Le Chanel kitten heel

This week's Chanel show was the first one I can honestly say I have really liked in seasons. I loved the casual styling that Karl used for the super high-end clothes. I thought using the tweed pieces with the rolled up trousers with the sneakers. Or as sneaker-y as Chanel can get, which is a lace-up croc Chelsea boot. But I was more interested, or should I say intrigued, by the kitten heels that the Kaiser used for all the evening looks. They look much better than Valentino's SS10 studded version and they are sort of Isabel Marant-ish, which I like. However, there is something a bit odd about a woman walking in heels that size. There is no reason for them to make a hit (aside from Lagerfeld's over-60 clientele) but I have a feeling Giovanna or Emmanuelle might make me eat my words in a few months.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Valentino's fw11 Aces

It might just be me but I am still feeling a little iffy about Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's work at Valentino. It escapes me why they need two designers to come up with work that never lives up to Garavani's old standards. Having said that, they are kind of slowly finding their way and creating a new Valentino woman. The fw11 collection was a bit hit and miss but the hits, I thought, were big ones. The cocktail dresses and night gowns obviously stood out from the bowed and bland two-pieces. I specially loved the mustard/olive green colours they used for evening and the pale pink for the day. I was also happy with the fact that they have used intricate but understated detailing like lace, embroidery and ruffles in a way that would suit the classy ladies that (I expect) wear Valentino.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Baby, you can drive my car

Céline is one of my favourite brands of the last few seasons. Ever since Phoebe Philo stepped in as creative director I find it intensely alluring. For fw11 minimalism acquires a certain 70's air. Philo says she was inspired by cars interiors (I love the wood prints) and you can see it in the precise but dynamic straight lines that she has used in her tailoring. Two of the most stand-out pieces of the collection have got to be the bright orange coat, which had a certain rawness to it, and the tri-colour fur coat —one of the best fur proposals from the season. I liked the sort of sportswear air to the more rigid pieces like the tailored trousers or the shirts and I found the colour palette very interesting, as some of the colours didn't appear more than once or twice. Is this the birth of aerodynamic chic?

And Phoebe is just so... Céline. She's so chic and minimal and, well, British. What else can I say?

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Collage Sunday, 06.03.11: Parisian delights

It was so hard to choose only one or two designers to make my Sunday collage about that I chose four instead. They are some of my favourite collections of the weekend so far. Alber Elbaz did it again. I am forever in awe of his skill and imagination at Lanvin (please don't take him away to Dior!). I obviously loved his wide-brimmed hats (where you could have friends over for tea) and the beautiful shoes buckled at the ankle. Cacharel was a pleasant surprise. Cédric Charlier used colours (or lack there of) with prints to express a very modern and chic point of view. I loved the simplicity of the cuts and the layering as well. I hope Giovanna Battaglia gives this a try. I absolutely loved Sonia Rykiel's collection this season. her combination of checks, winter motifs, quilting and dyed hair was quirky but also rather Parisian. I particularly liked the tartan throw-ons and patchwork blazers. And finally, Junya Watanabe. He does extraordinarily well wherever he goes. I am dying over his fw11 light and asymmetrical knits and those slightly cowboy-ish Chelsea boots.

Clockwise from left: Lanvin, Cacharel, Junya Watanabe, Sonia Rykiel.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

It's gonna be alright

When I found out about Alexander McQueen's passing I told myself I would never like anyone's creations for his namesake brand. Then I worried about the house's future if no one could find somebody who could remotely fill Lee's shoes. Shortly after this rush of sentiments, the LVMH group announced Sarah Burton's appointment as new creative director. Knowing she had spent 15 years very close to McQueen gave me hope. But it wasn't until yesterday that we finally learnt we can rest assured everything's going to be alright. The space for the SS11 collection set a much more relaxed mood that we are used to for these shows, which seemed to be Burton's add to the brand. She played with the idea of a queen of nature. Leather leaves, pheasant feathers, butterflies and golden poison ivy wrapped around the body and shared space with McQueen's gilded staples typical of monarchic outfitting. Not only Burton didn't disappoint but she aroused an excitement we thought gone.

Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri finally found a path for Valentino. After seasons of creative wandering around they started walking in the right direction on their last Couture collection and they successfully translated that vision for the prêt-á-porter line. The Italian duo wanted "dangerous refinement", made evident in the combination of materials; a tough straw lace skirt paired up with delicate Chantilly lace. Ruffles and bows, which had characterised previous collections, blended into the pieces instead of becoming protagonists. Chiffon played the biggest role on the evening wear, floating like a sophisticated jellyfish over simple, harder shapes in line with the juxtaposition of the delicate and the dangerous. The overall feel of the SS11 line was much younger (very celebrity-appealing) and focused but miles away from Garavani's legacy, which has now been reduced to a mere tag.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Coco Lagerfeld

If I didn't know any better I would have thought Karl Lagerfeld's mind had been on holiday for the last two seasons. His last couple of collections for Chanel were undeniably innovative but one could hardly see any of Gabrielle Chanel's essence in them. For SS11 the Kaiser has changed that. He disobeyed last season's pas de noir rule, purposely avoided colour blocking and payed a visit to the house's archives. The collection wasn't fashion-forward, it was current —something very few people can achieve— and it combined traditional tweeds and camellia prints with modern materials from around the world. The absence of yeti attire called for a different type of extravagance, which came in the shape of outstanding workmanship very close to that of couture. Hair was substituted by feather embroidery and taken to the extreme on the apricot ostrich feather look worn by Karmen Kass.

Everything was framed by a modern take of a jardin français, which took over the Petit Palais, fountains included. Over 80 models strolled around the garden. Anja Rubik, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Freja Beha Erichsen were joined by Brad Koenig (son in hand), Baptiste Giabiconi and even Inès de la Fressange, who hadn't walked for Chanel in decades.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Yves revisited

If you read soVIPzone often you probably know already how incredibly fond of Yves Saint Laurent I am. I admire Stefano Pilati's work for the house so much that I tend to be slightly subjective when a new collection comes out. This, however, is not one of those moments. After a couple of slightly unfocused seasons, Pilati turned to the YSL archives to find inspiration for a collection we won't forget easily. He revisited the trench coat, the safari jacket and the über-famous Le Smoking, which he turned into a silk night gown ruffled at the sides and beautifully worn by Freja Beha Erichsen. Ruffles were, in fact, quite present on Cuban-inspired skirts and dresses, which Pilati perked up with dashes of bright colour. Yet black, white and sand ruled the colour palette. The sheer trend we have been seeing so far only left a slight mark on the collection as the designer preferred to bare the back. Parisian sophisticated elegance at its best.  

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Collage Sunday, PFW Edition

Today I decided to blend together Collage Sunday and Paris Fashion Week in the shape of a visual catch up. Some of the biggest names from the French capital showed in the last couple of days and we saw a bit of a change. Balenciaga took on Marni's challenge to create luxurious sportswear. Ghesquière showed us a boyish punk point of view mixed with dug out archive pieces. It was, as Balenciaga always is, rather technically intricate in the most interesting manner. Alber Elbaz's twist on the Lanvin woman was one of the biggest surprises (to me) from Paris. He always addresses his collections from a woman's point of view, which this time resulted in a vast assortment of wardrobe options in a way that redefined modern elegance.

As much as I've always adored John Galliano, I must confess I have often wondered if I was the only one who noticed his themes chez Christian Dior were too recurrent or if I was a mere ignorant. As it turns out, he is capable of making fresh clothes à la Galliano. For SS11 he traveled to Hawaii with his couture collection, which transformed into effortless silk numbers of tropical motifs and hues with a slight 50's air and masculine sailor-inspired parkas. Margiela's collection started following last season's line but soon morphed into an experiment of shape abstraction. Nicole Phelps, from Style.com, said the collection fell flat. I dare to disagree because, even though it is 100% unwearable it pushed the envelope shape-wise. After all, it was MMM who first introduced the pronounced shoulder shapes we came to love.
I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com, GaranceDore.fr]

Moon & Earth

I first heard of Hakaan last season when the web swarmed with news of the Roitfelds flying to London only to watch his show. I was curious to see what was so especial about the Turkish designer whose line I had never yet Carine and Julia couldn't miss. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Which is why I was disappointed to learn that he wasn't showing in London this season but excited to see what he had created for SS11. This collection was overall less body-con than FW10. He still sent a few mini dresses with his signature pelmets but the silhouettes were slightly more relaxed. There were plenty of tailored trousers and jumpsuits, which varied from the baggy to the skin-tight. Cut-outs, always in triangular shapes, revealing or suggesting necklines and hips in the sexiest manner. But the inspiration seemed to be otherworldly this time. White's supremacy evoked an alien world of modern minimalism as did the odd light grey pieces and the few black ones that were a perfect fit for Morticia Addams.

Rochas SS11 put a smile on my face. I was happy to see a new and fresh take on the overused countryside inspiration. Marco Zanini said he simply amalgamated all his favourite things for the collection, and these things show. There was true sentiment, almost romanticism, in the clothes. As it turns out, the Swedish countryside, where half of his heart lies. And so he commissioned Slotts Barbro's  Swedish pictorial work for Rochas' prints. One of the most charming collections we have seen so far.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Vogue.fr, Style.com]

Fade to white

For SS11, the Dries Van Noten woman finds a relaxed elegance through light and colour. The designer was mainly inspired by the work of Belgian painter Jef Verhenyen by and old Chinese ceramics. Verhenyen's unique way of capturing light in his paintings translated onto the clothes in the shape of degradés that made it seem as if colour had ran out halfway through production. Chinese ceramic motifs, a recurrent theme for Van Noten, flooded silk tops, dresses and trousers. Opposite these very feminine effects we saw an almost boyish approach to the tailoring —boyfriend blazers, oversized tuxedo jackets and shirt dresses. The surprise of the show were the few paillete-embelished pieces and the shiny flower-embroidered jacket, which strongly contrasted with the season's dominant white.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

DVN + LV = ME

One of the things I love the most about men's fashion week is that there is no need to endure days and days of random shows spiced up with the odd brilliant up-and-coming designer and they cut straight to the chase. Paris Fashion Week opened the evening of the 23rd, which meant the actual opening was on the 24th. A jam-packed with some of the greatest: Viktor & Rolf, Alexis Mabille, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dries Van Noten and Johji Yamamoto among others.

Even though it's half two in the morning when I'm typing this, the Dries Van Noten website still reads: "This movie will be available the day after the show". Which makes me sad because I usually enjoy his location and music choices as much as the clothes. The SS11 collection showed the designer's reinterpretation of street style described as "80's Brooklyn meets Brussels". I, however, see more of a very chic version of a skin head that wears hand-me-downs from his dad's teddy-boy past. Dries mixed his beautiful tailoring with bleached denim, t-shirts and military boots in such a cool and contemporary way you'd think he spends his spare hanging out in Tribeca.

I don't think I ever fully understood a woman's passion for bags until today when I went through the Louis Vuitton collection. I have never wanted a bag as much as I now want that green LV at the top. And this is not surprising because I am a man and it is a bag but because it is Vuitton. I have never been the biggest fan even though I do own a couple of items but there is something about having the classic LV square pattern in bright nylon that is irresistible. I was also very impressed by the clothes, which I usually don't like at all at LV. I'd like to think Paul Helbers had more to do with this success than Marc himself, as I have odd feelings toward the man. In any case, Vuitton really refocused its game with a collection that feels cool and cosmopolitan and that will appeal to a range of ages.
I'm off.

PS. How cool are the LV tattoos? Is that becoming a trend?

[Pictures: Style.com]

the return of the yeti

It is funny how it never occurred to Kaiser Karl that this moment would come, even for him. The probability theory proves that, even with the best skills, winning every time is just not possible. If Lagerfeld thought we would simply shiver in awe at his signature on the Chanel label, he thought wrong. Chanel's FW10 was a very unrealistic show —an über-amusing one— that scarcely provided the surmised dose of tweed and proved that even the biggest and most established can have delirious of grandeur. While other designers gave preference to practicality before lavishness, even jeopardising a considerable part of his "classics", the Chanel tweed pieces displayed to please the eye but not the wearer.

Shoes and boots walked the runway in the shape of drenched heeled yeti footwear and matronly boots that were an unsuccessful intent to reinvent the black and white Chanel boot.

Menswear, which at Chanel has always been merely indulgent, this time seemed more like an opportunity to display Baptiste Giabiconi and Brad Koenig. Karl has said of Giabiconi, his muse, that he looks just as good with clothes as he does undressed. If we judge by the way he dressed at Chanel, well, make your own conclusions.

The only part that I did love about the whole collection were, apart from the jewellery, these tweed covers for hot water bottles. I predict an it-bag hit for Sundance and future icy fashion weeks the likes of this past one.

[Pictures: Style.com]

I'm off.

the last day

As it's become some sort of tradition, Marc Jacob's creations for Louis Vuitton were amongst the other designers' that closed Paris Fashion Week and the month of international fashion extravaganza. Jacob's joined the group of designers that took the most famous silhouette of the 1930's and forwarded it into our time making a stop somewhere between the 50's and the 60's. Comparisons, hence, of Louis Vuitton and previously shown collections is unavoidable. However, the success of similar viewpoints such as Prada seem somewhat incomparable to Marc Jacob's. The American designer resumes his praise-hoarding more for the fame of his name than for his work. But then again, we are becoming quite acquainted with that phenomenon watching it happen to Lagerfeld and Galliano.
Jean Paul Gaultier, who somehow removes himself from the fashion circus of fame, delivered yet another take on the Hermès classicism. The references to a Saville Row world are inescapable as is the fact that Gaultier tackles the problem of creating recession-concious garments that still stir the audience and push the brand forward.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Once again, Miuccia's diffusion brand created FW10 instant hits. Miu Miu is steadily becoming a cult brand that doesn't have to hide embarrassed behind its older sister anymore. Miu Miu FW10 was proudly sixties, the time of "minis", bold colours and leg, lots of leg.
I'm off.

the last Queen

"You have some big shoes to fill, I hope you know that." That is what McQueen's substitute (if they ever find anyone remotely close to him in genius) will be told on his first day at work. It is devastating to think that those 16 looks that walked the catwalk today in Paris are the last from one of the most creative minds we will ever know. McQueen's FW10 collection was brimming with royal, ecclesiastical and ornithological references. You can see his hand in every printed pleat and every gilded fabric. His painstaking pieces are the most beautiful conclusion of a legacy that has forever imprinted fashion history.

[Pictures:Vogue.co.uk]

I'm off.

supernova

"A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. Supernovae are luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines the entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months. [...] On average, supernovae occur once every 50 years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way. They play a significant role in enriching the interstellar medium with higher mass elements."

[Sources: Wikipedia, Style.com]

People of the likes of Chalayan and McQueen are scarce. This year, a supernova was obscured and another shone strongly in Paris.

I'm off.

Russian Doll Vol. 2

I first started to grasp the ideas behind Viktor & Rolf and to understand the fuss about them a while ago after spending four hours at the Barbican gazing at their collections in awe. Any aspects that might have seemed merely superficial in the past now turned into fully formed concepts in my mind. Ever since then I meticulously look at their collections making sure that I never misinterpret them again.

[Pictures: Style.com]

This is why excitement took over me as I looked at the pictures from their FW10 collection. It brought to me the unforgettable memory of their FW99 Haute Couture show very accurately called "Russian Doll". The Dutch designers manipulated their garments on the catwalk, in front of everyone, adding layers in the shape of dresses to the standing model. And something of the sort happened for their last prêt-à-porter line, something made me very happy.

Click here to see Part 2 of the video.

I'm off.

neoprene princess

"Retro futuristic", called WWD the last array of creations from Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. A paradox that starts making sense when scratching the surface of the Balenciaga archive. For FW10, Ghesquière has in fact made futurism his centre of inspiration but in a way that never ceases to look back, or rather, to make a connection with his previous collections. And this is one of the aspects that I have always loved about him —there is a consistent sense of continuity in all things Balenciaga.

Sci-fi, high-tech and primary colours are essentials to Ghesquière's winter. Editors seemed to be somewhat disconcerted about this. Cathy Horyn wrote "Although the silhouette was essentially a quare on stilts [...] the materials, and the shapes within shapes, were hard to identify". It was, quite simply, a successfully experimental collection that proved that Ghesquière is the visionaire we have always thought him to be.

The accessories didn't escape this experimentation. In the case of the shoes, it seemed as if a civilisation far in the future had found the rests of a current pair of heels and tried to reconstruct it in their way. The shoes mixed with mastery the old and the new, the traditional and the unorthodox, the bold and the coy.

[Pictures: style.com]

I might have spoken too much too soon but this might just be one of the best collections yet, if not altogether. Unless Stefano, Alber or Riccardo prove me wrong.

I'm off.

Dries

Yesterday, as I got back from a lovely walk in St. James' park and checked twitter, I went mental. Anyone from Giovanna Battaglia to the Vogue Paris team to Fashionista were crazily tweeting about Dries Van Noten's outstanding location and collection. I desperately tried to find the pictures but, of course, no one had uploaded them yet. The closest thing I found were three shots from Hilary Alexander's review. Eventually, Vogue.fr did it! I anxiously clicked next, next, next. As I looked at the clothes I realised the whole show had many things in common with these three postcards that I bought at the MoMa in San Francisco and that stick to my wall just above my laptop. Funnily enough, they cover the period from which Dries took inspiration. Great minds think alike.

Clockwise: 1948 Balenciaga, 1956 Dior, 1947 Dior. All by Richard Avedon.

The collection deserved every bit of praise. It was a magnificent compilation of formal/informal garments that are simply the essentials any woman wishes to have in her wardrobe. Plenty of the FW10 trendy khaki and leopard as well as the most beautiful colour-water prints in silk. Eclectic in the chicest of ways.

[Pictures: vogue.fr]

I'm off.

cuire Haute Couture

The recipe for Valentino FW10 Haute Couture:

1. Chop up some vintage Balenciaga. Two parts of FW08 and one of SS09. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.

2. Add a whole Hervé Léger FW08 collection and cook until it's nude.

3. Season with Rodarte SS09 and Stella McCartney SS10 to taste.

4. Decorate with a dash of Valentino SS10 (RTW) for an odd after taste.

Serve on a Parisian plate and ready!

[Picture credit: Style.com]

Would you ever eat this?

I'm off.

now is then

I was determined to post the Paris Fashion Week menswear highlights tonight but alas my stomach's state of emptiness prevents me from refocusing my attention from food and onto blogging. Instead, you will find this shorter post about one of the aspects that I found more fascinating about the FW10 Dries Van Noten show. I couldn't get the FW07 Balenciaga collection out of my head while looking at these pictures. Coming from Dries, however, I took this obvious reference as a genius twist on Nicolas Ghesquière's FW07 collection rather than as plagiarism —a generosity gesture so men can wear DVN and feel like wearing vintage Balenciaga. All at once. Behold.

[Picture credit: Style.com & GQ.com]

I'm off.