It may have taken me a while to write a note after the loss of the genius designer Alexander McQueen. Despite the tsunami of message of sympathy you could find all over the web, on TV and in the press, it was hard for me to really write about a designer I barely followed. Not that I have been hiding for so long in a cave, it’s just I’ve never wanted to concentrate my attention on McQueen. Back in the days, all I’ve learned in the press about Alexander McQueen is that he was a genius, a freak, a British weirdo that designs crazy and unwearable clothes. And somehow, most of his collections were favorited by Fashion Editors in eccentric, dark and gothic editorials. As a blogger, I had to start giving more attention to his work which led me to cover the extraterrestrial SS 2010 and primitive FW 2010 (menswear) collections. And this is where my young McQueen culture starts and stops, with a high anticipation of the upcoming (canceled) FW 2010 show next week in Paris.
Before writing this post I wanted to go through all the show videos and photos online until realizing that his brightness and creativity will be forever lost wherever he is resting now. Alexander McQueen was and will be probably the only designer able to make collections from scratch with his imagination defying the industry’s needs and economic objectives. Every season, every collection was a fresh wave of creativity, audacity and a clear vision that defined his work and attitude. This is probably why editors worry that the industry won’t be the same anymore. The industry worries that monotonous collections will take over his creativity and that no designer will be able to take over his legacy.
Alexander McQueen certainly left us a legacy in the industry that have inspired today’s designers. Just by looking at what I, and many others, believe is McQueen’s best collection, you can tell how much he inspired many collections and designers after his Fall 2008 Fashion Show in Paris. Right now, Lee Alexander McQueen may be resting in peace in this tree that inspired him in a day when his brilliance had never shone more brightly.
Video presentation of Australian-born model Abbey Lee Kershaw before a 3 third successful season in a row. From schoolgirl to the Top-10 models chart, can she claim the #1 spot?
What happens when London-based designer Gareth Pugh, Nick Knight and Raquel Zimmermann are sitting together in a studio? An unexpected fashion moment.
Gareth Pugh, famous for his extra-terrestrial collections, took up residence at the LiveStudio to record and broadcast live the process of handcrafting a gown. An extraordinary initiative granting Internet users access to the behind-the-scenes of a famous designer and discover what it takes to make clothes (without the drama of Project Runway). The broadcast was then punctuated with an exceptional one-shot live freestyle-dance by supermodel Raquel Zimmermann tripping on a Lady Gaga soundtrack while Nick Knight captures every moves.
If you are interested in buying the gown, it’s available here.
One of my favorite Swedish brand, Tiger of Sweden, has been around for long enough to perfect the men’s suit and tailoring into fashionable and affordable streetwear clothes for men and women. The Spring/Summer collection is the perfection of elegant juxtapositions of surprising colors and prints. Any Tiger of Sweden items look sharp incorporating modern/minimal shapes and a rock’n'roll twist. The collection is largely dominated with blue hues for men and red for women. I love stripes and I am pretty excited to see a come back in a fashionably manner on the men’s collection. The styling in the ad campaign shot by Oscar Spendrup is quite excellent. I think the white trouser and double-button jacket, with striped shirt underneath is a classic yet really elegant ensemble. In the collection for women, I see a lot of printed separate outfits including shiny sleek fabrics. Specially like the sexy floral printed dress above and the mini-short suits. Definitely a great line for the dapper guy and an elegant jet-set woman.
Just discovered this recent editorial issued in August 2009 for Vogue UK, in which the magazine was featuring the major fashion cities. Lily Donaldson is portraying the coquette Parisian in devilishly sexy outfits from famous Parisian fashion houses. Dressed in flirty silk and lace black dresses, bows and sheer dotted tights, the coquette flirts with everyone’s senses. Chic & sensual, the coquette is to be devored.
It’s back-to-school period and our young girl is filled with anxiety going to college at Yale. As a freshwoman from uptown and about to integrate an Ivy league world, you have to dress to impress. The ’80s style may not be the best suit for a student when going in such serious and traditional university – her closet needed a serious clean up. Then she remembered there was always that stash where her grand-mother’s clothes used to be left for heritage. Lucky girl she was, her grandma’ had a lavish lifestyle, inside that trunk a couple of vintage tweed suits, a fox-fur vest, long cape coats, cashmere knee socks, foxy leg warmers, plaid shirt dress, a couple of bags quilted in jacquard patterns, a pair of beautiful dressy shoes and many more. Now our freshie is all set to rock her college life in fashion.
The inspiration behind Louis Vuitton’s pre-fall 2010 is laid out in this story. Julie de Libran, who designed the collection, developed what may be the theme of LV in the next 2 collections. Next season, Blair Waldorf will be happy, no more afro wigs and furry clogs. The collection is thought for the uptown preppy girl (think Ali McGraw). Directly inspired from the elegant and glamorous 60’s with a couple of 30’s shoes, I am happy to feel LV is back to luxury once again. One of my highlights of this pre-fall collection is the lamé texture on the bags and the pink/brown cape coat, I’ve never seen it before on LV and it disturbs me in a good way.
What happens when a fashion spread ad only focus is the clothes, leaving the models headless like any common store mannequin. Jurgen Teller once again creates controversy whether or not this ad is proper for Céline or we should see the heads. Who cares?! I believe the Teller lookbook-style signature is original yet visionary for the brand. Even if the ad gives the impression the items are accessible for everyone, Céline is still a luxury house and the emphasize on the products is quite stunning giving a better scale of the work by Phoebe Philo.
Rumors were true – Burberry campaigns become a family affair. Emma Watson and her brother Alex, once again are teamed up with photographer Mario Testino and musician/model George Craig. This long-awaited campaign is somewhat disappointing, I was not expecting the concept would fade out so quickly after all this excitement when the Harry Potter star became the spokesperson of the famous Londonian trench coat. For being a huge fan of the Spring 2010 collection, I would have preferred to see some more mature models that would fit better the image of the brand. Definitely, the teenage resonance in these ads is overwhelming the luxurious image Burberry has. Sorry Burberry, but I think a model like Rasa Zukauskaite would fit better.
Models: Candice Huffine, Marquita Pring, Michelle Olson, Tara Lynn, Kasia P - Photographs by Solve Sundsbo - Styling by Nicola Formichetti
Media stunt or not, this fashion editorial is shaking up the fashion world this week. The V Magazine issue #63 is out with some hot curves to warm your heart. For decades, fashion runways and magazines have been the territory of the skinny bodies, perhaps idealizing the world as one stick of Skinny Cow. Yet, the world is bigger than ever, and real women assert their images – Dove started two years ago with campaigns hiring a plus-sized cast. For V Magazine, Norwegian fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø hired bombshells in a refreshing editorial to the start the year with. Not only the models look totally confident about their size, they look attractive even though I suspect some retouching. And what if 2010 was the year of the body curves on the runways? Look at larger-sized model ruling the fashion show of Mark Fast at London’s Spring 2010 Fashion Week.
"I'm a man living on a fashion runway. Not a professional fashion editor neither in the industry, this blog is my diary of self-indulgence in pursuit of a dream." - Kevin
