Milan's Momentous Fashion

Jeremy Scott's latest collection for Moschino is an ode to the deceiving positivity offered by capitalist companies such as McDonald's

As the fashion weeks are drawing to a close, Milan has fed fashion followers worldwide with an array of collections worth wearing. It seems as though Italian designers want fashionistas to go for a more affirmative look for the dreary weather, which is certainly welcome to brighten up one's and other's winter days. Trends such as pastels, artistic patterns, bright orange, knee high boots, Pre-Raphaelite long sleeved dresses and innocent capes filled the designer's collections, allowing women to have choice. Overall, the historical, minimal and eccentric were the streams of fashion that dominated the runways.


Historical

Alberta Ferretti drew inspiration for their latest collection, but without swaying into the cosplay dimension, effectively done so by modernising the motifs into contemporary garments women wear day in day out. The luminance of the sunset colour palette only vivifies the beautiful details that adorn the garments, especially the lace and crumpled silks that are used throughout. An interesting perspective of the collection is that without these adornments, the collection would also do well with a straight to the point monochromatic colour palette, indicative of the collection's contemporary relevance.

Dolce & Gabbana continues with the royal motifs from the menswear collection, but the fantastical fairytale quality is what makes it differentiable. The grandeur of the Italian designer duo's collections are forever their signature, and they have damn well improved upon it every single season. Red riding hoods, mini dresses featuring intricate patchwork of woodland animals, crystal embellished handbags and golden meshwork footwear created the fairytale ambience of the show and collection. Amongst the innocent details, silver embellished headdresses and dominating gauntlets were seen in the finale, sharing commonalities with the menswear collection.

Minimal

The designers from the minimal and understated fashion stream such as Bottega Veneta, Gabriele Colangelo and LVMH newcomer Marco De Vincenzo focused on offering a subtle approach juxtaposed against the resolute collections of others. Bottega Veneta showed - geometric prints amongst the abundance of pleating, which gave the collection an aquatic quality, Gabriele Colangelo layered ghostly materials in a structural collection that caters to the followers of dark fashion and Marco De Vincenzo unintentionally followed the same aesthetic as Bottega Veneta, but is distinguished by the rainbow colour palette and oversizing of outerwear.

Eccentric

And of course, last but not least - the eccentric fashion designers. Roberto Cavalli and Jeremy Scott wowed fashion elite with their complete change of aesthetic for the labels they creatively direct for. Roberto for his diffusion line, Just Cavalli, has surprisingly calmed down his often overly sexy for this season, throwing away the animal prints and leathers and opting for cosy wools in sombre colours. But, Mr. Cavalli could not resist adding shimmery gold to up the boldness. Jeremy Scott has used gold as well for his Moschino collection, with most of the garments an appropriation of pop art in fashion. McDonald's, Spongebob Squarepants, fast food and hip hop culture references are obvious, an ode to the deceiving positivity and elitism capitalist culture 

View the complete collections including beauty, backstage and details at www.fashionising.com

Images courtesy of Paolo Musa, Lea Colombo and Dazed Digital

The Home of Avant-Garde

London designers never fail to deliver what the city is known for in the fashion industry - the weird and wonderful. Distinguishable trends that were picked out amongst the myriad of designers include distressed knits, cosy fur and classic lace. Commonalities with New York in terms of trends include oceanic blues, shocking reds, artistic patterns and knee-high boots. Besides J.W. Anderson, Mary Katrantzou, Christopher Kane and House of Holland, who have always kept to their acquired taste, designers such as Preen by Thornton Bregazzi and the iconic Burberry Prorsum displayed their ability to produce artistic ready-to-wear garments. 

Justin and Thea from Preen have once again proven their ability to fuse the sophisticated without hindering on the punk heritage of London. The colour palette of black, red and white have always been signature to the label, and combining these with geometric patterns and futurist fabric choice is applaudable. As a sci-fi geek, what won me over was of course, the Star Wars motif. You can't go wrong with a Darth Vader mask smack bang in the centre of your outfit.

Mary Katrantzou has been recognized as a woman who starts trends - especially with her famous kaleidoscopic creations. Over the years, her aesthetic has altered, but remains true to the puzzling pizzazz to the eye which she pulls off. This season, she has mixed Art Nouveau patchwork and modern British signage into dresses, sweaters and evening wear. Despite this bold move, its much more subtle than her previous collections, but the occasional odd toilet signage creeps its way into the garments, which is camouflaged well by the expert technique shown by the designer.

Christopher Kane is a favourite amongst the artistic fashion enthusiasts. For this collection, Mr. Kane has somewhat reduced the abundance of the ornamental and focused on materials. The most interesting details of his latest collection is the pvc leather detailing which is consistent throughout, even spreading to shoes and bags, fabric layering and the laser cut sleeve details that resemble the presence of ruffles, throughout the evening wear. In contrast to this, fluid lace has replaced the daring prints Christopher is known for, but is nonetheless executed well. An abrupt change of aesthetic for Christopher Kane, but a welcomed one.

Burberry Prorsum was highly anticipated, and the hype was certainly to no disappointment. The flurry of notable socialites attended the show didn't overshadow the outstanding artwear on offer. With the overly exposed Cara Delevingne leading the runway, timeless dresses, scarves, shoes and bags were emblazoned with painted floral prints. Comfortable custom designed capes were what captured the audience's attention during the finale, accompanied by Paloma Faith's powerful singing, proving that Burberry is still a fashion force to be reckoned with.

View the collections at www.fashionising.com

Images courtesy of Jamie Stoker, Dazed and Confused, Lea Colombo, Burberry, Fashionising

'Nother New York Fashion Week

Hood by Air

Even though overtaking Paris as the most fashionable city in the world, according to Global Language Monitor, it seems as though New York's designers are staying true to the relaxed chic the city provides for the coming Fall/Winter season. The uniformity of New York style may be what is dominating in the minds of the designers, or it may even be a backlash against the loss of democracy in fashion media, with designers choosing to hold back on the spectacle as a rebuttal to the absence of questionably valuable bloggers and freelance fashion enthusiasts. Besides the changes in fashion media acceptance, Marc Jacobs' first collection since his departure from Louis Vuitton was highly anticipated. As per usual, some designers stood out amongst the crowd, and the few who did did so daringly.

Dion Lee

Dion Lee

Dion Lee

Jason Wu 

Narciso Rodriguez

Minimalism is a trend that has endured the rapidity of fashion, and Dion Lee, Jason Wu and Narciso Rodriguez have displayed updated approaches to the trend. Jason Wu and Narciso Rodriguez brought sophistication back to minimalism by focusing on the look of the materials and barely distorting the silhouette, which has been overdone by the myriad of designers who have preyed on the trend to survive. Aussie designer Dion Lee once again impressed New York fashion elite with gladiatorial gold strapping which was juxtaposed against the more feminine and flowing materials consistent throughout.

Prabal Gurung

Prabal Gurung

Prabal Gurung

Suno

Suno

Suno and Prabal Gurung have drawn inspiration from traditional patterns and materials to allow the modern woman to show off her heritage with pride. Suno showed ribbed gold dresses in a pattern reminiscent of a Japanese Zen Garden and panelled two-piece sets derivative of Asiatic cultural garments. Notable designer Prabal Gurung went back to his Nepalese roots for his latest collection, presenting shearling coats, a gradient of red and orange draping and symbolic anklets as homage to the religious folk in the Himalayas. Prabal has paired these pieces with working garments such as blazers, trousers and blouses, further allowing city women to don his pieces.

Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera 

Diane von Furstenberg

Diane von Furstenberg

Yigal Azrouel

Fashion isn't fashion without patterns thrown into the mix. Yigal Azrouel, Diane Von Furstenberg and Carolina Herrera have dictated what patterns they want women to wear in the coming season - with Yigal proposing discreet geometrics, Diane combining mod and psychedelia in a palette of white, gold, black, blue and red, and Ms. Herrera taking geometrics another step further by adding triangular embellishments in the neckline and waistline of various dresses.

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Jeremy Scott

Rodarte

Rodarte

Rodarte

Boldness is characteristic of designers such as Hood by Air, Thom Browne, Duckie Brown, Jeremy Scott and Rodarte, but it seems as though Luella and Kate from Marc by Marc Jacobs has broken its strict rule of youthful minimalism to bring a complete overhaul on the diffusion line's aesthetic. Whilst Hood by Air and Duckie Brown bent gender stereotypes and Jeremy Scott and Marc by Marc Jacobs bore vibrant motifs scattered throughout their clothing in eye-blinding colours, Rodarte brought fashion from a galaxy far, far away. The Star Wars themed evening dresses, featuring famous characters such as Luke Skywalker and Yoda on the skirts, took the cake. And seeing as I myself am a sci-fi nerd, it's obvious that Rodarte Fall/Winter 2014 was my favourite collection from New York.

Images courtesy of Fashionising and Lea Colombo for Dazed and Confused