Saturday, 15 December 2012

Diane von Furstenberg Pre-Fall 2013

For all DvF-aficionados as I'am, I'd like to introduce you Pre-Fall 2013 by Diane von Furstenberg. Anyone who might have sauntered down London’s Carnaby Street back in the late sixties when Mick Jagger was in the throes of a feted romance with Marianne Faithfull would have likely caught sight of girls stepping in and out of Biba and Mary Quant donning billowing, printed Ossie Clark dresses. And it’s to that halcyon memory, with its post-hippie bohemia and touch of psychedelia, that Diane von Furstenberg’s pre-fall collection pays homage.

Enjoy my editorial for my American Partners Mosnar Communications 'Diane von Furstenberg for evian', with the release of the latest limited edition bottle by Diane von Furstenberg for evian reflecting a playful celebration of life and featuring a nod to the designer's iconic mantra with "Water is Life is Love is Life is Water", gracing the bottle in her distinct handwriting. Love, Andrea

But while there were feminine peasant tops, caftan dresses, and optic-print shifts in abundance, those classic seventies pieces were kept in check with a careful balance of streamlined suiting: a nod, says von Furstenberg, to the days of Oscar Wilde and ostentatious literary dandies twirling canes and sauntering down Savile Row. “I like the English sensibility for a couple of reasons,” says the designer. “It’s very textile-oriented and it’s quirky I like a bit of humor.” Cue her signature curling lip motif on the Flirty Mini Crossbody bag, slung over the shoulder of an abbreviated short suit with a monochromatic poet’s blouse peeking out. But in true DVF style, nothing got so deep into nostalgia that you’d forget the time and place; boxy jackets with accents of leather and ankle-grazing pants in a graphic collage of suede and leather made sure of that. As did the digitalized tweed print that graced softer, more feminine silhouettes, like a plunging jumpsuit and lace-sleeved day dress. Although the wrap dress had been set aside (despite coming into existence around 1974), there were plenty of kaleidoscopic-printed Glasmarys. “Can’t you see the hot body already? You don’t need to have one, the dress creates it!” she insists. It was a subtle reference to a familiar time but updated for her modern coterie of devotees. After all, says von Furstenberg, “we’re supposed to be the friends in your closet the pieces you go for whether for a personal event or business.”

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: © VOGUE

Photos: Courtesy of Diane von Furstenberg

MORE TO LOVE From Diane ...

'NYFW | Diane von Furstenberg Spring/Summer 2013'

'Luxury PR | Diane von Furstenberg for evian®'

Monday, 10 September 2012

NYFW | Diane von Furstenberg Spring/Summer 2013

“It really is so much about me when I was a young princess,” announced Diane von Furstenberg after her insouciantly glamorous show, “a rebel princess. When, yes, you go to the Roman palaces, you go to Jaipur, you go to Marrakech, and you look the sophisticated aristocrat, but you take off the tunic and the layers and you are ready to go dancing all night.”

Thousands of smiling mirror lips hung from the rafters or were buried into the creamy carpet underfoot, reflecting the feel-good vibe of the show, which played out to a front-row lineup that included a generous helping of billionaires amongst the glamazons.

Those exotic destinations of the late sixties and early seventies were reflected in the billowing palazzo pants and the geometrically detailed Cardin-esque tunics (in the hypnotic colors of Slim Aarons’s café-society portraits), fashioned for flitting between the ballrooms of Italy’s stateliest mansions, and in the airy djellaba coats and sarouel pants for tuning out in a Moroccan riad, and in the sari draperies, spangled embroideries, and silver baubles garlanding neck and hemlines for a Rajasthan pilgrimage.

Diane and her creative director, Yvan Mispelaere, have continued their adventures in highly sophisticated color combinations: a pale mauve crepe caftan coat over a halter top of carrot crepe and pants the color of Morocco’s red earth, say, or an A-line tunic in teal, eau de nil, and brick. And beyond the fantasy there were plenty of real-life clothes, many with the sportif accent and attitude that permeates the current fashion mood after the London Olympics including a slouchy sweat pant and shirt in electric-green sequins.

Diane may have been looking back to her giddy youth in this collection, but this Thoroughly Modern Princess has her Louboutins firmly planted in the present and allows her mind to soar into the future. She took her finale victory lap with Mispelaere wearing a pair of Glass by Google glasses that had a tiny built-in camera set in the frame to record a Diane’s-eye view of the show and she led Google cofounder Sergey Brin from his seat to join them.