It's time to look at three more collections from last Sunday's Runway Malta Show: Kaii Couture, Fat Gold and Charles and Ron. In other news, I'm as sick as a good hip-hop choreography. I just felt like letting you know.
Kaii Couture
Kaii Couture is a label by Maltese designer Annabelle Spiteri, who describes her collections as timeless and versatile. Spiteri believes that fashion is all about feeling good, and I personally can't help but agree with her. As the label's name already indicates, Kaii Couture is not everyday wear. Couture implies more intricate designs, more imagination and alas, more difficulty in adaptation. At first glance, the collection might seem daunting, because as I suggested already, this is couture. However, this does not mean we can't appreciate the collection and use it as inspiration, like we did for the first three collections yesterday.
Kaii Couture presented a sheer variety of colours as well as cuts. Whilst red - a colour whose presence will be felt strongly in Autumn - did dominate the collection, there were also other colours like gold, turquoise and purple.
Another A/W 2011-2012 trend featured in Kaii Couture's collection is the use of leather and metallics. See for example, this exquisite black leather dress below. That dress is definitely my favourite piece from the entire collection. I really can't wait to start wearing leather next Autumn. I'm so glad it's in!
In my post on A/W trends, I had mentioned that this Autumn's it-skirt is the pencil skirt. And, voila, even Kaii Couture included one in her collection. I particularly liked how the high-waisted pencil skirt was paired with this shirt. Check out that kimono collar and those details at the front! Just lovely! It's interesting how the shirt wasn't tucked into the skirt. Many of us - including myself - would have tucked the shirt inside. But this is another option we could try out!
An aspect I can't fail to mention is Kaii Couture's mixing of textures. Personally, I highly admire designers who can mix and match different fabrics in their designs. Kaii Couture managed to do it amazingly. Velvet, mesh, chiffon and tweed are a few of the many materials used in this collection.
Kaii Couture also played a little bit with structures. Look at this awesome blue coat below. Whilst the coat does have a conventional cut overall, it has a few innovative details that make it stand out from the rest. For instance, the pointy details on the collar and the pockets are a very interesting detail that gives the coat a more unique touch. Loving that!
The show's final piece - the stunning mustard coat, pictured below - was a real attention-grabber. Not only does this coat have the most amazing collar ever, it also had a little charm at the back! How cool is that? I love how the coat is designed very similarly to a tailcoat. Oh, while we're at it, let me tell you an interesting fact about tailcoats. Did you know that their design was meant to allow men to ride their horses better? Now you know.
Fat Gold
Jon and Ken are the two young designers behind Fat Gold, a label which principally makes t-shirts for men. Though these t-shirts might have the most conventional of cuts, they have the most unique motifs I've seen in a long time.
Designers Jon and Ken say that their designs are largely inspired by their great passion for music and streetwear. This explains why many of their t-shirts have the word 'noise' in them! I personally love the 'In Noise We Trust' t-shirt! Oh, and that 'Mr.Fresh' t-shirt is awesome too :)
Fat Gold surprised the audience during their fashion show by including some serious break-dancing! As a lover of dance, I really appreciated this dynamic element. I also think it fit in well with the whole street-style inspiration going on chez Fat Gold.
Fond as a I am of men's t-shirts, I still can't explain why I don't own a Fat Gold t-shirt by now! I hope Fat Gold designs some women's tops soon. Maybe they'll decide to make a limited edition collection one day, who knows?
 |
From the very first day I started making my first steps in the fashion industry, I was told that Charles and Ron are the gods of Maltese fashion. I'm the kind of person who has to see things happening before her eyes in order to believe, so I only enshrined Charles and Ron as the gods of Maltese fashion last Sunday after seeing their magnificent collection. Their collection literally took my breath away. I nearly needed CPR. True Story.
Charles and Ron's collection is inspired by Silver Screen Hollywood Glamour and it has a tangible Mediterranean influence. Pink, purple and black were the predominant colours of this collection. Something I immediately noticed was that Charles and Ron relied heavily on ombre materials -especially ombre chiffon - for many of the pieces in this collection. This is a very interesting aspect of the collection. It gives dresses a fairy-tale effect which set me dreaming about me accepting an Oscar wearing one of these incredible dresses!
As I will highlight for other designers later on, Charles and Ron also incorporated mesh into their designs. I wonder why so many designers are experimenting with this material lately. To be honest with you all, I've also been noticing many mesh pieces on stores's shelves lately. I guess it's about time we invest in some mesh pieces right? Maybe, for instance, this mesh top from ASOS would do for a start?
How does a woman survive without a red coat? That is a mystery to me. When I came across this red piece by Charles and Ron, I suddenly remembered that I need to bag myself a new red coat.
This collection, like many other collections on the day, anticipated most of the upcoming trends in Autumn and Winter 2011/2012. For instance, Charles and Ron included fur, which is a staple of the coming season. The fur gilet in the Charles and Ron collection reminds me of a similar one I saw on the Boohoo website over here.
If you've been around some shops recently, you might have noticed many metallic pieces all over the place. Bershka have a wonderful selection of gold and silver pieces, and Stradivarius have a silver and a gold blazer which I want to buy. Therefore, I wasn't surprised to see some metallic pieces in Charles and Ron's collection as well, seeing that they included many of the current must-haves. Thumbs up!
Atchoooo! I'm off to edit the last couple of photos from the collections I still have to show you. In the meantime, take plenty of Vitamin C. It will keep illness away. Booo!
-B
No comments:
Post a Comment