ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories: Keren Craig

Sunday, 15 September 2013

NYFW | Marchesa Spring/Summer 2014

'Wunderkammer' inspirations: Curiosity cabinets, for the uninitiated, are those decorative glass boxes filled with woodland wonders from taxidermy insects to flowers and minerals. Already last July when couturiers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli found the idea of the Wunderkammer particularly appealing for VALENTINO Fall 2013 Haute Couture presentation.

"In a cabinet of curiosities, the pieces are very unique, very one-of-a-kind," Piccioli said. "We've tried to make something that is not only special, but also surprising, unexpected."

Georgina Chapman had one as a child. So her and Marchesa cofounder Keren Craig’s spring collection a showcase, as ever, of elaborate evening and red-carpet looks had an air of natural wonder to it.

“It was this idea of curiosity cases, full of birds and butterflies,” said Georgina Chapman before the Marchesa show, “an amalgamation of different things.”

A gold lace skirt, slim and below the knee, was adorned with 3-D florals made of ribbons hand-painted blue, and an ivory chiffon cocktail dress had lace butterflies fluttering across ruffled tiers. Models wore artfully straggly feathers in their hair and faded faux tattoos of butterflies on their shoulders, arms, and backs. There was a definite eclecticism which was underscored of fashion's favourite inkman Scott Campbell painted on the models for the occasion. There were some obvious boudoir influences as well, with lingerie detailing on some of the more slip-like numbers and wispy lace cardigans thrown over bralets, worn with big organza and tulle skirts. “We wanted to explore different things,” Chapman continued. “It’s more eclectic than ever.”

Perhaps more wonderous, though, was Craig and Chapman’s near elimination of strict, structured corsetry. The designers wanted everything to feel easy (relatively speaking) and so they did away with any obvious scaffolding, forsaking constricting bodices save for a few ribbons tied around the waist and under the bust for looser silhouettes. Fabrics gently slipped along the body as opposed to clinging for dear life. Craig and Chapman went so laid-back as to even create their version of a T-shirt dress: a gorgeous, white Irish lace look with short sleeves, a long skirt, and ribbon tie closure at the back of the neck.

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo credit/Source: VOGUE

Runway: Photography by Fabio Iona / InDigitalimages.com

Detail: Photography by Stefano Masse / InDigitalImages.com

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'NYFW | Carolina Herrera Spring/Summer 2014'

'While dreaming up her Spring prints and silhouettes, Herrera referenced kinetic art, specifically the fifties and sixties work of Venezuelan artists Carlos Cruz-Diez and Jesús Rafael Soto. She translated the movement's graphic lines into geo-prints, which appeared in chocolate, citrus, and plum on skirts and gowns as well as on their organza overlays.'

Thursday, 14 February 2013

Ultra-Feminity by Marchesa Fall 2013

There’s perhaps no greater temptation than that which you can’t have. And that’s exactly how Marchesa’s fall collection was born. “George called me from L.A. saying, ‘I’ve found these vintage toreador trousers. They’re fabulous,’” recalls Keren Craig, referring to her partner Georgina Chapman. “They were the tiniest trousers I’d ever seen,” continues Chapman, due with her second child in eight weeks. “There’s nothing like something you can’t get into when you’re pregnant.”

So both the pants and their elaborate embroidery wove their way into the designers’ work this season. Of course through Chapman and Craig’s ultra-feminine and gilded lens, that inspirational find became, one imagines, the black satin bustier top with an exaggerated and dramatic peplum worn with matching cropped pants with gold, floral threadwork down the sides one of several pants-for-night looks. The women then took the equestrian motif a few steps further by echoing the buttoned-up nature of a riding costume with high-collared gauze shirts with billowing sleeves worn under a strapless dress or blousing out over a corset. “You’re so upright in a saddle,” Chapman noted. “It’s all about posture.” Indeed, it would be a physical feat to slouch in a Marchesa dress, so intricate is the scaffold of their interiors. Not that you’re able to tell in every look. Pieces like the wonderful tulle frocks with floral embroidery one black and off-the-shoulder with a body-hugging silhouette; another one-shouldered and floor-length dress with tiers of ruffles carried an appealing softness.

But more than just riff on a theme, this collection signaled how Chapman and Craig are continuing to evolve their business. What began as a label best known for frothy Fantasyland looks has become something a bit more, well, realistic. Really. And this is a good thing. The dresses this season felt more reined in; they exhibited a stronger sense of tailoring and their proportions are more in line with the parameters of life off the red carpet (i.e., they fit through a doorway). Sure, major black tie dresses might not really apply to everyday life, but consider these two things. One, what’s the matter with a little escapism; and two, if what’s been on the runways these last few days is any indication, there will be plenty of effortless clothes in stores very soon.