KO.FASHION BLOG

THE GODFATHER - KARL LAGERFELD

Karl Lagerfeld is in a curious position that few ever experience. Like Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse and many of the other spiralling starlets and models who’ve played muse for him, his every move and word is newsworthy. There are whole websites dedicated to his more outlandish quotes and he has played himself in 37 movies and television shows. He is known as the Godfather of fashion, or the Kaiser, and after a series of season spanning interviews with the designer, Oyster learned why. Interviews by Katharina Kowalewski, words by Alyx Gorman.

Karl Lagerfeld is a legend in his own time; an icon whose signature powdered ponytail, high collar and skinny suit frequently pop up in Halloween costumes and cartoon parodies. He is highly recognisable and infinitely quotable: an eccentric figurehead for an eccentric industry. At one point or another, Lagerfeld has been blamed for every fashion ill. In the 1990s it was the promotion of anorexia. Nearly everyone has heard about that day (pre weight loss, no less) that he lowered his glasses, stared a feminist journalist right in the eye and told her “clothes look better on bones.” Though while it is a great story, it never actually happened. Now the use of fur is his hot button issue, and he actually did defend the practice by suggesting “hunters in the north… make a living killing those beasts who would kill us if they could.” When Lagerfeld makes such bizarre statements, or deadpans to a nervous interviewer that he “has no human feelings”, it seems as if there might be a sense of humour beneath the icy exterior. That humour certainly shone out in his latest collection for Chanel – serious and seriously elegant, its cravats, ruffles and ladylike tailoring was punctured in the middle by a set of several, graphically printed, skin-tight onesies. They clung to models’ bodies like a series of sharp exclamation marks in the midst of a show that was otherwise so graceful it bordered on austere. Overall, the presentation felt like a modernist take on the Victorian mourning mode, infused with a lightness of touch that made its lace, slim lines and frills look less funereal. Oyster asked him if the past had been a major influence. “No, what past, what past? There is no past,” he told us, before slightly revising his claim. “…It’s the idea of a certain kind of past, it was the men who put men into dark suits with white shirts and white caps, instead of having the free, 18th century, colourful looks for men before. There’s this alternate idea that’s very Chanel, very powerful.” Of the decadent and dramatic ruffles and cuffs that spilled like whipped cream down collars and sleeves, Lagerfeld explains: “I only explored oversized to make it different and make a kind of jewellery out of it. But instead of in the past where it was a touch too short and sleek, this is all detachable and it’s like a new kind of jewellery out of say wool, knit lace and everything.” On top of his work for Chanel, which includes Autumn/Winter, Spring/Summer Ready to Wear and Haute Couture collections as well as Cruise and Métiers d’Art, Lagerfeld designs fur for Fendi (a move which caused the PETA to throw pies at him in 2001; they missed and hit Calvin Klein), runs his eponymous label, has his K by Karl Lagerfeld diffusion line and frequently forays into the world of perfume. As you would expect from someone who holds down the equivalent of eight full time jobs, Lagerfeld has a lot to say when it comes to time. “Only busy people find time,” he tells Oyster. “You never ask someone who’s doing nothing to help you or do something for you. Only busy people have time.” After his Haute Couture show, a few months prior, Lagerfeld explained to us, “I don’t carry around a watch that tells me how much time a collection takes and how much work it takes. You do what you can do, when you can do it. You know I am helped by marvellous people. It’s teamwork. It’s a job I love to do,” he goes on to add, to our surprise, “I am lucky I can do it in the most perfect conditions with no budget restriction.” The first time we spoke to Lagerfeld this season, he was personally unfazed by the global financial crisis stating, “I was never told or asked about the recession, I don’t know what it means. The owner of Chanel came to me and said, ‘2009 – no problem for you – you do whatever you want.’ You know I don’t care about budgets.” Nonetheless, Lagerfeld is well aware of the effect the global financial crisis has on others and he utilises this distress as a motivation to make beautiful things. “I think feeling good about fashion is exactly what we need, because if you read the newspapers the feeling is not that happy,” he told Oyster after his Ready to Wear show. Despite the economic turmoil, Lagerfeld tells Oyster that the rich traditions of the House of Chanel will not suffer. “I only know the situation of Chanel; I don’t know of the other houses. So, on general ideas of the business, well I only take care of my personal Chanel Haute Couture. Haute Couture will remain important for the image and for the prestige,” he explains. This is fortunate because Chanel, as the world’s largest employer of couturiers, is singlehandedly preserving many artisanal skills and practices (from hand beading and pleating to creating cloth flowers) that would otherwise be washed away by the tide of fast fashion and mass production. Indeed other Haute Couture houses have to go to Chanel’s specialist staff to get certain pieces made or finished. “You know Chanel has the biggest Haute Couture clientele in the world,” Lagerfeld assures us. While fronting Chanel may be Lagerfeld’s biggest claim to fame, it is his notorious eccentricity that has kept him in the public eye. Lagerfeld has a power and poise to him that his contemporaries, so frequently tanned and grinning, lack. He represents everyone’s idea of fashion as a frosty industry. In short, Lagerfeld is profoundly intimidating. And yet, he is at his most captivating when he publishes a diet book that would be impossible to follow without a personal chef, talks about his 80-something strong iPod collection (“Metronomy, Franz Ferdinand, that’s what I'm listening to most at the moment,” he tells Oyster), or waxes lyrical on the style merits of Beth Ditto as opposed to Heidi Klum. He holds the weird firmly in his glacial embrace, and in doing so seems more human. Karl Lagerfeld has spent years igniting both ends of the fashion spectrum. He is simultaneously preserving the craft of Haute Couture while he paves the way for high street fashion with his H&M collaboration and more recent diffusion line. Given what he has done for the industry, it’s no wonder he’s called The Godfather. Personally, however, he thinks the nickname might be understating it. “I’m just a Godfather?” he laughs. “That’s okay, at least I’m a very nice one.”

CHANEL;CHANEL; CHANEL - BACK TO THE BRAND'S DNA - VIDEO COMING SOON

This week Oyster Vision jet sets to Paris to talk with the brilliantly crazy Andrea Crews about fashion, art, recycling and what it means to be Exotic:

Katharina Kowalewski interviewing Andrea Crews in her Pigalle Paris store:

K: The next Oyster issue is exotic, so we have chosen you as a representative designer for exotic style. What is so exotic about Andrea Crews?

A.C: If I try to define what it is exotic I would say it's something different that you have got everyday. So it's kind of a spicy moment or feeling that you got. I would say that exotic is something like that. So I would consider myself as a fashion designer who is a bit different. I work, I think, in another way. I don't know what is different –the clothes? – Clothes are the end of the chain, a movement with conceptual ideas, recycling clothes, finding another way of consuming, another way of working together, another way of doing things and showing stuff. Clothes is actually something very easy to do and very easy to play with. You get dressed and it's really easy to sing or to pose for a picture if it's in the matter of showing the clothes I am wearing.

K: Something you use to express what is inside of you like creativity and art and music? AC: Clothes are the best excuse to practise art and music!

K: If you would define Andrew Crews design what would you say is it about? AC: First of course it is fun. It has to do with play, you play with your clothes, you play with your body, you play with your image and yourself! We do transform it's recycling. Andrea Crews tries to show cloths it in another way. You transform the clothes, change it and you play with it. It's like a fun process of expressing yourself.

K: Where do you find the cloths to transform? A.C: I find my clothes everywhere. I know how to recognize clothes; I am at the market and the second hand clothes all the time.

K: And you don't get enough of it sometimes? AC: Yeah of course, I do. But I have got a lot of assistants and they love clothes!

K: But aren't you afraid that with all the second hand transforming there will be one day not enough for you and that you'll have to take new fabrics for a big collection as the brand is growing now? AC: I am not afraid of this at all! I have to say that about second hand clothes: you know the quality is very different than it was ten years ago. So it's more and more difficult for me to find good second hand clothes to transform. But I do also transform stocks of brands. So it's also super interesting to recycle not only unique and second hand clothes.

K: Like you did for Nike? AC: Like I did for Nike, like I do for some other brands and I am developing myself like that.

K: I was wondering where you got all the Louis Vuitton stuff from that you transformed. You don't get them second hand or for free…? AC: No, no. I go in the black market in the African area. K: And what about your events, you do events in Berlin, in Madrid, in Paris in the contemporary art museums? AC: Tomorrow I am going to Amsterdam I am going to work with a super cool gallery called “Mediamatic” and I did order three tons of clothes. I am going to have stuff from the nineties and the eighties. I will open bags full of old clothes. I will go with a crew over there and we’ll meet some fashion students and we are going to make a huge workshop of recycling clothes and I am going to do a performance which I don't really know what it's going to be by this time: but instant styling and music.

K: I saw some of your videos it's very promising. It can get even without clothes… AC: I love that, I love clothes and without clothes

K: Like your photographies! Can you talk about your photography work and film work. What do you do when you don’t design? AC: I just made a project with computers, so I am not a clothes obsessed girl. I think it is very cool to do clothes and naked girls and computer! And now I am going to do a basketball court and in a few months I am going to work on bikes. So I think I am more an artist in a way I do designs, okay I do also videos and pictures and also music. So I want to touch to everything! Clothes are the thing that works well, everybody wants my clothes, so okay I am doing clothes!

K: You dress a lot of artist, Santogold, Katerine, …What music do you hear at the moment and does it inspire you? AC: I don't know if I could say, like music inspires me. Of course music gives me a lot of vibrations. So it's more like something I like. I think that the inspiration comes more from the moment and then you decide on that. I work a lot with musicians in the video clips we are doing, with artist we’re dressing up. So, of course a lot of time we work together. So I talk about music, we exchange and we arrive to different styles. In music I am super open, this time I just bought the album of “Christophe” you know this old French singer. this is a super experiment and this is going to be the music of the next fashion show.

K: Can you tell us about the beginning of Andrea Crews when you were still in Bordeaux about your origins and how you started designing? AC: I started when I was in art school. Actually, I had to do an internship in a company and I didn't want to do that. So I had to build my own company andwhat could I do – I loved second hand clothes, so I've decided to do that: to work on second hand clothes and to make a new economy system.Then I did it and I found partners. I did a show in a contemporary art museum and that’s how it started basically. Then I arrived in Paris, where the Palais de Tokyo invited me. I realized this project, invited designers, transformed the clothes. This was the beginning of the recycling process.

K: You cast friends and you work with your friends you have like a group of artists around you. So it's more a movement that's happening here. Does Andrea Crews change Paris a little bit? AC: Paris is very boring. In a way, what we are doing is new. I don't know any other place like Andrea Crews in Paris, maybe more in London, Berlin or Copenhagen, but okay will Paris change with Andrea Crews? -sure!

K: And how did you choose the Pigalle area, red light district, for your store? Do you get along well with the neighbours? AC: I think we are in the most beautiful street of Paris. Especially at night with all the nylon lights and the girls of course. It's not a shopping area, but it's a very, very energetic area. And I love the fact that we've got here Hôtel d'Amour and over there Pigalle. So it's a mix of hip people and girls from the street. I like that, very inspiring. Sex shops are very inspiring.

K: So where is the future for the brand? What do you think how it's going to develop? Are you going to do new stuff and use new fabrics or you think it's going to stay the recycling principle forever? AC: Okay we do three different things. We work on new fabrics and we develop like a fair trade system with Brazil and India. We are working on more and more precise, fashionable, clean clothes. We also do unique second hand transformed pieces that we sell in concept stores and you can find them here in Paris, in Pigalle where we are. So I will go on with the recycling. I will go on making small quantities for the shop and I will go on working with brands, work with their stocks. I like this. It's super interesting for me.

photographer Jean Picon

Paris, Haute Couture

Jean Paul Gaultier puts the liberated women in white cages - Armani Prive prefers them in loose trousers, Givenchy takes us on a journey to Peru - Christan Lacroix to Spain, Chanel pipes away architecture - Alessandra Facchinetti bows a new era for Valentino and Galliano shows us how he would really like to dress the first lady. Haute Couture is in an experimental process of change, travelling in-between new volumes, from modernity to past, but maintaining the fabrics and embroideries that gown dreams are made of.

Whoever thinks that the 4 days of Haute Couture shows is slowing down is wrong: The Pre-Collection invasion has reached Paris and so between two shows you find yourself running, and no doubt, "cruising" to Pret-a-Porter brands like Ungaro or Paule Ka!

The glamorous after parties reflected the new direction that Haute Couture is taking - soirees were not organised by members of the HC, but by all those who wanted to profit from the presence of the fashion scene. On the menu was the announcement of the Lanvin/Acne pact, a Lacoste/Visionnaire boat trip, Longchamps 70 years included a live performance by The Kills, and the Irfe 20's dresses come back.

The highlights

In times where Hadid and Herzog & de Meuron designs are built - some skyscrapers find their way into fashion. Lagerfeld attempts to reinvent architecture with his over dimensional pipes. Impressive as usual, the Chanel decoration in the Grand Palais played a perfect symphony with the grey organ-pipesque designs. Over the last few months, the Grand Palais gave Richard Serra's steel sculptures an opportunity for the public to experience the power of this incredible venue. Looking forwards, Karl Lagerfeld's creative energy and visual expression would play the perfect host to the next annual Monumenta project - just imagine how wonderful a spectacle it would be to show the Chanel carousel and those organ pipes to all the Parisian fashionistas.

Waspy waists, strong shoulders, knee length, and a completely different architectonic silhouette was built at Dior. The New Look 2008, made by Galliano, refers to Irving Penn and his wife Lisa Fonssagrives. Following strong black and white contrasting, Galliano displayed amazing pastel ball gowns with see-through bottoms. The final gown was pure emotion and drama - a sculptural piece of art in violet and black, it came to life with the invisible spiral wings that almost made Georgina Stojilkovic fall. The ball continued at Elie Saab, where the evening gowns gained a certain lightness, according to the Michelangelo inspiration. The designer, who frequently hears critiques about how he only thinks and designs'evening', gracefully and poignantly highlighted what HC is all about: Princess dresses that make us dream.

It is always a pleasure to visit someone at home. Anne Valerie Hash set the tone of her location creating a former restaurant from 1880. She explored her orchid inspiration with growing confidence and new experimental rigid fabrics, trying to keep up with the more "savoir faire" of more well established couture houses in her third HC season. After the show, Irina Lazareanu and Anne Valeire Hash made the most sympathetic finales of this Couture season, coming out hand in hand, smiling like two little girls. For those who dream of getting married in Irina's perfect white gown, the engagement between Anne Valerie Hash and HC became official.

Intimate yet mysterious, clean but creative, is the way the Maison Martin Margiela consistently presents its artisanal collection. At MMM the white doctor uniforms are no longer shocking, and the fact that the models are covered from head to toe in a black face covering bodysuit is perfectly acceptable, after all it is Margiela. Next to French Vogue's Emmanuel Alt in her zebra pants, you discover here unique dresses made out of discs, plastic bags and balloons.

The after parties...

After the very crowded first day of Haute Couture, in burning heat, the fashion crowd met the Paris art scene at the Richard Avedon exhibition.The Jeu de Paume knows from last year that a vernissage like Pierre & Gilles must have an even bigger success when scheduled according to the fashion calendar. Even though Avedon's fashion photographs were just a small part of the exhibition, there were all the major brands presented on the dusty catwalk next to Concorde and Tuilleries. I was not the only one wearing Chloe and having suffered in Louboutin's all day - some fashion editors went even higher on the last Barbara Bui's - such intelligent event organisation for all the heel lovers.The Lanvin/Acne party was just next door in the Hotel de Crillon - and here it was definitely better to show up early and wear some glamorous denim pieces. Alber Elbaz was in good company, and one night you had the impression of being in NY, where it is almost normal to bump into stars like Liv Tyler and Eva Mendes. For Celebrity spotting, the following evenings were a similar success: Lacoste played host to a boat party on the Seine, conveniently positioned next to the freshly blue sparkling Tour Eiffel, and the Master Karl Lagerfeld, who was not afraid of getting a little seasick. The hip factor was extremely high, picture: Santogold on the microphone, champagne en masse, jakuzzies to steam things up, and water pistols to cool down the ever so hot crowd. What else do you need?

The drama...

Happy End? If someone was looking for real drama during Haute Couture, the Woolmark Price on the very last day was the event to go. With nice side effects like an electricity breakdown and the big fall of a PR lady down the podium, thanks to her higher than high Lanvin shoes, no one could remember the actual winner, Qiu Hao. Well actually, everyone overheard the name, because without a microphone the announcement remained pretty quiet. Sonia Rykiel, queen of knits and patron of the event, was supposed to do the speech, but refused. Sitting at the bottom of the podium because her knees were hurting, nobody could see or hear her. All that did not keep the red-haired lady of style from wearing heels plus crutches. This year Sonia Rykiel celebrates 40 years, and before Colette closed for renovation, the store was full of sparkling Rykiel anniversary designs. But all this glamour and even the presence of Ikeline Stange and Diane Perret could not turn the evening into a success.

More depression was in the air at the Cirque d'Hiver. Once the place where fashion history was written, where Avedon took his famous photography with Dovima in Dior and the elephants. Due to a lack of financial means (the main sponsor died), Franck Sorbier only exposed some drawings paying homage to the glory, glamour and allure of women in the past. In an interview with Mr. Sorbier, you could feel a sense of his sadness. The Paris house has just received haute couture status in 2005, and surprised last season with a lively and powerful African inspired collection in the Cirque d'Hiver - A dramatic wind of change...

Coming to a more colourful and less dramatic fact: A label who was not on the Haute Couture calendar made its way on to all the major runways. Perhaps it was the eye catching shape or the big flower prints, whatever the reason, Balenciaga summer dresses were present on every Haute Couture day. Some invitees were so pleased to own it that they did not hesitate to wear the dress two days in a row. Now don't get me wrong, I love Balenciaga, but the same dress two days in a row, running between shows in the middle of of the Parisienne summer? Enough said. Maybe she had to manifest that it is really her in the Fall 2008 Balenciaga campaign? The oh so modest Charlotte Gainsbourg showed up in flower power Baleciaga at the Armani Prive show. By the way, entering Armani was pretty tough - it could give you the impression of a Sarkozy police state - all Trocadero and some metro exits were under police control and only the hectical waving of your Armani ticket could give you any chance of getting in.

The predictions...

The winner in terms of trends was - Lace. From Elie Saab to Bouddica, Dominique Siro to Givenchy, you could definitely say that lace was a reoccurring theme, looking out and making some skin visible. Jean Paul Gaultier passed an interesting message by using existing trends and making them haute couturesque - street style fluro colours and daim (denim?) leggings where big news on his catwalk - illustrating that Haute Couture is no longer a contradiction. Riccardo Tisci made a similar statement by mixing a leather biker jacket over a black Chantilly lace gown. Peu a peu he manages to mark his individual path and style at Givenchy. Lacroix played with shorter dresses and leather elements still within his Hispanic inspiration and heavy embroideries. At Valentino, capes were transformed into couture wear.

While the fashionistas could have a look on the Valentino Haute Couture retrospective in The Musee des ArtsDecoratives - The Here and Now caught up Alessandra Facchinetti. All eyes - even those sitting front row at Giorgio Armani - were on her and on the big question mark over her first Haute Couture collection. She tried to explore volumes and play with heavy embroideries, proof that she really was ready to take the haute couture adventure. Her fondness for bows was illustrated on her interpretation of the red Valentino, a gown covered with so many decorative bows that sitting in it would be near impossible. Her idea found a softer interpretation at Alexis Mabille; some smaller size bows were placed in the hair and on shoes giving a final touch to the collection. Mabille is such a rising star in the fashion industry that the absence of style.com editor in his last show caused a little drama. Another designer to keep to keep an eye on is Joseph Font - who made crystal studded stockings - such a colourful yet modern collection bringing the sun from Barcelona to a rainy HC day.

The HC week ended with an ecology and absolute zen attitude - "Luxurious Qing Pin" - luxurious poverty, Wuyong transformed the Palais Royal into a Tai Chi kind of dance performance leaving the HC with a manifest of ecological and ethnological concerns.

Let's see who takes inspiration and adopts them next season.

One thing's for sure, HC will be breaking the rules in the future. Whoever thought that the Haute Couture Week is not commercially flavoured will be surprised: buyers are everywhere trying to be faster than the concurrence. And if the Haute Couture does not sell, the next Cruise Collection most certainly will!

photographer René Gloor

Architecture of Movement

Pierre Balmain once famously declared; "dressmaking is the architecture of movement". And if Pierre were alive today, he'll be pleased to know that his revered French fashion house Balmain, still very much lives by this philosophy, thanks to the talent of Christophe Decarnin. Still very much paying homage to Balmain's rich history of uncompromising elegance, Decarnin has reinvented the brand, bringing it to life with breathtaking designs imbued with a street aesthetic. Katharina Kowalewski caught up with Christophe Decarnin in Paris.

In only two seasons you managed to renew the design of Balmain and create absolute hype and revive the prestigious past of the house. Do you feel more like you've changed or reinvented the brand? What is the key factor to your success?

Actually, it's more like an interpretation of the brand – a personal perspective of a big name in fashion. It involves taking up the codes that have given the Balmain company its name and adapting them to fit today's age and its lifestyles. For me, Balmain has always been synonymous with evening wear, clothes for exceptional occasions. It therefore made sense to focus the collections on this type of clothing. As for the 'secret' if there is one, I think it's that we've been, from the very beginning, specific with our message, you could almost say uncompromising. A 'rock & roll' evening, with a blend of almost 'luxury' dresses that are cut extremely short just before going out, and worn t-shirts that are embroidered, worn with pants cut in luxury fabrics that themselves may be worn or stone-washed like jeans. It's about adding casual to evening wear - a cocktail version of the daytime jean and t-shirt attitude. I think a generation of girls identify with it.

When did you decide to be a designer and which designers inspired you? Where do you get your influences from? Which other arts/artists inspire you?

When I was a child, I drew all the time. I was also passionate about all the old clothes I would come across. Very early on, I remember cutting them and changing them to make new ones. Later I cut things from fabrics that I wanted, either for myself or for my friends. And then when I was a teenager, a book of photographs by Richard Avedon represented a turning point, it opened up the world of fashion to me. Ever since, this book has remained my authority in terms of fashion photography from the 50s to the 70s. I was drawn by the fashion images more than the designers. I'm also inspired by Hollywood cinema, with its image of glamour, of exception – something to dream about really.

I often have a hard time pinpointing the source of my inspiration. It's always some kind of blend. Kind of like a shaker, where every season I add everything I like, plus my influences at the time. I think everything inspires me really but in a rather instinctive manner; I'm not the kind of person who is always thinking or analyzing what I do. I'm above all aware of the fact that I'm lucky to be able to seriously practice a profession that I enjoy and that gives me immense pleasure. There are worse things than spending your days designing clothes for pretty girls!

What's your all time favourite cloth?

Denim and used t-shirts.

What is the right balance between retro and futurism; modernity and brand identity? And how would you describe the Balmain design today?

It's important to consider all that the past can bring us – it's a real blessing. I've merely skimmed the company's archives, but have discovered extraordinary things in them. The archives are truly Balmain's roots. You can't move forward if you're not familiar with your history. But it's also important to be able to take your distance, to evolve without turning your back on the past; to create for the present – not out of nostalgia or for 10 years from now.

I don't concern myself with trends. I design only what I want. Pierre Balmain would design clothes for women without making them into costumes. Each of his creations was meant for a specific time of day, from the extreme simplicity of daytime outfits to the extreme lavishness of evening dresses. It wasn't a question of being avant-garde or of being purely creative. He wanted his clothes to be wearable and to enhance the personalities of his customers. In that respect, I identify with this vision of fashion. The clothes should showcase the person's personality but not replace it.

Your last Prêt-à-Porter show started in the rhythm of George Michael's 'Freedom'. How much Freedom do you have as a designer in a traditional house considering economic constraints and in a time where ready-to-wear is said to be a "vitrine" for accessories and fragrances?

I have complete creative freedom at Balmain. It's something that's taking off again after having lying dormant for several years. The first thing to do was to redefine the new image of ready-to-wear, to give it visibility that would then help with the development of accessories. We have accessories for Summer 07 and are considering developing a perfume. But clothes continue to be the essence of my work.

Do you see a danger for the notion of brand identity when designers are hired and fired and changing from one major house to another?

It's surely dangerous in the sense that it may help destabilize a brand's image. Several seasons are needed to impose a new vision, to create a sort of osmosis between a label and a designer, to win over customers and secure their loyalty.

Why is it so difficult for young designers to work under their own name? Do they need the security of an established maison to be creative? Why is there no 'Christophe Decarnin' brand?

Today it's very difficult to get started by yourself. Designing a collection, being able to show it, generating orders - all this represents a real investment. Without a financial partner, it's extremely complicated and often destined for failure. Personally, I've always liked the idea of working for a brand. I find the process interesting; making use of its codes, its history, while contributing my perspective and influences is truly exciting! That may be the reason why I haven't yet felt the desire to create my own label, even more so in that the companies I've worked for have always enabled me to be fulfilled without feeling frustrated. Today at Balmain, I can propose couture dresses as well as worn t-shirts and leather jackets, put all of my stylistic aspects into my work while, of course, respecting the brand's values.

What is your strategy for the brand and the collections for the future? Where do you want to position Balmain?

Balmain should, as a priority, remained positioned on evening wear. The precollection is, moreover, moving in this direction for next winter, with more dresses at a lower price than the show models. But extensive research is still done in terms of materials, details, and embroidery. More daytime clothes are also considered to be different, exceptional pieces. I like the idea that people come to Balmain for this.

Where do you see the future of Prêt-à-Porter and what do you think of classifications of Balmain designs as semi-couture?

I like when Balmain is defined as semi-couture. Taking up sewing, cutting and construction techniques, performing traditional and luxury finishing and embroidery work, and adapting it for ready-to-wear is something that truly interests me - like designer dresses but that you can find in your size in stores all around the world.

Haute Couture is not dead!

Haute Couture is the quintessence of liberal creativity, which Prêt-à-Porter tends to disregard, thrown into economic strategies of trending and overly accessorized presentations that appeal to status symbol logo maniac clientele. Couture is the place where a certain freedom and creative exuberance abounds, couture showcase the extent of a designer’s creative environment and ideas. This season the fashion clad and celebrity spectators have reconciled with the enthusiasm of the couture shows. Critics and onlookers applied anew seldom used phrases such as « the best show ever » while referring to established Maisons of Haute Couture such as Christian Lacroix, Chanel, Valentino or Dior.

LIKE A VIRGIN

Valentino kept his show strictly white with the strong conviction that this virgin colour is the purity and essence of haute couture. « White does not forgive a flaw » he stated providing an Audrey Hepburnesque style. He proved that he himself and the atelier he is working with do perfectly know their trade and proving that he and the ateliers he is working with do very well their handicraft. By playing with different style elements such ribbons, tulles, embroideries, laces, silk and transparency the legendary all-in-white show from 1968 gained in maturity and modernity.

The virgin theme was a rather recurrent one, having also inspired the holy universe of Jean Paul Gautier whose theatre was transformed into a somewhat conjuncture between a church and heaven. But attention please! The pure and white innocence was not the main theme of the show in which the pin up Dita von Teese walked down the catwalk. It was more a deep research in religious codes: from orthodox to Catholicism up to Mexican colourful and almost kitsch influences. The models entered the pure white podium with lavish decorated glorioles, church registers and plexi glass bags hiding golden religious objects in a colourful background. But the decoltés and big graphical inspired cut outs on the back proofed that there was not the intention to send those girls to their First Communion but to the Pop Madonna by closing the show with the clin d’oeuil « LIKE A VIRGIN ».

The Madonna appeared as well at Franck Sorbier wearing a red tunic with golden applications and a crown as well as a darling puppy dog sporting exactly the same clothing. Religious themes where more a background support and were considered as a contrast to the golden carcass that decorated the catwalk.

GO EAST

DIOR 2007: Geishas moving gently to the soundtrack of „Madame Butterfly" in dresses worked like paper with Japanese origami applications that came in very strong colours. Extraordinary make up done by Pat McGrath, kimono inspired jackets and Japanese art paintings (some of them hand painted). Models walking around in a decor of white cherry trees and an oversized surrealistic salon chair. The Dior show took the spectator on a journey far eastward. Two years ago John Galliano took his audience on a journey to Egypt during his Haute Couture and this is what he does best taking us in different worlds and culture all this with an incomparable capacity of trendsetting.

This Christian Dior show has been totally inspired by the Japanese culture art and music that overwhelmed John Galliano during his recent trip to Japan, and gave the theme for his 10’s anniversary as the designer for Christian Dior. The decision to celebrate this event with a spectacular collection, and not yet another retrospective, is definitely the right choice; doing this showcased his immense talent, creativity and imagination. Especially after his more sober Prêt-à-Porter show. This felt more then ever like Haute Couture: the freedom to create and to show something special, surrealistic at times, but tremendously artistic, without need of logo support of mainstream desires

The total liberty of this show, leads to not just a bunch of applause but a bold Congratulations Mr. Galliano! (or should it be said Colonel Pinkerton, which was the attire, he choose fort for his legendary salute, which is also on of the shows main attraction)

A propos Japan, there was the Japanese designer Ji Haye at Yumi Katsura that surprised the audience with a great presentation during the Haute Couture week. Original and powerful dresses in strong audacious colours, an innovative approach in the creation of a new haute couture line are definitely a reason to keep a steady eye on this designer.

Armani Privé show paid homage to a different eastern country: India. The great Indian designs appeared here in their soft red-carpet adaptation and will surely be most wanted during the next Oscar events. Indian influences and saris, hoods and golden jewellery also found their place at Emeric Francois.

Elie Saab who brings ever since, the middle orient influences in his designs, continued the homage to his home country Lebanon from his last fully golden ready to wear collection, that represented the sunrise, to this couture show which reflected the soft colours of dawn.

His signature of crystals and sequins that give the glamour to his extraordinary gowns appeared as well, at the designer Zuhair Murad who showed his collection during the Haute Couture. The models walked around like inaccessibly tsarinas and the venue was especially well adapted, an unforeseeable beautiful saloon with Brock golden mirrors and châteaux like paintings on the wall in the Polish embassy.

THE ÜBER-woman

Now that the expression of the Über-man has made its way into every women’s fashion magazine it is about time to start with the ÜBER- Woman: in a less psychological and more stylish approach. These probably were the thoughts of Ann Valerie Hash who celebrated the new femininity in her fabulous haute couture show. The designer presented a real emancipation of her former work by changing the codes of fashion not without a trace of humour. October’s ready-to-wear black overlenght trousers turned into the shortest mini’s of the haute couture. And even though it is short, this style never looks cheap thanks to the high quality materials and lovely details- and of course the opaque black tights which are the perfect accompany. This also must have occurred to master Karl Lagerfeld, who chose the same extra-short length for the opening of his show with a very Twiggy inspired 60s look; extra short white trench coats and dresses. Now that we found out what an Über- woman looks like... it is time to turn our view to the inside and find out more about the Über – woman’s attitude. Karl Lagerfeld invited his ÜBER to the show: Chan Marshall performed live with Cat Power « LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU »

FRINGE MANIA

The Viktor&Rolf style from the prior Prêt-à -Porter show in Paris described as nice dresses put through the shredder was considered a brave act. This haute couture show was full of this new lightness. Ever inspired by that 20s retro feel, but none the less extremely contemporary and desirous.

At Chanel everything was about « vertical flexibility» a term created by Karl Lagerfeld which means a new approach and research to visually lengthen the body. The evening dresses revealed the ankles and had fringes in different materials -from feather- like to more rigid almost metallic once- at their endings. These details gave movement to the feminine silhouette and created the distinctive look of the collection at the same time.

Even Martin Margiela, who created unique artisan pieces out of flea market and other findings, cut four biker T-shirts into one, using fringes in the front.

How does one bring volume to silky materials? Dominique Sirop gave depth and volume to feather weight materials bringing unseen proportions to his dresses and lifting them up with a certain wavy feeling that was also seen at Maurizio Galante, who created quiet a amazement with his last creation- the black wave dress.

MILITARY MEETS SOFTNESS

Marc le Bihan showed how slightly gowns and military high boots jackets and trousers could create something angel like. what an unawait contrast that has been even exaggerated up to a scene of Sophia Coppola’s film where the young Marie Antoinette was running with this special desperate expression in the long halls of Versailles with his last Barrock like creation.

Givenchiy designer Riccardo Tisci tried to transform a sailor into a mermaid in his metamorphosis collection. Flat punched boots and white uniform like jackets were cut and became ever more feminine.

Katharina Kowalewski