Spring 2015 Couture

  There is nothing as magical as couture. Exclusive and exuberant, the designers who can pull off couture are few and far between. It would be difficult, and crass, to say that any couture show is better than the other, as each and every one has it's own beauty to it. Therefore, I can't describe this list as the "Best of Couture", just as a compilation of my favorites for Spring 2015. 

  I love Elie Saab, and love is not a word I use lightly. There is not one designer who can create clothing like his, so exceptional, effervescent and elegant that it could bring a tear to a bloggers eye. Some may say Saab is slightly predictable, but why change something perfect? He infused freshness into his brand by adorning the dresses with dramatic ostrich feather, and shimmering floral paillettes. It may be glamour at its highest point, but Saab’s collection also drew deep personal roots, with prints taken from a tulip dress his mother wore as a child. If anything, these pieces served as an alternative to those who want to wear Saab but aren’t fans of the sheer. All in all, Saab does it again, and if I had it my way, Saab would be all we would ever wear. 

  You should know by now that I’m a slave to pairings of the unconventional. Hence, it’s not suprising that I was set up to love the Giambattista Vali show, which paired the aesthetics of Coco Chanel and Janis Joplin. Although it may seem like an impossible pairing, let us not forget that Chanel was none less of an aesthetic ground-breaker than Janis. In her time, she was seen as a style rebel, and frequently broke the norms to create new styles for the IT woman to wear. Giamba took the styles of these two icons and veiled them with a thin layer of spring, where pastels meet acidic tones and dainty flowers spring from the seams. The wide-legged trousers overlaid by a flowing dress were particularly literal interpretations of Joplin, with tweed blazers serving as the Coco counterpart. This was what couture is meant to be; intricate, inspired and iridescent. 

  It could’ve been a sad show at Gaultier today. His first show since terminating his ready to wear line last September, the show could have been a post-battle wound lick. That is, unless you’re Jean-Paul Gaultier and title your show “61 ways to say Yes”. Gaultier doesn’t do sad, and this show proved that point. Instead, he brings fun to what was an otherwise very serious week of Couture. I mean, the man closed his show with Naomi Campbell representing a bridal bouquet. The brides walked down the runway in hybrid creations blurring the masculine and the feminine, in combinations of both the strict and the reckless. Particularly outrageous was Lindsey Wixson in a beekeepers outfit and hair done to resemble a wedding cake. Gaultier puts the Show in Fashion Show, and couture is no exception. In conclusion: Was it camp? Yes. Was it utterly fabulous? Absolutely. 

  Being an Eastern European, I was born with a love of Russian romanticism. Also, as an Eastern European, I can understand the narcissism behind the Ulyana Sergeenko brand. Looking at the clothes, the message is clear, Ulyana is her own muse. Hourglass silhouettes with sharply tailored fits mimic the clothes she herself has worn since being thrust in the spotlight. Her collections are celebrations of Russian culture, and experiments into how far you can really go with detailing and embellishment. Hers is a Russian Dolce & Gabbana world, less Italian but even more feminine. This collection was particularly stunning; with so many intricate details one could stare at each garment for hours. It was the type of clothing you’d expect Audrey Hepburn to wear if she had played Anna Karenina. Ulyana may be selling herself as a brand, but who wouldn’t want to be part of the Russian Princesses world?

PFW

  Paris Fashion Week. PFW is the jewel in the crown that is fashion month. It attracts the largest crowds of the fashion forward as well as the designers they pander to. Paris is a city that is immediately associated with the fashion world, which it has been enveloped by since the decadent rococo era, and reinforced by the emergence of industry giants such as Chanel and Dior (and many, many more). Nowadays, it’s a melting point of different aesthetics and trains of thought, tied in by the individual love of fashion. Here are my favorite shows this season.

I’m not going to lie, I was a big fan of Formichetti for Mugler. His dark aesthetic paired with dangerous sex appeal is something that has vastly influenced my taste. However, David Koma has brought something new to Mugler. Out with the dark and sexy, in with the bright and sporty. Sleek tailoring and monochrome colours (barring the occasional burst of orange or baby blue) were evident throughout. Metallic edges accented the almost Bond-like swimsuits. Although this collection isn’t the best Koma could have done, it’s a step in the right direction. 

Sex is back at Givenchy. What Tisci once saw in streetwear he has come to rediscover in pure, unadulterated sex appeal. The clothes were extremely detailed, evident in the lace appliqués and daintily spun sheer tops. Although the show could have easily gone towards (dare I say it) costume land, it teetered just on the edge, giving us a hint of the medieval while keeping the modern (mostly in the footwear!). Tisci’s Givenchy has long been associated with a tougher woman, but this was a different kind of tough. No longer is it the basketball playing girl in the hoody, it’s the sword brandishing warrior woman in the metal mesh. With so much of fashion turning to boho nowadays, it looks like a good move.

Stella McCartney on the other hand, believes in a completely different type of sex appeal. For her, it’s all about the easy, breezy, I-just-threw-this-on kind of sexy. Although a Brit, it’s an extremely Parisian viewpoint. I mean seriously, is there anything more chic than the girl who quickly pulls her hair into a pony in the morning and throws on a designer dress, no makeup, no bag, no accessories, no worries? That’s exactly the type of girl Stella designs for. Everything seemed comfortable, with tailoring just skimming the edge of the models bodies, and little lace inserts and cutouts adding a bit of flirty detail. Black was punctured with pale pinks, blues and violets, like spring flowers poking out of the darkened ground. A beautiful collection, as always. 

Nobody makes dresses like Elie Saab. Yes, I mean that, there is not one designer on earth that can make a dress as stunningly glamorous as Elie Saab. This runway was no exception. Inspired by the ocean, the clothes flowed in a current of monochrome, blue and the orange. Although there was intense detailing (as always) there was also a true easiness, one that you can only really find at a Saab show. These are the clothes you’ll be seeing on every A-lister from Jolie to Bey on the red carpets. Shoutout also goes to fav model of the moment Mijo Mihaljcic (pictured right), a Belgrade girl who’s making waves (get it) in the modeling world.

 Iris Van Herpen is somebody who’s living 10 years ahead of all of us. Her collection entitled Magnetic Motion was evidence of this, and wouldn’t be out of place in a far off future wear people travel in magnetically powered vehicles in the sky. The collection was spawned by a visit to the CERN collider, and the clothes were a collision of classic silhouettes with modern silicone enhancements attached. It seemed at some points as if the models themselves were emanating a magnetic field. She’s at the forefront of technology in clothing, and is defining fashion as we see it with every laser cut piece of leather and meticulously applied strip of silicone.

My favorite collection ever (and I’m not alone), was Plato’s Atlantis. McQueen inspired a generation and his death was one of the saddest events the industry has ever seen. So it’s not a surprise that people were hesitant when Sarah Burton took over the collection, she had very big shoes to fill. However, instead of trying to replicate Lee’s genius, she took a different root. While staying true to the avant-garde nature of the McQueen brand, she’s brought something it was lacking, femininity. This time around the femininity was echoed in effervescent orchids, yet restrained with (almost fetishistic) black belts and harnesses. The collection was highly influenced by Japan, shown in the kimonos, and samurai like feel that shined through the models. It was the perfect middle point between the dark and edgy Lee and the feminine Burton. He would be proud. 

I’m a sucker for a fairytale. And Takahashi at Undercover showed exactly that. The theme was the loss of innocence with winged beauties in girly dresses, alongside those covered by a print lifted from Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” were followed by femme fatales in all black, covering the transition from childlike to dark. It could have looked like 3 different shows summarized in one, but there was a cohesiveness that is rare to see in shows with such a fantastical scene. The complete standout look for me was the biker jacket accessorized with black wings. It was like Maleficent in the 21^st century. As was fiting for the entire collection, it was Disney yet edgy and modern. 

I became a Barrett groupie after seeing one of his men’s collections a while back. His clothes are absolutely everything I want to wear. They’re cool and edgy, yet have a story behind them and a classic feel. His last men’s show was inspired by Apollo, so it only followed this one would be inspired by Aphrodite. Barrett has a critical eye, and as such he doesn’t usually offer too many pieces that are off track, which showed in the offering of similar silhouettes with plays in print, color and length. The intriguing moment was the camo print which at first seems self-explanatory, but is actually compiled by tiny pieces of sculpture.  The personal standout was the black bomber jacket with digital Aphrodite print, it’s everything you could ever want in outerwear. Barrett is definitely one of my favorite designers and one to follow in the years to come. 

-Till this weekends outfit post, Alex