This collection from Fashion Designer Halpern at the London Fashion Week shows the power of imagination merged with function for style. Using different materials and shapes each look had the theme of female empowerment.
Women who mattered during these times. This season the house used front line workers as models. Fabulous!
Stay tuned for more coverage from London Fashion Week.
Is there a need for fashion week? Being fashion enthusiasts we have to ponder this question. I recently spoke to a TV editor. He said, “No way will I attend a fashion show”. As the world continues reeling from Covid 19 the need for a new wardrobe, questionable. September is fashion month. Normally this time of you, packing, invites, calling colleagues about where to meet. Not this time. I got a few live invites, but did not expect many.
The First of the Big Four Fashion Weeks starts today.
As the numbers of infections increase in France, Italy, and UK, sitting in front row feels a bit oblivious. Bags, shoes, and complete looks to wear in front for a Zoom. The style effect gets lost from the neck down.
So many fashion related business face challenges. Models are no longer booked. Their agencies face closing. Magazines struggle to fill ad pages. Retailers attached to life support. Customers fearful of loosing jobs, have less discretionary income.
The future is not clear for all. One certaninty: the fashion industry’s day of reckoinig has arrived.
Stay Tuned for more on this subject. And of course, Black and Paper will cover the fashion weeks.
Luxury fashion and streetwear brands continue to unite. What do I think of the Prada-Adidas Collaboration launched today? Are these worth the price? Stay Tuned for my opinion.
Being Fabulous! Aspirational living! This is the lifestyle Vogue and other Conde Nast publications put in our faces. That $1500 bag matched with a $900 linen top. Advice; Pay the rent before heading to Bloomingdales.
All that FABULOSITY yet Vogue-Conde Nast cannot pay the rent! HUH! #Vogue #CondeNast #fashion #fashionblogger #fashiondesign #fashionblogger #style #nyc #NewYork https://t.co/WTG324URZx pic.twitter.com/5Rt50UJRSa
— BlackandPaper (@BlackandPaper1) August 7, 2020
Once again the magazines find themselves in the headlines, but for the wrong reason,,AGAIN! Six years ago Conde Nast debased from Mid Manhattan to the World Trade Center. Fast Forward to the 2020 Pandemic, ad revenue flat lined. Suddenly, those palatial 1.2 million square feet became a brick tied to an ankle in a sea storm.
Fashion magazines have been in a denial stage for a decade. Bloggers and social media elbowed in once exclusive territory. Brand advertising splintered. But to the heads of Conde Nast, this was a bump on a Champagne Boulevard. They had become victims of a movement they help create, “Living In A Fake Reality”.
Nothing says success than new digs. Trading up, moving to 1 World Trade in lower downtown New York represented the future, optimism. Anna Wintour and staff sat on top of the world. August 4th 2020, reports started circulating Advance Publications, parent company of Conde Nast, is scouting for a new office. I had to do a double take. Suddenly, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Teen Vogue’s 21 floors lost its appeal or a need to “trade down”. Six months ago I saw Vogue editors coming in and out of the Bristol and Hotel de Crillon hotels in Paris.
In April requesting government a bailout, today negotiating cheaper rent. No more fashion week teas in “Le Boudoir”. Have the company credit cards been cut? No worries, if a Vogue Staffer is reading this, send me a message. I know a few affordable places in Paris and Milan.
Looking over the magazines social media channels, I could see problems. Access to the best writers and photographers in the world, yet, a lack of original content replaced by recycled stories. How many pictures can be from the archives? Or Vogue Challenges every week? HMMM!
All smokes and mirrors, denial is a fabulous way to live until a “reality brick” hits the face.
Every season, two times a year, I hit the luxury stores. Sale Season! Those words are music to my eyes, hard on the wallet. Always updating the wardrobe on a budget.
This year, like everything, things are a bit strange. Only a few customers allowed in the stores with fewer sales people.
I noticed the trend, lux mixed with streetwear. Few brands have transitioned well. I would say some pieces were ugly. Saying this in front of a 50% off sale sign is a statement. In the past, going to a select store was a treat. I could not wait to a designer look.
Something happened this year. I traveled to the centers of Hamburg and Berlin for the special occasions. To my surprise, I found nothing I wanted. Walking from one top brand store to another, nothing hit me. ( Later, I will tell you about the service in a few places.)
Kadewe and Alsterhaus department stores, temples of consumption where all is offered under one roof. Being there inspired me to write this article. What happened to the big brands? On shelves one after another, the numbing sensation overwhelmed me. Some items came across as cheap at 1000 euros. Overpriced H&M production models. High fashion was about being distinguished, exclusivity. I am not an elitist, but somewhat of a fashion style snob. When there is a good markdown.
Perhaps in the New Normal my motivation for buying has changed. Why do I need this or that? Life and work wardrobes center on Zoom T-Shirts.
There is still hope. I decided to buy a bag, and a scarf from independent luxury labels. The pieces are more original, more details.
Our online coverage from Milan begins today.
Paris Fashion Week Men kicked off this season online. In the New Normal fashion shows are not in style. Designers delivered their latest looks via digital platforms. Below are some highlights:
I could not embed the code for Issey Miyake.
Stay Tuned for full reviews.
Paris Haute Couture Week or days have passed. In the New Normal, runway shows are from a past era. Being front row at a Chanel is not immunity from Covid-19.
What I did I think? Without the runway and excitement it felt a bit of a let down. Brands opted for long videos and short films. I had the feeling of watching a long Calvin Klein Obsession commercial. Fashion Week should center around fashion but for some reason it did not. I am not sure why. Fashion houses spent a lot of money showcasing film techniques. For some reason, the clothes took a backseat, a bit strange for a fashion week. As a film buff, one time aspiring filmmaker, part film critic; I would ask some teams, “What Happened”? Fashion Weeks focus on clothes.
#Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture and Menswear Week without runways being delivered online felt like watching 3 hour Calvin Klein Obsession Commercials. #fashion #fashionweek #pfw #hautecouture #Mensfashion #fashionblogger #fashiondesigner #FashionFriday #ootdfashion # pic.twitter.com/0D26KNQQGT
— BlackandPaper (@BlackandPaper1) July 10, 2020
Looking for inspiration, fashion and film have a relationship dating back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. “The Women”, director George Cukor’s 1939 black and white all starer included a 6 minute Technicolor fashion parade. Audrey Hepburn’s “Funny Face” was scene for scene showcase of the actress wearing Givenchy looks. For some reason many designers and their creators decided to take a more expressive artistic sense mixed with the abstract.
Fashion is live spectacle. I prefer fashion week with blank staring models, self important editors, and Borrowed Sunday Best Dressed Wannabes.
Let’s hope for a vaccine soon.
Highlights from Digital Week.
The first Digital Couture Week from the City of Lights. Some of my highlights listed below.
Stay tuned for more extensive coverage.