Vogue Japan takes Shala Monroque on a tropical holiday
TFS

Looking at this story from the January issue of Vogue Japan many stylists must be kicking themselves in the head for not thinking of it first. The truth is this is one of those ideas that seems so obvious to be good but it is, in fact, great!
Shala Monroque, shot by Tommy Ton and styled by Aurora Sansone (woop!), travels to a tropical island to showcase the latest from the Cruise 2012 collections. And I am in love. Shala is one of the best dressed and most elegant-looking women I have ever seen. I briefly met her during the last LFW and was taken aback by her poise –being in her presence feels a bit like being underdressed or unprepared for a meeting.
I struggled putting together the collage because there wasn't one shot of her in the entire editorial that I didn't want to include in it. I really love how Aurora played with ethnic elements from the resort collections in a way that they also made sense back in the 'real world'.
For me, what really makes the shoot work is the fact that none of the looks feel overdone or unwearable because Shala would actually wear any of these outfits to a fashion show, an intimate dinner or just out in New York City.

Happy Sunday!

Style.com

Saving the best for last, Style.com has just published the Prada resort 2012 look book. I've quite enjoyed the collections this time around because it's interesting to see how the best designers translate their fashion-forward vision into commercial, sellable pieces.

Miuccia has one again taken inspiration from the 50's —a lot of high-waisted A-line skirts, twin sets, conservative crew necks. But I can also see a bit of the 60's in the mix of bold colours and the use of soft knits in skirts and tops, which makes a more relaxed and fun look. I loved the classic bags trimmed with ostrich skin dyed in different colours.

Going through the collection I couldn't stop imagining January Jones (as Betty Draper) in half of the looks. The new Mad Men season is being delayed, which is really frustrating, and I can't wait to see what Betty will be wearing now that the plot has moved well into the 60's. Perhaps a bit of Prada wouldn't be out of the question?


*Remember to check our brand new INFLUENCE tumblr page for inspiration updates!

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This collection made me excited about Resort! Who other than Christopher Kane, one of my favourite London designers, could take a cruise collection (the most commercial of all) and do something extremely creative with it!

At first look, I wasn't too convinced about the rainbow theme. It is one of those things that just seems to obvious. But as I kept clicking through to more looks I started changing my mind. It was probably the silver lame dress with the pleated skirt and collar and the rainbow top that changed my view on the collection.

The cuts are quite simple but very Kane. Classic necklines and uneven hemlines. But what I loved most was the combination of materials. Only looking at the pictures I can't tell if a dress is PVC, silk or lace. But the fact that something might look like something it's now makes it exciting for me.

I absolutely loved the neon green sandals and a few of the pieces outside the rainbow thread like this stunning pink number.

[Style.com]

Okay, this is starting to seem like I am obsessed with finding similarities between the Cruise collections currently coming out and past creations from other designers.

The fact is that, apart from the golden brooch trend we've seen at McCartney and Gucci, not much feels fresh in some of the resort lines from the most acclaimed designers. I quite liked Stella's creations because they're fun and easy to sell but who can deny very obvious resemblance with Prada's overexposed stripes from ss11, Miuccia's surprising palm tree prints from ss10 (Wintour approved), or with Maison Martin Margiela's photographic prints? I know a beach and a palm tree are not something anyone can trademark for themselves but if someone like Prada or MMM has done it before what are the chances of doing it better?

Two other lookalikes, while more isolated, are Lanvin's take on khaki tweed and Pringle's graphic print draped dresses. The first we saw at Chanel for PreFall11 both on the catwalk and on Baptiste and Freja in magazines. And the second back in fw10 at one of Peter Pilotto's most memorable runway shows.

What do you make of all of this?

[Style.com]

A few of the biggest names' —Gucci, Lanvin, McCartney, Céline, Pucci— Cruise 2012 collections were published yesterday on Style.com. One of my favourites from the group was Givenchy. I love what Riccardo Tisci has done for the brand from day one (which is why I get so scared about the Dior rumours) and I am even more into this game of layers, graphics and sheers that he started recently. His resort creations for the brand follow a very similar line than his fw11 collection but in a softer more feminine way, AKA: no raging bulldogs.

Instead, he's integrated florals, of which we also saw a little for the winter collection. However, as you click through the pictures the flowers become more and more like what we saw on Jil Sander's huge summer hit collection both for women and men.

I would have put this post on the copycat category if it weren't for Riccardo's involvement. Instead, I prefer to think that he admires Simons' work so much he kindly asked to borrow his flowers over a Lady Grey tea in a Florentine garden.

Would you rather wear Tisci's or Simons' design?

[Style.com]

I think it would be fair to say that this last badge of cruise collections has been the best one since the so-called midseason became a fashionable thing for brands to do. As I mentioned before, I was particularly impressed with Erdem's simple concept and exquisite cuts and details and I rather enjoyed Chanel even though it was more of the same.

Even though there are still some more to come I will risk saying that we have seen the three best collections already.

The first is The Row. Being such a young brand they are already venturing into Cruise and doing it so well! A big part of the line seemed to focus around breton stripes, which is a pretty simple but genius idea. I would assume the Olsens picked breton stripes because they signify both nautical attire and Gabrielle Chanel and there is no better combination for a perfect Cruise look.

Acne has did PreFall for the first time last year and now joins the Cruise club too. I was pleasantly surprised with their collection concept, which spoke resort but was also quite urban. I especially loved the way dresses, skirts and camisoles were layered over or under each other.

By this, his third collection for Theory, Olivier Theyskens has managed to make of it a cult brand. I was happy to see a lot more colour and then usual black and white the designer usually delivers on the runway. My favourites were the various blazers, interestingly cut in different materials and paired up with sheer silk or blocky maxi skirts. I was also in awe of the shoes, huge wedges topped by metallic colours and pointy ends.

I have to admit that so far I don't feel very strongly any of the mid-season collections that have come out, which is odd in me. And I am particularly in awe of the Erdem Cruise line.

I love it when designers try to do something fresh for this very commercial 'seasons'. They are also the clothes that are stocked in shops for the longest period of time so it makes sense that they're slightly less fashion forward to be for sellable.

I am particularly keen on the plain dresses with the lace and/or embroidery focused on a particular part of the dress. And I love the printed flower shoes! It seems genius that they've finally done them. The shapes are super classic and I love the fact that they look slightly Charlotte Olympia with the half-detached platforms.

[Style.com]

After Chanel's show last week we're being drip-fed the rest of Cruise 2012 collections. It will be months before we see many more. Bottega Veneta and Oscar de la Renta are the only ones so far to have made their lines public, also with catwalk shows.

I tend to find mid-season collections either quite exciting or ridiculously boring. Bottega had a couple of hits but my favourite were mainly beige or faded khaki pieces with a slight safari inspiration and the silk colour-blocking cocktail dresses.

Oscar de la Renta was a litte kitch for my taste. I love his mainline collection when he does his typical 50's incredible gowns  and his cute cocktail numbers but this was not it. There were a lot of crazy prints and pattern mixing I didn't quite get. However, I did appreciate the slightly hip-er feel to the collection. I could especially see some of these very colourful pieces on Anna Wintour. She would rock the matching sequin dress and cardigan and pair the bonkers prints with her trademarked necklaces.

[Style.com]

Last night, a the Hôtel du Cap in Antibes, Karl Lagerfeld delivered another stunning Cruise collection. I am, by now, used to the fact that his mid-season collections are way more interesting than the main line. Last year's bohemian show at Cannes also proved that the showing of a Chanel Cruise collection is not just that but a 3-day event where models, fashion insiders, actresses and royalty are entertained before the French film festival kicks off.

Much to my joy, Karl is putting less and less runway focus on Baptiste and is instead finding new muses. First he aided the Ines de la Fressange comeback and this time it was time for Kristen McMenamy. I remember seeing her a few months ago on the cover of Dazed & Confused wearing that yeti suit I much criticised. There is something incredibly captivating about her blonde and white her and her icy stare.

Kristen is, together with Freja, Baptiste, Ana Mouglalis and Mark Vanderloo, one of the protagonists of "A Tale of a Fairy", the Kaiser's latest short film, which premiere's tonight at 9pm. I'm curious to see what Karl has done this time since I loved his "Remember Now" project but was later very disappointed by what followed. You can watch the trailer here.

[Style.com, Zimbio]