All Entries Tagged With: "Balenciaga"

TrendSpark: Over-the-Top Shoes

Madonna’s Chanel pumps. Lindsay’s Balenciaga gladiators. Mary-Kate’s Givenchy sandals. What do all of these have in common? I want them, in my closet, right now. Shoe whores love ridiculous, over-the-top teeter-totter heels that we have to train ourselves to walk in. I am always on the look out for the most outrageous shoes, and these ladies have impressed me greatly. Now if only I could get my hands on some in time for the holidays…

TrendSpark: The Mummy Look

Martin Margiela

Balmain

Haider Ackerman

Balenciaga

Rick Owens

Spring/Summer 2009 brought back King Tut from his tomb and slapped him directly on the runways of New York Fashion Week. Several designers reincarnated the draping, wrapping and ruching with a modern twist. While this trend is very similar to inspiration from ancient Greek fashion, careful not confuse it…Zeus wouldn’t be caught a day in his immortal life wearing gauzy strips or pleated sleeves. 

I know the thermometers have just dropped and spring seems several snow and ice storms away, but keep the mummy look in the back of your mind until you can “unwrap” it in March! 

Thanks JC Report!

TrendSpark: Latex

Balenciaga Fall 2008.

Britney Spears video for "Womanizer."

Latex isn’t just found hidden in the top drawer of your nightstand, the money slot of your wallet, the glove compartment of your station wagon or next to your weed stash in the zippered compartment of your old KangaROOS anymore. Fall 2008 has got latex graduating from fun sized to full sized and in closets everywhere. 

Balenciaga’s Fall 2008 collection rocked out a candy red latex dress and Britney Spears’ new video “Womanizer” has got our little resurrected pop star showing off her goods in a latex vest. So, what’s the best part about the latex this season? It makes you look skinny! Jeffrey Gent, the designer of Spears’ vest by Syren runs for just under $200 and according to Gent, ”Women like it because [it works] like a Miracle Bra. Depending on how tight it is, you can also draw your waist in.”

Retire the spandex, the girdles, the corsets and whatever tummy-tucking junk you’ve got lying around. It’s about the latex! 

Thanks The Hollywood Gossip and NY Mag!

Has Fashion Gone Ugly?

Balenciaga

Judging by the latest spring/summer collections, the fashion industry has taken a deliberately ugly turn. Dowdy or even monstrous silhouettes, discordant combinations of fabrics and colors along with unsightly hair and makeup ruled the runway, while show-goers frequently hid behind oversized glasses in a mock-display of concealment.

Fendi

An abundance of looks featured odd shapes, such as Hussein Chalayan’s fierce molded latex spikes and Alexander McQueen’s skirts with colossal hips and body suits set off by sharp winged shoulders. Many collections also featured grossly oversized garb—a bulky, rigid white dress at Calvin Klein draped over the model as naturally as a cardboard box, a bulbous top at Fendi shifted stiffly from side to side with the model’s steps and a model swimming in a huge top and cuffed capris at Isaac Mizrahi resembled a little girl dressing up in her mother’s clothes.

Hussein Chalayan

Alexander McQueen

Jumbling together unexpected materials was another trend: Junya Watanabe layered rich African-print skirts over baggy cuffed jeans; Gaultier mixed things up by showing a body suit worn on top of a pair of pants; and Christopher Kane had a garish, transparent pumpkin-orange dress trimmed in black fur. Some styles were more sinister in their hideousness. The unsettling, aggressive silhouettes at Comme des Garàons featured cutouts that revealed a misshapen, unattractive portion of the model’s stomach. Maison Martin Margiela’s spectacular and spooky collection featured decidedly unsexy nude-and-white body suits, and disturbing looks such as models bound in ribbons of fabric, their faces concealed by stockings or a cascade of hair.

Commes des Garcons

Calvin Klein

The unsightly trend even extended to accessories and beauty. Gaultier featured a fur stole, complete with all four legs, while Rick Owens had his models’ feet wrapped in trash bag like leather fabrics. Behnaz Sarafpour and Balenciaga showed models who looked like they hadn’t slept in days, their eyes rimmed in shiny brown shadow. At Fendi, runway mane had been teased into spikes, and a rats nest was the hairstyle of choice at Alberta Ferretti.

Christopher Kane

Rick Owens

This ugly aesthetic is also reflected in everyday society. Too—chipped nails are being flaunted on the streets of Manhattan as well as the fingertips of celebrities, while dentists report that patients are requesting their veneers appear less-than-flawless (adding a rounded corner or slight rotation of a tooth here and there, gradating their shade instead of making them snow white). More women are also opting to go sans makeup, wearing baggy tops or pants that disguise rather than show-off their shape.

It doesn’t take more than an awkward smile from Ugly Betty to prove that perfection is pretty boring in its stagnant singularity. The real intrigue sets in when you let yourself branch out from the paragon and explore more multifaceted possibilities. Even if the look isn’t “pretty,” it grabs attention and penetrates the surface—you can’t just glide blissfully by.

Written by Molly Triffin of JC Report

What do you think indies, has fashion gone UGLY?

Fashion Week Whiteout

Last week’s Fashion Week was no different than any other Fashion Week. Designers still scrambled to show off their edgy silhouetted designs. Celebrities still claimed coveted front row seats to Marc Jacobs and Balenciaga. And, once again, the runway lacked diversity. This time, however, the white domination of the catwalk has some fashion icons on edge.

It seems like this past Fashion Week tried to mask its lack of black runway models.In the past,The Council of Fashion Designers of America left ethnic diversity up to the designers. This year’s president, Diane von Furstenberg, urged all designers to keep their models racially varied. Sure, black models walked in DKNY and Tracy Reese, but what about the hundreds of other designers who used few, or even no black models? It takes more than a few designers to launch ethnic diversity in the fashion industry, and with the runways creeping back to white, the “black issue” is again on the rise. 

But is the tendency for white models a racist ploy by designers or merely in consciousness of their designs? Some designers claim to use mostly white models in order to keep the “ethnicity” of the model from influencing the interpretation of his or her design. Others claim that the black model is unavailable by the agencies. Some even claim that selection is natural, and ethnicity is never in consideration.

Indeed, it is the designers right to cast models regardless of race, but if designers are truly conscious of women, shouldn’t they consider “women” as a general term? Black. White. Asian. Hispanic. Middle Eastern. We’re all women, right? Show us you design for women. All of us.

Thanks Style and  Reuters!

Extras Extras: When Can We Read All About It?

Until they gain stable enough footing to expand their lines into accessories collections, or they start out focusing on extras, smaller apparel designers aren’t known for the side dishes, like shoes and handbags. The major fashion houses seem to maintain that monopoly: Balenciaga shoes routinely become iconic, Fendi and Marc Jacobs churn out “it” bags like soft serve; and earlier this year Kaiser Karl brought us an entire carousel of giant Chanel accessories.

So far this season we’ve seen unremarkable accessories in the Elie Tahari show, and Jason Wu’s models sported some hot peeptoe pumps (above). And… thats it. And while we’re only a day in and still awaiting snaps of many of the shows, the accessories front seems pretty barren.

While a lot of designer pieces and overall looks can be easily replicated without paying thousands of dollars, shoes tend to spark fashion revolutions and hysterics. Those little extras are what create the buzz, the wait lists, new fans and backlash. They’re the protein of the runways! Over the next week I expect a buffet of life-altering accessories trends. If the only extras for spring are the goody bags at the tents, we’ll have to settle for last season’s leftovers.