DÉVASTÉE - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Dévastée, the fashion label formed by Orphelie Klere and Francois Alary, created a dark, haunting, and humorous Fall 2012 collection. The duo describe their style as “mignon-macabre,” or cute-, and this collection was precisely that. Models with super pale faces had black lipstick smeared up the sides of their…
ELIE SAAB - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW The Fall 2012 “Urban Elegance” collection from Elie Saab attempts to encapsulate the modern incarnation of the Elie Saab city girl. The collection felt precise and tailored, with clean lines and nipped waists. Daywear included meticulously crafted peplum skirts and dresses, designed in both crêpe georgette shifts…
FATIMA LOPES - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Fatima Lopes, the first Portuguese fashion designer to show at Paris Fashion in 1999, kicked off the Ready-to-Wear collection for F/W 2012-13 with her sexy collection that accentuates the internal and external structure of the body. The small waists and narrow shoulders of the garments almost resembled a…
GUY LAROCHE - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Marcel Marongiu’s Fall 2012 collection for Guy Laroche was full of high shine, noir inspired looks that conveyed a minimalist luxury. Marongiu was inspired by picture of the construction of the Milanese Palazzo del Ghiaccio from 1923 as well as the barren architectural portraits of Aitor Ortiz. …
HEXA BY KUHO - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW The Fall 2012 collection of Hexa by Kuho, designed by Kuho Jung, is all about love in its duality; love has the power to cause both extreme happiness and disastrous sorrow. Jung was inspired by the embodiment of both these extremes in those famous star-crossed lovers,…
JAN TAMINIAU - PARIS F/W 2012 INTERVIEWED BY INDIRA CESARINE Dutch designer Jan Taminiau’s Haute Couture 2012 collection, Tarnished Beauty, mixes bold, warrior-like elements, with soft feminine construction. The collection was designed to, “elevate women,” showing delicate pleated chiffons, in aqua and light tangerine, over silver sequined slips that gave the illusion of body armor. …
The Fall 2012 collection, “I See ‘Em,” came about after a journey through the Scottish Highlands. The region, but particularly its sense of mysticism from Scotland’s legendary warriors to their mythological creatures, inspired Lespagnard’s designs. The looks use a number of tartan patterns, representing various clans, and Lespagnard even went so far as to create his…
JIKI - PARIS F/W 2012 BACKSTAGE Jiki, a label based out of Monaco, presented their Fall 2012 collection in Paris for the first time with new artistic director Mehdi Soussane. The collection marked a departure for the label guided by Soussane, who has worked for Lacroix, McQueen, Givenchy, and most recently at Ungaro. Soussane was inspired…
JOHN GALLIANO - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Bill Gaytten, in his second season at the helm of the John Galliano fashion house, offered up a subversive collection worthy of Galliano, himself. The super short hems, hourglass silhouettes, thigh-highs and transparency all suggested a Victorian woman come undone, but, in fact, the main inspiration came…
K11 - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION EVENT K11 is an organization that promotes young talents working in art and culture, giving them an opportunity to share their work on an international stage. Following last year’s success, K11 once again presented their “Paris, Bonjour!” show in Le Pavillon Vendome. This year’s theme, “Lightness of Being,” was inspired…
LIE SANG BONG - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW The Fall 2012 collection from Korean designer Lie Sang Bong stirred controversy as he sent models down the runway with carefully painted brown splotches covering the center of their faces. Bong, who counts Lady Gaga and Rhianna among his fans, stated that the collection was about…
LUTZ - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Lutz Huelle was inspired to design his Fall/Winter 2012/2013 collection while watching people cover themselves up in response to sudden unexpected rain showers. Huelle was interested in the way people threw clothes over their heads, and pulled collars closer together. He translated this into his collection’s silhouette, which he…
MANISH ARORA - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Indian fashion designer Manish Arora presented a Fall 2012 collection influenced by the “surreal and deconstructed iconography” of Brooklyn street artist Judith Supine. Arora created prints that melded fluid drawings of faces and bodies in neon prints, using them on his jackets, dresses, and skirts. Other looks…
MASHA MA - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Masha Ma has continually focused on the idea of unraveling the feminine form, and in her Fall 2012 collection this theme took new shape thanks to inspiration from Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale,The Nightingale and the Rose. The collection consisted largely of black and white floor-length evening gowns that…
NICOLAS ANDREAS TARALIS - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Greek designer Nicolas Andreas Taralis took on Asian martial arts influences in his Fall 2012 collection, saying that the looks were, “Kurosawa meets Blade Runner.” The gothic, Zen pieces of the collection featured jackets and coats with quilted labels and sashes reminiscent of Karate gis with…
PEACHOO + KREJBERG - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Peachoo Datwani and Roy Krejberg merged their culturally diverse design aesthetics, she’s from India and he’s from Denmark, in their Fall 2012 collection for their label Peachoo+Krejberg that showed models in preparation for an arctic winter. Jackets were hooded and leather was fur-lined, with puffy sleeves and vests,…
SELIM MOUZANNAR - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION PRESENTATION Selim Mouzannar is a jewelry designer out of Beirut who comes from a long family tradition of jewelry making. His Fall 2012 collection, like all of his designs, was romantic with a modern touch, taking inspiration from his native city Beirut. The pieces draw on traditional Ottoman style…
SHARON WAUCHOB - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW After her well received collection for Edun at New York Fashion Week, Irish designer Sharon Wauchob showed the Fall 2012 collection of her eponymous line that played with luxe, feminine modernity. Wauchob played with her fabrics, adding pleats, layering silks, and piecing together organza with wool and…
SHIATZY CHEN - PARIS F/W 2012 RUNWAY Chinese designer Shiatzy Chen’s F/W 2012/13 collection, Weaving a Dream, draws from the Miao culture of Southern China and Southeast Asia to inform Chen’s contemporary designs. The Miao people were culturally isolated for centuries, leading them to create forms of embroidery and totems that express their history and…
STEFFIE CHRISTIAENS - PARIS F/W 2012 FASHION SHOW Working at the atelier of avant-garde houses Balenciaga and Maison Martin Margiela has finely honed Dutch designer Steffie Christiaens construction and imagination, clearly influencing her Fall 2012 collection inspired by ice. Christiaens imagined her designs as ice that had been corrupted by pollutants, in gray, black, and white,…
