Trend Report SS2018: It’s all in the details

An encrypted necklace (Balenciaga), a logo Swarovski belt (Gucci), a branded zipper (Marc Jacobs), a logo printed on a pair of neon socks, a print that when seen from up close turned out to be the letters of the brand. Whoever sat closest to the catwalk could spot the most logomania items. Details the largest fashion houses used to put some extra focus on their names. A simple and smart trick to brand your business and increase sells (showing off the labels your wearing wasn’t this hot since the nineties). Anyone who loves a little extra detail to an outfit could also love the clash/mix of fabric textures (as seen at MaxMara, McQueen, Calvin Klein). The perfection of certain zippers (Alexander Wang), buttons (MaxMara) and cuffs (Louis Vuitton). As well as the cutest, most detailed accessories, like a lamp handbag at Dolce & Gabbana and the bright colored pop jewelry at Versace. Look closely, pay attention and you’ll discover there are so much more layers to a collection than meets the eye.

Trend Report High Summer 2018: Color Codes

Last year it seemed everyone was into matching green and pink as the ultimate color combination of 2017. This year color codes have been redefined and so some new combinations have been presented. So how about pairing orange and blue as seen at Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs and Acne? Purple and yellow perhaps as Carolina Herrera made a gorgeous color statement. And if anything says high summer it is the match of yellow, light pink and red shades (Dries van Noten, Sies Marjan, Etro). Like wearing the ultimate summer sunset on your outfit. All eyes on you any room you enter. Especially vibrant when combined with cognac brown leather shades and some gold jewelry.

Streetfashion Haute Couture Paris FW2018

What are you wearing during the fashionweeks? Your Gucci-shoes, that Balenciaga-shirt or your latest Vetements-denim? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks we refresh our streetwear posts regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: Paris Haute Couture Fashionweek FW2018/19.

Viktor & Rolf Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

Who ever witnessed the Viktor & Rolf couture show this week must have had a deja-vu feeling. The Dutch designers, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, presented us their “Immaculate Collection”, 25 revisited looks. They redid their biggest showpieces. The 3D NO dress, the I love you bridal gown, the strong shouldered tux, the harlequin suit, the cut-out tulle dress, the all in one bed dress and the golden age painting dresses amongst others. The same cut, the same fabrics, the same look & feel, yet this time around all looks were produced in white (immaculate indeed), decorated by Swarovski crystals.
It was a nonlinear round up of their works of art, taking us back and forth through their many collections. Reminding us once again of what special, meaningful collections Viktor & Rolf have produced over the years. For who’s interested in looking back just a little more the Kunsthal in Rotterdam currently captures all the highlights of 25 years of the Dutch design duo. And we can not look back and celebrate this anniversary enough. Congrats gentlemen on such a stunning line-up of extraordinary pieces of (wearable) art.

Chanel Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

The streets of Paris, a route on the Quai de Conti to be precise, formed the backdrop of Chanel’s couture show this week. A signature Chanel collection titled High Profile, filled with classic tweed suits and delicate, crystal encrusted showpieces. Hairdo: rockabilly style. Color code: gray with touches of pastels and neutrals. Tweed suits with skirts that ended just above the knee and jackets with long slit sleeves formed a big part of the collection. Other returning ingredients were strong shoulders, lots of layers of tulle, cut-outs, high collars and sparkly boots. A finally of opera worthy gowns had some pieces so lavishly decorated they seemed like a heavy burden to wear. Luckily some high slits and off shoulder details added a little space to the looks. A bride in a mint colored, floral embroidered, diamond encrusted skirt and top with matching headpiece and veil was the last women the walk alongside the Seine. A show very Paris and very French (as Karl Lagerfeld himself put it) and thus the ultimate promotion of both the city and it’s astonishing haute couture.

Dior Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

The most elegant, that’s one way to sum up Dior’s latest couture collection. Maria Grazia Chiuri sent out the most delicate, elegant and feminine, New Look silhouette inspired designs. Princess dresses made out of luxurious, airy and sheer fabrics. Off shoulder or with tiny straps, cinched by a tiny waist belt, beautifully moving with every step of the way. A wide range of nudes, blacks and some color in the form of an green, an orange and a lilac dress plus a selection of metallic gowns at the end. Chokers, berets, earpieces (in just one ear) and nude colored pumps topped the looks off. A breath taking dream collection so many women will look confident, chic and most elegant in.

Vetements Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

And so Vetements ended up at couture fashion week, which lead to us watching the most streetwise collection this week. Inspired by his youth, growing up in a war-torn Georgia Demna Gvasalia delivered not just a fashionable but more so a political message. One he transmitted through rebellious looking models wearing black masks, hoodies (one with a special cut-out for ponytails), ripped denim and joggers. They wore nude colored tattoo tops, flag printed (with the flags of Turkey and America amongst others) wind jackets and oversized bomber jackets, capes and coats. Their heels had upside down Eiffel towers key ring glued to them as a heel, while sneakers from Vetements latest collab with Reebok had spikes on their noses. There were matching futuristic spiked sunglasses as well, just like chokers and knee high socks. A pretty veiled bride felt like a breath of fresh air after all the harsh- and boldness. Calm after the storm of all that grunge.

 

Givenchy Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

On a reflective almost liquid looking runway in the middle of the formal gardens of the Archives Nationales creative director Clare Waight Keller sent out her latest Givenchy couture collection. An ode to the master of the house, Monsieur Hubert de Givenchy with masterpieces in both mens- and womenswear. Pieces that were beautifully cut, slightly graphic and modern, even futuristic, though they were inspired by the sixties and seventies. “For me, it is always about the difference between masculine and feminine – and I think it was for Hubert as well. When I dig deep in the archives, he had a real masculine sense through the shoulders, and that is part of the language that I am developing”, Claire stated. And so tuxes and dresses alternated each other, forming the ultimate balance between male and female designs. Dresses were mostly cinched at the waist and worn with capes, overcoats and veils. True showstoppers were the crystal beaded gowns. Stunning shades like turquoise, purple and orange popped up throughout the show. Overall the silhouette was long and lean with strongs shoulders, off shoulder designs and asymmetry. With some extra beads, feathers and volume princess Megan Markles dress could have easily fit in. Statement accessories included a silver harness-like top, a chunky choker and a beaded headpiece (worn with matching silver skirt and a pink top). A collection that felt respectful to Givenchy’s founder and not only deserved the round of applause Clare and her team, who all appeared on stage after the finale, received but some special upcoming red carpet moments too.

RVDK Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

Dutch designer RVDK/Ronald van der Kemps message is still the same: the only sustainable way forward is by making the most of what’s in front of you. And you don’t need to know about his stance on sustainability to enjoy his work, but it certainly gives it added relevance at a time where H&M sits on $4.3 billion worth of unsold inventory. Through this iteration of his upcycled collage of vintage fabric finds and unusual materials, van der Kemp zeroed in on the idea of disposable clothes, opposing the paper dresses of the Sixties to the “disposable clothes on the high street.”
He draws together his repurposed material in a joyous clash that imparts a perpetual of-the-moment feel. As ever, he remains undaunted at the idea of offering outré pairings, or of being handed materials others may consider subpar.

Iris van Herpen Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

In a world facing depleted natural resources, Iris van Herpen’s fascinating biomimicry world looks increasingly relevant. As the movement for lab-grown materials continues to gather momentum, van Herpen this season explored synthetic biology and the intertwining relationships between the organic and the inorganic, biology and technology. The designer even had a term for it: “Syntopia.”
As a prelude, she handed the floor to like-minded Amsterdam-based artist duo Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta of Studio Drift to create a kinetic sculpture. Suspended above the runway — and based on the concept of a glass bird — the installation was composed of rows of glass bars suspended by invisible wires that made them move like wings. It made for some novel runway entertainment, but the show really took flight with van Herpen’s creations based on interpretations of a feather’s architecture.
The designer used chronophotography, a technique from the Victorian era that captures movement in several frames, to guide the draping of a garment, breaking the process down to emulate the layering of a bird’s feather on sculpted dresses with undulating hems.
Other looks had an ethereal underwater feel, seen in rippling dresses with a classical allure, and luminous cape gowns in sheer silk organza, their liquid-coated pleats echoing the lines of the kinetic installation.
The Syntopia theme also played out in a series of gray coats and dresses in laser-cut wool fused with sections of intertwined digitally designed and traditional weaves, fringes of leather tassels swinging from the hems.

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