Thursday, September 23, 2010

SOME QUICK PICS AROUND FASHION WEEKS


Alessandro Dell'Aqua Spring/Summer 2011

Gorgeous Set at Fendi Spring/Summer 2011

Dolce & Gabbana Spring/Summer 2011 - Beautiful Floral Set

Prada Spring/Summer 2011- Hair

Prada Spring/Summer 2011 - Backstage

Sunday, September 19, 2010

HIT OR MISS? ANNIE GET YOUR GUN MEETS SQUAW

Cowgirls sure had the blues with Ralph Lauren's latest collection......suede and leather fringe featured prominently in the collection. Whilst the usual crisp white shirts were popular in the collection, the jarring metallic accents with the cocoa coloured suede gilets or skirts did not quite inspire me. Broad cowboy belt buckles (with Lauren's signature logo interpreted as a wild west postal stamp) weighed heavy on some of the softer dresses. If 'Little House on the Prairie' was being re-shot then these clothes would be so appropriate. The long dresses with ruffles and delicate floral prints were nothing new nor were the satchel bags that adorned so many of the garments and detracted from the actual silhouette. I loved the use of Victorian lace and delicate thread embroidery holding all the cornelli together. Other then that..........it was disappointing..... The maestro turns 71 next month and whilst the high powered audience applauded the collection the reviews were not as flattering.

Ralph Lauren Spring|Summer 2011

Watch the full show for yourself and see if you agree?

NICOLA FORMICHETTI APPOINTED AS CREATIVE DIRECTOR TO THIERRY MUGLER

Photo: Will Ragozzino /patrickmcmullan.com

After much deliberation and rumours it has been confirmed that Nicola Formichetti will be appointed the Creative Director at Thierry Mugler. The fashion director of Japan's Men's Vogue will take over from Rosemary Rodriguez who assisted in reviving the line a few seasons back. Formichetti who is also best known for styling Lady Gaga will head a strong creative team but whether he has the savvy required to do this is yet to be seen. It's one thing styling a collection for shoots and its a whole new ball game when the pressure is on you to deliver collections that sell and make a difference to the brand's bottom line. Formichetti said in a press release issued by Mugler that, "Thierry Mugler is about the power of glamour and walking straight into the future", and we certainly hope its not about creating fashion only to be worn by Lady Gaga. The talk in Paris is that people will be paying to look like the over the top star with Formichetti at the helm of Mugler.

Nicola's Protege.....Lady Gaga at the VMA's. She wore a meat bikini on the cover of Vogue Men (Japan)!

Watch Katy Walsh make an appearance on the Tonight Show in a Sushi and Sashimi dress....an ode to Gaga!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

GAVIN RAJAH SPRING|SUMMER 2010 CAMPAIGN

We decided to have fun this season with our campaign. Again we worked with Simon Deiner to create a few visuals which spoke of high glamour, sex appeal and gave people something to talk about.

I chose Elana Drago and Ru Essop from Max models to shoot the campaign with Maxim Budnick as the male protagonist.

The garments this season ranged from swimwear which was very lingerie inspired and had loads of fine lace overlaid in certain sections.

The evening dresses are simple in line but the fabrics are luxurious and sophisticated. We love this degrade paillette sheath dress in our collection.

We had great fun but we chose to shoot on a day that was freezing!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

CREATING BEAUTIFUL GARMENTS

Photographer Simon Deiner shot work in progress at my Atelier.......... I loved the way he captured the spirit and mood of my Atelier.

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

TOM FORD LAUNCHES WOMEN'S READY TO WEAR

TOM FORD BACKSTAGE

It was possibly the most coveted invitation this season and only the those that sat within the upper echelons of fashion were invited to a showing of Tom Ford's collection for women. After a break of 6 years Ford has returned to the stage with a collection of garments that would be best described as immaculately styled with intense glamour. The collection was luxurious with a strong leaning towards the 1920's in styling. Ford used iconic women together with the top models in the world to launch the collection. Beyonce, Lauren Hutton and Daphne Guinness joined some of the most beautiful faces in the world to launch a collection that just about upstaged the entire New York Fashion Week. Hammered gold metal jewellery added to the sleek and tight silhouettes.

What was the pre-requisite to entry at the show? NO CAMERAS! The only person allowed to shoot the collection was Terry Richardson. When asked why he didn't allow cameras to the show Ford said that fashion had become overexposed in recent years, in part because of Internet technology and a focus on celebrities.

“I want fashion to be fun again, like it was in the ’60s,” he said. “You couldn’t wait to get the clothes and put them on, and I think we’ve lost that.”

Having said that Cathy Horyn of the New York Times managed to sneak in a picture or two with her mobile phone

Beyonce at TOM FORD

The collection will not be all that cheap and will range from about U$ 3500 for a suit to U$20 000 for an evening dress. Nothing less expected from the man who brought back the desire to be surrounded by luxury during his stint at Gucci and YSL.

Monday, September 13, 2010

OSTRICHES REIGN SUPREME AT LOUIS VUITTON

LOUIS VUITTON - Sloane St, London

Isn't strange that we take for granted so many things that are available to us locally? Ostrich skin being one of them. It's obvious Marc Jacobs has taken a liking to this exotic skin and decided to to create a line for Louis Vuitton. Their clever campaign largely driven by the store fronts are witty and captivating.


LOUIS VUITTON - Sloane St, London

LOUIS VUITTON - Sloane St, London

Sunday, September 12, 2010

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK - THE MAYHEM BEGINS

Amongst the various tributes to 9/11 and launch of many tragic retrospectives New York Fashion Week dominated the hype in the city. Whether it was carousel parties thrown by Alexander Wang in a parking lot to Le Bain's after-party on a freezing roof top, the fashionistas were out in full force. I am really not sure whether fashion savvy peeps have become overtly tolerant or fear their demise on guestlists but some of the fashion on show was truly hideous. Whether in the name of art or self expression the clothes just looked like apocalyptic trash or conceptual fashion which will not have a long shelf life. Having said this there was very little intelligent or coherent comment of the actual collections but more hype on who sat in the front rows or who stood behind who waiting to get into a show. For me New York Fashion Week began with a slow and painful start of derivative lines. Let's hope the big punters like Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Caroline Herrera, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Oscar De La Renta resurrect this orgy of bad clothes.

Having said that there was a collection or two, so far, that stood out and are worthy of mention and to me they were Ohne Titel, Alexander Wang and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti. Ferretti showed a collection that was abundant in colour and fused Oriental and Western themes right down to a new take of the Qipao dress and Chinese rice hats. Beautiful prints and fine fabrics.

Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti Spring|Summer 2011

Soft palettes dominated Alexander Wang with elongated silhouettes that were fluid and somehow reminiscent of Rei Kawabuko's work.

Backstage at Alexander Wang Spring|Summer 2011

Talking about derivative did anyone not see the similarities or are people in NY just oblivious to what other designers are doing in the rest of the world? Z Spoke by Zac Posen was like a new take on Christian Dior's Spring|Summer 2009 Collection (and perhaps even Marc Jacobs?) and even Ohne Titel seemed to have a good bit of Balenciaga going on in that collection.............

This brings me to Camile Paglia's article in the London Sunday Times about Lady Gaga. It was interesting to note that she makes mention of a new generation that lives in a virtual world of tweets, posts on the internet and is consumed with a culture which makes no reference to the past. What of culture, heritage and history and the relevance it has to today's design world? If people are to forget collections from two seasons ago then it makes me think whether 'new generation' fashionistas are indeed slavish followers of icons based on a contrived presence........do they have any real sense of what's good or not in fashion or are they manipulated robots made to applaud on command? Is it any wonder that the USA has an average intelligent quotient of 98?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

THINGS THAT MAKE ME CRINGE!

ANTLER ALICE BANDS FROM TOPSHOP

FOX ALICE BANDS FROM TOPSHOP

Is TOPSHOP taking the piss?

Uggs

One word for these things - F ********* UGGLY!

CROCS

I think these must be the most revolting thing to adorn someone's feet!


STICK ON FRENCH PEDICURE

It's bad enough that some women choose to do this to their toenails which gives them an alien like quality but these stick on versions would bring on a serious case of vomit!

CROPPED DENIM SKIRTS

This may be the suitable attire for applying for a job at Hooters but I have yet to see someone look sexy or classy in these

CRACK ADDICT SPOTTED OUT IN CAPE TOWN

This must count as a total a fashion faux pas of note! Stop the madness!

Friday, September 10, 2010

LAGERFELD CANCELS SHOW FOR PARIS FASHION WEEK

Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld canceled his Lagerfeld Pret A Porter show that was scheduled for October 3rd, during Paris Fashion Week. Instead of stressing over organizing the show, the creative director has decided to use the upcoming months to focus on a new collection. The collection, known as Masstige, is based on the idea of “mass elitism.” Masstige marks Lagerfeld’s decision to have a less centralized role in Chanel and to create his own signature commercial line. His new creations will be available online by Fall 2011. Lagerfeld is in the perfect position to create something of his own. Do we sense Karl's possible exit at Chanel to pursue his own interests.....maybe a new creative director at Chanel is in the cards in the near future.........

On another note though, Lagerfeld swore he was not about to make the transition from couture to high street after his collaboration with H&M. Will he be able to seduce and placate the masses with this collection? After all when Apax acquired Tommy Hilfiger (who owned the Lagerfeld brand) they conspicuously left out the Lagerfeld brand in the deal. In fact for a few seasons now he has been limited to designing only menswear. So just maybe Lagerfeld has seen the writing on the wall and has made a concerted effort to democratise his line? I can't help but smile thinking of his comment post his collaboration with H&M:

'They did not make the clothes in sufficient quantities. I find it embarrassing that H&M let down so many people… I don’t think that is very kind, especially for people in small towns and countries in Eastern Europe. It is snobbery created by anti-snobbery.'

Let's hope that the democratisation of his line extends to countries further then Eastern Europe.

Having said that. Lagerfeld not showing, could just mean that the designer would rather focus on delivering a collection that is strong without having to compromise it by rushing into a show......something many designers showing at fashion week in SA could learn from.....

DOLCE & GABBANA: FALL 2010 - GOOD FOR 'JERSERY SHORE'?

Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2010 | Vlada Roslyakova, Olga Sherer & Zuzana Gregorova

Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2010 Collection is now in store in most parts of Europe, UK and the USA but I am not sure that this collection which is totally garish is as strong as their last collection. Leopard print features strongly through out the collection with a strong tendency leaning towards 80's styling and colour blocking. I can appreciate fashion repeating itself but surely the good thing about this is that you can leave the naff stuff out and focus on giving it all a new take. The floral headresses are reminiscent of kitsch Florida bathing caps and the 50's synchronised swimming acts that were so popular at the time. The rest of the collection is made up of the usual nipped-in-the-waist tailoring which I am sure will remain popular this season but it leans more towards gear appropriate for the hunting season.........see the images below and post your comment.

I only had one favourite dress piece in the collection which was a silk velvet draped bustier dress - the rest was disappointing and this was entrenched by the fact that celebrities at the Emmy's wearing Dolce & Gabbana were as rare as the Dodo! This collection is so 'Jersey Shore'!

Dolce & Gabbana Fall Collection 2010


Dolce & Gabbana Fall Collection 2010