TOM FORD IS HOME IN HOLLYWOOD

Los Angeles on a friday evening at 6:30pm on the 20th of February. All of Hollywood is just in the final moves for the biggest night of the year, the annual Academy Awards on sunday. Well that’s what you would think would be the case normally, but what is normal in Hollywood? Exactly, so instead if felt like all of Hollywood is coming together to see the Tom Ford A/W womenswear collection presented at the L.A. Milk Studios this season. The reason for the move had to do with nothing less than the just mention Academy Awards taking place on sunday the 22nd February, Tom Ford was scheduled to show as usual during London Fashion Week one day later. How much attention would he be able to get after the Oscars? Ford, as much businessman as designer, turned the game around. He wanted to even profit form the Oscars and use his L.A. network in a perfect strategic way. And the media reaction both before and after the show just proof that he did everything right.

And there we are, 6:32pm on the 20th of February Julianne Moore makes her appearance on the red carpet, which was TF approved black of course, at this time only a few people knew that within the next 45 minutes the A-list of show business would be lining up to see his show. This included: Beyonce and Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Miley Cyrus, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Naomi Campbell, Rachel Zoe, Nicole Richie, James Corden, Rob Lowe, Fergie and Josh Duhamel, Elton John and David Furnish, Ingrid Sischy and Sandy Brant, Rita Ora, Jason Statham, Anjelica Huston, Brad Grey, Vivi Nevo, Gia Coppola, Elizabeth Olsen, John Legend, Sofia Vergara, Amber Valletta, Molly Sims, Emily Ratajkowski, Brad Goreski, Liberty Ross and Anna Wintour.

Having this army of celebrities it was no wonder that there would be drama, it was Jennifer Lopez who arrived so late on the red carpet that some photographers already left and Beyonce missed almost the entire show as she was still being sewn into her dress. Both names still delivery enough of buzz for the event and this is where Tom Ford’s move to L.A. has to be seen as a success and not the collection itself. No fashion show in London will be be able at all to bring together this amount of names. These names created a media sensation 100 times more powerful than anything on a runway presented. Which raises the question about showing in L.A.: What took Tom Ford so long? Tom Ford does not aim to please the magazines in first place, his brand wants the celebrity attention to support his commercial growth, and does well in doing this.

 

The collection featured a wild mix of Texas; denim in all forms, furs in all extremes, animal prints and fringes head-to-toe. A few light Victorian inspired looks opened the show, but also touches of bohemian-chic combined with TF bold sleek signature shapes created a strong message. Certainly, a message which was not not about setting new industry trends, neither change fashion entirely. No, it was just what the Tom Ford lady wants to have in her wardrobe next season and what the ones of Rihanna, Beyonce and Julianne Moore can wear for the upcoming red carpets and stages from L.A to Cannes. This show was all what hollywood stands: commercial success in a very sexy and glamours and entertaining way. And let’s not forget that there are millions of fans out there, falling in love with perfumes, make-ups and sunglasses Tom Ford creates seasonally, so his collections do run under way less pressure, than other fashion houses in that price point without the commercial base.

Well played Mister Ford!

SEE THE FULL SHOW HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkgBdzsoR-c

The Best of the Best: Top10 Winter 2014 Collections

And there we go again, 4 weeks full of front-rows, runways, long legs and fashion, fashion and fashion. Every year designers come-up with new inspirations, or knock-offs or copy-cats for their collections. Each collection is obviously their most creative and by far best collection according to many reviews. Really? Well, I must have seen the wrong shows then. Personally, I think that fashion has a low in the last 5 to 7 years. There is little ground-breaking things to see, black is most pre-dominantly colour once again and there is something about minimalism that is taking me the joy from fashion and even more it is given me little opportunities to dream about. Do not get me wrong, I adore black and plain chic is still one of the greatest styles, but I want more of the something special, that is taking you away as well as allowing you to include fashion in your daily life.

Fashion has to be part of our every day life

But there are of course some surprise collections, some wonderful accomplished garment pieces, and artful inspired collections, in the following I am going to share my favourite 10 collections for next winter, hoping to see them not only on covers of magazines and in editorials, but on women. On the streets of New York, Paris, Shanghai and Sydney, because that what these clothes are made about: ready-to-wear! (Click on the images for the show videos)

10. Dolce&Gabanna – “Enchanted Sicily” was the title of the show and it was all about dreaming and fairytales from south of Italy in your wardrobe. With strong embroiderers and rich textiles, they proved once again their über-luxe statues. The show was a spectacular for itself, with a tree spinning out of the ground, take the time and watch the show!

 9. Moschino –  Fast-Fashion and some sexy to go please! That’s al what the new creative director Jeremy Scott showcased with his first collection for the italian label. On his t-shirt it said “I don’t speak Italian, but I speak Moschino” Indeed, he took the “sexual” core values of the label and added some crazy, but actually really stylish and with a bit of combination totally wearable items designed after famous Candy and Fast-Food brands. The result, everyone talking about his collection and that is what it is all about, sales will show if costumers share his sense of humour and style.

8. Ralph Lauren – A classy, ladylike collection. Ralph Lauren takes it soft and romantic for winter and his cloths would charm every women. Easeful yet elegance moods meet rich materials like cashmere, brushed suede, satin pongee, and Mongolian lamb. With Ralph Lauren, do do not look for trends but for style and pieces that will stay in your wardrobe for seasons. This collection would have been a bit more exciting with more dramatic evening wear gowns, which i would love to see not only in his famous winter christmas windows on Madison Avenue and Bond Street, but also on red-carpets.

7. Ralph Rucci – Rucci enjoys the title of being an excellent design technique and being able to transform couture to a more quotidian affair. His latest collection sees women in a lot of black but also hot red tones and a lot of leather for the day. We see a powerful woman, who knows what she wants and she gets it with Rucci: spectacular quality fabrication. At the end of the show he heats it up with glamorous evening dresses, which come in warm colours against cold days. 

6. Tom Ford –  After my detailed review, this collection needs no big explanation. His Texas-London trip will make the Tom Ford client happy once again. The interplay between chic and wild is something that appeals a lot to me for next winter and with cowboy boots in all forms, Ford will have some clients from the Dallas Buyers Clubs in front of his stores.

5. Jason Wu – One of Americas most talented designer proved with his latest collection, that black can be super exciting and his women has this strong and yet female attitude. No coincidence that powermodel and bombshell Adrian Lima opened the show. Parkas and Coats play an essential role beside plenty of overlong evening looks. Wu who is also the new creative director of Hugo Boss, took a new direction with his less shaped styles this season, but it works straight away.

4. Alexander McQueen – What a dark romance with McQueen’s winter collection. Models with wild looks and even wilder furs, were just about to jump into a dark forest and ran into the wild. And that’s what they did, with one of the best show-stage design this season the “wild-beauty” title collection plays with the beauty and the beat and other fairy tales. But for the innocent princesses among you, there where wonderful white gowns for a warm night in your castle in front of a fire place. The shoes this season were raw and sporty, staying in connected to the forest theme. The showstopper gowns could have been more dramatic for my taste, but overall this is another triumphal collection for the house of Sarah Burton.

3. Balenciaga – Alexander Wang continues his lucky run at the french house. Luxurious embroidered knitwear, heavy winter coats and wrap dresses make the base, on which Wang loves to experiment and plays with futuristic elements. He also shows a sense for female sexuality with slim, slightly flaring pants which were exemplarily cut; they were sexy and leg-elongating. The colours make some normal pieces into eye-catcher and yet the mood for winter goes more towards dark.

2. Balmain – Olivier Rousteing welcomed the audience for his show to a jungle of safari-chic and hip-hop vibes. With Military elements empowering his models and usually strong Balmain silhouettes at the top marking the way for next winter: we rule the fashion jungle. A collection what will make his muse RiRi happy, even if she missed most parts of the show due to traffic in Paris. Cargo jackets and pants, leopard spots and zebra stripes, leather latticed with silk cord and gold chain, oversize motorcycle jackets, and electric pops of red and yellow lamb’s fur, all showed on one of the most diverse castings of the season. Bravo, Balmain! 

1. Givenchy – My favourite collection this year is Givenchy! He stepped away from his his sweater style to  a very womanly, very French collection. The first looks told the full mood: softly printed, just sheer enough to offer a glimpse of a bra underneath, and worn with black stockings and strappy heels. Animal prints are also essential for Tisci this winter and the nigh gowns were as fierce and wild as it gets. This is a true Givenchy collection, style darling and grande fashion for the ladies in this world not for rappers and his reality wife’s. I hope this is the direction for the next seasons, if so nobody will miss the absence from Givenchy Couture, because you will have it all ready-to-wear.

Texas to London One Way – TOM FORD F/W 2014 Review

If one would have to describe the Tom Ford Fall/Winter collection on the basis of a plane ticket, it would definitely be a one way Texas to London flight. A year ago the adventure of the Tom Ford scheduled shows at London Fashion Week started, with a cross-cultural multi-ethnic collection, in other words more is more and maximalism is the norm followed by a powerful, powerful, powerful and feminine sex shaped collection playing with hiding and showing body. Now arrived in 2014, Ford brought on the runway his homage to his two homes in Santa Fe, New Mexico and London, this homage is timely inspired by a visit to the crazy 60’s.

CLICK TO SEE THE FULL SHOW VIDEO

I took me a night to get chummed up with this new collection, as one the first view it was very sporty, plain and french chic like. The so famous Tom Ford shape got a break and the tops and skirts were more loose this season. Velvet and Pony Skin were among the chosen fabrics to a lot of black and a little red and white. But with a closer look at these pieces, one can clearly see that Tom Ford knows again what his clients do not know yet that they want.

Yes, there were cowgirl boots, in black, white and animal prints, the latter ones did not quite work, but with these boots you will not hit on sandy ranches in Texas, but on the glass floors and red carpets of Monaco and Moscow clubs. There were looks even reminding of an Carine Roitfeld moment, with masculine straight sunglasses and a white shirt suit with black boots and fur top. It is a collection that will sell, simply because you can wear most of the pieces and combine them endlessly.

Mesh tights gave the rock-star feeling to the collection, and so it was no surprise Georgia May Jagger was among the model-cast. The music swinging from cool to disco (Paloma Faith & Avicii) showed the modern Tom Ford with love to pop culture. Which in recent days used him in plenty of songs, most famously Mr Carter, Jay-Z! You do not need ecstasy when wearing Tom Ford and so he doesn’t pop molly but rocks Tom Ford. Here comes Ford again and bringing two sequinned football jerseys with the year of his birth 61′ and the crossed molly, a ‘knock off’ to Jay-Z’s  T-shirt he was wearing on one of his concerts last year with the difference that the fake jersey was 65$ and the Ford version will be 6500$. Tom Ford is not only expert in design but also PR, securing him many tweets and Instagram pics with these outfits. The open question now is, how long will we have to wait till Beyoncé wears this outfit?

And beside the many black looks ( Tom Ford’s favourite colour and which one can never have enough of in your wardrobe) he stayed to his core values for winter, some fiery red, pink and ginger combined fur coats ensuring no Tom Ford girl will have to freeze in Gstaad and Moritz. The only thing that did not work on a night of rockstar glamour where the leopard and animals printed looks with way to much déjà vu from last season’s Cavalli’s and Burberry’s collections.

Yes, Tom Ford surprised everyone by bringing the unexpected to runway but do not think for a second that the Tom Ford Girl would do anything else than first class on her flight from Texas to London, we still talk luxury fashion baby.

Warrior Queens of modern power fashion

This collection could only have been created by one brand. Ultimately, the arty aesthetic didn’t stand a chance against the fierce femininity that has become Alexander McQueen’s instantly recognisable calling card. 

-The Guardian-

Sarah Burton’s comeback to the grande stage in Paris was a highly expected event.

And she delivered a powerful and yet female spring/summer 2014 collection which has been influenced by a cultural merge of African and early-twentieth-century art, deftly cross-referenced with nineties McQueen street style, as Sarah Mower points it out in her positive Vogue US review.

The runway which looked like an artful Mondrian carpet, was actually made out of sand and gave the whole collection another summer and art twist.

The only thing  I really missed, were some stronger and more opulent evening gowns at the end, which would have been a great impulse and charm for McQueen’s couture clients and custom-made lovers from all over the world.

However, sachem Sarah Burton brings the McQueen tribe in a great position for spring summer and it looks like their PR-Team will be very busy to supply all the sample requests from Vogues, Harpers’s Bazaars and many other fashion magazines.

If only I would intern there again…