Iceberg© Copyright 2019
Going underground, going underground.Well, let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow.
There is an air of positive rebellion at ICEBERG for Spring-Summer 2020 where youth tribes and cultures meet and combine in hyper colour and monochrome. Where, in the imagination of James Long, the Punks of Kings Road hang out with the Sloanes and Hoorays of Knightsbridge (the spiritual home of the original ICEBERG London store) and South Kensington Goths.
Proudly kicking-off with ICEBERG x PETER BLAKE* who’s instantly recognisable riot of pop-art graphics cover shirt and trouser full looks, mini dresses and easy knits. His seminal Babe Rainbow and Amerika artworks (a technically intricate sweater of bird’s-eye intarsia, jacquard and embroidery), hearts, rainbows and Mod target unify across clothes and accessories and are reflected in see-now-buy-now ICEBERG x Linda Farrow shades.
A boyish Rocker zipped sleeve jacket and matching bondage trousers flash and unzip to reveal the palest candy flesh pink for men and women. And, for those who prefer Bauhaus or Iggy crooning “I love your hair” in their headphones there are navy on navy sports tailoring with tonal shirts. Or black with black tracksuits and a chic, gender fluid take on fishnet comes in the form of vests and maxi skirts. Name belts, Vibram sole trainers, trouser legs, necks and ears are adorned and drip heavy with chains: Le Goth Sportif.
The high shine of a Mod “tonic” suit morphs into silver zip jackets, Bermuda shorts and bungee tied trousers. A tee shirt is bound tightly with the same integral ropes. For the ICEBERG woman Tonal Punky Flower orchids climb over chic tailoring in fluro primaries on white. Worn with crisp shirts and a matching tie she is the Mod in modern.
Colour blocked fluid maxi looks in satin, chiffon and crepes for her and Cupro wash-effect silk joggers and matching bomber in a soft turquoise for him. The Loony Tunes Drip all-over print is well, all over easy fit shirts, short shorts and sweaters. ICEBERG Bubble Writing in pink and silver or teal and mustard is a camouflage for urban warriors looking for their Promised Land.
*ICEBERG launches the first in a series of on-going collaborations under the banner: ICEBERG ART DENIM
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Tags: ICEBERG, ICEBERG SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER MEN 2020
Wed, June 12 2019 » Fashion Blog
BLACKNESS FADE IN EXT. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD – DUSK WIDE ANGLE. Manicured lawns frame freshly painted suburban houses in a scene American suburban bliss. We ZOOM IN… The tranquil silence is interrupted by a flickering light, a dripping faucet and a steady knock that crescendos into a frantic pounding.
A door opens, a scream – chaotic and panicked echoes as the scene unfolds into a narrative that is increasingly sinister. Witches emerge from the fog-filled dusk. A terrified screen siren is being chased. A corpse bride, mummies, skeletons, bats and spiders fill the cul-de-sac and thus begins the Moschino Resort show.
A gold spiderweb chain embroidered black crepe de chine gown, a ghostly grin on white sequin dress and a jack-o-lantern screen print on silk slip dresses with lace inserts, a black cotton suit adorned with beaded stars and crescent moons in pastel hues.
Blood red and electric blue PVC trenches layered over multicolored print suits, scarecrow patchwork jackets and trousers in classic menswear tailoring. Dark embroidered scars on neon leather biker jackets and trousers.
A mummy walks through the picture-perfect neighborhood. Welcome to Scott’s vision of the classic Hollywood Horror Film, where dreams become the most spectacular nightmare.
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Tags: MOSCHINO, MOSCHINO SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER MEN 2020, WOMEN RESORT 2020
Tue, June 11 2019 » Fashion Blog
Tue, June 11 2019 » Fashion Blog
Mon, June 10 2019 » Fashion Blog
Watch the Moschino Spring Summer 2020 Menswear and Women’s Resort Collection Fashion Show in Live Streaming – Universal Studios Hollywood Backlot 7th June 2019 7.30 PM PST. Stay Tuned!
Tags: LIVE STREAMING, MOSCHINO, MOSCHINO SS 2020, SPRING SUMMER MEN 2020
Thu, June 6 2019 » Fashion Blog
Insula
For the first time, Giorgio Armani is presenting the Cruise collections with a special runway show. Tokyo has been chosen as its theatre, underscoring an affinity with the Japanese world that is first and foremost cultural. Beyond the shared love for clean and vibrant lines, what Armani and Japan have in common is an insularity that does not mean isolation, but rather knowing one’s worth and nurturing consistency in letting it grow.
Just as respect for tradition comes together with modernity in Japan, so Giorgio Armani lives on its own stylistic island in the fashion system, evolving his own codes along with the times, not easily giving into fleeting trends. For this collection, these codes find their essence in daywear and their raison d’être in the natural dialogue between body and clothing. The burnt, neutral colours along with the palpable, washed textures hark back to typical island landscapes.
The women’s silhouettes are fluid and vertical: jackets and dusters hug the bust, flowing out from pronounced shoulders. Fabrics commonly used in clean, masculine tailoring alternate with the washed silks of long gowns and with tortoiseshell-effect coated jacquards. Overlapping straps as fastenings on short coats highlight the eternal dialogue between the masculine and the feminine. Leather is a recurring theme: as piping, edging, and in jewellery. Colours range from neutrals to brown to blue, finally igniting in vibrant red. An interplay of weaves makes a statement on the shoes and boots, while nappa leather bags or tortoiseshell clutches feature soft shapes.
Soft tailoring sculpts the body in the men’s collection. Here, the gentle formality of double-breasted suits alternates with the refined casualness of knit jackets, pea coats and dusters with relaxed fits. Leather stands out as a strong, sensual touch in fitted bomber jackets, suede double-breasted blazers, and double-breasted shawl collar pea coats, while mixed lengths create silhouettes with movement. The colour palette favours chocolate brown and neutrals with soft touches of light blue and sand and bright pops of red and cornflower blue.
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Tags: GIORGIO ARMANI, GIORGIO ARMANI CRUISE 2020
Thu, June 6 2019 » Fashion Blog
In the 30th anniversary year of the fall of the Wall, Max Mara salutes the renaissance of a great city. Berlin is a beacon for art, architecture and design. Alongside restored masterworks by Schinkel, Gropius and van der Rohe, there are ones by the new masters -Foster, Piano, Gehry, Libeskind and Chipperfield.
Max Mara’s approach has always been quasi-architectural, and the Neues Museum resonates with the brand’s design philosophy; a respect for heritage, history and storytelling, coupled with a commitment to modernism. Max Mara is honoured to be the first brand to show in this monumental and evocative space.
The museum contains one of the world’s most precious collections of prehistoric artifacts. There’s a striking modernity and sophistication about some of those things that were beaten out by hand in a time before time was measured. The exquisite precious metal objects from the Bronze Age – including one of the museum’s most dazzling exhibits, a gold leaf ceremonial helmet known as the Berlin Gold Hat- are the inspiration for a series of sculptural bracelets, necklaces and earrings designed in collaboration with jewelry designer Reema Pachachi. And the subtle gleam of ancient metal is also woven into handwoven looking fabrics that provide a foil to Max Mara’s impeccable cashmeres and pristine wools – realized in a characteristically sandy palette.
Berlin’s heroes and heroines are Max Mara’s too; in particular Marlene Dietrich, natürlich, and David Bowie, who lived here in one of his most creative periods. Both left an indelible mark on the city. Though they never met, they were mutually fascinated and co-starred in David Hemings’ 1978 Weimar period drama “Just a Gigolo”. Enigmatic, virtuosos of self-image, Bowie and Dietrich shared a penchant for sharp shouldered suits, wide legged trousers and tightly belted trench coats. All three classics appear in the collection -with neo- primitive raw-edged fringes that hark back to the museum’s collection.
Max Mara’s ‘Berlin coat’ is an homage to the city. Immaculate white, strictly tailored, its shoulders emphasized by embroidered flowers – an homage to the exquisite porcelain of Meissen, the epitome of German craftsmanship. It draws together the threads of a collection that combines design, history and emotion.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Wemhoff, Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History (Neues Museum) in Berlin says: “The Neues Museum is proud to be partnering with Max Mara on the occasion of its Resort 2020 Show, which is inspired by the city of Berlin and held in the momentous celebration of 30 Years Fall of the Berlin Wall.
Also the fact that Max Mara itself is strongly dedicated to making art available to the public and demonstrating outstanding support for the arts and young artists internationally, honours us to stage Max Mara’s Resort collection, which will mark another cultural highlight for this building. We are looking forward to have this iconic Italian fashion brand presenting its Resort collection for the first time in Germany in the Neues Museum.“
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Tags: MAX MARA, MAX MARA RESORT 2020
Wed, June 5 2019 » Fashion Blog
Dior© Copyright 2019
Maria Grazia Chiuri has always had her heart set on establishing creative exchanges with African cultures. With this collection, she sought to dialogue with the real and imagined landscape of Morocco, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, Europe and Africa, as a dream destination for artists, poets, writers and eternal adventurers.
Showing the 2020 Cruise collection in Marrakesh represents a way of being guided by the memory of the House and Christian Dior’s first successor, Yves Saint Laurent, a native of Oran who was fascinated by Morocco. This show also illustrates the concept of a meeting of ideas, a “common ground” like the one feminist philosopher Naomi Zack describes, in which, despite all differences, exchanges among women can materialize through reflection and action.
This collection is a world map connecting images and ambiances that, on this side of the Mediterranean, have shaped our visual culture. Its original inspiration – and veritable emblem – is Wax print fabric. The anthropologist Anne Grosfilley explores its complex origins and evolution. The incredible story of this fabric unfolds like a family tree, a journey that winds its way from Europe and Asia, extending into Africa. Wax print fabric celebrates and federates diversity; it is the fabric of a cultural melting pot.
Maria Grazia Chiuri collaborated with the Uniwax factory and studio (in Ivory Coast) to reinterpret Dior codes by integrating them into the weave of the fabric for a special edition. Revisited in Wax, new toiles de Jouy come to life, recasting various landscapes or reinventing tarot motifs. The Bar suit, like all the other pieces, exalts the power of fashion as an inclusive, transnational language.
The Dior archives attest to this fascination, in Marc Bohan’s Jungle silhouette or a scarf printed with an African lion that gave life to a savannah bestiary. Landscapes that inspired authors such as Albert Camus, Paul Bowles, Alberto Moravia and Bernardo Bertolucci unfurl across warp prints, jacquards and fils coupés. At the crossroads of culture and emotion, Maria Grazia Chiuri underscores the power of Nature, an evocation punctuated with ecru silk, silk gauze, and shantung that, in shades of sand, indigo or burned red ocher, enhance coats and suits, pleated skirts and trousers.
Through its cultural dialogues, the Cruise collection offers a condensation of diverse realities and temporalities. Fashion itself is a unique fabric inspired by countless places and times that gives rise to a new vision. Through this magical act, Maria Grazia Chiuri projects a collective memory, a common territory that is open to every kind of possibility.
Collaborations
Maria Grazia Chiuri imagined this collection like a map whose topography is filled with sentiments revealed through traditions, places, cultures and savoir-faire, recalling how techniques, gestures and images belong to a collective heritage. This cartography is enriched and animated by various creative collaborations that nourish Maria Grazia Chiuri’s project and enhance Dior’s codes like a multilingual artistic dialogue.
The collaboration with Uniwax was indispensable for bringing to life fabrics infused with the creative imprint of both Dior and Africa. Founded in Abidjan, Uniwax is one of the last remaining factories producing Wax fabrics through mechanized artisanal techniques. Uniwax protects African creativity and cultural heritage. Today, it is one of the rare companies to support and produce African fashions. In keeping with tradition, the edging of fabrics produced for Dior bear the inscription of their origin: Édition Spéciale Christian Dior – Uniwax.
Pathé Ouédraogo – aka Pathé’O – is one of Africa’s leading designers. Through his work, he supports fashion that is entirely Made in Africa. His pride in his roots, combined with Nelson Mandela’s wish to embody a strong and progressive African identity, gave rise to a kinship between his brand and the late president of South Africa. His emblematic shirts in bright colors and bold prints have become symbolic of the African continent and its cultural diversity. For this collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri invited the designer to create a special shirt. Through this exclusive piece, Pathé’O pays tribute to Nelson Mandela.
Maria Grazia Chiuri also wished to collaborate with Grace Wales Bonner and Mickalene Thomas, to reinterpret through their combined creative vision an icon of the New Look, the Bar jacket and a skirt. Stephen Jones, Dior’s milliner, also dreamed up an array of headpieces.
The British-Jamaican designer Grace Wales Bonner was born in London and graduated from Central Saint Martins. In 2016, she won the LVMH Prize. Her work explores questions of personal identity through the construction of tailoring and riffs on masculine and feminine codes. African cultures are often explored in her designs: her graduate collection was entitled Afrique. In 2019, she curated the exhibition Grace Wales Bonner: A Time For New Dreams at the Serpentine Gallery in London, a show that examined ritual, mysticism and magic across the Black Atlantic.
Mickalene Thomas, the African-American artist, pays tribute through her work to pluralistic femininity and diversity, drawing inspiration primarily from her mother, who was a model in the 1970s. Mickalene Thomas refers to the great European masters, such as Ingres and Manet, and creates colorful collages that question social norms and preconceived definitions of female beauty. Mickalene Thomas also collaborated with the House of Dior on the 2018 edition of Dior Lady Art.
Like an ode to travel, the Wax headbands and bandanas designed by Dior’s milliner Stephen Jones in collaboration with the headwear designer Martine Henry topped silhouettes in the 2020 Cruise collection. Their multitude of colors and motifs intermingled with creations by Maria Grazia Chiuri.
The researcher and anthropologist Anne Grosfilley (a specialist in African textiles and fashions) is the world authority on Wax fabrics. In her book African Wax Print Textiles, she refutes simplistic interpretations. Her book presents fabrics like a family tree: her research reveals the multiple origins and constant evolution of Wax, the result of a long history between Europe, Asia and Africa. Above all, Wax fabric represents a cultural melting pot.
Wax is a highly complex print, the result of a painstaking process that combines symbols, technicality and creativity. Around twenty transformative steps are required to achieve the final result. Wax is a true means of communication. The women of Togo were the first to draw on their commercial instincts by choosing to give names to different motifs, creating a language that spread with the distribution of the fabrics and which speaks to different cultures. The complexity of their messages creates a unique mix of ancient symbols and nods to contemporary history: alphabetic characters, stylized florals and animals mix with illustrations of modern-day objects such as cars, fans, light bulbs or phones.
With this collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri wanted to show her commitment to highlighting a textile manufacturer based in Africa, Uniwax, which perpetuates while continually renewing the extraordinary savoir-faire that makes Wax an extremely precious, totally unique and culturally rich fabric.
For the scenography, Maria Grazia Chiuri collaborated with Sumano, an association that aims to revive the traditional women’s crafts of Moroccan tribes, notably painting on pottery, the art of weaving and vegetal dyeing. Its goal is to preserve and promote ancestral practices by creating more visibility around these original pieces. The name Sumano is a tribute to the first names of three women artisans (SUzanne, MAnuela and NOuky), the grandmothers of the association’s founders.
Sumano is a laboratory for creative exchanges where tradition meets contemporary techniques, a source of new savoir-faire. Clay is seen as an expressive and creative medium, opening up infinite possibilities. For the show’s decor, Sumano produced both pottery and fabrics. This collaboration is composed of painted ceramic plates and cushions, as well as a coat that has been woven and painted by hand.
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Tags: DIOR, DIOR CRUISE 2020
Thu, May 2 2019 » Fashion Blog
Perceptions shift… In the Louvre’s Cour Carrée another emblematic institution rises for a finite, illusory moment. In this museal collaboration, Louis Vuitton converges on the most fascinating of territories: culture. Culture: what we see, what we accept, what we learn. What’s left to us….
Beaubourg is the symbol of a certain culture of fashion, when it takes a stand and expresses itself with a passion. Nicolas Ghesquière gained stature in an atmosphere of revival. And the Centre Pompidou, a fabulous example of generational architecture, represents the most captivating dialogue between a surprising construction and a historic Parisian neighbourhood. Paying homage to the clash of old and now is the very principle of a collection in which debate is deliberately lively, like a reverberation of the museum’s inauguration, in 1977.
The Fall-Winter 2019 collection speaks to a vision of fashion, when one is sure of one’s potential and knows with conviction that this is the path to follow. When everything one discovers in the enthusiasm of youth becomes the foundation of stylistic certainty. This collection is an invitation to cultural references. “Refinery” sweaters and “Carcass” dresses. The Monogram and the Damier oscillate on accessories in equal time.
A graphic juxtaposition that surfaces on the new “Monogram LV Pop” and the beginnings of the “The LV Arch”, a bag as classic as it is knowledgeable. A nod to the monumental clock that counted down four hundred million seconds to the third millennium. The elusive state of being known as the Parisian.
Paris: a centrifuge. Inside/outside silhouettes, the very legitimacy of a starry-eyed young man in Paris, what he’s made of and what he will become. What there is to be seen, sincerely. Just as the the Centre Pompidou was created, with all the functional elements on the outside, the better to dress the inside. The incredible feat of the Centre Pompidou that could also apply to fashion is the ID Code of fluidity, an architect’s glossary that’s both formal and fanciful. Green is water, blue is air, yellow is electricity. Red is human. At Beaubourg, as in fashion, everything’s a matter of flow. Power is identified through the gesture.
Nicolas Ghesquière: “The Centre Pompidou, Beaubourg, Les Halles, Place des Innocents: A fascinating incubator of a neighborhood. An incredible melange, converging in the epicenter. The cliques, the styles, the life… I love that imprvession of a sartorial melting pot. Today, I’ve transposed it at Louis Vuitton: a House of multiple expressions..”
“The Centre Pompidou is a prototype. It’s an artisanal piece. People may laugh, but it’s all handmade! Industrial production starts with a craftsman’s gesture. The great advantage you have when you create an industrial product is that, with the artisanal piece you make, you have the time and the opportunity to make it and remake it time and again. Which is to say that the circularity of the creative process, which means conceiving of something, producing it, re-conceiving it, re-producing it and starting over again, the circularity of the culture of doing, the material, of action… This mix feeds the culture of conceptions. Which has always been the human spirit of creative work.”
Renzo Piano, architect of the Centre Pompidou.
“It took shape, on paper, with places dedicated to all, of all ages and origins, a cross between the British Museum and Times Square. Between culture and the everyday. In a way, that’s what a space for living is. We were very worried at the beginning because I was afraid the building would be too cold and we wanted to create a cultural machine that would be, by turns, culture and machine, something that could evolve. We had five floors, each the size of two football pitches. So the idea was to adapt to the evolution of everyday life.”
Richard Rogers, architect of the Centre Pompidou.
Louis Vuitton thanks Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, architects of the Centre Pompidou, as well as Serge Lasvignes, President of the Centre Pompidou.
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Tags: FALL WINTER 2019-20, LOUIS VUITTON, LOUIS VUITTON FW 2019-20
Thu, March 7 2019 » Fashion Blog
Chanel© Copyright 2019
Peaks as far as the eye can see, a street and snow-topped chalets. This season, the Grand Palais is transformed into a peaceful mountain village to welcome the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2019/20 Ready-to-Wear collection. A metamorphosis imagined by Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard, in the atmosphere of a beautiful winter’s day, in the grand nave, a place so dear to the House.
Wearing brogans enhanced with a platform sole, protected beneath tweed fedoras, the elegant mountain dwellers seize the spirit of romantic dandies as they walk through the powdery snow. Created by Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard, the silhouettes of the collection are warmed by a wardrobe marked with masculine/feminine accents, a major stamp of the CHANEL style. A palette of winter white, beige, black and navy blue is punctuated with flashes of purple, fuchsia, brick and emerald green.
With houndstooth, tartan and big check motifs, a dusting of snowflakes, in chevrons or imitating astrakhan, top stitched and quilted, tweed displays its masculinity on suits with wide-cut trousers worn high at the waist, coupled with great overcoats. Fastened with a high collar or a shawl collar and mini cape, enhanced with a trompe-l’œil bolero or a faux fur lapel, sometimes embellished with martingales, straight or double-breasted, trapeze or belted, maxi pockets slit or buttoned and folded down, the coats are different every time.
The tweed jackets are trimmed with a thick wool braid, woven or left almost raw. Others reveal a flared collar and a trompe-l’œil bolero. The big soft knit pullovers alternate with sweaters embroidered with crystals and cardigans with mountain motifs. Ski outfits are mixed with urban wear: a down jacket is sported with wide-cut trousers in big check tweed, while a zip-up ski-suit comes in tri-colour tweed.
Braided or adorned with a patch pocket to slip in a ski-pass, little tweed jackets are combined with a pencil skirt, and an outfit of over-jacket and wide-cut trousers in leather. Knitted scarves in embroidered chiffon worn against bare skin, big blouses with jabots, sautoir necklaces of chains and glass beads, plastron necklaces and white pearl earrings … there’s a great softness about the collection.
The desire for sophisticated comfort emanates from the silhouettes. A very feminine delicacy escapes from these maxi enveloping volumes. It flows over second skin tops, skirts and dresses in white chiffon printed with mini skiers and CC chairlifts, with scalloped collars and flounces that float to the rhythm of the body’s movements.
Romanticism abounds with the great capes in wool, the dresses with Claudine collars and tiers of rounded panels, the skirts in snowy guipure lace and the white tuxedos in duchess satin. Finally, the “snow-ball” skirts and dresses in chiffon and feathers with the bust embroidered with snowflakes in white and gold vinyl, distil the modernity, youth and dash of humour that characterise the CHANEL woman.
The bags match the tones of a season in the mountains: in black or white smooth quilted leather, supple in quilted tweed with a double C clasp interlaced with leather, a flap in faux fur or a camera case in braided shearling. Removable purses are attached to small bags with shoulder straps. Hip bags in faux fur or leather embroidered with glossy camellias alternate with gondola lift minaudières in rhinestoned resin.
The emblematic bags of the House joyfully slalom between the chalet spirit for the CHANEL’s GABRIELLE bag in leather and fluffy checked tweed, a frosted inspiration for the 11.12 embroidered with sequins, and its all schuss energy for the 2.55 in neon orange quilted leather.
Eternal and constantly renewed, identifiable and yet different every time, the allure of CHANEL illuminates winter with its daring and dazzling freshness.
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Tags: CHANEL, CHANEL FW 2019-20, FALL WINTER WOMEN 2019-20
Thu, March 7 2019 » Fashion Blog
