River Phoenix's Unfinished Final Film Will Finally Be Seen

With only eleven days left of shooting, the movie Dark Blood was never finished upon the death of its lead actor, River Phoenix, in 1993. But last fall, director George Sluizer announced he would finally complete it, with Joaquin Phoenix filling in for his brother on voiceovers and presumably with a revised ending. 

And voila, today came news that Dark Blood will premiere at Sundance on September 27. The moody film—in which Phoenix plays a widower and nihilistic recluse who befriends a couple (Jonathan Pryce and Judy Davis, who played Elsa Schiaparelli in the Met's Impossible Conversations) traveling through the desert—is the last known footage of the young star.

Impossible Conversations

With Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, “allows us to explore how the past enlightens the present and how the present enlivens the past.” Exhibit on view May 10-August 19 at The Met.

Schiaparelli Label to Officially Relaunch Though a Designer Has Yet To Be Named

Nearly forty years after her death, Elsa Schiaparelli is once again the designer of the moment: She’s the subject of this year’s Costume Institute exhibit at the Met, and now, thanks to Italian businessman Diego Della Valle, her label is set to enjoy a revival later this year, WWD is reporting.

Della Valle, who is the CEO of Tod’s SpA, which owns Tod’s, Hogan and a handful of other brands, bought Schiaparelli‘s trademarks and archives back in May 2006 and has been waiting for the right time to officially relaunch the brand. Obviously, with all the buzz generated by “Impossible Conversations,” timing couldn’t be better if Della Valle’s marketing team had planned it.

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An Elsa Schiaparelli Pre-Frenzy Frenzy

The buyer who "sourced" these Elsa Schiaparelli originals for 1stdibs has chosen to remain anonymous. A wise move, considering the surrealist Italian designer is on the verge of a major moment as the subject—along with Miuccia Prada—of the Costume Institute's next fashion exhibit. Opening May 10, Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada On Fashion follows the Met's blockbuster Alexander McQueen show last year. So, if your job was to collect white-hot 20th-century objets, would you want crazed fashion freaks knowing who you are?

Key pieces from the online sale of costume jewelry, accessories and sunglasses include: a compact in the shape of a telephone (1935) that still contains its original mirror and powder puff, part of a collaboration with Salvador Dali; a necklace made from gilded pine cones and velvet ribbon (1939); and a pair of ostrich clips from the circus collection designed by Jean Schlumberger for Schiaparelli (1938).

Telephone Compact (1935) above

Galliano Gets His Very Own Job Rumor

We've been so distracted by the driver's seat at Dior that we nearly forgot about Galliano's suspended career — but not about his beanie and twenties-style mustache. Buried in a longer story on Derek Lam leaving his post as Tod's creative director, comes the following teaser:

Lam’s departure coincides with continued speculation that John Galliano was in talks with the Italian firm to either do a Tod’s capsule collection or revamp its Schiaparelli brand. However, [chairman Diego] Della Valle firmly dismissed the rumors.

Dang, Della Valle. Schiaparelli has been without a head designer since its acquisition in 2007 and we're sort of sweet on the idea of Galliano at the helm. In any case, as Fashionista points out, the "Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion" Costume Institute exhibit is scheduled for May at the Met, setting the perfect scene for a big job announcement.