Spinning at Men's Fashion Week FW 2012

Now that Men's Fashion Week is over, I wanted to share some of the pictures I took of my "adventures" at the shows. I was very surprised with the outcomes of this fashion week: both in Milan and Paris. Menswear tends to be so retrospective and allusive! Usually I complain about lack of innovation, but this time I feel like the designers put more effort into blending the classic silhouettes and cuts with concepts of modern-day social issues. Also it seemed like designers were more close to the collections, as though they referred to past personal experiences and/or childhood observations (e.g. the Dolce and Gabbana Tistera capes, Tisci's minotaur/Americana obsessions, Raf Simons's diligence and struggle).

Unfortunately, I do not get to see the Paris shows because of the school, but I sure enjoyed the Milan shows. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the designers in the back stages... it was surreal in some cases.

Before I go on I want to thank the each of the brands and the staffs of the shows for giving me the opportunity to attend the catwalks. Thank You!

Corneliani

The backstage 

Models walking in after rehearsal. 

Costume National

Rehearsal 2 hours before the show. It was a LONG walk for the models.

This is how the press section looks like from within the shows. These are the guys and girls who snap all of the shots for your comfort. They push each other around for space domination as well. I must admit it was more hectic being in the press section than in the actual audience.

The bag-jackets were incredible and I LOVED the color palette. It was so modern and  progressive. One of my favorite shows in Milan.

Vivienne Westwood

Corso Venezia 16: the setting of many fashion shows (home to Pucci, Blumarine, etc)

Mrs. Westwood and I after the show. Poor woman, the heat backstage was unbearable and she was being haunted by hundreds of reporters. 

Trussardi

The Trussardi show: I don't understand the whole commotion for Umit Benan.

John Richmond

Sitting at John Richmond, wearing my own design (the jacket)

As much as I may love Mr. Richmond, this collection was somewhat tacky and disappointing. Leave the whole tattoo prints/motifs to Ed Hardy please! It's not good in his designs, it's not good in anyone's designs.

Gucci

Cool neon bag.

Julia-Sarr Jamois: editor at Wonderland magazines and denim-queen. This girl has  STYLE! I remember her in her Christopher Kane acid skirt and gray shirt. Impeccable.

Caroline Issa and Masoud Golsorkhi: editors of tank magazine. Caroline has got to be the most beautiful woman to attend every fashion week. 

The legendary Balenciaga reinterpreted German Shepherd sweatshirt from  Fall/Winter 2000. I want it so badly!

Anna dell Russo. we all know who that is.

Pat McGrath. Prodigious talent and charm. she makes me miss Galliano's shows even more.

Etro

Tim Blanks and I at the buffet before the Etro show. He is such an inspiration to me. When I read his articles, I feel like the man is speaking directly to me. He asked me about my blog and I explained to him the meaning behind the beast. His response was: "Oh I hope you never make ME the beast then!" I think I explained myself wrong.... 

With Anna Piaggi after the show. She will always remain the Queen of Kitsch fashion, despite the many candidates trying to take her place. Back off!

Sportmax "Carte Blache" presentation

The Carte Blanche présentation, as I grasped it, is essentially a contribution between an artist and Sportmax to make a capsule limited collection of bags, foulards, clothes, you name it. Artists of different fields: Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth and Purple's Christophe Brunnquell have made collections and prints for this project. For this edition, the convoked artist was Lola Montes Schnabel, an NY-based artist with psychedelic-nature prints. 

Moschino

Rossella Jardini and I at the backstage, after the show.

DSquared2

I'm pretty sure this is Sonny Groo: editor-in-chief of Mykromag, but I was not fully certain when I took the pic.

The uber-delightful blogger and fashionista: Tamu McPherson smiling at the camera.

Suzy Menkes: another personal fashion idol and writer extraordinaire

Favorite Shows


Although I did not get to see the Paris shows live, I comfortably sat at home logged-in to Style.com. Paris definitely beat Milan in general (in my opinion). the shows were much stronger and had more convincing new silhouettes and heavy craftsmanship. However my favorite show ended up being the Jil Sander show. For those who know me well, that will not come as a surprise given that I am an avid follower of Mr. Simons's work. For second place I had a tie between Dries van Noten and nicole Farhi. 

Nicole Farhi

The fabric that Nicole and Massimo Nicosia used for the  palm-tree  shirts was  rather unconventional (I still wonder what it was). The-back-pack trunks were elegant, savvy, and sporty and I quite enjoy that they drew-in pijama-chic for their aero-travel inspiration.
In wish list: Back-pack trunk and the first Palm-tree shirt.

Nicole Farhi and I at the backstage. She's great and radiates intellect from  every inch of her aura. 

Dries van Noten

I was stunned by the psychedelic prints that van Noten used. Gijs Frieling's painting were well-employed but for some odd reason, the prints reminded me of Bosch's Garden of Earthly Deklight (which was also used for McQueen's last collection)
In wish-list: the jacket in this picture.

Jil Sander

All I have to say is that everything that Raf Simons makes: I want to wear.
In wish-list: the whole collection.


That's that. Now I'm off to NowFashion.com to watch the couture shows!