Posts for October 2009

Balenciaga

Runway Report: Balenciaga Spring 2010

Nicolas Ghesquière returned to urban futurism for spring 2010, dismissing last season's draped cocktail dresses for skinny motocross pants, hooded vests, and ankle boots.

Nicolas Ghesquière returned to urban futurism for spring 2010, dismissing last season's draped cocktail dresses for skinny motocross pants, hooded vests, and ankle boots.

Cathy Horyn called it "graphic, tough and linear" and noted Ghesquière's mix of materials and textures kept the collection from not looking new enough. Suzy Menkes agreed writing, "It had the feeling of clothes never before seen quite like this, even if the first silhouettes of skinny pants touched on the geometry that the designer previously had drawn up for Balenciaga."

The beauty look—black shadow streaked like racing stripes and eyes smudged with florescent orange, blue, yellow and green—was also noteworthy, mimicking Ghesquière's pops of color tucked between leather tops.

Source: Getty

Oliver Peoples

Balmain Turns to Military Sauvage for Spring 2010

>> With Laduree macaroons catered backstage and Rihanna arriving half an hour late to sit front row, Daria Werbowy opened (and closed, and walked in the middle of) the Balmain show — her only show for the season — in the gilded, marbled ballroom of The Grand Hotel.

>> With Laduree macaroons catered backstage and Rihanna arriving half an hour late to sit front row, Daria Werbowy opened (and closed, and walked in the middle of) the Balmain show — her only show for the season — in the gilded, marbled ballroom of The Grand Hotel.

Christophe Decarnin's strong shoulders and ripped jeans were still present, but gone were the '80s. This season, “it’s warrior women and the military, with a mix of different times and a touch of Mad Max," he told Suzy Menkes; stylist Emmanuelle Alt's personal style was prevalent as ever, particularly in the pants-and-jackets combinations.

Since Decarnin took over at Balmain in 2006, the brand's ready-to-wear sales have double each season, according to CEO Alain Hivelin, and next season brings an eyewear collection with Oliver Peoples.  The brand's much-buzzed-about $2,000 jeans are priced as such because, Hivelin says, certain pieces receive hundreds of hours of embroidery or have been reworked up to 50 times before they hit retail.  But here's irony for you: Decarnin picks up his own wardrobe at army surplus stores.

Paris Fashion Week

>> Richard Nicoll Designing Cerruti?

>> Richard Nicoll Designing Cerruti? —Italian heritage label Cerruti promised it would disclose the name of its new womenswear designer, succeeding Jean Paul Knott after his 18 month stint, in September.  Although there hasn't been an official announcement, word from JC Report is it's London designer Richard Nicoll who's quietly taken over and is showing in Paris, although WWD has the Spring 2010 collection up and credits "Cerruti's design team" with the work. [JC Report Twitter, WWD]

UPDATE: Nicoll confirms that he has signed on to Cerruti for three seasons, his first runway show for the brand will be in Paris for Fall 2010. [WWD]

Balenciaga

Balenciaga Aims to Go Thorougly Modern for Spring 2010

>> For the second season in a row, Balenciaga showed at the Hotel Crillon — word is residents forced them to move from their previous location — and Nicolas Ghesquiere took his eye "back to the start again," as the show's soundtrack went, returning to his sporty, skinny pants roots.  The leggings, vests, and dresses were collages of contrasting materials — "like toys," the designer noted — and his goal was to create an entirely modern collection, sans references to the past.

>> For the second season in a row, Balenciaga showed at the Hotel Crillon — word is residents forced them to move from their previous location — and Nicolas Ghesquiere took his eye "back to the start again," as the show's soundtrack went, returning to his sporty, skinny pants roots.  The leggings, vests, and dresses were collages of contrasting materials — "like toys," the designer noted — and his goal was to create an entirely modern collection, sans references to the past.

In his effort to think differently, Ghesquiere told the Wall Street Journal, he mused: “There are cocktail dresses everywhere. I am asking, who are these women who go to cocktails all the time?’’  He also had his runway shoe samples made it a number of different sizes (39-41) rather than the standard 39, to help prevent runway stumbles.

Anouck Lepere and Lily Cole were both front row this morning, but the big model surprise was Victoria's Secret Angel Miranda Kerr, who some see as Balenciaga's answer to Givenchy casting Adriana Lima last season.

feature

Fashion in 50 Seconds 10/01/09 Lohan vs. Cortazar

Lindsay Lohan at Emanuel Ungaro is explained by CEO Mounir Moufarrige.

Lindsay Lohan at Emanuel Ungaro is explained by CEO Mounir Moufarrige.

Sneak peak at spring 2010 from Chanel, Ninna Ricci, Givenchy, Isabel Marant, Rick Owens, Jean Paul Gaultier, and more.

Giles Deacon is the second Englishman to win France's award for Development of the Fashion Arts.

Grazia is backstage at Balmain.

The house of Christian Lacroix's fate to be determined in the next 24 hours.

J Brand jeans on the Hussein Chalayan runway this Saturday.

The Financial Time's glossy supplement "How to Spend It" finally gets a website.

Opening Ceremony's "Where the Wild Things Are" collection of faux fur pieces is now available online.

Source: Getty

Nina Ricci

Peter Copping's Nina Ricci: Light, Feminine and Romantic

As Peter Copping prepares to show his first ready-to-wear collection for Nina Ricci this evening in Paris, he hints at differentiating himself from Olivier Theysken's dark, romantic Ricci woman of season's past.

As Peter Copping prepares to show his first ready-to-wear collection for Nina Ricci this evening in Paris, he hints at differentiating himself from Olivier Theysken's dark, romantic Ricci woman of season's past.

Copping plans to evolve the ultrafeminine look of his recent cruise collection, "with bows, lace, tulle and lingerie-like details" adding that Nina Ricci's core is "womanly romanticism" rather than "brash sexiness."  Calling to mind Theysken's well-reviewed fall 2009 collection of super sharp jackets, skirts slit high, and gravity-defying platforms, Copping raises the question of wearability.

As the fifth designer to take the reigns at Nina Ricci in the past nine years—after Theyskens, Lars Nilsson, James Aguiar, and Nathalie Gervais—Copping claims his path to success will be a focus on what sells and not the avant-garde. His spring 2010 collection will be shown this evening at 8pm in Paris.

[WWD]

Source: WWD