Jan Taminiau Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2012 Paris

Poetic Clash is the story of an encounter. An encounter between different cultures. Jan Taminiau shares his interest for the tribal African silhouettes, patterns and scarifications as well as the magnetism of ikats from Uzbekistan. Through this collection, he combines these ethnic inspirations with his Couture savoir-faire and traditional clothing construction crafts. Volumes get suddenly shifted to other parts of the body. Color patterns appear, for the first time in Jan Taminiau’s collections through the use of simple geometric shapes and color contrasts. Meters and meters of tulle are worked to create incredible volumes. The patterns are worked with different layers of tulle, beads or crystal ornamentation to reveal three dimensional details. The final wedding dress shows the amazing result of the collaboration between Maison Lesage and Jan Taminiau. A demi-couture collection will be derived from this collection.

Jan Taminiau Catwalk Fashion Couture Show ss2012

Dutch designer Jan Taminiau showed his Tarnished Beauty collection during the first day of Paris Haute Couture. According to the press release  the collection was designed to elevate women. For this purpose Jan Taminiau deployed an army of beauty. The collection is feminine, colorful and extravagant with fragile forms, tarnished delicate fabrics underneath and in contrast with this glittering armor.

Tarnished Beauty
In the world of Jan Taminiau  beauty is more than a twinkling armor that protects us from reality. It is a hedonistic refuge that keeps the world outside. Real beauty comes alive when people open themselves to each other. Ultimately, the army descends and the masks go off.

Iris van Herpen Couture Collection Paris FW2012

With the presentation of her fall-winter 2012 collection during Paris couture-week Iris van Herpen proved that couture is really a platform for creativity. She keeps testing the limits with her creations, and no one on day one of the three-day-long couture calendar came anywhere near to pushing the envelope as far as Iris van Herpen.

What to think of a halter-dress made from what appeared to be a distended skeleton? Or the shiny black tubes that enveloped another mini-dress? Van Herpen presented old and new work, but it all morphs easily into one collection, the difference lies into the techniques, use of fabrics and themes. But what stays is her impressive dark techno style that’s original, exciting and fresh.

Jan Taminiau Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011 AIFW

Jan Taminiau did not show only one, but two collections tonight. Amsterdam Fashion Week sure kept him busy the last couple of months. After his Demi Couture show Jan presented his Haute Couture show, which he already showed in Paris two days ago.

He might have held back a little with the Demi Couture collection, for his Haute Couture creations Jan gave his everything. His show, called Irradiance, was overwhelming. Models wearing his beautifully handcrafted creations walked the runway with their faces fully covered.

Jan designed a gorgeous baroque print with reflecting threads and put lots of details in his fabrics. There was so much to look at, the short fashion show was nowhere long enough to fully check out the garments.  No to mentions the spectacular shoes, which made the models walk down the catwalk really slow and carefully.

Lady Gaga already wore one of his creations and there’s no doubt she’ll find a piece in this collection fitting her wardrobe.

Check here for out backstage-report and frontrow.

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.

Jean Paul Gaultier Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture collection was all about proportions. The designer accentuated the shoulders and the waists of his designs and therefore made his models look super feminine. His shoulders were not highlighted like on a regular eighties dress, they had extra (thick) fabric and even fur on them which was placed on a big part of the sleeves.

All models wore hat sculptures, which, regardless of their crazy shape, looked quite elegant.

The collection was an obvious fall/winter collection; lots of leather, lots of fur and lots of black. There were a few outfits in remarkable colors though, like a bright green dress, a yellow (almost neon) one and a purple jumpsuit.

With a few looks Jean Paul Gaultier was reminiscing his previous success items. He for instance emphasized the boobs and buts of one outfit by placing a cone of black mink on them to remind us of his already unforgettable cone bra moment.

The whole collection felt very Parisian chic; the models looked sexy and feminine. Dita von Teese’s appearance was the perfect match for this kind of fashion show. The burlesque artist walked the catwalk twice in a detailed lingerie look to promote the upcoming lingerie line of JPG and La Perla.

Christian Dior Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

John Galliano kicked of the haute couture fashion week with a ‘flowerful’ collection. His creations were based on the most exotic flowers. They had outstanding shapes (resembling the shapes of famous flowers) and gorgeous colors (yellow, purple, cobalt blue, turquoise and red).

To stress the floral theme large flowers were the backdrop of this couture show. Plus, the model’s heads were packed in colorful plastic, like bouquets.

Galliano came up with his designs after studying real flowers for hours and hours. He for instance watched the light change on a tulip, which resulted in some stunning shades and a few amazing degrade effects.

Galliano paid attention to every details of his couture gowns. The ruffles, the feathers, the pleats and the lovely volume of his dresses were all close to perfection.

On the night of the next big gala event, Blake Lively, Jessica Alba, and Lou Doillon, who attended the show, will be fighting over these smoking hot couture creations.

Jan Taminiau Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Next week we will have to miss him at the Amsterdam Fashion Week. But this week Jan Taminiau gave his audience in Paris a good look at his great couture collection.

His latest work seemed to be an homage to and a reflection of couture. No mass fashion but craftsmanship and attention and love for qualitative goods are the things Jan Taminiau sees in his future.

And with this theme Jan gives his view on the future, the past and the now. Therefore the collection was all about reflection. Jan played with classical silhouettes, accessories and poses and made them modern again. His silhouettes were tall, small and slender and gave the models a certain status.

His creations didn’t have a lot of color. They were made out of grey, light pink and nudes. They were never boring though; Jan embellished them with small sparkles. Sometimes only on the upper body, sometimes all over the fabric.

Like we see in fashion right now the shoulders of most of the outfits were highlighted. Yet instead of the sharp, pointy shoulders we now see in stores, Jan designed round shoulders in more of a couture style.

All looks were finished by large hats out of which slim ponytails appeared. They made the looks feel heroic.

Too bad Jan Taminiau doesn’t show in Amsterdam this season, his collection looked stunning.

Come back of Thimister

Josephus Thimister (47), from Dutch origins and an promising talent of the Belgian school in the late nineties –  made a come back last sunday with a self financed haute couture collection.

Bloodshed and militairia were the two themes he wove into his haute couturecollection for fall 2010. Thimister took his inspiration from a photograph of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Emperor Nicholas II’s murdered 13-year-old son, who was routinely dressed in uniform as a boy. The result was a collection men’s and womenswear mixing romanticism (in red, white, army-green) with a raw-edged minimalism: tank tops and jodhpurs splattered with fake-blood, officer’s jackets, narrow dresses, army cats and jumpsuits. Thimister told style.com he’d used resonances from World War I because “what happened then was the start of modernism: war, sorrow, destruction we’re still dealing with now. And the lack of creativity and spirituality”.

Do you want to know more about Thimister? Read this interview at style.com: www.style.com/stylefile/2009/12/josephus-thimister-has-nothing-to-lose/

Preview Jan Taminiau Couture

Yesterday Jan Taminiau presented his couturecollection in Paris. Tomorrow he will officially open the Amsterdam International Fashionweek with his collection Duality. These are the thoughts of the designer regarding his collection:

“‘Duality’ is based on thoughts of a duel and of duality. A duel between different cultural traditions, heritage and innovation. It is a noble duel, almost dancelike as in fencing. With a duality of seduction, unveiling and hiding.

The dresses are comprised of a duel between two different forms and a duel between different worlds. The antique Chinese fabric is used for the most dominant, sculptural form and is placed in contrast with a more classical silhouette. The dialogue also takes places between the almost organic substance of the heavily embroidered fabric with paillettes and the sensitivity of the antique hand woven fabric.

The sculptural forms can be interpreted as a shield -or protection- for battle, but at the same time they offer intimacy, play their role in a game of concealing and seduction.”

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