8.2.12
Mid-Century Madness
A couple weeks back I said that I'd do a post on what seems to be the entire world's obsession with 'mid-century', and I'm going to get to the bottom of what has culminated so far in Proenza Schouler's Googie collection - at least from the fashion person's point of view.
You may think this all started with Mad Men, but the seeds go back a lot further than that. In fact I think we should actually blame the whole thing on Brad and Angelina. I am sure many will remember 2005 and that infamous Steven Klein W shoot with Brad and Angelina in a 'fictional' state of domestic bliss. It would have been enough that they were portrayed in the 50s/60s family fairytale, but the whole shoot was actually a homage to Julius Shulman - the architectural photographer and unofficial ambassador of West-Coast Mid-Century Modernism (also somewhat of a god to anyone who is serious about design*).
And so with Klein and Brangelina the sparks were ignited, and in quick succession came the film and fashion industry fawning over anything Modern with a capital 'M'.
Next, in 2007, there was...
The following year there was...
And a year after that in 2009...
Perhaps a little late, fashion designers have jumped wholeheartedly on this bandwagon, most notably at Celine with Pheobe Philo's Autumn'11 collection. And if the clothes aren't physically reflecting design elements of mid-century modernism, then they are imitating what was actually worn during that period, such Louis Vuitton's Autumn'10 collection. Of course Proenza Schouler's Spring'12 collection was a strange mix of the two.
And Vogue, being the proudly American publication that it is (never mind that many of these architects and designers were European) is never short on Mid-Century themed spreads.
Obviously the development wasn't as simple as this and sole responsibility can't land on Klein's shoulders, but this is the most entertaining and visually appealing rundown! Now personally I've always loved Mid-Century Modernism, everything that led to it, and almost everything that has stemmed from it. And here I am writing a massive post on it! But even I am getting sick of all this at the moment, and if one more person smugly mentions 'mid-century' as if they have a PhD in the history of design I might scream. Let's give it a rest fellas.
*Note: Sarcasm
You may think this all started with Mad Men, but the seeds go back a lot further than that. In fact I think we should actually blame the whole thing on Brad and Angelina. I am sure many will remember 2005 and that infamous Steven Klein W shoot with Brad and Angelina in a 'fictional' state of domestic bliss. It would have been enough that they were portrayed in the 50s/60s family fairytale, but the whole shoot was actually a homage to Julius Shulman - the architectural photographer and unofficial ambassador of West-Coast Mid-Century Modernism (also somewhat of a god to anyone who is serious about design*).
And so with Klein and Brangelina the sparks were ignited, and in quick succession came the film and fashion industry fawning over anything Modern with a capital 'M'.
Next, in 2007, there was...
Mad Men
(look familiar?)
The following year there was...
Visual Acoustics
And a year after that in 2009...
A Single Man
Perhaps a little late, fashion designers have jumped wholeheartedly on this bandwagon, most notably at Celine with Pheobe Philo's Autumn'11 collection. And if the clothes aren't physically reflecting design elements of mid-century modernism, then they are imitating what was actually worn during that period, such Louis Vuitton's Autumn'10 collection. Of course Proenza Schouler's Spring'12 collection was a strange mix of the two.
And Vogue, being the proudly American publication that it is (never mind that many of these architects and designers were European) is never short on Mid-Century themed spreads.
Obviously the development wasn't as simple as this and sole responsibility can't land on Klein's shoulders, but this is the most entertaining and visually appealing rundown! Now personally I've always loved Mid-Century Modernism, everything that led to it, and almost everything that has stemmed from it. And here I am writing a massive post on it! But even I am getting sick of all this at the moment, and if one more person smugly mentions 'mid-century' as if they have a PhD in the history of design I might scream. Let's give it a rest fellas.
*Note: Sarcasm
Steven Klein images from W Magazine
Runway images from vogue.com
7.2.12
Blue Marc
Feeling lazy today, so just a couple of nice images from Vogue Japan of a particularly great Marc Jacobs collection. Do you wonder where they shot this? I've got an image of a gang of interns armed with bucketfuls of baby blue paint and the old lion enclosure at Tokyo zoo.
p.s. so excited for shows Thursday!!!
p.s. so excited for shows Thursday!!!
2.2.12
Miu Miu S/S'12 (Hate to Love #3)
I must admit I was a bit grumpy at Miuccia Prada when she proudly announced that the Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2012 collection was designed and created in only 15 days. She said it like it was some great thing, however I wanted to yell (did yell, at my computer) "this isn't Project Runway people!". The statement bothered me because I felt like it cheapened the whole process of designing - it's not a race after all. There are already too many collections in a year and there is enough of a rush, enough of a focus on the 'new', without Prada stepping it up a notch.
Because of this I couldn't look at the collection without thinking about its rapid creation, and in a misinformed act of protest I just dismissed it. Only now, five months after the show was presented, has my head cleared and I can assess it without an angry bias. And with this distance, I have realised it is TOTALLY AWESOME.
I've cropped the images in this way deliberately because the hair, make-up and accessories, while maybe not being objectively ugly, certainly distract a huge amount from the clothes (please notice the diplomacy in my wording, it takes a lot of self-control).
Because of this I couldn't look at the collection without thinking about its rapid creation, and in a misinformed act of protest I just dismissed it. Only now, five months after the show was presented, has my head cleared and I can assess it without an angry bias. And with this distance, I have realised it is TOTALLY AWESOME.
I've cropped the images in this way deliberately because the hair, make-up and accessories, while maybe not being objectively ugly, certainly distract a huge amount from the clothes (please notice the diplomacy in my wording, it takes a lot of self-control).
I can pin the excellence of this collection down to a few distinct elements. The first is the upper body wrapping that featured throughout. They've been generally described as stoles, but they depart quite a bit from the traditional night-at-the-opera staple. Nevertheless, for whatever reason having your chest constricted is very elegant, as Ashley Olsen seems to have already figured out.
Another great element of the collection was the off-the-shoulder looks. To be honest they don't seem very practical, but they were what helped push this collection off-kilter for me, and that is always a good thing.
The a-line shape has been a bit of a trend for a while now, but Prada, in the way that only Prada can, completely transformed the silhouette by its own exaggeration, via not just skirts but cape-like coats too. And I have no idea how Prada chooses her colour palette for a collection, but I'd love to be a fly-on-the-wall for that process because none of the colours for this show made much sense, yet they all worked amazingly together. I can't help stealing the description of colours from Nicole Phelps: "oxblood, cherry red, cerulean blue".
The patchwork assembly of graphic textiles was also a stroke of inspiration paired against unlikely colours such as metallic lilac (look up). The women of the show were likened to "snarky" (thanks Cathy Horyn) Hitchcock-esque anti-heroines, but I think those interpretations were due solely to the twisted hair, makeup and shoes. When left alone the vaguely folk-ish collection of prints, along with the metallics and crazy shapes and details, speak more for themselves than for some hypothetical character.
Original images from vogue.com
1.2.12
Stevie and Russh
She's not as well known as Grace Coddington or Katie Grand or Venetia Scott, but Stevie Dance is truly one of the best stylists working today. I've always known her as the muscle behind Russh, from when she was just styling up until she was the editor. Dance is also what made Russh the great magazine that it is - before her it was good, but it took Dance to get you excited about an editorial. It's hard to explain exactly why Dance is so excellent, but I think it has something to do with her presenting clothes as part of a story rather than as well designed objects. She said herself she's more into the story than into trends, and as a result a Dance shoot will take you anywhere from a juvenile runaway with her delinquent boyfriend to a girl who likes metal just hanging out in her apartment.
And now she's left the magazine and I was incredibly surprised and all doom and gloom about Russh's future. A couple of issues are out under the new editor Jess Blanch and its clear that it's, y'know, still good, but gone is my excitement for the new issue to land at the shops.
This is one of many of my favourite Dance styled editorials, and is how the world got introduced properly to Julia Nobis. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting more because they are just too good not to be here.
Also it seems that I keep coming back to Julia Nobis. I'm really not one of these model watchers or obsessives or whatever, but I cannot lie that Nobis is my fave.
And now she's left the magazine and I was incredibly surprised and all doom and gloom about Russh's future. A couple of issues are out under the new editor Jess Blanch and its clear that it's, y'know, still good, but gone is my excitement for the new issue to land at the shops.
This is one of many of my favourite Dance styled editorials, and is how the world got introduced properly to Julia Nobis. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting more because they are just too good not to be here.
Also it seems that I keep coming back to Julia Nobis. I'm really not one of these model watchers or obsessives or whatever, but I cannot lie that Nobis is my fave.
28.1.12
Couture S/S'12 - Valentino and Elie Saab
Well it seems the Valentino and Elie Saab delivered something marginally worth talking about. Saab was by no means great; this collection looked the same as every season, but at least every season the dresses are gorgeously pretty, dream princess kind of stuff. Nicole Phelps of style.com said it best though that each dress was only separated by the "vertiginousness of a neckline, the presence or absence of sleeves, the length of a train, and an occasional cape." However this repetition worked to great effect because of the sheer number of dresses, and their sheer sameness. I will illustrate the effect via the Saab-Pastel colour wheel:
Saab occasionally veered quite close to signature Valentino territory with delicately embroided, high necked, long-sleeved dresses with pencil thin waist ties (fig 1 &2) - but I'm being gracious and giving him a free pass on this one.
fig 1.
fig 2.
Valentino was a lot more interesting, and while I haven't adored it straight away, I can tell that with a bit of knowledge and time, this collection is going to grow a lot on me. Being an Art History student, I get a lot of pleasure looking into the influences of a collection, and Valentino always offers textbooks worth! So what was listed? There was Paul Delvaux, the Belgian surrealist (I personally hate surrealism but never mind) who often painted his subjects in long white gowns. There was the many incarnations of Marie Antoinette, whose influence could be seen in the occasional toile and a feminine take on 18th century menswear. And then there was the fashion photographer Deborah Turbeville, whose images exude a kind of gothic spiritualism.
I find it a mixture of both strange and entirely appropriate that they choose Turbeville as inspiration. Turbeville's aesthetic already matches Chiuri and Piccioli's Valentino quite perfectly, so perfectly in fact that they already collaborate and are generally associated with each other. So is there much point in looking to her to shape their gowns? It seems somewhat incestuous and the effect is like this weird parallel universe version of Valentino. Am I over analyzing this? Yes, yes I am.
But as for the best looks, Chiuri and Piccioli are known for their knack with lightness, yet the best from this collection were most definitely the stiffer taffeta gowns.
A compelling argument was also provided for matching dress and shoes:
And on a final note, it's worth mentioning that both shows had a grand total of one black model WHY THANK YOU VERY MUCH
fig 1.
fig 2.
Valentino was a lot more interesting, and while I haven't adored it straight away, I can tell that with a bit of knowledge and time, this collection is going to grow a lot on me. Being an Art History student, I get a lot of pleasure looking into the influences of a collection, and Valentino always offers textbooks worth! So what was listed? There was Paul Delvaux, the Belgian surrealist (I personally hate surrealism but never mind) who often painted his subjects in long white gowns. There was the many incarnations of Marie Antoinette, whose influence could be seen in the occasional toile and a feminine take on 18th century menswear. And then there was the fashion photographer Deborah Turbeville, whose images exude a kind of gothic spiritualism.
I find it a mixture of both strange and entirely appropriate that they choose Turbeville as inspiration. Turbeville's aesthetic already matches Chiuri and Piccioli's Valentino quite perfectly, so perfectly in fact that they already collaborate and are generally associated with each other. So is there much point in looking to her to shape their gowns? It seems somewhat incestuous and the effect is like this weird parallel universe version of Valentino. Am I over analyzing this? Yes, yes I am.
But as for the best looks, Chiuri and Piccioli are known for their knack with lightness, yet the best from this collection were most definitely the stiffer taffeta gowns.
A compelling argument was also provided for matching dress and shoes:
And on a final note, it's worth mentioning that both shows had a grand total of one black model WHY THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Elie Saab runway images from Fashion Gone Rogue
Valentino runway images from vogue.com
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