Art Week StyleUz 2011

Year by year one of my classmates from the same institute takes part in Fashion Week in my hometown, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Once I had a chance to see the show and was overwhelmed by the talent and creativity, and there is a catch: all designers present collections made of traditional materials. That's always a challenge to combine folk fabrics and modern trends, make it wearable without looking costumy.
Here are the best looks from the runway, sorry for not knowing which look belongs which designer. But hands up to everyone!

Originally Uzbek fabrics are in vivid color combinations of 4: red, electric blue, green and gold yellow. And as the students we had a hard time imaging designing something out of it. Now when colors got soften and mutted I get inspired by textiles too.

For me the best ikat (traditional print) is ... blue

or even better with a touch of purple

Couldn't imagine even the wedding dress is in the print. Just WOW!

Once again I would say I am very proud of you, guys!

Art Deco trend

Art Deco was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources. The ability to travel and archaeological excavations during this time influenced artists and designers, integrating several elements from countries not their own. Among them were historical styles such as Greco-Roman Classicism, as well as the art of Babylon, Assyria, Ancient Egypt, Aztec Mexico and Africa.
Art Deco is characterized by use of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, lacquer, Bakelite, Chrome and inlaid wood. Exotic materials such as sharkskin (shagreen), and zebra skin were also evident.
The structure of Art Deco is based on trapezoidal, zigzagged, geometric, and jumbled shapes.
At its best, Art Deco represented elegance, glamour, functionality and modernity.
Coming back from wiki-history, designer Holly Fulton evoked that trend few years back and made it her signature style. Here some of the looks through out the years:

 Check the stand out jewelry.

Why do you think so many designers like Gucci, Etro, Carolina Herrera presented collections inspired by the fashion movement? Were they influenced by the same designer? I say, no.
I see a tendency of the tribal trend of previous seasons transforming into it's glamorous side.
Elegance of the era:

Etro brought Jazz Age with more colors and easy movements:

Glamorous side of Art Deco:

Character graphics in Carolina Herrera:

 
The trend still excites creative minds of Rachel Roy and Naeem Khan for Pre-fall 2012, the rest of the items we already can purchase in favourite stores.

Pre-fall 2012 trend report

Not all fashion houses present their Pre-Fall collections, so there is a small review of upcoming autumn season trends for the next year. To define what the pre-fall collection is please click here
Major trend is the autumn colors: orange, burnt reds, rustic browns, faded greens, purples - the shades of fallen leaves and sunset. By the way Pantone announced tangerine tango is the color for 2012.

The next trend is achromatic, that characterised by incredible print or texture; or print, that looks like texture.

Another trend of the season is hourglass silhouette with the details defining our waist: belts, peplums (depends on body types) or just perfectly tailored attire to show our girly curves.

The Royal Wedding of the year sparked a new trend of modest and understated elegance.

Dubai fashion arena, 2008

I have decided to share some glorious and not so moments on Dubai fashion arena over the past years.
Year 2008, June as I remember I participated in Hotel Uniform design competition, first ever kind of competition held during The Hotel Show. Our teacher in the Centre for Executive Education announced that, and we had a chance to present sketches and material board on A3. This competition was sponsored by A. Ronai company and an winning design was promised to be made by them. I was the first to deliver my papers to one of the business towers on Sheikh Zayed road.
So few days before the winner announcement (2nd day of exhibition) my teacher really insisted for me to come there, even when I mentioned I had visited the show on 1st day. Probably that was a clue for me. Of course, I went there with my fellow students and... got a prize: flowers, certificate, internship in A. Ronai, dinning voucher for 2 and a lot of pictures.

The wining garment looked different from what I had imagined, since it was more adopted to the daily wear.

I remember when I came back home, called my boyfriend (now husband) and I was literally flying on the wings of happiness, seemed like I could change the world. Good feeling.
Much later I got a week of intership in A. Ronai with designer David Sprakes. For me that was so cool,  he was working with Wacom tablet! One day we went to the warehouse and another day to a hotel that placed the order for uniforms with them, so fittings, discussing designs with Housekeeping Manager and etc.
Wacom tablet was a dream for me for a long time. Thanks to my IT loving husband, one day he surprised me with it (A3 size), since then I was learning Adobe Illustrator CS4 and CS5. which have great features for fashion illustration.

Dubai fashion market niche

Seems like Dubai has it all: haute couture, luxury ready-to-wear, high street and mass market all year long. New styles, new collections hit the stores daily, except SWIMWEAR.
So collections come basically from Europe in April and from Australia in November. If you didn't have time to buy new swimwear in those 2 months, you will end up with leftovers. Unexceptable!
Considering that we got 365 days of sunny weather, beautiful beach resorts, public beaches, 2 collections a year are definetely not enough. You will argue with me that the summer is too hot, I say there are many indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a lot of people has private parties in their villas with own pools or own yachts!
As well Australian market is based on what surfers would wear, it's their lifestyle.
Those who come to Jumeirah Beach Residence beach will see big opportunity for this market: tourists and residents. Mainly tourists visit Dubai for sun and sand bring with them couple of bikinis or hoping to find new here. Five star resort guests will have even more in numbers, obviously they cannot wear the same swimwear entire vacation.
Residents have minimum 2 swimwear (whose who like to go on the beach) and I know some who has more than 6.
Another problem occurs: many of us has the same swimwear, expecially from Debenhams and Topshop- the stores are everywhere worldwide (another problem of globalization)
My point is... where is swimwear from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and etc.- the producers of great swimwear range: girly, colorful. They have got summer all year (same as us) and their are trendsetters in that category.

Here is the message for those who would like to start new business...
I would like to see a department store where I can visit any time and always find new collections from different designers, brands and pricetags.

Russian designers to watch for

Two major fashion weeks in Russia presented Spring/Summer 2012 collections of many talented designers and here the review on what's new and hot.

I will start with Bessarion, the ispiration behind of his collection was drawn from Russian Ballet and an aesthetics of Russian national folklore, combining leather and chiffon, cotton and jersey in very refined way.

Dasha Gauser is definetely a designer to watch for. She showcased a collection with Kasimir Malevich's paintings in mind, specifically Black Square and suprematism as an art movement with bold colors, geometry and structure forms.

 And brilliant accessory ideas...

Lab 13 presented collection with common theme "Countries, cities and streets of the world" and all 13 designers chose their point of view. A HakaMa woman is a bit messy, but always edgy. Borodulin's muses are "Tsar's Daughters" of last royal family Romanov. Yulia Nikolaeva's minimalist collection reflects the mood of urban Moscow.

Tatiana Parfionova collection named "Lady-in-waiting's Garden" brings us luxury of those who were close to royals but without pomposity of past centuries. 

Alexander Arutyunov created a collection based on Soviet Constructivism architecture of Transcaucasia with it's rigor, geometrism, concise forms and monolithic  appearance. His muse is strong and noble woman of it's region. 

Nikolay Krasnikov is master of prints and texture, delivers a blossoming collection.

Viva Vox dips us in the sea of flowers: lilacs, dandelions, violets and cornflowers. And offers must-have-item of the season - detachable collars.

Chistovaendourova presented minimalist collection in polished white. The Muscovites By Masha Kravtsova created prints reminiscent of semi-precious stones of Ural mountains. Veronica Nico turns us back to feminine forms.

New star appeared on the Russian fashion arena is Dima Neu - the winner of 1st Project Runway Russia. Here are his creations through challenges during the show:

He is clearly inspired by The Ballet Russes by Diaghilev, Russian History and what keeps him edgy and modern is an obsession with anatomy. I sense here the influence of designers like Mugler and Jean Paul Gaultier.

And finale:

I especially adore the idea of cutting fur (last look) in shapes of torso muscles. That's so masculine and definetely innovative. Thank you, Dima Neu, for being risky throughout the projects and that definetely showed the clear winner!

Dima Neu will showcase his new collection during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia Spring 2012, I can't wait to see what he will come up with new season.

All the stars in your eyes: star print trend

Star print was rediscovered in around 2008 and this year reached it's apogee, or Dolce & Gabbana Fall collection made it massive. I would call this trend "polka dot on the edgier side". Although they are so many substitute prints, which look the same from far away: hearts, birds, diamonds and etc. And styling wise we can follow the same tips as polka dots.

Recently spotted in Splash great T-shirt with star cut-outs, sorry no pic available.

And these gorgeous gloves from Topshop will arrive to the shop soon!!!

Happy starring or staring

A wedding dress

Recently designed and stitched an off white wedding gown with detachable trail and a purse. The dress is made of organza features a boned bandeau bodice adorn with laser-cut flowers and beads, all individually applied by hand and a short full skirt of layered ruffles. The matching purse is also handmade. The detachable trail is adjusted by the rubber band and hooked by buttons on the sides.

Spring/Summer 2012

At the end of Fashion Weeks Spring/Summer 2012 I am preparing an overview of upcoming trends.


Sheer frontier
Number one trend, just got bold from previous Spring/Summer 2011 and includes mesh, net, chiffon, guipure, lace or all together to show some skin.

So what we can do as dubaians to follow this trend? is to keep our hands in the sheer pockets, like the models do on the picture above or click here.

In continuation with over exposure trend, rare designer didn't show some hot midriff, getting a link into retro trend. Let see how fahionistas gonna adapt this trend to make it more appropriate.


Peplum al salam

Sweet retro detail which makes women look curvasious. Designers played with it big time: ruffles, asymmetrical, detachable on dresses, skirts, shirts or even pants. I can see how abaya can be revamped...


What happens when two strong trends like tribal and sheer combined together?

That's just sassy...


Art Deco
The most favourite trend of mine. It embraces ethnic, graphics and modern. Timeless chic.

Click here if you wanna know more about this trend.

Sprint of prints

Prints vary from vegetables, flowers, animal, graphic to panoramic views, photography and mix of any of them together.

Autumn/Winter 2011-2012 trends

I love that season, it's the best time here in Dubai. But while the rest of the world wrap themselves in fur, leather, wear boots and stylish gloves, we do not know what to wear to keep up with fashion trends...

So here I am sorting all fall looks from London, Paris, NY and Milan to help you enjoy Dubai-style-winter days.

Leather details


Interesting displacing of leather details will give edge to the outfit. I believe even abaya will look rock'n'roll.

Grey days

Grey compliments any bright color, so it creates a great canvas for all that color block outfits and neon bags that we got crazy with this spring/summer.

Polka dots

Please click here to view the post.

Oversized collars

Designers got tired paying attention to the shoulder area and started to play with oversized collars, lapels particularly. We will see the tendency of adoring the necklines for seasons to come.

Bright twilight
Craze with colors continues over the fall, reminding us about warm summer days...


mostly in 60's silhouettes.        

Feline shine 

Lurex, gold or silver threads woven into tweed, crushed or pleated lame create soft shine, which will be appreciated by many. And harry up retailers already picked up this trend.

  

Resort 2012 Trend Report

Resort 2012 has kicked off and I am running through all collections and preparing reviews of  upcoming trends to keep you updated.

I would start with achromatic color trend (let's see how they will name it). Karl Lagerfeld never went gaga with all colorblocking this season and reminds us again! to calm down with our color choices.

 

Love the patterns in black on white in Oscar de la Renta and Prabal Gurung, printed sleeves in Phillip Lim and bodice in Jason Wu, flattering blocks in Chanel and collarred tube top in Versace.

The biggest print trend for Resort 2012 is wallpaper prints, especially noticeable in achromatic trend.

 

Rare designer doesn't show jumpsuits (or matching 2 piece trousers suit) on the runway these days in all over prints. As I see it will be a major trend next summer...

For those, who like to infuse color in their wardrobes and cannot let colorblock go, designers suggest to combine achromatic trend with pop up colors:

A lot of designers offer us sportwear inspired collections for Resort 2012 with running shorts, zip-front jackets, tennis dresses and tight clothing with strong reference on scuba,which I believe got emerged from colorblock trend.

Nice detailing which becoming a center piece next year is long fringe.

Salvatore Ferragamo literally makes cat walk, Lanvin creates a masterpiece in all over fringe, Willow evokes Wild Wild West, MMM keeps it clean, Marni and Tribune Standard bring elegance, Balmain uses chains and rock'n'roll feel and none of them look like belly dancers!

Nautica trend always comes back during summer months...

Like the play of the different stripes widths by Philosophy, piano inspried stripes by Douglas Hannant, evening point of view by S. Ferragamo, girly look by YSL and understated elegance by Rachel Roy.

Bohemian trend gets transition into arabian elegance...

 

And I would like to point that red color is going to be dominant for overall look with matching shoes, lips and nails like in old fashion times.

                                         

Agate and Stone Rock Jewelry

 

There is no need to beautify things – the stones are perfect just the way they are. Every stone is unique, a one-of-a-kind; to me, that’s what makes it a real diamond.”, Lital Mendel, jewelry designer.

No gemstone is more creatively striped by Nature than agate, chalcedony quartz that forms in concentric layers in a wide variety of colors and textures. Each individual agate forms by filling a cavity in host rock. As a result, agate is often found as a round nodule, with concentric bands like the rings of a tree trunk. The bands sometimes look like eyes, fanciful scallops, or even a landscape with trees.
Agate is believed to discern truth, accept circumstances, and is a powerful emotional healer. Legend says that it improves memory and concentration, increases stamina and encourages honesty. It is believed to prevent insomnia and insure pleasant dreams, to enhance personal courage and protect one against danger. Agate provides a calming influence, improves perception, concentration and helps to develop and increase one's analytical talent.
Despite all benefits it’s a very beautiful stone which comes in multiple colors and can be easily adopted into any wardrobe. This season it made a huge comeback with the twist from Gucci, who incorporated agate into belt buckles; Cavalli offers to wear huge slices of agate as necklaces, belt buckles and brooches.
Traditionally colorful agate worn over one tone color outfit, but this time Cavalli suggests playing mix and matching with patterns. The tip is the least color of the outfit and main color of our rock should be the same, for example:

- Choose color block outfit (like Oasis sea blue dress) and adorn it with stone rock jewelry of nuance color of the outfit (in this case dark blue)
Other patterns are:
- Monochromatic (similar colors) stripes, 3 colored geometric patterns
- Gradient colors like in Wallis dress and Topshop skirt or watercolors like in Salsa Jeans tunic
- Or 3 color (usually 3 colors more than enough) outfit with pattern that repeats the stripes on the stone rock like Tatuum dresses

                                                  I like it chunky, I like it big (song from Madagaskar cartoon)