Cover of Life

Well here's a name I haven't heard for eons. Well, nearly two years, anyway. Remember those layered trousers I was all about when NJAL's The Shop was still shiny and new? Well, Fashion156 today reminded me of their label, being Ethosens from Japanese designer Yui Hashimoto. I seem to think that they didn't have a website up and running when I was pining after those trousers, since I don't remember all those scrolling lookbooks, or the fact that each year has one name for both the A/W and following S/S collections. It's rather a good idea, I think, as it allows the designer to just work with one theme for the year, and yet be able to make season appropriate pieces within that construct. Anyway, the title or theme for the A/W 10/11 and S/S 11 seasons is 'Cover of Life', with the tagline 'What wraps you?'. Both seasons are full of minimalist pieces that are everyday wearable, especially for the more laid back gentlemen who can pull of wearing a pair of sweats in public. What I enjoy so much about Ethosens, however, is the unexpected reconfiguration of the suit to create new basic menswear pieces. For instance, the trench onesie. Now, I think it would be horrible to ask a guy to wear it with a pair of tights or leggings, like in the above picture on the left. However, when paired with a pair of pants underneath like on the right, I think it takes away at least most of the unflattering aspects of the onesie, and makes it conceivable that someone older than ten and not on the runway or at a fashion week would wear it. 

Not convinced? Yeah, I'm not really either. But I think you'll easily enjoy the other pieces pictured here. For instance, the outfit on the left that, at first glance, seems to include pants with a layered top portion, but then upon closer look reveals itself to be a bit of trompe l'oeil on the bottom of the shirt. Or the mid-length coat/structured smoking jacket that was a suit jacket and pair of pants in a previous life. The pieces below are pretty sweet too. But I really hope to never again see a guy in tights off the stage/ice/bike.

Pauline van Dongen

It kinda sorta really irks me when editorial/artistic photos of a collection a) leave you with little to no idea what the clothing actually looks like, and b) the models are in such ridiculous poses that they complete detract away from what they are wearing. And so, when I first looked at Dutch designer Pauline van Dongen's work on NJAL (above), I mumbled to myself about kids these days and moved on to elsewhere in the Internets...and/or took a nap. Good thing I'm incredibly bored, as I went right back to NJAL when I awoke and saw that Pauline had posted another collection on her page. These clearer photos, coupled with the miniscule glimpses of what had the potential to be wonderful things in the other collection, then required my immediate attention. As it turns out, Pauline was the only Dutch designer to be invited to show at Vancouver Fashion Week last week, and so there are a plethora of runway photos out there so that I can more or less see what those 'desert-like undulations' (the most rigid of which are actually achieved by using buntal, a material made of wood fiber) in Pauline's F/W 11 'Stereopsis' collection look like in the light. I would love to wear that one-shoulder dress over my Wolfgang Jarnach trousers.

And since it's a pity that all the photos I could find from VFW have watermarks on them, here are a couple from Pauline's presentation at Magazijn in Amsterdam earlier this year. (P.S. You can't really see them in the photos here, but Pauline also designs the 3D printed shoes that go along with her collections. Go to Pauline's site to see more photos, and maybe tell Susie Bubble about them while you're at it.)

And while we're at it, here are photos of that other collection that caught my eye, being Pauline's 2010 MA graduate collection entitled 'Morphogenesis'. With those dress, you can see the beginning of the 3D shapes Pauline would continue to develop for her 'Stereopsis' collection. I, however, particularly love the illusion of the floating jacket sleeves, which gives the pieces an odd futuristic yet romantic vibe. If only I could find out how to get my hands on that black jacket...

(Photos via VFW Facebook, NJAL, and Pauline's site)

"Buyer's market out there" - Templeton

One of the injustices I experienced as a child was being brought to that wonderland that is called Toys 'R' Us and being given $10 in Monopoly money to spend on anything I wanted, while the offspring of my babysitter got actual cash to spend. And since I feel bad about feeling like that was an injustice (and because I'm currently bored out of my skull), I decided to give myself an undisclosed amount of virtual cash to spend on whatever I'd like today. Tomorrow's task will be to pick which of the following three choices I will be most disappointed to never get.

1) Jacket by Tsolo Munkh, $2307. This one would be the least practical of the three, as it's made of polyester and has a very asymmetrical hemline, requiring a layer or two underneath. However, it does have three sets of cuffs, and it's the first commercially available piece I've seen from Tsolo.

2) Tailcoat by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, $3308. Having just watched The King's Speech, this one immediately made me take a second look. However, it is the most expensive of the three, and would be more of a spring jacket, which doesn't really work in an area of the world that has about 10 days of spring.

3) Full-length trench by Junya Watanabe, $1183. So I just said something about spring jackets not really working, but I've chosen this khaki 100% cotton trench coat rather than the black wool version, as this is from one of my most favorite collections ever. And with all that detailing (click on the photos to zoom in), that 50% off price sure seems like a good deal. Looks like I'll need to make up a new task for tomorrow.

(Photos and listings via the adult version of Toys 'R' Us, Farfetch.com)

Lukasz Stachowicz

In preparation for Polish Fashion Week, let us look at the wonderful works of a recent fashion grad from the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design by the name of Lukasz Stachowicz. This is actually Lukasz's graduate collection, entitled 'Lamperia', which garnered the award for best collection at this month's Cracow Fashion Awards. With sweaters that remind me of those hanging in my grandpa's closet, a colour palette that brings to mind that glorious smell of old books, and unexpected details in the jackets and pants, this old-timey collection seems to me a must-have for that fantasy tour of the world which I will get started on as soon as I can get a lovely set of luggage. Sigh. Until that happens, I will set my sights on the pleated jacket below, and those spectacular pants (on him, bottom). Why is it that the Polish designers make the best pants?

Mary Recruitment Office

Stefanía Borrás' use of colour with fabrics is fantastic. Savage tans, great slabs of black set against aggressive orange. It really makes you want to shout out: 'This is good! This is real!' 

The above was, at first, not intended to be a factual statement, as I was just looking through my file of bookmarked designers to find something to fit some Monty Python into a post (i.e. I just had surgery and needed something to keep my mind off of things). However, I was really quite pleasantly surprised when I clicked on Stefanía's link and found the perfect fit in her S/S 11 collection, especially as I haven't seen anything about this young designer since I last wrote about her glorious grey jersey pieces. And though I might only wear a few of the pieces myself, I love the various details present throughout the collection, such as the pleating, rope accessories, and all the various flowy fabrics (not to mention the barefoot runway models). I particularly like the campaign photos (below), which bring to mind my favorite Amy Grant video, mydearthing's S/S 10 photoshoot, and what might've happened if Libby had never died and had become the resident fashion designer for the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. This is good! This is real!

By the way, since we saw her last, Stefanía has set her own online shop up, which currently has some gorgeous silk and jersey pieces from her F/W 10/11 collection available (and on sale!). My credit card is conveniently within reaching distance too...

Venting

As I've exhibited (what I feel to be) incredible self-control in not buying anything online for over two months (my last purchase being an ArtLab harness that I luckily got on sale), I feel like I've earned the right to treat myself to something to help get the Spring wardrobe started. And though I'm really just waiting for the new mydearthing collection to be completed and posted (rumor is that there may be a dress inspired by little ol' me!), this updated kaftan/maxi t-shirt dress by Babooshka is definitely in the running for claiming my monies. I suspect that I'd only stick to one or two of the styling options and/or wear this lounging around the house in, but I still think that it would be a good choice for a comfy maxi dress. I really like the look of wearing a belt that only cinches in the front of a piece, and I have a feeling that that new ArtLab harness could work well as the belt, as the straps are removable, or could be left hanging to add a little more detail to the dress. Actually the ArtLab Noir Industrial Waist corset/belt could be really interesting with this dress too. Not to mention the ArtLab Couture Pleated Harness... Oh, the dress is available in black or grey (or a less cool striped black and grey). Sweet.