Paco Rabanne Parts Ways with Creative Director Lydia Maurer
Not quite one full year after being promoted to creative director, Lydia Maurer is out at Paco Rabanne.
Tuesday May 21st, 2013
Wednesday October 31st, 2012
10 Runway Looks We’d Love to Borrow For Halloween
Halloween is essentially cancelled for us New Yorkers. Thanks Sandy! So we’ve decided to have a fantasy Halloween in which we dress up using Srping 2013 runway looks…in our minds. Can you tell we’re getting stir crazy?
Friday September 28th, 2012
Balmain, Ann Demeulemeester, and Manish Arora
Ah, Paris in spring. OK, it may not really be spring in Paris, but it is on the runways! Check out Balmain‘s big shoulders, Ann Demeulemeester‘s Jedi-friendly collection, and Manish Arora‘s India inspired runway.
Manish Arora Spring 2013
The Clothes: Manish Arora is one of the most entertaining designers to watch during Paris washion week–nevertheless, under his cabaret-style shows lie solid, commercially viable collections. This one was no exception: he chose to reference India, where he is from, with an added layer of comical Bollywood references. Gold leggings, facial jewelry (including dangly forehead Read more →
Wednesday June 6th, 2012
Paco Rabanne Has a New Creative Director
A month after the recently revivied Paco Rabanne label parted ways with creative director Manish Arora, the label has already named a successor. According to a press release, up-and-coming designer Lydia Maurer is the new Artistic Director of Women’s Ready-to-Wear at the house.
While Maurer’s name may not ring any bells outside the industry, the 29-year-old designer has definitely been around the block:
Friday May 4th, 2012
Manish Arora Is Out at Paco Rabanne
Another fashion house creative director job is up for grabs, in case you know anyone who’s interested. Manish Arora, Paco Rabanne‘s artistic director for the past two seasons, has left the label, WWD is reporting.
This is sort of a surprising development, because while Arora’s first space-aged, Mugler-inspired collection for the label in spring 2012 received mixed reviews, his fall 2012 collection was more favorably received and much more wearable. Lady Gaga famously wore his out-there spring designs shortly after Arora’s first show (which is obviously a different scenario than if say, Kate Middleton wears your clothes) and J. Lo just sported a top from the spring collection on American Idol. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the clothes are moving at retail, but celeb buzz for a label is nothing to sneeze at. So why is he leaving?
Monday March 5th, 2012
This Season’s 11 Most Over-the-Top, Theatrical Runway Shows
Fashion shows aren’t just about fashion anymore. Or more accurately, fashion isn’t just about the clothes anymore. Every season, runway shows get more elaborate, as designers and brands try to cram a lot of drama into the 15 minutes that they have everyone’s attention. And it works–it makes a show pretty memorable. (Whether or not it helps the image of a brand or helps the clothes be memorable remains to be seen, as our contributor Long Nguyen speculated in his review of Dior’s show.)
Karl Lagerfeld and his Chanel extravaganzas are the notable exception. Lagerfeld always wows us with a spectacle of grand proportions–and clothes to match. The Chanel show, which walks tomorrow in Paris, is undoubtedly the highlight of fashion month every seasaon. But those who have come before it this month weren’t too shabby, either. Pyrotechnics, a fruit stand, and an escalator all helped designers tell their stories for their fall 2012 collections.
Click through to see all the most outrageous runway shows from this season.
Friday March 2nd, 2012
Manish Arora Fall 2012: Eccentric Graffiti
Manish Arora picked a theme and used it in the most bizarre fashion, far removed from what it evokes for most people. Remember last season? He claimed to be inspired by the freedom of the 1960s, and designed a collection of stiletto heels merging into ultra skinny jeans. The decade appeared in the shape of a single A-line dress (and arguably the smoking of chichas on the runway). This season, the New Delhi born designer found new inspiration for his luxurious eccentricity: graffiti art.
Throughout the show, street artists painted early 90s inspired bright letters that were to spell out ‘life is beautiful’ by the end of it. As for the clothes, they were only very loosely connected to the culture. The designs represented timeless classics, to which he gave a stylized urban nudge.
Thursday October 6th, 2011
Paco Rabanne Spring 2012: Manish Arora Debuts His First Collection for the Label with a Futuristic Bang
PARIS–”I think it was a good match when they chose me,” Manish Arora said after his first show at the helm of Paco Rabanne, which has not shown ready to wear since 2006. A good match, indeed. Arora, whose own line is known for campy showmanship, a yen for the sci-fi, and the use of vivid colors, was well suited to take on the label started by Rabanne in 1966.
Rabanne’s first revolutionary collection in 1966 was called “12 unwearable dresses”–dresses made of unconventional materials like metal and plastic. Arora’s debut collection for the line paid homage to that first Rabanne collection with paneled chain mail dresses that fit like gloves. “The workmanship is similar [between my own line and Paco Rabanne's],” Arora said. “We like to work hard, we like to make dresses that take 25 people and 20 days to make and that’s the value of Paco Rabanne that I appreciate and that’s the common factor.”
Light was paramount to the collection, Rabanne said, and futuristic mini dresses with exaggerated hips and strong shoulders were done in shiny high gloss materials that reflected the neon lights of the entrance space of the Centre Pompidou museum, the appropriate modern setting for show.
Friday September 30th, 2011
New Paris Show Reviews and Galleries! Ann Demeulemeester, Manish Arora and Bernhard Willhelm
Did you know it’s Paris Fashion Week? It is and we have a page for it. Once we’re done obsessing over Carven’s collection, we’re going to head over there to check out Ann Demeulemeester‘s sexy black & white sheer layers, Manish Arora‘s visually arresting sci-fi-esque collection, and Bernhard Willhelm‘s painted nipples and after-party vibes. You Read more →
Manish Arora Spring 2012: Amazons From Outer Space, Complete with Tea and Hookahs
Manish Arora was his usual theatrical self, and delivered a show as entertaining as it was finely crafted.
It kicked off with one of Pedro Almodovar’s favorite actresses, Rossy de Palma, in a holographic cocktail dress, leading a troop of girls in embroidered, sci-fi gear fit for an Amazon from outer space. She led them right to some tables laden with tea pots and hookahs, after which they got up and walked around on the runway.
Friday March 4th, 2011
Manish Arora Fall 2011: Getting Ready for Paco Rabanne
PARIS–Manish Arora was recently chosen as Paco Rabanne’s next head designer–and this made us look for hints of his new designs throughout namesake collection’s catwalk.
“When I designed this collection I didn’t know about Paco Rabanne,” Manish told us minutes after the show, “but I think the timing is right. This collection is for a woman, not a girl. She is still having fun, but is more sophisticated.”
Indeed, the designer known for his wild runways and colorful embroideries showed new signs of maturity. Sure, the catwalk kicked off with a magician who made a model appear in a box, but the silhouettes were body-conscious–like a teenage girl growing into adulthood and learning to dress for her figure.
