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Suzy Menkes

Hermes

Quote Of The Day: Suzy Menkes On Hermes Fall 2009

But instead of the bland face of the classic, Jean Paul Gaultier sent out a gutsy show, based on a photograph he saw of Amelia Earhart with a Hermès scarf tied around her aviator outfit.
by coutorture But instead of the bland face of the classic, Jean Paul Gaultier sent out a gutsy show, based on a photograph he saw of Amelia Earhart with a Hermès scarf tied around her aviator outfit. That silken square appeared only once in the show of malleable leathers. It was tied around an umbrella rather than a classic Hermès bag — although that is another area where, by keeping quiet, the category is irreproachably chic.
Fashion In 50 Seconds 03/13/09 American Apparel Scores A Loan & More
Louis Vuitton

Fashion In 50 Seconds 03/13/09 American Apparel Scores A Loan & More

American Apparel got an 80 million dollar loan at midnight last night that saved the company from filing Chapter 11... New York shoppers are caling the Adam Lippes sample sale the best of the season---which says a lot.  Pheobe Philo's first collection for Celine will not be Spring 2010, but Resort 2010.  Suzy Menkes loved Jacob's Louis Vuitton collection as much as anyone, but she slipped in a critical note about the hemlines. 
by coutorture

American Apparel got an 80 million dollar loan at midnight last night that saved the company from filing Chapter 11...

New York shoppers are caling the Adam Lippes sample sale the best of the season---which says a lot. 

Pheobe Philo's first collection for Celine will not be Spring 2010, but Resort 2010. 

Suzy Menkes loved Jacob's Louis Vuitton collection as much as anyone, but she slipped in a critical note about the hemlines. 

A Hint of Azzedine Alaia Fall 2009
azzedine alaia

A Hint of Azzedine Alaia Fall 2009

>> Despite the prevailing '80s mood of the season, at his private show today, Azzedine Alaia only looked forward: "I don't believe in looking back — I don't want to revisit the 1980s."
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>> Despite the prevailing '80s mood of the season, at his private show today, Azzedine Alaia only looked forward: "I don't believe in looking back — I don't want to revisit the 1980s." Both Suzy Menkes and Cathy Horyn were present for the unveiling, the former describing:

"Signature knits and leathers, woven into bouncy skirts that might have open-work decoration or intricate embellishment. Cut-out feather effects were hand-painted with streaks of white, while white cotton blouses also freshened up the tough side of black leather.  Coats cinched at the waist and small leather jackets, whether in classy crocodile or pony skin treated to look like miniature leopard spots. The same pattern appeared on the knitted dress, form-fitting but kicking out at the hem."

And then there was velvet »

Louis Vuitton Fall 2009: Bunny Ears, Bunching, and Boots
Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Fall 2009: Bunny Ears, Bunching, and Boots

>> Marc Jacobs's signature collection started a minute early, and Louis Vuitton started just seven minutes late — which according to the way most fashion shows run, is still early, causing loads of people to miss the beginning — Suzy Menkes climbed over the runway after the first model walked out — and many to be locked out.  Lucky for them, the show was staged in a clear tent in a Louvre courtyard, so late editors and passersby could watch the show.
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>> Marc Jacobs's signature collection started a minute early, and Louis Vuitton started just seven minutes late — which according to the way most fashion shows run, is still early, causing loads of people to miss the beginning — Suzy Menkes climbed over the runway after the first model walked out — and many to be locked out.  Lucky for them, the show was staged in a clear tent in a Louvre courtyard, so late editors and passersby could watch the show.

Bunny ears topped heads — show stylist Katie Grand was inspired by "a black doe rabbit in the pet shop on the corner" — necklaces were modeled after paper garlands, ruching was everywhere, and Rose Cordero finally made a Paris runway appearance.  Marc Jacobs said he was inspired by "all the great, elegant Parisian women, like Loulou de la Falaise," and the LVMH-Gareth Pugh connection continues: Pugh sat front row, two seats away from Bernard Arnault, still denying the Dior Homme rumors.
*image: source

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Chloe Fall 2009: Quietly Moving Forward
Chloe

Chloe Fall 2009: Quietly Moving Forward

>> After Hannah MacGibbon's first Chloe collection, critics seemed ready to give her a bit more time to settle in at Chloe, as if they wanted her to succeed in the brand.  And although she sent out a similarly pegged pants and muted colors in her Lauren Hutton-esque Fall 2009 collection, she's still getting encouragement — WWD noted that while MacGibbon is "still finding her way at Chloe," the collection "showed progress."  Suzy Menkes was even more laudatory, hailing MacGibbon's coats as "some of the best outerwear in Paris," and writing that the designer made "a strong show that looked like she was taking the brand forward."  Now, if she could just harness some of the excitement that surrounded the brand under other regimes .
by
Chloe Fall 2009: Quietly Moving Forward

>> After Hannah MacGibbon's first Chloe collection, critics seemed ready to give her a bit more time to settle in at Chloe, as if they wanted her to succeed in the brand.  And although she sent out a similarly pegged pants and muted colors in her Lauren Hutton-esque Fall 2009 collection, she's still getting encouragement — WWD noted that while MacGibbon is "still finding her way at Chloe," the collection "showed progress."  Suzy Menkes was even more laudatory, hailing MacGibbon's coats as "some of the best outerwear in Paris," and writing that the designer made "a strong show that looked like she was taking the brand forward."  Now, if she could just harness some of the excitement that surrounded the brand under other regimes . . .
*image: source

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Trippy Shoes: Models Fear Next Step at Alexander McQueen, Tatjana Patitz Wobbles at Hermes
Hermes

Trippy Shoes: Models Fear Next Step at Alexander McQueen, Tatjana Patitz Wobbles at Hermes

>> No one fainted this time around at Alexander McQueen, but the show could win this season's Prada award for torturous shoes — even over Nina Ricci.  Numerous inches were added to the festishistic heels, and the girls took every step with care — some even broke their runway stare to glance down momentarily, and Sigrid Agren looked around like she's frightened of the next step.
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>> No one fainted this time around at Alexander McQueen, but the show could win this season's Prada award for torturous shoes — even over Nina Ricci.  Numerous inches were added to the festishistic heels, and the girls took every step with care — some even broke their runway stare to glance down momentarily, and Sigrid Agren looked around like she's frightened of the next step. Karlie Kloss, below, had to stop and fix her dress to keep from tripping over it.  Suzy Menkes was discomfited by the display: "the models were tortured into dresses that hobbled their feet, making each runway step treacherous and giving a discomforting misogynist feel to the show."

Meanwhile, this morning at Hermes, another painful scene: supermodel Tatjana Patitz seemed to be out of practice on the runway.  She almost tripped and fell three times, including when she closed the show.  When Jean Paul Gaultier came out for his bow, he gave her a hug, and apparently she looked like she was about to cry.
*image: source

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Valentino: Still Lacking Direction for Fall 2009
Valentino

Valentino: Still Lacking Direction for Fall 2009

>> While Valentino Garavani is preparing to tape an episode of The Martha Stewart Show to promote Valentino: The Last Emperor next week, his proteges Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out their second try at his legacy this morning.  Their first collection for the brand in January was deemed too close to the designer's own style — perhaps done out of fear of having the same fate as Alessandra Facchinetti — so for this second collection, they needed to move the brand forward.
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>> While Valentino Garavani is preparing to tape an episode of The Martha Stewart Show to promote Valentino: The Last Emperor next week, his proteges Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out their second try at his legacy this morning.  Their first collection for the brand in January was deemed too close to the designer's own style — perhaps done out of fear of having the same fate as Alessandra Facchinetti — so for this second collection, they needed to move the brand forward.

Unfortunately, they seem to have earned more rave reviews for their choice of venue — the Galerie des Moulages, with open windows to the Eiffel Tower — than for the clothes.  Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore deemed the collection the "same coat with fur trim a dozen different ways, yawn." Hilary Alexander thought "the clothes were just too much of a blast from the past," and Suzy Menkes was left wishing for Alessandra Facchinetti.  Curiously, with all the archival inspiration, there was not a single "Valentino red" dress in the bunch.
*image: source

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martin margiela

>> INSIDER WIRE —There's been confusion a number of months about whether Martin Margiela has withdrawn from his brand, and even though Margiela execs assure he's still in place, after last week's collection, critics seem convinced he's not.  As Cathy Horyn put it, "Just about everything at the show tonight — the hokey starlight projections on the ceiling, the empty design techniques, the use of beautiful young models instead of older, interesting-looking chicks — said that Mr. Margiela is no longer involved in his label, as editors have speculated for some time."  WWD agreed: "Where in the world is Martin Margiela?
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>> INSIDER WIRE —There's been confusion a number of months about whether Martin Margiela has withdrawn from his brand, and even though Margiela execs assure he's still in place, after last week's collection, critics seem convinced he's not.  As Cathy Horyn put it, "Just about everything at the show tonight — the hokey starlight projections on the ceiling, the empty design techniques, the use of beautiful young models instead of older, interesting-looking chicks — said that Mr. Margiela is no longer involved in his label, as editors have speculated for some time."  WWD agreed: "Where in the world is Martin Margiela? Judging from the house’s fall collection, the designer has finally left the building."  And Suzy Menkes implored a fix, fast: "Of Margiela's rigorous exploration of a personal vision, there is no sign and Renzo Rosso, chief executive of the 'Only the Brave' company that owns his Diesel empire, needs to do something fast." [NYT, WWD, IHT]
*image: source

Balmain Fall 2009: More of the Same May Not Be Enough
Giuseppe Zanotti

Balmain Fall 2009: More of the Same May Not Be Enough

>> Christophe Decarnin has launched the fashion set into Balmania in just a few short seasons with his ripped jeans, strong shoulders, and trashy chic approach, and with Fall 2009, he's not ready to change the formula.  Apparently, the big shoulders were so prevalent in the front row that it caused a squishy situation — and on the runway, two models almost got gridlocked due to their hulking shoulder pads.  Christophe, who stopped by the Prada party last night, admitted he was "a bit nervous," and rightly so — all eyes are on him.
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>> Christophe Decarnin has launched the fashion set into Balmania in just a few short seasons with his ripped jeans, strong shoulders, and trashy chic approach, and with Fall 2009, he's not ready to change the formula.  Apparently, the big shoulders were so prevalent in the front row that it caused a squishy situation — and on the runway, two models almost got gridlocked due to their hulking shoulder pads.  Christophe, who stopped by the Prada party last night, admitted he was "a bit nervous," and rightly so — all eyes are on him.

He worked with a simple color palette — black, silver, and white, with a few pops of electric blue — placing the attention on the short, short skirts and the rhinestoned everything. Erin Wasson, Angela Lindvall, and Carmen Kass all made appearances on the runway, and Giuseppe Zanotti did the shoes again, but was it enough?  I'm hearing a lot of disappointment and frustration with Decarnin's decision to stay so formulaic; as Suzy Menkes put it, the "show looked very familiar — not least because new ideas were as short as the models' brief, buttock-grazing hemlines. Since every other house copies his approach, Decarnin will have to find a way to move Balmain forward. But for now he remains, at this sobering-up moment, the last designer to leave the party."
*image: source

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2009 Fashion Week

>> INSIDER WIRE — Raf Simons unsurprisingly finished with one of the top — if not the top — Milan collections for Fall 2009, and Suzy Menkes scored a rare video interview to chat with him about his newest Jil Sander collection.  She points out that until he came to Jil Sander, he was solely a menswear designer, and he comes off as one would expect — very real and down-to-earth; when Suzy asks him, "Do you feel yourself as an artist?"
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>> INSIDER WIRE — Raf Simons unsurprisingly finished with one of the top — if not the top — Milan collections for Fall 2009, and Suzy Menkes scored a rare video interview to chat with him about his newest Jil Sander collection.  She points out that until he came to Jil Sander, he was solely a menswear designer, and he comes off as one would expect — very real and down-to-earth; when Suzy asks him, "Do you feel yourself as an artist?" He quickly replies: "No, I'm a fashion designer." [The Moment]