Stepsisters: Jil and Miuccia III

1. Jil Sander Spring/Summer 2014
2. Prada Spring/Summer 2014

Two women, two collections, two extremes. While Sander contrives a peek-a-boo effect through high-waisted skirt, cropped top and unbuttoned shirt, Prada simply cuts a keyhole. Together, they arrive at the agreement that less fabric is more. Which leads us to the questiuon: Can two stepsisters think alike?
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Stepsisters: Jil and Miuccia II

1. Jil Sander Spring/Summer 2014
2. Prada Spring/Summer 2014

Two women, two collections, two extremes. While Sander raises the waist line and crops the top part with three-dimensional effect, Prada is framing the female bust with double-layered strings of sequins. Together, they create a revearsed heart-shape as main principle of construction.
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Stepsisters: Jil and Miuccia

1. Jil Sander Spring/Summer 2014
2. Prada Spring/Summer 2014

Two women, two collections, two extremes. While Sander and Prada pursue distinctly different paths, they synchronously define fashion's pecking order. Together, they reassured one parallel rule of feminity: women wear bras. As bandeau version or trompe l'œil bustier insert.
/HORST

AFEW, A New Female

1. Simone Rocha Spring/Summer 2014
2. Meadham Kirchhoff Spring/Summer 2014
3. Marques'Almeida Spring/Summer 2014

The female equivalent to ANEW, A New Male, these three designers are currently defining what womanhood means today. On the forefront: Simone Rocha. She gives us laminated prostitute nuns, shredded millionaire's daughters and confused catholic punk school girls. The anti-image of what women should be. And the ideal image of what women should be.

What Rocha shares with Meadham Kirchhoff is a tendency towards romantic codes: lace dresses, collared blouses, negligee tops. Yet, these codes are broken, smashed into pieces, destroyed and covered by snakeskin and PVC. Or ripped apart. Skirts have holes, tops are gliding down the shoulders. Yet, these dysfunctional conflicts are decorated and embellished. With pearls, with trims, with gold lamé.

The 'decoration of destruction' is also eminent in the designs of Marques'Almeida. The masters of frayed dyed denim and imperfect shreds of finest fabric. Together, these three designers create an eclectic image of women. Outgrown girls who still want to have fun. Women who do not accept grown-up womanhood. Who wants to live forever? They surely do.
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Candy Crush

Dior Resort 2014

Within a few seasons, Simons has established a precise colour code of soft pastels and primary electric hues. Adding decorative twists and athletic turns, he continues to define what 'his' womenswear is about: pop, surrealism and superior gender.
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Post Paris XXXII

A 'False Encyclopaedia' double feature with Matthew Lindgren, discussing:
Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2013

As a child, my passion was dressing up and playing roles much larger than myself.
I would tie yards of red velour around my body like a nightie and recite Maggie's lines from 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'. Of course, I didn't understand the weight of the words I was saying or the implications of the character I was portraying, but the aesthetics were all there.

Laden with menthol and sin, Marc Jacobs presented a slinky hotel scene with characters dressing up and covering up. Women exited their rooms in silky lingerie and haphazardly-thrown on fur coats and walked through the dim hallway peering at the audience. It was a scintillating presentation, to put it mildly.

The clothes, however, lacked this stimulating. They seemed to be less Elizabeth Taylor sultry, more Lindsay-Lohan-as-Elizabeth-Taylor sultry; the fallen dressing up as the great. The plunging v-necks and lace-lined dresses almost felt forced, reminiscent of post-pubescent middle school girls showing off to potential partners at a homecoming dance; the child dressing up as the woman. The plaids felt heavy and the coats could have been pulled out of a moth-filled box from the attic. Somehow the silks felt dirty. If this is the aesthetic Marc sees the Louis Vuitton woman in, then he did a wonderful job. He should also be commended on some of the more structured coats and the craftsmanship on the red carpet-bound final gowns. The fur bags are beautiful and will have great success in the market. The true test of this collection will be in its sales. Will the Louis Vuitton woman want to dress up for parties in printed silk dresses and sequin-dipped coats? If not her, perhaps her children will.

/MATTHEW

'Girl, Interrupted' might be the best term to describe Marc Jacob's latest exploration of his Louis Vuitton signature. The negligée night crawl collection is perfectly tailored for a delusional 'real housewife' who'd love to promote her own person as a brand. From Betty Boop to Lindsay Lohan and Joan Rivers, selling 'herself' was never more emancipated, vulgar and self-ironic. Her look: silk pyjamas, lipstick and fur.
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1. Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2013
2. Elizabeth Taylor Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, 1958
3. Edward Hopper Night Windows, 1928
4. Disney Pretty Pretty Princess Cinderella Edition
5. Betty Boop 1930
6. Joan Rivers What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most, 1997
7. Girl Interrupted 1999
8. Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2013

More about Matthew Lindgren Three Shades Of Black

Helmut Dialogues IV

1. Helmut Lang Spring/Summer 2005
2. Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2013

In this dialogue, topics re-appear as answers. And motifs change tonality and shape. It is an intelligent conversation, an intelectual one. It's a discussion of kitsch and feminity. From two, very masculine, point of views.
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Absence II

Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 2007

Ghost hands and other implants. When looking back at Hussein Chalayan '10 we are actually looking back at Rei Kawakubo '07. And some of us are even looking back at a handy 'Ghost' scene by Bruce Joel Rubin '90.
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A Short History Of Lips In Popular Culture

1. Man Ray Le Baiser, 1930
2. Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 2004
3. Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2006
4. Man Ray A l’heure de l’observatoire – Les Amoureux, 1934
5. Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 2009

A surreal kiss between Man Ray and Rei Kawakubo that has never been. Paired and displaced, multiplied and supersized. For Man Ray, the 'nakedness of two faces' was a socially tolerated form of sexual portraiture and therefore being chosen. Rei Kawakubo says: ‘If you are to put color on the face, it need not to be on the lips. It can be anywhere’. While Man Ray tends towards sensuality, Rei Kawakubo prefers destroyed feminity as an anti-position and de-sexualisation. And lips don't lie.
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