Yes, we know... The ads for Longchamp's S/S '09 campaign have been out for simply ages. But I betcha haven't seen the behind-the-scenes video, have you? Starring Kate Moss and Sasha Pivovarova the ads grabbed our attention because of how similar the models look. You'd never think there was 11 years separating the two! Shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, it was filmed on location in Santa Anita Park, Los Angeles. Click play on video above to watch the ladies at work.
Check out more bags and accessories at our sister blog, The Bag Lady.
When the Sound of Music comes on the speakers and a little girl with a big smile comes walking down the runway in a white dress you can't help but smile. And all the fashion folk at the Stoffa show did. This collection was designed to run as a coming-of-age tale (a clever marketing technique to show the newly launched Stoffa Gal and Stoffa Bride lines.) The clothes were simple and in strict accordance with the international trends of maxi-clutches and block colours but some looks crossed the line of fashion integrity. While saris struck a perfect chord of Halston-esque simplicity, angel-sleeves (as done by Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi a few seasons ago) were in abundance and some of the bags in transparent plastic (so that you could see the contents) were just too reminiscent of Chanel from previous seasons.
It strikes me as sad that a city with so much talent and potential to become celebrated for its fashion will be held back by careless copying. There is a fine line between inspiration and replication- in my opinion, Stoffa was on the wrong side of that line.
For her accessories line this season, Malini Agarwalla was inspired by Tibet and the beautiful, often raw and gorgeously natural, craftsmanship of the Far East. This translated into bright colours, big stones, amazing attention to detail and a fresh take on traditional styles. Dresses in muted colours (as not to distract,) were worn underneath huge accessories in a main palette of coral (but don't tell coral super-fan Isabelle) and turquoise.
There was a continuation of the current accessories trend of jewellery as a sort of armour and here the necklaces were worn as shields and many resembled ancient breastplates. The use of feathers and intricate embellishment was very on-trend and Agarwalla's shoes looked almost too like Louis Vuitton's incredible new 'Spicy' sandal- a worldwide hit.
Shilpa Chavan is the next John Galliano. She is. Fact. As the lights sparked on at her 'Little Shilpa' show on Day 2 of Lakme Fashion Week and a eerie soundtrack of crying, screaming and war sirens started up, a model with about five rifles jutting from her hair and shoulders came strutting down the catwalk. The model was also adorned with military badges and medals, made into chunky necklaces and bracelets.
The military theme has become a bit of a trademark for Little Shilpa (who interned with Philip Treacy), and her last collection, a more low-key rendition of the same idea but with military badges and lots of khaki, won rave reviews both in India and in the UK.
Highlights of this show included one jumper where huge rifles acted as shoulder pads, a headdress made of about 20 army caps, a hat with moving propellers on top and the final look- a sari-esque dress made from army parachutes worn with a bejewelled gas-mask. The pint-sized genius is rumoured to be receiving support from the British Fashion Council., I caught up with the designer after the show, and she revealed that next season she would be taking a much softer approach and indulging in a completely different theme.
Watch out for this one- she will be showing in London before we know it.
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Brandish's Will has been the other LFW, Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai where he gives us the lowdown on the Crimzon show: The Crimzon show's main theme consisted of chunky pieces in gold and back. I felt rather sorry for the designers who had to follow the absolutely breathtaking Little Shilpa collection and as a result this collection just seemed too commercial and safe. This wasn't helped by the designer stating at the after-show press conference that she worked with gold "because it is liked internationally" and not because she had been on an exotic expedition to North India where she had been inspired by the Maharajas and Moguls while sipping White tea in a hot air balloon (as one would always prefer to hear.)
All in all it was nice to see the designer work with proportion in that all the bags were over-sized and necklaces were worn as if they were scarves: draping over the models and achieving a sort of liquid-like quality. Belts featured large stones and gold clasps while bracelets were absolutely gorgeous cuffs adorned with the most intricate patterns.
With a keen use of colour and subtle but wonderful embellishment, this is a label that could become note-worthy if the designer concentrates more on quality and innovation and less on the department store buyers in the front row.
Today sees the launch of ASOS's new venture, 'Hit'. It's a bit of a cult, novelty venture that allows various hip designers to create quirky limited edition pieces for the site, which will be sold in small quantities at what seem so far to be reasonable prices.
First up is London Fashion Week darling Louise Gray, who's created pairs of friendship brooches from suede, plastic, aluminium and what looks like those curly keychains we all had at school in the early 90s. They're £20 a pair, and on sale now.
Spring is already shaping up to be a pretty exciting season, which has further helped by this latest announcement from Net-a-porter.com.
The online retailer has secured an exclusive deal with Yves Saint Laurent to sell a capsule range of pieces from the YSL spring/summer '09 collection. These include kimono jackets, cocktail jumpsuits in sand and navy, as well as accessories such as a luxe evening box clutch.
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