High Fashion RoundUp: The Latest from Dior, YSL, Burberry and More
Challenges can prove worrisome for businesses, especially for ones that thrive on personal experiences such as high-production fashion shows and luxurious private parties. It threatens livelihoods and can cost jobs. But the fashion industry has been busy these past few months adapting to major changes as fashion visionaries refuse to cave in. So, what have our favorite fashion houses and high end style brands been doing to counter the threats of this pandemic? Let’s see here:
Burberry
Something’s gone viral and it’s not about to make you sick. If you haven’t been keeping up with the Kardashians, you may need to at least keep up with Kendall Jenner.
At-home editorial shoots are popular these days, as traditional studio or outdoor shoots are just impossible to pull off due to safety restrictions brought about by the pandemic. So everyone is taking advantage of technology–and Burberry, in collab with Kendall, is actually killing it!
Burberry’s newest digital campaign for its TB Summer Monogram collection literally borrows Kendall’s gorgeous face and modern creativity. And by digital campaign, we mean stunning modern-minimalist visuals mixed with a whole lot of CGI to make the edgier pieces pop.
Chief Creative Officer Riccardo Tisci has been working on these designs since 2018 in collaboration with Peter Saville, with the goal of giving the brand a fresh look. The effort pays homage to the brand’s creator, Thomas Burberry. The iconic logo of Burberry, which was inspired by the original Thomas Burberry motif, has been re-imagined in a summer fresh, vibrant palette of azure blue, dark beige, cobalt blue and graphite with orange accents, as donned by Kendall.
The campaign video was created using a combination of real-life movement and CGI technology. In the video, four virtual “Kendalls” navigate a fantastical world of skate parks and swimming pools, each dressed in pieces from the TB Summer Monogram collection. The futuristic results contrast with the raw self-portraits taken by the supermodel herself, as shot at home on her own laptop.
Gucci
Gucci is breaking boundaries by stepping out of fashion schedules and timelines. The Italian luxury brand will only have two co-ed seasonless shows a year from here on out, as announced earlier in May.
With newer show formats coming into play because of the pandemic, Gucci seems to also be breaking the rules for show durations by doing a 12-hour online stream on July 17 for their latest collection titled “Epilogue”.
The collection will be presented with an exclusive narrative feature and will serve as the conclusion for Alessandro Michele’s Fall/Winter 2020 show titled “An Unrepeatable Ritual”, which has paid homage to seamstresses, stylists, hairstylists, makeup artists, and more.
Louis Vuitton
Now this makes for a huge fashion headline: Louis Vuitton is quitting Paris.
China and Japan are instead welcoming the French fashion house’s runway show with open arms as it sets sail into more global territories for its 2021 Menswear collection. The spring 2021 collection will be unveiled in Shanghai on August 6 and in Japan afterwards. Both will be open to the general public and will be livestreamed.
American designer Virgil Abloh has not forgotten the brand’s roots though.
As part of Paris Men’s Fashion Week, a three-minute digital show reminiscent of a “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was released and featured several animated characters bouncing from one Parisian landmark to another, also showcasing the brand’s pieces. These include face masks and suede jackets that will be released gradually in the next couple of months.
Like former lovers from Casa Blanca, we guess Louis Vuitton will always have Paris, in one way or another.
Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)
K-pop’s power continues to overtake the global fashion scene. Riding this wave is Blackpink’s Rosé, who’s now the global face of Parisian fashion house Yves Saint Laurent (YSL). She isn’t astranger to the brand though as she’s made appearances on its front row in a couple of shows before. It has been known for quite a while that the Blackpink member is the new ambassador of the brand, but her first ever full blown campaign with the French label has just been released recently.
YSL’s recent campaign video featured the New Zealand-born singer in a sensual black and white snippet that shows her in a black lace mini-dress, a piece chosen from creative director Anthony Vacarello’s Fall 2020 collection. Rosé is now heavily featured on YSL’s website, too.
Chanel
Taffeta, tweed, silk velvet, bedazzled bouclé, and structured silhouettes that follow the eccentric taste of Princess Diane de Beauvau-Craon are characterized in Chanel’s Fall 2020 collection. All that, coupled with the elements that pay tribute to Chanel’s past collaborators, elevated the brand’s 30 looks to a whole new diversified haute couture. The collection includes both muted and colorful garments made by respected designer Virginie Viard.
Dolce & Gabbana
Italian designer duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana maximized the power of its digital platform as an opportunity to give viewers front row seats to Palazzo Dolce & Gabbana, a show that narrated the Bella Vita way of life. The collection is an embodiment of a woman from the locales of Palermo, Taormina, Capri, and Portofino.
Using colorful scarves as their main base, the pieces that came down D&G‘s Alta Moda runway spoke visually of extravagance and luxury through elegant kaftans, kimono overcoats, dresses, blouses, and even knotted jumpsuits, paired with opulent jewelry.
Valentino
July 21st will be the day of revelation foe Valentino‘s Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2020/2021 collection via a short film directed by Nick Knight.
The presentation will be titled “Of Grace and Light”, and will be representative of modern dance pioneer Loie Fuller, who greatly influenced the Art Noveau movement.
In the words of Knight, the inspiration will be “reflected in the freedom, elegance, and the grace in this collection”.
Knight and Pierpaolo Piccioli, Creative Directors for Valentino, also say that the brand aims to create a fashion renaissance that speaks in the language of beauty and fantasy.
Prada
For its 2020 Spring/Summer collection, Prada’s trying to blur the lines a little by combining fantasy and reality through paint and photography. Titled “Prada Summer Stories”, the project is a series of photos that have been painted over by artist Falk Garnegross to create a surreal and illusionary effect.
The photos feature some of the brand’s clothes and accessories which include “lightweight, almost impalpable, garments – characterized by soft colours, original prints and tie dye technique – and different styles of bags made with natural fibers, weaved leather sandals and canvas sneakers as well as a selection of sophisticated accessories”.
Balenciaga
Balenciaga Spring 2021 is hitting the reset button by focusing on the fashion platform Lookbook. In their chosen platform, the brand displays more playful and quirkier visual imagery that solidify the new type of branding they’re going for.
But make no mistake, familiar items on Balenciaga‘s Lookbook have been altered to approach a more modern revision in terms of cuts and fabrics. These include oversized sweaters, graphic tees and hoodies that sport new prints.
The brand is also making heads turn with its Molded Thong Sneakers and Toe Sneakers.
Dior
The French luxury house’s Fall 2020 campaign features Jennifer Lawrence against a grey backdrop, shot under the lens of Brigitte Niedermair.
The collection exudes an austere, minimalist approach, as captured last December. The campaign brings us back to memories of a bygone time, one where we didn’t know a pandemic was in our wakes.
Maria Grazia Chiuri, the fashion houses’s creative director, reflected Christian Dior’s inspiration from Dior Dior 1956 for this current fall collection. As Christian Dior said himself, “I wanted to employ quite a different technique in fashioning my clothes, from the methods then in use – I wanted them to be constructed like buildings. Thus i moulded my dresses to the curves of the female body, so that they called attention to its shape”. This is the very philosophy Chiuri followed for the brand’s new collection, which features the reinvention of the house’s iconic piece Bar Jacket in various styles and lengths. The collection also comes in palette of neutrals including black, brown and blue, and matched with masculine inspired elements.
**************
For more news on global fashion visionaries, follow Style Visionary Network at facebook.com/stylevisionarynetwork.
For your daily dose of self-love, style and inspiration, follow Stylish Magazine on Facebook atfacebook.com/stylish.emagazineand on Instagram@stylish.emagazine
For updates on our special visual narratives, follow Stylista TV at facebook.com/stylistatv and on Instagram @stylista_tv.
