It was only few years ago that resort, pre-spring, pre-fall, mid-season or what ever you like to call them – collections had only a minor role to play in between more prominent spring summer and autumn winter mainline collections. But as the fashion system is constantly increasing its phase these mid-season collections are becoming more predominant with their own dedicated advertising campaigns, show schedules and …read more
Fashion shows are odd and very complex events that have a specific function in the fashion mechanism. For an outsider, watching a fashion show can be a confusing experience. Some designers are very focused on creating garments that can be bought straight off the runway, nice and straightforward. Other designers present fantastical garments and unwearable-looking creations, spectacles in …read more
Alexander Wang presented his much awaited début collection for the house of Balenciaga during the Paris a/w fashion weeks this March. Given that he only had four months to familiarise himself with the house codes and conventions after he was appointed in late November 2012, one cannot expect him to travel too far from the heavy past of the house. He expectedly returned to the origins of the house, offering his take on recognisable Balenciaga couture propositions and fabrications adding his personal …read more
American philosopher and one of the leading voices in defining art criticism, Noël Caroll divides the task of a critic, in his book On Criticism, into two parts. On the one hand critics describe, classify, contextualize, elucidate, interpret and analyse artworks and objects. All of this suggests that a critic should have an ability to capture the object of criticism and to position it against something bigger: frameworks, contexts, narratives or histories. In order to do this …read more
Every collection starts with a concept. It provides a frame of reference for design generation, a narrative for development and a focus for editing. It is the holy grail of fashion design thinking now. Since tailors and dressmakers became Fashion Designers, on a par with artists, the concept behind a collection has become a paramount component. Each collection just has to have a concept and the more ‘complex’ the concept, the more ‘conceptual’ designers are labeled. …read more
