Gareth Pugh Video Fashion Paris SS2011

For now the British designer Gareth Pugh sticks with video to present his collection. Not that it’s cheaper or saves time, but it makes him show and express his collection in the way he wants it.

Every now and then a designer is experimenting with video. Those clips are great to watch, but it somehow leaves you unsatisfied. It’s the tension in the room, the music, the smell of clothes and  everything that gets together during a show that creates that special vibe. But anyway, Pugh made a wonderful 11 minutes videoclip starring Kirsten McMenamy. Filmmaker Ruth Hogben was responsible for the short movie and in an interview with the International Herald Tribune she said: “I was completely led by Gareth’s designs. I try to make a representation of every piece of fabric, every shape and sculpture. I am trying to convey Gareth’s world. I play with scale, physically some parts are quite claustrophobic. There is a lot of freedom, depth and space — a vast, endless infinity of the world.”

Nick Knight, who will present the video at www.SHOWstudio.com, is a great instignator of fashion on film. In the IHT he explained why: “Firstly, it is a true artistic expression that the designers can control,” he said. “Secondly they can get so many more people, from 300 to three million. And because — although it hasn’t happened yet — designers will want to sell their clothes.”

The collection is built around modular jackets, rubberized neoprene, stretch silk jersey and high-tech effects of geometric silicone pattern and digitally printed clothes. It is possible to order the garments directly while watching the video online.

(Pictures: Gareth Pugh Lookbook)

Daily favorites in Paris

Every day there is a short list of favorites I’ve seen at the shows. Yesterday the collection of Dries really stood out because of his extra-ordinairy and casual mix of masculine and feminine looks, especially the oversized jackets I loved.

I was also struck by the hair and make up at Limi Feu, the big wide curly hair, one eye hidden and the other made up with black eyeliner and a thick layer of mascara. An the soundtrack was great too, classical music mixed with phrases sung by Billy Holiday.

The day ended with Rue du Mail by Martine Sitbon. The designer played with sheer, colored layers over black or cream dresses. My favorite is the blue dress with visible seams and pleats. The layering look very dynamic and modern.

Hakaan Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

Hakaan Yildirim was this year’s winner of the french Andam-award and the designer – with roots in Turkey and based in London – presented a solid collection in head to toe cream or black for the first time in Paris. He must be a hot ticket, since he somehow managed to get supermodels like Daria Werbowy to walk the show. She opened the show in a slouchy jacket and tapering trousers.

His overall look was minimalist-sexy, with a long elongated silhouette and floorsweeping mermaid dresses. He also presented tunics and minidresses asymmetrical cut and with pleated inserts.

Rochas Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

For his Spring Summer 2011 Collection for Rochas Marco Zanini was inspired by a recent trip to his mother’s country of origin Sweden. In the small town of Fjakelmyra he met local artist Slotts Barbro who is well-known for her traditional canvas prints and asked her to create some exclusive prints for Rochas.

To these typical Swedish prints poetic phrases of French writer Françoise Sagan were added as: “Les merveuilleux nuages” or “Dans un mois, dans un an..” on head scarves, skirts, dresses, and knitted cardigans.

Another eminent pattern, besides the Swedish folkloric print, was a peonies floral print from the early 20th century Bucol archive. Long silk satin slip dresses were washed, hung to dry without ironing to give them a vintage boudoir feel.

The color palette ranged from Indigo blue, mud brow, chartreuse yellow to grass green.

Zanini played with all different kinds of silk: silk satin for dresses and blouses, taffeta for flower printed full skirts, hand-punched silk shantung to give texture to a white full dress, lightweight woven raw silk with topstitched silk lining for loose jackets. The overall mood of the collection was romantic and a bit folkloric.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

The oversized jacket at Dries van Noten set the tone of his spring summer collection. No firework of colors, no frills. It turned out to be a quiet, almost poetic collection with elements of workwear (jeans, heavy cotton), chinoiserie (the kimono-dresses, flowerprints, the silk) and menswear.

Colors were light, almost etheral – the lightest tints of gray, yellow, pink and blue – slightly turning into heavier shades, there was also a lot of white, denimblue, marine and black. The mix felt very contemporary and cosmopolitan, like the high-waisted pencilskirts with kimono-blouses or the couture-like tunic with wide pants.

Dries van Noten continues to mix streetinfluences in his collections, like he did this winter with the armywear. It gives his soft voiced style a modern toughness.

Bonjour Paris!

Bonjour Paris! Having breakfast at the courtyard of Hotel d’Albion, the temporary headquarters of Team Peter Stigter. Discusisng the schedule for today with runner Muriel Schouten, streetfashionphotographer Joris Bruring, chef de bureau Lisa Klappe, colleague Jonas Gustavsson and editor Jetty Ferwerda. Peter Stigter is there of course, he took the picture.

Check out the blog daily. Our plans for today: Rochas, Dries van Noten, Gareth Pugh and we take a look at the show of good old Pierre Cardin – see what he’s up to.

On our way to Paris

Yesterday Peter and his colleague Jonas took the train from Milan to Paris, a 7 hour drive with stops in the Alps.

Armani Prive Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Bad news for the brown-, black- and red-haired models who wanted to walk in Armani’s couture show. The Italian designer chose to work only with blonde models this time. He gave them all a classic and feminine look, with a business touch.

The girls wore Armani classics; skirts at a decent knee-length and perfectly tailored jackets. One black croco leather jacket with a waist belt worn over it looked stunning.

The theme of the collection was ‘A play on amber’. This was visible in the large wooden and amber brooches Armani put on his jackets. They were the perfect classic accessory and really made the looks work.

For evening Armani brought on the floor sweeping dresses, mostly in brown and beige like the rest of this couture collection. They all flared out form the bust down. Armani used some gorgeous draping on the dresses. He played with materials like tweed and cashmere. And he ended the show with some mermaid dresses covered in thousands of shiny sequins.

Christian Dior Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

John Galliano kicked of the haute couture fashion week with a ‘flowerful’ collection. His creations were based on the most exotic flowers. They had outstanding shapes (resembling the shapes of famous flowers) and gorgeous colors (yellow, purple, cobalt blue, turquoise and red).

To stress the floral theme large flowers were the backdrop of this couture show. Plus, the model’s heads were packed in colorful plastic, like bouquets.

Galliano came up with his designs after studying real flowers for hours and hours. He for instance watched the light change on a tulip, which resulted in some stunning shades and a few amazing degrade effects.

Galliano paid attention to every details of his couture gowns. The ruffles, the feathers, the pleats and the lovely volume of his dresses were all close to perfection.

On the night of the next big gala event, Blake Lively, Jessica Alba, and Lou Doillon, who attended the show, will be fighting over these smoking hot couture creations.

Jan Taminiau Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Next week we will have to miss him at the Amsterdam Fashion Week. But this week Jan Taminiau gave his audience in Paris a good look at his great couture collection.

His latest work seemed to be an homage to and a reflection of couture. No mass fashion but craftsmanship and attention and love for qualitative goods are the things Jan Taminiau sees in his future.

And with this theme Jan gives his view on the future, the past and the now. Therefore the collection was all about reflection. Jan played with classical silhouettes, accessories and poses and made them modern again. His silhouettes were tall, small and slender and gave the models a certain status.

His creations didn’t have a lot of color. They were made out of grey, light pink and nudes. They were never boring though; Jan embellished them with small sparkles. Sometimes only on the upper body, sometimes all over the fabric.

Like we see in fashion right now the shoulders of most of the outfits were highlighted. Yet instead of the sharp, pointy shoulders we now see in stores, Jan designed round shoulders in more of a couture style.

All looks were finished by large hats out of which slim ponytails appeared. They made the looks feel heroic.

Too bad Jan Taminiau doesn’t show in Amsterdam this season, his collection looked stunning.

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