The Big Round Up Womenswear FW14, Part 3

This is part three of our trend-overview of season FW2014. Take a closer look at Cosmic, Warriors and With a Swirl.

COSMIC

(Dsquared², Balenciaga, Gucci, Wang, Iceberg(

A touch of Barbarella spotted at Dsquared² with a slice of lunatic glamor. Much more strict, square and bold, the sporty hybrids of Balenciaga show a playful touch of humor. Cosmic starlets in leather mini’s at Gucci. More utility at Balenciaga, ready to hunt or to enter the lab? Chunky sweaters treated with crinkly silver foil, like an astronaut’s space suit at Iceberg.

 

WARRIORS

(Haider Ackermann, Rick Owens, Rick Owens, Haider Ackermann, Barbara Bui)

Brace yourself, the troups are nearing. The heroins of Haider Ackermann, show feminine and masculine symbiosis, in longer then long sumptuous slouchy suits.

Family tribes and high priestesses at Rick Owens wear sleeveless tunic dresses and ponchos in primal knit, felt and leather skins. Modern day cocooning goes elegant at Ackermann in lush jersey cap-sleeved onesies, the hit of the season. Barbara Bui shows chunky and sharp tailored jerseys.

WITH A SWIRL

(Chalayan, Dries van Noten, Christopher Kane, Roland Mouret, Just Cavalli)

Most excitement was in the added dynamics. All moving layers and slits in Hussein Chalayan’s gauzy gowns, glittering in liquid textures. Dries van Noten’s pattern mania shows psychedelic swirl with a rave quality. Christopher Kane’s organza dresses ruffle, since composed of fifty dark-trimmed leaves of the fabric. Sculptural as well as ethereal. Roland Mouret’s stiff coated tweed is animated by a swirling laser cut fringe skirt. Just Cavalli shows racy metallic collage prints, exuberant applications and skirts with an elegant swirl.

The dynamic promise of technology!

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

 

The Big Round Up Womenswear FW14, Part 2

This is part 2 of our trend-overview of the coming fall season. Between the continuous feel for sobriety, for real clothes and a new found spirit for informality , we did spot some true fashion statements. In percentage not that many, but nevertheless there. Found mostly in expressive materials, holographic coatings, laminations, cuts, fringes, 3D embellishment and eye-catching patterns. Where past seasons were strong on craft we now sense a steady shift towards technology.

Take a closer look at Crafted Luxury, l’Art Decoratif and the Wild Ones.

 

CRAFTED LUXURY

(Céline, Altuzarra, Stella McCartney, Michael Kors, Michael Kors)

Love for raw refinement. Céline wrapped her model in fluffy feather fringe, Altuzarra in simple elegant shifts from crafted tapestry weaves, Stella McCartney’s comfy tweed parka’s showed an earthy tribal feel, where Michael Kors went for maximum luxury in ombré pullovers, chocolate brown feather fringe and masculine suits made of floating luxurious cashmere tweeds.

 

L’ART DECORATIF

(Missoni, Burberry Prorsum, Bottega Veneta, Peter Pilotto, Tod’s)

Missoni showed abstract patched tanks in boiled and felted knit. Reflecting on Bloomsbury, Burberry hand-painted cashmere shawls to be worn on mohair coats. Technical wizardry was used to create this pattern magic – zigzag puzzles at Bottega Veneta. Exuberance and excess in trippy and clashing geometric prints at Peter Pilotto, where Tod’s showed mosaic-like lozenge patterns in multiple techniques.

 

THE WILD ONES

(Miu Miu, Saint Laurent, Fendi, Alexander McQueen, Marni)

A flavour of the primal. Miuccia Prada layered her padded and quilted dresses with grand volumes of fluff for Miu Miu, Saint Laurent‘s cool, pop princesses strolled the catwalk in fur, lazy with casual extravaganza. As human cats in long haired fluff. Wild beauty at Alexander McQueen, and – this is a quote – incongruous incursions of fur at Marni, just figure out yourself what this might be…

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Round Up Womenswear FW2014, Part 1

As always we where overwhelmed with the flood of fashion beauty and material excellence coming over us during the global fashion weeks.

There was this continuous feel for sobriety, for real clothes and a new found spirit for informality motivated by utilitarian inspirations. Lot’s of chic citywear icons where given the sporty treatment. The best windbreaker, the most comfortable puff jacket, the most perfect trouser fit. Between those masses of garments some were excellent in their normality, perfect in execution, amazing in materiality. Supreme touch, perfect drape, etc. Technology is helping here and making top tailoring more accessible, performing textiles more sensual and expressive fashion textiles more functional.

Between those real clothes to please us, very close to what woman desire to wear instantly, we did spot some true fashion statements. In percentage not that many, but nevertheless there. Found mostly in expressive materials, holographic coatings, laminations, cuts, fringes, 3D embellishment and eye-catching patterns. Where past seasons were strong on craft we now sense a steady shift towards technology.

Then there is this big (in many ways) offering of the cosy and comfortable. We nearly dare to mention a return of the feel for cocooning. All about enveloping, embracing, sheltering and protecting. Wrapped in plaids, down blankets, furs, felt ponchos and most of all in knits.

Knits where everywhere this season. For separate items as well as total looks. Haider Ackermann uses them long, lean and liquid. Balenciaga is among the designers who experiment by laminating bulky knits; others just cut it as woven material, where many, as The Row, find excellence by use of precious fibre – cashmere has never been that big.

Where we expected previous season a future for narrative sets and spectacular venues this was limited to few. The stupendous supermarket setting of Chanel was the talk of the season, he vacuum-packed his bags where Iris van Herpen left her audience in awe by vacuum-packing her models. Both raised a manifest on consumerism, in Chanel’s case this is likely to be rather ironic. Political or social statements where hardly done. Fashion is where it used to be, fur is back bigger than ever without any thought or comment, quotes were there for a season in summer, but were empty phrases appliquéd on garments as decoration. Now the message was femininity, desire and being beautiful. Back to the core business of fashion.

In general it seems that designers very much care for how women feel, what a girl wants, how fashion makes them feel beautiful. Fall 2014 catwalk season was much more about the exploration of women’s fashion desires then about pushing designers signature looks.
Cherchez la femme!

URBAN TECH

(Alexander Wang, Prada, Christian Wijnants, Balenciaga, Miu Miu)

Outdoor and urban sportswear never looked that glamorous. Alexander Wang showed utilitarian city wear in experimental tech textiles, Prada staged a boxy shearling in mirroring gold. Silver foil jackets at Christian Wijnants cover tech double knit shorts and Alexander Wang laminated cabled knit monty’s to cover chain knit skirts. Miu Miu uplifted normality by adding hologram gloss to quilted shirt jackets.

 

INTER-GALACTIC ROYALTY

(Rodarte, Moschino, Thom Browne, Dolce & Gabanna, Etro)

Bumping into a Princess Leia look-a-like at Rodarte we realized that Starwars is still making waves. Jeremy Scott explored junk culture for Moschino and came up with the bright, brash and ingenious staging their urban princess, Thom Browne evoked the ecclesiastical and went for the sublime, it where king’s that inspired Dolce & Gabanna to dress up this princess, she is showing us the key towards success. Veronica Etro met her royalty during a trip down the Silk Road.

KNIT IT

(Yohji Yamamoto, Céline, The Row, Céline)

Knit is big in all senses. Impressive knit volumes – soft, bulky and warm at Yohji Yamamoto. Sensuality and tenderness is what drove Phoebe Philo towards her all knit wardrobes for Céline. Instant luxury is what the models must have felt when The Row covered them in these super-size double face cashmere knits. Simple, still and ultimately comfortable.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

First View Paris Womenswear FW2014: Mini Mini

Mini is a topic in Paris and we want to share it with you.
Lanvin goes costumy with intergalactic references in a square cut boxy mini dress with swinging metal fringe. A sculptural look with a weightless appeal. We call this mini with gravity.
Miuccia Prada for Miu Miu takes the banal, the ordinary and everyday and made it desirable and luscious. She stages young girls in windbreakers and pea coats, with rucksacks but nevertheless very chic. Girly dresses that reveal the knees, frivolous with a sporty twist.
Slimane dresses Little Red Riding Hood for Saint Laurent, with a wiff of Tinkle Bell esprit. Poppy capes that cover the Parisian classic – the little black dress. Casual extravaganza for pretty pop princesses.
Nicolas Ghesquière was listening to the girls for Vuitton – what they want, what they need. Joy was the word. Cosmic holographic coatings adorn zipped shifts in subtle skin shades in A-line cuts with a 60s vibe.
All lighthearted and leggy!

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

First View Paris Womenswear FW2014: Knitdressing

 

Knitting is clearly a theme. We list here 4 designers, but can give you many more, who opt for the soft and cuddly. Staging strong women in tender knits, in all its textural and shapely variations.
Sonia Rykiel, plays with traditional body-wraps, all with a Rykiel wink and twist. Sleeve-scarves and semi-pelerines on layers of velours touch crafted jerseys. Stella McCartney’s chunky knit pyjama-style pants might become the seasonal must-have item. She manages to add some sex appeal to this snug look. Wrapping and knotting in a semi-relaxed way is obviously on trend.
Celine shows her knits sleek, lean and slender, in subtle glitz, vibrantly accessorized with crafted jewellery.
We see more artful knit representations at Issey Miyake. Mixing masterful layers of exquisite monochrome textured variations. Oversized blanket wraps, fluffy sweaters over silver sculpted pants.
But there is more – among them the surreal knitting at Viktor & Rolf combining crafted knits with digital cable-knit prints, and Haider Ackermann with sumptuous longer then long rib knitted sweaters and matching pants.
Knits intertwine the tough and the tender.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

First View Paris Womenswear FW2014: Fearless

A fearless mash-up of fashion tribes, fetish dolls, couture fascination, safari chic and hip-hop style. What binds these collections it the extraordinary level of artisanship. These designers quote freely from their personal oeuvre and find ways to mix these with fresh tempting inspirations without loosing their identity.
Rick Owens stages his family tribes in futuristic war costumes. This silhouette actually being one of the single patterned items he showed, reminiscent of Star Wars snow patrols. Wearing slick leather pants, super power bracelets and protective funnel neck collars
Yohji shows us power dolls wrapped in densely padded pillows. Soft cocooning stealth-wear, fantastically trippy in happy handprints.
Raf Simons arms Christian Dior models with couture. Power dressing in layered vibrancy, linking seemingly endless side splits with embroidered decorations, rewriting the secret codes of couture.
Balmain’s designer Olivier Rousteing dresses his global army of freedom in a dramatic, military-turned-tribal collection. Here with optical leather weave wrap skirt topped with an electric pop of red lamb’s fur.
A story of love (to quote Rick Owens) – love for fashion.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

First View Paris Womenswear FW2014: Rave!

Great to see some power and vibrancy coming to stage. Where glamour, sportswear and technology meet, energy sparks and flickers. Demure, slightly unhinged optical illusions and psychedelic swirl in hybrid cloths coming straight from the fashion laboratory. With swirling spirals, mish meshed two-dimensional flowers – all flavoured with unexpected elegance.
Dries van Noten is inspired by Bridget Riley, an English painter who is one of the foremost exponents of Op art. The most optical and delirious patterns where inspired by her works, that had a disorienting physical effect on the eye. This art part being whole-heartedly alternated with true fashion icons – as brilliant flat flowers, supersize 3-D corsages and chic sliver shoes.
At Balenciaga texture is the story. Referencing American sportswear in a playful and experimental way. Re-imagined cabled knits are laminated with latex and bonded with leather. Hefty zippers crisscross jackets and pants.
Fashion with a bold, cartoonish edge and a healthy touch of humor.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

 

First View Milan Womenswear FW2014: New Understatement

 

There are alternative ways to make a woman look beautiful. We saw brave and masterful innovative cut and pattern-making, smart updating of traditional skins and silks and an intelligent play with shades and light. The outcome looks new, modern and understated – sophisticated elegance with a self-evident comfort and natural flair in shapes that are not all that natural. What we look at are complex drapes, mathematical mosaics, intelligent coupes and smart technical finishing.

Tomas Maier, for Bottega Veneta, called these fab outcomes “puzzles’ – simple silhouettes with clever nips, skilful pleats and intelligent trompe l’oeil illusions. Ending up to be comfortable dresses in a sensual cosmetic pallet, to make women feel good.

Alessandra Facchinetti for Tod’s found ways to use leather less like skin and more like fabric which leads to streamlined, modern, women friendly outfits in lacquered patent leather.

Where Bottega Veneta uses ‘puzzles’, Tod’s mentions ‘mosaics’, both as results of in-depth explorations of pattern-making. Their efforts are inventive, unorthodox and challenging classical tailoring standards.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

First View Milan Womenswear Fw2014: Avant Garde

Where other designers stage fashion, Prada treats us on tales and inspirations. A holistic experience, theatrical performance, and an inspirational happening. As always firm-rooted in cultural heritage she reflects on Germany’s cultural avant-garde and the oeuvre of director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

It was a scenery flooding with vibrating contrasts – black, gold and furious red – transparency and opaque – veils and shearlings – matt and shimmer.

Deco-influenced patterns and silver trimmings among others at Prada. Bold gold-fringed starlets at Just Cavalli, corsage accessorized furs covering veils at Fendi and constructivist shearlings covering slink sheer shifts at Prada.

Inspired by Fassbinder’s love for culture and telling a story, he also showed her the darker sides of life. She mused on the opposite of rich, the doom and gloom of glam and casted sensual and eccentric she-devils wearing Prada.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

First View Milan Womenswear FW2014: Touch me Feel Me

 

The FENDI show, by Karl Lagerfeld, opened with fitted dresses erupting into tufts of fur at their seams. Lagerfeld punned that the effect was a “fur escape”. No escape though when it comes to fur this season. Puzzled we are spotting the overwhelming flood of critique-less fur. Gone are the days of manifest, consideration and reflection. Strong felt when it comes to the multidisciplinary, industrial and less known fashion designers of this era, so little when it comes to the globes powerful fashion stages.

Hairy surfaces are favoured and savoured in many ways this season. The superior quality of Italian craftsmanship demonstrated in pixel patch-working puff and fluff at Fendi. Strolling the Highlands in Max

Mara’s discreet and natural precious knits. Where Just Cavalli rocks in rich tapestry brocades and manipulated hair and fluff patterns.

‘Violets for Your Furs’ was the Billie Holiday’s song that inspired Lagerfeld – cold comfort for our furry friends.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

 

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