InAisce, S/S 14: A Study in Grey

The new InAisce lookbook reached my inbox yesterday, but a sick husband and a book I promised to read kept me from doing anything apart from drooling over the PDFs myself. I see this morning that this.hearts.on.fire has already posted the S/S 14 collection in its entirety, so go there to see all the usual suspects of an InAisce collection. What I want to focus on is the collection's use of a particular fabric, this grey weave. Without zooming in, my first thoughts were that it was a waffle-knit with a bit of a sheen to it so that it looked like a very wearable chain-mail. But you don't think 'thermal underwear' when you think of InAisce, do you? It just seems like too blasé of a fabric choice for Jona to have made. My next thought is that it is more like the lovely swatch of thick woven silk that I saw at the Zam Barrett studio. Or perhaps a woven silk/linen blend, maybe with a bit of a metallic thread in it. That would make a lot more sense with the InAisce aesthetic and frequent use of textured linens and such. Does anyone know what the fabric is? Please share if so. I can send you the PDF if you can't zoom in enough on here, just let me know. Also, if you have any opinions on doing a PhD in Comparative Literature, please send them my way. In the meantime, here's one more grey look (in a different fabric) for the road.

(Photography by Xi Sinsong)

InAisce, F/W 13/14 (Part 3)

I thought we were done with InAisce this season too (except, you know, staring at the photos already posted until your eyes are too dry to blink). But the women's capsule collection (!) has just arrived in my inbox (and has been posted on the Bookface), and so, as they say, it ain't over till it's over. Which, I think, is now. And again with the blue! I swear, something blue is going to creep into my new place, and it better be this piece right here:

(Photos by Xi Sinsong)

InAisce, F/W 13/14 (Part 2)

As I was saying, Ger Duany is the perfect choice for this season of InAisce. Also, if that place has insuite laundry, I want it.

(Photography by Xi Singsong, photos via Facebook)

InAisce, F/W 13/14

I don't quite get the big matted/felted piece(s), but Ger Duany (I Heart Huckabees, anyone?) is a perfect choice for an InAisce model. Oh how I wish I could RSVP that I actually would be attending this show!

(Video via ThisHeartsOnFire's Facebook)

Pictures, or it didn't happen*

I just decided, just now, that I prefer fashion editorials to videos. Yes, I've complained about editorials before, as I'd prefer to see every detail of a piece first and foremost to figure out how it would work for me, and then see how others see it. And yes, I've posted fashion videos before if I think they're cool or am a huge fan of the designer. Heck, I even look forward to seeing new videos when I know they're coming (such as Alexandra Groover's newest, premiering at London Fashion Week on Friday). But really, if I'm being honest, if I have to choose between an editorial and a video, I'd rather see an editorial with no music or story line or blatant subtext attached so that I can make up my own interpretation of what is going on. Maybe it's that anti-technology aspect of me rearing its head, but fashion is much more relatable if I'm allowed to relate to it on my own terms. Seems obvious, but whatever. The same goes for me and music too - I'd prefer not being told what obscure lyrics mean (insert shout out to Davey Havok here), and sometimes I even wish I had never seen a music video that creates a narrative or image that was never (in my mind, at least) inherent in the lyrics. 

Anyway, this came up because I came home to InAisce's S/S 13 editorial lookbook, and all I could think of was Latin poetry, both the reading and translating of. For instance, the first photo captures in an InAisce-framed way my secret Latin translating spot that I was babbling on about the other day, with me in black, looking through time to what Catullus (whom I'm translating) was saying. And in the second photo, the ghost-like figure in black represents, to me, Catullus (or any other dead poet/writer/artist, for that matter), looking on at what the world has become and what we've made of him, himself being unable to follow us and yet still being here. And in the third photo (below), the figure hidden on the cliff brings to mind my Sulpicia, the focal point of my Masters, waiting to pounce on me in retribution for my erasure of her existence (though, at the same time, her ghost-ness symbolizes her non-existence...). I'm sorry, Sulpicia, but someone's got to do it.

Thoughts/feelings/impressions?

(Photos by Jeff P. Elstone II)

*Written while enjoying Theatre is Evil, Amanda Palmer's new album with The Grand Theft Orchestra (yes, that album); one of my favorite songs from it is called "Smile (Pictures or It Didn't Happen)".

Columna Cerului

When looking for a photo I had downloaded for an upcoming (re-)interview (!), I came across InAisce's S/S 13 lookbook. I don't even recall either receiving it or downloading it, probably as that would've been my first day back from the Montreal/NY excursion. Needless to say, it's a good thing I went into that infinite abyss that is my downloads folder. Anyway, Jona is obviously still sticking to his established aesthetic, while at the same time introducing some new ideas as he expands the womenswear (and footwear) selection. I, for one, still think that blazers and jackets are his forte, even moreso* when they have fantastic titles such as 'Occam's Blazer' (2nd above, left). My favorite (and newest want) is the Atman Blazer in grey (or 'haze'), which what appears to be a zip-off section (or, if I know Jona, a hook-and-eye-off section). Sigh.

*No one has told me otherwise (see * here), so this word shall henceforth be a staple on kOs!

InAisce, F/W 12/13

I had nearly forgotten the thrill of a new fashion week season, and of seeing a new collection so wonderful that I couldn't post it nearly fast enough. But my memory has now been gloriously jogged by InAisce's F/W 12/13 'Pilgrim' collection. Each photo of the lookbook is actually composed of two outfits, the left on a guy and the right on a girl. Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but the majority of the outfits on the male model incorporate leather or fur, and thus my cropping job predominately features her and not him (sorry, guy). That being said, I think this is my favorite InAisce collection by far, at least in how it's styled. And, while the gorgeous silhouettes and overall detailing are as to be expected, I quite appreciate the attention Jona has paid to the side and back profiles this time around (warning: gorgeous back draping below). The question is, why am I not in Paris to see this presentation tomorrow? Sigh.

(Photos via InAisce's Facebook)

Pilgrimage

Somehow I never connected the fabulous InAisce to the (makes-me-feel-a-little-uncomfortable) Sruli Recht. It makes perfect sense now, but that connection was not established in my grey matter until I received an invite to the Sruli Recht A/W 12 presentation in Paris, and noticed tiny print at the bottom that InAisce will also be presented at the same art gallery, at the same time. The world makes sense again. Except for the fact that I'll likely miss every InAisce show that I'm invited to. Sigh.

Anyway, this is a teaser photo of InAisce's A/W 12 collection, as posted on Facebook this morning. Looks like Jona is pressing on into the land of accessories, whilst attempting to make his models walk across the ocean. Perhaps that backpack is also a floating device...

InAisce, S/S 12 (Women's)

I'd prefer to resize these beauties so that this post does justice to InAisce's first collection clearly set apart as womenswear (which I could've viewed last night in NY if life was perfect). However, said resizing would mean that you wouldn't be able to zoom in on the details, and that would just be a crime. If you're a regular kOs reader, you can probably recognize the InAisce impeccably tailored nomadic/romantic aesthetic anyway. The question is, have you ever wondered what an InAisce-clad woman would look like to a hobbit? Well, search no further...

P.S. For those of you wondering, the 'An Aeon Drifting' collection, briefly seen here, was the men's S/S 12 collection. The more you know...

(Photos via InAisce's Facebook)

An Aeon Drifting

I had already seen the bulk of the new InAisce S/S 12 collection (via Dirty Flaws; my apologies for not sharing it with you), but this photo was just posted on the InAisce Facebook, making me drool some more. That is definitely the best zip-off hood I've ever seen (though methinks the garment would be best for a beard-less person), and the almost diamond-shaped front seams that cleanly incorporate slit pockets into the front are rather incredible. Not to mention the simple but lovely detail of a short zipper on a long jacket, which would allow many wonderful layers to peak out from underneath the coat. And, perchance, is that some sort of waxed material? Sigh.

Purple rain, purple rain

Tomorrow I'll have been back from my second NY trip for two weeks already. And though I was rather happy to get home this time around (as opposed to the near contempt for my hometown when I came back in September), I still feel like I haven't quite returned home yet. I'm in this strange limbo where I'm still nursing the same injury that threatened to ruin my precious time in NY (and which is still at the same intensity), I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop when I go back to work (every morning), and I'm still living out of a bag (just a garbage bag, as opposed to a carry-on). And the only things that interest me are those that are very closely related to NY: the only (non-scrub) clothes I have access to (or want to wear) right now are my mydearthings (of which you can stuff a lot into a single plastic bag), all I want to do during the day is sit in Central Park with a bagel and a book (preferably The Unbearable Lightness of Being, my copy of which was bought at Strand and has its passages about New York dog-eared), all I want to listen to is Prince, and all I want to watch at night is The Colbert Report (check out my '...about me...' page for a brief illustration) and The Daily Show (though I couldn't really watch any DVDs right now anyway, with the DVD-filled Rubbermaids buried in the center of the room and the TV too far away from an outlet). I'm even certain that my second-hand vaccuum (with which I have to go over every inch of carpet every day for the next 14 days following our unwelcome dose of toxic chemicals) smells absolutely identical to the subway. Sigh. Wake me up when there's a seat sale to Newark.

1st photo (via Facebook): Looks like a more mountainous representation of my hometown, but instead is from a photo shoot from NY label InAisce, from whom I got a gorgeous jacket at a sample sale the fateful day my foot became too far gone.

2nd photo (via Style.com): A piece from Sarah Burton's F/W 11 McQueen collection, as worn by Finnish model Kirsi Pyrhonen, who waited for a downtown #1 train beside me after walking past me and roughly 1499 other people in one of my favorite hairdos from Fashion's Night Out: The Show in September.

Chromat, A/W 11

There were two events I received invitations for that I was very sad to miss as a result of going to NY after Fashion Week. The first was the InAisce F/W 11/12 presentation, which occurred the very same night that I was enjoying my much needed fix of folk metal. My inability to attend was partly made up by my ability to attend the InAisce sample sale the weekend I was in NY. Well, maybe 'ability' is too strong of a word, as the long trek from the Metropolitan Museum of Art down to Chrystie St. (followed by a trek back to Brooklyn, then back to Manhattan, and then back to Brooklyn to meet the lovely Patricia Ayres) pretty much did my foot in for the remainder of the week, meaning I did not do much exploring this time around in NY. Sigh. I was however rewarded with a most excellent InAisce jacket for only $90, which I'm sure will make an appearance in an upcoming post or two.

The second event I had to miss was a party put on in honour of Chromat, where Becca McCharen debuted her A/W 11 collection. For those of you that have met me, you know I'm not a big party goer, but Becca is one of the sweetest people I've ever met, and her smile is so infectious that I know I would've had a great time. Good thing that she didn't wait too long to post lookbook photos of the new collection, entitled 'Blood Sport'. I really love the mood of the photoshoot and the inspirations behind the collection, being "the royalty, athleticism and dark sexuality of Olympic athletes." I have long been a loyal fan of the Summer Olympics as I have had dreams of being a professional sprinter since my elementary school track and field days, but I've never seen the various sports quite like this. Indeed, I think this is the strongest Chromat collection thus far, especially as it contains both the show-stopping avant garde cage pieces I've come to expect from Becca (such as the perfect halo collar, shown above, and the cycling pannier skirt, shown below), as well as more wearable pieces for the more conservative dresser, such as the lifter sleeves (above), warm-up collar (vest-like piece above), shinguard cages (a perfect accessory for boring leggings!), and the cleat cages (a.k.a. sexy spats, seen below). I'm also a huge fan of the rings shoulders (below), which would look stunning over a simple black dress or a long strapless gown. Becca, I'm awarding you the gold medal for this collection!

(Photography by Gemma Fleming)