Column Dresses by VIONNET Paris

According to the press notes at the show, the Vionnet spring 2015 collection was inspired by curves and by dancing. That's the thing about semiotics, though: To each her own! An alternative reading of Goga Ashkenazi's latest outing for the label was vestal virgins circa 2500 A.D. attending a postapocalyptic prom. That seemed as coherent a logic as any for this rather daffy group of clothes, what with the gartered bodysuits and sheer, floor-sweeping overskirts, plissé gowns worn with backpacks, and feral leathers and capes.

The plissé and the Grecian draping were a nod to Madeleine Vionnet, of course, and she would have had no trouble identifying her handwriting in a simple column dress of draped nude and ivory silk, or in the bone white draped frock with jewelry embellishment modeled at the close of the show by Saskia de Brauw. She might even have nodded in recognition at a micro-mini plissé dress an ace look for a would-be modern Artemis. (Ashkenazi herself seemed to be vibrating on that wavelength: The song that played over the final défilé was Björk's classic "Hunter.") There were other nice pieces scattered throughout the fabrics here were choice, and it was hard not to like most of them but the button-down-plus-bubble-skirt and bodysuit-plus-anything propositions were a seriously hard sell. Ashkenazi appears to want to update the Vionnet formula, make it seem aggressively modern; the trouble with that is, Madeleine Vionnet's ideas are timeless and look modern still. Witness the appeal of the simplest, most signature Vionnet looks here. They point the way forward all the way to the year 2500.

Discover the VIONNET Spring 2015 backstage video at the end of this post - enjoy!  

LoL, Andrea 

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories 

Photo Credit/Source: The House of VIONNET

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Spring/Summer 2015 beachwear campaign of the Italian lingerie brand LA PERLA, featuring top models Isabel Goulart, Ming XI, and Sigrid Agren. The girls strip down to the new season designs in these sexy images captured by Mert & Marcus with the creative direction of Fabian Baron. See LA PERLA's spring beauties below and click here for LA PERLA Summer Sale with 40% off & free shipping!

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Paris Haute Couture | VIONNET Fall 2014 Demi-Couture

If Hussein Chalayan has one thing to prove to the world at this point in a career that has helped define fashion's outer limits, it's that he can do glamour. For his new Demi-Couture collection for Vionnet, the models had starlet hair, swept to one side. And they were wearing red-carpet dresses from start to finish. It looked like something new for Chalayan, yet at its heart was his same old fascination with the attraction of opposites.

Discover the VIONNET Fall/Winter '14/15 RTW runway show at the end of this post!

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Start with stillness and movement. One dress was a lacy white number with eruptions of red pleating. There were other dresses in which the pleats were exaggerated with fountains of fringing. A simple strapless bias-cut silk sheath toted a swatch of fabric like a wrung-out towel. That was the kind of strangely sensual flourish that distinguishes Chalayan's own collections.

Chalayan is a fiercely technical designer. Here, for instance, there were a handful of gowns with a three-dimensional spine curving down the leg or over the shoulder. It was so weird that it shouldn't have worked. But it did, because everything was in the same fabric. The bias swags of contrasting fabrics were less successful. But at least Chalayan never rests. And, with the best will in the world, you could imagine Madeleine Vionnet recognizing herself in the work he is doing.

Hussein Chalayan and Goga Ashkenazy

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: The House of VIONNET
ANDREA JANKE via Instagram (@andreajankeofficial)

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Patent shin guards unnecessarily accented a few leggy looks, as if he hadn't already offered enough aesthetic armor with a pearl and crystal cardigan (120 hours of embroidery) or a series of plush fox cabans. Of course, the designer knows there will always be an appetite for the Tom Ford school of sexpot, but his point of differentiation his expert eye for fit can get overwhelmed by glam.

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