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

Ralph Lauren Spring|Summer 2011

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!

 

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!

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

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

Photographer: Simon Deiner shot at Gavin Rajah Atelier

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.

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

LOUIS VUITTON - Sloane St, London

LOUIS VUITTON - Sloane St, London

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

Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti Spring|Summer 2011

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

Backstage at Alexander Wang Spring|Summer 2011

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?