Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Alexander McQueen Memorial

Seven months after McQueen took his life, another memorial took place during this 2011 London Fashion Week at the Saint Paul's Cathedral. There's not much to say about this, just another gloomy day to honored the greatest designer the world would ever meet: Lee.

All of his friends were there, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Naomi Campbell, Stella McCartney, Kate Moss and Björk, who performed "Gloomy Sunday", wearing an amazing feathered skirt and a top made out of wood and the structure give us the idea of wings.

At the end of this memorial, a chrous performed dressed in tartan kilts. So McQueen.

He took his life in February, before his mother was buried. And after all this time, everyone who admire his work is still missing him. An unreplaceable designer, le enfant terrible.


God save McQueen









Here's a video recorded by someone who went to the memorial... Björk's performance is heart breaking...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

International Designers Mexico Spring Summer 2011 - Part I

Busy days, lazy days! I have no excuse for not writing these days 'cause actually there has been a lot going on around México City and I got a little delayed blogging about the IDM Fashion Week... But, better late than never.

Four days, full of designers. Some with interesting proposals, some... hmmm... a little lame or maybe too conceptual to be on a ready-to-wear catwalk. To name a few: Nimismequi, Paola Hernándes, Doce.Cero.Tres, Marvin & Quetzal, Macario Jiménez, Lola de Alejandro, César Arellanes, Mancandy and (my favorite) Natalie Amkie.

I spent one day at backstage where I met one of the new talents on IDM: Natalie Amkie. In my opinion, one of the best designers who presented this season. Working with a great color palette, classic at some point, but mixing edgy materials like draped leather, chiffon, ostrich, gems, crystals, many details and cuts that made her clothes stood up.

Interesting designs and a new talent! Like I said, my favorite. A very mature collection for a new comer. Here are some photos from her backstage.







Too many designers and I don't want to make this entry long and boring, so I rather focus on what I thought were the highlights on the IDM. So next one was Marvin & Quetzal. For many it was just a clownish show, for me, it's a nice proposal, a fun one. Lots a materials mixed, plus random silhouettes that kept the audience interested (or criticizing).

Denim, lace, ruffles, big sleeves, teddy bears (as headpieces) and pastel palette made this collection fun to watch. We all love different things and at the end there's always a target for what you make. In this case, Marvin created pieces that I could picture them more Tokyo than in México or any latinamerican country. Some people think that is almost like a joke. Instead, I think that they're trying to keep a funny side in fashion and like or not, fashion needs it. Just think of designer like Betsey Johnson, Castelbajac, House of Holland or Jeremy Scott. They have that "something" that makes people smile when seeing their creations.






Then came another one that made my night: César Arellanes. Another great collection with a lot of mind set into it. The first model came out and the whole look was shocking (in a good way), great styling, great headpieces and clothes with lots of details and mix of fabrics. "Ethni-city", name of the collection, was created with leather, chiffons, panels, cut outs, etc. One of the funniest things on this catwalk were the bags, with the shape of fishes and giant chamaleons. I'm not a fan of ethnic things, but this dresses from Arellanes were like an avant-garde ethnic and I loved it. It was a colorfull runway with lots of texture and eye catching.






As a newbie in IDM Fashion Week, there's lots of things I saw and that I want to share with you, so this is just part I. Tomorrow or someday I'll upload some of the videos and photos I took so you can get an idea of how's fashion in México, which I think is growing, it's not on its fullest, but at least it's developing and there's people to watch, to write about it, lots of magazines to cover the shows. Great experience I must say and this is just the beginning.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Fashion's Night Out 2010

So Fashion's Night Out 2010 will be happening on September 10th, being one of those huge events in fashion, from New York to Brazil to Boston, getting also to Europe, it's worldwide and after last year's success it's coming back as a strategy to impulse sales in every store participating in this FNO.

Last year it helps designers all over the world to get people to buy while they listened to famous dj's, watched celebrities hosting parties at stores, drinked champagne, etc.

Of course the master mind behind this massive event is Anna Wintour, capable of moving masses and dictate what's IN in fashion and she can also manage people's nightlife organizing fundraisings like Fashion's Night Out.

I'll leave here two videos, one was recorded live at Jimmy Fallon's talk show and the other one is like a presentation of what you will see in FNO 2010, showed by the models we see in every spread or billboard or ad campaign. Make sure to check the link below, Anna Wintour and Marc Jacobs will give you a better explaination than myself, so enjoy!

Anna Wintour and Marc Jacobs on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon



Fashion's Night Out 2010 PSA from Fashion's Night Out on Vimeo.