Spring 2011 Barbara Bui

30 september 2010 Paris


The great thing about designer inspirations is that they don't necessarily have to make complete sense to work in the context of a collection. That would be the case with Barbara Bui's Spring show, for which her ideas ranged from "energy and light" to "women reporters." In your head, you might conjure up a radiant Christiane Amanpour in lotus pose, but on the runway you could see the designer's train of thought. There were flak jacket-inspired pieces—jumpsuits, khaki shirts, silky cargo pants, and, well, jackets—leading to the desert ease of languid silk dresses and blouses, and natural linen shifts and tiny shorts.

Following in the vein of her coats from Fall—and the current trends—Bui also showed leather outerwear pieced with panels of snakeskin and perforated suede. With shades of both biker and aviator, these also dovetailed with the chic and nomadic foreign correspondent she imagined. The necessary counterpoint to all that relatively rugged and sporting utility was a dash of gold lamé at the end of the show. After all, this Florence of Arabia may be a professional, but her life can't be all work and no play. Bui also added a slightly more low-key dash of flash in geometric sequin embroideries on those linen bits. Strangely, a few were reminiscent of Louis Vuitton's insignia, which could have been a coincidence, or perhaps a reference to luggage? Either way, it was the sole true head-scratcher in an otherwise solid collection.

Chic in camel...

Illustrating Menswear Day SS11: JW Anderson

Each season Menswear Day gets stronger and stronger. For SS11 it was particularly exciting to see stalwarts of Savile Row sit comfortably alongside high street regulars and established designers and exciting new talent alike to help cause a sartorial stir or two while collectively flying the flag of menswear. Presentations, catwalk shows and film screenings all celebrated the exciting diversity of menswear design talent which uniquely exists in this capital of ours. Now that the dust begins to settle on the day itself and I've suitably recovered from fashion flu I want to dissect the day. the Going to the shows is a wonderful experience, but looking over catwalk photos afterwards can be a bit mind numbing. So, to help bring the day to life we decided to cover the shows a little differently and enlisted the help of Lauren Macaulay. I first met this talented illustrator wildly sketching on the front row Graduate Fashion Week. As I awkwardly scribbled the odd note or two, Macaulay had managed to pick out each collections key parts on the pages of her sketchbook. Thankfully she agreed to loan her talents and sketchbook to us for Menswear Day.

One of the real standout collections of an eclectic Menswear day was undoubtedly JW Anderson’s SS11 show, which for the first time showed both his menswear and equally desirable womenswear together. The Devoured and I, SS11 collection takes inspiration from three photographers and their view on subcultures in the 1950s through to the 1970s: Danny Lyon, William Gedney and Karl Heinz Weinberger. The driving focul point is youth and a sense of adventure exploring an unknown land. In recent seasons JW Anderson's designs have explored the beautiful transience of youth but none more effectively than here. There is a sense of fragility and wonder throughout the collection and this is best seen in the multi-layering of broken down elements. The combination of these elements is what truly left me excited. I often complain that Spring/Summer collections are overly simple, stripped from the element of dress that interests me most, layering. There were no complaints during this show. Trousers are patch worked and faded, lace doilies adorn t shirts, Liberty prints are bleached out and tulle and florals are borrowed from the girls. As I sat in my seat I marveled at the heady cocktail of prints and textures on display. Thankfully these caught Macaulay's eye as well and her illustrations highlight them far better than my words could describe. We hope you enjoy them...

Illustrations by Lauren Macaulay.

Style Milanese

Milla Jovovich - Tribute slideshow

Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich

Name : Milla Jovovich (Milica Nataša Jovovic)
Born : December 17, 1975
Country : born in Kiev, Ukraine
Lives : USA

Milla Jovovich was born as Milica Natasa Jovovic on December 17, 1975 in Kiev, Ukraine and is a world famous model. Her father is Yugoslavian Serb doctor and mother is Ukrainian actress.

Milla Jovovich moved to London in the year 1981 and later to LA and became a model at the age of 11.

The first photo shoot that was made for Milla Jovovich was the Italian fashion magazine "Lei" cover in 1987 and this was the big turning point for her modeling career, as she got detected by major fashion designers. Milla is a fashion model for many top-market brands: Giorgio Armani, DKNY and she has been the face for L`Oreal Cosmetics company.

Milla Jovovich is not just a famous model, but a famous actress as well. Her filmography includes such movies as Two Moon Junction (1988), Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), The Fifth Element (1997), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and other.

Besides she tried her skills in music business, by releasing few singles. Among them are "Gentleman Who Fell" and "On the Hill" and the album "The Divine Comedy".

Milla Jovovich has established her own cloth line called "Yovovich-Hawk".

The famous model was married to Luc Besson from 14 December 1997 to 12 June 1999.

Jkt and shoes Chanel

I am delighted to welcome bankfashion.co.uk as a new partner as they specialise in a great range of mens designer clothing…

Lacoste Fall Collection 2010

Once more, the French brand remains determined in its commitment to harmonize comfort and a distinctive touch of charm. Lacoste’s 2010 Fall collection is aimed at two different goals: give a new approach to its new jackets for men.

 

Braille SS11

Following the success of Braille’s A/W10 debut collection, A Gentle Wake, founders Benjamin Vorono and Samuel Kientsch return with zeal for SS11. The labels sophomore collection is a celebration of freedom, speed and optimism. Inspired by the modernist design of Palm Springs juxtaposed with the natural landscape of Agua Caliente Canyon. 

Entitled Colt, it reflects the mountainous, desert landscape of the region as pleated blazers, jackets and rain coats incorporate the contours of the pleated Blazers, Jackets and Rain Coat. Shirts in sheer cotton in sun-faded shades of husk, loosely reference the palm tree oasis. Luminescent tweeds give visibility to the night explorer, whilst maintaining elegance and subtlety. Waxed cotton outerwear is used to protect from heavy rain and extended sleeve plackets to ease motion for the adventurous and active gentlemen...

To celebrate the launch of their new online store, Braille screened a film of the collection throughout LFW on a mobile cinema. You may have seen driving from show to show, and party to party but if not, don't worry (I missed the mobile showings too), we can share it with you. The film showcases the collection’s modernist lines, clean cuts and natural desert hues while helping to celebrate the launch of the brands online store on 1st October.

For the film, Sam and Ben created four additional showpieces made from the scraps of the collection. This included the creation of a silk/hemp fabric which was manipulated to reflect a texture of raindrops which was then hand dyed and waxed to form a tiered raincoat. The design duo also created an offset checkered board blazer assembled with rectangles of Wolf Fish leather and Luminescent tweed. 

Braille SS11 COLT from Samuel Kientsch on Vimeo.