Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld's latest couture collection for Chanel was a argument for the delicate and pretty, laced with a bit of symbolic black. The girls paraded down the runway in what seemed like an endlessly embellished show. Tailoring seemed the focus at the outset, but in time Karl gave in to dreamy pale pink looks that sometimes felt like they might float right off the models. There was a bit of a "playing dress-up" quality about the collection, but it was refined and whimsical, not messy or silly looking. The inspiration for the collection was the artist Marie Laurencin. The long version goes something like this, "In 1923, she designed Les Biches, a ballet commissioned by Diaghilev with a scenario by Cocteau. Chanel was designing Le Train Bleu for the ballet impresario at the same time. She asked Laurencin to paint her. The languor and sweetness of the portrait that came from the sitting weren't pleasing to Chanel, but Lagerfeld seized on those qualities to reinterpret her ethos in a way that was paradoxically provocative and modest." (style.com). The ballet inspiration was seen most prominently in the loose-fitting, sometimes-sequined leggings and the barely-there flats, paired with every look. The leggings in particular, contributed a perfect amount of perversity, ensuring that the collection wouldn't be a flat statement about the beauty of pretty things. Karl never makes a flat statement. By the looks of things and my limited knowledge of his brain, such a statement won't happen until the day he says, "I'm done."

Freja Beha Erichsen

Melissa Tammerijn

Caroline Brasch Nielsen

Dorthea Barth Jorgensen

Abbey Lee Kershaw

Daphne Groeneveld

Snejana Onopka

Freja Beha Erichsen

Melissa Tammerijn

Alina Kozelkova

Lindsey Wixson

Sigrid Agren

Magdalena Frackowiak

Frida Gustavsson

Stella Tennant

Anna Selezneva

Julija Steponaviciute

Freja Beha Erichsen

Kristen McMenamy


Photos via style.com

This just happened.

And no, that is not my Cosmo.

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gagadaily

Willfully Caged

Bookshelf Porn

A room of books and a little woven bubble to exist in sounds like a perfect remedy for my dreary mood. At least then I could read a bit, write, and catch up on all the work that I believe in. A deadbeat art history professor and the mysterious exam he will be distributing tomorrow have left me feeling absolutely sour. By "mysterious", I mean I have learned very little in the class, and am therefore unsure what information seems relevant. Far too many hours of documentary film and wild tangents have left this answer obscured past the point of recognition. I feel as though I have no control over how things proceed. How am I supposed to take my education seriously when those who are paid to be educating me do not?

A fit of optimism.

Amidst an exhausting week, these pictures bring a necessary smile to my face. Marni, Prada, Stella. How exuberant, how very refreshing. I need a vacation.

Alina Baikova for Vogue Australia March 2011 by Nicole Bentley
Photos via fashiongonerogue

"About that McQueen Dress"

Here is a necessary and intelligent word or two from the irreplaceable Cathy Horyn regarding Mrs. Obama wearing McQueen Resort 2011 to the State Dinner, honoring the Chinese President.

huffingtonpost

Personally, I am a fan of the dress, not simply because it's McQueen, but because it's a stunner. That strong, saturated red against the relatively delicate print is a striking contrast. Is the First Lady completely barred from taking a risk? I should hope not.

Givenchy

Japan and the late Kazuo Ohno were inspirations for Riccardo Tisci's latest haute couture collection for Givenchy. Tisici has bid farewell to the haunting, skeletal beauty of his last haute couture collection, for something a little less dark. Ohno is something of a legend, known for his extensive contribution to Butoh dance form. Tisci told style.com that the dancer "provided the romance, the melancholy, and the palette (the color of dried flowers)." Melancholy it is, but it is also quite optimistic in feeling, despite the source of inspiration. The inclusion of bright colors and robotic shapes takes me to Tokyo, a place of endlessly joyful stimulation overload—at least, that is my interpretation,which is highly influenced by Sofia Coppola's. A full cast of Asian models completed the Far Eastern theme. Cartoonish, over-the-top samurai headgear created by Philip Treacy additionally fuels the feverish jubilee. A beautiful crane motif, plenty of sheer fabric, and endless feathers anchor the more flamboyant elements. The collection provides for a wonderful dialogue between tender and aggressive, soft and in-your-face. Also notable is the style.com photos of the collection. Thankfully, the back of each garment was captured as well as the front. Too often they are either unseen or partially caught in runway video. Here it serves to show a more complete beauty of a fantastic couture collection.

Shu Pei Qin


Ming Xi


Tao Okamoto


Hye Park


Fei Fei Sun


Liu Wen


Jiang Xao Yi


Ai Tominaga


So Young Kang


Du Juan




Photos via style.com

Christian Dior

The first few looks that came out for the Christian Dior haute couture show made heavy use of blood red, which was only heightened by the flood of matching red light. It seemed that John Galliano's latest collection would showcase his darker, moody side, but in fact it rapidly evolved into something more soft and light. After what looked like Little Red Riding Hood strutted by, pastels eventually surfaced with darker colors appearing here and there. The show was an ode to René Gruau, the illustrator whose work of the forties and fifties was truly magnificent. Oh how lovely to be acquiring an education via google image search. Unsurprisingly, the New Look was in full force, perhaps all the more due to the time period in which Gruau worked. Galliano, who studied as a fashion illustrator himself, incorporated the art of drawing into the clothes, imitating ink streaks with beading and experimenting with shading, among other things. Even the Stephen Jones millinery bore a resemblance to brushstrokes. Dior couture shows always seem to be a time travel experience, to when haute couture was at its most serious and rigorous level of design. The clothes always look appropriately nostalgic—how many young ladies do you know that can afford couture?— but have the proper dash of Galliano. Even the posing harks back long before Galliano, but he seems to absolutely live for it. With his enthusiasm and sheer talent, it's a trip I'm more than willing to accompany him on.

Karlie Kloss

Olga Sherer

Melissa Tammerijn

Nimue Smit

Laura Blokhina

Liu Wen

Iekeliene Stange

Julia Saner

Martha Streck

Joan Smalls

Caroline Brasch Nielsen

Frida Gustavsson

Yulia Kharlaponova

Magdalena Frackowiak

Georgina Stojilkovic


Photos via style.com

I can't sleep now...

Whether or not that has anything to do with those nightmares is unclear at this point... In any case, enjoy Miss Emmanuelle Alt.