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Like a portal within an old warehouse, Comme des Garcons is located in the midst of Chelsea Art Galleries. Gallery hoppers are drawn into the entrance, almost a rabbit hole, with the egg shaped glass door and contorted walls inside. Beautiful dresses currently inspired by the hexagons and pentagons present on a soccer balls.
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The house of Givenchy does not get as much publicity as say Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu… The Spring/Summer 2009 collection is off beat with leather, denim, and symbols of the motorcycle culture. In the midst of Hell’s Angels, I came across a particular look on the runway. Although the high waisted baggy black pants paired with a buttoned up tuxedo shirt and strappy sandals silhouette is on the brink of cliche, the little bow at the neck makes the look much more interesting. The small bow is reminiscent of a mini bolo tie. A gush of Texas blows through the buttoned up, crisp look of the modern city. Refreshing, comfortable yet formal, and more importantly, unique.
Moschino’s Spring 2009 collection combines the physically defining traits of court jesters/jokers rolling them all into one collection. Exaggerated bows, ruffles, puff sleeves, and harlequin prints are worked into Moschino’s traditional lady-like silhouettes.
Marchesa is all about luxury gowns worn by powers relative to Grecian/Roman empresses. The soft pleats reminiscent of Madame Gres are present in this piece but the volumnous side poufs add another dimension. This piece is a departure from the traditional sillouttes Marchesa is typically known for. The dress is still in line with the Marchesa theme–Rosebuds filling the side pieces–refreshingly elegant.
The proportions are playfully awkward. Transforming a gypsy’s wardrobe into sophisticated urban ladies wear takes magic and charm.
High waists | Loose tops | Silk headbands | Slight volumes | Draping | Lace | Sheers | Bold gem colors | Floral prints | Intergalactic print—reading of the cosmos | Luxury | Satin
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The bold prints and colors that extend the power woman/man eater character of Samantha from SATC is exemplified in this collection. No more does Tahari stand for sensible, practical suits—splashes of neon pinks and florals light up the collection. The exotic traveler look has been done far too many times. The look is old and uninspiring—one too many Chiquita bananas. The spring DVF collection was going for the same look—well to do cosmopolite traveling to an exotic resort. Although the lady like pencil cheetah skirt looks nice. The exotic traveler look has not nearly evolved enough to be brought back to life.
Floral armour. Balenciaga’s dresses for this season are incredibly structured. They look like molded hard armor. When you see them on the runway, they have movement, more disjoint, unsmooth movement, but much more than what these ads with Jennifer Connelly suggest. She looks like a warrior with the shaped shoulders. The colors of this season are just as bold and strong as the structure of each piece.
How the clothes move–the pleats, folds and seams—it’s all incredibly dynamic. Models look like moving robots on the runway.
The clothes encase the body, like the shell of a snail or turtle. It highlights the incredible movement and life of the flesh it reveals.
I saw Chloe Sevigny yesterday at the armory portion of the Whitney biennial. She was wearing hipster tight jeans with a maroon jacket typical of the ones high school football players wear. Although I walked by her a couple times, I couldn’t get a great picture of her, but this is as close as it gets.
That’s her next to the purple balloons.
Here’s a video on her line for Opening Ceremony. It’s funky.
Visit Opening Ceremony.
The S/S 2008 campagin: Kate Moss pressed up against the glass windows of a YSL store in Paris. I feel a connection with these photos–I am the girl who presses her face up the windows of designer stores. It’s as if the objects in the store windows were staring up at me and had a life of their own. In this case, Kate Moss dressed in YSL, is the girl pressed up against the glass. This is different from a girl who loves fashion and can’t afford it.
The mannequin is now on the other side of the glass!
She is on a sidewalk in Paris, glued to the store windows. The mannequin has escaped from a traditional contained fake backdrop to one that actually exists in reality. She remains a mannequin, we see her through glass.
I like how the text of the store window marks our isolation from her. On the print ads, there is a border around each photo–further removing her from us.
Behind the scenes footage of the photo shoot is available during this season here. Click on Manifesto to watch the video and to photos of the campaign.
I like the kitschy stars that characterize this collection.
Maybe the stars are a little too much. Here is a window from the Upper East Side store. There are large paper stars in the color and form of post-it-notes. The plastic stars on the sleeves look cheap.
Dior reinvents the classic 1920′s flapper girl by bringing them to the present. This time, there is a fine line between the feminine and masculine. The pin stripes and broad shouldered suits that were characteristic of the men who frequented jazz bars are now meshed in the same collection with the lacy, sparkly, see through sheers of flapper girls. The combed over hair is very masculine, the makeup is still very much the essence of a flapper girl. This women’s collection encompasses the essence of the roaring twenties while representing how much women have evolved from the flapper girl era–now it is the norm for women to also have a masculine side.
