Stragglers

(from Purple diary)

I also live for these two photos. Pattern, color, texture, luxury from the front rows. How come my camera doesn't mute richness like this?

Lo Mismo

Just Olivier and Milla having some fun.

Color

This past weekend I went to my neighborhood laundromat and dropped off two shopping bags-full of dry cleaning. One of the particular joys of living in Harlem is that two shopping bag-fulls of dry cleaning amounts to $19. The drawback is having to have a full conversation in Spanish each and every time about the many god-children of Dona Francesca (not really that terrible, just time consuming) and often submitting myself to sartorial criticism. This ??? This can't be your size, its way too big. This??? This is a man's blazer. You wear things muy raro...

This saturday I received a full-on scolding though. Por que no te llevan colores?? She took me through my bags--blanco, blanco, gris, negro, negro--so deprimante! (depressing). Its true, I have items with color to liven up the rest, jackets, mostly, or say, a yellow cardigan, but i'm usually happiest with black, white, grey (my favorite), and nude-beige. It's almost as if color has lost its edge; its chicness. Editorially, in my industry, in New York, whatever.

Until now. Dries Van Noten, Wow.

Dries uses pastel colors that look more Eggleston than Miami Vice, rich, beautiful, sunny and greyed at the same time. Nothing contrived. Color with dimension instead of a flat pop. Couple that with splices--like origami folding papers--of DVN's signature patterns, and with every progressing slide, I am falling deeply in love.

A fait accompli of giving me something I wasn't looking for and didn't even know I wanted.







I'm not a full on convert yet though, these are still my favorite looks from his collection:

Lets just be chic about it and call it the Great Depression

Before the Prada show, the architect Rem Koolhaas, who has designed a number of stores for Miuccia Prada and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, was asked how creativity may be influenced by the recession. One result could be more projects that focus on the social rather than on the private sector, he said. Mr. Koolhaas also noted that in New York he has sensed a shift from “civilization to comfort.”

“Rather than smart,” he said, ”things have to be comfortable.” He saw an opportunity for designers to “assert the sublime in a really efficient way. In the past, it was smothered by luxury.”

...Afterward, Ms. Prada referred to city-girl glamour, but said that “it’s no way to feel alive.”

-Cathy Horyn, New York Times

Good Shoulder

Partly because i like to pretend that this post is for Andre, partly because i can't help myself.




She's just like us!


Mostly because even in this (especially in this) it's embarassing how chic i find her.


Also, just a sidenote. Bandaids make an appearance at fashion week Milan:

(Photos from jakandjil.com, catparty, and Olivier Zahm's purple diary)

Marni

Really good collection. Very pretty and smart. And not sweet--never sweet. Can't stand sweet. Always some eccentric and subversive elements, on top of mature patterns and subdued colors. In these cases, the shaggy monkey-fur (most likely dyed goat hair ) embellishing sleeves, coats, and ear muffs just makes it.




Consuelo Castiglioni is so good at intellectual proportions that offend at first and then you wonder how you ever lived without them. Like Alber Elbaz of Lanvin (countdown to that show!) Fabric-wise, the tornado of textures and colors makes me wonder how she ever came up with them (or ruled out the kitchen sink), and how she managed to make them look poised, controlled, natural.

Also the jewelry is so exquisite. Anything i say would be an understatement to how much i love these necklaces. When i was in London, i met the incredible Roberto of Maria Zureta (see his website), and he crafts similarly layered, haphazard, genius pieces out of old brooches, chains, and semi-precious gems. Amazing discovery, of such a beautiful craftsman! And infinitely cheaper than Marni, though not for long. Here's a picture i took of his stand in UpMarket, London:

Haven't gotten to reviewing (i.e. pouring over) Raf Simmons for Jil Sander yet...apparently i need to brace myself.

Too Miuccia?

Look at me so witty. I just read Nam Le's The Boat, which is an exquisite book of short stories, especially from a debut author who so easily could've fallen into Interpreter of Maladies-type immigrant-in-america tales. Anyways (and I guess a bit of a stretched-segue), Prada's collection reminded me of the last, title story in the book. If only for the colors and the impending-gloom of it all. And the fisherman waders.

But these shoes! So primitive and amazing. And they're not gothic, where i feel the trend in footwear has been so thoroughly saturated. They're part armor, part aquatic, and part baroque. Only Prada can get away with that.


However, i've worked where i work far too long, since my first response was a deep gasp and the second was, wait, the heels aren't high enough. Thoughts?