Day for Night: Masha Ma FW16

H
aving worked under the likes of Alexander McQueen and Veronique Branquinho, Chinese designer Masha Ma is hardly a stranger to what’s edgy and new. She is what one could call “forward-thinking” — forever pushing the boundaries of the status quo.

(Photos: Regis Colin Berthelier / NOWFASHION)

 
A Look at the Collection

[portfolio_slideshow id=13130 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

For her FW16 prêt-à-porter collection, Masha Ma draws from “the techno underground scene” with pieces that echo Berlin’s East Side or a sleek, rave look. Certainly, the grimy-chic aura most nightlife goers embody as they slither through masses of clubbers isn’t one that normally transitions well to daylight, as most regretful partiers will attest to on a walk home in the blinding morning sun.

Masha Ma draws from “the techno underground scene” for FW16.

Masha Ma’s aim to transition nightlife vibes to daytime acceptably is a bold pursuit, one that she attains through a fusion between classic, yet notably androgynous, silhouettes and futuristic pieces. Models with purple, pink, blue, yellow, green-tinged hair and black-rimmed eyes resemble groupies … or one’s own face after a wild night.

Figuring prominently in the collection, blazers and suit pieces made their way to the runway, looking more like Friday night than Monday’s nine to five. I noticed a pair of leather pants, pleated as a nod to professional wear. An all white suit with zipper-detail at the knee and on the blouse diverged from the classic suit.

Chains and mesh from sweaty, strobing dance floors worked as sophisticated detail for monochromatic and clean ensembles in lieu of their usual commanding presence. Instead, they complimented the simplicity of the design, giving us a peek where otherwise the door would be obstinately closed.

Chains and mesh from sweaty, strobing dance floors …

As with many shows this FW16 prêt-à-porter season, high to thigh-high boots appeared on Masha Ma’s runway, almost in go-go boot spirit. And if not for the sophisticated cut of her golden accents (along with the choice of a rusty gold color), I would have said the ’60s and ’70s were back in full swing.

Besides the fluidity of nightwear and daywear in Masha Ma’s collection, the designer gives the power of her clothing to the wearer, the sleeves on some pieces able to be removed or added as one pleases. Not to mention the versatility of decidedly adaptable clothing; the jackets and blazers don’t command the wearer’s size or occasion, existing to serve varying outfits for varying styles. The designer, expressing her desire for the individual to be served above all else, presents to us a collection in the spirit of modern globalism.

Who better to represent sartorial crossover than a woman based in both Paris and Shanghai? Having studied under a Western tradition of fashion schooling and with a background in an Eastern culture, Masha Ma has insight into clothing’s ability to cross boundary lines and cultural traditions as a universal — yet personal — expression.

Masha Ma wants to redesign the way you think of Chinese creativity, but she also cedes to the desires of an individual wearer. After all, isn’t that the essence of globalism: individualism with a broadened worldview?

##

 
With love,

FWO

Valentin Yudashkin Paris FW16

Valentin Yudashkin is a Russian designer who grew up during the Soviet era and whose high-class work topples the ideas of deprivation and deficiency ingrained during that time. Yudashkin cites folk tales by Pavel Bazhov — which are themed around life in Siberia in the early 20th century — and malachite — a green stone and symbol that appears in Bazhov’s work — as motivation for this ready-to-wear season.

(Photos: Regis Colin Berthelier / NOWFASHION)

 
The Collection

[portfolio_slideshow id=13078 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

The malachite green indeed shines in the collection, but only coming after some intense rouge. Many items opt first for a festive ichor red, including two jackets — one a shorter varsity jacket and the other an elongated driving coat of the same fabric — a long-sleeved cocktail dress (with ruffle center and a velour neck-piece), and a red silk suit with a fur collar attaché. Also not to be missed was the red gown with a long rectangular peep-hole, two leg slits, and high neck-line. At the same time, this dress is both angelic and slightly devilish.

The dress is both angelic and slightly devilish.

The emerald green comes at last, and it comes on beaded bustiers of floor-skimming gowns and on blouses with patterns à la butterfly wing. It comes with a symmetry found in nature — apparent but not overdone.

Not to be ignored were the more understated but equally heroic colors in the collection: black and gold. A dress of a similar shape as the red angel / devil dress in gold and black veers the dress straight into Princessland, while the black dress at the beginning of the show has a square neckline that deservingly spotlights a fur accessory that I can only think to describe as a nonfunctional neck brace.

Equally heroic in the collection: black and gold.

Along with the theme of finding solace in Paris — material and otherwise — Yudashkin included mittens as a keepsake for those who saw the collection, an article of clothing he has said was hard to come by when he was growing up.

Yudashkin included mittens as a keepsake, which were hard to come by when he was growing up.

##

 
With love,

FWO

The Nouveau Luxe: Barbara Bui FW16

(Collage: Hannah Leverson)

Barbara Bui has always skewed more luxe than dangerous.

When we spoke with her last month, we were reminded that her inspiration draws from music and subculture, but that still didn’t prepare us for this collection: the parade (or maybe explosion) of punky tartan and vinyl, tartan and shearling, tartan and fringe, tartan and houndstooth, tartan and tartan, with East-meets-West, Beijing-by-way-of-Athens looks, and some military moto for good measure.

 
The Collection

[portfolio_slideshow id=12938 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

It couldn’t have been any further removed from Bui’s strictly black and brown ready-to-wear collection for Spring 2016, and it demonstrates her relatively voracious appetite for exploration.

Le Monde recently questioned the idea of luxury, specifically “luxe” — a word used to such excess in Paris it’s basically become meaningless.

Le Monde recently questioned the idea of “luxe.”

Writer Carine Bizet looked to link true luxe with a kind of rebellon: “Le luxe n’est-il pas justement voué à défier le raisonnable ?”

(“What is ‘luxe’ if not something vowed to defy the reasonable?”)

Barbara Bui responds to that question with an impossible garment that is at the same time a cape and a dress, leather and silk, day and night, outdoor and indoor, old and new, filled with and void of color. Completely unreasonable. We also wondered how it was possible to even put on the tight shiny pants omnipresent in the collection.

Barbara Bui responds to that question with an impossible garment.

Surely there must be a little extra “luxe” in that.

##

 
With love,

FWO

Dance Deconstructed at Jourden FW16

(Photos: Claire Stemen)

Jourden’s FW show may have well as been at the Opéra, for it was a dance.

The runway, smaller than most, covered in colorful lines and directions piqued my interest the minute I walked in (and not, surprisingly, so did the free drinks thanks to Epicerie Generale.) Immediately, stage direction came to mind, but as the music began to play, I didn’t have time to think on it.

 
[portfolio_slideshow id=12900 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

Nor did I need to, as the first model delicately traversed a red pathway to a white circle, where she stood at the mercy of the photographers. Meanwhile, more models began to appear, on different pathways, some stopping in other circles, some picking up or dropping off other models.

More models began to appear, some picking up or dropping off other models.

The music, sweet and dreamlike, matched well with the looks arriving in a stream of movement down the runway — if I may reduce it to such simple terms. Skirts and dresses, almost like well-used quilts, capped off glimmering tops.

At first glance, the pieces appear sweet and almost uncomplicated, a tempting assumption especially under the spell of the aesthetic of the show. A closer look reveals the complexity behind the collection: intriguing textile choices, unsymmetrical cuts, and a ruffled trim disconnected from where it ought to be. Under all of that charming appeal, something is amiss and suddenly, I realize the music has changed to a deafening bass.

A closer look reveals the complexity behind the collection.

I suppose the age-old caveat of judging something at face value keeps renewing its lease on truth.

But I was still puzzled by the form of the show. Anaïs Jourden Mak, the brand’s designer, spoke of her interest in the motifs of dance floors, hence the lines, arrows, and direction. Looking for ways to experiment in a smaller area with the limited time she had, she worked to create scripted routes for her models to create the sense of fluidity that dance offers.

In her reproduction of dance, Anaïs deconstructs the very art she’s paying homage to, exposing the particulars of its construction on the floor.

And perhaps deconstruction is why certain ruffled trims go — so confidently — unsewn.

##

 
With love,

FWO

Lutz Huelle FW16

Welcome to Lutz Huelle’s world, a sartorial wonderland of well-loved pieces and textiles. Much like the beaming designer, Huelle’s FW16 prêt-à-porter collection is inviting and unintimidating.

(Images: Gio Staiano / NOWFASHION)

This warm essence hardly suffocates experimentation however. Huelle recreates old classics, remixing textiles and form: from denim and sequin thigh highs to denim jackets and bombers reimagined.

Huelle recreates old classics, remixing textiles and form.

[portfolio_slideshow id=12818 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

I found myself enthralled with his sequin earrings, worn on one ear in a wry reference to textile used for dresses and other detail. Unexpected as they were, they brought a whimsical glamour to his collection.

Lutz Huelle, while obviously invested in glamour, stands apart as a pragmatist in this way — or perhaps his collection of well-loved pieces reborn is simply homage to his own taste. In any case, this collection has a fluidity that allows the wearer to travel as they please: from place to place and from occasion to occasion.

And, I think, the smiley designer wouldn’t have it any other way. As his note to the audience remarks: “… this collection became about everything I have always loved, a sort of concentrate of my favorite obsessions.”

I’m certain the fashion world thanks him for sharing his obsessions in a captivating, yet accessible manner.

##

 
With love,

FWO

Hussein Chalayan FW16

The name Hussein Chalayan may ring a bell if you heard about the dissolving dresses during Prêt-à-Porter Spring 2016. The designer put soluble lab coats over bejeweled dresses and then made it rain, literally, on the models.

 
Spring 2016’s Dissolution
(Skip to :30 or so)

A few interesting facts on the designer: Chalayan has overcome huge technical feats in technology, science, and engineering to produce his art, notably with a dress that became a coffee table in 2000. He designed Björk’s jacket on the album cover for Post (1995), he has made short films, and he has been a Member of the Order of the British Empire since 2006.

He designed a dress that became a coffee table, and Björk’s jacket on Post.

 
Chalayan, who has called himself a storyteller, uses German fairy tales as inspiration in the FW 2016 collection. He showcases characteristically long and ümlauted German words such as “bösewicht” (villain), “verbrannt” (burnt), “Sonntagsröcke” (Sunday skirt), and “heimatlich” (native, at home). The idea behind using words instead of images was to conjure an idea of an image instead of directly depicting one.

 
[portfolio_slideshow id=12733 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

(Images: Gio Staiano / NOWFASHION)

Chalayan further unravels the fairy tale motif into numerical sequences, made with crystal and sewn onto patterns of German forests. The motivation for using numbers is twofold: they’re supposed to express the traveling speed of fairy tale characters, and the brainy mathematical nature of numbers is meant to contrast with the brawny romantic nature of crystal.

 
[portfolio_slideshow id=12734 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

When I asked Chalayan if decomposition was an important theme to his work, considering the dissolving dress from last season and the linguistic and numerical presence in the current collection, he corrected me, saying his goal is to “decode.” He disassembles codes, and we can try to put them back together.

Chalayan told me his goal is to “decode.”

Many of the looks were right on trend, with not as much re-coding necessary on our part. There’s a feminist message behind many of the looks — androgynous coats and chunky shoes with an air of adventure, cut off ponytails reattached at the ears.

There’s a feminist message behind many of the looks.

These women are strong and fierce, and they’re not afraid of Rumpelstiltskin.

 
[portfolio_slideshow id=12735 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

##

 
With love,

FWO

EACH x OTHER Paris FW16

(Photo: Skylar Williams)

Central to EACH x OTHER is providing meeting grounds for fashion and art. In fact, designer Ilan DeLouis and artistic director Jenny Mannerheim cite the poem by Robert Montgomery, “Safe and warm here / in the fire of each other,” as the spark behind their initial collaboration in 2012.

This show orbited around a billboard piece by Robert Montgomery declaring, “The Future is an Invisible Playground.” Pamphlets of poetry from both Montgomery and Greta Bellamagina were also handed out.

The Collection

[portfolio_slideshow id=12656 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

The current collection, “Love is a Verb,” takes some favorite current trends like a good leather jacket, a puffy fur coat, a heavy trench, and a party turtleneck and makes them just different enough to be their own.

For the record, a “party turtleneck” is a garment of clothing with a high neckline that is unfairly limited to the daytime by many, but works just as well — or even better — for soirée attire. Paired especially well with a party turtleneck would be the denim dress with suspenders.

Since one of the aims of EACH x OTHER is to pair fashion with art, I figure I’d talk a little more about the poetry handed out at the show and the music selection. The poems contained messages against war, against the glorification of celebrities, and, interestingly for a prêt-à-porter fashion show, against consumerism.

The poems contained messages against the glorification of celebrities …

One of Montgomery’s poems is:

“I close my eyes and think of all the things I
Don’t want and I visualise them rolling by,
Vacuum cleaners, 3-d tvs, new phones and
Cars and hand bags, a neat house in the
Suburbs. I think of how unhappy these things
Would make me and then I am free. If you
Don’t want these things they can never
Truly take you. Then I think of wood and I
Think of my bones as wood, something
Slow and put here a long time ago”

(Cambridge Heath Road, London, 2011)

Show POV

[portfolio_slideshow id=12658 align=center width=699 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]
(Most photos: Skylar Williams)

Reminiscent of the theme of this poem is a sweatshirt’s declaration, “Poetry finally kills ‘celebrity culture.’” Perhaps a jab at the way the fashion industry is paired with Hollywood celebrity increasingly today, EACH x OTHER insists that fashion is best paired with other art.

EACH x OTHER insists that fashion is best paired with other art.

“It turned out this way cos you
Dreamed it this way, cos all you could
Dream is what you saw in magazines,
And this is how it feels to win, and
Have everything, all the luxury and
Power you ever wanted and still feel
Disgusted. Ronald Reagan blues/a
Million-dollar house in L.A./
50 f*cking white anaemic stars my
Darling and all the blood and dust of
The world on your hands”

(Old Street, London, 2012)

Even after acquiring fortune, everything you ever wanted, you might still feel “disgusted.” The music selection for the show, “Hey Now” and “Wasting My Young Years” by London Grammar adds a yet another facet to this mantra of dissatisfaction.

Even after acquiring fortune, you might still feel “disgusted.”

The first song expresses an irrepressible infatuation and an instinctive burning desire, similar to the dreams of luxury in the poem:

“Hey now, letters burning by my bed for you
Hey now, I can feel my instincts here for you, hey now”

(“Hey Now” by London Grammar, from If You Wait, 2013)

The song “Wasting My Young Years” posits that we might be “chasing old ideas” and walking a straight line through life, unquestioning if there might be a better way to live.

This progression — from the chase to acquisition to dissatisfaction — is a framework that can be applied to anything, but EACH x OTHER underscores its application in consumerism, and the thoughtlessness that often accompanies the pursuit of fashion. The designer, in this poetry / fashion collaboration, challenges us to act not as reflections of others, but rather to reflect more and propose our own style.

##

 
With love,

FWO

Paris Style Report

Over the course of the two months I’ve been in Paris, I’ve seen the monochromatic — containing or using only one color — look everywhere. Whether you’re strolling the Champs-Élysées or going out for the night, Parisians keep their looks simple and chic by choosing a singular color such as gray, paired with multiple pieces varying in shades and textures of that color for an interesting and aesthetically pleasing final outfit.

Although in Paris the streets are typically filled with monochromatic outfits of all black or navy, you will occasionally find bystanders in other neutrals like grays, beiges, greens, and soft muted brown tones throughout the hustling and crowded streets.

Monochrome looks are stylish and effective in keeping a look clean and easy: and since you are only using one color throughout the entire outfit, it’s easy to mix fun textures such as fur or velvet with a leather or cotton piece and be able to get away with it!

Monochrome looks help keep a look clean and easy.

The typically Parisian cutting-edge monochrome is effortlessly accomplished with a piece such a little black dress (LBD) and long black trench coat, paired with black heels for sexiness and an added classic feel. All-black looks are popular among Parisians because they exude a feeling of conservativeness mixed with elegance, which reflects their Catholic-based culture.

All-black looks exude a feeling of conservativeness mixed with elegance.

Alternatively popular among Parisians is the androgynous, or masculine approach: pairing a black top and trouser with an oversized blazer or jacket and loafer. On the other hand, monochromatic looks can be feminine and luxurious using blush and pinky tones or creams, or by mixing chunky knit and lush fabrics with fitted contemporary pieces.

Monochromatic looks can be feminine and luxurious using blush and pinky tones or creams.

When styling your next outfit, keep in mind a few things:

One color does not mean boring. Varying shades of a single color add depth and interest to the final result, whether the color is black, beige, or even red. Remember that monochrome is all about simplicity, effortlessness, and sometimes saving room in your closet.

So whether you’re in Paris or some other part of this big world, keep in mind that fashion and trends are constantly evolving into chicer and better versions of themselves. So don’t be afraid to branch out into this new variety of singular styling and have fun with what you wear.

Fashion and trends are constantly evolving into chicer and better versions of themselves.

So now it’s up to you: pick your favorite color and put this new Parisian trend to the test.

##

 
With love,

FWO

Wanda Nylon Fall 2016, Paris Fashion Week

(Images: Gio Staiano / NOWFASHION)

One dives into Wanda Nylon’s FW16 collection feet-first. The stunning vinyl knee-highs draw the eye immediately; a more muted yet still assertive ensemble follows.

Besides turning a cliché on its head, Wanda Nylon’s FW prêt-à-porter packs a punch, taking sophisticated pieces from their basic status to whole new levels. A stunning vinyl coat, see-through overalls, leather scarves, and the knee-highs … always the knee-highs.

A stunning vinyl coat, see-through overalls, leather scarves, and the knee-highs.

(Images: Gio Staiano / NOWFASHION via FashionGPS)

What’s mundane is interesting again, as Wanda Nylon plays with material in unexpected ways; ways that have me digging through couch cushions for extra cash.

Or at the very least, I can be inspired by the collection’s determination to take what’s commonplace to catwalk levels.

A rainy day doesn’t have to be so horrid for one’s look after all. I certainly could have used a pair of those boots and perhaps one of the vinyl baseball caps later in the rainy Parisian day, though I can hardly expect much else this time of year.

A rainy day doesn’t have to be so horrid for one’s look after all.

The mouth-obscuring turtlenecks alone are worth their weight in gold for those wind-blasted winter months.

Wanda Nylon just made winter much, much easier and much, much more appealing (if that’s even possible to begin with).

##

Learn More

wandanylon.fr

 
With love,

FWO

Nehera Fall 2016, Paris Fashion Week

One of the funny things about the concept of “age” is a certain blindness: a “young person” is not really a young person at all. They’re a person who is young now. An “older person” is actually a young person … traveled to a different part of a timeline. We are never young or old “people”: we are all time travelers.

We are never young or old “people”: we are all time travelers.

Today was the first day of the prêt-à-porter Paris Fashion Week, the first day of March, and the first day of my 23rd year as a human. Nehera kicked off my fashion week at the Richelieu-Louvois Library (where I also had the opportunity to briefly catch up on my fashion reading).

Today was the first day of the prêt-à-porter Paris Fashion Week, and the first day of my 23rd year as a human.

Nehera itself is a brand with a long journey through time. Popular in the 1930s, it was relaunched in 2014. The brand as a whole is in the process of bridging a sizable gap in zeitgeist versus its origins: and now is a perfect time, with a renewed sense of style sweeping the planet with a reborn appreciation for clean lines and pre-1950s touches (and possibly nowhere like menswear).

So it’s only fitting that the current collection would focus on on evolving definitions.

The current collection focuses on on evolving definitions.

Pre-Fall 2016

[portfolio_slideshow id=12482 align=center width=699 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=false]

Stylistically speaking, the Winter 2016 collection is where comfy-glam meets private-eye chic.

Designer Samuel Drira uses draping silk, velvet, and cotton to create an almost contagious comfort. While the plaid corduroy jackets — a slightly more structured material — held a stronger shape, the cotton kimonos looked more like transportable blankets.

The models in the show were exceptionally diverse — notably diverse in terms of race, but also in age. Please look at this goddess:

A standout was this jacket, capturing comfort and adventure in one.

These still photos don’t do justice to what was in reality a shimmering gold sea. Seriously — take look at our Snapchat (follow us at “fashionwkonline”!).

The capes with crisscross attached fronts inspire the thought of the bottom of a suitcase. Perhaps not an accident was placing the younger models in these capes.

Indeed: time travelers.

##

Learn More

nehera.com

 
With love,

FWO