Australia Fashion week is in full bloom, and on location is our favourite blogger, stylist and designer Elin Kling for the launch of her brand Nowhere in Australia. Structured cuts, decadent detailing and clean colours marks this spring/summer collection designed by Nhu Duong.

Picture: Dries van Noten / Wallpaper

With all due respect, New York, London and Milan have got nothing on Paris. Even though all the international fashion weeks bring something interesting and unique to the table, Paris fashion week is considered the fashion week, and rightly so. Unlike Milan (another city with a remarkable fashion ancenstry), Paris somehow manages to maintain its fashion heritage yet never fails to nurture new talent. This time was no different. To me, Paris fashion week is about so much more than just what’s shown on the runway. There is a certain energy and sense of excitement permeating not only the show locations but basically the whole city; going to Paris for fashion week simply makes me remember why I fell in love with fashion in the first place.

So what about the shows then? Well, as always some were a mere disappointment (yes, Karl Lagerfeld/Chanel, I’m talking about you), some were ok (Isabel Marant, Alexander McQueen, Gareth Pugh), and some were kind of brilliant. Nicolas Ghesquière’s f/w collection for Balenciaga, inspired by offices and the powerdressing of the 80′s, definitely belongs to the latter category, and so does the Givenchy show, where Riccardo Tisci presented a beautiful collection for fall.

Another highlight of the week was Stefano Pilati’s last collection for YSL, which was fetisch-inspired, crazy sexy and beautifully tailored. Rick Owens (a personal favorite of mine) presented a quite moving show inspired by the architectual movement referred to as ‘brutalism’, which was kind of funny since this (like Tim Blanks stated in his review on Style.com) might be Owens least brutal collection ever. The fashion industry’s darling, Phoebe Philo, succeded to create yet another great collection (especially the coats and jackets) for Céline, this season funnily enough also inspired by brutalist architecture.

Last but not least, I’d like to mention Dries van Noten, who, to the tones of Bon Iver’s beautiful song “Woods” undoubtely presented one of the absolute strongest collections of the season, inspired by Asian iconography.

Picture: Marc Jacobs/Vogue.com

You usually have a rather good idea of what to expect from New York’s fashion week. It’s described as the new, quite urban fashion scene where American sportswear meets high fashion halway. That of course is disputable. This week (eight days to be exact) was no different in particular, besides the memorable shows (and Marc Jacobs, you never know what he’ll concoct). Two were for example the perhaps most anticipated designers, the duo of Proenza Schouler along with Alexander Wang (who had a bunch of 90′s supermodels walk for him) who both lived up to the expectations, delivering great collections including beautiful military coats, sharply cut silhouettes and lots of leather.

The accessory designer Zana Bayne once again collaborated with Prabal Gurung, contributing with leather harnesses that would spice the looks, as the theme for the show was something like “heaven vs hell”. That exact theme interpreted somewhat more literal was seen at 3.1 Philip Lim and Narciso Rodriguez who both along with lots of other designers that week did monochrome prints in black and white.

Along with the what the veterans would call new designers, there were of course Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, with classic not very groundbreaking womenwear. America’s favorite designer Marc Jacobs went the other direction however and was inspired by the eccentric looks of Anna Piaggi and Lynn Yaeger. He presented to be frank a quite hard-to-like collaction that was however very prased by the critics. The set on the contrary nothing but extraordinary.

Other new designers were Ohne Titel, RAD by Rad Hourani and Kimberly Ovitz, that contributes to the young spirit of talent that has evolved in New York the last couple of seasons. New York doesn’t have a ancestry of fashion like Paris or Milan, so it is great that New York has become more like London today, that is to say open to innovation, which is in fact what makes the multifaceted fashion capitol still interesting.

”Quis hic locus, quae regio, quae mundi plaga?”
What is this world, what kingdom, what shores of what world?

- Seneca’s Hercules Furens (The Mad Hercules), Act 5, line 1138

This quote, which happens to be one of my absolute favorites, comes to mind when watching Sarah Burton’s fall collection for 2012, cause this truly is a collection that seems as if it had been created in a kingdom far, far away. The theatricality and sense of drama that made McQueen so famous was there as usual, but this time it all felt somewhat different. When explaining her vision for Fall, Sarah Burton said that she wanted to show something with a positive vibe, which was showing in the parade of white, princessy dresses that was sent down the runway.

When Sarah Burton was looking to show us lightness and optimism, I can’t help but think of Alexander Mcqueen himself, who was more eager to show us the beauty in what is imperfected, sometimes even lugubrious. However beautiful and enchanting this collection may be, I am missing the depth and complexity that I believe is key to the usually so haunting quality of McQueen.

See more from the collection here

LINNÈA SJÖDIN

Stella McCartney is a master at making collections for the modern woman. Even if it can sound like a cliché, there are few other designers who know how to dress her. Because she is not a just a hardworking mother, looking to accomplish her carrier goals, but she also wants to look elegant and be ready for a drink, dinner or party. From the morning until night she has to look and feel strong and sophisticated.

Stella McCartney’s choice of colors for this coming fall is Klein blue, white, black, greige and I also saw a pair of pants in cerise. What about the silhouettes? They were feminine and sporty; some of the dresses even looked like scuba diving suits.

In theory, Clare Waight Keller’s fall collection for 2012 sounds like a winner, since the inspiration was said to be a fusion of traditional British outerwear, and the sophistication and ease that’s so significant for the way French people dress. It could’ve gotten pretty interesting, but unfortunately it felt somewhat overthought, almost like a sort of parody of what Chloé is all about.

There certainly were some good pieces though, like a few powdery coats and bombers, and the colour palette was beautiful; mostly pastels and neutrals with elements of deep blue and burgundy. With this collection it’s proven that Claire Waight Keller really gets the feminine and relaxed sophistication that is the trademark of Chloé, but for next season I would wish for her to take the brand a bit further and incorporate more of her own vision into her design.

See more photos from the collection here

LINNÈA SJÖDIN

Stefano Pilati’s last collection for Yves Saint Laurent was as black as funeral cortege. An extremely sexy and chic funeral cortege, that is. The collection, which was filled with leather pieces, chain dresses and metal accents, was literally oozing sex and hidden, dark fetishes. As always with Stefano Pilato, it was impeccably chic and beautifully tailored, and therefore luckily felt expensive rather than cheap (which otherwise often can be an issue when it comes to making explicit “sexy” fashion).

Pilati, like basically every other designer this season, showed a marked waist for fall and slighly exaggerated shoulders paired with knee-lenght skirts and dresses, creating a very strong silhouette that takes some guts to rock. Personally I would consider this to be one of Pilati’s best collections ever for Yves Saint Laurent, and I am looking forward to see what he’s gonna do next.

LINNÈA SJÖDIN

Exploring with the masculine silhouette last season, Haider Ackermann  went back to a more curvy sleek silhouette: narrow in the waist however dramatic and large at top and bottom. Instead of boxy draping, he went back to experimenting with wrapping effects that he earlier mastered so well. Monochromic garments, sometimes looks seen in sullen, moody hues, combined in a certain way that it resembled of an October tree. Also dark hues of cobalt blue as well as lilac and green were seen in the collection.

This was yet another beautiful, almost poetic collection from Ackermann, models walking in slow motion with tunes of Frank Sinatra playing in the background.

Dior presented a classic collection yet without a official new creative director. The silhouettes were inspired by the late 40s and 50s and all beyond knee length. The clothes are made for women who have class, style, age and appreciate diamonds. A collection perhaps not so wearable for most of us, Still some of the full length gowns were absolutely mesmerizing.

See more photos here: Fashiongonerogue

Written by: Simone Brenemark Molvidson / IASIMONE

Lanvin surprised with this fall collection in colours from all components of the rainbow. This collection was meant to mark the 10 year anniversary for Alber Elbaz as chief designer for Lanvin, with some of his favourite pieces back in time. But the pieces in colour felt a bit lost in time, and it was not until the colour palette changed into a more dark mood that some new designs seemed to walk down the runway. The favourite piece for fall was a draped dress in charcoil grey, and draping sure is a Lanvin specialty.

More photos here: Fashiongonerogue

Written by: Simone Brenemark Molvidson / IASIMONE