Danielle: Balmain presented a lazy collection this season. When I say lazy, I mean that they created nothing new — and are starting to bore me. Trendy Spring color updates to leather jackets and pants were made, but nothing innovative. Classically, the looks resembled “alternative” streetwalkers, and the famous $1,500 shredded knit tee got safety pins added to it. Their shredded leather shorts were safety pinned as well, and might demand a DIY project in my near future.

Harry: When the first look came out, I thought to myself “haven’t we seen this look on Daria before?” It is true that designers have to have their own signature style to keep the customers coming back to them. Christophe Decarnin undoubtedly has an eye for what young women want. Balmain is very Serena van der Woodsen, Rihanna, and all those cool girls. However, I wish there is a more distinct theme for every season—because it is supposed to be a show. Christophe’s theme has been rock ‘n’ roll for years now. It’s even hard to tell the season. Here’s a food for thought: next time you want to get that Balmain look, grab a basic T shirt from Old Navy, cut it, rip it, and then put the pieces back together with safety pins. Then, put on a pair leather leggings (the shinier, the Balmainer) and a jacket.

Danielle: Next time I want to step out onto the street and not have to see or deal with the world, I will turn to Chalayan’s scarf look. Also, I would be more than happy to have a team of three assistants following me; picking up my dress train to make the fabric seem as if it were floating.

Harry: Hussein Chalayan always challenges our mind to distinguish the line between avant-garde and insanity. This season, he toned it down a little bit. Gone are the days of coffee tables that transform into a wooden skirts or dresses that undress themselves, his Spring 2011 collection, as he mentioned, is “an abstract take on Japan.” The first four looks had the model’s face covered with a piece of fabric. Is he perhaps trying to address the women role in Japanese society? I admire Chalayan for sending down different materials, colors, textures and prints, but still able to make the collection looked cohesive.

Follow the jump to read more.
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On Sunday September 26th, Simon Ungless and I trawled through New York, London, Milan S/S 2011.

The conversation was not recorded.

Here we are…

TINKER (Gypsy) from D & G:

TAILOR from Fendi by Karl Lagerfeld:

Follow the jump for more of GPP’s illustrations…

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Paris
Tuesday July 6th
7 p.m. till…. late

Givenchy:

Bust of Jules Hardouin Mansart

In the 17th century, the architect Jules Hardouin Mansart was given a cozy corner in 19 place Vendôme known as the Hôtel d’Évreux. The bust was made by Jean-Louis Lemoyne. Mansart was the the architect behind buildings such as Versailles, the Grand Trianon, the Château de Marly, and Les Invalides. Notice the cross of the Order of St. Michael, which denotes that he is an artist.

Once past the Givenchy securité we are greeted by (the bust of) Mansart. Upstairs, ten Haute Couture outfits by Riccardo Tisci adorn the rooms.

They are fit for princesses from countries under far bluer skies.

Most intriguing is a long dress with the sleeve covering arms and fingers. On close inspection, sleeve is attached at the shoulder with zipper.

Givenchy Haute Couture dress

Sleeve and glove attached at the shoulder

Chanel:

Waiting to get to Chanel at the Grand Palais — now a museum — at 8 p.m., we sit for a while next door at the Ritz.

Anna Wintour walks past wearing a plain beige belted dress. Chanel clients walk by in diamonds, sequins and feathers. Very short men in white linen walk by. Linda Wells’ sons walk by dressed for a party from The Great Gatsby.

Coco Chanel was a Leo

At Chanel there is an anatomically correct golden lion 11 metres (about 36 feet) high and 22 metres (about 72 feet) long. Models emerge from under a paw. Coco Chanel was a Leo and would have enjoyed the sight, after the show, when everyone rushed to congratulate Karl Lagerfeld under the belly.

Follow the jump for more pictures.

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André Leon Talley said the following about Chanel’s Resort 2011 collection:

“Lagerfeld had cast the show with a slightly more curvaceous model named Crystal Renn, not seen on any Chanel catwalk before. This in itself was groundbreaking for the house, but there was also the return of personality models encouraged to be themselves instead of robotic look-alikes.”

What I love about André is his attention to the micro-details and his choice of words. André made a point when he said ‘slightly more curvaceous’ about Crystal Renn:

Crystal Renn at Chanel Resort 2011 Photo credit: Style.com

It might be the styling but I noticed Crystal is not as ‘curvaceous’ as she used to be. If you cover her body, her face looks size-two. Here is Crystal in October 2005:

Crystal Renn at Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2006 Photo credit: Style.com

Crystal looked like she was a size 14 and now she’s size 10.

Is this the new wave of models? Afterall, the fashion industry needs a new movement since Kate Moss started the waif, heroin chic look in the early ‘90s. Read more…

The cast of the Prada Fall 2010 campaign has been revealed.

I mentioned in a previous post about the Prada Fall 2010 show, that Miuccia casted a bunch of Victoria’s Secret models. However, only the soft-spoken Australian beauty, Miranda Kerr, made the cut to be on the famous Prada campaign ad.

Miranda Kerr at Prada Fall 2010 Photo credit: Style.com

I call the ad campaign “famous” because Prada and Miu Miu have a history of casting new models. Those new girls usually end up being big in the industry. Miuccia and her casting people have keen eyes for new girls.

I am excited to see how they will style the sweet Miranda to look like the cool girls who were in Prada campaigns before: Sasha Pivovarova, Ali Stephens, Rasa Zukauskaite, and the whole cast for Prada’s Spring 2009 ad campaign. Read more…

Have you seen the new Coca-Cola Light bottle designed by Karl Lagerfeld? Have you seen the ad campaign for the uber-special bottle? If not, look below:

Model Coco Rocha daintily sips on the beverage (wearing Chanel) while Karl’s homeboy, Baptiste Giacobin looks on.

Wouldn’t it be so cool if he collaborated with Doritos next? I could picture the ad now: Coco downing a bag of the chips with specs of powdery cheese all around her lips.

Chanel re-opens its doors this Friday to show the new look of their Geary Street location in San Francisco.

We haven’t seen it yet, but apparently the hyper-luxe redesign includes three floors of opulent debauchery including silk panels, a 25 foot black metal and glass feature wall and gold walls and ceilings.

Sure, Karl and Lily Allen (the new face of Chanel) won’t be there to greet you, but they will be there in spirit as you enjoy complimentary makeup sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Make sure you swing by the store at 156 Geary Street.

Fashion School Daily contributors, Harry Go and Sata Schramm gave us a he said/she said take on some of the looks from major designers at Paris Fashion Week. From Gareth Pugh to Louis Vuitton, one of them played the good cop, the other played the bad cop – we’ll let you read for yourself.

Gareth Pugh

Photo credit: Marcio Madeira

Harry: Gareth is an artist. He knows how to put drama into his shows. His work has been consistently industrial and heavy but in this show, the clothes were also romantic and soft.

Sata: You know those unisex dominatrix zombies you always feared were going to imprison you? Guess what? They’re coming! Take note of the cozy-looking blankets some wrap themselves in, but watch that you don’t get your eyes poked out by their headdresses.

Harry: I loved the prints at the McQueen show! The fabrics were digitally printed so they weren’t just repeating patterns. His clothes look great from far away but the full impact happens as you get closer.

Sata: McQueen completely committed to an admittedly weird concept (right down to the hoof-like shoes–who needs feet in the future, right?) and the results were breathtaking. This was the only show of the entire season whose every detail I wanted to study. My only quibble is the choice to use mollusks for the prints on some dresses, but only because I’m afraid of mollusks. Read more…

We here at Fashion School Daily are always scouring the Internet for some quirky websites – and with so many out there it’s difficult to find one that stands out.

Today we ran into a diamond in the rough. It’s called Fashematics and it’s a site that – well – it’s hard to explain in words. Let me just show you in pictures:

Basically, it takes one thing adds it to another and viola! You got yourself a deconstructed, irreverent take on some of the world’s most avant garde designers. It’s pretty clever. If you really want a laugh check out the Fashematic breakdown of Karl Lagerfeld.

Do you have any “Fashematics” of your own? If so, please share!