Sunday, October 30, 2011

1920's Fringe Look by Marc Jacobs




New York Fashion Week - Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2012 

Marc Jacobs prolonged negotiations to assume the design mantle previously held by John Galliano at Christian Dior have been making headlines for weeks. If and when he signs on the dotted line, Jacobs will become a couturier, fashion's fastest-dwindling subspecies.

Jacobs proved once again that he's one of the industry's consummate showmen. The Lexington Avenue Armory was decorated like a dance hall far removed from our current circumstances in both time and place. Old-fashioned lightbulbs were affixed to wooden beams. As the Philip Glass opera Einstein on the Beach got underway, a sweeping gold curtain parted to reveal his entire cast waiting to hit the runway. The models worked it - stradding, reclining, even leering over their bent wood chairs, Chorus-Line-style, eyes fixed on the audience. Enjoy Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2012 Fashion Show at the end of this post!







Once it was their turn, they hustled toward the cameras wearing kerchiefs in their hair and see though plastic cowboy boots on their feet, and in between drop-waist flapper dresses, denim workwear, sporty sweatshirts, and technogingham hat was practically reflective. Some of the silhouettes echoed last season's clingy lines, but just a smany had the boxy, drop-waist shapes of the season's 1920's. There wwas plenty of fringe, even more bold-colored sequins and paillettes, and most perversely, loads of that clear plastic cut and sewn into skirts or dresses worn over buttoned-to-the-neck shirts.

Backstage, Jacobs said, "I didn't want it to feel real." The show in other words, was the thing. This definetly wasn't one of those Marc collections that sends his fans into a tizzy about all there is to wear in the real lives, nor was it as thought-provoking as his bravura performances have been in the past. Maybe he was preoccupied with his talks with Dior?




A fading antebellum dance hall in the Deep South was evoked by the wooden runway with the posts and beams of its central structure garlanded with yellow light bulbs (and in the many scaled gingham prints and the Amy Winehouse-ian do-rags), but although the Cabaret-era dressing informed the general silhouette of the show - the drop-waist chemise dress indefinite shape - this was not another playful twist on period dressing (the Jerry Hall seventies or the comi-strip fifties of recent seasons for instance).

Instead, it provided a master class in classic Jacobs tailoring and enchanting dressmaking, ignited by some futuristic adventures in fabrication along the way. The gleam of that curtain was echoed in the shimmering effect of sequins and reflective fabrics galore - from thick, shining taffetas to something that looked like the colored translucent plastic in which florists wrap their blooms. Tiers of cellophane organza were shredded like raffia for the shimmy flounces of skirts and leafy sequins were embroidered so thickly they resembled windswept fur. Even the shoes (in textile mixes that often included clear plastic) - pumps with classical elegant heel, and no-nonsense two-tone loafers, and the boxy bags (in mid-century diner colors, like ice-blue, maroon, lemon, and Nile green) were pragmatic in their streamlined utility. After the Bettie Page heroines who trotted the Jacobs runway last season with their hourglass jackets and hobbling pencil skirts, this collection represented a return to Jacobs's softer side.
















 Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2012 Collection




Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2012 Fashion Show 






Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: VOGUE
Photograhy by Marcio Madeira/firstView


Enjoy 'New Look "Bar" by Louis Vuitton'  
Spring/Summer 2012 Collection 
by Marc Jacobs




&

'Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2012 Collection'




Friday, October 28, 2011

The Modern Spin by VIONNET




VIONNET Fall/Winter 2011/12 Collection by Rodolfo Paglialunga 

Milan/Paris, the 4th October 2011 - VIONNET Spa and Rodolfo Paglialunga have agreed  by common consent to terminate their collaboration that initiated in January 2009 and relaunched successfully the House founded by Madeleine Vionnet in 1912. Rodolfo Paglialunga, after his strong and passionate time in VIONNET is now considering other personal and professional paths.

"Creating 10 collections with VIONNET has been for me an enriching experience both from human and professional sides. I would like to thank the Company in its whole for the passion and dedication daily devoted to the project." (Rodolfo Palialunga)

"Rodolfo Palialunga has been able to reinterpret successfully the rebirth of VIONNET, putting Madeleine Vionnet's heritage and work within a contemporary perspective. I'am very grateful to Rodolfo for the great job done with us and wish the best for him",  reported Matteo Marzotto - Milanese luxury goods tycoon and former president of VALENTINO, has bought 2009 the historical brand and relaunched it since then.



VIONNET Spa now has appointed Barbara and Lucia Croce as Creative Directors of the House. Since 1993 Barbara and Lucia have gained strong experiences in prominent international fashion companies such as Prada, Miu Miu, GUCCI and Ralph Lauren (Barbara), and Ter et Bantine, VALENTINO and Neil Barett, including various collaborations in Japan and Turkey (Lucia).


Barbara and Lucia Croce will create next Fall 2012 pre-collection to be presented to press and buyers in January 2012.

When Palialunga arrived at VIONNET 2009, he put a modern spin on the houses codes established by Madeleine Vionnet nearly a century ago. In so doing, he made the revived label a favorite with the Hollywood crowd. Now, reputation established, he's started to inject quite a bit more of himself into the mix in the foem of print, texture, and color. The result was the loosest collection he's done here yet. Paglialunga found his starting point online, tuning the image of a black and white knot he discovered there into a swirling graphic pattern that could almost have been a floral. He used the print for a fluid long-sleeve dress with a nipped waist and a below-the-knee-skirt, as well as a quilted wrap coat with sculptural shoulders. Stripey stretch belts added a sporty pop to most of the looks. The knot also informed dresses knitted from ribbons of silk, organza, wool, and suede, all with a swingy volume. It was interesting to see some overlap between his knit grosgrain dresses and the velvet ones at Balenciaga.

As for the color, it was positively florid, but in the nicest possible way. The blue of a lace dress was electric and a wool coat patched randomy with fox fur came in lipstick red. Madame Vionnet was no maximalist but being an innovator, she might've appreciated this collection's freewheeling vibe.







Installations by VIONNET Fall/Winter 2011/12







Selections made by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Source/Photo Credit: VIONNET
Photography by Sonia Sieff/Courtesy of VIONNET


Enjoy my previous VIONNET post -

'VIONNET Pre-Fall 2011/12 Collection'