HC: Ulyana Sergeenko AW13

July 2, 2013January 6, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ulyana Sergeenko third Haute Couture show was a third disappointment. Sorry, but for me she is not a designer, but a wife of a rich guy in Russia that decided one day to be a fashion designer. This is kind of sad because some people think that Ulyana in reality is an ultra talented designer… This season was a plunder in Sergeenko’s Grandma wardrobe- with ugly, velvet, black dresses, fur coats and flower embroideries that looks totally the same as last winter. It’s all a mirror view of the designer style- everybody seems to know from street style pics, that Sergeenko loves all these ball gowns and everything that looks uncomfortable and purely expensive.
Well, there were FEW looks I enjoyed, but it felt deja vu to me- the fur cape with flower embroideries on top is beautiful, but it’s a copy of Haute Couture AW12. There is nothing new in this collection, I would say there is even less than it was in past. And these gorsets… They look so bad! The clothes are like if a old grammy from Russian village would put on her old dresses made from same fabrics but sold cheaper in the past, and then went to Paris, saying that it’s a new trend.

HC: Feeling Couture AW13

July 2, 2013January 21, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

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…

HC: ATELIER VERSACE AW13

July 1, 2013January 21, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Naomi Campbell walked down the runway like only Naomi can, in a jacket held together with crystal hooks and eyes. Underneath she wore a black lace bra, inspired with Madonna, and she was flashing a substantial swath of upper thigh. That was amazing. The icon in pretty new, fresh form, was mind blowing. The collection of Atelier Versace by Donatella Versace was all about bright past. First of all you need to know, that Donatella is recreating only two years, after a long break when Gianni died. This is like a renaissance. I should say, that for real Atelier Versace is now and then two much better than all these Chanel and Dior Haute Couture… All the Sergeenko’s, Valli’s, Jarrar’s need to hide and will never be as good as Atelier. Gianni is dead, but Donatella lives, and she really makes the label up. This is fantastic. I love it. Really.
This collection wasn’t about shitty minimalism but is propagated by Dior, or cheap looking wedding dresses by Chanel. The details- crystal hooks, fur, amazing tailor ship, best quality. And a cat suit that plunged down to Lindsey Wixson’s navel was paneled from lace, net, and handwoven leather. That piece was the least thirties-ish of the lot, but all of the models wore real diamond jewelry designed by Versace. I feel the Gianni spirit here!!!

Men’s: SLIMane. Saint Laurent SS14

July 1, 2013March 23, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Enfant Terrible of French Fashion did it again just as he usually does- Hedi Slimane made me and all others, first of all excited, then scared, shocked and amazed in elusive way. Even, if his collections have a straight meaning, they are elusive. Hedi takes on his shows the ugliest in the world models, then put California garage band rock and roll music possibly recorded day before the show and some kind of Johnny Cash/rich boy from Las Vegas clothes. By the way, he doesn’t give a f***. I can’t say that I would wear any of these clothes (but love the shoes!) but I can’t say that don’t like the collection! It is totally different from other menswear, full of minimalism and prints. It’s as cool as AW13 womenswear for SL.
Cool biker jackets, leopard prints, gold, ties and suits. All in a very rock and roll edition, but in a more exclusive and “casino boy” look. Of course everything is extremely slim, that I personally hate (I love loose clothes) but thats totally other topic. For sure Slimane wasn’t at all in Paris while creating the collection. Los Angeles, hometown of the designer? California? It’s more about American coolness than European elegance. For this I respect Hedi Slimane as fashion designer!

Men’s: Heavy Metal. Rick Owens SS14

June 30, 2013August 28, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

What a show was that! When Rick Owens invited Estonian heavy metal band Winny Puhh (yes, that means Winnie The Pooh), he says he felt “an instant jolt of recognition. And Estonian is such an alien language that when it’s shrieked at you by a guy in a wolf mask, it becomes major.” They had it all that Rick needed for his show- scary, sleazy and hardcore look. If you don’t know Winny Puhh, and hadn’t a chance to know what is Eurovisia in Europe then I will shortly explain that. Eurovisia is a expensive, but cheap looking TV show that is hosted everytime in different countries of Europe. It’s popular in Europe, but mostly European are ashamed of it… And it’s demolic choreography, WORST singers of the specific country and the cheap, sorrow atmosphere. So, back to Rick Owens show- that sounds very interesting and different that he took these strangers for music thing for his show. Owens’ was called Vicious. That was the spirit Owens wanted—”cheerful viciousness, viciousness with humor. I felt like doing something ludicrous and fun.” The clothes- well, in rhythm of the music the models nearly ran. “Urgent movement and fierce athleticism were the driving forces of the collection. Long-sleeve tees, close to the body, zipped even closer, over shorts…sheer diagonals, perforations, and mesh tanks revealing the flesh beneath…leather tanks flying away into long fringe, fringed leather belts…everything moving” wrote Tim Blanks. Totally agree. That was something awfully mind blowing.