INTO THE FASHION

INSPIRATION Nick Cave's soundsuits 2010… Jeremy Scott FW 2013||14

2013-05-22T22:11:00.001+02:00

Nick Cave's hypersonic 'soundsuits" [surreal textiles that he wears while modern dancing] created by the artist in 2010 [left] might have been an inspiration to create this funny yellow fake fur outfit for his FW 2013||14 collection [right]. Nick Cave, born in 1959, is a fabric sculptor, dancer and performance artist that uses found materials to create the suits and they range from the natural (twigs or birds) to the highly ornamental (buttons, beads, embroidery). His 'soundsuits" are wearable fabric sculptures that are bright, whimsical, and other-worldly.

INSPIRATION Vogue US 1991... DSquared SS||2013

2013-05-20T21:59:00.001+02:00

The 'Wild At Heart" editorial for Vogue US featuring super model Helena Christensen [other than Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Karen Mulder, Tatjana Patitz, and Stephanie Seymour], photographed by Peter Lindbergh in 1991 [left] ... might have inspired Dean and Dan Caten to create some similar looks for their DSquared SS||2013 collection [right].

INSPIRATION Mademoiselle Gabrielle Chanel 1912… Chanel Resort SS||2014

2013-05-14T23:01:00.000+02:00

Who could be a better inspiration to Karl Lagerfeld for his Chanel collection than Mademoiselle Gabrielle Chanel herself... photographed in 1912 on the beach of Etretat in the Normandy wearing a comfortable pale colored ensamble [left]. This casual summer outfit actually might have been on Karl's inspiration board for the Resort SS||2014 collection [right], look at the details like the collar, the fabric flower on the belt and the hemline.

INSPIRATION Givenchy SS||2013… &Other Stories SS||2013

2013-05-13T21:34:00.000+02:00

The beautiful colors and graphic layout of Givenchy's SS||2013 Antigona Architect Satchel bag [left], might have been an inspiration to a clutch version proposed for a lower budged range by &Other Stories [right], and available in the stores right now for 75,00 Euro.

INSPIRATION Diane von Fürstenberg 1976... GAP kids SS||2013

2013-05-10T21:03:00.001+02:00

The president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and successful fashion designer Diana von Fürstenberg, known for her iconic signature wrap-dress created in the seventies [left], has launched a gorgeous little collection for Gap kids, which is her second collaboration with the American label. The limited edition 'explorers collection' re-imagines the designer's signature bright colors and patterns, taking its inspiration from bold African safari prints applied to items like miniature trapeze dresses, skinny jeans, colorful espadrilles and wrap dresses [right].

INSPIRATION Tom Ford FW 2012||13… H&M SS||2013

2013-05-08T22:14:00.001+02:00

The beautiful FW 2012||13 Natalia kidskin bag by Tom Ford with a very particular and oversized metal hard wear closure [left]… might have been more than just an inspiration to the much cheeper and simplified version by H&M [right], available now in the stores for 19,95 Euro.

INSPIRATION Salvador Dalí 1937… Martin Margiela SS||2001

2013-05-05T21:10:00.001+02:00

American poet, filmmaker and artist Charles Henri Ford, in this picture from 1937 by Cecil Beaton for Vogue [left]́, is wearing a weird glove costume designed by Salvador Dalí. Maybe this image has been an inspiration to Belgian fashion designer Martin Margiela while creating this wonderful glove patchwork top for his SS||2001 collection [right].

INSPIRATION Céline bag logo... Saint Laurent bag logo

2013-05-02T22:31:00.001+02:00

The designer Hedi Slimane has an amazing taste in any kind of aesthetic choices he is making as creative director for Saint Laurent. The logo on the Saint Lurent bags [right] unfortunately recalls a little bit too much the one of the successful label Céline, designed by Phoebe Philo [left].

INSPIRATION Céline FW 2010||11 AD campaign... &Other Stories SS||2013 catalogue

2013-04-30T20:42:00.000+02:00

Since Ari Seth Cohen with his blog Advancedstyle.com has raised the awareness on how much beauty and style relies within the way to dress of older people, many fashion brands have decided to advertise their products on stylish elder women and men. Céline in their AD campaign for FW 2010||11 were one of the first to use the wonderful Gitte Lee [left], and now &Other Stories followed with a beautiful shoot for their launch catalog [right]. Gitte Lee is a Danish actress who is married to the wonderful Christopher Lee.

INTO THE FASHION featured in FLAIR Austria May issue

2013-04-29T10:10:00.000+02:00

INSPIRATION Rudi Gernreich 1971… Agent Provocateur SS||2013

2013-04-28T09:47:00.000+02:00

This wonderful cut-out swimsuit created by Austrian-born American fashion designer Rudi Gernreich in 1971 and photographed by William Claxton on sixties super-model Peggy Moffit [left]… might have been more than just an inspiration for the 'Mazzy" bathing suit by Agent Provocateur for SS||2013 [right]. Even if it is meant as a homage, still, in my opinion an homage is somehow copying in a more polite way.

INSPIRATION Roy Lichtenstein 'WHAAM' 1963...Tom Ford FW 2013||14

2013-04-25T17:59:00.002+02:00

One of the most famous paintings of American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, 'WHAAM' from 1963 [left], might have been one of the inspirations to Tom Ford's very strong and eclectic collection for FW 2013||14 and in particular for this extremely cool black evening dress [right].

INSPIRATION Pierre Cardin 1987… Alexander McQueen SS|| 2013

2013-04-21T18:59:00.001+02:00

A wonderful hat created by Italian-born French fashion designer Pierre Cardin, worn by super-model Stephanie Seymour for an Elle France editorial photographed by Marc Hispard [left], might have been the inspiration for the Alexander McQueen SS||2013 headpieces [right].

INSPIRATION Jil Sander SS|| 2009... H&M CONSCIOUS collection SS|| 2013

2013-04-19T22:22:00.001+02:00

The wonderful fringed collection designed by Raf Simons for Jil Sander SS||2009, and especially this one dress [left], might have been an inspiration for this fringe evening dress of H&M's exclusive 'CONSCIOUS' collection [right] which is right now in the stores for 149,00 Euro.

INSPIRATION Azzedine Alaïa 1983… Balmain FW 2013||14

2013-04-16T22:15:00.000+02:00

A typical outfit from the eighties by designer Azzedine Alaïa photographed by Terence Donovan for Vogue UK in 1983 [left] might have been an inspiration for the cool leather jackets proposed in Balmain's FW 2013||14 collection [right]. The eighties seem to be the decade Balmain's young designer Olivier Rousteing digs the most, since his inspiration continuous to come from that time frame: already his collection for SS||2013 recalled the wide shouldered silhouettes and the way of styling.

INSPIRATION Helmut Lang 1989... Reinaldo Lourenço SS||2012

2013-04-12T15:27:00.002+02:00

Reinaldo Lourenço is a Brazilian designer who has shown during São Paolo fashion week for SS||2012 a collection called 'Diamonds and Dogs" as a tribute to Elisabeth Taylor [right] with evening gowns that seemed to be more a tribute to a work by Helmut Lang [left] and this cute cat bustier bodysuit, photographed by William Claxton for Vogue Paris in 1989.

INTO THE SAME IDEA... Byblos and Gabriele Colangelo FW 2013||14

2013-04-09T15:52:00.000+02:00

These looks reppresent two important trends for next winter: oversized round shoulders and degradé trimmings, proposed by the Italian labels Byblos [left] and Gabriele Colangelo [right].

INTO THE SAME IDEA... Lanvin and Marc Jacobs FW 2013||14

2013-04-08T12:58:00.000+02:00

Fur is a huge thing for the next Winter season, like the glamourous fur boa scarfs worn exclusively over sleek metallic-silk evening attires proposed by both, Lanvin [left] and Marc Jacobs [right], for FW 2013||14.

INSPIRATION Versace FW 1987||88... Lanvin SS||2013

2013-04-05T15:29:00.000+02:00

The eighties one-shoulder evening gowns, strongly recalling the looks of Joan Collins as fabulous drama queen Alexis Colby in 'Dynasty", thanks to Alber Elbaz for Lanvin are back as a trend for SS||2013 [right]. In this picture by Hans Feurer for the Vogue UK September issue of 1987 [left] we see beautiful Yasmin Le Bon, wife of Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon, wearing a Gianni Versace creation.

INSPIRATION Issey Miyake FW 1983||84... David Koma FW 2013||14

2013-04-03T13:57:00.000+02:00

Although David Koma's reference for his FW 2013||14 collection was the memory of old vinyl records [right], there might have been also this picture on the season's mood board pannel: model Larissa wearing an Issey Miyake outfit from his FW 1983||84 'Bodyworks' collection, photographed by Marcus Leatherdale [left].

INSPIRATION Balenciaga FW 2012||13... Ground Zero FW 2013||14

2013-04-01T17:00:00.000+02:00

One of last winter season's biggest street trend was this one item: the FW 2012||13 Balenciaga galaxy neoprene sweater [left], which has been spotted on kind of every IT girl during the fashion weeks. That might have been a good reason for Ground Zero not to copy it just yet for FW 2013||14 in their space cadets collection [right].

INSPIRATION Grace Kelly 1957... Christian Dior SS||2013

2013-03-27T10:16:00.000+01:00

This wonderful picture of Grace Kelly [left] might have been on Raf Simons' inspiration board for his first Christian Dior SS||2013 ready to wear collection [right].

INSPIRATION Raf Simons for Jil Sander FW 2012||13... Raf Simons for Christian Dior HC FW 2012||13

2013-03-24T11:09:00.002+01:00

Two wonderful dressed designed by Raf Simons experimenting pattern making techniques on the bustier: one created for his last collection as creative director for Jil Sander's FW 2012|| collection [left] and the other for his Christian Dior Haute Couture FW 2012||13 debut collection [right]. Click here for a similar story on Raf Simons.

INSPIRATION Louise Dahl Wolfe 1959... Jil Sander FW 2012||13

2013-03-22T19:40:00.000+01:00

While observing the work of Raf Simons for Christian Dior evolving through the seasons, with its inspirational research mostly within the fifties [the decade while Monsieur Christian Dior himself was designing for the maison- more precisely between 1946 and 1957], let's do not forget that Raf started his fifties aesthetics research much earlier. All three last collections while being the creative director for Jil Sander have some kind of inspiration belonging to the fifties, and there was a rumor at that time that Raf Simons' final three collections were a sort of portfolio to apply for the job at Dior. In any case Raf Simons' ultimate collection for Jil Sander FW 2012||13 [right] appears to me as an hommage to the work of amazing fashion photographer Louise Dahl Wolfe and more precisely to this wonderful picture from 1959 [left] with its pink flower-fashion arrangement.

INSPIRATION Geoffrey Beene FW 2004||5... Céline FW 2013||14

2013-03-20T19:15:00.001+01:00

For everybody who follows my blog this issue might not be news. But it appears that the awareness towards plagiarism is growing and more and more critics and journalists within the fashion system are getting interested in the matter of intellectual property of designer's work. WWD for example has published this week an article about this Céline wool coat designed by Phoebe Philo for FW 2013||14 [right] that resembles apparently too much to a Geoffrey Beene wool jersey coat from FW 2004||5 [left]. In this article appears even a quotation of Karl Lagerfeld saying "I must say I was a little shocked.' I'm actually not surprised at all that Geoffrey Beene is so widely copied, since he was an remarkable designer [also Stella McCartney has been caught by me some time ago using him as inspiration: click here], I just did not see Céline as one of the labels that could and would use an inspiration without a creative translation into something new and unique.