anyone up for a BREAK?

I have never been able to begin to understand why most people hate Winter, and let alone their ridiculous obsession with the sticky warmth of the Summer. For me, the cold season is not only a time of "bad" weather, but the time to experiment with the enless posibilities of winter-wear. However, Cruise collections tend to leave me in a state similar to that of a little kid in a candy shop.

Out of all these collections, there has been one which I found particularly espectacular, that's because of it's simple way of reinterpreting the brand's winter view and being able to turn it into a perfectly viable look for an escape to an island.

If Frida Giannini's view for the F/W 2007 collection was a mountain getaway for rockstars, this is no different, except for the scenery. Black and white are, again, the clear dominant colours; they get mixed with glimpses of citrus brights and the most beautiful red.

The full skirts, fitted tops and leather biker jackets make the retro inspiration in the sixties undeniable and the driving gloves in leather are the perfect touch to culminate the looks.

The most beautiful feature of the collection is also the most innovative made in Gucci. Graphic bamboo and coral prints dance with the richest embroidery and make the catwalk show an unforgettable celebration of the best italian design.

[Pictures credit: style.com]

Click here to see the entire collection.

I'm off.

the GARDEN STATE-ment

The triangle is a geometric shape which has always been an image with meaning of perfection, of divinity. I'm a strong believer in the triangular power, in the idea of greatness composed of three colossal and yet fragile points. But, of course, my beliefs lay upon three different shoulders than the ones on your mind at the moment. Those are Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein.
It is of an extreme difficulty to pull off garments made up by the main plain colors. This is, however, the simplest thing for these three designers. But this time we will be focusing on the Dominican-borned designer, de la Renta.


Since either of the geniouses of fashion can't be less than the others, Mr. Oscar HAD to launch his own Cruise collection. Remember? a collection dedicated to all of you who make a resort in the middle of the winter to go to a warmer place and have a little peace. But if someone was to "wow" us with the Cruise creation, that is de la Renta. That unhuman taste that he posseses allows him to give birth to outstanding pieces. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong about this whole 2008 collection, from colors to accessories, to hair... everything's just swell. It is too bad that the former Christian Dior's ready-to-wear designer hasn't yet dived into the pool and resolved to bring to light a men's collection. But I'm grateful enough for I can glance and appreciate this demonstration of craftsmanship and groundbraking design taken to the next level.



May the show begin.
It is impossible to neglect the seventies inspiration that both the gowns and the two-pieces ensembles have, as it is to do so with the nautical background that resort collections have at all times. Perhaps they all intend to take us to cruises through the Mediterranean Sea for Christmas, who knows. The fact is that Oscar de la Renta accomplishes this perfect coexistence between the nautical world and the 70's along with a fresh and up-to-date view, because what is it special about those old inpirations if there is no updating at all?
For Oscar it is all about feminity, that is why most of his pieces are either cocktail dresses, night gowns or wide-legged pants. It is all about making girls look very lady-like, make them glow and float upon the air as beautiful courtains hanging on a terrace on a St. Tropez summer morning. For me this is the really classy way to do what Marc Jacobs did with his Spring'07 collection for Louis Vuitton; that is bringing up the goddess side of every woman to make them feel what they really are: the nymphs that cast an every-day spell on our hearts. All the clothing by de la Renta makes the woman body look longer, as a picture by "El Greco". Personally, the most exciting detail about this particular collection are the ruffled skirts and dresses which seem very flamenco-inspirated but with the exclusive touch of the Dominican designer.
On the innovative side of the matter it should be remarked that the pieces are masterly made from the richest and best-looking fabrics like taffeta, silk and faille. They are not only short for luxury but also for comfort, since they are a magnificent way to look delicious not giving up the importance of feeling comfortable. Nevertheless, all this appears to be shadowed by COLOR. If I was to choose only one word to describe this set of masterpieces it would definitely be color.


As you might already know by now, I'm not a fan of color —not overused anyway. But I shall make an exception just this once. When someone has this much taste not only to manipulate but to play with hues of the most delightful nature, there is nothing that can go wrong. And this is exactly the case we are dealing with. De la Renta has grown a garden with such a variety of apparently ordinary and yet amazingly beautiful flowers that would make the Palace of Versailles wither with envy. Blue, red, pink, tangerine, beige and yellow mix up with my very beloved black and white and even gold and silver to glam everything up. Flowers are a protagonist themselves, as they make a major appereance on plenty of the fabrics; interweaving with one another but without taking the attention away from their wearer. As a matter of fact they are an excuse to make a woman look even more beautiful. Then we can find horizontally stripped tees with geometric motives as the obvious representation of the nautical vibe of the collection. Polka-dotted ruffled skirts are the evidence of the hypothetical flamenco inspiration I talked about earlier. And last, but not least, to end the fabric part of the review; ribbon-embroidered cocktail dresses are one of the strong points of the compilation of garments that de la Renta presents us with. You'll find them wonderfuly done and elegantly positioned and colored not to result overdone.
As a finishing note I would like to point out the really gorgeous shoes, sandals and heels of all kinds done with a simplicity that results rather stupid and even so, confers them the most accurate beauty. On the other hand and as we keep watching over and over again, waists won't stop going up and finishing on delicate and classic belts that will only make a girl look even more gorgeous.


I encourage you to immerse yourselves into the entire collection and enjoy the flower exhibition.
I'm off.

welcome on board of CHANEL airlines

I will be your steward throughout this flight. I'll do everything in my hand to make your journey as pleasant as possible.
The genious Kaiser of fashion presented a couple of weeks ago his collection of masterpieces for Chanel: the Cruise 2008 collection. Cruise is the freshest invention from the kings of design in order to make us look our best when we take that well-deserved break from our hectic lives of entrepeneurs in the middle of the winter. So let's say we go for a weekend to Bahamas, this way we can buy the most fashionable swim suits and shorts but also the greatest trench coats and gowns and outfits for an escape to a cooler place.


It is absolutely maginificent how many different styles and therefore outfits and possibilities of matching garments we can find for women. From jeans with very "Lagerfeld" shirts to gauze cocktail dresses or the signature tweed ensembles. Whatever you choose to wear there is something very clear: the sixties are back! Chanel is one of the lead designer brands in the world not only for its outstanding ability of renewing itself not jeopardicing the original concept of Coco, but also for the capacity of using the hair as if it was like any other accessory. This time, since it's the 60's, it comes down quite long and in rather a messy way. I can't help thinking of Charlotte of Monaco, she always looks so chic even with flip-flops or having her hair done "à la i-just-get-out-of-bed". As Lagerfeld always says, don't expect baggy pants from him; and he knows how to keep a promise. The waists go up and the width stays skinny; but, although skinny won't come off the throne, bell-bottomed jeans come back —yet once more— to "fever-night" our lives. The german designer has very much restricted the color palette to grey, black, white and blue. This restriction puts the collection in sort of an hiatus on time, making out of it an espectacular compilation of timeless pieces that will last forever.
There is, though, a particular outfit that I specially loved. Since the collection was presented on a plane hangar in Santa Monica, CA, and the models came out of Challenger 601 jets, there is also a certain airline vibe. This takes shape in a look masterly described by Nicole Phelps form Style.com as a "cross between a captain's uniform and a first-class passenger travel outfit". This means a navy suit with hues of red, blue, green, white and black on the sleeves of the blazer. Now, for my most desirable item from the Cruise collection, I must highlight the über-original suede peep-toed boots in greyish blue and black and with a bunch of wrinkles at the top which confer them more of a casual touch.

Now, to get it over with the ladies-wear, we'll talk about the trends of this summer that have survived and united the Cruise collection together with the way in which Karl Lagerfeld introduces his very own phrase of color. Along with the basic color that we have already talked about, army green plays quite a significant role on this collection, giving a different tone to the rather serious ensembles. Green is not, however, the only color to use. I know I said there wasn't colorful clothing, and I was not lying; but the Chief of the french brand brings it in through accesories. We do can find some tops with plenty of hues of bright nature, but necklaces and bracelets and hair bands or simply sunglasses or belts are in charge of this task and —I have to say— quite successfully. Plastic, which is due to spread through bags and shoes this summer, will still be one of the main fabrics on the ladies' beloved accessories and it will also show up as detail of some of the cocktail gowns to update them.




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Having the women's and men's line inspirated-alike seems to be becoming the next craze among designers. Frida Giannini started it and everyone seems to be following.The color palette for guys is exactly the same as for girls, but the whole concept to the collection is much more casual and made for the day-to-day life to be chicly dressed in sportswear.
First of, it is funny finding the exact same outfit to the airline-inspirated suit for women as it is also funny to find some other correspondances between the ladies' and men's wear.

However, as much shared inspiration as both collections have, grey is, by far, the protagonist for men; it comes in different shades and joins navy blue for the perfect dressed-up casual look. Jackets cover most of the outfits in the shape of blazer-cutted garments which lay over simple stripped shirts and plain white tees. Cargo shorts join cigarrette, classic pants in navy and grey sometimes also with very fine stripes. I particularly loved all the looks for the male body because they reach the perfect symbiosis point of classyness and modernity. Straight lines predominate, waists —as it happened with girls— go up (not so happy about that!) and tops get fitted to mark more our muscles —those who have some anyway; it all doesn't stop the entire set of clothes from being extremely fresh and —I'm sure— absolutely comfortable.
So it is all about keepeing it simple and clean and relaxed and culminating it with great sneackers in the same colors of the garments and, of course, adding your very own details to share space with the espectacular art of Herr Lagerfeld.


But now, before I take my leave, I feel in my duty of talking shortly about the terrific avalanche of celebrities that attended the showcase. We're talking Demi Moore, Lindsay Lohan, Diane Kruger, Victoria Beckham and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (notice her particular perfection and style)



































I hope you had a nice flight. Thank you for flying with Chanel airlines and we hope to see you again on board soon!

I'm off.