Dior Haute Couture by Raf Simons was inspired with ethnic cultures like Masai’s and Aborigines. Latest Givenchy collection for men was all about the face paintings influenced with African tribes. Fashion goes global and celebrates the beauty of various cultural heritages.
The Haute Couture week started for good and bad. This season is pretty difficult for designers- after a loud Naomi Campbell run at Atelier Versace, Dior and Chanel should be scared. Dior is already a big looser, but that’s later… Roger Vivier, a Parisian old shoe label presented their designs of Haute Couture that are… A heaven. How can you put so much beauty into one bag or shoe? The capsule collection was all about gold and crystals mixed with fuksia, pink, red, violet and so on. The embroiderment used inside the shoe looks so fragile, and in reality is stronger than most of Made in Italy shoes. The world of Roger Vivier is a fairy tale. And if Cinderella would be alive, she would for sure wear one of these masterpieces.
Dior Haute Couture by Raf Simons was in my personal opinion a fail. That was the worst collection by Raf Simons ever. Inspired with women from African tribes and different cultures, this haute couture went totally bad. First of all because… It wasn’t really couture! The AW13 of Dior was more Haute than this. Here you could see simple coats with small scarves worm with it and dresses with stripes and a bit of embroiderment on the tops. Nothing else. And the shoes? The most horrible part! There was also a scandal that Raf Simons is a racist- he never put black women models into his shows. This season that changed with Joan Smalls and others, but still a problem appears about the… Boob size!
There was a problem with Jourdan Dunn, a American model who is a Afro American and was cancelled in last moment from the Dior show because of her… Boob size and “colouring”! As sne writes on her Twitter in a kind of irritated but happy way-
Well because her boobs are to small? This is a discrimination- somehow all other designers loved Jourdan (she even has a Jason Wu bag called for her) and here Simons says no to her because of that problem? Seriously thats kind of stupid. By the way, Dunn writes some more arguments opposing her presence on the Dior show.
Fashion world seems to be sometimes really silly and crazy… What more happened on first day of HC Week in Paris? Schiaparelli by Christian Lacroix. The collection doesn’t feels too much of Elsa, but very Christian Lacroix. Dresses from chiffon, feathers and gold, crystals and ornaments, colours… So much to mention. I loved the fur usage and stripes but it felt also a bit mot “today”. Maybe in past it would be as trendy as Givenchy now, but I don’t think Rooney Mara or Kim Kardashian would wear it on a gala…and the presentation was in Elsa Schiaparelli closed showroom in Paris, so no guests were there…
HAIDER ACKERMAN- This is his first menswear collection since 2010! From this time I was waiting and waiting and now it is- Haider Ackerman SS14 for men! It is really superb! Of course everyone knew how it more or less will look like- very Haider style. The presentation was similar to women’s- satin, chiffon, silk, dark colour palete were seen and this type of clothing like crotch pants and loose tops. I called this collection an Andalusian chic. First of all the colours- red, orange, kakki, all in dark tones. And it’s all super male style and modern at the same time! Plus the model’s tattoos look marvelous. This collection beats all menswear SS14 for now! 
RAF SIMONS- the designer of Dior didn’t suprise nor was bad. It was very Raf- minimalism, prints, shorts, socks and broques. I would wear SOME of these T-shirts, but the rest wasn’t my type. The prints were all about industrial packages, like for example of clusters. But in reality the collection wasn’t very different from last Summer. However it was good!
VALENTINO- it was very classy and still was connected to last season- camo. The sweatshirts and shoes were all over covered with camo! The rest was just as great as this print. Sophisticated sport elegance, leather pockets on shirts, cool trousers and beautiful colours of blue and orange. That was a very casual collection mixed with luxury and cool touch! Love it!
Fashion was and is and will be influenced by art and design. How? In geometry, form, fabric, color, flower detail, a paint spot. The Louis Vuitton SS13 was all influenced by Daniel Buren geometric installations. The most dirty punk collection of AW13- Saint Laurent- had the flower motives from Yves Saint Laurent private collection of furniture. Givenchy Pre Fall 13 collection add by the way print similarities to the CH07 by Hans Wegner armchair! In this crazy art world of trends, changes, cults, everything has it’s replacement. If we talk of Eames chairs I think of a Givenchy SS13 dress and Jil Sander AW12 coats that are so lite and delicate. Just like Ray and Charles Eames furniture! Oh, and my less known to most interest are of course furnitures and specifically- chairs!
Oh yes! I’ve reserved these super cool Raf Simons X Adidas sneakers! Surely I will get them soon… I love them insanely. They were my long time wish. Thanks god there was this lovely 44 size (my size grid is from 40.5 to 44) and I just can’t sleep! I am so so happy about them, I had to post them!!! In the backround of these Raf’s, are prints from the SS Simons collection for men… 😄😄😄
Design & Culture by Ed 