Wednesday, 30 March 2011

spring 2011 ready-to-wear Lanvin

spring 2011 ready-to-wear

Lanvin

By Tim Blanks

"I'm not a cool designer, and Lanvin is not a cool brand," Alber Elbaz insisted with his typical self-deprecation at the end of yet another standout show. Yeah sure, Alber, and the sun won't rise tomorrow morning. But if he insisted on questioning his own coolness, there was at least no way Elbaz could challenge the clarity and intelligence of a collection that proposed a soup-to-nuts wardrobe (there were even nylon raincoats, for God's sake) of unimpeachably modern, urban chic. Exhibit 1: the girl-on-the-go athleticism of second-skin dresses and suits paired with flats. Exhibit 2: the ludicrous amounts of glamour with which Elbaz managed to swathe that prosaic proposition.

The skin thing was a big deal. As a designer, Elbaz is feeling put out by the way women can buy themselves a new body these days, courtesy of their local cosmetic surgeon. He loves a wrinkle. So he created a collection that was a hymn to skin: wrinkled in Fortuny-like pleating, stretched in all those sheaths. It was a spectacular foundation on which he could lavish increasingly heady colors. From its elegantly taupe-y beginnings, the show spiraled through acid yellow, hot pink, and aqua. Karlie Kloss looked like a great big Georgia O'Keeffe flower as she sashayed down the runway in an opulent orange skirt. And it wasn't only color Elbaz toyed with. He layered on the embellishment with pagan metalwork, climaxing in a gladiator skirt. There's always been that hard edge with him—here, it was apparent in the metal bracelet that cuffed the shoe to the ankle, the leather harness, and the zippers that ran up and down his dresses, back, front, and sides. Arch fan Janet Jackson nailed it backstage when she pinned down her Lanvin persona: "I'm the baddest bitch on the block."

In fact, she had some competition from the models who stalked the catwalk for a finale that brought to mind Yves Saint Laurent's epochal heyday. And, with his hot-wire to the way women feel like dressing now, Alber Elbaz could be the most natural heir to that particular throne.

from style.com (30/03/2011)

spring 2011 ready-to-wear Matthew Williamson

spring 2011 ready-to-wear

Matthew Williamson

By Meenal Mistry

No one likes to be put in a box. So it's not surprising that Matthew Williamson works to distance himself from his origins as a designer to Ibizan party girls. For Spring, Williamson conjured an exotic locale with no Pacha, no Amnesia, and not much of anything else. "My storyboard is a girl marooned on a deserted island," he said. "She has her Western wardrobe, and over time she becomes one with nature, picking up organic textures and materials."

To underline the collection's raw quality, Williamson set the stage with a pristine white tent built inside the distinctly urban and industrial Battersea Power Station. A single glass wall and glass ceiling exposed panels of the decrepit space. This is no place for a bikini or caftan, it all seemed to say, and sure enough, the city-chic foundation of the collection was smart but languid tailoring in cargo pants, safari blouses, and wide, pleated trousers and shorts, along with constructed, body-hugging dresses featuring chunks of beading.

For embellishment, Williamson's MacGyver-like muse might trim her tweeds in raffia and then knot herself up a bustier with a swingy fringe. Come evening, her parachute becomes a billowing gown shaped by drawstrings and trussed with a leftover length of macramé. The concept yielded mixed and sometimes clunky results, but there were some standouts, including a navy safari blouse tucked into a gold peacock feather skirt and a dark keyhole frock with a neckline edged in silver beading. It's a pity, then, that this girl's all dressed up with only the coconuts to bear witness.

pre-fall 2011 Matthew Williamson

pre-fall 2011

Matthew Williamson

By Matthew Schneier

Despite her reputation for lounging in Ibiza more or less year-round, the Matthew Williamson girl is actually a world traveler. For pre-fall, the designer imagined her in an alpine forest. Brrr—but the more things change, the more they stay the same. To face the chilly slopes, la femme Williamson just slips a chunky coyote coat or a fox-trimmed parka over her usual finery. Even in the woods, you never know when you'll need a one-shoulder draped cocktail frock, an MW specialty.

So, party people, breathe easy. There's plenty for you here. But also some cute options to take you from the dance floor to the daytime. A series of boxy, boyish cropped peacoats, available in responsible taupe or funky citrine, were properly cute. A few variations on the ski sweater, in a multicolored Fair Isle-ish marled wool, spoke to the alpine theme. And of course, it wouldn't be a Williamson show without a little high drama at the end. Here, it came feathered: a nude frock dissolved into shredded chiffon and ostrich plumes, and a gold-sequined minidress—of the sort Christophe Decarnin has made a signature at Balmain—into vivid teal wisps.

from STYLE.COM (30/03/2011)

fall 2011 ready-to-wear 3.1 Phillip Lim

fall 2011 ready-to-wear

3.1 Phillip Lim

By Meenal Mistry

Girls on bikes. Of Phillip Lim's satchelful of references for Fall, that was the most interesting. After all, there's something terribly cool about a look that's remarkably stylish, yet not so precious that it'll be compromised by all that pedal-pushing. "It's about these chic women who ride bikes to work, to brunch, to a cocktail party," Lim said backstage before the show. "But how do you make everything functional without sacrificing form?"

His answer was to splice functional-looking athletic and utilitarian elements into a chic fall urbanite wardrobe of cropped pants and smart coats. A navy silk dress took its cues from the classic nylon anorak, and silk jumpsuits had raglan sleeves—leather for day, covered with bobbling bronze beads for evening. And that's OK. But as such, this hybrid look isn't a million miles away from the mixed-up approach other designers have taken in recent seasons. Nevertheless, it yielded some nice pieces—mostly outerwear—like a black bonded-silk utility coat with big patch pockets, a letterman's jacket in curly lamb and leather, and sturdy ribbed cardigans sliced up the side. A white silk dress, modeled after a baseball jersey, with beaded sleeves was unexpectedly simple and lovely.

However, the show wasn't without its moments of awkwardness, particularly in stiff carrot-shaped pants and squared-off culottes, all cut with an extra fold of material pleated onto the front. They were inspired by Lim's visual research of tribes and gangs. (That swirling floral print, by the way, was a nod to Japanese yakuza tattoos.) As Lim explained, cholos buy their pants too big and fold them in to have a heavier stance, something, it's fair to say, no shopping woman ever wants. Who ever said the battle of form and function would be easy?

from STYLE.COM (30/03/2011)

spring 2005 ready-to-wear Helmut Lang

spring 2005 ready-to-wear

Helmut Lang

By Sarah Mower

"It's just about optimal summer," said a relaxed Helmut Lang backstage before his show. "You'll see sailor elements, and ropes and knots. But you know, we're never literal." Right enough: The collection had a tangential relationship to nautical style, without going overboard.

The first impression to come across was one of lightness—in the plain striped canvas ticking and shirting fabrics that Lang cut into jackets, belted coats, narrow pants, and shift dresses. Beyond that were his signature personal twists. A blue-and-white cotton shirt-striped dress came with a swooping neckline and a folded-back detail, buttoned like matelot pants in the skirt. Jackets were cut short, and shaped like a midshipman's uniform—the best, in navy, had a sailor collar and was worn with a trailing asymmetric white jersey tank and chinos.

And the ropes and knots? There were gorgeous platform espadrilles in tan, black, and white; twists and knots of fabric were worked into short dresses, suspended or draped across the body like abstract garlands; and evening decoration included string-and-pearl harnesses.

True to the designer's promise, nothing in this collection was overly themey. But elegance and simplicity are the strongest points of Lang's aesthetic, and those are the qualities that looked most compelling in this collection.

from STYLE.COM (30/03/2011)

spring 2008 couture Jean Paul Gaultier

spring 2008 couture

Jean Paul Gaultier

By Sarah Mower

Parisian haute couture designers have been diving deep for inspiration this season—literally. Jean Paul Gaultier, like Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, plunged into an aquatic adventure, though in his case, it was "Little Mermaid says, 'Hello Sailor!' " You can always count on JPG for a fun tableau to get things started, so there she was: Coco Rocha, posing on a rock against a watery backdrop with soap bubbles floating up around her.

The mergirl-mariner theme made a neat excuse for another of Gaultier's signature cross-gender mergers. It opened with a couple of memorably chic twists on Parisian classics: a stunning slim navy coat over a striped sweater and sinuous gold-sequin column skirt and a semitranslucent scallop-edged trench that might have been made of fish skin. From there, he trawled the oceans for similes: macramé made to look like fishing nets, plissé inserts suggesting underwater flora, chiffon fronds floating like seaweed, cascading paillettes imitating fish scales or mother-of-pearl, necklaces fashioned into spongiform beads.

It ended with Rocha, making an entrance as the mermaid bride on coral crutches, with a pair of conical shells for a bra. That was a typical ta-da Gaultier punch line, and the couturier was certainly in a cheery mood afterward. "When I started couture, I really thought couture customers were dead or dying," he said. "But now there are all these new clients. We're working all the time, and I love it—it's a permit to create!"

from STYLE.COM (30/03/2011)

KEY WORDS

storms |stôrm|

noun

1 a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow.

• (also storm system) an intense low-pressure weather system; a cyclone.

• a wind of force 10 on the Beaufort scale (48–55 knots or 55-63 mph).

• a heavy discharge of missiles or blows : two men were taken by a storm of bullets.

2 [usu. in sing. ] a tumultuous reaction; an uproar or controversy : the book caused a storm in South America | she has been at the center of a storm concerning payments.

• a violent or noisy outburst of a specified feeling or reaction : the disclosure raised a storm of protest.

3 ( storms) storm windows.

4 a direct assault by troops on a fortified place.

verb

1 [ intrans. ] move angrily or forcefully in a specified direction : she burst into tears and stormed off | he stormed out of the house.

• [with direct speech ] shout (something) angrily; rage : “Don't patronize me!” she stormed.

• move forcefully and decisively to a specified position in a game or contest : he barged past and stormed to the checkered flag.

2 [ trans. ] (of troops) suddenly attack and capture (a building or other place) by means of force : Indian commandos stormed a hijacked plane early today | [as n. ] ( storming) the storming of the Bastille. See note at attack .

3 [ intrans. ] (of the weather) be violent, with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow : when it stormed in the day, I shoveled the drive before Harry came home.

shipwreck |ˈ sh ipˌrek|

noun

the destruction of a ship at sea by sinking or breaking up, e.g., in a storm or after running aground.

• a ship so destroyed : the detritus of a forgotten shipwreck in an Arctic sea.

verb ( be shipwrecked)

(of a person or ship) suffer a shipwreck : he was shipwrecked off the coast of Sardinia and nearly drowned | figurative her right to a fair trial might be shipwrecked by prosecutorial misconduct.

weather |ˈweðər|

noun

the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, cloudiness, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc. : if the weather's good, we can go for a walk.

• a report on such conditions as broadcast on radio or television.

• cold, wet, and unpleasant or unpredictable atmospheric conditions; the elements : stone walls provide shelter from wind and weather.

• [as adj. ] denoting the side from which the wind is blowing, esp. on board a ship; windward : the weather side of the yacht. Contrasted with lee .

verb [ trans. ]

1 wear away or change the appearance or texture of (something) by long exposure to the atmosphere : [ trans. ] his skin was weathered almost black by his long outdoor life | [as adj. ] ( weathered) chemically weathered rock.

• [ intrans. ] (of rock or other material) be worn away or altered by such processes : the ice sheet preserves specimens that would weather away more quickly in other regions.

• [usu. as n. ] ( weathering) Falconry allow (a hawk) to spend a period perched on a block in the open air.

2 come safely through (a storm).

• withstand (a difficulty or danger) : this year has tested industry's ability to weather recession.

• Sailing (of a ship) get to the windward of (a cape or other obstacle).

3 make (boards or tiles) overlap downward to keep out rain.

• (in building) slope or bevel (a surface) to throw off rain.

rust |rəst|

noun

1 a reddish- or yellowish-brown flaky coating of iron oxide that is formed on iron or steel by oxidation, esp. in the presence of moisture.

• figurative a state of deterioration or disrepair resulting from neglect or lack of use : they are here to scrape the rust off the derelict machinery of government.

2 [usu. with adj. ] a fungal disease of plants that results in reddish or brownish patches. • The fungi belong to Puccinia and other genera, order Uredinales, class Teliomycetes.

3 a reddish-brown color : [in combination ] his rust-colored hair.

verb [ intrans. ]

be affected with rust : the blades had rusted away | [as adj. ] ( rusting) rusting machinery.

• figurative deteriorate through neglect or lack of use.

decay |diˈkā|

verb [ intrans. ]

(of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi : [as adj. ] ( decayed) a decayed cabbage leaf | [as adj. ] ( decaying) the odor of decaying fish.

• [ trans. ] cause to rot or decompose : the fungus will decay soft timber.

• (of a building or area) fall into disrepair; deteriorate : urban neighborhoods decay when elevated freeways replace surface roads.

• decline in quality, power, or vigor : the moral authority of the party was decaying.

• Physics (of a radioactive substance, particle, etc.) undergo change to a different form by emitting radiation : the trapped radiocarbon begins to decay at a known rate.

• technical (of a physical quantity) undergo a gradual decrease : the time taken for the current to decay to zero.

noun

the state or process of rotting or decomposition : hardwood is more resistant to decay than softwood | tooth decay.

• structural or physical deterioration : the old barn rapidly fell into decay.

• rotten matter or tissue : fluoride heals small spots of decay.

• the process of declining in quality, power, or vigor : preachers warning of moral decay.

• Physics the change of a radioactive substance, particle, etc., into another by the emission of radiation : the gas radon is produced by the decay of uranium in rocks and soil.

• technical gradual decrease in the magnitude of a physical quantity : the decay of electrical fields in the electromagnets.

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

Dreamy photo series for Jacadi children’s summer fashions by Gerard Harten

January 17, 2011

Jacadi is one of the mainstream children’s fashion producers in France but they have collaborated here with photographer Gerard Harten on a wonderfully dreamy campaign for kids summer fashion in 2011.
I featured Gerard’s work only a little while ago with his great campaign for Lili Gaufretteand here he has done it again and captured another beautiful dream world for the children to inhabit.

Nautical boy by Gerard Harten for Jacadi kids fashion summer 2011

Jacadi Deaville 20's retro dress for girls by Gerard Harten for summer 2011

Jacadi back detail dress photographed by by Gerard Harten for summer 2011

Dreaming boy for Jacadi spring 2011 kids fashion

Dreaming boy in nautical stripes for Jacadi spring 2011

Sweet and simple dress by Jacadi

Toddler girl by Gerard Harten for Jacardi fashion

http://smudgetikka.wordpress.com/2011/01/page/2/

29/03/2011

INITAL BRAINSTORM

Monday, 28 March 2011

KNOTS

http://www.hoornaert.net/?q=basic-sailing-knots-x-10-extras 28/03/2011