Jil Sander has always been a 'need' brand-the perfect crisp white shirt, the immaculately tailored coat, and a razor-sharp jacket, and perhaps it will always remain one. Yet most of the time, Raf Simons tries to break away from this deeply ingrained stereotype and move towards a more conceptual Jil Sander. This decision has its merits but hasn't always paid off in the recent years. I find that most of the time the concept gets in the way with the clothes, it may be 'edgy' but it isn't desirable. Which therefore explains why his past collections have somewhat only received a lukewarm response from the fashion crowd. Thankfully for Raf Simons, he sheds most of the concept which have hindered his rise to the top and managed to evolve this collection into a 'want', or rather more appropriately, a 'GOD DAMN IT, I WANT!". I'm unabashed to say that this was my favourite collection in the history of a catastrophic Spring 2011 fashion week.

It doesn't come as a surprise that much of the excitement of the show could not be contained in Milan itself, manifesting itself into 140-character Twitter love declarations and unashamed fan-girling on twitpic. Perhaps one of the main driving forces for Raf's success in Milan was the fact that minimalism, a Jil Sander attribute has become a mainstay in fashion week (at least for now) and it's only right to take a few calculated risks and up the stakes of the game that everyone wants to be a part in. And Raf certainly did that, without resurrecting dead cliches of frumpy boring daywear or the same old Jil Sander classics.

The palette was extraordinary, a daring pick of highly saturated colours-shocking pink, day-glo orange, and bold hues of blue, green, yellow. It was a well-executed balancing act of a strong colour palette restricted in a boxed-in simplicity of form and a couture code of construction (not the embroideries but rather the shapes.) The volume and silhouettes of the clothes were well-controlled, which thankfully didn't make the models look twenty thousand feet wide. Rather than adding fuss, the floor-sweeping skirts seemed to accentuate lines and curves, especially exemplified in the undulating shapes around the hips. I wouldn't want to wait till next Spring to see these skirts billowing down the streets, my patience might have died by then, and I might just rape the Jil Sander atelier (now can someone get these in my wardrobe before my actions get uncontrollable). The sack shape will always bring to mind a haute couture sensibility, yet this seemed easy and very wearable, not forgetting desirable. The parkas and the windbreakers also brought the clothes down to utilitarian pret-a-porter, which is always a good thing since couture sometimes leaves a bad after-taste in your mouth. At least for me.

The strongest pieces in the show, or in this case defined as my favourites, were that of the neon flowers print. It brought to mind old, tacky and ultimately chinese-y bedsheets from my grandparents era, except these were turned up a few notches along the gradient scale. The neon water/ink-spill on a t-shirt-skirt combination was pretty rad too. Maybe the neon flowers exploded and released its otherworldly dyes? Also, the stripes in this collection were pretty perfect, which culminated in the most wonderful barely-there top and a pretty rad bubble-gum pink ankle-length skirt (look at how it reflects the light).

It was a bold move by the Belgian designer-bold silhouettes and bold colours that couldn't be any more perfect. Unfortunately, I now find myself confused about my own gender identity because I would love to try on one of those skirts. (Let's hope that I will grow longer legs and this will only be temporary.)

If there was one backlash that the minimalist movement of fall had this season, it was the ominous white that had befallen on New York. Thankfully, Suno was amazing in every way possible, the greatest being able to cleverly predict the future, so as to capitalize on this creativity white-wash (a term that is so often used now, there's hardly a need to have quotation marks).

The designer duo of Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty managed to hit all the right notes of what a Spring collection should be. Incorporating the many different traditional Kenya kanga fabrics that were made in artisanal factories in the African nation, this collection had charmingly infiltrated every nook and cranny of my mind, subtly exerting its power and sending me off into delirious obsession. The references were not literal, it wasn't that banal tribal African look that had been done to death. Instead the clothes had an quirky, off-kitler quality that resembled a good ole' fashion collection. The skilled mix of prints and fabrics only added on to the hype that the duo might just be the new big thing to refresh the New York scene. Maybe it already has. No, that's a definite.

Perhaps this is the direction that I would taking on for Spring and justifies my inner print mixing that has been suppressed for far too long. It wasn't contrived, nor was it insanely hard to carry off. Now, is there any designer out there who is daring enough to create such prints for men? Seriously, maybe it's time for all of us to unleash our hidden print addiction.

Urgh, I don't know what happen to New York, but I'm not liking what I'm seeing so far. It looks like it's only appropriate to rethink what I've written in my earlier review, "Prints, how ground-breaking for summer?!" Considering what we have seen for the last few shows, any hint of colour and print would be able to make me go dizzy in joy. Somehow, somewhere, last season's minimalist looks have been translated into white, white, white and Calvin Klein-ish minimalist white for spring, which makes it utterly dull and boring. Isn't spring all about colours and prints and fun and optimistic fun? As Cathy Horyn aptly describes the severity of this situation, "if the white trend continues for spring, Barneys could end up looking like a bridal salon, or a uniform supply store for nurses."

Given my disdain for the colour, I can't quite fathom how I am actually attracted to the whites at Preen. Whilst Justin Thornton and The Bregazzi cite Egypt and the Arab countries as their main inspiration (probably not so much of the prints obviously but rather the play of light), what manifested in this collection was instead the clever balance between the sheer and luxurious. The color palette was incredibly therapeutic too, probably because it wasn't the same sheer white that designers have been ramming down our throats since the start of fashion week. It was more of a mix between white and grey and given a pastel-y treatment. And this, I am very very thankful of.

The sheer dresses have become a staple for the runway this season but I thought those from Preen were able to stand out from all the ghostly, "oops, this is a little too transparent, maybe we need a little of Lindsay Lohan heart pasties" frocks. The duo was able to find the right balance of transparency, which then translated to luxurious, silky, ethereal dresses, that was anything but vulgar. The details too were quite amazing, from the pleats and diamond, fishnet braiding to the more elaborate Grecian tile prints. This is again a time when I wish style.com had the detail shots (I know I've said this too many times.)

A pity style.com runway photos were a photography disaster. As such, I recommend everyone who hasn't yet been converted to head over to The Sartorialist.

I wasn't feeling the prints as much I wished I had, neither did the hair do justice to the clothes (the models looked like made-in-china barbie dolls replicas). But overall, the off-white tones and the suits (the belted suit below was my favourite) managed to seal the deal for me.

Fashion week has arrived (as if you already didn't know that) and instead of the usual suspects, I think I would like to cover more of the lesser known gems and newer talents which collections really resonate within me. But honestly, school is making it very difficult for me to go through every collection on style.com. But I'll try.

One of the first few designers that really wowed me this season was Michael Angel. For Spring 2011, he presented a collection that was based on prints and more prints. But before you start going into, "Prints, how ground-breaking for summer?!", I think Michael Angel was able to make them into light, ethereal dresses, and those were visually mind-blowing. Though I have to admit that there have been a couple of designers who have done the whole computer-genterated-prints-look, but seriously, I don't think anyone will ever get bored looking at them. There was also a hint of subversion in the use of men's shirting in the dresses, and this was a definite two thumbs up from a HUGE collar fan like me.

Now, let me enter my fanboy mode (instead of the sophisticated ways style.com reviewers usually are.) I loved the genius use of layers in this collection. The idea of revealing and hiding has been seen on the runway more times than none, but I thought the use of latex, (which reminded me of Patrik Ervell) was ingenious in getting the message across. Layered over the dresses, it was a interesting take on the perception of prints and colours . Though it may seem pointless to incorporate latex over a skirt, I felt the way it was cut (the tailoring was A+ by the way) and how it was thoughtfully placed, gave it depth and a whole new form of texture.

I think Michael Angel needs to make this latex and prints work for men, or otherwise, I demand this collection to GET ON ME!

I found myself staring at these clothes for the past hour. They aren't Philoesque-pretty, nor Galliano-theatrical. They aren't of the minimalist streak that designers have been ramming down our throats for the fall season nor aren't they the ones that make you go "What the hell was he thinking?". But somehow they are intriguing, not in that cerebral way but more of one that just stays in your head, in a calm and peaceful manner. Or perhaps I'm too lazy (at least for now, I hope) to allow a collection to wander round my head, annoying my synapses and neurons and what not.

I find these clothes the anti-thesis of prints (bordering on colour-blocking), like a minimalist-print (I know this hardly makes sense, but oxymorons never do, don't they?).

It's like a give and take between the simple (silhouettes) and the rich (images). Somehow everything just blends together and........."BHAM!', a weird and wonderful concoction of shapes and colour tones. Also I don't know if you know that these 'prints' are actually deconstructed images from the inside of the Vatican. There's no altar nor crucifix (maybe 1), and there' hardly any religious influence behind these clothes. But rather the mundane furniture that consists of tables and bookshelves belonging to the Pope have been turned up on its head and given a nice little twist. The images are deceptively simple, and almost mysterious to some extent. Now how do I put this altogether? A mix between The Selby and Phoebe Philo and Philippe Starck and Catholicism and given an Alberto Marani stamp on top of it all.

Also, the Pope sure has great taste in furniture.

Also, these are the works of Alberto Marani. I forgot to mention this, oops.

Also, I have to realise that my thoughts are everywhere. Which explains the many 'also's.

And this reminds me of Fendi's Fall ad campaign. Which I really really love.

If there's anything one would love to wear during summer, it would be t-shirt and shorts and nothing more. I have to admit that casual does play a significant part in my 'wardrobe agenda' during summer and in Singapore, the most you can layer, even during the coldest of days, would be nothing more than a trench-coat (that is if you always stay indoors.) I'm not here to talk or defend about easy dressing but quite the opposite, I'm here to yak about Yohji Yamamoto new menswear collection that addresses the issue of 'dressing down'. I'm not particularly sure when the American way of t-shirt dressing started to dominate the wardrobes of people worldwide (probably the 90s, probably) but if there's anything dandier than the suits of today, then history would only prove better. 18th century dressing to be exact, that was the time Yohji Yamamoto looked back to. And because I'm a history student who is very much in love with history, my senses would only react with excitement to this collection. Pull up your stockings and hoses, put on your powdered wigs and make-up, because that's how Mr Yohji sees it.

If there was anything different about the line-up of models, it was that they were playing characters, one could spot an aristocrat, or a classic English Gentleman or a literary laureate from the Victorian era. A stark difference from the model clones we saw at Prada. Everything was very elaborate, from the powdered faces, to the mustaches and full-grown beards, and to sausage curls and ponytails on the head. At one point of the collection, we thought we saw Willy Wonka replicas come down the runway, complete with top-hats and felted millinery kookier than what Mr Willy Wonka would ever put on. At another point, we even thought we saw those court officials that wore powdered wigs in fairytales come to life, only that would be creepy and so something closer to real life, would be those who wear gowns and wigs in courtrooms. A digression, why would anyone try to act serious when they are in costume? (You get what I mean. I'm trying to be funny, but apparently not. Awkward laughter.)

Even if the hats and make-up and not forgetting the stockings stayed true to history, the clothes were anything but that. Eccentric would be the proper term to describe these garments, and 'clothes revived from the coffin'? Not quite so. The first part of the collection saw the use of florals, one that would probably be seen on the wallpapers of an old English house or on the armchair in an old antique shop. Unfortunately, style.com didn't provide any detail shots because that would add on to the excitement I'm having for florals right now, though it would take me lots of guts and a whole lot of bottles of tequila and vodka and gin for me to wear floral prints out onto the streets. Then again maybe I will, but I first need to find one that suits me. There were also some sort of cross-stitching/embroidery/patchwork on a few of the jackets, of what seemed to be teddy-bears and a christmas tree (?) and arrows of a compass (???), but a pity no detail shots were provided. Though a little kitschy, it sure would make for a great detail (that Tommy Ton would shoot for GQ) and not forgetting, very endearing too.

If you were expecting to see Savile Row suits when Yohji announced he was taking things a little formal for this collection, you obviously do not know Yohji Yamamoto well enough. When he said he was dressing things up, what he really meant was loose, long, even oversized formal wear-his signature proportions. But while keeping with his design DNA, Yohji also stepped away from the use of monochromes, and introduced a broader (and the first in a long time) palette of orange, turquoise, and purple. There were the oversized jackets and looser versions of tailcoats, but honestly, one could easily mistake one for the other if he hadn't look closely. The shirting was cut at the ends to resemble waistcoats and Yohji had very very lovingly and adorably included oversized bow ties in a few looks. Those with a keen eye for identifying fashion faux pas, would have noticed that collars and even the lapels of jackets were upturned, but then again these were very different from those who have the annoying habit of popping up their collars of their polo shirts. Perhaps these here were high-peaked, but nonetheless it made for a real interesting detail, and the way they were done, it was nothing pretentious but more of nonchalance and just that 'I-couldn't-care-less' attitude.

It was a great story that Yohji told with his clothes, one that crossed between history and reality, eccentricity and elegance, and the living and the dead. It was indeed a breath of fresh air, just like Spring and how Spring clothes should be. My favourite menswear collection for this season. Vuvuzela.

At 1.00 am this morning, while half of Singapore was fast asleep, there was me, logged onto twitter, receiving updates from people across the globe who had sacrificed their Sunday afternoon/evening for this one Prada show. Right smacked in the middle of the Prada website was that same familiar black box flashing live video updates of the Prada show that was simultaneously happening just as I existed on this world. The only difference between this time and the last Prada show that the livestream was actually working, without the disturbances of pauses that never played (that is without clicking the refresh button). In fact, by the help of some miraculous holy beings, the days of being kicked out from your front row seat (in front of your computer) at an Alexander McQueen SS10 show or a Louis Vuitton SS10 show are gone. Here comes technology.......errr....and good old fashion. This time the only thing that could possibly distract you (if your attention span is as short as mine) from that black box at the Prada website is the background of what seems to be a cage surrounded by lighted green fluorescent tubes that looked freakishly eerie for a Spring show. That was the set and the last I logged into the Prada website (which was a minute ago), it was the same background but with white fluorescent tubes instead of the green. Did Miuccia Prada had a sudden change in mind that a green lighting would only make her clothes look slimy and gooey, rather than clean, smart and very very desirable? Yes, this collection was it and it was a revelation. A FUCKING REVELATION.

The set on its own, seemed pretty normal as compared to last season's background of a mind-map of the decade's biggest happenings. But it was still enough for Showstudio (whoever is behind it, Nick Knight?) to make this tweet, "Wonder if Miuccia intended for it to look like the models were wandering through a multistorey carpark?" and Tim Blanks (oh hail the king of style.com's videos) to write ".....could have been an underground car park, or the foundations of a skyscraper, or the bowels of the Battlestar Galactica." I say it was Jesus walking on water, except in this case Jesus were 40 of the same model clones walking on a steel and iron catwalk, wearing the most-amazing mish-mash-of-soles creepers.

I hate to make sense of the concept and the intellectual thoughts that went into a collection, especially of such a beautiful one like this. It's simple to accept that this collection was beautiful because it needed to be beautiful for commercial reasons, but it cannot be said so if it was by one of fashion's great intellectuals. There had to be a message behind any or even every collection, even if it was Resort and Pre-fall or even the bags and the paper-bags.

As the light tubes on the floor flickered and lit up, the collection was well on its way. The show opened with the sharpest of suits, that came in buttons of three and three-pieced. The half-a-dozen or so two-pieced that next came down the runway centered around the colour of blue, or navy to be exact. Uniform, seemed to be the theme for this collection, and well so it was, that the models looked like carbon copies of one another. The only difference between the previous look and the next look was the different hues of navy used. Also, if you noticed well and hard, the silhouettes shifted from tight and snugged suiting to loose-fitting, oversized, baggy t-shirt shapes, sweaters and shorts. And that reminded me of what the uniforms that we wear to school here. Those of the lower grades wore shorts and shirts (due to the terrible heat over here) and those from higher grades wore long pants and the same white shirt.

Uniforms are of a code. Conformity or non-conformity, playing with proportions and breaking the rules, navy blue or denim blue? That was the question you would have to think about. Amidst all of the uniformity, there was that breaking away from the norm. Or you could interpret it as the other way round: amidst all of the different looks, there was that common thread that lines everything together.

The second part of the show still carried the theme of being 'uniform', but the garments were injected with shots of colours, adding a whole new dimension to the meaning of uniformity. It also seemed to suggested a different uniform of sorts, no longer a schoolboy but as quoted from my tweet (ok that sounded weird), "I'm somehow sensing a world cup vibe." After all, it's Italy we're talking about here. Anyway back to the collection, the only variation to the clothes were the colours. Rainbow collared sweaters and loosely cut shirts were to look the same if one were colour-blind. The shapes were limited, but the choice of colours and stripes could go on and on. Basically endless. If there was anything that suggested individuality, it would be the fabric bags that the models were carrying, each embossing a different letter in a varsity college-football-sports lettering (adding on to the sports/world-cup vibe.) Individuality or conformity, that's the question you would have to think about.

I loved the play of proportions, even the awkward ones (because that's how I am). The shoes were also killers; the soles were a mix of soles of wing-tips, espadrilles, trainers, something only the sickest of designers could think about. They were the equivalents of the Armadillos in menswear.

Whatever the concept was, this was one fine collection, even though many were fast to disagree on twitter immediately after the show ended. And did you see the bow that Miuccia Prada did at the end, it was enough to convert any haters (or make them like it a little more.)

I never knew what resort collections were for before I wrote this post. In a way, I always thought a resort collection was for the transition between fall and spring. Wikipedia states that it was originally meant for wealthy customers vacationing in the mediterranean (or wherever warm) during winter, but somehow this changed in the recent years. The May issue of Vogue writes that "the fashion seasons have become so out of sync with the season we're actually living", that in winter, you wouldn't be able to find a fur coat in stores but only bikinis and shorts." But essentially, as Vogue writes, "pre-fall and resort collections are now worth about 70 percent of a retailer's budget, the main lines just 30 percent. That's why pre-fall (and also Resort collections) are so powerful, they have a longer selling period before the season sales start as compared to the Spring and Fall lines." It's just for commercial sake, that's what most people say.

So enough about marketing strategy and economics, it's throwing my brain into a dizzy funk, and aren't resort collections supposed to be pretty and pretty and pretty and pretty and relaxing and stuff.

Thakoon

Can we start with Thakoon please, because it is the first resort collection I really loved. The starting point for the whole collection was photographer Malick Sidibe's portraits of African youths in the 1960s and in fact, the whole lookbook was made to look like the original photos. Which meant, yeah a photoshoot, but a photoshoot with the white cloth background visible and just looking very raw and maybe less scripted (though it's obvious Thakoon wanted it to look like this). Everything was perfect right down to the blue purple pink hair, to the use of seemingly random props like a plastic bag or a puppy on leash. The prints were simple, which reminded me of Louis Vuitton SS10 but of slightly watered-down patterns, the construction of the clothes were deceptively simple. And I place the utmost emphasis on the word deceptively. The jagged edges of the dress above do remind me of those found on cardboard and if meant to be so, the use of a plastic bag as a prop would just be sheer genius. The massive pleats, or that's what I can make up of, on the other dress are also quite amazing, somewhat giving the waistline a sculpted 3-dimensional volume (if you get what I mean). My favourite would have to be the one on the right. The whole mish-mash hair situation there is indeed quite mind-blowing, and so are the 90s nerd glasses (THE NERDS ARE BACK!), and the skirt length is pretty much very perfect.

While one part of the collection focused on the use of prints and colors, the other half centered around the use of sheer whites, which was light and frothy and just too fresh, which I think I'm comparing it to coffee foam. And that's pretty apt because that's how resort collections should be like in my book.

Stella McCartney

What can I say, I was never a Stella McCartney fan. Until this collection came along and I've been a McCartney convert ever since. There was the feminine, beautiful, girly frocks and there was the masculine quality in the suits but there was that feminity in that masculinity. Stella McCartney can do no wrong with a suit, and I've always had something for women in a jacket and pants. In this case they are just about the only thing, with the exception of Freja Beha Erichsen of course, that can make any straight woman be confused about her sexuality. There was also that attention to details in Stella McCartney's super sharp suits that you would find most common in menswear: the use of suspenders gave it a nice classic touch, and the slightest detail of polka dots on the pants, are exactly what make menswear so attractive.

Then there were the floral prints, if there isn't anything more spring/summer/resort-y than that. But technically it should be called floral paintings rather than floral prints, because these massive illustrations were unabashedly all over, making the lovely frocks a camouflage gear for an ambush among garden fields. Now wouldn't that be rad for a summer sport. And that blue floral laced dress that Tommy Ton took up close,  I DIE!

Proenza Schouler

Hmm...what can I say about the Proenza Schouler collection? Ethnic, tribal, nah that would be too kitschy, too Elle/Marie Claire-ish. So how should I put in a much more glamorised and sophisticated way (only befitting of Proenza Schouler ever since they became the kings of New York)? Let me sum it up for you, it was PRINT-EXPLOSION IN THE UTMOST CRAZIEST POSSIBLE WAY, AND OH-EM-GEE DID YOU SEE THOSE SHOES AND EVERYTHING! And the MODELS, can we please discuss the use of models here? How is that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez always get the models right, I am Team Sun FeiFei (the best asian thing to come along ever since instant noodles and Hyoni Kang and Liu Wen) and Kate Kosushkina all right!

Moving on, Proenza Schouler felt very put together, the layers coming on top of another was quite perfect, especially the long sleeved t-shirt over a bibbed-sweater/dress combination. As Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez had put it "Resort is about real clothes for our friends. There's something about reality that feels fresh right now." And so there came the lovely frocks, but much more attention was paid to the fabrics than before: the textures and the embroideries; the metallics and the prints, were inspired by their trip to India. My personal favourite was the Baja hoodie over a long sleeved t-shirt that Sun FeiFei was wearing. I am not really a fan of street-wear but this was so cool and so slouchy, somehow perfect for hippie days during late fall or early spring. The open-toed sandals here are also too sicccckkkkkkk, even though it would be even more PERFECT if they were in heels. So, are you dying already?

pictures are via style.com and streetpeeper.com

Marni

POP Spring 2010, I see your true colours shining through.

Marni was a huge total mess this season, in a good way. There were so many similarities to so many shows, the first half had references to Prada in the 90's, the prints were somewhat similar to Comme des Garcons Spring '08, the last few looks immediately made me think of the Louis Vuitton Spring '10 show and the colors used were very Dries Fall '09. But having said that, this was in no way a copy of any of the shows. Consuelo Castiglioni had infused her own way of thinking into these clothes, which made it seem very Marni, yet somewhat different from what she had previously done. The clothes were more awkward and weird than usual, and there was that retro vibe that make them seem so disconnected with the 21st century.The show was just so weird, it was good.

THE COLOURS. The peaches, the dusty pink, turquoise green, they were strikingly beautiful. As for Marni, it is always about the prints, but this time round it was all about the perfect mix of colours. There was something about the pairing of a turquoise skirt with a brown sweater, the use of peach with dirty yellow, the mixing of oxblood red and a dusty pink on the sweater with a turquoise green skirt, a pink vest with pink feathers attached to its hem worn with long brown shorts, that added a touch of odd and awkward beauty to the otherwise simple clothes. The prints of somewhat abstract faces, were inspired by British painter, Gary Hume, but even then so, they were very much colours than geometric shapes and patterns. As with Marni and Marc Jacobs, fashion houses are going back to the very basis of luxury, simplicity. Reducing the clothes to just the fit and the colours, it was very sensual, light and freakishly good.

Missoni

POP Fall '09 It's no coincidence that both are styled by Vanessa Reid.

I love the direction Missoni is going this past few seasons. It is definitely not easy working with knits and wavy zig-zags for almost every thing they do, but Angela Missoni and Vanessa Reid has proven that they are able to raise the level of their work every time they put on a show. There was a certain free spiritedness and tribal inspiration in this collection, seen in the giant slouchy ponchos and coats that seemed to resemble rugs wrapped over the body and pieced together by a safety pin. In a good way, of course. Having say that, the Missoni we saw was a little different. It was sexy, kind of. I loved the way the knits slung off the shoulders, exposing the skin and bras. I loved the mish-mash of colours (oh colours, what have you done to me), the greys, red and pinks, the blue,oranges and white, the green, blue and red. Sublime. It is definitely not easy working with knits every time, but I don't think there's any brand elsewhere that can take something so grand-mumsy and make it so young and free-spirited and completely exhilarating every season.

Balenciaga

Balenciaga was a disappointment this season. Even though this collection was no doubt very Nicolas Ghesquiere-y; futuristic, sci-fi street-wear, I felt that it wasn't any exciting nor was it groundbreaking in terms of the ideas and concept. I have no idea why but ever since Spring 2009, the collection has gotten less and less exciting. Fall '09 and Spring '10 were still in the 'beautiful Ghesquiere' range but for Fall '10, it just plummeted down to 'Urgh, Ghesquiere trying too hard'. I do appreciate Nicolas's constant use of new materials and couture techniques, but this collection just felt that it was a lost-and-found collection from Spring,  Honestly, it was just Spring '10 done in couture techniques. The only looks I liked were the dresses and the belted jersey tops in mismatching colours, and the sweaters with 'mesh' covering on the front, those were technical works of a genius. The shoes were amazing too, with heels that looked like minerals, but Balenciaga always makes good shoes, so that would always be a staple in any of Nicolas's show.

The rest, I could not comprehend. I guess we expected more coming from a great designer like Ghesquiere who constantly pushes the boundaries but this collection was just pushed the wrong way on the opposite spectrum. The last looks (magazines-newspapers prints) were just bordering on tacky and cheap-looking despite the amazing couture shapes (that I would have to applaud). The prints were weird...but they were not Marni-weird, it was just ugly weird. This collection just felt that Nicolas was trying too hard to outdo himself and in terms of keeping his reputation as a futurstic haute couturier. Hmmm.....

Erdem

I loved this collection a lot. I loved the mixes of colours and prints that seem to resemble tainted glass windows in an old chapel, prints that resemble bubbles of a lava lamp, the slightly awkward bird appliques, against the sombre colours of the dresses. I loved the clean and simple silhouettes of the dresses, it was all very well put together. I often feel that London Fashion Week doesn't really deserve the attention it should receive, and that many designers like Erdem are underrated. Someone really needs to give this man the recognition for what he has done.

Dries Van Noten

I've always admired Dries Van Noten collections on how he can put glamour into the most relaxed form possible. It was the slouchiest grey sweatshirt over a sparkly skirt, or it was the simplicity of a pant-suit made with a careless sense of chic. Even the more intricate and precious lace and beading on a dress, was given a dose of Dries's relaxed glamour with army green sleeves. One of my favourite looks, was the pairing of the baggiest and casual sweatshirt and a long purple printed skirt. It was the new formal way of dressing and I loved it.

I can't stop myself falling in love with all the sweat-shirting in the show, it was done so right in the most perfect slouchy manner. I guess it was exactly what I want to wear when I'm having a lazy day (which means every day for these few months).

A Dries show is never easy to describe with words. I guess the best compliment I can make is that Dries did one of the very few shows that I loved everything right from the beginning to the end.

P.S. FashionGoneRogue has gotten into a technical funk this few weeks so finding editorials for the last few shows was pretty hard. Urgh.

The first post since the revival and renewal of the blog. The pressure of writing a good post is definitely there but what better way to start off a fresh new page with one of my favourite shows of New York. Looking at all the past shows that happened two weeks ago, I felt that New York Fashion Week was kind of a bummer. The Holy Trinity of New York- Alexander Wang was good for only the first part of the show when he did the deconstructed suits, Proenza Schouler didn't quite match up with the energy they did for Spring, and Rodarte wasn't exactly love at first sight. It took me quite some time of re-watching the videos, looking at the details up close and understanding the concept behind the show to actually appreciate this Rodarte collection.

This Rodarte show was very different from any of what the Mulleavy sisters have done before. It was neither a repeat nor a continuation of anything they have done in the past. Though the silhouettes and shapes uses were very signature Rodarte, the show had a really different feel to any of their previous shows.

The Mulleavy sisters had mentioned that the concept behind this show was the idea of sleepwalking. Well not exactly sleepwalking as I would like to put it, but rather a sweet romantic little dream, as opposed to the slightly darker idea of a troubled border town and murders.

This show definitely felt more complex than any of their other shows. The mixing of the floral prints with floral prints, the "unsightly" use of gingham and the bulky knits. They weren't exactly perfect, there were flaws, but that was what the entire collection was all about. The idea of the subconscious mind of sleepwalking: nothing is ever taken straight out of the mind and translated to perfect dresses. It was all pieced memory by memory into a dress, where inevitably one part of a memory got mixed up with another. The collection was never meant to be polish, it was of a half dream state, a half reality state.

But as with how the collection got even better to the end, I started to appreciate and understand this collection even more. This is a flawed presentation, it was meant to be and it should be. I tried imagining the collection being "normal", the floral prints mixed in with the same floral prints, the pants being tailored, but it just wasn't right. The Mulleavy sisters had built a collection of sleep-walking and not a perfect little day-dream. The beauty lied in the imperfections, not in the perfections, but the perfection of imperfections was certainly seen and felt. And that, I felt that the whole collection was very honest and sincere.

The long ethereal dresses at the end, I felt were just pure magical and pristine. But as to the whole collection, the floral prints did not just evoke sweet romantic floral scents but a certain hint of cold and darkness, the white dresses were supposed to be simple and something like a 'sorbet after a three-course meal" as compared to the mash-ups of fabric in the first half, but there was this slight feeling of the wearer of the dress being a little eclectic, a little lonely, a little distant, a little of an enigma, a little Boo Radley, a little of a Lolita who lives in a tree, a little of the Lisbon sister (very Cecilia, I thought). They weren't just simple white chiffon and lace dresses. In between those layers of white, there were slight streaks of black and grey.

The end was just a dream. As the dark lights fell during the finale, the models' shoes which were molded into melted candlewax, lit up. The clothes glowed (Oh yes they did!). The light may have been replaced with darkness, the flame extinguished, but the glowing candlewax revealed that the end hasn't yet come. It could be a reflection of the slight glimmer of hope in the darkness that many of the workers of the troubled border town of Mexico, which Kate and Laura had taken inspiration from, still had, even when it seemed impossible. Or they simply could be just the work of geniuses, Nicolas Kirkwood and Kate and Laura Mulleavy.

The collection was blurry, messy, imperfect-words that you would never used to describe something you liked. But this was it and it was a wonderful vision.

As candles melt, the wax gets left behind. And this wax continues to provide energy for the next flame and it goes on and on. The same goes with this blog of mine.