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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'LA PERLA Lingerie & Beachwear Summer Sale'

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!

LoL, Andrea

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Contemporary Fashion by GUCCI F/W '15/16

Long, dark hair, black turtleneck, a few strands of hippy-boho necklaces, and a beard: introducing Alessandro Michele, the new creative director at Gucci, a man on a mission to youth-ify the brand. No high heels. No disco beat. No red carpet dressing. With one fell gesture of a fur-lined, bedroom slipper–like, backless loafer, he swept all that off the runway. His set even hinted at an urge take a step beyond the runway and into reality it was designed to evoke a subway tunnel. “Contemporary fashion,” he said “is something that can happen on the street.” Say again? No sexiness? He shook his head, smiling. “No! Sensuality is what’s inside.”

What’s inside Michele himself is a feeling for fresh-faced, virtually makeup-free girls in glasses wearing A-line, pleated, leather midi skirts, vintage-genre silk dresses, and fluttery floral chiffons. He is also interested in androgyny or, in the new buzz-phrase, “gender-neutrality.” Girls who looked like boys wore shirts and boy-cut pants, and boys who looked like girls sported pussycat bow blouses. It is certainly the first time in recorded history that a knitted crochet bobble hat has ever been worn on a Gucci women’s runway. Say what you like, it’s impossible to be sexy in a bobble hat.

What this turnabout will mean for Gucci as a brand will only be seen much further down the road. Michele may have been working here as a designer for twelve years, but since he was appointed to succeed Frida Giannini, he’s only had a matter of weeks to assemble this statement of intent. He says it’s a personal one: “I know the Gucci archive better than my own flat! But this is my own language, and I cannot do anything else.”

To shop the GUCCI jewelry, please visit here gucci.com online-store

For more, please click here to visit gucci.com online-store

It’s potentially a momentous break with the past. Ever since Gianni Versace and Giorgio Armani faced each other off in the eighties, Italian fashion has been divided into two camps hot-and-sexy on the one side, intellectual reserve on the other. It’s a pattern which has cascaded down the decades: Miuccia Prada and Marni in the “eccentric” corner, Tom Ford going hell for leather with Sex in the Nineties. And just lately, the pattern is repeated yet again, with the rise of a new nightclubbing Italian tendency upheld by the likes of Fausto Puglisi and Anthony Vaccarello at Versus Versace. And strangely, with this collection Michele seems as if he’s leading Gucci across the floor in the opposite direction. Is this shaping up to be a momentous break with the past?

Discover the GUCCI Fall/Winter 2015/16 runway show and take a view below for my 'Mother's Day' shopping suggestions of GUCCI! Love, Andrea

Enjoy my 2nd selections of perfect gifts by 

GUCCI for Mother's Day, 10th May!

Giannini’s spring collection went into that era, rinsed it clean of eau-de-Glastonbury, and polished it up, Italian style. She described it as “an evolution from fall” a sensible decision, because that’s when she introduced sixties A-line silhouettes, which have obviously done well for the brand. Continuity and clarity are underrated virtues in a time of so much confusing, forgettable change. There’s a comfort in knowing what a label’s for, and Giannini is not afraid of keeping her messages simple, direct, and commercial.

GUCCI Gift Guide, please visit here gucci.com online-store

GUCCI springtime sunglasses: ultra light frames and retro round lenses,

take a view at the entire collection here on gucci.com online-store

The sandal of the Spring/Summer 2015 runway. Discover the entire collection

and more colors, click here to gucci.com online-store

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: The House of GUCCI 

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'The New 'GUCCI Interlocking' for Pre-Fall 2015' 

For Frida Giannini’s penultimate collection for Gucci, the designer looked to a boyish glamour synonymous with a certain swath of the seventies: lean, tailored suiting in tweed, herringbone, and geometric jacquard, sharp and smart wool mélange blazers, and trousers coming cuffed and low-waisted or long and oversize, and all paired with tricolor python or leather pointed toe brogues, both heeled and flat.

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The Power of Colour by Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2015

According to his Instagram bio, Roberto Cavalli “came into fashion for a chance to meet all the beautiful women. . . . ” And, you know, I bet he has. Certainly the type of women who like some flash and fun to go with their marabou and stretches of skin to show with their lace.

The hectic pace of the city evaporates into a salty ocean breeze as boats anchored at the dock inspire dreams of travel to distant places. The warmth of the sun and the power of color become intoxicating as the summer turns into an elegant adventure where comfort and lightness are synonymous of style.

The captivating Roberto Cavalli women flow onto the deck, encountering summertime and the desire for a carefree escape: for S/S 2015 the Florentine designer creates a collection in which shades of fire orange, cerulean blue, racing green and saffron yellow become the mirror of the summer.

Sensuality as a light breeze that moves across the silhouette of psychedelic floral prints on silk georgette; ribbons flutter lightly on the long dresses. Bands of striped multicolored jacquard and tulle give volume and weight to the pleated dresses, while the transparencies of white and pastel embroidered tulle express the carefree spirit of the season. Leather makes an entrance in high-gloss crocodile, reappears in polished python, and takes a turn as laminated quicksilver – techniques also applied to shoes and handbags.

Denim, a fabric that lies at the heart of the maison, is treated with a vintage effect and featured in combinations that are both surprising and effortless. Distressed and patched denim pieces are paired with pieces in guipure lace and yet other pieces of sheer white aristocratic beauty. Lace cut-outs lined with silver sequins give the black denim pantsuit their secret lustre.

Evening wear in fluid silhouettes enriched with lavish lace transparencies, the flutter of feathers, and the unexpected mix of animal print sequin beading with broderie anglaise. The new summer ocelot print is animated by slashes of cobalt blue lace, or simply seductive in its soft fluid shapes.

Cavalli is reigning king of the clubs, of the “oontz-oontz” parties where the gestures are less studied than thrown. And yet, this collection was somewhat pretty, even romantic in moments. According to team Cavalli backstage prior to the show, these designs embraced “lightness, a vacation when life is a vacation.”

Yet they also employed a real sense of balance: A clunky flatform sandal literally grounded some of the more outré looks, which included ocelot-print sequined dazzlers in floor length and mini, tasseled and banded-striped multicolored jacquard accordion-pleated dresses, lace-covered sequins, and the aforementioned marabou, here fashioned into wide, flouncy-bouncy trousers. Several looks turned down the wattage, too, when it came to the color palette: An array of white and pale-pastel confections in embroidered tulle became a surprisingly romantic gesture the one white lace broderie anglaise gown, replete with pale-pink and robin’s-egg-blue insets and delicate sequin beading, was entirely dreamy.

It was a completely different type of fantasy dressing, not intended so much  for dancing atop a banquette as for in a sun-baked Capri piazza. But hold on, hold on, hold on to your stilettos: The high-gloss crocodile was there, in a molded bodice on a halter dress and in strips on a truly sheer, pleated miniskirt. The polished python, too, in the moto jackets and the handbags. There was the aforementioned ocelot print, there were short fluttering hems and plunging necklines, tighter-than-tight silhouettes in which dinner before dancing would not be an option, and a series of zebra-print gowns, occasionally accented by a slash of tangerine-colored lace that caught more than a few appreciative glances from Heidi Klum, seated front and center and grinning widely throughout. And denim, a Cavalli signature, also made repeat appearances though here, too, it was lighter, lovingly roughed up to simulate a vintage effect. So it wasn’t all candy floss and pretty pastel daydreams, but perhaps for Mr. Cavalli, it was a dip of his crocodile-shod toe into the light side.

Discover Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2015 runway show at the end of this post!  

LoL, Andrea 

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: The House of Roberto Cavalli

Photos by Kevin Tachman (stills), Kim Weston Arnold /runway)

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'Peter Dundas Named Creative Director at Roberto Cavalli'

Peter Dundas took his last bow at Emilio Pucci last month during Milan Fashion Week, after 7 years with the brand but the designer won't be leaving Milan anytime soon. Last Thursday it was announced that the Norwegian designer will be taking over the reigns at Roberto Cavalli.

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