DiD, a Hong Kong toy company makes Nazi doll that looks just like Bastian Schweinsteiger

German footballer and Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is considering legal action against a Hong Kong toy manufacturer that has made Nazi dolls that look just like him.

Other dolls on the toy maker's website bear a striking resemblance to famous celebrities

The dolls are produced by Dragon in Dream (DiD) a toy manufacturing company that specializes in producing "realistic, lifelike" action figurines, according to its website.

DiD's website was quickly disabled following the revelations, but the original site featured a doll labeled as "WWII German Army Supply Duty -- Bastian" that came complete with a uniform adorned with a swastika-bearing eagle.

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Bastian's management company advised lawyers in Germany this week to begin legal proceedings, according to German newspaper Bild, with one media lawyer calling the doll a "clear violation of Schweinsteiger's personality rights."

DiD's phone went unanswered on Friday and it could not be contacted for comment by email, but the company previously told the newspaper that it was a "complete coincidence" that the figurine looked like the footballer.

"We thought all Germans look like that," DiD said. "Bastian is also a very common name in Germany."

Exploration of other products on the DiD website before it was taken offline revealed a series of other remarkable coincidences, with advertised figurines that bear a striking resemblance to Daniel Craig, Matt Damon, Robert De Niro and Johnny Depp, among others.

Daniel Craig

 Matt Damon

 Ed Harris

 Robert De Niro

Johny Dep

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Karl Lagerfeld Photos Are on Display in Paris

Karl Lagerfeld

Un portrait de Dorian Gray

* 2005 *

Photo: © 2015 Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld Photos Are on Display in Paris (never Seen before)

At Paris’s Pinacothèque de Paris gallery, Lagerfeld’s photographic endeavors are the subject of a new exhibit, open now through March 20, 2016.

There’s seemingly no end to Karl Lagerfeld’s pursuits: Designer, publisher, photographer, collector.

Co-curated by Eric Pfrunder, Chanel’s image director, and Gerhard Steidl, the publisher who partners with Lagerfeld on the “7L” series, the show provides an expansive look at Lagerfeld’s photographs.

 Laid out in the spacious galleries are editorial shots of Anna Ewers, self-portraits, and never-before-seen snaps of Lagerfeld muse and model Baptiste Giabiconi. Many of the works are in black-and-white and even more are contemporary renderings of Greek myths—you’ll as soon find Abbey Lee, Bianca Balti, and Giabiconi re-enacting Daphnis and Chloe as you’ll see Heidi Mount lounging in a Vermont field wearing head-to-toe Chanel.

Karl Lagerfeld

Autoportrait, New-York

* 2011*

Photo: © 2015 Karl Lagerfeld

 Karl Lagerfeld

Heidi Mount, Vermont

* 2009 *

Photo: © 2015 Karl Lagerfeld

 Karl Lagerfeld

Le Voyage d'Ulysse

* 2013 *

Photo: © 2015 Karl Lagerfeld

 Karl Lagerfeld

Daphnis et Chloé

* 2013 *

Photo: © 2015 Karl Lagerfeld

 Karl Lagerfeld

Anna Ewers, Numéro

* 2015 *

Photo: © 2015 Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld

Daphnis et Chloé

* 2013 *

Photo: © 2015 Karl Lagerfeld

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Alumnae - Spring’s Most Affordably Cool Shoes

Alumnae marks a new chapter, playful, but perhaps a tad more subdued, soigné even. After a soft launch of a few styles for Resort, Spring ’16 marks the first full collection, chock-full of wearable flats in mottled, jewel-tone calf hair and patent, all made in Italy and clocking in around $400 to $600 per pair. “I noticed that there might be some space in there, a sweet spot that’s just below luxury and above contemporary, room for nice, clean, intelligent design,” Sigerson says. “There are lots of women who might wear a shirt from Protagonist, and on bottom jeans from 6397. That’s sort of our ideal customer—and hopefully our shoes would be something they’ll feel good about wearing on their feet.” Fittingly, you’ll find both those lines on the racks at The Apartment By The Line, where Alumnae will launch its inaugural season (along with Philadelphia boutique Joan Shepp).

If Sigerson Morrison’s early-aughts heyday is synonymous in many ways with starlets like Charlize Theron, then cofounder Kari Sigerson’s new project, Alumnae, has an edgier brand of beauty in mind. Sigerson name-checks Edie Campbell as a modern-day muse for her new line with partner Eliza Axelson- Chidsey, the footwear phoenix rising from the ashes of SM’s legal disputes (and Sigerson’s ultimate split from the empire she and Miranda Morrison founded). As at SM, comfort is paramount for Sigerson and Axelson-Chidsey; nary a pair of pumps in sight.

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Sienna Miller, Cara Delevingne, Kendall Jenner, and More Donned Costumes for Eva Cavalli’s Masquerade Birthday Bash

Last Friday, One Mayfair, formerly St. Mark’s Church and now one of London’s most in-demand event venues, was transformed into a posh party palace for Eva Cavalli’s masquerade birthday bash. 

There for dinner were It Brits including Sienna Miller and Cara Delevingne, who was joined by fresh-off-the-catwalk pals including Kendall Jenner, Magdalena Frackowiak, and Natasha Poly. 

Also getting into the spirt were a slew of designers including Riccardo Tisci, Philip Treacy, and Stephen Jones. Dougie Poynter, Mert Alas, and Chloe Green all partied until the wee hours, but the highlight of the night was when a pretty, pink rose birthday cake was presented to Cavalli with cheers and hurrahs!

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GUCCI, The Street Style Circuit

No one’s talked about Gucci in a long time.” That’s what Net-a-Porter VP of global buying Sarah Rutson said just days after Alessandro Michele’s Gucci debut in February, when he unveiled a collection that reportedly came together in a matter of weeks. Flash-forward to present day, on the heels of Michele’s Spring ’16 outing: Rutson recently said that in that sliver of time, Gucci has become the luxury titan’s top seller next to Saint Laurent.

The rehabilitation of the storied house’s financial stakes has become a chief interest for parent company Kering—an interest that, teamed with the sheer covetability and modishness of Michele’s ready-to-wear and accessories, has paid off. After a rocky two years, the brand posted a 4.6 percent boost to its second-quarter sales, improbably after only a few months of Michele’s reinvention efforts. Beyond the numbers, and at the risk of stating the obvious: Gucci is just plain cool right now. You didn’t have to be sitting front row at shows this month to notice the profusion of Michele’s shaggy, kangaroo-lined old-guard loafers, of the knife-pleated frocks in that gleefully patrician-looking wallpaper floral, or quietly logo-laden handbags trimmed more remarkably in big bees and snakes. Here are pieces that haven’t had ample time to gather even a speck of dust on stockists’ shelves, thanks to a lush, cornucopian quality that makes them easy to lose yourself in. For this writer and a whole lot of her peers, it’s that profusion that is so appealing.

See all the ways well-heeled industry types were wearing Gucci at the shows.

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