Nice backdrop by Chanel
Valentino
At its very core haute couture is powered
by one all-encompassing emotion — love. Designers create their
one-of-a-kind garments because they love craftsmanship, beauty,
creativity and challenging themselves.
All of those things could be seen in the spring/summer 2015 collection that designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli created for Valentino. It was felt in each stitched line of poetry woven into the skirt of an evening dress, every pair of angel wings sculpted out of fabric to create the sleeves, back or bodice of a dress, and in all the multifaceted highly embellished lace gowns that became more stunningly complex the closer they drew near.
This season the duo leaned on their more monastic inclinations. The numerous high-necked dresses worn by models with their hair woven through with wild flowers and pulled up in a halo around their heads looked virginal. Especially when the clothing was covered in Russian-inspired naïve embroideries and featured smocking waistlines or bustier peasant tops.
The show's styling might have made this collection look somewhat historical. Except for a pair of velvet dresses, which simply looked timeless. But it was still easy to imagine a modern woman — with the right clutch, shoes and blowout — making any of these dresses the talk of the party.
By the time the designer duo took their bow, it was the audience that had fallen deeply, completely and madly in love with this glorious collection.
From here reviewAll of those things could be seen in the spring/summer 2015 collection that designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli created for Valentino. It was felt in each stitched line of poetry woven into the skirt of an evening dress, every pair of angel wings sculpted out of fabric to create the sleeves, back or bodice of a dress, and in all the multifaceted highly embellished lace gowns that became more stunningly complex the closer they drew near.
This season the duo leaned on their more monastic inclinations. The numerous high-necked dresses worn by models with their hair woven through with wild flowers and pulled up in a halo around their heads looked virginal. Especially when the clothing was covered in Russian-inspired naïve embroideries and featured smocking waistlines or bustier peasant tops.
The show's styling might have made this collection look somewhat historical. Except for a pair of velvet dresses, which simply looked timeless. But it was still easy to imagine a modern woman — with the right clutch, shoes and blowout — making any of these dresses the talk of the party.
By the time the designer duo took their bow, it was the audience that had fallen deeply, completely and madly in love with this glorious collection.
Short review : What can I say, I LOVE almost ALL the design for this HC season. Glad that Valentino keep maintain the elegance. I believe Valentino dont need striking colors to make appeal, because elegance is what people love about Valentino.
My Choice
Elie Saab
The
Elie Saab show on Wednesday smartly echoed the red carpet maneuver
made by it-girl actress Lupita Nyong’o, who wore the brand to the SAG
awards on Sunday to rave reviews. It wasn't just the floor-length
abstract flower print dress with dramatic black vertical stripes the
ingénue wore to the main event that made Nyong'o's dress a winner; it
was the fact that she showed up at an after-party in a shorter variation
on the same design.
In Saab’s spring/summer 2015 couture show the Lebanese designer used the same approach. He produced a number of beautifully beaded long gowns in a myriad of blooming flora motifs such as tulips, jacarandas and mimosa and then reworked them again in a shorter offshoot with a more youthful take on the same premise. The clever addition of low-heeled sandals to these ensembles helped even further to accentuate their girlish charm.
An addition made by the show’s stylist Melanie Huynh, perhaps? Since she has come on board, the brand clearly has a new spring in its step.
But what was most remarkable about this feminine and romantic collection was the sense of nostalgia wafting through the designs as the models walked through the garden-decorated venue.
In a mood board souvenir booklet left on each seat, the designer himself opened up about his youth in Beirut and the memories of his mother dressed up in gowns covered in flowers. Just the line of text that quoted Saab as saying, “And with every new collection I conceived, the striking image of my mother in this tulip print silk dress reappeared endlessly” explains so much about the designer and the garments he creates.
Saab called this collection “Beirut, Chasing a Dream”. And he captured a bit of the essence of his homeland in all his elegant dresses with their three dimensional blooms, fabric petals fluttering in the wind and delicate stems stitched out of sequins onto tulle. But what the fans of his brand hope for most of all is that he never wakes up from the reverie that is at the heart of this couture house.
In Saab’s spring/summer 2015 couture show the Lebanese designer used the same approach. He produced a number of beautifully beaded long gowns in a myriad of blooming flora motifs such as tulips, jacarandas and mimosa and then reworked them again in a shorter offshoot with a more youthful take on the same premise. The clever addition of low-heeled sandals to these ensembles helped even further to accentuate their girlish charm.
An addition made by the show’s stylist Melanie Huynh, perhaps? Since she has come on board, the brand clearly has a new spring in its step.
But what was most remarkable about this feminine and romantic collection was the sense of nostalgia wafting through the designs as the models walked through the garden-decorated venue.
In a mood board souvenir booklet left on each seat, the designer himself opened up about his youth in Beirut and the memories of his mother dressed up in gowns covered in flowers. Just the line of text that quoted Saab as saying, “And with every new collection I conceived, the striking image of my mother in this tulip print silk dress reappeared endlessly” explains so much about the designer and the garments he creates.
Saab called this collection “Beirut, Chasing a Dream”. And he captured a bit of the essence of his homeland in all his elegant dresses with their three dimensional blooms, fabric petals fluttering in the wind and delicate stems stitched out of sequins onto tulle. But what the fans of his brand hope for most of all is that he never wakes up from the reverie that is at the heart of this couture house.
From here review
Short review : ES never failed to impress me with the gorgeous design for wedding gown. It is absolutely heavy breathing when seeing the model walk out slowly, holding the gown. Who dont want to have (or at least, wear) for such a beautiful wedding gown by ES, right?
Christian Dior
The old adage “there is nothing new under
the sun” was turned on its head at the Christian Dior haute couture
show on Monday. Designer Raf Simons reached back into the past and
cherry-picked symbolic silhouettes of bygone eras and then proceeded to
give them a futuristic spin. It made for a combination that felt
revolutionary, provocative and yet completely of the times we live in.
In the silver-mirrored enclosed Dior show space, a visually graphic scaffolding, painted pristine white, had been erected. The two-tiered metal runway was then softened further by the addition of a bubble gum pink carpet that lined the floors and two open staircases. Resulting in a mise-en-scene that was dramatic and romantic in equal parts.
The same could be said for this collection, which was filled with as many beautiful flower-embellished full-skirted gowns as it was with vibrant psychedelic multicolored wool bodysuits. The riotous mix of bold colors, crystal beading embellishments, lace panels and plastic used to create each thoroughly unique and highly structured mini dress was a feast for the eye and lovely to behold. As were the impressive patent leather thigh high-boots (their clear heels soled in shimmering crystals) and flower-printed plastic rain coats, which finished off many of the looks. And a shout-out must go to Guiso Palau and his sliced apart ponytails, that he then reattached with metal rings. It was the perfect sleek foil to all the impactful ensembles.
It was easy to see the influence not only of Mr. Dior and his bar suit but also the works of André Corrège, Pierre Cardin (who trained with Dior) and possibly Bob Mackie for the show's vertical striped sequined body suits. But even so, each ensemble could never be mistaken for anyone other than Simons. His sophisticated and unusual combinations of colors, fabrics and embellishments on meticulously tailored designs have become his own unique sartorial calling card.
It might be true that it has all been done before, but what made this collection work was that it culled together the best, or perhaps most iconic, elements of fashion’s past, and then the designer was able to envision them in a completely new way. Which brings to mind another old adage that says, "If we don’t learn from the past we are destined to repeat it." Simons has clearly been diligent in his fashion history studies and as such has been able to find a thoroughly original way forward for Dior.
From here reviewIn the silver-mirrored enclosed Dior show space, a visually graphic scaffolding, painted pristine white, had been erected. The two-tiered metal runway was then softened further by the addition of a bubble gum pink carpet that lined the floors and two open staircases. Resulting in a mise-en-scene that was dramatic and romantic in equal parts.
The same could be said for this collection, which was filled with as many beautiful flower-embellished full-skirted gowns as it was with vibrant psychedelic multicolored wool bodysuits. The riotous mix of bold colors, crystal beading embellishments, lace panels and plastic used to create each thoroughly unique and highly structured mini dress was a feast for the eye and lovely to behold. As were the impressive patent leather thigh high-boots (their clear heels soled in shimmering crystals) and flower-printed plastic rain coats, which finished off many of the looks. And a shout-out must go to Guiso Palau and his sliced apart ponytails, that he then reattached with metal rings. It was the perfect sleek foil to all the impactful ensembles.
It was easy to see the influence not only of Mr. Dior and his bar suit but also the works of André Corrège, Pierre Cardin (who trained with Dior) and possibly Bob Mackie for the show's vertical striped sequined body suits. But even so, each ensemble could never be mistaken for anyone other than Simons. His sophisticated and unusual combinations of colors, fabrics and embellishments on meticulously tailored designs have become his own unique sartorial calling card.
It might be true that it has all been done before, but what made this collection work was that it culled together the best, or perhaps most iconic, elements of fashion’s past, and then the designer was able to envision them in a completely new way. Which brings to mind another old adage that says, "If we don’t learn from the past we are destined to repeat it." Simons has clearly been diligent in his fashion history studies and as such has been able to find a thoroughly original way forward for Dior.
My choice
Chanel
Tropical blooms were bursting on Chanel's spring/summer 2015 haute couture catwalk on Tuesday. Inside the vast Grand Palais space a rather intimate hot house had been erected and was the home to a white paper garden filled with dormant flora.
Conversely, all the flower-embellished daywear attire in this collection did not feel as if it had alighted in Paris from some far-off vacation destination. Instead the brightly colored skirt suits that opened the show, their more youthful crop top fuller skirted offshoots, and a smattering of pencil skirt alternatives all looked like they could survive, and even thrive, outside a climate-controlled environment.
The same could not be said of the beautifully embellished event ensembles designer Karl Lagerfeld concocted. The bold crystal-encrusted puff sleeved dresses, voluminous skirts hemmed with silk buds that accentuated the hips and the exposed waistlines of models, and in particular a mini floral cape all felt a bit foreign. Even the practical flat black boots and the youthful knitted veiled beanies covered in blossoms that finished off these ensembles couldn't make them feel quite germane.
It was as if the horticulturalist of this haute couture garden had misdiagnosed the dosage of his fashion fertilizer this season. Daywear had hardy wardrobe staying power. While its evening alternatives looked more like they would survive better under glass, protected from the elements and conserved for posterity.
From here review
Short review : Urm....I always love Karl and his brilliant works but for this HC season, am sorry Karl, I think I agree on the negatives comment about all the design. I dont find anything fresh for this HC season, its boring, nothing new. Expectation on Chanel by Karl is always high, but with this kind of collection, is a no no for me.
My choice
Disclaimer : all images were taken from google.com
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