We’ve yet to walk away from seeing a Carven collection without wanting everything. Resort 2012 is no exception. Designer Guillaume Henri told us the playful, colorful collection was inspired by Peter Schlesinger’s A Checkered Past, a photo book documenting the ’60s and ’70s in London (which we now want–you can buy it here). “The photos Read more →
Once designed for women with budgets in polar opposition to mine, women about to take off on a fantastical and lavish holiday, resort collections were also secondary occurrences to their ready-to-wear sibling, dignified with a lookbook at best.
Last night in Paris, Salvatore Ferragamo went quite radically the other way. The Florentine label, sponsors of the current Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Louvre, used the opportunity to throw a lavish runway show at the museum, with a couture-worthy casting and front row.
When we think of Issey Miyake, we don’t necessarily think trendy. Or hip. Or cool. Yet the brand’s resort collection for 2012 is all of those things, and much more.
Not only are we obsessed with the colors–plenty of pastels and summery bolds–but we’re also keen on the silhouettes, from the oversize shirt dresses to the ballerina frocks. And the patterned tights were just beyond. It was all very on-brand, without being boring.
Surely this has something to do with the appointment of a new creative director; Yoshiyuki Miyamae was promoted in May to the position. But it’s also that Miyake’s aesthetic–much like that of Dries Van Noten and Kenzo–is very right now. So while these labels always do good work, they currently happen to be tapping into something greater.
If you weren’t already aware: We love Carven. Designer Guillaume Henry‘s transformation of the storied couture house into a very modern, very contemporary take on classic silhouettes is pretty much our favorite brand right now.
A few images of of the pre-spring collection were released a couple of weeks ago, but now we’ve got the complete look book. And clearly, we’re obsessed. Whether it’s the chartreuse schoolgirl jumper or the lemon yellow bow flats, there’s nothing we wouldn’t want to hang in our closet.
Click through to peep the complete collection.
We’ve finally reached the end of the resort road! And it looks like 2012 is going to be a good year for fashion. We’ve pulled together our top looks from ten of the season’s best collections. Which were your favorite?
For Resort 2012, Imitation designer Tara Subkoff went back to her cinematic roots, directing a short silent film starring a glittering bevy of it-girls, from Becka Diamond to Nicole Trunfio, Lissy Trullie, Karima Adebibe, and Cecile Winckler.
Many of these same ladies–as well as requisite sexy actors Marc Ruffalo and Liev Schrieber–mixed and mingled at the Jane Hotel’s bar last night, where Subkoff showed the short in a continual loop. (Charlotte Ronson, Chrissie Miller, Shanea Grimes, Sky Ferreira, Karen Elson, and Jen Brill were there, too.)
Several were wearing the Imitation resort/holiday line, a collection of flouncy dresses and high-waisted trousers, all with a vintage feel.
While plenty of designers have channeled the ’70s over the past year, Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli infused their specifically romantic aesthetic into the bygone era for Resort 2012.
Bally, the 160 year old Swiss fashion house known for their sumptuous leather goods, kept things simple this season with a resort collection of understated elegance.
Amidst a neutral color palette, splashes of jewel tones are peppered throughout the sporty collection that includes cropped trousers, and jackets and skirts in clean, classic cuts.
Once a hip, in-demand brand’s been around for a couple of years, buyers begin to expect a bridge between Fall and Winter collections. Resort provides this connection. It means more work and more challenges, but it also means a rounder, fuller year in terms of sales as well as design scope.
Flora Gill and Alexa Adams of Ohne Titel are at this pivotal point. Buyers are demanding more of them, but how does such a young brand launch a resort collection? For Gill and Adams, the extension means taking their most admired pieces and making them fresh for the season. I wouldn’t call the selection a group of classics, but rather standards.
SAO PAULO–Wunderkind designer Pedro Lourenço (he’s just 21) presented his resort collection at Sao Paulo fashion week this past week. It’s his first resort collection and the first time he’s ever shown his designs in his hometown even though both his parents are designers there–he showed his first two collections in Paris to much critical acclaim.
Lourenço presented his collection a la runway shows of yore (and Tom Ford last year): in an intimate setting in the back room of a luxe hotel in Sao Paulo, Lourenço stood in the center of the room with a microphone and described each look in his collection, one model at a time. Occasionally Lourenço would forget a detail, and ask the model to come scurrying back and turn her around to show off a particular seam or fabric.
Of course, I was inferring all of this as Lourenço presented his collection in Portuguese (luckily he was on hand to translate later). But it was easy to tell just from looking at the clothes that they were a slight departure from his past two leather-heavy collections.
FLORENCE–When Scott Sternberg said he was influenced by West Side Story and Singing in the Rain while putting together his Pitti Immagine runway show, I had a feeling there would be some epic musical element to the event, which took place yesterday at sunset on the grounds of an old tobacco factory.
And there was. Not only did it feature music from West Side Story, there were also professional dancers/models who opened and closed the show, launching into it with those famous finger snaps.
As if Opening Ceremony wasn’t already the coolest of the cool, they made their first foray into resort with a line inspired by the chic dressed-down style of summer music festivals. The lookbook, shot by Tim Barber, debuted yesterday on their website and features the ethereal beauty Camille Rowe. With button downs, little floral skirts, both fitted and floating dresses and comfy sweaters, there’s a piece for every hole (or craving) in your wardrobe.
They took an outdoorsy approach to their prints, which were designed by the store’s in-house art department using a palette of acid green, deep coral, midnight blue and charcoal. Tiny blossoms are scattered across the fabrics to mimic windswept fields of wildflowers and, in a homage to the Year of the Rabbit, there are some soft-as-a-bunny sweaters adorned with patches of fur and a few bunny-shaped barrettes in the model’s hair.
