RVDK Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

Dutch designer RVDK/Ronald van der Kemps message is still the same: the only sustainable way forward is by making the most of what’s in front of you. And you don’t need to know about his stance on sustainability to enjoy his work, but it certainly gives it added relevance at a time where H&M sits on $4.3 billion worth of unsold inventory. Through this iteration of his upcycled collage of vintage fabric finds and unusual materials, van der Kemp zeroed in on the idea of disposable clothes, opposing the paper dresses of the Sixties to the “disposable clothes on the high street.”
He draws together his repurposed material in a joyous clash that imparts a perpetual of-the-moment feel. As ever, he remains undaunted at the idea of offering outré pairings, or of being handed materials others may consider subpar.

Iris van Herpen Catwalk Couture Show Paris FW2018

In a world facing depleted natural resources, Iris van Herpen’s fascinating biomimicry world looks increasingly relevant. As the movement for lab-grown materials continues to gather momentum, van Herpen this season explored synthetic biology and the intertwining relationships between the organic and the inorganic, biology and technology. The designer even had a term for it: “Syntopia.”
As a prelude, she handed the floor to like-minded Amsterdam-based artist duo Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta of Studio Drift to create a kinetic sculpture. Suspended above the runway — and based on the concept of a glass bird — the installation was composed of rows of glass bars suspended by invisible wires that made them move like wings. It made for some novel runway entertainment, but the show really took flight with van Herpen’s creations based on interpretations of a feather’s architecture.
The designer used chronophotography, a technique from the Victorian era that captures movement in several frames, to guide the draping of a garment, breaking the process down to emulate the layering of a bird’s feather on sculpted dresses with undulating hems.
Other looks had an ethereal underwater feel, seen in rippling dresses with a classical allure, and luminous cape gowns in sheer silk organza, their liquid-coated pleats echoing the lines of the kinetic installation.
The Syntopia theme also played out in a series of gray coats and dresses in laser-cut wool fused with sections of intertwined digitally designed and traditional weaves, fringes of leather tassels swinging from the hems.

M-ODE Amsterdam: An Introduction

Like any other year this week the Westergasterrein is (more or less) our temporary office. Yet this time around we’re based here for something other than Amsterdam Fashion Week. It’s M-ODE and it’s first edition of We Make M-ODE (part of We Make the City) that has us and other fashion professionals and fanatics gathered at the Westergasfabriek the upcoming days.

M-ODE is a completely new fashion initiative by fashion teacher Peter Leferink (48) and former Amsterdam Fashion Week director Iris Ruisch (43). It is a foundation which focuses on sustainability and therefore each and every fashion show, presentation or event this week is sustainable in a way. Whether it is a designer who chooses not to produce new collections every other season, a design collective producing eco-fabrics or someone like Bas Kosters who produces his new collection out of old (not sold Kingsday) clothes.

A fashion event with a 5 day programme like M-ODE turned out to be wasn’t even what Iris and Peter had in mind when they first decided to join forces. But as they spoke to the first designers interested (a few of whom were planning on showing during Amsterdam Fashion Week in January anyway) more people become enthusiastic and new ideas kept coming. And so for four months straight it was like a M-ODE roller coaster for Iris and Peter. Apart from fashion shows at the Westergasfabriek – with Bas Kosters’ show on Saturday evening being the biggest spectacle – there are lots of sustainable activities organized. Like workshops, a clothing exchange market, readings and a sustainable fashion route leading consumers to workspaces and (pop-up) shops. Not just the Westergasfabriek, but VondelCS and het Bos en Lommerplein have their own activities organized as well.

If you’d look at the schedule you’d hardly believe that M-ODE didn’t even start as an event hosting initiative. Supporting/coaching young fashion entrepreneurs for at least one and a maximum of three years, teaching them about the right balance between creativity, finance and the importance of collaborating, that is what Iris and Peter had in mind in the first place. A wonderful initiative that is off to a good start with a great first week filled with events . Stay tuned for more M-ODE updates on our Instagram, Facebook and blog.

We Make M-ODE, 20 t/m 24 juni, Amsterdam

 

 

DelPozo Catwalk Fashion Show London FW2018

The Spanish label DelPozo switched New York for London and staged the show at the Royal Institute of British Architects. The collection was about the fuse of nature and art, with happy colors and simple, curving lines that followed the shapes of the body.

Elegant and sculptural leather belts done in lily-pad shapes cinched many a trouser and dress waist while big faux-fur flowers — in electric blue or bougainvillea pink — sat on the collars of coats, or covered small clutch bags.
Color combinations were offbeat, with some working a treat, as in a marine blue A-line dress with a bright yellow collar, a long cinnamon coat with a pale blue flower belt, and a pink dress with feather-light red tulle panels at the side.

Other combinations veered more toward the Neapolitan ice cream sundae — in particular the light brown and yellow exploded hound’s tooth capes and the pink, camel and cream color blocks on an A-line dress and trousers.

Burberry Catwalk Fashion Show London FW2018

This was Christopher Baileys last collection for Burberry. het is saying goodbye after 17 years and this collection seemed a reflection on his own time at the company.He worked in elements from the Burberry archives, and even prints that Burberry had done under license in the Sixties and Seventies. There were looks from the Eighties, too, and many from his own tenure.

This season, Burberry also created a capsule of reissued pieces from the Eighties and Nineties that went on sale immediately, and is selling its Rainbow Check collection, part of an initiative to support charities that help LGBTQ.
That rainbow check — and others — featured prominently in Saturday’s outing, which had a streetwear feel — and a retro one, too, what with the baggy shell suits, oversize zip-front jackets and check jackets that recalled Burberry’s chav days. Some of Bailey’s greatest hits, including shearling aviator jackets, capes and ponchos, military great coats and shimmery cocktail dresses, also beat a path down the catwalk.

Highlights included the long, white skirts and dresses with rainbow flourishes, wool sweaters and coats with fabric paint spladges, and the long, rainbow patchwork cape, with check lining, modeled by Cara Delevingne — one of Bailey’s discoveries — at the end of the show.

Marc Jacobs Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2018

A true runway-collection that was what Marc Jacobs had in mind designing his fall 2018 collection. And what a runway-collection it was. He made his case for real fashion, fashion that’s not diluted or dumbed down, with an all-out, obvious homage to one of fashion’s greatest gods, and, at his height, most daring innovators, Yves Saint Laurent. This was Saint Laurent on steroids (with nods to one or two other designers), as Jacobs exploded proportions and dazzled with an audacious color sense to rival Saint Laurent’s own: maroon fake-fur chubbie over navy blouse, orange pants and purple sash; jade coat over hot pink blouse and berry-colored leather skirt (or was it pants?). Jacobs kept most volumes huge, the shoulders of myriad coats and jackets cut big, bigger, biggest, over high-waisted skirts and cropped, pleated pants, rounded through the hips. The grand stroke was everywhere, in huge flowers at the neck of a blouse or at the waist; a dolman sleeve with trumpet cuffs; an ebullient pouf on the bodice of a gown; high-drama, flat-brimmed hats. Occasionally, Jacobs worked in a body-con moment, dresses that lost volume but not impact. This was fashion to the max. A celebration of fashion.

Calvin Klein Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2018

Raf Simons marked his first year at Calvin Klein by filling the American Stock Exchange building with a silo’s worth of popcorn, not for people to eat but to wade through and sit in, for his fall show. This collection was about America.

The collection felt loaded with dark symbolism. With Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner sweaters, sinister but cozy homespun knitted ski hoods, Warhol silver foiled aprons, and prairie dresses done in subversive sheers or with cutouts at the breast. There was an abundance of oversized tailoring, ski sweaters, a leopard coat and wispy silk dresses printed to mimic classic American quilting patterns.

SiesMarjan Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2018

Sander Lak drew his audience during his show into a dream world of light and color that morphed from one tone to another.The room was bathed in blue, pink, purple and red lights that intensified the collection’s unusual palette — teal, sage green, brown and ombréd peach and ice blue, red and dusky blue. It looked beautiful, upbeat and very feminine.
Lak made everything look and feel soft — the (degradee) colors, the fabrics, the shapes. The hues melted into each other. Silhouettes came in fluid satin drapes and swirls, and furs — real and faux — added plush texture. The clothes don’t fall in line with any trend. Here, the looks had something in common with draped modern dance dresses cut with lots of movement. A spare jumpsuit topped with a fur stole would have qualified as minimal if not for its bell sleeves and bell-bottom legs. Shift dresses wrapped in tulle around the shoulders were pretty, interesting but not too out there, and there were lots of great coats — teddy bear furs and a holographic trench.

Victoria Beckham Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2018

Victoria Beckham’s collection have an adult, modernist sensibility and the designer has a lot to offer in the world of modest, minimalist-based clothes that aren’t prudish or boring.

He fall-show proved that again. The rustic, sort of English flavor of slate and mossy tailored coats with big belts that opened the show befitted Beckham’s British background. Stirrup pants and strangely appealing square-toe flats bisected by a long strap that jutted out over the arch of the foot formed the foundation of a strong coat story that continued throughout the 25-look lineup.

There was a leopard print chenille jacquard trench as well as a padded navy trench that was sporty but elegant. Actually, it’s a good way to summarize collection’s strengths. Colors were rich — deep green, brown, sapphire blue. Nothing was casual, but there was a cool relaxation to the attitude.

Bottega Veneta Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2018

Tomas Maier – the designer of Bottega Veneta, decided to present the fall-collection in New York because of the opening of a flagship-store in the Big Apple. Maier’s color-palette worked the wearable side of flamboyance — marigold, wine, purple and his silhouettes shunned citified cliché. He opted for relaxed shapes and intense surface interest. A skirt was embroidered with a demonstrative, artisanal riff on the cube motif. A dress featured two overlays of fabric cut away into geometric motifs; another contrasted shiny and velvet sequins. Fine outlines on dresses and skirts that at first glance looked like stitching were actually delicate chain embroideries.

While Maier referred to his tailoring as sharp, it had an off-beat zip, as in a double-breasted orange suit with multiple, demonstrative pockets. The coats were fabulous, almost all bonded fabrics that looked different outside and in, delivering that intimate luxury for which Bottega is famous: camel mohair and wool tiger stripes were bonded to satin; crinkled orchid satin to gray felt.

Maier’s men’s wear reflected a similar fusion of “notice me” confidence with adult sophistication. The designer focused on sportswear looks anchored by an impressive array of jackets and coats, including several shearlings printed with zebra stripes. The cube motif surfaced in a grid pattern etched on a red tailored jacket over bright yellow pants, as well as bold color blocks for pants and a coat.

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