SS13: PARIS POSTINGS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Jeu de Paume, just outside Tuileries on the Place de la Concorde

I'm in Paris for a couple of days to check out the Spring/ Summer collections. You'll be hearing plenty about my trip in coming posts but as today is still busy, busy with appointments I thought I'd share a few snippets of what I saw yesterday....

LUXE SPORT ROBES AT ALESSANDRA RICH

I went to see Alessandra Rich's delightful SS13 collection, among the expected gorgeous full length, mightily embellished dresses were these robes, one for "Olga" and the other for "Irina". These are the imagined muses for the collection- 80s gymnasts who are sparkly and sporty simultaneously. A lucky few of Alessandra's special clients can get their own named robes. Genius

Gymnast Olga Kurbut competing at the Richfield Coliseum

NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD'S HOKUSAI SHOES

Kirkwood's SS13 offering will have shoe fans foaming at the mouth- there's every kind of wonder style a girl could need, from knee skimming snakeskin gladiator heels to jazzy low heeled pumps, as well as a perspex heel in every colour of the rainbow. One section of the collection is inspired by Hokusai's famous giant wave painting "The Great Wave of Kanagawa". 

EQUIPMENT'S 70S SHIRTS

Equipment is well loved for it's easy silky shirts. The brand began life in the 70s as brainchild of Carine Roitfeld's partner Christian Restoin. Serge Azria of Current/Elliot revived the label in 2010. This season, Equipment has acquired its own archives and so from now on we can expect revivals of original prints in each collection. These blue/white hearts and mossy florals are the first to make a reappearance.

 

 Original Equipment shirts

Image from terrysdiary.com

THE WEEK IN FASHION: JULY 2nd-6th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

It's almost the weekend people, and I've managed to emerge from analysing Resort and Couture to bring you our news round-up before the week is up...

Chloe Sevigny for Miu Miu AW12, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott (image from Miu MIu)

We might be onto Spring thinking with Resort but we're still reminded of the looks which will be hitting stores in a month or two with the steady stream of new ad campaigns being revealed. Miu Miu revealed Chloe Sevigny as their face for AW12. The New York IT girl first modelled for the brand in 1996. Their long-lasting relationship meant that Miu Miu let Sevigny put her feet up for the shoot so she is photographed (by Mert and Marcus) curled up in an armchair with a cup of tea, bless!

Chloe in her first Miu Miu ads, shot by Juergen Teller, in 1996 (image from popculturedujour.com)

Hedi Slimane revealed his first collection for Yves Saint Laurent this week. In a marked contrast to the hype surrounding Raf Simons' debut, Slimane only showed the collection to a small group of buyers. Anyone else eager to see what Slimane will do, having already renamed the brand SLP, must wait until October/ November when the pieces hit stores. The Saint Laurent twitter page denied that sketches published in WWD bore any resemblance to the designs:

Yves Saint Laurent ‏@YSL

The sketches released in WWD dated July 4, 2012, do not represent YSL Cruise 13 Collection and obviously were not designed by Hedi Slimane.

Some of the sketches, by Steven Stipelman, which appeared on WWD (see more here)

However, some of the buyers did describe what they saw. One told the FT that there were "silk dresses with bias-cut mini-skirts covered in dots" and the slim tailoring for which Slimane became so known during his Dior Homme days. Another told WWD that “It’s very black and white, with a strong Eighties influence. There were new constructions and cuts for suits, with a focus on the three-button jacket, and new shirt shapes with lots of special details, such as new collars and cuffs.”

Hedi is said to have taken inspiration from Helmut Newton's
iconic1975 image of the YSL tuxedo suit (image from Karl.com)

Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld's cat, has touched the hearts of many with her irreverent tweets (e.g. Well guess what Suzy Menkes, I find YOU dull. Hurts doesn't it?!) and now Lagerfeld has named a Chanel bag after his beloved pet. The soft, squishy clutch design was unveiled in the couture show on Tuesday. The name was revealed by Cathy Horyn of the New York Times after she tweeted that she'd just seen the bag in the Chanel showroom. We'll have to wait and see whether Karl decides to design a "kitty-friendly" version which could perhaps be worn around the collar.

King Karl with Choupette (image from ldnfashion.com)

This COULD be the Choupette bag (image from lipsticksandcopsticks.tumblr.com)

Ever since his dramatic and traumatic exit from Dior last year, little has been seen of John Galliano aside from the occasional rumour or 'spot' here and there. This week, one of the surest signs yet that he may be preparing for a new role of some kind came when he was seen having dinner at The Ritz with Anna Wintour. Rather bizarrely the meeting took place on the same day as Raf Simons' first couture show at Dior. Unusually for Wintour, onlookers reported that she was excited and animated. Sadly, nobody got close enough to hear what the two were discussing. 

Blurred instagram pictures show Galliano and Anna Wintour meeting
 at The Ritz (image from Albert Pang/ Instagram via telegraph.co.uk)

The FashEd and I met the fab jewellery designer Pamela Love in Paris back in February so we were very happy to see that she has done a brilliant job of continuing this summer's trend for boho weddings. US Vogue covered the ceremony and very appropriately called the feature "Flower Child". Love's marriage to illustrator Matthew Nelson in Montauk was all about 'being in a natural, wild environment—which is kind of what love is' she said.  Pamela is not the first bride to opt for the hippy mood this Summer. First, was Margarita Missoni with her flowing hair and amazingly embroidered dress. Then, last weekend one of the original purveyors of boho, Jade Jagger, gathered all her mates and family including Kate Moss, Jerry Hall and Dad Mick and for her marriage to Adrian Fillary. One guest who didn't comply with the boho dress code was Jade's Mum, Bianca whose black suit looked a little funereal among the flippy dresses and mad colours worn by most of the guests. 

Images from Pamela and Matthew's wedding- to see the whole slideshow go to Vogue.com

Carine Roitfeld may have resigned from French Vogue several months ago, but I still seem to find something to say about her every week in this piece. Not only has she been rocking some awesome looks during couture but she has styled three covers for the latest issue of V magazine. Roitfeld has used some of the boldest pieces from the AW12 collections including those hugely oversized and colourful Comme des Garcons coats and the sci-fi sweaters everyone wants from Balenciaga.

Carine rocks a Givenchy sequin pencil at Dior on
Monday (image from iwanttobearoitfeld.com)

V magazine's Youth Quake issue covers, styled by Carine Roitfeld (images from fashionologie.com)

Finally, if you feel like you've heard everyone's opinion on Raf's Dior debut then here's a chance to hear Mr Simons' own point of view on how he is approaching his new role...

THE WEEK IN FASHION: JUNE 18th- 22nd

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Another week has whizzed by and there are plenty of developments to catch up on before the weekend...

Yves Saint Laurent outside the original store Saint Laurent (image from YSL twitter)

The news that rocked the (fashion) world so much that it was trending on Twitter on all day yesterday and this morning is Hedi Slimane's decision to change the hugely iconic YSL logo and Yves Saint Laurent moniker to SLP (i.e. Saint Laurent Paris). This isn't the first big change Slimane has brought about having already moved the brand's creative studio from Paris to LA. The outcry from the industry has been unmitigated. Here is a good example of the tone of tweet appearing on our timelines yesterday:

Fashion156.com ‏@Fashion156

#YSL rebranding to 'Saint Laurent Paris' sounds like a chain of downmarket budgets hotels. Why mess with something so iconic? thoughts?

However, Pierre Bergé, Saint Laurent's partner and the person who probably has the closest emotional ties to the house, is not so worried. In an interview with L'Express he declared that the name change is "an excellent idea". Furthermore, Bergé states his confidence that Slimane can take Saint Laurent back to being "a house of creation" and to the "prestige which is at it's heart". It's interesting to note that Saint Laurent Paris was the original name the house worked under and so it is really a revisiting as opposed to a complete novelty.

Raf Simons' new menswear ads (images from dailymail.co.uk)

Paris' other newly instated big name designer is, of course, Raf Simons at Dior. There have been no shocking Dior announcements from him thus far however images of his eponymous menswear line's ad campaign were released this week and show that Raf is perhaps indulging any temptations to shock via this outlet. The imagery shows deconstructed bodies in a collage-like style. Many have called the campaign, entitled Run Fall Run, weird but I think it's quite beautiful and just what we have come to expect from Raf. Now bring on the new Dior!

Givenchy AW12 ads with Stella Tennant (image from fashiongonerogue.com)

More Autumn/ Winter campaigns are being released every day. We reported earlier in the week on Prada's look of the season and today I'd like to bring Givenchy's to your attention. Tisci favourites Stella Tennant and Joan Smalls are among those who feature in the shots inspired by "the energy of a rave".  Mert and Marcus were behind the camera and Carine Roitfeld  was styling- fashion dream team.

Gary Richardson, legendary hair colourist from Daniel Hersheson, very sadly passed away last week. LOVE magazine, with whom he had a close relationship, posted some great images of his work which we'd love to re-share...

Images from www.thelovemagazine.co.uk

As guest designers at this year's Pitti W event, taking place this week in Florence, Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos were bound to pull something special out of the bag. The images from their presentation in a Florentine palazzo confirm those suspicions. The pair, who are already famed for their complex and form enhancing prints, installed a "digital kaleidoscope" at the venue which projected the prints- inspired by medieval manuscripts- onto surfaces all around. The result is an "old-meets-new celebration"which is depicted not only in the setting but in the garments themselves.

Peter Pilotto at Pitti W (image from Vogue.com/ Peter Pilotto)

Pilotto's prints on the walls of the palazzo (image from vogue.com/ Peter Pilotto)

Here's an up-close look at one of the pair's new tailored pieces at their London resort press day this week.

You know by now that we're suckers for little snippets of King Karl news so I loved these pictures The Telegraph found this week of what appeared to be the Chanel designer in a fishing boat in rough waters. Cue daydreams of Chanel SS13 being comprised of macintoshes, galoshes and gold spun fisherman beards. No such luck though as it's actually Karl impersonator Jörg Knör who regularly dresses up as Mr Lagerfeld. Oh well. 

Karl at sea images from www.telegraph.co.uk

I was sad to miss G-Shock's Maarten van der Horst vs. Sibling party last night to celebrate the launch of  the watchmaker's new collaboration with the Fashion East designers. Sadder still that I can't possibly choose a favourite between Maarten's surfer florals and Sibling's colourful animal designs. Lulu Kennedy, Fashion East founder and LOVE Editor at Large, sums it up when she says the designs "are perfect for summer" and "represent the fun spirit of Fashion East". You can get one at G-Shock's store at the Truman Brewery.

The reason I couldn't make it to G-Shock last night was because I went along to hear Melanie speak on My Daily's panel discussing the future of fashion in the digital world. She was joined by the brilliant Mary Katrantzou, LOVE Editor Alex Fury and Sasha Wilkins of LLG. It was a fascinating chat to listen in on and I learnt many things, including the fact that designers plan their catwalk looks according to Style.com's layouts so that when the pictures are up the looks are grouped together in rows of six- observe the colour coordination in this screen shot of Prada AW12.

Left tonight: My Daily editor Libby, Sasha, Alex, Melanie and Mary (image from mydaily.co.uk)

Finally, I know we're almost a week late on this but if you're NOT one of the 4 million people who's already seen Abercrombie and Fitch models dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe" then get to it. Perfect Friday night getting ready to go out entertainment. Just beware the cheese factor is off the scale... Happy Weekend!

THE WEEK IN FASHION: APRIL 16th- 20th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

First up this week, huge congratulations are in order for Alex Fury who is to become Editor of LOVE magazine, leaving his current position as Fashion Director at SHOWSTUDIO.com. Here at FEAL, we are huge admirers of Alex's unmatched dedication and fashion geek factor. We always look forward to his  unique perspective in the reviews he posts from fashion weeks.

Alex Fury in Maarten Van Der Horst for Dazed Digital (from www.dazeddigital.com)

Today also happens to be the launch date of Fashion East designer Maarten Van Der Horst's collection for Topshop. Alex has been modelling the Aloha shirt from the range for Dazed Digital. Also loving the Topshop carrier bag booties!

Aquascutum's factory was established in 1851 (image from www.aquascutum.com)

The other big fashion story which has really pulled at our heartstrings, but for all the wrong reasons, this week is the news that historic Brit brand Aquascutum has gone into administration. It was then confirmed yesterday that the factory in Corby will close. This means that the 115 employees will be made redundant. The move apparently comes from an attempt to secure the jobs of the company's remaining 135 staff. In an ironic coincidence, Burberry- a brand with a heritage easily compared to Aquascutum's- is still going strong, forecasting profits of £372m for 2011. According to EDITD, the past few months have actually been extremely good for Aquascutum, their online fan base grew by over 67% over fashion month- the biggest percentage rise of any brand. Aquascutum is now looking for a buyer to revive its fortunes- somebody who can take the strength of Joanna Sykes' design ethos and use it to give the brand back its appeal.

The super cute Jospeh Altuzarra with a model dressed in pieces from his J.Crew collection (image from www.fashionologie.com)

This week the highly anticipated J.Crew collaboration with Joseph Altuzarra was finally unveiled. Both these labels usually present me with the exact kind of things I want to wear, J.Crew being a little more achievable than Altuzarra. I was ready to pay massive shipping costs to get my hands on a piece from the collection. But I mentally shopped too soon. I'm not saying I don't love a Breton stripe top or a gingham summer dress, but I expect I, and most other women who might buy this, already have several of those. They're boring wardrobe staples, not pieces you would expect one of America's hottest designers to produce. I love that Altuzarra was inspired by 'what Jean Seberg wore in Breathless and by pictures of "Brigitte Bardot walking around St-Tropez in espadrilles and a slouchy boy's sweater" but the pieces just don't have the fashion element I was expecting. I think plenty of American women will be pleased to re-stock their wardrobe with Altuzarra's classic staples but I think I'll just have to save up for the real thing... Pamela Love and Creatures of the Wind collaborations are also on their way from J.Crew.

Jean Seberg in Breathless (image from www.fashioninfilms.com)

He may have been dogged by recent rumours that Stefano Pilati is being lined up to replace him but it seems Giorgio Armani is still very much at the helm. His latest venture is designing Lady Gaga's costumes for her upcoming sold-out tour. Mr Armani's designs are right up Gaga's street with latex, crystals and plexiglass detailing galore. He said 'Collaborating with Lady Gaga is always an exciting experience for me. I admire the way she uses fashion as a scenic element and as a means to build a character'. The outfits will be worn by Gaga during the Asian leg of the 'Born This Way Ball" tour.

Gaga's guitars (and keyboard) get up, by Giorgio Armani (image from www.telegraph.co.uk)

We have a lot of shop news for you this week... first up is Celine who will be opening a store on Mount Street after a three year absence from London's streets following the closure of the New Bond Street store shortly after Phoebe Philo joined the label. Form an orderly queue at the current site of Jordan International Bank people. While we're speaking of Mount Street, Oscar de la Renta will soon open his first UK store in the premises currently occupied by Nicky Clarke. We're sad to hear that Isabel Marant's first London shop will now be opening in September rather than July as previously planned- we'll have to wait  little longer to get the full Marant experience. I am most excited by whispers that Givenchy and Erdem are looking for possible London store sites.

An Erdem shop, yes please! (image from catwalking.com)

Another week, another Olympic outfit unveiled by bother designer looking to win gold in the fashion stakes. This instalment comes from Ralph Lauren who is kitting out the American team for the closing ceremony. Whatever we all had to say about Stella's Olympic outfits, at least they don't seem to involve all white baker boy caps. I quite like the belted dress though. What do you think?

The US ladies' costume for the closing ceremony from Ralph Lauren (image from www.wwd.com)

We have another, properly exciting reason to get into the Queen's Jubilee celebrations- Karl Lagerfeld is to provide commentary on the day's outfits for French TV, as he did for the Royal Wedding. The Chanel designer is infamous for his acerbic tongue e.g his 'short skirts on fat legs' comment regarding the wedding guests. He'll appear on France 2, can we get that here?!

King Karl is set to give his view on the Jubilee outfits (image from www.galleryoftheabsurd.com)

A couple of news bites....

Carine Roitfeld has teamed up with MAC to create her own range of make-up. It'll be out in the Autumn we hear, the same time that her magazine 'CR Fashion Book' will debut.

Carven has been chosen to be Guest Designer at this year's Pitti Uomo. Lapo Cianchi, Director of Communications for Pitti Uomo said that Carven “harmonized perfectly with the general trend we are promoting at Pitti Uomo: a new, sartorial elegance and affordable luxury in men’s wear.”

The CFDA and BFC this week confirmed the dates for NY and London fashion weeks for the next two years. The announcement brings to an end a few months of wrangling over dates. It seems that Paris and Milan have stood firm on certain demands, meaning that New York will now have to begin earlier than usual.

Keith Varty with his partner Alan Cleaver and a model, in 1987(from WWD)

Finally, Keith Varty who designed Byblos during the 1980s died last week aged just 60. His friend Joan Burstein, founder of Browns said this in tribute:

"Keith Varty was the first of the first that set a standard, he was a young innovative British designer. Keith worked for Dorothee Bis in Paris before being wowed over to Italy by Gianni Versace, who then worked at Byblos. After two successful years, Keith Varty and Alan Cleaver took over. The collections could have been as modern today as it was then. He bought an infusion of talent from Britain into the Italian market."

Byblos from Spring 1992 (image from WWD)

The FashEd and I are off to enjoy the delights of the Vogue Festival now. Have wonderful weekends!