fashionologie

Zac Posen's Fall 2010 Answer to His Growing Pains: Out with the Gowns, In with the Minidresses

fashionologie — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:39:19 PST

>> After the New York Times article two weeks ago extensively covering Zac Posen's recent financial struggles, needless to say, eyes were peeled this morning bright and early at the Altman building for Posen's Fall 2010 plan of attack. Glenda Bailey, which the aforementioned article noted was not in attendance at Posen's show last season after they had a confrontation last April, was front row this time around, as were Posen's advertising photog Ellen von Unwerth, Patricia Field, Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, Joe Zee, and Robbie Myers.

As the lights dimmed and runway photographers scrambled for their places, Israeli "hip-hop violinist" Miri Ben-Ari stepped from backstage to the left side of the runway, where she played her electric violin throughout the show, backed by a thumping bass. Despite the fact that Posen is still going with a pared-down runway in general, the performance added the energy of his elaborate productions of yore. The models, too - including Alek Wek, Hana Soukupova, Anne Vyalitsyna, Posen's muse Anna Cleveland, and Coco Rocha, who closed - were clearly told to smile and work the runway; Sessilee Lopez, hands on her waist, swung her hips with satisfaction. Posen's boyfriend, Christopher Niquet, styled the show.

The clothes, however, were telltale that Posen is making an effort to resituate himself: there were none of his signature gowns whatsoever. In their place, short skirts with flounce, '40-style trousers, and plenty of fur. "I'm playing with clean fabrications and upping the luxury level," he said backstage after taking his bow with Rocha and Kinee Diouf.

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Rick Owens Sticks to Black, White, Gray, and Nude, But Brings Back Models of Color for Spring 2010

fashionologie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:47:28 PDT

>> This evening at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts, Rick Owens had a bit of a seating situation, leaving a number of guests standing and unhappy. One editor reportedly decided "standing is the new front row," and WWD later noted: "If you’ve outgrown your venue, move on. Otherwise, there’s no excuse for double-booking seat upon seat."

To a soundtrack of crashing waves and with Gareth Pugh front row (Owens attended Pugh's show yesterday), a stream of sculptural shoulderpieces, long loincloth-like skirts, slicked back hair (glue sticks were used to keep it in place) and crinkled metallic bubble dresses exited backstage. Suvi Koponen made her first appearance since her smattering of shows at New York Fashion Week, but most striking was Owens's sudden casting of models of color - Georgie Baddiel, Kinee Diouf, Aminata Niaria, and Rose Cordero all made appearances; his shows have been entirely whitewashed since the Spring 2005 season, when he also cast four black models.

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Proenza Schouler Takes Dellal Downtown for Spring 2009

fashionologie — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:38:51 PDT

>> Alice Dellal may have been a special guest at Alexander Wang, but she was there in spirit at Proenza Schouler - the sideswept wavy hair, red lip, leathers, zippers, and crop tops shown were all reminiscent of her look. She may have been a starting point, but the collection had a downtown refinement that you would never seen in Alice - she revels too much in the grunge. All I have to say is: So many fun, billowy jumpsuits, so little time. And don't forget to check out the accessories - they're part of Jack and Lazaro's first full season effort.

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

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Sophie Theallet Thinks in Color for Spring 2009

fashionologie — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:02:23 PDT

>> I've been noticing a more concerted effort by designers to cast models of color this season, but so far, Sophie Theallet takes the cake. For her New York runway debut, the Brooklyn-based Parisian designer sent out an entire cast of black models - Kinee Diouf, Honorine Uwera, Ataui Deng - the works. It was her training - ten years under the wing of Azzedine Alaia - that first brought the likes of Vogue's Grace Coddington, New York Times's Cathy Horyn, Lou Doillon, and Vogue Paris' Melanie Huynh out of the woodwork, but I bet as they left the Altman Building this morning, the model imagery was on their minds - it was on mine.
*image: source

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