Miu Miu Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2014

Miucca Prada presented a Miu Miu collection on top of this season’s trends: athletic practicality, fantastic knits and novelty furs, a subset of outerwear.
The attitude was perky and young, captured in neat, sporty nylon jackets layered over hooded windbreakers and quilted minis. They came in combinations of sweet pastels — white with pale pink, sea-foam green and baby blue — and classic bolds — gray with royal blue, kelly green and yellow — that were eventually gussied up with foiled brocades and chunky embroideries. Throughout, the slightly Sixties silhouettes suggested school uniforms, particularly the series of tailored gray wools and sweater-and-skirt looks.
Everything was highly wearable, utilitarian even, when it came to the long raincoats that came in clear plastic or traced with bright graphic stripes, and flat rubber rain boots.

First View Paris Womenswear FW2014: Knitdressing

 

Knitting is clearly a theme. We list here 4 designers, but can give you many more, who opt for the soft and cuddly. Staging strong women in tender knits, in all its textural and shapely variations.
Sonia Rykiel, plays with traditional body-wraps, all with a Rykiel wink and twist. Sleeve-scarves and semi-pelerines on layers of velours touch crafted jerseys. Stella McCartney’s chunky knit pyjama-style pants might become the seasonal must-have item. She manages to add some sex appeal to this snug look. Wrapping and knotting in a semi-relaxed way is obviously on trend.
Celine shows her knits sleek, lean and slender, in subtle glitz, vibrantly accessorized with crafted jewellery.
We see more artful knit representations at Issey Miyake. Mixing masterful layers of exquisite monochrome textured variations. Oversized blanket wraps, fluffy sweaters over silver sculpted pants.
But there is more – among them the surreal knitting at Viktor & Rolf combining crafted knits with digital cable-knit prints, and Haider Ackermann with sumptuous longer then long rib knitted sweaters and matching pants.
Knits intertwine the tough and the tender.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

Céline Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2014

The Céline-collection for fall 2014 was about diversity, starting with lady-like fit-and-flare coats with off-beat button treatments. That continued with portrait collar tops tucked into wide-legged trousers. This established a subtle retro vibe that went in and out.

The thirties were on Philo’s mind when she was first thinking about the collection, especially women like Hannah Höch and Lee Miller, pivotal figures in the Dada and surrealist art worlds.

Despite the masculine elements in the collection — the oversize, man-styled trousers – Philo’s preferred emphasis was the tenderness of the clothes. That translated into pieces that were very much crafted by hand rather than manufactured. They were as sensual as the tweed knits that pooled extravagantly over platform sandals, as textured as the hazy animal prints. Philo underscored the importance of nature with the lush greenery that sprouted along the catwalk. She imagined her woman running through fields. The clothes themselves often felt bursting with life, with seams feathering and fraying.

First View Paris Womenswear FW2014: Fearless

A fearless mash-up of fashion tribes, fetish dolls, couture fascination, safari chic and hip-hop style. What binds these collections it the extraordinary level of artisanship. These designers quote freely from their personal oeuvre and find ways to mix these with fresh tempting inspirations without loosing their identity.
Rick Owens stages his family tribes in futuristic war costumes. This silhouette actually being one of the single patterned items he showed, reminiscent of Star Wars snow patrols. Wearing slick leather pants, super power bracelets and protective funnel neck collars
Yohji shows us power dolls wrapped in densely padded pillows. Soft cocooning stealth-wear, fantastically trippy in happy handprints.
Raf Simons arms Christian Dior models with couture. Power dressing in layered vibrancy, linking seemingly endless side splits with embroidered decorations, rewriting the secret codes of couture.
Balmain’s designer Olivier Rousteing dresses his global army of freedom in a dramatic, military-turned-tribal collection. Here with optical leather weave wrap skirt topped with an electric pop of red lamb’s fur.
A story of love (to quote Rick Owens) – love for fashion.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

Maison Martin Margiela Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2014

A sober collection which had British tweeds as a starting point welcomed us at Maison Martin Margiela. First off was a long grey tweed coat, followed by a camel colored sleeveless ensemble. There was a black/brownish tweed suit with strong shoulders and a navy shaded pleated tweed dress worn over a suit in the same color. Midi skirts, overalls and perfectly pleated pants and what looked like a fifties inspired tailored dress were sent out. The focus was on the models’ waists, which was accentuated by small tied leather belts (in camel, red and black). Oh and they sported leather boots, bags and collars too. On perfect pleated pants models sported feminine lace tops, thick Nordic sweaters (again with strong shoulders) and strapless suit jackets. Masculine inspired, but a perfectly feminine collection all together.

Rochas Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2014

For his Rochas debut collection designer Alessandro Dell’Acqua ensured he made a true statement. He presented a ultra feminine collection full of voluminous skirts, coats and dresses. Beside elegance the looks breathed luxury too, visible through the rich materials (velvets, jacquards, brocades) and embroidered details, which popped up everywhere. In a sober color palette ranging from baby blue and pastel pink to burgundy, petrol, navy and gold Dell’Acqua introduced fluffy winter coats (in fact two of them worn at the same time), tassled over the knee skirts, woolen fifties dresses, crystal encrusted bodices, embellished blouses, peplum tops, patent leather jackets and a finale of stirdy floor sweeping gowns. To make the oversize silhouettes even more powerful he added bright leather beaded gloves. Dell’Acqua sure had no trouble expressing himself and with so many statement pieces neither will the Rochas woman come fall.

Our review will follow soon, meanwhile enjoy our images.

First View Milan Womenswear FW2014: New Understatement

 

There are alternative ways to make a woman look beautiful. We saw brave and masterful innovative cut and pattern-making, smart updating of traditional skins and silks and an intelligent play with shades and light. The outcome looks new, modern and understated – sophisticated elegance with a self-evident comfort and natural flair in shapes that are not all that natural. What we look at are complex drapes, mathematical mosaics, intelligent coupes and smart technical finishing.

Tomas Maier, for Bottega Veneta, called these fab outcomes “puzzles’ – simple silhouettes with clever nips, skilful pleats and intelligent trompe l’oeil illusions. Ending up to be comfortable dresses in a sensual cosmetic pallet, to make women feel good.

Alessandra Facchinetti for Tod’s found ways to use leather less like skin and more like fabric which leads to streamlined, modern, women friendly outfits in lacquered patent leather.

Where Bottega Veneta uses ‘puzzles’, Tod’s mentions ‘mosaics’, both as results of in-depth explorations of pattern-making. Their efforts are inventive, unorthodox and challenging classical tailoring standards.

Stylespot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

 

Giorgio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2014

Giorgio Armani went green with his fall 2014 collection. In combination with gray that is. According to Armani green, lime-green – is a stimulating color and a bit avant garde. But the result was more classic in the end. Armani opened the show using different shades of gray, often in combination, for jackets, pants and dresses. He loosened his tailoring for easy coats with one-button closures at the neck.

Then the green showed up subtle, as a small stripe on a jacket collar, but later full on, in dresses and integrated separates.

Evening started with black jackets and T-shirts over fluid green pajama pants, some of them crystal-embroidered. The mood was casual. Pretty gowns followed, some cut with bodice treatments. These came in gray and black with varying degrees of lime.

Jil Sander Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2014

Jil Sander, once again without Jil, proved to maintain it’s strong minimalistic DNA. Clean, pale colored (gray, blue, sage, pink and peach) looks followed each other on a crispy white runway. First a line-up of strong gray woolen coats paired with pleated pants. Then came the sleeveless dresses with folded details. There were boxy suits and high wasted A-line skirts with cashmere turtleneck jumpers. A lime green snake skin bag, colorful brogue shoes and a few sparkly touches at the end briefly interrupted the overall minimal vibe of the collection. According to the show notes the team was trying to portray “the fundamental codes of the Jil Sander label, reinforcing the emblems of the house.” And so they did.

Roberto Cavalli Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2014

Forget clean and simple fashion; more is more if you ask Roberto Cavalli. And that does not only concern his clothing… The designer created a large ring of fire as the set for his fall/winter show around which the models strutted their stuff. With the first look coming up the tone was set for an animalistic over the top collection. Slim snakeskin trousers, a leopard printed blouse, a large fur stola and a golden lion head on a tassle necklace. Long and lean fringed (flapper) dresses and tight pants followed, worn with lots of fur and similar jewelry. Statement prints, studs, beads and sequins made every look extravagantly glamorous. Attires the average woman won’t soon be walking around in. No, A-listers and real housewives of Beverly Hills will probably still be Cavalli’s target group, although he stated this week he wished fashion was “less tied to all those stars” and that he wouldn’t be dressing anyone for the Oscars. Oh well, as long as business is doing good and he doesn’t turn into a copycat like he accused Michael Kors to be.

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