Liu Fang Spring/Summer 2013: Sculpted Cashmere (for Prête-moi Paris!)

Blogger and my Parisian big sister Melissa of Prête-moi Paris! asked me to attend Chinese designer, Liu Fang's Spring/Summer 2013 show for the China in Paris Initiative this past Paris Fashion Week. Below I've posted the article I wrote for her site.

Dubbed “the sculptor of soft gold” by Vogue China, Liu Fang was the chosen designer for the China in Paris Initiative this year, showing on the runways of Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 for the first time. Liu Fang presented a collection of three dimensional, geometric cashmere pieces that were sculpted by using a special knitting technique. On the cream-carpeted runway, taught cords stretched from ceiling to floor, suggesting the instrumental strings of the simple soundtrack and framing the ethereal beings who floated on sky-high platform shoes that tapered forward without heels. The designer meticulously played with shape, tailoring the cashmere and draping panels of different knits. The models were like otherworldly warriors with sculpted dresses that resembled futurist armor and hairstyles that elongated their heads. The dresses featured vertebrae-like, 3D-relief vines that snaked around the models’ torsos and sensual cutouts that added sex appeal. The sculpted knits were paired with gossamer knit tights. As the artistic director of PALUOPO, a cashmere company that provides fine knits to top European fashion houses, it was no surprise that Liu Fang’s cashmere sculptures were well received. Using cream knits, the immaculate collection suggests futuristic purity and a promise of rebirth.

See more photos from the show after the jump...

xx, Q.

Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2013: A Circus of Geometrics

While I continue to work on my articles for Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 over the next few days, I will post my editorial translations from Vogue.fr of a few New York Fashion Week shows. French text by Jennifer Neyt, English translation by Quinn Connors.

"The main inspiration this season is the t-shirt," explained Marc Jacobs backstage at his Spring/Summer 2013 show. After a last whimsical season exploring dreamy, imaginary lands, the designer has returned to a more concrete idea of fashion, but that's not to say he didn't lose his illusionist's knack of surprising his audience, and injecting shock and awe where it's least expected. Compared to last year, the show's decor was more minimalist in appearance but in actuality, everything was a puzzling trompe-l'oeil. As the looks progressively popped up one by one, they were distorted and split by the distorting mirrors surrounding the runway, in a tricky game of reflections. The first look out was a white t-shirt with a black barcode printed on the front worn simply over black panties. T-shirts magically elongated into dresses with Bridget Riley-esque optical illusion prints sectioned off into stripes, checks and houndstooth, catching the eye and altering perceptions. Skirts were worn below the knee and paired with cropped tops showing off models' navels. A Mickey Mouse black and white sweatshirt passed by, in a nod to the designer who spoke backstage about his favorite childhood Mickey t-shirt. The prim and proper models wore flat, pointed Mary Janes  that curled at the tip ever so slightly, and delicate floral shapes blossomed on cuffs and ruffled around their necks in a very jester-meets-mime spirit. In the Marc Jacobs circus, all of the garment details accentuated the theatrical side of the center ring event, and the optical effects were even more mesmerizing on the evening dresses. Patterns gradually morphed from bodices into skirts in a gradient effect of checks and stripes, and trompe-l'oeils were present even in the cutting, as an awe-inspiring evening dress rippled down the runway with a skirt cut into strips that cleverly blended into the striped motif of the dress. During the finale, the models returned from the mirrors in a geometric formation, plunging the audience deeper into the designer's contemporary retro vision of the season.

See the review with the collection, backstage, details and front row galleries on Vogue.fr in English.

See more of My Vogue Translations on Pinterest.

xx, Q.

[source: vogue.fr]