Louis Vuitton Fall 2020 Ready-To-Wear

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“I wanted to imagine what could happen if the past could look at us.”

Nicolas Ghesquière is the cohost of this May’s Met gala (since then cancelled) and Louis Vuitton is sponsoring the Costume Institute exhibition, “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” that the gala celebrates. Ghesquière took as his subject this season the exhibition’s theme: that fashion is a mirror of the present moment—but not any old mirror. At Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton, it’s a funhouse mirror in which eras, attitudes, and flashbacks intersect. And voilà: we flash forward.

This season Ghesquière enlisted the costume designer Milena Canonero, a frequent collaborator of Stanley Kubrick’s, to create a monumental backdrop of 200 choral singers, each one clothed in historical garb dating from the 15th century to 1950. It was a mammoth undertaking, and quite beautiful. “I wanted a group of characters that represent different countries, different cultures, different times,” Ghesquière explained beforehand. “I love this interaction between the people seated in the audience, the girls walking, and the past looking at them—these three visions mixed together.” The time-collapsing sensation was heightened by the fact that the song the chorus performed was a composition by Woodkid and Bryce Dessner based on the work of Nicolas de Grigny, a contemporary of Bach’s who never found fame.

Arguably, all of fashion is a synthesis of the past, but Ghesquière makes a closer study of it than most. He’s compelled by the anachronous. For spring 2018, he clashed 18th-century frock coats and the high-tech trainers of our contemporary period. Here, there was more in play: jewel-encrusted boleros met parachute pants, buoyant petticoats were paired with fitted tops whose designs looked cribbed from robotics, and bourgeois tailoring was layered over sports jerseys. Ghesquière seemed particularly taken with the visual codes of distance and speed—be it race-car driving, motocross, or space travel.

The biggest jolts came from the collection’s sporty parkas, because they tapped into the language of the street. Seventy years from now, or 600, in a tableau vivant of fashion, the early 21st century will be represented by these signifiers of our collective preference for the comforts and ease of performance wear. Ghesquière has long been applauded for his sci-fi projections into the unknown, but he’s just as resonant when he’s locked into the here and now.

We asked him what his hopes are for the future. “What I want is everyone to be safe,” he said. “This world can become a little more serene, that’s what I wish.”

Source: Vogue

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Heavenly Couture: The Met Gala's Holy theme for 2018

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For many, Vogue Magazine is a fashion bible so it seems only fitting that The Metropolitan Museum of Art's next big Costume Institute exhibit is titled, "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination."  While it may seem controversial for The Met to take on Catholicism, the theme has more to do with fashion design's interpretation of religion and its use of religious iconography within the world of style and couture.

Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who has worked closely with the Vatican on the exhibit had this to say about it: "The focus is on a shared hypothesis about what we call the Catholic imagination and the way it has engaged artists and designers and shaped their approach to creativity, as opposed to any kind of theology or sociology. Beauty has often been a bridge between believers and unbelievers.”

Mr. Bolton traveled to Rome eight times before the Vatican "signed off" on the exhibit. The Sistine Chapel sacristy Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff gave the "blessing" for this show to occur. They were receptive to the idea from the start but needed to be cautious and respectful of the Vatican garments that would be on loan to The Met, especially since some of the pieces are still in use by the Pope.

Along with Anna Wintour, Mr. and Mrs. Schwarzman, Donatella Versace, Amal Clooney and Rihanna will be the honorary chairs opening night of the Met Gala.

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Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Spring 2018 Menswear

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commes des garcons homme

"Just when the world went heavy, Rei Kawakubo lightened up. Unexpected, counterintuitive? What else would we expect of her? Just when the audiences at her exhibition line up to admire the great intellectual monuments of her storied career, she ups and does something young that makes everyone laugh." Vogue

Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Spring 2018 Menswear - See collection.

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KENDALL JENNER AND MARY J. BLIGE WEAR LA PERLA HAUTE COUTURE TO THE 2017 MET GALA

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Kendall Jenner and Mary J. Blige attend the 2017 Met Gala clad in two creations from the La Perla Haute Couture Collection designed by Creative Director Julia Haart. Jenner donned an all-over crystal draped gown in dégradé shades, complete with a barely-there painted macramé bodysuit. Blige debuted La Perla’s latest innovation: latex lace. The corseted column gown in stretch tulle, latex lace, and silk cady perfectly links La Perla’s lingerie heritage with its future in haute couture.

Created from 85,000 hand painted and placed crystals, Jenner’s La Perla gown is a culmination of over 160 hours of work, spanning 5 cities and 26 craftsmen. Each hand painted crystal is placed en dégradé, creating a flow of color from Diamond into Jet Hematite and finishing off in Jet Black.

“I was inspired by Rei Kawakubo’s concept of ‘un-fabric’ and her ability to create movement out of seemingly immobile materials. So, I created my own ‘un-fabric’ by affixing stones to a single thread, creating a beautiful and liquid suspension that mirrored the qualities of a fine silk.” – Julia Haart, La Perla Creative Director

Inspired by Rei Kawakubo’s concept of ‘un-fabric,’ Creative Director Julia Haart created hand-sculpted latex lace as the principal feature for Blige’s provocative column gown. Starting with a corset that features a built-in La Perla bra, the black stretch tulle is adorned with scalloped latex lace and hand-placed boning detail.

“I am so honored to be attending the Met Gala with the legendary Mary J. Blige. Her strength and femininity inspired me to create a gown that is both tough and feminine – strong and sexy.” – Julia Haart, La Perla Creative Director

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Met Gala: “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology”

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taylor swift co-chairs met gala

Anyone else thinking about the Met Gala?!

On Monday, May 2nd, the fashion world's biggest designers will gather to a celebrity packed house for the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala, more commonly known as the Met Gala - though there is nothing common about it.

The star-studded event, labeled as the Oscars of Fashion by Andre Leon Tally, will deliver a red carpet like no other. Who'll be the most creative, who will play it safe and which celebs will be show-stoppers?

This year's theme is “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” and the Costume Institute exhibition will feature more than 100 haute couture and ready-to-wear pieces.

Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute had this to say about the exhibit to Vogue: “Traditionally, the distinction between the haute couture and prêt-à-porter was based on the handmade and the machine-made... But recently this distinction has become increasingly blurred as both disciplines have embraced the practices and techniques of the other.”

This exclusive fashion party has a guest list of about 600 A-listers and quite the impressive chairing committee to include Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Jonathan Ive and Anna Wintour. Nicolas Ghesquière, Karl Lagerfeld, and Miuccia Prada will serve as honorary chairs.

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MET GALA 2015 Red Carpet Fashion

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"China: Through the Looking Glass" was the theme of the 2015 Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Met Gala. Some celebrities found the hidden tiger, while others couldn't see the crouching dragon and missed the mark all together. Thank you to Sarah Jessica Parker, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, among others, who "got it" and worked with the Met Gala theme to present a chic and creative interpretation. Some A-listers, not too comfy with pushing the gold-trimmed envelope, represented in a more subtle way by embracing Asian detailing such as patterns, sleeves or colors. And then you have the celebs that are too self-absorbed and in love with themselves and gave us the same old, tired red carpet bores. (Evidently) this year's must-have accessory is a fashion designer. Cher, Gaga, Kate Hudson, J.Lo and Katy Perry wore and dated their designer to the Met Gala. 

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Gabrielle Union in Zac Posen / Met Gala 2015

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gabrielle union zac posen met gala

Gabrielle Union was a vision in purple in a Zac Posen Fall-Winter 2015 Jersey and Bonded Crêpe at the 'China: Through The Looking Glass' Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York City.