For my first fashion week review I thought it would be appropriate to deviate from ordering the shows as to the date they were shown and jump straight to New York’s darling: Marc Jacobs — he’s always been an absolute favourite designer of mine as he, alone, sparked my initial interest in fashion & was the first luxury designer handbag I ever invested in.. I guess you could say he sort of has a sentimental value in my heart.
His autumn/winter collection more than proves himself worthy of such admiration and talent; starting off with an outer-worldy set of an icy, warped, wintry village – designed by renowned artist friend Rachel Feinstein (who is one of the features in the latest LOVE Magazine) – Marc restored the subversive elements to the world of fairy tales.
It was like being Alice in a Marc Jacobs Wonderland (complete with mad-hatters and exaggerated everything) mixed with Little Red Riding Hood, lost in an enchanted forest.
The colourful parade of furry Dr Seuss hats (designed by Stephen Jones) combined with holographic-looking appliqués, paisley-prints (which are continuing to be on trend so it’s a perfect time to invest now for both spring and fall!), oversized safety pins holding in place the draped fur shrugs with chunky crocheted stoles around the shoulders, and unique Ostrich shoes gave the audience a less traditional Disney-esque feel of fables
Layered wraps & capes reigned supreme with a piled combination of textures, colours, and patchwork present in every outfit. Silhouettes included hourglass shapes and exaggerated hips, and were bulkier and looser with expert box pleating for cropped jackets & loose dresses worn over cropped pants.
I loved the Oliver Twist sentiments of basic fabrics and colours contrasted with rich and luxurious embellishments and embroidery (another ongoing trend seen on the New York catwalks — see Altuzarra for example). The juxtaposition of the most elemental fabrics with the most affluent produced dramatic and absolutely beautiful, albeit unconventional, looks and is seen as a continuation of the past 2 season’s fascination of contrasting fabrications…
Although it wasn’t his usual kind of beautiful, this collection showed something else — it was a somewhat daring and ornate kind of beauty, which evoked a sense of curiosity and fun into fashion… poetic & magical — Master Marc does it again!
FASHIONEEKA. 