http://nowfashion.com/ NOWFASHION: Fashion and collections review NOWFASHION http://nowfashion.com/2013-06-17-margaret-howell-menswear-spring-summer-2014-london-review-1024.html Bringing another serving of her design trademarks in her Wigmore flagship, Margaret Howell’s Spring Summer ‘14 collection was British summer in a bottle. Crisp cotton shirts, gabardine raincoats, light blazers and cream knitted jumpers, all put together with an easy, schoolboy vibe; just add [...] 2013-06-17 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-06-17-j-w-anderson-menswear-spring-summer-2014-london-review-1023.html If last season J.W. Anderson accentuated male thighs in ways seldom seen before, this time around the spotlight was on male shoulders. Clearly working in the avant-garde mold, Anderson went one step further in the experimental realm with sculptural sleeveless tunics (or LBDs) worn over slouchy [...] 2013-06-17 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-06-16-richard-nicoll-menswear-spring-summer-2014-london-review-1022.html A designer rarely associated with an affinity to black, Richard Nicoll took us by surprise with a series of sporty leather-heavy basics that opened his SS14 show. While still marked by the alluring clarity of his point view, these sportswear separates had an added bite and sex appeal; think high [...] 2013-06-16 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-06-16-jonathan-saunders-menswear-spring-summer-2014-london-review-1021.html Set in a dimmed underground room at the London Film Museum, Saunders’ menswear presentation was a fluorescent, neo-noir affair. With bold arrows marking the floor and neon Lynch-esque city images flickering on alternate walls, the atmosphere perfectly captured this Saunders’ latest protagonist: [...] 2013-06-16 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-06-16-hardy-amies-menswear-spring-summer-2014-london-review-1020.html Taking us 39 floors up in the heart of The City, Hardy Amies held a super-stylish champagne-filled presentation at The Gherkin. Lined on little pedestals with the breathtaking view of the cityscape at their feet, Hardy Amies’ boys showed off design director Mehmet Ali’s crisp, perfectly [...] 2013-06-16 12:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-06-16-topman-menswear-spring-summer-2014-london-review-1019.html Topman returned to the third installment of London Collections: Men with quite a change in tone; with a much smaller than usual collection of 20 looks, and more uniform in its approach, it marked a new direction for menswear in SS14. In lieu of the brand’s signature urban vibe were strong Western [...] 2013-06-16 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-06-16-lou-dalton-menswear-spring-summer-2014-london-review-1018.html Lou Dalton, the opening act of London Collections: Men since its inception last June, once again set the scene flawlessly for what we are to expect over the next three days. Polished, sharp-hemmed crowds: check; classic tailoring updated with a subtle edge: check; and of course, in the vein of her [...] 2013-06-16 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-05-29-aganovich-camera-obscura-installation-review-1017.html Venice’s most striking feature may never have been its intriguing architecture and distinctive canals, but rather its relationship to light, from Canaletto to engineer-turned-designer Mariano Fortuny. Opening on the same day as the Preview Days of Venice’s 55th edition of the Art Biennale, [...] 2013-05-29 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-05-22-cannes-film-festival-2013-all-is-lost-movie-photocall-22ndt-may-2013-review-1016.html All Is Lost (USA) [Not in Competition] Movie Photocall in Cannes Film Festival 2013 In the pictures Protagonist: Robert REDFORD Director: J.C CHANDOR Producer: Anna Gerb Producer: Neal DODSON 2013-05-22 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-05-19-diane-pernet-in-cannes-film-festival-2013-review-1015.html 2013-05-19 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-05-17-cannes-film-festival-2013-photo-call-17th-may-2013-review-1014.html 3rd day photocall at The Cannes Film Festival 2013 featured: LE PASSÉ (France) Director: Asghar Farhadi Actors: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Alexandre Mallet-Guy TIAN ZHU DING (A TOUCH OF SIN) [...] 2013-05-17 10:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-05-16-cannes-film-festival-2013-photo-call-16th-may-2013-review-1013.html 2nd day photocall at The Cannes Film Festival 2013 featured: JEUNE & JOLIE (France) Director: françois Ozon Actors: Marine Vacth, Géraldine Pailhas, Frédéric Pierrot, Fantin Ravat, Laurent Delbecque THE BLING RING (USA) Director: Sofia Coppola Actors: Emma Watson, Claire Julien, [...] 2013-05-16 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-04-15-become-paris-next-fashion-designer-review-1012.html BECOME PARIS' NEXT FASHION DESIGNER The reputed fashion school MOD'ART INTERNATIONAL and the leader of real time fashion photography NOWFASHION have teamed up to discover and provide an incredible experience to the talented designers of tomorrow. The plan is simple, a web-based fashion [...] 2013-04-15 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-26-mundi-66-north-snow-blind-movie-review-1004.html As worthy Heir to a Norse Mythology of tales of deities, heroes and the fantasy genre, the Icelandic artist Mundi Vondi  transcended his new collection*  “post-post-apocalypse” AW 2013 in a surreal fable called SNOW BLIND. Set in an undefined future, the movie features  the [...] 2013-03-26 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-25-sasha-kanevski-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-kiev-review-1005.html What a strange hallucination that befell the guests of Sasha Kanevski's after-party, as the biggest snowfall in a hundred years smothered the Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days' second day in tons of pristine snow. At 1AM on March 24th, and despite the fact that transportation was virtually [...] 2013-03-25 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-24-yasya-minochkina-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-kiev-review-1007.html Given fashion's self-avowed obsession with the past and the future, an ouroboros quest that leads yesterday's garb to become tomorrow's must-haves, Yasya Minochkina drew the wardrobe for the trifecta of the Thirties's decadent belles, the Sixties naughty heroines and the Seventies glamorous [...] 2013-03-24 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-24-anton-belinski-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-kiev-review-1011.html Anton Belinski presented twice during the Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days, one teamed with the presentation to the fashionable crowd of the Mercedes CLA, Anton Belinski presented a vision of dystopian urbanity, complete with leather mouth masks, obscuring the chin. A veiled mound, [...] 2013-03-24 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-24-paskal-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-kiev-review-1009.html There was a frisson of the "Big Four" weeks as supermodel Alla Kostromichova opened and closed the show of fellow Ukrainian label Paskal, who only last year caught the eye of Luisa Via Roma's Andrea Panconesi. For fall, the black and lamé proposal put forth by Yulia Paskal for her collection [...] 2013-03-24 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-24-anna-october-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-kiev-review-1006.html "Let's talk about the present", says Anna October, lifting a corner on the meanings assigned to this palimpsest of a word. As both 'gift' and 'time', the present doesn't spring fully formed out of a void, and it is from that unsuspected richness that the designer drew the inspiration of her sweetly [...] 2013-03-24 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-24-yana-chaplygina-yulia-efimtchuk-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-kiev-review-1010.html Fifty shades of nothing! For Yulia Efimtchuk, there's only one shade, and that's black, the ground zero of all things, the no-color color, in keeping with its code of #000000 in the digital realms.  Austere lengths accompanied by proportions that highlight the fluidity of movement, rather [...] 2013-03-24 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-24-lera-leshchova-ann-kolomoyets-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-kiev-review-1008.html The pure, geometric lines of Lera Lershchova's fall collection immediately projected guests into a modernist vision of the Jazz Age and Leon Bakst's work on Daghiliev's Ballets Russes. The University of Fine Arts and Design graduate handled these base elements with a sure hand, creating a desirable [...] 2013-03-24 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-17-rff-lookbook-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-reykjavik-review-1003.html Lookbook credits: Photography: Hordur Ingason - www.horduringason.com Stylist: Ellen Lofts - www.ellenlofts.com Hair: Tota Johannesdottir using Aveda Makeup: Gudbjorg Huldis using Mac Art director: Ellen Lofts Models: Magdalena / Elite Models Vera / Eskimo Rafn Ingi / [...] 2013-03-17 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-miu-miu-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-998.html The vast space of the Conseil Economique Social et Environnemental building where Miu Miu has been showing its collections for a few seasons now got an austere new look for the brand’s fall/winter 2013 show.  The label built in a low ceiling to give a claustrophobic feeling to the space and [...] 2013-03-06 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-valentino-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-988.html Review by Jessica Michault - Editor in Chief The hits just keep on coming from the Valentino house. Designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli’s fall/winter 2013 collection was pitch perfect in its exploration of youthful innocence that was both serene and sophisticated at the same [...] 2013-03-06 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-hakaan-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-990.html Review by Lily Templeton Hakaan Yildirim’s collection made it safely to Paris to show on the penultimate day of Paris Fashion Week’s fall 2013 session. Despite being weary after almost a month’s worth of presentations, the fashionable had turned out this afternoon to see his collection at [...] 2013-03-06 18:32:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-lie-sang-bong-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-997.html The play of light on vintage window frames was the starting point to Lie Sang Bong’s collection, which concluded the fall 2013 session of shows in Paris, after ten long days of runway. Those familiar with the Korean designer – a superstar in his homeland – will remember that past seasons [...] 2013-03-06 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-elie-saab-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-999.html In a nice change of pace Elie Saab didn’t let the glamour get away from him with his fall/winter 2013 show. Saab, as it is well known, loves his shimmering lace gowns and he has made a business out of supplying them to women around the world who want to look beautiful but never rock the sartorial [...] 2013-03-06 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-masha-ma-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-1001.html London sensation Masha Ma is moving to Paris, said Cacharel’s Dawei Sun with gusto after his friend and former classmate’s show in the Palais de Tokyo. There was less movement than before, thanks to an inspiration drawn from an icy winter garden, but that didn’t make the young [...] 2013-03-06 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-allude-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-995.html For Andrea Karg, cashmere’s versatility provides plenty to experiment with, and for her third show on the Paris schedule, the German designer took her base material to new heights with a fall collection that spoke of urban elegance, and in which she included her first menswear silhouettes to be [...] 2013-03-06 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-moncler-gamme-rouge-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-993.html It might have been drizzling a light rain on the Paris city streets but inside the Moncler Gamme Rouge show venue it was snowing. The creative director for the line, designer Giambattista Valli, has always had fun with the brand’s runway shows. But this time he really out did himself. Creating a [...] 2013-03-06 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-vionnet-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-994.html Goga Ashkenazi is still struggling uphill on the road to reviving Madeleine Vionnet’s historic house after successive designer changes caused ungainly breaks in the creative vision of the brand. Now fully in charge, the house’s new owner and creative director is looking for her footing to bring [...] 2013-03-06 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-06-louis-vuitton-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-992.html For those wishing they could have had a bit more of a lie-in this morning on the last day of Paris Fashion Week, it was more then a bit tempting to open one of the few dozen brown mahogany doors that circled the far edge of the Louis Vuitton catwalk which had been transformed to look like the [...] 2013-03-06 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-hermes-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-987.html It took him a few seasons but Christophe Lemaire finally got there. He found his way to the essence of Hermès and its chic French clothing that stands the test of time not just in quality but quiet elegance. Already the set up for the show felt more in keeping with the stealth wealth style of [...] 2013-03-05 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-paul-joe-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-989.html Sophie Albou doesn't need to worry, her children Paul & Joe are growing up fast and are in good health: with a promising retail development in 2012, on the same basis as in 2011, including several shop openings in Japan and Russia, but also in France – the brand's headquarters – one can be [...] 2013-03-05 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-shiatzy-chen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-991.html In the face of a changing luxury landscape where Asian and more precisely brands such as Hermès’ Shang Xia and recent PPR acquisition of Qeelin are emerging as tomorrow’s heavy hitters, Taiwanese fashion house Shiatzy Chen provided an opportunity to get a taste of what’s moving and shaking [...] 2013-03-05 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-alexander-mcqueen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-986.html In just ten outfits the Alexander McQueen brand once again stunned the fashion set with a collection that was pure haute couture in both its concept and execution. The truncated collection, shown in the exquisite gilded halls of the Opéra Comique, was revealed in three back-to-back [...] 2013-03-05 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-junko-shimada-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-983.html Last season Japanese designer Junko Shimada celebrated her thirtieth anniversary on the catwalk, by telling stories from the Thousand and One Nights, with her oriental inspired silhouettes in eye-popping hues and bold prints. This time, Shimada turned her back on the runway in order to start [...] 2013-03-05 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-jean-charles-de-castelbajac-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-984.html The Oratoire du Louvre’s front row was packed to the rafters with PYTs from the French scene, eagerly awaiting Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s fall 2013 show. As often, his collection is a running commentary about his world view, fashion. “Our world is at the cusp of something, just like in the [...] 2013-03-05 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-chanel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-985.html Review by Jessica Michault - Editor in Chief The message was pretty clear as soon as you walked into the Grand Palais. Chanel has got the fashion world in the palm of its hands. This time the always impressive set was a gigantic spinning globe with the different continents covered in 300 [...] 2013-03-05 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-05-fatima-lopes-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-980.html Portuguese designer Fatima Lopes just launched her first fragrance “Be Mine” in Paris yesterday, followed by her new autumn-winter 2013/14 womenswear that she showcased at La Maison de la Chimie on the day after. “Everything started with the perfume. The bottle looks like a diamond ring, [...] 2013-03-05 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-saint-laurent-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-975.html For every man there is a woman. At least that seems to be the case at Saint Laurent. Where designer Hedi Slimane’s sophomore collection for the venerable house was all about supplying sartorial options for the women who love the same “California Grunge” look as their male counterparts who [...] 2013-03-04 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-preview-jean-charles-de-castelbajac-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-974.html “The Castelbajac beauty is all about accident.” This motto came back again and again as Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and his team gear up for their March 5th catwalk show, which will take place in the Oratoire du Louvre. Castelbajac wants a return to poetry, in a world where everything has [...] 2013-03-04 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-jean-paul-lespagnard-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-1000.html Shrimp croquettes and wood pallets awaited guests of the Jean-Paul Lespagnard show just outside the Gaïté Lyrique, where the fashion exhibition ARRRGH is being held until April 7. Outdoors seemed like the most reasonable place to wait, as inside the minute show space was positively overrun with [...] 2013-03-04 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-amaya-arzuaga-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-979.html An abstractionist of fashion herself, Amaya Arzuaga referenced the sharp lines and visually striking color palette of the Hard Edge movement founded by Lorser Feitelson in her fall 2013 collection. Hinging on the straight line is a tightrope exercise that demands precision and a sure hand that the [...] 2013-03-04 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-emanuel-ungaro-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-976.html It’s hard to find a place in Paris to hold a runway show that hasn’t been used a million times before. So hats off to the team at Emanuel Ungaro who truly wanted to wipe the slate clean for the brand by showing the collection at the never before seen (at least by the fashion crowd) Chamber of [...] 2013-03-04 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-paco-rabanne-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-978.html It's now official: Lydia Maurer, Paco Rabanne's new creative director and Manish Arora's former right hand at the Rabanne studio, has detached herself from the brand's previous futuristically-flavored and over-the-top glamorous aesthetics. As a matter of fact, the German designer diluted the [...] 2013-03-04 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-valentin-yudashkin-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-971.html When Russian designer Valentin Yudaskin said that he would showcase a winter collection, he was certainly not kidding and actually opted for a snowy mountain landscape tapestry, that formed the set design of his Parisian runway show at Hotel Westin. While some of his fellow designers on the [...] 2013-03-04 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-zuhair-murad-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-982.html Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad is cherished for his glamorous and romantic take on Haute Couture - think Jennifer Lopez wearing one of his delicately embroidered, nude-colored, floor-sweeping Haute Couture gowns, it seemed as if his latest “Golden Age” collection just went hand in hand with the [...] 2013-03-04 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-giambattista-valli-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-973.html Review by Jessica Michault - Editor in Chief We all have to grow up sometime. Although, it could be argued that Giambattista Valli’s aesthetic was always very grown up and sophisticated. And those who make that case would be correct. But as much as his collections were beautifully conceived [...] 2013-03-04 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-arzu-kaprol-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-981.html “Are we truly connected?” This question was the starting point to Turkish designer Arzu Kaprol’s fall 2013, presented in the intimate setting of an elegant apartment on rue Saint Honoré. Echoing ongoing concerns around effects of the digital revolution on our psyche, she feels that despite [...] 2013-03-04 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-maiyet-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-977.html « Be the change you want to see in the world » said Ghandi, and that quote resonates particularly at Maiyet, this morning. The eco-conscious subtext of the brand’s operations, creating their fabrics and wares with local artisans, is an admirable experiment but now secondary to what [...] 2013-03-04 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-leonard-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-969.html “Kim and Kanye didn't make it to show,” moaned an angry paparazzi, who obviously didn't get his expected job done. Indeed, they weren't at the Grand Palais to admire Borriello's second collection for Léonard and they certainly should have attended – and if it wasn't for the clothes, at least [...] 2013-03-04 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-sacai-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-970.html If there is one essential typographic element to describe Chitose Abe’s body of work, it is undoubtedly the slash. She’s not reinventing or adapting classics, she’s remixing them with that typically Gen Y Slasher hand. This was on the same page as Junya Watanabe’s collection shown earlier [...] 2013-03-04 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-basil-soda-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-1002.html For a collection inspired by metal, Basil Soda’s ready-to-wear, shown in the elegant salons of the Crillon, presented a face that was decidedly not rigid, nor was it metallic in its palette. Instead, he showed elegant outfits with delicately rounded, molded cuts in sportier fabrics, in the blue, [...] 2013-03-04 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-04-stella-mccartney-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-967.html When it comes to trend spotting this season Stella McCartney hit the nail on the head. She picked up on the whole “man, woman” thing that has the ladies appropriating every cool garment in a man’s wardrobe and making it their own. She also was clued in on the must have oversized silhouettes [...] 2013-03-04 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-givenchy-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-960.html Riccardo Tisci likes nothing better then to challenge his audience. Which is a particularly good thing this season as, so far, it has been a bit underwhelming in the innovation department. But with his spring/summer 2013 show he brought some balance back to the fashion universe with a deeply [...] 2013-03-03 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-hexa-by-kuho-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-966.html “Nowadays, you have to fight for everything you want,” Kuho Jung mused at the end of his Hexa by Kuho fall-winter 2013 catwalk show. “You are the new resistance of this time.” The backdrop of the run down store-rooms of 37 rue de Turenne, a space that once housed famous French photographic [...] 2013-03-03 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-john-galliano-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-961.html As the seasons go by, Bill Gaytten continues to redefine the house of John Galliano on his own terms. Considering his predecessor is still making headlines for his every move, it feels as if the onus is on the current designer to make a clean break to move forward. Certainly, in the face of [...] 2013-03-03 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-chloe-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-959.html Review by Jessica Michault - Editor in Chief Clare Waight Keller took the Chloe woman back to school. However her fall/winter 2013 show wasn’t an exploration of classic school girl uniforms but rather a look at youthful attire and how to transform them into grown up pieces that don’t loose [...] 2013-03-03 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-maxime-simoens-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-972.html It has been a year since Maxime Simoens has presented his work to the public. And that was as the new designer for Leonard, a partnership that ended only days after his first and what would end up being his last collection for the house. Many in the industry were taken by surprise by this breakup [...] 2013-03-03 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-celine-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-958.html The mood book at the Celine show this season was filled with images of the derrières of marble statues, cumulus clouds and fifteenth and sixteenth century Flemish portraiture.  A disparate mix if ever there was one. But damn if Phoebe Philo didn’t find a way to make those starting points [...] 2013-03-03 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-costume-national-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-968.html If the Costume National collection felt a bit one note at least it was a strong one that resonated long after designer Ennio Capasa’s show was over. Recently, the Costume National womenswear collection seem to be born fully formed from the brand’s menswear line. As this is a season of [...] 2013-03-03 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-andrew-gn-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-965.html Andrew Gn is expanding out his ultra luxe universe this season. Giving woman who love luxury fabrics as much as the designer and collect his glamorous gowns religiously year after year some much needed outerwear to go with all of those bejeweled and embroidered ensembles. “Women are looking [...] 2013-03-03 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-collette-dinnigan-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-963.html South African-born, Australia-based Collette Dinnigan’s love affair with lace and embellishments is well documented in her previous collections. The pretty frocks she showed in the Hôtel Meurice this morning showcased plenty of that. “This is about a woman being studied by a painter, a Dutch [...] 2013-03-03 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-kenzo-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-955.html Review: Elisabeta Tudor Third eye or Illuminati? You choose! The superstitious people in the audience might have had their heart beating at full speed, when looking at the embroidered and printed eye-symbols, that were declined on the many urban-flavored shiny ensembles. Big brother is watching [...] 2013-03-03 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-03-cacharel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-964.html Cacharel has been playing musical chairs for quiet a while. London-based duos, Eley Kishimoto and Clements Ribeiro, followed by French designer and everybody's darling Cédric Charlier – succeeded to each other in less than 10 years.
 Ever since Charlier left the French brand in 2011, [...] 2013-03-03 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-loewe-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-962.html Spain is the birthplace of the Loewe house and since Stuart Vevers took over as the brand’s designer seven years ago that Mediterranean country has been a wealth of inspiration for his collections. This time Vevers turned to the city of Bilbao what has been having a Renaissance moment ever [...] 2013-03-02 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-jean-paul-gaultier-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-950.html - Jessica Michault - Editor in Chief This season Jean Paul Gaultier abandoned his headquarters on rue Saint Marin in the third arrondissement in Paris, where he has shown  all of his collections for the past several years. Instead he decided to present his fall/winter 2013 collection [...] 2013-03-02 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-comme-des-garcons-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-951.html Calling a Comme de Garçons show familiar just doesn’t seem right. One of the most forward thinking, avant garde designers working today, Rei Kawakubo is nothing if not a rebel who each and every season challenges the fashion status quo. But there was a slight sense of déjà vu upon viewing [...] 2013-03-02 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-vivienne-westwood-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-953.html Another season, another utterly eccentric Vivienne Westwood show. The British fashion icon created yet again a jolly mess: think Vishnu, 60s prints – dots, circles, squares – and according to the designer, a focus on the Dark Ages. This said, the Geisha inspired make-up and the long hair [...] 2013-03-02 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-veronique-leroy-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-952.html This season Véronique Leroy left her twisted mormon inspired – yet cheeky – spring-summer 2013 story behind and opted for a softly tailored and ingenious textured garments, that stayed both for conventional elegance and powerful, voluminous shapes. In this sense, the silhouettes are [...] 2013-03-02 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-neil-barrett-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-956.html This is not your boyfriend’s wardrobe. Neil Barrett presented his womenswear in Paris, riffing on what he showed last January in Milan for mens. And if you were in attendance of both, there was a definite sense of déjà-vu. This is one for the girls, translated from the boys’ wardrobe. As [...] 2013-03-02 14:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-acne-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-954.html Jonny Johansson certainly knows how to get the fashion cognoscenti all juiced up. The crush at Acne Studios’ first catwalk show in Paris was on part with any sold out rock concert, and even a few minutes before the allotted time, the Grand Palais’s Galerie Sud Est was packed to the rafters with [...] 2013-03-02 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-viktor-rolf-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-947.html At the Viktor and Rolf fall/winter 2013 show Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren decided to pull back quite a bit on the quirky factor that helped bring this brand to prominence. Perhaps it was the fact that they had the elegant and stylish actress Jessica Chastain sitting front and center at the [...] 2013-03-02 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-martin-grant-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-946.html Dramatic opera music, followed by singer Woodkid's catchy voice set the tone of Martin Grant's autumnal runway show, earlier this afternoon in Le Marais. After showcasing a few military inspired cocoon coats and capes, Grant pursued with delicately ruffled and yet tailored silhouettes. 'The [...] 2013-03-02 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-tsumori-chisato-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-949.html “I design for myself,” answers Tsumori Chisato quite often when asked about her woman. There is a sparkle in her eye that says she doesn’t reference herself in a selfish way, but rather as an ambassador of a certain kind of woman, one who knows that being a grown-up can still be fun. Her [...] 2013-03-02 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-haider-ackermann-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-948.html It was all about the two F’s of womenswear for Haider Ackermann this season- force and fragility. The designer brought those two diametrically opposite ideas together in one fantastic fall/winter 2013 show. “You know there are so many women that I am surrounded by and they are all so very [...] 2013-03-02 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-pedro-lourenco-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-996.html At Nowfashion.com, we're more than aware of the democratic impact that live and digital coverage had on the fashion industry so far. It multiplied the possibilities of showcasing a designer's work and of conquering new clients – and we've already arrived at a stage, where fashion cannot be [...] 2013-03-02 10:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-christian-dior-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-939.html Walking into the tent Dior had erected in the shadow of Les Invalides the audience was transported to another world. A place where giant reflective sliver balloons blooming up from the floor or growing out of the ceiling had invaded the show space and divided the guests up in unusual groupings. [...] 2013-03-02 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-02-junya-watanabe-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-945.html If you start to get the hang of Junya Watanabe’s aural hints, his shows become slightly easier to grapple with. Japanese punk-rock tracks as musical backdrop today prefigured his approaching an item that he has grappled with before. The iconic biker was given a new moment on the runway, [...] 2013-03-02 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-yohji-yamamoto-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-942.html Perhaps it would be more appropriate to approach Yohji Yamamoto’s collections as moods rather than seasons. “Season? Before speaking about season, we have to talk about the Earth. It is sick. So I’m designing my collections without being influenced by season” he mused backstage. Considering [...] 2013-03-01 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-sonia-rykiel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-943.html Any designer who is showing after dark at the dismal Halle Freyssinet venue in the thirteenth arrondissement in Paris is already fighting an up hill battle with an audience that isn’t thrilled to be there. But came they did to see the debut of a new designer at Sonia Rykiel, the famed French [...] 2013-03-01 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-maison-martin-margiela-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-941.html Surprise Surprise fashion followers, Masion Martin Margiela, the brand that has left no oddball sartorial idea unexplored, is offering up some rather practical daywear for the fall/winter 2013 season. This was a collection filled with covetable suits that pulled inspiration for the menswear [...] 2013-03-01 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-vanessa-bruno-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-937.html From Lou Doillon to Cara Delevingne – Vanessa Bruno's muses evolved just as her collections have. Gone are the casual urban and girly bourgeois-bohème aesthetics, that shaped her previous spring-summer 2013 collection. This season a palpable preppiness set the tone – but the one that came [...] 2013-03-01 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-af-vandevorst-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-938.html  “It’s a book we read,” started Filip Arickx, one half of the A.F Vandevorst duo he forms with An Vandevorst, after the duo’s fall-winter show had concluded to the question of their inspirations. “But never mind that. First of all, we wanted to make a movie with Belgian artist Dirk [...] 2013-03-01 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-iris-van-herpen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-957.html Reputed for her almost scientific approach on fashion, Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen has been pushing the boundaries of Haute Couture for a while already. In this way, a new ready-to-wear line made sense: “It was about translating the technical and creative codes of my Couture collection in a [...] 2013-03-01 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-isabel-marant-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-936.html Stop the press, someone kidnapped Isabel Marant and wiped her mind clean of her usual motifs, leaving us with a clean, bi-chromic version of her signature style. In a nutshell: a fresh start. Black and creamy white, her knits telegraphed relaxed rather than casual, her tailoring captured the [...] 2013-03-01 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-anne-valerie-hash-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-932.html Anne Valérie Hash tried something different this season. Instead of assigned seating at her fall/winter 2013 it was a “fend for yourself” placement where the audience had to stand to see the collection. At lease the designer had some staircase risers for her audience (are you listening Jean [...] 2013-03-01 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-issey-miyake-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-935.html For a wee moment, Issey Miyak’s fall-winter painted an expressionist picture of Scotland, remixed by Yoshiyuki Miyamae’s expert eye, to a soundtrack where strains of bagpipes and “Scotland the Brave” could be picked up, performed live by Open Reel Ensemble. After an initial group in [...] 2013-03-01 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-chalayan-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-944.html The scrum of top tier fashion journalist and buyers surrounding Hussein Chalayan backstage after his show, desperate for any insight into the inspiration behind his exceptional collection, was impressive. It got to the point that Chalayan just handed over to the journalists a piece of paper [...] 2013-03-01 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-gareth-pugh-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-920.html Gareth Pugh knows how to set the mood for his collections. The Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, where a number of brands are showing their collections this season, is now a familiar venue for fashion veterans. So it takes an extra something to transform the space into anything original. Maison Martin [...] 2013-03-01 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-03-01-roland-mouret-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-934.html Paris has been on Roland Mouret's mind for a while. After paying homage last season to the endless party of eighties Parisian nightlife, Roland Mouret has come to the conclusion that fashion in the city of lights talks a different talk than elsewhere, and he is examining its “dictionaire de la [...] 2013-03-01 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-olympia-le-tan-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-930.html What do you bring back from an Austrian holiday? When you’re Olympia Le-Tan, it seems that you bring Austria’s charming denizens along with you to Paris. Following a trip there, on which she says that she fell under the charm of a flower-decked edition of Rilke, her appetite for the country [...] 2013-02-28 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-alexis-mabille-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-913.html The Alexis Mabille collection was a show that came straight out of left field.  Mabille is known for his feminine frocks. He is a man who has a love for bows and lace. A designer that adores incorporating elegant embellishments in his creations. But his fall/winter 2013 collection was as far [...] 2013-02-28 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-lanvin-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-940.html Alber Elbaz was trying to communicate something to fashion world with his fall/winter 2013 show. And a new message was exactly what this designer needed to stoke the fires of his highly successful house. Already with the first exit things appeared to be a bit different. The black textural [...] 2013-02-28 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-christian-wijnants-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-931.html Antwerp-based, Belgian designer Christian Wijnants is back on track: after a first Parisian off-presentation in 2010, Wijnants was able to demonstrate that his fashion is runway-worthy, by featuring his new autumn-winter 2013/14 collection on the official Paris womenswear schedule. “This [...] 2013-02-28 19:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-nina-ricci-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-927.html Elegance and femininity with a coquettish soupcon of sexuality has been the path designer Peter Copping has been taking the Nina Ricci brand down since he took over the label in 2009. This season those three elements were in perfect balance in one of the designer’s strongest shows for [...] 2013-02-28 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-rick-owens-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-928.html With a gust of smoky white wind Rick Owens pushed his rebellious moody aesthetic in a compelling new direction. Never fear Owens fans, there weren’t any floral prints or lingerie embellishments on the designer’s catwalk. No, he stuck to his favorite palette of white and black – with just [...] 2013-02-28 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-glenn-martens-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-933.html Glenn Martens is quiet a lucky guy: with the support of Didier Grumbach, designer Bruno Pieters and top model Bianca O'Brien, next to other fashion professionals alike, he turned into one of the most promising and hyped newcomers within only three seasons.
 Before moving to Paris, this young [...] 2013-02-28 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-barbara-bui-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-924.html “Restraint and irreverence” was how Barbara Bui summed up a collection where she played on the elegantly sensual through juxtapositions of black, varying their texture and transparency. Black is, as often with her, the prevalent color that enhances her natural/strong dichotomy. “I was [...] 2013-02-28 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-balmain-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-929.html When a brand is so firmly entrenched into one aesthetic that it define a particular time in fashion it can be incredibly hard not to look dated once the fashion world has moved on to the next big thing. This is the problem facing the Balmain brand. Christophe Decarnin took over the struggling [...] 2013-02-28 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-sharon-wauchob-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-923.html From her latest spring-summer season, Sharon Wauchob kept the play with transparencies and edgy detailing. But this time, challenging dévorée laser-cut techniques replaced the perforated floral motif. The hem wandered below the knee for winter and consequently long pleated skirts came in [...] 2013-02-28 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-ann-demeulemeester-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-922.html Solidity and airiness have been Ann Demeulemeester’s leading topics for quiet a while. And even if Demeulemeester seems to never feel the urge to reinvent her own design vocabulary, she has the merit of creating desirable collections, that are rooted in the longevity and poetry of her [...] 2013-02-28 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-manish-arora-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-921.html From his trip to Burning Man, Manish Arora brought back a visual souvenir that lit the third day of Paris’ RTW presentation as surely as the sun over the Nevada desert. At first, the clear blue skies peppered with fluffy clouds came in the form of digitally printed dresses, one with a loose top, [...] 2013-02-28 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-carven-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-925.html The Carven brand is the “little engine that could” house that has been chugging along these last couple of years opening new stores around the world - it’s second Paris shop opens today - launching a menswear line and finding chic new digs for its headquarters in the city of light. But [...] 2013-02-28 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-28-balenciaga-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-926.html Showing his first collection for Balenciaga, designer Alexander Wang symbolically took the brand back to its roots. The homage began with his choice to return to the intimate setting of the historic Balenciaga salons on avenue George V. Where for the past two months the staff had worked around the [...] 2013-02-28 09:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-mugler-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-916.html The MuglAIR service from the future has just arrived, gate number 5. “We wanted to explore the idea of travel through time, in style,” said creative director Nicola Formichetti in the show notes, and with this idea in mind, he and designer Sebastien Peigné took off on a voyage through their [...] 2013-02-27 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-rue-du-mail-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-918.html This season, Martine Sitbon was all about weave games. As it was suggested by the interplay of waft and warp yarns, that adorned the upper front of the first silhouettes, Rue du Mail's autumn-winter 2013/14 show was a successful exercise of textures.
 The magnified yarn-motif was the most [...] 2013-02-27 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-h-m-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-917.html Just in time for the recent launch of & Other Stories, the H&M's new high-fashion label, the Swedish fashion brand H&M presented its new autumn-winter 2013/14 collection in a side-venue next to Paris' Musée Rodin. Alexandre de Betak, the man behind fashion – who produces the [...] 2013-02-27 18:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-undercover-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-915.html When we last left Jun Takahashi nearly two years ago, he had shown a relatively understated collection featuring tailoring and denim. For his return to the catwalks this season, it was more of a celebration. In the hallowed halls of the Sorbonne, the Japanese designer invited his guests –the [...] 2013-02-27 18:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-manish-arora-preview-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-912.html After delving into his homeland’s rich history of dress, Manish Arora went for a refresher course into radical self-expression at Burning Man in the Nevadan desert. From his trip, he brought back psychedelic mirages and shapes that he translated into wearable canvases skimming the female [...] 2013-02-27 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-rochas-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-919.html Designer Marco Zanini is a real fan of the 1950s. He returns Rochas again and again to this age of hourglass shapes and feminine glamour. But it is always with a perspective that is slightly off kilter thanks to his unusual mélange of unexpected colors. For the fall/winter 2013 season Zanini [...] 2013-02-27 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-felipe-oliveira-baptista-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-911.html Take away the distractions of color and print, and what is left but the structure, unaltered and pristine. Felipe Oliveira Baptista turned out a fall-winter 2013/2014 show that is one of his most restrained, pared down collections, an introspective dissection of his own work, born from his prep [...] 2013-02-27 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-dries-van-noten-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-914.html Leave it to Dries Van Noten to pick up on the man/woman trend and make it all his own.   Instead of simply using menswear fabrics, tailoring or just pulling out a few staples from a man’s closet and doing them up in more feminine colors or textiles, Van Noten gave himself the challenge [...] 2013-02-27 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-damir-doma-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-907.html In a season that has as one of its major trends the appropriation of men’s textiles and tailoring into a woman’s wardrobe, Damir Doma could have been sitting pretty. After all, he is a designer who got his start in menswear and has made a name for himself as someone who dresses women often in [...] 2013-02-27 13:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-nicolas-andreas-taralis-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-906.html As expected, a melancholic piano music kicked off Nicolas Andreas Taralis' autum-winter 2013/14 womenswear show at Hotel Salomon de Rothshild. Taralis is well know for the dark yet soothing spiritual atmosphere of his presentations and this season was no different. However, the designer did [...] 2013-02-27 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-guy-laroche-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-908.html Touch Guy Laroche’s woman without her explicit permission, I dare you. It takes a fool to reach for that zip uninvited. For fall-winter 2013/2014, Marcel Marongiu worked for a woman who is a study in contrasts between the sultry image she projects and her hardy soul. “She likes seduction and [...] 2013-02-27 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-alexandre-vauthier-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-910.html Take Alexandre Vauthier's latest couture collection, copy-paste it in a sleek way and you'll get the designer's new autumn-winter 2013/14 ready-to-wear. This said, this simpler declination of the designer's signature style didn't imply a loss of quality - on the contrary, the garments staid [...] 2013-02-27 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-27-christophe-lemaire-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-905.html Christophe Lemaire is certainly the only designer who keeps his audience keen, without following the seasonal winds of change. And this time again, his slow take on fashion was able to convince his aficionados. As the press release stated, Lemaire's woman was 'freed from fashions' and [...] 2013-02-27 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-jacquemus-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-902.html Oh la la! If fashion could also have a « produit du terroir » label (homegrown product), French fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus would be a gourmet version of it. “I love France and I like to express this through my work,” explained the designer, referring to the [...] 2013-02-26 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-julien-david-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-904.html “It’s the mother’s wardrobe,” laughed Julien David after his fall-winter 2013/2014 show in the galerie Nikki Marquart, referencing his previous season to well-wishers who came to congratulate him on his latest, which had been stacked with notable faces such as The Sartorialist’s Scott [...] 2013-02-26 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-aganovich-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-903.html A stylized dandelion and the title “Machine” announced an Aganovich show that pleasantly surprised, as the models stepped out in the rather industrial looking basement of Salomon de Rothschild erstwhile grand home. Out came voluminous coats, contrasting colors cleverly peeking out the [...] 2013-02-26 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-anthony-vaccarello-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-899.html It looks like Anthony Vaccarello has taken some heed from the feedback given to him from buyers who more than likely advised the designer to try and build a collection that could actually be worn by women other than supermodels like Anja Rubik and Karlie Kloss. But, of course, still bring the sexy [...] 2013-02-26 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-22-4-femmes-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-901.html 22/4 is a simple equation. 2 + 2 equals 4 is just as easy as pie. Thus, the brand's autumn-winter 2013/14 collection was just as simple as it gets: comfy-looking long coats – bathrobes actually – came along with tailored pants and tops in pajama-optic for an easy-going look in between street [...] 2013-02-26 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-cedric-charlier-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-897.html Cédric Charlier started Paris fashion week with a strong sartorial offering that showed a designer completely at ease in his budding fashion universe. In a very short time he had been able to establish codes for his house that are uniquely his own (copper zipper accents, day glow colors, [...] 2013-02-26 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-veronique-branquinho-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-896.html Who has brought the Wild Wild West to Antwerp? Veronique Branquinho has! But don't get me wrong, Branquinho's cowgirls turned out to be sophisticated Belgian ladies - nothing to do with the 'howdy partner' attitude. In other words, the Belgian designer perfectly incorporated an imaginative story [...] 2013-02-26 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-devastee-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-900.html It’s doubtful that anyone has ever seen a happier looking leek than the one doodled by Ophelie Klère and François Alary in their fall-winter 2013/2014 show. Its tiny eyes and wide smile gave it an air of infectious contentedness that expressed the deeply playful nature of a duo that uses [...] 2013-02-26 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-le-moine-tricote-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-895.html What's new at "Le Moine Tricote"? Those who believe that knitting is only for grandmothers will certainly be convinced of the contrary, as Alice Lemoine achieved to prove that traditional knitting techniques can be an inexhaustible source of inspiration for contemporary fashion. For her [...] 2013-02-26 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-ground-zero-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-894.html Brothers Philip and Eri Chu are delighted to welcome their extraterrestrial guests to the presentation of their fall-winter 2013/2014 collection as they step out of their intergalactic shuttle to help the designers continue the space-opera narrative hinted at in the previous season. “We watched [...] 2013-02-26 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-steffie-christiaens-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-893.html Dutch designer Steffie Christiaens has been working on the interaction of nature and technology for a while now. Her aficionados might remember one of her previous menswear collection, “Every man is an Island,” is where she came up with laborious technical shapes, including stiff constructions [...] 2013-02-26 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-26-moon-young-hee-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-898.html Korean designer Moon Young Hee is known for her casual and deconstructed take on ready-to-wear, that she slowly but firmly imposed as her signature style.. This season was no different and the designer kicked off Paris' autumn-winter 2013/14 womenswear with laid-back, yet sophisticated women's [...] 2013-02-26 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-25-gianfranco-ferre-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-891.html Showing at the Palazzo della Permanente for the first time having moved out of its Via Pontaccio headquarters last September marked a fresh start for the house, according to its show notes, as an elegant new backdrop for displaying the “architectonic” compositions of its collection. The [...] 2013-02-25 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-25-giorgio-armani-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-890.html Giorgio Armani must be feeling pretty good right about now. Last night’s Oscars was a slam dunk for the designer who dressed some of the top name “gets” on the red carpet. He garnered globally positive reviews for a copper geometric column dress that matched nominee Jessica Chastain’s hair [...] 2013-02-25 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-maurizio-pecoraro-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-888.html With the fashion world gone gaga for men’s wear tailoring influences, a refreshingly feminine retro elegance pervaded this balanced collection. Dresses flitted between knee, midi length (the length du jour) and lean floor grazers, with textures and patterns used to change the mood, including [...] 2013-02-24 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-salvatore-ferragamo-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-886.html This was a smooth evolution on the house’s spring collection, carrying over leitmotifs like asymmetric double-layer skirts and lapel experimentation as a neck feature on jackets and outerwear, and strong men’s wear influences. Even the footwear looked similar, with spring’s sandals [...] 2013-02-24 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-marco-de-vincenzo-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-889.html Designer Marco de Vincenzo was positively gleeful backstage before his show. “Can you tell?” said de Vincenzo with an ear-to-ear grin as he showed off one inventive and intriguing outfit after the other. There were two major elements to the designer’s strong collection. The first was his [...] 2013-02-24 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-missoni-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-884.html It’s understandable that, with the recent family tragedy, designer Angela Missoni would want to create a collection that was all about comfort. This stay at home, preferably under the covers, show was filled with easy, languid designs created to soothe the fashion soul. The collection was [...] 2013-02-24 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-genny-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-887.html Out to revive this sleepy Italian label, which once boasted Gianni Versace at its creative helm, Gabriele Colangelo, after some false starts in his past three seasons at the house, seized on a heritage Genny trademark here: strong tailoring.   The line hummed with neat details, with [...] 2013-02-24 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-dolce-gabbana-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-885.html The Dolce & Gabbana show was fit for a queen - a Byzantine empress that is. The designers stayed true to the Sicilian inspiration that has guided their collections for the past few seasons, this time turning to the golden mosaic artworks that adorn the region’s breathtaking Cathedral of [...] 2013-02-24 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-bally-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-883.html Models in Bally furs cuddling baby huskies greeted visitors to the house's Milan Fashion Week presentation, held in a faux igloo at The Bally Hotel. It was a fitting environment for the Swiss brand's latest collection as part of its year-long celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first ascent [...] 2013-02-24 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-emporio-armani-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-882.html Giorgio Armani wanted to make his message clear from the get go of the Emporio Armani show. He did this in the most straightforward of ways; he plastered the word Kajal across the backdrop of his catwalk and lit it up with a spotlight so that the sugar sweet color of each individual letter could be [...] 2013-02-24 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-24-marni-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-881.html Walking into the Marni venue to see the walls covered in a forest of sepia-shaded leafless trees, a chill went up the spine. What did this cold and somber woodland indicate about the collection Consuelo Castiglioni was about to send down the catwalk? Well, it was certainly austere, with a [...] 2013-02-24 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-phillip-plein-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-879.html These poor models were decked out like ladies headed to a Berlusconi party. An “enchanted forest” was the setting, with taxidermied crows stuck in twigs, dry ice and images of a forest scene at night screened onto the walls, dappled with light from a disco ball. A male model clutching a [...] 2013-02-23 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-emilio-pucci-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-876.html The fast paced Pucci show felt like designer Peter Dundas’s models were in a hurry to get to a party. This collection was a love letter to those party girls who like to look sexy, have the body for second-skin - often see-through - ensembles and the devil may care attitude to pull it all [...] 2013-02-23 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-aquilano-rimondi-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-877.html Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi are known for their maximalist love of embellishment and they went all out here. The design duo’s rich creations took as their starting point Tim Burton’s Alice (i.e. a more grown up version of Lewis Carroll’s young muse). But the majority [...] 2013-02-23 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-ter-et-bantine-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-874.html For the smaller brands showing at Milan Fashion Week a lot of trends are converging, like men’s tailoring influences, fur and sharp lapel and button-free minimalist coats a la Céline. Which means that after umpteen presentations the themes start to look a bit tired. That was the case here, [...] 2013-02-23 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-jil-sander-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-875.html Calling a Jil Sander show a study in pure and composed minimalism sounds almost redundant at this point. She is the high priestess of this particular point of view. So when the first thick felted navy coat hit the catwalk, wrapped across the body and held firm to the waist by a matching wide [...] 2013-02-23 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-byblos-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-880.html The house’s "Ofelia Rock" storyline drove a stake through any romantic perceptions of the same-name Shakespearean heroine, whose moniker had even been massacred in the process, sending out “rock chick” reincarnations sporting thick black headbands.   Ofelia’s contemporary black, [...] 2013-02-23 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-roberto-cavalli-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-873.html Roberto Cavalli stayed true to form this season, returning to the prints he loves and sexy rock ‘n’ roll silhouettes that have become his signature style. This season the Florentine designer examined the idea of what art represents to him and the people of his hometown. A passionate [...] 2013-02-23 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-ermanno-scervino-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-871.html Known for its luxe furs and decorative puffer jackets popular with rich Russians, Ermanno Scervino since a few seasons has been looking to express other sides of its personality. Judging by this show’s wintry headgear - fur babushkas - the Italian label is still courting the same clients, though [...] 2013-02-23 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-trussardi-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-870.html Umit Benan is a men’s wear designer by nature and it continues to show in his vision of the Trussardi woman, entering his fourth season at the creative helm of the house. Whereas in collections past this has translated as a lack of confidence in his new role, this time, in the context of a season [...] 2013-02-23 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-23-bottega-veneta-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-872.html Bottega Veneta is on fire. The brand just reveal to the press that, for the first time, it has broken though the $1billion dollar barrier in revenues and has seen profits rise 46.7 percent in 2012. Stunning results that the brand’s CEO Marco Bizzarri put squarely on the shoulders of the house’s [...] 2013-02-23 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-22-versace-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-866.html It was full on fetish time at the house of Versace this season with “dominatrix” Donatella Versace turning her artistic vision towards creating a collection that was unapologetically obsessed with strong sexy clothing with a feisty finish. The take away image of this show [...] 2013-02-22 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-22-gabriele-colangelo-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-878.html “Every fabric has the idea of metamorphosis and transformation,” explained designer Gabriele Colangelo backstage before his show. “It starts in one way and finishes in another way. It is a balance between heavy and light, masculine and feminine, finished and unfinished,” the designer [...] 2013-02-22 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-22-blumarine-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-869.html Pastels were on the sugary winter menu for Blumarine, with among the openers an ankle-length pink trench in buttery leather and a short-and-sweet baby blue mohair jacket with baby pink joints, masquerading as a sheepskin jacket. A pale pink chiffon dress with a pleated skirt that flashed strips of [...] 2013-02-22 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-22-iceberg-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-868.html In the mood for an Eighties flashback (once again)? Iceberg is, reinterpreting the intarsia knit sweaters designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac in the notorious decade that helped make the brand. Iceberg’s cofounder Giuliana Marchini Gerani also modeled the original sweater in the 1983 [...] 2013-02-22 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-22-etro-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-867.html As the fashion world begins to move away from the computer generated prints that have fascinated it for about the past five years, it has been interesting to see how brands who have made their living from this particular style are adapting to the changing fashion climate.  But while some [...] 2013-02-22 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-22-sportmax-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-865.html There was a slightly cold minimalism to these looks, reminiscent of the work of Celine’s Phoebe Philo, softened up by weaves, occasional pops of color – purple, blue, mustard –and rounded volumes. Expanding on the house's outerwear heritage, classic styles were tinkered with. Two coats [...] 2013-02-22 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-22-moschino-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-864.html Leave it to Moschino’s designer Rossella Jardini to attempt to blend horseback riding, skiwear, traditional Scottish dress, men’s suiting and Western attire. Only a house known for its fun fashion attitude and ironic take on style could risk such a zany idea. And it will take an independent [...] 2013-02-22 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-fendi-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-857.html The folks at Fendi clearly took the theme from the upcoming Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit, “PUNK: Chaos to Couture” to heart with their fall/winter 2013 show. The brand’s name is almost synonymous with luxe pelts, using fur as his medium of choice, designer Karl Lagerfeld [...] 2013-02-21 23:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-dsquared2-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-860.html It was a déjà-vu moment at the DSquared2 show this season for anyone who had attended Dean and Dan Caten’s menswear show in January. Using the same set in the same location (albeit at 9pm instead of 9am) the designers revisited the same 1940s, back-from-the-war, jazz club story for its [...] 2013-02-21 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-ports-1961-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-862.html This modern collection channeled the innate chic of style icon Lee Radziwill, the younger sis’ of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Moving between straight and flared silhouettes, elongated looks with turtlenecks evoked Radziwill’s poise, worn under a gray slim belted dress, say, which was [...] 2013-02-21 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-prada-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-859.html “Classic film noir Hollywood but reinterpreted by a replicant from Blade Runner,” summed up film director James Lima after the Prada show. He was referring to the character Rachel in the cult sci-fi film directed by Ridley Scott. A pretty astute description of the house's fall/winter 2013 [...] 2013-02-21 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-antonio-marras-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-863.html At every Antonio Marras show the mise-en-scène plays a central role in bringing the designer’s collections to life. This season Marras outdid himself with a central tableau vivant reproducing an eclectic country home filled with family knickknacks, a piano and even a greenhouse [...] 2013-02-21 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-just-cavalli-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-858.html Red lights and flames (the latter licking the sides of the runway on digital screens) played a major role in the show’s staging, but Roberto and Eva Cavalli toned down the sex this season in favor of a more spiritual, richly colorful, print-based evolution on their universe inspired by the [...] 2013-02-21 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-les-copains-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-861.html Citing as its inspiration the atmosphere of Grey Gardens, the cult 1975 Maysles brothers' documentary about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Little Edie, the theme got lost in translation in this collection, which was void of the Beales’ delicious eccentricity (read: [...] 2013-02-21 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-21-max-mara-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-855.html The MaxMara brand is always in its element come the fall/winter season. A brand built on functional coats and outerwear that stand the test of time, the house is often a one-stop shopping center for women looking to invest in stylish new cold weather cover-ups. Women will have a lot of [...] 2013-02-21 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-20-n-21-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-854.html “The collection is a mix between English style and Italian style,” said Alessandro Dell’ Acqua before his No. 21 show got underway.  “The English element is the materials and the boyish attitude, and the Italian is the bourgeois Signora side,” elaborated the designer as he gestured [...] 2013-02-20 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-20-alberta-ferretti-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-853.html At the start of the Alberta Ferretti show it seemed as if the designer had decided to view the fashion world with an “all very black and white” perspective. The juxtaposition of those two colors, in the first thirteen looks of the collection, gave a graphic edge to Ferretti’s ultra feminine [...] 2013-02-20 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-20-gucci-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-852.html It is a bit of an accepted fashion truth that more often than not when a female designer is expecting it tends to show in her collections. Bucking this trend designer Frida Giannini, who looks to be due any time now, did not send out a fall/winter 2013 collection filled with voluminous clothing in [...] 2013-02-20 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-19-meadham-kirchhoff-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-850.html Slaves to fashion, two different kinds of servicemen, or servicewomen – sailors and maids - peopled this transporting, neo-Victoriana show, with aprons and vintage sailor top references key leitmotifs. A soaring violin score heightened the romantic mood, as models in reworked ivory sailor skirt [...] 2013-02-19 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-19-roksanda-ilincic-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-845.html Things were pretty-in-pink to begin with, especially an oversized coat in a delicate shade of the feminine hue, and a fitted dress in a midi length which was color-blocked - via contrast accents at the waist and collar - in a sweet trio of tones including pale pink, candy floss and a neon salmony [...] 2013-02-19 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-19-anya-hindmarch-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-851.html Presenting on the final day of London Fashion Week, as the fatigue was setting in, leather goods queen Anya Hindmarch refreshed the senses with another deliciously original presentation, one that - according to her press notes – involved 7,559 man hours, 50,000 dominos, 1,356 cups of tea, 35 [...] 2013-02-19 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-tom-ford-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-839.html It’s been the talk of the week and the golden ticket - Tom Ford’s first on-schedule show, since bidding adieu to the catwalk in 2004 after leaving the Gucci Group, held in a historic mansion in the Palace complex in the city’s St. James district used for government hospitality, London’s [...] 2013-02-18 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-giles-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-843.html It really would take someone like eccentric beauty Kristen McMenamy (the show’s opening and closing model), or maybe a tiara-d Courtney Love, to pull off the ironic ivory and pale pink satin medieval princess frocks, with their mutton sleeves and ballooning volumes, which bordered on fancy dress. [...] 2013-02-18 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-burberry-prorsum-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-840.html In terms of its playful materials, this was a mirror reflection of the house's recently presented men's show, with one of the opening looks -a leopard print top and knee-length skirt in translucent rubber which revealed the heart motifs of the model’s panties- encapsulating three of the main [...] 2013-02-18 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-louise-gray-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-856.html HEY CRAZY says LOUISE GRAY – all spelled in capitals in the show notes – with as bright, loud and charmingly deranged a collection one could expect from her, if not better. For amid the clashing prints and wacky rainbow patterns, there was a new sharpness of silhouette and form that noticeably [...] 2013-02-18 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-christopher-kane-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-838.html It seemed poignant that this super-cool broad explosion of ideas by one of London’s most celebrated fashion showmen – as the first collection since the announcement in January that PPR was acquiring a 51-percent stake in his business - was bringing forward ideas from past collections; a kind of [...] 2013-02-18 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-michael-van-der-ham-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-848.html It was a darker season for Michael van der Ham who took vintage couture as a starting point for a collection that felt more high-end and polished than ever before. There was a new confidence, a sleight of hand in his cut-and-paste approach to mixing fabrics and patterns, bringing out maximum drama [...] 2013-02-18 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-sophia-webster-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-844.html Unicorns, bubblegum and My Little Pony – this is what Sophia Webster’s served up on the sunny Monday morning at her accessory presentation “I’m a Rainbow Too.” The Webster girl certainly is, rocking full on pastels, polka dots, leopard and zig zag prints and patterns and multi-coloured [...] 2013-02-18 10:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-antonio-berardi-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-835.html The show’s location, on the top floor of a modern London office block with views across the city, formed a fitting backdrop for this architectural collection, albeit taking its cue from the “seductive curves” of Oscar Niemeyer’s Brasilia, far, far away. One of the season’s icons, the [...] 2013-02-18 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-18-peter-pilotto-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-842.html This season, Peter Pilotto ascended from the underwater depths that inspired their previous collections and dived into a body of post-medieval Spanish art. Filling the cavernous Tate Tanks with atmospheric percussive music, the duo drew from the work of El Greco for a collection of exaggerated boxy [...] 2013-02-18 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-marios-schwab-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-847.html Inspired by the romantic luxury of handwriting a letter, this collection, with its quirky proportion plays and strong tailoring, offered some fresh ideas but was a bit hit and miss. Three mysterious characters, one in a wide-brimmed black hat, opened the show wearing the same look – structured [...] 2013-02-17 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-richard-nicoll-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-841.html A new wave seems to have ruptured at Richard Nicoll, from including only his last name in capitals on the show notes to stripping everything back to clean lines, as the designer’s mantra for the season was strikingly reductive, masculine womenswear.  It’s a difficult collection to describe [...] 2013-02-17 19:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-paul-smith-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-831.html It’s hard to revisit the Eighties in a tasteful manner, so hats off to Sir Paul Smith. This modern, easy, visually appealing collection was a bang on trend, delivering a good hit of color therapy. Since a few seasons, the designer has been focused on big men’s wear shapes, and he continued [...] 2013-02-17 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-matthew-williamson-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-837.html When a designer known for his bohemian beach party-ready attire turns to the North Pole, it’s going to be a light, bright winter. While looking towards the Northern Lights and the traditional dress of Nordic natives for inspiration, Williamson brought his inimitable blend of opulent colour and [...] 2013-02-17 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-jonathan-saunders-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-846.html Jonathan Saunders, London’s floral print and effortless dress maestro, has turned provocateur this season; with PVC, rubber, patent leather and plastic, all fit for a dominatrix, heavily featuring in his otherwise cool feminine aesthetic.  Looking back to 1950s and David Lynch heroines, [...] 2013-02-17 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-mary-katrantzou-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-829.html There was something ethereal and slightly melancholic about this collection, despite the strong, stiff experimental shapes - often resembling deconstructed geisha costumes, with origami-like panels of printed material bound with industrial belts - as Mary Katrantzou sought to [...] 2013-02-17 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-unique-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-836.html This is “the real England”, the show notes read, fittingly set at the Tanks of Tate Modern and fittingly opened by Brit it girl Cara Delevigne who so far seems to have appeared at every other catwalk show on both sides of the Atlantic. Continuing the quest of designing the perfect – and [...] 2013-02-17 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-lwren-scott-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-832.html The brilliant setting for L'Wren Scott's debut London show, presented at the Institution of Civil Engineers at One Great George Street, resembled some kind of fashion parliament, with guests sat at two long rows of tables on either side of the site's Great Hall, as if ready to vote in - or out [...] 2013-02-17 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-temperley-london-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-830.html Alice Temperley in this delicate vintage-inspired collection paid ode to Alfred Hitchcock’s icy blonde muse Tippi Hedren in The Birds. The designer held back on her signature evening gowns in favor of shorter cocktail looks, accessorized with old-glamour white silk scarves and retro Cutler and [...] 2013-02-17 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-mulberry-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-827.html With Fantastic Mr. Fox and Where the Wild Things Are among Emma Hill’s past inspirations, this season felt less playful in theme, with a pared down production. The simple set was still softly magical, though, conjuring a strange midnight setting, with a starry backdrop and large sculpted blooms [...] 2013-02-17 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-17-preen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-834.html There seems to be something distinctly optimistic about Preen. While inspired by Derek Jarman’s 1987 dystopian satire Jubilee that epitomizes the nihilism of punk, Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi presented a collection that had a light and sharp clarity of vision quality, [...] 2013-02-17 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-thomas-tait-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-833.html You know Thomas Tait will always get you in some underground space hidden in central London, the existence of which you did not suspect to be shivering at the end of a long day. Gin with hot spicy tea was served to keep guests warm in the cavernous garages on Carlton House Terrace, though it was [...] 2013-02-16 20:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-david-koma-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-825.html For David Koma this season, fashion is most definitely cyclical. His collection centered on circles of undulating black quilted leather lined with thick grooves, resembling giant vinyl records, manipulated myriad ways to sculptural effect. He created layered A-line skirts out of the stiff material, [...] 2013-02-16 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-house-of-holland-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-824.html Despite his outward tongue-in-cheek irreverence, Henry Holland is a shrewd marketer. From his name-making slogan T-shirts of yore to his recent PomPom mascot, he knows what will grab the fashion crowd, or its more junior members, at least. This season, he’s betting on a fun martini glass print to [...] 2013-02-16 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-issa-london-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-828.html Contrary to the sleek tailoring and reduced approach ruling the catwalks this season, Issa London opted to ride through the sandy hills and sprawling valleys of the Navajo Indians, offering a cool, warm bohemian take on Autumn/Winter. Opened by Cara Delevigne, breezy floor-length silk-chiffon [...] 2013-02-16 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-moschino-cheap-and-chic-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-826.html The Italian alchemists of the most delicious and unlikely design concoctions took London by storm yet again with a collection that mixed punk with pink, Siouxsie with Twiggy. It was London underground, done Milan-style: preceded by a prim afternoon tea party in the plush Ballroom of the Savoy [...] 2013-02-16 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-todd-lynn-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-823.html This was the work of sartorially-minded thieves – that’s Todd Lynn’s story, in any case, who based his collection on the wrongdoings of the Gopher Gang, a notorious New York street gang who were based in the city’s Irish neighbourhood in the late 19th century. “They used to mug [...] 2013-02-16 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-julien-macdonald-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-822.html Julien Macdonald channeled the razzle-dazzle high energy of Las Vegas (evening naming his dresses after the casino city's landmarks), throwing feathers, glitter, sequins and crystals into the shaker and tumbling out a run of spray-on, after-dark glamour-charged confections built to distract players [...] 2013-02-16 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-john-rocha-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-821.html When one of the most sworn lovers of neutrals starts injecting bubblegum pink, coral red, and meadow green in his Autumn Winter collection, it is clear something’s in the air. Delectable, summer hues have demanded a prominent spot in winter attire and judging by John Rocha’s darkly whimsical, [...] 2013-02-16 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-16-jasper-conran-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-819.html Color and clean lines are a few of Jasper Conran’s favourite things, and he went to town here in a strong, architectural, minimalist-yet-upbeat collection that played out like a preppy modern-day ode to Courrèges. He nimbly hijacked the icon’s codes - simple lines, geometric shapes and bold [...] 2013-02-16 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-15-sass-bide-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-820.html Set in the ambient surroundings of the church on Saint John Smith Square, Sass + Bide’s latest show was a whirlwind of contrasts and collisions, in pattern, texture, and silhouette. Aptly titled Wintergate the collection featured all the brand’s signature armour-like winter wear – caged [...] 2013-02-15 20:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-15-bfc-headonism-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-818.html Curated by millinery legend Stephen Jones, Headonism returned for another strong showscase of Britain’s best up and coming hatters. One of the country’s most globally revered design niches, partially due to the extravagant headwear displays at Royal Ascot who are one of the Hedonism’s prime [...] 2013-02-15 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-15-felder-felder-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-817.html Inspired by 70s glam rock skateboarder Tony Alva and photographer Sarah Moon, Felder Felder served a very tactile, texture-rich collection that continued their tendency to push boundaries and paradigms of sex appeal. Titled “Velvet Outlaw,” their reference-heavy show mixed ‘70s socialites [...] 2013-02-15 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-15-bora-aksu-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-816.html The Turkish-born romanticist returned this season with a collection more grown-up and elegantly restrained than ever before. A designer that sometimes has tipped over to the overdramatic, this time Aksu achieved a perfect equilibrium between fantasy and polished wearability. The silhouettes [...] 2013-02-15 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-14-calvin-klein-collection-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-815.html The DNA of the Calvin Klein brand is now firmly set in stone. Thus any collection sent down the catwalk must always tick the same sartorial boxes. It has to be minimal. It must look clean. And it most certainly should be sober. With that framework in mind it remains fascinating to see how designer [...] 2013-02-14 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-14-ralph-lauren-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-814.html On the last day of New York Fashion Week Ralph Lauren showed the fashion world what sartorial luxury, American style, is all about. Past the giant urns over flowing with flowers, in a pristine white room with a hardwood floor catwalk lit by massive chandeliers crafted from antlers, the [...] 2013-02-14 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-13-proenza-schouler-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-809.html Three cheers for Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Showing at the tail end of a mixed bag of a New York Fashion Week, the designer duo proved with their Proenza Schouler show that there is still a very good reason to come to the big apple to see the collections. Just the exceptional [...] 2013-02-13 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-13-marchesa-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-811.html In the program notes for the Marchesa show the designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig revealed that the famous seventeenth-century panting “Portrait of Maria Teresa de Vallabriga on Horseback,” by Francisco de Goya was the genesis of their gown filled fall/winter 2013 collection. It [...] 2013-02-13 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-13-j-mendel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-813.html The furtastic J Mendel show made a powerful plea for bringing pelts back into fashion. Granted the return of furs into the fashion fold has been well underway for a few seasons now. But if ever there was a collection designed to convince those still fur free women it was time to take the plunge and [...] 2013-02-13 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-13-rachel-zoe-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-812.html Come hell or high water Rachel Zoe is staying true to who she is. And that is a floopy hat, 70s era, shaggy fur coat loving gal who knows how to pull a look together. This season she smartly turned to a style that almost every woman can relate to, if not right out LOVE, equestrian. Big name [...] 2013-02-13 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-13-michael-kors-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-810.html Michael Kors is on the hunt next winter. And the hunting grounds for his fall/winter 2013 collection are where the designer feels most in his element, the urban big city streets of America. The Kors woman (and man) will be hard to miss next year thanks to the designer’s choice to bring [...] 2013-02-13 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-12-narciso-rodriguez-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-807.html Continuing on where he left off last season designer Narcisco Rodriguez resumed his exploration of how to loosen up his highly tailored hold on fashion while still staying true to the structured feel that has so defined his body of work. It is not an easy task but the designer found a way to [...] 2013-02-12 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-12-sophie-theallet-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-808.html To make a collection that is wearable but has an original point of view and is timeless yet  modern is probably one of the hardest nuts to crack in the fashion game. With her fall/winter 2013 show the French designer Sophie Theallet did exactly that. Her collection was a celebration of [...] 2013-02-12 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-12-rodarte-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-804.html Season after season Rodarte designer’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy create one of the most off the wall and thought provoking shows of New York Fashion Week. And they didn’t disappoint this time with a collection that felt closer to home and a bit more personal then some of their more recent [...] 2013-02-12 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-12-vera-wang-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-805.html There was a lot going on on the Vera Wang catwalk this season. The veteran designer looked to be in an exploratory mood and she used her fall/winter 2013 catwalk as her living laboratory. Wang focused her attention on the idea of how to use classical dressmaking techniques to create sculptural [...] 2013-02-12 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-12-victoria-by-victoria-beckham-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-806.html Things must be going swimmingly at the house that Victoria Beckham built. At the intimate show for her secondary line, Victoria, the designer had a front row filled with some of the most important buyers in the fashion industry waiting with baited breath to see what the savvy Mrs. Beckham has up [...] 2013-02-12 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-12-tory-burch-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-803.html The setting of the Tory Burch show gave the designer’s aesthetic away this season. The 1930’s ballroom at the historic Pierre hotel, with its swags of rich fabric curtains, sumptuous chandeliers and refined fixtures and fittings, is all about a cultivated elegance. It was that same sense of [...] 2013-02-12 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-11-thom-browne-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-802.html This is Thom Browne’s moment. The coat he designed for Michelle Obama to wear to the inauguration (it’s check print inspired by a man’s tie- no less!) has transformed him from a cult fashion figure known only to those lucky enough to experience his unforgettable presentations, or the runway [...] 2013-02-11 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-11-3-1-phillip-lim-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-801.html The ever-faithful girlfriends of bikers was the starting point to the 3.1 Phillip Lim collection this season. It was a smart choice for a designer who is trying to give a bit of an edge to classic urban streetwear. So how do you make a biker chick more than just a stereotype without loosing that [...] 2013-02-11 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-11-donna-karan-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-800.html This season Donna Karan went back to where it all began. Returning to the seven easy pieces that she created in the mid 80s, which launched her into the fashion stratosphere that forever endeared her to more than one generation of working women desperate for clothing that both looked and felt good [...] 2013-02-11 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-11-theyskens-theory-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-798.html Before his Theyskens Theory show got underway designer Olivier Theyskens looked a bit nervous backstage. He admitted that the words to describe his designs only truly crystallizes in his mind once he sees the collection as a whole hit the runway. But while he was conceptualizing the collection this [...] 2013-02-11 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-11-carolina-herrera-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-799.html Carolina Herrera has nothing to prove. The designer has made a name for herself creating elegant clothing where sophisticated daywear and red carpet dresses are the name of the game. Herrera does what she wants, when she wants and her fans will follow her wherever she goes. Here is a woman who [...] 2013-02-11 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-11-the-row-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-797.html For their fall/winter 2013 The Row, show designer twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen took up residence in a vacant seven story Lenox Hill Beaux Arts limestone Mansion in the heart of New York City. Its high ceilings, seven fireplaces and hard wood floors set the tone for a collection that was all [...] 2013-02-11 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-10-diane-von-furstenberg-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-794.html Ready to party? Diane von Furstenberg is. The designer’s “Glam Rock”-themed fall collection showcased everything from pink jumpsuits and a show-stopping blue halter gown to her signature wrap dress reincarnated with a swirl of twisted chain links and an Ozzy Osbourne-approved metallic blazer [...] 2013-02-10 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-10-victoria-beckham-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-789.html The grand New York Public Library, with its stately walls and soaring entrance ceiling, served as a fitting backdrop to Victoria Beckham’s fall collection—one that combined enhanced volumes with new levels of restrained outlines that, as Beckham said, “allowed me to push my silhouette even [...] 2013-02-10 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-10-thakoon-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-795.html “A nostalgic winter longing for summer” was how Thakoon Panichgul approached his design ethos for fall. Reading “Dandelion Wine” by Ray Bradbury made him want to bottle said dandelions to enjoy in the winter months. “It’s about looking back at summers past and also forward to next [...] 2013-02-10 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-10-dkny-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-793.html Heartthrob pink. Pop pink. Floyd red. Donna Karan gave her DKNY classics a twist of color and irony for fall with the feminizing of masculine silhouettes and intense proportion play. Right off the bat came a pair of black bomber jackets that will no doubt be a street style favorite:  one, cut [...] 2013-02-10 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-10-derek-lam-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-791.html With Derek Lam, there’s always a message of American sportswear to be told. For fall, he carried that ethos through in clean, simple lines that focused on texture and inconspicuous layering. “Zoran and old Halston,” Lam said of his inspiration, in deft reference to those masters of minimalism [...] 2013-02-10 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-10-y-3-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-796.html Set in one of Manhattan’s oldest meat markets on the Lower East Side, Yohji Yamamoto’s “Future Thrift” fall collection for Y-3 imagines how coming generations might mix elements of technology and tradition. Ripe with asymmetrical cuts and deconstructed lines—not to mention plenty of [...] 2013-02-10 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-altuzarra-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-787.html For fall, Joseph Altuzarra was inspired by “the ever-changing and multi-faceted aspects of the street.” That translated to tough, sleek silhouettes in a strict palette of black and white punctuated by flashes of taupe and brilliant orange. Hard surfaces, reflections, the horizontal and the [...] 2013-02-09 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-moncler-grenoble-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-790.html Time and time again, Moncler Grenoble manages to reinvent itself. After all, this is fashion, right? For fall, the three-year-old brand brought the mountains to life in the massive cupola underneath the vaulted ceiling of Gotham Hall. Five rows, with steps that rose 32 feet in height, covered the [...] 2013-02-09 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-alexander-wang-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-788.html With all eyes on Alexander Wang in heavy anticipation for his debut at Balenciaga in Paris next month, the designer appeared to give a wink and a nod toward what’s to come with his namesake collection show Saturday. Held at the historic Cunard Building on the southernmost tip of Manhattan, his [...] 2013-02-09 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-band-of-outsiders-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-786.html Following his cinematic spring collection and its take on the portrayal of war, Scott Sternberg delivered a rich, luxe and polished fall collection that has a deserving place on Park Avenue without losing its downtown vibe. How else to explain the knitted baseball cap “turbans?” Cue Billie [...] 2013-02-09 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-herve-leger-by-max-azria-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-785.html Each season Lubov Azria asks herself, “How do I reinterpret the bandage dress?” For fall, she turned to the artist duo Les Lalanne and their sculpted surreal animals and vegetation. “I looked deep into the forest for all its textures,” she said. “Nature, after all, is the greatest [...] 2013-02-09 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-chloe-sevigny-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-792.html Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony For her fifth collaborative collection with Opening Ceremony, Chloe Sevigny’s starting point was straightforward enough: Occupy Wall Street. “She hung out there quite a bit and that’s where the idea of protestors came into picture [for fall],” said the [...] 2013-02-09 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-prabal-gurung-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-784.html “Regiment!” exclaimed Tiina Laakkonen, Prabal Gurung’s show stylist, backstage immediately following what was a solid collection that beautifully executed one of the major trends for fall: military. “So often we take women for granted, so I wanted to assert femininity—but in a [...] 2013-02-09 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-09-lacoste-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-783.html In one word: fresh. Now well settled into his role as creative director at one of the world’s most instantly recognizable brands, Felipe Oliveira Baptista turned the croc upside down—the results of which were supremely modern, slick and stimulating. And respectful of the house codes during [...] 2013-02-09 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-08-rag-bone-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-779.html “Aviation, uniforms and turn of the 19th century menswear,” said David Neville of his and Marcus Wainwright’s fall collection. “Masculine with a twist—but still sexy” Indeed, while proper English tailoring has always been the hallmark of Rag & Bone, the duo continue to up the ante [...] 2013-02-08 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-08-suno-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-781.html Never one to pledge allegiance to just one family of prints or graphics, Suno’s Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty challenged themselves to elevate their consistently lovely designs for fall. “We examined the concept of modern armor,” said Beatty, alluding to the outerwear pieces that were belted, [...] 2013-02-08 15:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-08-billy-reid-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-782.html With a gentle nod to his Southern gentlemanly roots, Billy Reid’s sharp technique for dressing his dapper dudes continues to elevate season after season. For fall, against a backdrop made of pieced-together wood scraps built by Southern Accents Architectural Salvage that made for a warm and [...] 2013-02-08 15:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-08-cushnie-et-ochs-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-780.html Airy and sophisticated. No, this isn’t the start of a description of a Tribeca loft; rather, an apt summary of the fall collection from Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs. “We looked at American settlers and Puritans for inspiration,” said Ochs. “The Salem Witch trials, too,” Cushnie added. [...] 2013-02-08 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-08-jason-wu-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-778.html It’s difficult not to immediately think of Michelle Obama when sitting at a Jason Wu show. After all, thanks to the First Lady, the design phenom has had extraordinary success in penetrating the mainstream. But it isn’t all luck. Wu proves, season after season, that he has the foresight and [...] 2013-02-08 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-07-edun-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-new-york-review-777.html Starting with the youth culture ethos that has become a signature for the brand, Edun womenswear designer Sharon Wauchob raised the bar on what is essentially polished clothing for the “hard” set. Against a gritty concrete backdrop with unforgiving lighting, and with brand founders Ali Hewson [...] 2013-02-07 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-02-07-band-of-outsiders-scavanger-hunt-fall-winter-collection-2013-new-york-review-776.html 2013-02-07 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-24-rad-hourani-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-773.html What is couture today? Beyond the opulence and glamour of beautiful garments, how much attention is paid to experimentation? If Rad Hourani’s haute couture show is anything to go by, serving as the unofficial closing ceremony to three days of couture in Paris, plenty. By entering the [...] 2013-01-24 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-24-zuhair-murad-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-774.html When awards season fully heats up, actresses and starlets will have more than enough options, especially after viewing Zuhair Murad’s collection whose front row counted French star Mélanie Doutey. Titled “Golden Age,” it was a painting of ultimate femininity, framed, and preserved for the [...] 2013-01-24 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-24-beatrice-demulder-ferrant-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-772.html Béatrice Ferrant is doing it on her own. After sharing her passion for Haute Couture for almost ten years with Mario Lefranc, under the name “Lefranc.Ferrant,” the French designer goes back to her eponym name. For the occasion, Ferrant tried a supposedly comical pun, referring to her initials. [...] 2013-01-24 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-maison-martin-margiela-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-770.html The team behind the Masion Martin Margiela haute couture show must have put on quite a few kilos creating the last three outfits in its spring/summer 2013 collection. Crafted out of thousands of shiny metallic candy wrappers the two oversized checked dresses and a slightly A-line coat could have [...] 2013-01-23 19:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-valentino-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-771.html Earlier this month at the cocktail to launch the new “camouflage” capsule collection at the Valentino flagship store on Via Montenapoleone in Milan designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli could not contain their excitement over there up coming haute couture show only little more [...] 2013-01-23 19:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-jean-paul-gaultier-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-769.html The bright orange invitation was the first clue that Jean Paul Gaultier was taking the fashion world on a trip to the exotic and colorful country of India. Gaultier doing an Indian inspired show? With so many references to choose from it should have been a theme that the witty and inventive [...] 2013-01-23 19:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-oscar-carvallo-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-768.html “I've been inspired by the ocean for a lifetime. When I return to Caracas and I walk on the beach, I am always amazed by the impact of the light. Its intensity varies each time and I love the bright reflections that emerge from the water,” said the Venezuelan designer Oscar Carvallo, who hit [...] 2013-01-23 19:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-georges-chakra-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-767.html Couture meets pop culture, Middle East meets Asia, and Georges Chakra brings forth a collection in which glamour is electrified with the vibrations of a new era. In his Spring 13 collection, the designer reached out to a youthful, electro-pop sensibility. It was fast paced, energetic and promised a [...] 2013-01-23 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-didit-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-766.html Couture stood still for one serene moment at the Shangri-La this afternoon as Didit Hediprasetyo presented his couture collection. In light of the young Indonesian designer’s previous Parisian shows, this was by far his sleekest. Of course, it wouldn’t have been a Didit show without prints – [...] 2013-01-23 13:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-franck-sorbier-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-765.html Frank Sorbier isn’t couture, it is art. And who better to watch over the collection from the heavens than Peggy Guggenheim, collector extraordinaire and patron of many. After an opening monologue giving spectators cliff notes on the American heiress’s life, Sorbier presented a tableaux inspired [...] 2013-01-23 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-elie-saab-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-761.html Elie Saab titled his spring/summer haute couture show “An Ode to Delicateness” and he wasn’t kidding. His collection of dresses, because 99.9% of this show was dedicated to evening dresses and gala gowns, was a celebration of ensembles in the most feminine of persuasions. Breaking his [...] 2013-01-23 12:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-on-aura-tout-vu-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-763.html After celebrating ten years of couture just last season, Livia Stoianova and Yassen Samouilov have taken On Aura Tout Vu (a French colloquial expression that can be translated to “Now that takes the cake!”) on a journey of renewal, following the evolution of a beetle from birth to adulthood. [...] 2013-01-23 11:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-jantaminiau-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-762.html If you remember some of Jan Taminiau's past runway shows, you'll automatically think of the peripeteia that his models had to endure. Perched on unstable chopine shoes and blindfolded with face-masks, they were rather unlikely to walk straight. Fortunately, the designer decided to take it easy this [...] 2013-01-23 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-23-bouchra-jarrar-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-760.html It is no accident that the Musee Bourdelle continues to be the show location for Bouchra Jarrar’s haute couture collections. The impressive marble sculptures and inviting surroundings are a perfect backdrop to her statuesque designs. This season Jarrar again proved her ability to imbue that [...] 2013-01-23 11:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-22-alexandre-vauthier-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-758.html Ever since Alexandre Vauthier started his own Haute Couture line, the Parisian runways became more voluptuous. In fact, if you consider that his fan-club – consisting of both, famous R'n'B singers and bourgeois clientele – kept on growing for the past four years of his brand's existence, [...] 2013-01-22 20:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-22-stephane-rolland-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-756.html This season, Kim came without Kanye, and arrived in time for the show. Squads of bump-watchers craned their necks, hoping to catch a glimpse of the couple’s growing sensation, well hidden behind several layers of bodyguards and photographers. Meanwhile, Stephane Rolland stroked a musical [...] 2013-01-22 20:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-22-ulyana-sergeenko-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-757.html From street style darling to couture mogul? For a privileged few, couture is a way of life, and Russian couture collector Ulyana Sergeenko is part of this rarefied breed. But outside the Théâtre Marigny where she was showing, photographers wanting to snap away were having a field day. Inside, a [...] 2013-01-22 20:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-22-chanel-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-753.html To understand the Chanel haute couture spring/summer 2013 show you have to start with the bride. Sorry, make that brides- plural. As Karl Lagerfeld made a different sort of fashion statement this season by dressing two of his models in matching fluffy and feather embellished wedding dresses. Not [...] 2013-01-22 20:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-22-giambattista-valli-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-755.html It was a rather fitting choice to hold the Giambattista Valli haute couture show at the Italian Embassy here in Paris. The designer has always been proud of his Italian heritage and even though he now lives and works in France his style has maintained that bella figura flare. That is to say highly [...] 2013-01-22 20:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-22-alexis-mabille-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-754.html Designer Alexis Mabille is in a rosy mood. And that’s not just because he decked out his haute couture catwalk in pink carpet with corresponding pink petaled flowers arranged in urns, in the same bubble gum shade that sat on each side of the runway. His happy frame of mind is surly also do to the [...] 2013-01-22 20:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-22-giorgio-armani-prive-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-759.html After so many seasons and with so many lines, Giorgio Armani has got his formula for success down pat. A fact that was underlined at his Armani Privé show which, despite having to change it’s start time at the last minute, filled his front row not only with Hollywood stars like Hilary Swank and [...] 2013-01-22 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-21-christian-dior-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-749.html Spring has already sprung on the Christian Dior catwalk. In the heart of the snow covered Tuileries Gardens here in Paris, designer Raf Simons built a microclimate of pure haute couture. He created his own minimalist demi-lune hedge garden peppered with barren trees, almost trembling in [...] 2013-01-21 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-21-eric-tibusch-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-752.html No doubt inspired by his childhood spent in Tahiti in the wake of a military father, he plucked his color palette from the soft, warm glow of a Polynesian summer sky, contrasting sharply with his snow-weary guests. “This 14th collection will remain a mystery for the public,” boasted his show [...] 2013-01-21 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-21-iris-van-herpen-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-750.html It starts with a crackle and a purple whip of an electric arc in the darkness of the Intercontinental Hotel’s grand ballroom. As a dancer contorts atop a specially built Tesla coil of a pedestal, Iris van Herpen grabs the audience by the hand to partake in a dream-walk through one of Nicola [...] 2013-01-21 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-21-maurizio-galante-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-748.html Maurizo Galante is an equal opportunity haute couture designer. A point he again underlined with his most recent collection, which featured new and long established models, both young and not so young, that all walked his runway as if they were royalty.  It probably is very hard to feel any [...] 2013-01-21 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-21-christophe-josse-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-747.html In just fifteen haute couture looks designer Christophe Josse was able to produce a collection that was clear, calm and collected. “The collection is very concise, with a certain simplicity and purity,” revealed the designer before the show. “I really wanted to continue in the same [...] 2013-01-21 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-versace-atelier-couture-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-743.html Donatella Versace kicked off the haute couture spring/summer season on Sunday night rebelliously showing off calendar after the final menswear show of the season (Hedi Slimane’s trip down rock and roll lane).  And that defiant air could also be felt in the clothing, which used razor sharp [...] 2013-01-20 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-saint-laurent-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-745.html You have to give it to Hedi Slimane, the guy knows how to make a dramatic entrance. Last season, for his debut womenswear show at Saint Laurent he made a stereo sound system descend from the rafters. This time for his return to the brand’s menswear catwalk, Slimane who designed the line before in [...] 2013-01-20 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-qasimi-homme-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-744.html After showing a preview in London to reaffirm the profoundly British DNA of his eponymous brand, Khalid Al Qasimi expanded on this initial appetizer on a Parisian runway, still in the thrall of his initial inspiration. Exploring the border between sanity and psychosis, Qasimi shows the two faces of [...] 2013-01-20 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-paul-smith-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-741.html The holly trinity of style for Paul Smith is texture, color and print. It is a doctrine that has served the charismatic designer well over his long and successful fashion carrier and with his fall/winter 2013 show Smith got the balance between the three pillars just right.   To a medley of [...] 2013-01-20 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-bernhard-willhelm-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-746.html As usually, Bernhard Willhelm’s presentations are never just about fashion, but fusing a multitude of creative worlds. Recent memorable fashion shows of the German designer, includes a performance during Berlin Fashion Week in an old warehouse, where he rebuilt fictive winter Olympic games, or [...] 2013-01-20 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-rynshu-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-742.html There was a collective gasp as Rynshu trotted out the ultimate look of his fall-winter 2013-2014, a militaristic look with a red armband, complete with a bright pink figure pinned on the breast. Despite being reminiscent of punk/goth band leaders in Japanese pop culture, this triggered a rather [...] 2013-01-20 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-lanvin-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-740.html The snow flurries that blanketed Paris have transformed the city into a clean canvas filled with unidentifiably white shapes and silhouettes that hide their true features from view. It makes for an interesting analogy to this morning's Lanvin menswear show where an exploration of proportions and [...] 2013-01-20 13:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-no-editions-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-739.html Since 2007, No Editions has been a true alien within the fashion industry, an individualistic initiative against the ever growing mass-market. In this context, Nicole Lachelle and Christian Niessen, the two masterminds behind this fashionable brand, unify both digital techniques and artisanal [...] 2013-01-20 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-christophe-lemaire-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-751.html Christophe Lemaire's style no longer needs an introduction. The French designer is excelling in both fashion houses, in his own women and menswear ready-to-wear, as well as Hermès' womenswear designer – two parallel jobs that he handled smoothly and with success so far. His collections [...] 2013-01-20 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-20-melinda-gloss-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-736.html Melinda Gloss is the fashionable brainchild of two former philosophy students, Mathieu de Ménonville and Rémi de Laquintane. Launched in 2008, the menswear brand pretty much incorporates Parisian intellectual chic. Think of informal tailoring worn by young Sartre-aficionados with a contemporary, [...] 2013-01-20 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-ami-alexandre-mattiussi-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-737.html Stand clear of the closing doors! The late time slot and off-center location did not prevent Alexandre Mattiussi’s AMI presentation from being a rush hour. Within the venue, a set built to resemble a subway car and a soundtrack of related sounds, guests were so crowded up front that an usher had [...] 2013-01-19 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-hermes-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-738.html Veronique Nichanian, the Hermes menswear designer, knows how to fulfill her customers heart’s desire. Make it beautiful. Make it with the best fabrics. Make it timeless. And above all make me look good in it.   Once again she ticked all those boxes with her latest [...] 2013-01-19 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-damir-doma-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-733.html Damir Doma is hitting the ski slopes with his fall/winter 2013 collection.  It is a concept that was well received on a day when the streets of Paris was covered in a blanket of fluffy white snow. But don’t imagine this show filled with quilted nylon pieces or furry après ski designs worn [...] 2013-01-19 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-miharayasuhiro-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-732.html It takes a certain bravado to stage a menswear show outside in the month of January. Ok, who could have predicted that there would be a snowstorm in Paris, but still. So it is a credit to the talents of designer Mihara Yasuhiro that he had a full house when his show got underway in the arcades of [...] 2013-01-19 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-pigalle-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-734.html Who would have thought that Paris' infamous red-light district would lend its name to a ready-to-wear brand?  Since spring-summer 2011, Made in Pigalle clothes has been designing menswear that translate the sensation of Paris' 9th quarter – from Saint-Georges up to the Moulin Rouge – into [...] 2013-01-19 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-smalto-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-727.html Smalto's creative director, Youn Chong Bak knows how to please a gentleman. A crackling wood fire in a countryside house, a round of poker with old friends and  a good bottle of whiskey, that's all a man needs to feel like a true dandy. This, and the finest sartorial wardrobe, preceded by a [...] 2013-01-19 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-givenchy-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-728.html  Inside a ring of fire, created by hundreds of scented candles forming two giant circles, designer Riccardo Tisci sent out a collection that was a controlled and meticulous combination of the themes that have dominated his shows at one point or another over the last five [...] 2013-01-19 16:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-dior-homme-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-730.html Designer Kris Van Assche turned to a very powerful symbol to act as the emblem for his fall/winter 2013 show.  He embellished a number of second skin long sleeve shirts and slim jackets with the outline of a triangle surrounded by a circle. At first glance some might have mistaken this sign as [...] 2013-01-19 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-tillman-lauterbach-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-723.html Today, German designer Tillmann Lauterbach showcased his 7th collection during Paris' autumn-winter 2013/14 menswear season. And as we all know, seven is a magic number – a good chemistry that was expressed through his serene set design. Facing a white wall adorned by an installation of arty [...] 2013-01-19 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-songzio-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-726.html Outside Songzio, the ongoing snow showers in Paris made many guests feel like they were extras in Gangnam Style’s snowstorm sequence. Inside, a dark and solemn mood swept across the Korean designer’s fall-winter 2013/2014 collection, where he once again dresses his imaginary muse. “I dressed [...] 2013-01-19 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-boris-bidjan-saberi-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-725.html Good news for Boris Bidjan Saberi: the half-German, half-Iranian designer will have plenty of reasons to celebrate his menswear closing event this Sunday in Paris. David Lynch's reputed club Silencio will host the launch of Saberi's first monograph: a 208 paged book retracing Saberi's past 11 [...] 2013-01-19 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-19-sacai-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-735.html Chitose Abe knows a thing or two about introducing clever details in her clothing to make them irresistible. The intimate setting of the Frank Elbaz gallery, nestled in the entrance passage to the Garage Turenne show venue, was an opportunity to get up close and personal to her fall-winter [...] 2013-01-19 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-john-galliano-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-720.html Freed of the constraints of filling too many shoes, Bill Gaytten seems to have fully embraced his groove as designer for John Galliano Homme. More than ever, the fall-winter 2013/2014 shows his creative spirit, rather than an attempt to conjure the showman spirit of the namesake [...] 2013-01-18 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-comme-des-garcons-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-722.html A big part of the pleasure in going to a Comme des Garcons show is trying to decipher what designer Rei Kawakubo is trying to say with her highly intellectual and always challenging collections. Watching the male models come out in leather baseball hats that sprouted Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse [...] 2013-01-18 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-atelier-gustavolins-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-721.html In a minuscule show venue, designer Gustavo Lins revealed his menswear collection to a packed house that over flowed onto the street.   It is understandably why Lins has such a dedicated following willing to sit on the floor, crane their heads or peer though a store front window for the [...] 2013-01-18 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-cerruti-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-718.html Cerruti has been on a roller-coaster for a while. After shutting down their womenswear line in 2011, shortly after being purchased by Li & Fung, the Italian traditional house dismissed its former menswear designers Sachiko Okada and Aaron Sharif after only three seasons and appointed Italian [...] 2013-01-18 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-krisvanassche-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-719.html Never before has the meniscus between boyhood and manhood been so porous, or so challenged by those passing through it. “The masculine wardrobe is extremely coded, and the new generation no longer wants to bend to these rules,” observed Kris Van Assche backstage after his show. “I have [...] 2013-01-18 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-juun-j-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-731.html Juun.J knows his tailoring inside out and proves it in his fall-winter 2013/2014 collection by confronting volumes and proportions as boxy bomber jackets flowed into the reverse of long wool coats. The Korean designer once again demonstrated his knack for transforming the male form with the [...] 2013-01-18 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-maison-martin-margiela-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-717.html Maison Martin Margiela is really firing on all its fashion cylinders right now. After a successful collaboration with H&M and the recent news that the brand’s haute couture line got the nod from the Chambre Syndicale, French fashion’s governing body, to carry the official haute couture [...] 2013-01-18 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-ann-demeulemeester-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-716.html Though multilayered white curtains, the Ann Demeulemeester man appeared. While the rest of fashion seems to have sent their man on a climbing exhibition or off to a corporate job in the iron jungle, Demeulemeester’s guy isn’t interested in that go-getter approach. His is in a romantic world [...] 2013-01-18 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-18-acne-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-724.html What a cultural remix: the clean lines of Acne presented its fall-winter 2013/2014 menswear among the gilded mirrors of the Hôtel de Crillon, to the sound of Lana Del Rey.  Jonny Johansson’s simple, easy and oh-so-attractive proposals for menswear contrasted handsomely with the setting and [...] 2013-01-18 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-viktor-rolf-monsieur-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-714.html If the show notes are true the starting point for designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren’s “Monsieur” menswear collection was the classic Jules Verne novel, A Journey to the Center of the Earth. But anyone watching the show would be hard pressed to see any sartorial link between the [...] 2013-01-17 20:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-jean-paul-gaultier-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-715.html Take it off. Take it all off. Designer Jean Paul Gaultier is stripping back next winter and the fashion world got to see the many layers of his public déshabillage at a strip show presentation he held at his Parisian headquarters.   Gaultier placed his male models inside a row of [...] 2013-01-17 20:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-dries-van-noten-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-710.html Dries Van Noten is singing a sartorial lullaby to men with his fall/winter 2013 collection. One that soothed the soul with its relaxed and forgiving shapes cut out of supple silks, cashmeres and leather in shades of warm browns, brick reds and gold. Making for a much needed runway respite during [...] 2013-01-17 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-junya-watanabe-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-713.html As fanfare music from Eastern Europe beckoned Junya Watanabe’s hard-wearing souls for a measure of fragile comfort, the silhouettes evoked the waves of men who left their families in search of riches in early twentieth century America.   Fall-winter 2013/2014 turned an eye on those [...] 2013-01-17 18:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-yohji-yamamoto-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-712.html Ever a careful mixologist of his own inspirations, Yohji Yamamoto rarely shares his recipes. In a way, loath to turn to the past or future, he exists in the here-and-now, and objects that are drawn into his stream of thought merely inform his design process. However, the Scottish references, though [...] 2013-01-17 18:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-henrik-vibskov-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-711.html Danish designer Henrik Vibskov is known as one of the most experimental names on the Parisian menswear calendar. He's perhaps even the most laid-back one as well – or at least it is the impression that he gave, when he sipped on a beer backstage after his show. Reputed for his numerous [...] 2013-01-17 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-louis-vuitton-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-708.html The thunder clap that kicked off the Louis Vuitton show made the audience jump as if it had been hit by lighting.  While that electrifying moment left a cracking energy in the air Kim Jones, the brand’s menswear designer, sent down the catwalk a show that looked to the Himalayas and the garb [...] 2013-01-17 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-rick-owens-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-707.html The start of the Rick Owens’ show began with a bit of a delay because of a technical problem. The hold up had the audience wondering what sort of pyrotechnics Owens had in store this time. After all, this is a designer who had previously presented shows using a wall of fire as a backdrop or [...] 2013-01-17 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-issey-miyake-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-709.html There must be an explanation to how the design team behind Issey Miyake menswear has been able to tap into the weather so precisely that their shows are spot on. This time, heat conservation was a more than welcome preoccupation on one of the coldest days this winter. Where last season had [...] 2013-01-17 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-kolor-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-706.html Rather than working on seasonal pieces, Kolor’s designer Junichi Abe focuses on effortless classics infused with a dash of color.   Abe’s experience as pattern cutter in the Comme des Garçon design studio has refined his natural attention to detail, allowing him to bring forth [...] 2013-01-17 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-17-3-1-phillip-lim-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-705.html “It is about the journey itself, not the goal,” explains Philip Lim backstage after his autumn-winter 2013/14 show. And indeed, one can tell that the designer is focusing a lot on the process of creating his menswear line, as the beauty of his new collection is deeply rooted in technical [...] 2013-01-17 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-raf-simons-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-702.html Just as the fashion world waits for Miuccia Prada to set the sartorial tone in Milan every season, in Paris that honor now goes to Raf Simons. So where is Simons sending men next winter?  On a quest for a new interpretation of what masculinity is supposed to mean. With this collection the [...] 2013-01-16 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-christian-lacroix-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-704.html “Lacroix is more about attitude than literal reference.” Sasha Walckhoff’s closing words summed up the feeling that emanated from his fall/winter 2013-2014 collection at Christian Lacroix. This season seems to mark a turning point for the brand. There were less references to its founder, [...] 2013-01-16 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-valentino-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-697.html The rush backstage after the Valentino menswear show by journalists keen on getting a look at designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli mood board for a visual glimpse into their shared sartorial psyche was rather impressive. And so was the board. Black and white images of David Bowie, [...] 2013-01-16 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-john-lawrence-sullivan-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-700.html Earlier this year Arashi Yanagawa, the designer behind the brand John Lawrence Sullivan told me in an interview that he no longer wanted to be considered a “new menswear designer, just a designer”. In other words he sought to pass from the status of up and comer to a designer with an [...] 2013-01-16 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-mugler-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-698.html Techno, troops and tailoring – if you had to resume Mugler's autumn-winter 2013/14 menswear, you could pretty much sum up the collection to this “holy trinity”. Tailored, air force inspired silhouettes were the main subject of Nicola Formichetti's and Romain Kremer's autumnal menswear. This [...] 2013-01-16 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-y-project-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-703.html “CHAIRMAN is an allegory about the illusion of social power and about the influence it projects on the subject and on the object,” reads the press release of Y.Project's autumn-winter 2013/14 menswear collection. Needless to say, Yohan Serfaty is quiet fond of questioning social statements, [...] 2013-01-16 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-julien-david-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-696.html Hotly anticipated since his name landed on fashion’s radar in the wake of his ANDAM win last summer, Julien David’s third menswear collection is the first to be shown on a runway. “Don’t be cruel,” insists the young designer for his fall/winter 2013-2014 menswear show. Alright, but to [...] 2013-01-16 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-alibellus-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-694.html Today, Titi Kwan shared a dream with us. The dream of the glamorous and cheeky Parisian nightlife of the past, expressed through his menswear autumn-winter 2013/14 for his label Alibellus+ – memorandum in Latin – that he launched in 2008. His third collection being all about places such as [...] 2013-01-16 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-16-lucien-pellat-finet-menswear-fall-winter-2013-paris-review-695.html With chilly temperatures having descended on Paris in recent days, there could have been no better start to the menswear presentations than a visit to see Lucien Pellat-Finet, one of Paris’ most luxurious cashmere houses.  Since its creation by namesake designer Lucien Pellat-Finet in 1994, [...] 2013-01-16 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-15-fendi-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-693.html Last season there was a lot of grumbling by the fashion crowd about the odd choice of venues Fendi had chosen for its spring/summer 2013 show. One that required a ride in a small elevator and cause quite a back log of guests trying to get in. Learning its lesson, this time the brand opened wide the [...] 2013-01-15 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-15-giorgio-armani-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-691.html The Giorgio Armani collection was a study on how to give robust masculine men a guardaroba of understated elegant clothing. One that highlighted the models viral silhouettes without being swallowed up by their potent physicality. He did this first by turning to his beloved color palette of [...] 2013-01-15 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-15-dsquared2-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-690.html It was a scat cat, jazz hot Cotton Club vibe on the Dsquared2 catwalk today. The twin designers Dean and Dan Caten tried to give a cool attitude to the fall/winter 2013 collection they had dubbed “La Nouvelle Noir”. The new black concept was a bit one-note. Basically, it boiled down to the [...] 2013-01-15 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-15-umit-benan-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-692.html Umit Benan took the fashion crowd to the wrong side of town with his latest menswear show. He recreated a back alley in a big city and filled it with everything from a scruffy homeless man and even scruffier streetwalkers, to an abandoned car and a busy hotdog vendor. But besides the first two [...] 2013-01-15 09:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-14-moschino-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-687.html This season Moschino returned to its roots. By choosing to show at the Giannino restaurant, famous for its for its traditional Italian dishes but also for being the venue (at its previous site) where designer Franco Moschino did his first menswear show, the quirky brand underlined the fact that it [...] 2013-01-14 12:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-14-belstaff-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-688.html Gentlemen start your engines. Belstaff is roaring in to the fashion future by taking a hard look at its heritage. For the past year designer Martin Cooper has been trying to transform the sporty label into the luxury brand of choice for men who want to look good when they hop on their Harley or [...] 2013-01-14 12:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-14-dirk-bikkembergs-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-689.html It is never easy to take over a brand with a distinctive style. There is always that desire to stay true to the DNA of the house. And sometimes just doing an update on hallmark designs or incorporating recognizable features is enough to give new energy and direction to a label.   This [...] 2013-01-14 12:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-14-gucci-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-685.html There was a warm and fuzzy feel to the Gucci menswear show. Perhaps it was a direct result of the upcoming birth of Creative Director Frida Giannini’s first child? And the opening number that featured a baby blue coat can’t be just a coincidence. But even if impending motherhood was not [...] 2013-01-14 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-14-etro-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-686.html The Etro brand has always followed a different fashion beat. One where prints and complex patterns, in particular paisley, set the the runway rhythm. It is a house that abhors conformity, minimalism or standing in the background and letting the world go by. For better or worst, this family run [...] 2013-01-14 12:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-emporio-armani-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-684.html The worlds of tailoring and sportswear continue to blend together in the menswear collections for next winter. The contemporary man is now endlessly looking for ways to take advantage of latest advancements in fabric technology without having to give up on elegance. Here comes Giorgio Armani [...] 2013-01-13 03:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-prada-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-680.html Getting that first glimpse of the staging for a Prada collection is almost as highly anticipated as the show itself. Always evocative, the sets by Rem Koolhass’ company OMA are often the only hint the audience gets to which direction the intellectual designer is headed. This season the [...] 2013-01-13 03:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-moncler-gamme-bleu-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-683.html Each season Thom Browne finds a new and quirky way to reinterpret the puffy quilted jacket that is the beating heart of the Moncler brand. This time he turned to the Highland tribes of Scotland. Setting his show in a snowy forest filled with fallen knights rung through with ski poles - perhaps to [...] 2013-01-13 02:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-missoni-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-681.html This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Missoni brand. But at the menswear show no one was in a celebratory mood. The usually vibrant Missoni family stayed away from the venue as they waited to hear news about the brand’s CEO Vittorio Missoni, whose plane went missing in Venezuela earlier [...] 2013-01-13 02:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-salvatore-ferragamo-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-682.html This season creative director Massimiliano Giornetti took the Salvatore Ferragamo man into the shadowy streets of a rainy New York City after dark. Between the walls covered in videos of the rain splatter metropolis sparkling with neon lights and the black asphalt like catwalk (it too wet from a [...] 2013-01-13 02:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-calvin-klein-collection-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-679.html At Calvin Klein designer Italo Zucchelli has gotten himself into a well worn groove. Not to be mistaken for a rut, no rather- with his fall/winter 2013 collection- he demonstrated himself to be a designer who seems fulfilled with his place in the fashion world. Over the seasons he has perfected his [...] 2013-01-13 01:25:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-trussardi-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-678.html Trussardi’s designer Umit Benan certainly knows how to set the stage for his collections. This time the models walked out into a room with a hardwood floor runway strewn with fallen autumn leaves and walls covered in life size images of a barren winter forest. The designer took his love of [...] 2013-01-13 01:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-bottega-veneta-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-677.html There was a moment during the Bottega Veneta show when the soundtrack gave way to the lines from the movie Fame that proclaimed to the audience that “everything you want to change about yourself - it's who you are. That's your power". It was a message that designer Tomas Maier appears to have [...] 2013-01-13 01:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-versace-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-674.html At the top of my page of notes for the Versace menswear show I had written the words “80s rapper meets 90s boys band” which still sounds about right. Donatella Versace clearly was looking back to the days when power suits meant broad shoulders, big volume and large Prince of Wales check [...] 2013-01-13 00:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-burberry-prorsum-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-675.html The minute I took my seat at the Burberry menswear show my cell phone vibrated. Surprise surprise, there was an email from Christopher Bailey with a subject line that read "I ♥ Classics". The social media savvy designer had just hit me with a personalized email with a link to “follow our [...] 2013-01-13 00:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-ermenegildo-zegna-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-676.html The house of Ermenegildo Zegna is in a moment of transition. Designer Stefano Pilati (who was sitting front row at the show) just started his duties as Zegna’s head of design and creative director of its womenswear line Agnona a few days ago. So its understandable why this collection didn’t [...] 2013-01-13 00:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-13-dolce-gabbana-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-673.html Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have a lot of faith. Faith in the idea that a fashion show which hones in - with a laser focus - on one idea will be enough to build an entire collection.  This time that belief paid off. This collection was clearly a continuation of what the designers [...] 2013-01-13 00:25:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-12-costume-national-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-672.html “Its about anger, in a way,” said Ennio Capasa backstage before his show, “I think there is a rage feeling now from the younger generation, a real rebel feeling, and this is always a source of energy for me,” continued the designer whose mood board for the show featured black and white [...] 2013-01-12 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-12-jil-sander-menswear-fall-winter-2013-milan-review-671.html Nobody does chic icy cold outerwear better than Jil Sander and she was in her wheelhouse with this winter 2013 collection. It had a highbrowed grace to it, which transformed the youthful male models into refined, reserved men. Everything was cut with the idea of lengthening the body. The [...] 2013-01-12 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-maison-kitsune-pitti-immagine-fw-2013-florence-review-668.html Those who do not know the two mastermind behind the label Kitsuné have missed something good! French music producer Gildas Loaëc and Japanese architect Masaya Kuroki created the label Kitsuné – fox in Japanese – in 2002 and are constant style forerunners ever since – especially when it [...] 2013-01-11 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-kenzo-menswear-fall-winter-2013-pitti-florence-review-667.html “We are very excited to say that this week we traveled to Florence to show the fall winter 2013 men's collection at Pitti Uomo!”, said creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon  on Kenzo's webzine recently. And indeed, there was enough to be excited about! Not only did Kenzo held [...] 2013-01-11 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-nina-ricci-ready-to-wear-pre-fall-2013-pre-collections-review-666.html “A girl hanging out in a chic Parisian café,” with a nod to the chic French women, Peter Copping stayed a steady course for pre-fall, showcasing his warm and feminine designs against a tableau of bistro chairs elegantly placed around a white backdrop. Indeed, the idea of seeing his ladies [...] 2013-01-11 18:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-rochas-ready-to-wear-pre-fall-2013-pre-collections-review-665.html Fabrics have long held a place in Marco Zanini’s heart. For his pre-fall collection, the designer worked specifically with two stunning choices this season: a beautiful gold-and-brown brocade and a rich floral. While his collections are never about a specific place or person, the garments [...] 2013-01-11 18:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-reed-krakoff-ready-to-wear-pre-fall-2013-pre-collections-review-662.html   Texture was on the top of Reed Krakoff’s mind for his pre-fall collection, which utilized shape and proportion that moved his silhouettes from sensuous into strong territory. Coats featured a noticeably straighter-edged shoulder—be it perforated leather or a chic rubberized lace. As [...] 2013-01-11 18:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-celine-ready-to-wear-pre-fall-2013-pre-collections-review-663.html No matter the season, Phoebe Philo’s first and foremost interest when embarking on each collection is examining how the modern woman dresses. Indeed, at Céline, it’s always about that wardrobe—but for pre-fall, Philo’s traditional bent went off on a romantic tangent by way of “dressing [...] 2013-01-11 18:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-belstaff-ready-to-wear-pre-fall-2013-pre-collections-review-660.html   Ever since the brand’s relaunch in February, Chief Creative Officer Martin Cooper has managed to couple remaining true to the brand’s outerwear codes while injecting a modern sensibility. For his first pre-fall collection, Cooper, for lack of a better term, let loose somewhat, [...] 2013-01-11 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-11-acne-ready-to-wear-pre-fall-2013-pre-collections-review-661.html “He has never really interested me before, even though he is such a big part of our Swedish culture heritage,” said Acne creative director Jonny Johansson, who sought inspiration in a recent exhibition of artist August Strindberg’s self-portraits in his native Stockholm—the results of which [...] 2013-01-11 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-09-alexander-mcqueen-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-658.html It was a return of the dandy, and a return to home-soil of the brand’s menswear line whose latest collection was a dramatic and sleek Jack the Ripper meets Savile Row tribute to London in all its macabre 19th Century glory. The distinctly pale cast models, with severely slicked-down hair, [...] 2013-01-09 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-09-xander-zhou-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-659.html Xander Zhou hit it hard with his latest Autumn/Winter show, inspired by, as the show notes told us, “back alley boys who seem averse to highbrow fashion.” Indeed, with oversized silhouettes, baggy trousers, ‘80s sneakers and music pumped up to the max, the show was all about taking it to the [...] 2013-01-09 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-09-qasimi-homme-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-657.html Set in a narrow corridor of the Elms Lester Painting Rooms, Qasimi Homme’s preview of their Paris Autumn/Winter catwalk show was an uncanny, almost cinematic exhibition of what they do best  -updated classics with a high dose of attitude. The audience was invited to walk between and [...] 2013-01-09 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-09-christopher-kane-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-655.html Be it in preparation for the impending womenswear fashion season, paring down and taking a step back seems to have caught on with many of the menswear designers this week, including London's favourite provocateur Christopher Kane. Contrary to the collection’s muses, Frankenstein and the [...] 2013-01-09 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-09-j-w-anderson-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-656.html When it comes to J. W. Anderson, one can always expect a certain level of subversion and calculated overturning of stereotypes, especially when they relate to gender. However, his latest offering entitled Mathematics of Love, it didn’t quite add up in regards to translating his androgynous [...] 2013-01-09 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-08-james-long-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-654.html It was a Renaissance of casualwear, in all its plain-to-peacock glory. Modeled after the quirky personal style of filmmaker John Waters, James Long’s latest collection was an extravaganza of tucked-in shirts, cinched belts, and all the quilted and padded coats a man could dream of. From [...] 2013-01-08 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-08-vivienne-westwood-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-653.html It’s a revolution, and Vivienne Westwood is its front-running leader.  Set in the hidden, industrial loading bay of Harrods in London’s Knightsbridge, the presentation unveiled a post-apocalyptic installation of models who sat atop gigantic sculptures created from recycled urban waste, [...] 2013-01-08 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-08-christopher-shannon-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-652.html From the invite, depicting a pile of plastic bottles and nylon trash bags among other nondescript garbage, it was clear that Shannon was serving us an “anti” stand, or what he calls “accidental styles and anti-outfits.” Inspired by the tendency of hoarding stuff and piling them on by [...] 2013-01-08 14:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-08-jonathan-saunders-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-651.html Upon entering the presentation space at Victoria House, guests were met by a large collaged tableaux displayed on the walls, hinting to a certain art turn for Saunders this season. Indeed, moving further in, the audience could view the collection as a live installation with models artfully [...] 2013-01-08 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-07-hackett-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-650.html With Hackett you can always expect to be transported to a different world – a world where men wear top hats, pocket watches, soft leather gloves, and the possession of a set of silk monogrammed pocket squares are de rigueur. Set against the imposing surroundings of The Crypt at St. Paul’s, Mr. [...] 2013-01-07 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-07-lee-roach-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-649.html A maestro of monochrome minimalism, Lee Roach once again showed that less is certainly more, and it can make for an entire design aesthetic without ever getting boring. Having graduated from Central Saint Martins a mere 2 years ago, Roach has already made a name for himself with his uncompromising, [...] 2013-01-07 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2013-01-07-lou-dalton-menswear-fall-winter-2013-london-review-648.html When it comes to choosing an opening act to represent what ‘London Collections: Men’ is all about, Lou Dalton ticks all the boxes. Classic tailoring, edgy detailing, and a touch of that very British sense of rebellion, Dalton’s cool and restrained approach to menswear once again served as the [...] 2013-01-07 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-12-01-elite-model-look-29th-world-final-review-647.html Elite Model Look - 29th World Final Shanghai 1st of December 2012 Winners: 1st - Mariléah (France) 2nd - Lorena (Romania) 2rd - Trinidad (Chile) 3th - Manuela ( Switzerland) Lorena from Romania and Trinidad from Chile are co-winners for 2nd place 2012-12-01 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-11-26-elite-model-look-world-finals-bootcamp-review-646.html Follow the Elite Model Look World Finals Bootcamp, updated day-by-day from Shanghai! Credits: Anthony Ghnassia & Emmanuel Giraud 2012-11-26 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-11-09-asvoff-5-opening-ceremony-review-642.html NOWFASHION's Emerging Talent Prize goes to the fashion film: "Danny" directed by Goran Grahovac (for the designer Tom Van Der Borght) Music video with the band Kenji Minogue   Check out NOWFASHION's Selection of 5 fashion films: http://tinyurl.com/ASVOFF5 2012-11-09 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-11-08-2nd-floor-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-rio-de-janeiro-review-645.html What a weird name for a brand, one would say, as really nothing in Second Floor's name refers to high-end fashion. This said, once one realizes that the brand is the second brainchild of Adriana Bozon, creative director of Sao Paulo based fashion brand Ellus, the chosen brand name starts to make [...] 2012-11-08 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-11-08-filhas-de-gaia-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-rio-de-janeiro-review-644.html Daughters of Gaia, would be the English translation of Renata Salles and Marcela Calmon's womenswear brand. The name being chosen as an ode to femininity, reflected by Gaia, the great-mother of all heavenly gods, Titans and Giants in ancient Greek religion. The choice of the brand's name may [...] 2012-11-08 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-11-07-alessa-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-rio-de-janeiro-review-643.html “I celebrated my 10 years anniversary last season”, explains Alessa. “My brand being known for colorful digital prints and caftans, I decided to do something new. I opted for a Celtic cross print that represents not only the transition of the season but also a new start. I thought this state [...] 2012-11-07 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-11-07-herchcovitch-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-rio-de-janeiro-review-641.html Retro-future, folklore and 90s could be the three keynotes one could use to describe Alexandre Herchcovitch's new autumn-winter 2013 collection. This, of course, according to the necessities and commercial purposes of his second line: it has to be youthful, wearable, affordable and yet adorned with [...] 2012-11-07 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-11-07-rio-moda-hype-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2013-rio-de-janeiro-review-640.html Even the burning sun couldn't prevent Rio de Janeiro from showing its Fall 2013 collections! As its economy is booming, Brazil has also decided to adapt its fashion calendar to the country's rapid growth: the winter season 2013 being already presented in early November 2012, more than 3 months [...] 2012-11-07 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-31-elite-model-look-french-final-2012-review-637.html "Created in 1983, Elite Model Look is now the most prestigious international modelling contest. A genuine career accelerator, the competition has propelled many aspiring and up-and-coming talents to become international top models. It’s the only contest that offers the opportunity to young [...] 2012-10-31 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-28-jealousy-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-kiev-review-639.html “Jealousy” bit deeply into fashionable guests on October 28th, as the spring/summer 2013 collection announced the debut of this brand titled after a certain green-eyed monster and designed by duo Sasha Stukalskaya and Tanu Muino. For a first show at the Kiev Fashion Days, the youngest Ukrainian [...] 2012-10-28 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-27-sasha-kanevski-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-kiev-review-638.html Super heroes! Radioactive waste! Urban mutations! Sasha Kanevski’s fascination with the pitfalls of modern day human activity brings his spring/summer 2013 collection into a dystopian pulp-comic future where nature will have been redacted out, and where his gear is the final layer of protection [...] 2012-10-27 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-27-maria-bekh-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-kiev-review-636.html Designer Maria Bekh presented what was felt three collections in one, so diverse in concept and execution were they. Titled “Escapism”, it offered a voyage through three moments in a woman’s life. The first part opened with a smartly tailored ensemble and was a play on shirting. Cuts are [...] 2012-10-27 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-26-yasya-minochkina-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-kiev-review-634.html Are show tracks the new mixtape? At Yasya Minochkina, a CD dressed up in her spring/summer 2013 colours awaited guests while they filed into the Mercedes Benz Fashion Palace –the moniker given to the show venue – a gift that echoed the comment I read in the Aeroport de Paris magazine’s latest [...] 2012-10-26 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-26-rcr-khomenko-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-kiev-review-635.html Wunderkind Yasia Khomenko is somewhat of a sensation at Kiev Fashion Days, as she distills a universe that fuses childlike fashion delight with a very mature vision of the real world in her brand RCR KHOMENKO. Only in her third full season, she has made quite an impression and her mixes of [...] 2012-10-26 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-miu-miu-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-629.html To the sensual sounds of Neneh Cherry singing a very erotic version of the Cole Porter classic “ I’ve Got You Under My Skin” Miuccia Prada made ‘femme fatales’ out of her Miu Miu girls.   The designer set the stage for this sexy collection by blocking out the sun. At exactly [...] 2012-10-03 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-louis-vuitton-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-618.html The writing was on the walls, on the catwalk and even on the mammoth block of escalators that ended in a giant mirrored partition at the back of the Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2013 catwalk. Everywhere the eye looked the geometric grace of the checkerboard-like LouisVuitton Damier [...] 2012-10-03 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-lwren-scott-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-633.html Perhaps it is the ever increasing proximity of the release of 2012 adaptation of The Great Gatsby at Christmas, but this was all I could think of when I saw L’Wren Scott’s collection for spring/summer 2013, originally due to drop during New York Fashion Week but finally presented in Paris’ [...] 2012-10-03 20:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-lie-sang-bong-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-627.html The ones who ask themselves what it feels like to have butterflies in the stomach, should have a look at Lie Sang Bong's spring/summer 2013 collection, where butterflies – if they're not flapping their wings in the belly – were at least on the runway, adding a fluttery feeling to Paris' last [...] 2012-10-03 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-allude-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-631.html In the hands of Andrea Karg, knit becomes a quasi-magical material that she is able to transform into anything that she, as designer and founder of the German knitwear brand Allude, desires for her customer. On the final day of Paris Fashion Week, she offered a vision of endless possibilities [...] 2012-10-03 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-araisara-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-626.html On the last day of ready-to-wear in Paris, Araisara showcased her first collection in Paris. A usually daring step for an independent designer, that said, Arai is no longer a newbie; next to her Tokyo-based label founded in 2008, the designer is also a member of China Designer Association and [...] 2012-10-03 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-masha-ma-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-628.html After a remarked debut in London, Central Saint Martins graduate Masha Ma premiered in Paris last season with a poetic yet graphically powerful. As many designers of the younger generation, it is not only the garment or its prints that interest Ma, but also the transcription of a movement into [...] 2012-10-03 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-arzu-kaprol-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-623.html The Turkish designer Arzu Kaprol does justice to her oriental roots. Not only did she opt for sleek constructed looks, instead of the sometimes expected bling-bling style, but she also made a name for herself with her impeccable architectural outfits, which could already convince sought-after [...] 2012-10-03 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-talbot-runhof-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-622.html Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof are celebrating 20 years of work this year and an upcoming shop opening in Paris, their first one. Twenty years in which the German designers have tried to add some German “Jawohl!” to the French “Oh la la” and were sometimes successful, some other times not [...] 2012-10-03 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-alexander-mcqueen-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-619.html The Alexander McQueen show was buzzing. As the designer Sarah Burton took bees as her leitmotif for the spring/summer 2013 collection, please pardon the play on words, puns, and bee related phraseology in this review, it really can’t be helped. Now back to that buzz.   It started on the [...] 2012-10-03 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-chanel-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-620.html The Chanel show is always a highlight of Paris fashion week. This season designer Karl Lagerfeld looked to the heavens for inspiration. But instead of going with more obvious celestial bodies for motivation he turned to the soothing effects of a summer breeze and the power of sun.   To [...] 2012-10-03 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-saint-laurent-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-609.html On Monday night the fashion world saw the opening of an intriguing new chapter in its long and illustrious history.   The build up had been perfectly orchestrated. First there was the changing of the name, dropping the Yves to become Saint Laurent. Next came the news that the [...] 2012-10-03 11:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-christophe-lemaire-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-614.html As creative director of Hermès' womenswear and his own eponym brand, designer Christophe Lemaire has a double life when it comes to fashion design – this said, he so far managed to keep his "slow fashion" on both sides, and its precisely this nonchalant yet sophisticated Parisian chic that made [...] 2012-10-03 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-shiatzy-chen-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-624.html Of all the major Asian countries, China is the one that has the most difficulties breaking into the fashion scene. Perhaps it comes from the carefree, almost casual approach that Chinese people have long cultivated towards their clothes, or the general disapproval of frivolous pursuits put forward [...] 2012-10-03 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-paul-joe-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-615.html Showing near the end of a Fashion Week, or in this case at the end of what is becoming dubbed Fashion Month with all four major cities having had their turn, is an unenviable position. If you’re in on a trend that other designers have also tapped into, reviewers will be unable to resist drawing [...] 2012-10-03 10:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-moncler-gamme-rouge-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-613.html Moncler is rather known for its straightforward urban chic loved by rappers – hello Kanye – than for its sophisticated ready-to-wear women. By adding “Gamme Rouge” to the brand's name with Giambattista Valli as creative director, Moncler expected to climb the hierarchy of Paris' [...] 2012-10-03 10:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-paco-rabanne-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-617.html There was a bit too much going on at Paco Rabanne for the first show of Lydia Maurer as artistic director for the brand, stepping into the shoes left by Manish Arora last May, after only two seasons. Her dive into the archives yielded a vision of the Rabanne woman as a 70s inspired sexy glamazon. [...] 2012-10-03 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-03-junko-shimada-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-612.html At the dawn of her thirtieth anniversary, Junko Shimada seems still far away from any type of dodgy midlife crisis. The ones that make you want to settle down – or buy a red convertible if you're a youth-loving attention seeker – and leave your sophisticated wardrobe behind for something more [...] 2012-10-03 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-02-valentino-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-630.html Valentino designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli are in the fashion sweet spot.   Just like Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, they spent years working alongside the brand’s namesake designer before finally taking up the top post at the house. Both brands have benefited [...] 2012-10-02 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-02-jean-charles-de-castelbajac-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-621.html Nature vs. society. Masculine vs. feminine. Them vs. us. "Futurism vs History," as stated in the poem written by Jean-Charles de Castebajac for his spring/summer 2013 collection. The world we live in is worrisome to him, creator of a dark anxiety. As he sees it, we are slowly sliding towards a [...] 2012-10-02 18:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-02-agnes-b-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-608.html Agnès b. showed what a good artist and incubator for photographic talent she is. Her taste in the matter is rooted in the here and now, and as such, she is relevant. For the rest, perhaps the wind of change that is sweeping around each season in houses is kept away by closed windows. Don't [...] 2012-10-02 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-02-basil-soda-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-632.html “J’adore la couture, j’ai une passion pour la coupe et l’exercice de texture.” (“I adore couture, I have a passion for the cut and the textural exercise”) Like a Moorish mosaic in Andalusia, Basil Soda is a graphical construct being examined, but existing within a rich cultural [...] 2012-10-02 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-02-amaya-arzuaga-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-607.html After a week of seeing clean cut geometries and straight lights cropping up as one of the defining trends of the season, Amaya Arzuaga’s spring/summer 2013 collection felt like somewhat of a palate cleanser. Her work, always intellectually engaging and visually powerful, hinged on the circle and [...] 2012-10-02 14:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-02-pedro-lourenco-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-606.html Ever since his debut collection for Fall 2010, wunderkind Pedro Lourenço has been watched in a way that one imagines was how musicologists watched a young Mozart work. Despite access to materials and resources that most young designers would give their eyetooth for –both his parents are renowned [...] 2012-10-02 13:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-02-chloe-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-611.html Chloé is celebrating a big birthday during Paris fashion week. It is 60 years young. That everlasting youthful, girlish energy of the house, that you take away from the informative and fun retrospective exhibition on the brand that opened at the Palais de Tokyo earlier this week.   Called [...] 2012-10-02 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-01-leonard-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-602.html Raffaele Borriello's appointment as designer at Leonard was expected to bring the house back to something more coherent. Maxime Simoens's "blink and you miss it" passage at the creative helm of Leonard proposed an update that did not dovetail with the brand's image, leading to a mutual decision [...] 2012-10-01 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-01-stella-mccartney-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-603.html “It feels so 80s, or early 90s,” sings Kathleen Hannah, Le Tigre's front-singer in a song called “Get off the Internet,” that was, next to some booty beats, included in Stella McCartney's show soundtrack this morning. And indeed, this sentence pretty much sums up the atmosphere in [...] 2012-10-01 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-01-givenchy-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-601.html The signs were all there. On a raised podium sat an elegant organ, it’s metal pipes gleaming, and in the air hovered a faint cloud of smoke that, once inhaled, reveled itself to be frankincense. Clearly the Givenchy show was going to be a religious experience.   Religion has always [...] 2012-10-01 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-01-john-galliano-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-605.html The question on everyone’s mind at the spring/summer 2013 John Galliano show was, “now that designer Bill Gaytten no longer has the pressure of producing a Christian Dior show, what effect will all of that extra time to focus on the John Galliano collection do for the brand?” The answer- [...] 2012-10-01 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-01-valentin-yudashkin-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-625.html Valentin Yudashkin’s collection left many bemused after his bow. Was it really a single collection that had just walked the runway? His spring/summer 2013 collection was a very blunt play on the masculine/feminine theme. That’s not to say that what was presented didn’t have any merit to [...] 2012-10-01 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-10-01-ground-zero-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-600.html For a brand in a perpetual cycle of new beginnings, Ground Zero is starting to tread on some pretty bizarre ground. Brothers Eri and Philip Shu love experimenting with prints and clothes, but sometimes, the results aren't as great as expected. Transformers, robots and androids provided their [...] 2012-10-01 11:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-celine-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-599.html Designer Phoebe Philo returned to the catwalk this season, after the birth of her third child, with a Celine collection which proved that - while everyone has now joined the minimalist bandwagon Philo helped revive- she has already moved on.   But she hasn’t gone too far outside her [...] 2012-09-30 20:25:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-costume-national-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-604.html In the left corner, ROCKNROLL, undisputed champion of Costume National, a vision in black and white... And in the right, the contender, POPNROLL in geranium and vermillion, is waiting for its moment. Let the battle royal begin in the arena of spring/summer 2013. Ennio Capasa reprises last [...] 2012-09-30 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-kenzo-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-594.html "In the jungle, the Kenzo jungle, the tiger rocks the city". Keeping with last season's off the beaten track venue, the Kenzo show had editors swapping a croissant and an expresso in Central Paris for an Americano and a Momofuku milkbar cookie at the city limits. Cool kids Umberto Leon and [...] 2012-09-30 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-jean-paul-gaultier-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-592.html Nobody knows how to create a party on a catwalk quite like Jean Paul Gaultier. After irritating fashion tastemakers with an haute couture show in July that was over an hour and a half late, this bad boy of fashion made good. And he did it in pure Gaultier style. He turned to the pop stars of the [...] 2012-09-30 13:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-haider-ackermann-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-588.html In a pitch black cavernous room Haider Ackermann made his audience wait for it. Made them crave it. Made them earn it. For his collection was unfurled painstakingly slowly under a flickering florescent overhead light and to the somnolent sounds of a man slowly reciting the words to the song [...] 2012-09-30 11:25:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-junya-watanabe-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-593.html Junya Watanabe is a challenging designer, and one with an almost obsessive analytical nature that brings him to explore every single variation of a theme until he is satisfied with it. The sportswear mood that he imparted with his spring/summer 2013 collection, starting with the mesh-effect [...] 2012-09-30 11:25:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-viktor-rolf-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-589.html “Mirror mirror on the wall,” this could be the tag line for the latest fashion outing for the Viktor & Rolf brand. As is customary, designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren picked one very specific starting point- this time it was mirrors- and extrapolated out from it to create a [...] 2012-09-30 11:20:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-comme-des-garcons-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-598.html There was a real duality to the Comme des Garçons collection. Looking over my notes after the show phases like “black and white” “day and night” “yin and yang” “constrict and release” and even “salt and pepper” were scribbled around the edges of abstract sketches and my stream [...] 2012-09-30 11:20:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-vivienne-westwood-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-591.html You really had to want to see the Vivienne Westwood collection this season. The designer put on her show inside the British Embassy in Paris. This meant having photo id, waiting in a long line to gain entrance, and going though a security gauntlet just to have the privilege of waiting over [...] 2012-09-30 11:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-veronique-leroy-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-590.html Mormons do it better, not only in the United States, but also on Parisian catwalks. For this spring/summer 2013 season Veronique Leroy took on rigorous codes and added some insolence to it. “I was definitely inspired by religious costumes, the Mormons' for example, but it's not only about [...] 2012-09-30 11:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-martin-grant-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-596.html “I like this collection so much, I’ve changed my name to Martin Grant,” one editor exclaimed at the conclusion of the spring/summer 2013 collection. He echoed the sentiment of many guests who exited the Beaux Arts after an exquisite series of silhouettes, that evoked the days when women were [...] 2012-09-30 11:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-tsumori-chisato-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-597.html Before the Tsumori Chisato spring/summer 2013 show, there was a performance of another kind taking place backstage. Kakuyasu Uchiide, artistic director of Shu Uemura, has multiple brushes in hand, painting.  As canvas, the faces of the models were being prepared for the show. “My [...] 2012-09-30 11:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-30-andrew-gn-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-610.html It remains a mystery why more Hollywood ingénues have not turned to Andrew Gn when they have to face the red carpet gauntlet. The American fashion police that stake out those events would meet any one of the looks in his spring/summer 2013 collection with open arms. But maybe Gn has turned his [...] 2012-09-30 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-29-maison-martin-margiela-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-583.html The realities of compressing a brand known for being eccentric, daring, and at times a bit odd into the confines of creating clothing that will appeal to a mass market, seems to already have an effect on the Maison Martin Margiela brand. The collaboration between MMM and the clothing chain [...] 2012-09-29 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-29-isabel-marant-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-585.html Isabel Marant’s love of all things American has been well documented. Last season’s “Western” show was a clear winner, if the myriad of her cowboy shirts and chaps inspired crop pants that are now being worn in the front row of the Paris shows is any indication. For next summer she once [...] 2012-09-29 16:20:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-29-cacharel-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-616.html Consider a koi pond, beautifully manicured and surrounded by serene greenery. Beneath the rippling waters moved by a gentle breeze, a carp swims nonchalantly, its scales gently reflecting light. This is exactly the feel that emanated from Cacharel’s spring/summer 2013 collection, designed by [...] 2012-09-29 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-christian-dior-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-577.html When Raf Simons presented his first Christian Dior haute couture show in July he covered the walls of a Parisian manor house with fresh flowers. It was a starkly different setting at his debut ready-to-wear collection for the house. In pristine white rooms, with shadow boxes cut out in the walls [...] 2012-09-28 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-anne-valerie-hash-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-586.html This season designer Anne Valérie Hash seemed to be building on ideas she launched in her winter collection and by reworking old favorites. Once again she showed her distinctive trompe l’oeil “slipping off the shoulders” jackets, and – as always- her jumpsuits and wrap front pants appeared [...] 2012-09-28 19:25:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-issey-miyake-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-576.html Upon entering the Grand Palais for the Issey Miyake show, the cordoned-off mirrored runway raised an immediate question: Were we in for another performance slash fashion show from the Japanese brand? Yoshiyuki Miyamae writes a new score in the Issey Miyake repertoire of optical illusions with [...] 2012-09-28 18:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-azzaro-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-582.html Let there be light. This iconic sentence might have inspired Azzaro's Creative Director Mathilde Castello Branco, as her new spring-summer 2013 collection was all about iridescent and eye-popping light games. Dresses were long, while colors were rich. A champagne colored gown and shiny [...] 2012-09-28 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-hussein-chalayan-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-587.html One of the biggest trends this season has been this concept of overlay. One house after another has draped their creations in a voile of semi sheer fabric. Another major focus has been on creating clothing cut with a ridged – stand away from the body- shape. Leave it to Hussein Chalayan to come [...] 2012-09-28 18:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-vionnet-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-579.html The French Maison was lately subjected to quite a hustle and bustle after Vionnet's former owners Matteo Marzotto and Gianni Castiglioni hired Barbara and Lucia Croce in October 2011.  The Croce sisters soon had to part ways with the label, due to differences with the new majority stake [...] 2012-09-28 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-sonia-rykiel-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-580.html The final collection designed by April Crichton at Sonia Rykiel drew much attention when this staple of the Paris fashion schedule announced the abrupt cancellation of its September 28 show. But shown in a more intimate setting than the gathering of hundreds of industry professionals, buyers [...] 2012-09-28 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-vanessa-bruno-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-584.html Vanessa Bruno is the purveyor of wardrobe staples of fashionable Parisians and those wishing to emulate their style. It is unknown through which means Bruno peers into to find the unexpressed wishes of her followers, but she hits the sweet spot almost every time with unerring accuracy. Her [...] 2012-09-28 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-yohji-yamamoto-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-595.html Yohji Yamamoto was unwilling to expand on his inspirations, explaining backstage that he didn’t have a specific theme, but wanted to recapture the essence of summer, a joyful period that lingers in the mind even decades later.  As a result, his spring/summer 2013 collection seemed shrouded [...] 2012-09-28 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-roland-mouret-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-575.html Roland Mouret loves a good party. Or at least the memory of Paris' golden age of frivolous worldliness, back in the days when “Le Palace” was still the glamorous rendez-vous for endless nights. “I wanted to go back to these parties in the 80s were we used to dance till 6am in the morning, [...] 2012-09-28 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-julien-david-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-581.html The kids really aren’t alright: they’re actually quite cheeky at Julien David. As guests clambered up the stairs of Lycée Henri IV to the sound of Debussy, upstairs the kids were having a ball. The 'Spoiled Children' collection for spring/summer 2013 goes back to school to “study the phases [...] 2012-09-28 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-lanvin-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-574.html At the end of the Lanvin show, Alber Elbaz took a few steps onto the catwalk to take a quick bow. But the audience would have none of that. Cheering him on, the designer rethought his timid first attempt and finally strode down the raised runway, bending down to receive a large bouquet of flowers [...] 2012-09-28 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-lutz-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-572.html This spring/summer 2013 season marks a new step forward for Lutz Huelle. Not only did the German designer decide to officially lend his last name to his eponym brand – “Changing our name from Lutz to Lutz Huelle doesn't change the collection – it just means we are not a beer”, he tweeted [...] 2012-09-28 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-barbara-bui-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-573.html Black is the new summer bright. To La Femme's Sur la planche, Barbara Bui trotted out an uncomplicated yet chic wardrobe, all about looking for sensations. "Simplicity is not always easy," Barbara Bui explained to a small audience backstage, nor is it minimalism. Her spring/summer 2013 [...] 2012-09-28 12:25:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-balmain-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-578.html It is nothing new to see a designer referencing his youth through his fashion shows. But as Olivier Rousteing is just twenty-six years old those formative years aren’t really that far off. And they certainly continue to have a huge sway on this young designer. Inspired by the iconic 1990s [...] 2012-09-28 11:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-sharon-wauchob-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-568.html Sharon Wauchob continues her confrontation with traditional codes of femininity in her spring/summer 2013 collection, a wheel she set in motion seasons ago. “I like to challenge myself, to take something that I don’t normally wear, and make it work,” she explained after the show. A [...] 2012-09-28 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-bouchra-jarrar-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-569.html Bouchra Jarrar has been out and about for quiet a while now. Not only has the designer expressed her enviable knowledge to some of the best Parisian ateliers – including the studio direction of Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga – but she succeeded with her own signature style that could be [...] 2012-09-28 11:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-manish-arora-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-570.html Designing a collection inspired by one’s culture and sartorial heritage is a double jeopardy: too strong a hand, and the affair turns into a caricature; too light a hand and the reference could end up being entirely missed. So when Manish Arora’s first look exited, a knee-length tunic [...] 2012-09-28 10:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-28-felipe-oliveira-baptista-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-571.html Being creative director to two houses is a tight rope exercise that can lead to creative dilution of one or both brands. Fortunately, Felipe Oliveira Baptista shows that he has more than enough creative energies to helm Lacoste –showing in New York- and his own brand in Paris. As with siblings [...] 2012-09-28 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-carven-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-567.html At Carven designer Guillaume Henry is going from strength to strength. The young Frenchman continues to be full of eclectic ideas that have made his quirky design driven collections, highly covetable to both fashion ingénues and experts alike. In only four years Henry has already cultivated a [...] 2012-09-27 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-balenciaga-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-566.html Nicolas Ghesquière returned to the Spanish roots of the Balenciaga house for his spring/summer 2013 collection. First, there were the ruffles. They finished off fitted sleeves, rippled around the hips of short asymmetrical skirts or - on longer options- came undulating diagonally down the [...] 2012-09-27 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-mugler-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-558.html It wouldn’t be Formichetti’s Mugler without a buzz to herald it. With a few marble steps as transition between a very wet Paris and humid tropical climes, the Mugler spring/summer 2013 was awash with rumors about the upcoming show: what would Lady Gaga’s unreleased single be? Would it feature [...] 2012-09-27 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-dries-van-noten-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-561.html It was fitting that Dries Van Noten would choose an empty garage to present a collection that took its inspiration from the grunge style of the 1990s. The cavernous industrial setting enhanced this shows feeling of nostalgic melancholy for a movement cut short in its prime. On pale faced [...] 2012-09-27 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-rue-du-mail-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-559.html Martine Sitbon played a Game of Life of sorts at Rue du Mail. Start with a blank Petri dish, seed it with atoms and see what happens. Dresses, her absolute forte, serve as canvas to this science experiment. In this case, it starts with an innocuous looking row of appliqué buttons on a sheer [...] 2012-09-27 12:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-limi-feu-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-564.html Eschewing a show in favor of a presentation in her former store space, Limi Feu offered her guests some of the best fun to be had at any fashion event: a dress-up game, complete with models as dolls, the entire collection at the tip of a finger, and her team on hand to cater to our every viewing [...] 2012-09-27 12:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-gareth-pugh-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-562.html Gareth Pugh has always been an extreme and sartorially aggressive designer. But with his spring/summer 2013 collection he also proved himself to be quite a romantic. To the mournful melody of Rebekah Del Rio singing in Spanish the classic Roy Orbison song "Crying", the designer sent out models [...] 2012-09-27 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-peachoo-krejberg-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-557.html Roy Krejberg does the talk, while Peachoo Datwani observes from a distance. When it comes to fashion, both designers share the same passion for creating new collections. The love for fashion goes so far that spending at least 100 hours on a spring-summer 2013 sample of an simple short embroidered [...] 2012-09-27 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-rochas-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-560.html The style and shapes of the 1950s once again inspired designer Marco Zanini; however, for his spring/summer 2013 Rochas took the sporty country club route with white boxing boots and all. Producing a collection that had two distinctive silhouette options for buyers. First, there was the choice [...] 2012-09-27 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-27-alexis-mabille-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-563.html It might be as simple as the fact that he is opening his first flagship store in Paris this week, but Alexis Mabille has grown up and gone commercial. Now this is not a slur. Quite the contrary. Until this spring/summer 2013 show, Mabille had a tendency to create feminine collections that [...] 2012-09-27 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-nicolas-andreas-taralis-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-556.html What's new on the spring/summer 2013 Nicolas Andreas Taralis runway? “Not much,” as the designer cheekily confirms it himself. “It is all about working on continuity. It's a natural evolution, it comes spontaneously,” continues Taralis. It is precisely this continuous approach that formed [...] 2012-09-26 19:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-guy-laroche-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-552.html The Guy Laroche signature style started with fluid tailoring, as a counter-reaction to Dior's new look back in the late 50s, this season's spring/summer 2013 collection was no different. Something has changed though. Yes, Marcel Marongiu - Guy Laroche's creative director - is faithful to his now [...] 2012-09-26 18:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-damir-doma-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-553.html Damir Doma is starting to shake things up at his signature brand. Until recently the designer has had a tendency towards Monk-like garb that always enveloped the wearer in a cocoon of fabric. However, this season he spiced things up a bit. The collection moved away from the wanderlust nomadic [...] 2012-09-26 17:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-devastee-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-554.html Nothing in life is certain, except for death and taxes. The latter held no sway this morning at the Dévastée show, but the former had its smiling moment. Ophelie Klère and François Alary created a genre of their own, sometimes dubbed "gothic kawaii" by fans and critics alike. Awaiting [...] 2012-09-26 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-aganovich-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-551.html Nana Aganovich and Brooke Taylor have continuously explored the porous membrane between art and fashion; offering cerebral collections, the duo turned their considerable focus on one element and explored it to abstraction. Backstage, Shu Uemura’s Kakuyasu Uchiide, chose to highlight glowing [...] 2012-09-26 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-veronique-branquinho-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-550.html A vision of pink and rose gold floated onto an immaculate runway at Veronique Branquinho, as the Belgian designer returned to the catwalk with a collection that felt lighthearted and smart. When Branquinho shuttered her fashion line three years ago, amidst a rash of recession related closures [...] 2012-09-26 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-jean-paul-lespagnard-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-549.html “From B to A” is the title of Jean Paul Lespagnard's spring/summer 2013 collection. That's basically putting the alphabet upside down, just like he does with fashion – and of course a reference to Andy Warhol's “From A to B & Back Again” book, pop art, what else? From strong [...] 2012-09-26 12:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-le-moine-tricote-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-548.html “Clothes don't make the man” or “L'habit ne fait pas le moine”, as they say in French. But as the ready-to-wear season in Paris just kicked off and filled the streets with fashionable people, it leads us to think that clothes actually do make the man – or at least they make Alice Lemoine [...] 2012-09-26 12:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-26-moon-young-hee-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-555.html This is no woman’s world. Korean designer Moon Young Hee traces with calligraphic ease the road often travelled in search of the right style. A designer who embraced deconstruction in past seasons, Hee confided backstage that her work focused on the opposition between feminine and masculine, [...] 2012-09-26 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-25-steffie-christiaens-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-565.html Steffie Christiaens is no newbie to the industry. After completing fashion design studies at the esteemed Arnhem Academy and a stint at IFM Paris, she gained some savoir-faire at the ateliers of Maison Martin Margiela and Balenciaga, and was even selected as a finalist of Hyères Festival, back in [...] 2012-09-25 22:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-25-luisa-beccaria-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-547.html The Luisa Beccaria spring/summer 2013 show was an invitation to an afternoon cocktail beach party. The song "couleur café, que j’aime ta couleur café…" was playing while the audience was taking seats. The catwalk was decorated with a blue stripe and pink floral floor paper recalling one [...] 2012-09-25 21:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-25-gianfranco-ferre-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-543.html The creative duo at Gianfranco Ferré, Federico Piaggi and Stefano Citron, sent powerful women down the catwalk. "It is a strong collection for a powerful woman. It is very modern and very sensual", said the two designers backstage right after the show. No extra padded shoulders or masculine [...] 2012-09-25 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-25-roberto-cavalli-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-542.html Roberto Cavalli was firing on all pistons with his spring/summer show. This collection, which found its starting point in the Art Nouveau era, was a faultless amalgamation of designer DNA and iconic inspiration. For a designer who has long embraced the power of prints, the decorative Art [...] 2012-09-25 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-25-missoni-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-544.html Angela Missoni went into the light with her spring/summer 2013 show. Not only was the collection an exploration in the refracted beauty of light (both natural and florescent), it also examined how to make knitwear feather light enough to let the body breath. Missoni’s take was rather [...] 2012-09-25 08:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-25-massimo-rebecchi-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-545.html Multifaceted femininity was the theme chosen by Massimo Rebecchi for his spring/summer 2013 collection. The show was scheduled on the last day of Milan SS13 Fashion Week. The wide blue stripes and the print clashing looks, were not very exciting for an audience that had seen plenty of them in the [...] 2012-09-25 08:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-24-dolce-gabbana-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-546.html Dolce & Gabbana have continuously found new ways of viewing the birthplace of Domenico Dolce in each successive show.  This season the designer duo turned to the idea of local summer festivals. Annual events where families go to buy colorful commemorative flatware, watch puppet shows, [...] 2012-09-24 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-24-dsquared2-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-540.html At a Dsquared2 show the set is almost as important as the collection. This season the twin designers Dean and Dan Caten took their audience to a photo shoot, but not just any photo shoot. This one was right out of the 1990s - a time when supermodels ruled the catwalks. In fact, the designers got [...] 2012-09-24 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-24-giorgio-armani-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-541.html The Giorgio Armani universe is all encompassing. The designer’s sartorial reach across the globe and his influence on the foundation of fashion is irrefutable. At his show on Sunday night the designer confirmed these points in two ways. First, he debuted an exhibition of his dresses, inside [...] 2012-09-24 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-24-laura-biagiotti-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-538.html “We started from the typical Laura Biagiotti romantic style and revamped it a bit for it to be contemporary” said Lavinia Biagiotti just before the show started. Indeed one could not deny that the spring/summer 2013 Laura Biagiotti proposal on display, was utterly feminine. The white lace, a [...] 2012-09-24 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-23-marni-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-537.html It is interesting to experience one of Consuelo Castiglioni’s Marni shows after seeing the return of Jil Sander to her signature brand. Both women experimented with the idea of volume and structure on shapes that had less to do with embracing women’s bodies then enveloping them. While [...] 2012-09-23 17:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-23-aquilano-rimondi-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-536.html Backstage before the Aquilano Rimondi show, Roberto Rimondi was in a fighting mood. He didn’t care if everyone in fashion seems to be doing minimalism. He couldn’t be bothered by what other houses are up to. He is Italian. And for him that means full throttle fashion of the maximal [...] 2012-09-23 17:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-23-ter-et-bantine-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-539.html Understated sophistication or stripped-down couture? At Ter et Bantine the focus was definitely on volumes and shapes with fixed pleats on garments that seemed as if they had been framed before being showed on the catwalk. Manuela Arcari took her inspiration from labor clothing, menswear [...] 2012-09-23 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-23-emilio-pucci-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-535.html The power of Asia is really starting to show itself as one of the stronger trends of the spring/summer 2013 season. At Pucci, designer Peter Dundas was right in the groove when he too picked up on the idea. The combination of a house known for its colorful prints and a place renowned for its rich [...] 2012-09-23 15:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-23-jil-sander-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-534.html Jil Sander, who in February 2012 reclaimed her place as creative director of the brand, gave the fashion world exactly what they wanted, expected, and hoped for in her spring/summer 2013 collection; designs of pure minimalistic integrity and singular vision that has always, and once again, set the [...] 2012-09-23 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-23-genny-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-533.html For his third collection for Genny, Gabriele Colangelo offered a clean and structured approach to femininity. Very much inspired by some of Sonia Delaunay’s paintings, Colangelo used natural colors and played with nuances. Half way between a patchwork and a structured puzzle of appliqués, the [...] 2012-09-23 14:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-23-frankie-morello-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-532.html Maurizio Modica and Pierfrancesco Gigliotti, the creative duo behind Frankie Morello, released their thunder women on the catwalk in the middle of the Milan fashion spring/summer 2013 storm. Very seventies, the looks had an offbeat disco appeal. Flamboyant casual wear were the words that came to [...] 2012-09-23 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-antonio-marras-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-530.html   “There is really a dichotomy in this collection,” explained designer Antonio Marras as he stood before a mood board filled with photos of pastel bridesmaid dresses, Queen Elizabeth and camouflaged faced military personal. “A meeting between a super aristocratic English marriage and [...] 2012-09-22 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-bottega-veneta-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-529.html After a number of seasons pushing fashion forward with innovative ideas and intuitive textile experimentation, designer Tomas Maier took a step back. For next summer, he turned his attention to the romantic and retro style of the 1940s and more specifically the flower print house-dresses which [...] 2012-09-22 20:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-versace-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-531.html If Stevie Nicks and Steven Tyler ever had a love child she would be the perfect muse for designer Donatella Versace’s spring/summer 2013 show. It was a collection that had all of the hallmarks that the fashion world has come to expect and enjoy in a Versace show; the sexy silhouettes, the [...] 2012-09-22 19:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-versus-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-528.html After a double header of Versace shows (one at 7pm and another at 8pm) the brand’s younger line, Versus, was up to bat in the 10pm slot on Friday night. How to keep the momentum and put everyone in a receptive mood? Well, it doesn’t get any more happy-go-lucky than Beth Ditto of the indie rock [...] 2012-09-22 16:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-sportmax-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-527.html Press reset- there is no need to rewind, at Sportmax the mood was up and the ideas were clear: next spring/summer’s catwalk looks were clean and constructed. The points of reference to build this collection were taken from contemporary architecture, think graphic skyscrapers, pure lines and great [...] 2012-09-22 13:20:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-blumarine-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-526.html Blumarine’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection was inspired by a fairytale with a happy beginning and ending. “It all started with an illuminating dream that I translated into luminous and transparent fabrics”, said Anna Molinari who seems to have stepped down her SS13 catwalk in her pleated [...] 2012-09-22 13:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-iceberg-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-525.html Seventies silhouettes, sixties prints, and eighties padded shoulders at Iceberg the Spring/Summer 2013 proposal was hard to define. Designer Paolo Gerani did not make his sources of inspiration very clear and one could only wonder if the collection spoke of a boho or a rock attitude. The brand [...] 2012-09-22 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-22-cnc-costume-national-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-524.html C'N'C, Costume National's younger hipster sister brand, remains true to its minimal aesthetic for spring/summer 2013. According to designer Ennio Capasa, he created  "a collection inspired by military chic, in the purest minimal tradition of the brand." And the military theme was indeed well [...] 2012-09-22 12:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-21-etro-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-522.html At first blush the outfit that opened the Etro show appeared to be an example of just one more designer using digital prints on straight up silhouettes to give them a bit of oomph. But as the model came closer those prints looked so rich in color and complex in design that there was a moment of [...] 2012-09-21 21:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-21-just-cavalli-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-521.html The Just Cavalli collection is visiting the Mediterranean next Summer. But this show wasn’t about the beach, or even focused on the cool blue waves lapping the hot summer sand- designer Roberto Cavalli went deeper. Rather than skimming the water’s edge, he delved down into the depths of the [...] 2012-09-21 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-21-moschino-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-520.html The Moschino show was a throw back to the style of the 1960s. Designer Rosella Jardini is in good company in her chosen starting point. A number of designers, most notably Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors, have decided to take up the pop art, swinging sixties style this season. Jardini started out [...] 2012-09-21 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-21-les-copains-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-523.html For his premiere spring/summer 2013 collection at Les Copains, Alessandro dell'Acqua chose to mix influences and develop a distinctive brocade pattern specifically for the Les Copains brand. This original textile - a brocade in shades of gold and blue - were featured on a mini skirt and a [...] 2012-09-21 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-prada-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-516.html In the cavernous show space where the Prada collection is shown each season, designer Miuccia Prada, constructed a graphic backdrop to her Asian influenced designs. Square black columns created a vertical echo of the catwalk and helped to highlight the structural nature of the show. One that [...] 2012-09-20 20:20:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-anteprima-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-517.html Anteprima’s manifesto “feel the best” is a lovely Spring/Summer call. Izumi Ogino, the designer, took most of a woman’s wardrobe staples and updated them according to her definition of contemporary everyday elegance. Slightly polished, this dressing is mainly composed of A-shape skirts, [...] 2012-09-20 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-ports-1961-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-519.html Backstage at Ports 1961, designer Fiona Cibani had a dream about a mysterious enchanting garden and translated it into layers of silk, lace and organza. The word soft defines best the Ports 1961 Spring/Summer 2013 collection- nothing is contrived and everything simply flows. The designer referred [...] 2012-09-20 19:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-jo-no-fui-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-518.html Alessia Giacobino, the creative director at Jo No Fui, took the audience on an urban safari trip with a Spring/Summer 2013 repertoire for explorers and adventurers only. One should feel totally ready to wander around the big metropolis in Jo No Fui's multi-layered ikat print outfits. “Grab [...] 2012-09-20 19:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-ermanno-scervino-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-515.html The fashion word that best describes the spring/summer 2013 Ermanno Scervino collection would be "Boho-Chic." The backdrop of the show pointed to where the designer's bohemian beauties would spend their summer- the Mediterranean coast, somewhere between the South of Italy and the strait of [...] 2012-09-20 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-emporio-armani-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-514.html The Emporio Armani woman is taking the comfort route for next summer. This isn’t to say that she plans on wearing baggy clothes and sweatpants. Rather, designer Giorgio Armani turned to draping and layering of fabrics in feather light blends to create his collection, one that never sacrificed his [...] 2012-09-20 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-blugirl-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-511.html Sweet and naughty, a BluGirl is both seductive and romantic. Blugirl, like its older sister Blumarine, is never too sweet, and like a candy can become addictive to those who have already indulged. This spring/summer 2013 collection should please the fans of the brand and attract new adepts of sheer [...] 2012-09-20 14:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-max-mara-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-513.html The MaxMara show had a clever concept for the spring/summer 2013 season. It is true that the whole “African safari” starting point is one that brands often turn to for their warm weather collections (but surprisingly not so much this season); however, MaxMara made the idea their own and [...] 2012-09-20 14:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-francesco-scognamiglio-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-509.html Sheer and transparent are Francesco Scognamiglio’s keywords or so it seems after having seen a spring/summer 2013 collection almost entirely see-through. A bohemian traveler is the theme of this collection. The designer dressed his women thinking of Capri at the beginning of 20th century- very [...] 2012-09-20 09:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-john-richmond-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-508.html John Richmond’s show opened with models wearing structured jackets, peplum tops and dresses that set the tone for an ultra feminine and punctually provocative collection. Some of the laser cutout leather pieces could be an illustration of the 21st century power dressing that differs from the one [...] 2012-09-20 09:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-20-simonetta-ravizza-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-507.html Simonetta Ravizza takes us from Paris to the Moroccan resort of Marrakech next summer as the designer felt very much inspired by two style icons: Talitha Getty and Betty Catroux. Parisian chic meets North African traditional dressing and prints. Push rewind and get inspired by bohemian fashion [...] 2012-09-20 09:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-19-alberta-ferretti-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-505.html After a certain point in their careers most designers becomes known for a specific style. In the case of Alberta Ferretti her clothing always boil down to beautiful dresses, with tasteful embellishments, that are made for women who want to look ultra feminine. This season all of those elements were [...] 2012-09-19 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-19-n-21-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-512.html Of the four key fashion weeks, Milan has always been considered the most market oriented of the bunch; with the majority of the Italian designers creating commercial collections made to appeal to a large customer base. But that is not the way Alessandro Dell'Acqua likes to design his [...] 2012-09-19 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-19-mila-schon-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-504.html Mila Schön’s vision for her spring/summer 2013 collection is definitely graphic with key looks featuring a kaleidoscopic square mosaic print or a strong revisited waffle chevron pattern. With this collection, the German Italian designer remains true to her aesthetic and to what she is known for: [...] 2012-09-19 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-19-gucci-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-503.html For next summer Frida Giannini is stripping things back. No Gucci overload with lots of big bags, embellishments or complicated high tech treatments. This was one of the most poised and restrained shows that the designer has done since she took the helm of the renowned Italian fashion [...] 2012-09-19 17:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-19-1aclasse-alviero-martini-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-502.html Alviero Martini 1a Classe invited his audience to a peculiar journey with an oriental inspired dress code. The Spring-Summer 2013 collection celebrates a cosmopolite lady that dares color clashing and color blocking. The show started with a line-up of peplum embellished outfits as a reference to [...] 2012-09-19 05:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-osman-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-500.html Opening with a pop of bright fuchsia, followed by heavy-duty golden-trimmed embroidery, London fashion’s favorite minimalist is certainly having an embellishment crush. Or, if we go down the artistic reference route, we might even say he’s in his pink period – judging by the shades of pink, [...] 2012-09-18 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-fashion-fringe-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-506.html The Fashion Fringe show felt like the perfect wrap-up of this seasons fashion week in London; having launched the businesses of labels like Fyodor Golan and Erdem, who are now an indelible part of the main show schedule, this year’s edition of the emerging talent platform did not disappoint. [...] 2012-09-18 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-j-w-anderson-women-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-499.html We’ve found ourselves at J.W. Anderson’s “Treatment room” – a particularly fitting show title for the Topshop show space’s bare and clinically white runway. Starting from a blank canvas, Anderson “felt a personal urgency to strip back fashion to garments with an edge,” something [...] 2012-09-18 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-meadham-kirchhoff-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-510.html A standard review would not do justice to Ed Meadham’s and Ben Kirchhoff’s latest collection. They are a different kind of storytellers – the kind that could only ever be understood if ‘read’ between the lines– and their “Cautionary Tale” was a perfect illustration of that. The [...] 2012-09-18 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-richard-nicoll-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-498.html Contrary to the fantastical flights of fancy that defined most preceding shows, there was a cool downtown urban vibe on Richard Nicoll’s catwalk, which was itself divided by a neon yellow line down the middle as if to hint at the collection’s streamlined minimalism. Defined by Nicoll’s [...] 2012-09-18 17:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-louise-gray-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-497.html “NOW WHAT?”, was the question Louise Gray posed with the title of her show, and answered with as many words and patterns possible. Caught up in all kinds of typography, be it newsprint, graffiti, or her own doodles, Gray’s spring/summer 2013 collection was a verbal and visual riot of colors, [...] 2012-09-18 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-michael-van-der-ham-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-496.html It was down the rabbit hole and onto the Mad Hatter’s tea party at Michael van der Ham’s spring/summer 2013 show.  In what best can be described as “Louis Carroll meets Juan Miro,” the collection featured a myriad of eccentric abstract prints in the vein of the Catalan artist on prim, [...] 2012-09-18 11:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-18-thomas-tait-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-501.html Trust Thomas Tait to take you somewhere interesting – both literally and via his clothes. Still drowsy and fighting the 9am morning chill, we found ourselves in a rundown graffiti park that hides beneath Queen Elizabeth’s Hall and that served as the setting of  Tait’s second [...] 2012-09-18 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-burberry-prorsum-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-495.html Designer Christopher Bailey has a well-rounded and coherent vision for Burberry laid out for next year. His spring/summer 2013 menswear collection, which showed in June, foreshadowed the sartorial look of the womenswear show he debuted in London on Tuesday. There were the "Splash" reflective [...] 2012-09-17 22:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-christopher-kane-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-493.html Leave it to Christopher Kane to combine duck tape, plastic nuts and bolts, molded PVC lace, and embossed leather into a cohesive collection that pushed the fashion envelope in terms of both creativity and clothing. The show started out quietly enough for a Kane collection. White on white [...] 2012-09-17 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-mark-fast-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-492.html It was all about ghetto fabulous fashion at the Mark Fast fashion show. There was a whole lot of fringe, afros, and attitude on display in this collection which took Fast’s body-con knitwear to the streets. In colors of hot pink, asphalt black, brick red, and lilac the show was a celebration [...] 2012-09-17 20:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-antonio-berardi-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-494.html It was an Art Deco turn for Berardi this season; rendering the brand’s signature femininity much more graphic and visually severe, he showed a series of high-impact geometric prints, sculptural silhouettes, and iridescent armour-like slashes of beading.  It worked great for him: from the [...] 2012-09-17 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-acne-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-489.html ‘MUSIC’, baby, as the first slogan t-shirt blared on the runway, tucked into a floor-sweeping cotton skirt, was at core of ACNE’s Wrecking Ball inspired 2013 show. ‘NEW’ and ‘COLLAGE’ slogans also popped out from underneath leather and chiffon cardigans, signifying, as the shoe notes [...] 2012-09-17 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-nicole-farhi-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-491.html There could not have been a more perfect venue for Nicole Farhi’s sensationally sculptural collection than the Royal Institute of British Architects. Inspired by photographer Edward Burtynsky, famous for his large-format photographs of incredibly organic patterns in industrial landscapes, which, [...] 2012-09-17 14:20:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-matthew-williamson-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-490.html Set in Cannon Place, over a breath-taking view of the City of London, this Sunday’s show was a defining turn for Matthew Williamson; marking the brand’s 15th anniversary, the show felt like a true greatest hits compilation. Taking a visual stroll down memory lane, Williamson returned to his [...] 2012-09-17 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-jonathan-saunders-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-488.html The industrial look of concrete and floor to ceiling mirrored wall setting of the Tate Modern museum in London was the perfect backdrop for Jonathan Saunders’s reflective and streamlined show. The stark setting accentuated the designer’s focus on iridescent fabrics, graphic prints and curvy [...] 2012-09-17 13:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-mary-katrantzou-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-487.html Each season Mary Katrantzou faces a bigger obstacle than most designers; her sartorial style- her DNA- is so distinctive, so linked to the explosion of digitally modified prints, that the challenge to make her specific approach to design look perpetually fresh is particularly daunting. It is proof [...] 2012-09-17 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-vivienne-westwood-red-label-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-486.html For once Vivienne Westwood kept her kooky style in check; limiting the eccentric elements of her show to the Queen Elizabeth gray haired wigs, Andy Warhol like block makeup, and creative accessories (skeleton necklaces, metallic scallop edged boots). Instead she showed a collection filed with [...] 2012-09-17 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-17-temperley-london-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-485.html Designer Alice Temperley titled her spring/summer collection “Return to Elegance”, and that was exactly what this collection was - elegant. From the first look- a stripped, strappy dress that interspersed bands of coral orange with ones in transparent silk- to the last one which seemed to be [...] 2012-09-17 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-16-marios-schwab-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-484.html In an over packed Somerset show venue Marios Schwab unveiled a collection he had titled Cha-O-Ha which, according to the designer means “into the wilderness” in the Native American Lakota language. But Schwab didn’t take his tribal, off the grid, starting point too literally. In this [...] 2012-09-16 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-16-preen-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-483.html A cool Sunday morning, 9am, Natural History Museum: time and space were perfectly adjusted to Preen’s pristine collection, marking their return to London after five years of showing across the pond; and in their inimitably refined and modern way, Justin Thornton & Thea Bregazzi proved it was [...] 2012-09-16 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-16-moschino-cheap-and-chic-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-482.html The Victorian warehouse floors and exposed wrought-iron beams of the Farmiloe building made a more than unusual setting for Moschino Cheap and Chic’s customary prim, delicate, and cute aesthetic. Indeed, this season, the Italian brand threw out prim and served bold, boisterous, and [...] 2012-09-16 14:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-16-issa-london-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-481.html From the jungle-sound ambiance to the theatrical floral screens framing the catwalk entrance, Issa’s show was creating a palpable buzz of anticipation even before it began. As the first model, top-to-toe in an dazzling tropical print and hair in tight bun adorned with orchids, we knew Issa was [...] 2012-09-16 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-16-house-of-holland-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-480.html Called Buzz Kill, House of Holland’s offering was anything but. Taking us back to 1990s with a  bang, Holland threw us in a party mood with vibrant checks, eclectic rave prints and a customary dose of irony.  Offering the ultimate clubbing attire, made for fast beats on the beach or [...] 2012-09-16 12:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-16-todd-lynn-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-479.html “Charlie Don’t Surf”: Todd Lynn’s collection title alluding to Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now was more than on-point; taking the safari suit as a base onto which to build an apocalyptic colonial story, Lynn revealed a much darker side to his aesthetic, and one that isn’t just [...] 2012-09-16 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-15-jasper-conran-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-478.html Trying not to trip onto the catwalk on the way to their seats, we were welcomed by a soft-faux grass catwalk, framed by large display of neon-lit flowers, already sensing that Jasper Conran has a new muse for the season. As the Mid-Western show soundtrack filled the Somerset courtyard show space, [...] 2012-09-15 20:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-15-kinder-aggugini-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-477.html Inspired by fishermen and all kinds of maritime workers, Kinder Aggugini adopted a softer and relaxed approach towards summertime wear. A designer that rather than building upon a signature reinvents himself every time, Aggugini surprised and mesmerized the audience with his collection of chic [...] 2012-09-15 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-15-felder-felder-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-475.html You know it’s gonna be something good when not a model but Kate Nash, rocking a Felder black suede dress with flared skirt and awesome rockabilly creepers, jumps from backstage onto a pop-up podium on the catwalk to provide a highly charged soundtrack for a show. Perfectly fitting for Felder [...] 2012-09-15 13:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-15-jean-pierre-braganza-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-476.html It all began when designer Jean-Pierre Braganza met one of his fans, Kiev-based installation, performance and sculpture artist  Zinaida Lihacheva, after his show in February 2011; immediately bonding over a common passion for visceral dark symbolism, this season the two have collaborated in [...] 2012-09-15 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-15-bora-aksu-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-474.html As the lights go up, we find ourselves invited to the chambers of Romanian Queen Marie, granddaughter of Queen Victoria and muse of Bora Aksu’s latest collection. With a foreign marriage that turned from respect to revulsion, Marie’s love story-gone-wrong is imaginatively embodied by Aksu’s [...] 2012-09-15 10:55:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-14-maria-grachvogel-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-473.html While returning to some of her signature shapes and silhouttes (and continuing her quest to finding the perfect pair of trousers), this season Maria Grachvogel presented a cleaner, lighter, and more directional collection than ever before.   Beginning in a palette of crisp, almost [...] 2012-09-14 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-14-fyodor-golan-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-472.html Being only their second solo show, Fashion Fringe Alumni Fyodor Podgorny’s and Golan Frydman’s collection told a mind-blowingly beautiful and visually literate story about transition. Inspired by Margot Mifflin’s book Blue Tattoo, chronicling the life of 13–year-old Victorian Mormon girl [...] 2012-09-14 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-14-calvin-klein-collection-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-471.html The Calvin Klein fashion show finished of New York fashion week in style. As always the celebrity quotient was high with actresses Amy Adams, Emma Stone and Diane Kruger sitting chicly side by side in the first row at the pristine all white show venue. And pristine would also be a good way to [...] 2012-09-14 04:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-13-ralph-lauren-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-469.html Aye, aye! From last season’s English country “Downton Abbey” retro mood, Ralph Lauren darted south—be it to Spain or Latin America—for an appreciation of all things handcrafted and homespun for spring. “I am forever inspired by faraway exotic places,” Lauren said. “I may never have [...] 2012-09-13 21:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-13-louise-goldin-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-470.html Designer Louise Goldin has been going through some major milestones in her life recently. Not only did she show her fashion collection in New York for the first time, she also moved to the city and got married to a New Yorker.   This shift seems to suit the designer who showed a collection [...] 2012-09-13 21:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-13-marchesa-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-468.html Marchesa was in the celebrity news again this week. Having been the brand that crafted actress Blake Lively’s wedding dress for her under the radar marriage to Ryan Reynolds over the weekend.   So it was hard to watch this spring/summer collection and not imagine which of the beaded [...] 2012-09-13 16:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-13-proenza-schouler-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-467.html It was almost as if Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez chose the derelict building where they showed their latest Proenza Schouler collection as a way to make a statement about the brand.  That yes, the company has just opened it first flagship store on Madison Avenue, but that doesn’t [...] 2012-09-13 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-13-jeremy-scott-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-466.html One never really knows what to expect at a Jeremy Scott show. For spring, the designer titled his show “Arab Spring,” and from the music to makeshift veils, the Middle East inspiration came through loud and clear. But this was not a showcase for burqas or chadors.

 Juxtaposed between [...] 2012-09-13 13:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-13-reed-krakoff-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-465.html “She’s an ultra sexy woman.” In a nutshell, Reed Krakoff’s spring show chartered into (relatively) new territory a la Helmut Newton meets Helmut Lang. The lingerie dressing across multiple layers signified a new direction for the brand—one that teetered more toward architectural and less [...] 2012-09-13 13:20:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-13-michael-kors-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-464.html Michael Kors will be the first to admit his fascination with gossip magazines and Hollywood celebrities. So it came as no surprise that, for spring, his sojourn took him to the West Coast. “Big city polish with SoCal optimism,” said Kors, referencing the city’s fabulous architecture, [...] 2012-09-13 13:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-12-philosophy-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-463.html It was a strange choice by designer Alberta Ferretti to show her Philosophy collection in the Oak Room of the renowned Plaza hotel. The lush setting was totally at odds with what Ferretti sent down the runway. Hers was a girly collection filled with tight fitting cropped pants, second skin [...] 2012-09-12 23:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-12-holmes-yang-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-461.html Actress and budding designer Katie Holmes and the well-known stylist Jeanne Yang have been quietly working together on their Holmes & Yang clothing line since 2009. But today they decided to go for a more high profile platform by hosting an early morning presentation of their spring/summer 2013 [...] 2012-09-12 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-12-sophie-theallet-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-462.html What’s not to love about the spring/summer Sophie Theallet fashion show? Not much if the enthusiastically applauding audience that watch the collection unfold (which included fellow designers Maria Cornejo and Derek Lam) is to be trusted. The utterly feminine show that mixed deceptively [...] 2012-09-12 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-12-narciso-rodriguez-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-460.html Narciso Rodriguez is in the groove. The designer’s collection was a perfect mélange of his brand’s sensual DNA and more experimental embellishments. It was the combination of elements that created a strong new direction for the designer. There is perhaps nothing harder to do in fashion [...] 2012-09-12 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-12-oscar-de-la-renta-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-459.html In one word: latex. The glossy red tank Karlie Kloss wore with her ivory twill pencil skirt and navy twill blazer to open Oscar de la Renta’s show had many assuming it was risqué at leather; little did they know. Later shown in the form of an emerald-green tank and pencil skirt combo, there was [...] 2012-09-12 13:35:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-12-naeem-khan-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-458.html Thanks in no small part to Michelle Obama, Naeem Khan was thrust even farther into the international spotlight. How to capitalize on that new influx of potential clients? Expand into daywear and separates. From the first look—a black and white rose print organza cocktail dress—one knew that a [...] 2012-09-12 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-11-rodarte-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-453.html The ability of Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the creative minds behind the Rodarte brand, to take a series of reference points, pull them apart, examine their innards, and craft a collection that blends the fundamental elements of every component into a new being, is something startling to [...] 2012-09-11 13:10:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-11-jenny-packham-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-456.html A disappointing trip to Las Vegas in April served as the starting point for Jenny Packham’s spring collection—a mélange of high rollers, Hollywood actors and free spending gamblers. “It’s my take on The Rat Pack,” she said backstage. “I wanted to design my vision of what glamour is [...] 2012-09-11 13:05:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-11-vera-wang-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-451.html Texture, print and proportion. Those have been consistent hallmarks for Vera Wang since she launched ready-to-wear in 2000. For Spring 2013, the designer took her methodical eye to India, where she was fascinated by the nation’s enormous color and vast textile offerings.   “This [...] 2012-09-11 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-11-victoria-by-victoria-beckham-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-455.html If the signature Victoria Beckham collection is all about cool sophisticated up town elegance and body hugging silhouettes, the designer’s Victoria line is a bit more approachable and relaxed. And we are not just talking price points here. Take today’s rolling presentation. It took [...] 2012-09-11 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-11-j-crew-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-452.html After spending time back home this summer, Tom Mora, J.Crew’s head of women’s design, had found his inspiration point for spring: old, vintage if you will, “Time-Life” and wildlife books that featured images of forests, spaces and animals. “There was a quality about them—the [...] 2012-09-11 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-11-tory-burch-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-457.html A year ago Tory Burch was showing her first runway collection in New York. In just twelve short months she has been able to deftly channel the power of the medium to her best advantage. At first the mise-en-scène of the show looked a bit doubtful. Canary yellow benches and matching program [...] 2012-09-11 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-marc-jacobs-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-449.html The first indication that Marc Jacobs was going to take his collection into a unexpected new direction were the program notes. Usually at one of his “must see” shows Jacobs spells out every fabric choice, designer embellishment and silhouette option he puts out on the runway. This season he [...] 2012-09-10 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-thom-browne-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-447.html In a Fashion Week where multiple designers’ shows are often double—or triple—booked every hour on the hour, how does one stand out? Just ask Thom Browne. “I love to entertain,” the designer said. Well, duh. And water runs downstream. His spring women’s show, held at the New York [...] 2012-09-10 18:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-3-1-phillip-lim-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-448.html To the distinct crooning of Neil Young’s “My My, Hey Hey,” Phillip Lim’s models wove their way through a massive midtown warehouse venue, where “grunge” was high on the mind. “None of the negative connotations,” said Lim backstage. So think less grease and more slick slouchy. [...] 2012-09-10 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-donna-karan-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-444.html Sitting front row at the Donna Karan show were both Bernadette Peters and Kimora Lee Simmons. There is no better example of how wide reaching Karan’s fashion empire is than seeing those two very different women being drawn to the same designer.   But it is easy to understand the appeal. [...] 2012-09-10 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-ohne-titel-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-446.html For a brand that has made a name for itself with striking knitwear the choice to use the work of American artist Karl Wirsum as a starting point was a smart move. This is a man after all who is a founding member of the notorious Chicago artistic group called The Hairy Who. Alexa Adams and [...] 2012-09-10 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-theyskens-theory-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-454.html Designer Olivier Theyskens is never one to run with the crowd. He has proven himself over the years to be something of a dark romantic who sees the world though eyes of a grown up lover of grunge and goth.   This is an outlook on life that might clash with the needs of a brand looking for [...] 2012-09-10 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-carlos-miele-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-450.html The Brazilian designer Carlos Miele is always in his element when it comes to the spring/summer collections. This is a man whose clientele live primarily in warmer climates, take pleasure in showing off their well-honed forms and never met an animal print they didn’t like.   This season [...] 2012-09-10 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-10-carolina-herrera-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-445.html As Carolina Herrera elegantly pursued “lightness” and “fluidity” with her spring collection, she set her sharp focus on a slimmer silhouette that was less structured, more sleek and which placed the focus on the body’s natural curves. The show had a noticeable emphasis on the waist, made [...] 2012-09-10 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-chado-ralph-rucci-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-443.html Before the Chado Ralph Rucci show began at the Lincoln Center, veteran supermodel Carmen Dell’Orefice was working the front row. Wearing a fire engine red column coat that set off the octogenarian’s snowy white hair to great effect.  The epitome of chic, she was the embodiment of what the [...] 2012-09-09 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-patrik-ervell-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-440.html In the midst of a season where sports deluxe seems to be all the rage, it is no surprise that one of the best iterations came from Patrik Ervell. As one of the early—and most consistent—ones to pioneer this aesthetic of form meets function, tech meets austerity, Ervell follows a straight and [...] 2012-09-09 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-zac-posen-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-442.html Understated has never been part of Zac Posen’s vocabulary. Staying true to form, “go big or go home” could even have been the motto for his latest collection, which was all about making a big entrance. Posen kicked off his show on the balcony of the Avery Fisher Hall in New York by [...] 2012-09-09 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-alexandre-plokhov-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-439.html One only need look at the Alexandre Plokhov aesthetic to realize that the Russian-born, New York-based designer’s design skill is highly regimented and a constant work in motion. For spring, Plokhov took his fascinations home—turning to a book by Xavier Zimbardo called “The Monks of Dust” [...] 2012-09-09 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-y-3-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-441.html  A 10th anniversary celebration indeed. Yohji Yamamoto was swarmed with friends and well-wishers following his Y-3 collection for Adidas on Sunday (Hugs! Kisses! Camera flashes!). And with good reason. This was a marvelous collection chock full of exciting, energetic and fabulous pieces that [...] 2012-09-09 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-dvf-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-438.html The shimmering disco ball effect of hundreds of lip shaped mirrors hanging from the ceiling of the Diane Von Furstenberg show venue was the first clue that this collection was going to be a merry jaunt. But when is a DVF show anything else? This is a woman who knows how to have a good time, [...] 2012-09-09 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-thakoon-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-437.html “This collection was a dream and a fantasy; for me that is what fashion is about, not that I hate reality but I just wanted something that people would dream about,” said Thakoon Panichgul about his spring/summer 2013 show. It looks like Panichgul is a lucky man as his dreams seem to be filled [...] 2012-09-09 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-skaist-taylor-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-432.html An al fresco rooftop setting at the Skylight at the McKittrick Hotel in Far West Chelsea set the scene for the sophomore Skaist-Taylor collection. McKittrick Hotel? Come again? Turns out Pam Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor craftily turned their venue into a “fake” hotel, even going as far as [...] 2012-09-09 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-dkny-reday-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-436.html Reflections of New York. Always personal, always intimate, the DKNY label has become as synonymous with promoting the virtues of the Big Apple as Central Park and the Statue of Liberty. To the soundtrack of “99 Luftballoons” by German pop rock band Nena, an all-white power start to the show was [...] 2012-09-09 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-derek-lam-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-433.html When the Derek Lam show opened with a group of outfits in shades of Gray Poupon yellow and pea soup green, it was hard to imagine that this was a collection intended for the summer months. Granted, the colors played out on madras plaids and lightweight cottons,but with [...] 2012-09-09 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-michael-bastian-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-434.html “I wanted to scrap the whole notion that I’m just a preppy designer.” A powerful statement by Michael Bastian, a man who’s fast built a career and image marked by Americana goodness. The results, however, illustrated faultlessly that the Ralph Lauren alum is capable of more than just rugby [...] 2012-09-09 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-09-victoria-beckham-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-431.html Backstage after her show at the New York Public Library this morning an emotional Victoria Beckham greeted a throng of well-wishers -- buyers, editors, journalists and fans all wanting to say a quick word of praise to a women who is (recent Olympic outing aside) putting her pop star past firmly [...] 2012-09-09 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-altuzarra-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-429.html Before Joseph Altuzarra dimmed the lights and sent his first look down the catwalk, the fashion crowd was in a relaxed and festive mood. Maybe this had to do with the good food and drinks being enjoyed pre-show by fashion editors at the Italian restaurant Barbuto next door to the venue. Or perhaps [...] 2012-09-08 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-alexander-wang-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-428.html Let’s start with the end of the Alexander Wang show, because that is what everyone is going to remember about his latest collection. After producing a fine show, which put the designer's expert tailoring on display (more about that later) he took a beat and then sent out a group of fair haired [...] 2012-09-08 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-boy-by-band-of-outsiders-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-423.html “Making war beautiful.” In three simple yet powerful words, Scott Sternberg summed up his thinking behind the Boy by Band of Outsiders collection for spring—easily one of his strongest to date. Citing such films as “Hunger Games” and the Japanese thriller film “Battle Royale” as cues, [...] 2012-09-08 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-threeasfour-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-427.html Human magnetic fields aren’t exactly the typical inspiration point for a designer, but then again, the Threeasfour trio (Adi Gil, Angela Donhauser and Gaby Asfour) aren’t your typical fashion trio. For spring, the collection was spot-on signature style, with elliptical seaming evident [...] 2012-09-08 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-mm6-maison-martin-margiela-ready-to-wear-ss-2013-new-york-review-426.html Staged at the American headquarters of Staff International—home to Diesel, Maison Martin Margiela and Dsquared—the first-ever presentation of MM6 took place in a non-descript upper floor that was wrapped in the brand’s signature tromp l’oeil adhesive prints and all-white shoe boxes. When [...] 2012-09-08 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-edun-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-430.html How do you make utilitarian sartorial staples like cargo pants, camouflage prints and safari jackets look feminine? That seemed to be the question designer Sharon Wauchob was asking herself when she set to work on designing the latest Edun collection. The easiest answer: injecting a bit of lingerie [...] 2012-09-08 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-prabal-gurung-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-422.html Designer Prabal Gurung wanted to create a collection that floated above the fashion fray. On a smoky catwalk inside a hanger on a New York City pier the designer sent out a fast paced collection filled with pieces that melded together a sporty urban aesthetic with a highly feminine [...] 2012-09-08 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-vpl-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-425.html The VPL woman—not girl—is one who’s not afraid to show off, in the most natural of ways, the results of years of mental and physical conditioning. “VPL has a core: the body,” said Victoria Bartlett. And in a continuing celebration of that—coupled with the recent London Olympic [...] 2012-09-08 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-lacoste-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-now-york-review-421.html Tennis anyone? That is the question Lacoste designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista is asking the fashion world this season. It makes sense that the designer would want to mark the 80th anniversary of the house by looking back to where it got its start- on the French tennis courts. But although [...] 2012-09-08 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-08-marissa-webb-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-424.html Marissa Webb got off to a strong start with her debut collection—no surprise, really, given that the highly intuitive and sharp designer sewed her oats at J.Crew, where she had been head of women’s design. But, as with all designers who leave the comfort of the nest, it’s important to define [...] 2012-09-08 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-billy-reid-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-419.html Relaxed linen and good ’ole Southern charm are the hallmarks of any gentleman, but when said gentleman is Billy Reid, the spectacular results speak for themselves. The recent CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year designer—and who still calls Florence, Alabama, home—presented a collection that [...] 2012-09-07 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-suno-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-420.html “We started with two really different points,” said Erin Beatty who, along with Max Osterweis, designs the brand Suno. “There was the 1980s Issey Miyake thing and then there was the classic Americana prairie thing, and the hard part was how to bring those two things together to create a solid [...] 2012-09-07 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-helmut-lang-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-418.html Natural fabric versus technical details. That juxtaposition served as the starting point for Helmut Lang designers Michael and Nicole Colovos, whose dramatic-yet-completely-wearable results took the label to a new level.   The design duo took inspiration from photos of crustaceans, in [...] 2012-09-07 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-rag-bone-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-416.html Sitting front row at the Rag & Bone show were Maggie Gyllenhaal and Christy Turlington. Two women who have made dressing in a casual city chic style something of an art form. With this show designers David Neville and Marcus Wainwright gave them, and the rest of the audience, a plethora of [...] 2012-09-07 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-cushnie-et-ochs-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-417.html If it isn’t broke don’t fix it seems to be the message Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs wanted to get across with their latest Cushnie et Ochs show. Once again their collection of body hugging rayon jersey dresses with strategically placed cut outs - at the waist, shoulders, torso - was all [...] 2012-09-07 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-yigal-azrouel-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-414.html Yigal Azrouël is an athlete—he spends much of his down time at the beach in Costa Rica where one of his passions is surfing—so it’s no surprise that “sporty” is in the vernacular often used to describe the designer’s aesthetic. For spring, the Israeli-born continued to play up his [...] 2012-09-07 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-jason-wu-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-415.html The cheers could be heard echoing out from the backstage before the Jason Wu show got underway. And right they were to be so optimistic about this spring/summer 2013 line up. The design showed a collection with a crystal clear direction. One in which your friendly neighborhood dominatrix- with here [...] 2012-09-07 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-07-peter-som-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-413.html That actresses Hailee Steinfeld and Allison Williams from “Girls” were seated front row at Peter Som’s show was a clear-cut indication of the designer’s appeal—fitting, really, when it’s revealed he titled his collection “Woman on the verge.” While both young ingénues are, perhaps, [...] 2012-09-07 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-09-06-duckie-brown-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2013-new-york-review-412.html Tight and slick, strong and structured. As the American men’s wear label Duckie Brown continues to mature and evolve, so do its two design heads, Steven Cox and Daniel Silver. For spring the duo continued to push the envelope and challenge the notion that progressive and fashion-forward men’s [...] 2012-09-06 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-04-martin-martin-margiela-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-407.html Haute couture fashion week came full circle at the first couture runway show of Maison Martin Margiela. Sitting front row was the man everyone in fashion is talking about - Raf Simons. And up until the moment the MMM show finished, his debut as the head designer at the Christian Dior fashion house [...] 2012-07-04 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-04-valentino-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-410.html From the very first exit at the Valentino show it was clear that the designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli were trying something different. Gone was the sweetness of past seasons filled with dresses designed with fresh faced young ingénues and debutants in mind. This time the [...] 2012-07-04 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-04-jean-paul-gaultier-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-411.html It is a pity that a fashion show could ever be doomed before it has even begun, but that seemed to be the case at the Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show. All goodwill for the designer went out the window when it was announced, almost a hour after the official start time, that the audience would [...] 2012-07-04 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-03-alexandre-vauthier-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-406.html After seeing the Alexandre Vauthier show one front row attendee commented “it’s like Charlies Angels meets Studio 54.” That’s really not a half bad description off this hyper sexy show that was chock a block with bodycon jumpsuits, mini skirt suits with sleeveless linebacker shoulder [...] 2012-07-03 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-03-giorgio-armani-prive-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-405.html Sometimes the backdrop says it all. At the Giorgio Armani Privé haute couture show the designer used a video screen display to frame his catwalk and communicate his sartorial intentions. When the breaking dawn shades of mauve, violet and lilac moved into those of sunset reds and rich blues and [...] 2012-07-03 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-03-stephane-rolland-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-404.html It’s a shame that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West only made it to the Stephane Rolland show in time to see the finale. They missed a rather good collection. This season the designer still had his flights of fancy in his sea urchin looking silicone shoulder embellishments or those made out of [...] 2012-07-03 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-03-chanel-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-403.html When a haute couture fashion show gets its muse in the form of a kitten (Karl Lagerfeld’s Choupette) who has its own twitter feed (@choupettesdiary) with almost 9,000 followers and is the inspiration for a new Chanel handbag, well things seem to have moved into the surreal. But when the [...] 2012-07-03 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-02-giambattist-valli-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-401.html The designer Giambattista Valli took the fashion world down a garden path. His collection was so powerfully influenced by the best that Mother Nature has to offer that you could almost smell the scent of roses wafting up from a floral print dress. It was a collection that bloomed with ruffles, [...] 2012-07-02 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-02-alexis-mabille-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-399.html Once again Alexis Mabille lets the styling of his show get the better of him. Last season it was models with their visages covered in face paint to match oversized flower headpieces. This time it looked like the designer had been leafing through the works of Dr. Seuss and was inspired by the [...] 2012-07-02 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-02-christian-dior-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-400.html “I feel good,” said a smiling Raf Simons as he sipped on a Coke after his debut Christian Dior haute couture collection. And so he should be. The designer went back to the drawing board with this collection reexamining the most famous of all the Dior fashion shows the 1947 “New Look” [...] 2012-07-02 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-02-bouchra-jarrar-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-398.html What makes Bouchra Jarrar’s collections so appealing is that they look real. Yes haute couture is about creating dream worthy dresses, many of which will only see the light of day on a red carpet, which take you into another world created out of cloth by the designer. But what Jarrar does is [...] 2012-07-02 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-02-christophe-josse-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-397.html Designer Christophe Josse is going from strength to strength with his haute couture collections. Already last season’s show was praised for his more paired down designs. And this time he once again showed a level of control in regards to embellishment and ostentatious adornments that in the past [...] 2012-07-02 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-01-versace-couture-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-395.html When Donatella Versace commits to something she does it wholeheartedly. Her return to the haute couture catwalk was no exception. It was a somewhat bitter sweet homecoming of sorts as Versace once again took up residence at the Ritz hotel to present her collection (the same venue where her brother [...] 2012-07-01 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-01-paul-smith-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-394.html Designer Paul Smith wants to put everyone in an optimistic mood. His vibrant collection for next summer is all about bold colors. A sartorial color wheel, if you will, that went from fire engine red and lemon yellow to more muted hues and even a few pastels. There was so much color on the catwalk - [...] 2012-07-01 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-07-01-lanvin-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-391.html The designers Alber Elbaz and Lucas Ossendrijver seemed to be in a relaxed mood. They were out mingling, and posing for photographs, with the audience as it munched on breakfast cakes and sipped ice coffees while they waited for the Lanvin show to get underway. That confidence could be [...] 2012-07-01 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-30-dior-homme-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-392.html There is a bit of a battle going on for the title of “color of the season.” For the moment  orange seems to be in the lead but navy blue is breathing down its neck. Designer Kris Van Assche has clearly chosen which color he thinks should be the winner. His Dior Homme was an ode to the [...] 2012-06-30 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-30-kenzo-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-393.html At the Kenzo show the design team of Humberto Leon and Carol Lim took the subtitle of the brand- jungle- to heart. Inspired by a trip to Thailand last year this collection was filled with pieces covered in oversized colorful animal prints, tiger motifs and almost pixilated camouflage [...] 2012-06-30 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-29-givenchy-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-389.html The world of Riccardo Tisci is dominated by two fundamentals building blocks upon which he has constructed his life-family and religion. In his spring/summer 2013 menswear collection those two aspects combined to create a powerful show. “I went back to my roots,” said the designer after [...] 2012-06-29 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-29-comme-des-garcons-homme-plus-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-388.html To the hard hitting back beat of heavy metal music from the likes of Black Sabbath and Bad Brain, designer Rei Kawakubo gave the world a Comme des Garcons show that was hard core but with a soft heart. Models, their hair tinted florescent orange (the color of the season) and pushed back with metal [...] 2012-06-29 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-29-krisvanassche-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-386.html Kris Van Assche is a designer with a sporty and youthful outlook on life. His collections are always about utilitarian designs that look as if they are ready to walk off the catwalk and right onto the hot city pavement. But under the guise of simple and straight-up casual clothing Van Assche [...] 2012-06-29 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-29-ann-demeulemeester-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-390.html No one would deny that Ann Demeulemeester is a lifelong romantic. Her collections are never without a poetic beauty and always convey a feeling of easy grace.  This show continued to explore that style of dress but instead of a dark romance filled with moody black ensembles the designer chose [...] 2012-06-29 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-28-dries-van-noten-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-384.html  “I wanted to do prints for men, and there are not so many prints that are believable for men, so camouflage, but in a different way, taking it out of its environment where it normally tends to disappear and making it really pop out,” said a beaming Dries Van Noten after his menswear [...] 2012-06-28 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-28-yohji-yamamoto-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-385.html Yojhi Yamamoto knows how to take a licking and keep on ticking. With more than thirty years in the business he has defined his style, built up a loyal following and stayed true to his aesthetic season after season. Today, at the age of 68, he is still ready to stand his creative ground.   As [...] 2012-06-28 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-28-viktor-rolf-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-387.html The Viktor and Rolf brand has built up a reputation for being a label that constructs its collections around some kooky themes. So when you learn that India is the starting point for their spring summer 2013 menswear collection and the music that starts the show is a lone sitar, well the mind [...] 2012-06-28 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-28-louis-vuitton-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-383.html Designer Kim Jones has spent a lifetime traveling the globe. So working for Louis Vuitton, a brand who’s middle name is travel, is turning out to be a pretty perfect fit. This season the designer took to the seas, both above and below the ocean waves, to create a collection that hit on a [...] 2012-06-28 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-28-rick-owens-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-382.html Rick Owen is looking on the bright side of life.  Relatively speaking that is, this is Owens we are talking about here. So yes there was a whole lot of black, the strange footwear (peep toe clogs and leg warmers) and the odd shaved head or two on the catwalk. A designer who has made a habit of [...] 2012-06-28 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-28-issey-miyake-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-381.html On what was supposed to be the hottest day of June the design team behind the Issey Miyake Men collection came up with a show that was more than ready to beat the heat. And what better way to cool down in the city than on a bike? But this collection wasn’t all about bike messenger shorts and [...] 2012-06-28 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-27-raf-simons-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-380.html Has Raf Simons' work at Christian Dior started to affect his own signature menswear line? Seems like it. Even though the designer’s debut at Dior, with his first haute couture collection, is still a few days away, the sway of working on that most rare form of womenswear is beginning to [...] 2012-06-27 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-27-mugler-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-379.html Slowly but surely Nicola Formichetti, Mugler’s creative director, is moving his collections away from pieces designed for the runway instead of the real world. With this show he and the brand’s menswear designer Romain Kremer, took another well placed step in the right direction. However [...] 2012-06-27 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-27-john-lawrence-sullivan-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-378.html Write this name down: Arashi Yanagawa. Now learn how to pronounce it because this is a menswear designer worth talking about. Over the past few season’s Yanagawa has slowly but surely been building a name (and a following) for his label called John Lawrence Sullivan. The triple threat moniker is [...] 2012-06-27 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-27-band-of-outsiders-menswear-spring-summer-2013-paris-review-408.html Watch the Band of Outsiders Video - Menswear Spring Summer 2013 Collection 2012-06-27 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-27-band-of-outsiders-menswear-spring-summer-2013-collection-review-409.html Watch the Band of Outsiders Video - Menswear Spring Summer 2013 Collection 2012-06-27 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-26-giorgio-armani-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-375.html The worlds of Giorgio Armani seem to be melding together. Yesterday his Emporio Armani collection was a study on how to make sportswear more refined. Today with his signature menswear collection the designer gave his clothing a sportswear slant.  The over sixty looks in the show turned around [...] 2012-06-26 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-26-dsquared2-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-374.html No surprises here. Dean and Dan Caten took the Dsquared2 man to a party. This season's club of choice had a edgy biker-meets-party boy vibe. But the designers kept their sartorial options simple. You can have your outfit in white or black, or a mixture of the two. But that's it. OK, there was one [...] 2012-06-26 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-25-missoni-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-376.html Over a catwalk covered in sand shaded and sculpted to echo the zigzag look of a Missoni weave, Angela Missoni took the fashion world on a trip to the desert. Staple travel clothing like field coats, functional shorts, safari jackets and sturdy sweaters all got the iconic Missoni treatment. The [...] 2012-06-25 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-25-moschino-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-371.html Moschino really can set a stage. For its latest menswear collection it took over a gourmet grocery store in the heart of Milan and transformed it into an homage of marketing mania. The audience sat among the fruits and vegetables while the products on the shelves acted as bright background noise [...] 2012-06-25 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-25-umit-benan-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-372.html In just eight seasons designer Umit Benan has made a name for himself with his unique perspective on menswear and the unusual way he presents it to the world.  This season he didn’t disappoint with a collection that was inspired by his own past.  At least that is what you can infer from [...] 2012-06-25 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-25-z-zegna-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-373.html In the program notes for the Z Zegna collection the first line reads “Summer for the Z Zegna man is a time to leave aside the rigidity of working life and let a playful, carefree and at time nostalgic spirit emerge.” Conceivably designer Paul Surridge was referring to replacing a classic [...] 2012-06-25 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-25-etro-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-370.html No one will argue with the fact that Kean Etro marches to the beat of his own personal drummer. The Etro brand is never one that fits into the trends as dictated by other houses and good for them. This season, once again building from the paisley foundation that the house stands on, Etro turned to [...] 2012-06-25 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-25-gucci-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-369.html As the majority of the menswear brands try to bend sportswear to the codes of a tailored silhouette, Gucci is blazing its own trail for next summer. Sportswear was sidelined as Frida Giannini embraced a streamlined and refined style. This meant a collection filled with the pulled together look of [...] 2012-06-25 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-25-emporio-armani-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-367.html There is growing proof that the goal that many Milan based designers has set for themselves for next summer is to bring a modern elegance to the casual world of sportswear dressing. The menswear maestro Giorgio Armani took up the challenge with gusto in his Emporio Armani collection. The designer [...] 2012-06-25 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-24-prada-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-364.html Prada took her collection to a cold place. But not some far flung snow covered location. Rather the chill was born from within.  On a stark white set with tiered spectator seating Miuccia Prada showed a collection that on the surface seemed inspired by 1970s sportswear. Note the "John  [...] 2012-06-24 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-24-vivienne-westwood-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-368.html As birds chirped sweetly on the sound track Vivienne Westwood sent out a collection that had a sweet romanticism about it. The idea behind the show was a summer picnic. And as Westwood is a well known supporter of the environment the theme seemed more than fitting. But it also felt familiar. In [...] 2012-06-24 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-24-salvatore-ferragamo-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-366.html Forget understated elegance next summer, the Salvatore Ferragamo man is going to be loud and proud. In a strikingly different direction for the brand designer, Massimiliano Giornetti  turned to the look of pop art and the color palette of David Hockney to inject his clothes with some serious [...] 2012-06-24 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-24-dirk-bikkembergs-sport-couture-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-365.html The challenge that Hamish Morrow has set for himself this season is how to take a line built on sportswear and make it elegant. The Dirk Bikkembergs brand, for which Morrow is the menswear designer, had built a name for itself as the place to go for the super fit sportsman who likes his clothing to [...] 2012-06-24 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-24-bottega-veneta-menswear-spring-spring-2013-milan-review-362.html   Sometimes you can just tell how a designer is feeling through his collection. That was the case at the Bottega Veneta show this morning which had a relaxed and graceful energy about it unlike anything Tomas Maier has created in the past. The collection had a slightly south-of-the-boarder [...] 2012-06-24 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-23-versace-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-363.html Donatella Versace knows her customer. And she knows they are champions of in your face fashion that isn’t afraid to be a bit brazen or over the top. And so it was that, to the thumping beat of “We Will Rock You” from Queen, the designer opened her show with a tableau of taunt and toned men [...] 2012-06-23 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-23-burberry-prorsum-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-360.html Christopher Bailey is having a metallic moment. His collection for next summer will be remembered for its glimmering sandals, vibrant skinny pants, day glow shirts and reflective "Splash" shades. Unfortunately the magpie effect of those shimmering pieces drew the attention away from some other [...] 2012-06-23 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-23-dolce-and-gabbana-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-359.html   Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been in a nostalgic frame of mind for the last few seasons. They even posted to their Twitter feed that, once again, “the Sicilian man, his personality, simplicity and natural beauty” was the inspiration for their spring/summer 2013 menswear [...] 2012-06-23 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-23-costume-national-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-361.html   "I am calling it a 'New Wave Safari'," said designer Ennio Capasa backstage before his summer menswear show got underway. It was a fitting title for a collection that mixed safari jackets and full legged pants in ethnic prints with tops, belts and coats adorned with metal eyelet [...] 2012-06-23 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-23-ermenegildo-zegna-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-358.html   Traditionally men who want a safe sartorial bet turn to the Ermenegildo Zegna brands. But next summer those men will have to be ready to take a risk. Relatively speaking that is, this is Zegna after all. But still, the use of bold tropical prints on silk shirts or pants was a nice [...] 2012-06-23 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-23-jil-sander-menswear-spring-summer-2013-milan-review-357.html   I came to the Jil Sander show with a clean slate and high expectations. As someone who started covering the menswear collections after Sander had left her signature label I only had vintage photos and stories from veteran journalists to go by. Anecdotal evidence about the influence this [...] 2012-06-23 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-16-thom-browne-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-355.html See the pictures from the Thom Browne presentation in London: http://nowfashion.com/16-06-2012-thom-browne-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-show-1988.html When a traditional Harrods London bus parked upfront, we knew we were in for a spectacular ride. One by one, the boys got off with what [...] 2012-06-16 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-16-katie-eary-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-354.html From the scaly invite to the stream of baroque underwater prints, there was definitely something fishy about Katie Eary’s spring/summer ’13 show.  With schools of fish adorning glistening head-to-toe printed looks, it has taken real vision and mastery of craft to turn what could have [...] 2012-06-16 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-16-e-tautz-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-353.html From the very first look creative director Patrick Grant got us by the throat; front rowers visibly sat up and leaned in for a closer look as that cape, sharply cut and in vibrant fuchsia, opened the E. Tautz’s spring/summer show. As more shades of strawberry pink crept onto clean-lined jackets, [...] 2012-06-16 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-15-martine-rose-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-351.html Inspired by Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sensational 15th century marble sculpture “The rape of Persephone,” Martine Rose’s collection seemed to have come out of an artist’s studio hidden backstage. With hand-embroidered white masks covered with paint-like 3D handprints, the models walked on in [...] 2012-06-15 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-15-topman-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-352.html Get on that wave! Half-way between sun-drenched California surfers and Manhattan hip Wall-Streeters comes Topman’s spring/summer offering, bursting with floral and graffiti prints offset by signature tailored blazers and shorts. The references, however, don’t stop there; from bored teenagers in [...] 2012-06-15 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-15-hackett-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-350.html It doesn’t get more British chic than this; right at home at the majestic Royal Opera House, Hackett’s spring/summer 2013 presentation was a sophisticated parade of tweeds, checks, three-piece suits, and bowler hats. Dapper doesn’t even begin to cover it; the Hackett boys, in their [...] 2012-06-15 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-15-lou-dalton-menswear-spring-summer-2013-london-review-349.html As the first designer of The Hospital Club show schedule, Lou Dalton certainly set the tone of what the London Collections are about.  It was urban London menswear distilled into sleek, clean-lined separates and combined in a perfect marriage of tailored and sporty, from the luxe knee-length [...] 2012-06-15 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-06-12-salvatore-ferragamo-ready-to-wear-cruise-2013-paris-review-348.html The fashion world is in a state of flux. And nothing highlights that more than the growing importance and prominence of cruise collections. Last night Ferragamo splashed out on a runway show for its 2013 cruise line in the heart of Paris, France. The Italian brand took over the Denon wing of the [...] 2012-06-12 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-24-paris-college-of-art-fashion-show-review-347.html The Paris College of Art’s Fashion Show at the Cirque d’Hiver highlighted the seniors’ collections, which the jury, composed of Paris-based stylemakers, had seen a couple of days earlier. The Gold Thimble award, given to the student with the best degree collection, was won by Irina [...] 2012-05-24 18:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-23-cannes-film-festival-red-carpet-on-the-road-review-345.html Tonight's red carpet for the On the Road premiere in Cannes included stars such as Ewan McGreggor, Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Viggo Mortesen, Garrett Hedlund, Tom Sturridge, Sam Riley, Walter Salles, Elodie Bouchez, Phoebe Price, Elsa Zylberstein, Roxane Mesquida, Milla [...] 2012-05-23 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-22-cannes-film-festival-red-carpet-killing-them-softly-review-344.html The red carpet at the premiere of Killing Them Softly welcomed stars such as Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Diane Kruger in Nina Ricci, Li BingBing in Gucci, Nina Senicar, Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Andrew Dominik, Joshua Jackson, Kelly Brooke, Michelle Rodriguez, Alec Baldwin, Alexandra Lamy, Sandrine [...] 2012-05-22 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-22-paris-college-of-art-seniors-jury-presentation-review-346.html The 8 students at the Paris College of Art Seniors Collections Presentations to the Jury stood by the booths that displayed their theses: the execution of their concepts and their portfolios. The 7 jury members present, composed of the likes of Anne Valérie Hash, Florianne de St Pierre, Nathalie [...] 2012-05-22 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-21-cannes-film-festival-red-carpet-vous-navez-encore-rien-vu-review-343.html The cast and crew of Alain Resnais' film Vous n'avez encore rien vu includes Sabine Azema, Pierre Arditi, Anna Consigny, Lambert Wilson, Anne Duperey, Hippolyte Girardot, Jean-Louis Livi walked the runway of the Cannes 2012 Film Festival today along with Hofit Golan, Roman and Natassia Polanski, [...] 2012-05-21 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-19-cannes-film-festival-red-carpet-lawless-review-342.html The cast and crew of lawless walked the red carpet in Cannes this evening. John Hillcoat, Nick Cave, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Shia LeBoeuf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce and Dane Dehaan, were accompanied by other stars such as Bianca Balti, Barbara Palin, Heike Makatsch, Madalina [...] 2012-05-19 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-18-carnival-in-cannes-a-gala-for-haitian-relief-by-giorgio-armani-review-339.html Giorgio Armani, Roberta Armani, Sean Penn, Paul Haggis and Petra Nemcova hosted "Carnival in Cannes" a gala during the Cannes Film Festival 2012 helping to raise funds for Haitian relief. Attendees included M. Armani, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Sean Penn in Giorgio Armani Tuxedos, Roxane [...] 2012-05-18 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-18-cannes-film-festival-red-carpet-madagascar-3-review-338.html Tonight's red carpet in Cannes for the animated film Madagascar 3 welcomed more international stars by the names of Natasha Poly wearing Gucci Fall/Winter 2012, Naomi Watts in Marchesa Fall/Winter 2012, Bella Heathcote in Gucci Fall/Winter 2012, Salma Hayek, Phoebe Price, Robert De Niro, Inès de [...] 2012-05-18 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-17-cannes-film-festival-red-carpet-de-rouille-et-d-os-review-337.html The second night of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival started with the red carpet for the premiere of De rouille et d'os, a film by Jacques Audiard staring Marion Cottilard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Other stars present this evening included Eva Longoria in Alberta Ferretti Spring/Summer 2012, Fan Bing [...] 2012-05-17 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-16-cannes-film-festival-red-carpet-opening-ceremony-review-336.html The 2012 Cannes Film Festival opened tonight with a red carpet that was not only star studded but covered with Couture. Stars such as Eva Longoria in Marchesa, Fan Bingbing, Ewan McGregor in Dolce and Gabbana, Alec Baldwin, Bérénice Bejo in Elie Saab Couture, Tim Roth, Melita Toscan du Plantier [...] 2012-05-16 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-15-atelier-chardon-savard-show-review-341.html   There were 300 models backstage in Paris’ Cirque d’Hiver for the Atelier Chardon Savard 1st and 2nd year students' collections show, clad in what looked like pliable slime, dressed in deconstructed football-inspired corsets, glow-in-the-dark-painted fabrics; fabrics with [...] 2012-05-15 21:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-15-atelier-chardon-savard-show-review-340.html There were 300 models backstage in Paris’ Cirque d’Hiver for the Atelier Chardon Savard 1st and 2nd year students' collections show, clad in what looked like pliable slime, dressed in deconstructed football-inspired corsets, glow-in-the-dark-painted fabrics; fabrics with [...] 2012-05-15 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-04-paris-college-of-art-fittings-review-335.html Paris College of Art Senior Fashion Coordinator Patricio Sarmiento was advising his students on their final show. “We have to do it longer,” he told student Hui-Yu Wu, touching the hem of a full skirt. “Why?” she asked. Later, he told Jessica Acosta Lorena, “We have to change this. It’s [...] 2012-05-04 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-05-03-copenhagen-sustainable-fashion-runway-show-hosted-by-erin-o-connor-review-334.html Watch the Copenhagen Sustainable Fashion Runway Show hosted by Erin O'Connor LIVE on NOWFASHION http://nowfashion.com/03-05-2012-copenhagen-sustainable-runway-show-live-event-event-2003.html 2012-05-03 16:40:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-04-20-meet-the-paris-college-of-art-senior-students-review-333.html   Designer’s Challenge: École Parsons à Paris/Paris College of Art Uncovers Young Talents The Paris College of Art was established in 1921, when Frank Alvah Parsons, fuelled by a passion for the arts, launched the first American educational program out of the United States. The [...] 2012-04-20 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-31-milla-snorrason-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-reykjavik-review-331.html From Reykjavik with love – this could be the title of Hilda Gunnarsdóttir's debut collection for her label Milla Snorrason – as everything in the designer's work is expressing her strong attachement to Icelandic aesthetics. A country girl at heart, Gunnarsdóttir came to Reykjavik to [...] 2012-03-31 21:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-30-kormakur-skjoldur-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-reykjavik-review-330.html Iceland has not only scary trolls and fairy tales, but also very attractive rough looking men. Or at least, this is what Kormákur & Skjöldur suggested for their Fall Winter 2012 show, when putting on stage local all-stars looking like lumberjack men sporting the finest tailored suits on [...] 2012-03-30 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-30-hildur-yeoman-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-reykjavik-review-329.html Hildur Yeoman's Xanadu was all about a sugar coated world: glitter, frills, a druggy-dreamy mushroom set-design and a hilarious dancing performance. Needless to say that the clothes have been brushed aside by Yeoman's Icelandic fairy tale. To be quite honest, nothing was wearable, but this wasn't [...] 2012-03-30 17:50:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-24-fatima-lopes-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-324.html Fátima Lopes is one of the most internationally renowned designers to present their collections in Portugal and has shown her collections in Paris since 1994. The designer who started her carrier in 1992 has maintained a visionary for the international fashion community, who anxiously awaits [...] 2012-03-24 23:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-24-katty-xiomara-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-327.html Katty Xiomara established her fashion house in 1999 since then the designer has been continuously searching to develop and internationalize the brand. In her last Spring/Summer collection for, Xiomara uses the butterfly as a symbol of rebirth to describe her collection, grooved lines, exquisite [...] 2012-03-24 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-24-carlos-gil-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-326.html It's no secret Carlos Gil is enamored by the golden age of Hollywood glamour.  The designer sought to show feminine yet military silhouettes from the 20s to the 40s, the war movements which opposed stardom in Hollywood for his Fall/Winter 2012 collection. The show began with a long golden [...] 2012-03-24 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-23-miguel-vieira-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-328.html For Fall Winter 2012 the Miguel Vieira women and men are wearing Fado. The designer said: "The search never ends and the discovery is the elixir of life. But more than discovering, rediscovering may be something magical. Today, the search revolves around ourselves, our feelings, our soul, our [...] 2012-03-23 23:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-23-odyn-vovk-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-kiev-review-318.html Odyn Vovk – or « One Wolf » if you prefer the English equivalent – is all about street-style  sophistication. Wagging tongues would have it that Austin Sherbanenko, designer of the small L.A based menswear brand, is trying to copy the dark and sporty style of Rick Owens, Boris [...] 2012-03-23 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-23-luis-buchinho-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-325.html Lines close to the body, enhancing narrow waists, sexy cigarette pants, midi or maxi tube dresses with a Mondrian version, combined  with strong, confident shoulders, and, for contrast, suggestive, undulating lapels and come-hither peplums, short three-quarter length coats of masculine [...] 2012-03-23 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-23-fashion-media-and-new-technologies-lecture-for-kiev-fashion-days-review-317.html Watch the live webcam from the Fashion Media and New Technologies Lecture for Kiev Fashion Days, Valerio Mezzanotti, co-founder and creative director of NowFashion and Elisabeta Tudor, fashion journalist will talk about the impact of new technologies on fashion media. 2012-03-23 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-22-julio-torcato-menswear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-323.html A poem by Alberto Caeiro (Pessoa's first great heteronym) has been the leitmotiv for developing a collection for Fall Winter 2012 for Júlio Torcato. The designer has always found exploring new shapes an interesting way to give his clients and modern alternative. The result is a collection with a [...] 2012-03-22 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-22-meam-by-ricardo-preto-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-322.html Ricardo Preto studied architecture in Lusíada University. He took a course in dressmaking with master Maria Emilia Sobreira and did a workshop on handbags at Central St. Martins in London. After presenting two collections in May, Preto maneuvered his way into the LAB platform of Lisbon Fashion in [...] 2012-03-22 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-21-alves-goncalves-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-320.html The duo of "Manéis" Manuel Alves y Manuel Gonçalves for Alves/Gonçalves, presented their collection for the next Fall Winter collect at the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa. The collection defines "new silhouettes, new proportions of curved lines, and intense, voluptuous and volumetric [...] 2012-03-21 22:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-21-felipe-oliveira-baptista-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-319.html The event on March 21st at the Museum of Design and Fashion of Lisbon (MUDE), celebrates the 30th edition of Portugal Fashion. For the first time in its history, an edition of Portugal Fashion begins in Lisbon, with fashion shows of one of the rising names in international fashion, Felipe Oliveira [...] 2012-03-21 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-21-espaco-bloom-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-portugal-review-321.html One of the greatest experiences of Portugal Fashion was the presentation of the collections of a new generation of young designers, Estelita Mendoça, Andreia Lexim, Daniela Barros and Hugo Costa. These young designers who open the 30th Portugal Fashion with fashion performances presenting more [...] 2012-03-21 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-07-yang-li-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-314.html We guess it takes a trip around the world to reach success: born in Beijing and raised in Western Australia, Young designer Yang Li sharpened his fashion claws at the reputed Central Saint Martins in London, with a focus on menswear, before interning for Raf Simons in Antwerp. After this fruitful [...] 2012-03-07 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-07-elie-saab-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-307.html   The Lebanese designer makes perfectly elegant clothes, and is always a name you hear on the red carpet, in the most significant events around the world. This season, his message is specifically "urban", but also specifically Mr. Saab, named "Urban Elegance". Vangelis’ “Love Theme” [...] 2012-03-07 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-07-arzu-kaprol-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-305.html   For AW 2012, Arzu Kaprol presented a collection inspired by an 'internal maze of self'.  This once conceptual labyrinth then manifested itself into physical form to produce a host of interesting looks marching down the runway.  Intricate weaving, sometimes in fur, appeared across [...] 2012-03-07 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-07-talbot-runhof-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-309.html Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter from the town of Mainz, Germany, presented their Fall Winter 2012 collection at the Westin in Paris. The show began with an authoritarian voice recording announcing the importance of the color green and the dangers of [...] 2012-03-07 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-07-louis-vuitton-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-312.html The Vuitton train glided into the Louis Vuitton station; it was impressive and awe inducing. One could imagine what kind of technology and funding were needed to produce this show, which was held inside a makeshift tent. Its passengers were Vuitton-clad models who looked as if they had stepped out [...] 2012-03-07 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-06-alexander-mcqueen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-302.html   This season’s Alexander McQueen show kicked off rather reasonably: a white fur cape, a pleated white skirt and knee-high cream legwarmers suggested an elegance midway between school-girl and Snow Queen. But one should have guessed from the protection-like sunglasses fit for a science [...] 2012-03-06 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-06-shiatzy-chen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-313.html   Shiatzy Chen’s designer Madame Wang mentioned in the show’s preview that the collection was about Chinese Miao culture and the Year of the Dragon. But there was a not a literally Chinese look in sight at the show; the inspirations had been diffused and the ‘‘global’’ vision that [...] 2012-03-06 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-06-augustin-teboul-at-l-eclaireur-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-311.html In a special presentation in Paris, in one of the must luxurious concept stores in the city of fashion, Augustin Teboul, the label formed by Annelie Augustin and Odély Teboul, presented their collection for the Fall/Winter 2012, named "The Thread of Ariane". Inspired by surrealism, the designers [...] 2012-03-06 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-06-valentino-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-306.html   The powerful duo made matte black leather look romantic for the Valentino Fall/Winter 2012 collection and turned lace and princess sleeves into edgy accents. Timeless shapes, the referential classic of the brand, become are at the helm of modern style in this collection. Clothes are [...] 2012-03-06 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-06-jean-charles-de-castelbajac-review-303.html   The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull – yes, that unpronounceable volcano in Iceland – did not only affect the air traffic but also had an impact on Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's mind. This said, the designer has a more romantic perception of a volcano eruption, his current [...] 2012-03-06 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-06-hussein-chalayan-rtw-fall-winter-2012-review-299.html Video by BUREAU BETAK See more at blog.bureaubetak.com 2012-03-06 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-06-chanel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-310.html Large shards of crystal-like pieces jutted from the ground and its powdery remnants covered the floor. Had some kryptonite-like substance exploded in the Grand Palais? A movie with Karl Lagerfeld as fashion’s superman, surely, would be an apt metaphor, with Chanel saving the world of fashion from [...] 2012-03-06 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-05-pedro-lourenco-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-332.html Brazilian wunderkind Pedro Lourenço showcased yet again another refreshing collection. Last season, the Sao Paulo based designer was all about “no prints” and dominant dimensional shapes, this season Lourenço set his focus on a sleek yet constructed surface and on trompe-l'oeil [...] 2012-03-05 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-05-chloe-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-300.html   Clare Waight Keller is the woman responsible for transforming heritage labels into a contemporary fashion brand, she was doing in 2005 for Pringle of Scotland. In May 2011, she was named creative director of Chloé replacing Hannah MacGibbon. "I am thrilled to be joining one of the [...] 2012-03-05 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-05-shiatzy-chen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-preview-paris-review-297.html   Chinese actress Lin Peng was enjoying herself, trying on jackets and bags in between posing for the cameras. The actress, who has come out in several dramas- her next film is ‘‘the Chinese version of Meet the Parents, my first comedy’’- says her favourite celebrity is Angelina Jolie [...] 2012-03-05 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-05-giambattista-valli-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-301.html   Lines and squares abounded on the Giambatitsta Valli runway, where there was little color, save for red, maroon and touches of gold. A long-sleeved dark maroon dress with speckles of black sparkled as if a disco ball’s gleaming surface had come undone and slightly showered the fabric. The [...] 2012-03-05 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-05-leonard-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-298.html   The race for Dior's next designer goes on! After the latest rumors stating first that Raf Simons, then that Haider Ackermann would be taking the infamous job, the newest drama concerns no other than Léonard's freshly nominated creative director Maxime Simoens, who is rumored to leave the [...] 2012-03-05 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-04-kenzo-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-296.html   For the fall-winter collection presented at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, the designers Humberto Leon and Carol Lim distributed their guest on five of the multicolored floors of the modern building. While the guest savored delicious chocolates cup cakes-offered for the [...] 2012-03-04 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-04-hermes-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-292.html   This season, Christophe Lemaire perpetuated the brand’s equestrian history by exploring all-American ranch culture. The show kicked off with loose leather trousers tucked into boots, and a large navy fringed blanket worn round the shoulders and clipped at the neck. The collection [...] 2012-03-04 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-04-issey-miyake-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-293.html   This was the second collection for Yoshiyuki Miyamae, the designer who has taken creative control at Issey Miyake the last summer. The show captured the crowd's attention with an ingenious line-up of shrink-wrap pleated dresses at Paris Fashion Week on Sunday. Designed from a new house [...] 2012-03-04 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-04-alexis-mabille-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-295.html When Alexis Mabille was propelled into the spotlight two years ago, his bowties immediately garnered attention. They’ve become part of the label’s visual identity and the designer played them up this season in a collection entitled, Let me be Bow-Bo.  ‘’It’s a mix of things from [...] 2012-03-04 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-03-jean-paul-gaultier-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-290.html   Jean Paul Gaultier for F/W 2012-13, conjured visions of New York to create the collection, the parisian glamour with a touch of decadence and the absolute creativity of the Silver Factory era comprised all of the ingredients used to create the looks showed on the runway-and Nico for the [...] 2012-03-03 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-03-comme-des-garcons-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-291.html   For her Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, Rei Kawakubo, wanted to keep the sun shining.  Models marched down the runway like a series of Russian dolls aided by bold vibrant colours and oversized cuts (short, luminescent wigs included!). Jackets, trousers and three-quarter length [...] 2012-03-03 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-03-viktor-rolf-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-294.html   The huge full moon in the background, the melodic music, and the pajama-inspired looks reminded us of the night, and as the fur-trimmed lingerie-inspired dresses came out, we were tempted to imagine that this collection was about eveningwear more than anything else. But then there were the [...] 2012-03-03 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-03-haider-ackermann-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-288.html   There is always a a certain magic in the air, an enigmatic atmosphere that sets the tone of Haider Ackermann shows. This season's défilé held in the sumptuous “Salons de l'Hôtel de Ville” was no different.   His gently lengthened, sharp and impeccably tailored silhouettes are [...] 2012-03-03 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-02-lanvin-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-285.html       Alber Elbaz in the tenth anniversary of his tenure at Lanvin! Everybody in fashion loves Mr. Elbaz, a charming and utterly enthusiastic designer who ensures his audience is having a good time. This year he invited every guest at his runway show to his giant anniversary [...] 2012-03-02 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-02-amaya-arzuaga-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-284.html     For her Autumn/Winter 2012 collection the Spanish designer, Amaya Arzuaga, appealed to the refined woman. Garish colour schemes were replaced with attention to detail that nipped and tucked dresses in subtle yet unique ways. Throughout the collection dresses and skirts were key. [...] 2012-03-02 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-02-maison-martin-margiela-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-286.html   Ever since Maison Martin Margiela is related to Renzo Rosso's holding group, their fashion shows have not only become gigantic happening full of A-list people but also heading into a more commercial, less conceptual direction. This said, there is nothing wrong with being more accessible! On [...] 2012-03-02 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-02-isabel-marant-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-283.html   Howdy partner! After a journey around the world, all dressed-up like a bohemian travelette for the spring 2012 season, the Isabel Marant woman takes a break of her free-spirit jet setting in order to settle down in Paris, Texas. She loves to ride bulls, drink gin and smoke Winstons while [...] 2012-03-02 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-02-christian-dior-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-289.html   "Soft modernity" was Gaytten's theme. It was a notion whose nebulosity dogged the catwalk, where deflated New Look looks simultaneously evoked Dior's stellar past. Pure shapes are given a rounded femininity, playing with texture and tone create a contemporary, luxurious [...] 2012-03-02 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-02-hussein-chalayan-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-308.html   Hussein Chalayan’s AW2012 collection was about structure and form. Ensembles looked as if they’d been made during a highly advanced origami class with certain parts cleverly  slipping round or nipping into others. Other outfits had gapping holes left open to reveal the layers [...] 2012-03-02 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-01-bernhard-willhem-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-275.html   Bernhard Willhelm’s Autmn/Winter 2012 collection saw girls in transit making heads turn. The unfinished and ever-changing ensembles passing by to German techno looked as if they’d just come out of an acid trip from Gilliam’s 1998 ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’; half painted [...] 2012-03-01 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-01-rick-owens-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-280.html   For several seasons now, Rick Owens’ womenswear shows had been described by the Shakespearean quote ‘Take thee to a nunnery’. In other word, ecclesiastical chic and heavy black lengths. This season, he further experimented with holy matters by referencing several various orders of [...] 2012-03-01 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-01-balmain-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-287.html     Olivier Rousteing’s first collection as designer of Balmain last season had less tattered-come-glitzy looks that its previous designer injected into the brand making it a must-have for those who coveted a sexy, don’t-give-a-fuck, wild child image. The designer mentioned in an [...] 2012-03-01 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-01-ann-demeulemeester-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-279.html   Ann Demeulemesteer excels at somber, timeless garments. This season’s theme of the ‘Dark Ages’ hence fit her like a glove. The collection she presented yesterday was, it seemed, a tad Joan of Arc inspired: androgynous, warrior-like garments, in an almost monochrome palette. Gloomy [...] 2012-03-01 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-01-manish-arora-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-274.html   Manish Arora has skillfully blended street style and urban ladscapes to sculpt silhouettes in a collection full of contrasts. Appropriately, Fall Winter 2012's mise-en-scène was in an industrial open-air space on the river where a hoodie-clad crew—Parisian graffiti artists Rude, Vizion, [...] 2012-03-01 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-01-carven-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-277.html   To this season’s medieval style, Guillaume Henry only kept a handful of paintings and rosettes. The collection was more paired down than the last, stripped from the bags, accessories of all sorts, and neckpieces he usually revels in. Instead, the young French designer redefined and [...] 2012-03-01 10:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-03-01-balenciaga-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-282.html   As Nicholas Ghesquiere continues to grow Balenciaga after reviving it, his designs- lego-like stilettos, pants like fashionable riding trousers paired with blouson-tops, printed scuba-gearlike wear, mini dresses structured like oversized corsets, the iconic motorcycle bag, and others- [...] 2012-03-01 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-29-mugler-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-278.html   There is some kind of fashionable darwinism in Mugler's autumn-winter 2012/13 collection: With time, only the strongest silhouettes – the ones that have proven to be efficient in the past – are allowed on the runway. The theatrical shapes, the exaggerated and stylized proportions; but [...] 2012-02-29 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-29-gareth-pugh-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-272.html   Gareth Pugh has a love of all things dark, his fierce looks suggest a world where the faith of the people lies in female strength. Pugh showed us fur and fringing in variations and created a liquid silhouette. The spectacle began with and bang - grey petals exploded from the ceiling and [...] 2012-02-29 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-29-felipe-oliveira-baptista-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-276.html   You have to love Felipe Oliveira Baptista! Thereby, we are not only referring to his very coherent yet nonchalant collections, but also to the designer himself: no one else but Baptista gets through with mixing Azealia Banks to baile funk beats as a musical understatement of his shows. The [...] 2012-02-29 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-29-dries-van-noten-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-281.html   It felt like the old world. Not old fashioned, but a world replete with the kind of slowness of pace and ambience one can associate with a time when, according to historical accounts, models’ numbers were called out, they twirled in their couture dresses, and the clothing was close enough [...] 2012-02-29 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-29-damir-doma-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-273.html   The Autumn-Winter 2012/13 woman of Damir Doma is an ambiguous one: armor-shaped looks give her strength and yet delicate fabrics and nonchalant fittings make her look fragile. Through both vulnerable and strong silhouettes, Doma's autumnal wear expresses contemporary femininity. The show [...] 2012-02-29 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-29-devastee-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-271.html   The designer duo Ophélie Klere and Francois Alary offered a collection that states – as always – the darker, the better. This said, not one single silhouette is too obvious, as Dévastée's collections always come with a sweet, somehow cynical aftertaste taste – jovial enough to [...] 2012-02-29 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-28-steffie-christiaens-ready-t0-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-269.html   When asked the source of inspiration for her Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, Steffie Christiaens had one word. ‘Ice’. After a few more probing questions it surfaced that the designer had gone as far as putting dressed up dolls in freezers to closely anaylse different structures and [...] 2012-02-28 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-28-anthony-vaccarello-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-review-268.html It would be inaccurate to say that the fabric was wrapped around the body like origami - too stiff - and besides, even though there were numerous angular shapes- in a triangle shape perfectly cupping the left breast as the right shoulder was cloaked in half a jacket, for instance- there was nothing [...] 2012-02-28 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-28-cedric-charlier-ready-to-wear-fall-winte-2012-paris-review-270.html   After four wildly appraised collections at Cacharel, Cédric Charlier launched his own line this season. Moving away from the prints and bright hues he experimented with at the French label, he introduced a stricter, fearless woman: slick, military cuts in black and blues were punctuated by [...] 2012-02-28 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-28-chicca-lualdi-beequeen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-315.html The collection starts with a path inspired to the essential, a vocation for minimal which is then enriched by contaminations from the sixties in volumes and by hints taken from contemporary arts by toyo ito and his geometries. A vision of fashion in which modernity is brought out by the linearity [...] 2012-02-28 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-27-cedric-charlier-fall-winter-2012-preview-review-265.html In the meantime, while we wait for the first fashion show by Cedric Charlier for his Fall Winter 2012 collection, here are the images from the exclusive meeting with NowFashion during the fitting in his atelier in Paris. Click here to access the live streaming of photos of Cedric Charlier first [...] 2012-02-27 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-27-robert0-cavalli-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-267.html   First on the runway for Roberto Cavalli’s Autumn/Winter 2012 collection were glam-rock biker chicks; sumptuous feather minis, lots of sparkle and sequins accompanied by leather evening gloves. The fact that the first wave of models all sported the season’s latest thick-rimmed sunglasses [...] 2012-02-27 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-26-dolce-gabbana-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-261.html   The duo - Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana Once again found themselves plucking ideas from Domenico's native Sicily for their Fall Winter 2012 Collection, specifically its baroque religious traditions. It was as if the black capes and velvet dresses had been dipped in gold, each and [...] 2012-02-26 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-26-trussardi-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-264.html   Trussardi’s Autumn/Winter 2012 collection was living proof that Umit Bennan was the smartest HR choice in a long time. The show opened as a blank canvas with a selection of outfits in white and ivory setting the foundation for the subsequent burst of colour; reds, ocre and orange were [...] 2012-02-26 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-26-marni-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-260.html   As always, Marni’s creative director Consuelo Castiglioni designed a collection for a woman forever lingering between adolescence and adulthood – a fearless babydoll, a candid femme fatale. This collection embodied this spirit to a T: it kicked off with its trademark neo-60s touch – [...] 2012-02-26 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-24-versace-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-256.html Forget last season’s neoprene and mermaid prints: for Fall Winter 2012 Versace went for something a little more somber. Visibly inspired by the recent blockbuster ‘Millennium’ by David Fincher and its leading, emo-friendly actress Rooney Mara, the show kicked off with all-black, Goth [...] 2012-02-24 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-24-just-cavalli-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-259.html   Just Cavalli takes a leopard print runway, some wild animal and tropical patterns, the fury of rock and roll with the right dose of sixties mood to capture the attention of the younger fans. Starting with a group of black and white looks, including a flirty, draped zebra print dress and a [...] 2012-02-24 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-24-etro-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-254.html   For it’s Autumn/Winter 2012 collection Etro remained true to its signature style; intricate motifs were here, there and everywhere, most notably on the collection’s elegant floor length gowns. That said, the colour choice was more subdued than usual thus allowing for greater attention [...] 2012-02-24 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-24-moschino-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-262.html   The eye-popping colour and babydoll and A-line silhouettes in the Moschino Fall Winter 2012 collection show had a very strong 60s vibe, not least because it was styled with beehive hair. Short satin dresses with ruffled skirts- also styled with the beehive- felt very promlike, not least due [...] 2012-02-24 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-23-maurizio-pecoraro-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-258.html 2012-02-23 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-23-prada-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-250.html Ugly is the new pretty and maxi is the new prim, according to Muccia Prada that is. On each look today proportions were pushed and pulled. Everything from buttons to waistlines and rims on sunglasses had been tinkered with, almost as if the collection was designed first then the team stood back and [...] 2012-02-23 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-23-ermanno-scervino-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-249.html   When Ermanno Scervino’s models came marching down the runway for the Fall Winter 2012/13 collection it seemed as if the cavalry had arrived. Strong looks and somber colours; olive, khaki and moss greens dominated the first part of the show along with heavy winter coats and high-waisted [...] 2012-02-23 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-23-fendi-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-251.html The dark arts of creativity. Alchemy was certainly afoot today at Fendi as Silvia Venturini Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld's team delivered a very cool, dare one say edgy winters collection made from the brands signature elements, pelt and skins. Other textures were folded into the mix, a little velvet [...] 2012-02-23 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-23-max-mara-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-263.html   Out came the coats- tailored in soft cashmeres, angora, leather, and pinstripes. It was, as usual, a veritable feast of outerwear offerings in the Fall Winter 2012 Max Mara show. A croc-printed leather version gave way to more classic ankle-length versions, a familiar brand staple, and then [...] 2012-02-23 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-22-francesco-scognamiglio-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-257.html   There was what looked like a set of lungs in the Francesco Scognamiglio show accenting shirts, first as a print and then manifesting itself as actual objects on blouses. It added a surrealist touch to a collection filled with sharply-tailored pieces.  A white dress with black prints [...] 2012-02-22 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-22-n-21-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-247.html   As usual, cool kids on the block, N°21, brought a wave of minimalism as an alternative to Milan’s usually sultry chic. The show kicked off with plenty of speckled earth tones wools – think zipped up khaki cardigans topped with a lapel-free and button-free pepper jacket, worn with [...] 2012-02-22 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-22-gucci-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-milan-review-246.html   To begin Milan Fashion Week Fall Winter 2012 Frida Giannini for Gucci showed her dark but romantic side for the legendary brand with a collection inspired by the resurgent Art Nouveau revival of the 1970s. Giannini played on transparency by using lots of velvet which made up appliqué [...] 2012-02-22 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-22-christopher-shannon-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-253.html Set against a Julie Verhoeven tableau (that featured real people) and to music by Shannon's obsession Sinead O'Connor followed by old school rave, menswear designer Christopher Shannon is a crowd favourite amongst the London menswear shows. But do any of these references matter when we're here to [...] 2012-02-22 11:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-21-meadham-kirchhoff-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-252.html Bonkers on a stick. But hold up there, in amongst all the colour pandemonium and neenaw-neenaw of a style ambulance screetching up to a Dalston fancy dress party that's exploded from too much acid punch, there are bits and pieces to consider here that were a delight: the carefully dyed furs giving [...] 2012-02-21 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-21-roksanda-ilincic-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-241.html As guests take their seats under the ornate chandeliers of the dim Pall Mall venue, live chamber music sets the atmosphere for another refined, sophisticated Roksanda Ilincic affair. Suddenly, the lights go down and a hip hop beat fills the dignified surroundings as the show begins with a curious [...] 2012-02-21 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-21-mary-katrantzou-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-245.html   Katrantzou, a Central Saint Martins print graduate and winner of the Emerging Talent Awards at last year’s British Fashion Awards, is quickly gaining a well deserved reputation as the queen of digital prints.   Although she isn’t single-handedly responsible for the fact that [...] 2012-02-21 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-20-mcq-alexander-mcqueen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-304.html   This fall, Sarah Burton took us deep into the woods for a night of gothic romance, spooky ambience, and dark glamour. The carpet of faded autumn leaves crunched underfoot as guests took their seats in what felt like a Grimm fairy-tale setting. As the lights went down, what took place was a [...] 2012-02-20 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-20-giles-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-240.html Giles Deacon’s Autumn/Winter 2012 collection brought Victorian opulence with a modern twist while contrasting androgyny with all things feminine.  The first look on the runway was masked with masculinity - a perfectly tailored suit trouser nipped in all the right places and a velvet black [...] 2012-02-20 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-20-burberry-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-248.html   There was a vivid air of anticipation not felt in other shows of the season, in due partly to the who’s who milling about- famous actors and pop stars, gorgeous socialites- and partly to the brand’s status. Burberry is, after all, one of the oldest heritage brands in the world to still [...] 2012-02-20 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-20-michael-van-der-ham-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-235.html The alumni of Central Saint Martin’s prestigious MA, Michael Van Der Ham, demonstrated to his audience that he is on route to finding his niche. Once again his unique prints made their way onto the runway, this time more fluid and feminine than in previous collections. Colour was also in [...] 2012-02-20 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-20-pringle-of-scotland-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-234.html The iconic brand founded in 1815 presented a collection inspired by the return of Alistair Carr (the new creative director) to England and the memories of his youth. This collection recounted early nineties looks with a splash of light as it reinvented the school uniform by using waffle knit [...] 2012-02-20 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-19-acne-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-243.html The Fall Winter 2012 show was inspired by something loftier than fashion: art. Three  artists were referenced, mainly ‘‘André Kertész, who took distorted nude pictures in the 1930’s,’’ said designer Johnny Johansson backstage after the show. The photographer’s work clearly [...] 2012-02-19 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-19-paul-smith-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-237.html Paul Smith said that the Fall Winter 2012 collection emphasised what he does best: pieces to wear for seasons to come, to be matched with what he’s created in seasons past. ‘‘There is a continuity in my brand and in this collection I’m doing what I do best.’’ That familiar Paul Smith [...] 2012-02-19 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-19-thomas-tait-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-244.html   In a warehouse in the east end, guests are served tea upon arrival as they take their seats across the grassy path that is the catwalk. It’s cold but there is a palpable buzz of curiosity; ever since Thomas Tait’s graduation from Central Saint Martins as the youngest designer to come [...] 2012-02-19 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-19-vivienne-westwood-red-label-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-239.html Under the more intimate setting of Goldsmith’s Hall, what we saw was a quieter and subdued, though still very true to Vivienne Westwood’s signatures, collection. Gone were the huge crowns, tribal make-up, punk slogans; instead, the show was an expression of Britness, in all its classic and [...] 2012-02-19 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-19-marios-schwab-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-236.html Silhouettes were simple, with sensual overtones in body-hugging dresses; lines were straight, with hems ending at the knee. But one could only imagine the time and energy it took to conceptualise the Marios Schwab Fall Winter 2012 collection, which utilised leather, wool, silk, beading, biomorphic [...] 2012-02-19 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-19-mulberry-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-242.html Furry tales at Mulberry! And when we say furry, we don't refer to clothes only, even the first row benches of the show held at Claridge's Ballroom were covered with black goat hair. Newcomer Azealia Banks and everybody's darling Lana Del Rey – who just got a brand new Mulberry bag named after her [...] 2012-02-19 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-18-todd-lynn-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-232.html   As with seasons past, it was about well-tailored pieces and construction in Todd Lynn’s Fall Winter 2012 collection. Jackets included deconstructed lapels that extended down past the hem, and pockets placed outside the jacket. A flat origami shape on the torso of a blue jacket hugged the [...] 2012-02-18 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-18-house-of-holland-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-255.html   The looks in the Fall Winter 2012 House of Holland show were characteristic of the label, whose clothing is rivaled only by the words it uses. Take the first collection, in Fall 2007, entitled One Trick Pony, in which Tshirts were emblazoned with slogans I’ve Got More Than A Handful for [...] 2012-02-18 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-18-moschino-cheap-and-chic-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-238.html The Italian brand’s first showing in London felt right in place. From the ultra-feminine A-line coats, beehives, and glitter frosted lips to the live performance of British singer Lianne La Havas, it was clear that the show had a 60s London girl at its heart. In their typical humorous style [...] 2012-02-18 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-17-felder-felder-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-london-review-233.html Inspired by Ryan McGinley’s photographs of nudes in a geological cave, designers Annette and Daniela Felder created a collection composed of mineral colours with hits of dark red, plum, and gold in the asymmetry of rock formations that translate into abstract prints on skirts and [...] 2012-02-17 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-16-calvin-klein-collection-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-231.html   Finally some minimalistic aesthetics at New York Fashion Week! After mountains of frills and striking bright colors, Calvin Klein Collection came just in time to end the Fall 2012 season with a discreet, yet sophisticated look. There is a kind of Belgian Avant-garde feeling in the air, if [...] 2012-02-16 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-16-l-wren-scott-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-230.html   L’Wren Scott came to New York Fashion Week to demonstrate how the British do it best. With a RTW collection inspired by several decades of England’s history, from 1900 to pre-WWII, there was undoubtedly a lot of ground to cover. The ‘Tea Time’ story that unfolded down the [...] 2012-02-16 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-15-marchesa-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-225.html William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s dramatic nineteenth-century painting “A Soul Brought to Heaven” inspired Georgina Chapman, and her partner Keren Craig for their Fall Winter 2012 Collection. This season, Marchesa continued with their rarefied, couture-like visions. They crafted a collection [...] 2012-02-15 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-15-reed-krakoff-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-229.html With his latest Autumn/Winter 2012 RTW, Krakoff, the man who has spent over twenty years amongst fashion’s brightest, remained true to his signature minimalist style. The first wave of models sported black and cordovan brown ensembles; rich wools were mixed with leather accompanied by heavy-duty [...] 2012-02-15 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-15-jeremy-scott-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-226.html The king of kitsch comes out to play. And in good time too as things were getting very serious out there on the New York runways with all those stiff, prim coats and even stiffer knee high boots going on everywhere else. Scott takes the pop, the superficial and disposable parts of teen culture and [...] 2012-02-15 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-15-michael-kors-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-228.html Sporty and glamorous: these were two words Kors used to describe Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, the starting points for his collection for New York Fashion Week Fall Winter 2012. As models strode down the catwalk in chunky Mary Janes and cozy-looking sweaters, one could see the designer’s [...] 2012-02-15 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-14-oscar-de-la-renta-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-227.html Dazzling evening gowns and sophisticated tailored First Lady looks are building the thread of Oscar de la Renta's design signature. This Fall 2012 season has been no different and  the designer proved again that Jacky Kennedy's style is here to stay. Like always, De la Renta sets a very [...] 2012-02-14 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-14-rodarte-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-223.html The shearling dress, it was only ever a matter of time before we saw this proposed on the runway, the Rodarte option that appeared towards the end of their show is surely just the first of many. Following the prairie-licious spring summer 12 collection, stunning but perhaps in parts a little [...] 2012-02-14 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-13-marc-jacobs-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-review-221.html Diamonds are a girl's best friend? Well, Marc's at least! There was definitely some pimp attitude in the air at Marc Jacobs' Fall 2012 show in New York. Glittery tops and skirts in fuchsia and bordeaux shades, curvy leather dresses, sparkling buckles on pilgrim shoes, as well as oversize fur hats [...] 2012-02-13 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-13-thom-browne-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-220.html Known for his conceptual fashion, American designer Thom Browne hits the nail on the head again, by providing an estranging yet captivating show: models coming out of coffins, who would have conjured that?  This said, Browne's black widow is a quiet and emancipated woman. Like in previous [...] 2012-02-13 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-13-3-1-phillip-lim-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-217.html The Fall Winter 2012 collection reflected the aesthetics of Neo - Noir comics, having Frank Miller's Sin City and Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta as main sources of inspiration. As seen in Phillip Lim's pre-fall collection, the whimsical use of graphic animation was underlined by the [...] 2012-02-13 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-13-donna-karan-new-york-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-218.html The start of the Donna Karan Collection Fall Winter 2012 show presented comfort and volume in each silhouette. The mannequins were bundled up in plaid wool stadium blankets worn over skirts and shawls. Motorcycle jackets and full leather coats, combined with black boots or zebra print demonstrated [...] 2012-02-13 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-13-ohne-titel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-222.html The two Parson graduates, Alexa Adams and Flora Gill, gave their audience geometric prints and lots of texture in their latest Ohne Titel Fall/Winter 2012 collection. The two-toned outfits were sometimes infused with a third shade however all in all the colour palette maintained its simplicity; [...] 2012-02-13 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-12-zac-posen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-216.html   Zac Posen is riding the Eastern current: kimono fabrics, origami-inspired details in collars and waists, and Imperial overtones in a gown with large cone sleeves as well as a sweeping ball skirt clearly referenced popular Oriental motifs.   Loyalists will no doubt fall in love all [...] 2012-02-12 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-12-thakoon-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-219.html The atmosphere at the Thakoon show for his Fall Winter 2012 collection brought together a red-light district feel and the stellar glamour of Audrey Hepburn in the musical Funny Face (1957). Thakoon Panichgul used these references to explore a more conservative side, once again confirming himself as [...] 2012-02-12 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-12-victoria-beckham-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-214.html It’s good, we can all exhale. Or rewrite your copy depending on which side you’d called it. Yes, Victoria Beckham is fighting a good fight and has delivered a great second collection. Here the bionic body goes military and we find large golden buttons placed strategically over chest rocks and [...] 2012-02-12 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-11-altuzarra-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-213.html Imagine if Joseph Altuzarra’s shows had the production budget of a big French house behind them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the boy’s running on gruel but this collection has such a edge that it starts one fantasising about the machinations of a big French house that would have [...] 2012-02-11 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-11-calla-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-266.html   Toronto-born fashion designer Calla Haynes worked as a print designer for up-and-coming labels before starting her own line, previous to that she worked with Olivier Theyskens (first at Rochas then at Nina Ricci). Little wonder then than her own label, 2 years young, is full of gorgeous [...] 2012-02-11 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-11-alexander-wang-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-224.html Textures, fabrics and textiles is the holy mantra in fashion today. 'Fabrics' is arguably where all the action is happening. Speak to a member of any large brand whose job it is to research and develop fabrics and the leaps in technology mean that this is kind of where the rock'n'roll is really at. [...] 2012-02-11 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-11-band-of-outsiders-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-215.html   Well, Howdy, pardner. The setting was inspired by new American frontiers and this season’s Boy and Girl collections-the brand’s two women’s lines-are givin’ the city-slickers much to talk about. There would be no milk-churning in the longsleeved dress with a gathered waist nor in an [...] 2012-02-11 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-11-lacoste-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-208.html New dawn continues to rise at Lacoste as creative director, Filipe Oliveira Baptista, presents his second mainline collection for the heritage French sportswear brand. Something of a marketing dream for Lacoste, Baptista is handsome, smart, laid back and with a young family for whom he lays down [...] 2012-02-11 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-10-helmut-lang-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-210.html Nicole and Michael Colovos put their second season collection for Helmut Lang on the runway, they have found a way to bring their DNA to the core image of the brand once again. The first look, a white leather lapel-less blazer, glossy black skinny jeans, and black thigh-high LD Tuttle wedge [...] 2012-02-10 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-10-n-hoolywood-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-211.html Japanese designer Daisuke Obana began his line N. Hoolywood in 2002. He earned his title, ‘’Mr Hollywood’’, after a buying trip to LA. His collections are inspired by themes from films, literature, art, current events and things that strike his fancy, such as scrap metal recycling and [...] 2012-02-10 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-10-yigal-azrouel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-207.html Yigal Azrouël presented a bit of minimalism with his women's ready to wear Fall Winter 2012 collection letting everything loose holding nothing back and showing dark colors, splashed with fur, outlined in sheer materials. From one look to another, from demure with midcalf skirts to sheer [...] 2012-02-10 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-10-jason-wu-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-209.html For his latest Auntumn/Winter 2012 collection Jason Wu drew inspiration from not one but three sources: Mao, the Qing Dynasty and a 1940’s Hollywood take on China. This was clearly an opportunity for the 29 year-old Taipei born designer to discover his roots. Once opening the studded red doors [...] 2012-02-10 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-10-peter-som-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-212.html There was a blend of opposing traits in the Peter Som Fall/Winter 2012-2013 show: a glistening maroon blouse and pants, its colour deep and dramatic, lost its heaviness in the soft cut and limpid quality. Leather pants were cut to be roomy, with large pockets suited for a short stroll. There were [...] 2012-02-10 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-09-creatures-of-the-wind-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-205.html This season, the Creatures of the Wind designers Shane Gabier and Chris Peters presented an eclectic collection Inspired by the Scottish clergyman Robert Kirk’s daring 1691 exposé, “The Secret Commonwealth: Of Elves, Fauns and Faires,”  in which he collected his parishioners' tales of [...] 2012-02-09 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-09-richard-chai-love-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-new-york-review-204.html Richard Chai made a strong show presenting equal amounts  of floral and striped pieces, continuing in the same style as his diffusion line. On the floral front, mainly reds, with black accents providing a strong background. More daring pieces include blazers and wide-leg pants, while more [...] 2012-02-09 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-03-soulland-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-202.html With his “Imperial” collection, Silas Adler designer of “Soulland” sets a tone that seems to be Copenhagen's next trend, if you look at the past Autumn-Winter 2012/13 shows: Russian culture and society are again the main inspiration (e.g. Asger Juel Larsen) and is depicted through hand made [...] 2012-02-03 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-02-asger-juel-larsen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-203.html London-based and Danish-born young designer Asger Juel Larsen made the runway a conceptual “no-mans-land” for one of Copenhagen Fashion Week's most unconventional shows. The National Museum of Denmark serves as a historical setting for Larsen's Soviet inspired autumn-winter 2012/13 [...] 2012-02-02 23:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-02-stine-goya-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-199.html Stine Goya is well known for setting a mood through vibrant colors, house designed prints and softly sculptural shaped pieces. This Autumn-Winter 2012/13 season was no different. Models would enter the runway through a golden apple, wearing snake-shaped neckpieces – the reference to the [...] 2012-02-02 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-02-baum-und-pferdgarten-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-197.html Helle Hesthave and Rikke Baumgarten form a preppy duo on the Copenhagen's runway. The starting point of Baum und Pferdgarten's autumn-winter 2012/12 collection is the subculture Mod of the late 50s and the early 60s. Throughout the collection the designers are playing with preppy schoolgirl [...] 2012-02-02 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-02-tabernacle-twins-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-200.html The fourth collection of Vibe Lundemark a.k.a “Tabernacle Twins” impresses through strong colors, digital prints, bold shapes and highly overloaded graphic fabrics. The former graduate of London's Royal College of Art is all about quirky and unconventional knitwear. Working with [...] 2012-02-02 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-02-anne-sofie-madsen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-198.html The Danish born and raised Anne Sofie Madsen, a former junior designer for the legendary Alexander McQueen; it is not a coincidence that her Autumn-Winter 2012/13 collection is pretty much all about a dreamy and sculptural silhouette. Madsen debuted with her eponym brand in 2010 during London [...] 2012-02-02 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-henrik-vibskov-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-201.html His shows usually close Copenhagen Fashion Week with a breathtaking final – this time, everybody's darling Henrik Vibskov decided to set the tone straight from the beginning of the Autumn-Winter 2012 season and therefoer completely took the wind out of the sails of his competitors. As usually, [...] 2012-02-01 22:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-wackerhaus-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-189.html A brisk wind blows through Wackerhaus' Autumn-Winter 2012/13 runway. No need to say that the show name “Glacierville” would set an icy tone! Inspired by preppy vintage garments, the collection provides a sporty yet refined attitude. Wackerhaus' nonchalant take on daily ready-to-wear [...] 2012-02-01 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-rutzou-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-192.html “It is my tribute to one of the rare birds of the fashion world, the genuine New Yorker, Iris Apfel, and the generation of intellectual style icons who are gradually gone. For me Iris Apfel is an icon who has for a generation perfected a both eccentric ans simple look – with the addition of her [...] 2012-02-01 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-karen-by-simonsen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-195.html Watch the Karen by Simonsen Fashion Show Video - Ready To Wear - Fall Winter 2012 Photos and Video Courtesy of Copenhagen Fashion Week 2012-02-01 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-david-andersen-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-193.html Watch the David Andersen Fashion show - Ready To Wear - Fall Winter 2012 Photos and Video Courtesy of Copenhagen Fashion Week 2012-02-01 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-yde-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-190.html This season, Georg Jensen hosts Copenhagen Fashion Week's Danish designer Ole Yde for his eponymous line YDE at the George Hensen Jewellery Headquarters, where the renowned silver smith forms the backdrop of the show. For his autumn/winter 2012/12 collection the young designer opts for his [...] 2012-02-01 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-spon-diogo-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-191.html This year's winner of the Max Factor New Talent Award prove to be worth watching! Spon Diogo – the emerging new scandinavian brand on the runway – is here to stay. Founded by Mia Lisa Spon and Rui Andersen Rodrigues, Spon Diogo sets an architectural yet casual tone for its [...] 2012-02-01 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-j-lindeberg-menswear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-188.html From the streets of Milan to vast journeys in remote and adventurous places. J.Lindeberg continues to focus on the core elements that have come to define the Main Collection; a Scandinavian heritage, functional technology and progressive tailoring – precisely defined with true [...] 2012-02-01 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-kopenhagen-fur-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-196.html Watch the Kopenhagen Fur Fashion Show Video- Ready To Wear - Fall Winter 2012 in Copenhagen. Photos and Video Courtesy of Copenhagen Fashion Week 2012-02-01 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-minimarket-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-187.html Entertained by different thoughts of magic and illusion minimarket created this physical collection, also inspired by the ”vaudeville phenomena” and specific perpetrators of magic such as harry houdini. Disaggregated and cropped pieces are transformed into different versions of already [...] 2012-02-01 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-02-01-rodebjer-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-186.html Rodebjer is an international fashion brand offering sensual, elegant and essential clothing for all occasions. Our design philosophy is based on wardrobe essentials in combination with items that catches the absolute zeitgeist. We respect the history and are sensitive to the future translating it [...] 2012-02-01 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-dagmar-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-185.html In their autumn collection The Swedish Woman, Dagmar features two radiant women: Lisbeth Salander and Sigrid Hjertén. The latter, a renowned early 20th century Swedish colourist, meets the present-day literary icon who has renewed the image of the Swedish woman.   Photos: Kristian [...] 2012-01-31 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-ecco-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-copenhagen-review-194.html Watch the ECCO Fashion show Video - Ready To Wear - Fall Winter 2012 Photos and Video Courtesy of Copenhagen Fashion Week 2012-01-31 19:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-maria-nordstrom-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-184.html Maria Nordström Autumn-Winter 2012 is a collection that blends couture with exclusive everyday wear. Recurring materials are hand-dyed silk, leather, silk jersey, feathers and wool. Other materials used in the collection are chiffon, refined sequince, sea shell and cashmere. The collection [...] 2012-01-31 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-johanna-pihl-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-183.html The Collection Johanna Pihl AW12 was born from the relationship between Rococo and our modern time focusing research on architecture and interior design with lines and patterns characteristic from these periods. The garments are formed to create a sleek, elegant and confident expression, [...] 2012-01-31 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-busnel-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-182.html A sophisticated, timeless and elegant beauty with immaculate makeup, wearing only her jewels looks into her wardrobe. This season, Busnel stands out from the crowd by bringing together feminine and masculine, tight and volume, thin with thick and dull with shiny. The classical men's wardrobe has [...] 2012-01-31 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-cheap-monday-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-181.html For A/W12 we are slowing down, focusing on the long cycles and evolution in nature. We have chosen a naturalistic approach, looking at the periodic table, natural history, DNA and fossils. This outlook has shaped the denim washes and effects as well as serving as inspiration for prints and [...] 2012-01-31 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-lexington-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-180.html While variations of jeans-wear rule the collection, there are dressier items, including a evening dress and a velvet blazer, which could easily translate into office-appropriate looks. The colors are reds, blues, greens in combo with sand, denim, winter white and toffee. The collection is [...] 2012-01-31 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-mayla-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-177.html The collection is made out of timeless, feminine pieces, designed to become all-time wardrobe favourites. Think Greta Garbo, dark and moody, in long silhouetted cashmere coats and cardigans, reefer jackets and berets. Then think lazy autumn days, dressed in lace and silk, enjoying afternoon tea [...] 2012-01-31 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-the-local-firm-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-179.html Founded in 2007, The Local Firm is a Sweden-based fashion jeans brand with a distinctive design code that combines high fashion with innovative jeans design. The Local Firm´s concept is inspired by the European Industrial age. The design concept “A contrast of status” is a cross-wardrobe based [...] 2012-01-31 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-beckmans-college-of-design-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-178.html The second-year fashion students mark the middle of their studies with a fashion show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Twelve students present individual collections of three to five outfits; the outcome of a project in which they have experimented with process, materials and multiple textile [...] 2012-01-31 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-31-boomerang-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-175.html BOOMERANG FALL WINTER 2012 - OUR PASSION This season we want to formulate who we are, what we are enthusiastic about, what choices we make to reach new heights – Our passion. To share- It’s our curiosity and eagerness to learn new things that drives us. It’s our never ending need for [...] 2012-01-31 09:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-oscar-jacobson-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-174.html Inspiration F/W 12 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel of 1886, with a split personality between good and evil in the center of the action, was based on William Brodies (1741-1788) life. Mr. Brodie was during the day a highly respected Scottish cabinet maker, but at [...] 2012-01-30 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-filippa-k-dam-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-173.html Exploring the minimalistic expression in it´s purest form, Autumn Winter 2012 is a clean and precise look without unneccassary detailing. As a strong contrast to this a playful clash of strong colours and patterns.The look is strong yet feminine, sensual and fitted; open backs are contrasted with [...] 2012-01-30 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-carin-wester-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-172.html The Carin Wester Label was created in 2003 and quickly became noticed by high profiled stores because of its androgynous shapes and urban, playful expressions. Today, the collection consists of a female line ("Carin Wester") a male line ("Wester") and the limited line ("W"). The collections are [...] 2012-01-30 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-ubi-sunt-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-171.html The vision behind the Ubi Sunt concept and it’s collections is to celebrate and express gratitude for what once was – the development of humanity and the achievement of those before us. Therefore we are proud that a selection of each collection always includes exquisite jerseys that use a [...] 2012-01-30 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-v-ave-shoe-repair-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-170.html V Ave Shoe Repair represents a unique design, not only in the scandinavian feeld, but also in a global aspect. v ave s.r. is created with high quality rate and a strong conceptual vision. the silhouette of vasr consists of a mix of rtw, denim and unique pieces, handmade in our atelier under [...] 2012-01-30 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-whyred-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-169.html Theme and inspiration for Whyred Autumn/Winter 2012 Forrest The depth of a mystic and ruff, yet colourful forest, with all its shapes and colours, in contrast to the extreme modern implements of man-made architecture. A painting of Caspar David Friedrich, or a silvercube building placed in [...] 2012-01-30 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-stylein-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-168.html The vintage circus’ beautiful world has inspired Stylein’s FW12 collection, where the circus director’s tailored straight lines meet the princess’ sensuality. She borrows his jacket and the collar of his shirt and the characters play without a safety net. The materials in the collection [...] 2012-01-30 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-30-filippa-k-man-menswear-fall-winter-2012-stockholm-review-167.html Inspired by a modern way of dressing Autumn Winter 2012 explores the consistent style of Filippa K Man. An ultra-minimal look that embraces the functionality of the sports world and applies it to the wardrobe of the well-dressed urbanite. The raw, contemporary look, filled with hidden utilitarian [...] 2012-01-30 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-25-zahia-couture-ss12-paris-review-165.html Zahia Dehar, the infamous escort girl who cost the French football team their reputation and savings, made her lingerie-couture debut on the last day of Paris Couture Week – bringing an ironic close to the deluxe shows. Zahia, 19 year-old, until then best known for her figure (generally shown [...] 2012-01-25 19:15:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-25-eva-minge-couture-ss12-paris-review-158.html   Designer Eva Minge upholds the title of one of Poland’s most globally-known designers. She is also the only one to possess the versatility of combining industrial and interior design to her portfolio. Minge began showing her ready-to-wear collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New [...] 2012-01-25 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-25-jean-paul-gaultier-couture-ss2012-review-157.html An emotional fashion show for the closure of the Haute Couture SS/2012. L'enfant terrible and charismatic Jean Paul Gaultier has presented his collection amid shouts and applause, tears and whispers of the songs of the controversial Amy, paying tribute to the missing queen of [...] 2012-01-25 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-25-elie-saab-couture-ss12-paris-review-159.html   The Spring Summer 2012 ready-to-wear could have given us a hint of some of the haute couture collections's standout pieces: shorter skirts and more lace. The skirts, several inches above the knee, looked, in white and yellow lace like the consummate bellflowers. Below a silver beaded [...] 2012-01-25 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-25-maison-martin-margiela-an-artisanal-collection-for-women--review-156.html Martin Margiela has collected used - and sometimes new - clothes, accessories and objects from around the world in order to create this particular collection:   - Embroidered cloth dating from the 19th century. - Cotton silk sourced from an old factory in Portsmouth, [...] 2012-01-25 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-25-sakina-m-sa-couture-ss-2012-review-160.html Since moving to Paris from Marseille, Sakina M’sa has made a name for herself in socially-involved fashion projects. One of these is the training of marginalized groups for jobs in fashion, which landed her a scholarship from the PPR Foundation. Another is burying fabric to age it a natural and [...] 2012-01-25 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-25-on-aura-tout-vu-couture-ss12-paris-review-166.html For Spring/Summer 2012, On Aura Tout Vu bought us The Fire Woman. She was powerful and determined as she made her way down the catwalk only to bewitch her audience and make heads turn. Her first appearance was in a one-piece leotard, holding a baton and sporting black leather ankle boots with [...] 2012-01-25 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-24-alexandre-vauthier-couture-spring-summer-2012-review-151.html Watch the video of the Alexandre Vauthier Couture Spring Summer 2012 in Paris:     Alexandre Vauthier’s Glamazon women are on hiatus. The designer, who has worked with Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler, has created, in his young career under his own name, a majority of designs [...] 2012-01-24 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-24-basil-soda-couture-ss12-paris-review-155.html The lebanese fashion designer Basil Soda has presented his new couture collection for Spring Summer 2012 with a more romantic view of embellishments. The dominant motif was the examination of the material under a microscope. Tiny grey crystals, gilded twigs and pearls to decorating the tops of [...] 2012-01-24 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-24-givenchy-couture-ss12-paris-review-176.html   In a décor of nose rings and basketballs, Givenchy unveiled a collection as painstakingly put together as always, only a tad darker this time. This season, Riccardo Tisci found inspiration in the 1920, notably jewelry and illustrations. He designed flowy, racer bag dresses entirely [...] 2012-01-24 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-24-yanina-couture-spring-summer-2012-review-153.html Yulia Yanina wants to dress her couture clients the way Dior dressed his women: with the feeling of luxury. The native Russian launched her label in Moscow over a decade ago to a clientele seeking a know-how in embroidery and fabric. Yanina used Swarovski crystals on flesh-coloured tulle bodices [...] 2012-01-24 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-24-stephane-rolland-couture-ss12-paris-review-150.html Watch the video of the Stephane Rolland Couture Spring Summer 2012 in Paris: In the Cite de l'architecture et du Patrimoine at Tracadero Place, where the most iconic works of the French architectural heritage and the contemporary  world  live, Stephane Rolland presented his spring [...] 2012-01-24 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-24-atelier-gustavolins-couture-ss12-paris-review-152.html   Gustavo Lins, who graduated as architect in his native Brazil and later studied in Barcelona, is known for the rigor of the sharp and almost architectural shapes of his garments, where no detail is apparent and where the materials comprised of fine silks, taffetas, Kashmir, fall like [...] 2012-01-24 15:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-24-didit-couture-ss12--review-149.html Watch the video of Didit Couture Spring Summer 2012 show in Paris. 2012-01-24 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-iris-van-herpen-ss-2012-couture-paris-review-143.html   "For me fashion is an expression of art that is very closely related to myself and to my body. I see it as my expression of identity combined with desire, mood and cultural setting." (Iris van Herpen). Throughout all of her work Iris tries to make clear that fashion is an artistic [...] 2012-01-23 20:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-eric-tibusch-couture-ss12-paris-review-145.html Eric Tibusch has a penchant for movie-inspired collections. His Spring/Summer 2009 collection was entitled "Bonnie and Clyde". The following year gave us "Orbital", inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s visionary outlook. In 2007, Tibusch presented a collection entitled, "Murder Along the Champs", the [...] 2012-01-23 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-georges-hobeika-couture-ss12-paris-review-144.html For Spring Summer 2012, Hobeika’s use of fabric includes a skirt of seemingly shredded and torn pieces of fabric, like large dangling petals, and floral appliqués embroidered on the upper torso, travelling down the hem of a skirt. Its aim when applied on sheer layered silk was prettiness, which [...] 2012-01-23 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-maurizio-galante-couture-ss12-paris-review-146.html   Maurizio Galante's own vision of couture is not based on a Total Look. He has focused his design from above the waist projecting imaginary flower bouquet. The couturier's perception of garments as objects is seen through the vegetal universe he has created in this collection. Generous, [...] 2012-01-23 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-alexis-mabille-couture-ss12-paris-review-164.html Paris was graced with Alexis Mabille’s Spring Summer 2012 Collection ‘Colour Therapy’. A extravagant array of every color, each as electrifying as the one before; fuchsia, ruby red, orange, violet, mallard blue, emerald… Every colour was there to demand attention, not forgetting the [...] 2012-01-23 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-bouchra-jarrar-couture-ss12-paris-review-162.html   Beauty and talent was what walked down the runway for Bouchra Jarrar’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection. Each of the twenty-three ensembles displayed thought and class when it came to design, proving that the catwalk nudity is not the only way to intrigue the crowd. First down the runway [...] 2012-01-23 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-christophe-josse-couture-ss12-paris-review-147.html   A total of twenty silhouettes that included eight cocktail dresses eleven evening gown and la mariée came down the runway at Christophe Josse.  Each piece from this new collection reflects architectural inspirations from both I.M Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art in Doha [...] 2012-01-23 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-23-versace-couture-ss12-paris-review-163.html   Eight years on from her last Couture appearance, Donatella Versace stunned the crowds with a Spring Summer 2012 collection of pure Hollywood glamour. At the prestigious l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, just over a dozen models walked down the runway in classic Versace get-up: metallic golds, [...] 2012-01-23 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-22-arnys-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-142.html   Jean Grimbert and his brother Michel are the proprietors of Arnys, the high-end clothing boutique in Paris started by their grandfather Jankel Grimbert, in 1933. The name Arnys is synonymous with elegance and refined menswear in Paris, it's something of a Parisian [...] 2012-01-22 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-22-thom-browne-mens-fw12-13-paris-review-161.html The rocky horror picture show, blade runner or Frankenstein are the the most notables inspirations for this collection. Thom Browne presented a hybrid man half punk half horror film villain. Thom decided to take us back to school, issuing a lesson in how to do menswear, the avant-garde way. In [...] 2012-01-22 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-22-exclusive-alexandre-vauthier-preview-review-138.html Designer Alexandre Vauthier invited NowFashion at his parisian atelier to check out en avant première his SS12 Couture collection. More photos of the event will be published during the show... we didn't want to spoil the surprise! Rendez-vous 24th Januray @ 7pm, Paris [...] 2012-01-22 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-22-songzio-mens-fw12-13-paris-review-148.html   Sophisticated and clean but full of details is probably the easiest way to describe Songzio's collection. He has created an elegant man, mingling modern urban silhouettes with the regalia of imperial Asia. Long and large volumes, accentuated shapes and proportions, the show [...] 2012-01-22 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-21-raf-simons-mens-fw12-13-paris-review-135.html Watch the video of the show. 2012-01-21 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-21-hermes-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-136.html Hermès is all about clean lines, a firm cut and zen outlook. Veronique Nichanian, the head designer of menswear is a very underrated talent but then her style is to make clothes that are understated which she does so perfectly that she skates just under the radar which probably pleases the Hermès [...] 2012-01-21 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-20-boris-bidjan-saberi-review-140.html   The half-German half-Persian designer Boris Bidjan Saberi presented his urban, yet sophisticated signature look, by adding an experimental touch to the upcoming winter wardrobe. People who have been following Saberi's work from the beginning know that his shows always come with a creative [...] 2012-01-20 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-20-juun-j-mens-fw12-13-paris-review-137.html   The Korean designer was usual playful self, offering his trademark balance between classical menswear citations and comic strip like appropriations. The collection kicked off with vintage soldier reference, seemingly a mix between World War I and 19th century rifleman—: heavy khaki coats [...] 2012-01-20 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-20-julius-mens-fw12-13-paris-review-134.html It’s great to see Julius develop his collection from year to year. He’s really refining himself and that's evident in this collection. It’s a much cleaner Julius style, a lot less distressed and damaged. We're glad he was able to retain the aggressive feeling in many of his garments, but [...] 2012-01-20 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-19-henrik-vibskov-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-130.html Interview: Henrik Vibskov’s show took place in what seemed to be the inside of a giant drum kit. A mix of loose riding pants, 1920s cloche-hat inspired headpieces with ears cut out, and socks worn on shoes confirmed the kooky Henrik we all know. But cable sweaters in speckled wool and dark frock [...] 2012-01-19 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-19-adam-kimmel-mens-fw12-13-paris-review-139.html For the upcoming winter, Adam Kimmel encourages a very masculine design, rather than to follow the omnipresent androgynous look that has took over the runway for the past two seasons, weather in men or womenswear. This said, Kimmel never deviated from his classical path and proved once again that [...] 2012-01-19 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-19-yohji-yamamoto-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-132.html The achingly beautiful notes of Massive Attack’s Teardrop, as covered by folk singer Jose Gonzalez, played as Yohji Yamamoto’s fashion collection was presented inside the Yamamoto headquarters in Paris tonight. Yamamoto’s voyage of elegant masculinity continued with a visual theme of [...] 2012-01-19 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-19-louis-vuitton-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-131.html Held all the way down in the fifteenth arrondisement of Paris, inside the glamourous glass greenhouse of Parc Andre Citroen, the second collection by British designer Kim Jones for Louis Vuitton menswear drew large cheers and unanimous praise from the audience as he took his final bow. Crowds [...] 2012-01-19 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-19-rick-owens-mens-fw12-13-paris-review-133.html   As legions of mini Rick Owens sneak up on the runways every season, the ‘Prince of Darkness’ has to reinvent himself ad eternam to remain unique. Last season, he thought up a gender studies goldmine with somber male robes (dresses and skirts in my opinion); this season he shocked [...] 2012-01-19 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-18-ami-alexandre-mattiussi-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-127.html Interview: During a recent conversation I asked French-American designer and current CFDA lauréat Joseph Altuzarra what he had in his own wardrobe and he answered that he really only wore one brand that was made by his friend Alexandre Mattiussi and called AMI. Seeing an AMI Alexandre Mattiussi [...] 2012-01-18 21:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-18-christian-lacroix-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-141.html When you think about Lacroix you think Baroque but it was not just that aspect that Sacha Walckhoff wanted to represent in the men's collection today, he chose to introduce a kaleidoscope in which different topics were discussed.  Walckhoff, with almost 20 years of experience with [...] 2012-01-18 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-18-mugler-fw12-13-mens-paris-review-128.html Interview: Watching French fashion designer Romain Kremer and his friend and creative director Nicola Formichetti on their journey through the revival of Mugler Mens is so much fun. It's like watching two kids with a chemistry set. By experimentation, a few explosions here and implosions there [...] 2012-01-18 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-17-exclusive-lacroix-preview-review-122.html This season, Lacroix invited Nowfashion into their usually impenetrable workshop, for us to have a sneaky peak before tomorrow’s runway show. It was Sacha Walckhoff’s third collection – the head designer assisted Christian for two decades and when the house hit financial dismay, he decided [...] 2012-01-17 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-17-roccobarocco-mens-fw12-13--review-121.html The show kicked off with a silhouette seemingly plucked out of an Italian university in the 1960S: a soft, earth toned palette, with straight – but comfortably so— leg corduroy trousers, a button-up shirt and a soft felt hat. It soon matured into tapered black suits, for more of a neo Hedi [...] 2012-01-17 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-17-enrico-coveri-fw12-13-mens-milan-review-125.html For the first half of Coveri’s Auntum/Winter 2012 show ensembles were awash in fuchsia, black and grey. A powerful contrast that appeared on statement silk ties around the necks of beautiful male models. Chunky knits, zipped jackets, duffle coats and tone-on-tone tartan suits also marched [...] 2012-01-17 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-17-ports-1961-fw12-13-mens-milan-review-126.html Models sported heavy rimmed spectacles on the Ports 1961 runway, marking the launch of the brands own line. It seemed two shapes were being proposed, the main being a rounded square frame that gave an architect meets nerd effect. Contrasting, however, the clothing collection was anything but nerdy [...] 2012-01-17 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-17-diesel-black-gold-fw12-13-milan-review-123.html Diesel Black Gold is the rock'n'roll imprint of Diesel's wider empire that was founded in 1978 by one of the biggest entrepreneurs in international fashion, Italian Renzo Rosso.  Suits and biker jackets is the flippant way to sum up the collection but a more considered reaction would be [...] 2012-01-17 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-17-giorgio-armani-fw12-13-mens-milan-review-124.html So much to discuss, what to talk about first? The trousers in the opening looks were baggy and tucked into high-top, leather laced boots (a key trend from Milan this season) while three pleats fell from each side of the waist giving an aviator silhouette that feels quite edgy; I didn't expect to be [...] 2012-01-17 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-versace-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-120.html Ladies and gentlemen, the Versace army. At some point last year Donatella was clearly planning a government coup just incase things with Berlusconi or his successor didn't work out. Her planned divisions comprised of camp paratroopers, biker-boys, generals in pyjamas, spies, snow-troopers and [...] 2012-01-16 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-gazzarini-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-119.html One thing is safe to say – Gazzarini made some bold moves. Experimental lengths, widths and shades took the more conservative members of the audience aback – yet managed to offer a mix of wearable and statement pieces. The show kicked off with subtle touches of eccentricity: a seemingly quiet [...] 2012-01-16 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-umit-benan-fw12-13-milan-review-129.html A soldier's uniform is the genesis of the suit that we recognize today as the staple of a man's wardrobe. The suit/uniform has been the leitmotiv of this fall winter menswear season and in the case of Umit Benan, a ​​subtle and fervent sensibility made an appearance as well. Maintaining [...] 2012-01-16 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-canali-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-118.html Canali kicked off with a Talented Mr. Ripley type chic: impeccable side-parting, gold-framed glasses, 1950s pinstripe suits, cashmere scarf in mustard or deep red. This energy continued with double-breasted coats, silk handkerchief poking out of top pockets. Taupe velvet frock coats paired [...] 2012-01-16 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-z-zegna-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-117.html Zegna’s show kicked off with a house classic: a three button suit jacket, pleated tapered trousers, brown leather loafers. Chic, a tad retro but very wearable. There were a few more solid suits to follow – the brand’s trademark, let's not forget — but these didn’t dominate the [...] 2012-01-16 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-gucci-mens-fw12-12-milan-review-116.html Menswear FW12/13, where Gucci's creative director Frida Giannini essentially claims an entire colour for her men. If this week Jil Sander chose black, Prada red, Emporio Armani navy blue then Gucci took dark bottle-green. It was the colour of the carpet, the colour of the entire opening section of [...] 2012-01-16 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-iceberg-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-112.html Iceberg tipped its hat to the Artful Dodger today. Transported from the gutters of Victorian London to a more sophisticated fashion world, Charles Dickens character was swathed in soft knits and cotton flannels. First steps on the runway opened with a pepper, maxi knit matched with braces and [...] 2012-01-16 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-16-dirk-bikkembergs-sport-couture-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-111.html Dirk Bikkembergs, one of the original 'Antwerp six' graduate designers (alongside Anne Demeulemeester, Walter Van Bierendonck and Dries Van Noten) has since created a brand known for its ability to mix high fashion with the universe of football. Today however he flooded the catwalk with a series of [...] 2012-01-16 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-calvin-klein-collection-mens-fw-12-13-milan-review-109.html A demonstration in casual excellence, the Calvin Klein Collection was sporty and laddy and presented that genre of stylish masculinity that’s understood so well by icons like Liam Gallagher, David Beckham or Thierry Henry. All collars were sky-high, duffle coats were a statement (via the baggy [...] 2012-01-15 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-moncler-gamme-bleu-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-107.html The puffa jacket and its many modern permutations is appearing everywhere on the Milan runways this season, its a classic that's crying out for a strong redesign and Moncler is one of the brands to take on the challenge. Today’s Gamme Bleu show is likely to inject plenty more quilt into urban [...] 2012-01-15 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-prada-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-113.html Miuccia's neo dandyism of the 30’s, inspired by the nineteenth-century man, Wilde, Brummell or Holmes? Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Gary Oldman, Emilie Hirsch, Alexandre Carril, Victor Carril, Garret Hedlund, Jamie Bell and [...] 2012-01-15 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-trussardi-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-108.html After presenting an Annie Hall inspired collection for his first womenswear collection, Trussardi’s new star designer Umit Benan stuck to flawless 70s chic for the menswear too, inspired by racing car driver and style icon Jackie Stewart. Flares, mustaches and sheepskin jackets opened the show, [...] 2012-01-15 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-vivienne-westwood-man-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-110.html Queen Viv and husband Andreas Kronthaler, who heads the men’s division of Westwood, delivered a collection of forty incredibly accessible looks this season. Gents, if you’ve always wanted to wear Westwood but found it difficult to find your way to the brand then this is the year for you. The [...] 2012-01-15 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-pringle-of-scotland-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-105.html Pringle, the label that gave birth to the Scottish knitwear industry, came to Milan to prove one thing: despite its archaic past (1815) it is still more than capable of reinventing itself. For Autumn/Winter 2012 the audience was faced with wave upon wave of bold colors; beiges, yellows, reds, [...] 2012-01-15 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-salvatore-ferragamo-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-104.html The Italian fashion institution that is Salvatore Ferragamo was on top form yet again. For next winter the house, under the gaze of the exceptionally talented Massimiliano Giornetti, has prepared a collection that goes beyond its usual class. Unbelievably slick is what came to mind as the models [...] 2012-01-15 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-ermanno-scervino-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-103.html After ten years of soaking up the fashion world like a sponge, since the launch of his own label back in 1999 Ermanno Scervino has continuously impressed his contemporaries with his innovate and free-spirited creations. Menswear Autumn/Winter 2012 was no exception. Opening the catwalk came a [...] 2012-01-15 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-15-emporio-armani-fw12-13-milan-review-106.html Why run when you can walk? Why walk when you can glide… The Emporio Armani man was in no rush this morning. If time is money then this guy exudes this equation demonstrated by the measured pace at which the models walked, allowing all eyes to take in an abundance of sporty detailing on a spectrum [...] 2012-01-15 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-14-neil-barrett-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-102.html This season, Neil Barrett merged sportswear and tailoring, bringing sleekness to one and elasticity to the other. The show kicked off with a duffle coat inspired jacket and a notable, oversized lambskin lining. This was followed by a quilted sports jacket worn with a finely knit turtle neck and [...] 2012-01-14 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-14-burberry-prorsum-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-101.html Almost goes without saying (but it warrants a repeat) Christopher Bailey is on fire right now. If last seasons African embroidery and artisanship was too cray-cray for some then this collection was a more civilized version of that; the ideas explored last season were continued in a more commercial [...] 2012-01-14 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-14-frankie-morello-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-100.html Never boring, Frankie Morello, a design partnership between Maurizio Modica and Pierfrancesco Gigliotti that began in 1999, is the wildcard in the Italian pack when it comes to Milan mens fashion week. True to form, the first looks out of the gate were suits encrusted with spikes while a two-man [...] 2012-01-14 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-14-jil-sander-mens-fw12-13-milan-review-99.html Even before the Jil Sander show began, held at the headquarters in Milan, a sense of artistic vision was conjured by the floor-to-ceiling black room broken only by one solitary white door that was covered in graffiti. The sound of a clock ticked and the first model burst dramatically through the [...] 2012-01-14 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-14-dolce-gabbana-mens-fw2012-milan-review-97.html A long black cape opened today’s Dolce&Gabbana show; worn with a three-piece suit, it suggested dark yet playful Dracula elegance for next winter. A recurring appearance of velvet lapels and waistcoats worn with white shirt and black ties brought a gothic nudge à la Brad Pitt in [...] 2012-01-14 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-14-costume-national-mens-aw12-milan--review-98.html ‘Bohemians and dreamers’ read the press release but what came down the runway were looks suited to professional circumstances and textures that were more about precise suiting and the future - the very latest in textile technology was demonstrated by Costume National today. Knitwear and leather [...] 2012-01-14 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2012-01-14-corneliani-mens-fw2012-milan-review-96.html Come Autumn/Winter 2012 today’s man will need to be taken much more seriously. He has an economic crisis to deal with and hence will need a wardrobe to match. This time around Corneliani sent its models down the runway in three waves of colour; gray, navy and black. With the use of this classic [...] 2012-01-14 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-12-12-acne-paris-studio-opening-celebration-review-95.html Tonight saw the much-anticipated opening of Acne’s second studio - not store.  Why the technical term of phrase? Because, true to the founder’s wishes, amongst the industrial walls of this former garage is the atmosphere of a creative working space, not a shop.  Let’s just [...] 2011-12-12 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-12-01-burberry-store-opening-celebration-review-94.html Celebrate the opening of the new Burberry store The British Ambassador to France, Sir Peter Westmacott along with Burberry Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey and British supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley are hosting an event to celebrate the opening of Burberry’s newest store at the [...] 2011-12-01 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-11-16-versace-for-h-m-review-93.html PARIS – Outside, hysteria is at its utmost. Inside, Emmanuelle Alt is placidly having a drink and a wander, while Ellen Von Unwerth is bouncing about in excitement. You’ve guessed it, it’s Paris’ Versace for H&M launch night. As expected, it’s synonymous for overdressed bloggers, [...] 2011-11-16 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-10-05-louis-vuitton-womens-ss2012-paris-review-92.html   Forget Louis Vuitton’s bondage-French maid number last season. As Marc Jacobs is rumored to be packing his bags for Christian Dior, his new collection seemed to wave goodbye to the vamp he had painstakingly constructed as the polar opposite to his own line. This show bore some [...] 2011-10-05 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-10-04-chanel-womens-ss2012-paris-review-91.html   Underwater life might be a theme de rigueur this season, but Karl Lagerfeld captured its graceful opalescence with adroitness.    In a Little Mermaid-esque décor, models marched down in an iridescent palette and skin-thin textures, all to the sound of Florence Welch [...] 2011-10-04 10:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-27-anthony-vaccarello-womens-ss12-paris-review-90.html And on the eighth day God created Karlie Kloss. Today the St.Louis model walked in a show so good it should have happened twice. The twenty-eight looks by new Paris based designer Anthony Vaccarello were visually riveting and thought provoking. How are the skin baring panels held together? Taut [...] 2011-09-27 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-27-chicca-lualdi-beequeen-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2012-milan-review-316.html The minimal and linear style warmed by the use of color, maintaining a contemporary and sophisticated approach. Geometries pursue pure and clean lines, as in the art of Mondrian, draws straight and perpendicular alternated , evolve now in micro-geometric prints, now in macro prints with isolated [...] 2011-09-27 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-26-roberto-cavalli-womens-ss12-milan-review-88.html Recently the collections of Roberto Cavalli have taken on a new interpretation of the brand's own sex appeal, but it’s like the gaudy gypsy of old is being pruned or pulled into line by a new gothic direction. Today bright hippy floral patterns on flowing materials were juxtaposed with [...] 2011-09-26 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-25-salvatore-ferragamo-womens-ss12-milan-review-89.html Fabulous darling. Sultry, steamy jungle prints lit up the Salvatore Ferragamo catwalk in a glamorous collection by creative designer Massimiliano Giornetti today. This charming Florentine began his career as an assistant to the men’s knitwear designer, rose to creative director of the men’s [...] 2011-09-25 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-24-jil-sander-womens-ss12-milan-review-87.html Raf Simons is just on another level. After todays show and if you like what he does at Jil Sander – the glacial Hitchcock heroine, the hypnotising obsession with clean lines, the seductive references to art – you’d have been thrilled by the purity of his vision with this collection, I [...] 2011-09-24 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-22-prada-womens-ss12-milan-review-86.html The mood board in the Prada design studio for the SS12 collection must have been a culture vulture’s delight. Where Céline’s AW11 collection took inspiration from cars, team Prada chose the same yet with their own twist today. Pastel shades from 1950s American diners took the lead on the [...] 2011-09-22 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-21-alberta-ferretti-womens-ss12-milan-review-84.html Peekaboo. Alberta Ferretti’s main collection exposed lines across the entire female body with sleek panels of chiffon giving texture to both the wearer and gazing eyes. That was the opening section of the show at least which moved briskly onto a section of jungle fauna print dresses then zipped [...] 2011-09-21 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-21-gucci-womens-ss12-milan-review-83.html Frida Giannini’s sartorial vision for the modern woman continues with clean lines reminiscent of 70s Yves Saint Laurent, embellishments inspired by art déco architecture and a baseline palette of black largely contrasted with shimmering gold and white. Bearing in mind the deep, rich tones of the [...] 2011-09-21 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-19-burberry-prorsum-womens-ss12-london-review-85.html The SS12 menswear collection by Burberry Prorsum caused fierce debate amongst fashion lovers. The raffia, the pom-pom hats, the beaded collars, in short, the inspirational muse of African craftsmanship was disorientating for many. Hurrah then for Christopher Bailey and his team who took the [...] 2011-09-19 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-18-paul-smith-womens-ss12-london-review-81.html Damn girl, you’re sexy. Today’s Paul Smith female is the woman that a lot of straight men dream about and from the clothes, it’s clear that Smith adores his muse too which isn’t always a prerequisite for a designer. It’s easy to imagine Clémence Poésy, Cécile [...] 2011-09-18 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-17-jaegar-womens-ss12-london-review-80.html Nothing evokes summer like thick cotton and broderie Anglaise. Designer Stuart Stockdale delivered a surprise opening gambit for London Fashion Week with a genteel, feminine, eye-catching show that was given an upright feel with the addition of light tailoring matched with wide, flat rimmed Spanish [...] 2011-09-17 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-15-calvin-klein-collection-womans-ss12-new-york-review-79.html This is one of those occasions where I wish I were friends with Azzedine Alaia, a couturier of course but also somebody who’s passionate about the history of fashion and how it’s developed from a structural point of view and could give an informed commentary on the finer details in the build of [...] 2011-09-15 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-14-philosophy-womens-ss12-new-york-review-78.html Always romantic with an undeniably Italian touch (some of the stronger dresses in this collection just oozed the sultry Italian movie heroines of the 1930’s) Alberta Ferretti presented a collection that could be received as the odd one out during this New York fashion week. Where everyone else [...] 2011-09-14 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-14-jeremy-scott-womens-ss12-new-york-review-77.html What’s up hillbilly?! It was as if Jeremy Scott had imagined Elly May Clampett firing cap guns throughout Warhol’s factory this season for a collection that began with sun-bleached denim and moved onto cheeky chaps and lewd cactus prints. His camp and colourful humour ran all over the runway, [...] 2011-09-14 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-14-michael-kors-womens-ss12-new-york-review-76.html Last season Michael Kors celebrated thirty years in fashion with a very polished, non fussy demonstration of haut gamme American chic replete with luxurious materials. This season Kors whisked us off to Africa via colours of scorched earth: sienna, paprika, saffron alongside camo green, animal [...] 2011-09-14 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-12-thom-browne-womens-ss12-new-york-review-75.html The king of kook, Thom Browne. Just as his clothes play with flaunting the norms, the women that this NY based designer evokes in his collections are worshipped for the same: the sexually ambiguous Marlene Deitrich chuffing a smoke, Zelda Fitzgerald on a mixed bag of meds and Liza Minnelli swinging [...] 2011-09-12 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-11-tommy-hilfiger-womens-ss12-new-york-review-74.html What a journey the Hilfiger brand has had. From the menswear line opening in 1984 and its soaring success that bookmarked in 2006 when the company was sold, onto where we are today, a brand that’s been recapturing attention spans for a couple of seasons. With Peter Som designing and stylist Karl [...] 2011-09-11 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-11-derek-lam-womens-ss12-new-york-review-73.html Who knew austerity could look so sexy and upbeat. I’m referring solely to the demure necklines deftly applied throughout the entire collection presented by Derek Lam. Cute buttoned up school collars, rectangular scoops on pinafores and neater than neat jewel necklines that graced the base of the [...] 2011-09-11 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-11-victoria-beckham-womens-ss12-new-york-review-72.html Simple, ladylike elegance was the key-note for the second show by Victoria Beckham whose polished collection will be adored by fans of the feminine yet professional feel that’s so now. Some may say deconstructed yet these pieces are carefully constructed. Here the female form is flattered without [...] 2011-09-11 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-10-alexander-wang-womens-ss12-new-york--review-70.html The language of technical sportswear is blooming on the catwalks, blended with futuristic lines that flatter and design details that lengthen limbs. Wang proposed a fantastic example of exactly this. Looks played with cotton netting and ski influences using modern materials that doubtlessly work [...] 2011-09-10 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-10-helmut-lang-womens-ss12-new-york-review-69.html A first for the reasonably recent reincarnation of the Helmut Lang clothing brand. Husband and wife design duo Nicole and Michael Colovos, who joined the company as creative directors in 2006, presented a lithe collection for the first ever outing on the New York catwalk for Helmut Lang….post [...] 2011-09-10 13:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-09-10-prabal-gurung-womens-ss12-new-york--review-71.html Well, we’re a long way from the SS11 collection by Prabal Gurung. Where this summer sun-bright colour blocking lit up Gurung’s rails, next summer this new designer (SS12 is just his sixth season) proposes dark violet with forms born from manipulated nature. A discussion across the female form [...] 2011-09-10 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-07-19-live-editorial-looks-listed-in-full-make-up-added--review-68.html As all the energy from backstage and on-set are captured, you can watch the A-Z of a fashion shoot and interact live with the team. LOOK 1 Top: Dusan Skirt: Rue du Mail Shoes: Rad Hourani Socks: Wolford Rings: Bernard Delettrez LOOK 2 Top: Mugler Underwear and Fishnet [...] 2011-07-19 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-07-06-jean-paul-gaultier-couture-fw11-12-paris--review-67.html Haute couture is the opera of fashion. The emotions are quite simply bigger. Why? It’s the scope of the clothes. It’s the one arena where designers with the aid of hundreds of specialised workers reach for those crystalled/sequined/encrusted stars. Skirts are bigger, shoulders are bigger and [...] 2011-07-06 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-07-06-elie-saab-couture-fw11-12-paris--review-66.html Elie Saab scored a tangibly emotional note amongst the female viewers who attended this couture show, the two women sitting next to me were certainly dabbing mist from their eyes. From the moment Anja Rubik opened, wearing a slim cut, backless and floor sweeping dress made from powdered, light blue [...] 2011-07-06 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-07-05-givenchy-couture-fw11-12-paris--review-65.html From the Givenchy Couture Studio:     "Riccardo Tisci brings Haute Couture into a new territory in which a heavenly harmony is as rich as it is elaborate. Angels meet birds of paradise to deliver an ethereal collection. A feeling of lightness gives life to the epitome of [...] 2011-07-05 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-07-05-alexandre-vauthier-couture-fw11-12-paris--review-64.html INTERVIEW | If Alexandre Vauthier is something of a David on the couture calendar (he was amongst the newly invited designers this season) then the Vauthier woman is emerging as a Goliath. The creative vision of this young couturier is to send intergalactic glamazonian women down the runway and the [...] 2011-07-05 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-07-04-bouchra-jarrar-couture-fw11-12-paris--review-62.html The minimalists couturier. At forty years of age Bouchra Jarrer is a young French designer who, after working as the studio director and right-hand woman to Nicolas Ghesquiére at Balenciaga before opening her own maison de couture three seasons ago, is winning fans with her signature touches. [...] 2011-07-04 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-07-04-jantaminiau-couture-fw11-12-paris--review-63.html INTERVIEW | Welcome to the curious world of Dutch couturier Jantaminiau. Instead of interpreting his unique vision through our own words we caught up with the designer straight after his show to hear what he had to say: Now Fashion: Hello, what an extraordinary show Jantaminiau: [...] 2011-07-04 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-25-ann-demeulemeester-ss12-mens-paris--review-61.html Ann Demeulemeester’s menswear collection was framed by songs by Nico whose most admired album is titled Desert Shore. As the voice of German singer and Warhol superstar Nico rang through Demeulemeester’s large venue, her models walked steadily over golden sand wearing black and worn hues. The [...] 2011-06-25 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-24-givenchy-mens-ss12-paris--review-60.html Riccardo Tisci plays with traditional perceptions of luxury and ice-cool masculinity like no other and has created his own language and era in the continuing story of Givenchy. In his hands street wear and Latino gang style turns deluxe and today’s collection will doubtlessly be snapped up. The [...] 2011-06-24 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-22-mugler-ss12-mens-paris--review-56.html This, the second menswear collection for Mugler by creative director Nicola Formichetti and designer Romain Kremer showed a partnership that’s beginning to take form. Something is started to peek through. They married the club kid (which they both were and arguably still are) via pastel neons, [...] 2011-06-22 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-20-versace-mens-ss12-milan--review-57.html Hello Miami. Versace presented a collection that was colourful and retro (ie. rifled through the history of the house) yet took us onto the near future with some nifty details redesigned. Zipping around in Donatella’s time machine is the best fun. Today, all the bon-bon colours of art deco Miami [...] 2011-06-20 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-19-vivienne-westwood-man-mens-ss12-milan--review-59.html The Vivienne Westwood MAN show reminded all of the big event that will be happening in London in the summer of 2012: the olympics. The Olympic flame, a gathering of gold medals and a dance of Grecian olympiads appeared as prints on t-shirts while models heads were adorned with laurel wreaths. [...] 2011-06-19 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-18-burberry-prorsum-mens-ss12-milan--review-54.html Brixton dandy sprung to mind when the Burberry Prorsum show got underway and afterwards, lots of reminiscing about the incredibly rich, colourful street fashions worn by the young blades of Jamaican and Afro-Caribbean descent during the 70s and 80s in the South London district began. It was hard to [...] 2011-06-18 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-18-frankie-morello-mens-ss12-milan--review-53.html A variation on culottes was one of the key ideas presented by Italian design duo Maurizio Modica and Pierfrancesco Gigliotti for SS12 and it came in blue denim, tangerine, beige and corn blue, colours that stretched across the entire collection. If the SS11 collection was all about camping it up on [...] 2011-06-18 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-18-dolce-gabbana-mens-ss12-milan--review-52.html Oh the delicious humour of hearing the very tongue-in-cheek ode to damsel’s in distress from Kill Bill 2 as Dolce & Gabbana’s city superheroes and workmen saviours leisurely carved open the catwalk like knives through a ripe peach. It was like seeing tens of Clark Kent’s wearing mirrored [...] 2011-06-18 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-18-costume-national-mens-ss12-milan--review-51.html Designer and co-founder of Costume National, Ennio Capasa delivered a modern, minimal and urbane take on the Teddy Boy this season with multi-permutations of two-tone, pointy brothel creepers worn by every model that padded across the runway. Trousers came in two themes: low slung, panel fastened [...] 2011-06-18 12:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-06-18-corneliani-mens-ss12-milan-review-50.html There’s a fluidity to the Corneliani cut and silhouette, as if the Corneliani man moves through any territory or situation with ease. His clothes, whose roots lie in traditional Italian tailoring, are laid back yet precise and always made from luxurious fabrics and textiles. Wide notched lapels [...] 2011-06-18 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-06-givenchy-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-49.html Cats in hats and violent violets at Givenchy. The dead of night was portrayed on the catwalk as the gleaming eyes of panthers glared from black pencil skirts, mohair jumpers and collarless jackets. Wreaths of flowering iris encircled faces of the growling predators or, boom, out of nowhere Betty [...] 2011-03-06 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-06-hermes-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-48.html The oasis in the storm. Cutting to the chase, Hermès just has a different character to the other luxury brands. It doesn’t attract custom by ceaselessly shoveling cash into the huge, arguably exhausting, arguably irritating engine of the modern caste system - celebrities - but rather invites [...] 2011-03-06 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-05-sonia-rykiel-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-47.html Sonia Rykiel infused her runway presentation with warmth and good humour. Her models stopped to chat and smile as they walked through a stage set made of metal fencing and artily placed neon strip lighting. For fans of Rykiel clothing, her familiar flourishes were present: the strong colours, bows, [...] 2011-03-05 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-04-vivienne-westwood-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-44.html All hail Viv’s barmy army for they are veritable Boudica's in pinstripe and taffeta! For the Gold Label pret-a-porter show, models wore army helmets, feathered safari hats and one walked reading, we suspect, Vivienne Westwood’s manifesto. Emerging from all of this was the Westwood goddess. Her [...] 2011-03-04 18:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-04-maison-martin-margiela-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-46.html More often than not, I’m tipped off to the presence of a Margiela store on a Parisian street by the interesting women who begin crossing my path. If Maison Martin Margiela catwalk shows are a little confusing, it doesn’t matter on the shop floor because the kind of woman I see browsing MMM can [...] 2011-03-04 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-04-christian-dior-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-45.html Stand and deliver. Eighteenth century dandy highwaymen and louche libertines were the theme for the autumn/winter season of womenswear at Dior held at la Musée Rodin. Buckled platform boots laced all the way up to the knee and folded at the thigh. Little caped jackets kicked out from the breast [...] 2011-03-04 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-03-rick-owens-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-43.html Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal meets high luxury. Rick Owens delivered a wonderful surprise this season by unearthing another face of romance from his gothic aesthetic. Models wore knitted cowls or mink wimples that proposed a beautiful, precise way of framing perfect maquillage for women [...] 2011-03-03 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-03-balenciaga-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-42.html The king of technical fabrics and directional ideas in fashion, Nicolas Ghesquiére and the Balenciaga team presented thirty-four looks that both awakened the eye and curiosity about textures used.  A tough looking leather maxi-plat, first in a bomber jacket shape then gilet then scarf come [...] 2011-03-03 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-02-gareth-pugh-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-41.html A shiver of excitement went through the crowd as the opening chords of Kylie’s Confide In Me accompanied a wall of gold flashing lights at the end of the dark catwalk. What did it mean for the clothes? What was Pugh about to send down the catwalk? What transpired as the collection filed down the [...] 2011-03-02 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-02-dries-van-noten-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-40.html A triumph. At todays Dries Van Noten show the audience witnessed a collection that was really quite moving. The language of DVN is relaxed, adult sophistication with tailoring; the style with which this was married to elements that are pop ie. clashing prints, psychedelic patterns and zany bobby [...] 2011-03-02 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-03-01-thimister-womens-aw11-12-paris--review-39.html A much anticipated show, Dutch designer Josephus Thimister drew a large crowd to mark his formal return to pret-a-porter. Thimister was the creative director of Balenciaga before Nicolas Ghesquiére was appointed in 1996. Ironically, on a day that was overshadowed by the news of John [...] 2011-03-01 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-26-jil-sander-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-37.html A gentle masterclass in architectural lines that accentuate and play with the human form. And incase the clothes didn’t already speak their own identity, Raf Simons the creative director of Jil Sander also chose one of his favourite film composers, Bernard Herrman, to soundtrack a portion of the [...] 2011-02-26 15:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-26-bottega-veneta-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-38.html Spray-painted lace, frayed hems and a run of different textures achieved by artisanal techniques (including tea staining) appeared on the catwalk for what feels like a conceptual collection by Italian luxury house Bottega Veneta. Model Karolina Kurkova opened the show wearing a voluminous, [...] 2011-02-26 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-25-versace-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-36.html A surprise from Donatella Versace. Not a volta faccia but still, as the tendrils of Versace’s flowering vine print curved up the hips and across the hearts of the models dresses with buds on the cusp of blooming, the effect was gentle. With the preferred models of our time generally chosen for [...] 2011-02-25 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-25-gianfranco-ferre-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-35.html A very minimal ‘less is more’ collection of chic daywear by the design duo Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi who began as creative directors at the Italian fashion house in 2009 following the passing of Gianfranco Ferré in 2007.  All fastenings were hidden and any straps were more [...] 2011-02-25 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-25-moschino-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-34.html Genteel and blithe, the models in this catwalk show could have been the all female movie cast of an Italian comedy of manners set on an upper class country estate entirely wardrobed by Moschino. Oh what a film that would be! All that was missing here was the suave figure of Mastroianni who starred [...] 2011-02-25 09:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-24-prada-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-33.html Astonishing. Never in our lives could we have anticipated wanting a plastic goldfish dress topped with a fake fur Dandelion helmet bottomed by suede and python knee high boots. It all sounds completely implausible. Yet, while the voice of Ingmar Bergman prefaced singing by Greta Garbo and the [...] 2011-02-24 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-24-fendi-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-32.html There was something quite Saturday afternoon about this seasons Fendi woman. As the up-market pop out to the market just to get some bits, she throws on a fur coat over cashmere track pants. Or, browsing antique shops, she’s all comfy picking out furniture wearing woolly ribbed tights and slacks [...] 2011-02-24 11:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-23-alberta-ferretti-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-31.html Design, outer-space and the future are like the three graces in culture, eternally entwined. For fashion designers caught between the body and the blank page, the notion of tomorrow and next are liberating muses. For Gareth Pugh, the future contains horror but we’ll see the beauty in it. For [...] 2011-02-23 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-23-gucci-womens-aw11-12-milan--review-30.html Frida Giannini debuted her first ready-to-wear clothing collection for Gucci in spring/summer 2005. Today and right from the very first look on the runway, model Natasha Poly wearing a striking teal and grey silhouette, it was clear that Frida Giannini’s newly found, winning stride at Gucci [...] 2011-02-23 14:45:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-17-calvin-klein-collection-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-26.html It was all about the silhouette and textures at Calvin Klein this afternoon. Minimal? Affirmative. Latté colours? Roger that. The skirts were A-line and a sculpted jacket sleeve peeped out here and there. The design was womanly, austere even with flat-plats being the shoe of the show. None of the [...] 2011-02-17 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-16-proenza-schouler-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-27.html In the 90s lots of British rave apparel took inspiration from American Indian blankets but it was all very baggy and unstructured with hoodies and rucksacks built for all-night, outdoor parties. How nice was it then to see this theme return in an entirely different context, the ultra modern, urbane [...] 2011-02-16 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-16-3-1-phillip-lim-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-29.html We love a culotte. And a Chola! But it has to be said, amongst this collection reportedly part inspired by Mexican and Japanese gangs, we saw nothing that reminded us of our favourite lip-lined Hispanic ladeez. Never mind, Phillip Lim kept our eyes occupied with a front-pleated trouser that came in [...] 2011-02-16 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-16-jeremy-scott-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-25.html Kerpowowowow! In the world of fashion Jeremy Scott is the king of pop and hurrah for him because this collection, titled 'Candy Flip', jolted us right out of our seats from the very first photo – we knew he would, we wanted him to and he didn’t disappoint. We haven’t felt like this since oh, [...] 2011-02-16 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-16-michael-kors-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-28.html Michael Kors celebrated his 30th anniversary in fashion by sending out sixty-three (the record for this season in New York?) wonderful looks of polished American elegance that took its cue from disco but nevertheless felt timeless. Each look was one colour or monochrome and it was an [...] 2011-02-16 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-15-herve-leger-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-24.html Husband and wife team Max and Lubov Azria have designed the Hervé Léger line since its relaunch in early 2007 (AW08/09) and you’ve got to give it to them, they not only understand the DNA of the brand but keep us interested. Hervé Léger equals the bandage dress that was so va-va voom in [...] 2011-02-15 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-15-rodarte-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-23.html Always a delight to watch, the Rodarte show is amongst the most warmly anticipated of each New York fashion week. Inspired by the American Prairies, Kate and Laura Mulleavy's new, incredibly romantic collection featured lots of day-dream invoking colours such as ‘dawn wheat’, ‘dusk wheat’ [...] 2011-02-15 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-14-marc-jacobs-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-20.html Well I don’t know about you but I love an aggressive polkadot. But first, walking through a set that resembled a luxurious padded cell (a couture asylum? Can we go there?) every one of Marc Jacobs’ models walked with one direction tonight: fierce. As they marched, following a clear, broken road [...] 2011-02-14 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-14-thom-browne-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-22.html American designer Thom Browne has become famous for mise en scéne when it comes his fashion shows, nobody ever knows what to expect. During Paris mensweek in January he presented models, all resembling Johnny Depp’s madhatter, standing eerily around a decadent dinner table. On February 13 in New [...] 2011-02-14 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-14-carolina-herrera-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-21.html Walking to atmospheric, down-tempo electronic music, rising model Arizona Muse opened the Carolina Herrera AW11/12 show with grace, wearing a slate grey, felt wool dress coat with deep Claret velvet belt. Herrera, the Venezuelan born designer who rose to fame in the 70s and 80s (she opened her New [...] 2011-02-14 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-13-tommy-hilfiger-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-19.html A solid collection by Tommy Hilfiger where feminine tailoring met romantic 70s rock chic. Anita Pallenberg meets Al Capone if you will. Grey marl, double-breasted suits (with added pocket handkerchief's to add splashes of colour) opened the show followed by multiple versions, a long coat and a [...] 2011-02-13 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-13-derek-lam-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-18.html The Derek Lam woman is classy, cultured and a little different. How perfect then that the theme tune to I Am Love, the Oscar nominated Italian film starring Tilda Swinton should soundtrack Lam’s entire show. As the chimes of John Adams’ orchestral theme filled the venue, all of the Jil Sander [...] 2011-02-13 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-12-altuzarra-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-17.html There was something kind of college campus about this collection. Not the uptight, ironed, preppy look, there was none of that but the slightly cooler college vibe; kids who dig grunge, Brit-pop, jump around to punk and wear a flowing printed dress under a moochy Parka coat to fend off the winds. [...] 2011-02-12 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-12-alexander-wang-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-16.html ‘Strong and fast’ were Wang’s backstage directions to his models. Sure enough, as if charging through freezing elements, Alexander Wang’s ladies sped across a geometrically laid walkway to the purposeful beats of The Prodigy’s Breathe and tough woop-woop siren’s of Nicki Minaj, Did It [...] 2011-02-12 17:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-12-prabal-gurung-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-15.html The second collection to catch our eye during #NYFW, we delved into the history of Mr. Garung and unearthed more treasure. Raised in Kathmandu, Nepal, Garung’s fashion career began in New Delhi, India where he worked with Manish Arora who’s just been named creative director of Paco Rabanne. [...] 2011-02-12 12:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-11-jason-wu-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-14.html A chic, monochrome collection by twenty-nine year old Jason Wu. Based in Manhattan, Wu is famous for designing the inauguration gown of Michelle Obama however in fashion, he’s one of the more interesting talents to show during New York Fashion Week. Having won the Fashion Fund Rising Star Award [...] 2011-02-11 13:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-02-10-victor-de-souza-womens-aw11-12-new-york--review-13.html Argentinian by birth and a couturier by training, Victor de Souza produced his very first collection at just eighteen years old and debuted at Paris fashion week in 2002. Since launching his own, American label in 2009 (he was previously creative director at Ruskin), VDS is known for applying [...] 2011-02-10 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-26-jean-paul-gaultier-haute-couture-ss11--review-10.html Glorious. Today, Jean Paul Gaultier delivered an haute couture collection of substance that felt like a dream, ending with a finale that will go down as a landmark in Andrej Pejic’s young modelling career. The impossibly elegant voice of Madame Catherine Deneuve introduced each of the forty-seven [...] 2011-01-26 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-26-on-aura-tout-vu-flying-dreams-couture-ss11--review-11.html show notes: Lily-white doves vanish in the skies towards radiant horizons in a flood of magical euphoria. Rebel Amazons dressed in ethereal laces whirl around in a never-ending dream. Their secret wish is to recover the fairy tree of comets that will bring them closer to the sun. In this [...] 2011-01-26 10:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-24-alexandre-vauthier-couture-ss11--review-1.html Alexandre Vauthier, the young French haute couturier has begun to gather quite the cult following amongst fans of all ages. There’s something about his sartorial brew makes haute couture feel now, connected to the pop cultural zeitgeist and thus incredibly alive. It's no wonder then [...] 2011-01-24 17:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-23-paul-smith-menswear-aw11-12-paris--review-12.html Cosmic rock met space travel in a strong show that immediately plugged us right back into Smith’s continuing and very pleasurable odyssey through rock’n’roll. Show notes acknowledged an homage to the spirit of Captain Beefheart and the first models walked to Pink Floyd’s One Of These Days. [...] 2011-01-23 16:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-22-petar-petrov-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-9.html Independent designer Petar Petrov makes wearable, casual mens clothing with high-end materials. Described by Petrov as "our typically easy-going, boyish ideal with a real sense of sophisticated luxury", his clothes are indeed young in spirit and have that pared down architectural vibe that [...] 2011-01-22 18:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-21-walter-van-bierendonck-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-4.html Fierce pastels! Following his SS11 defilé that was a visual delight of clashing, cotton plaid prints, Belgian designer Walter Van Bierendonck continues his always fun, always colourful, always creative vision with a collection named 'Hand On Heart'. One after another, tall French models, all of [...] 2011-01-21 14:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-21-gustavo-lins-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-6.html A strong collection with a clear line of thought throughout, Gustavo Lins, who began his own line of clothing in 2003, is one of the independent Paris based designers worth checking. His training in architecture is evident in this collection that's extremely wearable. In the show notes Lins [...] 2011-01-21 11:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-20-yohji-yamamoto-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-3.html A collection that deftly touched centuries and brushed decades: Victoriana met the future by pairing thick wool gabardine suits, chained waistcoats and white cotton shirts (band collars, wing collars, crisp buttoned down collars) with up to the minute trainer technology. A palette of greys, [...] 2011-01-20 20:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-20-dries-van-noten-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-5.html Adorning lapels or a dash across collars, Dries Van Noten’s AW11/12 show was unified by splashes of white on a collection that moved through a palette of navy and dark browns. At the show, over sized overcoats and baggy trousers seemed to dominate but in fact, on revisiting the collection [...] 2011-01-20 19:00:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-20-jean-paul-gaultier-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-8.html Entitled "James Blonde", JPG's incredibly entertaining show delivered exactly that in two parts, prefaced by acrobatic ninja's that somersaulted across the raised catwalk. First, walking to composer John Barry's theme tune to the Bond series, came a tall, classically handsome model in a black [...] 2011-01-20 16:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-20-louis-vuitton-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-7.html If rumours are to be believed, changes are afoot in the menswear design team at Louis Vuitton but let's wait for the luxury brand to make its own announcement before calling it. A whopping forty-seven looks walked the long, dark runway where spotlights picked out the models who presented a [...] 2011-01-20 14:30:00 http://nowfashion.com/2011-01-19-thierry-mugler-mens-aw11-12-paris--review-2.html The debut defilé by newly appointed creative director Nicola Formichetti and menswear designer Romain Kremer for Thierry Mugler now shortened, simply, to Mugler. Entitled Anatomy Of Change the collection proposed pure wool suits, kid leather gloves and chiffon shirts mixed with latex jackets, [...] 2011-01-19 18:00:00