COS SS17

COS SS17 is a sensual collection. Texture and fabric choices are king. It is an even more pared back collection than we have seen in the past from COS, if you can imagine such a thing.

The pops of colour that often stuck out in previous seasons are absent and, instead, the palette remains an almost utterly undisturbed ocean of natural, neutral and earthy tones - blushes, beiges, denims, blues, olives, greys and white tones. Even the more glamourous garments are dark metallics that shimmer but do not shout.

Translucency, silkiness and texture abound, drawing the eye to the form and the hand to the garment, wanting to touch and explore. COS silhouettes that are more oversized or boxy are present, as one might expect, but this proliferation of billowing fabrics also allow for more fluid garments that move, drape and hug the human form.

Do not expect elaborate detail - none of the embroidery, brocades or prints we've seen elsewhere for SS17. However, that is not to  say that there is no visual interest at play or charming details. A-symmetry, draping, gathering and origami-inspired details adorn the collection. 

Contrast is key throughout the whole collection. The contrast of boxy and billowy. The contrast of earthy and industrial tones. Soft and rigid. 

There's something particularly sexy about this collection - the fabrics, the movement, the ease, the simplicity, the not-having-to-try-very-hard, It's not a million miles from what COS normally does but it does feel as though new life was breathed upon existing ideas. 

*

Liked this post? Want more?

Follow me here using google friend connect or bloglovin.

Or follow me on tumblr - twitter - facebook - instagram.

Dog Eat Dog (D.EA.D.) S/S16 Presentation

Last Friday evening, as light sheets of rain blew across the most beautiful sunset of the year so far, two friends and I made our way to the Dog Eat Dog Presentation being held in the Green on Red Gallery in Spencer Dock. I always enjoy sharing what I do with my friends and giving them a peek into the fashion world and I've been interested in this Dublin brand for years now, so I was already excited for the presentation.

Thankfully, it didn't disappoint. While I was a little confused when I realised that only five looks were being presented, I loved the setting, set and overall vibe.

Inspired by Thin Lizzy's video for "Chinatown", Oisín Hunt showed his clothes in a pared back version of the video's derelict, messy aesthetic. Palettes, tires and abandoned trolleys were artfully arranged in the white box style gallery, all painted white as well, transforming the inspiration and presenting it anew, turning the "messiness" and "dirtiness" on its head.

Seventies and eighties rock classics blared across the echoing, bare space, further setting the scene of this controlled imagining of rock and roll exuberance and vice. The clothes, themselves, continued the balance of order and chaos. Tracksuits - informal garments with a long connection to lower socio-economic groups and delinquency - are re-imagined as monochromatic, velvety co-ordinating pieces that, paired with the minimal styling, are suddenly more than themselves. They still tell the tale of a Dublin but there is something elegant about them. Likewise, the light wash, paint spattered double-denim looks - which should, in all rights, be montrosities - fit and flatter in a way that elevates them while nodding to a time past. Finally, if anything were to ever evoke the 80s in my mind, it's coloured leather and Hunt's white raw leather coat reminds of something plucked from my father's wardrobe but given a rather more chic spin by skimming the body and dusting over an all black look.

Hunt really has managed to recreate 80s Dublin but make it modern, wearable and cool but just nostalgic enough. I also think it rather commendable that the label presents womenswear for the very first time with garments that are very much unisex - something that is very topical and a direction clothing seems to logically be heading towards.

"Seldom Seen" is a collection that excites me. It may have slightly baffled my friends but I dig it.

The collection goes on sale online on the 8th of April.

*

Liked this post? Want more?

Follow me here using google friend connect or bloglovin.

Or follow me on tumblr - twitter - facebook - instagram.

Manuel Facchini AW16

Manuel Facchini's AW16 Presentation, Metamorphosis, drew inspiration from British Sculptor Richard Sweeney and the gothic architecture of Michael Hansmeyer and presented us with brooding looks and beautiful garments. 

The collection saw models, dressed and painted moodily, juxtaposed against the pastel blue walls, cream mouldings, chandeliers and large windows, streaming light, of Carlton House. The effect was all rather dream-like and surreal with all of it emphasised by the fact that the models were raised on plinths and the shard-like sculptural installations dotted about the room which mirrored the already dazzling light as well as the garments, surroundings and observers. It felt a little like one had fallen down the proverbial rabbit-hole.

The clothes themselves were largely monochromatic and all channelled the undulating movement and optical illusions of Sweeney's work in the asymmetric hems and necklines, geometric patterns and pleating. The presence of Hansmeyer, meanwhile, was apparent in the tremendous level of detail at play and the overall atmosphere of the collection. The combination of the two made the gothic into something that felt new and thoroughly organic, as if it was more than the clothes she wore but an expression of the very being of Facchini's girl - but it also felt a little alien. It was as though one was standing amongst the wreckage of some spaceship, surrounded by impossibly beautiful, well-coiffed, stylish and brooding extraterrestrials that were channelling one part goth, one part biker chick.

High necks, bodycon silhouettes, leather, sheer panels, the use of gold, silver and gun metal eyelets embellishing sleeves and trouser legs, lace and layering were all employed but everything was pulled together and made cohesive by that restricted palette and the pervasive atmosphere of the garments as well as the simple styling with a bold eye and slicked back hair.

I can totally get on board (the spaceship) with this.
























*

Liked this post? Want more?

Follow me here using google friend connect or bloglovin.

Or follow me on tumblr - twitter - facebook - instagram.