Some favourites from Spring/Summer 2011: Part 1
(I saved this post weeks ago and just remembered it exists now. Woops!)

Ann Demeulemeester.

Typical Demeulemeester aesthetic: dark, asymmetrical, completely achromatic. I've been feeling more whimsical and clean cut this season but I can't deny how good Ann is at her craft. The shoes with the sculptural quality, the missing sleeves, the metal veil (top notch), and the black vertical eyebrows which was the cherry on top of it all.

Balenciaga.

The prints, the collars, the slits in the blouses where the leather belt protrudes, not to mention everything about Freja's outfit (sheer skirts, layers, the top blending colour with the bottom, plus Ghesqiuere's signature architectural cut). I find I always swoon over a chunk from a Balenciaga collection and this was definitely it. The only thing that I resented about this collection was the lack of vibrant eye makeup I adored from last season and the recent Resort.

Band of Outsiders.
Very clean cut, very New York, which is atypical for me to refer to as a favourite (I'm much more for intricate, almost chaotic outfits). But I can't get over the patchwork and plaid on something as regular and versatile as a well-tailored blazer. Plus, androgyny is something I've been drawn toward in the past few months, so these looks are high up on my list of outfits to emulate.

Charles Anastase.
Collars again! I'm telling you, I'm a sucker for anything with them, especially lilac dresses with a nerdy vibe (is it just me or does the left look scream muted Luella S/S08?). I like how Charles took the literal take on florals - making them tangible on sheer fabric as opposed to having it merely as a print. And a major contrast of the soft subtle type with those shoes. How much taller do they make the models, do you think?

Comme des Garcons
CdG is the collection I anticipate the most each season. Each time the collection is ready for my anxious hands to click through on Style.com I scan through the pictures voraciously, consuming every single aesthetic and conceptual detail each look has to offer. I felt the collection held a lot of the latter; the concept is something I still contemplate when I look at each outfit, particularly the four I decided to post. The black band wrapped tightly around the model feels like something Chalayan would do. The white jacket with the different textures had me gawking with infatuation - it was a blazer with bipolar tendencies, two sides morphed to make one. Definitely one of the most appealing coats I've seen this season. What really got to me however, were the final two looks consisting of four models - two pairs conjoined by little fabric. I think to Rei clothes is another flesh (consider her Lumps and Bumps collection), so what I did dictate from those looks were a pair of Siamese twins linked together by fabric ("flesh"), though not completely, since regardless of this connection they still have their own individualistic qualities. I feel like I'm delving too deep into my own personal opinion on the concept of this collection and taking it way past it's conceptual intention. But until I stand corrected that's what I gathered from Rei's S/S11 collection.

Erdem.
This was one of my favourite collections. The abstracted floral prints, the shapes of the dresses, the blouses, the lace; for me it screamed teenage garden fairy. Since florals are so relevant nowadays I find I'm less inclined to like prints with flowers on them because I see them around so consistently. But Erdem had me going nuts. This collection had a lot of elegance, but a sort of juvenile elegance (I mean that in the best way possible). Honestly, these dresses make me want to lay in a fucking field surrounded by pansies and carnations and petunias and whatever else.

Gareth Pugh.
I'm not typically a fan of this kind of stuff but I have to hand it to Gareth Pugh. His signature radically inventive collections are always intriguing, regardless if it's not up my alley. I felt like he created a futuristic Queen from an undiscovered planet and thought 'what would her closet contain?' and worked from there. The silver reflective dresses and psychedelic prints were almost too much for me to handle; I mean that in the best way possible.

Hussein Chalayan.
The flat vests! That was the first thing that caught my attention. I believe Margiela did something like this in the past? (it was revisited this season as well, I think, even though Margiela himself wasn't responsible for the work). Nonetheless I loved the fact that it seemed to have only two dimensions, a contradiction considering it was placed on the three dimensional body.

I don't think there's justice done in Chalayan's intention with the bottom two photographs which should undoubtedly be seen in motion (I think all of his collections should be seen in motion; photographs seem to detract from the concept). Dark figures take hold of the dress from separate edges, shifting the fabric in such a manner that the dress seemingly dances, flowing softly with the air. The film of the presentation is called 'Sakoku' and can be seen here. Fast forward to about 6:45 to see what I mean, but you should just sit through the entire thing. It's well worth it.

Proenza Schouler.
So I did love Proenza this season (especially the floral lace, cue tears of sweet sweet envy towards those who will be able to afford the fucking things) but I felt a bit nostalgic for the previous season's teenage witchy vibes. Obviously it proves that Jack and Lorenzo can graduate from one thing to other with ease, completely shifting their aesthetic without recycling the recent. I think my preferences are irrational here for they're more subjective than the opposite. Objectively, this collection was lovely and regardless of my useless nostalgia, I truly adored it. These boys do no wrong.

Rodarte.
There were no words when I first saw this collection several weeks ago, and quite frankly there still are no words. Kate and Laura Mulleavy are masters at whatever they do. Aesthetic, concept, textiles, tailoring, colour palette, etc etc etc. This is easily my favourite of NYC fashion week and could quite conceivably be my favourite of all four. I want to be a teenage fairy of the forest like these girls.

Viktor & Rolf.
You could easily find the link between fashion and art with V&R's dresses; these works belong in galleries more than the runway. S/S11 was Wedding Dress meets Architecture, and I didn't expect any less from these two - they always seem to integrate some sort of harsh, overtly radical design with a seemingly gentle beauty, and somehow it works. Zis ees signature Viktor und Rolf. (Also: contemplating wearing the dress on the left to my wedding. Think I'm being sarcastic?)


(All photos from Style.com with the exception of the Rodarte shoe shot which is courtesy of Dazed Digital)