Valentino's Edgy Gilded Dream

If any catwalk show attracts an audience of enviably glamorous youth it is above all that of the house of Valentino, which presented a quietly edgy and blatantly romantic collection in Paris, on a blustery and rain drenched Tuesday, March 6.

Before some 1,200 pampered guests, on a carefully laid antique parquet catwalk, the Valentino design duo of Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri opened their fall 2012 collection with a small battalion of sleek black leather cocktails, runway gowns and mega wide culottes. Somewhat eccentrically, these have become a significant trend in Paris this season, even if they seemed defiantly impractical in this week's weather.

"We were thinking of Pasolini's Medea meets Penelope Tree," said Piccioli with a twinkling eye, before posing before an elaborate mood board for several TV interviews. The designer was referring to the American beauty who was the icon of Swinging Sixties London, and Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini's somewhat histrionic interpretation of the Greek classic starring Maria Callas, memorably attired by costumer Sartoria Tirelli. That story, one will recall, concerns the myth of Jason and the Argonauts voyage to Medea' kingdom in search of a golden fleece.

Tree's insouciance and Medea's off-beat opulence shone through this collection, which varied from the courtly to the hyper-feminine. What worked best were often the simplest ideas - a flawlessly cut little black dress with puckered shoulders and flared sleeves - though the high point were the lacy, semi-sheer ensembles, whose feminine assurance can be matched on no other current runway.

Plus, the collection contained some sure-fired hits, notably a patchwork lace and mink frock coat and a really brilliant trio of white on ecru lace cocktails.

It also underlined the growing self-confidence of the duo, who after some dozen shows where they very obviously avoided using Valentino's signature red, this season sent out a dramatic quintet of looks in that sinful hue.

They also committed something of minor heresy by showing long evening dresses cut off above the ankle. In the famed 2008 documentary entitled "Valentino: The Last Emperor," the legendary designer chews out a staff member in a fitting for daring to show a dress in that very length.

Moreover, as a show this event lacked a certain energy. In their earlier presentations for Valentino, Chiuri and Piccioli used huge video imagery to create a theatrical mood, and this show could have done with that element of drama.

That said, this season was ultimately a major success for these designers, who have imposed an easily identifiable new style on Valentino, which in its essentials respects this Roman brand's haute gamme tradition.
Via: Valentino's Edgy Gilded Dream

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Louis Vuitton's Accessories Express

All aboard, the Louis Vuitton express is about to leave. In an exceptional setting - even for this extravagant house - a life-sized steam train pulled 50 yards across the tracks in a show tent built inside a courtyard of the Louvre on Wednesday, March 7. It bore the name, Louis Vuitton, from whose single carriage emerged two score of grandly dressed models, each accompanied by a porter, who carried several pieces of their luggage.

It was a neat piece of staging, not least because it meant Louis Vuitton's creative director Marc Jacobs could show well over 100 pieces of baggages - and bags, as we know, are the heart of Vuitton, the world's most profitable luxury brand.

"When the clock strikes 10 the train will pull into the station," read the program notes, though as it happened, the Vuitton special arrived at 10:05, so for once, this label's show - famous for its punctual start time - began a little late. Even so, well-heeled guests had a mighty scramble through heavy Paris morning traffic to make it in time. Many did not, clutching their tickets desperately outside in a fresh shower.

Those who missed the show, would not have seen that, like the steam train, it was a somewhat old fashioned collection, even if not quite archaic. For fall 2012, Jacobs sees women in Edwardian chic as nearly all his model passengers wore extended A-line coats over lengthy skirts and ankle revealing pants. Cut with large, splayed lapels, this selection of masculine tailoring, which varied from equestrian hacking jacket to courtly tails, was all finished with elaborately ornate metallic and mirror buttons. Eventually the mirrors and metal took over several of the finale coats, and the models - who all towered over the tiny uniformed staff - shone brilliantly as they marched down the platform.

The bags were a thoroughly enticing choice - from grained leather weekenders and cloth monogram carpet bags to graphic black checkered suitcases and russet hued totes that glistened just like the carefully aged platform. Indeed, if the show had any star it was actually the hats, an amazing assemblage of feathered cloches that looked a good deal more revolutionary than the clothes.

Later in the evening, Jacobs unveiled a new Louis Vuitton photography exhibition in the other end of the giant Louvre, a retrospective in the Musee des Art Decoratifs. It attracted thousands to the final major bash in the four city and 30-day international catwalk season for fall 2012 collections. And a smart reminder by Vuitton that business has never been better for this truly unique brand.
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Magically Mannish Miu Miu

They say fat is a feminist issue, but fashion is too, especially in the hands of Miuccia Prada, whose latest collection for her label Miu Miu, was a fashionable game changer staged on the final day of the French runway season in Paris on Wednesday, March 7.

Signora Prada's fashion has always stood for expressing the importance and independence of women. Her first aim is to add a certain dignity and elegance, which separates her from so many other designers whose most pressing goal is to make them beautiful.

Not that this fall 2012 collection was not a beauty. With its concentration on dandified masculine tailoring, it was frequently enchanting, though much of its charm lay in the way the clothes will eventually distinguish the women who buy them.

As ever at chez Miu Miu, the setting was sublime. Staged in a massive modernist government building near the Trocadero, elaborately decorated in a mat gold carpeted seating and a runway in exactly the same material as the stiff show invites, the collection opened with silk gents' suits worn with shirts, ties and platform shoes.

Created in hyper colorful zigzag prints in mixes of purple, soft pink and bright orange, the tailoring grew more dandified through the show. Plus, the designer came up with some great tailoring tricks, like a sleeveless double breasted jacket with side slits for the arms to appear, or several cape/jacket combinations that were charming eye puzzlers.

"I wanted to think that when a woman is dressed in one of these suits, and she sees everyone one else in a dress, she just goes pffffft," the designer told FWD with a knowing laugh.

Once again, her choice of footwear was unlike anything else we've seen on Continental catwalks, sturdy platforms in unlikely combinations of leather that looked like polished furniture, worn old skins, shiny suede and tough metal buckles. So, while it was the last important show in the four weeks of fashion shows, this latest excursion by Miu Miu will be one of the most influential of all collections. And, more importantly, it will empower women of taste in today's world.

Via: Magically Mannish Miu Miu

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