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Custo Barcelona:
Presents a Bejeweled Fantasy for F/W 2010
Presents a Bejeweled Fantasy for F/W 2010
POSTED February, 14 2010
FASHION WEEK
What on Earth goes on in the head of Custo Barcelona designer Custo Dalmau? This
beyond idiosyncratic designer pulled out all the stops (well, he pulled out all the stops
again- it’s kind of the brands thing) for latest outing at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week,
delivering one of the most extensive and creatively inexhaustive collections of the season,
showing 70 pieces all together. "The runway is where we experiment," says Dalmau.
Where other designers use fashion week to present trends for the upcoming season,
Custo has always used fashion week as a venue for expressing artistic ideas and
emotions. “We don’t play it safe, even in today’s economy,” confirms Dalmau, who
presented the brands first collection at Bryant Park 13 years-ago.
Every piece sent down the runway was a psychedelic head-scratcher on its own, but to
think of the all the details, all the fabrics, silhouettes, embellishments and designs that
went into collection on a holistic level is bordering on aneurysm territory. That’s not to
discredit the amazing talent of this Spanish designer; on the contrary – this one collection
alone presents a mindbogglingly innovative repertoire. The glitter, the graphics, the
geometric fur, the acid-rush leggings, the metallic brocades – the list goes on and on.
There is no end to the tricks up Dalmau's sleeve. As the male and female models strutted
down the runway (something that should really happen more often) there seemed to be
no end of new shapes and silhouettes. Dalmau is truly inspiring bad-boy that dashes all
the rules into the fray, creating silhouettes and designs out of some alien ether that most
designers couldn’t and wouldn’t dare to explore. Only Custo would send down a men’s
suit that looks inspired by a 1980s hair band’s album cover and manage to strip it of retro.
In a season where every designer claims to be aiming to the future, the Custo Barcelona
brand seems to be the closest within reach.
beyond idiosyncratic designer pulled out all the stops (well, he pulled out all the stops
again- it’s kind of the brands thing) for latest outing at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week,
delivering one of the most extensive and creatively inexhaustive collections of the season,
showing 70 pieces all together. "The runway is where we experiment," says Dalmau.
Where other designers use fashion week to present trends for the upcoming season,
Custo has always used fashion week as a venue for expressing artistic ideas and
emotions. “We don’t play it safe, even in today’s economy,” confirms Dalmau, who
presented the brands first collection at Bryant Park 13 years-ago.
Every piece sent down the runway was a psychedelic head-scratcher on its own, but to
think of the all the details, all the fabrics, silhouettes, embellishments and designs that
went into collection on a holistic level is bordering on aneurysm territory. That’s not to
discredit the amazing talent of this Spanish designer; on the contrary – this one collection
alone presents a mindbogglingly innovative repertoire. The glitter, the graphics, the
geometric fur, the acid-rush leggings, the metallic brocades – the list goes on and on.
There is no end to the tricks up Dalmau's sleeve. As the male and female models strutted
down the runway (something that should really happen more often) there seemed to be
no end of new shapes and silhouettes. Dalmau is truly inspiring bad-boy that dashes all
the rules into the fray, creating silhouettes and designs out of some alien ether that most
designers couldn’t and wouldn’t dare to explore. Only Custo would send down a men’s
suit that looks inspired by a 1980s hair band’s album cover and manage to strip it of retro.
In a season where every designer claims to be aiming to the future, the Custo Barcelona
brand seems to be the closest within reach.
Alexander Patiño
Photo Credit: Fernando Colon
Leanne Marshall:
Reality TV’s favorite eco-friendly designer debuts at
MBFW New York F/W 2010
Reality TV’s favorite eco-friendly designer debuts at
MBFW New York F/W 2010
POSTED February, 14 2010
FASHION WEEK
LeAnne Marshall, reality TV’s favorite eco-friendly designer and fifth-cycle champion on
Project Runway had her fall/winter 2010 debut at the Union Square Ballroom. Backstage
before the show, armies of hair and makeup crews hovered over the models, making last
minute tweaks, pulls, dabs and coatings. The energy in the room was not what one would
expect moments before a collection debut. Everyone was all smiles, laughs and jokes.
At one end was the makeup mastermind behind the whole show, Beauty Society’s Nathan
Johnson, who was delegating suggestions to dozens of makeup artists while handling
models, photographers and reporters all while prepping the girls. “I’ve had the great
pleasure of working with LeAnne for several seasons, so I know what she likes now,”
says Johnson as he concocts the eye-shadow of choice, using his left hand as his artists’
palette. The shows makeup sponsor, Beauty Society made a beautiful brilliant teal and
silver flaked eye shadow just for Marshall’s show that will be available on the market
soon. "For this show I took a white cream and the new teal shadow and I’ve pressed it to
the lid so that it reflects in this almost mermaid-like skin tone," says Johnson. "But we’re
framing it with a lot of black, so we’re taking a color that usually has a predominantly
springtime feel to it and making it into a winter color.”
At the opposite end of the kamikaze prep-room is Beautyvt.com and Aveda’s Jon Reyman,
who looks like he’s taking everything in fine stride, wielding a can of hairspray like a bad-
boy gunslinger. “On the runway we’ve been seeing a lot of flat hair and a lot of texture. We
wanted to marry the two looks together and have this nice flat movement working with this
textured halo shape,” he says.
All of which worked beautifully for the intimate, yet exquisite run of show. Considering
Marshall’s taste for rich, ethereal colors and her penchant for rivulets and architectural
shapes in her designs, the execution was a blissful, sweet marriage. Another delightful
unison was in the styling, juxtaposing ultra-modern cuts and designs with accessible,
chic and simple pieces, like a black long sleeve cardigan with a plunged white trim
neckline and a stunningly constructed tulip rivulet skirt. Her separates were strong and
highly wearable, but the apex of Marshall’s talent was reached in the dresses and gowns.
One highlight piece was a cream tight-bodice cocktail dress that ended in a cascade of
canary, cyan and cream rivulets. Her penultimate black strapless gown was a voluminous
beauty with enough design intelligence in it to be ultimately modern, yet never coming
close to the line of a costume ensemble. Her final piece, a sprite cyan mermaid dress
with a razor back was stunningly imagined – a final showpiece that, unlike most runway
final looks, is haute and yet still wearable enough to belong outside the runway.
Project Runway had her fall/winter 2010 debut at the Union Square Ballroom. Backstage
before the show, armies of hair and makeup crews hovered over the models, making last
minute tweaks, pulls, dabs and coatings. The energy in the room was not what one would
expect moments before a collection debut. Everyone was all smiles, laughs and jokes.
At one end was the makeup mastermind behind the whole show, Beauty Society’s Nathan
Johnson, who was delegating suggestions to dozens of makeup artists while handling
models, photographers and reporters all while prepping the girls. “I’ve had the great
pleasure of working with LeAnne for several seasons, so I know what she likes now,”
says Johnson as he concocts the eye-shadow of choice, using his left hand as his artists’
palette. The shows makeup sponsor, Beauty Society made a beautiful brilliant teal and
silver flaked eye shadow just for Marshall’s show that will be available on the market
soon. "For this show I took a white cream and the new teal shadow and I’ve pressed it to
the lid so that it reflects in this almost mermaid-like skin tone," says Johnson. "But we’re
framing it with a lot of black, so we’re taking a color that usually has a predominantly
springtime feel to it and making it into a winter color.”
At the opposite end of the kamikaze prep-room is Beautyvt.com and Aveda’s Jon Reyman,
who looks like he’s taking everything in fine stride, wielding a can of hairspray like a bad-
boy gunslinger. “On the runway we’ve been seeing a lot of flat hair and a lot of texture. We
wanted to marry the two looks together and have this nice flat movement working with this
textured halo shape,” he says.
All of which worked beautifully for the intimate, yet exquisite run of show. Considering
Marshall’s taste for rich, ethereal colors and her penchant for rivulets and architectural
shapes in her designs, the execution was a blissful, sweet marriage. Another delightful
unison was in the styling, juxtaposing ultra-modern cuts and designs with accessible,
chic and simple pieces, like a black long sleeve cardigan with a plunged white trim
neckline and a stunningly constructed tulip rivulet skirt. Her separates were strong and
highly wearable, but the apex of Marshall’s talent was reached in the dresses and gowns.
One highlight piece was a cream tight-bodice cocktail dress that ended in a cascade of
canary, cyan and cream rivulets. Her penultimate black strapless gown was a voluminous
beauty with enough design intelligence in it to be ultimately modern, yet never coming
close to the line of a costume ensemble. Her final piece, a sprite cyan mermaid dress
with a razor back was stunningly imagined – a final showpiece that, unlike most runway
final looks, is haute and yet still wearable enough to belong outside the runway.
Alexander Patiño
Photo Credit: Chris Santiago
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Rebecca Taylor F/W 2010:
A Parisian attitude of the 70s For Todays
Urban Chic City Girl
A Parisian attitude of the 70s For Todays
Urban Chic City Girl
POSTED February, 14 2010
FASHION WEEK
Qianna Smith
Rebecca Taylor stayed true to her aesthetic, and rather than
