‘The spirit of Post-Punk, New Wave and Pop music was quite an influence on me growing up and the way I used clothes. This is when I discovered how to express myself as somebody who is quite shy,’ says Julie de Libran, Artistic Director of Sonia Rykiel. ‘This was how I found my voice and spoke: through fashion. In turn, this collection is not a homage to, but an honouring of the spirit of Sonia Rykiel, a spirit that encouraged women to live their lives creatively, individually, and out loud – and that includes me.’
The indomitable spirit of self-expression through fashion fuelled the establishment of Sonia Rykiel’s eponymous label fifty years ago, and it continues with Julie de Libran today. With the foundation of her house in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in May 1968, Rykiel’s individual expression coincided and became synonymous with that of a generation, a generation whose concerns she shared. Through her voice, she expressed the needs of herself and other women, a tradition that is still at the heart of the house today. As de Libran says: ‘What I do is essentially about women’s lives – and I am one of those women.’
For this unique moment and collection, de Libran uses both autobiography and biography to evoke a spirit of youth, non-conformity and enjoyment. Using her own story, as well as that of other women, the artistic director explores the idea of a new Parisienne, a woman at one with the attitude and style of a city but who ultimately goes beyond it. Clothes feature both utility and versatility; hard is made soft; masculine made feminine; function made flourish and vice versa.
Whether it is playfully invoking and subverting classic Rykiel signatures, such as a purposeful crescendo of knits or the transformation of velour leisurewear into sharp suiting, de Libran never forgets the comfort, ease and elegance at the heart of these clothes. And while youth culture leitmotifs run throughout the collection, there is simultaneously a sense of historicism and classicism.
Here, zips become less a shorthand for a rebellion and more a revelation of sinuous lines, modifying and sculpting the silhouette, decorating the edges of ruffles or slicing through soft wool blanket knits and structuring them into suiting. Altogether, de Libran travels through and conflates ideas and eras of femininity in the anniversary collection, to essentially bring them to the point of today.
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Tags: FALL WINTER WOMEN 2018-19, SONIA RYKIEL, SONIA RYKIEL FW 2018-19
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
And this is the beauty of enchanting gardens they do not intrude. They inspire a new dream. Their tree bark is a material that seems familiar, but when you touch it… it surprises you. Never quite being what we are expected to be. Being in this garden with the intimate knowledge of all its paths and deviating from them.
Fifty-four women enter a winter garden at twilight. Walk in this light where you cannot distinguish whether you are inside or outside. Floating in between, a gang of girls in blue-black. Each of them brings something personal to the group, an intimate self-assurance that owes nothing to anyone.
The light has faded, the time has come to capture the signs, signs of such density. The details of the pièces turn them into instant enigmas. Is that a bag there? No, it’s a shawl. The button on this Canadian coat? A clou Médor, of course. Look for long enough and you will find it everywhere. A leitmotif of Hermès leather goods, which finds itself inexplicably in the sharp triangles of Navajo patterns, and inspires lines and geometric shapes in movement.
In this garden of another nature, water-repellent calfskin is akin to leather, jersey embraces fur, light deerskin meets ribbed supple mink. Ribbed velvet-style knits choose a straight line and then change their path; taking a diagonal. Quilting reassures, protects and armours; coats have three pleats forming an almost invisible line on a low-set pocket.
Informal details are added to this natural, whispered sophistication; a climbing cord, or a chain that suddenly serve as fastenings. Thigh high boots seamlessly drenched in colour: andalusite-green, ultra-marine, and orange. Beneath this dream lies a rubber sole. If the sky is the limit, we never abandon the earth. We are there for her. So that, for once, shocking pink is not the enemy of auburn.
Along the footpaths, around the squares, walk fifty-four women. They wear dresses worn close to their skin, waists accentuated; their light leather coats floating in the autumn light. Fifty-four women together enact graceful and gentle movements. No more constraints.
The present is not a problem, it’s a mystery. In the electronic half-light, someone is playing Debussy. I’ll wait for you, for water, ice and fire.
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Tags: FALL WINTER WOMEN 2018-19, hermès, HERMÈS FW 2018-19
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
“Last season, I was inspired by a fictional character, the idea of a fantastical warrior woman. This season as I’m nearing our 10 year anniversary, I have been thinking a lot instead about the Altuzarra woman and the friends and family who embody the brand. The collection grew around the idea of memories of women I grew up with – from my mother getting dressed for work; and my teachers, to women I saw on the street in Paris in the Eighties, and those in the pages of magazines. I was also inspired by the women I work with, the women I am friends with, and the multiplicity of roles they play in their own lives. This is the through-line this collection was built around.”
Joseph Altuzarra
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Tags: ALTUZARRA, ALTUZARRA FW 2018-19, FALL WINTER WOMEN 2018-19
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Manic Soul Machine draws from Marine’s last six months of experience as a designer at the helm of an emerging label. Though deeply anchored in past and present, Marine Serre’s upbeat radicalism always keeps the future in sight. Fall ’18 unveils a splicing of fragments from contemporary life with futuristic references. Tensions combine and evolve, bringing high-end fashion closer to its logical and necessary next step. Doing away with replicas of used looks, but upcycling actual used shirts into unique and irreproducible pieces with a refined, post-apocalyptic stature.
Marine Serre reacts to today’s reality through pragmatic and committed choices. The ‘ethical’ or ‘social’ labels have become far too limiting for what is going on. This is a new reality fashion, that will not be pigeonholed and does not compromise, but simply absorbs, reacts to, and works with the real needs, situations and fantasies over garments in the world today. Why would the world today need another fashion brand? Marine’s own answer: the day of the romantic designer, standing safely in a zone outside of business and production, is over. Inventing fundamentally new solutions to produce garments today is just as exciting to her as combining disparate chains of references on the aesthetic level.
Marine Serre is determined to build a brand that is playing with clothing in its entire scope, including its physical, material, cultural and dream-like dimensions. What Marine Serre truly stands for is a genuine care for reality, grasping a new and radically direct authenticity and inclusivity. She is driven by the desire to push the world of fashion some inches toward an actual future. Manic Soul Machine unfolds through a triptych of freeform movements, each a complementary facet of Marine Serre. The crescent moon from her previous collections has developed into an entire visual lexicon of its own.
The crescent is found in prints of different sorts, in almost all new patterns, in earrings, and huge logos. They are seen glinting on every look, while Marine’s trademark moire fabrics and catsuits emerge at their own rhythm. First, Manic Soul Machine tweaks the vocabulary of utilitarian wear, fusing rough edges and protective outerwear garments with echoes from couture. Stereotypical outerwear such as the biker, denim, or horse rider’s jacket, are reconstructed, adapted and reimagined for future survival.
Jersey and mousse answer to a need for comfortability and protection. Practical bottle, lipstick and phone pockets replace the classic handbag. The functional is never dismissed, but enhanced, while lightweight, wearable shelters come to underline a sharp femininity. A layer below, in the second sequence, reality hits again in another way: even simple cotton t-shirts find their way to the runway. Garments become simpler, uncomplicated and evident. This is the everyday morning wardrobe of Marine’s quintessential commuter, who instinctively picks up signifiers along her daily routine, but with a creative twist, energy and humor that can never be fully repressed.
The pared-down suppleness of athleticwear surfaces through gymnastics hints, and the first upcycled pieces are introduced. The closing act then unleashes the wild clash of inspirations that always remains at the core of Marine’s practice. Clean surf-suit and gymnastic tops flare into floating silhouettes covered in vibrant contrasts of colors and patterns. Techniques collide, and upcycling takes center stage. Used garments are processed as raw materials for a radically new aesthetics.
A series of hybrid dresses, made from repurposed second-hand scarves, are confronted with sportswear shapes and finishings. FutureWear appears bluntly handprinted on one single silk scarf. Then, a huge flamenco-inspired white dress turns up, born out of used shirts and a surf bodice. The crescents are evolving everywhere, spreading from ‘moon-ogrammed’ dresses to trompe l’oeil flower and moon-dotted patterns.
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Tags: FALL WINTER WOMEN 2018-19, MARINE SERRE, MARINE SERRE FW 2018-19
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
