mademoiselle privée

must. firm. my. butt.

must. firm. my. thighs.

it’s hard to believe renee le hunt, a recent graduate of rmit university, is so new in the fashion industry. her debut collection isn’t just inherently the kind of swimwear you’d want to be seen wearing, it’s also bang on 2012 swimwear. where & when can we buy, renee??

(Source: fashionising.com)

“[chloé fall/winter 2012] is about a british girl falling for the classic elements of paris,” says clare waight keller, a brit herself who moved to paris when she assumed creative director of the house.

fw12 is a mix of english sportswear w/the polish & refinement of the french. hooded parkas, sweatshirts & loose skirts are re-imagined in delicate laces & silks in a calm pastel palette. outerwear is the collection’s main strength & knitwear comes in second. the problem: leather bloomers w/elasticized hems that hit south of the knee. these ‘abbreviated’ pants made multiple appearances on paris’ fashion week runway at chloé & they weren’t doing the models any favours. also, keller’s ‘autobiographical’ collection excludes seasonal ‘it’ pieces that are expected.

the chloé fw12 collection confines itself somewhere between daytime casual & daytime dressy – appealing, i’m sure, to the girl who wants effortlessness.

(Source: )

designers maria grazia chiuri & pier paolo piccioli refashion valentino’s distinct feminine ideal to create a modern glamour that is all their own. their breathtaking creations reveal what makes haute couture special, but it’s the hands of valentino’s roman atelier staff that spin magic into material & bring the chiuri & piccioli vision to life.

light as thistledown & shown on pale, lithe girls, valentino couture spring 2012 references valentino’s own romantic clothes from the early 70s, especially in the use of faded flower-sprigged organza, often veiled & shadowed in point d’esprit & lace.

the designers use warp-printed taffetas of the sort that marie antoinette favored for frolics, woven w/subtle foliate motifs & an eighteenth-century toile (in a soft rust red) representing africa for a strapless ball dress w/ballooning skirts. four-leaf clovers or posies of violets printed over airy organza & shadowed w/layers of tulle & lace, like belle époque tea gowns. at the neck, a prim ruffle of lace.

tailored pieces revealed a stricter hand: sleek ivory cape over lean pants, or jersey or double-face dresses w/hand detailing of extraordinary subtlety & skill; princess seams of a little dress finished with rows of self-fabric piping spirals, graduated in scale from shoulder to hem (required 450m of fabric); 1,000hrs of labor went into the handwork on a dress of elaborately smocked organza; 1,250hrs into the sparkling silver embroidery on a chine taffeta redingote based on an eighteenth-century version; & 800hrs to weave the warp-print faille for one of the ball dresses.

view the complete collection here.

like a halcyon dream. “influenced by white-on-white mexican embroidery,” zimmermann cruise ready-to-wear 2011/12, embraces clean lines, floral prints, cut-out lace, flowing fabrics, crisp whites & petal hues — each piece flawlessly tailored.

view the complete collection here.

if you don’t have metal cap-toe pumps…go buy now! the cap-toe shoe elicits a bizarre mix of impressions. there’s nothing delicate about steal-toe boots; but on the contrary, there isn’t a shoe more timeless than chanel’s quintessential capped in black sling-back.

both louis vuitton & yves saint laurent models walked paris’ runways in metal clad shoes. vuitton pairs metal with modern 80s & petal hues. whereas ysl applies a creative & distinctive approach by pushing the cap beyond the toes & altering the shape of the metal.

a polished metal detail undoubtedly adds flash to an otherwise basic shoe — a look classic enough to carry over to forthcoming seasons.