Rescu. brings you all the Fall 2012 couture trends you can incorporate into your wardrobe…
Rescu. just loves the haute couture shows – or, as it’s called in Paris, the Haute Couture Ball.
After all, it’s the chance for fashion houses to really stretch their legs, and show their most extravagant, elegant, far-fetched designs.
The biggest story from this week’s shows, of course, was Raf Simon’s show for Dior – check out RESCU’s coverage here – but, good as Simon’s show was, there were also nostalgic whispers for Galliano, the ultimate couture showman.
Couture isn’t exactly about trends, but this week’s shows offered ideas and details for any fashion-savvy woman to incorporate into her wardrobe – and look dead ahead of the mass market. Ready to learn from the masters?
Chanel sent a show-stopping show down the runway, dominated by metallic tights and sequinned tweeds: it’s an apparent trend to take conventionally matt or plain materials and give them spice with subtle metal highlights. We also loved their knitted formal caps and grey-pink palette, but the strongest trend – and the one we anticipate seeing on the high street – was ‘feathered’ shoulders: tops and dresses with elegant waves of material on the shoulders.
Dior was restrained – probably because, after years of Galliano extravagance, a new direction was being marked. However, the restraint was gloriously 1940s in tone, with pre-war silhouettes all over the place: pencil skirts, neat bustiers and pocketed flared coats. The peplum top over trousers was the big feature – we fancy we’ll see that on some elegant women soon – but we also loved the giant spiked necklaces. Texture in accessories is back.
Armani did a throwback to the 80s and early 90s, with their pale pastels and satin. It was a change from the sugar-sweet pastels of the past season – these were more sultry, with more of a kick. They also, somewhat charmingly, featured sleek berets, a lovely idea for niche evening wear.
Giambattista Valli is always the show to watch if you want a preview of what the big names will wear to the Oscars: it’s all about full-blown glamour. However, we commoners were enamoured of his woodland prints and gorgeous, deep jewel tones. The other major trend he presented was volume: don’t give away that tulip skirt just yet.
Versace was sexy as ever – though the shoes looked very uncomfortable. They were multi-belted and extremely sexy, as is Versace’s MO – but the show also saw a return to the one-shoulder gown, some very interesting work with perforated plastic and leather, and an emphasis on webbing and visible stitches. That’s a trend we can see headed to major high street retailers – quick, quirky and fashion-forward.
Have fun shopping like a couture maven!
It wouldn’t be Fashion Week in Paris without waves of scandal. However, this particular rumour originates in France itself, and is particularly interesting in that it involves the head of LVMH, the luxury conglomerate.
Yes, that’s right, Bernard Arnault himself. In case you’re confusing your incredibly rich luxury-company-owning Frenchmen, fear not: it’s not Salma Hayek’s husband. She’s married to Francois Pinault, Arnault’s great rival.
Bernard Arnault, however, is the world’s 4th richest man, so his life is followed not only by the fashion press but by the major news outlets – and a French publication is now alleging that he’s having an affair.
Arnault is married to Helene Mercier, a pianist, but has been ‘linked’, in the polite terms of the press, to the fashion editor of French stalwart La Figaro, the French socialite and author Virginie Mouzat.
Complicating matters, there are whispers Helene left Arnault in December 2011 for a younger rival, but no separation or divorce was announced, prompting observers to wonder if they were trying to patch things up – or divide Arnault’s considerable fashion fortune.
LVMH owns Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi, among others. He was last seen with Helene in March.
Mouzat was, of course, present at the couture shows this week, and there has been talk that Vogue is ready to poach her for a prominent position – though if she’s dating Arnault that may present a conflict of interest.
Rescu. will bring you all further developments.
Image: Arnault
It was the ad meant to propel Kristen Stewart from tomboy to the high-fashion elite.
However, Balenciaga’s perfume ad featuring Stewart has just debuted, and been slammed by critics for making her appear with lank hair and a blank expression.
Stewart herself told reporters that the ad was not meant to be ‘sexy’: apparently the photographers told her to “just be comfortable” in the Balenciaga tulip dress, which has been worn on the red carpet by Jennifer Connelly.
The fragrance, Florabotanica, wasn’t created with Stewart in mind – the head of Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquiere, said he’s had Stewart in mind for some sort of Balenciaga campaign since he first saw her in Panic Room when she was in her teens. The ad campaign, shot by Steven Meisel, apparently encouraged Stewart to wear perfume for the first time in her life.
However, online critics have ravaged the ads, claiming that Stewart looks ‘terrible’, ‘super-serious’, ‘awkward’ and ‘stiff and blank’.
Fashion advertising has had to adapt with the blogging culture – often blogs have leaked pictures of the ads before they go live, giving their feedback, and sometimes the final version will be subtly tweaked to adapt to the criticism. However, viral disapproval has been the end of some campaigns – H&M’s supremely over-tanned Isabali Fontana earlier this year cost the brand an embarrassing defence of the shoot, while others have been pulled entirely.
Fortunately nobody is offended by the Balenciaga ad – merely unimpressed with Stewart’s attempt to play model.
What do you think – stiff or hip?
Image: Balenciaga Kristen Stewart ad.
