Costume National Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

Yes it was a dark collection, but it was an elegant kind of dark. So instead of studded rough leather designer Ennio Capasa created gracefully cut leather pieces, that formed rich details on skirts, coats and pants. And not only the leather was in perfect ‘shape’; every single item in the show was perfection. We would love to get our hands on those majestic coats, powerful pleated pants and minimalistic dresses. The only few items that were a bit off were a series of see through turtle necks, with tape on them to cover the models nipples. The rest of the collection proved Capasa is classier than that and a more subtle kind of sheerness suits him and his Costume National women way better.

Comme des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

It was basically a two-dimensional collection that Comme des Garcons sent out yesterday.A play with volume, color and pattern. The first model that stepped at the basic, unfinished plywood catwalk wore a bright red coat, big and bold when viewed full frontal and flattened in profile. Next came another coat, in pink, later a pink-and-blue circle frock. The show was an explosion of outsized graphic precision and vibrant color. With their their bright plastic helmet bobs atop clothes cut big and flat, the models looked like paper dolls.

Fabrics were structured and in clear, dense hues. Patterns – dots and flowers – were mega-big. After the flat textures came shine and a small group of girls covered in rose prints with their faces hidden in the fabric.

Streetfashion Paris Womenswear FW2012 Day 4

What are you wearing during the fashionweeks? Your Miu Miu-shoes, your latest Jil Sander-jacket or that vintage Gucci? 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: Paris Fashion Week.

First View Paris Womenswear FW2012: Fierce

Ferocious, brave, powerful and slightly provocative. Clearly a ‘so what, don’t mess with me’, attitude. An expression of exalted womanliness in a stunning range of fierce brights is headed by Lanvin.

A generous emphasis on the curves, hourglass silhouettes and flared frocks that flow from the hips. Silhouettes are rounded, curvaceous and body enhancing. Nothing sweet about these dresses and suits though. Graphic cut outs, chunky mesh and lace layers and inserts, sculptural ruffles, flounces and peplums combined with bare or rounded exaggerated shoulder parts.

Lanvin excels in intense, delicious colors in a quest to reshape women. Yohji Yamamoto goes for contrast in streetwise silhouettes where he wraps models in red jerseys wearing flat combat boots. Balenciaga adds a surrealist touch to a traditional evening wear silhouette, sculpted it in futuristic fabrics. Mugler stays close to its roots staging super heroines shoulders and a body-loving cut.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

Jean Paul Gaultier Catwalk Fashion Show FW2012

Tough, funky, crazy, grungy, four words to describe the Jean Paul Gaultier that was a little bit of everything. The French artist showed suits, leather jacket, lots of coats and some evening dressed.

Dark leather looks were followed by bright animal details (snake prints and fur) and later changed into metallic velvet pieces. All looks were very much layered. And the strangest clothing combinations popped up. Like a leather jacket worn over a suit, a parka combined with a LBD and his beloved trench coat turned into a skirt.

The collection felt young, indicated by the models duo colored hair, graffiti printed outfits and in your face fur. On the catwalk looks might seem a little over the top, but if you leave out the crazy JPG styling you’ll end up with some great, quite wearable show stopping pieces.

 

 

Loewe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

Combine fifties silhouettes with sportive materials and you get a collection like Stuart Vevers presented for Loewe today. A circle skirt matched perfectly with a darkcolored baseball jacket, a woolen coat was matched with a leather cap and thick leather jackets accentuated the models’ feminine curves.
Vevers used wool and fur, but it was a parade of leather really. Embossed leather skirts, leather sleeved baseball jackets, slim fit leather dresses, shiny capes and not to mention those handbags.
It might have been a very dark collection; the styling, the fresh make-up and the on trend sportive touches made it into a balanced fall/winter story.

Junya Watanabe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

Junya Watanabe was in the mood for sartorial elegance in a mannish way, which resulted in a collection with strong tailoring and couturelike precision. Lots of  formfitting coat in a men’s check, cinched dresses in heavier fabrics, or a checked coat with a dress that combined a gray bodice in a heavy cloth with a voluminous  orange skirt in velvet.
Watanabe’s outerwear had trenchcoats with volume, as well as a trench-cape and a few blazer coats, which looked as though he stitched together a fitted jacket and a skirt in the same fabric.

Viktor & Rolf catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

At Viktor & Rolf a full moon set the mood for mysterious show. It was opened by an unlighted moving catwalk on which models posed in their structured looks. Seeing those silhouettes move across the backdrop you knew you were in for another V&R spectacle.

In line with the silky pajama for day wear trend the Dutch designers sent their first few girls on the runway in silk printed and draped ones. Extremely luxury pj’s those were with sparkly collars and fur cuffs. V&R even added some of their larger than life details, like enormous sleeves attached to the models shoulders like a sort of cape.

Everything that followed, the suits, the shorts and sheer tops, coats and evening dress, played with volume and the mixing of materials. The designers showed contrast by combining sheer delicate pieces with touches of raccoon and mink fur.

Shaved, structured fur (in stead of cute and fluffy) that is, which took the Dutch duo months to develop. It made up for the distinctive, statuesque V&R look, the theatrical touch they often add to their collections. Still, this show felt different. Looks seemed to be less about the art and spectacle and just a little bit more about wearability.

A smart move, if you ask us. We’ll probably see the Dutch brand pop up more often and other celebs than today’s front row guest Katy Perry will have a mysterious moment dressed in V&R.

Haider Ackermann Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

Again Haider Ackermann presented an intriguing and beautiful collection. Ackermann’s sent out an message of power-chic fueled by both dark and artful undercurrents. A lean, even severe silhouette dominated, sometimes cinched with a sharply geometric corset belt. Ackermann incorporated serious volume and a fascination with the lower torso. This resulted in tiered and sculpted peplums, hip adornments and leathers that pushed out from the waist to be cut away into dramatic front tails. Ackermann softened it up with hooded coats and long dresses. The  colors were magical, with oranges, reds, blues and purples against earthy neutrals.

First View Paris Womenswear FW2012: Pastel Beauty

As Suzy Menkes questions in the NY Times: ‘Is it inevitable in a time of economic depression that fashion takes a backward look at similar moments in past? So much has changed that it is a designer’s tough task to make references relevant.’

Historic Dior, the New Look, hit the runway. Faultless collections, as icons of couture craftsmanship in impeccable tailoring, express lightness in a tender palette of soft powder-pinks. The focus is on the waist and skirts are full or flared and over-the-knee, in chiffons, silks and layers of tulle. Less exquisite and full-blown as in the 40s, making place for a contemporary, stripped-down urban sense of luxury and soft modernity, yet still ultimately recognizable.

Roland Mouret shows smart sculpted peplum silhouettes with a lady like elegance, Nina Ricci’s designer Peter Copping did find the right twist to turn the historic into the contemporary. Barbara Bui entered a more free-flowing craft aspect in a skin shaded sensual silhouette, where Bill Gaytten stays closest to the Dior heritage without obviously taking a 21^st century turn.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

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