During Paris Fashion Week, Marc Jacobs took a completely different approach to designing Louis Vuitton’s fall/winter 2011 ready-to-wear collection. The sexiness of the LV clothing identity remains but Jacobs went to a darker place taking an agent provocateur approach with leather bodices in blouses, sculpted jacket accentuating the shoulders and cage-like corsets.
The play on bondage and fetish obsessions is well incorporated into the collection without overshadowing the couture component of the clothing.
For the fall/winter 2010 season many designers are opting to focus more on the clothes when showing their collections; Erdem and Mark Fast, just to name a few. There is less emphasis to create an elaborate backdrop to present new designs and this season Louis Vuitton took part in this movement holding its latest collection in a sun-filled atrium with a lone water fountain as its central feature.
In an interview with Hilary Alexander of the Telegraph UK, Marc Jacobs was adamant on casting models that represent a variety of looks and body types, particularly with curves such as Lara Stone and supermodel Elle Macpherson for Louis Vuitton’s fall/winter 2010 collection; it was a breath of fresh air seeing real women on the catwalk.
Marc Jacobs’ designs for Louis Vuitton this season is beautifully classic and lady-like in every single way; from the pulled back hair and clean make-up on the models, to the footwear, plethora of A-line skirts and fabric choices for the clothing. The collection gears itself toward the adult woman with sensibilities, life experiences and sophistication.
Let us take a moment to bow down in the name of the shoe gods/goddesses and give praise to Balenciaga, whose fall/winter 2010 collection has taken the everyday shoe and transformed it into something that is out of this world.
Shoe specifications:
Colours, multi-coloured
Outer, metal, leather, resin, plastic, suede, plywood, etc.
Heel height, unknown
Why I chose these shoes: last season, I wasn’t feeling Balenciaga’s shoes but the house certainly made a comeback with its footwear for fall/winter 2010. Designer, Nicolas Ghesquière took his inspiration for this collection “from domestic things” such as plastic and foam packaging, and items found in everyday life. From this, he developed footwear using atypical materials fashioning it into a geometric collage of various textures and colours. Ghesquière reworks the classic loafer and broguesinto futuristic wear with colour blocking and heels that are reminiscent of LEGO or a child’s toy building blocks. These shoes are stunning works of art and I really want a pair... or two.
One of the most exciting and highly talked about shows during Paris Fashion Week was the debut of 19 year-old, Brazilian born, Pedro Lourenço – such is the case when fresh blood arrives into town and Brana Wolf, editor-at-large of Harper’s Bazaar (USA), produces your show.
Lourenço caused quite a stir with his fall/winter 2010 collection using PVC, leather, organza and plastic to construct body conscious outfits with dramatic geometric shapes and technically superb panels and layers on each garment.
Describing the inspiration from figures such as “Diana the Huntress, and the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer," Lourenço presented a bold and fearless collection that correlates with the invincible outlook on life many young people have at his age, particularly when you’re on the cusp of entering man hood. What we see is Lourenço's youthful take on the world without compromise to his artistic vision.
For me, the highlights of this collection was the cage-like patterns, or what Hillary Alexander describes as “prison grille,” on the dresses and jackets that is highly reminiscent of the bondage trend popular in the last several seasons.
Yesterday the last collection by Lee Alexander McQueen was presented in a very intimate and private show in Paris, France. Comprising of 16 pieces, McQueen’s fall/winter 2010 collection drew influences from Byzantine art and paintings by the Old Masters.
To say each garment was beautiful and intricately crafted would be an understatement. It can be very difficult to put into words how one feels when fashion is turned into an art form, and finding the right words to express how McQueen’s collections have altered and shaped my views on art, beauty and fashion, season after season, over years is somewhat an insurmountable task – even if I could put my feelings on paper it wouldn’t do him justice.
The plus side of blogging about Paris Fashion Week, or other fashion weeks outside of Toronto for that matter, is that one doesn’t usually have trek to an out-of-the-way venue to discover the catwalk show is being held in a freezing school gymnasium; this is what many attendees at Yohji Yamamoto’s fall/winter 2010 collection had to endure.
Many fashion writers and editors associate the setting and vision of Yamamoto’s latest collection with his business troubles of 2009; he came near to declaring bankruptcy and had to close several retail stores including one in New York.
Somewhere in between this time and the showing of his fall/winter 2010 collection, Yamamoto must have taken a vacation on a fishing trawler with a bunch of uniformed students since his inspiration and references seemed to be pulled from the two this season.
A sombre collection majority in navy and black with sporadic appearances of white was the main colour palette. For the most part the garments were shapeless and oversized yet were juxtaposed with tailored double breasted jackets and deconstructed coats with frayed hemlines.
The collection was simplistic and understated in its presentation and silhouettes, most likely reflective of Yamamoto’s search for the familiar while surrounded by uncertainty of what the future holds. The asymmetrical dresses, knit wear and mesh shirts provided visual and tactile contrasts from the outerwear heavy collection.
The first time I fell in love with Jean Paul Gaultier’s work was in the mid-1990s. I was watching Fashion Television on a Sunday evening and was instantly captivated by the outrageous and in-your-face designs.
Since then, Gaultier has flourished and matured in his craft presenting heavily themed and story driven collections. Last month, he showed his spring/summer 2010 haute couture collection channelling the Latin American soul and paying tribute to traditional Mexican style and cultural history.
As you watch the videos of the runway show, you’ll instantly feel the need for a margarita or piña colada. The sombreros, bolero jackets and the mariachi music brought back flashes of the Latin American history I studied in university. I love how Gaultier weaved in countless details, transforming black leather chaps with embellishments such as embroidery, fringes and woven gold lamé. Also, elements of the conquistador period were found in the finale pieces of the show; the royal blue dress with steel chest plates and head piece, and a cream coloured corset style top with a woven palm leaf skirt were stunning.
