ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories: Spring 2013 Couture

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Installations by BASIL SODA Spring 2013 Couture

February 5th - Invitation to a fashion fairytale installation which was held in Beyrouth by the Lebanese Couture designer Basil Soda in his Couture Fashion House in the very heart of Beirut. A building cut from a single block of sand-colored stone, its minimal façade and simple features invite you in, at once, to penetrate the secrets of couture.

Once inside, the store, basked in natural daylight, adorns a palette of grays. A play of mirrors diffracts all proportions projecting silhouettes, colorful dresses and architectural pieces outside their frames. A mise-en-abime where reflections ricochet, echo one another and duplicate space to infinity… Time stands still to allow each client a suspended moment with every dress.

During his near-perfect career, Basil Soda studies architecture, fashion design and hat making in Beirut before moving to the Arabian Peninsula – where he masters the art of embroidery – he then joins ELIE SAAB as foreman. Throughout the years and whatever the country, Basil Soda has always felt at liberty to create. His unique expertise at hand, he establishes, in 2000, his very own brand and Fashion House. From his new sanctuary, Basil Soda talks openly of his love of architecture, from which he has borrowed fine-cut lines, a unity of space and pure volumes. Architecture. A favorite subject and constant source of inspiration.

Watching over every single Haute Couture creation pieced together in his 800 m2 warehouse, Basil Soda creates each silhouette directly on the mannequin. Surrounded by his team, he converses daily with the matter, refines a cut, assists, confers… in a lair full of embroidery, shimmering crystals and colorful cutouts. Perfectionism as an art.

Some 300 models leave the workshop every year, not including those seen in Paris during the Couture fashion shows. In 2010, an accessory and a ready-to-wear collection was launched. A way for the Basil Soda Fashion House to introduce itself into a whole new world: that of the dynamic working woman. Somewhat elusive, she braves the day as she tackles the night. A ‘From Day to Night’ collection.

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: The House of © BASIL SODA

More Basil Soda To Love ...

'Haute Couture | BASIL SODA Fall 2012 Couture'

Monday, 11 February 2013

Indian Gypsies by Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2013 Couture

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“Its about the Indian gypsies,” said Jean Paul Gaultier, “the real ones from Rajasthan.” The designer’s feverish imagination was fired by the memorable vision of an Indian bride being transported to her wedding on an elephant. But it wasn’t just her nuptial finery that inspired him it was the music that accompanied her, which he recognized as classic gitane sounds but were in fact traditional Rajasthani ones. Gaultier soon discovered, of course, that most gypsy travelers had their origins in this part of the world, and so he set out to capture their spirit in his joyous collection.

When he first opened his couture house in 1997, Gaultier hired two seamstresses from the atelier of the legendary Madame Grès. In turn, they taught a new generation the skills of Alix drapery that Gaultier regularly uses in such inventive ways. He opened his show with that painstaking technique used for languid evening gowns in two tones of broad stripes, and later in elaborate brassiere tops (a play on his signature conical falsies bra from the eighties) used to suspend skimpy jersey dresses.

The Rajasthan element registered in the tops inspired by regional men’s dress, with a great fullness of fabric gathered from the yoke, worn with gently flowing pants, as well as in subtle touches like a print that looked like a traditional French toile de Jouy but that represented Indian gods and fauna. He used patchworks of Swarovski crystal panels, Indian brocades, and even a trove of turn-of-the-century beaded purses for full tiered tzigane skirts. And for the sophisticated world traveler he reinvented the backpack lavishly embroidered in jet beads or hand crocheted in boudoir-pink mesh.

Gaultier’s wonderful, singing palette ran the gamut from spice tones of saffron, turmeric, cardamon, and paprika to the brilliant colors of the sari markets.

To the strains of “La Vie En Rose” sung in Hindi, the bride appeared in a vast patchwork crinoline. She raised her skirts, and a quartet of adorable little South Asian girls ran out giggling down the runway in dresses in the dazzling hues of the pigments thrown during the Holi festival hot pink, parrot green, and midnight blue.

And not to miss: 'The Romance Night' -

Jean Paul Gaultier - LA PERLA Spring 2013 capsule collection

"... which floated in the air thanks to a suspended installation that displayed spectacular creations", Jean Paul Gaultier for LA PERLA. Love, Andrea