Most Memorable Fashion Facts of 2010 (31 – 35)

2010 has almost come to and end. But we won’t celebrate the new year until we’ve looked back on a fantastic year of fashion. We’ve collected the news on the most memorable collaborations, upcoming models and other fashion facts you must not forget.

We made a top of 40 items. Earlier we presented news facts 1 to 30 and here are facts 31 to 35:

31. Dutch Designer: Iris van Herpen

Dutch Designer Iris van Herpen is becoming more and more popular. Though her designs are not always very wearable the fashion world loves her work. The shoes Iris designed for United Nude were featured in Vogue and Kim Kardashian walked around in them. As a proof of her talent Iris received three Dutch Fashion Awards and as a result British Vogue named her ‘One to watch’.

32. Chanel: fake fur & iceberg

For winter 2010 Karl Lagerfeld decided to make a statement. He would present a collection full of fake fur and stated that this was just as chic and glamorous. A great gesture, yet it didn’t quite match with the enormous iceberg he had imported from Sweden. In a time where global warming is one of the biggest problems it’s unbelievable Karl Lagerfeld can get away with importing icebergs. A fake iceberg to go with the fake fur would have been alright too.

33. Fench Vogue celebrates 90 years of fashion

This year French Vogue celebrated it’s ninetieth birthday. Carine Roitfeld put Lara Stone on the cover of her super thick issue and held a star studded masquerade ball to celebrate. Nobody knew she already had plans to leave the magazine at that moment…
French Vogue also launched it’s calendar, this time featuring a naked Daria Werbowy.

34. Jean Paul gaultier & La Perla

Known for his iconic cone bra and the many lingerie details he uses in his designs it was a smart move from Jean Paul Gaultier to collaborate with La Perla. This month the French designer and the Italian lingerie brand launched their first collection (with waist-cinching corsets, slips, extra high briefs and bustiers) together. JPG also teamed up with furniture brand Roche Bobois for some splendid sofas.

35. Lanvin for less

Was there ever so much talk on any H&M designer collaboration? We guess not. Lanvin for H&M was the talk of the day for over a month. First there were the leaked campaign images, then the video clips. After that, the fashion show in New York and finally the collection was actually for sale. Though the collection was a bit pricier than other collaborations every fashionista/o made sure to get her/his hands on some of the pieces.

Most Memorable Fashion Facts of 2010 (26 – 30)

2010 has almost come to and end. But we won’t celebrate the new year until we’ve looked back on a fantastic year of fashion. We’ve collected the news on the most memorable collaborations, upcoming models and other fashion facts you must not forget.

We made a top of 40 items. Earlier we presented news facts 1 to 25 and here are facts 26 to 30:

26. Double Denim

It was a fashion no-go for years, but in 2010 double denim all of a sudden was cool again. Chloe, D&G and Ralph Lauren set the trend and we hit the stores to buy ourselves a denim shirt to go with our favorite jeans.

27. Christopher Kane’s menswear

At the end of this year Christopher Kane launched his first menswear line. He came up with tees, suit jackets, leather shorts, knitted sweaters and cardigans, sold at Dover Street Market, London.

28. The Year of Phoebe Philo (head designer at Céline)

Since Phoebe Philo became the head designer at Céline, two years ago, she managed to turn the French ready to wear brand into one of the world’s most sought-after luxury labels. She has become one of the most influential movers and shakers in modern ready to wear and her approach to design has already had a huge impact on the way women dress. Celebs like Katie Holmes, Victoria Beckham and Leighton Meester are a big fan of her work. And it came as no surprise Phoebe (a.k.a. the Queen of the New Minimalism) won the title Designer of the Year 2010 at the British Fashion Awards in London.

29. Alberta Ferretti & Emma Watson

The Italian designer and the British actress (who cut her hair very short this year) teamed up to design an organic clothing line.

30. Olsen Twins expand The Row

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are one of the rare examples of celebrities turned succesful designers. Their clothing lines The Row, Elizabeth and James and Olsenboye are doing pretty well and therefore the sisters are expanding. Next fall the brand will have shoes and bags too.

Fashion focus: all about Anna Sui

Name of the brand: Anna Sui

Name(s ) of the designer(s): Anna Sui

About the designer(s): Anna Sui (1964) was born in Detroit, Michigan. She moved to New York to study art and design. After leaving school Anna worked for some junior sportswear companies, like Charlie’s Girls. She then started to design clothes that were sold at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. Anna Sui is now sold all over the world and is particularly popular in Asia. She says her perfumes made her a global brand.

Start of the brand: in 1981 Anna started designing for herself.

First collection: In 1991 Anna Sui held her first fall fashion show, encouraged by her friends Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, who were super-popular at that time.

The Anna Sui woman: loves to mix and match and is great fun

Anna Sui women: Paris Hilton, Blake Lively, Mischa Barton, Cher, Naomi Campbell, Sofia Copola, Nicole Kidman, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Liv Tyler.

The clothes are: boho-chic,

Type of clothes: colorful, hip, rock & roll, casual/street-wear

Signature: girly, patchwork, patterns, all kind of different styles and elements combined. Anna often uses the color purple.

Collaborations: In 2009 Anna Sui collaborated with Target to produce a Gossip Girl inspired line.
Anna Sui designed cellular phones for Samsung

Awards: CFDA Lifetime achievement Award

Quotes:

‘I always had to do extra design jobs just to keep my company going for the first 10 years.’

‘There were times after I paid my employees that I didn’t even have enough money for a subway token.’

‘On the runway, I’ll do crazy styling and crazy accessories, but there’s always a beautiful dress or a great shirt underneath.’

‘I’m kind of like a show-off.’

Extra:

Anna Sui’s fashion shows always have rock music and background designs.

In 1999 Anna started her fragrance and cosmetic line. She has launched fourteen different fragrances ever since.

In 2004 Anna launched a second, more youthful clothing line, named Dolly Girl by Anna Sui.

In 2009 a children’s line was added, named Anna Sui Mini.

In 2010 Anna Sui’s collection was seen in the finale of America’s Next Top Model.

There is a Anna Sui Soho Barbie

Before Anna’s label became successful she helped out her friend Steven Meisel with the styling of his photo shoots.

Fashion Focus: all about Alexander Wang

 

 

 

Name of the brand: Alexander Wang

Name(s ) of the designer(s):  Alexander Wang

About the designer(s):  Alexander Wang (1984) was born and raised in San Francisco. He moved to New York City at the age of eighteen to try his hand at designing clothes. He studied one year at Parsos and did an internship at Teen Vogue. Then he decided to quit school and launched his first collection. It was immediately very well received. Everyone loved his perfectly crafted cashmere sweaters.

Start of the brand: 2007

First collection: spring 2007

The Wang woman: has a streetchic style and likes to mix and match

Wang women: Rachel Bilson, Mischa Barton, Lindsay Lohan, Erin Wasson, Megan Fox, Mary-Kate Olsen, Nicole Richie and Gwyneth Paltrow

The clothes are: edgy, masculine, well taillored, casual, cool, sexy vs androgyny, French chic and rock grunge. They are always finished with a slouchy rolled-out-of-bed edge.

Type of clothes: Alexander Wang makes a full range of ready to wear pieces, from distressed boyfriend jeans and shrunken vests to, of course, covetable cozy cardigans. The inspiration comes from the street and thus the clothes have a downtown feeling.

Signature: model-off-duty style

Collaborations: Alexander Wang for Keds (Fall 2008), Alexander Wang for Uniqlo, capsule collection (May 2008).

Quotes:

• ‘There are pros and cons to starting so young. In the beginning, people said, ‘I’ve never heard of this person, he’s what, 21?’. There are stereotypes, but the greatest satisfaction has been proving them wrong.’
• I didn’t have any investors. My mum and I, my sister-in-law and my brother, we’re the four partners”
• It’s all those quirky people you just bump into that inspire me the most.’
• “When I started out, I wanted to pick one familiar item that evoked luxury—cashmere was perfect. But moving forward, I want to make it more of a lifestyle brand. I kind of want to be the new Theory.”

Awards: he won the CDFA Fashion Fund, which was 20.000 USD.

Extra:
Wang’s favorite outfit is skinny jeans, T-shirt and a backpack
He has a simple belief that has taken him very far: ‘I’m in New York City – I can do anything I put my heart to.’
He got an internship at Marc Jacobs
He always keeps in mind an advice Marc Jacobs gave to him: ‘Give them something that’s going to take time to sink in. By the time they get it, change it again – you’ve got to keep them guessing!’
He showed his first collection to an editor at Teen Vogue. She loved it
He was already cutting frocks at the age of fifteen
He named one of his shoe designs after Dutch Model Mirte Maas
(The pictures you see are of the fall/winter 2010/2011 collection)

Fashion focus: all about Alberta Ferretti

 

 

This Italian fashion designer started working with fabrics at the age of 12. When she was 31 she presented her collection for the first time during Milan Fashion Week.

Learn more about Alberta Ferretti…

Name of the brand:  Alberta Ferretti
Name(s ) of the designer(s): Alberta Ferretti
About the designers: Alberta Ferretti is an Italian fashion designer. She designs for Alberta Ferretti and another label, called Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti (for younger women and less expensive). Before she had her own fashion label, she had her own boutique in Cattolica, Italy. She designed her first collection in 1973 and started showing her clothes on the runway of Milan in 1981. Besides her two clothing lines Ferretti also heads a manufacturing company that makes and distributes the lines of designers Narciso Rodriguez and Jean Paul Gaultier, among others.
Start of the brand: 1980
First collection: 1981
The Ferretti woman: is a curious woman with charm and is part of the cocktail crowd. She never misses a good party and loves to show of her legs in a skirt or dress (at knee-length)
Pilotto women: Eva Mendes, Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere, Claudia Schiffer, Drew Barrymore and Meryl Streep
The clothes are: very feminine and made out of delicate fabrics. The Alberta Ferretti dress is often slim and has folded pleats, separated by rows of tucking.
Type of clothes: little elegant dresses are Ferretti’s trademark.
Signature: Alberta Ferretti’s designs often are twisted, tucked and draped. The clothes are also regularly layered. Many of the dresses are cut high in the front and draped low in the back. Alberta Ferretti takes inspiration from many cultures, not just the Italian one.
Remarkable: Alberta Ferretti would never wear a pair of jeans. She says jeans don’t look good on her body, are not flattering and not comfortable.
Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti was first called Ferretti Jeans Philosophy for five years.
Ferretti once said: ‘I work all day. I’m a real woman. I cater for different needs. I’m not tall and I’m a bit, shall we say, rounded. I understand such problems and always design clothes that I myself would like to wear.’
Awards: Alberta Ferretti was named best female entrepreneur in the state of Emilia Romagna, Italy, 1991.

(the pictures you see are of SS2010/2011 and F/W 2010/2011)

Gaultier for Hermès: an overview

Today the news came through that designer Jean Paul Gaultier will leave Hermès, the brand for which he has been designing for seven years. Though Gaultier will design one more spring collection for the French fashionlabel, we thought it would be nice to look back upon seven years of Gaultier for Hermès.

We selected the most eye-catching pieces of clothing and accessories Gaultier has been designing the past seven years. With every show Gaultier was able to amaze us; theywere great fun as well. The cultural themes of his shows made his collections look even more powerful, but he still managed to let the clothes remain classy.

The styling of the shows was always over the top with lots of great accessories and a different hat-style every season. We’re sure Gaultier had a lot of fun working for Hermes, and we think he did a great job too.

Now let’s wait and see if Christopher Lemaire is able to equal that at Hermès…

Fashion focus: all about Peter Pilotto

As London-based brand Peter Pilotto is becoming more and more popular each season, we thought it’s about time to focus on the brand and unveil it’s success formula.

Name of the brand: Peter Pilotto

Name(s ) of the designer(s): Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos

About the designers:
Peter Pilotto is half-Austrian, half-Italian. He focusses on the graphical aspects; the textile and the print. He always knew he was going to work in fashion; his parents had their own fashion store.
Christophe De Vos is half-Belgian, half-Peruvian. His approach is mainly architectural; he takes care of the silhouette and the draping.
The fact that the two designers criticise each other always takes their collections to another level.

Start of the brand: in 2007
Peter and Christophe met in 2000 whilst studying at Antwerp’s prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The label was set up in Antwerp initially but moved to London.

First collection: fall 2008

Peter Pilotto is sold in: 29 countries and has about 100 stockists

The Pilotto woman:  is a woman beyond the classification of age and style. She can wear the label with her own expressions.

Pilotto women:  Rihanna, Claudia Schiffer, Amanda Seyfried, Kate Bosworth, Michelle Obama, Jessica Alba, Sienna Miller

The clothes are: elegant, classy, wearable, chic, sophisticated, flattering, perfect for the female body.

Type of clothes: Peter Pilotto first focused on dresses but has added coats and shorts. The designers try to expand their brand with each season.

Signature: While many brands use floral prints, Peter Pilotto wanted to take it further. The brand uses prints like sunsets, fireworks, volcanoes, reptiles or reflections in the water. These prints, all originated in nature, are combined with soft sculptural shapes and elegant draping.

Remarkable: The winning formula of Peter Pilotto has worked for over several seasons. During the recession period in 2009/2010 the number of Pilotto’s stockists even doubled.

Awards:

• Topshop New Gen Award at London Fashion Week
• Swarovski Emerging Talent Award at British Fashion Awards
• Pilotto was hailed by Style.com as 1 of the 10 most promising talents, after reviewing his fall collection in 2008.

What to expect: Pilotto’s digital prints and beautiful shapes are improving each season. And since Peter Pilotto was able to grew during the economic crises, the brand will certainly be successful in the future.
We will definitely keep our eyes on these two talented designers.