Thu, March 8 2018 » Fashion Blog
THOM BROWNE FALL WINTER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
Lady painters painting portraits of ladies of all shapes and of all sizes. all beautiful, in grey flannel. anatomic studies and flights of fancy. a fluttering of forms, frills and froth, in chiaroscuro.
For his second parisian outing, thom browne plays with his signature menswear fabric molding it into womanly shapes and taking them to couture extremes. he does so by sticking to a strict grey flannel agenda.
Flannel, flannel and only flannel, everywhere. draped, pintucked, pleated, embroidered with pearls or flannel threads, inlaid. flannel with trompe l’oeil shading and marble effects. Flannel that flows around the anatomy and accentuates curves where you’d least expect it, in scales of grey with a smattering of white.
Enhancing voluptuous womanliness through a dry masculine fabric ignites a series of inverted actions, as the back of garments gets to the front, or disappears revealing what’s beneath, in trompe l’oeil.
Treasures of womanliness are hidden and protected under square subway coats, as garters and bras peek-a-boo. Masculine angles, feminine curves hiding and revealing tailoring and couture archetypal dialogues find a chiaroscuro harmony in grey flannel.
Thu, March 8 2018 » Fashion Blog
SONIA RYKIEL FALL WINTER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
‘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.
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
HERMÈS FALL WINTER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
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.
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
Wed, March 7 2018 » Fashion Blog
ALTUZARRA FALL WINTER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK
“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
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
Tue, March 6 2018 » Fashion Blog
