Runway Reviews
Fendi Haute Couture FW 17/18
26 Dec 2017
As the curtains parted at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, revealing a set of screens hand-painted with trees, the strains of Claude Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” filled the air. You half expected Vaslav Nijinsky to come bounding out of the wings.
The Russian ballet dancer has been closely associated with the premises since he premiered another of his revolutionary choreographies, “The Rite of Spring,” at the venue in 1913 — famously causing a riot among... Read More
Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda FW 17/18
26 Dec 2017
Around 430 clients, many of them new, travelled from across the world to the Sicilian capital of Palermo to experience the 126-look swoon that was Dolce & Gabbana’s latest Alta Moda show last night. And at Alta Moda, personal security detachments are ten a penny: The wealth that enables these super shoppers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes considerably more, buying into this couture-but-beyond iteration of idealized Italian-ness comes with its own burdens.
... Read More
Gucci pre-fall 2017
10 Oct 2017
When Gucci teased its Pre-Fall 2017 campaign at the beginning of the year with a series of elusive casting videos, featuring only models of color, we didn't know exactly what to expect — aside from the possibility that these individuals, who auditioned with Midland Agency in London, would likely dance and channel their inner spirit animal for the job.
On Thursday morning, the Italian fashion house finally released the official ad campaign and, damn, did Alessandro Michele deliver. ... Read More
Ralph & Russo Haute Couture FW 2017/18
13 Sep 2017
A portrait of women, the Ralph & Russo Autumn Winter 2017/2018 collection takes inspiration from the identity and natural beauty captured by the grand masters Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton & Norman Parkinson.
Enthused by light and animation, this season’s palette is iridescent; a flash of ice mints and pearlescent lavenders, aqua blue double satins and crystal mesh in rose-gold hues.
Embroidery is crystallised like a photograph in time, whilst motion is captured in the... Read More
Valentino Haute Couture SS17
31 May 2017
Essence and truth. For this Valentino haute couture collection, Pierpaolo Piccioli interprets fashion to perfection. "As Shakespeare says, we are made of the same material as dreams," says the designer a few hours before the show. "Dreams bring everybody together, because they are timeless, just like the haute couture." Piccioli loves art, music, poetry and the oneiric side of fashion which, as he says, must be strictly timeless because "couture is made of special moments, rituals that make... Read More
Alexander McQueen SS 2017
23 May 2017
The wild and magical coastal landscapes of the Shetland Islands were the origin of this collection. Their natural beauty has inspired local artisans who have passed their skills down through generations of women for centuries. In particular, gossamer fine Shetland Lace, worn by crofters’ daughters and royalty alike, woven with indigenous flora and fauna–wild heather, clover, poppies and roses; sea birds and underwater creatures both real and mythical–is re-imagined. The colourful interiors... Read More
Haute Couture SS17 Report
02 Apr 2017
In many ways, Paris Haute Couture shared several characteristics with the women’s marches that took place around the world last weekend: both included prolonged periods of standing around outside in frigid temperatures, both engendered a female majority interest and one-of-a-kind ensembles featuring the colour pink, and both were attacked by sideline critics insisting they were pointless, reported Financial Times.
Wearable clothes at couture are something of an oxymoron: just where... Read More
Jean Paul Gaultier: Haute Couture FW16/17
28 Nov 2016
Jean Paul Gaultier took us into the woods with his couture collection. It was an unusual setup for JPG. He’s more likely to summon the ghosts of Paris’s legendary nightclub Le Palace, or re-create Dancing with the Stars with a supermodel cast and an all-star jury. Gaultier’s never struck anybody as the outdoorsy type, has he? He’s a people person. But in his trademark fashion, he did woodsy with gusto.
As such, a wood-grain print got things going, appearing on everything from a slinky... Read More
Valentino Haute Couture FW 2016-17
13 Nov 2016
The world as a stage, on which each individual represents himself, driven by passions, feelings, and by emotions that are infinite shades of living and being there. In the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli explore the idea of theatrum mundi for the Valentino Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2016-17 Collection.
The austere and moderate tone, the choice of dense colors, precious and nocturnal, upon which an opulent and deep black... Read More
Atelier Versace SS 2016
09 Jun 2016
Clothes like seduction weapons, sartorial masterpieces that reveal the body. Donatella Versace keeps conveying her personal interpretation of haute couture and carries Atelier Versace towards a modern elegance, an almost dream-like elegance, with a haute couture-like perfection. Evening dresses and tuxedos, deconstructed and reassembled, kept in place by silicon bands or colored crystal ropes. Perforated mini bodices alternate with long chiffon dresses adorned by straps, or unveil precious... Read More
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