1 February, 2013

Beauty buy: Dries van Noten X Frederic Malle

Twitter has been all aflutter this morning at the announcement by WWD of a Dries van Noten fragrance coming this month. Digging further, the fragrance is an ‘olfactory portrait’ of Dries van Noten, as opposed to a brand fragrance and is created by Frédéric Malle’s Editions de Parfums. The notes are a concoction of citron, sandalwood, guaiac wood, saffron, Spanish jasmine, tonka beans, Cashmeran/blonde woods, vanilla and musk. Something tells me it will be a bit of a unisex scent.

This is what the bottle looks like…

I think this is going to be another addition to my ‘fragrance library’, alongside the Marni, Tom Ford Noir, Chanel Jersey and Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir currently on rotation. It will be available on February 15th.

UPDATE 27th Feb: It’s been spotted in Liberty so I’ll be heading down there for a sniff. In the meantime, here’s a video of Frederic Malle and Dries van Noten talking about the collaboration…

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Beauty, Brands, Designers, News beauty news, Dries Van Noten, fragrance, Frederic Malle

31 January, 2013

M’oda ‘Operandi: pre-tail to etail

Pre-tail site, M’oda ‘Operandi has been going for quite a while now and even though I’m still a novice online shopper when it comes to fashion (honestly, I can count my total clothing purchases on two hands), I do think it’s a clever concept.

For me it works as a research tool. It bridges the gap between seeing things on the runway (styled to the hilt as per the designer’s vision) and seeing them on a rail in store. We get to see clothes ahead of season styled in a more wearable way, including those by some of the lesser known designers. This week’s ‘trunk shows’ (the M’O name for its limited-time pre-order sales) includes Bouchra Jarrar’s winter couture collection (a designer I love, who was shortlisted for the Balenciaga gig and M’oda ‘Operandi’s first ‘couture’ designer) and J.W. Anderson pre-fall.

But like a lot of start-ups, it seems the plan is to develop the concept beyond its original, well, moda operandi. Since December, the site has also offered conventional, in-season etail in its ‘Boutique’, giving the M’O consumer the option to buy their favorite pieces and wear them the next day. As CEO Aslaug Magnusdottir says, “We want to better serve our current customers and reach a new customer base. We’ve been able to establish a name in various pockets of the world and we want to take advantage of our positioning and build our market share quickly.”

You can pre-order Bouchra Jarrar’s winter couture collection until 5th Feb and J.W. Anderson Pre-Fall 2013 until 4th Feb. Happy shopping!

Bouchra Jarrar

J.W. Anderson

Disneyrollergirl 1 Comment Brands, Business of fashion, Designers, News, Online shopping, Retail concepts, Shopping Bouchra Jarrar, etail, J.W Anderson, Moda operandi, pre-tail, shopping

22 January, 2013

Bringing back the ‘Comma’ heel

We saw mutated versions of it at Raf Simons’ debut Dior couture show last July, and now Bruno Frisoni has updated the original in silver mirror leather and pink mink for Roger Vivier’s Rendez-Vous collection AW13. The iconic ‘Comma’ shoe, designed by Vivier in the 1950s was a precursor to the stiletto. As shoe designer for Dior, his creations set the benchmark in footwear design for years to come, and the bent, squat ‘Comma’ was one of his best.

Fast forward to 2013 and we’re seeing more versions of those inwards- and outwards-curved heels, both from the house of Dior and from the house of Vivier and in short and tall versions. For Dior RTW SS13 they’re tall, slightly flared and bent inwards, while at yesterday’s Dior couture show they were super-slender and came in bright metallics and chalky shades. Let’s see if the ‘Comma”s influence spreads further…

Original Roger Vivier ‘Comma’ heel 1957

Roger Vivier Rendez-Vous Collection AW13

(more…)

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Design, Designers, Trends AW12, Christian Dior, Comma heel, couture, Raf Simons, Roger Vivier, shoes, ss13, trends

16 January, 2013

London Fashion Week SS13: Claire Barrow

This season I’m doing my LFW ticket requests super-early. I’m looking forward to Nicole Farhi (first season with Jo Sykes at the design helm), Topshop Unique (I wasn’t bowled over with the last collection), Marques’Almeida, Ostwald Helgason, Lucas Nascimento and Thomas Tait. Plus my new favourite, Claire Barrow, who is showing again as part of Fashion East. Here’s her SS13 collection of illustrative ‘punk pisshead’ separates inspired by enigmatic rebels. Note the casting, styling, hair and make-up too – all outstanding. (P.S. she just emailed me to say ‘there’s an online store coming soon’….)

(more…)