Jil Sander Spring 2013
Q
Anonymous asked:
can you explain what a "blue" label means? is it like chanel, dior, etc.?
A
You mean blue chip..? (or are you talking about nail polish?)
Chanel and Dior are blue chip labels, yes. It essentially means a brand that is of high quality and regarded among the top in it’s field, but originates from the stock market who coined the term from poker and means any company with a good reputation that is financially in excellent shape and reliable .e.g coca cola (a broad definition but I suppose it’s kind of like the term haute couture in that people throw it around and don’t really use it correctly, anyway)
More Prada appreciation
If I was sample size hell yeah I would rock this whole look because why not right
This is what makes us girls
These are actually so genius
Prada Real Fantasies Fall/Winter 2012
Ella Verberne photographed by David K. Shields and styled by Rachael Churchward for Black #17
Codie Young photographed and styled by Karen Inderbitzen-Waller for Black #17
WHY I’M SO BORED WITH FASHION
YOU KNOW WHAT? I’m BORED of fashion
In 2012, where Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest and whatever other social media platforms invented for those with short attention spans exist everything is so INSTANT and this is supposed to be a good thing because:
a) we don’t have to wait so long to see new things (even if they are a blurry iPhone picture) (reblogged 150 times on your dashboard) (and uploaded with a shitty filter on instagram)
and b) because HEY! NOW EVERYONE CAN BE INVOLVED AND FEEL LIKE THEY’RE FRONT ROW. Literally. Sitting between Kim Kardashian and Kanye. So close you can feel Karlie Kloss’ stare burn holes in your Christopher Kane clutch
I have nothing against the idea of social media or bloggers (considering I am one..) and this post is maybe, just a little bit, hypocritical BUT hear me out - this urgency to have everything now and out there in the world wide web is kind of ruining fashion
I think when people look back on this period of time in fashion it’s going to be seen as the “digital age” when technology took over, but no one really cared about what was happening with the actual fashion part. We’ll look back on the “Rise of the bloggers” and forget about majority of the collections designers put on the runways because most of them were horrible anyway.
I read something the other month about how the early 21st century hasn’t been allowed to develop a unique aesthetic because “we are too busy bowing down to eras past” and damn, that is true. If I have to hear about one more designer referencing the ’60s or the ’80s in their collections or see another god damn New York designer (badly) swagger jacking Balenciaga I’m gonna lose it. There is so much pressure to be “first” and get hyped on the blog of some teenager (who actually has nothing interesting to say about fashion at all but has 50 million followers anyway so who cares). Designers should be inspired to create something fresh and new but instead the opposite happens.
I get that fashion is a business and, naturally, sales are important but pushing the envelope doesn’t mean creating unwearable or wacky, gimmicky clothes (thanks Jeremy Scott, you tried), it doesn’t even mean a theatrical show!
Having great past innovators is a wonderful thing but I absolutely think that today our industry relies too heavily on the past, and the “instant” gratification via social media… it needs a shakeup
Kolfinna Kristófersdóttir covers i-D Fall 2012 photographed by Boo George
Q
Anonymous asked:
Can you please explain to me how a designer would cast their models? Like how do they decide which model to choose as there are so many out there? And why were you disappointed with CK's models?
A
Designers usually hire a casting director whose sole job is to cast/help to cast the models for the show. The level of involvement of the designer in this process depends - some are a lot more hands on while others less so, but in both cases there is an understanding that the models generally should reflect the aesthetic of the label and the collection for that particular season. There will be a ‘look’ the designer is after that season and maybe a girl that epitomizes that look (an example is the opener/closer of Marc Jacobs this season - Ruby Jean Wilson). You might notice that some brands have a ‘type’ of model that they always use but for designers that are less.. shall we say.. “directional”.. they will often be heavily influenced by the look that is in that season. Everyone is sure to remember the doll-faced trend that was popular circa 2004-5 when Gemma Ward, Lily Cole et al dominated the runways and led the way to designers booking similar looking girls. So, definitely, what is “hot” right now is a big influence on the girls that get booked by designers at any time.
You’ve probably heard of the week before fashion week when all the models in town go on show castings. This is the models opportunity to meet with casting directors, designers, stylists. Established models tend to not cast as designers know them and will direct book them from their agency however for new faces, and even girls in their 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc season, this is the most important time. A lot of the big brands opt to do request casting which means they see less models and only models who are invited - for a new face to break into this they need to have hype surrounding them or someone big/important supporting/backing them.
So, although there are ‘so many (models) out there’ in reality I would say a large percentage of the spots for a model in a ‘good’ show are already taken by a) designers favourites (e.g. Hanne Gaby has walked something like 9 consecutive seasons for Alexander Wang) or b) casting directors favourites. Top casting directors like Russell Marsh, James Scully, Ashley Brokaw etc all have favourites and a certain ‘type’ of model they prefer. For a new face, impressing these big casting directors is really important because they will often work with more than one designer and across the 4 cities. James Scully casts ODLR, Carolina Herrera, Jason Wu, Derek Lam in NYC; Ashley Brokaw casts Prada, Miu Miu, Balenciaga… A good start (e.g. impressing one of these people) in New York for a new face model often leads to great things in Europe because they cast the big shows in Milan and Paris too.
Although many designers use casting directors, a lot of fashion houses, particularly in Europe, actually do inhouse casting.. Lanvin, Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier.. Karl Lagerfeld casts all his shows.. this can either be really good or really bad. Personally I feel unless the designer has a really strong aesthetic it can become a bit sloppy and lacking cohesion. I think the best kind of casting is when the models in the show fit the collection, a great example of this in my opinion is Prada’s casting - the show is always cast based on the collection that season and there are numerous cases where girls who have landed campaigns the season prior are not booked because they don’t fit the look.
This was a really long answer - hope it makes sense??
As for Calvin Klein casting - I didn’t like it because there was no diversity whatsoever (no models of colour). I wouldn’t say I was disappointed though because I never really like CK’s casting anyway, it’s always a bit bland..
Lindsey Wixson photographed by Nick Knight for Garage Fall 2012
Amber Valletta photographed by Craig McDean for Vogue Italia September 2012
