The provocative FCUK logos that were so synonymous with the brash 90s have been replaced by a demure, intelligent advert with a typically French sense of humour.

The irreverent short film presents a critical study of ‘The Man’ and ‘The Woman’ and builds a story around their emotions, quirks and contradictions.  It references the stylish absurdity of French New Wave cinema and French Connection’s Anglo-French heritage with a little bit of ‘franglais’.

French Connection’s philosophy is that it is the woman or man wearing the clothes that gives them life and a unique personality. Their style DNA is based on well-made classics with a fashion-forward edge and as the film suggests, the quality of the clothes speaks for itself.

French Connection has always been about affordable luxury, with feminine tailoring, the perfect LBD and well-cut jeans being the foundation of any wardrobe.  They have established their bestsellers and reintroduce them each season, building up a collection of French Connection ‘classics’.

But lets not forget about ‘The Man’!  Monsieur is the stereotypical French belle-bête, complete with beard, furrowed brow and philosophical air, modelled on Serge G

The first part of the collection featured beautifully tailored, organza skirt suits with peplums in dusky pink, icy grey and light gold. There were sculptural, tulip-shaped dresses with cable knit detailing, body-shaping panelling and sheer sections.

Bora Aksu also took reference from the inside the human body, much like Marios Schwab’s past collections, and recreated its silhouette with intricate braiding.

The metallic harem pants suit was a highlight, with an androgynous buttoned up shirt and appliqued jacket – in a two tone of sparkling and soft-spun gold.

The darker side of the collection included similarly structured dresses and continues his inner body theme but with more sparkle and sequins.  The black panelled and sheer leggings feature throughout and also reflect the contour of the leg muscles.

There’s something swan-like about the models’ final group walk – ferocious but beautiful with a pack mentality.  The collection is generally very wearable and the muted, soft colours give some radiance to a winter wardrobe.

All photos by Cherie City

Curated by Saint Laurent’s long-term life and business partner Pierre Bergé and under the patronage of the First Lady of France,Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the exhibition will cover 40 years of creation, from 1962 to 2002. On display will be 300 pieces of Saint Laurent’s haute couture and innovative prêt-à-porter line, Rive Gauche.

The exhibition ranges from Yves Saint Laurent’s beginnings at Dior as Christian Dior’s successor (including his debut trapèze collection) in the 1950s to the Scandale collection following the May 1968 Paris riots to his evening gowns just before his death in 2002.

Yves Saint Laurent turned style rules on their head and revolutionised Paris fashion with his use of masculine tailoring for women.  His signature look Le Smoking tuxedo has been reinterpreted dozens of times and he’s also responsible for popularising the safari suit and the beatnik look.  Pierre Bergé once said: “Chanel liberated the woman, but Yves Saint Laurent gave them power.”

Also on display will be a number of drawings, films and photos chronicling the history the house of Yves Saint Laurent, including an image by photographer Jeanloup Sieff, depicting Yves partially naked for his eau de toilette campaign, and French film star Catherine Deneuve’s entire Yves Saint Laurent wardrobe.

The exhibition also sheds light on Yves Saint Laurent’s influences, such as opera, cinema, theatre (his early collections referencing the theatre sets of Christian Bérard) and painting – his . His travels to Morocco, China and Russia are well documented in the ‘Chinoiserie’ and ‘Opium’ collections that are presented in the exhibition.

Yves Saint Laurent’s influence has been been Marc Jacobs, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Tom Ford .  The house of Yves Saint Laurent still thrives today under the direction of the talented Stefano Pilati, whose deep respect for Saint Laurent’s aesthetic is evident in the collections.  Unlike Tom Ford before him, Pilati understands the subtle sexiness of the strong Parisienne, but isn’t afraid to drive the house forward with futuristic references.

The garments are drawn from the collection of over 5000 piece at the Fondation Pierre Berge – Yves Saint Laurent in Saint Laurent’s former atelier on the Avenue Marceau.

The exhibition runs from 11 March to August 29 at the Petit Palais.  Tickets are €11.

www.yslretrospective.com

The ELLE Style Awards (newly sponsored by Next) have the reputation of being ‘the fashion Oscars’, but I reckon they’re the rebellious, bad gal cousin of the red carpet snooze-athons.  With not a floor length, chiffon Elie Saab dress in sight, the ELLE Style Awards are a fashion magpie’s dream and there’s always some naughty behaviour and gossip from the night  - last year courtesy of Mickey Rourke, who tried it on with Thandie Newton.

Last year’s awards saw Hollywood misfits Courtney Love and Mickey Rourke pick up Woman of the Year and Best Actor – a formidable and brave choice for ELLE, given their turbulent lives.  On the fashion side, Lara Bohinc, Rupert Sanderson, Peter Pilotto, Erdem and Christopher Kane all scooped prestigious awards, with Style Visionary going to Viktor & Rolf and Stephen Jones being recognised for his Outstanding Achievement.

This year, Naomi Campbell is being honoured with an Outstanding Contribution award for her 25th year in the fashion industry and for her role as Global Ambassador of the White Ribbon Alliance.

So, who is going to bag all of the prizes this year?  Any guesses?  I’m placing my bets on Georgia Jagger for the Model award, Carey Mulligan for Actress, Alexa Chung for Style Icon, Nicholas Kirkwood for Accessories Designer, Hannah Marshall for New Designer and Jonathan Saunders for British Designer.  If I get at least one designer right, I think I should treat myself to one of their pieces to celebrate!

Oh yes, and more ELLE-related news – they have just launched a new horoscopes application for the iPhone.  You can now get free daily astrological updates from ELLEuk.com’s resident astrologers, The Saturn Sisters.

As a horoscope sceptic, I’m hoping that ELLE will follow this with a fashion-based app, for when I finally get round to trading in my knackered old Blackberry for the phone of my dreams.

The ELLE Style Awards will take place on 22 February at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London.

A Single Man is an admittedly snail-paced, bitter sweet snapshot of an English college Professor (Colin Firth) in 1960s LA, on potentially the last day of his life.  Despite appearing to live the American Dream – having an incredible home straight out of the pages of Wallpaper* and a well-paid teaching job, George was contemplating killing himself.  Why?  Well, he just can’t get over the sudden death of his partner of 15 year, Jim (Matthew Goode), whose car crashed in the snow.

The film follows George making meticulous, and often humorous, preparations for his planned departure from the world, but of course he is intercepted by other characters who don’t quite live up to the cookie-cutter image of the neighbourhood, and take him away from his gloomy introspection for a while.

For a man on the edge of desperation, George cuts a pretty fine figure and somehow attracts the advances of no less than three acquaintances - a Spanish aspiring actor/rent boy named Carlos, his glam but tragic ‘old flame’ Charley (Julianne Moore) and Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), a precocious but alluring student from his class.

Based on the 1964 novella by Christopher Isherwood, Tom Ford revealed that his interpretation is somewhat autobiographical, as he can identify with George.  Ford has lived with the same man for 23 years and some of the more intimate scenes of the couple cooped up reading together are apparently “like a scene out of his own life”, as told to Mark Kermode on The Culture Show.  Like George, Tom Ford has had women in his life trivialise his relationship and fail to accept it as real love and not some kind of substitution.

What’s so striking about the film is how beautifully shot and surprisingly non-commercial it actually is.  It has been filmed with a soft focus, with pastel hues becoming bolder in George’s moments of short-lived joy.  It’s almost like seeing 60s America through the hazy lense of a Diana camera.

Ford has scrutinised every last detail and every piece of furniture down to George’s daily box-fresh white shirts, grooming products and stationery, which perfectly match up to his stylish, ‘modern’ and clinical character.  The girls are a cross between Brigitte Bardot and Grease’s Pink Ladies, just like they’ve stepped out of the pages of Lula.  Ford left the sartorial decisions in the capable hands of stylist/costume designer Arianne Phillips and the clothes certainly won’t Tom Ford fanatics.

Tom Ford has described the film as the first expressive thing he has ever done and that the film is like a reaction to fashion’s fast pace and commercialism.  Ford’s keen eye for composition, through twenty years of aiming to communicate just the right image, has inevitably made the film stylised to an almost clinical degree.  It’s an overload of perfection, which is enthralling but oddly almost too hard to handle.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Colin Firth to play repressed, uncomfortable George and Nicholas Hoult is completely seductive as a seemingly wholesome West Coast student.  It was kind of strange to see these two pasty Brit actors given the Tom Ford spit and polish, all sculpted and tanned with alarmingly white teeth.

A Single Man is a pretty flawless film and despite the tense subject matter, there are some hilarious moment and dry quips from Colin Firth.  The film is beautiful, intelligent, considered and captivating – much like the man himself!

A Single Man is out today at selected cinemas.

As Tavi smartly pointed out, she is about half the size of the average fashion ed/celeb and the offending bow was shot with holes. Would any editor dare to strip Diane Pernet of her signature raised veil? Non, pas du tout!  So really, the crux of the matter is that the teen fashion prodigy has fast-tracked her way to the privileges that editors have spent years trying to cultivating and maintain and surprisingly enough, they don’t like it!

Couture is an industry clawing on by its teeth, so it’s no surprise that designers are consciously trying to appeal to a younger market – hence Tavi at Dior, Lady Gaga sporting Armani Privé and Valentino’s woodland neon nymphs.

The direction of the house of Valentino has been somewhat vague since the departure of Valentino Garavani.  His second set of predecessors and former Valentino accessories designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli began their assault on a new look brand with their romantic, sculptural A/W 09 collection, but this season they’ve gone wild and thrown the rulebook to the wind.

Valentino’s elegant woman has put her prim little suit in storage and turned into a to a cyber partygirl with a new best mate, Alice Dellal.  Blush and nude shades are carried over from the Autumn/Winter ready-to-wear collection, but this time they’re set off with flashes of fluorescent pink and yellow and silver (with more than a nod to Pam Hogg’s panelled catsuits).

Underneath the neon and sparkle, there are whispers of classic Valentino, with beautiful draping, volume and embellishment, but the pair really stick the knife in with their interpretation of  the iconic ‘Valentino red dress’.  There are three red dresses in the collection, the most outrageous being a red leather mini dress with waves of leather ruffles.

The sheer visors and ‘exotic bird’ make-up seem to reference Avatar and the models certainly have an eco-warrior vibe.  This unashamed attempt to appeal to a younger, ‘new money’ crowd hasn’t gone unnoticed, and their new rock ‘n’ roll image has sent shockwaves through Valentino’s clique.

Valentino’s partner Giancarlo Giammetti labelled the collection a ‘ridiculous circus’ and told WWD that both he and Valentino “are always supportive of the designers of Valentino, even if we don’t approve of their effort to be cool at all costs.”

A polar opposite collection was John Galliano’s historical, equestrian collection that looked back to the work of Belle Epoque designer Charles Lamb, who was also the inspiration for Christian Dior’s New Look collection in 1947.

Galliano cracked the whip, as models were sent down the catwalk in Edwardian riding jackets with nipped-in waists and peplums, checked skirts with bustles and top hats with veils.  Next up was cocktail hour with the most beautiful jewel coloured, gathered chiffon skirts, embellished jackets, halter-neck bustier shirts and draped dresses in Duchesse satin.

For evening wear, it was all about the most incredible ball gowns and Galliano found inspiration with ‘The Gibson Girls’, the illustrated feminine ideals at the turn of the century.  There were delicately structured satin bodices with voluminous, sculptural skirts in exquisite fabrics and a colour palette including dusky pink, raspberry, petrol, mauve and ice blue.

You can tell that Galliano lives for creating couture and the colours, craftsmanship and historical references make his shows the most anticipated of all.  Suzy Menkes acknowledged the beauty and emotion of the collection, but suggested that “it would be a fine thing if Mr. Galliano could just once make the starting point of Dior couture not fashion’s sweet memories but a clean sheet of paper on which he writes 2010.”

It’s interesting that designers who have been at the helm of Valentino for just over two seasons should cut away from the house’s heritage so significantly, while Galliano, who has made Dior his own since his arrival in 1996, still references Christian Dior’s most prominent collections like an old friend.

With rejuvenated houses such as Balmain, Givenchy and Balenciaga excelling commercially but losing part of their original identity (plus the closure of Christian Lacroix), I would personally drape myself in raspberry tulle in support of Galliano’s nostalgia over a label who is in the painful midst of a personality crisis.

I admit to having a bit of a notebook/diary fetish and my collection of Daisy de Villeneuve, MACBA and Moleskine jotters are usually left untouched, as they’re too pretty to be ruined by my dreadful handwriting!

In an exclusive range for Colette, Alber revisits Lanvin’s origins as a label for both mothers and daughters (a particularly French sentiment favoured for justifying the price of designer pieces).  Jeanne Lanvin began her fashion career in 1889 by designing dresses for her daughter, Marguerite.  The designs became hugely popular in Europe due to their delicate trimmings and intricate beadwork and the house of Lanvin was inaugurated into the Syndicat de la Couture, 20 years later.

The mother-daughter relationship is sweetly reflected in the illustrations featuring a chic little girl who looks up to her mother and then grows up and marries the man of her dreams…ahh!  I love it how she is balancing on tip toes in the Y of HAPPY – sounds like a motto for life, no?

There is even a cheeky appearance from Alber, wearing his signature bow-tie and glasses.  The notebooks are almost as lovely as Alber himself, and they really do make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

If you want to spread even more Lanvin love this Christmas, Colette also stock a set of pencils and sharpener, a fan and some kitsch-cool snowglobes (from a more pricey €100).

However, after spotting by the SOLD OUT button on Colette’s website, I’m concerned that they could be another fashion myth that leads to much sulking and disappointment.  So, I’m playing detective and am marching down to Colette next Monday while I’m in Paris to see if I can get my hands on one, or three.  I’ll report back sharpish and try to find out when they’ll be available again to buy online.

Photo credit: Colette

Fam is a Norwegian designer who shows at Oslo Fashion Week and has just been taken on by Blow PR, so we’ll be seeing much more of her nutty knitwear over here.

After studying at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode, Fam came to Central St Martins for her BA (Hon) in Fashion Knitwear, graduating in 2008.

Fam’s colourful past collections have featured shrunked dolly dresses, sweaters with 3D ladybirds and ice lollies, ruffled prom dresses and a quirky mouse bustier top – all in eye-popping colours.  My personal diagnosis of Fam’s style would be part Sonia Rykiel crossed with Grayson Perry and My Little Pony – not a bad combo, I might add!

Celeb fans already include Mika and Lady Gaga, who apparently called up Fam and ordered a 3D cherry sweater and a cake headpiece.

But quickly on to Fam’s SS10 collection, I Love Gays, which is dominantly nautical with Hawaiian and 50s rockabilly influences.  It’s very sailor girl meets Dorothy with a bit of Dolly Parton thrown in for good measure.

For summer, Fam has traded in her magenta and purples for more primary colours like banana yellow, pillarbox red and cobalt blue.

The collection features embellished denim, flirty sailor dresses, tutti frutti prints, cherry print skirts, playtime tomboy shorts and a striped jumpsuit with a proud-looking 3D flamingo standing guard.

I absolutely adore the sparkling sailboat headpieces and there are plenty of other accessories to keep your wardrobe entertained, like blue and red bow bobby socks, ruby slippers and berry and floral headbands in the style of Brazilian samba queen Carmen Miranda.  It would really make my day if there was a Fred Butler or Tatty Devine collaboration on the cards – I reckon they could make some mad pieces together.

Fam runs her own club night, Neverland, in Oslo with her equally creative friends and like the name suggests, she gets inspiration from fairytales and east London/Oslo club kids. You can follow Fam’s crazy adventures and adorable outfits on her blog.

Prices start from £40 and you can find stockists by contacting Fam on her website.

The collection featured diaphanous silk collared shirt dresses and jumpsuits, beginning with monochrome and graduating into colour-bursting prints.

The monochrome pieces showed a more feminine, dreamy take on a tuxedo and skeleton prints were also featured.

The second part of the collection saw graphic colour prints emblazoned with checkerboards, apples, Roy Lichtenstein-inspired tableaux, mystical swirls and geometric blocks.

The majority of the collection was created using silk and includes sheer blouses, tailored shorts and beautifully draped jumpsuits.  A perfectly wearable and cohesive Spring/Summer collection if ever there was!

]]> http://cheriecity.co.uk/2009/10/05/romeo-pires-springsummer-10-lfw/feed/ 0 http://cheriecity.co.uk/2009/09/27/steve-j-and-yoni-p-presentation-lfw/ http://cheriecity.co.uk/2009/09/27/steve-j-and-yoni-p-presentation-lfw/#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:01:27 +0000 cheriecity http://cheriecity.wordpress.com/?p=181 Continue reading →]]> Everyone at London Fashion Week seemed to be clutching an invitation to Steve J and Yoni P’s ‘Puppet Theatre’ presentation and even the great Diane Pernet popped in to check out the duo’s new collection.

Their innovative presentation, held in the Korean Cultural Centre, was inspired by the Eastern European marionette culture (I’ve witnessed it in Prague and it’s terrifying).  The atmospheric ‘puppet theatre’ was full of lifeless but cheekily well-endowed puppets sporting strategically place fruits and solitary pieces hung on rails,  illuminated by light and shadows.

As for the new collection, there were ‘let’s go boating’ soft tailored jackets, structured dresses with two-tone lapels and detailing, pretty 50s-inspired underwear as outerwear, screen printed tees and khaki shorts for guys.

The show was set up as a ’still life’ with models staring ahead and draped over chairs, serenaded by harpist Serafina Steer.  Many of the models had branch markings ‘tattooed’ on their arms and faces and some had their fluffy angel hair and hands tainted with red dye.

You really need to see it to understand, so check out a clip of the Puppet Theatre presentation…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgRQOcl76PE]

Video by brightonART

Their Autumn/Winter 09 collection is also worth a look – it’s full of cosy tartan smocks, Aztec print cardies and purple day dresses.   Stockists: My Sugarland and supersweet.