BEAUTY: Men--Exotic Style

BEAUTY: Clothing--Paris Fashion Week Miscellaneous, January 2013

Well, Paris Fashion Week for Fall-Winter '13-'14 closed yesterday and here are the last little dregs of some details I found interesting but not enough to post the entire collection...

Mugler showed a collection that was a tiny bit scary since it reminded me so much of the mean-spirited, Fascistic film "Starship Troopers." The insignia on the tops are a logo for "Mugl-air," a fictitious flying company, and they look sharp and serious. But no fashion editor or writer I have come across so far has had a thing to say about the big pink triangle, a symbol for the gay and lesbian community. And ya gotta love the pink bullet proof vest/parachute pack...

Speaking of parachute packs and airplanes, I liked the seat belt buckle that cinched waists on sport jackets and acted as toggles for coats at Dior. Just look at the mystical pyramid in a circle. Does the emblem have a metaphysical/alchemical meaning or is it a symbol of some future society?

Mugler and Dior conceptually segues nicely into the odd color straps spanning lapels at Raf Simons.

And speaking of future societies, Issey Miyake created some foiled rain wear that looks like it is straight out of "Fahrenheit 451."

Shifting gears to something more romantic, Vuitton showed some gorgeous pieces based on Bhutan silk brocade. Creative director Kim Jones went to the Himalayas to research this collection and the luxurious evening wear that resulted was certainly worth it.

Alexis Mabille showed a really cute detail in his collection: a string tie with tassels. (The artist in me thinks, "I could make that!" I can't cut patterns or sew, but I could put some tassels on the end of a string!)

Jean Paul Gaultier's show was cheeky, taking place in neon lined cubicles reminscent of pay-per-view strip booths. And indeed, each model came out and provocatively stripped down. The funny part is they were wearing classic men's wear patterns. Pin stripes have been everywhere at Paris Fashion Week and in Milano...

And finally, Junya Watanabe usually incorporates some kind of work wear or a theme of the laborer into his collections. This time he took us back to immigrants on the Lower East Side of New York, and to the Great Depression with men proudly wearing patched jackets and pants, cobbled together from other threadbare pieces. And aren't we all living through the Second Great Depression... Watanabe seems to be saying that times may be tough, but we still have our dignity.

http://www.mugler.com/us/en/
http://www.dior.com/home/en_us/
http://www.rafsimons.com/
http://www.isseymiyake.com/en/
http://www.louisvuitton.com
http://www.alexismabille.com/fr/
http://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/brand/en

Photos via http://www.style.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Thom Browne

The last show of Paris Fashion Week was like the finale to a fantastic firework display. Thom Browne's '13-'14 Fall-Winter collection is literally a testament to the power of imagination, inspiration, creativity, and vision. As we have seen for many years at Fashion Weeks not only in Paris, but in Milan, New York, and various cities around the world, the presence of a theme, the kernel of an idea is one of the key and necessary ingredients in a successful collection. This season alone we have seen inspiration come from German artists (Joseph Beuys, August Sander), Easter, cartoons, the Scottish Highlands, Edwardian ministers, David Bowie, Mongolia, the Catholic church, John Waters, clouds, and the Harlem Renaissance. But Thom Browne has proven that with keen observation, imagination, insight, intelligence, and skill, inspiration can truly come from anywhere.

What we are looking at here is Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch culture through the theatrical and artistic lens of Thom Browne and his vocabulary of men's suits and materials. Notice the squared off hats, a riff on the traditional wide brimmed flat hat seen on Amish men. The sinister looking dark glasses are a riff on the kind of octogonal glasses one often sees associated with "country" life. These elements speak to the rigidity of the Amish culture and the harshness of their way of life. And the quilting seen on nearly every piece is of course a direct reference to the traditional quilts the Pennsylvania Dutch are famous for, including a classic star pattern. And it is all presented in a seeming endless stream of classic suiting material like grey flannel, houndstooth, checks, windowpane plaids, and stripes. There are versions of the work aprons and skirts Browne has been playing with for several seasons now, but here they somehow seem absolutely appropriate, blending in with the idea of ascetic life and religious clothing.

The show itself opened with an orchestral sound of Americana and a crowing rooster while men in grey flannel bonnets acted out a traditional barn-raising, standing dazed and numbly hitting the same spot on bare wood framing with a black rubber mallet. The models entered and exited doors on the structure... doors that featured an upside down cross. Interesting since the Amish do not use a Christian cross in their practice...

And on a synchronistic note, First Lady Michelle Obama wore a Thom Browne outfit just today for the second inauguration (yay!) of her husband.

http://www.thombrowne.com/
Photos via http://www.style.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Berluti

The venerable leather good manufacturer Berluti (established in 1895 by Alessandro Berluti) showed a really sexy '13-'14 F-W collection for Paris Fashion Week via a lookbook. Here is another collection that does not follow my typical pattern for what I find interesting in a designer or collection. As regular readers are well aware, I gravitate toward an artistic statement, a theme, a designer who is willing to take risks, designers who present performance art creations and costumes rather than just clothes. But it seems that this season, I have been drawn to some collections that, although they do not have this overriding sense of art, are attractive nonetheless.

And this Berluti collection is a great example. Despite being a basic collection of men's wear, both formal and casual, there is something so darkly compelling and, well, just plain sexy about this collection. Like, growly, animalistic sexy... and I am sure it has something to do with the chosen models, which can be very important to how a collection is perceived. I really admire Berluti's choice of men... there is an occasional "pretty" model, but for the most part, these are guys... guys with some maturity in their faces, with a bit of roughness. Click on the panels below to see the hotness a little closer. Grrrrr...

But I digress. Back to the clothing: there is some wonderful pattern mixing, some luxurious suits, and the cut of most every piece (especially those belted coats and jackets) imbues the wearer with a masculine, sensual swagger. Not "power dressing" as in "power over others" but the power of sex and life...

http://www.berluti.com/
Photos via http://www.style.com/

BEAUTY:Clothing--Sacai

Chitose Abe designs for her own brand Sacai, but before that she worked under Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe (also a disciple of Kawakubo) so her pedigree is impressive. She has been quietly building a reputation for ten years now, and this '13-'14 Fall-Winter collection at Paris Fashion Week shows a skillful blend of the kind of forward-thinking, Japanese architectural approach to cutting garments she absorbed under Kawakubo and Watanabe, and a kind of classic and comfortable men's wear. I really love the very wide cut trousers but especially fun and unexpected are the ethnic Arabesque flowing pants. A simple, comforting collection but with just enough of an undefinable edge to make it unique...

http://www.sacai.jp/
Photos via http://www.style.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Ann Demeulemeester

I adore Ann Demeulemeester's sense of design. She incorporates such a Romantic, lyrical, poetical, dreamy, breezy--dare I say sometimes swash-buckling--aura into her collections. And despite the fact that her '13-'14 Fall-Winter collection shown at Paris Fashion Week is mostly black and white, it feels rich and sumptuous nonetheless. Once again we get little flashes of Edwardian England, or Dandyism a bit further back in time. But here, she seems to have taken her major inspiration from the everyday vestments of a charming country priest or minister, the kind who doesn't scream that you are going to hell or molest your children, but instead rides a rickety bicycle around the village delivering a meal to a sick parishioner or bread to a needy family. "It had to do with making something really serene and spiritual, but also powerful," said Demeulemeester, who presented her collection in a heavenly bright white venue.

I love the flowing coat tails as well as the flowing shirt tails! Hats with net veils and skirts give this collection a fashion-forward, "Demeulemeester" touch. Just look at the progression of the silhouette and the beautiful variation on a theme as the collection evolves down the runway...
It's a gorgeous, masterful collection.

http://www.anndemeulemeester.be/
Photos via http://www.style.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Comme des Garçons

I have always thought it would be fascinating to peek into the head of Rei Kawakubo, head of Comme des Garçons. Her collections consist of entire leaps of thought, strange non-sequiturs, and mash-ups of the unlikeliest kind. It must be like Mister Toad's Wild Ride in her brain, with ideas careening and bouncing off each other like pinballs. Some collide and create the head-scratching, jaw-dropping dense artistic statements for which Comme des Garçons is known.

So get ready for this one... a '13-'14 Fall-Winter collection that is a kaleidoscope of pastel colors from a childhood Easter basket (one tee even bears the design of a be-ribboned and decorated egg!), and features light spring pieces (Fall-Winter on Tenerife?). Models in shoulder-length wigs wore caps featuring huge bunny ears, and, as an homage to childhood in general, the ears of a certain famous cartoon mouse who shall remain nameless of course, lest a certain behemoth company get "cease and desist"-happy. But what I really noticed upon closer inspection was that Kawakubo seems to be using upholstery and interior furnishing materials! Yep, there are jackets made from drapery brocade and, oh wait, look, they still have the passamenterie tassels on the edge! I immediately recalled the classic Carol Burnett skit in which she spoofed "Gone With The Wind"--her Scarlett character had nothing to wear and literally took the drapes down to fashion into a gown, with the curtain rod still attached, across her shoulders! And then, gazing at the next many looks, I had to laugh... chenille bedspreads popular in the 50s and 60s were transformed into coats and jackets! It all feels like a kid's fever dream of candy and cartoons and the bed in their room where they lounge, listening to records or coloring...

http://www.comme-des-garcons.com/
Photos via http://www.style.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Givenchy

Riccardo Tisci, Creative Director at Givenchy, always puts his own personal passions--and obsessions--into his collections, whether it is a love for the mythical Minotaur or the American flag. In this '13-'14 Fall-Winter collection shown at Paris Fashion Week, Tisci's loves this time include the work of legendary photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and, yes, the United States. But this time it is a little difficult to tell if he is admiring or admonishing the U.S. The collection is dark and heavy, which, I suppose, is appropriate for a Fall-Winter collection, but then look at details like "Amerika" spelled with a "k" on a shirt, and the slate, charcoal, and black upside down American flag. Bone to pick? Get in line. And then there are sweaters that are a frightening Frankenstein-like hybrid of football uniform padding, miscellaneous sports costume flourishes, and the stitching from an actual baseball...followed by a shirt that has a baseball and skull melting into each other. Surely this must be a comment on the bizarre sports-obsessed culture in the Unites States. It all feels Fascistic and totalitarian--even his use, in homage to Mapplethorpe, of black and white photography. The images exist in small, tight, regimented boxes, sewn as patches (like a Fascistic uniform) onto breasts or sleeves. Even when not adorned with any detail or image, the pieces in this collection reflect might and intimidation, like the leather apron/smock in the last image. Join the club or die. Even the runway was limned in rows of white candles, describing the shape of the space in which the show took place, like some arcane occult ritual. Some of the world's most infamous Fascists and dictators have been fascinated with mystic and occult ideas. Am I reading too much into this? When studied, this is a pretty opinionated collection.

But Tisci swears his love for the United States. "I've been obsessed with America since I was a kid," he explained. "It's the typical Italian dream of someone who wants to be somebody."

http://www.givenchy.com/
Photos via http://www.style.com/