>> For all the spectacle that was couture week, with John Galliano's voluminous transparency, Alessandra Facchinetti's debut for Valentino couture, and Christian Lacroix's buggy beauties, let us not forget the red carpet-ready Atelier Versace. Donatella may choose to show off her latest pleated, ruffled, and printed gowns by appointment only, but that doesn't mean we don't get to have a look later. Enjoy the collection, as modeled by Georgina Stojilkovic, complete with Donatella's sketches.
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Fall 2008 Couture
Atelier Versace Fall 2008, Coming Soon to a Red Carpet Near You
Tomorrow I will spend the day ordering room service and watching TV. This was the first time I bought from four collections!
—Becca Cason Thrash, "exhausted after her intense couture orders"Gap Goes With Models, Awkward Photoshopping
»A Spring 2008 Gap ad features Chanel Iman, Julia Stegner, Coco Rocha, Du Juan, Vlada Roslyakova, Anja Rubik . . . and a shoddy Photoshop job [ONTD_FF]
»Is Lily Cole edging Kate Moss out at Rimmel? [The Cut]
»An unnamed male designer had a face-lift gone wrong last year [Page Six]
»Models had to practice walking on a simulated dirt runway before doing Givenchy Fall 2008 couture [Style.com]
»A first look at Heidi Mount in Bally's Fall 2008 campaign [FWD]
»Meredith Melling Burke wears a mustache! [Fashionista]
»The full Richard Chai for Target collection [FabSugar]
»Roberto Cavalli: Taking his company off the market [The Cut]
»Calvin Klein may be using Kirsten Owen, Guinevere van Seenus, and Agyness Deyn in a new CK One campaign [Fashionista]
»Full Givenchy and Loewe Resort 2009 collections [Style.com, Style.com]
Cathy Pill Brings the Chill to Fall 2008 Couture
>> Cathy Pill has been showing during couture week since January 2007 when she was invited into the fray by the Chambre Syndicale, but the collection she produced last week for Fall 2008 is really an attention-grabber.
Full of paint-spattered prints and sporty, deconstructed tank dresses, the collection doesn't have all the pomp and circumstance of say, Chanel or Dior couture, but it does hold its own as the voice of a younger generation. Plus, it's worth noting that Cathy was produced by the same Brussels Academy that honed Olivier Theyskens.
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She's really marking her territory over there, like a dog just pissing all over the Place Vendôme. But it's working.
—An anonymous fashion editor, bluntly reflecting on Alessandra Facchinetti's first Valentino couture collectionJean Paul Gaultier's Fall 2008 Couture Cages Not So Cagey
>> 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.
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In contrast to high summer and the Paris girls in skimmy dresses, Karl Lagerfeld’s embroidered couture tweeds could not help but seem as heavy as six dusty volumes of Thomas Mann brought down from a forgotten library shelf. Plop! Here you are, fashionable people. Digest this!
—Cathy Horyn, of the latest Chanel couture collection, in her rundown of the weekCathy Horyn Could Have Been More Impressed By Couture Week
»Cathy Horyn thought this couture season was "a little weak" [On the Runway]
»Emmanuelle Alt sighting at Givenchy! [FWD]
»Freja Beha Erichsen went to Stockholm Fashion Week rather than couture, Agyness Deyn stayed in New York [Fashionista, PopSugar UK]
»Georgina Stojiljkovic had a little trouble navigating the dress she closed Christian Dior couture in [BryanBoy]
»Morgane Dubled was surprised, and embarrassed, by a birthday cake at the Lacoste party last night [Style File]
»Contrary to previous reports, the July Vogue Italia won't be out until Friday in Italy, next week elsewhere [Fashionista]
»Rag & Bone, in sync: Marcus Wainwright and David Neville had sons just a week apart from one another [The Fashion Informer]
»Another shot of Linda Evangelista for Prada [DNA Models]
»First looks at Iselin Steiro and Natasa Vojnovic for Mulberry, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Agnete Hegelund for Calvin Klein Jeans, Raquel Zimmermann for Fendi, and Kim Noorda for Bottega Veneta [TFS, TFS, DNA Models, DNA Models]
»Christian Lacroix couture video [Telegraph UK]
Alessandra Facchinetti Tries Her Hand at Valentino Couture for Fall 2008
>> 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.
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Heat Hits Couture Week Like a Plague
>> Paris is sizzling . . . and not necessarily in a good way. The city is experiencing a heat wave right in time for couture, and the weather is messing with everyone's cool and collected fronts.
Reports first came yesterday that the sun beating down through the glass-ceilinged Grand Palais, venue to Chanel, had attendees "sweating so uncontrollably that they downed the petit bottles of Evian waiting on every seat within minutes of entering." And indeed, watching the video of the show, the number of programs being used as fans is so great, it almost distracts from the clothes passing by.
Givenchy hosted the same problem — programs doubling as fans for the entire front row, models had to be fanned backstage — it even got to Riccardo Tisci, who wiped his face off as he was posing for photos and told his publicist, "We have to do something. I am melting."
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