Dries Van Noten aw14

Dries Van Noten is a ‘fashion persons’ designer, meaning that his designs lend themselves extremely well to those who ‘understand’ fashion. Technically speaking (otherwise known as the fashion elite. Editors, photographers, stylists etc). Now by no means at all do I include myself in this group, but I do love Dries and this collection, as I feel it really is an offering of brilliantly fun eccentric pieces. Tim Blanks (from Style.com) who is my bible man, referred to the collection as ‘Rave’ influenced, which I can definitely see, but I like to think it’s more like ‘let your hair down’ than just rave. I love how he likened the collection to an ‘Ibizan Psychonaut’. Yes the psychedelic prints that adorned many a mannish winter coat seemed odd, but I kinda like that, as I do love the unexpected and yes the floral prints did seem to be on colour depth steroids but this is all just runway fanfare to me. Break it all down and you’ve got some stellar stand out fun pieces. And last time I checked, fashion was still supposed to be fun…

 

style.com

Anthony Vaccarello AW14

The thigh high slit man is back and providing for winter in the only way he knows how: sprayed on micro leather minis with jackets. Winning. Seriously, though, I am more and more in love with AV every season, as he really is consistently filling the hole (for me anyway) that was left when Christophe Decarnin left Balmain. Slick, sexy and uber uber cool is his girl, and lets be honest, she’s kinda the girl we all want to be, kinda liked up a sexed up member of the French Vogue team, minimalist, leather loving with legs that for weeks, who obviously doesn’t even need to try. Envy.

vogue.uk

Jeremy Scott AW14

style.com

Sass & Bide AW14 Novateur

Novateur. Prob my fav Sass collection thus far. The end. The colours, prints, textures, everything.

Once again SJ & Heidi have shown great movement and evolution in design, this time calling on biologist, philosopher, physician & professor, Ernst Haeckel for some inspiration, ‘‘We have referenced his work using silhouettes inspired by the shape of his drawings and with beading and embroidery inspired by his microscopic studies.” The girls told the Sydney Morning Herald prior to the show.

It was great to see experimentation in silhouettes, with the recently popular cocoon style being a fairly new shape for the duo. Bags hit a streetstyle high, with a simple monochrome and then a coloured textured check backpack, both of which are sure to fly out the door. Heels were standard, beautiful and simple, anchoring the legs with plenty of strappys tying round the ankle.

Now while this collection was a move forward, the old favourites of the brand were not left behind with more than enough layered maxi skirts, shorts & gowns on offer. The green maxi gown was a standout for me, as was the black & gold lace story, the skirt in particular sure to look amazing on a red carpet somewhere.

Next can we talk about the gold embellished mini dress (look 13 ) because this , along with the following textured ivory cocoon jacket, quite literally takes my breath away and they’re both the perfect way to balance the collection and inject some sexiness. The final aspect that needs addressing is the Balmain esq situation (look 6) that goes on throughout the black & white check section, as this styling (to me) is bang on and so relevant right now, winning on all fronts I say. Novateur is an adventurous truimph!

Check out Sass & Bide’s pre fall collection here

pics form NOW Fashion, Sass & Bide.com

Emilio Pucci SS14 Fulle Show Video

This is probably nearly my most favourite show of the month, so here is the entire amazing show! Check my review for the show here.

Givenchy SS14 Full Show Video

Heres the full Givenchy SS14 show, and you can check my post on the full collection in detail here!

Kenzo SS14

Kenzo is the comeback kid of the last few seasons, with the brands tiger, eiffel tower and eye logo/print being seen of the backs of the most stylish streetstyle peeps and spurring dozens of high street imitations. As a result, designers Carol Lim & Humberto Leon have left those iconic logos in the past and this season opted for a more focused look at new prints and shapes while also introducing the fish as the new ‘it’ logo. Its great to see them experiment with texture, mixing their new painterly digi prints with perspex, plastic and of course, leather. Theres something super modern about this collection, with the jackets and vests in particular, feeling really relevant right now and adding a sense of tech modernism through the sharp oversized shapes and flashy new prints. Overall, super easy to wear and simply waiting to be gobbled up by bloggers and forward thinking editors. Happy printing. In a word: Susie Lau

style.com

Louis Vuitton SS14

If you follow me on social media then you would already know how I feel about this show, as Ive tweeted it, Facebooked it and Instagrammed it in an effort to get the entire world to see it, as it is without a shadow of a doubt one of the greatest moments in fashion. Yes Marc Jacobs is leaving louis Vuitton and it would be remiss of me not to give this the attention that it deserves, so I will do so in a focused post, over the next few days. But for now, lets just appreciate the greatness of his final collection for the luxury label.

Known in the fashion world as one of the great showmen, always willing to confront controversy and issues head on, Jacob’s last show for LV acted as a ‘greatest hits’ or ‘best of’ collection, drawing on his greatest achievements & seasons past for inspiration while also adding a touch of Americana to show where his future is now headed. Guests to the show were welcomed to the Paris venue which had (on the outside) been covered in pink fabric with maids dusting away at the stairs as they entered. Once inside, the great hall was transformed into a dark luxurious amalgamation of some of Jacobs great runway moments of seasons past, but this time, all tinged in black, ending Jacobs 16 years at the house, very much in the same way that the end of a film fades to black.

The tone of impending drama was set by an elaborate dark Carousel (LV Spring 2012) that shared centre stage with a beautiful black fountain (LV Fall 2010) and models made their way upstairs (yes this was a double story situation) via the elegant lifts (LV Fall 2011) before landing in the hotel corridor (LV Fall 2013). Once they made their way along the landing past the hotel doors, models then descended back down via the blackened escalators (LV Spring 2012) all the while under the watchful eye of the Louis Vuitton clock (LV Fall 2012). To say the runway was extravagant would be an understatement and despite the blackness of the show, there was a forward moving feel about the collection, something that signalled change while also celebrating Jacobs time with the brand, honouring his showmanship tendencies. All models were equipped with Stephen Jones designed head pieces involving elaborate ostrich feathers while most looks were made up of varying combinations of mesh, embellishment, feathers and embossed leather, some of which reignited past ideas and concepts with nostalgia, such as the first external collaboration for LV under Marc Jacobs, the famous graffiti print.

The show to end all shows, and also the show to (nearly) end Paris fashion week for 2014. If you’ve not yet watched the video of the show, then I urge you do so and you can watch it here. I will post it here on the blog as soon as it becomes available too!

Marc dedicated the show: “For the showgirl in all of us”

The Collection

The Details

All images from style.com, vogue.com

Saint Laurent SS14

It’s interesting how in natural human behaviour, we tend to want what we cant have or what we may have missed out on, and this is well known by one Hedi Slimane (Saint Laurent Head designer) who has shown once again, in this his 3rd RTW collection for the house, his affinity with times gone by this time taking shape in the 1980’s. While Slimane’s 90’s grunge Fall collection caused major controversy among the fashion elite, through this he managed to single-handedly reignite the decade into everyones wardrobe, thanks to the twenty somethings demand for ‘the cool grungey era’ that they like soooo wish they had have been around for. yolo.

So last night Slimane decided to direct everyone back again to the wardrobes of 80’s  rockstars for a pit stop involving some of the great traits of the decade such as lame, one shoulder ruffles, sequins, skinny ties and mid heel rounded points (the ‘sensible’ peeps will be wrapped. And so will most other women, who can now wear a low comfortable pump and blame Saint Laurent for being on trend, instead of blaming their inability to let go of the 80’s). I love the slick finish of this collection and I’m continually baffled by the way Slimane can present a very obvious (and usually ugly) inspiration/direction in his collections and somehow make it look shiny, new, attractive and desirable again. I mean if I said I was lusting after a high waisted animal print sequinned skirt, you’d probably say ‘Great, the costume shop is down the road’ but after this collection, you’re probably now forced to say “Yeah, its a shame there is no Saint Laurent shop in Melbourne, just wait until Zara does a good copy’. See what I’m trying to say? Great. So now enough of my jibber jabber, enjoy the video (which I highly recommend watching as it sets the mood perfectly) and the pics, appreciate his impeccably structured suits and ponder your future channeling an 80’s rockstar…

 

 

style.com

Isabel Marant SS14

Isabel Marant is the current (and has been for a few years now) it girl designer of French cool, the designer synonymous with understated minimalist sexy and the designer soon to launch her first collaboration with H&M (which you can see here). For her Spring collection, Marant has called on a softer girlier influence which she has counterbalanced with must have sharp shoulder blazers and super slick leathers. Soft and muted shades of pink have never really been my bag, but if there was ever a time for me to try and embrace them, it would be now & through this collection, with Marant yet another designer jumping on to the soft understated tones for summer. It saddens me to say though, that I felt the shoes were a major miss, with the bow like attachment piece on both the T bar heels/ankle boots and the flat T bar (Birkenstock influenced) sandal just too heavy and busy for me, but give it enough time and I’m sure I’ll warm to them.

I personally feel Marant is at her best when she sticks to sharper designs and edgier styling, the more slightly masculine street looks. She excels in being able to mix a dainty lace tank casually back with a trouser or simplifying a ruffle skirt for day wear, and this is what I’d love to see more of, from her in the future. Other highlights were the laser cut vests, ruffle dresses and lace dress/top styles, all really wearable pieces that maintain that high end design edge.

 

style.com

Lanvin SS14

What a feast to the sartorial eye this broody Lanvin Spring collection is, encasing all colours of the rainbow in shiny sequinned metallic goodness. Alber Elbaz has a penchant for the luxe life and today he celebrated this through never ending shimmering lame, the softest of sparkly silks and sharp corrugated

metallic tulles. His spring woman is deliberately untouchable with an air of humour in the way she carries her padded silk bag like it were a bag of garbage, wrapping the chain messily around her wrist. This is a collection with conviction and I am completely enamoured with the multitude of shiny shimmery fun going on here. Definitely a highlight of Paris so far for me…

style.com, 

 

Anthony Vaccarello SS14

Anthony Vaccarello brought us Anja Rubik’s hip bone at the met Gala a few years ago and this season his fascination with the upper thigh continued. It was great to see this collection peppered with a few more wearable pieces like the tie dye denim and buttoned blazers, and Im feeling a slight Christophe Decarnin for Balmain influence in this collection, and I certainly don’t hate it…

style.com

Balenciaga SS14

This collection is beyond beautiful and Mr. Wang seems to have found his groove and appears to have settled in quite nicely at Balenciaga, as this collection was a lot more relaxed, drawing on the roots of the design house in a fresh but subtle way. The hardness he’s known so well for (at Alexander Wang) seemed worlds away from this soft and smoothly structured collection. The typical Balenciaga volume & shapes were still apparent but in the most feminine way that we’ve seen in some time with lightly coloured sheers, layering satins and incredible blazer dresses. Heels were a killer, as always, and sure to be must haves for next season. Once again, colours were restrained and dreamy, now confirming my prediction of colour softness for summer.

 

style.com

Roberto Cavalli SS14

Thank god Style.com offer close up detail pictures along with the standard runway shots, because I was about to write this collection off for being aesthetically dreary with ill looking models. Fortunately though, I saw the light (literally) in the detail shots, which show the true colours of the pieces, as opposed to the regular runway shots, which seem to wash out both the models and the clothes.

Anyway, enough complaining. Roberto Cavalli has played with the boho theme for a few seasons now and this time he’s has given us Pretty Pastel Vintage Boho babe. Lightly draped furs over the one shoulder of intricate fully beaded gowns and tassel detailing seemed to reference the 20’s and maybe 30’s but was not to be the main theme of this collection. Long and lacey, sheer and streamlined, casual and layered were the boho girls of the runway, dripping in copious amounts of beading to ensure their value was literally worn on their sleeve. A beautiful and red carpet ready collection, this was yet another signal of the dreamy floaty soft season we are entering for summer.

style.com

Versace SS14

Try all she might, Donatella just cannot keep away from from a hard rock influence, and personally, Im fine with that. If anyone was going to bring back glomesh, it was always going to be Donatella wasn’t it. This season she has attempted to reinvent some old 90’s flavours in the form of dark denim, low slung circle skirts and the aforementioned glomesh. Despite the very relevant 90’s influences, she still showcases the feminine, despite the collection appearing quite hard at first glance. Pastels were present (once again confirming my predictions of softer dreamy colours for summer) and a choice to focus on softer fabrics of silk, denim and raffia continued this mellow trend while it was in fact the chain accoutrement and various accessories that juxtaposed this theme, instead adding an edgy rock chic finish. Strong solid heels added to the intimidation, toweringly high, with a 1.5 inch platform base and thick bands of elastic binding up the ankle. Sexy slinky evening gowns by Donatella are always a favourite of mine as they have a playful tendency to sit right on the healthy side of tacky, skilfully draping across the body, without a care for modesty, ensuring all not much is left to the imagination.

style.com