PARIS-BYZANCE

So well, prefall season started a while back and one of the first to show their new collection was Chanel (on december 7th... I only got around to posting it now!).

After last year's enormous Shanghai show, Karl probably felt like doing something more intimate. Rather than taking it all to Istanbul, he redecorated the couture salon at the shop in Paris to look like some sort of Byzantian lounge room (scroll down for a pic).

Even though Chanel isn't the most wearable out of these prefall collections, I thought I'd start with them because there's always so much effort put in the spectacle, it's more than just 'the clothes'. I collected some pictures - runway, backstage, fittings, etc, so we could all have a little glimpse of what's really going on behind closed Chanel doors.


The invitation to the show.


The setting, seen from above.




All images via Chanel News.


Images via style.com

More pics after the jump! (didn't want this post to get too long...)

HIGH FASHION

Better late than never, let's talk Haute Couture. All the shows took place last week in Paris: Chanel, Valentino, Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, etc etc, you know the drill.

Chanel... I don't even know if I should decide whether I liked it or not, it's just... Chanel. Oh, and there was a giant gold lion on stage. What did you expect, it's Kaiser Karl!
And for all the other music lovers (yes, I like music too, but you probably already figured that out if you follow me on twitter ), the playlist from the show is up on Chanel News. One of the songs was Chilly Gonzales - Never Stop, one of my favourites of the past few months, it's up on the facebook so go and have a listen!




First 2 pictures from Chanel News, bottom pictures from style.com

Valentino had a lot of very sweet dresses, black, white, a lot of bows, chiffon, a few pastel colours,... I liked it, it feels more Valentino than last season's couture show (which, honestly, I didn't like at all, sorry. See it here).


All images from style.com

Givenchy was maybe the most Couture of all the couture shows. The inspiration for this collection was Frida Kahlo & her three obsessions: religion, sensuality & the human anatomy. A lot of white, lace & feathers. There were only 10 silhouettes, all of them with amazing embroidery (there's a few detail shots so you can see just how detailed all of them are). Riccardo Tisci decided to give a presentation rather than a runway show and personally, I think this is a good choice. Think about it, those couture gowns take hundreds of hours to make (apparently one of the gold dresses took 6 MONTHS and one of the catsuits has a Swarovski crystal skeleton that took 1,600 hours to make) and in a runway show, models walk by in just a few seconds. Presentations are more personal and yes, more exclusive too, but isn't couture all about being exclusive?











Bottom 3 pics via vogue.com, all others from style.com

In other news, forgot to mention I'm blogging for Belgian magazine Label Fashion Focus this summer! I did a post about them about a year ago (here). However, this being a Belgian magazine, it is all written in dutch. If you speak dutch, have a look! If you don't, well, there's always Google Translate? Knock yourself out!

CHANEL À SAINT TROPEZ!

We all know Karl Lagerfeld likes to travel to show his resort & prefall collections for Chanel. The prefall collection was shown in Shanghai, last year's resort colection was in Venice, this year, Saint Tropez was the place to be. Models arrived via speedboat (how appropriate) & walked the runway right next to the port. The collection felt very seventies to me and I can't deny I'm a tad relieved designers are getting over the 80s trend. Enough is enough, right? But let's look at some pictures, shall we:



See how people were all seated in these fun red chairs? How perfect is that!


Look! Karl is getting all frivolous in purple! I think I prefer his usual black + white attire though, but oh well, it is St Tropez after all...


Top 3 pictures from Fashionologie.com, all other pictures via style.com

And yet again, Kaiser Karl made a short movie to set the tone for his collection, watch it if you haven't seen it already, it's quite entertaining.

PFW - ALL IN ONE POST

I know, I know, this is loooong overdue, but it's here now and it's one hell of a post. I might have overcharged a bit on this one, but I didn't want you to miss out on anything. Beware of browsers crashing on picture-overload (don't tell me I didn't warn you). I'll keep text to a minimum -this post is long enough as is. The shows were allright, not bad, not super-amazing either. Let's just say there wasn't anyone that REALLY stood out. But well, let's see some pictures, right?


1// ALEXANDER McQUEEN

This is Alexander McQueen's last work, it was about 80 percent finished when he died and it's spectacular as ever.

2// BALENCIAGA

I think this is a love it or hate it collection? I'm not sure I love it yet, but most Balenciaga collections have to grow on me before I really like them. It might just be the really light & pastel colours that look a bit off at first though.

3// CHANEL

I don't know if you've seen it, but for his fall/winter Chanel show, Mr. Lagerfeld ordered a huge iceberg to grace his catwalk. Apparently he wanted to make some sort of a climate statement? Seriously Karl, that's a bit too much... Anyway, the first few looks were hideous fur outfits (yes, hideous) and the rest of the show was a bit of a letdown as well...

4// CHLOÉ

It seems as though Hannah MacGibbon is sticking with her beige. Not very innovative, but why change when she's gathered such a large following? I like that grey look with the black bow, even more after I saw what an amazing illustration Kris Atomic made of it. (click!)


5// DRIES VAN NOTEN

This is probably one of my favourites of all the shows. It wasn't his best collection, but it was still really really good. I'm already trying to recreate that look with the grey crewneck & skirt, I'm just looking for a nice crewneck + skirt (oops).


And yes, I even put up some detail shots! Loving the sunnies, yum! (Dries Van Noten collaborates with Linda Farrow for his sunglasses(GO CHECK THEM OUT!), as do many other designers, but his are always my favourite)

6// GIVENCHY

This was ok, not wow, but I had to post this because I really (REALLY REALLY) liked the red blazer.

7// HUSSEIN CHALAYAN

These were just too funny not to post :)

8// ISABEL MARANT

I really liked this collection. I'm not the biggest Isabel Marant fan (not because I don't like her designs, I do!, but because I sometimes feel she's a bit overrated? I don't know) but this collection was nice: lovely designs & great styling.

9// JASMINE DI MILO

I'm not that familiar with this brand, but I thought it looked quite nice.

10// LANVIN

Ooh yes, if you've followed this blog for a while you'll know I'm a big fan of Alber Elbaz's work. I wasn't really into it at first, but the more you look at it, the better it gets. I see a lot of one-shouldered pieces, lovely, and the last few feathered pieces are just too fun! (I do realise you'll look as if an ostrich just crashed into you if you're wearing that last dress, but who cares)

11// MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA

This collection wasn't as innovative as previous ones, but I wanted to at least show you the last few pieces of the collection. I thought they were the most 'Margiela'.

12// MIU MIU

I think this is the sweetest collection of all the ones we've seen. I loved it.

13// NEIL BARRETT

Again, this is a designer I'm not that familiar with, but I noticed he made an awful lot of great jackets.

14// STELLA McCARTNEY

I already loved her prefall collection for its simplicity & wearability, her main collection is no different.

15// VALENTINO

A lot of ruffles, yes, but I think it works?

16// Viktor & Rolf

Our favourite Dutch design duo. Yep, these boys know how to create a spectacle. If ever I were to attend a fashion show, I'd love an invite to theirs, just because they always have such a great concept going on at their show.
What did they do? Well, take one model, dress her up in all she can wear, let the other models pass her on the runway while you (= the designers) gradually take clothes from the main model and use them to dress the passing models. (Yes, Viktor & Rolf were on stage the entire time, styling away!) Next, when your main model is only dressed in a pretty leotard, the process starts over again but in the other direction. Piling it all on. The last looks are the last few shots from the show, you can see the model on the bottom row, left, wearing a skirt, that was then put on the main model (middle) and voila, resulting in the picture on the right!

All pictures from style.com


I hope I didn't lose your interest halfway through this post, but well, that's it for the fall/winter 2010 season!

HAUTE COUTURE

Here's a taste of some of the Haute Couture fashion shows, Chanel & Givenchy!



The audience was kinda distracting me from the dresses so I went ahead and cut the models out instead. (And yes, there are some bits & pieces missing around the edges, but don't zoom in too much, you'll never notice!)







Next, Givenchy. These are just a few of the silhouettes, but I liked these the most so there you go!



All pictures from fashionologie

Thoughts anyone?

THE TRIP COCO CHANEL ONLY MADE IN HER DREAMS

For the new prefall collection of Chanel: Paris-Shanghai, Karl Lagerfeld wrote & directed a short movie,"Paris-Shangai: A fantasy", just as he did with last year's Paris-Moscow collection. In the movie you can spot Freja Beha Erichsen, Heidi Mount & of course, Karl's fave: Baptiste Giabiconi. Is it a good movie? Well let's just say most models aren't made for acting... But still, the movie's pretty entertaining so go have a look!


More pictures & info on Chanel News.


1950's, Paris: Coco Chanel is having tea with her friend, the Duchess of Windsor, who tells her about her adventures in China, a country Coco has never visited. Once her friend has left, Coco falls asleep on her sofa. She dreams of China, a fantastic and surreal place, blending her friend's souvenirs with memorable scenes from Classics of the 30s where she encounters their protagonists.

A BARN AND A LESSON IN ETHNICS

Yes, a barn, at Chanel of all places.But it was inspired by Marie-Antoinette's barn, so it's all good.


Picture from WSJ pictures of the day

I don't know about you but I'm not a clog-fan, but I guess they match the whole countryside theme. Oh Karl... you never cease to amaze us!



And after 2 seasons of somehow very un-Dries like collections, Van Noten went back to his roots. He showed a very ethnic collection, lots of prints, and really, I think he is the only one who can mix such an amount of prints and still make it look effortless.


All pictures from style.com