Belgium: Birds of Paradise at Momu

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

At MoMu, the fashion museum of Antwerp, a gorgeous exhibition is happening lately. Birds of Paradise: Plumes and feathers in fashion is a tribute to the elegance and refinement of plumes and feathers used in the industry. Thanks for their beauty, fragility and value they had various connotations and were used throughout the fashion history. The exhibition (having creations by designer like Thierry Mugler, Riccardo Tisci, Ann Demeulemeester, Olivier Theykens or Miuccia Prada) addresses aspects such as luxury, chic, freedom, femininity, lightness but also modernism and dark romance. For the exhibition, British sculptor Kate MccGwire set up some of her works made of pigeon feathers to engage in an interesting dialogue with couture fashion and Irving Penn photographs. Being in Antwerp till August 24th, you must see this fashion event!

HC: Red. Viktor & Rolf AW14

July 11, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Viktor & Rolf thought of something so clear for today’s celebrities- red carpets. For their third haute couture show, they changed the whole runway into an endless red carpet. And, amazingly, the clothes were also red… and were made out of carpets, mostly. If you are interested how to knot your red, bathroom rug around your body, here is your perfect guide. Should I write more?

HC: Masacarade. Maison Martin Margiela AW14

July 10, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

“It enriches, it dresses, it decorates” was the quote, as Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal once again sought out a vision of haute couture that is wholly idiosyncratic to the house. Having cherry-picked the finest textiles from 18th century French lampas silks to Japanese 50s silk bomber jackets, MMM lavished hours of embroidery and embellishment work on top so that you can’t distinguish what was found and what was created. Again, thing that were lost were again found, things old were new and thing ugly again were beautiful. Although, I must say, it all looked like a mascarade ball. And veils were all about faberge eggs, Kanye!

HC: Tout Arrive. Bouchra Jarrar AW14

July 10, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Bouchra Jarrar is called by many the quintessence of Parisian chic. And also, it’s said that her Perfecto trousers are the most comfortable ever. In fact she does couture, which in reality is ready-to-wear, but still, everybody call it haute couture. Well. For Fall, Jarrar presented Nicolas Ghesquiere like tailored jackets, trousers made out of four layers, sporty vests with hand-crafted detailings and oxford shoes made in collaboration with Christian Louboutin. The collection is seriously chic and sexy and classy- but I am afraid it’s not really couture, even if a lot of work was used to do this collection.

HC: Blend of Two. Chanel AW14

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Like the dying embers of a baroque world, a gilded mirror hung in a modernist white space above a digitally-flamed fire, at the Chanel Haute Couture show yesterday in Paris. For this collection, Karl Lagerfeld thought of his vision of modernism. White neoprene gowns with baroque embroideries; curvilinear forms of a Le Corbusier building, the cloth moulded in an egg shape around the body, without any side seams; 21st Cinderella dresses; and a strange blend of the famous Paris-Edinburgh & Paris-Dubai collections Karl did earlier this year. The collection in my opinion is a bit normal. And somehow, I prefer couture on heels. Please, no more gladiator sandals! P.s. The last look was shown by Ashleigh Good, the seven month pregnant model. She wore a white cape with splendorous, gold, embroidered back. That moment was the most special in the whole collection.