Of The Woods: Paris

Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Shall we talk Haute Couture?

Today marked the end of SP13 Couture in Paris. There is something about Couture week which places it as my favourite of all fashion weeks, I think it is fashion being viewed more as art and admired rather than to be worn out everyday. This makes each piece more special and magical than the normal Spring Summer collections as the designers are allowed to push their ideas further and let creativity be he leading factor rather than practicality.

For me Karl Lagerfeld is the master of couture (recognise where I rephrased that cheeky line from?..think Hitchcock). But he forever manages to amaze with each and every collection and this season is no different. Starting with the classic Chanel tweed he reflects the loose knit across the collection with rough lace and feathers. The textures used across the collection with a range of fabrics from tweed to leather to feathers could seem overwhelming yet the simple black and white colour (except a few glimpses of pastels) scheme keeps it feel nothing but magical in the setting of an enchanted forest filled with fairies with a gothic touch and reminding me rather of the vampire fairies in Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty.
(I tried to cut down the collection to my favourite few, but it turned into more a favourite dozen or so.)

The Beautiful Cara Delevigne (who you must follow on twitter)

And what about the rest of the designers? In a rather more prim and proper garden Dior presented a rather more prim and proper collection with highly structured pieces, a few more bright colours and cut outs but kept the floral theme coming. (Again I didn't do the best job at cutting down the collection to my favourite pieces)

(All images from Style.com)

Elie Saab took us out of the gardens but kept the beautiful and delicate lace theme up. While much of the collection felt very similar it kept the entire collection delicate with subtle changes with colour and beading. The finale stands out from rest of the collection as most dramatic (but yes I do sort of want to be married in that dress.)

Finale

(All images from Style.com)

Valentino was a beautiful as ever and I was introduced to some new designers (at least for me) Ulyana Sergeenko a Russian fashion designer and photographer who took us back to the fairytale theme and Giambattista Valli. Here's my pick from all of these designers and more.

Valentino

Ulyana Sergeenko

Giambattista Valli

Maison Martin Margiela

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Alexander McQueen SS13

Now available on line, you can watch the Alexander McQueen SS13 show HERE.

"The collection is a study of femininity. We looked at erotica. Vargas girls, cages, corsets and crinolines and the idealisation of the female form. Nothing is set in a particular period. It's about sensuality and skin but not nudity. We also wanted to express lightness, for the clothes almost to hover over the women who wear them." Sarah Burton

Tuesday, 2 October 2012

What a day in Paris

Channel, Alexander McQueen and Valentino; the lucky one's in Paris have been spoilt today.

The clean cuts and feminine 50's shape in the ever beautiful Valentino created a sophisticated look, while the touches of leather, nude and lace added a sexy edge. Watch the show here.

Karl Langfield, true to form, pulled out all the stops. The catwalk of solar panels surrounded by columns of wind turbines was enough to get heads turning alone.

If it could be said that Valentino had a sense of the 50's to it, Channel's accessories certainly felt very 60's; the era of all change in fashion and certainly it seemed that way at Channel today. The iconic Channel pearls were oversized and so was the redesigned quilted handbag. The well known tweed jacket was still around but the use of colour, shape and pattern felt like something yet again new for Channel and really felt summery (for lack of a better word). Truly different to the image first formed by the name Channel.

Yet with the traditional elements of Channel redesigned and new pops of colour, Langfield managed to maintain true Channel elegance, perhaps proving with the use of setting a traditional brand like Channel certainly has a place in the future.

The show I was most excited about to today was of course Alexander McQueen. Being unable to watch it live was almost unbearable but twitter was my savour. From photo's alone it seems Sarah Burton's hit gold yet again. The vintage feel from the collection from the use of nudes and boning felt like underwear as outerwear, going back to traditional structures yet twisting it by revealing the structure of the clothes. Showing the structure of the design is nothing but beautiful, and the feminine figure accentuated by the full skirts and small waists is traditionally elegant. Burton's collection feels very grown up, but the change in colours and hem line, and with the appearance of some sparkle keeps it's playful.

Alexander McQueen photos from the amazing Susie Bubble and @WorldMcQueen on twitter

If unlucky enough to be anywhere else but Paris this week the best place I recommend to see all that is going on is twitter. My top 5 people to follow are:

and the designers themselves. @WorldMcQueen posted most show looks and @MaryKatrantzou has been amazing too.