Diane, A Shaded View on Fashion

NVU: CoSTUME NATIONAL

Dear Shadies and Shadettes,

A few weeks ago Diane and I had the pleasure of sitting down with CoSTUME NATIONAL designer Ennio Capasa to discuss his latest collection,  his extended online ventures, and how he introduced L'Wren Scott to Mick Jagger...





New Yooxer post.

Lakme Fashion Week - Sabyasachi

Sabyasachi is one of the week’s main attractions at Lakme Fashion Week, and this season he certainly didn’t disappoint his fans. While many designers are busy reigning in their creative impulses, Sabyasachi was deliberately taking risks. He sent out what was, perhaps, his most convincing iteration of his belief in the enduring beauty of a historic, rural Indian aesthetic, seen through an unflinchingly modern lens. Sabyasachi resolved the visual contradictions between these two categories , pairing trousers stitched from transparent netting with more traditional tunics, or slightly abbreviated  folksy skirts that fell just below mid-calf, ending in a spray of tulle, reminiscent of Madonna circa 1984.

The idea of the 80’s has dominated catwalks around the world this season, but no one has approached the era in a way that approximates Sabyasachi’s unique take. His proposition of a sympathy between two eras for which different cultures feel nostalgia was surprising, but perhaps not so strange. After all, this is the man whose regal ideal presents a village beauty imbued with more grace than the richest maharani. Her power derives from a respect for her roots, from humility, from the kind of self-assurance that money can never buy, no matter the seductive promises of modernity. Perhaps few women could carry off such an authentic look, but, Sabyasachi made it easier for them this season, melding his affinity for the past with a grounding in the current moment. Regardless of how the more fashion-forward pieces sell, or whether  people find some of the pairings frumpy (a criticism that has dogged Marc Jacobs throughout his career, even as he has risen to become one of the world’s most influential designers) the values he represented on his runway are well-worth  paying attention to.

 

Lakme Fashion Week - Anupamaa Dayal

Anupamaa Dayal brightened up LFW with her eclectic, effervescent print combinations and subtle beading – the collection’s color sense and dominant loose silhouette was strongly reminiscent of the graphic work of Zandra Rhodes, but Dayal brought her own signature to the work. Instead of the squiggly prints and doodles that Rhodes was so fond of, Dayal substituted classically Indian motifs, and she went lighter on the embellishment, letting the vibrant color mix speak for itself.

Dayal’s polished work would travel well in international stores, and it’s the kind of collection that one could see resonating with the resort set, as well as in hot-weather climates. She’s one of LFW’s Bright Young Things, a collection of designers that is set on selling a new sense of what Indian design means.

Cyprus Fashion Week - Robb Young reports

 
In Cyprus's capital Nicosia, everything revolves around walls.  Here the 500 year old circular wall that surrounds the Old City with eleven bastion gates that protrude in pentacle-like points - built by the Venetians. Now of course the old city is divided by another wall, the UN buffer zone or green line, that separates the Turkish north from the Greek south.  Fashion Week took place at one of the gates into the old city, the Famagusta, in a cavernous subterranean vault.  Once out of the show venue, the party was going on above the gate from morning till night overlooking the new town on the other side of the wall.  The moat has been converted into strips of green parks, or sometimes (strangely) parking lots.

Ramona Filip is one of the few labels that were, well... relatively speaking, understated at fashion week.  For the most part, dressing up in Cyprus is about a lot of ostentation and flashiness (most of those looks I've conveniently left out of this post).  The fact that locals love their logos and showing off their purchases means subtletly is a rare commodity on the island. 

Believe it or not, this is actually the Fogal window in the Elefherias district where brands like Louis Vuitton and Fendi have dropped anchor.  Everything gets put through a really wild filter here, for better and for worse.  Even when strolling down Stasikratous checking out the luxe on offer, you can be suddenly reminded that you're still in a place where conflict has decided the fate of many.  The UN patrol is never far away in Nicosia.

While ASVOF is certainly not averse to extravagance, the style scene in Cyprus still tends to be rather blatant.  A few other designers did manage to capture an original (or refined) take on the country's mixed heritage where Ottomans, Venetians, Greeks, Arabs and many others have left their aesthetic values over the centuries.

Kika Ioannidou   &     Complice by Stalo Theodorou

Orsalia Parthenis ( guest designer from Greece) & Calliope - by Elaine Neocleous (British-Cypriot designer from London)

Afroditi Hera, the resident wild child, & Sofia Alexander

 
 

Apart from the crafts district of Laiki Geitonia, much of the Greek side of the Old City has been abandoned and is rather quiet.  To get a buzz, you have to cross the moat into the new town where commerce is thriving and Nicosia is developing at a rapid pace.  Or if you feel adventurous and pluck up a little courage to cross the green line into the Turkish side of city, it's crumbling and lost in time -- with some spooky and melancholy charm like this:

 

But it's also famed for some pretty outrageous and hilarious counterfeit goods in the markets.  Anyone for a "Dol-Gab" watch?

On the way back to the other side of the UN checkpoint....

Dress Camp by Marjan Pejoski-explanation of an oriental dream

Dear Shaded Viewers,

More from the night before the show and a short explanation about the collection.

Later,

Diane

More dog grooming in Tokyo

Color White Gray Other by Jens Haas

Dear Shaded Viewers,

An online preview of the book can be seen here: http://www.jenshaas.com/blog/2009/03/30/color-white-gray-other/. 

Taken from Notes from Nowhere by Jens Haas:

"I see nobody on the road." said Alice. "I only wish I had such eyes," the King remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too!"

www.jenshaas.com

www.jenshaas.com/blog

Later,

Diane

DP by Araki - or a magic moment that is going to be hard to top

Dear Shaded Viewers,

In a trip full of many magical moments, seeing old friends, making new friends, experiencing the birth of this year's cherry blossoms, it is going to be pretty hard to top my meeting with the iconic artist/photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki and sharing a cinema like experience at his favorite Karaoke bar. Araki said that I will be in his next book. He has already produced more than 400 books. We will have to wait and see for that but I can tell you that my encounter with him and his beautiful girlfriend, KaoRi is something that is going to be pretty hard to top. Many thanks to my sweet friend and collaborator, Akiko Hamaoka. for making it happen.

Later,

Diane

The new collection of Heaven Tanudiredja

Dear Shaded Viewers.

Heaven studied at the Royal Academy of Antwerp where he got his BA in fashion design, he was born in Jakarta and named Heaven by his grandmother. Designers such as Dries Van Noten have commissioned him to collaborate on their collections. I first became aware of his work several years ago when one of his teachers at Antwerp was wearing an amazing necklace that he had made for her.  Currently he is off to Bali to work on his next collection which will also include clothing. For my part, I think that his work reflects his life and that his grandmother knew what she was doing when she named him Heaven.  info@heaventanudiredja.be

Lakme Fashion Week - Narendra Kumar

Narendra Kumar’s Fall/Winter show at Lakme Fashion Week was a graphic experiment in minimalism. His palette was almost entirely black and white, and he combined men’s and women’s looks in the same show. The menswear was futuristic and tailored, as usual, with an emphasis on sculptural cuts employed to classical effect. Cut-out ‘ribs’ on shirts gave an edge to what would otherwise be considered a basic, but in Kumar’s hands became something more special. The womenswear went in a very different direction, focusing on fantasy gowns. India isn’t in a recession, so maybe his clientele still has occasions to attend that call for this kind of eveningwear. One dress in particular, rendered in a shades of grey on a ivory satin tiered gown with a bodice held in place by elastic straps, was particularly compelling.