From Coco to Karl

We've seen a lot of Chanel throughout the years, being one of the largest fashion names in the industry, Karl Lagerfeld has continued the legacy of Gabrielle Coco Chanel name making it one of the most oldest companies in the world. When Gabrielle died in 1971 in Paris, a design team tried to keep the company alive but the sales and recognition of the company was fading away slowly. Until Karl Lagerfeld came into place in 1983, years after the company's struggle, the house of Chanel was reborn!

Personally, I really love Chanel, from there perfumes and accessories to clothes, and especially the commercials that are used to promote the products, I personally find all of it to be elegant and original. I really adore how Karl hasn't tampered with the originality of the 'Chanel Suit', leaving it either black & white with the gold buttons, its always been the way it was, sometimes with very minor adjustments to add extra flair every season. 

Having one of the most longest selling perfumes EVER, the fragrance 'Chanel No 5' has not aged a bit, being one of the most greatest smells you'll ever experience in your life, nothing else can even compare! I personally bought bottles for various family individuals and I believe  it's worth the cost ($150-200). Since 1923 the fragrance has lived its name ever since the day it was created in Paris. Having a very strong odor, it has a very mature smell for the older woman, but can also be used by young individuals as well. Its scent is something you wouldn't smell anywhere else; its scent lasts very long which can seduce as well as make you feel like the majestic woman you really are. Being one of the most advertised products in the world, Karl Lagerfeld wanted elegant and classy celebrities/models to help promote the fragrance, such as Nicole Kidman (which was a perfect face for the brand for 5 years), as well as Audrey Tatou who is now the new face of the fragrance. So from Gabrielle Coco Chanel's creations, her legacy did live on with the fabulous creations and support of Karl Lagerfeld.

So if your a fashion lover as well as perfume addict, I recommend Chanel products, from the clothes to the fragrances, you'll always get quality and elegance no matter what!

Merci, 

J.J.C.

John Galliano, Couturier.

Head designer of Christian Dior, John Galliano has taken the "Dior look" to a whole new modern level. Ever since his first collection at Saint Martins College in London 1984, he was then noticed by Bernard Arnault of LVMH who signed him to be head designer at Christian Dior in 1996 after producing top quality collections. His first couture show for Dior coincided with the label's 50th anniversary, on January 20, 1997. Galliano's inspiration come from his personal discoveries through art, travel, and theatre, "My role is to seduce...", he once said, after recreating some of Dior's period clothing for Madonna in the film Evita, which was given special attention in the tabloids. According to style.com, John Galliano is a man with a prodigious flair for the theatrical, clearly, and his runway tableaux are often likened to performance art... Galliano is currently expanding his own personal line by adding accessories, sportswear, and children's clothing to his line. Each year Galliano creates six couture and ready-to-wear collections a year for both his own line, and Dior's. By earning the title 'The king of couture', Galliano dedicates his time to each collection in a short period of time, adding every small detail into each garment. Galliano currently succeeds to reach higher goals in his life and his career to gain high reputations in the press and around the world.

From 2001 to now, John Galliano has shown such progress in his work through his couture collections at Christian Dior. Each show is something so different people wonder how a man can think of something so extraordinary every time. Every fashion week in Paris or New York, the crowd desperately waits to see what Galliano has in store for them. But one year in particular that blew everyone away was 2004, when Galliano amazed the press and even celebrities, especially Sarah Jessica Parker who sat in the front row at the Spring show, "Why isn't everybody jumping up and down and screaming? I knew Galliano was capable of elegance, whimsy, fantasy and history, but this was beyond fantastic; beyond belief. I have never seen anything like it in my life.". Galliano took his inspiration from his journey to Egypt, using leopard-print fur stoles with collars that "soar like obelisks", billowing gowns of shadow-dyed organza, with hems twisted and folded into lotus flower shapes, and pyramid-shaped gowns made of dozens of golden mirrors, and printed with hieroglyphics, or the glamorous mummies paraded in bandages of black silk tulle flashing with rainbow sequins. Many wore Nefertiti like crowns, or long Egyptian "goatees". Some of the more brilliant examples of flawless tailoring was shown in the golden or blue snake skin sheaths, worn by models. These models wore elegantly carved and polished wood masks, of Tutankhamen, or gods like Horus, a falcon, Bast, a cat, or most brilliantly, Anubis, a jackal. The masks were made by London milliner Stephen Jones. It was one collection that was favorited out of many collections. 

  

Christian Dior Spring 2004 Couture, 

Erin O'Connor (top) & Liya Kebede (bottom)

Later that fall/winter, Galliano amazed the audience again with his final collection for Dior in Paris. He got his inspiration from from his research trip to Italy, "I went on a research trip to Vienna, and then got to looking at Egon Schiele, and Empress Sisi, and Russia!" was John Galliano's brief explanation of the collection. The show took a lot of effort for Galliano, especially the couture models who had to 'work the runway' by wearing heavy layers of thick fabric, wide gowns with high platform shoes, swagging there hips to the sound of Lil Richard's music. Everything in this show was beyond beautiful, the makeup-artistry, the music, and even the accessories (mini clutch bags and diamonds). Galliano can sure think of some crazy ideas in such a short period of time, he made the collection very fun and playful by taking something historic from the Edwardian period and made it very young and sexy. On the other hand, it was also essentially a show of one queenly, repeated 28 times. And that, for Galliano, displayed an odd lack of variety. Gwen Stefani actually purchased one or two garments from this collection for her Alice in Wonderland inspired music video, 'What you waiting for?'. 

Christian Dior Fall 2004 Couture.

This was one of many amazing collections from John Galliano for Christian Dior, but this year in particular was considered the major break through for Galliano showing his best work ever with mind blowing theatrics and artistry! For more information on John Galliano and his collections, click here.

Alexander McQueen, l'héritage!

There has been a massive outpour of grief around the world over the death of Alexander McQueen at the young age of 40. Known for his fascinating, over-the-top work, his collection in 2009 shed tears of joy to the audience, leaving them in utter shock of the haunting beauty of both the clothing and the staging. According to Style.com, his last and final collection was given final honors by his trusted team in a hushed and dignified showing that went to his core as a designer who scaled the heights of couture accomplishment...

Fall 2010, Ready-To-Wear.

Ever since his work in the early 90's after earning his masters degree in Fashion Design, McQueen developed a highly respectable reputation in England, making various garments for the royal family, Mikhail Gorbachev, and other various clients from around the world. He took the title "The Hooligan of Fashion", meaning that his unconventional, extravagant runway shows always made a statement to the audience, leaving them in awe. In 1996, McQueen's life changed suddenly when the president of LVMH (A French Holding Company), Bernard Arnault appointed McQueen head designer at Givenchy, succeeding John Galliano. Later that year at Givenchy, McQueen fulfilled one of his life long dreams of winning British Designer of the Year award, being one of the youngest designers ever to win. He later won four times again from 1996-2003.

McQueen's stunning creations were worn by such celebrities as Rihanna, Bjork, and especially Lady Gaga who featured one of his ready-to-wear creations in her Bad Romance music video shown below.

Lady Gaga in McQueen Spring 2010 RTW.

In McQueen's Spring 2010 collection during Paris Fashion Week, titled 'Plato Atlantis', was given highly respectable reviews by various tabloids in North America. McQueen took his inspiration to a whole new level. This collection, which was taped live with over one million viewers world wide, featuring Lady Gaga's new hit song at the time, Bad Romance which played at the end of the show. Each garment in the collection portrayed digital printed short dresses, reptile patterned fabrics, and the models gangly legs sunk in deformed, grotesque shoes which gave a very futuristic, space-age sea creature look to the garments. According to style.com, the shoes looked like the armored heads of a fantastical breed of antediluvian sea monster...McQueen stated in a interview after the show saying that this show was to interpret the ecological crisis going on in the seas and oceans of the world (Global warming), "Humankind is made up of creatures that evolved from the sea, and we may be heading back to an underwater future as the ice cap dissolves". Each garment shown in this collection was to represent a sea animals which is endangered, e.g. dolphins, whales, and sharks. Each dress was a work of computer-generated art crossbred with McQueen's couture-based signature cut. One of my personal favorites by Alexander McQueen.

 

Elena Melnik in McQueen's Spring Ready-To-Wear 2010.

February 11th 2010 was a day that no one could forget. Due to the death of his mother, who he loved very much, Alexander McQueen took his own life weeks after at the age of 40 due to chronic depression and anxiety which he tried to cope with in the past. The loss of such an artist, a creator, a inventor of such spectacular creations, most people still cant even believe how a man so talented would take his own life. McQueen's inspirations came from only one place: his mind, no where else. He kept on giving his best in all of his collections. Celebrities, client's, and fans who adored his work, paid tribute to McQueen in March 2010 for all the hard work and dedication he put in for his shows, clients, and fans who he enjoyed serving for over 25 years. 

 RIP Alexander McQueen, may your legacy live on in the closets of many!