Schiaparelli // Serving Couture

We all know about Schiaparelli's revival and if we don't why the hell not?

I know I've mentioned it and since Marco Zanini becoming creative director I've been waiting in anticipation of what he'll create and the direction of the brand. Recently massively exciting news has come to light about Schiaparelli!

Schiaparelli are set to show during Couture Fashion Week!! 

Schiaparelli with Marco Zanini have been elected as a guest member of the Cambre Syndicale, the S/S 2014 schedule is set for January 20th to January 23rd. 

What can we expect from Schiaparelli?

Will Zanini intend to continue where Lacroix left Schiaparelli or will he take the brand in a completely different direction? I can't wait to see what happens and where we end up with Schiaparelli! Sadly we're now just going to have to wait until January.

Schiaparelli // Head Designer Revealed!

In exciting news Marco Zanini has been appointed head desginer at Schiaparelli and after the brands relaunch with Lacroix it's very exciting news. Schiaparelli is such a big name especially since it's a brand which at once time was bigger than Channel!

"The biggest and most interesting challenge is to bring Elsa Schiaparelli's legacy to the present and the future"

I was super excited when I heard Lacroix was going to be designing for Schiaparelli and I think Marco Zanini taking over as head designer can only be good, it's great to see a brand which holds such heritage being revived and delivered to such a young audience!

One thing I felt last time was it was interesting to see how Lacroix designed with Schiaparelli in mind, I want to see how Marco Zanini translates the Schiaparelli aesthetic. I think that's the beauty of watching somebody take over they always breathe new life into the brand, look at Raf and Dior love it or hate it people everywhere had an opinion on it! Part of me is just so happy the brand is revived and we're reviving brands especially after watching people like Nicole Farhi! 

 

"She had an exceptional, incredible and intelligent approach; she was ahead of her times. The most interesting thing is to make her contemporary and current"

I love the way Zanini talks about Elsa Schiaparalli, clearly having so much respect for her and wanting to achieve something as mindblowing as she was at the time! I agree with him so much I do think she was ahead of her time especially in regards to her thoughts on fashion, having a manifesto on how women should dress and even not having clothing on display, keeping them as real art. 

I can't wait to see what he comes up with designing a couture and a more RTW collection for Schiaparelli! 

Lacroix // Schiaparelli Collection

After taking a short break from blogging I thought I'd return with something massive to firstly talk about, so here you have it Lacroix and Schiaparelli! Finally we're seeing his collection for the French label being revealed, I love that Lacroix chose not to present the collection in a massive show but rather on this mirrored carousel. Currently on dispay at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs the 18 piece collection is a definite collection of interest. 

 

  

  

Lacroix talked about how his approached was as natural as possible towards the project, wanting to pay tribute to the two very different sides of Elsa Schiaparelli. He described her work as 'crazy baroque, opulent, extravagent' but also commented on her 'modernity, simplicity and purity'.

I think this is a really perfect way to describe Schiaparelli's work, clearly a great way to think about the project tackle the challenge. If I were Lacrox I'd hate to have all of this pressure on me with regards to creating this collection. 

  

 

  

My thoughts on the collection are that I think Lacrox did a really good job at creating a modern collection for Schiaparelli, he really did manage to create a collection for 13/14. There are so many various elements in the pieces which I love, great patterns and silhouette to highlight women's figures and then more crazier ideas too. I do think certain looks are more Schiaparelli than others but regardless it must be so hard to attempt to follow up someone as famous as Elsa.

Barbara Hulanicki // Boring Style

So I was checking out some fashion news on Vogue and I discovered this piece about Barbara Hulanicki saying 'Women have boring wardrobes' she continues to talk about how people's style has become so predictable. 

If you want to check the article out you can find it //here//

Barbara thinks theres more focus on whats actually fashionable rather than looking at how we put clothes together. Honestly I think Barbara is right here, we seem to be so focused around what's on trend or who's collections just been shown. I think people have forgotten how fun fashion can be, we're constantly taking fashion in and it being judged so I guess we're scared to take as many risks.

Is this why street style is seen as such an interesting topic? Is this why we love people's blogs who make style posts? If something's different and stands out we're drawn to it so is Barbara highlighting how these vary basic ideas are emphasised because the norm is so boring.

She also says "it's very difficult to know what to wear now. That's why I always wear black", does this mean ideas such as style manifestos need to something we all adapt to. Like women of the past such as Schiaparelli who lived by a manifesto is Barbara highlighting there's a need for more personal considered style choices and rules?

Style//Manifesto

 Looking at style and rules with style it's really interesting to see where we stand with rules for living and manifesto's. I was reading into Schiaparelli and she stood by her own rules, as have other art movements and some film groups.

  

1. Since most women do not know themselves, they should try to do so.

2. A woman who buys an expensive dress and changes it, often with disastrous result, is extravagent and foolish. 

3. Most women (and men) are colour-blind. They should ask for suggestions.

4. Remember 20 percent of womne have inferiority complexes, 70 perfect have illusions. 

5. Ninety percent are affraid of being conspicuous and of what people say. So they buy a grey suit. They should dare to be different. 

6. Women should listen and ask for competent criticism and advice.

7. They should choose their clothes alone or in the company of a man. 

8. They should never shop with another woman, who sometimes consciously and often unconsciously is apt to be jealous. 

9. She should buy little and only of the best or the cheapest.

10. Never fit a dress to a body, but train the body to fit a dress.

11. A woman should buy mostly in on place where she is known and respected and not rush around trying every new fad. 

12. And she should pay her bills. 

Personally I think this is a genius idea and I think we all need to learnt to form some ideas of rules to look at when thinking about style. Even if a lose basis to follow to stop us getting distracted by things in life. I think my personal manifesto for stylish living would be something similar to this. 

1. Be yourself at all times - Buy something for you and noone else. 

2. Don't follow trends - Trends are generally expensive things which will be out of fashion soon so they're not worth it, why pay to look like everyone else following a trend? 

3. Buy quality - Try to buy something that really stands out and something you'll have no regrets about buying. 

4. Find YOUR brand - Find brands you love and brands who design things that fit/look really good, they're people you can buy from without any worries/concerns. 

5. Comfort - If you feel awkward/uncomfortable it's not working and it won't look good, if you feel comfortable you'll pull it off. 

6. Don't be afraid - Don't worry about something not being conventional, you're not dressing for anyone but yourself.

7. NEVER throw clothes away - It's a waste to throw something away and it might work really well with something you buy in the future.

8. Don't buy because you 'feel' like it - Generally you're wasting money but you won't end up with anything you really like.

9. Colour embrace it - Pinks and yellows can really stand out and are brilliant, don't be scared of them.

10. Hunt for things - Charity shops are a gold mine, inexpensive clothing which is generally unworn/something a little different. 

11. Shoes are everything - Buy expensive shoes, don't ever risk ruining your feet and who doesn't love nice shoes?

Lacroix//Schiaparelli

With the recent news of Christian Lacroix designing for Schiaparelli I anticipate something amazing. I really love the work Schiaparelli did with Salavador Dali, my favourite of it all being the famous skeleton dress desgined in 1938.

I think the reason I love this piece so much is just the sheer simplicity of it and almost irony of it, the idea of a dress based on human anatomy is something so bizare. I love how a dress is something to cover skin, which is something which covers bones and flesh and here you have a dress displaying bone. It's almost the idea of a reverse skin, highlighting bone instead of hiding it as if to present the beauty and complexity of human structure.

Showing his 15 piece collection in July duriung Paris fashion week Lacroix is expected to be creating reinterpretations of some of Schiaparelli's most famous designs so hopefully there will be another take on this wonderful dress.