Christian Dior Fall 2010 Couture: Breathtaking

John Galliano has done it again, this man is simply a genius. Amazing. The line has a clear, thoughtfully conveyed inspiration, and although "flowers" or "floral" sounds cliche and overdone, not to mention a little Laura Ashley-ish boring, Galliano demonstrated an edge and a refreshing interpretation to a usually predictable theme. Even the shoes reflect the the concept: shoots and stems bloom from toes, thin vines climb up legs. The shape of the garments ties in both the present day and also clearly reflects Dior's claim to fame, the New Look: A-line, sculptured, tiny-waisted hourglass silhouette, cinched in smartly. Galliano plays with texture like crazy, including hairy ostrich feathers, bunched and stacked tulle, fringe, and what looks like it might be fleece, plus cellophane hairnets. The colors are phenomenal, colorful and bright, juicy and rich. The stage setup is delicious as well -reminds me of a 2007 Roberto Cavalli floral print brought to life:



View the entire collection here. Omfg I love couture.

Lingerie and Fashion Design: My Internship this Summer

This summer I am living in picturesque Newburyport, MA and working for Bennett & Company, a fashion design company that makes lingerie for retailers such as Frederick's of Hollywood and Victoria's Secret. Though I can't talk about what I do specifically for confidentiality reasons, I will rave on and on about how amazing this company is and how fantastic it is to work for them. A quick peek at their press page gives an overview of some of my favorite aspects of the company: words like "green," "spiritual," and "compassion" abound, accompanied by a myriad of gorgeous pictures of the woman behind the company, Jacalyn Bennett. Jacalyn founded her company in 1984 based in the idea of "a corporation with a conscience," embracing environmental initiatives, human rights and social conciousness. She looks to Gandi and Carl Jung as her inspirations, and her company is guided by the Ghandian principal that personal service “when it merges into universal service is the only service worth doing... service has to benefit all of humanity.” Bennett and Company employs 2,000 people total worldwide with factories in Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and China. The employees at those factories are treated well and paid fairly, and the company factories recognize and follow ALL laws regarding wages, hours, etc as well as receiving benefits like healthcare, housing, welfare and maternity leave. Although many companies these days view outsourcing as an opportunity to pay next to nothing for cheap labour from imporverished populations, Bennett and Company sees it as an opportunity to change the lives of everyone it employs. Employees overseas are treated exactly the same as employees stateside, and everyone is made to feel equal and welcome within the company. (from here)

Jacalyn Bennett, company founder and my boss this summer, is a wonderful and inspiration woman who has received many awards and acheivements, including but not limited to the Best Designed Factory for Silk and Handwork from the Chinese Government. She is as kind and benevolent as she is a beautiful and sharply intelligent businesswoman. It is relieving to me, someone who has never worked within the fashion industry, to learn that not every successful female in the fashion industry is like the judgemental Devil Wears Prada stereotype. I have felt nothing but welcome in my experiences within the company so far, and Jacalyn is an inspiration to me as a successful female business owner who also goes against the grain to ensure that human rights and the wellbeing of the earth are respected and valued.

I am having a wonderful time working at the company and learning so much and I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity! Aside from working, I'm also having a blast exploring the Massachusets North Shore ... more on that coming soon!

disclaimer: I do not represent or speak for the company. My opinion is my own and does not reflect the opinion of the company. All facts and publicity photos are taken from the company's website.

Fashion Designer Spotlight: Schiaparelli

In Lia's Fashion Designers Spotlight this week is Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973). Schiaparelli, a designer who reached the peak of her career around the 1920-40s, is one of my favorite designers of all time if not the absolute favorite. One thing you may notice about her website is that it is PINK. One would even call it "shocking pink" - a term that Schiaparelli invented, coined, and embodied perfectly. Now as you probably have noticed, I love pink. My site is pink. My hair is pink. Even my dorm room is pink! So of course, I idolize a woman who could come up with a pink so incredible as to be referred to as "shocking."

In addition to that amazing factoid, Schiaparelli was a fabulously creative designer. In the era of Poiret and Chanel - Chanel was her great rival at the time - Schiaparelli was in a category completely her own. She had many firsts: the wraparound dress; the use of brand new man-made fibers; adding brightly colored visible plastic zippers to her clothing; sewing on any notion that caught her eye: buttons shaped like hands, peanuts, bumblebees, and rams' heads; light-up plastic doo-dads, and other ephemera. Schiaparelli saw herself as an artist, creating art, rather than a fashion designer, creating clothing. This idea led her to collaborate on clothing with other artists, such as Christian Bérard, Jean Cocteau, and Salvador Dali, who painted her legendary lobster dress and helped her design the shoe hat. Her innovations broke down the wall dividing art and fashion and she pioneered many ideas still used in avant-garde design. She was bold and unapologetically out-of-the-box.


"“In difficult times fashion is always outrageous.” - Elsa Schiaparell