Blumarine Fall/Winter 2016/17

Blumarine is an irony-free zone, which is a shame for Blumarine. Because ironic reflexivity a self-aware detachment between author and product is the go-to digestive enzyme in fashion right now for any designer looking to present the brash as brainy.

Here and there today were some pieces that combined enough wearability and dash to compel, whatever the label stitched into them: a high-waisted pleated Lurex silver skirt, a finely fitted ruche-fronted cocktail dress in brown and deep-sea blue leopard, a lurex tiered plisse mid-length dress in green with a ruffle-hemmed bib front, and a slim-bodied, cinch-waisted grey coat with a satisfyingly swoosh-y skirt. A second tranche of clothes fitted into a category where if you squinted you could imagine them existing in the collections of other labels currently bathing in acclaim for their clunkily explained, ironic reappropriation of past codes. These included floral overload brocade dresses sometimes fringed with fur, a leopard capelet over a floral pantsuit, and dresses that blended wool and paillette in horizontal lines of muted colors.

Finally, there were the pieces that seemed beyond rehabilitation but were absolutely true to the spirit of Anna Molinari’s house. The included black cocktail dresses with a garland of tablecloth florals at the bottom and crotch, cashmere pantyhose worn with matching T-shirts and fur hoods, a hot pantsuit in white whose (really well-cut) jacket featured house ‘B’ in Swarovski on one patch pocket, and several dresses which needed no malfunction to be more revealing that Gigi Hadid’s second look at Versace.

Enjoy the Blumarine F/W '16/17 runway show at the end of this post! LoL, Andrea 

Anna Molinari

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: The House of Blumarine

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'Bold Embroideries by FENDI Fall/Winter 2016/17'

Karl Lagerfeld offered up a lightheartedly trenchant quote before the Fendi collection set foot on the runway: “Voltaire said, What needs an explanation is not worth explaining.” Teasing those who make intellectual pronouncements about fashion collections with the words of a philosopher is a typical Lagerfeldian flourish.

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Bold Embroideries by FENDI Fall/Winter 2016/17 RTW

Conceived by Creator Directors Silvia Venturini Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld, the Fall/Winter 2016/17 collection explores new textures, soft silhouettes and bold embroidery with a romantic twist. Star of the collection are the waves and the botanical detailing, spotted on the garments as well as on the accessories. Also, debuting on the runway, is the DotCom bag in its Mini version, embellished with the must-have Strap You.

Karl Lagerfeld offered up a lightheartedly trenchant quote before the Fendi collection set foot on the runway: “Voltaire said, What needs an explanation is not worth explaining.” Teasing those who make intellectual pronouncements about fashion collections with the words of a philosopher is a typical Lagerfeldian flourish. So let us swiftly dispense with cogitating over the source of the waves inspiration behind Fendi’s show. Sound waves? Electricity, magnetism, something scientific? No matter. There’s a perfectly good set of fashion terms for what we saw here: a timely creative streak centered on things to do with ruffles, frills, and flounces. “We don’t overintellectualize, we just do!” declared Lagerfeld. “And we don’t suffer doing it!” 

The show briskly spun out ideas on the trends du jour: thigh-high boots with undulating frills around the tops and the shoe uppers, and ruffled, yoked blouses and dresses. There were wavy stripes set into furs and printed on midi dresses. A short navy cocoon coat was cut into 3-D concentric circles, like ripples on a pond. Somewhere along the wavy line, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Lagerfeld started having fun, too, making costly pastel fox fur coats mimic the playful appearance of girly fake furs. It looked unforced, contemporary and exactly what girls would want to wear now.

Enjoy the FENDI Fall/Winter 2016/17 runway show at the end of this post!  

LoL, Andrea 

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories 

Photo Credit/Source: The House of FENDI

Photos: Yannis Vlamos / Indigitalimages

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'FENDI Spring/Summer 2016' 

It was there in the silhouettes the big-sleeved, high-neck, high-waisted, and pleated midi thing that’s currently going on. In Fendi’s case, they provide the backdrop for ultra-luxurious house materials and skills: summer furs in a rattan-basketwork open-weave technique, cropped jackets in whipstitched patchwork python and braiding and smocking effects. Fendi x Karl Lagerfeld may be 50 years old as a collaboration, but in some ways it’s still ridiculously, friskily young. Again, in a good way.

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