Monday, June 30, 2014

INSPIRATION Yves Saint Laurent SS||1993... Gucci SS||2011

I just stumbled upon this beautiful detail picture of Yves Saint Laurent's SS||1993 collection [left] and it immediately reminded me of the Marrakech inspired color and theme world of Frida Giannini's SS||2011 [right] that included gemstone colored satins and dangling tassels. Probably Frida might have thought what happens in Gucci Group, now Kering, stays in Gucci Group.


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

INSPIRATION Yves Saint Laurent FW 1966||67… Jean Charles de Castelbajac SS||2014

If I will ever write an instruction manual on how to copy properly styles from other designers without getting caught, the first rule would be to avoid to replicate iconic pieces and very recognizable styles. Jean Charles de Castelbajac's beautiful gown, featuring a stylized leg and and an arm that are embracing the body from his SS||2014 collection [right], would have clearly infringed that rule. Those details are way to similar to some iconic dresses created in 1966 by Yves Saint Laurent in his homage to the pop art artist Tom Wesselmann [left].



Sunday, June 22, 2014

INSPIRATION Roberta di Camerino 1975… Prada SS||2015

Just a view hours ago Miuccia Prada presented her amazing menswear collection that focused on large top stitchings in contrasting colors, and featured also some womenswear outfits [right]. Obviously what comes to mind are the trompe l'oeil designs from Roberta di Camerino, like this knitwear dress from 1975 [left].

Roberta di Camerino was an Italian fashion designer who founded her brand in Venice in 1945. The label is principally known for its trompe l'oeil designs and velvet handbags. Roberta di Camerino's designs were renowned for their innovativeness. They used richly patterned and coloured fabrics that had formerly been only used for clothing.In 1946, she made a bag patterned with a trellis of R's, foreshadowing Gucci's G's and in 1964, she made a handbag with an articulated frame that was later reproduced by Prada. Her designs were widely copied. Although this upset her, Coco Chanel reassured her, telling her not to cry about being copied, but to 'cry the day they don't copy you'.



Wednesday, June 18, 2014

INSPIRATION Saint Laurent FW 2014||15... Marc Jacobs Resort SS||2015

The similarities might be subtle between the Saint Laurent FW 2014||15 collection [all lefts] and Marc Jacobs' resort 2015 [all rights], but even that is too much similarity in my opinion. When fast fashion brands like ZARA [click here] and Topshop get more than inspired by the work of a current star designer of the fashion system like Hedi Slimane, there is nothing wrong about it. Actually it is part of the trickle-down effect of fad trends. But in my opinion Marc Jacobs is a star designer himself and shouldn't he avoid to get in his collections inspired by the [very recognizable] style of a competitor? Didn't he leave Louis Vuitton because he needed to strengthen his own brand and to give it back the strong identity that maybe has gotten lost for a period? I do not think that this is happening yet. His first new Marc by Marc Jacobs collection for FW 2014||15 designed by Luella Bartley and Katie Hillier had already some copyright issues as reported by me [click here], and I hoped in his first line he would do better actually. I'm a 90ties girl and so I grew up with the genius side of Marc Jacobs, and I loved so much what he did with fashion and in fashion. I hope it will get better.




Tuesday, June 17, 2014

LOVE IT| WISH IT|| SHOP IT... Nike Free 5.0 black| white| anthracite

What a treat. JD Sports asked me to try out a pair of trainers they propose on their website [click here] and of course I went with an elegant black and white optical choice. I'm not used at all to comfortable footwear since I normally pass my life in high heels, so I'm afraid that wearing my new Nikes in the weekends will totally spoil me, since I've never tried on so comfortable running shoes. The Nike Free 5.0 running shoe bears the comfort concept within its name. The extreme lightweight of this style, the breathability of the flyknit mesh and the high flexible outsole provides an incredible sense of freedom and wearing them feels like walking barefoot. I went with a black pair, since allows me to wear it with my usual neutral color range of clothes, but they actually come in a huge range of different colors.



Monday, June 16, 2014

INSPIRATION Hellstern&Sons 1920… Louis Vuitton Resort SS||2015

The House of Hellstern was founded by Louis Hellstern in Paris in 1870 with an atelier in Place Vendome. The design of the shoes was very extravagant and sometimes even extreme, like this over decorated black and white Mary Janes that fitted very well the Jazz Age vibe of the twenties [left]. This pair might have been Nicolas Ghesquière's inspiration for the shoes of the Louis Vuitton resort collection [right], showcased a month ago in Monaco.


Saturday, June 14, 2014

INSPIRATION Katharine Hamnett statement t-shirts…. Jeremy Scott for Moschino Resort SS||2015

Jeremy Scott is bringing back the classic black on white statement t-shirt from the eighties in his work for the Italian label Moschino [right, resort SS||2015]. These type of oversized t-shirts with large block letter slogans were highly fashionable since 1984, when successfully launched by the British designer Katharine Hamnett [left] who called them protest t-shirts and was donating a portion of the proceeds to charity.



Monday, June 9, 2014

INTO THE SAME IDEA... Sonia Rykiel and Christophe Lemaire FW 2014||15

One of my favourite styling proposals for next winter is to wear sweaters as scarfs. A wonderful idea that I often use when the right colored scarf is not available in my wardrobe. Sonia Rykiel and Christophe Lemaire illustrated very well on their catwalks how great that can look!


Wednesday, June 4, 2014

THANK YOU ZARA!... Stella McCartney SS||2014 and Zara SS||2014

Not only beautiful ready-to-wear garments are worth it to be reproposed to the fast fashion market but also details as it appears. For instance this beautiful circled zipper pull used by Stella McCartney for her SS||2014 collection [left] was very much appreciated by Zara's label STUDIO [right].


Monday, June 2, 2014

INSPIRATION Jil Sander SS||2009... Stella McCartney SS||2014

Stella McCartney is a designer who is known to be exceptional in the amalgamation of masculine and feminine influences within her collections. So it comes as no surprise to see her draw inspirations from menswear; in particular she might have been affected for her SS||2014 details [right] by some of Jil Sander styles from SS||2009 [left].