Ilja Visser Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2012

This week Dutch designer Ilja Visser presented her new collection in a very special way. She invited everyone to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a museum which is currently under construction. There a guide gave all the guests (who head to wear protection helmets and bright colored jackets for safety) a small tour through the museum explaining how Pierre Cuypers built the Rijksmuseum in 1885.

After that tour the show started in one of the big area’s in the Rijksmuseum. A violist filled the room with beautiful music and the first models appeared. They wore structural clothes in many different natural shades, all inspired by the work of Pierre Cuypers.

The official catwalk images will be posted on our blog soon. For now check the picture gallery above.

Claes Iversen Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

On Tuesday fashion designer Claes Iversen presented his spring/summer collection for next year. He chose the Felix Meritis building (a meeting place for art, culture and science) in Amsterdam as his show location; the perfect spot for a fashion show.

To the sound of piano’s the first model appeared in the round show area. She wore a white dress embroidered with hundreds of butterflies. Even her braided hair had butterflies in it. While the model was waiting to start her runway walk, small butterflies came falling down from the ceiling.

Those butterflies appeared to be the theme of the show. For Claes they represented the passing of time, beauty and fragility. They were everywhere; attached to skirts and dresses, but also in yellow and white prints (and even in our goodiebag!). Though the butterflies were something new for Claes, they reminded us of the post-its he’d used is a previous collection.

Apart from butterflies Claes showed a lot of pleats in his summer collection. He designed pleated skirts, dresses and tops. Other show stopping items were several detailed corsets, made with lots of patience and combined with, for example, a pleated or a feather skirt. The sand-shaded jumpsuits and trench coat-inspired jackets were a little more save, but just as stylish.

Overall the collection was beautifully made, pretty wearable and feminine. The color palette existing of hues of beige and sand, mixed with coral/salmon pink, turquoise and light yellow seemed perfect for spring. And hats off to the styling team who combined nude-colored knee stockings with high heels, waist belts, eye-catching clutches and gorgeous hair.

Hyun Yeu (womenswear) Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

On Friday Hyun Yeu presented his womenswear collection just one day after his menswear show. There were ten looks ranging from a long peach-colored gala gown to a black lace party dress.

The blouses looked very good, especially a transparent black one. They had special shoulders and sleeves. A strong jacket with cut sleeves looked very good.

Like in Hyun Yeu’s menswear collections the womenswear pants looked great. The lace and sequined dresses would be great for a night out, yet they were not very outspoken and could have had more of a Hyun Yeu touch.

Such a pity there were only ten looks, we would have loved to see more…

John Galliano Catwalk Fashion Show FW2010

The models at John Galliano’s fashion show represented a tribe of adventuring nomads. They wore large coats with fur accents. Some of them wore enormous hats, others had their hair folded into some strange architectural shape.

Like Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano used different cultural influences in his show as well. Galliano’s nomads were in fact crossing imaginary borders in search of new land.

The show was a true spectacle. Silver glitter fell from the sky and even fireworks were used. We really had to focus not to let that distract us from seriously looking at the collection.

Galliano designed a lot of coats. They first came by in gray, but later on  we could also see some green, yellow, gold and printed pink. As always with Galliano many details and accessories were added to the looks, which all deserved some attention. Tight necklaces, waistbelts, fur cuffs, floral printed trousers, feather jewelry, striped leggings and colored shoes. Not to forget the crazy hats, wigs and bronze make-up. The models looked larger than life in their voluminous designs and oversized hats.

Towards the end the fabrics became thinner and more skin was shown. Light-colored and transparent fabrics were used for more feminine designs. The show ended with a few long, gold and silver-embroidered gowns. Although we think transparencies and fur are not the best fabrics to combine in an evening gown, it sure was fun to look at.

Karl Lagerfeld Catwalk Fashion Show FW2010

The latex headbands and leather leggings the models wore at Karl Lagerfeld almost were as shiny as the catwalk that was just polished by hand, right before the show. Powerful modern women walked the runway as if their life depended on it.

They looked like man-eaters attracting men with their sexy black outfits. Their streamlined clothes clearly accentuated their bodies. And it seemed like a flash of their shiny, embellished outfits would be enough to make any men indulge.

The woman must have known how much men like latex leggings, cause they were there in almost every look. Of course these leggings are easy to combine with many different outfits, yet Karl’s combinations – with skirts, dresses and coats – were superb.

Apart from the crystal embellishments Karl didn’t accessorize his looks too much. And that, we think, was a wise decision. Because when you show a collection like this, you don’t need all the extra fuss. All eyes needed to be on the strong, streamlined man-attracting designs.

Jean Paul Gaultier Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

At JPG’s fashion show influences from many different countries wore used in the designs. We got a taste of Africa, Russia, India and Mexico. The styles from those countries were represented by extravagant headwear and folklore designs. There seemed to be so many different influences, it was hard to tell which country they belonged to.

Colorful African turbans were combined with satin dresses with chinoiserie prints. Black trenchcoats or fur coats were worn on top. There were colorful printed headscarves, fur hats and metallic Indian headpieces.

The models wore Masai necklaces combined with Western motorcycle jackets. They walked in harem pants with fur waistcoats. Their neon colored leggings heavily clashed with the folklore prints on their clothes. But it was all part of JPG’s cultural fashion explosion. Words can not even describe how wacky it all looked.

While the clothes varied in almost every aspect (shape, size, fabric, color) not much was to say about the collection in general. Apart from the fact that it was a cultural melting pot.

Between all influences JPG’s famous cone bra popped up every now and then. Though we loved watching the crazy styled outfits, the coats were the best pieces of the collection.

And the message of this show might just have been about embracing the cultural differences in the world and turning them into something of your own. At least we think that would be a nice approach.