See ya.

Jil Sander is leaving her eponymous label for the third time after designing for three seasons. She first left in 2000 after Prada bought a controlling stake in her company, only to come back in 2003 and then exit again in 2004. After Raf Simons started his tenure as Dior’s creative director in 2012, it was announced that she would be returning once again. Her last collection showed at spring-summer 2014 Milan Fashion Week. According to WWD, she is leaving for personal reasons; her in-house design team will be responsible for the Fall 2014 collection. Even though I liked what Simons did for the brand better than what Sander did herself, it makes more sense to me if the person whose name is on the label also actually designs the clothes. So I don’t know what to think of it. I guess, let speculation about who will replace her begin.

©style.com

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Metamorphosis.

Julia Nobis, the one who always looks like she couldn’t care less, who’d rather be somewhere else, doing something else, born in Sydney, Australia, with the ghostly pale skin, the big nose and strong face, walked innumerable runways this past fashion month, all the while showing us how a truly great model changes herself, time and again.    

Seriously.

There were lots of great collections in Milan (Jil Sander and Marni to name but a few), but after having seen Prada, there is really nothing much left to hear, see or do. Miuccia Prada showed such a rich, intelligent collection, managing to show beautiful clothes, while at the same time making a strong political-feminist statement.
So: If you weren’t interested in political messages, you’d find gorgeous color combinations, three-dimensional embellishments, gems and crystals, classically beautiful gowns and tiny, extremely ladylike handbags. If you wanted weirdness, you’d be happy with the usual pretty-ugly shoes, American Apparel-style leg warmers and sleeveless rugby sweaters worn under elegant dresses. And then, politics: The bras stitched upon coats made you think of the enticement usually associated with them, but the way they were placed on the garments, their shapes and presentation (and the overall styling of the clothes, for that matter) put all sexiness ad absurdum. The strong female faces on the coats and skirts were commissioned by Prada to a group of mural artists; their paintings were also on display in the show’s venue. To quote Miuccia: “I want to inspire women to struggle.”
All together, what on paper may sound like a confounding and incoherent head-scratcher resulted in one of the most creative and innovative collections of Fashion Month so far.

©style.com

London Fashion Week: A late and totally incomplete recap.

Milan Fashion Week is already wellllll under way, so let’s see what London Fashion Week had to offer (or more specifically, what I particularly liked)!

Burberry
So, let’s see, what do we have here: the return of the granny panties, worn under see-through lace skirts and combined with some cardigans and sweaters. Soft, pretty pastels, lace shirt dresses, coats, pencil skirts, trench coats and simple sweaters in cashmere, lace, suede and silk with colors ranging from pink to mint, mauve and blue. Everything thrown together made for a somewhat unspectacular, but very cozy looking collection.

Christopher Kane
There were flowers all over Kane’s clothes. I particularly liked the metallic outlined, petal shaped cutouts, the sweaters with the cap lettering spelling “FLOWER” or “PETAL” and the dresses and tops showing images of flowers’ reproductive organs as found in old school books. I mean, for Spring, a lot of designers show little flowers here and there, but Kane came up with really new ideas on how to use this old Spring staple. There were also graphics of how photosynthesis works, laser-cut in tops and skirts. And let’s not forget the crocodile clips used to hold the front of dresses together (what do you use them for normally, anyway?).

Duro Olowu
Honestly, even Mrs. O is a fan of him, and how wouldn’t she? Just look at Olowu’s use of color, how he isn’t afraid to clash prints and textures. Gorgeous.

Emilia Wickstead
Emilia Wickstead’s collection is feminine, fresh and charming. Nothing to get too crazy about, but really nice to look at. Yeah, sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Mary Katrantzou
Ms. Katrantzou, the queen of blowing up random things, did  it again; this time with shoes, laces, eyelets and perforations of men’s brogues, sport shoes and evening slippers. Prints and color everywhere, also in her sugary sweet dresses in fluorescent pink, blue, green and yellow, embroidered and adorned with Swarovski crystals, ribbons and mirrors.

  

Peter Pilotto
Pilotto just announced his collaboration with Target and this time, thanks to Net-a-Porter, which will distribute the collection internationally, people (meaning me) wanting to buy yet another designer collaboration (please, never make them stop), will also have the opportunity to put their greedy hands on it. Oh, and the reason I get all excited? Well, why don’t you take a look:

Preen
The all-white ensembles, combined with digital print fusing cuboid forms and florals and the somehow stiff and proper shirts made for an eye-catching collection.

Roksanda Ilincic
Everything I love about this designer was on display in this collection: sharp silhouettes, geometric patterns, bold colors and color-blocking taken to the next level with bright neon greens and oranges. 

Tom Ford
Tom doing what Tommy does best: sexy leather, sexy body-hugging, sexy glitter, sexy high(est)-heels, sexy lace-up boots, sexy crystals and sexy glam!