unpolished sapphire: Paris Fashion Week

Showing posts with label Paris Fashion Week. Show all posts

Monday, October 12, 2015

Nicolas Ghesquière's "Atari Teenage Riot" - Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2016

« The only limit is your imagination. »

The vocabulary of virtual worlds beckons us to initiate a quest, a maiden voyage, a heroic journey in which the protagonist gains strength, wisdom and character every step of the way. “Heroic Fantasy” is the perfect term to define these fabulous journeys. Fashion also participates in this same voyage of self-knowledge, freedom and discovering one’s own personalities.

This spring-summer 2016 collection is about stylistic role-playing, where the heroine passes through various sartorial levels and explores a universe of multiple atmospheres. In passing through these aesthetic levels, the entire evolution of a classic, urban wardrobe is gradually remastered, rooted in the illusion of materials that are, in fact, very real: linen, silk, leather, python and shagreen are “re-loaded” by the celebrated Maison’s “savoir-faire”.

With every world that our heroine experiences, the silhouette, constantly evolving, seeks to answer a

question. Gender fluidity? Modern romance? The power of the body? Absolute femininity? Louis Vuitton sets off to conquer the fascinating territory that is today’s woman, a complement of strength and fragility. And it offers up an exhilarating challenge: “The adventure depends on you.” (LV SS16 Press Release)

Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2016 Lookbook - Photographed by Juergen Teller
in the Louis Vuitton Headquarters, Paris / 6th of October 2015

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

ALBER ELBAZ / LANVIN MANIFESTE Exhibition at the Maison Européene de la Photographie

In his studio Alber Elbaz, the Artistic Director of Lanvin since 2001, is used to working around the body, with a model and his team. Everyone simply calls him "Alber", a testament to their discreet affection and obvious complicity. He works on his collections in a dimly lit room, using a blank page and a black pen, concentrating on how best to portray in his pieces the true desire of women. He guides his modélistes at every stage of the design process, providing solutions to any technical issues encountered along the way. The pace of the collection gathers enormous momentum and every season presents a new pretext for further research in his design studio on Rue Faubourg-Sain-Honoré.

Albert does not have an email address. He does not use social networks and lets others take care of documenting his work through photography or film. For Lanvin, the designer promotes a less square, rounder world, where screens are forgotten for a time and people are once again the centre of attention. How can this vision be transposed three-dimensionally to display images that essentially have only two?

Orchestrated by Alber Elbaz with the support of his teams, this exhibition immerses the visitor in the intimacy of the fittings, the excitement of the Lanvin shows and the beauty of its designs. This is a first in the history of the oldest French fashion house still in operation today. Five rooms are designed as settings showcasing the work of the designer - not as a monologue, but as a continuous dialogue between fashion and photography.

Over 400 moments shot by photographers But Sou Lai, Katy Reiss, James Bort, Mark Leibowitz, Juliette Da Cunha and Alex Koo; each accompanying Lanvin and its designer over a number of years, capture the intimate nature of the House, from the magic of the shows to the skill of the atelier and passion of Alber. A video projection featuring the voice of the designer, and illustrated by backstage images produced by Jean-Christophe Moine, and showing footage of the shows captured by Séraphin Ducellier, complements the exhibition.

This is an introspective exhibition - not a retrospective one - a chance to enter into the workings of the dream machine of Alber Elbaz at Lanvin. Built as an art installation it does not offer a set interpretation, but rather allows visitors to let go of their thoughts and let the heart take over. An invitation by the designer to look, listen and talk. Could this be his manifesto?

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Playing with light and colour - ISSEY MIYAKE SS13 - Paris Fashion Week

Issey Miyake's Spring - Summer 2013 collection has proven to be yet another successful conquest for Creative Director, Yoshiyuki Miyamae. Another revelatory and innovative show with a beautiful setting and mesmerizing colours and light reflections.

Introducing a revolutionary technique in printing, using double-sided printing, Miyamae succeeded in creating a great optical illusion through his fabrics as well as showcase an incredible graphic performance. Mixing different colours, patterns, folds and pleats the garments simply looked like they were dancing on the catwalk in the song of the playful light reflection.

The new collection presented was integrated into the three categories: colour reflection, rhythm and resonance. The first category was formed of the colourful, graphic group of dresses 'interplaying with bold colour blocks, achieved by double sided transfer printing', as mentioned in the press release.

The second category belonging to 'Colour rhythm' were the group of dresses that were created using pleated fabrics, constructing an added dimension and more texture. These clothes were conceived using the same innovative technique that was exemplified in Issey's AW12/13 collection : with stream-stretch material; heat-sensitive fabrics that can be molded and defined with heat presses.

The last category of looks were part of 'Colour Resonance', that concentrated more on prints and the mixture between colours. 'Seasonal prints on square cut garments are put through a procedure of embroidery, heat pressing and yarn melting on ultra fine fabric, giving movement and texture, worn with multicoloured geometric print bottoms'.