Neith Nyer pays tribute to Paris for its SS 2019 collection.

Paris-based designer Francisco Terra, who founded his brand Neith Nyer pays tribute to the French capital as a place of both hope and despair for his recently launched Spring/Summer 2019 collection.

The story is told through the lens of a pageant queen trying to make her way to the top, according to the designer who had in mind this girl full of dreams but yet has been marginised; a spooky gothic kid from Bastille who dreams of being Miss France.  And will work hard to make her way to her dream.

This season the message is fashion is back to where it belongs : the streets.

The brand chose to show the collection in the streets of Paris as Francisco Terra wanted to escape from the concept of presenting a collection in a private space.

The models walked through  the French capital in randomly way yet acting as if it was a show, and they were followed around by Julien Boudet, the street style photographer @bleumode.

The  key  elements  of  this  season  are  pulled  directly  from  wardrobes  of  aspiring  beauty  queens:  crowns  and  bathing  suits,  sparkles,  child-like  mini  skirts,  and  a  palette  of  pink  and  turquoise.

These  naïve  features  are  perverted  using  radical  cuts and  re-stitching,  bleached  fabrics  and  extravagant  details.

To drive Francisco's vision, he also collaborates with a number of talents to bring the collection together: such as knitwear  with  Vitelli, romantic prints  by  Fay  Brown, hand  paintings  by  Theo  Mongourdin, swimsuits  by  Haight, adorned with crochet  by  Helen  Röde.

Jeweller  Florence  Tetier's  earrings  are  seashell-like  creatures  born  of  melted  shiny  plastic;  the  open-toe  pumps  designed  in  collaboration  with  Zeferino  in  Brazil  deliberately  have  a  longer,  exaggerated  sole.

"I wanted to create the narrative of a person who is fighting to succeed because everyone can relate to it", explains Francisco Terra, the creative director of Neith Nyer. "By distorting the peaceful imagery of beauty queens, I want to make clothes for people with thick skin."

This  season  Francisco Terra also  integrates  the  visual  symbols  of  Paris  city  life,  a  fashion  capital  rife  with  visual  contradictions.

There  is  a  certain  darkness  beyond  the  Eiffel  Tower  and  hand-painted  romantic  flowers  contrasted  with  skirts  and  shirts  in  trashy  prints  pulled  from  tourist  boutiques.
Printed  "papier  de  marabout,"  small  sheets  of  paper  distributed  in  Parisian  metro  stations  designed  by  mystics  to  solve  money  or  love  problems,  is  another  leitmotiv  used  as  stamps  to  mark  the  garments.

More  than  ever,  this  season  is  a  reflection  of  Neith  Nyer's  DNA,  a  blend  of  street  and  couture,  high  fashion  and  bad  taste.  It  returns  to  the  roots  of  the  brand,  embracing  DIY  techniques  with  luxury  fabrics.

Photography  - @bleumode; Art  Direction  - Florence  Tetier; Styling  -Natacha  Voranger; Casting  -Dominyka  Angelyte; Make  Up  by Celine  Exbrayat;  hair by Rimi  Ura sponsored  by  Redken.

Première Vision Paris September 2018

There was a buzz at the September 2018 edition of the Première Vision Paris trade show which attracted 55,497 international trade and professional visitors but it failed to match the figure of September 2017 which recorded more than 60,000 visitors.

More than 72% of the visitors came from outside France, with Italy being the largest registering at 11% of total, following by the United Kingdom (7%), Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. There was a strong presence of Swedish (602) and Danish (459) visitors, while Asia, which represented 14% of total visitors, including 3101 from China, 1610 from Japan and 1029 from Sourth Korea.

North America showed a slight decrease with 2,269 visitors, 1918 of whom came from the United States.  Although Turkey sent 5% of total visitors to the fair, it was a slight fall compared to previous years, due to its monetary and economic problems, according to organisers.

The 8.3% drop in total visitor numbers was down to a number of factors according to Première Vision, such as the clashing of dates with Yom Kippur (although the fair did open a day later than usual on a Wednesday rather than Tuesday) as well as a slowing consumption in general in Europe, uncertainties surrounding Brexit (as UK is one of the largest markets).    In addition to a critical monetary situation in Turkey, the organisers cited global growth weakened by US trade and economic policies had a contributing factor to uncertainties to the market.

The next edition of Première Vision Paris will be held from February 12 - 14. 2019.  Other upcoming PV events include Première Vision Istanbul October 10 - 12 2018,  the Denim Première Vision (December 5-6) in London, the Paris rendez-vous for pre-collections Blossom Première Vision (December 12-13), and Première Vision New York  will next take place January 15-16 2019.

Photos © Lucia Carpio 2018

 H&M and Klarna partner to elevate the modern shopping experience for consumers

Discussions among the visitors at the Première Vision Paris trade fair focused on how to introduce newness to entice consumers as brick and mortar retailers in all key markets are experiencing dwindling shoppers while online shopping is posing great competition and challenges to all in the fashion, interior and lifestyle industries.    Thus it is interesting to note that on October 8th in Stockhom, H&M - the world's second-largest clothes retailer together with Swedish fintech company Klarna announce that they have entered into a global partnership to further integrate H&M’s digital and physical stores to give customers a seamless, personalised and engaging shopping experience no matter where, when and how they shop. 

The deal will start in 14 European countries, starting with the U.K. and Sweden, but has the scope to expand to the U.S. and Asia, according to Klarna in a Finantial Times report, and promises to simplify H&M's returns and delivery processes which H&M.  It will power the H&M Club* payment programme, provide an enhanced omni-channel customer payment offering, a streamlined post-purchase service in the H&M app and many other service, and will deliver an unrivalled experience that will delight H&M customers across all touchpoints, according to the announcement.  

GAMUT collective unites five fashion designers show a different reality, an original way of creating.

At a glance some of the clothes look familiar, as something we already own, or what people wear in the street.  Elsewhere, they are quirky and conceptual.  That’s the beauty of these clothes from the GAMUT collective which unites five fashion designers and friends, all graduates of La Cambre (School of Art and Design) in Belgium. 

Their first collection, presented on 28 September 2018 at La Station – Gare des Mines in Paris, initiates a thoughtful dialogue between the respective universes and fields of expertise of its members.

A  visit  to  the www.collectifgamut.com site  opens  the  door  to  an  organic  labyrinth  that  randomly  produces  collages,  layers  of  images,  confrontations  of  scales,  themes  and  moods.

Here,  you  see  photos  of  the  clothing  being  manufactured,  pictures  of  everyday  life,  taken  in  the  street,  at  night,  during  the  day,  on  the  go  or  at  home.  Mixed  with  this  raw  material  are  shots  of  the  first  GAMUT  collection,  taken  regularly  each  month  during  the  process  of  their  creation.  Neither  advertisements  nor  tools  of  seduction,  these  images  are  simply  reflections  of  reality.

On a single silhouette, we can make out an interpretation of a traditional suit, invaded by technical elements and worn with GAMUT top-stitched cowboy boots and a travel bag crafted from recuperated scarves, which we also find on a ruffled skirt or trousers.

The personal visions of each member of the collective coexist and converse in a coherent wardrobe in which the suit is revisited in several forms, sometimes organic, sometimes conceptual, deconstructed, radical or meticulous…

Each member’s know-how is fully exploited to give life to an open wardrobe where the pieces navigate between men and women in a permanent movement that announces a new, spontaneous aesthetic in contrast with current trends.

The  collage  format  also  makes  its  mark  on  the  collective’s  choice  of  materials:  traditional  woollen  cloth  with  tennis  stripes,  featured  in  the  entire  collection,  comes  head  to  head  with  technical  waterproof  canvas  and  jerseys  printed  with  black  and  white  photos  of  the  striped  suit  cloth  from  the  rest  of  the  collection,  worn  on  models.

On an oversized silhouette,  the  word  GAMUT  is  splashed  across  dresses,  tops  and  shorts.  A  line  of  knitwear  in  coloured  cashmere,  with  the  same  construction  principles  as  the  rest  of  the  collection,  adds  a  radiant  touch  to  the  overall  work.

Somewhere  between  quirkiness  and  realism,  the  GAMUT  silhouettes  juxtapose  extremely  rigorous  and  understated  pieces  with  sparkling  gloves  or  ultra-large  visor  caps.

Trained  in  the  Belgian  style,  the  members  of  GAMUT  tweak  the  hallmarks  of  traditional  clothing,  from  a  man’s  waistcoat  to  an  evening  gown,  from  a  tailored  coat  to  a  white  shirt,  by  way  of  a  technical  parka  and  a  rustic  wool  jumper.

The  collection  is  presented  on  a  cast  of  models  in  line  with  the  collective  and  La  Station  –  Gare  des  Mines,  which  was  covered  in  red  plastic  for  the  occasion.

This  inclusive  sample  of  today’s  youth  projects  energetic  and  powerful  attitudes  that  correspond  to  the  ambition  of  GAMUT:  to  show  a  different  reality,  an  original  way  of  creating,  a  field  of  possibilities.   And it works as one collective, cohesive collection.

GAMUT  thanks  the  Antwerp  brand  Adult,  which  lent  three  shoe  models  for  the  runway  show  on  28  September  2018.  The  rest  of  the  accessories  (high  and  low  cowboy  boots,  backpacks,  travel  bags,  caps,  belts)  were  developed  by  GAMUT.

Photos by Etienne Tordoir / Info: Autrement PR

Textile graduates win inaugural Tengri Innovation Award 2018

London design house Tengri, a luxury fashion and lifestyle brand, has announced that designer Henrietta Johns has won its inaugural Tengri Innovation Award, launched this year to encourage the implementation of sustainable fashion and textiles working towards a more sustainable industry standard and future.

Henrietta John’s work is rooted in a deep exploration of natural animal fibres and innovative designs using traditional felting techniques, creating new fabric surfaces with 100% animal fibre.

Henrietta Johns, who graduated this year from London's Central Saint Martin with a First Class honours degree in Textile Design, specialising in woven textiles, was in Paris in September as one of the 24 finalists of TexSelect 2018 who showed in the Première Vision Designs - one of the main events of Première Vision Paris. 

Photos shown here are designs from Henrietta's "The Exploration of Wool" collection that was shown in the PV Designs in Paris as she aims to raise the profile of British wool as a sustainable fibre for contemporary, innovative apparel, opposing it’s traditional connotations.  Each design is visually inspired by rural British landscape, as well as farming scenery and practices, in correlation with the prospect of increased business for independent British farmers. Each fabric is composed of 100% British wool, natural dyes and natural sheep’s fleece colourings.

Last year Henrietta was the winner of another competition sponsored by jacquard weaver Stephen Walters & Sons.  This led to her developing innovative fabrics that featured in their A/W 18 menswear collection at the prestigious Premier Vision Paris fair in 2017, as well as production of a bespoke jacket for Turnball & Asser as part of its dedication to ‘the new generation of design’.

Henrietta Johns developed her own techniques to accentuate the natural qualities of wool to create innovative textures and surfaces, such as playing with the idea of contrasting shrinkages when pairing different fibres that felt and shrink differently.

As winner of the Tengri Innovation Award, Henrietta receives a one-year mentorship with Tengri, as well as a six-month paid internship supported with Tengri Noble Yarns for production and a cash prize.
The Tengri Innovation Award was open to final-year students of the Tengri Innovation Partnership, an initiative which includes some of the UK’s most influential academic and creative institutions. Designers were invited to present innovative and sustainable approaches to textiles, to meet criteria set to demonstrate forward-thinking conceptualisation of sustainable fibres and practices that rework cultural and traditional techniques. Critically, these practices would be set to demonstrate the preservation of heritage in fabrication, construction and production.

Three runners-up in the Tengri Innovation Award is each awarded Tengri Noble Yarns, fabrics and cash prizes and will be invited to join the Tengri design collective working on the brief for Tengri’s 2019/20 collection.  They are:
·       Christopher Ehrlich, graduate of Central Saint Martins’ BA Fashion Design Menswear, accredited for his conscientious approach to sustainability with ‘zero off-cut’ pattern cutting, reinventing a traditional tailoring technique used in the early 1900s.
·       Cecile Tulkens, graduate of Central Saint Martins’ BA Fashion Design with Knitwear, for her ability to combine traditional and industrial techniques, incorporating an ancient form of crocheting originated in Belgium into her work.
·       Zoe Atkinson, graduate of University of the Arts London, BA Textile Design, with her amour-like knitwear combining natural materials such as leather skins, wood and soft woolen textures, to create an inventive outlook of future materiality.

Since 2014 Tengri has championed the sustainable design and manufacturing of prestige noble yarns and was the first technology specialist to refine Khangai yak yarns in the UK.  Rare Mongolian yak fibres from the Khangai yaks are as soft as cashmere, warmer than merino wool, breathable and hypoallergenic, via a 100% transparent supply chain.   Tengri is listed in the Sustania100 2016 guide as one of the world’s leading sustainable business solutions, and its founder, Nancy Johnston, was presented with the Asian Women of Achievement Entrepreneur Award 2016.

Photos supplied by Tengri.

A grand tour through Italy to discover the essence of ITALIAN TAILORING

As a woman of a certain age, I have been observing men all my life.  Or I should say, I have paid attention to how men dress for decades.  And it’s often those in a distinguished well-cut suit, and a well put-together style that catch my eye.  It is not necessary for them to embrace trends, but he who recognises quality while looking sharp and polished gets high marks in my book.

Book cover of Italian Tailoring.
Photo by Lucia Carpio.

While we are on the subject, a book due to be out this month highlights the key essence of ITALIAN TAILORING – the title published by SKIRA.  Highlighting the very fabric of Italian sartorial excellence, the book by Yoshimi Hasegawa gives a “glimpse into the World of Sartorial Masters”.

As fashion today is pivoted on casualness and sportswear (thus the continued dominance of jeans and sneakers or trainers), the book is a reminder that tailored and bespoke clothing are works of art that the Italians have mastered for generations, although it was the English who gave us bespoke tailoring originating some 400 years ago hailed essentially from their expertise in providing military uniforms.

Fabric swatches stored in the
Vitale Barberis Canonico samples room.
Photo by Luke Carby

In the early 1900s, the Italians brought the art of bespoke tailoring back home and developed their own unique cut and immediately recognisable style.  Italy’s coterie of grand tailors have long been a source of national pride.

As every good suit starts with quality fabrics, ITALIAN TAILORING opens with a chapter on Vitale Barberis Canonico an Italian fabric mill which started in September 1908 in Pratrivero, in the northern Biella region, 50 miles north of Turin.

Situated near the Swiss and French border, the region is blessed with an abundance of pure Alpine water from the Elvo, Cervo and Strona Rivers, with a rich cultural heritage of woollen textile production dating back to the Roman Empire, explains the author in her profile of Vitale Barberis Canonico.

The Master tailor Giovanni Barberis Organista shows off
an old fashion illustration from his private collection.
Photo by Luke Carby

Gennaro Formosa, owner of the
Neapolitan tailor house  Sartoria Formosa
while he showing off a detail of the typical “spalla a camicia”.
Photo by Luke Carby

Then author Yoshimi Hasegawa, who as a connoisseur of European men’s clothing, takes the reader on a grand tour of Italy.  From the north – covering Milan, Biella, Turin, Varese, Vicenza and Venice – to Central Italy – encompassing Florence and Rome, and continuing to South Italy, taking in Naples, Bari and Palermo of Sicily, the author offers remarkable characteristics of each region and city.

Over three years, Hasegawa visited and interviewed 27 historic tailor houses (from the most renowned to emerging talents, including Donnadio, Musella, Liverano & Liverano to Sartoria Napoletana; Rubinacci and Attolini to Caraceni, Ciardi and Pirozzi), providing an intimate profile into each celebrated name that gives the Made in Italy its reputable pride of place in today’s men’s tailoring industry.

The Master tailor Antonio Panico at work in his atelier in Naples, Ita;u
using tailor's white chalk to draw directly onto the fabric. 

Detailing family histories and traditions, revealed as if exposing the inside making of a tailored bespoke garment, the formidable traditions of their crafts and creativity, their ethos and philosophy, care and commitment passed from generation to generation and integrated into today’s modern world.    Often the master tailors give way to inner thoughts of the past but also heart-felt reflections on the future of the Italian industry.

The young Master Massimo Pasinato in his atelier in
Vicenza, Italy, sewing a suit with his mother.

Luke Carby’s excellent photography partners well with Hasegawa’s proficient words, resulting in a suitable tribute to the artisanal excellence of Italian high fashion tailoring.  As the title suggests,  ITALIAN TAILORING is a good promotion for Italian sartorial masters and a book for admirers of Italian craftsmanship.

Adeline Ziliox’s “Crystal Skin” collection unveiled at Paris Fashion Week

"What is Inside, See it Outside"

Where the clothing conceals the body of the woman, the designer Adeline Ziliox unveils it with her "Crystal Skin" Collection.

Transparency assumed, body unveiled and femininity affirmed, here is the DNA of the Collection.

The technical materials, which are often found in the work of the designer, like neoprene, 3D mesh fabrics reinforce this line ultra-feminine, elegant and with streetwear inspirations.

And now PVC confirms the contemporary and avant-garde look of Adeline Ziliox's Spring/Summer 2019 collection.

All photos by GREG ALEXANDER

French frou-frou thrills. Roger Vivier: Spring/Summer 2019 Presentation During Paris Fashion Week

Feminine, chic, elegant.  So thrillingly French. What’s not to like even for the woman who has everything; there’s always room for more footwear and frou-frou fun, if they are as desirable as  Gherardo Felloni’s new Spring/Summer 2019 Collection for the luxury Parisian footwear and accessories brand  Roger Vivier.

The new collection presented during Paris Fashion Week a few days ago is a “cinematic homage to Parisian Distinction”. 

Under the banner of Hotel Vivier, it is indeed an ode to women, carrying the essence of the brand in all their diversity and beauty, that started with a journey of exploration into the archives of the Maison, to inspire a new creative vocabulary for the Vivier woman.

Note the sparkle of the bejewelled buckles, the strategically placed feather, the ornate bows and the folds of the rose, from slippers to the kitten heel, the gamut of jewel and candy colours, and the matching or mix-and-match handbags.

According to Gherardo Felloni the creative director of the Parisian brand, women are like flowers in a garden - romantic but sometimes abandoned – where many varieties have taken their rightful place, in freedom.

But equally enticing for the modern woman are the sneakers and handy cute knapsacks that receive the same feminine treatment.  That very imagination and rich variety of women are at the heart of a living and breathing world for the presentation of the collection.

“Hotel Vivier is a place like no other, where women reveal all the richness, complexity, beauty and intensity of their personalities. Just as I went on a journey of discovery over the years to capture their many facets, my guests will make their own discoveries at every turn and inside every room, meeting the characters who inspire me every day.”  – Gherardo Felloni

Stepping through the doors of the ‘Hotel Vivier’ is like walking into a sequence of scenes from a film. At the intersection of fiction and reality, the experience feels both familiar and unexpected. It is a fascinating place where visitors are invited to discover the world of Roger Vivier.

According to their press release, Gherardo Felloni creative director of Roger Vivier believes that the essence of Roger Vivier can be distilled into three fundamental pillars: silhouette, colour and exclusivity.

Each one is articulated in new ways. The distinctive silhouette is enhanced by a low kitten heel creating a modern look with couture flair. When it comes to colour, Felloni never shies away from it. The rich colour palette carried through the collection is not just a bold style statement, it is a powerful vehicle to project the joie-de-vivre and positivity that have always been part of Roger Vivier’s DNA.

Exclusivity, the final essential ingredient articulated by the designer in his collection is a nod to Monsieur Vivier’s creations, unique works of art commissioned for special occasions that showcased exceptional craftsmanship, unbridled creativity, elaborate shoes embellished with feathers, crystals, knotted threads.

At the heart of the collection, the Très Vivier creations continue a long tradition of unapologetic elegance, displaying the same head-turning qualities as the legendary pumps that took the fashion world by storm in the 1960s.

The large square buckle in polished metal pays tribute to the aesthetics of the original pump, while a myriad of materials and textures brings Vivier sophistication, and the new Très Vivier bag with an oversized buckle is designed to be perfectly paired with the pumps.

The Très Vivier Strass Pump

All photos by Francois Durand/Getty Images For Roger Vivier - taken at the Roger Vivier Presentation Spring/Summer 2019 during Paris Fashion Week on September 27, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photos