5 Unforgettable Shows From PFW

The Spring 2014 fashion cycle from New York to Paris has been a flurry of scandal, disasters, and bold new trajectories for some of the designer's behind the global fashion powerhouses. We saw members of Ukranian feminist protest group FEMEN (the ones who are always topless and causing media storms for their somewhat obscure and aggressive social and political agenda); Rick Owens abandoned models as the lithe, amazonian heirs to the runway in favour of a step team, a poignant performance that fashion blogger Susie Bubble dubbed 'the most powerful and provocative statement this season'. 

A million miles away from the front row, I usually spend the month of fashion week refreshing Style.com and posting angry tweets about collections that I hate. This time around, I thought I'd compile 5 Unforgettable Shows from Paris Fashion Week, at least in my eyes. 

1. Dries Van Noten 

The thing I love about Belgian designers is their consistent attention to detail and the precision with which they cut and tailor their garments. Designers like Van Noten and Ann Demulemeester always create with the female form in mind, but toy with different concepts and design elements such as masculinity, intricate patterns and fabric. The outcome is a string of stunningly audacious and seductive collections that beg desire to look a little closer at the details. This collection was no exception. Simple fabrics such as cotton and linen in cream were embellished with touches of gold ruffle or lace. Injections of colour were rich without being garish and there's texture through layering delicate fabric onto simple silhouettes, which gives the whole collection a sense of romance and opulence.

The stand out look from Dries Van Noten's Spring 2014 Collection

2. Saint Laurent 

I have no words for what Hedi Slimane sent down the runway this season. Actually I have a few: atrocious, tacky, vomit-inducing...

(Yves)Saint Laurent has always pushed the conventions of what is acceptable in the lucrative world of high fashion. Yves was one of the first designers to incorporate 'street' with luxury in the 1960s, throwing leather jackets into the mix of haute couture. It's made the brand one of the most revered fashion houses in the industry, but sadly, Hedi Slimane seems to be pushing the aesthetic of Saint Laurent away from an ingenious era of innovation and more towards a disastrous trainwreck, disillusioned by a tiresome regurgitation of 1990s grunge.

The looked that screamed out to me - for all the wrong reasons

3. Chanel 

I've heard mixed reviews about Karl Lagerfeld's Spring collection for Chanel, but I actually quite liked it. Generally...in most parts...that didn't look like a catalogue collection for dowdy Mums in the 80s. Sometimes there were too many colours, clashing fabrics and excessive layers, but for once, I wasn't bored by what was coming down the runway - maybe because it was conceptually driven by the art world, the set like a commingling of Warhol, Mondrian and Picasso celebrated in one exhibition. Considering this was such a huge collection, I'll cull some of the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good: Clean, adaptable pieces in classic and simple colours

The good: I like the playful fluidity of this look 

The bad: This is just too excessive and looks frumpy/sloppy

   The ugly: I think this one is pretty self explanatory.

4. Celine 

Phoebe Philo is probably up there with Miuccia Prada as one of my favourite womenswear designers. I might be a little bias because Celine is a brand that emulates my own personal style, but Philo has mastered minimalist design. Whenever I envision a Celine woman, I think of someone strong and self-aware, subdued in her expression of style and gets shit done without taking any prisoners. What was unforgettable about this collection was the more diverse colour palette and and different silhouettes that Phoebe Philo has experimented with in the design process to create more striking statement pieces. It's worked.

Rich colour, bold print, simple silhouette.

Sharp lines, sleek fabric and vibrant colour - minimal elements of design that come together to pack a punch.

5. Valentino 

Valentino is incredibly feminine and romantic in equal measure. However, I channel my fellow fashion bloggers' rage (oh God, that sounds disgustingly pretentious, doesn't it?) and frustration each season when we see the same tired concept walk down the runway. This time around Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli remained reverent of the ornate romanticism of the Valentino aesthetic, whilst incorporating beautiful embellishment, stunning hints of colour and tribal patterns, the origins of which remain obscure and all the more intriguing. I love the elegance and gracefulness of Valentino and so this was a definite highlight of Spring 2014. I'm not even going to caption some of my favourite looks from the runway, I think they speak for themselves.

(All images credited to Style.com)

Haute Couture: In a Sketch

The rise of ready-to-wear and mass production has caused haute couture to diminish in demand become more lucrative than ever before. Undoubtedly the most fascinating part of the industry is in the making of couture garments. Churning out ready-to-wear pieces in the face of fickle trends and passing seasons means that sometimes, clothes are simply clothes. There may only be a a handful of women in the world who possess the riches to own and wear haute couture, but each season is anticipated by fashion followers the world over. Couture co-exists in a commingling of fashion and art, or fashion as art, or art in fashion?

There is a technicality to the craftsmanship of couture that is almost mechanical, yet something deeply romantic about the detail - so many fine details. 

Fashion is spectacularly rich when it becomes synonymous with art and British Vogue has collaborated with the Fashion Illustration Gallery to archive a collection of illustrations inspired by designers. 

The illustrations, spanning from the 60s until now, depict some of the most stunning collections in a way that makes the fantasy of couture more tangible for those who can't see it in the flesh. 

I really love David Downton's 2008 Valentino print, and I want every single one of Tanya Ling's pieces to hang in my home forever. 

The full archive of fashion illustrations can be viewed and purchased here. 

(All images credited to Vogue UK and their original artists respectively)

LUST

Céline Pre-Fall 2013

So elegant yet innovative, I love this collection in its entirety.

(TWO THOUSAND AND) THIRTEEN

It can be unanimously agreed upon that 2012 was a phenomenal year. It thrived upon change and almost everyone I know was uprooted from normality and thrust into new beginnings and adventures. Change can be baffling, disconcerting and scary and I think it's then that we can cling to the fashion, art and film to comfort us as it moves just as rapidly as the world does. I stumbled across this post a while ago and I think it resonated with me because our world is thirsting for creative evolution and its happening now: 

"If you had told me 3 years ago that Alexander McQueen would commit suicide leaving his label to (costume designer) Sarah Burton, that John Galliano would be fired for anti-Semitic behavior from not only his own label but also Dior where he would be replaced by Raf Simons - king of minimalism, that Jil Sander would return to Jil Sander, that Kanye West would start his own label showing at Paris Fashion Week, that Margiela would collaborate with H&M, and that ALEXANDER WANG would replace Nicolas Ghesquière at BALENCIAGA

I probably would have said you were on crack." - via dinnerwithannawintour

I've spent the entirety of my summer break working as a tea lady and reading fantasy, fiction and about the ins and outs of the industry I admire above all others - fashion, you're a beautiful thing.

I'll leave you with a cumulative appreciation trail of photos documenting my favourite parts of 2012. 

Grace Coddington on the cover of i-D, such an ethereal beauty with immeasurable talent

My dishevelled creative space where I've often sat up all night fixing disastrous university assignments. Over the summer I've scored a place writing men's fashion features and music/pop culture news at LUNA magazine. Perhaps I'll have to add to my wall of inspiration...

My bedroom is my sanctuary

My days off have been well spent soaking up a little bit of the things I love whilst avoiding the sun

Givenchy 2012 Haute Couture.  

Will and Alena 

Bek and Will 

Chloe Sevigny debuting for Miu Miu. I love vintage tea cups, I love Chloe Sevigny and I love Miu Miu more than most other things in the world. Perfection. 

Happy new year and all the best for 2013.

SILKANDMONEY