Friday 31 January 2014

Zuhair Murad Spring 2014 Couture


Inspirations straight from Garden Eden, the mystical garden segment of Zuhair Murad's Spring/Summer 2014 Couture collection overall contained a multitude of camellias, roses, peonies, gentian, and more, all shimmering atop gowns, jumpsuits, and cocktail frocks. Sparkly, laden with flowers, feathers and crystals in a stunning colour palette in peach, rose, pale green, lavender, gold, orange blossom and ivory.

Discover Zuhair Murad's Spring 2014 Couture show at the end of this post. LoL, Andrea












Zuhair Murad kicked off in familiar mode with a series of red-carpet looks in ivory, black and gold, some incorporating animal-skin motifs. A short-sleeve column dress was covered with black sequins arranged in a zebra pattern, while a nude tulle gown with a sweeping skirt featured a black sequin motif inspired by panther skin. Then came the new territory: a sequence of heavily embellished gowns in a rainbow of pastel hues. Piled with shiny fabric flowers, sequins and feathers, they veered toward the wrong side of opulence.

Outside his garden, a grouping of daywear looks featured ivory suiting pencil skirts, trousers, open jackets all fronted in a double row of gold buttons. The look was his Parisian ideal, Murad explained before the show. Then he singled out a New Look-style outfit in guipure lace as his synthesis of modern femininity. But if any pieces in the collection adhered to that description, they were the ones that showed off the upper back, their fabric scooped out or cross-strapped like swimsuits.

He added fauna to complement the flora: Black sequins delineated a zebra print, and feathers crept up the neck of a gauzy halter gown. Embroidery on a full-length white caftan revealed a python print down the body and panther spots along the sleeves. By one count, Zuhair Murad’s wedding dress alone bloomed with upwards of 25,000 floral appliqués.

























































 


Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories 

Photo Credit: The House of Zuhair Murad



'Giambattista Valli taken inspiration, he said, from the Impressionists “flowers, reflected in water” though the source never read in any literal manner. The work was all in structured silhouettes, decorated with vibrantly colored floriform embroidery intense red, vivid blue which climbed up on bodices, and grew down from necklines.'






Thursday 30 January 2014

The Cool New Look by DIOR Pre-Fall 2014



Subliminal message: Gold chairs are stacked up in the background of the Christian Dior Pre-Fall 2014 pictures. A sign as slight as this puts perspective on what we’re looking at models who seem as if they might be part of an audience of clients lingering after a show that has just broken up in Dior’s salon. In other words, this is everyday reality Dior, as opposed to the haute couture of the runway; not thinking about tripping the light fantastic (as it did for summer), but putting a solid wardrobe in place.









It depends on your reality, of course. Raf Simons is making certain that the line he directs is firmly on the ultraluxe wavelength, with more artistic attention lavished on fabrics than ever, including such technical feats as (for example), astrakhan dyed blue or green, and then further hand-painted with yellow, gray, and brown till it shimmers. Zoom in on the evening dress opposite, and you will see something else extraordinary: A rectangular appliqué of a landscape woven on a patch of jacquard like an artist’s canvas. At a distance, it’s meant to look as simple as a print on a T-shirt, but up close, the detail would be a guaranteed conversation starter at any cocktail party.

Pieter Mulier
, Simons’s right-hand man at Dior, explained both the research and development lavished on the materials, and Simons’ grip on the bigger picture. The main focus is on modernizing the Christian Dior templates, working toward finding new relevance for the Bar suit and the New Look silhouettes. Mulier pointed out how “everything is less rigid, less defined, easier.” 







Doing away with corset constrictions, the Bar jacket acquires curved anatomical seaming and a pair of pants in two contrasting shades of micro herringbone tweed. The swirly skirts of the New Look are cleverly adapted as a series of coats, whose lower half can be detached via a zipper on the waist so the jacket can be worn independently. That almost-utilitarian idea also surfaced as an army parka coat with an orange lining a first glimpse of the possibility of a cool New Look for the street.

In all, Dior’s existing customers should be satisfied with the reassuring level of femininity and luxe in this wide-ranging collection, which will be distributed in even more variations all over the globe. What’s more interesting to see, though, is the thought Simons is putting into opening up the Dior parameters so that the “existing” might soon be joined by the “new.”



















Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories 

Photo Credit/Source: The House of DIOR 



More DIOR To Love ...


'When Raf Simons arrived at Christian Dior nearly two years ago, he had to personally meet every single member of the ateliers who painstakingly labor to create things of such lyrical beauty that oftentimes it barely looks like a human hand has ever touched them. Flash ahead to this week, and Simons used his exquisite spring 2014 couture to honor all that les petites mains do at Dior.'








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