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]
Tommy Hilfiger brought guests to the Chelsea Market in New York City for the presentation of their Spring/Summer 2013 collection, and seated them on a suspended footbridge with a view of the Hudson River. Lit with miner's lamps lightly blowing in the wind, the show had the perfect New York summer's end ambiance that made us feel like we were still on vacation, taking us back a couple weeks to sitting in the sand and enjoying the sun. The show began on a festive note with the hit song had us dancing all summer, I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li, and for Tommy Hilfiger, stripes will be the hit of next summer. We saw them in variations throughout the collection, appearing as mariner-striped shirts, pajama suits, uniforms and menswear-styled blouses in washed-out vintage colors characteristic of the preppy label. Continuing the nautical-chic effect, stripes were also found on menswear-styled suits, long evening dresses, cardigans, polos and blouses. The retro sportswear-inspired wardrobe will manifest next season in long backless dresses tied with gold braided rope and styled with espadrilles. This whimsical collection provokes a feeling of summer in the Hamptons with your closest friends, watching the August shooting stars while enjoying a beachfront bonfire. Tommy Hilfiger's fresh, summery and relaxed-chic wardrobe is already giving us spring fever.
