- following a real-life four-day border clash with Pakistan.
Its sequel, "Dhurandhar 2", again starring Ranveer Singh, is set for release in March.

'Gratuitous violence'

Veteran Delhi-based film critic Arnab Banerjee said political messaging now outweighs craftsmanship.
"It is not the quality of the film that matters today, it is propaganda films that are working," said Banerjee.
"The mood of the nation is such that people are lapping up these subjects. Pakistan-bashing and references to enemy countries are being accepted without questioning."
Banerjee also criticised what he called an excess of "gratuitous violence", arguing that "it is social media hype that is deciding the film's fate."
He pointed to "Ikkis", a film on the 1971 India–Pakistan war released in January, which struggled commercially despite positive reviews.
"It is a well-made film, but it didn't work," he said. "Perhaps because Pakistan is not shown as the enemy."
Director Ahmed Khan, however, said quality still ultimately determines success, citing his upcoming action-comedy "Welcome to the Jungle", starring Akshay Kumar.
"Whatever the genre -- action, drama, comedy or horror -- it depends on how well you've made it," Khan said.
He pointed to the 2025 successes of the contrasting romantic drama "Saiyaara" as well as high-octane "Dhurandhar".
"Both, poles apart in genre, did great business," he said. "People's mood can change any time."
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