NEW YORK FASHION WEEK F/W15-16

"New York, Concrete Jungle where dreams are made of"
"Let's hear it for New York, New York"



All hail Winter!!!! All hail fabrics !! All hail Fashion Week Autumn Winter 15-16 !! I was BEYOND excited to see this years Fashion Week for autumn/winter 15 for a few reasons. Firstly, I was expecting big things from designers as their summer 15 collections were all crafted to perfection and performed beautifully on the runway so I just knew that designers were going "okay, we impressed, we can't let them down now" and secondly, if you don't already know, fall and winter are my favourite seasons and I'm always dying to see the way designers take the classic idea of fur, leather and wool and use it to create something different every time. You can never get bored of fur, leather and wool when it's done right, people. And designers always manage to do it right. And that is why, years after years, decades after decades, as soon as the chilly months roll in, a fur coat has to be an essential in anyones' wardrobe and a leather jacket IS an essential in everyones' wardrobe. One of the best things I love about winter is having the ability to re-wear, re-style and combine a heap of different pieces in your wardrobe to create a whole different look, perfect for those gals who don't want to spend a heap of their money on 10 different pairs of jeans and 10 different coloured sweaters. All you need is a couple of essentials and you're good to go: you can layer summer pieces under winter staples and create a whole new winter wardrobe without spending a single cent! This is even easier to do in f/w 15-16 as 70's trends are back in and layering is now deemed highly appropriate. Note: please layer with care. Layering does not include 21 shirts and 2 jackets. Pls.


Without further rambling, let me show you a heap of favourite looks from various designers from Autumn/Winter 15-16 New York Fashion Week. Before I start can I just say that Fashion Week has been amazing this year and I have had so much trouble breathing normally cause I am so amazed by the wonders of fabric and the art that is design and I cannot breathe well anymore. 

(photo courtesy of vogue.com)

If there could be only one thing to say about Ralph Laurens' line for FW15-16, it's the perfect way the brand embodied the American Dream. The collection screamed expensive, Upper east side couture. It represented that woman with the classic taste for winter clothes, sticking with tailored pants, high boots and bulky nude fur jackets, and even transformed an otherwise summer  ball gown into a winters' dream with the beautiful fur hat and the fur arm warmers that instantly reminded me of my childhood in Russia. Kudos to the team at Ralph Lauren for bringing back some warm memories and keeping it classic but with a twist; I could so see Serena Van Der Woodsen (GG reference) wearing each and every one of these garments whist strutting through the Upper East Side. 

(photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Proenza Schoulder is one of those brands that never really gets as much fame and attention as they should and I'm really upset about that because their line-ups are always striking and beautifully-made. One of the coolest things about the Fall/Winter 15-16 line up is how the colour palette was kept at a minimal; Proneza Schoulder only used grey,white,red and black, and the style was kept quite basic but accentuated with details such as a pleated side skirt, oversized trench coat wrap and dots on sheer fabric. The looks all featured fishnet stockings and minimalistic footwear, full bodied fur/trench coats made a very welcomed appearance, and grey is my new favourite colour. 

 (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Did someone say Aztec/Army attire was so last century? I didn't think so. KTZ killed NY Fashion Week by bringing a different take on what winter wear is supposed to be and I'm loving the uniqueness of the prints and cuts. The white fur jacket turned instantly into an insane, quirky piece with the addition of black aztec prints randomly scattered throughout the piece, leather made an appearance as a jacket/dress + tassle in hand (Fifty Shades of Grey?) and a COMPLETE new take on the full bodied fur jacket was seen as Aztec Prints yet again graced the sights and allowed the collection to stand out from the rest. Yellow, Red, Black and Grey were the main colours and I never knew that aztec could look so expensive. 

 (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

The clever thing about Baja Easts' FW15-16 line up is how beautifully they portrayed effortless elegance and down to earth style. Slouchy harem pants and loose fitted shirts and dresses were the big thing at Baja East combined with a simple sneaker to tie off the down to earth vibe of the whole collection. Creating their own version of the turtle neck, a few menswear pieces were also created and went above and beyond typical ideals of masculine attire as male models strutted out wearing full length gowns and feminine fur coats, giving a bit 'f*** you' to traditional gender roles (love x1000). Can we please also talk about how Baja East perfectly managed to combine slouch and style at the same time? You can literally wear any of these pieces to an event or a night in; casual but classy. Stylish but relaxed. Loving this line up. 

 (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

I told myself I would only pick my top 5 looks from each line up but I just couldn't when it came to Phillip Lims' FW15-16 collection. God damn, he killed it. My expectations were blown out the window and I was ever so amazed at the beauty and diversity of the line up; even though the collection itself had a set theme, each look was so different from each other and each represented a way of feminine yet comfortable dressing for the winter time. Shin length trench coats are to die for and tartan appeared more than once and I am ever to delighted to see a double breasted coat appear on the runway after quite a long hiatus. As you all know, I love my boots and boots boots boots was all I saw on models feet; perfect to tie in any outfit and go with every look within the collection. Enough said, I love Phillip Lim's stuff. and I love this line up. And I want all of those looks in my wardrobe, like, now. 

 (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Altuzzara's magnificent, pastel coloured, puffy fur coats were the first thing that drew me to check out the show and boy how impressed I was. Not only are those pastel fur jackets reminiscent of what I have been dreaming about for years and years now to pop up in my wardrobe, but they capture the beauty of winter clothing and the many different ways simple and classic things can be re-invented by simply changing a slight detail, like the colour. I absolutely love how Altzurra made sure that the pastel fur coats were matched with the exact same colour midi skirt to create a pop of colour to an otherwise seemingly nude and mature toned collection. Victorian inspired high collars are also a massive fave and combine perfectly with a trench coat. 

  (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Playing with fur is one of my favourite sights to see when it comes to design and I'm so happy that we saw some diversity amongst designers in terms of fur play. For Brandon Sun, that meant allowing fur to be both the statement piece and the complimentary piece in a look; a puffy burgundy and black coloured fur coat was enough to make people look twice whilst the fur shoulder accents added a unique and 70's inspired touch. My favourite piece is the leather trench coat with the burgundy fur shoulders; not only do leather and fur work to amazingly compliment each other, the burgundy acts as a subtle pop of colour to an otherwise not out of the ordinary looking jacket, something you would definitely look at twice if seen on the street. Love love love. 

  (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Jeremy Scott's FW15-16 line up makes me think of happy days, playing with dolls and learning how to write the alphabet. Taking it back to the times that we all wish to relive, this line up brought out the kid in me as I watched the show unravel and models strut out looking ridiculous and youthful yet stylish at the same time. The coolest thing about the line up is that even though the pieces and fabric choices are suited for a 10 year old rather than a 20 something + year old, the garments themselves are mature looking. I guess that's what the whole collection was portraying; there's a kid in all of us, even if we do dress like adults. And i strangely like it.  Blue and yellow stockings is something I have to invest in this winter and that pink coat reminds me of Rei Kawabuko's designs for Comme Des Garçons and it makes me feel warm and bubbly inside.  

  (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Yes yes YES to this line up, I am absolutely in love with the brands' array of different fabrics and how well those fabrics are combined together to compliment each other and make each other just that more amazing. Collars all the way up and pants loosely hanging all the way down, marc by marc jacobs brought a new definition to the word 'punk' as models stepped out onto the catwalk slash lawn looking effortlessly cool in their punk culture inspired pieces. Tartan, full leather, studded shoes and even word print never looked so modern and stylish, and even the dress + pants combo was deemed inappropriate until the showing of this line-up. Beanies are also back and I'm excited, cause I have always been a bit of a fan of beanies. 

 (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Michael Kors delivered some killer fur coats and super duper trench coats for this fall/winter 2015 and i'm very glad that the brand managed to add a touch of individuality to their pieces by playing with colours other than nudes and greys. The turqouise full length fur coat speaks to me on a personal level, and the sailor-inspired trench combined with a crisp cut high collared shirt is one of my favourite pieces from the line. Flat loafers played a huge part in this line-up and perfectly tied any of the looks together, bringing a femaculinity touch. High collared pieces are a definite style-must have this fall and winter seasons and Michael Kors proves that even that can look elegant and sexy. 

  (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Rag&Bone is notoriously known for their beautiful jeans line but I have never before taken any notice of their jacket or womenswear attire, until now. The women-suit is becoming my new favourite and I probably should invest in one soon; it adds a femansculinity and an edge and looks so damn sexy but formal at the same time. Rag&bone delivered the goods when it comes to the women-suit, and the dark burgundy, wet-look leather jacket + pant combo is one of the coolest things i've seen to date on the NY fashion week runway. I also have to mention that a yellow leather bike jacket is strangely flattering, and the gigantic turtleneck maxi knit dress is what i've been dreaming about for the last month and a half. 

  (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

One of the most unique aspects of The Rows' fashion shows are that the models literally look like they've been caught walking casually down the street; which makes the collection that much more wearable. This time around from the Row, full length, silk throw-over coats and loose fitted trenches were the main stars, whilst the women-suit made a very welcomed appearance in a silk material that instantly softened the look. Flats, flats and more flats were worn by the models feet adding to the relaxed vibe , and models hair and face were kept quite minimalistic; just how the Row always does. I highly admire the concept and style of the Row and cannot get enough of the hued out neutral earthy palette that takes us back to basics. 

  (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Did someone say Football? Seems like the inspiration for Tommy Hifigers' FW15-16 line up was caused by a game of high school football and I'm strangely intrigued. Varsity style football attire made fashion is what best describes this line up; models walking out onto an actual football field dressed in school style colours with complimentary stripes, laced up boots depicting football boots and the ever so cool varsity jackets that all those damned jocks wear. My favourite piece has GOT to be the leather red varsity-inspired dress (On Gigi Hadid !!!!!!!), and multi-coloured opaque stockings are an awesome way to keep warm without giving up wearing pretty skirts and dresses. 

  (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

I don't only love Vera Wang because she happens to share the same name as me, but I am both inspired and enlightened by her wonderful and extremely beautiful designs she manages to pull out of her mind time and time again. For the winter seasons, Wang went with the monochromatic approach and took it to a new level; layering black on black and white on black and more black on black; we all know the main colour was black ( but we all love black, so no complains there). Trench coat turned dress was the coolest idea and created by solely adding a belt, and the sheer flower embellished t-shirt added a pop of Vera Wang originality. Structure + relaxed made a perfect combo and complimented each other so well, Vera Wang has done it yet again. 

 (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Jason Wu has done it yet again with his amazing line-up for Hugo Boss FW15-16. This time around we witnessed the ever so familiar tailored bodice pieces and pencil skirts, colour coordinated perfectly and made to perfection. Wu made sure that top and bottom complimented each other so well that each garment looks like a one-piece rather than top + bottom and that is why I solemnly love Jason Wu's work. Hooray for massive turtle necks/neck braces and hooray for structured shoulder pads, oh, and midi pencil skirts too. A Hugo Boss line-up would not be Hugo Boss without a couple of shades and styles of the midi pencil skirt. The navy coloured trench with the red inner is to die for and the elbow length gloves remind me of Audrey Hephum, love love love Hugo Boss's FW Line up. 

 (photo courtesy of vogue.com)

Victoria Beckhams' designs are always feminie, sexy and fierce. They always bring out and accentuate the natural womanly figure , yet allow room for playing with fabrics to add a touch of individuality to each individual piece. Beckham has an amazing way of portraying the modern woman; a woman who isn't afraid to be comfortable and warm yet highly stylish at the same time, a woman who has more than one event to go to every day and still needs to look appropriate for all of them, a woman who wants to feel feminine and sexy yet leave a lot to the imagination. My favourite pieces include the (of course) turtle neck puffy sleeve sweater and the silk pencil skirt.

My top 10 favourite looks from FW15-16. It was a hard choice, but I have gotten there in the end. I enjoyed screaming, hyperventilating and drooling over New York Fashion Week's line up for Fall/Winter 15-16; it has been an amazing one. Goodbye NY, Hello Milan!



ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF VOGUE.COM & NOWFASHION.COM

thanks for reading& stay tuned for more...

Vera x

Zimmernann: The Esplanade

Zimmermann, The Esplanade, officially has the full capability of sending everyone broke this upcoming fall. I'm not going to go into detail about the amazing ness of the collection JUST yet, but I'd like to give you guys a back story on the Zimmermann brand, how it started out and why where the brand is now is so ground-breaking. I am so proud of the Zimmermann sisters and I am so astounded at how much their brand has grown over the years that now, Zimmermann has an international name and walks NY fashion week every year.

The brand started out in the 90's by two sisters; Simone and Nicky Zimmermann, with Nicky starting the process by designing and creating garments and selling them in Sydney's Paddington markets solely for the opportunity to witness the way women responded to fashion. Gaining two editorial pages in Australian Vogue, the Zimmermann brand kicked off with a bang as more and more boutiques became interested in their designs and wished to sell them. Soon after, a first store was opened, and things kicked off from there. Simone joined in on the brand soon after, and the pair have been inseparable business partners ever since. Taking the bold step of fusing swimwear and fashion together, the sisters vow to create collections that are bold, unique, sexy and wearable at the same time. From Paddington markets, the sisters have made an international name for themselves and now have permanent stores in the US and have been establishing an international name throughout Europe. The brand has also been graced on the pages of various popular magazines such as Harpers Baazar and Vogue. I am undyingly profounded at the immense dedication that Simone and Nicky put in the brand's success and the amount of love, care and thought that goes into every piece is inevitable. Zimmermann now has a permanent place in Fashion Week and I'm so very excited to see each new collection release as each one is even better than the last.

The esplanade is exciting, exhilarating, different, colourful, eye-catching and so wearable all at the same time. Drawing on inspiration from 60's interior designs and the era of colourful prints, the esplanade features a range of beautifully made garments with colour combinations and pattern play we can only dream off. Dreams made of sheer fabrics hanging softly off models' bodies, bright patterns and intricate details have graced the runway and impressed us all. Maxi dresses with high collars, long sleeves and a flowy skirt made a frequent appearance in various styles; pop of colour or muted down cool coloured hue.

For those of you unaware, I have recently started fashion design, which, even in the few short weeks, has taught me so much. Designing your clothes is a hard and lengthy process and those who create begin to appreciate the process and the details, not just the finished product. After getting into fashion design, I have realised and started appreciating the designers skills even more than before, and have also taken more notice of the details of perfection that I otherwise wouldn't have payed attention to. Details like the fact that each garment is made with difficult to work with materials that need special skills present in order to achieve such perfect cuts without any fray or loose stitch. The stiching itself is almost invisible. The pieces fit perfectly on models bodies; they don't hang off the model loosely or unshapely as they have been crafted intricately to frame the human body in a complimentary way which is a hard, time-consuming and almost frustrating aspect of design. The sleevework of Zimmermann remains 10/10 as all sleeves work to maintain the natural shape of the human arm without creating a puffy or bulky appearance, and are sewn in a way thats aesthetically pleasing and so complimentary to ones' whole look. Good sleeve work is a hard task and Zimmermann has nailed it even down to the under-arm fabric allowance. 

The esplanade was definitely one of my favourite collections released from Zimmermann; it is on par with the Tell Me Seer RTW collection that just came out and is available in all stores. Tell Me Seer was all about the warm colours, and the Esplanade is all about the cool colours and I am so deeply, thoroughly in love. I cannot wait for this line to be out for everyone to wear, I am definitely stocking up on a piece from the Esplanade for this upcoming winter season.
(pictured left: my favourite looks from The Esplanade. Definitely stocking up on that gorgeous abstract dress #love)

The Esplanade by Zimmermann has my full love and attention, and the garments should be available at various boutiques in the new few weeks (fingers crossed people)

thanks for reading& stay tuned for more...
Vera

FW2015 FASHION WEEK: Dion Lee/Alex Wang/Tibi/Coach/Kanye West x Adidas

There has been times in my life where I fall in love with a pair of shoes, a new song, a food, a beautiful garment... but never in my life have I before experienced the love I have for Fall/Winter 2015 Fashion Week line up. Every day new collections are being released and every day I fall more and more in love with the winter season and the collections, designers, clothes.... (sigh). Sice 70's revamped for 2015 is confirmed, we can now decipher that the focal point of designers works' for fall/winter this year is re-creating the old with a new twist ; keeping it modern and different by using past trends. I don't know about you but i'm all about reminiscence and what better way to plummage into the world of the past (to 70's kids this period of time is called "my teenage years") by witnessing beauty reinvented as a new art form on the runway.

Without further ado, here we have some of the newest line up collections for Fall/Winter fashion week 2015.

(photo courtesy of google.com)

Dion Lee's Fall/Winter line up has got to be one of my favourite line ups released throughout this months' fashion week. Can we please talk about the attractiveness of muted greys, dark nudes and oversized daggy sweaters? Dion Lee has perfectly captured the effortless beauty, throw-on&-go attitude upcoming for this winter, combining simplified colours and fabrics with equally simple-coloured statement pieces that become so captivating due to the cut and style. I have never before been so drawn to a simple oversized turtle neck sweater before, but it looks so damn good and perfects the look instantly. Dion Lee managed to complete his collection by adding structure with collars, leather and shape play and adding just a tad of colour pop tied the knot on the line up. I am also loving the bare face look that seems to be the go-to makeup for designers nowadays; it allows for natural beauty to shine and focuses on enhancing beauty and making the clothes themselves the focal point of the show instead of hiding 'flaws' of models and using make-up as a collaborator with the clothes. The clothes are the stars of the show and the models don't need any make-up to look gorgeous, bone structures still stand high and the show goes on as perfect as ever. Bare beauty is in and it goes perfect with Dion Lee's line up. 

(photo courtesy of google.com)

Every time Fashion Week is coming up, only one thing is on my mind; Alexander Wang. Alexander Wang never fails to impress and certainly never dissapoints, he manages to captivate and awe an audience by utilising simplicity and structure to his advantage and incooporates classic cuts with an Alex Wang twist that instantly transform a normal every day shirt into an artistic masterpiece. For Fall/Winter 2015, model slash zombie apocalypse survivors slash grudge girls strutted out on the runway, hair wet and stuck to their foreheads, looking pale as ghosts and ready to kill anyone who got in their way. The main pieces include a play of different materials in the same colour to create a subtle contrast and yet still keep things monochromatic. Black leather on black satin, Suede, Polyester and hints of opaque unidentifiable (to me..) material made it's way through the line up, appearing here and there through the magic of layering. Including a hint of Alex Wang Denim and oversized sweater opted for a simplistic and wearable Alex Wang look whilst red tartan print jackets allowed for a hint of colour in an otherwise monochromatic, gothic and dark collection. Fur shoulders (70's revamped !!!) wrapped up the show, and the shoes reminded me of Insane Asylum/Prison shoes to keep you from walking around too much. Kudos to the models if they were hard to pick up off the ground& even Kendall Jenner looked like she fit into the aura of the holy grail that is the Alexander Wang runway show. 

(photo courtesy of google.com)

I never familiarised myself with Tibi until one of my instagram followers uploaded a compilation of her favourite looks from the FW2015 Tibi collection, and I instantly knew I had to know more about this brand. After researching a tad about the brand and getting to know a bit more about the style and cuts that is time and time repeated within the line, I fell in love. Tibi is an emerging fashion label focused on bringing relaxed, feminine and clean clothing and footwear; and that is exactly what this collection line up for Fall/Winter 2015 delivers. Tibi delivers minimalism with an edge by creating pieces with basic colours and relaxed, flowy style and pairing them with structured complimentary garments which work to complete the look perfectly. This winter's style is definitely more on the relaxed and loose fitting side and allowing for some diversity in terms of choice of attire is Tibi's forte. I am in looveee with that soft violet turtleneck culotte combo. 

(photo courtesy of google.com)

Fur, Leather, Fur + Leather.. more fur.. more leather.. * googly eyes* can we please take a moment out of the day to congratulate the amazing work that went into creating this upcoming Fall/Winter 2015 season of Coach? Weeks and weeks gone into sewing, stitching, preparing, adjusting, perfecting the diverse range of fabric combinations and style play from gravity defying, neck warming and ear touching collars to tailored crisp biker jackets reinvented with a high-end touch to combine effortlessly into the expensive and couture feel of the whole line up. Coats and jackets seem to be the forefront of Coaches' line and I'm loving the various styles and colours of both fur, suede and leather jackets; all shown being worn in different ways to allow for flexibility in the wardrobe (so you know, you can wear it more than once and not leave it collecting dusk in your closet for the next 5 or so years). Gum boot style shoes with fur inner enclosing gives a new take on the winter boot and the pointed toe flats, combined with the appropriate looks as always, allows femininity to otherwise very structured, masculine garments. 

(photo courtesy of google.com)

I know y'all might be like "What... ? Since when did Yeezus become a fashion designer?" But yeah, it happened. and I am glad it did. The Yeezus himself (Or Kanye, which ever floats your boat) collaborated with Adidas to bring a slightly weird, kanye-fied version of ready to wear active wear. The result focuses on bringing forward and accentuating the natural lines of the human body through the use of skin coloured/nude/hued out grey, body hugging ,stocking-line materials. Bringing out the natural lines of the human body creates an effortless beauty that is so often forgotten within the fashion world: a lot of times designers love to play with crazy, voluminous shapes that work to hide and mask the natural lines of the human body and instead work to make a human look as little human as possible; which is fine! I love it when designers do that! It makes things interesting, eye popping and a form of art. But I love what Kanye x Adidas have done with this collection; they've taken in back to the basics and decided to play with the natural form of the human body by accentuating the present shapes and curves and draping loose jackets,sweaters and coats to level things out neatly. My favourite piece has got to be the nude oversized jacket that acts as a really short dress on the model above but god damn it looks so good. 

thanks for reading& stay tuned for more...

Vera x