Hats and volume, usually the two are essential haute couture ingredients, I feel, they played a different and fantastic role in this Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2011 season. From Armani Privé‘s extremely modern luxury, almost taking a cosmic appeal, to Jean-Paul Gaultier’s mixture of the grandest of couture with British punk, indicating his anarchic role as [...]
The Fall/Winter 2011-2012 season was a complete surprise, a delightful and often colourful surprise for men. From Milan to Paris, fashion houses and designers played a pivotal role to change what is usually expect of the Fall/Winter wardrobe of layers and dark tones, instead opting for plenty of red, grey (a regular star colour for [...]
The Spring/Summer 2011 men’s collections proved to be quite colourful and inventive; it was overall a scrumptious and exciting season. From Prada’s multi layers of colorful “uniforms”, and Jil Sander’s un-bashful festivity of vivid hues, to the more elegant black-and-white-with-hints-of-earth-tones collection by Dolce&Gabbana and the sophistication of Viktor&Rolf’s forties chic. Here are SQUA.RE’s favorite highlights [...]
Inspired by the sorrow and isolation of wild roses, growing apart from the rest, and sometimes in unusual places, the Indonesian-born, Paris-based Chinese up-and-comer, Harry Halim used plenty of lace, black, and a sophisticated intertwine of different fabrics for his second collection, Spring/Summer 2011 collection. This collection puts Harry Halim on the map of the [...]
The Spring/Summer 2011 collections were one of the best seasons the fashion world has witnessed in quite some time. Lavish, ultra colourful, glam are keywords to describe next Spring’s most fabulous collection, with strong seventies, hints of minimalism and Yves Saint Laurent references sited by many designers as fundamental inspirations for the season. Our choices [...]
The setting was a dressage show of extravagance, with overhead chandeliers and flamenco music; the spectacular background was the perfect scene for Jean-Paul Gaultier’s final collection for Hermès (Christopher Lemaire will take the reins next season). There were Gaultier’s signature bustiers, leather corsets to harness the body, and more layers of leather (including a transparent [...]
I first discovered Commuun at a “hush hush” New York sample sale a few years ago, and have been hooked on the label ever since that indulgence. Winner of LVMH and Longchamp’s ANDAM awards in 2007, Commuun is comprised of Japanese duo Kaito Hori and Iku Furudate whose combined backgrounds include London’s Central Saint Martins and Tokyo’s [...]
The trickery of Ann Demeulemeester is that she hides her influences with only subtle indications. Inspired by the chic sporty clothes of fencers, Demeulemeester deconstructed the uniform as if it was cut with a sharp sword and put back together again. There were also the sharp contrast between fabrics and masculine elements. This was indeed [...]
Isabel Marant’s latest offering maintains her boho glam but with strong influences from her very first trip to California this year. She describes the retro touch as something brought back “from the early days of surfing and skateboarding” along the SoCal coastline. Sure enough, models in pretty ruffles, florals, stripes, lace, mesh, cable knits, shorts, [...]
Giambattista Valli not only understands what an impeccably graceful and stylish woman want, but knows exactly how to deliver, with subtle inspirations that are not visible to the naked eye (or the chic-ignorant). For Spring/Summer 2011, the inspiration was his take on the Italian futuristic designs from the sixties, with a sense of sixties Rock [...]
