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

Chanel Spring/Summer 2016

I used to be the biggest fan of Chanel. I think it is fair to say that I much prefer Chanel show spectacles like the Supermarket from the Fall 2014 collection rather than the actual pieces in the shows.

My general feeling about Lagerfeld at Chanel is that he's lost his touch, completely. Don't get me wrong: we still have a reference to Coco - sharp structured tweed suits in now a multitude of newly developed sporty neoprene fabrics and garish marbled colour palettes; somewhat ruining her pioneering, signature looks, however.
 
Saying all this, Karl seems to have a tendency to push everything out of proportion. In a typical prêt-a-porter show, we normally see a strong 40-50 looks that fit perfectly into a set theme or incentive. However at Chanel, we see a frankly lack-lustre 90 or more looks, most of which are the exact copies of the ensembles we have seen prior to that specific collection. 

 

 

 

To buyers and editors, enthralled would be an understatement; they feed off the giant branding sets which today took the shape of a Chanel Airport. A set which we have seen in the past, to be exact Spring/Summer 2012 Couture- Cara Delevingne's runway debut, was the collection which allegedly showed the future for Chanel's Haute Couture. 

However, I digress. This season's Chanel was all about the jet-setting life of the super-rich (hence the presence of Kendall Jenner who closed the show).

photo 1-1

photo 1-2

The clothes simply did not radiate quintessential Coco or even the basic essence of Chanel for that matter; they emitted a futuristic angle which was more tacky than anything: giant orange mirrored aviators covered the faces of the models paired with flat-formed plastic drawstring boots and bubble-gum PVC coats.

 

 

 

 

In contrast to my rather pessimistic point of view, there were some undoubtedly beautiful pieces- the sour-toned checked tweed jumpsuit which opened and the layering of kick flares underneath full chiffon or leather skirts, dabbled with the ideas of classicism meets the digital era. The branded wheelie luggage bags and petite airplane brooches will definitely get the global e-commerce soaring.

 

 

 Kick flares which sat loosely under full-skirts

 

There was a definite sense of diversity, albeit eclectic, in relation to the overall execution of the show; diversity was shown through the model casting and the new, fluid silhouettes sent down the runway.
At this point in time, it seems that futurism is the only theme that Lagerfeld can bring to the Chanel check-in desk. For example, those trainers he put in one of his Couture shows, or those crushed Camellia flowers which emblazoned a tweed overcoat. I'm sorry to say this, but I do believe it is time for a change. The brand is in need of a new lease of life, Karl has led an incredible legacy, but he's coming to the end of his time.

 

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