Mon, January 20 2020 » Fashion Blog
ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA XXX FALL WINTER 2020 MEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK
Art for Earth
#UseTheExisting, for Zegna, is an all-encompassing mindset that starts from fabric and extends to clothing and beyond. Ermenegildo Zegna XXX is the vanguard laboratory where, under the artistic direction of Alessandro Sartori, this plurality of actions coalesces into one multifaceted, ever-evolving whole.
This season, even the show’s scenography uses the existing: an immersive installation, hosted in a former Milanese foundry, has been devised in collaboration with multi-media American artist Anne Patterson and made of thousands of ribbons derived from leftover Zegna fabrics. It consists of a massive suspended cube – a play of colour, matter and light – that looks solid but is actually transparent. Giving the material an immaterial quality, it invites viewers to engage and interact, not only with the eyes.
In this geometric forest of ribbons, the Ermenegildo Zegna XXX Winter 2020 collection materializes. A redefinition of tailoring captures the spirit of the season, as the Zegna sartorial know-how is explored in new, hybrid directions. The silhouette is neat and layered; the sum of the parts and garments is accentuated; ergonomic details such as flaps and patch pockets add a utilitarian slant.
Three-button suits with slightly boxy, one-breast-and-a-half jackets and tapered trousers are worn under puffy blousons; zip-up overshirts with low collar lines replace traditional shirting. The tailored waistcoat makes a comeback, as a passe-partout, with or without the suit. A process of constant morphing defines evolved shapes: wraparound, belted blazers; voluminous coats with deep back pleats; coat/parka fusions; shirts that double as short-sleeved blousons.
Fabrics get more and more experimental, further expanding the #UseTheExisting approach in weaves and mixes of natural with synthetic fibres. Patterns such as moirè, macro check and digitalized landscapes are rendered in print, jacquard and devorè techniques – alone, or mixed – playing with layers and scales. Even plain fabrics like recycled cashmere flannel or Achillfarm, the suiting wool made entirely from the remnants of suit-making, are highly innovative.
Calf leather is laser-patterned, hand-cut and printed, or distresses and tumbled. A special series of hand-woven, intensely tactile textiles has been developed with the San Patrignano community.
Accessories are pragmatic: bold-soled, polished boots and derbies, oversized bum-bags, soft bags. The newest brand icon INSTA-PACK, a functional crossbody bag inspired by photographers’ attitude, features sartorial details and a Zegna vintage logo from 1980 created by the graphic designer Bob Noorda.
The collaboration with Leica, the legendary German high-end manufacturer of cameras and sport optics products, translates into a desirable array of camera bags, holders and straps that is part of a broader dialogue between the two brands and that will further evolve into photographic projects aimed at portraying modern masculinity through women’s eye.
The metamorphic play of textures and shapes is captured by the muted palette of neutral tones of plaster, sand stone, cloudy sky, brown quartz and dark loden highlighted by touches of rose gold, copper, ember red and peacock blue and finished by matte black.
“At Zegna I have the privilege to experiment at every level, from the mix of fibres to the evolved tailoring shapes – says Alessandro Sartori – It is all about reshuffling or hybridizing categories, breaking boundaries in order to explore new territories: this is our new tailoring lexicon. One experimentation leads to the next, in one seamless dialogue, always keeping in mind that our art should always respect the earth. That’s our mission, as both humans and fashion-makers”.
The installation Art for Earth by Anne Patterson will be open to the public until January 31st 2020.
Mon, January 20 2020 » Fashion Blog
Wed, October 9 2019 » Fashion Blog
LOUIS VUITTON SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
Returning to the origins gives rise to a high society that expresses itself through a new Belle Époque, as if in tribute to that vivacious time when Paris was pure enchantment. Circling back to the pleasures of sartorial protocol. A certain dandyism blends styles and genres based on depth of culture. Harking back to the fundamentals of romanticism and transposing Art Nouveau onto clothing.
Inventing a community that celebrates the enthusiasm of singularity. And finally, adopting as a signature the evocative cattleya orchid, worn on the lapel like the chimerical symbol of ultimate refinement. Louis Vuitton picks up the thread of its own history and brings together two nascent centuries, the dream-like dawn of the 20th century and the 21st century that yearns to remember it.
The artist Sophie appears onscreen in an extended version of “It’s Okay to Cry”, specially made for Louis Vuitton, with the participation of Woodkid.
The wood used for this show was sourced entirely from sustainably managed forests in France (100% PEFC certified maritime pine wood from the Landes region). After the show, all the wood used for the décor will be donated for reuse as part of a partnership with ArtStock, whose mission is to recycle and upcycle elements from artistic productions in order to preserve the environment. The transparent part of the structure was rented specifically for this show.
Wed, October 9 2019 » Fashion Blog
Wed, October 9 2019 » Fashion Blog
CHANEL SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
A youthful breeze of liberty blows across the rooftops of Paris. Or more precisely those installed in the nave of the Grand Palais for the CHANEL Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear show. Roofs so typical of the fashion capital and the rue Cambon with their zinc surfaces, walkways, chimney pots and windows opening onto the sky.
“The roofs of Paris remind me of the atmosphere of the Nouvelle Vague. I saw silhouettes walking on the roofs. I thought about Kristen Stewart playing Jean Seberg and all the actresses Gabrielle Chanel dressed at that time,” says Virginie Viard, Artistic Director of the Fashion collections.
Today, the ethereal allure is dancing. Accessorised with sandals that come with jewelled or strass-embellished straps or are flat and two-tone, and occasionally little hats, the silhouette is fluid and light. The materials are supple and hinder no movements. For both day and night, the collection plays with the simplicity and balance of volume. Jackets with flounced collars and cuffs and short skirts reinterpret the tweed suit.
Capri pants and denim jackets with ruffles also join the dance. Very pure little white coats finished with braid, are worn with voluminous skirts and tops in black and white tweed. The straight-cut masculine tweed jacket is revisited, transformed into playsuits, jumpsuits or a little dress with a flared skirt. Long coats come in tweed or wool crêpe while a striped top and a carelessly knotted shirt add masculine-feminine accents.
Satin, silk faille and taffetas carry the short, wraparound or asymmetric skirts, always worn high on the waist: petticoated, or not, with organza, they move with an unimpeded freedom. Their charm is enhanced with ruffled tops and delicate pleated blouses with balloon sleeves embellished with little bows or raffia and organza petals.
In their transparency, the fabrics reveal the breathtaking work of the ateliers required for the construction of the dresses and their handkerchief hems. Tiers of printed chiffon, organza, feathers and raffia fringes structure the delicate tops and long skirts. Embroidered around the collar with sequins in matte red like a lipstick, dresses in anthracite chiffon are printed with Parisian facades.
Their flat pleats seem ready to float away with beautiful amplitude. A series of skirts, jackets and a long dress pass by in silk twill printed in the tonalities of dusk, with braids and trimmings in two-tone grosgrain.
Stripes, checks, vibrant block colours – red, orange, pink, blue – illuminate the collection and the emblematic black and white of the House. The prints are in unison: on one ultra-graphic version, the letters of CHANEL haphazardly stand out from the roofs.
In a large version, the CHANEL 19 bag comes swathed in printed silk twill, while the 11.12 bag is back in tweed to match its suit. Zip-up bags in leather or tweed are reminiscent of schoolgirls’ pencil cases: the CHANEL signature appears handwritten in chain interlaced with leather.
The flap bag is refreshed with a wrist bracelet or a braid in two-tone grosgrain ribbon. Others have a more precious note: beads set with chains or sequinned embroideries with floral motifs. Gently, a ruffle is laid here on a strap or there on the flap of a half-moon clutch.
Ever present, couture jewellery is worn in accumulation: pearl sautoirs and brooches, necklaces in coloured crystal or punctuated with strass-covered balls and cuff bracelets signed CHANEL PARIS.
Feminine, urban, in motion, never the same and yet always identifiable, the silhouette of CHANEL’s Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear collection has the nonchalant grace of a cinematographic heroine. Inspiring, contemporary, eternal.
Wed, October 9 2019 » Fashion Blog
BALMAIN SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
BALMAIN SPRING-SUMMER 2020: TALKIN ‘BOUT MY GENERATION
Is my generation’s nostalgia for our turn-of-the-century childhood culture somehow less cool than fashion’s more familiar fixation on the ‘70s and “80s?’
That’s the question that has been bouncing around the Balmain studio and offices, as my team and I worked on this Spring-Summer 2020 collection.
We all know that fashion has been happy to rely on vintage inspirations over the past few decades, with designers mining the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s for statement pieces and entire runways. But, for some, styles from the late nineties and early aughts somehow seem too recent to consider for revivals — perhaps due to a feeling that those looks need a bit more of the filter of time that always helps to smooth out past eras’ fashion bumps.
Nevertheless, we’re going there this season — and Balmain’s riffing on the distinctive sounds, spirit and styles of my youth is more than just a simple exercise in nostalgia for me. I’d also like to celebrate the transformative power of that moment.
Sure, I love to be reminded of the old hits that I listened to over and over again as a kid — but now I realize that the artists behind my collection of scratched CDs were often manifestations of a new type of American Dream, resulting in a different sort of pop culture than that of previous generations.
Back then, for me — a black kid growing up in the provinces — just being able to listen to and see someone like Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child was incredibly empowering. Their success made it clear to me and others like me that you could actually “cross over” and be celebrated as a talent by all, while never having to compromise your pride in your origins or play rôles that others expected of you. Ideas that once might have been revolutionary were presented to us as simple facts — and always paired with the most addictive of melodies.
And it’s those addictive melodies — from Beyoncé, as well as artists like Britney, Christina and JLo — that are the ones associated with the looks that inspired this collection. This runway looks to the styles that my team and I remember and which we are more than ready to begin celebrating. We are happy to be able to embrace a past that we can actually remember, instead of once again turning to established references that can only be researched through archives.
Of course, this being Balmain, these turn-of-the-century explorations might look to my youth, but they rely on the masterful craftsmanship and singular tailoring skills that only a true Paris atelier is capable of. The famous Balmain embellishments have been given a decidedly modern touch for this runway, with the addition of the fine jewelry pieces that my team and I have designed, using extraordinary sustainably created diamonds from Diamond Foundry, the world’s only carbon-neutral diamond producer.
We believe that Diamond Foundry’s commitments to sustainable creation makes them the perfect partner for Balmain, complementing this house’s well-known dedication to fighting for inclusion, empowerment and the democratization of fashion. We’re proud to be the first Parisian house to work with Diamond Foundry and we look forward to including their diamonds in our upcoming runways.
A second collaboration for this collection is particularly close to my heart. As you may have already heard, Balmain recently teamed up with my friend, Kylie Jenner, for a new Kylie x Balmain Cosmetics line, which is being released today. After working closely with Kylie on that offering, it became clear to both of us that our new collection was the perfect one to rely for this runway. Of course, we had hoped to have Kylie here in Paris with us today — but the most important thing is that she takes care of herself and gets better soon.
Olivier Rousteing – 27 September 2019 Paris
Tue, October 8 2019 » Fashion Blog
HERMÈS SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
Beauty is quite a mysterious thing. There was a time when it had to be synonymous with perfection; it was an Ideal. We had almost forgotten that the Ideal could also be altered. And had to be.
It never was that fixed, rigid unbending thing; it is the constantly changing horizon. And perfection? Ah, nowadays perfection takes a backseat to movement. Beauty: all kinds.
We catch a glimpse of these beauties in silhouettes striding forth, blithely unafraid of paradox, of unexpected alliances — on the contrary. Kalós as the Greeks used to say.
Using that same term, they pretended to confound the beautiful and the good. Physical splendour and moral grandeur. The Greeks always had a good sense of humor — of the clairvoyant kind.
Our metamorphoses have become our new idealism, our only beauty. He watches her dress. Organdy and leather. Light, powerful. When she puts it on, her hand beckons to a new horizon. Whisper sweet nothings in my ear? Let us stroll under a Bubinga pink sky, into dusk.
Whisper sweet nothings in my ear? Laisse-moi tranquille.
Mon, October 7 2019 » Fashion Blog
OLIVIER THEYSKENS SPRING SUMMER 2020 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
Olivier Theyskens © Copyright 2019
Returning to the historical salons of the Directoire-style Hotel Bourrienne, Olivier Theyskens muses on party girls throughout the ages for Spring Summer 2020. From the 18th century Merveilleuses – who danced within these very walls – to the contemporary Theyskens girl, the collection rejoices in a call-and-repeat of sensuous shadow play laced with the hand of the atelier. Approaching deconstruction with abandon, the silhouette is both dictated and adorned by Theyskens’ touch as a consummate dressmaker.
In signature black and ballet nudes interjected with scarlet, pale pink and lavender, the collection examines tailoring and eveningwear separates from the inside out. The elements of a column skirt suit are peeled back to reveal meticulous structure: raw cut hems, hook-and-eye closures and ribbon piping are exposed as precise darts build volumes in taffeta, organza and summer wool.
Tailoring diverges as an ultra-slim basque jacket or a boxy linen blazer worn over silk camisoles paired with cigarette trousers or a sleek bloomer. Light as air, cocktail dresses are draped in pleated satin or embroidered lace, suspended on ribbons or floating with gazar wings. Moments of opulence arrive in a scrolling jacquard, glass teardrop jewels and embroidered veil netting, as a lacquered platform heel elevates the silhouette to monumental heights.
For Spring Summer 2020, a partnership with Los Angeles-based French eyewear label Jacques Marie Mage results in the first Olivier Theyskens sunglasses collection. Featuring bold and linear acetate frames in high-gloss and frosted finishes, each intemporal style is emblazoned with the OT monogram device.
Mon, October 7 2019 » Fashion Blog
ANDREAS KRONTHALER FOR VIVIENNE WESTWOOD SPRING SUMMER 2020 COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
Rock me Amadeus
Everything is connected, things that apparently have nothing in common with each other suddenly find a connection. This is inspiration, intuition, the human condition. This is what we are, we are connected to the universe.
I hung a picture on the wall. The image of the handle of a door in the shape of a man’s head whose arms unite to form a knocker – toc, toc, alchemy. This vision has turned into a circle that joins the shoulders or hips and flies in the wind, sometimes it’s short, others it’s long.
My first inspiration: the cloud and the image of a 1950s pin-up photographed from below; it seems to be in the sky with cotton balls thrown at her. I like the shape of the clouds that float on the body, clothes that slide over the body, shirts that come down from the hips to the floor. You can wear them backwards or tie them to the hips: do it yourself. We have worked with Wastemark collecting inventories from the best Italian textile companies: reduce, reuse, rethink.
I love volumes; street vendors with their goods tied to the body are walking windows. The shapes explode to form infinite possibilities: shoulders, padded hips, large hair and umbrellas. The support is secured and protected by corsets, which are also fundamental for the fabrics that twirl in Botticelli’s Venus.
For the second season, we worked in collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative using hand-made fabrics in Mali and naturally dyed Bogolan literally “made of land”.
We have renewed the Animal Toe shoes with a new heel that Mozart would like. Tyger, bright burning tyger, in the forests of the night. The 18th century hairstyle, worn by young apprentices, is brilliant. I had never seen creatures like this, they come from another planet. They create a historical and geographical fable of the human race, from microbes to robots.
We support Fauna + Flora in their fight against the protection of the Sumatran tiger from mass extinction. www.fauna-flora.org
Mon, October 7 2019 » Fashion Blog
