luxury everything ?

i know that the luxury market is huge right now, and that everyone wants custom this and unique that, and i'm not one to deny that i do enjoy knowing i have something that nobody else may have (<3 friperies!) but really, a diamond incrusted usb key? really?

priced at a crisp $10,000 i'm sure these things will sell like hot cakes. no, really, i'm sure they will.

Lavin for Acne Jeans

Alber Elbaz has created a capsule collection for his upcoming denim line and first look seems to indicate a success for the designer, who wanted to make something 'fun and creative.' I have to say, the prettiness he attributes to all things he touches is still there, but there's just enough dynamism that the pieces could go either way, be it hard rock, or pretty and poised. I've always had trouble with denim for just the opposite reason: my casual denim can't be dressed up, and my dressy denim simply can't be dressed down. for whatever reason anything jean of mine is distinctly categorical.



i'm really enjoying the skinny but loose pant, with the slight roll up and the coat with the wide cuffs. jeans will go for about $550-650 and coats from $1,000-1,200.

And she does it again!

it's been thrown around that agyness deyn is on the outs, that she was just another another disposable girl and casualty of the industry, but this new ad for jean-paul gauthier's perfume 'madame' begs to differ with her critics. i've never been her hugest fan, but she seems to fit the ads description to a T, and looks damn good doing it.

an interesting take on things

for a long time i've tried to pin point exactly what it is about the quebec fashion industry that just doesn't work. after picking up an issue of maisonneuve magazineit started to become a little more clear. there are few designers that come from the province of quebec only to make it big in europe, and with such a fashion focus in montreal, this has always surprised me. i've also always wondered why the 'newest' styles to come off the fashion runways every season are always just that much behind everywhere else. it's a very frustrating thing to watch as the quebec industry appears to take itself so very seriously and yet seems to be lacking in so many departments. where has all the creativity gone?


back to the magazine article now, which featured an interview with quebecs newest and most promising fashion export: rad hourani. in the article he tackles the local scene setting everything into perspective, for me anyways:

" 'There is no culture of fashion here. You see press for some ridiculous boutique, but this is not fashion,' he says. Though he is quick to laud the city's street style, Hourani dismisses designers who've 'made it' locally through a combination of unabashed commerciality, marketability and tedium. Insularity, according to Hourani, has warped the values and priorities of Quebec's fashion establishment and kept its shmatte industry cushioned and inadvertently self-limiting."

the general gist of the article is that local designers don't push themselves because they just don't have to - "Instead of bringing their creativity to the world, they are content with becoming big fish in a small pond."



and there you have it - a big fish in a small pond - in a nutshell, that is the quebec fashion industry. everyone wants to be the next big thing, but seem to cower at the idea of expanding outside the province. maybe it's because local designers know they can't stand up to the real big guns in the U.S and Europe? a few have, including hourani, who's got everyone watching. he's given me a bit of hope when it comes to local designers, but the local industry is another story. Helmer, trained and experienced in european fashion houses hails from montreal, and after years of working under big name designers abroad, wanted a 'real challenge' for himself. going into his third year of designing his namesake line within the confines of the quebec industry, he seems to be up for the challenge, putting forward unique silhouettes and always including his trademark look of cruise dresses in patchwork designs.

the dilemma that is the local fashion industry will persist no doubt, but it almost seems like those who really believe in themselves should look to overshoot the local industry all together and aim for a bit start in europe à la hourani...

and just as he came, he left

yes it has been weeks since i last posted - blame it on summer schooling and general life craziness, but i can finally say that i am de retour at last... apologies to everyone who kept checking back - in the days and weeks to come however, keep your eyes peeled for new postings!


on to current things: just as the YSL exhibit hits montreal at the musée des beaux arts bringing fashion followers out in droves to admire the last of a very special generation of fashion designers work on display, Yves Saint Laurent pases away of brain cancer.

"The legendary couturier passed away in the presence of [business partner Pierre] Berge and longtime friend and muse Betty Catroux. Catherine Deneuve arrived shortly after he died, at 11:10 p.m. Paris time, Berge noted."

WWD


the designer's life was riddled with bouts of depression and drug abuse, but thankfully they haven't eclipsed the grandeur of his work or talent. (take note MJ - people are talking and they're worried...) The first to introduce the idea of the pant suit for women, and the last of a generation who came before fashion was 'democratic' it has been written that he had trouble watching his name, his brand, be designed by someone other than himself and wished he'd been the brains behind the blue jean.


going to see the exhibit will be all the more special.

gotta love the london look

ponystep made it's debut recently and seems to showcase the londoners whimsical take on fashion to a t (according to some brit bloggs i read ...) after seeing this particular image on the site i'm in love for sure. it reminds me of last summer when upon returning to london after a sojourn in northern spain with some basque punk friends of mine, i headed out to a club with some london based buddies in nothing more than a tank and jeans. how incredibly beneath every other partier i felt that night, as pretty little things pranced around me in party dresses and high to the sky pumps. to be fair, this was my last stop on a month-or-so long backpacking trip, and i didn't have much in the way of nice or clean, clothes left...nevertheless...this picture takes me back, and re-kindled some recently wanned inspiration for the summer, what with the return of coat worthy weather...