Paris Fashion Week: Spring 2013 RTW, part III

Saint Laurent

Needless to say, I suppose, that I was nervously waiting for this show to happen, just like so many people. It's only early in the morning as I sit here writing this. I looked carefully through the collection while a small part of me was still somewhere in the lingering dreams of the night before.

What a marvelous combination: the dreamy haze I'm in and the collection.

Pussybows, super slim trousers and loads of attitude and bohemian spirit. Thank you, yes please. (And I'm not even that big a fan of wide-brim hats, unless they are thrown on with the right kind of styling, that is.)

Oh my. The sort of dramatics I'm very into. The sort of american feel I like. I saw in these looks the sixties, the nineties. Women who really know what they want. Sex, definitely and while I tend to mostly steer away from things sexy (well, at least things so obviously and commercially sexy that keep popping out everywhere), surprise surprise: this was the sort of sexiness that speaks to me. 

I have a feeling I may not be the only one who feels this way, not alone in thinking that this collection will sell nicely. It's commercial. But I felt that nothing was sacrificed in the altar of commercialism. To me this collection also has a point to it, too, something meaningful in it that makes it stand up on it's own.

A tidbit about yours truly: I loved westerns as a kid. Still do. As a fan of Claudia Cardinale in Once Upon a Time in the West I had a smirk on my face as I kept on looking though the show. 

Oh, and those necklaces that strongly resembled spurs? Oh hell yes.

Another thing that delighted me was the absence of the peplum. I'm tired of seeing them everywhere to be honest with you, dear reader. There was not much of a trace of the Orientalism / Japonisme so very strongly present in countless of other shows either and that too pleased me. It was refreshing to see something else for a change.

"asdoinrnqpiubtt fgoiä !!!!!" was the reaction when I saw this particular look. The cape !!!! Oh my goodness.

I saw Mr. Saint Laurent's designs in the kind of elegance that was present in the looks Mr. Slimane sent down the runway. I think Hedi Slimane did a better job with this collection than Raf Simons over at Dior, were we to compare their works from the perspective of how their work suited the images of these two houses. Whether such a comparison is actually relevant or not, well, I don't necessarily think it is. There is so much uptightness in the fashion universe, such unnecessary seriousness. But now I'm wandering away from the actual topic at hand.

I liked the colours in the finale, they felt relevant as parts of the collection. And the westerny witchy vibe, it was done so well. Of course there was (at least to me) something slightly corny in this collection, but I liked that, too. It made the whole thing human.

With so many looks (66), there was bound to be some repetition, but even that didn't bother me as much as it could have done. The accessories were good and fit the mood perfectly.

How will I feel about the collection as a bit more time passes and the dreamy haze dissolves, that remains to see. But right now I'm most definitely charmed.

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Haider Ackermann

I may be repeating myself a bit here, but there's this one certain word that comes to mind when I think about this collection here. The word is structured, beautiful, big fat YES.

Haider Ackermann served my favourite take on the Japonisme. There were no gimmicks there, it was so pleasantly structured and lavish at the same time. A balance well achieved. Then add the impeccable use of colour and prints and one gets what to me is the best collection of Paris Fashion Week (so far).

Pure bliss. Nothing extra, everything has a point. Every line, every detail. The shoes were gorgeous, the belts   were used so well. It all made sense just so loudly. I don't know what to say, in all honesty. Have a look at a few of the finale looks:

It's been a while since I've seen sophistication look this cool.

All photos from www.style.com

There will be at least one more of these thingies where I babble on about collections that have caught my curiosity. Thank you for reading!

Paris Fashion Week: Spring 2013 RTW part I

This is it. My first ever "review" of shows from PFW. My first "review" of anything as a person who writes their thoughts publicly on their blog.

So, hello dear readers. I hereby warmly welcome you to read my coherent or incoherent thoughts looking at some of the shows (not all, just the ones that struck my interest for one reason or another) provoked in me. I look at these collections with an open mind in the sense that I may have not seen all the previous works of the designers. I may not be familiar with present directions the houses are going into. In fact, I may not have even heard of the designers before. Yet I shall daringly state my thoughts about these works of art and have no fear! Of course, most of the great minds behind the collection mentioned here are ones I know of. Some I even love. Anyway.

So, let us.

Chalayan

I'm starting with this particular show for mostly just one reason: feeling of love that bloomed while viewing said collection. If you read the post before this one, you've already learned about this sudden wave of feelings that struck such a chord with me that resonated somewhere deep and formed a basis for a new point of view growing in my mind. 

"And I don't even like sportswear!"

It's was around look 19 I was charmed and overcome with excitement. While a sworn couture-lover since I was a teenager, I've also had a certain fascination with minimalism in fashion. My grandmother (a huge fashion and style inspiration for me) has an arresting sense of minimalistic style. Watching her style herself with only black-and-white outfits that had clean lines and an almost architectural sense of form in them deeply affected me. Hussein Chalayan made me remember that adoration in me and I was sold.

The freshness. The youthful yet seemingly thoughtful and wise feel of this collection is really something wonderful. I found myself wondering how something so summery could be so much to my liking. 

One of my favourite looks. The tailoring really gets me, the length of the trousers is just right. Young. I strongly resist the oh-so-damn trendy way of idolizing youth this world is filled with. Ewh. I'm all for all ages, beauty or style has no boundaries and that goes for age as well, damnit. 

Young. The word sticks with me as I continue to view the collection. I want to grasp the very core of what "young" means in this particular case. Young and fresh and blablabla, yes. Boring. But also so true here. Something being young or youthful does not exclude being wise and good-tempered I suppose. There are times when boundaries are quite where it's good for them to be so that there may actually be no need to try and break them. Like here.

A feeling of being at ease. Things flowing in a way that's natural for them. Effortlessness.

BAM. And that's it. I'm in love. Yes please hello. Oh my.

Then we are presented with such beautiful thing of graphic glory I'm not sure if I can feel my legs any longer.

Harmony. Harmony and youthful tenderness set between just the right amount of structure and form and edge. But just as everywhere always, things are in a constant movement and things flow in their own natural pace, in their natural ways and it is a thing of great beauty to witness.

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Dior

Before venturing any forth, I want to say that my relationship with Dior is largely based on the love for Galliano's era. And then the original design greatnesses of Mr. Dior himself. And when I started to get interested in the happenings of the fashion world again, it was just around the time the world saw the fall 2012 couture collection of Raf Simons'.

I had mixed feelings about that one. Even after taking off my Galliano's aesthetics-adorning glasses and starting to look at the collection from a more objective point of view, I still couldn't quite make up my mind about it. And here I am again, left wondering what it is to me, this new collection. And I still can't make up my mind.

I can definitely understand Simons' take on the classics. It has it's own fascinating ways.  And the shoes, they have me hooked.

And now what? The electricity is of a magnificent sort, even. But, I really don't know other than that.

Wait, I think I do know after all: I do not like.

This one is one of my favourites. It moves, it's challenging, it's a brilliant mix of elements. And the colours, ah.

I'm completely lost again. The challenge feels almost pressuring and this makes no sense in my head. Even the shoes have got me lost somewhere. My mind is not broad enough for this, I think and continue forward feeling perplexed.

Getting warmer again. No, it's hot in fact and I'm on track. What a combination of colours. The proportions are beautiful, the electricity is there and it's working. Even the longer part of the hem I like. It works, it has a point.

"Who am I to say anything, it's Dior forchrissakes" I shout to myself in my mind, trying to please an entity I don't know. Desperation.

Can you hear the sound of it all just flying way over my head and fast at that? Because I can not yet I know it makes a terrible noise. 

Mr. Simons, are you trying to confuse me?

And that's it for the first part of many reviews to come. I am grateful for you, brave and beloved reader, for making it so far, for reading this babble. And even more so if you could make sense of this.

All photos from the same source: http://www.style.com