OUTRAGE | Male Body Image: Thom Browne and Hedi Slimane

A male model at Thom Browne Spring/Summer 2015 feeling the pump

The Spring/Summer 2015 menswear season has just ended, and may be one of the most radical - unusual yet intriguing styling, unorthodox headwear and a general flurry of graphically blinding prints filled the collections of London, Milan and Paris designer labels. But, it seems as though two designers, who are vastly different from each other, has tackled two sides of male body image and confidence head on.

There is no denying that a health and fitness revolution has struck the general population, and this has certainly been targeted by the blatantly obvious bodybuilding parodical designs of Thom Browne (as above). The Spring/Summer 2015 collection featured a myriad of padded blazers, jackets and pants exaggerating the muscle groups bodybuilders aim to pump up. It's plain and simple: Thom strikes at the heart of the resurgence of bodybuilding by conveying this physique as nothing but a fleeting trend, and how it correlates with the coming and going of trends in fashion. It's ridiculous to see clothing that reflects the body image, but that's how Thom is - he always strives to shove it in your face. Always an advocate for the avant-garde and risky, Thom has definitely challenged the realness of what dedicated muscle men are really striving for.

On the other hand, the comparatively small frames of the male models within Hedi Slimane's Spring/Summer 2015 collection for Saint Laurent Paris created a stir. An ode to a time when a man's natural physique was glorified, Hedi has also challenged the ideal male body image today. But, seeing these delicate men walk down the runway forces us to question whether the strive for thinness that is rampant amongst female models is being placed upon male models too. Whether or not these men are naturally or forcibly thin, I don't know, but at least there was a modern-day Jimi Hendrix to clear the air of shock (below).

Jimi Hendrix, is that you?

As a man, the pressure to become your best physical self is popping up everywhere. No doubt, these two designers have given us something to think about - male body image. Speaking as a young men adept to the rapidity of marketing, I believe men should be proud of their body no matter if they are striving for a better physique and health status or comfortable where they are. C'mon guys, stand with pride!

Images courtesy of Style.com

Return

Hi All! I am finally going to go back into blogging about what I love the most. I have just finished my Bachelor Degree so I have more time than ever to bring you into my perspective and view of fashion! It's been a long time coming, and I'm glad to come back. 

Stay tuned, as Cacolyte will be going through some significant changes...

Cacolyte.

Image courtesy of Style Minutes

Hiatus

Rick Owens AW13/14 finale

Dear Readers,

I am very thankful for your audience and support during my time working in the fashion industry and for most importantly, reading my articles, posts and critiques on the ongoings with in the ever-evolving fashion world. Unfortunately, for the next 2 months, I won't be posting on this blog, as I am in my final term of my University degree and will be working on my final assessments and the milestone Major Project. But, I will of course be blogging and writing a lot more when I have finished my studies. I'll keep you updated and all the best!

Cacolyte.

Image courtesy of Some Slash Things

The Cold to Come

Images courtesy of A Shaded View On Fashion, Oyster Magazine, The Fashionisto, StreetFSN and Saxony

Fashion Faux Paris

Questionable collections came from some of the most respected labels, and whilst this does not tarnish the entire label, it will definitely deter some from expecting the best from the designers in the future. Even the fashion capital of Paris produces some faux pas...

Oh how terrible it is to follow a wonderful Haute Couture collection with a outstandingly bleak and somewhat useless collection. Fashion legends Viktor & Rolf offered a disappointing colour palette, which was accompanied by the unnecessary attention to sheer fabrics, which is completely impractical in near freezing temperatures. Deconstructed cable knit details and printed bras, waistcoats and sleeve details were seen throughout, but was unable to cover the boringness of it all.

Obvious imitation seemed like the "in" thing to do, with Dries Van Noten's latest collection being too similar to Prada's Fall/Winter 2013 menswear collection, Nicolas Ghesquiré for Louis Vuitton's denim a mirror image of Olivier Rousteing's denim creations for Balmain, and Akris using oddly familiar photographic prints which stray too close to Dries Van Noten's Autumn/Winter 2011 collection. It's an awful cyclical process. I guess this fashion expert must be either uninspired or burnt out, which is not a good sign.

Nicolas Ghesquiré's collections for Balenciaga were undoubtedly glorious, but his debut for Louis Vuitton was inexplicable, in a bad way. Extremely muted colours, dismal styling, and generic designs seemed to have been indicative of withheld extravagance. The possible reason for this is the pressure to fill the shoes of Marc Jacobs, and favouring to take a safer direction and not toy with the reputation of Louis Vuitton. Who can blame Nicolas for taking that sort of move? I just hope his next collection does not push the label into dire straits.

I've adored every collection by Raf Simons for Dior since his debut, but his Fall/Winter 2014 collection has made me less than cheery. To boil it down, Raf's minimalist style is too apparent, and he must remember that he is designing for another brand, not his own, and injecting it with a sneaker-shoe hybrid that would usually be in his namesake label is just plain insulting to the history and integrity of Christian Dior. Although a more reserved collection, statement pieces such as the distorted layered dresses and those ghastly shoes just did not elevate the mundaneness of the basics within the collection.

Despite the outweighing negatives of the week, trends always shine through, and will never cease to be worn by fashion followers worldwide. An emphasis on shoes seemed obvious throughout the week, with the return of knee-high boots, ankle boots and the distasteful flatform shoe. The gladiatorial pleat has made a comeback, along with the '60s and '70s inspired geometric prints. 

Images courtesy of Jacques Habbah and Dazed Digital

The Positives of Paris

Human installations at the Iris Van Herpen show

Fashion month for the Autumn/Winter 2014 has come to an end, and the tedious work between now and when the collections will hit stores and boutiques worldwide begins. As Paris is the fashion capital, the trends that spurt out of the designer's collections are the most influential, but God only knows how or if designers from other streams of fashion will distort or glorify the trends. In every fashion week, there are the beautiful collections and there are the downright questionable ones, so let's save you the eye sore for the moment and explore the most pleasing.

The second collection from the resurrected Vionnet label was indicative of the naturalist fad that has come about in recent years. Goga Ashkenazi emphasizes the trend of the organic into this collection with the minimal floral motifs and brightly greens, and coupled with the structural form of the garments, makes the proposal of bringing pinstripe into some of the pieces welcome. The straightness of the collection, with singular block lines and blocky silhouettes, is somewhat a perfect contrast to the more organic elements. There seemed to be a balance of the positive and the negative looking back at the collections presented, so I took to analysing what made my favourite collections either of the two.

The pleats trend for the upcoming Autumn/Winter season is no doubt mastered by Yoshiyuki Maeme for Issey Miyake. The pleats in the collection are not produced in the usual up-and-down model, but flowed with the fluid forms of the garments. The juxtaposition of the curvaceous and the quadratic is apparent, with the squarish bags and prints diversifying this modernly beautiful collection. The cross-cultural and minimalist aesthetic of Issey Miyake has been preserved perfectly once again. 

Of course, one of the most anticipated shows of the season, Karl Lagerfeld unveiled the Chanel Shopping Centre - a pseudo-supermarket right in the Grand Palais and the sight of the Autumn/Winter 2014 show for the parisian pride label, Chanel. Amongst the shelves and piles of faux Chanel groceries, the models walked out revealing a continuation of the urban x high fashion look shown in the Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2014 collection. Pairing iridescent metallic sneakers with classic Chanel tweed is a a reflection of women today and of the past - chic yet fashionable, wherever they are and whatever they're doing. The glory of women has been personified in one collection - oversized coats reminiscent of the power dressing era of the 80s and an ode to the sudden rise of feminism amongst the youth recently. But, even though this symbolic collection emerged as the best of the week, the trend of mixing high fashion and urban trends is not new.

Now, don't be fooled, the beauty of these collections were much overshadowed by the preposterous collections by other respectable designers. As most of us know, fashion isn't always beautiful, and sometimes even the best of the best make mistakes, and I will explore these in my next post....

Images courtesy of Style.com, Louise Damgaard, Dazed Digital, Metro, Marie Claire, Chanel and Fashionising

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