DIY is going couture. While the former Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal collections have been rather superior DIY with shredded paper experiments and balloon fantasies, this time,  the Paris-based fashion forward house is coming up with some serious ready for runway fashion art. And although i truly liked the handcrafted and imperfect touch of the former Artisanal pieces, i would be a complete douchbag not admiring, adoring…praising…the this years output. But if i could state a wish….i`d gently ask to rethink the fantastic mirror top again for runway. It`s just too great to rest in the archives. (more…)

Indeed, Raphael Young`s creations are the opposite of clothing items. His artwork called shoe is beyond all characteristics of an accessories. It´s nothing that completes an outfit – it`s the outfit maker itself. And so I dare to state, that instead of “urbanising haute couture shoes” – like Raphael Young himself considers his design attitude-, he´s “couturizing urban shoes”.
Platform, architectural and geometric shapes as well as material-mixes have been seen multiple times in shoe design. But the way, the Seoul-born designer courageously forces up those attributes to a uber-pointed scale, is beyond prêt-a-porter, it`s shoe couture and true master class. Compared to what we´ve seen in his first collection, Raphael Young´s autumn/winter pieces push the level of shoe design out of reach for a standard fashionista but into the scale of the superior fashion. I am curious how far the designer will go with his third collection.

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Art, costumes, design and animations, Jum Nakao channels his output into various directions, but often uses fashion as common denominator. Even when can be considered as”oldies”, these marvellous paper couture might be some of the most stunning artwork the Japanese-Brasilian artist came up with so far.

“A costura do invisivel”, which approximately could be transpated as “sewing the invisible” is a project, Jum Nakao created for the Paper-Fashion exhibiton at Moma. With incredible love for details, he created those amazing paper dresses which were torn down by the models during a presentation on a runway.

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Regarding my friends who tie the knot, the big challenge seems not only to find the right partner, it´s also about finding the right dress. Some prefer the princess way with lots of frills and petticoats, others go for clean shapes, but they all have in common that they want to look insanely great.
So, by accident, i came by the Kaviar Gauche Bridal Couture …and thought, this could be the final destination for some searching soon-to-be-brides. (more…)

© stylemag.net/Aicha Reguieg

With their show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, design duo Scherer González met all needs and expectations of the fashion crowds expectations to a couture label.
The unique design and aesthetics might be a matter of taste, but undisputadely, Constanze G. González and Paul Scherer came up with one of the most affectionate and high-quality runway shows Berlin had seen this season…

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Since June 18th, the Barbican Art Gallery in London has opened its doors to honor the Dutch design duo Victor & Rolf. The highlights from 15 years of Victor & Rolf fashion design are presented. And…what makes it spectacular? Mentioning is, that it´s the first exhibition ever in the UK that centers the work of the Dutch designers. Besides that, the most surprising fact is, that the key dresses haven´t only put from the designer´s fashion archive to the museum – instead of choosing the easy way, Viktor & Rolf reproduced every single key style in a puppet size.
50 dolls, dressed up in the 50 most mentionable designs by Viktor & Rolf are now standing around in the Barbican Art Gallery, waiting for admiring gawks, for ecstatic delights and for jealous astonishments. For those, who doesn´t live in the middle of London – you have time till September 18^th to book a flight or, you´ll find great pictures and more info at Viktor & Rolf and on the site of the Barbican Art Gallery.

Photos via Victor & Rolf

And here, the official press text follows.
A stunning new exhibition showcasing the work of Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf opens on 18 June. This is the first time in the United Kingdom that an exhibition has been devoted to this highly influential duo. Over the past 15 years Viktor & Rolf have taken the fashion world by storm with their particular blend of cool irony and surreal beauty.
The House of Viktor & Rolf presents each of the designer’s signature pieces from 1992 to now, shown in a specially commissioned and characteristically theatrical installation that dominates the entire Gallery. Highlights include pieces from Atomic Bomb, 1998-99, featuring dramatic mushroom cloud-like cushioned necklines and Russian Doll, 1999-2000, in which a single model was painstakingly dressed by Viktor & Rolf until she was gasping under 70 kilogrammes of exquisite haute couture. For the collection Bells, 2000-2001, models emerged from a smoke-filled space in clothes embroidered with hundreds of brass bells, so they were heard before they could be seen.
Drawing on the Dutch tradition of silver plating a baby’s first shoe as a keepsake, the climax of Viktor & Rolf’s Autumn/Winter collection of 2006-07, was a strapless wedding dress with a wide petticoated knee length skirt, silver plated, including even the bride’s bouquet.

Publication
A 256 page hardback book, the most comprehensive on the work of Viktor & Rolf to date, including 400 fashion photographers, catwalk images and exclusive illustrations and polaroids, is available at a special exhibition price of £32.95 (RRP £35).

Text by Caroline Evans and Susannah Frankel. Designed by FUEL. Published by Merrell in association with Barbican Art Gallery.

The House of Viktor & Rolf Shop
Be sure not to miss The House of Viktor & Rolf shop. As well as selling the book that accompanies the exhibition, a specially commissioned silk scarf by the designers, limited edition versions of their famous perfumes and exhibition postcards, Viktor & Rolf have also selected a unique range of designer objects, books and curiosities that have inspired them.

Fashion Late-Every Thursday until 10pm
Throughout the exhibition, Barbican Art Gallery is open every Thursday evening until 10pm. Join us for late night themed evenings with a BIG difference. Enjoy fashion fun and games, performances, discussions, master classes, workshops and Off the Peg talks by leading fashion commentators.
Meet a friend at The House of Viktor & Rolf bar where you can enjoy a specially mixed cocktail.

The first Thursday of every month offers that extra bit of interactive fashion excitement. Part of Time Out First Thursdays.

The House of Viktor & Rolf events programme is presented by Barbican Art Gallery in partnership with Premsela, Dutch Platform for Design and Fashion.

At first sight, Berlin and couture match like Paris and curry sausage.
On closer examination, you, my dearest reader might notice that this thought is oafish one-dimensional – and unfair – and boring – and…whatever!
Like Paris isn´t only standing for the Grand Defilees and renowned fashion houses,
Berlin doesn´t only stand for edgy fashion and electronic music culture.

It´s time to look closely and envisage those that doesn´t “fit” at first sight, those who set themselves apart from the common fashion language of the town, who dare to do something different and those, who tie in with the times, when Berlin wasn´t only standing for “poor but sexy” but for glamour, style and extravagance.

It´s time for Scherer González.
A young label that courageously does the high fashion in Berlin, a label that connects couture with prêt-a-porter and a label that is currently attracting more attention abroad than back home in Germany.
Why seek far afield when the good could not be any closer by?

Constanze G. González and Paul Scherer met while studying fashion design at Berlin´s Lette Verein.
In 2004 the young designer duo founded their own fashion label and since them, Gonzales and Scherer recreate repeatedly award-winning feminine-vanguard creations that conjoin extremes in a gentle and harmonic way.
Cyberspace-aesthetics meets rococo-charme, fabulous robes strike bondage-elements, organic flowing fabrics meet cuts that master curves.

Besides the big robes it´s the complex corsages that emerge as collection highlights.
With a strong waistline, the shaping corsages punctuate a feminine way of moving and wearing.
In being voluminous and feathery at the same time and in combination with frail fabrics and soft flowing panels the corsages create THE tension and strength that a great collection inheres.

But it´s not only the cuts and shapes, the collection pieces and their interplay that pushes Scherer González in the front row of young couturiers.
It´s also the materials and their unconventional treatment that turns heads. Luxurious materials such as duchesse-silk, cashmere, ostrich feathers, kid and snake leather as well as lamb nappa achieve an unconventional look and extraordinary optics in being arranged individually with special coloring and washing. The high-class finishing is given through impressive and extraordinary details and it´s pretty obvious that Scherer González is more than ready to conquer the world´s catwalks.

Related posts: The high art of fashion, Miyake Paper Works.
Others about Scherer González: The Coveted, Obsessed with Shoes.
Photos via Scherer González

Today, the couture will form the day on What´s Wrong With The Zoo so what would be more obvious than starting with rendering homage to the grandmasters? (more…)