Max Mara.

Thurs. 02/26/2015.

Max Mara.

The Librarian and The Bombshell! The Nymphette and The Nerd! Max Mara's Fall 2015 offering gave Marilyn Monroe another Trotting out as inspiration, as every so often she comes back into the Fore with her Abundant Physical Charms and Plush Sensuality, the Designers of the MM team clung to her as muse the way the models clung to their Clutch coats to keep them Discreetly closed over Boudoir worthy Slip dresses and 50's Secretary-style Wiggle skirts, equipped with a bit less "Wiggle" than the versions of Olde! The collection was a Smashing and equally Beautiful success and one of the best collections to be had in ages at the house of Max!

The reason for this collections overwhelming success is that the house team did what they do best and didn't fuss around and Futz with things that have no business showing up in a Max Mara Show. This was the Hallmarks of the Brand shown in Covetable and Incomparably Classic ways. That's a Bulletproof Formula and one that the design team has been messing with for far too many seasons! When the stuff is this good, Why Tamper? The Cross-Pollination of Extremes proved a brazen move, but one that bore the fruits of success to the efforts of the designers.

Every exit seemed to play Mousy against Sexy, Severe against Va-Va Voom! It had that Certain Loren/Magnani Sensuality and off-handed Chasteness that those women embodied so vividly. Like a Simple yet Splendid elongated T-Shirt dress in the most Limpid Lurex shot Cashmere at Exit No. 9. There was a Strength evident do in the Defiant and Diffident way the models crossed their arms across their chests and held their bags, Like scorned Fiancees or Het up Wives ready to Clobber their Lotharios over the head with a Rolling pin tucked into that roomy bag slung off their forearm!

There was Absolutely a glut of Magnificent proportion on display here and so much that was just Superb, that to call out individual pieces is not only hard, it's unnecessary, for all shown was a Pitch-Perfect Fashion portrait! A few were perhaps, More special amongst the throng, Like a Quilted Fog Grey Mink Clutch coat that just got the juices of desire flowing like Raging Rapids!

When all was said and done, Monroe's Voluptuous Femininity was Well suited to Max Mara and their Fall output, Confining themselves to Clean, Classic, Silhouettes and Neutral colours snapped back into Sharp Relief what the MM Customer looks for and wants from the house. They would be Well Appointed to not forget this in future collections when the winds of whimsy and capriciousness seem to stake a claim in their Design Studio!





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Alberta Ferretti.

Weds. 02/25/2015.





Alberta Ferretti.

It is truly a Sight to Behold the almost Stoic Grandeur of the Fall 2015 Alberta Ferretti collection! The sense of Romance that pervades her collections from season to season was abundantly found all through this Magical Treatise on a modern idea of Italian Renaissance dressing, with it's Ruffs and Elaborate Decorations and just All-Out Immersion in Unrestrained Luxuriousness! The real magic happens however, when one realizes just how Ferretti practices a sort of Fashion Prestidigitation to translate those, seen in the now, Costumey, ideas into the ever evolving present! Ferretti let loose with a Torrent of Rich, Glowing shades and a Weighty hand with Embellishment that never once felt Ostentatious or Overt! From Coppery Reds and Bronze shades to Midnight Blue and Mossy Greens, plus heaping helpings of Black and White and a Vatican Worthy Hue of Cardinal Red, Ferretti created an Inviting, Seductive palette of shades made to Lure the Customer in!

Some of her best efforts revolved around Scrollwork like Appliques of Degrade shades of Red on Black Velvet, going from Devil Bright to Sanguine Dark, they had an edge to them that their Lavishness did not betray, and thus, kept them Modern and not looking like part of the wardrobe of a Verdi Opera! As the show moved along, the shades became more Autumnal and fell on the Warmer side of the Fall Spectrum, Bittersweet, Rust, Russet, Dusty Violet, Mahogany... Sumptuous and Luscious, one and all! The show sauntered on to it's Blissfully Ethereal end of White, Vestal Virginal Dresses and then finished with a Racy Black moment to show counterpoint to the Innocence of the preceding gowns. In between this, we were presented with opulent prints and a couple of Sheer Black numbers thickly coated in Sparkling Antique Gold Leaves and Flourishes that truly Took one's breath from their throat!

Ferretti pulled out all the stops here and seemed to be designing with her Heart and Emotions and letting them take the reigns, That turned out to be a Winning Formula and produced an Achingly Beautiful collection of clothes that will bring the Romantic side out of any woman that wears them. In this ever Chaotic world that is Fashion, Sometimes taking a moment for Romance is Exactly what a Person Needs!





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Stella Jean.

Weds. 02/25/2015.

Stella Jean.

An Unequivocally Perfect Show! New Milan Fashion voice. Stella Jean, The Rome born Haitian/Italian designer has quickly garnered attention, as much for her devotion to Ethical practices in Production and Fabrication in the industry, as for her training in the ateliers of Italian Alta Moda! Her brief, but highly impactive Fall 2015 collection was Colourful, Exuberant, Joyful and Gorgeous! Jean has a Kaleidoscopic sense of Colour that is Virtuosic in it's breadth, and she showed it here in Glorious Abundance.

Jean's "Calling Cards" are her elaborate prints that she does from season to season. Fall 2015 did not remotely disappoint on that front, from dizzying Optics of Checks and Swirls melding with Animal prints in Black and White and then Piquantly highlighted by Bright and Vibrant figures of Indian folk celebrating Happily, or the Rich and Lush Foulard prints that evoked Desert Palaces, Printed Plaids, and much more! A Riotous Cacophonic Dervish of Extravagance! Throw in some Maharajah worthy embellishments and the mix became further Exotic! Jean so far, relies on a Basic formula, for Fall that was a Big Coat and either a Skirt or Pants and as well a Top and Skirt combo, though rendered newly afresh for Fall with Inflated, Rounded Poufs that were Giddily Feminine!

In this Potpurri of pieces, there were Fuzzy, Cozy Stolid plaids that served as foil to all the sartorial splendour on display, The chicest pieces were actually those that pulled back from the overload of Visual Stimulus. A Bell Skirted Plaid dress in a fuzzy Mohair was adorned with a Snake Charmer and his Snake wrought in oversized scale on the front and not much else, but was cut Brilliantly and Looked chicer for the restraint. That same feeling was doubly felt in a Bulbous skirted Trence in a Makeup Beige shade that Had the eccentricity of Lacroix in it's bones, but the Reserved good taste of YSL as it's primary DNA Strand.

Jean is a designer who brings Optimism and a sense of Good Old Fashioned Joy to her clothes. A sense that one does not have to root around to find like a Pig Snuffling for Truffles. Her Genuine Joyfulness is Ecstatically Infectious and Uplifting. Yes, Jean will at some point in the near future expand her Lexicon of fashion offerings and move beyond the One-Two Step and Repeat Formula that she has adopted thus far... but her label is just starting and in the Blush of it's Youth. One shouldn't be constrained as of yet with telling her what she MUST be, we should all just sit back and relish in what she IS for now. There's plenty of time for what comes Next!





That's All.





Bye4Now!