Few days back I was reading an article comparing minimalist and maximalist, but at today’s show Roberto Cavalli told Excess is my success; inspiration from tradition date back to the Renaissance, 16th century motifs & architecture. Fur jackets were woven with leather strips on traditional looms. And, where Roberto would once have used photo-prints to color his collection, here he actually picked up a brush and painted les fleurs du mal on his accessories.
The Navy, blue & purple magic continued from Jil who made an already come back. The set was made with a metallic polyhedron carved into the floor something which is rare and precious, Diamonds, fur, golden emblems of luxury. "You buy gold when you don’t trust the future," Sander said backstage. "But we’re optimists. The skirts proportions to flaring just below the knee that was convincingly with timelessly elegant. Jackets were elongated, slightly suppressed at the waist. Coats were mannish, reassuringly oversize. Buckled shoes with a big heel had a solid Puritan quality. Feel of sober with a touch of timeless elegance was seen in the collection, with a deep sociological thought. This is what make Jil real special.
Ter et Bantine came with a clean and clear look, a coatdress was almost monkish, sweater to pants for a trompe l’oeil jumpsuit, the long patch worked suede skirt paired with a cropped sweater. Simple but substantial, it managed a difficult balancing act: drama without overt sex appeal. The model look very liquid pale with hair style of water mermaid all brushed back with clear naked eyes.
A very unique atmosphere which is ‘Austere but romantic’ seems an autumn forest from which the models walk outward. The austerity already insinuated itself with last season’s monochrome, but here it was even more stripped to the bone. Masculine flannels and tweeds were cut into strict, angular silhouettes, diagonally zipped, and paired with riding boots, lavish stoles to gloves, bags, and boots, from a glossy band of beaver on a skirt hem to a capelet of the same on a maîtresse-stern coat-dress of charcoal flannel. Colors seen were black, gray, beige, sea green and natural furs along with brown and black boot.
Bally‘s Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler outfitted their presentation space like haute igloo. Those dogs ran away with the show, but when you managed to tear yourself from the Instagram opportunity, there were smart shoes and outerwear to be found here. As for the coats, the designers got inspired by Lee Miller, the World War II photographer turned Vogue portraitist.
This time Dolce & Gabbana went to Sicily again but into the Cathedral of the place. As they say "the art of mosaic-making is a slow and precise one." There were dresses printed with Monreale’s famous Byzantine and Venetian mosaics, and just as many lacy frocks in cardinal red. There is a romanticized view of the Catholic Church, inspiration was depicted as prints in the dresses and tops, gold is seen used enormously in the jewels, bags and crowns as accessory. Towards the end came dresses with deep red color with embroidery.
This collection from Missoni is a tremendous change from their past, it wanted to take refuge under the covers and make the world go away. The clothes retreated into the sanctuary of the boudoir, with flowing, languid lines that echoed pajamas and bathrobes, or huge, blanket wraps that suggested consummate coziness, even in a shawl-collared, tuxedo-styled version. The two impulses—cocooning and confrontation—were tricky bedfellows. Missoni’s current challenge is clearly to reconcile them; no doubt the brand is going more modern.
In the final day Gianfranco Ferre showed a very stylish and modern collection. Federico Piaggi and Stefano Citron did a wonderful job; popped lapels; big, looping obi-style belts; jackets tucked into pants, it was clear from the beginning that the designers were feeling confident; this being the first time that they’ve presented outside of Ferré’s headquarters. The collection has newness and something load to speak, we all hope that the brand find its way out to boom again.
Blogged by Amal Kiran Jana from Milan at 2.30 A.M
The New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata regionals churned out the top eleven contestants from over two thousand entries submitted during Let’s Design 5. These finalists were then invited to New Delhi, where they faced multiple challenges to prove their aesthetic sense and technical skills by reinventing cotton like never seen before
The first challenge given to the contestants was to re-invent the Little Black Dress. Ever since, Coco Chanel came up with a black cocktail dress to suit the jazziness of the 1920’s, LBD has been known as the most versatile classic of fashion industry. From Tiffany’s Audrey to Devil Wears Prada’s Hathaway, every star and in fact, every girl has sworn to the elegance of LBD. Therefore, to reinvent this classic silhouette in all time classic fabric- cotton and in their own unique aesthetic and style was indeed a real task for the designers. But they came up with some interesting ensembles, from asymmetrical hemlines to exaggerated shoulders to detailed necklines; the designers had a lot to offer. Based on this task, the jury chose the final eight contestants, who then moved to the next round.
The second task involved designing a denim ensemble with a feminine and chic look. Most of us associate denim with comfort and toughness. The perception of denim is the perfect outdoor fabric. Denim can be rough, quirky, punk-y, but sexy and chic? Now, that’s a challenge. But again, the contestants came up with some amazing ideas. Patchwork, clinched waists, closed necks, pleated peplums, flared sleeves; the designer’s left no stone unturned and the result were outstanding. Based on this task, the jury selected the final five contestants who moved on to the grand finale round of Let’s Design 5, which was the real testing water from where only one designer would emerge as the winner of Let’s Design season 5 grabbing not just the grand prize money but a chance to showcase his/her collection at FDCI’s WIFW SS14 along with a four page spread in Verve magazine.
Witness the epic battle of final five designers fighting it out to be the next top designer in India on zoOm at 6pm on March 1, 2013
The Million Dollar Baby star has teamed up with Montblanc which has further launched its special-edition Signature for Good collection featuring writing instruments, jewellery pieces and leather accessories with a prominent brick design to symbolize the joint effort to build a better future by improving access to education, including the brick-by-brick construction of schools.
To WWD, Hilary Swank said, “Every child deserves a fighting chance in life. Education is everything — if you have an education you have a better opportunity to overcome obstacles and have a fighting chance. There is no doubt that teaching is the most important job in the world.”
The Canadian musician-cum-artist Claire Boucher, better known by her stage name Grimes has been roped in Saint Laurent Paris to create a capsule collection of T-shirts.
The high-end collaboration features artwork by Claire taking inspiration from Yves Saint Laurent’s “Love Poster” series from the 70s. The five piece collection of t-shirts is Claire’s second venture into fashion. Previously, she had created a line of vagina-shaped rings.
On the occasion of its 60th anniversary the French fashion house Chloe unveils its Chloe Edition Anniversaire – the collection featuring a set of select items from the archives of Chloe.
Though the festivities had started last year only when the brand held a retrospective at Palais de Tokyo in Paris but of late the crescendo hits the top notes with the launch of this exclusive collection, and the brand’s activity with Selfridges, seeing curator Judith Clark rendering the luxury department store’s Wonder’s Room a new look.
The Chloe Edition Anniversarie is a re-release of special creations chosen throughout brand’s history of 60 years. It features pieces like vintage Paddington bags, classic cocktail dresses and boots created under the aegis of brand’s creative directors like Karl Lagerfeld, Pheobe Philo and Gaby Aghian.