Manish Arora - Fashionista

Manish Arora

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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:

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Fashion News Roundup: Manish Arora in at Paco Rabanne, Kate Spade London, and Cindy Crawford Goes Back to the Glossies

Manish Arora + Paco Rabanne: New Delhi-based designer Manish Arora is the new creative director of Paco Rabanne. {WWD, subscription required} Kate Spade Hops Across the Pond: Kate Spade, whose creative director Deborah Lloyd is British, will set up its first permanent UK store later on this year. {Liberty London Girl} LVMH Wants to Play Nice With Hermes Bernard Arnault says, again, that he wants to remain a "peaceful" investor in Hermes. Uhuh. {NY Times}

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Dream Designer Collaborations for 2011

For the New Year, we’ll forgo resolutions about what we will do and focus instead on what others should. (Less personal responsibility always better.) Since we're all for the welfare of this industry and the designers who fuel it, we’ve crafted a list of dream collaborations which could generate huge buzz and dollars. Or maybe not. Read on, enjoy and pray with us that the Fashion God’s make this happen.

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Style Battle: Nicki Minaj V. Lil' Kim

The battle between Queens-bred lady rappers Nicki Minaj and Lil' Kim has been raging almost since Minaj hit the scene. And the bigger Minaj gets, so too, does Lil' Kim's ire. Kim has been throwing jabs at Minaj for a while, peeved that Minaj hadn't payed the Queen Bee enough "homage." To be sure, much of Minaj's early style--namely the Barbie fascination and the colored wigs-- was clearly inspired by Kim. Minaj even cribbed Kim's Hardcore LP cover in one of the images she used on her Sucka Free mixtape. For the most part, Minaj has kept quiet in response to Kim's repeated baiting of her in the press, but recently she reached her limit.