Here is a little Easter treat for you all… Yohji Yamamoto’s AW14 looks in eggs! Backround art by Yasuto Sasada.
Paris
Paco in 2014
Paco will be forver in us. All his alien dresses, metal jumpsuits, eccentric dresses that remind us 60’s sci-fi movies and UFO comics. Although, Paco Rabanne was a revolutionary fashion designer, for some time he was only recognised by his Million perfumes and kitsch advertisemnts… but, thanks-giving, he, in form of Julien Dossena, is back. And for good.
The new designer of Paco Rabanne which debuted in 2013, is Julien Dossena, the same one which designs for Atto Paris. And I must say- he really, really does a great job. Maybe it’s because of studying at Nicolas Ghesquiere studio? Or having this Paco blood in veins? What was most striking is how well Dossena handled the obvious Rabanne clichés and made them modern and wearable for AW14.
Chain mail, Rabanne’s strongest signature, has a tendency to be heavy and ill fitting. Dossena reimagined it as a net of safety pins. Worn over silk underpinnings, the metal tops and dresses had a cool, clingy drape. The house’s iconic tile dresses, meanwhile, can look rather retro, but Dossena ensured that didn’t happen when he re-created them as laser-cut leather harnesses and layered them over crisp cotton button-downs and shirtdresses. Of course, a brand can’t thrive on statement pieces alone. The designer also had sharp, well-made tailoring: classic menswear trousers that hung low from the hips and skinny pants with white plastic zippers and contrast topstitching. Another key item was the super-fitted quilted leather ski jacket. I loved it. Very chic, and very innovative. Having Dossena on the radar.
ATTO
“It’s really about the young French girl,” says Julien Dossena, who with Lion Blau and Florent Buonomano designs the new Paris-based label Atto. Then in the next breath, “We try to have a little of the Japanese wrapping technique, enveloping the body. It’s about this balance between clean and sharp and really sensual.” So it’s a bit of everything really, which, in this era of increasingly blurred borders, makes sense. The three designers of Atto, who sharpened their teeth in Balenciaga studio under Nicolas Ghesquiere wings, know how to make their fresh label youtful and very chic. Dossena showed his first collection as creative director of Paco Rabanne this fall—they insisted that Atto as a particular project will be less about runway-style statements on fashion and more about real-life wearability. “When you go into a department store, everything on the designer floor is super- or over-designed. We want to be accessible, but still have that creativity,” says Dossena, adding that accessories may be somewhere down the line. “Atto is reminiscent of a sixties minimalism,” says Paola Russo, the cofounder of L.A.’s Just One Eye, who is known for spotting and nurturing young talent. “And they’ve found a modern way to interpret refined sexiness.”
AW14 Dutch Twist
Rick Owens
It isn’t a something new that fashion is constantly being inspired with art. But oppositely to SS14, which was full of pop-art, the AW14 season was much more darker and… Dutch? Surely, for Rick Owens and Maison Martin Margiela, 15th and 16th century art from the Netherlands was the focus point. Just like in the Dutch portraits, Rick had his models wear in particular the head pieces that reminded me of the Flemish art. The positioning of the models and the heavy, unadorned nature of clothing looked elegant and very nun-like!
Hans Holbein the Younger (1498-1543), Detail Darmstadt Madonna, 1528
Rick Owens
Master of the 1540s (Netherlandish artist, fl 1541-1551), Portrait of a Woman, 1541
Maison Martin Margiela
Vlaenderbergh, Hans Memling
Maison Martin Margiela
The Nasty Kitty
The new IT shoes? Or maybe cheap looking, 800 euros tagged booties? These are the new classic shoes at Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane. And they are called Kitty Boots… Emmanuelle Alt is all over them. Just like the Parisian streets. But, why should we hide that- they look a bit slutty, in a way. The pointy nose, kitschy lacquered leather vs. leopard print embroidery, and also these laces… Additionally, they make your leg look shorter. So what is the point? I literally have enough of them, everywhere.
