Chanel Resort 2013

If you crossed Marie Antoinette with an early-career Debbie Harry, you'd end up with one pissed-off pastel punk rocker—or Chanel's resort 2013 show.

Shown yesterday in the gardens of Versailles, Karl Lagerfeld's vision proved to be one of his more provocative in recent seasons. When you're talking about a man who has shipped in actual icebergs for a runway set, that's saying a lot.

This time around the clothes did all the talking as models sporting helmet haircuts, some with long bow-accented ponytails, strutted around the Palace's spouting fountains in an eye-popping array of sugar-hued denim, tweed and ruffled lace. And though some ensembles almost veered into period costume territory, this was quickly tempered by tough-girl accessories such as platform creepers that accompanied most looks, statement cuff jewelry and cross-slung bags as M.I.A. pumped through the speakers.

As the Kaiser later said of the show, this was "Coco rock, not Rococo." That was made quite clear as the girls sauntered along, hands shoved in pockets with double-C beauty marks, reminding us of that original good girl gone bad.

• Posted May 16, 2012
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Sydney Fashion Week

It's fashion down under all over again. Sonny Vandevelde, himself an Aussie, captures all the backstage fashion and frolic at Sydney Fashion Week...

• Posted May 07, 2012
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Praising Paris

With another round of Paris collections wrapped, feted by fans and loyalists, and analyzed every which way by our crack fashion team, we bring you our picks of the fall season, in no particular order...

Lanvin
"Alber Elbaz's user-friendly approach has the advantage of no-brainer prettiness and unconstrained proportions. That same mantra ran through the show, starting with zestful, colorful peplumed suits in what looked like neoprene...And the great ending section—i.e. a black lace minidress with blue elbow length gloves, a red coat and belt, and pink shoes—had an unmistakably offbeat, whimsical Christian Lacroix quality."

Haider Ackermann
"Design talent aside, Haider is a master at setting an atmosphere that never fails to hit an emotional chord. While sometimes a little monastic, for fall he hit a more seasonal tone, choosing crooner Frank Sinatra and his song Autumn Leaves to connect us with his rich autumnal color sense."

Rick Owens
"You can count on Rick Owens for first-rate showmanship. For fall, he transported his audience to a world of underground rituals. Two horizontal flames ignited the venue's pitch-black backdrop as his models slinked down the vast runway with Zebra Katz's hypnotic, naughty song Ima Read on the soundtrack."

Alexander McQueen
"Alexander McQueen drew frequently from nature—both the dark and the light—for inspiration. Ultimately, he took a romantic view of darkness and man’s conflict with nature, a belief that man’s abuse of his environment would lead to a reversal of the evolutionary process...Sarah Burton presented a collection as complex, expertly crafted and three-dimensional as those of her mentor and predecessor."

YSL
"Stefano Pilati struck a beautiful balance, embracing the season's hardcore leather trend and highlighting some of the finer points of his tenure at the label...The mostly black color palette brought a somber note to the proceedings, but the standing ovation pretty much confirmed what we've all been thinking: that this had better not be the last we see from him."

Comme des Garçons
"For the first look, Rei Kawakubo sent out a bright red felt coat that resembled a sandwich-board. It was as if the brightly wigged model was stitched between two felt pieces, front and back...Perhaps this was a comment on the way we observe fashion and everything else that goes on in the world, reducing it all to a two-dimensional image—or flat screen."

Louis Vuitton
"Richness was the key word here, not only in the profusion of pieces incorporated into each look but also in the abundance of glittering, holographic brocades, all created in-house by Marc Jacobs’ design team...It was a kind of radical nostalgia; one can’t help feeling that Louis Vuitton, luggage-maker, would have approved."

• Posted Mar 09, 2012
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Miu Miu

As one pantsuit after another came down the Miu Miu runway, it was like a trip down memory lane, and down King’s Road. This was London’s Swinging 60s and an homage to the style of Brian Jones, the young Rolling Stone who met his early death before the 70s had reached its full psychedelic and glam-rock stride.

Miuccia Prada dispelled the little girl dresses that have been so much a part of her brand for a series of masculine suits, shirts and ties, right down to the low stack heel shoe. Just in case you never got the masculine memo, hair was flat and middle-parted with a curl of hair forming a sideburn on either side of the painted and sometimes mirrored eyes.

First out were the simpler, single-breasted suits in blue and green followed by a double-breasted suit in mustard. Lapels were large and trousers cropped just above the ankle to real the heavy block-heeled shoes. A silk blouse, foulard or wide necktie—and sometimes all three—softened the masculine vibe.

As they progressed, the suits and geometric printed shirts became more flamboyant in both jacquard pattern and cut. But these were not boy suits of the Thom Browne variety; jacket hems curved and the lengths almost dropped to a car coat and more 70s proportions.

There were broad stripes, chevrons and baroque patterned suits, sometimes with short capelet sleeves. Interspersed with the frenzy of floral pattern and a few skirt suits, there were tan suede combinations and a fab a swimming-pool blue belted tunic worn over cropped trousers.

Just as the suits evolved along this retro journey, so did the shoes. As each Nouveau-patterned suit became bolder, so the shoes became higher, from stack-heeled loafers and snakeskin platform ankle boots to full-on glam-rock boots with silver toilet heels.

The only slight deviation in story was the final series of linked-mirror tunics worn over mini-skirts and large collared shirts. Aside from this, Miuccia Prada showed such commitment to her theme that instead of her customary wave she broke from convention and took to the runway in a broadtail-trouser suit herself.

• Posted Mar 07, 2012
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Louis Vuitton

The stars aligned for Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton this season. Before a single model took to the runway, many in the audience were already smitten. Dogged by Eurostar woes, there’s been a collective yearning among Paris show-goers for more civilized modes of transportation. Et voilà! At the stroke of ten, a fully operational vintage locomotive steamed into the Cour Carree du Louvre. By some fashion magic, Jacobs had taken zeitgeist prediction to an almost uncanny level.

And then the show started for real, and the anticipation was justified. Marrying fin-de-siècle old world romance with sixties haute bohemia, coats were double-breasted with wide lapels and jeweled buttons. Every look was heavily layered—jacket over midi-skirt over ankle-grazing flared pant—in a way that recalled the dressing rituals of the past, without a suggestion of costuminess. Empire lines created an elegant silhouette, crowned by Stephen Jones’ outsized velvet cloche hats.

Richness was the key word here, not only in the profusion of pieces incorporated into each look but also in the abundance of glittering, holographic brocades, all created in-house by Jacobs’ design team. Each model was accompanied by a liveried porter toting her bags—after all, these global travelers can't be expected to carry their own suitcases. Checkerboard jacquards referred to classic Louis Vuitton insignia in a show that celebrated the brand’s original customers, packing their trunks when international travel was the preserve of the elite. It was a kind of radical nostalgia; one can’t help feeling that Louis Vuitton, luggage-maker, would have approved. 

• Posted Mar 07, 2012
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Alexander McQueen

Designers this season seem to be preoccupied with dimension. While Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons took two-dimensional design to the extreme, Sarah Burton, successor to Alexander McQueen, made her case for the third dimension. At the Salle Wagram, where Alexander McQueen staged his emotional, notorious dance-marathon collection, Burton chose to stage a different kind of dance.

Alexander McQueen drew frequently from nature—both the dark and the light—for inspiration. Ultimately, he took a romantic view of darkness and man’s conflict with nature, a belief that man’s abuse of his environment would lead to a reversal of the evolutionary process. He took this notion to its darkest of conclusions, but it was his obsession with futurism—a dark, ominous future—expressed through his magnificent hand that made the work so beautiful and arresting.

Although she explores some of the same themes, Sarah Burton has won kudos for bringing a softer touch to the label. Her outcome is quite different, a lighter and more optimistic future. “It’s futurism with softness, not cold futurism. It's looking forward in a positive way,” she stated at her preview.

For fall, this energy and femininity was particularly evident in a series of long-haired fur and marabou feather dresses that fluttered across the room in shades of light mauve to the dustiest of pale pinks. Broad, silver belts were consumed by the extreme volume of feathers, save for the large beaten-metal buckles. Besides dresses, there were coats and capes of ruffled white brocade with fur collars that stood high, wrapping around the models' long necks.

The silhouette was short, drop-waisted, fluted or bell-shaped, finishing high above the knee. They were accompanied by long fur boots with cantilevered heels sure to be a hit with Daphne Guinness. Silver, mirrored visors were a more futuristic replacement for last season's intricate face masks. The final dresses were like nature at its best, inexplicably intricate and in in full, ripe bloom.

Drawn to the light, Burton presented a collection as complex, expertly crafted and three-dimensional as those of her mentor and predecessor.

• Posted Mar 07, 2012
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Yves Saint Laurent

Stefano Pilati presented his final collection for Yves Saint Laurent tonight, ending rumors of his imminent departure. Will it be Hedi Slimane, Raf Simons or a dark horse who takes over Pilati's influential role at the Parisian house? That's a question that will hopefully be answered with more haste than the interminable Dior drama. But before we all start speculating on the future of YSL, let's take a moment to appreciate Pilati's moving swan song.

Pilati struck a beautiful balance, embracing the season's hardcore leather trend and highlighting some of the finer points of his tenure at the label. He opened with a coatdress, another of the season's key trends. The wide leather lapels hinted at le smoking, but this wasn't lip service to the house's namesake. Kimono dresses cinched with leather belts and large samurai sleeves alluded to his fascination with Japanese tech, and the Pilati plunging neckline was in full force in a pair of dresses that hinted at chain mail.

The mostly black color palette brought a somber note to the proceedings, but the standing ovation pretty much confirmed what we've all been thinking: that this had better not be the last we see from Stefano Pilati. 

• Posted Mar 05, 2012
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Givenchy

The dark side, never far from the surface of Riccardo Tisci’s oeuvre, was given free rein in Givenchy’s equestrian-inspired fall collection. Today, presaged by a galloping soundtrack, he indulged in horsemanship’s kinkiest connotations. Silk and velvet jodhpurs and pleat-front pants were tucked into knee-high riding boots, while sweeping capes evoked ceremonial riding habits. Hunting jackets with cutaway backs were studded with gold insignia and heavy blinder-like earrings, suggested a deviant dressage.

Oozing sadomasochistic sexuality, here were skintight dresses in paneled leather—the defining fabric—with chin-high necklines and rigid, armorial peplums. Elsewhere, leather was quilted and transposed into raglan-sleeved coats and pants that were impossibly chic and relatively wearable. Always besotted with powerful women, Tisci clearly wanted his models to portray an occult strength.

A moment of softness was promised then instantly undermined in the silk, laced-edge lingerie-like slips, which were belted and paired with thick chokers and long leather gloves so tight they could have been latex. Knife-pleat midi skirts were rendered in cowhide while voluminous pussycat bow blouses were transformed with sheer red and black chiffon with sinuous ties.

With a strangely seventies eroticism, pieces were heavily fetishized—no surprise that Tisci cited Guy Bourdin as an influence. Perhaps these women were once well-to-do housewives bitten by a vampire or otherwise depraved; Pat McGrath’s gothic make-up certainly suggested this. Not his most subtle showing, perhaps, but one that will set the fashion agenda.

• Posted Mar 04, 2012
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Comme des Garçons

There will always be something about your seat at a show that affects your perception, like watching a 3-D movie from the side of the theater. But at Comme des Garçons I could not have had a better vantage point. Instead of the usual side view, I was seated at the end of the long raised runway with the same frontal view as the cameras.

I mention this because, as it happens, there was no better way to see the absolute flatness of the collection. For the first look, Rei Kawakubo sent out a bright red felt coat that resembled a sandwich-board or a collage of paper-doll clothes. It was as if the brightly wigged model was stitched between two felt pieces, front and back. Then followed a short bright pink coat, both a lavender and electric-blue trouser suit—all completely flat and two-dimensional.

When Kawakubo added print to felted coats, dresses and jackets, it was equally flat—in both dimension and content. These included enlarged cliches like camouflage, leopard print, polka dots and tablecloth checks superimposed with even flatter suggestions of scribbled flowers.

It was then that the music came on for the first time in an otherwise silent show, save for the girls clogged footsteps. And with it came even more concentrated florals, such as rose prints as familiar as gift wrap or wallpaper. At one point, a model swaddled in a kind of stiff catsuit and mask that covered her eyes nearly met calamity at the foot of the platform runway.

And what's a show without sparkling eveningwear? This time, of course, sequined in a series of ultra-large dresses so flat that they came complete with the visible shoulder-tabs of a paper doll. Perhaps this was Kawakubo's comment on the way we observe fashion and everything else that goes on in the world, reducing it all to a two-dimensional image—or flat screen. Or perhaps she was simply reducing design to its flat, fundamental forms—like only she can.

• Posted Mar 04, 2012
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Haider Ackermann

Expectations were already high at Haider Ackermann's show, heightened further by a delay that had the audience sitting in surprisingly patient silence. In the meantime, we absorbed the splendor of the show space, and both Tilda Swinton and Charlotte Gainsbourg sitting front and center.

Design talent aside, Haider is a master at setting an atmosphere that never fails to hit an emotional chord. While sometimes a little monastic, for fall he hit a more seasonal tone, choosing crooner Frank Sinatra and his song Autumn Leaves to connect us with his rich autumnal color sense. He began with darkened greens and purples held together with a broad cinched leather belt of clay brown. And then, in a spectacular single eggplant suit, he burst out a with double-layered peplum of pumpkin and saffron. He followed this with a simply draped ochre dress and then a high-collared blouse under a long slim coat, looks reminiscent in shape and color of Sabilla, Romeo Gigli and even Gianfranco Ferrè in the early 90s.

Eventually the colors turned, like the seasons, from richer russets to burnt reds. Silhouettes changed, too. Although quite contained to start—in particular a beautiful wide-legged and high-waisted trouser worn with the deepest V blouse—shapes quickly evolved into the pod-like folds of a shantung dress and the undulating drapes of a red coat and scarf, secured in place by a wide black leather belt.

Ackermann has long been recognized for his skill with leather, which, here, wasn’t restricted to accessories alone, but folded into unusual skirts and outerwear pieces. While the effect was a little heavy for some of these elaborate shapes, they worked well in a rich tan leather dress and jackets where the volumes and weight were more controlled.

The exquisite colors, layers and masterful wrapping reached a crescendo of cobalt blue and purples, but it was the spare simplicity of a mauve V-neck dress, and final exit, that may suggest his next anticipated move.

• Posted Mar 03, 2012
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