CHRISTIAN DIOR HAUTE COUTURE S/S 1998

    image courtesy of ©Vogue
 

John Galliano is well-known for his extravagant designs and dramatic presentations. One of his most memorable showcases was the stunning fashion opera unveiling of the Christian Dior Spring 1998 haute couture collection. This remarkable event was inspired by, if not dedicated to Marchesa Casati, one of his muses, and her fascination with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russe. The collection, held at the Palais Garnier Opera house in Paris, featured sculptural silhouettes, cinched waist shapes reminiscent of Dior's iconic New Look, lace sheaths, skirt suits, mink fur-trimmed opera coats, backless velvet hoop-skirt gowns in Art Nouveau prints, and rose-strewn picture hats.

WHITETHORN

 

Whitethorn Flowers pendant 

René Lalique

1899-1901

material gold, glass, enamel and diamonds.  

measurements 79 X 55 mm, 36g 

A R MOUR

   images courtesy of ©vogue

Rei Kawakubo's fashion shows are not solely about fabric, cut, and shape but also about the emotional suspense they create, a walking art form. Her fall 2009 for Comme des Garçons is one of her many collections that acts that way. 

DARDANUS CLOUDS

In 1783, the Palace of Fontainebleau hosted a production of Jean-Philippe Rameau's opera "Dardanus", featuring painted clouds made from canvas and wood.

ARTISANAL ELASTIC HARNESS

image courtesy of ©vaniitas

Introducing the black and white elastic harness from the Margiela line 0's spring 1999 collection. This artisanal garment is a re-edition of the spring 1997 collection and has sides reinforced with corset boning. It is designed to be worn over the Stockman vest.

ARCHIVE - ALEXANDER McQUEEN S/S 2001 "VOSS"

 

The fashion show in question was named after a small, picturesque Norwegian town that is renowned for its breathtaking natural beauty, thus setting the theme of the show as an ode to wildlife and the natural world. However, while these themes were certainly present in the show, it was also a reflection of Alexander McQueen's deteriorating mental health and the darker aspects of the fashion industry, resulting in an eerie, haunting portrayal of both nature and the human spirit. 

The event was held in London, with guests taking their seats around a large, black-mirrored-glass box. They were made to look at themselves for almost two hours before the show began, surrounded by an eerie silence that urged them to self-reflect instead of merely scrutinizing the models. Those who were interviewed afterwards described the experience as deeply unsettling. 

ARCHIVE - 30 YEARS OF PRADA AD CAMPAIGNS

30 years of Miuccia Prada´s well known strangely beautiful aesthetic or as she always call it "ugly beauty" made by her passionate investigation of ugliness, because the classic beauty always bored her. More than 30 photos showcase the brand´s famous ad-campaigns made in these three decades by famous photographers, like Albert Watson, Peter Lindbergh, Glen Luchford, Norbert Schoerner, Robert Wyatt and the most long-lasting collaboration with Steven Meisel.

ARCHIVE - HELMUT LANG F/W 1997/1998

The F/W 1997/1998 was Helmut Lang´s last collection presented in Paris, before he relocated the whole company from Vienna to New York in 1998, becoming the first fashion company to make a transcontinental move. The collection itself was not only a return into luxury, by reintroducing fine blended wools, silk and cashmeres, but also a debut of pleated skirts, funnel neck coats, silk-down coated duvet wraps and silk tulle, cummerbunds, marking the brand´s new style with made-to-measure finishes.

ARCHIVE - HUSSEIN CHALAYAN S/S 1998

I bet you´ve heard about this collection “Between”of Hussein Chalayan, his only third official, at least about the controversy that happened that time, and I have no doubts, that would have the same impact and effect today. This collection, among not only few others from this conceptual, experimental and innovative genius made a (fashion) history. What happened? Something like in-between the fashion show there were few models who wore chadors, first a group of three wearing white, long ones, made from really thin jersey-like material, that you could really get a perception that they were naked underneath, while the last six models, as a final step of the show wore black chadors of varying lengths. The first was full covered to the ground with an allowed gap just for her eyes. Each veil became shorter and shorter with the last one totally naked, except the mask that barely covered her face. According to Chalayan this piece was about defining cultural territory.

ARCHIVE - COMME DES GARçONS AD CAMPAIGNS

We´ve decided to add a new "series of fixed theme-posts", titled "Archive". I guess that you already got an idea of what is about. Everything has its own archive and it´s fascinating, inspiring, if not also educative to re-see how the stuff were done in the past and/or how they evolved/still evolving…etc. Focused more on fashion, architecture, art and industrial design, we want to bring you a glimpse of the past. Actually it´s not the first time that the site is doing posts about a past (do you remember our posts titled "past-view"?), but never become a true, constant thing. We couldn´t choose a better protagonist to break the ice. Nearly 50 years active in the fashion business, Comme des Garçons is a brand or more suitable to say a real institution, known for being ultra-revolutionary; a sort of a "limbo" between art and fashion, avoiding any possible rules dictated by the business. In all those years many photographers and artists, like Peter Lindbergh and Cindy Sherman (just to name few), collaborated with a brand to create unforgettable and inspiring ads, thirty of them are here ready for a re-visit.