“The sixties were about personalities. It was the rst time when mannequins became personalities. It was a time of great goals, an inventive time…. and these girls invented themselves.”
Diana Vreeland
Anniversaries can be triggers for exceptional memories. Remembering is also about reinventing and imagining. Fifty years after the momentum of urgency and creativity that the year 1968 brought, this is an opportunity for Maria Grazia Chiuri to revive an era when the rules of fashion were turned on their head. Indeed, thanks to this emulation which stimulated the emergence of new ideas, creativity for creativity’s sake, the cut-up technique and travel as a means of discovering others but also oneself, youth occupies a place at the centre of the scene.
For this Autumn-Winter 2018-2019 Ready-to-Wear collection, the Artistic Director of Dior was guided by these symbols and attitudes representing a search for authenticity. Magni cent woollen embroideries appear on organza dresses, jeans are reworked and printed, bags are inspired by the House’s archives, with an ethnic shoulder strap or patchworks made of fabrics drawn from the same heritage: these pieces become veritable windows on the world. Ponchos are worn freely. Ornamentation becomes important, acting as ambassadors of the different cultures each type represents. The collection evolves in a spirit of freedom as much in its creation as in its associations, shapes and materials.
This act of cutting loose and choosing one’s own image is precisely what Maria Grazia Chiuri sets out for the women of today. Kilts come in different lengths, but also in unexpected materials like point d’esprit, and are paired with masculine jackets or small coats. The abundant knitwear is also embroidered and hugs the body. Dresses have been shortened and are worn over biker-inspired thigh boots. Her sharp fashion instinct guides the designer throughout this return to a singular and incredible time, because changing the world also means changing clothes.
It was Diana Vreeland, the charismatic editor-in-chief of Vogue US from 1963 to 1971, who coined the term Youthquake and de ned the Youthquakers. The times were changing, as were the bodies, faces, attitudes and personalities of those who initiated this sartorial revolution – an earthquake that forever changed the way we dress. Fashion was being questioned, but constantly reinventing itself to tell a new story that could say everything and its opposite. Moreover, when a group of young women in miniskirts held a protest on 12 September 1966 in front of the Dior boutique with placards bearing the maxim ‘Mini Skirts Forever’, as shown in a photo from the time, Marc Bohan, then Artistic Director of Dior, came up with the Miss Dior collection and reinterpreted the idea of femininity as shaped by Christian Dior.
In this collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri, on the other hand, openly counterbalances the return of the uniform, to bring us back to what it signi es: the individual taking precedence over gender differences, and the equality of rights and roles which remains the great conquest of that time.
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Tags: DIOR, DIOR FW 2018-19, FALL WINTER WOMEN 2018-19
Thu, March 1 2018 » Fashion Blog
Maison Margiela propels its vision forward to an innate new language and wardrobe based on the vocabulary established through the Artisanal collection. Dressing in reverse is an idea as subversive as relaxed glamour: a trench coat worn casually under a dress, a jumper thrown over a blazer, or the glimpse of a fisherman’s knit under a transparent skirt. For Autumn – Winter 2018, creative director John Galliano examines the inverted wardrobe established at Maison Margiela.
The silhouettes of Haute Couture are clarified in garments realized in sculpturally magnified volumes. Outerwear transforms into dresses when dressing in haste. It’s a nylon coat worn under a décortiqué leather jacket, or a deconstructed salopette layered over a trench coat. Seducing the eye, illusionary materials create memories of the familiar.
A transparent hologram coat encasing multi-coloured layers of viscose fringing, tulle and organza evokes the codes of rodeo. A grey melange décortiqué jacket is encrusted with the memory of an Aran knit cast in rubber. Fusions of authentic wardrobe staples appropriate the inappropriate. It’s illustrated in the bonding of a herringbone blazer with a fisherman’s knit, or in a twill skirt embossed with the memory of a rodeo skirt. In a play between layers, transparency and reflection, garments become transformative and generate a sense of unconscious glamour.
Materials
Drawing on the Artisanal collection, holographic and transparent materials take centre stage. Iridescent foil, nylon, reflective flash-sensitive fabric and changeant react to light and movement, effectively shape-shifting on the body. Layered under poly-urethane, tulles and organza liquefy into three-dimensional forms encouraged by the texture of viscose fringing. The effect is echoed in the use of chiffon, voile and georgette. Heritage materials sourced from the men’s wardrobe – herringbone, cavalry twill, gabardine, wool of Aran knits – counter the collection’s technical character and instil a sense of authenticity. Leather appears in outerwear such as cabans and fringed décortiqué rodeo jackets.
Technique
Notions of relaxed glamour and dressing backwards inform cuts and silhouettes. The hybridisation of classic wardrobe staples calls for bonding and embroidery, employed throughout the collection such as in the fusion of knitwear with tailoring. Outerwear encases layers of materials to create new images through depth. Moulded rubber bears the recollection of knitwear, while formage – the three-dimensional embossing of twill – creates the imprinted memory of rodeo pieces.
Prints of similar motifs appear in multiple colours on transparent fabric layered to create a transformative filtrage. Cementing a house code, décortiqué – the reduction of a garment to its core – is exercised in outerwear similarly alluding to the memory of traditional items of clothing.
Palette
Heritage tones from the humble men’s wardrobe such as charcoal, beige, melange, off-white and black are offset by the boldness of security yellow, Klein blue and fuchsia. Greens and royal purple further add to a Technicolor palette nodding to the iridescence of the technical materials used in the collection.
Accessories
Inspired by the way in which contemporary tech gadgets serve as extensions of the body, jewellery takes on a prosthetic feel. Ear cuffs and tube rings in rubber and hand cuffs in rubber or chrome-plated brass follow the contours of the body, while diamonté brooches and earrings embellish the anatomy like growing organisms. Nodding to the idea of jewellery display cards, brooches are mounted on acetate boards. Chain belts in brass or rubber-coated metal link to rodeo.
Introduced in the Artisanal collection, the Margiela sneaker features in high-top and low-top editions, while the cloud-like Glam Slam bag appears in a new iridescent form.
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Tags: FALL WINTER WOMEN 2018-19, MAISON MARGIELA, MAISON MARGIELA FW 2018-19
Thu, March 1 2018 » Fashion Blog
Ciao, Milano. The TOMMYNOW fashion experience is roaring into town with the greatest hits of our Spring 2018 collection. It’s cool, confident and every look is instantly shoppable.
We pay tribute to Tommy’s longtime love of racing, fusing our American heritage with modern athleticism for him and her. There are unique plays on proportion and shape; unexpected twists on our icons; and graphic interpretations of speed stripes, checkerboard and archival logos.
Our pioneering spirit is ignited by our partnership with Formula One World Champions Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, pushing the boundaries of immersive experiences while remaining accessible to all with the TOMMYNOW SNAP app. Let’s go.
TOMMYNOW “DRIVE” marked the global launch of the Spring 2018 TommyXGigi capsule collection. International supermodel Gigi Hadid is the global brand ambassador for TOMMY HILFIGER womenswear, including apparel, footwear, accessories, sunglasses, watches, and fragrance. The TommyXGigi collaborative collection celebrates speed – from Tommy’s love of motorsports to Gigi’s fast-paced lifestyle.
Following the success of the Fall 2017 TOMMYNOW event, the brand continues to democratize the runway and showcase looks from both HILFIGER COLLECTION men’s and women’s.
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Tags: SPRING MEN 2018, SPRING WOMEN 2018, TOMMY HILFIGHER, TOMMY NOW, TOMMY NOW DRIVE, TOMMY NOW DRIVE SPRING 2018
Thu, March 1 2018 » Fashion Blog
Family as tribe. The fast modernity of Milan, with no nostalgia. And the cult of Italian savoir-faire, from the quality of the materials to the mental attitude of doing everything well and with style. Multi-ethnic, unrestrained by function or role, the Trussardi Fall Winter 2018/19 Men’s and Women’s Collection is writing a new aesthetic language dedicated to an urban gang of guys and girls, fictional and yet real, caught between tradition and contemporary revolutions. An antithesis? No, just the opposite: their way of dressing, their clothing is in fact the synthesis, the crasis, perhaps the solution to continuity between these two worlds.
First of all the Trussardi clothing collection, where each piece become elements: the oversize coat constructed to perfection, the trousers with a wide, perfect line, the fluid skirt with a split, the essential knitwear, the sartorial Blazer, the Biker jacket. And the leather: of the highest quality, handmade or glittery, brightened up with prints or woven into tartan patterns. And again embellished with markings like imaginary punctuation.
These are the milestones of Trussardi style, intentionally timeless, that shatter the distinction between city and mountains, daywear and casualwear. The tartan comes in all sizes, from micro to macro, popping up in every category, from day to evening. Prints of mountains or skiers go from the most athletic pieces to sleek eveningwear, overturning classic usage. And the colours, chosen from the shades of light that separate dawn from day and dusk from night, lend new depth to the iconic pieces in the collection.
The silhouettes are all vertical, large, often highlighting the waist with an air of solemnity. The lines, on the other hand, are fluid, fast and dynamic. It is a style oxymoron that can bring together agility and sophistication, references from yesterday’s wardrobe and the disenchanted attitude of today’s metropolitan tribes.
THE ACCESSORIES
Accessories are the frame for making the message even clearer. Maxi unisex pouches and backpacks in technical fabrics. Extra-large shoppers in printed leather or personalised with embroidered logos and fur details. The bag with a three-compartment interior in various colours and interchangeable straps is the result of the finest Italian craftsmanship.
The greyhound is stylised and becomes a new thin closure with a dual purpose: a shoulder strap or top handle. Finally the shoes: the men’s model, iconic and very traditional with the tongue and two side buckles, lends its form to the ladies’ new mid heel styles. And for the men, deck shoes, another icon from the classic wardrobe, are revisited in a creative way that overturns the boundary between sportswear and formal wear.
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Tags: FALL WINTER MEN 2018-19, FALL WINTER WOMEN 2018-19, Trussardi, TRUSSARDI FW 2018-19
Thu, March 1 2018 » Fashion Blog
