Topmodel of the week: Freja Beha Erichsen

If you’re a fashion fan you must have heard about Freja Beha Erichson. This week we’ll tell you all about this Danish supermodel.

Name: Freja Beha Erichsen

Age: 22

Date of Birth: October 18, 1987

Place of Birth: Roskilde, Denmark

Discovered: Discovered on the streets in Denmark by a modelling agent passing by in a taxi. She was still in high school by that time.

Runway debut: Freja made her debut as a model in 2005 at the fall Paris and Milan shows of Prada, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu. She even had the honour to open those shows.

Breakthrough: 2005

City: Freja now lives in New York , she has her own apartment which she renovated herself.

Fashion shows: Freja has been walking shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris.
She has walked in shows for Roberto Cavalli, Balenciaga, Burberry, Chanel, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Etro, Fendi, Gianfranco Ferre, Alberta Ferretti, Gucci, Hermes, Marc Jacobs, Max Mara, Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Isabel Marant, Marni, Sonia Rykiel, Stella McCartney, Miu Miu, Pucci, Jil Sander, Valentino and Versace.

Last season (fall/winter 2010/2011) she opened the shows of Isabel Marant, Gucci and Max Mara,

Covers:  Freja has appeared on many cover of prestigious fashion magazines. We saw her on Vogue (US, Paris, British, Russia, China, Nippon) and on Harper’s Bazaar, Interview Magazine, and Numero.

• She won the Best Danish Model award at Dansk Fashion Awards in Copenhagen
• She was ranked 3rd on the Top 50 Models Women List by models.com
• Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.

Ad campaigns:  Just like Natasha Poly Freja Beha is one of the faces of the fragrance Gucci by Gucci. She was the face of a Calvin Klein fragrance called IN2U too. We saw her in ads for H&M, Vov and Chloe. She also appears to be one of Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite models and therefore has had a special role during the Chanel fashion shows and can be seen in the Chanel ad campaigns.

TV Commercials: Gucci by Gucci fragrance (2007), IN2U by Calvin Klein (2007).

Agencies:  IMG  (London, Milan, New York, Paris), Dominique Models (Brussels), Unique Models (Denmark)

Quotes:

• ‘Sneakers are my favorite pair of shoes, they’re so comfortable.’
• ‘I love all kinds of food and I usually eat four to five times each day. I love to taste different sorts of food when I travel, but my mother’s food is the best’

Extra:

• Remarkably several designers named one of their designs after Freja Beha. There is a Jill Stuart Freja Handbag, a Chloe Freja clutch and a Alexander Wang Lace-up stiletto boot.
• Freja has sixteen tattoos, but she says they don’t affect her work because they’re easily concealed.
• Freja enjoys listening to music of PJ Harvey, the Danish group Kira and the Kindred Spirits, Janis Joplin and Jeff Buckley.
• Freja has brown hair. It was long before, but after she established herself as a model, she cut it off.
• Freja has a really low voice.
• People say Freja is gay, but she never fully admitted that.
• Freja wanted to become a rock star (singer) before.
• Freja doesn’t do more than three fashion shows a day any more.
• Freja’s clothing style (off-duty) is very basic and even a little boyish.
• Her favorite brand is: Rag & Bone (to work for in NY), Acne (to wear herself).

Streetstyle vs. Catwalk fashion

Each fashion season we all get very much inspired by the collections presented on the catwalk. After New York, London, Milan and Paris we have new creative ideas and we have picked up the trends we will probably be wearing a season later. So there’s no doubt fashion designers create trends or at least a certain style.

Yet it’s also true that a big part of  fashion starts on the street. What people wear in their daily lives is a starting point for fashion too. Whether it’s your grandma walking her dog in a floral printed skirt, your father in one of his suits or your neighbour is a pair of old school jeans. Every kind of streetwear can be the beginning of a fashion trend.

During the fashion weeks our team always spots the most fashionable people outside the fashion shows. They wear clothes not everyone dares to wear. Their streetstyle is often bright-colored, crazy-shaped and remarkably printed. Not to mention their shoes and accessories.

To show you that streetwear can be an inspiration for fashion designers we selected six outfits that were seen in the streets as well as on the runway.

Anna dello Russo worked a golden dress that could just have walked out of the Gianfranco Ferre show. The lollipop pink she chose for another dress was Lindsay Lohna’s color-choice for Ungaro too. The red leopard print Dolce & Gabbana introduced, was seen on a pair of streetstyle pants. And of course the style of a tweed Chanel suit can always be seen on a chic lady somewhere in the streets.

The most Gaga-worthy outfits for SS2010

There’s no doubt Lady Gaga’s success has something to do with the way she dresses. From day one she has looked out of the ordinary with her structured creations, body-exposing outfits and crazy headgear. She has been wearing those extreme designer outfits no one dares to wear in public and therefore she’s always in the news…

We’ve seen Lady Gaga in Armani prive, Gareth Pugh, Jeremy Scott, Chanel and Hussein Chalayan to name a few. The pop-diva has also worn some Viktor & Rolf creations before. The Dutch designers even got to make an outfit for Gaga’s video Telephone. But apart from all those designs, we think there are many more looks that would get Lady Gaga’s approval.

Out of all the spring/summer fashion shows we selected the most Gaga-worthy outfits. Those pieces mostly have crazy shapes, they show a lot of skin and several times they go with an eye-catching headpiece.

We selected multiple black body-revealing dresses with cut-outs, wholes and tears all over them (Asish, Byblos, Julian Macdonald, Mark Fast).

We picked out over the top hats from Aguggini (large with zebra-print), Jean Paul Gaultier (blue with Napoleon shape), Givenchy (shape of a lamp shade) and Watanabe (strange kind of turban).

We chose for two designs with accentuated shoulders. At Ilincic the shoulders were huge and made out of feathers, at Todd Lynn they resembled shark fins.

The opted for the Giles dress because of the big spiders and we picked Julian Macdonald’s dress because of the scales. Alexander McQueen’s outfits need no explanation; Gaga has already worn one of those (incl. the crazy shoes) in her video Bad Romance and we think Gaga would actually love to wear all of his designs.

Unfortunately Gaga’s on-and-off boyfriend Matthew Williamson didn’t design anything kinky that that would suit her. Yet we think there’s more than enough to choose from for the 23-year old singer. And if she doesn’t find the right outfit, she can always ask a designer to make one for her. Cause designers understand that Lady Gaga wearing one of your outfits is good publicity and they’ll do anything to make that happen.

Catwalktrends SS2010: yellow-inspiration

Still suffering from a small winter depression? Just looking through the photos from this trend report will brighten up your day!

The trend for this spring/summer we’re discussing is the color yellow. From pastel to ochre to gold, it was there in many SS2010 fashion shows. It proved to be a good color to combine with other shades like blue, purple, green and red. Yet a completely yellow outfit can be very inspiring as well.

Emilio Pucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta used yellow in it’s brightest variant and showed blondes and brunettes can look equally sexy in this summery shade.

Which yellow item will you add to your wardrobe? The Dsquared jacket, the Jean Paul Gaultier bangles, the Marc Jacobs top or the Tartan Anna Sui skirt?

In any case, it won’t matter if the sun is shining this summer as long as you’re working your yellow fashion!

The best of New York Fashion Week FW2010

New York doesn’t always have the best brands showing their new collections. Still some labels left a big impression on us at the latest New York Fashion Week during which the fall/winter collections for 2010/2011 were shown.

Marc Jacobs
One of the highlights certainly was Marc Jacobs’ fashion show. Not only did the designer create a buzz around his show by starting a contest on Twitter only three weeks before the show. The beginning of the show was also very spectacular, with the 56 models all standing in a box on the stag  wrapped in brown paper. The show started on time, ’cause there were no celebrities invited and we loved the fact that Somewhere over the rainbow was played. The song brought back good memories while Marc Jacobs brought back old trends. He showed many items of his nearly two-decade repertoire. He stressed the fact that he didn’t want his clothes to look new. They were fashionable but were ‘not trying too hard to be so’. The clothes looked conservative, pure and simple and had a vintage vibe going on. The waists were raised and the A-line was back. And we just let us carry away by the music, the romantic clothes and the serene atmosphere. We loved it!

Rodarte
Another NY show that breathed serenity was Rodarte. The models appeared in beige, nude and floral printed designs, while candles were burning and dripping in the background. The models’ glow in the dark heels represented dripping candles as well. It all fit perfectly with Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s idea of sleepwalking.  The clothes had a suitable dreamlike quality. Rodarte’s craftsmanship was better than ever, the patchworks looked cheerful, and the knits seemed very wearable. Especially the ending was magical when four models in long white dresses stood in the center of the catwalk.

Calvin Klein
From the romantic atmosphere at Rodarte we go to a modern looking Calvin Klein show. And thus we switch from Rodarte’s candlelight to bright techno light moving to the beat of Calvin Klein’s music. Calvin Klein’s show was memorable for it’s diverse models; eighties supermodels like Stella Tennant and Kirsten McMenamy walked alongside young, upcoming models. There were a lot of coats, many designs had round shoulders and we saw some interesting textures. The clothes were also very streamlined, they had sterile shapes and didn’t have a lot going on. And since everyone is so fond of the minimalistic look at the moment, continuing his simplistic and sober style was a smart idea of head designer Francisco Costa.

Michael Kors
A last highlight of the New York fashion week for us was the show of Michael Kors. It was actually quite the opposite of Calvin Klein’s sober collection. Michael Kors’ designs represented luxury and wealth. He showed us how glamorous sportswear can look. His materials looked exquisite, his camel clothes made us green with envy and his enormous fur coats had our full attention. The collection was loaded with must-haves for the rich and famous and Kors proved a winter collection can be very very sexy.

So these four different brands amazed us, made us smile and frown and let us think twice about fashion. The four collections were very diverse and yet equally likeable. It shows fashion is never about just one vision; it can be interpreted in a thousand different ways.

Streetfashion FW2010 New York Day 5

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Balenciaga-heels, your latest Marni-dress or that vintage YSL? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks we refresh our streetwear posts regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: New York.

Calvin Klein Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

For the Calvin Klein fashion show young and old models were united. Doutzen Kroes was in the audience and watched topmodels from the 80’s/90’s, Kirsten McMenamy (1966) and Stella Tennant (1970), strolling down the runway. They walked in the show right next to beginning models such as Karlie Kloss (1992) and Dutch model Gwen Loos (1993).

All girls had the androgynous look (which made McMenamy and Tennant so famous) going on: their hair was combed backwards and their clothes were kind of stiff.

It was clear Francisco Costa let his clothes speak for themselves. He didn’t send anything on the runway that could distract you from that. So, no accessories, no bags, no special make-up, no crazy poses, just Calvin Klein fashion like we know it.

The designer came up with a few non-waisted woollen coats. Their shoulders were rounded and the sleeves were wide. Those coats were shown in black, brown and white. And apart from a blue and a lilac colored dress all designs came in those neutral shades.

Costa’s streamlined shift dresses and coats all ended just above the knee. Besides, his clothes were all pretty loose fitting so the collection did lack some sex appeal. The designer did use some shiny black and white (almost silver) silk for his pants, blouses and dresses. He also added a few sparkles on the last designs of his collection but it didn’t make a lot of difference.

Two good things about the clothes are (1) in a room full of people they won’t attract all the attention towards you and (2) you are never showing too much skin when you’re wearing them. Yet you’d have to have a strong, expressive personality to make some of the looks work.

Ralph Lauren Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

After his ode to the American workers during the Depression, Ralph Lauren decided to take a more romantic road to fashion. The collection looked almost vintage Ralph Lauren, with its dark Edwardian touch, lots of velvet, black, burgundy and flowerprints.This is a style we know so well and which made him famous.

Ralph Lauren’s skill is to make the predictable look fresh. But he also to adds a discreet sexual vibe to male/female combinations. Jodhpurs curved to the waist and velvet vests were bodyhugging. The outerwear was plentiful, strong and mannish.

Long chiffon skirts and dresses reminded of Lauren’s favorite prairie-dresses, they were often mixed with long coats.

Philip Lim Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

Every fashioncity has its darlings. Philips Lim is one of the darlings of New York. Not because he is so brilliant and original, but because he knows how to sell clothes. The Chinese American Phillip Lim has a major in business at California State University and that shows.

American fashion generally puts pragmatism ahead of pyrotechnics; Lim more than most. That can make his shows seem like a series of ticked boxes rather than an experience. Mohair? Got it. Céline-esque camel drenched minimalism? Check.   Those winter 2010 trends kept on coming. Jersey, fur trims, trouser suits, low-shine sequins, sheepskin-lined biker jackets, animal prints. Sometimes it makes you a bit grumpy because it is almost predictable.

After launching his label six years ago, Lim now sells in more than 400 stores around the world and it’s not hard to see why. In real life the clothes work just fine. Lim has a knack for combining cute with chic.

Proenza Schouler Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

After a few sexy and dangerous looking collections  Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez gave their women more clothes to wear this fall. They layered her with staple pieces like swinging coats, cashmere sweaters and bubble-skirted dresses.

Of course the collection had some special details like the rubber printed cotton twill pants with black and white inkblots  These were cool, but the skirts that followed were better:  pleated or folded, in navy and green. Very girlish.

The designers also picked up on the season’s fur theme, but there were coats in alpaca too and dresses in black and white angora. The chic little  dresses that closed the show hit a high note.

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