VALENTINO

I hadn't been the biggest fan of Valentino ever since Mr. Valentino himself stepped down a few years ago, untill last season. They sparked my attention with their current fall/winter 2010 collection and I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them in the future. Of course, they're partly to blame for the revival of kitten heels and pointy toes, still not sure if I ought to thank them for that, but we'll see what the future will bring.

On to the actual reason of this post: their advertisements. Beautifully shot black & white pictures, simple, clean, perfect. Silly old me lost the link to the post on Noir Facade so I have no clue as to who the photographer might be, but I'll try to find that out for you.
In any case, he/she did a great job, wouldn't you agree?





Pictures via Noir Facade

AND THEN SOME MORE

And we just won't stop!
Prefall part 3!

1// Alexander Wang




2// The Row



This is so my favourite.


3// Givenchy




4// No 21




5// Louis Vuitton




6// Valentino




7// Maison Martin Margiela

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!

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!

HMM...

Here's the last from Paris fashion week. I'm a bit disappointed by the few 'wow'-moments I've had during this season. Some of the shows I featured aren't really my favourite but I just wanted to share them with you (I couldn't JUST post Lanvin, now could I?).

I hope some of you managed to catch the live streaming of Alexander McQueen's show? Though if you didn't, fear not, click here. Go on, take a look!
OK, the clothes may not be very wearable (the shoes DEFINITELY aren't, and if you ask my honest oppinion, I don't like them) but the prints are some of the most exquisite I've ever seen. The 1st & 3rd dress are actually kind of the same shape but it's really lovely, it has great movement when worn, just look at the video at around 4:22 and you'll know what I mean. Tight on the front and loose on the sides & back, now that's some serious pattern construction!



Phoebe Philo's back, after her exit at Chloé a few years ago, here's her first runway show, for Celine this time. Phoebe on the collection: "I just thought I'd clean it up. Make it strong and powerful—a kind of contemporary minimalism," Fine with me.



Next up, our favourite Dutch designer duo, always up for something crazy, Viktor & Rolf! Their latest venture: cut-away tule. I'm still wondering how they managed to cut a hole through the tule... Oh and Roísín Murphy was performing, she did a great job covering up her pregnant belly with a ginormous pouffy skirt.



Over to Louis Vuitton then. I'm not even going to bother showing you looks of the show because I'm not really getting it. I mean, afro's & clogs & pink furs make for some awkward combinations. Yeah maybe awkward is the only word to describe it. But, but... The bags looked fun, the colour combinations were very OK and the shapes were refreshing (minus the LV monogram, mind you).



And lastly, 2 more, Valentino & YSL. Both weren't that amazing but oh well...



Sorry if I sound a bit too harsh/very un-excited, but is there anyone very satisfied with the new shows? Do share.

A GRAND ITALIAN EPIC

Pictures from Valentino's book "VALENTINO - A Grand Italian Epic" by Taschen.



All pictures from taschen.com