Milan Fashion Week Update

You could say that London Fashion Week was about the agony of being rich. Milan was different: there were five different ways to be elegant and (almost) all of them were covetable.

The 60s

It's pretty apparent that the past four or five years have been a Magical Mystery Tour of the 20th century--where we'll stop, no one knows. Last calendar year we traveled from the 50s to the 70s, but if some people had their way, we'd find the perfect medium and come out in the middle: the late 60s. Prada was all about "innocent" glamor, so they sent a New Wave girl out on the runway, chocabloc with references to YSL's Mondrian dress and Paco Rabbane's creations--sweet double-breasted coats paired with a very low waistline and plastic paillete dresses. Over at Aquilano.Rimondi and Marni, late-60s Balenciaga saw a revival. The Marni collection was all about what designer Consuelo Castiglioni called "severe elegance," pairing the volume of Balenciaga's ponchos with flattening minimalist prints. (This combination seems like a winner for Castiglioni--many critics think this is the oddball label's most accessible collection yet.)

 Aquilano. Rimondi

Marni

Prada

The Seventies

This year marked Gucci's 90th anniversary, and Frida Giannini celebrated by taking the house back to the 70s. I normally hate the disco era, but if it means that we'll see more shirts with jabots, smart suits, and long, flowing dresses with slits up to here, then bring it on! This was the first Gucci collection I've liked in awhile--it wasn't the most innovative, but it was elegant. The collection also showcases Milan's unusually strong colors for the season: teal, plum purple, orange, goldenrod, red, goldenrod, and brown.

Gucci

 Gucci

(I'd also like to take the opportunity to point out that Dolce & Gabbana showed a similar type of dress, but the collection was deeply embarrassing--designer fanny packs!--and brought me much pain so I will not link to it. You can blind yourself if you want.)

Serpentine

The Milan runways haven't given themselves to prints as much as New York and London have, preferring instead to emphasize Italy's strong textile tradition. Yet this season saw variations on the same theme: mysterious and unsettling curvey prints. Alberta Ferretti showed a strong, unforgettable surrealist print with some of the season's most beautiful colors. Versace riffed on a classic house print, making a baroque curlicew into a mysterious, half-seen Gordian knot.

 Alberta Ferretti

Versace

Boudoir

 Armani  showed a trend that's been more common in New York (Alexander Wang) and Paris (Dior, Anne Valerie Hash) than in Italy. It wasn't a particularly strong collection--I felt some of the models looked like they were in a very high class nursing home--but the colors were lovely. Gray, rose, dusk, black. We'll probably see them around next season.

Giorgio Armani

London Fashion Week Update

Welcome to the Apocalypse--or, at least, the moments right before it. No one during London Fashion Week went right out and said that, of course, but the message was clear. Everyone was a scavenger--whether it was raiding Grandma's attic or a museum's Ming vase collection--the general theme to this fashion week was scrounging for bits and pieces. As Style.com's Maya Singer said in her Christopher Raeburn review, "In coming years, it's likely that innovation in fashion is going to revolve less around aesthetics and more around the way things are made—where materials come from and how efficiently garments are produced."

Unusual Fabric

Like Rodarte and Proenza Schouler in New York, lots London designers experimented with custom-made fabrics. Erdem envisioned a mad artist's wife, shredding her husband's canvases to pieces and making them part of herself. Each dress had patches of tweed, silk, sequins--you name it. Both House of Holland and Christopher Kane took little old ladies as their point of departure: Henry Holland used custom Scottish tweeds, while Christopher Kane deployed some sinister crochet and...those weird poofy stickers with liquid in them that change color when you touch them. Kane wanted to use a textile that no had ever used before. The results are mixed, but one thing's for sure--no fast fashion house will be able to copy any of these designers.

House of Holland

Erdem

 

Christopher Kane

 

Wild Prints

 

Lately, Brit designers have been much more adventurous than their American peers when it comes to prints. Last season, Mary Katrantzou surprised and delighted the fashion world by presenting dresses printed with interior photographs. This season, Katrantzou decided to show the "woman in the room," and all of the objects she owns--precious Ming vases, Faberge eggs, jewels. Jonathan Saunders was inspired by the early 30s photographer Paul Outerbridge, who experimented with color photography techniques. Both designers presented a woman so consumed by collecting that she becomes an objet d'art herself.

 Jonathan Saunders

 

Mary Katrantzou

London Fashion Week may not directly impact American design, but it gives us a preview of what to watch out for at H&M and Topshop: black, white, red, mustard, plum, and navy, as can be seen at Antonio Berardi and Matthew Williamson, and fur, as amply demonstrated by Giles Deacon. Oh, and crazy ladies. Lots and lots of crazy ladies. 

   

New York Fashion Week Update: Everything Old is Old Again

I have to say that being in Italy has made me really appreciate New York fashion so much more. Italian fashion seems, at least to me, almost vulgar--it's very playful, which is a nice change from sober New York, but at the same time it's more about flash--fur, shiny leather, intricate knits that verge on ugly and deformed--then about looking elegant or classy. I still can't decide whether or not that's a good thing.

This Fashion Week proudly shows what makes New York so special: lots of designers are presenting a strong, studiously casual woman. She can wear a blazer to a bar or to a boardroom meeting and always look chic without the fuss of Paris or the noise of Milan. Many designers are continuing familiar silhouettes--big shoulders, harem pants, pleated pants (why???), sequined minis. We're also going to see some trends that are already big in Italy: chunky knits layered over turtlenecks and wide-legged pants. It's also becoming pretty apparent that the staid optimism and subdued femininity of this spring will be gone by September. (Sigh.) Instead, lots of designers are showing a woman who is tough but vulnerable. Perhaps subconsciously following their 16th century peers, who were similarly living in a time of great upheaval, many designers have used slashing to express social upheaval. Altuzarra, for example, presented neo-Goth clothes. Much of the collection looked like it was Frankensteined together or were otherwise slashed. Even the ankles were exposed.

Altuzarra

Alexander Wang took the power suit and tore it to shreds. His woman had powerful shoulders but bared some of the most vulnerable parts of her body.

Alexander Wang

There's more than one way to show vulnerability. Prabal Gurung's collection had some admirable color-blocking. The forms were large and powerful, but ultimately ellusive. For example, this coat was white in the front and black in back--the wearer presents two faces to the world.

 

Prabal Gurung

Another emerging trend from New York Fashion Week is the use, or appearance of the use, of found objects. Unlike the past few seasons, when designers lazily copied stuff from the 80s  were inspired by vintage, designers really are being inspired by old, grungy things. Both Altuzarra and Alexander Wang incorporated velvet into their shows, and most designers this season have used textured wool, leather, fox fur, and, on a few occasions, faded-looking prints. This fall will simply be a hodgepodge of materials, as if New York designers raided a Salvation Army and repurposed whatever they could find. Maybe these designers have had the recession on the brain, but if that's true, then they haven't exactly been optimistic.

 

       Gary Graham                                     Karen Walker 

One of the only collections so far to have any joie de vivre was Peter Som's. Som, an industry favorite, has been struggling since his extremely bitter and unfortunate departure from Bill Blass. This has been his first runway show since his departure from Bill Blass. The theme, apparently, was Woodstock, and not a single surface was left without a print or a texture. Som continued the somber color palette that other designers have been putting out but added some rich jewel tones and some surprise neons into the mix.

 

Peter Som

Of course, this is only the beginning of Fashion Week. It'll be interesting to see what themes other designers develop. 

All images via Style.com. Click to enlarge.

 

Paris Fashion Week: Lanvin

All images WWD.com 

Albar Elbaz certainly knows how to put on a show. His Spring 2010 RTW show was both a celebration of austere elegance and a comment on the modern woman. 

Elbaz claims that his show was inspired by his customers: high-powered women who run the world by day, but "collapse" when they come home. His collection was asymmetrical, often with one shoulder or limb bared, despite the protective envelope of the rest of the garment, often broad swaths of cloth barely controlled by pleating and draping. None of the silhouettes in this collection were new: tulip skirts, kimono-style dresses, jumpsuits, broad shoulders. We've seen these before. However, Elbaz has repackaged them in an intelligent concept. His emphasis was on the horizontal: each outfit came with a belt. By bisecting his modern women, he showed how her intellectual and sexual sides were, by unfortunate necessity, separate, but had every chance of forming a beautiful whole.

The materials used were, of course, stunning. According to style.com, Elbaz used polyester for the incredible jumpsuits and invented a new way of quilting. Some dresses had a chiffon over-layer. There were several leather dresses--a material tough but pliant, again, a comment on his customer--that showed lots of originality and lots and lots of sequins. In addition, the show had some interesting styling choices: there were several transparent tops (a remark on vulnerability?), and dresses layered over each other, creating a remarkable whole.

A lot of the Spring 2010 RTW shows have been beating us over the head with nostalgia, like crazy neoconservatives and a recession couldn't have told us that the 80s were back. Elbaz's collection shows the mark of a great designer: he's taken several shapes that, in many lesser hands were tired and gleefully frumpy, and injected a much-needed shot of intelligence and grace.

Milan Fashion Week: Alberta Ferretti

All images Style.com

In a season that's presented an endless, seemingly identical array of screaming sequins, loud leather, and rampant nostalgia, Alberta Ferretti has done the world the service of sitting back and just saying, "No." Instead of a collection full of the desperate sexuality of a people run amok in an unsure recession, Ferretti has taken us back to a more distant but no less fraught time: 1919 and 1920 to be exact. (Do I smell an Edwardian sub-trend? Pretty please with sugar and sprinkles on top!)

Ferretti's collection has tons of romantic chiffon numbers with an air of melancholy about them. The wide waists and lace recall the Armistice period in late Edwardian fashion. The velvet decorations and large Art Deco prints are a nod to the very early 20s, a time hellbent on delivering as much romantic flair as possible. In a way, this post-World War I look is even more challenging than our 80s and 90s revivals. These women and the men around them were trying to reconfigure their sexual identities after a debilitating war that proved that women could work in factories and earn money and that masculine bravado--the creator of so much wanton destruction across Europe--was nothing but an empty shell. Women were relearning how to be women, but they were also, for the first time, gaining that masculine independence that the 80s club girls wandering around next spring take for granted. So let's tip our hats to these brave women and honor them through beautiful, classic but no less adventurous clothing.

 

How Do You Put on a Show?

Forbes has a nifty little chart listing all the people who help put on a runway show. Apparently, McDonald's is a Fashion Week sponsor?!

Model Blogging/Models Blogging

Daul Kim, Coco Rocha, Sophie Ward, Elyse Sewell, Cameron Russell are all blogging. They aren't even embarrassing themselves, these beautiful women actually have something to say! These are some of the best, personal blogs I have seen for a while. For more summaries of these blogs, as if you need an incentive to read what models think, read this article on Jezebel.

[racked]

Japan Fashion Week

Designers Yoshikazu Yamagata and Kentaro Tamai used a pony and mannequins to show their spring/summer collection, so it's hardly surprising that they took a less than conventional route for fall/winter... by not showing any clothing at all. The pair of mavericks encased their models in fanciful sculptures made out of crumpled paper, duct tape, tin foil, shards of styrofoam and other castoffs. An anti-fashion statement? Not so — or so they say. Backstage, the designers explained that they wanted to show how real fashion design goes beyond clothing to touch people on an emotional level.
-WWD

Marchesa: No Disney Princess

When I think of the word fairytale, it makes me think of the collection of Andrew Lang fairy books I had when I was little, you know which ones I mean? The Blue Fairy Book, the Red Fairy Book, the Green Fairy Book, and so on and so forth. While the tales in the books often lent towards the less than shiny, happy side, and more towards the slightly gruesome side, it didn't really matter, because when you lined all of them up on the shelf, it was hard to believe that they were anything but pretty.
So when I read the review for the latest Marchesa collection on style.com, saying that designer Georgina Chapman wanted the Fall 09 collection to "be like a fairytale" I was curious to see whether she meant the Disney version of the word, or the Andrew Lang. I'm happy to say that the collection is a lot more reminiscent of the slightly darker, hard edge fairy tales, because let's be honest, Disney Cinderalla is boring, and I always just wanted to smack Snow White.
The collection was shown at the Chelsea Art Museum, which seems appropriate as a few of the pieces really are works of art. While there are a couple of pieces that I really don't like (like a pink studded dress with a huge bow on the front), there are also a lot of beautifully structured dresses. The fairy tale theme comes through in different ways, from flowers, to ruffles, bows, sparkles, and seemingly magical construction; however, the pieces are kept from looking too twee through either colour choice (all the ball gown-esque dresses are black and grey), or structure (the flower dresses are fitted and short). My favourite dress is definitely the last piece in the collection, because I just love the idea of Disney Cinderella showing up to the ball in this:




Overall, the pieces are like the coloured Fairy Books, each piece has a bit of edge, something that keeps it from being completely sugar coated, but when you line them all up, you can't help but think it's pretty. See the full collection at style.com.



photo via style.com
reason I even looked at the Marchesa collection in the first place: fashionista.com

Kim Kardashian at Fashion Week

This is a completely indulgent post. My dad texted me this picture he took of Kim Kardashian posing at the Badgley Mischka fashion show this morning. It does beg me to question how exactly Kim Kardashian is invitd to these events.

Fashion Week

It sounds like there's been a little tension at this Fashion Week in light of dun dun dunnn the recession, and as a result many of the shows are smaller, the guest lists more exclusive. The division between industry insiders (editors, buyers and designers) vs. celebrity dabblers (reality stars and actors) was also a little more pronounced then usual. Lots of writers note that Fashion Week is really an industry trade show, not a party that happens to feature clothes. Nonetheless, Gawker has put together a fun and characteristically snarky gallery of notables from the past weekend (J. Timberlake's 'William Rast' line was (surprise) especially popular with celebs). For comprehensive slideshows of, you know, the actual Fall '09 lines, check out style.com.

Image from Gawker

Green with Envy

Apparently Elise Overland's fall 09 collection was inspired by sushi...



I guess those trousers are supposed to be like seaweed? Therefore this outfit combines many a thing I enjoy: sushi, green, and things that shimmer.



via style.com

Recessionista: NY Edition

Check out this great update on 'The Cut", New York's fashion blog. It shows how designers, models and stylists do their best to make ends meet for this upcoming fashion week. Stores are closing and parties are cancelled, but, in the name of style, the recessionistas soldier on.

And, in case any of you have time to stop studying and start star-gazing, here's the schedule for the week, starting this Friday the 13th (that's right).

Fashion Week to Lincoln Center!

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has overstayed its welcome in Bryant Park. According to the Times, fashion editors, designers and the flock of followers that clog the park twice yearly will have to commute to Lincoln Center starting in 2010. This is a nice space but more difficult to get to from the garment district.