The House That Versace Built

Paris France, A/W 13'

Last night Versace, kicked off Paris Couture Week with a stunning collection. Beautifully constructed and designed with the Atelier’s signature touches and elaborate silhouettes have definitely set the standard for what is yet to come this week.

The collection this season is inspired by the beautiful and powerful imagery that is found on many tarot cards around the world. The symbols of the sun, moon, and world are present on several of the fabrics used. In addition Roman numerals meant to give meaning to certain tarot cards are also found decorating some of the fabrics. Silk screened, embroidered and appliquéd onto each garment are several variations and interpretations of tarot cards seen through the eyes of Pablo Picasso, providing an abstract look and feel to the entire collection.

Airy and lightweight fabrics were cut, sewn and layered over one another to enhance the intricate and detailed collection that Donatella Versace, envisioned. Layers of silk are used in accompany with pieces of transparent plastic, which have then been sliced into very thin strips and used to construct different patterns of the body. Beautiful rose gold buckles enhanced the looks and were also used as anchors to hold the fabrics together.

 

 

The stars, the lovers and Good Fortune all interpretations of tarot cards also appeared in the collection, metal studs, hand-cut pieces of plastic, and three-dimensional embroideries added to each look for a chic finish. Geometric cut-outs and strapless gowns were abundant on the runway. As were the many hand-sewn touches, including hand-cut leather pieces, small hexagonal patterned pieces and lacing made from silk chiffon. Crystal mesh and pearls accented the garments. Not a stone was out of place and in true Versace, fashion each garment looked as breathtakingly impeccable as the women who wore them.

 

Long silk hemlines swept the runway, as raised ones kissed the knees of the models that ambled down the catwalk. Turquoise, pale greens, fuchsia, and cannery-yellow provided a bold color palette. The vibrant color choices, and delicate fabrics added to the intricate silhouettes. The collection was nothing short of brilliant. Further proving that the house that Versace built is standing strong and is still very much a fashion-force to be reckoned with.

 

Dana Elizabeth is the founder and editor of wordsfromtherunway.com in addition to managing the Men’s Section of The Los Angeles Fashion Magazine. For feature inquiries, email: Danaelizabeth@TheLAfashion.com

©2012 The LA Fashion magazine

Image courtesy of Atelier Versace

 

 

Paris Menswear Spring Summer 2013 - Day 3 and 4

The third day of this Menswear fashion week started in a sporty way with the presentation of the football inspired Gustavo Lins collection, presented in the court of the Hotel de Sauroy. Sports codes were revisited by the Brazilian designer who mixed sports and urban wear in a quite balanced way.

We then headed to the Juun J. show in the Mineralogy Gallery, a perfect place to add impressiveness to a collection which happened to be the incredible discovery of the day: we all stayed "bouche bee", as french people would say; absolutely astonished by the amazing work of the Korean designer. The most impressive pieces of this collection inspired by the 1948 Japanese movie "Drunken Angels" were undoubtedly the 3D white pieced with neon orange touches: all the techniques of the 21th century combined with many decades of fashion history.

Kris Van Assche chose the emblematic Garage de Turenne to present his 20's inspired collection. The designer of Dior Homme chose to present young men, most of them dressed in short linen pants and light shirts in tones of navy and electric blue, black, white and grey.

The fourth day of this fashion week was a big day, one of those day who look forward to because you know you are going to see one of the most prestigious collections of a season and get to enter the designers' worlds. Bill Tornade started the day with his fantastic prints (sunset on a desert beach, NYC at night and vintage floral prints). The sleek and chic style makes it possible to wear these outfits as daywear and nightwear: 100% handy.

We all then headed to the Hotel Salomon de Rotschild for the Maison Martin Margiela show for which funky music and the atmosphere around it was the starting point of the collection. White light cotton formed the integrality of the first half of the collection, before the designer took a more creative path with see-through shirts and a trench coat made of vintage kaki badges.

The afternoon begun with Wooyoungmi and a very sensitive collection in which a modern pied-de-poule print was designed, followed by the Smalto presentation: all the savoir-faire and handicraft Italian techniques gathered in one same collection in which every piece took hours to be perfectly designed and tailored.

And then it was Hermes time. Let's just say we would all have wanted it to last hours and hours. Beautiful is one thing, but when you get to the point of shivering each time an outfit is presented (and there were 50 of them!), you have no choice but to call it was it is: excellence. In the garden of a monastery the luxury brand presented a collection which mixed classy sportswear and classic pieces, all of which made of either natural or new and innovative fabrics, in tones of lime, Prussian and cobalt blue as well as stone.

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA Men’s Collection Spring-Summer 2013 - Paris Menswear June 2012

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA

Men’s Collection - Spring-Summer 2013

Maison Martin Margiela showcased the Spring Summer 2013 Men's Collection during the Paris Menswear  fashion week. The collection kicked off with a mix of off-white and white. After sleeveless suit jackets worn with light and fluid pants, the collection then moved toward more personal looks, towards the end the presentation turned to the edgier looks with an amazing trench coat and a range of pants and shirts made out of aluminum looking fabrics.

Shades of white illuminate much of the collection.  Real or imitation, painted or printed: silver contrasts with the neutral tonalities.  Jacket sleeves are cut, while armholes and shoulders are displaced forward to sculpt and embrace the silhouette. A topcoat, trousers and silver moccasins reflect light and meld with more classic pieces.  Exposure to light alters, dims, and partially erases Jacquard motifs and forms shadows under collars, pocket flaps and darts. Fabrics in this collection are modified and reconverted – their treatments are exclusive.  Evening wear is reinterpreted in soft, comfortable materials. The jacket and the pea coat are recast in oversized corduroy. A waistcoat embroidered in strips of napa becomes a summer fur. Pieces in this collection are deliberately treated to appear weathered, aged, repurposed. A suit jacket’s collar is restored using surplus fabric. Once painted, fabric crackles to mark the passage of time.  ‘Artisanal’ pieces have a vintage inspiration; a collage of badges borrowed from various periods form a jacket and waistcoat. Bleached printed t-shirts are unstitched and reassembled to create a jacket, waistcoat and trousers.

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©2012 The Los Angeles Fashion magazine -

Images courtesy of MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA

Façonnable Cruise 2013 Collection

The Elegant Yachtsman. Technical Chic. Riviera Icons

An update take on a traditional Façonnable sailing theme was the starting point for the Cruise Collection. Fresh and focused, this chic sportswear collection presents technical details while meeting the elegance of a traditional week end wardrobe. Authentic nautical gears mix with Yacht Club classics and perfectly portrait the life in the Riviera, on and off the boat. Practical, fun and modern, this collection of iconic Façonnable pieces is designed for today.

For men, there are slim blazers with anchor-engraved buttons, trim nylon outerwear as well as pops of pink and orange delivered through lightweight knits and tailored chinos.

Women are at once at ease and pretty in graphic knits, including a boat neck cable sweater, skinny, cropped chinos and feminine skirt, and a sensational cream pea coat, modern in its couture-inspired shape. Flirty polka dots give graphic appeal to a silk dress while a tailored blazer completes the collection with just the right amount of sartorial authenticity.

Delve deeper into the collection and you’ll discover the kind of special details for which Façonnable is known: zigzag selvedge that recalls the stitching on sails, contrast trim in micro prints, like boats or sails, and engraved buttons.

Fabrics combine cottons and silks with nylon and glazed finishes for a modern, approachable hand.

Atelier Gustavo Lins - Men collection Spring Summer 2013 - Paris Menswear Fashion Week

Gustavo Lins Paris Menswear Fashion Week Spring Summer 2013 Fashion Show

With the approach of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Gustavo Lins is kicking off a new collaboration with the Brazilian sportswear brand “Penalty.” The eleven-players in Gustavolins’ 2013 Men Spring Summer team play in a clever, explosive 4-4-2 formation with infinite combinations.

In goal : a reversible trench coat. At centre back : a twirled T-shirt with “1/8th” shoulder pieces.

The wingbacks : a knitted cardigan and V-neck sweater. Two sweepers : a cravat-collared shirt and a sportcollared shirt with rounded muscle-hugging cuts. In midfield, a trio of untacklable trousers : the P1 with drawstring waist, the spiral-cut P2 and the P3 knitted jersey jogging trousers with leather beading.

And up front, the two forwards : on the right, a supple cardigan jacket, and on the left a structured jacket with padded shoulders. A mobile, solid team…

After the game, the man of the match, the emblematic draped T-shirt with shoulders capped with “1/8th” football segments will be transferred – for a fortune, obviously – to the “Penalty” team.

During the Mercato, other players in the women’s haute couture and ready-to-wear teams will also join the Brazilian “Penalty” outfit managed by Gustavo Lins.

The Brazilian designer is delighted with this team game enabling him to build bridges between the formal tactics of the suit and the totally relaxed, high-performance world of football equipment.

 “My role,” he says, “will be to bring the two together, and in doing so open up a new direction for my way of working. As I’m in a very specialised, high-end, select market, this foray into urban sportswear will add a democratic dimension to my work.”

Courtesy of ATELIER GUSTAVO LINS

Pictures credit : Catwalk Pictures