Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Womenswear Paris FW2013

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were the style-icons Dries van Noten referred to while explaining his collection. For fall 2013 he plays with masculinity and femininity, something he enjoyed in former collections too. That play is a subtle thread through the whole season, Instead of fur Van Noten pleayed with feathers. He mixed mannish white shirts with a navy skirt over gray flannel pants, That sounds rayther boring, but the effect was in the details: a necklet of paste diamonds, a skirt with a trail of ostrich-plumes anchored by crystal. There wwere also chunky knits, cable sweaters, varsity-stripe skirts, brocade skirts and plus-zize overcoats – all looking glamorous.  There was also a sexy vibe, not in your face-sexy but subtle.

 

Gareth Pugh Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear Fw2013

Inspired by the Asgarda tribe, a group of Ukrain warrior women who segregate themselves from the everyday world to become strong and independent the designs indeed seemed to empower as the models wearing them looked tough and confident. They appeared feminine and Victorian in Pugh’s long and lean silhouettes (in shades of black, white, grey and blue) with raised necklines and dramatic floor sweeping skirts. Structured leather and gold embroidered silk looked both Gothic, romantic and futuristic. Simple T-shirt inspired tops with chic pockets (a reference to the Asgarda women) added a new minimalistic approach to Pugh’s line. They formed quite the oppossite of the series of black finale dresses, which got a little more drama with every look. Who would have thought trash bags from a one pound shop could look this impressive?

 

Streetfashion Milan Womenswear FW2013 Day 6

What are you wearing during the fashionweeks? Your Celine-shoes, your latest Raf Simons-sweater or that vintage Gucci? 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: Milan Fashion Week fall/winter 2013.

Giorgio Armani Catwalk fashion Show Milan Womenswear Fw2013

Please enjoy the pictures for now. Our review will follow shortly.

First View Milan Womenswear FW2013: Cool Wool

It seems designers are expecting severe temperature reduction by introducing all Glacial Age-proof wardrobes. Especially since these cover the tailored city wardrobes and not performance outdoor gear. Coats seem the main subject of interest this season as well as woolen skirts suits and plaid shifts. And not in featherweight seasonless qualities but in chunky textured versions. ‘Wool is cool!’ definitely seems to be the credo this season. In bespoke luxurious plains as well as washed, bonded and felted versions. Prints, tweeds, color-wovens, plaids, marls, and some with coated and embellished finishings. All showing extreme elegance and a touch of nostalgia and romance.  Wool is ideal to play with proportions and volumes, it can drape as well as shape. On the surface it can shows chameleonesque qualities, and can be sculpted in any volume or proportion. Ideal for the minute excises in tailoring that most designers are into.

Sportmax goes for tactility and textures in marled tweeds. Bottega Veneta curves with precision and sensual elegance. Prada adds a hint of sex to a seemingly very un-sexy material. Where Jil Sander conveys proofs of serious craftsmanship in bespoke tailored silhouettes.

Wool warms fashion hearts as well as bodies.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam.

Streetfashion Milan Womenswear FW2013 Day 5

What are you wearing during the fashionweeks? Your Celine-shoes, your latest Raf Simons-sweater or that vintage Gucci? 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: Milan Fashion Week fall/winter 2013.

Dolce & Gabbana Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

The golden mosaics of Sicily’s Cathedral of Monreale was the starting point of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s fall winter collection. The duo sent out a dozen dresses printed with Monreale’s famous Byzantine and Venetian mosaics, and just as many lacy dresses in cardinal red. For jewelry, rosaries.
It was less kitsch than last season thanks to the sober herringbones and checks they used for skirtsuits and coats.

 

 

Marni Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

It was not only the stage – a sepia-toned forest mural – that set a melancholic tone at Marni this morning. It was also the collection in sturdy black/cement-gray/greenish wools and tweeds, the roomy aviator-blousons, militairy style and the models make up that fed the mood. The designer played with ideas of un-balanced balance: volume and flatness, severity and grace, opacity and shine. Protagonists were the precision of the lines, assertiveness of the cuts, density of the surfaces. They unfolded and interact, creating an intangible narrative.

Apart from a few high heels, shoes were flat (at the end with a gilded toe) and ridingboots played a major role. Long fur stoles, wound around the neck like boas, and snug fur capes added drama to austere daywear: strapless tops ending in peplums and A-line tunics fronted with a corset traced out in felt. Skirts flared gently and fell about the knee. There were not many prints, only a few at the end of the show: wintry drawn landscapes and black-and-white scribbles adorned skirts and tops outlined with leather taping.

Jil Sander Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

Like you’d expect today’s Jil Sander show was a celebration of minimalism today. Yet besides serene, monotone dresses, plain tops and clean cut coats there was room for slight variations too. Like graphic lines on a series of turtle necks, winter checks on thick woolen dresses and coats, extra lines and pleats (oh, we even spotted some pockets). The show ended with simple yet perfect gold shaded bars on a few black looks. They put the “High-carat femininity” into today’s show notes as the overall collection indeed breathed “graceful” and “incorruptible”.

Roberto Cavalli Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

It was not only the Just Cavalli show earlier this week that demonstrated a different ‘Cavalli-feeling’; the Roberto Cavalli line took on a new chapter. The designer seemed to have headed into a new direction for fall leaving out his regular animal prints and over the top sexiness. His printed suits and fur coats were still very Cavalli. Yet his short metallic shift dresses, his oriental printed chunky sweaters and his transparent floral printed ensembles could just as well have come out of a different designer’s collection. Besides black and whites Cavalli introduced deep mineral shades and with floral prints, sheerness and statement making jewelry he added a touch of romance to his industrial collection.

« Previous Page — Next Page »