The Gieves & Hawkins design team summoned the fashion rogues to the Hotel de Monaco in Paris for an outside showing of the their Gieves line. The designer showed his Spring/Summer collection on the grounds of the hotel, models walked the gravel pathways while editors in shorts and tennis shoes watched on. The collections theme was “I am a Camera”. My take on this was the models were camera ready! Right from the opening look the silhouette were very simple and very light. Each look appeared to be so lightweight; the fabrics just seem to float as the model walked adding a refreshing look to a hot and sticky day!

One of the best looking in the opening section was the yellow collarless overcoat cropped at the waist. The opening of the jacket overlaps adding to the modern tailoring that Grieves used in the tailoring of the shoulders and torso of the coat. Another strong outwear look was the off-white collarless trench coat that Grieves constructed to be cascading down the body. The trench fabric just floated upward with each step the model took.

The must have pieces from the collection are two knitwear pieces. First was the tan mohair and cashmere knit sweater with a crewneck. The sweater weave design is a combination of a ribbed weave and a cable knit weave. Grieves also showed alternate version of the same sweater, this version was cardigan with v-neckline. The weak part of the look was the tapered leg pant paired with both sweaters. This collection is certainly one of Grieve’s colorful and subtle collections. The overall look is very clean and his use of color really brings some life to the collection. Bravo Monsieur Grieves!

View the complete collection at PrettyPretty.be

[images via PrettyPretty.be]

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Spring/Summer 2007, Boateng is Color! Boateng is Energy! Boateng is Love! Although Ozwald Boateng collection may appear serious, thanks to the models striking stares down the runway. It’s the energy that Boateng and his team give the clothes that really set the runway on fire. To open the collection Boateng opted for some of his classic suits and threw hints of color here and there and then he moved into more daywear looks. On of the prominent pieces in the opening section was the striking yellow-green dress shirt with a mandarin collar. The shirt is worn with a dark red (almost blood red) silk sheen dress pant with a salmon satin belt tied around the waist.

The collection is filled with a lot of Boateng’s classic shapes and tailoring but its his knitwear that really jumped out at you. One of the softer looks was a white knit sweater that is trimmed with in a aqua colored knit. The sweater was paired with a pale aqua silk shirt and a thin white tie. All this is pulled together with a tailored straight leg gray twill pant and thigh length jacket. The overall look is almost 80’s but Boateng’s combination of color and tailoring is very forward. The only real weak points of the collection were the metallic leather piece and the silk satin pullover. At the close of the collection Boateng added more black to the collection. One of the standout looks was a black cashmere sweater with aqua trimming the neckline and cuffs. The sweater is worn with a black velvet pant tailored straight.

The only must have piece in the collection is the pearled aqua pant worn with a soft cream color blazer that is tailored loose around the torso. The decadence of the pant is eye catching on the runway. Many of you might have seen Ozwald Boateng’s recent venture into television with his new reality series that is following him on his journey of concurring the retail market of America. This collection is proof that Boateng still has it after 20 years and he plans to keep going on no matter what. The collection embraced one of the new hot colors seen over and over in Milan – Aqua and a lot of it. Boateng took the color and made a collection of endless options. The result is an honest collection that really gives his clients the ability to mix and match as he pleases. Bravo Monsieur Boateng!

View the complete collection at UK Vogue.com

[images via UK Vogue.com]

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itunes has put up the pilot episode of the new WB show "Aquaman" in hopes of drumming interest for the new show. The WB pulled the pilot episode of "Aquaman" from their Fall line up. The show, a spin-off from "Smallville" has been highly anticipated since Aquaman's appearence last season. Poor Tom Whelling cannot play Clark forever! Give the Blond a Chance!

I think they would have been picked up if they had casted Alan Ritchson who played Aquaman on Smallville!!!!!

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Earlier this week Women’s Wear Daily reported that the House of Rochas will be shutting down and closing their doors to their ready-to-wear line. In 2003, Proctor & Gamble acquired the Rochas fashion & fragrance license from Wella. The conglomerate plans to only shutdown the fashion end of the business while keeping the fragrances (cash cow) on the market. This puts Olivier Theyskens out on the street. Its amazing how greed can cloud a companies idea of the big picture. In order for a fragrance line to be successful and maintain a growth in profit, you need some sort of press. Without a fashion house to back up the fragrance you loose that good press. Can you imagine Estee Lauder without a makeup line or Calvin Klein without a ready-to-wear line? The fashion industry is stunned by this abrupt news, from magazine editors to bloggers. So I must join the masses and put my foot down.

I will admit, when Olivier was introduced to the fashion community 6 years ago by Karl Lagerfeld. I was not impressed at first by his work. At the time Industry gossip was pinning Theyskens to become Karl’s replacement at Chanel. I gasped in horror as I found his student work and his personal line to “Lost”. While Olivier exhibited talent in his craft he was lacking in vision and aesthetic. Then Olivier was appointed to Rochas, and his first couple of collections fell victim to his inability to focus on a vision for his collection while grasping the aesthetic of Rochas.

It’s only in the last 3 years that Olivier began to really understand what was missing from his collections. Slowly Theyskens started to come out of his shell and his energy to design started came across from his work. While critics hammered him for the gothic and minimalism detailing of his looks , they were missing Theyskens’s faith of historical references and details in his looks. Slowly the press and the customers began to understand that Theyskens was producing looks that were not only fashion forward but creating fashion a new aesthetic.

So the news of Theyskens and Rochas relationship ending is certainly “Sad”, but this is a new chapter for Theyskens. Rumors are already hitting the net and magazine world. Big Question on everyone’s mind is: Where will Olivier land in the world of fashion? Vogue editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour commented this week “If he’d (Theyskens) been with LVMH or Gucci, it would have been a different story.” – this comment was promptly followed by rumors that LVMH and Theyskens are talks of starting his own brand. This was promptly fallowed by many other outlandish rumors.

Here are some of the rumors that have popped up so far:

	1. Olivier and LVMH partner to create his own line.
	2. Oscar De la Renta to announce retirement and name Theyskens as creative director to his namesake.
	3. Richemont is creating a new brand for Phoebe Philo and name Theyskens to head Chloe (fallowing in the footsteps of Lagerfeld)
	4. Ricardo Tisci to be replaced by Theyskens at Givenchy
	5. Hilfiger to bring Theyskens to New York to create his own brand.

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Diane Pernet (A Shaded View of Fashion) and Dino Dinco are hosting "You Wear It Well" a showing of short films and videos. The subject Fashion(of coarse), style and beauty. If you are in LA or SF in early August you must attend. Below are all the details.

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For the August issue of Vogue – a pregnant Linda Evangelist will appear on the cover – Linda is the first model to appear on the cover of Vogue in over a year. Finally the staff at Vogue is getting it! Celebrities don’t make fashion, that’s their job as well as models. Hopefully we get lucky and the September Issue (The Bible) will also feature a model - Christy?

The Associated Press reported this good news today, they also noted the new Versace Campaign (not due out till the September Issue) will be included in the August Issue. The campaign features former Versace muses and icons Christy Turlington and Kate Moss joining Angela Lindvall, Daria Werbowy and Carolyn Murphy – iI was able to find a scan of the new campaign – here are two shots – unfortunately I was not able to find a scan of the Evangelista cover, YET!

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At the opening of his Spring/Summer collection, Armani projected shots from the interiors and views of his many modern and resort atmosphere homes. From Antigua to Saint Tropez, while in the liner notes Armani state that his inspiration for this collection is to focus on a more relaxed silhouette. For the opening section Armani showed a lot of linen dress suits and silk shirts. An endless parade of the classic Armani suits in some of the lightest fabrics you can imagine.

In the second section Armani started to add more color to the collection, from soft greens and soft blues. One of the standout pieces in this section is green leather jacket. The leather was dyed by rubbing the green dye onto the leather. This process created a soft shade of green giving the leather some softness. To top off the look off Armani showed the jacket with one of his loosely tailored pants. In the third section Armani started to incorporate more leather looks. One of the strongest looks in this section was a cropped bikers jacket. The leather was distressed giving the jacket a rougher look; Armani paired the jacket with a navy/blue silk/wool blend dress slack with a pleated front and loosely tailored to the leg.

From the third section Armani focused on more active looks, adding a lot of shorts looks and showing more baggy pants with bold geometric print shirts and outerwear pieces. One the standout active wear pieces was a blue net weave jacket with a draped collar and lapel. The zip up jacket is worn with a linen vest over a geometric print shirt. For the close of the collection Armani moved back to the tapered leg pant for his three-piece suits and tuxedos.

While the collection was massive the must have looks are slim in the collection. The first look that really jumped out at me was the pin-stripe tuxedo worn with a gray and white stripe silk shirt. To finish off the look Armani added a vest in the same stripe silk fabric. The other must have look was the white wide ribbed knit cardigan with a small collar and lapel. The cardigan is worn with a linen vest over a geometric print. Armani is certainly a master of tailoring and has earned that reputation, but he is also a master of creating leisurewear that is not only opulent on its own but really make the customer feel like their opulent. This large collection of more than 120+ looks is proof that Armani can deliver. With this collection he really provided his customer with endless options, I know, I say that every season, so what! The success of the collection is on Armani’s ability to build textures and to find the right shade of black, blue or green to layer on top of each other. Another strong point to this collection is Armani’s ability to give us designs with prints; his use of geometric design is almost flawless. From the lines on his soft linen shirts to the bold chevron shapes used on delicate knit pieces. Bravo Monsieur Armani!

View the complete collection at style.com

[images via Style.com]

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I guess one of the big trends for Spring/Summer 2007 could have been used for Summer 2006. And G.BUSH said "Their's No Such Thang As Globil' Warmin'!"

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Giorgio Armani seems to be on a Guido and mobster fixation in this collection. While the collection was homage to the baggy pant of last season, a trend that only a handful of designer picked up on this season. Armani seems to be one step behind compared to most of his fellow designers. The opening section was a parade of oversized suit looks in silk and satin fabrics in a restricted pallet of grays, silvers and blues. The models walked the runway with thick black liner on the eyes and fake thin mustaches applied just for the show. You have to just love the slick Guido look Armani was looking to achieve; it added a little sex to the collection.

In the opening section Armani played with textures, although I found the texture of the blue and gray silk wool blend with the oversized silhouettes of the suits an odd combination. When Armani started to play with the tailoring in the later half of the opening section you could see a shift of cleaner but fuller look to the suits. Some of the standout pieces in this section were the black wool jackets that were paired with a black silk/wool blend pant. The contrast of the two fabrics really gives the eye a break in a sea of eel skin suits.

In the second section Armani moved from the heavy suits and shortened the length. Showing a pleve of simple dress shorts with matching blazers. The mass amount of the dress short looks was a little too much, what was missing was color. Armani also jumped on another trend look we have seen this week. Showing several looks with shirts that have only one button at the bottom showing off the models belly buttons. Is this a statement that men’s bare midriffs are in and women’s are out? I hope not! Some of the strongest looks in the second section were the sports pullover shirts and pant looks. Like the black and red pullovers with a band of black and white stripes cutting the two colors on a diagonal. While Armani did have the soccer bug this Spring/Summer (with good reason having Italy in the Final), his closing section was a parade of models in several patterned or textured soccer shorts. With a closing section filled with all athletic looks, the use of color was limited with only black, red and blue.

The must have look from the Armani collection is one evening look and the only unique piece in the collection. The must have Armani suit from the collection is the black wool crepe tuxedo suit with a matching low cut vest. The tuxedo is worn with a pale blue dress shirt and a contrasting blue tie. The other must have piece from the collection is the one of the footballer jersey jackets. A silk satin jacket in red and white with nylon red and white stripped trim along the collar and cuffs. This collection was as far from the Spring/Summer collection that Armani could get. The vast majority of the collection was in a dark pallet of black, dark blues and grays. The only splashes of color in the collection were from the bright blues and reds that were paired with black pants or shirts and blazers. What is interesting is that Armani presented more dress options in this collection rather than day wear looks. This is usually seen more in his signature Armani collection, not at Empario.

View the complete collection at style.com

[images viaStyle.com]

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Designer Italo Zucchelli’s inspiration for his Spring/Summer collection for Calvin Klein is focused on the clean lines of the new wave movement of the 80’s. The opening section is one big pallet of grays and neutrals. One of the strongest looks in the opening section was a gray crew neck sweater that has a light gray weave giving the sweater a v-neck look. The sweater is worn with a straight leg cut pant, Zucchelli has embraced the full leg pant movement. Banish the Tapered Leg! Another standout trend in the collection was Italo’s experimentation of working with new tech fabrics. One the look to note was the black blazer made of made of a linen fabric that has been coated to create a high sheen on the fabric. From a distance the fabric almost appears to be leather.

In the second section Zucchelli’s direction was to make his day looks sportier or more active friendly while playing with his silhouettes. He commented his stretch Lycra legging and unitards were a play on his silhouettes. I giggled when I saw the leggings at first and started to understand why he showed the pieces, to add more to the imagination of the editors in the audience, while complementing the varying shapes his silhouettes are creating. Though, for one brief moment Italo did show a few tapered leg pants. No! While the palette through out the collection was leaning towards gray and neutrals tones Zucchelli did add some color, one of the big colors of the season “Aqua”. One of the best combinations of color and his neutral palette was the geometric design shirt. The shirt is a combination of fabrics sewn together and worn with a gray suit with a straight leg pant. The mix of the fabric has a crafts look, building on the whole idea of home made.

While most of the collection is a lot of suit looks and simple dress shirt looks, Italo showed a few knitwear looks that really stood out on there own. One these looks were the white knit sweater worn with a pair of bright aqua leggings. The sweater weave is similar to the porcelain baskets from the 19th century. The sweater is fitted to the torso, which is actually complemented by the tight silhouette created by the leggings.

The must have pieces from the collection are two of the most arresting pieces in the collection. First is the powder blue cashmere cardigan with a contrasting dark blue lining the button opening of the cardigan? It’s worn with a pair of denim jeans that was treated like the linen fabric creating velvet sheen to the fabric. The other must have piece is the black bikers jacket with the mandarin collar. The jacket is made of a mesh fabric that has been glazed to a sheen. The striking feature of the jacket is how translucent the fabric is and them exposed seaming adds line to the already modern piece. The only downside to the whole look was the short shorts.

With designers moving away from the thin silhouette that was pioneered by Hedi Slimane, Italo Zucchelli is slowly shaping his new silhouette in this collection. A lot of Zucchelli’s pants were tailored straight to the leg and it’s evident that his jackets and outerwear is starting to loosen up. While Calvin Klein is not known for its bold use of color, I was surprised to find that Italo really grasped the color new “it” color, Aqua and played with it. In one of his most daring ventures of this collection, Zucchelli really shined with his use of new high tech treated fabrics. The end result is not only a very classic Calvin Klein collection but also a very young collection.

View the complete collection at style.com

[images via Style.com]

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Last season Valentino issued a manifesto that the world treats travel as if it were a drive to the supermarket. He questioned why couldn’t travel be more glamorous? Well, I think Valentino finally understood that people today are squished like sardines onto Ryan Air and Southwest Airlines only to get recycled air and a bag of peanuts. Gone is the free cocktail and the three course meal that you could write home about as the highlight of your trip. Valentino’s Spring/Summer collection has to be one of the most relaxed collections I have seen from Valentino, EVER!

The opening of the collection was a parade of wife-beaters worn with linen slack and strappy sandals. The Valentino opulence at first seemed to only appear in the accessories, but slowly he begins to add sexy fabrics and unique textures. The key looks in the opening section are his outwear pieces. Although he showed a few tapered leg pants, NO MORE PLEASE! As the collection progressed he loosened up the pant, making it more comfortable. One of the strongest looks in the opening section was light brown linen pant, loosely tailored and worn with a matching light brown knit button down cardigan. Valentino showed this baggy leg pant through the remainder of the collection.

The must have looks for the collection both include Valentino’s full leg pant. The first was the blue silk merino mock-neck sweater worn with a light gray baggy leg linen pant. The other must have look was gray Windsor check linen pant worn with a classic Valentino black trench coat. The weak point of the collection was the absence of color. Valentino focused on a palette of black, gray and natural colors of browns and dark greens. The strongest pieces in the collection are certainly all of Valentino’s linen pants with their full legs. Bravo Monsieur Valentino!

View the complete collection at style.com

[images via Style.com]

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For her first menswear collection Frida Giannini look to the Gucci archive for inspirational prints. She states her focus for the menswear collection was to bring women’s line and the men’s line a little closer together. Since Ford’s exit the two have been very distant in style and statement. In the first section Giannini showed sever dress suits for day and evening. She saturated the suits with decadent fabrics or bold prints on the fabric. The only disappointing thing about the suits is Frida opted to keep with the tapered leg look of seasons past. One of the strongest looks was the black and white pinstripe suit with contrasting pieces. The jacket is white with black stripes and the pant is black with white stripes.

For the second section Giannini used a more earthy color palette. I was happy to see Frida showed several leather pieces but I did not like how high she cropped the bottom of the jacket and tailored the sleeves close to the arm. As the collection progressed the Gucci look moved back to the 70’s looks we saw last season in Giannini’s Fall/Winter womenswear collection. She started to show some really weak looks like the short shorts, the studded and embossed leather vests and jackets. One of the big misses in the third section was the cerulean color leather jacket and short. While I was not keen of the cerulean blue used in the third section, I did love bright turquoise she used. One of the stand looks was the bright turquoise straight leg pant worn with a navy blue and turquoise print shirt.

Frida did show 2 real standout looks both incorporating some of her new prints she created for Gucci. First was the brown paisley print silk shirt worn with a straight leg cut pant, only a handful of the straight leg pants were shown. The other must have look and one of my favorites is the orange and blue paisley print silk shirt worn with a matching blue straight leg pant. For the evening section Giannini moved back to her tapered leg pant and using a lot of printed silk suits. While I found Frida’s attempt to bring the menswear closer in style to the women line, she might have take a few steps too far. The end result is a collection that seems to have a strong feminine appeal and look to it. While her bold use of color and prints really brought a Gucci feel to the collection, her silhouettes were too dated. Overall I was excited to see that Frida started bring back the Gucci prints while adding some new one’s.

View the complete collection at style.com

[images via Style.com]

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Kean Etro seems to have an interest in the upcoming release of the “Pirates of the Caribbean”. At the top of the runway stood a 25-foot tall pirates ship, painted “PINK”. Etro opted to mix the collection up this season; there was no clean indication of sections in his collection. Instead he opted to move from suits to shorts and varying prints with no plan fro continuity (a similar format seen at DSquared2). This crazy format seemed to really keep you caught up in the looks.

In the opening of the show Etro showed several dress and dress-down looks. Right from the start Kean played with several prints, color combinations and textures. One of the most eye-catching looks was the white silk satin cargo short with baggy utility pockets on the sides of the shorts. The short is worn with a black and dark olive green tropical print jacket with tails. The print is very faint to the eye, the green is so dark its almost black. Another strong piece was the orange and brown tropical print pant with a baggy cut to the pant. The pant is very Palm Beach, but the earthy tones really can be worn in the Southwest or any resort destination. I was not to keen about the paisley printed silk poncho worn with the pant. Etro’s combination looks of stripes with paisley prints in one look could be a little distracting.

As the show progressed Etro use of colors became more and more intense. A happy change for myself and other editors (judging on the smiles in the front row during the show)! One of the most fun looks was the candy stripe seersucker suit. The pant has a baggy leg and the suit is worn with a pale blue dress shirt with a read and white gingham print used on the collar of the shirt. The puckering of candy stripe fabric gives it a softer look. Close the close of the collection Etro added some playful pieces to the collection. Like the black and white paisley print drawstring pant, minus the sweat jacket with a dragon print on the front. On the pieces to avoid are the extra long pants with the drawstring ties at the hem of the pant.

The must have look of the collection is one of the dress suits in the opening of the collection. A matching jacket and pant of a black and light gray stripe. The pant leg is tailored straight and the suit is worn with a brown and blue stripe shirts and brown and green coffee beans print tie. The must have piece of the collection is the black a white Windsor check dress slack. The pant is tailored with a flat front and the leg is flared from the knee creating a baggy fit to the pant. Etro continues to show us his ability to play with both bold colors and bold prints in work. This season he really took off with his version of Johnny Depp in “Pirates”. The end result is a collection of strong pieces and look for Spring/Summer. While there is a lot of black, gray and blue in the collection, Etro’s use of bold tropical prints and hidden paisleys draws you away from any dark colors. Bravo Monsieur Etro!

View the complete collection at style.com

[images via Style.com]

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Notes say the inspiration for Alessandro Dell’Acqua Spring/Summer collection revolves around the military and punks. My first impression after the first 6 looks, I felt like Alessandro’s focus was African safari meets rogue militants. Unfortunately I really did not see the punk! The opening section was full of animal prints paired with a lot of earthy shades of green and brown. Dell’Acqua use of animal prints was all over. I was really turned off by the use when he showed a zebra print sweat jacket. Outside of the random earthy tone of brown and the occasional camouflage print on shoes. The only military feel to the collection are all the patches Alessandro added to shirts and sweaters.

As the collection progressed Dell’Acqua used the same looks over and over only changing the fabrics or coloring. Then came the light at the end of drab tunnel, the closing section of the collection would be the defining moment for Alessandro’s S/S collection. It was a real shocker and eye opener, editors faces started to light up! After a series of drab looks, Dell’Acqua showed some of the sexiest and well tailored suits we’ve seen this season. His focus was certainly on the tailoring and keeping the design very clean with an emphasis of loosening up his tapered pant.

From his evening section at the close of the collection, Alessandro Dell’Acqua showed two really must have looks. First was the bright white silk suit. The shoulders are broad with the torso tailored close and the pant tailored with a straight leg. Worn with a pale khaki dress-shirts and olive green tie. The must have look is the black version of the same silk suit. The silhouette that Dell’Acqua created with tailoring is very sexy and the look was topped off with black dress-shirt. Although the evening section was the crowning moment of the collection, sadly what is absent from this collection is Alessandro’s clean lines and fluid sexiness that he shows each season.

View the complete collection at style.com

[images via Style.com]

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I just received confirmation that my press pass and tickets will be waiting for me at the San Francisco Fashion Week. Thank you Donna for all you hard work.

This is the 3rd Annual Fashion Week for San Francisco and thanks to Mystery Girl Productions, we will be treated to a 4 day event with almost 20 designers on the schedule.

The event is open to the general public, tickets range in price $25-45 Student, $45.99-$75 for genral admission, and if you are really feeling “randy” or just have deep pockets $96-$150 for VIP and Diva VIP tickets. Tickets are on sale TODAY, click here to order them today.

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