Round Up Paris Womenswear FW2012
March 9, 2012 by Jetty
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, Paris, Stijlspot, Stylespot, Trends, womenswear
We have seen some supreme tailoring in Paris, resulting in sensual rounded shapes, exaggerated and challenging proportions and exciting fabrics. The world is clearly connected and the runways as well. Power looks, sculptured contours and very literary historical references were all over the place. Where we first spotted a hint of powder pink romance this was too scarce to be labelled a strong influence. The general feeling of tough powerplay and getting ready to withstand challenging times is ruling. Executed in a careful play with the existing parameters of couture, yet tailored with the contemporary flavor for bold statements. Think big.
It was not just the silhouette that takes on new dimensions this season; there is also the stage. Vuitton and Chanel confirm the feel for drama, stage setting and grand gestures. Catwalks became movie-sets, the models actors and the garments costumes. To quote one of the grand old NY ladies in the wonderful upcoming documentary: ‘Advanced Style’. ‘I dress up everyday for the theatre of my life’. That reflects clearly the attitude of women who opt for the most eccentric looks that where shown in Paris past week. These represent the icing on a cake that tasted very well, but were confirming the fact that the flavors of cakes today are not regionally bound any more. Globalization is a fact in fashion.
Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam
FIERCE
Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent staged fierce and perseverance. Ferocious, brave and powerful women with a provocative attitude. Forceful shades as black and red gain power by leather sheen, high polish and slick coatings.
SCI FI
Balenciaga and Chanel teamed up showing challenging material with a science fiction character. Priestesses of techno cult in bonded materials, plastics, liquid films and technical coatings and foils.
SCULPTURE
Lanvin was the master of sculpture. An expression of exalted womanliness with a generous emphasis on the curve. Comme des Garçons took it to an extreme by showing models as paper cut dolls and labeling these as ‘the future in two dimensions’. The exaggeration of shape, the bringing back contours to the explicit essence, seems key.
HISTORY
Louis Vuitton takes us back in the old days by showing series of costume outfits that stand out by their absolute supreme elaboration and embellishment. Making history relevant once more by showing truly innovative skills and craftsmanship in embellishment, scattering crystals generously.
ORIENT
Style.com claims that Haider Ackermann has the most sophisticated color sense of anyone in Paris and we just want to confirm this. He seems to reflect on the orient; the passionate shades of the east in subtle monochrome harmonies are stunning and truly inspiring. This combined with the intricate and elaborate patterns Dries van Noten showed are great inspirations for garments that will please the crowd.
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Round Up Milan Womenswear FW2012
February 28, 2012 by Jetty
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, Milan, Stijlspot, Stylespot, Trends, womenswear
Milan was all about beauty and redefining feminine presence. The importance of womanhood translated into powerful design. Reports noted clear, modern sensibility and elegance rooted in the classic past, but applied to today’s woman. From linear, architectural statements to rock and roll romance, from virtual princess looks, to pre-Raphaelite twists and martial arts references. Inspiration was well documented and there seems a clear wish to find the context behind these hybrid collections. Where New York mixed identities Milan reinforced them. We spotted impeccable tailoring, love for crafts and embellishment, sublime couture and a daring choice of materials inspired by the wish to tap into the duality of the 21st century woman.
Prada was much more then just ORIENTALIST, with a vibrant collection with strong contrast and sharp & graphic silhouettes. In these outfits we see a glint of the well spread oriental inspiration shining though with opulent, high tech embellishment. Marni also joined this direction.
Many designers explored a dark color palette, but the DARK VISION of Dolce & Gabbana was at the same time an Italianate vision of palazzo life. They showed, as Bottega Veneta and Aquilano.Rimondi did, a more costume message.
Sportmax explored details in martial arts dress forms and applied these to a TECHNO FORWARD collection, combining natural and tech materials with retro futurist flavor. As did Fendi and Max Mara.
Raf Simons at Jil Sander was one of the designers for whom it was ALL ABOUT BEAUTY, both impeccably tailored and meltingly soft. Bottega Veneta presented a more powerful woman, but also beautiful in every detail.
Missoni, Roberto Cavalli and Fendi showed their NATURALIST character by applying their masterful crafts to nature’s textures, weaving an urban wardrobe out of wood, stone, fur, tree bark, and mica-sparkled minerals.
Milan’s collections where strong, spirited and powerful.
Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam
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Round Up New York ss2012
September 20, 2011 by Jetty
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, New York, Stijlspot, Stylespot, womenswear
The good news is that the NY spirit was more optimistic and colourful, decorative and creative then we have seen for a long time. The big news was digital printing. But how new was that? We recognised many inspirations from previous seasons from various hands. Repeated looks and themes where blended, swirled and twisted. It was like everything was like anything and everybody inspired everyone and all collections of previous seasons came together for a cheerful remembrance party. But yet we still would like to point out some clear leads.
SPORTS VIBE
With Alex Wang at the forefront, this shows the feel for active and performing, technical fabrics. It’s very sports inspired, with racy details and closures and fuelled with sensuality.
TRIBAL
Proenza Schouler and Donna Karen hit the road with rattan and raffia tribal patterns in an African ethnic palette.
ARTIFICIAL CHIC
Marc Jacobs didn’t want things to feel real and they didn’t. Reminiscent of Prada he played with plastics and high sheen, sparkling surface effects and all kinds of innovative finishing. Dazzle and flash.
DIGITIZE
Why did it take that long and why does it stay that close to the pavement laid out by those great pioneers, Alexander McQueen and Mary Katranzou. Lovely, happy and very exiting though.
RETRO HOLIDAY
This theme shares with us moments of nostalgia and makes us long for times that were innocent and frivolous. Holiday forever in these not just referenced, yet simple literary quoted historic silhouettes.
And it just can be that you find al those influences passing by in one single catwalk show, serving collections like ‘grand desserts’.
Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam
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Round Up Paris FW2011
March 15, 2011 by Jetty
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, Paris, Stylespot, womenswear
There was nothing girly on the catwalks in Paris during the fall 2011-presentations. In fact, it was a very mature look: elegant, dressed-up and in control. Collections that moved from 30′s to 60′s. Strict tailoring created sober and understated silhouettes and the bold sculpturing reminded us more then once of former Balenciaga collections. Apart from these ‘heritage collections’ with their disciplined sobriety there was sheer doom and gloom. As if Paris sensed darker emotions this season compared to New York, Milan and London. We were delighted to meet sudden touches of glam, an unexpected hint of glitter, adventurous flashes of plastic and a single humorous touch.
GEOMETRIC
Lot’s of graphic, androgynous suiting plus black and white blocking. YSL fused rigorous elegance to masculine flair.
HAUTE BOURGEOIS
Prim suits and proper coordinates. Miu Miu more elegant then ever which confirmed the trend for a more grown up and dressed up look.
SOBRIETY: Minimalism to be continued. Precious sober looks, precise, careful and well balanced.
MINIMALISM
At Celine – where sobriety was conceived, there was this constant feel for minimalism: understated sensible shapes that made her simple fur coats look extravagant. She signs for another season of flawless and streamlined urban uniform dressing.
MODERN GLAM
The look that inspired us most. Where doom and gloom, from grunge to Goth, proved itself as a genuine Paris catwalk trend, Haider Ackerman turned it into a feasible and desirable inspiration. Glamorous in precious jewel shades, wrapped and draped generously in fluid silks.
Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam.
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Round Up Milan FW2011
March 2, 2011 by Jetty
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, Milan, Stylespot, womenswear
All lovely femininity and seduction is what we perceived past week in Milan. This is definitely part of the Milan signature. Here are some linking influences to round up Milan: a shared sense of nostalgia, amazing fabrics (it’s all in the mix) and exiting colour schemes.
Gucci and Prada put a big mark on this Milan season. They are the runners up in the 5 influences we like to quote.
SIXTIES Prada moved us towards the 60s and 70s, some literary references like dropped waists with big, low-slung belts and chunky buttons. But most of all innovative and refreshing.
GLAM: Gucci reinforces the 20′s, 30′s feel, which was already strong in NY, and this was done masterful in an amazing mix of saturated shades, topped with lush fur and loads of feminine flair.
SOFT COLOUR: a statement made by Missoni, new hues which will surely be of influence in the near fashion future.
MASCULINE/FEMININE: Ferragamo played the masculine against the feminine wonderfully and we’ve seen more of these androgynous twists at Dolce & Gabana, Dsquared² and Sportmax.
SHINE: when it came to all the shiny surface effects, another BIG issue, Etro, the master of print, was one of the many designers who showed these artfully.
One last remark! Long lengths, extremely long, but still (we didn’t count) we’re sure Milan showed more knee then NY. We guess since most designers are referencing towards a more recent era.
Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam.
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Round Up New York FW 2011
February 21, 2011 by Jetty
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, New York, Stylespot, womenswear
True fashion was passing by at the New York runways last week. Where most NY seasons were steady and quiet and new vibes where found in Paris, we now already picked up on some highly influential directions. Here’s our round up so far:
DIGI CRAFT, omnipresent digitised tribal inspirations in techno crafted fabric mixtures:
PRAIRY ROMANCE, touch of nostalgia, devoted to crafts, with some clear inspiration coming from ‘the west’:
Tacky DRESSED-UP looks, showing longer lengths, with quite a dose of reminiscence, here prim and curvaceous, in lovely lush lace looks:
TECH FAB, staging lovely mixtures of high tech fabrics like plastics and latex, mixed with precious wool, silk and laces:
Followed by LUX SPORT, series of luxurious, very feminine, city sportswear, with the parka as hot item, in again interesting mixes of textures:
That might have been IT at New York runway shows; fabric looks where eye-popping.
Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam
