 |
| Chanel, Givenchy, Celine and Louis Vuitton, all from the recent Spring/Summer 2012 collections. |
For their spring collections, most designers choose to focus on unconventional ideas, such as strange fabrics and dark moods. No one exactly focus on colours, one of the most important aspects in fashion, until the colour-blocking trend slaps us in the face during the Fall 2011 runway shows. Although there are hints of bright colours lingering around, white is suddenly the it colour again.
However, each label
combine the colour with new silhouettes and ethereal fabrics. It's not like they use wool or anything in the other spring/summer collections, but you can almost see the lightness in the way the fabric drapes.
At Céline, Phoebe Philo cleverly combined militarism with the proportions of women, making the collection wearable, as usual. There's a lot of shirt dresses, almost like shoulder-pads but not exactly, cropped trousers and pleated skirts. The accessories are
understated, but flows perfectly with the theme of the Céline brand and the show. White dominated the colour palette of the collection; most outfits are put together with
black suede platforms and wide belts. This is one of my favourite shows from Céline: unlike the Spring 2010, or the Spring 2011 collections, the clothing are less structured and formal. Did I mention how much I love the contrast of the dresses and accessories?
Speaking of which:
Givenchy. I'm not a bragger(
just a shameless one) but I correctly predicted the rise of undersea-inspired collections, which first appeared at Marc Jacobs Fall 2011!
The looks are tailored and dressy, and has an air of Givenchy when it's still designed by Hubert de Givenchy. Riccardo Tisci used a brilliant but simple palette of seashell-pink, white and black, which works very well with the combination of jackets, tight leggings and button-ups. The dresses, on the otherhand, resemble the silhouettes that are usually related to mermaids and other sea creatures. The fabrics consist of mostly meticulous lace and chiffon, along with the occasional netting. Even though the style of this collection is very different one the direction of Fall 2011, full of delicate tops that might remind you of Victorian style. Bonus: Natalia Vodianova opened the show, while Gisele Bündchen closed.
Are supermodel status from the 90's finally coming back?
At Chanel, overall the collection is good: the style is very Chanel but not really. The colour palette consist of mostly white, copper and pastel colours. Ironic enough, Chanel's Fall/Winter 2011 collection is full of dark hues. Like Givenchy, it also takes inspiration from the undersea world(not in the typical,
The Little Mermaid vibe. I have nothing against
The Little Mermaid, besides it's oversexualized), but in a more feminine and sophisticated direction, with suits and shift evening dresses.
The pearls, used as necklaces and belts, also remind me a lot of Coco Chanel's perfect mix between tomboyish and girly: you can still be kick-ass while being a lady. Otherwise, the swimsuits are similar to the ones in the past collections with a daring cut, and covered up in this weird, funny-looking plastic jackets(first Marc Jacobs, now Chanel!
Plastics are coming back in fashion!?!) Lagerfeld used the usual fabrics the Chanel house is known for: layers of textured organza, tweed and knits with a twist: all of them has this quality of lightness to them. Florence Welch also performed, but honestly?
Lungs totally kicks
Ceremonials' ass.
According to my mom, who worked as a salesperson(woman?) at Lane Crowford,
this Louis Vuitton collection is very 60, Mod-inspired. I agree, except some of the dresses imitate the style of the flappers(in the 1920's) Love how they station the runway with a carousel of horses and had these funny, nostalgic music. While looking at the collections, I just think of proms, fairy tales with happy endings, unicorns and china dolls. I think of unicorns all the time, so it's not a surprise, but I'm surprised by the amount of happy thoughts this collections created. According to Marc Jacobs,
"After the hardness of Fall, we wanted something gentle and kind, fragile but strong, too." The use of eyelet laces, organza layers(again!) and exaggerated collars are very feminine, without being vomit-pink feminine. After looking at this collections, I won't be surprise if Marc Jacobs is going to Dior, although I prefer him at Louis Vuitton, because his strokes of sudden inspirations is different from the usual style of Dior(but after the recent fiasco of collections, I don't know what to expect from Dior anymore. Just rehire Galliano! But Dior is too arrogant to do so)
What do you think about the white-on-white trend and these collections? Thoughts and comments?
photo source: vogue.com
