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GARETH PUGH FALL WINTER 2017-18 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – LONDON FASHION WEEK
If you share the opinion that fashion stands for more than a glitzy sideshow, that it can – and should – reflect our collective fears and fantasies, then it may come as no surprise that this evening’s Gareth Pugh show presents an austere vision of a world on the precipice of anarchy.
In the months preceding this event, as the designer began work on his Autumn/Winter 2017 collection, creative projects took him on something of a world tour, including stints in Moscow, Beijing, Istanbul and Washington DC (the latter trip purposefully timed to coincide with the US Election.) Conceived in an ambiguous, troubling time, this is a collection informed by the inescapable forces of the cultural landscape. Where the prevailing instinct is to build walls, reinstate borders and reclaim territory. Where the most powerful person in the world is a billionaire demagogue and self-confessed pussy grabber.
That such sensory overload might lead to a stately procession of stark, architectural silhouettes and garments almost exclusively rendered in paired-back and unfussy fabrics, speaks to a discipline of thought. To find such extreme chaos parlayed into a collection notable for its monolithic singularity– each garment expertly executed with muscular control – simply demonstrates the dexterity, strength and ferocity of vision that has defined Gareth Pugh’s label for well over a decade.
Cinematic in scope, this collection finds the designer taking many of his visual cues from that most sacred (and profane) form of image making. In an age of optics, Pugh channels iconic cinematic references as a form of universal shorthand. Drawing on Bob Fosse’s Cabaret, he describes how over these past months he came to be fixated with “the nature of the witness.”
“It’s about fight or flight. The cultural pendulum has swung to the right. The veil has been lifted. As a designer, how do you deal with that? It’s like that moment in Cabaret – “In here life is beautiful!” – as outside the world burns. Do you look it in the eye, or do you look away? That’s the critical question. It defines who you are.”
This collection carries in its bowels the distinct threat of radical extremism. One need only look at the way the designer handles another key reference, Liliana Cavalli’s 1974 film The Night Porter – less a camp classic, than a stone cold psycho-sexual nightmare – where by turning the dynamic of the film on its head, Pugh presents an imposing vision of lethal female resistance. A seething insurgency, collectively tearing at the dark underbelly of toxic masculinity.
One must also consider the soundtrack – an excoriating opus in its own right.Every sample, without exception, chosen by the designer. Each subject to relentless looping and lacerating jump cuts, in a model based on CIA sleep deprivation techniques. A method lifted from the world of “enhanced interrogation, ” it asks us difficult questions while offering no easy answers. Demanding that that we stay awake, in the hope that we might Stay Woke.
Staged in the round, characters move through the audience, wild and bug-eyed –implying wilful blindness, or fair protection against the floodlit obscenity at hand? – slipping through concrete apertures, frame to frame, as though unspooling in celluloid. A cast mostly made up of Pugh’s friends: activists, artists and outliers. Circling, gathering force, beneath the streets of London. As the pussy grabs back.
Tue, April 4 2017 » Fashion Blog
PETER PILOTTO FALL WINTER 2017-18 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – LONDON FASHION WEEK
Wordly techniques are reinvented forming the texture of this collection. Peruvian ‘Nazca’ quilting, rug knitting, and autumn leaf embroideries are layered with scribbled velvet, crosshatch tweed, and metallic fil coupé. Allusions to highland exploration are streamlined through a hybrid sense of decorative utility.
The palette runs from black, pewter, olive to mountain blues, lucuma oranges, and oleander pinks. Statement sleeves, grosgrain trims, and touches of Mongolian goat hair highlight sculpted wool tailoring and short padded outerwear worn with patch pocket felt skirts or contrast zip flares.
Bias cut gowns of asymmetric foulard silks come embellished with brass cabochons and Swarovski totem patches, whilst fine knit dresses wrap in lace ombré, fringed passementerie and candy stripes. On foot, embroidered leather riding boots and velvet venetian slippers are crafted by Ludwig Reiter, Vienna (est. 1885).
For the Autumn Winter 2017 collection designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos, the runway space is populated by eclectic objects made by our friends. From paintings and sculpture to hard and soft furnishings, both new and antique. Sharing the same fascination for exploring collecting together.
Wed, March 29 2017 » Fashion Blog
Wed, March 29 2017 » Fashion Blog
Sun, March 26 2017 » Fashion Blog
VERSUS VERSACE FALL WINTER 2017-18 WOMEN’S AND MEN’S COLLECTION – LONDON FASHION WEEK
Versus Versace © Copyright 2017
The unity of a new generation – the Versus Versace generation.
Sharp shapes and contrasting volumes have young fierce attitude, like a strong-shouldered raglan-sleeve scuba dress with moto sleeves and a silver zip down the back. A brand new print is created from torn-up and over-painted iconic Versus imagery, a fresh play with heritage on everything from padded jackets to dresses and T’s.
Padded jackets are pumped to the extreme, with zips down the middle of exaggerated hoods for men and women, while women’s cropped padded jackets have zippered backs. Metal mesh is reborn in black-on-black, with black metal mesh bonded onto black scuba for cocoon-shaped long-sleeve dresses with a zip down the back.
Fluffy teddy yarn sweaters come in sorbet colours and cropped shapes or an oversized hoodie for men. Meanwhile bobble knit sweaters create unexpected futuristic structure. Shearling jackets are given a tech update for both men and women, cut into panels that are held together by scuba, with oversized scuba pockets.
Leather is key, like the classic Versus leather jacket, an A-line leather mini-skirt, a leather wrap skirt with its long strap held by D-rings, or cropped leather culottes. Tracksuits are reinvented, like the trackdress with a round cutout at the back, or for men the play of sports with formality with trackpants in traditional wool gabardine.
A classic Versus image of a couple kissing, found on T-shirts and T-shirt dresses, reveals the passion, equality and unity that is at the heart of Versus, now and forever. A utility worker’s jacket becomes the new tailoring for men in wool gabardine, while tailored pants are in exaggerated scale, sometimes finished with cargo pockets.
Super-short iridescent sheer dresses have a twist in the front, or is draped on the front of a tank dress. The same iridescent lurex is used for sheer tops for both men and women. Mary Jane sandals and knee-high boots add character, while for men and women sneakers are elevated with a thick sole and exaggerated tread, held by a velcro tab.
The key women’s bag is held by a strap decorated with an oversized classic Versus buckle, while men’s backpacks come in the new torn-up Versus print.
“Fashion has the power to send out a message of hope and unity, especially to the new generation. Versus is about passion, optimism and a fierce statement of equality.” Donatella Versace
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