Paris Fashion Week: Chloé

The Chloé show was a real treat if you're into the chic and sophisticated buttoned-up look like I am. I really like the buttoned-up shirts and high collars on the blouses. Sometimes less is more and this trend is gaining in popularity since socialites like Alexa Chung swear by the buttoned-up shirt look and pull it off perfectly every time. I really liked the relaxed, but still sophisticated feel that this collection conveyed.

Some of the trends from the other Paris and Milan runways could easily be spotted here, like the heavy use of leather, the python, the fringes and the colorful patchwork. The soft colors and earth tones were brightened up towards then end of the show with a few outfits featuring bright colored accessories and denim. Amongst the most interesting looks in my opinion were definitely the ones involving python prints, and especially the dresses or the cream python top paired with large brown suede trousers. Other looks I particularly liked are the green striped sweater paired with oversized cream trousers or the oversized leather trousers. I loved the simplicity of the accessories and the subtlety of the details that adds a special touch to the garments - a subtle thin golden belt on a buttoned up dress, the minimal patchwork on a leather coat or a leather scarf. Here are my favorite looks from the runway:

Photos courtesy of Imaxtree.com and Matteo Volta

And here's the runway video if you want to see more of this collection:

Paris Fashion Week: Capturing moments

Capturing moments in time can be one of the most rewarding things a photographer can do. When you stop chasing people and just start looking around yourself and discovering what's going on, when you start to be interested in the story behind the picture, that's when your photographs get a deeper meaning. These are a couple of pictures I took when the atmosphere was less intense at the Grand Palais at the Chanel fashion show. Here I managed to detach myself from the craziness of the crowds in search for stories. Whether it's a radiant smile on a beautiful girl, bloggers having fun, some friends laughing and commenting wholeheartedly what they just saw on a phone screen, a tired photographer sitting down on the pavement or a mere passer-by with his bike caught in the midst of the fashion craze, these pictures make me wonder what these people were thinking about at that particular instant and they remind me that there was more to this scene than just the fashion and the looks that everyone was commenting - there were above all people.

Berlin Fashion Week: Romanian Designers - A Fashion Tale

Designer: Andreea Musat

Before we dive into the Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris, I've prepared something very special for you this morning! It's the first time that I have a guest writer on this blog! She's going to give us detailed comments on the Romanian Designers fashion show she attended to at the Berlin Fashion Week. Welcome Tana!

Another journey took me to Berlin, where the fashion week made room for the creative crowd between January the 19th and 22nd. One of the last shows on the first day, a very promising one and well visited, was a show called Romanian Designers.

Backstage at the Romanian Designers fashion show

Local celebrities

Can a designer stand out with his name and own craft within such a setting, or is he or she over-branded by the name of the show? What the public is to judge, remains to be seen. The fact is that the collections of the four designers could not have shown more variety.

Let’s have a look:

Irina Schrotter showed a sophisticated look. Elegant and grown-up. It’s what women wear, not girlies. The color range features black, beige or nude. Leather complemented with big fur-jackets and scarves. A lot of dresses and hence a very feminine collection. Irina herself isn’t a newcomer. The well-established designer founded her business around 20 years ago and launches several lines under her own brand name.

Designer: Irina Schrotter

Designer: Irina Schrotter

Designer: Irina Schrotter

Designer: Irina Schrotter

A graphic collection, seemingly inspired by the 1960s was shown by Alina Botea. Combining and contrasting materials like silk with felt or pailletes. Pastelly colors and vivid prints completed the look dominated by clear shapes and forms. The designer herself speaks of winterly landscapes, of snowflakes dancing in the light. Indeed, the lightness of her designs is what stands out. And I’d love one of those easygoing shorts with snowflake-prints!!

Designer: Alina Botea

Designer: Alina Botea

Designer: Alina Botea

Designer: Alina Botea

But there was still more to come. Andreea Musat showed a lot of feminine must-haves. It fits perfectly into the so often praised jet set of the 1970s-look which inevitably will become le dernier cri for the coming season. And a warm camel, beige and brown always flatters a girl’s tan. Combining this with a fifties’ swingin’ attitude and soft materials, it’s the kind of outfit you wear when you are light-hearted. Belts structure the silhouette at waists’ height. Soft layering allows skirt, cardigan and scarf transcendent into that playful look, that we truly adore. Elle magazine already praised the designs of the young lady by 2008 making her winner of the award ‘Best Young Designer’ in Romania.

Designer: Andreea Musat

Designer: Andreea Musat

Very edgy: A huge LIKE goes to the collection of Lucian Broscatean. Where shape dominates, there is no room for playing with colors. Broscatean seems to master the art of cutting and taking the idea of conventional shapes for typical items ad absurdum. With wool or cashmere, he fabricates dresses and coats. Or were those dresses and coats in one? It does remind me of Japanese styles, or the Margiela-type of design for the intellectually buying fashionista. In fact, it is no wonder that the name and inspiration of the collection is referred to a “closed garden” of hyper technology. The individual inside this environment is wrapped into Lucians “protective and spiritual layers”. A shirt will be cut and re-arranged in strange manner, and so does the designer show what creative destruction can be in a fashion context. The Designer already received various awards and prizes in the past.

Designer: Lucian Broscatean

Designer: Lucian Broscatean

Designer: Lucian Broscatean

A summary? Feminism dominates, women win over girls and you see a lot of leg in dark tights! And yes, Romanian fashion rocks!

Yours, Tana-Maria Schächtele.

Berlin Fashion Week: Day 5 - Bllack Noir

My last post concerning the Berlin Fashion Week will be presenting a very interesting show from last night: Bllack Noir - "Natura Obscura". I usually think that the darker and "blacker" the better, so I really enjoyed this show. The pants are incredibly form-fitting and flattering and the tops, the sweaters and the jackets are amazing. Here are some o my favorite pieces:

Here's the backstage and catwalk video! Look closely at the blazers when the models are walking back from the audience - have you seen the cutouts at the elbows? Great way to give a unique look to a plain black blazer!

I hope you enjoyed this week as much as I did!

Berlin Fashion Week: Day 5

Here's the last day of fashion week for now! I will start with Marcel Ostertag's collection which gave me a wild feel with those over the top hairdos and fringed tops, very interesting. I liked the mix between vivid colors and the brown tones and the lush collars of his leather and fur coats. Here are my favorite pieces:

Check the video for more floor-length dresses and some more colors!

The next show is from the Irene Luft collection, that I really enjoyed watching. I liked the styling, the lace details and the playful mix between transparent and opaque. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

...and here's the video with more great pieces!

See you tonight for the last post about the Berlin Fashion Week!