Lil’Kim Approved. Area SS17

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For spring-summer 2017, Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk of Area searched deep for inspiration in their favourite issues of Vogue, coming from the 1960s and 2000s. Both of these major fashion eras are alive in the new season clothing, full of shiny rhinestones and feminine tulle. At Area, there’s often a stark contrast between what’s “good taste” and what’s kitsch – but in the end, the collections always ooze with glamour. Ahh, the I-used-to-be-cool Lucite accessories flecked with suspended glitter. Big, big rings, hoop earrings, and chopsticks for hair (which, by the way, would be a perfect fit for Samantha Jones). And I nearly forgot about those sunglasses! I mean, they revive every single thing, from Spice Girls to Bubble from Absolutely Fabulous. The look-book, photographed by Charlotte Wales, is full of fluorescent, gleaming flares and ruffled tops. One of the dresses, made of a croc-skin imitating fabric, is strangely sexy with all those cuts and bows. Then, suddenly, we’ve got the Dalmatian print all over the pants. Fun. Who else would have slayed Area’s newest creations? My vote is for Lil’ Kim (of course the old, good 2003 version of her)!

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Empowering. Tom Ford AW16

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Fashion month kicks it off, and we’re all ready for the next marathon of womenswear. But surprisingly, New York Fashion Week starts with a first industry ‘paradox’. It’s September, and throughout the years we’ve got used to the fact that we start reflecting on the next summer wardrobe at the very beginning of the cold season. Tom Ford does the opposite, presenting autumn-winter 2016 collection, instead of spring-summer 2017 (which you will see a lot during the upcoming weeks). But he isn’t an exception – this new model of selling, so see-it-now and buy-it-now logic, is already in the process at Burberry or Thakoon. But why is Tom Ford, and the others, making it even more complicated, if we already have all those pre-collections and capsules? Well, in fact they want to make it all easier for us all, even though the transition moment is HARD.

Here’s why. Tom Ford presented his AW16 collection yesterday in the evening during a celebrity-filled dinner (Tom Hanks, Julianne Moore, Uma Thurman to name a few), and today, a majority of those clothes hit the on-line stores and boutiques world-wide. Looking behind-the-scenes, the international buyers ordered the collection months ago, Tom Ford factory had its time to produce the one-of-a-kind pieces, and the customers are really into buying those velvet skirts and sequined turtlenecks, because they feel so “relevant”. They just saw it on the internet and their heavily-Instagrammed feed. As easy as that – virtually, the sales boom. Logistically, everyone is appealed to this new deal, which will MAYBE slow down the pace of the industry.

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But Tom Ford’s newest collection isn’t a sensation just because of its new, business strategy. This glamorous outing of diverse models (featuring 90s stars like Amber Valletta and todays newcomers) wearing feminine silhouettes and gorgeous accessories, is one of Ford’s best for a long, long time. Belted corsets on seductive leather jackets and slim pencil skirts. Ornamental, gold necklaces contrasted with elegant, tweed dresses, while over-the-knee boots made the models look even taller and badass. Mica Arganaraz and Lineisy Monero walked down the runway in colourful fur coats; Grace Hartzel, in her all-black outfit, looked like a rock’n’roll chick with whom you can’t argue. It sounds like a collection oozing with sex-appeal, a typical thing for Tom’s past, provocative Gucci-era. But in fact, it was much more mature, and it celebrated this specific type of killer woman, who enters the room and makes people drop. Guys in velvet blazers and duvet jackets looked nothing but harmless next to those girls. Ford definitely has a toast to a very good start of the fashion month, and his brands’ future of the revolutionary retail model.

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Miuccia’s Warm Days

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When it’s sweltering hot on the streets and you dream of a cold splash of water… then take a look at Miuccia Prada‘s spring-summer 2009 collection for her main-line. Thank me later for this breezy throwback…

Like taken out of a classical, Italian film, the shameless femininity in this collection, filled with crinkled fabrics, pencil skirts and seashell earrings, brings the musings of a warm, summer night. The poetry behind this beautiful collection is kept in the intriguing manner of the clothes – dress’ straps and short jackets looked as if they were about to fall down off the models’ bodies. “It’s primitive,Prada said, “going back to what counts.” Surely, this collection has counts like no other in 2016. And definitely, it can be taken as a good tip this summer!

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Over The Top. Marc Jacobs SS16

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Marc Jacobs’s spring-summer 2016 show was actually really about fashion. It was so over-the-top and so good, that I just don’t know  where to start from. So let me make a list of things that I am still obsessed with.

Location – This season Marc Jacobs took us to the “Hollywood of New York”. The entire fashion show was staged at the location of Ziegfeld Theatre on West 54th Street. The velvet details of the theater matched the eclectic mood of the collection precisely – glamour and chic shouted from every corner of this magical place…

Model Casting – Marc Jacobs and Anita Bitton of Establishment NY always choose the most interesting faces. Molly Bair, Lineisy Montero, Karly Loyce, Varya Shutova, Alice Metza and many more walked the show, representing diversity and beauty. But also, Marc’s all time favourites wore these opulent gowns – Guinevere Van Seenus , Karen Elson and, yes, even Beth Ditto attended the show, slaying it.

Fashion – As I mentioned before, this show seemed to be the most fashion-thinking of all during NYFW. I won’t hide it – this season was mostly about slip dresses and minimal outfits. And while everybody seemed to be revising their own signatures, Marc Jacobs truly let his imagination take over the reigns – all these silhouettes, the detailings, the whole Old Hollywood inspiration. Cinched waists and exaggerated shoulders, flared sleeves and full cut trousers, pussy bows and neck chokers, glitter and lamé were all here. Beautiful and  strongly missed splendour came back to fashion on a massive scale.

Embroidery – All kinds of embellishments and applications were used in this collection. Through collaboration with Lessage studio in Paris, the evening gowns looked absolutely ethereal and highly dramatic. Matty Bovan and Amie Victoria Robertson worked on the prints, that were later on ebroidered onto the over-sized suits – their toothy and freckled characters gave the collection a humorous edge.

Uff. I am done. This collection was great, Marc! And a great ending for the pretty calm New York Fashion Week.

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Summer Comeback. Rosie Assoulin SS16

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Rosie Assoulin‘s collections are always full of joy. For her SS16, the designer took us to one of New York’s public pools, which has its murals painted by Keith Haring. The location had a lot to do with the collection – swimwear was the key, and that was visible by looking at the very first looks. Bikini tops were worn over shirts, while happy, slightly trippy stripes covered the voluminous flares. The colours were bold and nutritious – intensive red and orange made me want summer to comeback as quick as possible! Assoulin’s signatures gowns are famous among New York fashionistas for their carefree attitude – they are not all about precious embellishments and a typical, heavy couture feeling, but about an old-school, Diana Ross glamour. Ruffles, bows – and beautiful silhouettes are as usually ruling. That’s sure – Rosie truly enjoys her play with fashion!

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