CELINE PARIS 2014

CELINEThe silhouette Céline is more streamlined this Spring. However, coats fit close to the body with cocoon-like shapes while knits are long and lean worn over wool skirts.

She likes her luxury understated but still statement making- looking for comfort but not at the sacrifice of style. A woman that forges her own fashion path with no regard to what the rest of the industry is up to. Basically, designer Phoebe Philo, who has turned the Céline brand into a mirror image of herself.

Last season’s painterly brush stroke patterns made way for jungle cat spots, subtly smudged to dilute their powers. Which was not the case for the dramatic almost porcupine quill-like feather embellishments that sprouted out of the final three looks.

As for the always-inventive accessories, the designer seems to feel that Winter sandals are the way to go. Platformed up to keep feet dry when walking through Winter snow. And that all important the Celine’s Continue reading

FASHION FESTIVAL ASIA

ASIAThese events are part of the Asia Fashion Exchange, which aims to position Singapore as Asia’s leading fashion hub. This year’s speakers included Steven Kolb from the CFDA; accomplished writer and Audi’s Fashion Festival Creative Director Colin McDowell, and designer Thomas Tait, who is one of the finalist for the prestigious LVMH Young Designer Prize being awarded this month.

Then there was BLUEPRINT, a trade show that positions itself as the fashion trade gateway to Asia, which creates business opportunities between international buyers and promising design players.

There was also the Audi Fashion Festival. A showcase of world-class collections by both top designers- this season, Prabal Gurung opened the event and Oscar de la Renta supplied
the closing show- and emerging global designers.

An important role in the realization of the initiative goes to the Textile and Fashion Federation of Singapore (TaFf), which is actively developing local fashion industry. During the whole event Continue reading

T. LARSY, A VISIONARY ARTIST

French designer Thierry Lasry launched his eponymous sunglass line in 2006. Raised in a highly creative environment by an optician father and a designer mother, Thierry Lasry goes on to create a sunglass brand aimed at a certain elite looking to mark themselves out from the crowd.

Eclipsing their basic primary function, Thierry Lasry shades are swiftly adopted by fashionistas as the latest must-have fashion accessory. As the new beloved of the local and international fashion press, Thierry Lasry, within the space of six years, ranks among the most high-profile talents in the designer eyewear Continue reading

IDEAS FOR SPRING WEDDINGS


The exhibition “Wedding Dresses 1775 – 2014” at the Victoria & Albert Museum pays homage to this symbolic garment as it charts its deeply seeded history from the strict dress codes of medieval times to the glitzy celebrity affairs of today.

The first exhibit featuring a pastoral gown from the 1700s complete with a Continue reading

HEDI SLIMANE’S EXHIBITION

Pierre Bergé has been a longtime supporter of Hedi Slimane and all of his artistic endeavors. Starting on September 18th the Pierre Bergé-Yves Laurent Saint Foundation in Paris will be home to the exhibition “Sonic” that celebrates Slimane’s oeuvre. But instead of focusing on his talents as a fashion designer the show celebrates his highly regarded work as a photographer. The French designer and creative director of Saint Laurent sifted through 15 years of his photo archives to uncover black-and-white portraits of musical figures such as Keith Richards and Brian Wilson.

Perfectly timed to open during the month long fashion marathon, “Sonic” centers on Slimane’s fascination with the artists and the atmosphere of the music industry. The striking black and white images, many of them never seen before shots of rock legends like Keith Richards, Lou Reed, Brian Wilson and Amy Winehouse, reveal Slimane’s impressive ability to view these artists in an original, unvarnished light. Continue reading

WINTOUR IN A MUSEUM

In a rare public display of emotion, Anna Wintour let her guard down this morning as Michelle Obama cut the ribbon for the new $40million Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The First Lady, wearing a Naeem Khan dress, embraced the teary Vogue editor-in-chief in front of dozens of fashion luminaries that gathered for the event, including Marc Jacobs, Victoria Beckham, Zac Posen and Sarah Jessica Parker. The institute is being dedicated to Ms Wintour, 64, who has raised millions for the cause.

Designers Calvin Klein, Donatella Versace, Carolina Herrera, Reed Krakoff, Prabal Gurung, as well as Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen of The Row, were also among the famous faces at this morning’s event, where a usually composed Ms Wintour broke down in what appeared to be tears Continue reading

COUPLE OF FASHION

“His are the only clothes in which I am myself. He is far more than a couturier, he is a creator of personality,” Hubert de Givenchy’s muse Audrey Hepburn said of the designer. Loved by some of the most iconic stars of the 20th Century – from Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy and Wallis Simpson, to his most famous muse Audrey Hepburn – Givenchy’s name and legacy have been synonymous with Parisian chic for more than 50 years.

In 1927, he was born Hubert James Taffin de Givenchy. He came from an aristocratic family in the French city of Beauvais. The family’s nobility stemmed from his father’s side from the 18th Century, and artistic professions ran through his mother’s hereditary line.

Givenchy enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He began his career as an apprentice of Jacques Fath in 1945, and continued to learn the art of the couturier over the following years from Robert Piguet, Lucien Lelong and the legendary Italian Continue reading

GOLD SAVE THE QUEEN

Burberry’s Kerry Centre Line–Following up its runway presentation in Shanghai last week, we take a look at Burberry’s Kerry Centre exclusive collection. The limited-edition line of trench coats, dresses and accessories will be made available exclusively Continue reading

THE GHOST OF FASHION

Diane Pernet is a world-renowned fashion critic and journalist based in Paris. Previously a photographer and fashion designer, she now acts as documentary filmmaker, talent scout and fashion blogger.  She was one of the earliest fashion journalists to embrace the power of the internet, first through a column in the online editions of “Elle”, “Vogue” and, then, on her own site, A SHADED VIEW ON FASHION, which since its inception in 2005 has become a ‘must-read’ in fashion and creative industry circles.

Pernet was recognised in 2008 for her pioneering spirit in digital media when she was chosen as one of three influential global bloggers to take part in a panel celebrating a seminal fashion exhibition at New York’s venerated Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 As one of the most recognisable faces in fashion, she has also been captured on the other side of the movie camera through cameo appearances in Robert Altman’s film, ‘Prêt-à-Porter’ and in Continue reading

DIOR IN HONG KONG

Dior gives to Haute Couture a whole new meaning, with a couture runway show set to the Hong Kong skyline. The Spring/Summer 2014 Haute Couture season gets a replay; creative heads decided that the couture show would be presented again for those who missed the January runway in Paris. The show was held at an exquisite and breathtaking infrastructure known as the West Kowloon Heliport venue. Continue reading

CHARLES JAMES

Charles James (American, born in England, 1906–1978). “Butterfly” Dress, 1955. Smoke gray silk chiffon; pale gray silk satin; aubergine, lavender, and oyster white tulle. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009, Gift of Mrs. John de Menil, 1957 (2009.300.816) .

This design invites multiple interpretations. The form alludes to the extreme bustles of the 1880s and at the same time can be imagined as a transformation of the female body into that of a butterfly with iridescent wings that shimmer when they move. References to the past aside, it was a form hitherto unknown in the history of fashion. Twenty-five yards of tulle were used in its making. Continue reading

VICTOIRE DE CASTELLANE

Victoire de Castellane will never been a great French jewellery designer. For many years she was the designer for Dior highly recommended by her oncle who was working for Karl Lagerfeld. To tell you the truth, she does not how to draw and when she was working at Dior, she used to say that there were enough designers to understand her inspiration. Inspiration she found in her grand mother, Sylvia Hennessy, Comtesse de Castilleja de Guzman who used to change jewells several time a day.

That is all her experience ! So can you imagine Vermeer asking to students to draw for him « La Laitière » : isn’t it ridiculous ! We wonder how a luxe firm like Dior can tolerate it. Victoire de Castellane succeeded to run Continue reading

FASHION BRIEF

I have always liked to hear how people meet for the first time. Each story is different and unusual.
I am going to tell you how I met Bernard Arnault : An attractive and handsome gentleman walked down the lobby of “the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. We could feel someone energetic and soft. He came alone and went straight to the point and said:  I am Mr. Arnault, the President of Ferinel and I want to build a French Luxury group. Can you tell me more about how works the fashion industry?

Continue reading