Creative Director of Givenchy now on Nike's team

Luxury fashion-high street collaborative lines are not hard to come by nowadays, with H&M, Target, Adidas and Nike being the main partners of luxury fashion labels who want to target the highly fashion conscious generation of today. Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy has garnered much attention for his monumental change of direction for the historical label, which started with the infamous Rottweiler and Panther prints from the Fall/Winter 2011 season, even though his tenure at Givenchy started much earlier. Mr. Tisci has finally decided to join the movement and announced the release of a collaborative line with iconic sports brand, Nike. 

After a period of being illusive as to exactly what to expect from the line, the Creative Director has revealed that the collaboration is a redesign of Nike's Air Force One sneaker. Nike R.T., a stylisation of the partnership, not only includes the classic hi and low styles of the shoe, but a mid and even knee-high version, perfect for the more daring sneaker freakers. The new sneakers have been deemed as "universal yet somehow personal", and rightly so, as there is a style for every fashionista. The duality of luxury and street brought by the two labels only brings more approachability to the intimidatingly famous brands.

The Nike R.T. Force One Collection will be available in all styles in global retailers and online in Spring 2014. All styles will be available in white from March 1 and in black from April 1.

Images courtesy of Freshness Magazine, Vogue UK and Nike

Paris Men's Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2014

Umit Benan, designer for his namesake label, protesting against racism

The deeper meanings behind what is presented by most fashion designers the world over are sometimes, or even most of the time, overshadowed by people's preference to disseminating what they'd like to wear and what seems weird and unattractive from that collection based on superficial reasons. Fads come and go within trends of fashion, but clothing is also a self-expression of yourself and what you believe no matter what is seen as vogue, and quite a few designers in the Parisian scene have done so throughout their Autumn/Winter 2014 collections. Besides this, designers have decided to tweak their aesthetic in interest of diversifying - an interesting accompaniment to the messages conveyed.

The Raf Simons "Fathers" jumper, aimed at America's powerful influence today

Raf Simons was the first designer to present a protesting collection, blatantly obvious that what was in question was America's reign of supremacy. In collaboration with artist Sterling Ruby, the pair presented a runway decorated with stars and stripes banners tied clumsily, and clothing baring pop culture symbols, surface images of the Moon defaced with fabric swatches and the word "Fathers" slapped mockingly throughout. It seems as though Raf is making clear how ridiculous it is that most people praise what America offers and not what their own culture does, and in essence, this collection is also mocking those who leave their homeland to pursue "The American Dream", whatever that is to that person. The combination of his expertly tailored garments with derisive symbols and words are true Raf Simons, but this time a more political stance has been taken.

Rick Owens' signature leather shoes

Rick Owens decided to show an appreciation towards traditional Middle-Eastern culture and acceleration of the unisex fashion movement that he propelled forward at the beginning of the 21st Century. Models wore headdresses reflective of the Hijab (or even Hindi or Christian religious headwear), a gender-bending element that is contrary to the fact that these are men, and possibly a stab at beautifying this cultural headwear that has stupidly offended narrow-minded people who believe that this is a sign of a terrorist. To finish off the looks, the men wore high knee leather shoes that are masculine, despite the common association of this style to women's fashion. Cutting gender stereotypes in fashion is tough, and sometimes is an acquired taste, I mean, look at J.W. Anderson's menswear collections. But, Rick has pulled this off with consideration of the fact that masculinity overshadowing femininity is more appealing to the mass. With an already complex vision that Mr. Owens holds, a collection that manages to reflect what men's fashion is nowadays - against the norm - is just what many fashion enthusiasts would've expected from this designer.

Paul Smith used Middle Eastern patterns throughout his collection

 Another designer that expressed their fascination with Middle Eastern culture is the kooky Paul Smith. Popular amongst young fashion conscious men who don a highly tailored but want comical elements throughout, the British designer has merged this identifiable design ethos with patterns derived from Kilim and Turkish rugs. Paul's signature eccentricities are also apparent, with a pieces of footwear and panelled garments featuring iridescent sequins. This collection is a incredibly reminiscent of Kenzo Takada's work - a mixture of iconic cultural pieces to celebrate multiculturalism and racial acceptance.

Thom Browne makeup

Issey Miyake's psychedelic patterns

Two designers that always stand out amongst the Paris scene are Thom Browne and Issey Miyake - the first consistently showing artwear collections that prove avant-garde is not limited to Haute Couture and womenswear, and the latter effortlessly executing minimalism with stylishly outrageous detailing. For Fall/Winter 2014, the two have somehow bounced off each other unknowingly, with pieces within their collections representing the modern hippy. The regained fascination with nature and its wonders in health, which has sparked the movement of veganism, is shown through Thom's ethereal florals and makeup. The visual culture that is associated with vegan, hippy and new age beliefs is seen in Issey Miyake - with a surprisingly more psychedelic collection than previous ones. 

Givenchy fashion show finale

View the complete collections on www.fashionising.com or www.style.com

Images courtesy of Fashionising and Style.com

Fabrications

Givenchy sweatshirt, Damir Doma trousers, Grenson boots

McQ by Alexander McQueen bomber, Givenchy shirt, Balmain trousers, Underground boots

The eerily surrealist painting style of LA based artist, Alex G. Paradise, has been utilised in the latest editorial for online fashion retailer, SSENSE. The paintings, drawing inspiration from the retailer's best selling pieces of the season rather than blatantly presenting the products to the customer, are an interesting series most likely aimed at showing how fashion feeds on other creative industries (art especially). What stands out the most is the anonymous figures who model the clothes, who in my opinion blanks out the delightfully distracting fashion models and highlights the beauty of the garments themselves, which fashion is ultimately about.

McQ by Alexander McQueen polo, Kenzo trousers, Raf Simons backpack, Mr. Hare shoes

Stella McCartney blouse, Dion Lee mini skirt, Marni flats

View the complete series of paintings at SSENSE.com

View more works from Alex at www.alexgparadise.com

Images courtesy of SSENSE

Sneakerboy Sydney

Sneakerboy, Australia's latest luxury footwear and streetwear chain, is opening in Sydney on Saturday, December 14th! If you don't know about these guys yet, it's mainly because the retailer has kept a low profile to the mass and has concentrated on their target market. The retailer allows Australian guys who have a taste for the luxurious but want to keep things urban a chance to get their hands on world-renowned labels and designer collections in a relaxed environment. 

Sneakerboy has hit a gap in the market in Australia successfully, with sneakers from coveted labels such as Givenchy, Raf Simons, Maison Martin Margiela, Rick Owens, Pierre Hardy, Lanvin and the legendary Alexander McQueen, being difficult to find in brick-and-mortar stores around Sydney and Melbourne. In sync with their launch in Sydney, the retailer has offered two promotions to customers! The first is a chance to WIN some of your favourite sneakers from the retailer and the second is FREE Sneakerboy denim at their Sydney launch! 

For details on how to win your sneakers wishlist and get free Sneakerboy denim, head to www.sneakerboy.com

Images courtesy of Sneakerboy

Fashion Month GIFs

Prada

Fashion month brings about many changes within the fashion industry, and most of the time, collections that reflect the ever-changing and evolving design aesthetic of designers and labels. Whatever the month of September brings, the heart of it all is fashion. The non-conventional UK magazine, Dazed & Confused, have uploaded a series of GIFs on their website appropriating a few of the best looks throughout the collections presented throughout the month...

Givenchy 

Chanel

Alexander Wang

Fendi

J.W. Anderson

Proenza Schouler

Confused? I was too. Don't worry, head to Dazed Digital to find out what the hidden meanings behind each are!

Images courtesy of Dazed Digital

Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014

The Dior Greenhouse, the set of the label's Spring/Summer 2014 show

It's time to say goodbye to another busy fashion month, and what a way to do so, with the shocking news that Marc Jacobs will be leaving his position as Creative Director for Louis Vuitton after a 16 year reign of the historical label. Of course, the discreetly artistic show by Chanel, the plastic hat parasols of Chalayan, the surprising turn of aesthetic for Gareth Pugh and Givenchy and the revolutionary, non-conformist sorority style show of Rick Owens topped it off. 

The "runway warriors" at the Rick Owens show

Marc Jacobs at the finale of his last show for Louis Vuitton

Despite the abundance of well-known names and labels showing, there seemed to be an unwelcome bleak streak, which may have been cancelled out by the sudden changes within the fashion industry. Three designers stood out to me, simply because of their abilities to show diversity and renewed skills in design...

Gareth Pugh

I still believe Gareth Pugh's Spring/Summer 2013 collection and show is one of the best I have ever seen produced by a designer - it was a collection born from the scorn and ravages one can experience in life... but this time around it seems the darkness has been averted to a welcome change in aesthetic. A softer silhouette is seen throughout the collection, drawing inspiration from both traditional Asian and Mediterranean attire. The usual harsh colour palette of black, grey and red has now been replaced by one with metallic shades of blue, bright hues of green and even luminous gold. Will Mr. Pugh keep with this new found change in his coming collections? I certainly hope so.

Christian Dior

Raf SImons has well and truly earned his place as the Creative Director of Dior, and there was a feeling that he has decided to show a darker side to the Dior woman. Raf has managed to keep the undoubtedly sophisticated look of Dior, but has tweaked elements to represent his struggle to enmesh into the label - especially the deceivingly friendly florals. The reflective detail is present in every necklace, bangle, pattern or appliqué, being and/or featuring poisonous flora - poison ivy, wisteria or the romantically dangerous rose. The vividness of the collection is undoubtable, but this discreetly dark addition to the garments is what stands out beyond the silhouette, colours and flawless styling.

Givenchy

The ever-rebellious Riccardo Tisci has decided to take a turn of aesthetic for Givenchy. Riccardo Tisci has made himself known via his outlandish injection of youth culture into the historical label, his selection of prints including rottweilers, dobermans, birds of paradise and the cartoon character Bambi, just to name a few, being his signature. But now, he has gone back to the roots of the label and shown his ability to embody and appropriate the distinct aesthetic that gave Givenchy its fame. Of course, he has not done this without twisting the feminine silhouettes with worldly approaches to draping and overlaying in the dresses, a visual story continued from his menswear collection. 

Karl Lagerfeld at the finale of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2014 show

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE COLLECTIONS, HEAD TO FASHIONISING AND NOWFASHION

Images courtesy of Dior, Vancouver Sun, The Business of Fashion and Fashionising

Givenchy | 17

Minimalism and mechanics aren't something associated with the collections from Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, but it seems things have taken a turn. Givenchy are now set to release a series of watches and timepieces, named Seventeen. Encompassing elements such as stainless steel and sapphire glass housing a Swiss quartz movement, these architectural watches are perfect for the man with a contemporary taste. Keep an eye out for when these valuable pieces are available, there's a guarantee Tisci fans will snatch them quickly...

Images courtesy of Givenchy

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