Fall 2013 Review - Part 3 Paris

The Paris shows are always the most eccentric, the most daring and the most extravagant. The grandest of the grand old houses show in Paris and they know how to put on a show...


Impact @ Chanel



Drama @ Dries Van Noten



Mystery @ Louis Vuitton


There were some common trends among my favorites like retro at Louis Vuitton and Mui Mui and punk at Junya Watanabe.

1960'S Overcoats at Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton channeling Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8

Amazing flower petal sandals at Louis Vuitton

Mary Janes and Neckerchiefs at Mui Mui

Mui Mui

The iconic motorcycle jacket meets the classic 3/4 overcoat at Junya Watanabe

This season in particular there seemed to be many more designers adopting the practice of playing with cuts. Where they are cutting clothes not only asymmetric but purposely off center, like off off center. There were also some odd proportions which ultimately felt like the designer was just trying too hard to be different - for example Barbara Bui. We saw a bit of this in Spring too, but there was a very large group doing this in Fall. I don't know how successful it is when you can't help but ask, "Is it supposed to fit like that?" I feel that if you are wondering, they aren't succeeding. Below are examples of the worst and the best;



 Barbara Bui : The proportion of this suit - the flared short pant with the low rise and the wide shouldered jacket just don't work. They seem as if the designer were cutting the suit this way just to be different, not to be flattering.

 

The most successful designer cutting asymmetric and experimental was Haider Ackermann.

These looks are all cut so well and fit so perfectly that there is no question regarding the designers intention.

Extremely cool boots @ Haider Ackerman




Some other notably cool looks came from the following designers:

Volume and drape at Gareth Pugh



Detail at  Comme des Garcons.

Mixing patterns at Givenchy.  I love all the colors - the soft pink and cherry red. I love the floral print and the shiny boot against the softness of the silk.

Channeling a modern day Katherine Hepburn look at Elie Saab

Long and fluid at Ann Demeulemeester. I would put this with a simple fitted black leather jacket and some long layered necklaces.

Chic and Easy @ Akris



Demure and Detailed @ Valentino

Keeping the torch lit @ Alexander McQueen

 All in all Paris proved once again to show a good mix of cutting edge strangeness and chic covetable fashion. I for one am looking forward to the September issues and all the creative ad campaigns... Thanks for reading!


Fall 2013 Review - Part 2 - London & Milan

 London week showed a refreshing sense of humor. They have a quirky vibe that is decidedly London, where when they do retro it's more sassy than when anyone else does it. Designers like Vivienne Westwood are always off center in the best way, and even Tom Ford who I don't think of as quirky by any means got in on the act with a comic inspired collection...



Vivienne Westwood

Tom Ford

 

 

 

Though neither of the above made it into my favorites from London, they are always great fun to see. I didn't have many pins from London as it turns out, here they are:

Temperly London - always chic



Burberry Prorsum: some pretty nifty men's shoes
 

Christopher Kane
 

I generally love L'Wren Scott, she went a bit too literal with her Klimt inspired collection for me here, but this dress stood out on it's own






Milan is always a bit more colorful, they tend to use lots of prints and embellishments which I love.

DSquared

Roberto Cavalli

Roberto Cavalli



Aquilano Rimondi



Salvatore Ferragamo - no prints or embellishments here, just clean and modern.

Some Punk influence @ Versace

Luisa Beccaria had a beautiful modern take of a 30's Gatsby-esque collection



One of the best and the stand out was Dolce & Gabanna, who showed my favorite collection of the season. Thus reminding me why they are my all time favorite designer.

Classic Dolce & Gabbana this season, and a perfect representative of Milan Fashion.

Coming up is Part 3 - Paris, which needs it's own post for sure...

Fall 2013 Review - Part 1 - New York

Fall 2013 was a bit disappointing overall. I feel bad saying that because it was clear the designers were trying really hard to impress...but sometimes that's the problem. The runways were flush with designers who were obviously trying to get attention, which can be the point at first but at the end of the day the clothes have to endure. And not many collections were great all the way through, which is why it seemed so disappointing. I found myself pinning one maybe two looks from most designers that I had expected to love, in some cases none at all which broke my heart a little bit, but I'll get over it next season I'm sure.
As usual the different countries tended to have similar themes with some exception, but in general New York felt retro, London was quirky, Milan was...hmmm...undeniably European, and Paris was experimental. I had planned on doing the whole season in one post, but after looking over all the photos I realized that was a bit ambitious. So I broke them into 4 parts, one for each city. This is Part One:

New York

As I said New York was very Retro overall, but more than anything I noticed how much the clothes looked like costume. There are so many wonderful period shows on TV at the moment that must have had an influence on designers. Perhaps they are turning to costume designers for inspiration. Perhaps people would rather live the glamorous and dramatic lives they see on the screen?

1940's @ Carolina Herrera

 

Some 1960's @ Marc by Marc Jacobs

Oscar de la Renta revisits the 1960's



1960's Mad Men looks at Kate Spade. I love these classic Leopard pants BTW



 Also there must have been free tickets to James Bond for designers because there were Bond Girls all over the runways.

 Bond @ Badgley Mischka

Classic Bond seductress at Pamela Rowland

2 Bond Girl looks of many by Kaufmanfranco

 The other major trend was Black, and not just the typical few black pieces, there were many collections that were almost totally in black.
Regardless of color here are some of my favorite looks from the New York Runways:


Hipster + Rock n Roll always cool @ Diesel Black Gold 

The styling here is key, this is a cool girl. @ 3.1 Philip Lim

Zac Posen. A master when it comes to cut. Amazing as always.

 Zac Posen. A master when it comes to cut. Amazing as always.

I'm loving the florals right now, and these Vera Wang outfits are so clever. The masculine suiting with the over sized floral then pairing with the soft gossamer fluid tops. Unexpected and refreshing.

Love the detail in the seaming and the bold choice of the red stripe in the Jill Stuart Dress.

Love the detail in the seaming and the bold choice of the red stripe in the Jill Stuart Dress.



This Diane Von Furstenberg dress is so kittenish and cute

This Diane Von Furstenberg dress is so kittenish and cute



Prabal Gurung did some amazing things with drape and accessories.

Prabal Gurung did some amazing things with drape and accessories.



Clean and Modern without being boring or pretentious. Bravo! Harder to do than it seems...Narciso Rodriguez

I'm a sucker for a fitted suit. This is awesome together and would be equally cool in it's parts. I can't tell if this is foiled fabric or a metallic Jacquard, whatever it is I dig it. J. Mendel

Stunning Slinky number at Naeem Khan

Stunning Slinky number at Naeem Khan

Marc Jacobs...I cannot pass up a sequin dress. Can't. And I love that he cut it so that it just seems like a simple conservative dress, that just happens to be covered in sparkly madness! I would live in this dress.

London up next in Part 2...