Friday, January 31, 2014

THANK YOU ZARA!... Louis Vuitton SS||2014 and Zara SS||2014

The iconic graffiti logo pattern, created by late designer and artist Stephen Sprouse in 2001 for Louis Vuitton's monogram bags, has been chosen for the first outfit [left] in the very last collection of Marc Jacobs for the french fashion house… and in addition, it has been used as an inspiration for Zara's newest pieces for the SS||2014 fashion season [right].



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

INTO MISSONI… the "La Moda: The Glamour of Italian Fashion" exhibition at the V&A celebrates Italy's rich contribution to modern fashion

The "La Moda: The Glamour of Italian Fashion" exhibition, opening on April 5th at the Victoria&Albert museum in London and ending on July 27th, explores Italian fashion and its evolution into the monumental craft industry it is today. It focused on the techniques, materials and expertise in the area of luxurious couture, innovative ready-to-wear and accessories.This extraordinary costume show examines Italy's rich contribution to modern fashion, and will feature around a hundred ensembles from the V&A's collections and international lenders, including some unique archive material of the traditional fashion house Missoni. Some memorable pieces will be on show in this occasion, highlighting Missoni's influence in the creation on the Italian style, with drawings by the late artist Antonio Lopez that will be also included in the exhibition catalog. Antonio Lopez electrified the fashion world in the seventies and eighties through his amazing fashion illustrations, published in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Interview, and defined the style of a whole generation of fashion connoisseurs. He usually created out of ­his apartment on Boulevard St.-Germain, a large white modern space loaned to him by his friend Karl Lagerfeld, where exhilarating people and various trendsetters were coming and going. For the illustrations of the FW 1983 ad campaign commissioned by Ottavio and Rosita Missoni, which featured a fierce bowman, Antonio found inspiration in the placid countryside around Sumirago, where he had found a remote archery club close to the Missoni factory. Missoni treasures this unique testimony of time and space, created by an exceptional artist who painted with many colors and went far beyond reality in his drawings.


Saturday, January 25, 2014

INSPIRATION Balenciaga FW 2007||08… Fay SS||2014

In more less a month we will be delighted by the comeback of one of the most amazing fashion designers of our time: Nicolas Ghesquière, who will present his first collection as creative director  for Louis Vuitton. In the meanwhile his past work continues to inspire. The multicolored lego-techno sandals from his Balenciaga FW 2007||08 collection, realized by shoe designer Pierre Hardy [left] might have been an inspiration to the creative team Aquilano Rimondi, who have proposed a similar color combination in their SS||2014 collection for the Tod's owned label Fay [right, Anna dello Russo photographed by Tommy Ton].


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

INSPIRATION Céline FW 2013||14… Chanel SS||2014

The wonderful oversized marble orbs on silver rings necklaces from Céline's FW 2013||14 collection [left] are coming to mind when watching Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel SS||2014 oversized pearl collars [right]. Of cause Karl's are bigger!


Saturday, January 11, 2014

INSPIRATION Prada Resort 2014… Marc Jacobs SS||2014

And the Marc Jacob's crush for the Italian grand dame of fashion Miuccia Prada continues… He really must love Miuccia's design to death, since season after season he makes it impossible not to connect the dots and to see the similarities between his current and past Prada's collections. An example can be found in Jacobs' SS||2014 printed and embroidered dresses [all rights] that bear a great deal of resemblance to Prada's 2014 resort collection, presented three month earlier. The vintage Hawaiian colorful floral all-overs with intense jeweled embellishments of Prada's resort outfits [all lefts] just look to me like a very similar concept used by Marc Jacobs.


Monday, January 6, 2014

INSPIRATION Valentino Garavani 1969... Vika Gazinskaya SS||2014

I really love the romantic-naif collections the Russian IT-girl and designer Vika Gazinskaya creates, like the beautiful flamingo coat [left] that has been photographed to death at the last fashion weeks. The same motif has inspired Valentino Garavani in 1969 to this romantic summer gown [left], worn for a Vogue Italia editorial by sixties supermodel Twiggy, photographed by Justin Villeneuve.



Sunday, January 5, 2014

INSPIRATION Stella McCartney FW 2013||14... Zara FW 2013||14

This weekend started the FW 2013||14 sales weeks here in Milan, which made me remember some fashion items of that season and how important some designers have been in influencing this seasons trends. How important a style is within a fashion season is, is easily to comprehend by observing which one has been chosen by fast fashion market retailers to be copied: how happened to this pale colored Stella McCartney cashmere wool outfit [left] and its Zara version [right].



Thursday, January 2, 2014

INTO THE ARCHIVES… Chanel SS||2008 and Chanel pre-fall 2014

Karl Lagerfeld's pre-fall collection for Chanel, presented a few weeks ago in Dallas| Texas, was a homage to the United States of America, featuring many outfits [all rights] in the all-american material: denim and a star pattern that was supposed to recall the stars on the American flag. But this is not the first time Karl Lagerfeld proposes these visual elements and theme in a Chanel collection…. remember SS||2008 [all lefts]?