Fashion Blurbs

The Fashion Month bonanza for AW17 is over and through flashbacks I’ll give you my pick of the 4 weeks, the 4 cities starting New York.

As I’m a Belgian living in NY, it had to be the other Belgian living in NY.

The expectations for Mr Raf Simons first collection as the new chief creative officer at Calvin Klein, one of the iconic names of American fashion, were at its highest, to say the least.

The fact that his show was so early in the week at the unheard time of 10:00 am, gave it even more attention.

We were given a thrilling, beautiful, intelligent, pragmatic, simplistic, unisex catwalk. Although there were some blurred lines between men and women, Simons was not always going into gender fluidity : the women wore ribbed skirts and plastic feathered dresses. For the men, we recognised his trademark tailored skinny suits. In those suits, I also saw a reference to Calvin Klein’s tailored Nineties suits. It’s proof that Mr Simons respects the CK legacy, taking it on board in his future creations. Nonetheless, both women and men wore the same colourful shirts with breast pockets.

And we have to add the political statement he made, beginning and ending the show with David Bowie’s “This is not America”.

Backstage post-show Mr Simons said : “I keep thinking of all the beauty here; you have to focus on that now. And I think American youth is the future for this country.”

Certainly, his American quilt parka could be this generation’s go-to look. And if this is his way of approaching the actual American political situation, it’s honest and hopeful.

The show was a great premiere. For now, I am satisfied and let this first presentation of the new Calvin Klein sink in.

Mr Raf Simons was the talk of NYFW.

To be continued.

TeDe

What I like at this time of year is the cosyness of getting together with loved ones : the domestic bliss of comfort, security and belonging.

That was exactly the theme of an exhibition I went to see in MoMu ( fashion museum in Antwerp, Belgium) : “Rik Wouters & the private utopia”.

It put me straight in a festive mood.

The exposition links the contemporary desire to go back to nature, what is called the ‘slow’ movement, with the revisited interest in artisanal  techniques. As Rik Wouters decided to go and live in the woods with like-minded artists, so decided fashion designers in Antwerp, at the beginning of the 21st century, to have their own independent studios and techniques of craftsmanship, in reaction to the over-industrialisation of fashion.

Let me walk you through a selection of exhibits to see how a conceptual artist and a fashion designer merge in the search for a domesticity in Nature.

Photo Jan-Jan Van Assche & Collective : SS17, SS16 & AW16-17.

This designer had a utopian outlook. He does only one season a year, creates a series of garments with small variations that fit together, and combines them to make layered clothing. The silhouettes give a nonchalant feel : he creates textiles that become a second skin and fuse with the wearer and their life.

Rik Wouters enherited a love for landscapes from Renoir, whose work he saw in Paris. His scenes bring the outside and inside world together : flowers are placed in a vase or are pictured in the garden. They’re a symbol of the beauty of nature.

When I think of flowers and fashion, I see Dries Van Noten. His SS 2001 hand-painted flower motif on a printed silk crepe dress and silk jacket were a beauty to watch and to touch, and definitely wearable whether you go out or stay in.

I really enjoyed the installation of Dirk Van Saene, an original member of the Antwerp Six, who gives an overview of his career on the basis of fifteen silhouettes. He is a perfect example of a fashion designer who follows his own path in terms of collections, shows and seasons, and sells where and whenever he chooses. He’s been a one-man business since 1982. His sources of inspiration are the work of Louise Bourgeois , the documentary  “Grey Gardens”, tribal motifs or masks and the world of haute couture : bows, embroidery and trompe l’oeil motifs.

His creations are an ongoing process of original fashion art.

Wouter’s images of domestic bliss shows Nel (his wife) in a variety of daily activities : ironing, playing with the cat or sewing.

SS16; silk crepe dress with bustier in crochet and knotted cotton.

The Antwerp designer Veronique Branquino similarly makes coy references to 1970s fashion, a world away from contemporary fashion, when handicrafts such as macrame and knitting were very in.

Here she goes back to nature, specifically the woods. The wood is the setting for the haunted woman that VB expresses in her collections : the dark birch wood that fascinates as much as it terrifies, offering a hiding place that cannot bear the light of day.AW 2000-01, AW 98-99, AW 2009-10 Into the wood. Pre-fall 16 & AW 98-99 Black & white in the forest.

My last choice will be the utopian idea of a better, slower future embodied by Belgian designer Bruno Pieters and his label “Honest by Bruno Pieters” . Consumers can see how his garments are manufactured, from the original base materials to the hours worked on it. Pieters does not want to turn his back on the fashion world but wants to show that change is possible; all resources are produced sustainably. Furthermore, it serves as a platform for new talent as he invites young designers to collaborate on a collection that corresponds with his vegan lifestyle. Examples include the wood fibre shoes by Mats Rombauts and the 3D-printed sneakers by Comme des Machines.Rombaut SS16 & AW 16-17 Comme des Machines. Utopia-Bruno Pieters Honest By.

I thought the presentation of this exhibition was excellently done, fresh proof of how fashion meets art. The artist and fashion designers embraced pure domestic life in tandem with nature. Home sweet home comes to mind. Because, in essence, that’s where we all go back.

To be continued.

TeDe.

Now that the music festivals season comes to a halt, I’m ready to look back at the creativity and variety of festival fashion gear.

But first I wanted to find out when those music festivals started.

Forerunner of the late ’60s festivals were the 1965 Newport Folk Festival with Bob Dylan.

The start of Mount Tamalpais and Monterey in 1967 built to Woodstock in 1969. Those 1960s festivals provided the possibility to be part of a liberal society.

The 1969 Woodstock Music Festival was an enormous unexpected success, attended by 450,000 people. In the UK, the Isle of Wight Festival had a record of 600,000 music fans when Jimi Hendrix performed there in 1970.

And in Sep of that year, a small unknown festival opens it doors in Pilton, Glastonbury.

So now we can understand why the hippies and power flower style is still very present in the dress code of the music festivals nowadays.

Mind you, it wasn’t always about clothes back then, as nudity was considered a political act of freedom and acceptance.

Whether I attended Coachella Festival in April or the desert Festival in October, whether I was surrounded by jumpy twenty something or rock ‘n roll 60-plussers, the hippie and flower power look was available.

Sometimes a modern touch was added with a Chloe handbag, Gianvito Rossi’s gladiator sandals or Dior sunglasses.

Seeing a greying man wearing his ever favourite black outfit (black jeans, black T-shirt, black leather biker jacket and his black rider boots) made me smile.

You’re never to old to wear what you feel like wearing ! Especially not when you’re going to the latest gig of your favourite band !

I love dressing up and changing outfits all the time when I go to a music festival. This season, out of my suitcase came : my black MiH cut off shorts, my seventies red flared legs jumpsuit covered up with a cropped flower crocheted top and my blue cowboy boots.

Yes, it’s that feeling of do what you want, wear what you want, forget about your age ( by saying this, I am giving my age away), let yourself go, liberate yourself from any prescribed dress code. And let the music do the rest !

It was inspiring to see the  walking creativity clothing company in the Californian desert.

It didn’t feel like a catwalk show because there was no commercial aspect. Clothes weren’t worn to be sold. People were just themselves, wearing what they liked. It was more like watching a film across the day because there was so much to see.

I’m looking forward to the next Festival Fashion season.

Burning Man in Nevada is top of my list.

To be continued.

TeDe

And last but not least, we wander through PFW for the SS17 collections.

” Finir en beaute ” as the French would say.

Our last stop to find out if neutral gender awareness was available in the city of light.

To be honest, it was less evident.

We had mainly female collections on show and hardly any unisex presentations.

The big new change here was that we had more women taken over the creative roles in previously male-dominated fashion houses.

The power impact came across in the Louis Vuitton and Chanel collections, represented by 1980s strong, outspoken shoulders for Nicolas Ghesquiere and futuristic tweeds worn by space odyssey robot-lookalike models for Karl Lagerfeld.

But there was also a strong sense of masculinity or should we name it ” Demna-ism ” nowadays ?

Demna Gvasalia respected the heritage of Cristobal Balenciaga.

” I analyse and I question “, he said.

We got the girls wearing never ending spandex boots from toes to hips. ( or were they trousers ?)

The masculin touches are seen in his open ankle split trousers echoing a ” je ne sais quoi “ambiance.

He’s such a refreshingly new kid on the fashion block.

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I can’t help it, but I would like to begin with Gucci.

Maybe partly because MFW has a more traditional feel and the neutral gender awareness was not as intense as in NY or LON or partly because Alessandro Michele gave us an overwhelming , theatrical SS17 catwalk presentation !

His geeky -chic style, the perfectly matched cacaphony of prints and colours brought both male and female collections nicely together.

We saw men in salmon-coloured wide trousers and pink sweaters with a gold bow tie. Or they wore a pink plisse skirt dress with trousers underneath. This was accessorized with lot of rings and facial tattoos.

Meanwhile, the women wore yellow glitter-metals seventies male-style suits; think David Bowie in Stardust. This confirmed that a gender-fluid tone was all-present !

Another designer whose girls and boys walked the catwalk together was Peter Dundas for Roberto Cavalli. The cowgirls and cowboys wore silk blouses with striped flared trousers. Both sexes had a similar Indian style jewellery : a thin long tie as a necklace and, in a way, they really ended up wearing the same type of clothes.

But even in the women-only collections for most of the designers, a message was sent out: “girl power”! When you present sportswear attire, a high level of androgyny is always recognisable. As an example, we can take the bomber jacket at Dsquared2 with the strong masculin shoulders. This type of 1980s power dressing was also noticeable in Jill Sander’s dresses with balloon blow-up or airfilled arms and shoulders. It’s as if the girls sit in a strong harness, well protected.

It represents a strong male image which, to me, represents an empowered femininity.

Talking of such, Donatella Versace put fit, strong, self-confident looking women in the picture with her sports de luxe. They walked the walk and talked the talk with the nylon tracksuits and parkas covering their midriff tank tops – truly fit for a female style.

This can also be said for Max Mara, who’s utility wear collection was marked with tropical prints.

And finally, I would like to mention the well known tailored suits chez Giorgio Armani. Isn’t it lovely to see the male models parading in blue metallic jackets, stepping away from the traditional fabrics for a male blazer ?

All in all, I would conclude that in Milan a lot of male touches were visible in the female clothes and a continuation ( like in NY and LON ) of feminine details was present in the men’s collections.

Maybe it’s a lighter touch of gender blender, but nevertheless it’s there.More and more, we are getting used to seeing it.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, the neutral gender dynamics becomes daringly and attractively acceptable.

Next and final one up is PFW.

To be continued.

TeDe