Menswear London Catwalk Fashion Show FW2015

First up on the Fall/Winter 2015 menswear circuit was the London menswear fashion week. The most obvious trend was the strange resurgence of the 1970s, this time filtered through a hint of ’90s revivalism. With flared trousers, Bay City Rollers tartans, and Evel Knievel allusions. Still many other designers also picked up the autumnal color palette, shearling outwear, and raw, pale denim that defined that decade, often showing them in a slimmer, slightly more wearable iteration. An renewed exploration of wide, loose trousers, and a continued emphasis on plaid or tweed tailoring also marked the shows in London, as did references to the era-appropriate pop prep of British artist David Hockney.

Here are some highlights.

BURBERRY PRORSUM

 

J.W. ANDERSON

CRAIG GREEN

 

MARGRET HOWELL

ALEXANDER McQUEEN

CHRISTOPHER RAEBURN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Round Up Womenswear SS 2014, Part 3

This is the third and last part of the 9 big trends we spotted for the coming spring-season: Tribal, Showgirls and Understated.

TRIBAL

From left to right: Missoni, Moncler Gamme Rouge, Givenchy, Missoni, Givenchy

Make way for the fashion tribes. It was all feathers and fringe, African inspired patterns and crafted textiles. At Missoni a subliminal strand of exotica trailed through the collection embracing tribal artisanship and textile crafts; Monclers Gamme Rouge touches on the feathery froth of the urban jungle, celebrating diversity in a multiracial catwalk and a natural assimilation of urban cultures; Givenchy shows the car crash of  two cultures—the fragility of Japan and the draping of Africa – brewing a hot and exquisite mixture of African romance and Japanese elegance and fragility.

 

UNDERSTATED

From left to right: Hermès, Salvatore Ferragamo, Donna Karan, Stella McCartney, Paul Smith

There is value in simplicity, in effortless and sophisticated silhouettes, impactful and strong in execution. Hermès shows the look particularly long, lean, light and relaxed, executed in a late Seventies vibe; Salvatore Ferragamo makes it polished in an unpretentious way; Donna Karan shows the fundamentals of a beautiful line up, showing languid dresses in an inviting palette; Stella McCartney shows easy feminine shapes, designed on instinct, staying true to her aesthetic;  Where Paul Smith shows a sexy, shrugged-on attitude and a carefree confidence.

SHOWGIRLS

From left to right: Rodarte, Julien Macdonald, Miu Miu, buying viagra Roberto Cavalli, Louis Vuitton

Dressed to face the spotlights. Rodarte exclaims “Los Angeles” – staging fringed brocade bras and satin leopard diner jackets; Julien MacDonald shows a metropolis-reminiscent body matching his glambassador status, his motto – “you can’t have enough of glitter!’; Miu Miu displays a rebellious view on femininity – pretty and perverse, the classics of a bad girl; Roberto Cavalli keeps it savvy and seductive, in clingy, webby laces and repurposed reptiles – telling stories of silver-screen dreaminess; Where Louis Vuitton tries to awaken “the showgirl in all of us’ with an emphasis on fearless and fabulous denim with crafty lace patchworks.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

The Big Round Up Womenswear SS 2014, Part 2

This is the second part of our Round Up for the coming season, which focuses on the designers’ favorite print for ss2014 – Flowers – and the glamor of shiny fabrics.

SHINE & SHAPE

From left to right: Rodarte, Prabal Gurung, Balenciaga, Ports 1961, Christian Dior

This is all about personal fixations and idealized heroins acting on a contemporary stage. Rodarte reveals tacky satins with  faint 80s references on a sunset strip and a Hollywood boulevard in outfits that show stardom and cool couture confidence; Prabal Gurung shows urban glam in Marilyn Monroe inspired dresses and outfits; Balenciaga sculpts to go where couture and twenty-first-century technology meet; Ports 1961 merges the bold and the boxy with silk, satins and lace; Where Christian Dior concludes that respect for the past is all well and good – but the future won’t wait…

 

THE FLORIST.01

From left to right: Antonio Marras, Aquilano Rimondi, Christopher Kane, Dries Van Noten, Hermès

Botanical gorgeousness was all around. At Antonio Marras with otherworldly fashion sensibility; At Aquilano Rimondi jewel-like in its coloring, couture like in its obsessive polish and exotic in its pattern; Christopher Kane shows flower activism “We live because of flowers and trees”, his spreading blossoms show a lush physicality and he emphasises viagra online pharmacy cheap the flowers’ reproductive capabilities; Dries van Noten finds paintings of bulbous tulips at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, he translates them, as if stenciled by magic, onto cloth; He might have met the Hermès team there – scanning the same sources.

 

THE FLORIST.02

From left to right: Comme des Garçons, Mary Katrantzou, Jonathan Saunders, Preen By Thornton Bregazzi

Here sweetness comes with en eerie edge. Comme des Garçons looks nearly pretty, in pink floral nursery patterns; Mary Katrantzou pumps up the psychedelia of her prints, showing florals exaggerated with embroidery; All-new Summer of Love for Jonathan Saunders, showing psychedelic sunsets and giant globes that glow like alien suns while trance music drowsily drones and opium poppies shimmer on organza starburst floral prints, all to show perverse delight; Where Preen shines brightly with foil silk floral anoraks and shiny pink shifts in cellophane nylon.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

The Big Round Up Womenswear SS 2014 Part 1

 

Against the chaotic backdrop of modern times we witness more extreme fashion scenarios this season. After a rather calm start in New York, with safe recycling of the successful and proven of previous seasons, creative energy was unleashed in Milan and a more dynamic spirit came to full strength arriving in Paris. There we experienced a mind-blowing climax during a happening loaded with raging energy staged by Rick Owens.

We sense the spirit of activism. Obvious in all quotes and messages boldly embedded in clothes that are both dynamic and wearable. Fashion used as a billboard for rage, concern, care, as well as joy. Designers tend to dive deeper into the context of their collections, want to give meaning to their actions and draw strong narratives that speak to the imagination.

Empowerment is one of the more politically driven manifestos. Women in general, women in Africa – from Alexander McQueen, Lanvin, Céline and most obvious at Prada – and there are more…

A booming interest in art conveys a sense of unbridled energy and optimism. Paint is dragged, dabbed, pulled and splattered across garments. Clothes are used as a canvas and art on stage is used as a backdrop for calm and beautiful clothes.

Africa provides key inspiration, fringe and a tribal beat as the theme of the season. The echo of Africa is omnipresent. As mentioned above, reflecting on the fate of women, but also on its cultural vibrancy, its folklore and rich aesthetics – designers place it in a new context and translate it into high fashion looks. Let’s hope the interest is sustained, translated into positive action and that something is in it for Africa….

We are entering a brave new world in which science and technology are the driving forces behind new innovation across the design industry. Balmain and Céline are among the designers who show impressive examples of technical fashion textile innovation. With hypermodern materials and an energetic attitude, sport was one of the stories that engulfed the runways.

We listed 9 strong influences straight off the international catwalks in New York, London, Milan and Paris.
ARTWORKS, FIRE BRIGADE, GRAPHIC AND SPORTY, SHINE AND SHAPE, SHOWGIRLS, THE FLORIST 0.1, THE FLORIST 0.2, TRIBAL, UNDERSTATED.

Let’s start with the first three.

ARTWORKS

From left to right: Viktor & Rolf, Céline, Céline, Kenzo, Chanel

A fest of art processes and a good portion of fashion activism generates primary, urgent expressionism in giant strokes and squiggles. A one off sprayed couture canvas energizes the plain range of Victor & Rolf; slaps of primary colors like tribal brushwork and big, bold, bright tunics and skirts wild with fringe frame the power of women at Céline; artful ocean drawings point out the cause of overfishing at Kenzo where Chanel poses its products of crafts and artisanship against the backdrop of an art gallery.

FIRE BRIGADE

From left to right: Undercover, Emilio Pucci, Hermès, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior

We signal an alarming portion of red. Walking billboards shout the revival of logo mania during the show of Undercover – showing impressive activism and manifestos in vibrant fierce red; Emilio Pucci chooses red for streetwise gym clothes to express extreme body confidence; Hermès shows red in a rendezvous with romance resonating the faint echoes of Africa; generic version of diflucan At Alexander McQueen power women are painted in dazzlingly tribal red; Where Christian Dior paints poisonous red to stress the harder attitude. Fashion is politicized and shades have a meaning.

GRAPHIC & SPORTY

From left to right: Viktor & Rolf, Victoria Beckham, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Céline, Ports 1961

Sport proves to be one of the big drivers this season. Viktor & Rolf dress dolls and play sporty tailoring games with knife pleats and sharp crested blazers; Shape, leggy and cling where the buzzwords for Victoria Beckhams crisp line up showing athletic body-harness dresses; City smart sports layers make easy outfits that are cut with efficiency by 3.1 Philip Lim; Céline goes ragga style in this elongated string vest look, layered with a yellow jumper tied around the waist; Where Ports 1961 shows sports clean and sharp, matching bold boxy tops with generous drapes in full swing.

 

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

 

Milan streetfashion video fall winter 2012 season

Take a sneak peak on the streets of Milan and watch the fashionable people around the shows of fashion week.

Au Revoir. This was Paris Womenswear ss2012

The fashioncircus broke up their tents, editors finished their stories and suitcases are packed. The fashion-season is a wrap. And what a season it was! Full of surprising collections and beautiful people. Thank you all for making this fantastic weeks, thanks for posing and for your support.

Au revoir!

First View Paris ss2012: Slits & Slices

A powerful design-feature this Paris season is the slit. Nothing makes a look that obviously 80’s inspired. Immediately it’s taken out of the reigning 50’s couture prettiness to create a more daring and slick appeal.

Cutout, slashed and sliced and sometimes pinned, wrapped and knotted back together again. Cut-outs unveil long lean legs as well as deep décolleté and hints of midriff. Jean Paul Gaultier plays with wide gathered volumes and wraps, folds, turns and twists these. Where Lanvin unveils in a more cool and understated manner, carefully exposing hints of skin in a subtle and sophisticated manner, Maison Martin Margiela shows more brutal constructions and deconstructions where Mugler goes futuristic and uses cuts and slashes for streamlined, organic and a more architectonic shaping and sculpting.

Sure that it adds movement and flare to silhouettes.

Stylespot is a collaborations with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

First View Paris ss2012: a dress is a dress is a dress

So the dressed-up mood seems there to stay. From careful sculpted and tailored precious gowns with Hollywood appeal, to immaculate sweet nothings in fluttery organza.

Sure is that a couture mood runs through prêt-à-porter collections worldwide. A dressed-up dress-parade shows a rich variety of smart classy daywear as well as more dramatic evening wear. Next to couture spirit an obvious 80’s flavour is intertwined that loosens up hard edge couture looks and adds flair by means of long slits and slices in shifts, tunics and robe manteaux.

Lanvin adds strong character to luxurious understated and monumental shapes in interesting fabrics where texture and drape determine the look in total absence of unnecessary details. Nina Ricci adds urban twists to a heavenly and lingerie inspired collection, where Rick Owens turns tailoring into religion, showing monolithic gowns. Dior opens the box of its rich legacy; showing reworked and modernized dresses reminiscent of the golden age of haute couture.

So to be fair, a dress is more then just a dress.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

Roya Hesam & ZEM – LAB Catwalk Fashion Shows SS2012

Thursday is one of the busiest days of the whole Fashion Week with a lot of LAB shows. We started off with ZEM and Roya Hesam, two upcoming designers, who both presented 10 looks.

ZEM – menswear

Designer Samira Algoe based her second AIFW- collection on classic beachwear for men. She used sun, see and beach as the inspiration for her clean and well tailored looks. Most items were made out of two parts (and two or more shades). The sheer silk cotton and the ultra-short pants appeared a little feminine, but overall the clothes felt pretty wearable. Sunny accessories were gave the collection a nice little extra.

Roya Hesam – womenswear

Roya showed her minimalistic but very feminine collection Facing Skills. She used airy fabrics and soft shades. Her dresses, jumpsuits and pants looked elegant and smooth, perfect for summer. There was a little boob flash here and there, but that didn’t spoiled the fun.

Round Up Paris FW2011

There was nothing girly on the catwalks in Paris during the fall 2011-presentations. In fact, it was a very mature look: elegant, dressed-up and in control. Collections that moved from 30’s to 60’s. Strict tailoring created sober and understated silhouettes and the bold sculpturing reminded us more then once of former Balenciaga collections. Apart from these ‘heritage collections’ with their disciplined sobriety there was sheer doom and gloom. As if Paris sensed darker emotions this season compared to New York, Milan and London. We were delighted to meet sudden touches of glam, an unexpected hint of glitter, adventurous flashes of plastic and a single humorous touch.

GEOMETRIC

Lot’s of graphic, androgynous suiting plus black and white blocking. YSL fused rigorous elegance to masculine flair.

HAUTE BOURGEOIS

Prim suits and proper coordinates. Miu Miu more elegant then ever which confirmed the trend for a more grown up and dressed up look.

SOBRIETY: Minimalism to be continued. Precious sober looks, precise, careful and well balanced.

MINIMALISM

At Celine – where sobriety was conceived, there was this constant feel for minimalism: understated sensible shapes that made her simple fur coats look extravagant. She signs for another season of flawless and streamlined urban uniform dressing.

MODERN GLAM

The look that inspired us most. Where doom and gloom, from grunge to Goth, proved itself as a genuine Paris catwalk trend, Haider Ackerman turned it into a feasible and desirable inspiration. Glamorous in precious jewel shades, wrapped and draped generously in fluid silks.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam.

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