fashionologie

Alber Elbaz Pulls Out the Stops at Lanvin for H&M Fashion Show

fashionologie — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:56:54 PST

>> Alber Elbaz and the Lanvin team descended on New York's Pierre Hotel Thursday evening, transforming it with palm fronds, caged parakeets, models in French maid outfits, and little old men offering up champagne, scotch, crustless tea sandwiches, and macaroons, to show off their H&M collaboration.

At the runway's entrance, a rose-filled arch set with "Lanvin Hearts H&M" in fluorescent lights; to the side of that, a salsa band played live music. And above the runway, there were 20 crystal chandeliers. The venue was packed, to say the least - Sofia Coppola, Patrick Demarchelier, Shala Monroque, Sally Singer, and Grace Coddington were all there, plus more than a handful of other designers sitting front row: Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang, Anna Sui.

Katie Grand styled the show - and the models were told to engage with the audience - so Siri Tollerod, as veiled bride, tossed her bouquet; Pixie Geldof strutted down in her gender-bending suit; Anna Dello Russo, walked with a gray standard poodle at her side; and Julia Frakes made her runway debut. The clothes were couture riffs on the Lanvin for H&M collection - on sale to benefit Unicef now - but afterward, there was a frenzy for the Lanvin for H&M collection pop-up shop set up downstairs. Many editors walked away with multiple bags, Coppola bought the tulle jacket, and even Wang did a little shopping of his own.

A video of the show can be seen here.

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Marc Jacobs Wears Skirt, Shows Skirts for Spring 2009

fashionologie — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:45:30 PDT

>> For the second season in a row, Marc Jacobs started his show promptly, just ten minutes after its scheduled start - only this time, half the attendees weren't locked out - everyone had learned their lesson. "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The show is about to begin."

Through swinging mirror doors, the models walked the mirror-lined runway from every direction, funhouse illusions abounding. But show tactics aside, with Marc, it always comes down to the clothes - the mashed-up, layered, bangled clothes, sparkling, plaided, and sheened. As Gershwin played in the background, Marc took us in a whole new direction - and he did it while wearing a skirt.

To get the full experience, check out the runway video at Elle.com.
*image: source

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Costello Tagliapietra Spring 2009: Anchored in Lady, With a Touch of Butch

fashionologie — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:24:01 PDT

>> The third time was the charm for Costello Tagliapietra yesterday - after starting and stopping the runway music two times, the second of which included dimming the lights, the show finally got under way for the third and final time an hour after its scheduled start. Lucky for Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra, their designs made it worth the wait.

Their tailored lady got some edge, courtesy of Philip Crangi's black leather accessories and an airbrushed-on tattoo . Each girl sported a blue anchor with her initials under it, Miu Miu Fall 2008-style, to match the designers' own anchor and initial tattoos, and Christina Kruse got to show off the big cobra tattooed on her arm. An unconventional fabric choice - ultrasuede - gave a matte contrast to all the shiny charmeuse, and unexpected color combinations gave a real zing to the lineup. The only major problem came from the shoes, made by Giuseppe Zanotti for the show - a lot of girls had trouble navigating them, and Georgina Stojilkovic came close to falling.

*image: source

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Jean Paul Gaultier's Fall 2008 Couture Cages Not So Cagey

fashionologie — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:28:02 PDT

>> Jean Paul Gaultier was high energy yesterday at his Fall 2008 Couture show, exuberantly explaining his choice of outfit to Hilary Alexander pre-show, and running through the fluorescent green laser beams that panned the runway post-show, poking Coco Rocha on the way.

For all of JPG's exuberance, I am less than excited about this sci-fi, cage-inspired outing. Underneath all the decoration were a few solid pieces, namely a coral lace-like cage dress worn by Patricia Schmid and a tux suit worn by Sasha Pivovarova, but for the most part, a lot of it ended up looking less than luxe, especially if croc was involved.
*image: source

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Alessandra Facchinetti Tries Her Hand at Valentino Couture for Fall 2008

fashionologie — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:22:06 PDT

>> Alessandra Facchinetti's first couture collection at Valentino represents a nerve-racking, generational hand-off, but Giorgio Armani was there in the front row to lend support and represent the old guard.

The collection had the palpable feel of a different designer, as it should — more structure and pared-down tailoring, with most of the detail left to the back of the garments, and more subdued colors than the pastels Valentino had been playing with. However, Alessandra did stay true to the three most guiding parts of the Valentino aesthetic: femininity, ruffles, and of course, Valentino red. In fact, that same Valentino red painted the final look of the collection — a stunning chiffon number.

*image: source

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Karl Lagerfeld Goes Organ-ic for Chanel Fall 2008 Couture

fashionologie — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:32:22 PDT

>> Seeing a Chanel couture collection is a thrill, but the clothes are always rivaled by what new, huge installation Karl Lagerfeld has plopped in the center of le Grand Palais for the models to stream out of. In recent seasons, there's been a giant tweed jacket and a larger-than-life carousel; This time around, it was a gigantic set of organ pipes.

The show started with a fugue of ominous organ music, and together with the central pipe installation and the tube-like detailing on many of the intricate dresses, reflected the inspiration which had come to Karl during a concert.

Enjoy the big production while it lasts, folks — word is Karl is talking about reducing the Chanel shows to be more intimate experiences in the future.
*image: source

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John Galliano Plays Peekaboo with Fall 2008 Dior Couture

fashionologie — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:42:03 PDT

>> Transparency is still the word, in John Galliano's mind. The beanie-sporting designer had Lisa Fonssagrives, wife to Irving Penn and oft-credited as the first supermodel, in mind when producing his typical voluminous dresses, but with layers of light chiffon, rather than the heavier, stiffer fabrics Christian Dior couture has boasted in recent seasons.

Frequent collaborator Stephen Jones, meanwhile, looked to Eduardo Garcia Benito, famous for his '20s Vogue cover illustrations of women in cloches, when creating the accompanying skull cap-cum-cloches.

Peplums were aplenty and Galliano couldn't help himself, sneaking a little leopard print into the bunch. But the unifying thought with this collection seems to be: What will we see on newfound Dior client Carla Bruni-Sarkozy first?
*image: source, source

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