New York;
The conservative, edgy-but-too-daring mother of fashion week. London; The obnoxious, innovative, out-there little sister who will try anything at least once. Milan; The aunty who likes to showcase everything glitz & glamour about herself and will show off to anyone who will so much as glance in her direction. Paris;
The cousin who takes on a little bit of all of the above.
Perhaps the fact that Paris seems to have it all is the reason that I love it so much.
It isn't overly flashy, conservative or straight out wacky, it just is. You can get a range of designers showing there; from Dior and Chanel, to Mugler and Rick Owens - it has the right amount of classic designer labels mixed in with some fresh talent to give you the right perspective on fashion in terms of where it's been in the past, and where it's going to go in the future. - With this in mind, (in my opinion) this final week of fashion week couldn't have ended with a better city.
Day 1 started on Wednesday with shows from the likes of Anthony Vaccarello, who subsequently introduced us to the otherwise missing model of Fashion Week Fall 2012, Karlie Kloss. The 19 year old model who hadn't made an appearance since Fashion Week began 3 weeks ago opened the Belgian designers show, much to the audible mix of surprise and sighs of relief from fashion editors, bloggers and general 'in' crowd alike. (click to read my earlier post about her appearance)
Opening look @ Mugler Fall 2012
Day 2 saw shows from designers such as Dries Van Noten, Gareth Pugh and Mugler. Nicola Formichetti's collection for Mugler was one that made me take note, due to the general wackiness of the opening outfits. Futuristic-Eskimo is the phrase which comes to mind, as the models wore white, furry, hooded jackets with over the top guerilla arms. These opening looks were then followed by fitted waists, corsets which accentuated the hips and large and raised shoulders in a pretty much all monochrome black and white color palette. Colour was injected into the collection however, with the odd orange dress and detailing thrown in.I personally loved the collection and could start to see myself wearing some of the dresses and jackets - perhaps not the opening look however!
Particular favorite @ Nina Ricci Fall 2012
Day 3 was particularly exciting for me, as three of my favorite designers showed - Rick Owens, Balmain and Nina Ricci. I love Rick Owens purely because he will try almost anything with leather. His shoes, jackets, dresses and generally everything that he designs are to die for and I always love his shows no matter what. His show yesterday featured it's usual darkness, with the catwalk featuring a row of fire which gave the show a whole cult-sacrifice feel.The reasons I love Nina Ricci? Well, it's kind of self explanatory. The collections are always stunning, with gorgeous colours and fabrics and yesterdays Fall 2012 show was no exception to that. Dresses and coats in shades of pink and burgundy complemented an other wise black and gray collection in a very elegant, sophisticated and classy manner. The image to the right is a look that I could see myself wearing this coming Fall.
Velvet and Leather @ Balmain Fall 2012
Balmain seen it's second season under designer Olivier Rousteing's lead yesterday, with ornately embroidered biker jackets, large shoulders, boxy jacket silhouettes and a color palette worthy of royalty; medieval green, gold, silver, pinks and pearlescent shades. Pearls, jewels, beading, leather and velvet all worked together seamlessly to create a collection that makes you want to break down and cry because you know that your Visa card just won't max out to the amount needed to purchase every. single. thing.Balmain always appealed to my rock chic style, however it does so even more now - I'm definitely enjoying the direction that Olivier Rousteing is taking the label, that's for sure. My favorite look? It has to be this one to the left - To. Die. For!
Pretty in pink @ Dior Fall 2012
Day 4 was the day for designers such as Dior, Lanvin, Isabel Marant and Yohji Yamamoto to show, with Dior and Yohji Yamamoto being a close tie for me due to different factors. The flashes of red at Yohji Yamamoto lent me the image of a ferarri speeding by, with the only solid image you remember of it being the distinctive, bright red color. Dior on the other hand was a show of classic taste with cinched in waists, revealing thickly-pleated skirts in shades of red wine, mauve and powder pink. Wrap around knits, simple long sleeved black tops and mid length tutu skirts added a sort of ballet style femininity, with draped leather adding a tougher, edgier vibe to the collection. The finale gowns however were beautifully signature of Dior, with sheer, floor length skirts floating down the catwalk. This shocking pink finale gown was what sold the show for me, though - Stunning or what?Day 5 will see shows from Vivienne Westwood, Martin Grant and Jean Paul Gaultier, but I'm anticipating the Chanel, Celine, Valentino and JCDC shows on Sunday and Tuesday! It's all so exciting.
Are there any shows that you are currently anticipating? Let me know!