We’re getting excited about the latest Target designer collection, the head of Burberry has admitted to hating intimidating luxury boutiques, Gemma Ward is making a come back, and we try on a trend.
Never heard the name Prabal Gurung before? Chances are you will fairly soon – on everybody’s lips.
The young NYC-based designer, who made a giant splash with his debut in 2009 and has since dressed everybody from Lady Gaga to Duchess Catherine, is collaborating with the US arm of Target – and Rescu. has the sneak preview on the collection.
Our verdict? Fun, flirty and on-trend. This is a collection to look at for inspiration.
Gurung’s collection is all about digital prints in hyper-fluoro florals, but he adds a twist – a Rorschach-test reflection. Every design doubles, and loses its floral delicacy for something more abstract, punchy and – dare we say – cool.
Not into patterns? It’s also all modern all the way – kicky little skirts, cardigans edged in coral, sleek peplum tops. A big trend is ruffles, found on Gurung’s dresses and skirts.
We’re predicting the lace-up pumps will be big news, as will the Sulphur Spring dress in violent, almost harsh green and the bangles with segments of vivid fabric embedded in their bands.
Do you like what you see of the Prabal Gurung for Target collection?
Image: Prabal Gurung for Target.
Christopher Bailey, the very in-demand head of Burberry, has admitted that his plans to make Burberry open to everybody stem from a bad experience of his own.
Bailey, who’s been at Burberry as head designer since 2001, has told reporters that his first experience with a luxury shop was ‘intimidating’.
A young Bailey was told by his father to pick up an expensive watch for his mother, and went to a store in London to make the purchase.
What followed, he said, was awful – “It was terrible. It was so intimidating, and I was made to feel so inferior, probably because of my clothes and my strong Yorkshire accent, and that ended up defining a lot of the way I think. Why should we be exclusive?”
It’s a far cry from the appointment-only M.O. of many luxury brands, but Bailey has insisted that the age of the intimidating luxury brand is over, and that it’s unwise for any fashion house to shut out a customer.
“That should have been a really beautiful experience,” he said of his shopping trip of horrors, but it was ruined by snobbery.
He also noted that judging by appearances is no good in the days of the Facebook Billionaires – “These days a kid in a hoodie walks into a store and, for all you know, he’s a billionaire.”
What do you think – should luxury boutiques be exclusive or welcoming?
Image: Christopher Bailey.
Australian model Gemma Ward took the fashion world by storm in the early 2000s.
She had Vogue covers, editorial exclusives, worked with the best in the business – and then, suddenly, disappeared in 2009.
Her official reason was to rest, and try and move into acting – where she’s had some good success – but we can reveal that Ward has signed to IMG Models and begun to look for high-profile work once again.
Ward’s real reasons for quitting were not due to exhaustion, implosion or bad gossip (Aussie models have some of the best reputations on the circuit for being on-time and polite).
Instead, she revealed in an interview last year that she withdrew from the limelight because of grief. Unbeknownst to the press, she had been dating Heath Ledger, a fellow Perth-born Aussie, for months before his accidental death in 2009.
It now appears that, as 2013 dawns, Ward is looking for a new start – and this was the woman called ‘The New Pretty’, and paired with Lily Cole as the latest trend in modelling.
Do you think Ward will capture her star status in the modelling world again?
Image: Gemma Ward
When Lucy Liu walked the red carpet at the Golden Globes in a stunning floral Caroline Herrera, she was picking up on the major trend of the season. It wasn’t floral, a fishtail plait or a billowing skirt – it was an evening gown with pockets.
Pockets are infiltrating the formal world, and we’re loving it. Every woman knows the value of a good pocket in a dress – if it doesn’t spoil the line, it can be used for all manner of things and add a touch of the offbeat to an outfit.
We’ve always loved CUE, and we’re even deeper in love now that most of their formal 2013 lines, in heavy brocades and deep jewel tones, include pockets. Pockets work best on an A-line silhouette with structured, heavy material.
Want to go black and sleek? Try Jason Wu on for size. His Radzimmer dress has delicate, hidden side pockets and a gorgeous jewel-covered bodice. If you’re more into red and sexy, Prabal Gurung has a structured A-line red gown with a corseted top.
For the queen of pragmatic mixed with punk romance, it’s Vivienne Westwood all the way. Her deep plum Anglomania cotton dress comes with delicious pockets held behind clever pleating, so they remain disguised all night, and there’s a patterned version as well.
Let’s go full-length. Prefer a draped maxi dress? Acne has a vivid ocean-green number in fashionable Grecian folds, with a tied waist and side slit pockets. And the current vivid trend for leopard print can be found in the pocket-inclusive mint-green and black stunner from Moschino Cheap & Chic.
If you’d like to look a little sweeter and more innocent, Valentino‘s meek full-length Peter Pan collar gowns from 2013 are white, sleek and pocket-handy.
However, for a true show-stopper we’re loving the Balmain embellished satin number with pockets at the Outnet. It’s Egyptian, enormous and pragmatic in its glamour.
Image: Lucy Liu
