PFW Diary: Getting up close and personal Carven’s brilliantly trippy Fall collection
The energy of a runway show cannot be beat—assuming of course, that you’re listening to a rocking DJ, perusing kickass clothes, and ogling Tilda Swinton in front row. If not, a visit to a designer’s showroom can be just as satisfying.
Taking the time to get up close and personal with this latest batch of collections seems even more crucial than in most seasons, given the major trompe l’oeil layering trend that’s impossible to dissect as models rush by. I was trying to figure out whether an item was constructed of one layer or three as I headed to the Carven showroom.
Guillaume Henry has swiftly transformed the once moribund label with simple, fetching clothes that cool young (and not so young) women can’t get enough of—women like the 20-something publicist in a digitized python-print sheath who toured me around the collection.
The basis for Henry’s Fall collection was the Renaissance, including Hieronymus Bosch‘s Garden of Earthly Delights, which was the inspiration for a print. The sybaritic scene was tidied up though, to eliminate rats and other not-so-pretty details in the original work, something I never would have known from looking at it on the runway. I also would not have known that the contrasting collars on many of the outfits were separate pieces, about the size of a business envelope; or that the laser-cut velvets, based on the lead in stained glass windows, will probably never go into production because the hand finishing required would make the price of each piece astronomical.
And finally, about that layering trend. Some of the Carven jackets looked like vests over sweaters, but they were actually wool jackets with knit sleeves. Similarly, I learned that the back flaps on a striped dress were attached, and not a vest with a black slit, as it appeared! And the final reason to visit a showroom: to get toe-to-toe with the shoes. In this case, pumps with leather braiding down the back and sequined paisley ankle boots, among others.
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The energy of a runway show cannot be beat—assuming of course, that you’re listening to a rocking DJ, perusing kickass clothes, and ogling Tilda Swinton in front row. If not, a visit to a designer’s showroom can be just as satisfying.
Taking the time to get up close and personal with this latest batch of collections seems even more crucial than in most seasons, given the major trompe l'oeil layering trend that's impossible to dissect as models rush by. I was trying to figure out whether an item was constructed of one layer or three as I headed to the Carven showroom.
Guillaume Henry has swiftly transformed the once moribund label with simple, fetching clothes that cool young (and not so young) women can’t get enough of—women like the 20-something publicist in a digitized python-print sheath who toured me around the collection.
The basis for Henry’s Fall collection was the Renaissance, including Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, which was the inspiration for a print. The sybaritic scene was tidied up though, to eliminate rats and other not-so-pretty details in the original work, something I never would have known from looking at it on the runway. I also would not have known that the contrasting collars on many of the outfits were separate pieces, about the size of a business envelope; or that the laser-cut velvets, based on the lead in stained glass windows, will probably never go into production because the hand finishing required would make the price of each piece astronomical.
And finally, about that layering trend. Some of the Carven jackets looked like vests over sweaters, but they were actually wool jackets with knit sleeves. Similarly, I learned that the back flaps on a striped dress were attached, and not a vest with a black slit, as it appeared! And the final reason to visit a showroom: to get toe-to-toe with the shoes. In this case, pumps with leather braiding down the back and sequined paisley ankle boots, among others.){kind=link}