Quilted jackets are back in style this Fall/Winter, finally allowing you to stay warm and look great. Nevertheless, try to choose a style that is as streamlined as possible, so you don’t look like a marshmallow while keeping it casual and pair it with jeans and boots.
Jackets, left to right: Valentino, Rag & Bone, Paul Smith, Beanie: Saturdays Surf NYC, Shoes: Church’sStyling by Vanessa Cocchiaro
For over a decade, Carin Wester, the founder and designer of the eponymous brand, has pushed both her design limits as well as the norm of what has been considered ‘Swedish fashion’, becoming a symbol of progress and development for the whole local industry. At the beginning of the new millennium, a new generation of great designers were born in the until-then-uninspiring Swedish fashion industry. Among these was Carin Wester, who, after several years working as a designer for other brands, decided to create her own label which has grown over time to become on of the most recognized Swedish brands as well as one of the country’s most recognized international brands. Wester’s booming success has made her an exponent of the rapid development taking over the Swedish fashion industry in the last decade, with her designs capturing the clean yet experimental aesthetic that has come to represent the Swedish fashion today.
To celebrate her brand and long career in the industry, a couple of Carin Wester’s most iconic pieces from previous collections were once again produced as a ‘best of’ “10-years” collection. The collection gathers Wester favorites such as the fox tail pattern, printed on dresses and blouses, together with the perfect bomber jacket “Reva”. Significant for all her pieces are playful details, most visible in her choice of patterns, which welcome a deliberate comic influence and reaffirm Wester’s idea that should be fun. While Swedish fashion is often praised for its minimalism, Carin Wester shows a less serious side with unexpected details, unique cuts or fun prints that re-present the local fashion as clean and simple, but never boring.
As the year 2015 begins, it is natural to wonder what it might bring. The fashion debate of the year may very well be John Galliano’s return to the industry, as he gets ready to take over Maison Martin Margiela as its creative director. Surely, one of the most surprising choices of the year, Galliano’s return to the fashion world, and no less in charge of the controversial Belgian brand, might be the source of many curious fashion wonderings.
In the roaring Nineties, a dominating force of mass media reigned the public sphere and, in a dismissal of this culture, Martin Margiela embraced anonymity as a designer, for he was hardly ever photographed or interviewed. Instead, he decided that the collective “Maison Martin Margiela” would anonymously front the label. With the founder Martin Margiela’s departure from the brand in 2009, a new “faceless” group continued to generate its typically surreal collections. However, Masion Martin Margiela recently let their Haute Couture show bring the designer Matthieu Blazy out in the spotlight, in a calculated and smart media action – far from the brand’s origins – intended both as a farewell to the young talent (who subsequently apparently moved to Céline) and a clever showstopper which left people wondering about the maison’s future.
It is interesting that the brand shifted from a faceless designer to an infamous creative. After his fall from grace, John Galliano has much to prove, but also has little to lose and may therefore be the excellent vessel for the provocative creativity Maison Martin Margiela desires. Fashion, art and commerce travel hand in hand with this company dedicated to originality and surprise. Even though much can be said about Galliano’s personality, his work has often been provocative and fresh, and yet the question of ‘blending in’ will naturally haunt the designer and the label at least until the first collection is revealed. While having a very public face for the brand may become beneficial, its buzz value is only fictional and must be nurtured through time. Margiela’s determination to eliminate the public face of its design tea shifted the focus on the work itself, while it also brought a powerful blow to the illusion of an ‘almighty’ head designer being singlehandedly responsible for the success of a fashion house. In fact, Maison Martin Margiela proved what the power of collectivity really meant, but may now have fallen dependent to the trope itself.
After the departure of Nicolas Ghesquière from Balenciaga, Julien Dossena didn’t want to continue his job as a designer at the French brand, and quit after working there for four successful years. While the choice appeared difficult and even slightly risky, the 31-year-old Dossena was soon rewarded with a consultancy at the historic maison of Paco Rabanne, just a few weeks after his departure from Balenciaga. Paco Rabanne needed a new take on its iconic futuristic design which has been the house’s signature aesthetic approach since the 1960s and Julien Dossena’s innovative take on fashion seemed the right way to lead its future. In fact, Marc Puig, the brand’s CEO soon appointed Dossena as the new creative director.
Julien Dossena’s first collection at Paco Rabanne was a celebration of the house’s futuristic legacy with glossy leather dresses, metal mesh tops, and silver jeans as its high points. Dossena seams to always have had a special relation to the Paco Rabanne’s design, understood as a celebration of modernity and rebelliousness – an aesthetics that Dossena wants to develop in the brand’s new collections as well as adjusting it to the modern women of today. This is not an particularly easy task, but we believe Dossena has succeeded with it so far, by showing collections that combine modernity with influences from the brand’s rich history. A key to this fine balanced success are his thoughts about design in general and his new position in particular, as the designer believes in sci-fi and design as a way of creating a whole new world, something that Dossena says Paco Rabanne succeeded in back in the days, and that it is now time for him to do again. Determined to respect the brand’s history while offering bold innovation, who could be better to build on Rabanne’s legacy, than Dossena?
Prints are one of the main trends we recently saw on fashion runways, not only those for the last 2014-15 season, but for the past couple of years, too. From Andrea Pompilio’s contemporary approach, to avant-garde abstraction of Walter Van Beirendonck, up to Maison Valentino’s effortless elegance, prints are a bold highlight in current menswear.
Considered one of the most important creations in fashion history, textile printing was born as duplication of images. In Europe and India the act of printing clothing came before the one on paper. Until the seventeenth century, in fact, symbols and figures were usually printed on silk. The most interesting element in such an ancient phenomena, is the way designers combine the technique: we see medium-sized polka dots matched with narrow stripes, in Pompilio’s subtly ironic version. A different point of view came from Van Beirendonck, with optical prints meeting bright colors, skinny silhouettes and huge sneakers. Whether you look for classy style or a bit of pop extravaganza, prints are such a big tendency, you should not even try to escape from it.
Going home for the holidays can be stressful, especially when it comes to packing, as you want to look your best while visiting the folks and friends. Just remember, don’t go overboard – feeling comfortable is always the best option.
Beanie: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Coat: Miu Miu, Sweater: Proenza Schouler, Jeans: Paige, Boots: Roy Roger’s, Bag: MismoStyling by Vanessa Cocchiaro
If we had to define the work of Andrea Jiapei Li – a Beijing born, New York based design – in short, we would have to point out her use of structural garments and innovative materials. Yet, what gives true value to her creative output, are the meanings and messages hidden underneath layers of material. Although Andrea Jiapei Li studied at Parsons The New School for Design, one of the most important and innovative design schools, and held internships at 3.1 Phillip Lim, Diane von Furstenberg and Edun, her work rose to prominence when she was chosen among eight finalists of the H&M design award for 2015.
Her design aesthetics is characterized by a profound reflection on the meaning of design and the stories it can tell, as expressed, for example, in her latest collection “I am what I am”. The collection speaks about accepting individuality and who you are, both with literal prints, as well as through more subtle features present throughout the collection, with the knot-pieces reminding us of the importance of self-acceptance. Andrea Jiapei Li’s idea and ambition is larger than just making clothes: she is able to unite her design and technical knowledge with an understanding of society, to create not just pieces that are “right in time”, but collections that bring stories and messages to life.
Well, finally we can’t but say that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, which also applies to fashion. Whether it is cold outside or cozy by the fire, the trend that certainly has gotten a following is that of holiday sweaters. Yes, we are talking about knitted tops s adorned with a Christmas or winter design print. Be it a candy cane, reindeers or snowflakes, these ridiculous sweaters could be found during the holiday season since the 1950s, while their peaked in popularity in the 1990s. Often used in movies to portray a person’s “dorky side” – as Mark Darcy in the cult classic Bridget Jones’ Diary – the sweaters have recently returned to become a street style darling.
Wearing a piece of clothing previously categorized as lower class within the fashion social system, can be viewed as a direct result of the growing stand of individualism, reaffirming the rule that shows it does not matter what you wear, but how you wear it. Connecting the apparent superficiality of the fashion world to a global contexts, we could also speculate that a growing political insecurity calls for a reflection on better times such as our childhood, thus explaining why children of the 1980s/90s – now grown fashionistas – are trending these bulky sweaters. The trend seems fuse several other trends – such as retro and geek chic in combination with the love of the 1990s and folklore – which, over the past seasons, loosened up restrictions on the once dreaded “ugly Christmas sweaters”. Within fashion circles the sweater has been recognized as a key seasonal piece, re-made with less ostentatious color palates and less ‘themed’, by brands like Sonia Rykiel, Chanel and Dior Pre-fall 2015. Finally we can see designers updating the classic horror garment to high fashion standards, allowing us to proudly wear holiday sweaters both by the Christmas tree and on the runway.
A tuxedo is just a suit, but buying and wearing it strikes fear in a lot of men. Following some basic rules and a bit of beforehand research, helps this lifetime investment a lot more easy and smooth.
Jacket: Saint Laurent, Shoes: Paul Smith, Scarf: Haider Ackermann, Bow-tie: Hackett, Comb: D R HarrisStyling by Vanessa Cocchiaro
The British designer Christopher Raeburn’s self-titled brand has grown and established itself rapidly in the past five years, yet still continues to stay true to its key values, developing his approach and the formats of his production. A key feature of the brand is its view on sustainability, an idea which has grown from the beginning when Raeburn’s “Remades” were first introduced. The “Remades” series is a line of outdoor pieces, made of reclaimed fabrics and materials, used to create something new, innovative and modern.
The brand’s women and menswear lines are often based on the same sporty and military, functional and innovative aesthetics, which for the Spring 2015 season has been devolved into something slightly more refined. The womenswear collection introduced a new silhouette, color scheme and patterns, with a distinctive approach to material mixes and pattern constructions, as in the see-through shapes, combined with more structured materials. The menswear collection for Spring 2015 was also right in line with Christopher Raeburn’s characteristic design, and the theme for the collection as well as the show, was airplanes and the military. Those traditionally rough sources of inspiration were combined with more sporty, casual and modern influences that made the collection updated and innovative. The mix of materials which was seen in the womenswear collection was also represented in the menswear and the color scheme was, despite occasional splashes of orange, mostly the same. The idea about sharing the same elements and inspiration in the womenswear and menswear lines, combined with Christopher Raeburn’s view on sustainability represents his innovative and modern design, and makes the collections not just look modern but also structurally innovative.
