London's Tops

Hello, I'm back, exams are over! Sorry for the three week gap.
So a semi-bumper post looking at my favourite shows from London. Ok so some of these collections are legit good, as in critically approved (Kane, for example), and there are others which I am just personally really fond of, without them being super amazing art or anything (ahem, Mulberry). So let the lowdown commence!

Meadham Kirchhoff

So Meadham Kirchoff this season? The t-shirt says it all:

I'm going to go out there and say that this was the best collection of Spring 2013. This collection actually made me emotional, and that doesn't happen very often. The last time my eyes got a bit moist and my heart quickened just from looking at clothes was Marc Jacobs Autumn 2010. And after viewing the collection I read this review, and it made everything even more emotional and somehow more real, like this collection was part of a story instead of masquerading commerce.

I find it funny that I should love this collection so much, yet last season's left me feeling relatively cold. I guess sometimes you cannot pin down exactly what makes something exceptional.

Mulberry

I'm not going to lie and say that Mulberry was cutting edge or anything, but damn it was fun and I want that hair and makeup and the florals and gold and mint was preeeeeeeeeeety. That is all.

Jonathan Saunders

Jonathan Saunders was way off kilter. Like off the kilter chart kilter. What strange mind puts beige and metallics together, or covering entire dresses in sequins (unless it's for a showgirl or drag queen). And the clothes were all set off by that wonderful/horrifying blow up sex doll lipstick. I swear it's the stuff of nightmares. So kudos to Saunders for achieving that!

One random look in venom green? Genius!

Christopher Kane

Good ol' Christopher. He always delivers. While designers usually supply show attendees with notes about the collection, their inspirations etc, Kane didn't this season. Apparently, it's not about anything at all.

Nothing? It just is? That is kind of... awesome. And for someone who loves the intellectual side of fashion, delving into the source and meaning of things, it's strangely exciting.

What I thought was also kinda remarkable about this collection is that it had not one but many "it" elements. Not only those plastic bows/ties, but also those large stiff folds, as well as that last dash of black censor-strips. This also translates to quite a diverse collection. From these glorious folded pastel dresses through to rubber bows and floating organza. I love that feeling of not quite knowing what will come down the runway next.

Erdem

The reason that Erdem is so often one of my favourites is that he continually surprises me. Obviously not surprise as in "flowers? what a surprise!", but as in he manages to do so much with florals, something different every six months, and something original. 

There is something poetic about the fact that the power went out during the show, yet the colour combinations of the dresses - orange, red, pink, subtle dashes of fluorescent yellow (above) - punch out incredibly bright. Via Tim Blanks' review at Style.com I discovered that Erdem called these brights, mixed with pastels, "uncomfortable colour combinations". It made for, once again, a wonderfully odd London collection. 

all images from vogue.com

Lounge Room Tribalism

A wee break from back to back super 100% fashion posts. I'll never suffer from fashion fatigue but I can't presume that you lovely readers are the same. So some neat paintings instead. These are all from New Zealand painter Graham Fletcher's Lounge Room Tribalism series.

If you're chilling out in Auckland, you can see some of these in person at the Auckland Art Gallery - but be quick! They are leaving on Monday!

all images from Graham Fletcher's website

Altuzarra

This post was going to be about Marc Jacobs, how it was one of my favorites of New York, but in the time it's taken me to get around to it I have completely gone off it. Perhaps it's because I saw the Louis Vuitton show, hated it, and then realised how similar it was to MJ. And at first I could look past the whole Edie Sedgwick thing, but OH GOD HOW I HATE HER and I just can't do it anymore.

So instead I'm gonna talk about Joseph Altuzarra! If you consider a collection as a single statement, yet made up of multiple parts - kind of like a music album or an artists' series - then here Altuzarra created a damned near-perfect collection. There was serious growth. There were also variations on a theme. But then if you placed the earlier looks with the later, the connection is not obvious at all. Yet overall, the whole collection fit perfectly together and was cohesive. I've said it before and I'll say it again, cohesion is what makes a good collection - and then cohesion made up of divergent parts is what makes a collection great.

I really dug the Carhartt-esque jackets with little Altuzarra logos, as well as the printed jean(?) skirts and blue shirts. It seems, to borrow a phrase, just so fresh and so clean. Clothes that I want to wear as well as simply admire and write about. Because let's be honest, I go nuts about Alexander McQueen but I will never want to wear it.

And then things get SERIOUS with the draping and the wrapping and the folding and all the beautiful detailing (that little panel on the green dress makes the outfit). One review said it headed into couture territory and I'd agree. And the blue-white combination of the earlier looks are repeated here, but changed to a darker, more intense blue and cream instead of white. Ugh I just LOVE subtle themes that run through collections.

The last looks tossed out practicality altogether, but I really hope that we see at least some rich socialites wearing these in the social pages and in the Sartorialist or whatever. They are too beautiful not to be worn, especially in moody, evening lighting where the gold tassles get highlighted and sparkle. I'd also like to say that the generally "ethnic" vibes are ok because Altuzarra is not directly referencing or copying any particular traditional dress. But there are always some who'd disagree on that.

That "ethnic" wrapping and draping had parallels with an unusually good Marc by Marc Jacobs collection. It doesn't make up for other disappointments, but it was a nice surprise.

all images from vogue.com

Krakoff Re-Inspection

The next coupla posts are my favourite New York shows this season. I'd like to think that a few weeks is enough time for me to have some kind of perspective on the whole thing - for instance, I was really underwhelmed with Prada initially, but BOOM a week later I decided it's great. Similarly, with Reek Krakoff I looked over it pretty quickly and wondered why you'd base you're entire palette on beige, and then dismissed it. But then yesterday I was trying to find this model that looks like someone I know, and I came across this photo. And then it clicked! I got it! This wasn't just beige. Krakoff was using colour and texture subtly, employing them to create these complex architectural shapes, which is usually reserved to cut.

Once I'd decided that the collection was really quite smart and nuanced after all, I checked out the Vogue.com review because those guys can be pretty insightful. But ugh it was the worst thing ever, Emily Holt just went on about how the bags were convenient because you don't have to waste time folding them over or something. Wut? I don't care about bags lady!

Some of the pieces look like they've been put together really complicatedly, and that there's lots of layering going on, like in the middle piece below. But I think they're just single items that you throw on. Insta-depth.

Man these mixes of colour - beige, cream, brown, black - and textures - chiffon, cotton, leather, satin - make for some seriously compelling looks. This collection is really worth second or third viewing. The more I look at these clothes the more I see. You know I don't think, deep down, that many people pay that much attention to ol' Reed. His reviewers tend to focus on his collections commercially, the clothes evaluated on their potential to be worn. Case in point: Nicole Phelps who said that for the dresses "the sheer overlays proved more distracting than they were flattering" - it's not always about being flattering! Critics think he's just another guy dabbling in minimalist luxury, and how much can you really expect from a guy whose background is bags right? Wrong! Krakoff's more than he seems guys! He's clever and subtle! Why can't you see?

all images vogue.com

Rochas Makes Me Wanna Wear Satin

Nothing articulate to say on this, just "wooooooooooooooooooo satin!" "cool!". That's what I was thinking when I saw these looks anyway. Didn't really like the rest of Rochas, I don't really like Rochas in general, to me it's just kinda precious and annoyingly hip at the same time. But damn that satin.

images from vogue.com

Slashing with Rodriguez and Saunders

I really love how the stars have aligned for Narciso Rodriguez lately. His 90s minimalist look is coming back in vogue, and he's also simultaneously churning out his best collections in a long while. Maybe it's this very focus back on simplicity that's reinvigorating him.

For Spring 2013 the collection's best looks were these billowing chiffon dresses with the geometric layering print. And then the same kind of thing popped up in Jonathan Saunders for one of his best collections yet! It still amazes me how this synchronicity happens with different designers, on completely different continents. Yet it happens season after season! I mean, Jonathan Saunders even had massive graphic stripes like the ones at Marc Jacobs.

It's neat how Saunders is influenced by this 90s minimalism, so he also throws in some other 90s stuff like high halter necks. It's cute or something. But I dunno about the Tim Burton Willy Wonka sunglasses, although the blow-up doll lipstick was kinda cool in a perverse way.

all images from vogue.com

Rodarte's Back to Kicking Ass

Thank the lord! Rodarte's gone back to being fun and fantastical again! Fantasy role playing, what an awesome - not cool, awesome - starting point. And they did it right too. I'm actually really glad that they've tackled medieval fantasy, because in illustrations and comics and movies the costumes are always awesome, but anyone who has been to pop culture conventions knows that IRL attempts to dress fantasy fall way, way short. Now the average convention goer can just pop into their local Rodarte store! Right.
Now I'm kind of waiting for this pink ensemble to show up in Final Fantasy.

But then there were definite sci fi vibes - I can see Daryl Hannah running around 2019 L.A. in those leather pants - so I guess the Mulleavy's decided to deal with nerdiness in one fell swoop. And they really picked up on what is so great about role playing and fantasy and sci fi! Laura said it was about "being who you imagine your best self could be". I have a confession to make guys, that is almost exactly like my personal motivating motto. When I'm having a down day, feelin' bad, feelin' sad, I tell myself that I am the best version of myself I could possibly be. And then I usually just feel awesome, like a "you go girl!" to yourself. You should try it sometime.

When the collection gets really medieval the baddassery levels are high. Lara Mullen and Katlin Aas always appear a bit formidable but in these threads they look like they can talk the talk too - as in they could wield a sword and/or magic while also looking grumpy.

In the flippy skirts you could see a bit of last season Proenza Schouler which means you could see a lot Balenciaga in general (there was even the familiar pumpkin colour cropping up), but I'm not saying that's a bad thing. They've treated those influences in their own way, and Balenciaga is pretty synonymous with sci fi these days. Maybe the Mulleavy's felt obliged to reference them! And back to those flippy skirts, they may be very Proenza Schouler, but can't you imagine how perfect they'd look, flipping about while riding and/or slaying dragons?

P.S. Skrillex hair is hilarious but I am also totally digging it at the same time.

all images from vogue.com