VALENTINO COUTURE Spring 2013
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Valentino's
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli graced the Parisian runway this week with an exquisite couture collection. It took a reported 500 hours just to hand-roll the piping that embellished so many of the garments. Valentino presented an absolutely breath-taking collection. So incredibly, magical and beautiful were all the pieces which were heavily layered with organza, lace and embroidered with crystals. View Collection:
Thom Browne MEN Fall 2013
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The collision between sartorial interpretation with theatrical showmanship make a
Thom Browne
fashion show unforgettable. [And incredibly entertaining!] His recent menswear show in Paris for Fall 2013 was no exception. References to Amish and
Hasidic
attire compounded with the use of exaggerated square and angular shapes, from head to toe, drove the connotation that organized religion doesn't think outside the box. The forty-seven year old designer always has a message attached to his work and uses the runway as his stage to convey such feelings. This week, Browne had a very different stage, as he dressed First Lady
Michelle Obama
for the Presidential Inauguration. Her coat and dress were fitted and impeccably tailored... it was all about fashion!
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Project Runway PARIS; Couture du jour.
/[caption id="attachment_18924" align="aligncenter" width="440" caption="Uli in the Project Runway work room."]
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The last couple of
Project Runway
episodes have been terrific! Last week, the four remaining designers were treated to a day among the exclusive world of haute couture. The jet-setting Uli, Emilio, Joshua and Anthony enjoyed a first class one day, yes one day, trip to Paris where they were given a tour of Maison Valentino, sketched designs while over-looking the Eiffel Tower, ate, drank and shopped for luxurious fabrics. The designers created "couture-inspired" runway looks using the fabrics they bought in Paris.
Uli got grilled by the judges for the illusion lining she used throughout her dress. They felt it took away from the design. Isaac Mizrahi said the dress looked like a very expensive RTW gown rather than couture. Carolyn Murphy wasn't keen on the back zipper and heaviness of the trim around it. I don't entirely disagree with them but it's Uli who had the last laugh in a "fuck you" moment at the very end as pointed out by guest judge, designer Cynthia Rowley. And bleeped out by Lifetime.
There's a time to try out new things. A time to experiment on Project Runway... BUT this was not the challenge to go there as Joshua did. And it cost him dearly. The first problem I had was with the skirt fabric, aside from the hideous factor, who goes to Paris and comes back with a fabric that ugly with designs on couture?!!! I guess Joshua was inspired with Jekyll and Hyde because there were two polar opposite looks there. There's the black sheer top which was gorgeous and then we got to the cascading floral vomit. Like the judges, I get where Joshua was trying to go with this look. Too bad he got lost.
I'm exhausted. Anthony Ryan wins. Again.
This is the dress that should have WON! Emilio Sosa delivered such elegance and sophistication. The fabric was so amazing and the design was dramatic and show-stopping. The ONLY criticism he received was from Isaac Mizrahi who felt the dress should have been five inches shorter so you could see the shoes.
*I have a theory/fantasy about what may happen: Golden Boy frontrunner wins All Stars.
OR
the producers/judges have been messing with us all along, leading us to believe Anthony Ryan will win and in a dramatic finale twist, he doesn't! So do we go with the obvious or the twist? #TeamUli here.
Speaking of twists. The bottom two designers, Uli and Joshua, were given a new challenge and one hour to complete it. They had to reconstruct their couture gowns into something entirely different. Uli turned the unpopular lining into a dress and won the mini-challenge, hence safe and on to the big finale!
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Brad Pitt for Chanel N°5
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"It’s not a journey. Every journey ends, but we go on. The world turns and we turn with it. Plans disappear. Dreams take over. But wherever I go, there you are. My luck, my fate, my fortune. Chanel No. 5. Inevitable."
Okay then... that's the text from the
Chanel N°5
commercial featuring
Brad Pitt
, the first man to ever be the face of the iconic label and fragrance.
The commercial (below) does it make you want to run out and buy Chanel N°5?
You tell me...
I prefer Part 2:
Regardless of my opinion or anyone's for that matter, Brad Pitt is making about $7 million for the ad... that's a lot of Chanel!
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Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Fall 2012
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Flower power,
couture-style
. Meaning... exquisite interpretations of floral prints in silks, chiffons and organzas.
Giambattista Valli
presented a dream-like fairy world collection of dramatic silhouettes where the models themselves became floral incarnations. Oversized ruffles, abundantly fabulous, added to the elegant fantasy by playing the role of pedals.
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Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2012
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The walls were lavishly blanketed in fresh flowers, reportedly, 1M. In the front row, the world's top designers:
Donatella
Versace
, Riccardo
Tisci
, Marc Jacobs,
Alber
Elbaz,
Diane
von
Furstenberg and more, eagerly awaited, in support of their colleague and friend.
In what has been called the most anticipated show of the season, designer
Raf
Simons
did not disappoint.
The runway:
Christian Dior
Haute
Couture Fall 2012.
The big deal:
Raf
Simons's
debut collection for the legendary house. Fashion critics have referred to the couture collection as possessing the "
appropriate balance of reverence and iconoclasm." A fitting, if not perfect, juxtaposition as the modernist designer takes over the iconic label.
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