WOODS & WOODS A/W 09, RECEPTION.

Partnering with WOODS & WOODS, the people at Asia Pacific Breweries (commonly known as Tiger Beer) invited both Ridhwan and me for WOODS & WOODS A/W 09-10 show.
By collaborating with the show, Tiger Beer hopes to reach out to wider audiences with their campaign of ‘Get Your Sexy Back’—A youth-led moderate drinking programme that reaches out to young adults of today, encouraging them to practice moderate and responsible drinking.

The location was at Mohamed Sultan (same location as SFW), an invite-only event that was packed with industry (and empire building) people, friends and the usual party-crashers club kids. Like any other events I’ve been to, I had to struggle with the ‘blogger’ status. Asia Pacific Breweries had us on the front row and the people behind us were clearly not happy about it knowing that we’re ‘just bloggers’. It’s the same plastic chair; it shape, same density and probably made in the same china factory, why the hell are you bitching? You’re at the back and I’m in the front, Michael Jackson is dead, deal with it! I hate it when I have to deal with such hierarchy issues. It’s not where u sit or if your eyeliner is thicker than mine, it’s about how u get the collection!

After the show, we had one on one time with the designer. He was very soft-spoken and reserved but he went on explaining about his collection….. Until two girls rudely interrupted our session and he ran out of the building. Oh yes, I did an interview (which I hope you won’t see) with a media person; thank god for alcohol, I wasn’t nervous!
It’s not the drinking, it’s how you’re drinking!

Photos by Ridhwan Sesapar

Dinie.

COUTURE FALL 2009 HIGHLIGHTS.

We’ll ever see anything like Christian Dior Fall Couture 2006 ever again--It was the most impressive collection to date. To see no Anna on Couture week and seeing no red at Valentino, this season was disappointing.

Lacroix was expected not to show this season, but he did. A shows with a story to tell but it was mediocrity that he presented.
Im baffled, Givenchy looking a little like Theysken, the only thing that could relate to Tisci’s esthetic was studs and more metal studs to follow. Speaking of copycats, the obvious was Elie Saab with an all-white show, it was beautiful. Karl Lagerfeld did that at the same exact location where Saab showed his Fall Couture.

I love what Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli did at Valentino.The workmanship that went to each individual piece was impressive, despite it not looking anything like Valentino. Yes, I won’t discuss Chanel.

Image via WWD

Dinie.

THE SARTORIAL EQUATION.

According to men.style.com, there is such thing as the ‘Sartorial Equation’.
Shoe x 3 = Suit = Watch/10 = Shirt x 6 = (tie) 10
Assuming a price of a shoe cost a dollar, the price of your suit should cost 3 times more (3 dollars; the price of 3 shoes, 6 shirts), which is one tenth the price of your watch and so on. These are useful guidelines to budget your purchases.

Image by Jak & Jil

Dinie.

TOTALLY SPIES FABU BY KARL LAGERFELD.

What does Uncle Karl have that you don’t? (Besides the obvious, 3 Spies with intense camel-toe) The answer: An animated role in Totally Spies!, A television series produces by French company Marathon Production. Uncle Karl voiced the antagonist Fabu. –Short for fabulous? I love Totally Spies but I'm not obsessed. I have the laser lipstick and compact powder gadget from Mcdonalds, that is all. (Still not obsessed.) You can watch a snippet of it HERE.

Image via Fashionologie

Dinie.

MINIMARKET, MALIBU IN SWEDEN.

Swedish Clothing Label minimarket is feeling the ripple effect of economy downfall. The Designers, which consist of sisters Sofie, Pernilla and Jennifer Elevestedt took a different approach of presentation-- Model street teams dressed in Minimarket roam the street of Stockholm.

“ Instead of doing a show this season, they dressed models in the new collection and had them show up at various venues and events during the week” according to the photog of StyleSightings.

Images by Stylesightings

PARIS MENS S/S 2010 HIGHLIGHTS.

Paris offered what Milan didn’t and possibly couldn’t. Galliano’s design was close to non-existence and simply atrocious. Nevermind the hundreds of designers with endless exploration on deconstruction and Damir Doma alikes, my mind is set on my favorites.

Two words: Playful Practicality. The styling at Lanvin was sheepishly looking like Drew Barrymore’s character in Charlie’s Angel. (Remember when she disguises herself as a man with the stache?) The relaxed languor mood in the clothes still represents the house menswear aesthetic. Like the rest of Paris show, there were traces of Sportswear -- Lanvin’s was subdued than the rest. The collection appeared feminine. That femininity was overcome with added details such as rep ties and pocket squares.



The unique artisanal approach at Dries Van Noten with mismatch fabric challenges the imagination. Uncommon textiles for menswear collection, traditional Southeast Asian textiles were reduced to the simplest form – What seems to be Songkets were sculpted into sharp double-breasted jackets. Ironically, the soundtrack that accompanied this modern-ethnic inspired collection was ‘boom boom pow’.



Raf Simons is no longer obsessed with the Future; he presented a new generation of Adams known as ‘The Second Decade’. Not like what we’ve seen in the past collection, it feels like the brand is maturing rapidly. The Raf Man is all grown up. I particularly liked the halfway cummerbunds with the utility belt fronts.

The location was a garden and supposedly the Garden of Eden inspired the concept. That explains the redundant belts coiling on hands, necks and waist. Perhaps it symbolizes the serpent or simply one of cases of an innovative design gone wrong.

Image Via WWD & Various Sources.

Dinie

MILAN MENS S/S 2010 HIGHLIGHTS.

Literal translation were depict through colors mostly, not so much in form of werability or function for summer. Milan was overloaded with mesh, too much mesh. Clothes were looking too concrete on purpose rather than "running off to Hawaii" Prada said before the show.



To follow, Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana did jackets with heavy metallic and sequins embellishments. The only garment that could relate to summer was the y-fronts on Madonna's boy toy.



At Burberry, Christopher Bailey showed variety from crayon hues to chalky pastels. Tailored outers were slouchy and looking wilted-- in a good presentable way. Blazers unlined, puckering trenches seams evoked precipitousness but still was well executed.



Minimalists run the risk of under-designing-- And I couldn't agree more. The much anticipated Jil Sander Collection was unsatisfactory. Raf Simon showed a washed-out collection at Jil, which lacks designs. Inspired by Japanese-French painter Tsuguharu Foujita (and possibly Prada's trembled blossom ) , Tsuguharu's paintings of Western bodies were excessively 'painted' across shirts, pants and knitwear.



Another minimalist that showed in Milan was Calvin Klein. Zucchelli meticulous tailoring techniques and minor detailing was abundance yet subtle. Despite the bold and masculine structure of the clothes, everything seems weightless or tissue-weight.

Images Via WWD.

Dinie.