BEAUTY: Clothing--Moncler x Jil Sander (Lucie and Luke Meier)

Wow, look at this collection created by Jil Sander creative directors Lucie and Luke Meier for the venerable skiwear/winter outerwear brand Moncler's City of Genius project. Such simple, monastic beauty certainly fits the winter season.

https://www.moncler.com/
https://www.jilsander.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Jil Sander

Jil Sander no longer heads her namesake house, but current Creative Directors Lucie and Luke Meier carry on her vision of puritanical minimalism. For this Paris Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2022-2023 collection though, they added in an element that challenges the austerity of the DNA of the house: crochet.

"We liked this really elegant, masculine silhouette, but with a sensual side to it, as well," Lucie Meier said after the show. Luke Meier added, "We start a lot with tailoring, just to see what we really want to do and say and what we care about. But this time, we worked it into typically feminine techniques as well."

I quite like the texture it adds as hats, scarves, collars and tabards, and the juxtaposition of spartan against granny-chic craft. I also like using twisted silk scarves as coat belts. And check out the constellation astrology prints and zodiac embroideries spread across the rest of the collection. It all feels interesting and fun...

https://www.jilsander.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Milano Moda Uomo Misc. June 2013

Milano Moda Uomo has concluded, and here is a brief wrap-up of odds and ends, things worth mentioning...

Jil Sander is ever the minimalist, designing in patternless neutrals, which is why her use of color and pattern in her Spring-Summer '14 collection made it look as if she had lost her mind! But the beautiful, slick bonded-leather coats and jackets seemed more in keeping with her style.

Bottega Veneta showed suits with edges and features outlined and limned in what appeared to be remnants of tailor's chalk. Lapels and buttons are drawn on where none exist. The effect actually made the suits crisp and sharp!

Diesel Black Gold: Great thick double buckle belt and jeans that look bleached or paint splashed but in actuality are woven with a faded floral pattern in silver...

Donatella Versace's use of neon colored sports tape at first seems rather comical, but I have to admit the overall look is pretty cool... the bands of riotous color appearing all over the clothing and models' bodies looked celebratory and bright. Like racing stripes for a body...

Ermenegildo Zegna showed a funky detail: long sleeve tees rolled up over the cuffs of coats and jackets. Kinda gives the slick tailored look some street cred...

On to Paris Fashion Week!

http://www.jilsander.com/
http://www.bottegaveneta.com/
http://www.dieselblackgold.com/
http://www.versace.com/
http://www.zegna.com/us/home.html

BEAUTY: Clothing--Milano Moda Uomo Misc. January 2013

Well, yesterday wrapped up another Milano Moda Uomo and here are a few little miscellaneous tidbits and loose ends worth mentioning from collections that I did not feel compelled to post in their entirety.

It seems like pinstripes (along with other classic men's suiting patterns like plaids and checks) made a strong showing. Even minimalist Jil Sander got in on the action...

I don't know why this tickles me so much, but Costume National costumed their models like extras from "Easy Rider" or members of neo-psychedelic band The Cult (remember them?). I really like it... and I also really like the complete non sequitur nature of the chef's knife set tee shirt...

Burberry Prorsum rolled out animal prints, even on sunglasses (check out the last look closely)!

And finally, I just have to say that Donatella Versace surprised me with a few pieces from her F-W '13-'14 collection. I have never been a fan of Versace. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it has always struck me as utterly tacky, with all the inelegant Baroque arabesques and faux-Roman heads. But here, she is rocking some amazing suits in window pane plaid and extra large houndstooth, along with some great animal-like prints (giraffe and leopard). But the most fascinating thing about this collection, which is otherwise littered with arabesques and tacky sportswear, is the return of the wide and short neck tie last seen in the 1940s! LOVE it!

http://www.jilsander.com/
http://www.costumenational.com
http://www.burberry.com/
http://www.versace.com/

Photos via http://www.style.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Milano Moda Uomo Misc

And some miscellaneous highlights from Milano Moda Uomo...

Les Hommes decided to take the idea of the elegance of the tuxedo and deconstruct it for a younger audience. In this interesting theoretical exercise, the tux became slouchy, with a more casual feeling. The only constant was the cummerbund, even worn with shorts! And speaking of shorts, they were also worn over trousers in an apparent homage to the skater/surfer youth. Are they really going to be buying and wearing Les Hommes? Of course not. The audience are the ones who want to pass as skaters and surfers.

Cavali, now headed by Roberto's son Daniele, showed a lot of metallic in a Spring/Summer collection that was said to be inspired by butterflies: models walked around a central cage full of them. Metallic showed up in a lot of collections including Burberry Prorsum. It is an example, yet again, of the Hundredth Monkey theory, where an idea metaphysically builds and leaps from being to being, or in this case, designer to designer.

Jil Sander showed an interesting jacket cut like an Edwardian frock coat, coupled with loose cut shorts that hit below the knee (this length for shorts seemed to be another Hundredth Monkey moment for designers this year).

http://www.leshommesfashion.com/
http://www.robertocavalli.com/index_rc.plp#/home
http://www.jilsander.com/