LV // Fresh Face

Louis Vuitton have released their new face for their Autumn/Winter campaign, actress Michelle Williams. Although what I'm finding more of an interest is this new bag!

 One of the main issues I'd like to talk about is this new style LV bag that we see. I've talked about how LV had dropped from being China's favourite must have and it makes me wonder if they've been working and adapting to help tackle this. I have to add I really am a fan of the new look. 

I mean the main consensus was that the LV bag was something really oversaturated, who didn't have one? The famous LV print which the brand is famous for taking a hit so is this redesign a way to reconvert? I think the reason it works so well is it's not as bold as the previous print, it's been given a really sophisticated upgrade and for all those who hated it before it may be time to change their opinion?

As well as that I think the shots of Michelle Williams just add to the sell of the product, she's beautiful with striking lips and short hair that still flatters her face, I mean come on it's a sure way to sell products.  Personally I think LV have had to adapt a little and this may be the perfect way to do it and a perfectly lovely ad for A/W. 

V&A // Club to Catwalk

Firstly apologies for the lack of posts recently I've been running around everywhere mainly because of my birthday! I thought I'd come back and talk about something I saw on my birthday, the Club to Catwalk show at V&A. 

Subculture is something I love and find fascinating anyway so I was super excited to just check out this exhibition and really see what it was all about. I thought the exhibition had some interesting pieces in and if you're interests are fashion subculture, how fashion inspires through bubbling up it's totally worth seeing. 

 

One of my only issues with the exhibition was probably the fact the club and catwalk could have been reveresed, seeing the club styles first. I guess if you see it in that order it's a hell of a lot more obvious where the inspirations are taken from. Besides that there's so much and I loved seeing how much The Face was mentioned, it's great to see a fashion/music/culture title of the time which is so relevent to what was being shown and this added to the whole exhibition. 

Another aspect I loved was the videos being show, all showing how fun fashion was and it really made me think about how we're not seeing fashion and using it. I guess it was a reflection of the past when times were less simple but it really shows how business orientated fashion has become.

The shows there until February 16th 2014 and with a small entry fee it's totally worth attending especially if you're interesting in subculture and style.

Couture // Future

As I mentioned in my couture post there were various brands who showed a very different style of couture, moving away from such romance and delicate designs to a more modernised version of couture. Have we maybe moved to a point where we need to rethink couture in the future?

Pieces from Christian Dior, Alexandre Vauthier, Boucha Jarrar and Vionnet Coutre shows.

As I'd mentioned when looking at these collections I'd left all delivered a different feel to couture, offering us something different to the romance and magical affairs we expect of couture. Perhaps couture is becoming more ready to wear and maybe it's because of how we view fashion now. Have we fallen out of love with romance? 

Perhaps ready-to-wear couture is a new idea which we'll see develop really slowly creating a new take on couture to perhaps reflect the social status at the moment. Honestly I love the idea that couture's changed with women, not only have women have wanted to be just as fabulous but less of a princess and more a successful mogal? Have the clients of couture changed and this is why couture is changed? 

If powerful women are paving the way to a new era of couture I can't wait to see where it'll end up. I don't want to lose the fantasy but possibly have more than one couture direction? Why not have women wearing "ready-to-wear couture" but also being the head of a business empire whilst looking amazing all at the same time.

Kayne // White Affair

So obviously fashion and celebs come hand in hand with their connections to fashion and designers. In the newest fashion news Kayne West released his menswear collection with APC. The main controvosy so far has been a white tshirt selling it for $120/£80. 

Apparently the collection of three items took Kayne two years to design, although only made up of three jackets, three t-shirts and two pairs of jeans. I really struggle to see how the whole collection took two years, possibly highlighting how irrelevent Kayne is to fashion. Designers do bigger collections in half a year honestly.

Here I've just pulled a few images from APC's online store and if im honest what is there to say? His collection is really nothing to write home about its all uninspired, boring celebrity edorsed drivel. If you're going to be such a household name as he is at least create something decent or stick to what you know, I'm clearly not a fan of any of Kayne's fashion 'ventures' as I'll call them. 

Another massive factor causing debate is this overpriced white tshirt, it's a plain tshirt. So why such an extreme price tag? Selling at £120 I questioned why anyone would even give it the time of day but to add to horror it's also sold out. I guess it just shows the power of branding and consumers love of brands. 

I think the whole thing is one massive trip to help increase Kayne's ever inflating ego. It's clearly another money making scheme and he's so deluded to think he has an relevance to be in the fashion industry, especially since releasing his own collections which went down like a lead balloon. All I can think is anyone who tries to use their celeb status to create fashion which makes the entire industry look like a joke isn't worth bothering with. 

Highstreet // Toxicity

Has the highstreet finally reached it's peak, posioning and killing off other brands? We've seen various brands struggle to survive in the market that exists currently and with Nicole Farhi filing for administration has the monster that is highstreet finally dealt a killing blow? 

 

Nicole Farhi was founded in 1982, the brand have five stand alone stores and also sells clothes in major department stores such as Harvey Nicholes, Selfridges and House of Fraser. If a brand has all of these various points of contact with the consumer how have we reached a point where a brands dying? 

Is Nicole Farhi the first of many brands to be hit by the venom that the highstreets beginning to deal out, personally I really hope not. I think our love of cheap clothing really does make it harder and harder for luxury brands, who would spend more if they didn't need to. It's only sense. I mean brands such as Topshop and Urban Outfitters dominate the market and you have Primark who make the most money of anyone, it may be a shift in products meaning that clothes are cheaper and cheaper which have dealt this blow to luxury. 

Fingers crossed that somebody will be interest to take up Nicole Farhi's name and help the label out in the time of need, we can only hope. I guess luxury brands trigger warnings will be sounding and they'll really have to think about their sales but also how to draw into extra cash. One obvious way is clearly through perfume, such a lucrative way to make money for luxury brands it may be that we see more of an increase in new releases. 

For the sake of luxury brands I really hope whatever they do they manage to pull through such a hard time and break through this chokehold the highstreet seem to be applying. What worries me is more so how will this affect younger designers and smaller brands who possibly don't have such a strong brand presence and client base as the bigger labels. 

Fall // Couture 2013

Another collection of shows this time in the form of couture shows. Obviously the highest of the high when it comes to fashion we expect everything from them, we expect extravagence total extremes of fashion and pieces that look like they should never be worn.

With all the shows there's so much I thought I'd try my best to cover as much as possible! Prepare for a MASSIVE post full of the highest end fashion.

//Atelier Versace//

Atelier Versace brought some amazing pieces, predominately black their couture was full of everything you'd expect from Versace. Revealing enough and yet still enough to flatter a woman's silhouette, the red dress has to be my favourite, there's so much detail and I love the way it begins at her neck and flows down with her body. 

//Christian Dior//

The Christian Dior show was so differnt to pretty much all of the other shows, most had a really flowing theme and Dior seemed to been really eclectic which normally wouldn't work. Amazingly it did it had so many different looks to it and elements, my favourite two being the ones pictured above and the white dress is my ideal thought of couture. To me its also a take on nature meaning technology with the top patterns, but it's perfect.

//Alexis Mabille// 

 

Alexis Mabille's show was amazing and one of my favourite shows! It was like the perfect fantasy and everything I expect from couture, amazing fabrics and intricate shapes in perfect colours. Out of all the looks I have to say I absolutely adore the hooded black gown, it's like a menacing sparkling black varsion of red riding hood. 

//Giambattista Valli//

Giambattista Valli had another couture show which really poped and was amazing, it was a great mix of light colours and whites. Occasionally there was a flash of red or colour, but through out the collection it reflected a feel of wearing porcelain or bone china. I loved the different shapes Giambattista Valli used especially in the top white dress, the different lengths and layers give the dress so much depth it's amazing.

//Chanel//

Chanel's show was probably my favourite location of all of the shows by far, it was a burnt out theatre somewhat reminiscent of the one in Romeo and Juliet where Mercutio dies. Minus the setting Chanel brought us the largets collection of all the couture shows as expected as the most famous couture house, I thought the show was a great collection with some great variations in there. The two looks pictured above are my favourite I think the silver is just to die for!

//Ulyana Sergeenko//

Ulyana Sergeenko had yet another of my favourite collections, I think she presented a really magical feeling collection. There was so many looks with brilliant fabrics and shapes, all of them really fitting the models and looking great on their bodies. I think Ulyana really delivered some really romantic feeling dresses and looks, especially the white and gold above. Both of them are the types of dresses I'd image some form of princess in. 

//Armani Privé//

 

Armani Privé's show was something really special, with light dresses and furs. All of the looks were especially strong here, Armani Privé's collection delivered on that magically quality I'd expect from couture. The pieces all looked especially gorgeous and magical, I imagine looking even better in person  but even in photographs they look straight out of a fairytail but also having a really high class glamourus feel.

//Alexandre Vauthier//

Alexandre Vauthier's show was another of amazement. Not so much my cup of tea as it was less of a magical show as I'd have wanted but still amazing, I thought they were similar to Dior and delivered their own take on the word couture. Their looks were still stunning especialy the one worn be Lindsey Wixon, I think the colour of it is perfection, working great with feathers and embellishment.

//Bouchra Jarrar// 

 

I think Bouchra Jarrar's collection was yet another collection which really delivered their own take on couture, less of a fairtail magical experience. The collection was definitely couture daywear, which I think is an awfully clever idea. The whole collection was really wearable but still had that special look to it, making it stand out and define itself as couture. 

//Maison Martin Margeila// 

 

Maison Martin Margelia yet again brought a really impersonal faceless approach to their collection, it gives their collectiona a whole different feel. The whole idea and appeal of couture being the fact it's a type of fashion most of the worlds women won't ever experience makes it a really impersonal concept. Maison Martin Margeila's collection wasn't my favourite but had various elements I loved, the two images above are definitely some of my favourites, the second being so detailed I think it's amazing.

//Elie Saab//

 

Elie Saab had a collection I loved, like I've mentioned before I love couture that's magical and romantic. Elie Saab was exactly that, the dresses and looks were full of detail and embellishments in various colours and styles. All of them looking incredible on the models and delivered the idea of a perfect dress for a woman, capturing a good way to look at couture. I adore the dress above where two extra models were needed just for the train, as if add to it's beauty and appeal. 

//Jean Paul Gaultier//

Jean Paul Gaultier was a different show but I loved it, couture is something which I see as occasionally unwearable and similar to costume. I think the whole collection had this, as it started slowly it became clear it was growing in ideas and extremeness. I reminded me of a 00's show where there was such a focus on entertainment, theatrics and the clothes were really bold. 

//Vionnet//

 

Vionnet had one of the smallest collections of all of the couture shows but it was still an incredible show. I think that they've created some really feminine looks and pieces. My favourite of these has to be the right picture of the red dress, I think the dress is amazing it suits the model's figure so well and has such a striking prescence. 

//Valentino// 

Valentino was one of my top favourite shows, I struggled to stop at only four photos! I think Valentino really have some of the strongest looks and pieces from all of the couture collections. I love the colours and the patterns they've used and created, I think they had some special creations. I'd pick a favourite if I could but honestly I love all of the above, I think the bottom light one is such a perfect colour and I think the top left has great imagery on it and it's so detailed.

//Viktor & Rolf//

 

Viktor & Rolf showed a couture show for the first time since 2000. Their all black collection had some really interesting elements to it, I think I love their use of black the way they play around with shapes and different elements and details in their collection is really interesting. The two images above are my favourite I love the way the left sits on the body, I think the one on the right has such an different shape and silhouette because it of how it covers her shoulders.

//Zuhair Murad//

 

The last of the couture shows but not least! Yet another show I really really loved, it had some of the best details I'd seen through out the shows. I love the bottom left dress the most and how the imagery resembles both nature in the form of treas but also is somewhat reminiscent of veins. Another factor which really appealed to me about this collection was the choices of shapes and overlaying of fabrics, shown in the two top images. 

After all of the couture shows there has really been some amazing things shown, I loved all of the really  magical, intricate looks that were presented. Couture is obviously so famed because of the magic and mystery surrounding it, both of which are something which I'd define specifically being linked only to couture. I really think that it presents itself as something on another level to all other levels of fashion, I think looking at couture shows just highlights one of the main reasons I love fashon.