Wednesday 28 August 2013

Notes à la mode 36



If anyone is wondering why my NOTES À LA MODE posts are no longer a weekly feature on the blog the reason is, as I have mentioned before, that I had enough of fashion or the way fashion is promoted in the media, and I have had more than enough of celebrity culture, which I associate with fashion. I also had enough of visiting fashion blogs where I was told that I have to have this and that in my wardrobe. I don't have to have anything in my wardrobe unless it is something that appeals to me and suits me, and even then I don't have to have it. Either I need it or I don't.

Another reason I had enough was the fashion week circus, as I refer to it; the show that certain individuals put on when attending the fashion weeks (don't get me started on people in the audience who constantly tweet during a show; how about taking things in before sharing them with the world?). I guess I'm trying to say that I had a street style overdose, or maybe I should call it attention seeking street style. I do enjoy seeing effortlessly stylish outfits that inspire me, but I couldn't care less what people wear when attending fashion shows. During the fashion weeks I'm mainly interested in seeing what appears on the runway and what influenced the designer. What's the designer's message for the coming season? Is it a strong message or is it weak?

And for a change I would really like to read more truthful reviews. Would it really be so bad to say in a review that a designer's collection lacked all ambition? Why is it that fashion reviewers feel the need to walk on eggshells in their reviews? Don't give me the cliché that it's about selling ads when there are fashion designers out there who don't even advertise.


Enough of what I had enough of!

Let us look at the Autumn 2013 Collection by Colombian fashion designer HAIDER ACKERMANN, who certainly had the ambition to create a strong collection. These are some of the pieces he presented at the Paris Fashion Week in March and I find them wonderfully rousing, even a bit provocative. (I would love to have the scarf in the above photo and the boots you see in one of the photos below.) This is what I'm in the mood for this autumn; having a few herringbone items in my wardrobe, and pieces that look rougher to wear on days when I'm in the mood to kick ass!

Ackermann mentions the "need to be protected" when referring to his collection. In the Vogue US review it says:
Ackermann was particularly struck by an iconic image of Marilyn Monroe leaving a hospital, “one of the most admired women in the world in this loneliness and isolation was very touching for me.” “We all need to be protected,” he added, and this season, in an unusually pragmatic collection stripped of the brilliant color harmonies and grander evening statements for which he is justly celebrated, the designer focused instead on powerful coats and jackets that cradled the body.


NOTES À LA MODE 36 LINKS

  I came across a short and interesting interview with British fashion designer PAUL SMITH, who makes fun of his untidy office and his wife's reaction to it. He also speaks about business and I like their approach, it relates to what I was saying in my intro:
We’ve never gone backwards as a company and we’ve never borrowed money, ever. We own the building where I’m sitting right now. It started very modestly with my wife and I, with a small amount of savings, and it’s always just grown very organically and now we employ a thousand people just in Europe. The clothes sell and people like them and not just because we give them away or because we have celebrity front rows or because we spend 80 million Euros a year on advertising. We just do what we do and luckily people like it and hopefully it continues to do well.
  MIUCCIA PRADA showed one of my favourite autumn 2013 collections in Milan in February and I remember liking this coat very much but not finding any good runway photo to share. I cannot say that this German Vogue September cover is anything special but it's the best photo of that coat I have seen so far (yes, I have already seen the ad campaign and no, I don't like the photo featuring the coat)
  I wouldn't mind adding this simple red merino wool jumper from MERCI in Paris to my autumn wardrobe
  I have already told you about the beautiful red bag collection that LA-based designer MARY JO MATSUMOTO launched recently. Now she has launched yet another collection in grey called Cloudy With Chance of Surfing (a name to be reckoned with, I dare say!). The structured tote to the right appeals to me very much - stylish and classic

photo credit:
Marcus Tondo + Gianni Pucci via Vogue US | Haider Ackermann Autumn 2013 RTW

5 comments:

  1. Although I have enough of the fashion circus and
    fashion dictation, but this guy whet my appetite again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Reading the first paragraphs was like reading my own thoughts. As for Haider Ackermann, he is one of my favourite designers. I admire the way he stays true to his own vision, coming with such strong collections more often than many other designers. I had already read the Paul Smith interview and had added it to my Notebook pages coming up this week. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I completely agree Lisa! I like Ackermann's work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well brace yourself for another round of front row pics next week! It's as much of a circus outside the shows as backstage most days... just skip to the images of runway shots and details (it works for me!). I love the rawness and sensuality of Ackermann's styles; so honest and real (how scrumptious is that leather look!). And that Prada tweed coat is also a winner in my books (you know my love of tweedy, herringbone, felted wools!):) I'm off to read that Paul Smith interview (a fave of my husbands!)...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lisa, that top photo has captured my heart--I now want a herringbone jacket like that one. I agree his collection is very strong and would love to see you in some of those zip boots when you're kicking ass :) I'm so sorry I didn't make it over here sooner. Thank you so much for including our Cloudy with a Chance of Surfing collection in your links.

    ReplyDelete

Your comment appears on the blog after approval. Comments with commercial links are reported as spam.