Miu Miu Fall 2016

The trend of today seems quirkly playful and all out eccentric, which is certainly what Miuccia Prada brought to the table with this season's Miu Miu collection. 
With the current grannified eccentricity vibe we are seeing at Gucci, it is no wonder that more and more designers are becoming intrigued by this movement and eager to explore the niche hype of 'heirloom dressing'.
Today, Miuccia toyed with the ideas of eclectic V modern- factoring in the old and the new. We saw the revival of the late 70s, early 80s with of course a generous dose of 50s Hollywood glamour. Think carpet tapestry maxi skirts, velour evening wear and wide array of taffeta dresses. There were also hints of the more dandy, gentrified look- waxy parkas with furred up forearms, (seen on Kendall) tweed suits + jodhpurs and lastly topped off with sartorially shaped military proportions.

Tapestry maxi

Adriana Lima

Kendall Jenner

Tweed jodhpur suits

A contributing early historical element also came into play. More a melange of the romantic and medieval era than anything. Hence the highfalutin silk velvet brocades coated in subdued pinks and turquoises, transposed onto 50's opera coats or on the full-skirts.
Although extremely romanticized, we still had a lot masculinity. Pinstripe shirts, boxer shorts, (seen on Taylor Hill) and utility jackets all worked well with the feminine pieces to mitigate the formality and at the same time up the luxuriousness.

Silk velvet brocades

Masculinized proportions

Taylor Hill

I adored those small touches that radiated this sheer sense of opulence; from the Baroque upholstered fabrics and the jewel-toned bags, to those divine ballerina dresses with asymmetrical hem-lines. Those little motifs completed the heirloom way of dressing. It is almost as if the woman has picked up what she has found at her Grandparents' house: a string of pearls, fluffy slippers, family jewels, pocket squares and copious amounts of fur.

Baroque upholstered fabrics

Ballerina Dresses

Miu Miu, being the last fashion show of Paris Fashion Week, gave us a good indication to what's in store for the future state of the house. Diversity seems to be the most accentuated trend of them all this season and it was so good to see that Miu Miu casted more models of colour. Especially models of much more resplendent, fuller shapes as well.
This was by far my favourite Miu Miu collection to date.

Please Note: I do not own any of these images, courtesy of vogue.co.uk

Gucci Spring/Summer 2016

From the deconstructed images of dated maps that plastered an iridescent skirt to the kaleidoscope trompe d'oeil ruffles and pussy bows that sat loosely around the neck. Yes, this season's Gucci collection was, without a doubt, the most beautiful art installation I've ever seen.

 

As you probably all know, I was apprehensive about Alessandro Michele taking the Gucci reigns from Frida Giannini. Their difference in styles and aesthetics are huge. Giannini was one to create an illusive, dark yet romantic Gucci woman, however Michele's vision for the house is far more experimental- 70s, androgynous, eclectic and nerdy.

Now, I have to say, I absolutely adored this collection. Talk about going big or going home. 

It was definitely a spectacle, we saw practically every piece seen last season, reimagined and reworked- taking on a new form of Michele's modern techniques. For example the invoking of the trompe l'oeil was certainly one of the main focus points in the collection. Now for any of you wondering, trompe l'oeil literally means 'deceives the eye', with this in mind Michele uses this as a technique, simply by taking a normal cut transparent piece of fabric and putting this special print over the top of it, appearing to us will be an object in three dimensions, however this is just an optical illusion. Quite clever I think.
Take the pink sequined skirt with the trompe l'oeil ruffles imprinted on it, anyone would have thought that was just a chiffon skirt, however we are wrong.

 

The clothes also felt more historical than ever. Perhaps it was those 70s bejeweled glasses, those boxy crocodile handbags which reeked 50s glamour or even the opulence from the graphic images which slathered onto a whimsical column dress.

 

 

As always the styling was unusually executed. You could tell that Michele was more bothered about the pieces individually and the fabrics and textures, more so than anything else. Lace, lurex, silk, chiffon, organza and eel skin, believe it or not- the list was endless.

my favourite pieces included the leather biker jacket with embroidered serpentine and oriental motifs, the python A-line midi-skirt with the red panel which sat on the hem, those garish primary studded strappy sandals that accented the geek-chic idea and lastly those psychedelic 70s wallpaper prints that gave a brand new definition to the word nostalgia.

 

  Please note: I do not own any of these images, courtesy of Vogue.com