Saturday, October 10, 2009

Camp Caten


Dsquared.  My absolute favorite brand.  Period.  Clearly I have many favorites in the designer world, but nothing gets my heart racing like walking into a major retailer in San Francisco or Los Angeles and stumbling upon the men's collection of Dsquared beautifully displayed on the rack.  Jason witnessed this on our recent apartment hunting trip to LA.  I might have even squealed when I saw the brilliant textiles.
Dsquared ready-to-wear can be difficult to find in the States, as the price point is extremely exclusive, even more so than Dolce & Gabbana or Gucci, thus the brand is mostly seen on celebrities, supermodels, and the super rich. (Britney commissioned the Caten twins for the costumes in her "Circus" tour.)  Their ad campaigns and runway shows are cocky, overtly sexual, and have a bit of campiness thrown in for good fun.  These elements have created a cult following for the brand.
For the Spring 2010 shows, the boys and girls of Dsquaredland are going to camp, and it looks as if they are having a darn good time.  The Caten twins were playing with plastic for their women's line, as some of the dresses and bags were waterproof, perfect for looking elegant in the elements.  One look was a pair of plastic overalls that were converted to a dress.  For the men's line leggings were introduced with shorts.  I have a love/hate relationship with leggings on women, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the look with the men's collection.  What I love most about Dsquared shows is the amount of layers that are thrown together.  Worn all at once, it creates "a lot of look" as Tim Gunn may say, but each layer is very wearable, an aspect retailers are definitely looking for in our current state of affairs. The cheekiness of Dsquared was seen throughout the shows, with band-aid laiden models and swim trunks complete with ants.  It is all the fun of camp, and I'm stoked for this  luxe wilderness adventure.
 

Grab your canoe and head to www.dsquared2.com

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Burberry: More than just the Check

What British designer Christopher Bailey has done for Burberry is sheer brilliance.  I have been a big fan of his work for several seasons, most notably because he has taken an iconic British luxury brand with it's classic trenchcoat looks, and turned it into an edgy display of fashion.  It was just a few short years ago that the 153 year old company was dealing with image problems as its tartan plaid check was being embraced by the British "chav" subculture.  "Chav" being a term to describe young deliquents or hoodlums that used the Burberry check to establish dominance in the subculture.  Bailey has revived the brand by putting less emphasis on the check and more focus on design.  
Burberry Prorsum, which is the luxe runway line from Burberry is what I most desire from the brand.  Prorsum is the Latin term meaning "forwards" and a fashion forward look is most evident in Bailey's Spring 2010 collection.  Pulling from his earlier days at Gucci and Donna Karan, Bailey has made a much more tarted up version of the grecian/ draped trend we've been seeing from other designers, even taking the traditional Burberry trench and making it sexy and sleek.  The men's collection has bit of a bondage feel with straps criss-crossing the torso.  Pushing the envelope is Christopher Bailey's forte, and he give us something more to love than just the Burberry check. 



Go prorsum at www.burberry.com