On The Streets: Paris Fashion Week
The street style rave is not a new one, with the likes of blogs like the Sartorialist, Garance Dore and Jak and Jil leading the pack. Spotting trends by photographing commuters in the fashion capitals, in recent times, has been brought to a whole new level by these eagle-eyed bloggers armed with their cameras and a touch of taste.
My take: Fashion on the streets is sexy, sexy, SEXY!
Here are some of my favourite shots fired out of, label savant and celebrity blogger, Tommy Ton’s (Jak and Jil) camera at Paris Fashion week:
Spring Summer 2010
There’s something delicious about a fusion of ideas – cultures, colours, prints – and it seems that paradoxes are found everywhere this season.
John Galliano’s ready-to-wear collection was a mix of old and new. Famous for spectacular shows, Galliano had once again romanced us into his own version of Sunset Boulevard. Treating our senses with his palette of powder pinks, ice blues and lamés. The exquisite designs beautifully portrayed the Hollywood during the times of Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish. It was an mélange of old Hollywood glamour and new futuristic laser-created lights. What a collection! What a night!
Kenzo weaved its own Middle Eastern flavour with blue, pink and peach shaded chiffons. The backdrop being a huge golden disc, like the sun shining over the Sahara created a scene of adventure in the desert. A mishmash of prints was used to create a Europe-meets-ethnic vibe to the clothes, which was perfectly in tuned to the ethos of the house.
Another paradox that is hidden in a trend this season is that of the Outer-underwear. Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier, among others, brought their undergarments out for show, literally. Satin bras and corsets served as tops and centrepieces rather than hidden behind pieces of couture. Some pieces were elegant while others gave a more edgy feel. Outer-Underwear is a trend that is extremely versatile depending on the way it is worn.
Gucci, Calvin Klein and Yves Saint Laurent deviated from colour as they each opened their shows with all-white ensembles. These were striking starts as the ensembles looked like blank canvases on the runway. These served as good bases for the collections before our colour taste-buds got tickled by the gradual introduction of colour as the shows went on. Donning white from head to toe gave a powerful yet vulnerable look different from the pure power effect of red or black.
The paradoxes this season are much less mind-boggling as they are delectable. We definitely have some things to look forward to next Spring.
Tidbits on Katie
Had trouble uploading the videos till now.
Favourite colour, food, designers, time of day, word.
One of her many skills!!
Central Saint Martins MA Show ‘09
Number 6 on the runway is Katie Greenwood, winner of the Puma Motorsport Re Design competition. Her collection consisted of only 3 colours: pale pink, white and black. Long flowing jersey dresses looped between the legs with a combination of suede jackets and jersey shorts and t-shirts. Her designs exude an elegance within minimalism, comfortable yet chic. The richness in the simplicity of the designs brings sportswear into a new dimension of class, following the footsteps of major designers in chic sportswear like Stella McCartney and Prada. However, Katie stamps her originality on her designs with rolled up sleeves for her jackets and long jersey dresses but still maintains function and form.
Saving the Jacket
“The jacket just doesn’t sit well. I think it’s the collar,” Katie laments with her eyebrows furrowed as she looks at her jacket in the mirror. This is the suede jacket she created for her last dress on her line-up.
Tension is in the air as there’s barely a week left till the show and her jacket still does not fall nicely. After a seemingly futiile attempt to fiddle with her jacket in the mirror, she proceeds to work with Toni Tester, who is her pattern cutter and tutor, to salvage the jacket.
One can only wait and see how the jacket will turn out before the show.
Fry Up A Feast
Whetherspoons at Whitechapel was wonderful to wake up to. The huge glass windows allow the morning sun to shine through onto the wooden tables and chairs and illuminating the spacious room in the process. At night, the place turns into a bad where people can come and have a drink with friends. The atmosphere is relaxing and the service is good. The bar takes on a different role in the mornings: serving as an order desk for people to place their orders for breakfast.
The Breakfast Special includes tea, toast, pan-fried sausage, bacon, baked beans, hashbrowns and two glorious fried eggs to add on to the sunlight during the Golden Hour of the morning.
Line-up update.
After the line-up meeting on tuesday, Katie decided to alter the order of her collection line-up. The latest order line-up is below:
“Most of the clothes are completed. We’re just left with the pink suede items,” Katie commented about her collection.
“There’s something not quite right about the pink jacket though,” she said as she pointed to the 4th picture from the left. This suede jacket is currently not resting very well and she suspects it is because it is not as weighted below as the longer jacket in the last picture on her lineup.
“I’m probably going to add weights into the hems below and see whether the jacket falls better,” she said, thinking aloud.
This is not the first time the pink clothes have given her problems. The jersey cloth that was supposed to be dyed pink ran into some accidents and could not be used.
Line-up Day
Katie had been unfortunate as the material that was used for two of her dresses had been dyed the wrong colour.
“It was supposed to be dyed pink but it came out in some sort of a dark brown,” Katie later explained to me. She tried to explain to the panel of tutors there and then that the dying accident had caused her to have to re-order the material from the United States which would take another few days for it to arrive.
This was the line-up where the tutors reviewed the collections as a whole for the first time before the show. Katie was the first candidate up for review. Apparently, the tension in the air got worse and worse as the day progressed. However, Katie stood unwavered at the tension and still presented her collection in a way that was satisfactory to the tutors despite the dying hiccup.
The tutors eventually gave the approval for her to enter the show.
Below are some pictures from Katie’s line-up session:
The line-up on that day.
The panel of tutors.
