Verlaine, A/W 12

My man periodically revives the idea of getting a triptych tattoo done on his back, which would portray certain narrative elements from his Master of Arts thesis. As for myself, I prefer triptych's of the Renaissance variety. And of the Verlaine variety. Especially when the panels consist of an asymmetrical cashmere hoodie, a wool coat inspired by volcanoes, and a black trench coat. Though I wish this triptych was less abstract - every aspect of a hoodie is of extreme importance to me, particularly a Verlaine hoodie.

(Photo via Verlaine)

Il pleure dans mon coeur/Comme il pleut sur la ville.*

Okay, I completely blame academia as a whole for me not sensing the second that the following two lookbooks were posted. And I profusely apologize for being unable to share them with you until this moment. Now, let's move on.

What you're seeing above is the S/S 12 collection from that magical mythical Lower East Side label known as Verlaine. My head is all fuzzy with Latin and hagiography and whatnot, but it seems to me that the collection turned out a wee bit different from the mood board and photos of the muslin samples that I saw in June. Which is in no way a bad thing, as I am extremely happy with how the Shakespearean-inspired jacket turned out (see below), for instance. There was a swatch of the eyelet tape on said mood board, but only drawings of how it was going to be used. I couldn't have imagined a better outcome. And that long flowy dress? Sigh. The collection as a whole is very distinctly Verlaine, with their perfect method of gathering and draping that doesn't add bulky volume to the sleek silhouettes. While the geniuses at Verlaine have thankfully brought some sanctity and sanity (i.e. the colour black) to the oft-too bright S/S season, this collection brings to the Verlaine table for the first time not just elaborate dye experiments, but a couple of prints and white pieces. As you know my bias leads me to post mainly monochromatic things here, I now put the responsibility on you to go to the Verlaine site to view these such pieces. They look better on a white background anyway.

And now, after all that about just wanting to post black pieces, I introduce to you the brand new basic line from Verlaine, V Verlaine. As it's not produced in NY like the mainline, but rather in Bali, it is set to be within a more affordable range, and consists of cotton and jersey pieces that you'd want to wear everyday (really, I wanted to take home the entire set of samples when I saw them in June). Rest assured that the Verlaine team is still very involved in the V line (indeed, I have a sneaking suspicion that having the production far away from NY is a convenient excuse for the extremely charming founder of Verlaine to frequently get away from the busy city and visit his friends in a beautiful location), and they are very excited about giving more people the opportunity to own their own Verlaine piece. As everyone should.

*Poetry provided by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896).

66 Allen Street

Goodness, where to begin. As I'm sure you've gathered from the frequency of my trips to New York, I am truly in love and addicted to that small area of Earth where it seems like anything can happen. This third trip was, at first, a last ditch effort to retain what little bit of sanity I still had. But, a mere two days before I left, my situation changed for the good, and I was given the go ahead to enjoy my trip to NY as it should be enjoyed. And that I did.

And so. While I'm still trying to process everything, particularly seeing the McQueen exhibit (twice) and hearing my favorite author read a chapter of my favorite book (and say many other wonderful sounding words) in person, one of the absolute highlights of the short week was going to the gorgeous studio occupied by Verlaine and meeting the very charming people behind that label (not to mention getting an exclusive preview of their upcoming collection). Truly, Verlaine is the type of label that this blog exists for, and I would have no trouble writing umpteen posts a day if I lived in a magical world where I could continuously discover designers with fantastic aesthetic sensibilities and charming personalities. Sigh. Anyway, somehow the universe deemed it fit to reward me for all that I've put up with for the last eight months, and I walked away from the Verlaine studio with this 100% silk kaftan from their S/S 11 collection. As I've already promised a photo to Verlaine's founder of the Greek goddess/split maxi dress way I decided to style it (and a play date with a dear friend to come up with other styling options), I'm sure you'll see this again at some point. But, for now, I'm still stuck on how I came to be such a lucky girl to even see this stuff in person. Sigh.

Verlaine

So why did y'all let me go on about how basically draping has become ho-hum and commonplace when I hadn't yet heard of NYC-based label Verlaine (found via NJAL)? And New York, how can I quit you, when all my new and old favorite labels are coincidentally all based in Manhattan and/or Brooklyn? Sigh. Let's just say that, while I don't give two hoots about the big event happening across the pond (though I did hope the rumour of a vintage Alexander McQueen was based on fact), if I were to choose the attire of a modern-day princess, I would want her wardrobe to consist of as many Verlaine pieces as possible. For, first of all, I would rather see these pieces plastered all over the Internets, magazine covers, and front pages than that blue dress (you know the one). And, the hand-dying, loose weaving, and relaxed draping used in the Verlaine collections, I think, would lend themselves to a much more beautiful process of aging than what monarchism has gone through for the last millenium or so. Or something. Anyway, those fantastic colours (which caught my eye before the draping) in the S/S 11 collection (above) are the result of overdying brushed cotton plaids and other natural fibers such as silk with Japanese shibori techniques (though I admit I don't know what that means), which sounds like a rather romantic (and brilliant) process to me. But even when there is no colour in the A/W Verlaine pieces (below)? Sigh.

In case you're interested, a few Verlaine pieces are available at the incredible San Francisco-based online shop Acrimony, as well as NYC-based Kirna Zabete in NYC, Blake in Chicago, DNA in Saudi Arabia, and Vanitas Stores in Shanghai and Taipei). While some of the prices aren't as high as I would've guessed, my favorite pieces are, of course, the most expensive ones (the Driftnet Circle Skirt and the Linen Biker Vest). Oh, and the Verlaine creative team is currently working on the S/S 12 collection, which will  be presented at NYFW in September. I did just notice a cheap flight into Newark around that time...