3 for £1 on Chanel?

As SS14 is in full swing, the more sporty side of fashion comes into play as Karl Lagerfeld presents Chanel and their AW14 collection. With a more relaxed feel to the clothing this season, I was hoping the elaborate catwalk didn't take all of the shine from the runway. On a positive note, it didn't. Although the pop art themed supermarket seemed to place an uncanny reference to Damien Hirst's 'Pharmacy' installation:- something I distinctively remember experiencing as a child. Or perhaps I'm just the sceptic blogger. Needless to say it has been the focal talking point of pop culture over the past two days.

The clothing seems to reflect what a lot of people feel at the moment, which is a boredom of high maintenance, I am not one of those people. With easy and manageable outfits, you would think this may distract from the on point, avant garde feel of modern day Chanel... It doesn't. Lagerfeld really shows us how to present a collection with a relaxed feel without going down the gym route. I'm sure we can all agree that the 'everyday housewife' look is starting to become a more permanent set with a seasonal refresh, this however was by far the most overt we have seen. The theme bears good reflection in the set, showing that it's a line of clothes that can be worn for mediocre, everyday chores...such as grocery shopping.

The first few lines we see feature generic tendencies of the modern day Chanel look; covetable, dramatic and youthful with a typical Chanel hybrid of dramatic and chic. This feel carried through the entirely of the show, except for the couple that flaunted through the supermarket, he carrying her bag of Chanel purchases. All in all the majority of the collection with emphasis of colour and material follows through with the sporting feel with sudden appearances of a dramatic edge, true to the image of the brand.

I can safely say that if anyone is to successfully and continuously re-invent the image of a brand while raising the bar for fashion, it is Lagerfeld. A true legend in the eyes of most. Although amazing, I'm pretty sure CoCo would turn in her grave at the thought of her classic and respectable brand being bent into a pop art era. I suppose we can't leave that for her to decide.

Images: Lea Colombo/Dazed Digital

www.chanel.com

DKNY: a pile of old shit.

This week designers from across the world flocked to the fashion capital of the world. New York hosted its bi-annual Fashion Week for the debut of SS14 collections. Designers grabbed headlines by cancelling shows, failing to appear, and of course being more daring and extrovert than usual. However one brand that really stood out for me was DKNY, and as you can probably tell by the title, not for a good reason.

DK has been a favourite with women, year after year. However recently the fashion giant has desperately been trying to cling onto its young consumers, by adapting the brand and losing sight of the vision the label started off with. This collection we see gorgeous women, hidden by a combination of oversized denim pieces, hoodies and gym shoes. I'm not sure whether the fashion world is making a less than subtle statement about the fitness of women today, but it really is not a step in which they should be taking. It isn't however, just Donna Karen commuting this hideous offense, but it also down to a lot of high street retailers. Instead of making a fashion statement AT they gym, they are try to make the GYM the statement.

Very bad, I suggest the designers head over to their local gymbox and do a little more testing before submissing us all to this horrific tradgety.

Let's blast off to a new dimension...

Watching Calvin Klein debut their AW14 menswear line, not long after the beginning of the show it's cleric to see the main theme this year; loose, fitted in the waist, oversized jackets and both contrasting black and mule tones. Italo Zucchelli really did sculpt the worker silhouette, that which was then seen as birthed but the likes of Timberland, from a media perspective. Italo Zucchelli has been better known over the years, as the menswear creative director for Calvin Klein, and has recently been reviewed the CD has to be re-advised by Klein of the importance of sticking to the true vision of the brand. In an interview with David Bradshaw for GQstyle, the Italian designer recently commented with the following about his work for Klein: "I try to combine my ideas of what a modern Calvin Klein collection ‘could’ be with those defining what I feel a Calvin Klein collection ‘should’ be".

Taking that into account, we can most certainly see that the menswear sector of the brand doesn't always conform to the simple, eccentuating and nude designs of the CK womenswear. However wether Zucchelli stays true to the brands vision, one of which being "Chromatic restraint", well we can definitely see that clearly here, but we also see a very futuristic and also astronaut-like infusion. The metallic, shine trousers are paired well with block colour upper garment, this gives the outfit division, while of course conforming to the same colour palette. On the other hand, it is of course the upper half, which takes the upper hand... Oversized jackets and heavy jumpers do even out the bulk of the outfit. I'm glad to see that CK haven't fallen into the dreaded menswear pattern cliché of the previous year. I do however think th collection selection is wrong, of course black will always be a winner, but if you're trying to make a contrasting statement, then go for white. It's the obvious choice.

It Is of course a winner, and I think Italo should be commended on fusing his own ideas with the vision of the brand. Never the less, I think that he should concentrate more on a matching and appropriate colour scheme. Just so the models don't look too much like camels.

Versace brings gun slinging Western back in fashion this AW.

Yesterday at 20:00CET Versace debuted their AW14 menswear collection. I am an avid fan of Versace, and if you know me well enough, you will know that Baroque designs are the key to my heart. So I was quite surprised, and a little disappointed to see very little of that style shirt in this collection. However the haus do hit back by taking us into a more western/cowboy themed line of clothing. The majority of which came halfway through the show with leather shirts and crotchless pants showcasing their new line of underwear.

Accompanying the leather ensemble is an Italian leather belt embellished with gold studs and Versace's signature motif, the head of Eros. A winning combination has to be the fluidity if matching T-shirt and underwear. This allows us to focus more on their design of Y-front and of course the accessories that go with it.

The winner for me this season would of course, have to be the beautiful, gold embellished suit. Although it's hard to make out here, the tailored suit consists of a silk plated collar and pocket square. Both if which bear the beautiful baroque design that Gianni has graced the world with since the inception if the brand. You also see this design slightly on the collar and of course the lapels of the jacket. 

Accessories have been a big deal for the haus this season, as a lot of low laying, heavy gold chains are at the centrepiece of the collection. Making a bold statement to this ready-to-wear line gold is a given when it comes to Donatella and her designs, and of course she would be stupid to ever ditch the gold on black contrast!

Of course another contrast has been added this year, and apologies for my lack of being able to print screen a photo, but as you can see a dark coffee brown has been added to the traditional gold on black power combination. I like it, a lot. I really do like the contrast yet depth the extra shade gives to the outfit, it seems a lot more warm and powerful to look at. Also remember that this collection is for the cold winter months to come, that we are pretty much still in height of.

Despite all of this, my favourite cameo would have to be the loud and colourful bedazzled deigns on a lot of the items, mainly a cactus. I recently recall suggesting Donatella whip out the old Bedazzler gun and get back on giving more gay to the collection. Perhaps she stumbled across my little baby of a blog and took some advice. If so, she went too far. A few studs here and there are good, but not when it looks like you're about to do a spin off to 'Toy Story' on a pair of leather pants. Never the less a great job has been done by my bitch Donatella and the collection is amazing in its entirety. This, is a true step forward and innovation in menswear design.

Opening the door to a better year...

So. I've only just sat down not he train home from work to see these exciting snaps just before the Versace Fall/Winter collection 14. Come back tomorrow at 7:00GMT for live reviews of the collection!