Paris Fashion Week coverage continues from France 24.
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Tag: fashion report
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Feeling Like A Princess
Do women still want to wear wedding dresses? Is this too traditional for the 21stcentury? After the past few young royal events, everyone wants to feel like a princess.
The centerpiece of Ziad Nakad’s couture collection is the wedding dress fit for a 18th century noble bride.
I am not going to ignore the rest of the Lebanese designers lush looks made up of embroidery, pastel colors, and stones. This is a man who loves women at their most glamourous.
All images from info@maxtree.com
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Paris Fashion Week Couture Roundup
Alin Le Kal’s decade of experience with textiles along with his education at RMIT University, Melbourne proved invaluable. He developed a skill using fabrics. His feminine looks, using intricate crystals and feathers for his Spring Couture collection titled “Reflected Elements” showcased his love for the female form. The runway show set in the ball room of the Le Grand Hotel, Paris, proved fitting, a perfect place for grand entrances. The Peach feathered dress is Breathtaking.
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La Metamorphose in Paris
Brice Hardelin, Black and Paper’s creative colleague in Paris, covered our first Couture Show. We could not be more thrilled. Getting an invitation to such a prestigious event at the Le Grand Hotel Opera feels like a dream come true.
A BIG THANK YOU to Mephistophelesproductions in Pairs.
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Highlights-Paris Fashion Week Men
Paris Fashion Week Men 2019 is all about the being a more low key this season. As I go over the collections, I notice the frivolity is out. In it is place is what men will or can wear. Accessories are also making a strong statement this season.
My Likes
For the very few who can afford to buy Hermes Menswear this collection would be well worth the price. Veronique Nichanian’s outer wear pieces were the highlights. Leather pants and suits made for a the man driving an expensive car on the Rivera. I would have to sell a kidney to afford the hoodie jacket in look #34.
Rochas has made a welcomed return to menswear with Frederio Curradi at the helm. He decided no to go over the top but in a subtle direction, with an Earthy color palette. the looks reminded one romantic continental artist complete with beret. My favorite is look #5. If you had an intellectual lover, you would want him to dress like this.
Tom Browne is one of those mad genius creative types, but not tortured. I expected different and he did not disappoint. Elongated stripes and gray looks at times felt like costumes from a 20’s decadent play. Look #18, solid pants, checkerboard blue and white coat and jacket, and sweater gave me energy.
White Mountaineering offered layers, then more layers, All was about statements, one piece or all together. The collection lived up to the mountain name, oversized protection from the elements. I did not have a favorite look because I cannot imagine myself wearing one.
Loewe entered the runway fray with its first show. At times the collection felt more conceptual than wearable but Jonathan Anderson pulled some looks and pieces out of the hat. The wide pants loose shirts, extra reach sleeves were front and center. Look #43 carried the day in my opinion. I would wear each piece as a whole or separate.
Kris Van Assche’s debut at Berluti proved to be the right shot in the arm for the brand. The opening look, a head turning brown leather suit, said, “Menswear look out”. If wear this suit one time, once would be enough.
The collection from Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton proved he is going in the right direction, more focused, fun. LVMH showed brilliance in hiring him. The flay pants were front and center of collection that moved from gray, black to print tops. Look #41, a streetwear look made up of pleated pants with white print shirt is an eye catcher.
Balmain showed 98 looks. Where to start? Olivier Rousteing had a lot to say this season. Black was the basis of the collection. Thrown in were leather, knitwear’s, and denim, all for the club life. Look #19, a black sweater with white breton stripes along with black pants would be my Friday night outfit.
I liked the Dries Van Noten collection.”Wearable” is the term that I can apply with pride. A narrow color palette enhanced the menswear line influenced by music, tailored with emphasis on the waist. Pants came in on the flare and slim side but the tops stood out.
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Pitti Uomo Cards
Which card for Pitti Uomo? I like them all but I think one is enough.
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The 2019 Embrace
Challenges, Oh YES!
As fashion continues to embrace diversity in 2019 I look back on my experiences wondering what took the business so long to recognize the world is made up of different people. As a person who never accepted roles I was suppose to play in life. Working in fashion presented me with challenges.
For an industry that seems cosmopolitan, it is actually very narrow minded in structural outlook. Once, at a well known brand presentation during Fashion Week, I was told, “in this city, labels will have a person of color as a receptionist or a runway model, but not in management.”
Many times I got the “What are you doing here looks” from door people or “positioned” by security. It is part of the routine. If I am in a good mood, I smile. If I am in a bad mood, I channel Flip Wilson for a quip comment, then a roll of the eyes. I am practicing the 3R’s. Relate. Relax. Release.
The Hard Part
The always present iconic model Naomi Campbell, Edward Enninful as head of Vogue, Virgil Abloh becoming the creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear are positive steps but more should be done. Recognizable faces from a higher world shuttled to VIP suites, then paraded before the media feels easy. Until 2017, the only voice of color in the fashion world was Andre Talley.
This is a business of affinity, a club. If the address on the resume does not contain a certain zip code in Milan, London, Paris, or New York the chances of getting a position are difficult. Fashion has been a business for the privileged class, the Coffee and Cake at the Ritz Carlton Society Set. Few voices from different communities means fewer opinions heard. More of different is good but on all levels not for the sake of press releases trumpeting, “look at us celebrating inclusivity in the 21stcentury because of social media outrage.
I appreciate little steps as well as big steps.
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Fashion Africa
From France 24
African Fashion Week continues to move from strength to strength. This year from Dakar the best of the best from the continent showcase their latest collections.
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Fashion Titanic
Stay calm. Take a deep breath.
After attending Milan Fashion Week, having conversations with many industry professionals, fashion is at a major crossroads, with many questions, few answers. Attending events, drinking a glass of sparkling wine, I looked around, buyers, editors, influencers, designers, press people all in attendance, MWAH, MWAH, on the cheeks. For some reason it felt like the deck of the Titanic but there was no DiCaprioaround to save any of us. The fashion world is going through a massive shift that none understand.
Retail
The retail sector is sinking. The temples of 20thcentury mass consumptions, department stores, have become brick and mortar dinosaurs in the online era. In the UK, Debenhams, House of Fraser have closed stores after loosing millions. High street stable John C, Lewis reported a 99% profit drop. On the other side of the Atlantic, US nameplates, Nieman Marcus cannot give it self away after years of seeking buyers. Macy’s performs like an amusement park rollercoaster, one quarterup, the next quarter down. Germany, the economicmachine of the EU, major retailers Karlstadt and Galeria Kaufhaus have merged after years of changing hands. The new Austrian owner has announced store closings. Will he use imagination to rejuvenate the ailing retailers or just lay-off his way to profitability? If it is the latter, one word: SEARS.
Fashion Channels
What happened to fashion magazines? There was a time when they dictated taste. The stuff dreams are made of filled on their glossy paper: gorgeous models with perfect make up wearing couture, shot by top photographers in exotic locations. Who did not want to live this life? The unwritten law in fashion was labels bought ads from publications, magazines heaped coverage. An app founded in 2010 has called this relationship into question.
Fashion labels are no longer willing partners. As Instagram has risen, the power of titles like Vogue, Elle, and Harpers Bazaar have waned. Now, titles influence, HA! Not dictate. When once publications were at the top of the heap, they now have to share the mountain top with millions of influencers. Why pay a lot, when you can pay nothing? Buying an ad, paying for a polished production costing thousands was the business model,,, until Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger came up with an app.
Today, fashion labels are employing legions of millennial influencers to show off their looks: a smartphone camera, followers, and the need for fast fame over took the industry. In the Social Media Age of rapid visual consumption,monthlyis too late to the party, secondscount. Instagram has 191 million daily users. The #fashion is one of the top trending topics. A digital platform has given millions with no fashion knowledge, influence.
Publications with their layers of editors, writers, photographers, are the ancient out of step gatekeepers. Brands give away bags, shoes, and front row seats at fashion shows to influencers in order to reach consumers in the digital world. In my private conversations with brand media representatives, some have commented they are cutting back or eliminating buying print ads. The classic fashion channels are collapsing. Major publishing houses Conde Nast and Hearst are in a perfect storm. Staff has been reduced, titles closed. Clutch the Chanel Bag! The worst may not be over.
Streetwear
Fashion labels are embracing streetwear as the new “BLACK” to stay on top of the latest trend. As rap stars have become cultural icons, brands are keen to cash in on the style craze. The problem: Be carefulwhat you wish for. Urban culture comes from the bottom up. Fashion has been an elitist affair dictating desire to the masses for decades. The industry is trying to flip the script. Embracing a demographic that was until recently frozen out is not easy. The awkwardnessof the situation is like Angela Merkel and Beyonce singing a B-side duet.
The Chunky Sneaker craze has infected every designer label. Plaster a designer name on an oversize trainer, sell a pair for 600 euros, instant relevance. If it sounds short sighted with a tinge of cynicism, it is easy to see why.
Conclusion
I am optimistic. Crisis means changes will come sooner or later. Fashion is a creative business that creates. No crisis can take that away. What will the conversations be in 2019 while sipping sparking wine? As long as I smile at the waiter pouring the bubbly, I will be ok.
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An Interview part 2
Continuing our conversation with Briana at Milan Fashion Week.