ROLAND MOURET SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – LONDON FASHION WEEK

Today I’m asking myself: what is the meaning behind putting on a runway show? I want to question why fashion shows still exist as someone who has worked in the industry for more than two decades. I’ve always celebrated and embraced a collaborative spirit which remains a significant motivation for me this season. Rather than putting together my SS20 collection autonomously, I have incorporated the creations of other independent artists whose talents, stories and aesthetics have touched me. I want to give back what I have received as we simply cannot proceed without being generous, caring or conscious of the world that surrounds us.

You will see the jewellery designs of Marla Aaron whose work I immediately fell in love with. Her jewellery evokes that disruptive punk attitude mixed with extremely refined details through re- imagining the “lock”. I’m delighted to have men in the show again this season, each wearing sandals by K.JACQUES. The designs remind me of the South of France; they have a simplicity yet capture a careful savoir-faire that compliments the craftsmanship of my own designs. All of the hats on the runway come from ReHats – a small company based in Berlin. I love the products because they are recycled, creating something special out of materials that would otherwise end up as waste.

Off the runway, this season is a big moment for me personally as we launch a more sustainable ‘factory- to-retail’ hanger in collaboration with Arch & Hook and with the support of the British Fashion Council. The Arch & Hook BLUE® model is the first 100% recycled and fully circular hanger made from ocean plastics, providing an eco-friendly version to the billions of garment hangers usually sent to landfill after that apparel distribution process. Crucially the BLUE® hanger is recyclable and can be collected for re- use or re-manufacture into hangers over and over again.

As a company we have been supporting Maggie’s Centres over the last couple of years, inspired by the work the charity does with cancer patients across the country. Our shoe stock used for runway shows will raise money in a special sale at my headquarters in London, with 100% of takings going to the charity. The ethos is giving back; caring.

I’m very attracted to simplicity this season; showing less about what you own, perhaps even about who you are. When you pair a top with a trouser, there’s an elegance. That attitude continues through textural eveningwear; new volumes and a subtle mixing of fabrics; the American sportswear-inspired mood of sequin skirts; the workwear appeal of check suits; the double pleating on wide-legged trousers.

A designer should define silhouettes not just clothes: this season’s silhouette is the evolution and continuation of my work over the years. By incorporating tailoring and craftsmanship into my collections, I’m inviting you to play with the silhouette as a way to convey personal style. Talking about style, this collection takes inspiration from that 80s era in New York during the financial crack when the city almost went bankrupt. During those moments, we reinvent and define ourselves, changing fears into something positive that in turn brings newness. What is luxury in times of crisis? It’s style.

The charity shoe sale will take place on 3rd October 2019 at Roland Mouret, 8 Carlos Place, W1. Each pair of shoes will cost £40 with 100% of takings going to Maggie’s Centres.

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Tags: ROLAND MOURET, ROLAND MOURET SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2020

Mon, September 23 2019 » Fashion Blog

ROKSANDA SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – LONDON FASHION WEEK

Roksanda’s Spring Summer 2020 show will be taking place at the Serpentine Gallery and Pavilion for its third summer season, continuing to merge the world of art, architecture and fashion. Models will pass through and around the pavilion, designed this year by the architect Junya Ishigami. Ishigami has created a delicate slate canopy, which appears to defy gravity, hovering within the natural surroundings of the Serpentine garden.

Adding to the narrative of the season, Roksanda has created a vibrant flame coloured catwalk that criss-crosses through the gallery and over Serpentine’s garden, as a nod to the work of Cristo and Jeanne Claude’s ‘The floating Piers’. Roksanda’s story will unfold within this natural environment that captures her devotion to the exploration of architecture, colour, light movement and the recalibration of the vision of femininity.

The collection draws influence from the work of Mary Weatherford, in particular her body of work incorporating neon rods, which cast industrial light onto fields of colour. The concept of building colour and creating three dimensional form, is developed further through the re- interpretation of art posters that have been layered over time, slowly peeling to reveal what was there before, influencing ideas for print techniques, with double exposed imagery being exploded to a vast scale and subsequently printed and sprayed with colour.

Embodying the effect of a canvas that is still work in progress, these layered prints go through an additional process of being sprayed, painted and then pleated on long drop waist dresses and skirts layered with tailoring.

This season focus is on further exploration of tailoring, seen as relaxed luxurious day dressing, combining melange jersey and wool in soft, oversized elongated shapes that are layered with a more traditional super 130 menswear cloth. Sophisticated muted tones are layered together, added scarves details are integral to jacket necklines.

Soft muted palettes continue with trench coats, that are spliced with contrasting back panels. Utilitarian outerwear in the form of parkas have been slashed in bolder-ways, revealing internal facings and interior colour-blocking, in saturated candy pinks and crimson reds, snapdragon, ivory and flax.

Dramatic, voluminous dress silhouettes are created in cotton and taffeta, with a variety of fine accordion pleats giving an almost corrugated feel. Playing with perceptions of proportion and sculpture, exaggerated pleated collars spill over the shoulders and move freely when the wearer walks. These forms are off set alongside feminine draped jersey dresses, which are lean and sylphlike. Following the contours of the body, flowing from shoulder and hips alike, the body swathed in fine gauge jersey.

Fabrics this season are informed by these artistic processes, a traditional menswear tailoring with slubs mimics the look of an artists canvas, while metallic yarn is woven into taffeta to create a sculptural and crushed effect in gowns. Modernist details and craftsmanship continue in Roksanda’s bag range, this season the ‘Flat bag’ and the ‘box bag’ appear in shades of marron, petrol, stucco and snapdragon and the ‘Louise W’ can be seen in shades of snapdragon and olive.

In collaboration with Malone Souliers, the shoes that accompany the collection are made from soft leathers, toes are pointy and elongated, flat shoes and heals are spliced and colour blocked, and boots are slouchy with fine contrasting ties.

COLOUR
Maple leaf, ochre, arctic, mauve, stucco, flax, marron, candy, crimson, amber, snapdragon, cerulean, petrol.

FABRIC
Technical taffeta, super 130 wool tailoring, crushed metal taffeta, compact cotton outwear, silk satin, fine gauge jersey, double bonded crepe, wool jersey, bonded cupro.

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Tags: ROKSANDA, ROKSANDA SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2020

Mon, September 23 2019 » Fashion Blog

SIMONE ROCHA SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – LONDON FASHION WEEK

The collection’s starting point is Ireland and the Irish Wren Boys who traditionally would hunt the Wren on St Stephen’s day. They would go to people’s houses and knock on doors to sing to ask for money. The grand old houses of Ireland now in faded repairs. With peeling wallpaper prints and dusty blues, broken plates and crockery drummed like tin cans. Dancing through towns and playing instruments.

Showing in a Victorian theatre originally opened in 1875 and recently reopened and restored in Alexandra Palace, with the original faded walls and high ceilings … I want to it to feel like they are coming to knock down doors….come in and parade in a circle. Marching through in heavily lipped brogues and studded pearls.

The fabrications are inspired by the interiors of the houses the Wren Boys knocked on, translating into peeling wallpaper prints printed on silk taffeta, faded blue Delph is embroidered onto ivory tulle and printed scallops on organza patchworked into garments. Organzas are embroidered with Broderie Anglaise daisies and Mulberry berries.

Tailoring is introduced through embroidered lace taffetas and technical trench cloths. Pieces that are deconstructed, with dresses balancing masculinity and femininity. Layered like feathers, like feathers of a Wren. The fairy wren with its blue and white tail. Silk brocade suits woven like fine upholsterers and feathery light Cloqués. Dress coats and dropped frill suits, a uniformity of frills.

Hand-macramé aprons in hay and raffia worn as harness and dresses. Layered over embroidered tulle lace pieces. Ending with exaggerated shapes and portions explored within the collection.

With a cast of Irish characters including theatre actress Olwen Fouéré, Jessie Buckley, Simone Kirby, Charlene McKenna, Valene Kane and beyond with Tia Bannon and Lesley Manville….creating a cast alongside the girls and boys parading to the Wren.

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Tags: SIMONE ROCHA, SIMONE ROCHA SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2020

Mon, September 23 2019 » Fashion Blog

3.1 PHILLIP LIM SPRING SUMMER 2020 COLLECTION – NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Boys and Girls

Combining men’s and women’s on this season’s runway, S/S 20 explores duality while continuing to define the concept of easy, elevated wardrobe dressing for the 3.1 global citizen. Utility, youthful tailoring, cut, volume, print and color find commonality in both collections, expressed in distinctly nuanced ways.

Utility and flou engage in harmonious dialogue, highlighting the novel elements introduced this season – new shapes, exaggerated proportions and innovative core fabrics, always building on seasons past. Utility features prominently in day and new evening silhouettes with buoyant shapes for women, and underscores a seasonless, elevated uniform for men, revealing the purposeful construction of a garment’s interior details.

A leather group and a fluid lacquered finish fabric create a soft tailoring effect in womenswear, and subvert traditional menswear, deconstructing tailored pieces and referencing performance sportswear.

A printed group features an over printing technique that creates imperfections in the print and negative space in the garment, revealing beauty in typically hidden spaces. Women’s prints – inspired by Warhol’s Daisy screen prints – are whimsical and abstracted, while men’s prints – inspired by Rauschenberg’s Combines and by old postcards of road travel and the American West – offer a more literal interpretation.

Women’s fil coupé with prints trapped in organza carries over from Pre-Spring 2020, and links back to transparent netting details in this season’s accessories. A slash detail in women’s tailored and knitwear pieces lends movement to utilitarian separates. New women’s shoe styles, including espadrilles and mules, feature cage and mesh transparencies, and stud and ring embellishment details.

The Alexa, a core shoe, is presented in a deconstructed version with cutouts, while the Alix builds on its signature paperclip ornament detail with the addition of two new styles – the Flatform sandal and a slide. The Odita Lattice Pouch is a new addition to the Odita bag family, while the Alix chain bag is updated with a slightly modified shape and new magnetic closure detail.

The brand’s “cool, easy, chic” mantra is further defined for S/S 20 in directional silhouettes, fabrications and styling. “Clothing is our medium, and wardrobe is the medium through which I can communicate values that are important to me: craft, diversity, purpose and hope. These are the values we share at 3.1 Phillip Lim, the values we aspire to that will manifest true beauty.” -Phillip Lim

This season, as ever, we celebrate community and the wider 3.1 Tribe by partnering with like-minded brands who champion beauty with responsibility, and share our pursuit of achieving a sustainable balance. For S/S 20, we are proud to partner with artist and designer Ariana Boussard-Reifel, whose sculptural jewelry is informed by a sense of wanderlust and strong cultural references. Each piece is ethically and sustainably made by hand in her New York studio.

With UZ, a newly launched global beauty brand committed to using safe, sustainably-sourced ingredients that are never tested on animals. With Just Water, a packaged water brand making conscious material choices that help people and the planet. We also continue our partnership with Aveda, a pioneer in championing sustainable, environmentally friendly practices and cruelty-free hair and beauty products.

This season, Aveda and 3.1 Phillip Lim are taking steps to make backstage more beautiful by minimizing single-use plastic, ensuring recycling is readily available and offsetting a portion of the carbon emissions from the show to lessen its environmental impact.

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Tags: 3.1 PHILLIP LIM, 3.1 PHILLIP LIM SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER MEN 2020, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2020

Sun, September 22 2019 » Fashion Blog

RAG & BONE SPRING SUMMER 2020 COLLECTION – NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Rag & Bone unveiled a new concept to celebrate its return to New York Fashion Week, with a showcase of the brand’s spring/summer 2020 collection. The decommissioned stock exchange trading floor at Skylight on Vesey, provided an iconic New York backdrop for an experience that furthers the brands focus on challenging the status quo.

Rag & Bone was born out the desire to create unique products and experiences through the fusion of contrasting aesthetics. No stranger to breaking the mold, the proposition of the brand was brought to life through the collaboration of creative forces tapped from the worlds of fashion, music and technology. This new experience saw each of these disciplines collide while working in perfect harmony.

Drummers Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco (Atoms For Peace) spotlit on center stage set the tone with The Brooklyn Youth Chorus while two dancers brought the vision of Choreographer Damien Jalet (Suspiria, Anima) to life through movement across the circular runway.

In contrast to the flowing human movements of the performers, a UR10 robot joined the moment, slowly awaking and observing the audience and performers. Together man and machine moved in sync, with video captured by the robot using a live action feed and point cloud capture (computer vision). Broadcast in realtime on screens throughout the space the robotic arm and dual-camera techniques provided the audience with a novel way to see the show.

The Rag & Bone SS20 collection is a journey through different aesthetics and an exploration of brand tenets, American workwear, English inspired tailoring, military and sport. The fusion of these contrasting silhouettes, fabrications and color creates an unexpected mix, resulting in an eclectic offering that is uniquely Rag & Bone.

The attitude of the brand is brought to life through the focus on effortless, easy wearing pieces. With function at the forefront, each stand on their own or mashed up with opposing silhouettes and reference points to provide the wearer with a uniform-like expression of their individuality.

Intentionally swaying away from defining gender, the focus is shifted to the unique identity of each character—with the entirety of the men’s and women’s collections used to create the looks.

The collection opens with bold tailoring and knitwear, refreshed through the use of banker stripes and regalia inspired detailing. Masculine mixes with feminine through the use of oversized Savile Row-esque silhouettes, while tennis sweaters are reconditioned in fisherman-rib knits with bold regalia v-neck stripes, providing versatile pieces for the wearer.

Lighter technical fabrications, layered with scarf-like angular monochrome graphics are seen across dresses, underpinnings and skirts while the brand’s expertise in denim is apparent through the use of washed Japanese selvedge in jeans, shorts, shirting and gilets.

Track style striping and Hawaiian floral-camo prints add pops of color and contrast to the soft hues of Japanese military worked into the offering. Safety orange further brightens the palette with flashes in jackets and pants while soft pinstripe tailoring and seam sealed lightweight outerwear add versatility and comfort from the elements.

The experience was delivered to the audience set to an unexpected musical fusion of the Waronker/Refocsco percussion and the eerily melodic tones of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, with a rendition of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” accompanying the models through the finale.
“Contrasts & Perspectives” was designed to animate the Rag & Bone aesthetic, while amplifying the brand values of creating authentic and innovative experiences through the fusion of contrasting disciplines.

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Tags: RAG & BONE, RAG & BONE SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER MEN 2020, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2020

Sun, September 22 2019 » Fashion Blog

SIES MARJAN SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Sies Marjan presents its Spring ‘20 Women’s Collection in New York. The palette, taken from make-up and nail polish colors, is elaborated upon in lavish new silhouettes and through an exploration into vol- ume and draping. Strong attention to craftsmanship reflects a desire for a sophisticated and exquisite wardrobe.

From Creative Director Sander Lak: “This collection is a rejection of irony, bad taste, satire, reality TV, and kitsch. It celebrates the beauty of having the time and freedom to create and consider your choices… the antithesis of rushing.”

Lak utilizes denim in new and unexpected styles and shapes. Unwashed and untreated basic denim is tailored as if it were a fine wool into sharp suiting, while soft, bleached denim is draped into elegant dresses and fluid trench coats.

A fascination with the look and feel of animal skins leads to stunning textures — crocodile-embossed double duchess satin and airy reptile-embossed silk — in majestic navy and sun-kissed apricot hues. Lacquered crocodile-embossed leather, reminiscent of glassy lip gloss, pops in shades such as vibrant red, rich emerald, sumptuous vanilla, and deep navy.

“I have a desire for the beauty of wealth and time, but never in excess,” says Lak. “Strolling over running. Quality over quantity.”

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