Home Shopping with Margiela

Maison Martin Margiela never ceases to discreetly attack particular elements of contemporary society and culture, and this time around the label has taken a stab at the bleak repetitiveness of home shopping commercials. The film features anonymous white-coated individuals, synonymous with the label, demonstrating the benefits of each item advertised, accompanied by a lifeless voice explaining them.

Rolling hourglass

Cotton Letter Stationary

The film presents various pieces, including a waterproof cotton envelope to carry clothing, a wireless glowing night light, knife rests carved out of antique bottle stoppers and hollowed out chicken eggs containing "fortunes". The objects seem very unnecessary, and the Maison have deepened the meaning of this parody by exposing the overdone marketing for items which are useless.

Travelling Pouch for delicate clothing

Fortune Eggs

Wireless night-light

The only useful object out of all is the Luminious Night-Light, a wireless glow-in-the-dark replica of 1930s' lightbulbs, reflective of the need to save energy in the current state of global weather and movement to reduce the carbon footprints of the mass. Even though the main purpose of the film is to show the ridiculousness of home shopping marketing, another thing is clear throughout the film - Maison Martin Margiela has drawn design inspiration from various eras, and warped these objects specifically for the film, which the Maison also does throughout their fashion collections.

Follow this link to view the film

Images courtesy of Another Magazine and Totokaelo

Style on the Streets

Nick Wooster, Creative Director of Menswear for JC Penny

Every September, the world’s fashion elite flock to the fashion capitals of London, New York, Milan and Paris to celebrate their communal passion for fashion curb their eagerness to peruse what designers have conjured up for the new season. Let’s take a look at the best street style shots from this year’s fashion month....

Miroslava Duma, Fashion Writer

Anna Dello Russo, Editor-in-Large of Vogue Japan

Giovanna Battaglia, Editor of L'Uomo Vogue and W Magazine

Hanne Gaby, Model

Candice Lake, Fashion Photographer

Saskia De Brauw, Model

Susie Lau, Blogger for Style Bubble

Images courtesy of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, GQ, StreetFSN

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

The Zen Garden of Viktor & Rolf

Of all the Haute Couture shows in the past week, one stood out amongst them. The 13 year hiatus of Viktor & Rolf from Haute Couture has made many fashion elite anticipate a collection that makes testament to the creative brew they may have been cooking since their 1999 "Russian Doll" Couture collection. The calmness and ease of the return of Viktor & Rolf to Haute Couture marks their expertise in producing garments that are masterfully artistic, yet somehow wearable, especially in this time in fashion when the minimalist fashion stream is at the top.

The pair's Fall Couture show presented to the fashion elite the extent to which their vision can go. Bringing elements of traditional Japanese Zen Buddhism, both in the construction of the awe-inspring couture and the presentation itself, the designers manipulated and moulded the human hangers into solid, mountainous forms that directly reflect the tranquility of the Japanese Zen Garden. There is no doubt the lamentable yet intriguing collection has characterised the pair's aesthetic diversity.

Images courtesy of Fashionising